Hobbies/interests you have that keep awful company?

In My Humble Opinion
61

Do you post your customs on places like the Toy Buzz or Fwooshnet? I notice a lot of outspoken conservatives on the Buzz and some comic-related message boards, but I always assumed they were a vocal minority.

I’m an action figure collector too, though not a customizer. I shudder to think of all the Comic Book Guy stereotypes (obese, neckbeards, poor hygiene and social skills), plus the “scalpers”: grown men who rush into Wal-Mart and Target the moment they open, physically pushing people out of their way and being rude to store employees, in order to grab any new and rare Hot Wheels cars or action figures in order to mark them up on eBay or at their comic book stores and flea market booths. They are real, and as annoying as they make it for regular collectors to find stuff, I can only imagine how much they fuck things up for the average parent trying to buy certain toys for their kids.

62

You want odd and screwy? I collect Indiana Jones items, and I mean everything I can find. For the most part the figure collectors are ok, never really heard of any screwy ones. The really odd ball ones are the guys who like to dress like Indy.

They have gone as far as finding out who made the original clothes, not so bad. Buying the clothes from the original maker, which I’ll admit I’ve done, mostly for halloween, though the jacket and pants are both nice. But then they get real nit picky about stuff.

Did you know that Indy’s hat is off centered by about 1/2"? Well these guys do. The pinch of the hat is such a way? The length of the strap on the bag he carries is x long?

Don’t ever post a photo of the gear you have, or people will tear you up for not having the exact color, or not having it distressed the proper way. Don’t even get started on the props, they argue over things you can’t even see in the movies.

I’m kind of glad I distanced myself from them.

63

Ed, you remind me of the model builders I’ve met and palled around with. I thought I was an obsessive historical accuracy nut. But then I heard an argument about the spacing between the screws on the turret roof of the Panzer IV (but only the ones built at factory X between April 1942 and June 1943). These guys were Rabid.

Kind of took the fun out of model building because I knew that these guys would never say, “Good work!” They’d just nitpick your mistakes all evening.

64

That’s kind of how I feel about the SCA. Last time I went, they were grumbling because some girls had the temerity to use nylon in their handmade costumes. Because nylon didn’t exist back then. They kept going on and on and I kept thinking, “But they made their costumes! And not everyone has money to buy authentic stuff!” I also fear to make a costume and go there, wondering what they’ll talk about behind my back. I’ll stick to dance, which I’m good at.

65

I like the D+D crowd I hang out with so that doesn’t count. However:

Modern Rock. Before I came to the SDMB, every genre of modern rock that I like was dominated by assholes of some sort: it seems like it’s a requirement to either be self-obsessed, elitist, a slacking burnout, or some combination of those. Doesn’t matter if it’s Goth, or Emo, or Hardcore, or Indie, or what have you, most of the people I know outside the SDMB that are into modern rock aren’t really nice. Then again I’m self-obsessed so I fit right in :slight_smile:

OTOH, there are some hot women/girls at modern rock concerts so that’s a plus.

66

Obviously attracted by the possibility of meeting elitist assholes. :dubious:

67

Sounds like my BF (except he’s only 25). He is totally the opposite of the wrestling fan image, young, gay and basically a club kid. Yet his love of pro wrestling and knowledge of the last 70 or so years of its history are astounding.

68

I’m a postcolonial feminist, a radical environmentalist, and I base my dietary choices on global environmental and ethical concerns.

Also I like raves, I like progressive hip hop, jungle, trance and drum and bass music, and I have a few … er … underground habits that attract unsavoury types.

Oh, and I am becoming a little obsessive about my dog.

You’d never guess it to look at me. I try to keep it all under wraps.

69

Comic geek here. With my friends we recast and cast comic movies, discuss silly and bad stories…the works. Yet we’re not nearly as bad as the real geeks who go insane discussing which Batman costume was “canon”.

And yet, they’re not nearly as bad as another subset with whom we’ve brushed shoulders: Wrestling. Card. Players. Not wrestling fans. Not even card game players, like CardCaptors. Wrestling Card players. They’re so pinched into their small hobby that nothing else matters. At all. I don’t know how they balance what “really” happens in wreslting with what they decide.

70

Hell, that’s why I don’t buy games unless they have a pretty good single player mode, among other reasons.

71

Around the time Serenity came out I joined a firefly E-mail group hoping for some interesting dicussion. Instead, 90% of the posts were people bragging about how many times they watched the movie.

That got really old, really fast and I soon quit.

72

I’m a Joss devotee - but the ones who think the man can do absolutely no wrong scare me.

I’m a stay at home mom - but the ones who think that they can do absolutely no wrong scare me.

I’m an herbalist, hippie chick and neopagan. But, believe it or not, it’s possible to achieve all three without being a total delusional nitwit. I don’t think my nettles will cure your cancer, I don’t think eating meat and having a nice home is inherently eco-destructive, I don’t think peace and love will conquer all without a hell of a lot of hard work and I don’t believe in Invisible Pink Unicorns. But even I can’t stand my featherbrained patchoulli stinkin’ friends half the time! :smiley:

73

Well, I like showtunes, and I live in the SF Bay Area. Which you’d think would cause me to associate with lots of The Gays. Fortunately, I use my extraordinary lack of fashion sense to drive them away.

74

I’m a poet.

I probably don’t have to explain further.

75

Another gamer here. I can’t stand the typical crowd it attracts. Looking at gaming forums is like reading an endless series of SMS messages and IMs between 13-year-olds. Even back in the 80s and 90s there was a pretty moronic prevailing attitude among the “l33t” crowd (even before “l33tsp33k” reared its language-raping head), but it really has gotten much worse in the last decade or so. I tend simply to avoid having anything to do with the “scene.” Conversely, the retrogaming scene (those who collect/enjoy/play classic games from past eras on the original hardware or through emulation) is far more engaging and filled with people who, if not quite Dope material in some cases, are still intelligent and polite and very community-oriented. Hanging out on AtariAge is almost the polar opposite of hanging out on PC and modern console gaming forums.

76

I’m with ** WhyNot**, in that I consider myself pagan, but I can’t stand most other pagans.

I used to do SCA, but I got burned out, and my new girl hated it, so… yeah. Folks who try to make their whole house as castle like as possible, people who change into Medieval garb as soon as they get home from work, and (like my ex-wife) folks who can’t keep their cable on, or have to borrow money for the rent, but can spend $100 a month on going camping in funny clothes. Ig.

I’m an Airsofter. Not much of a stigma, but real gun guys laugh at you. A lot. And the rivaly between paintballers and airsofters is much like the one that existed in the 80s between snowboarders and skiers. imo.

77

Ditto for the Firefly people…the review for Serenity in the SF Chronicle was the “little man jumping out of the chair” (the highest possible). The reviewer had a couple of little nits, but on the whole loved the movie. Cool, right? NO. Shortly afterwards, the reviewer wrote a little blurb about he was now afraid for his life because he got so many furious emails from browncoats for daring to criticize the movie at all! Gee whiz, it was embarrassing to read that.

My internet is wonky for me right now, so I can’t link. Sorry.

78

I’ve got a lot of these.

Video gaming. As others have noted, there are a ton of idiots. Luckily, I have several friends who work for video game companies so they play professionally and avoid the rampant stupidity that seems common. I think a lot of the stupidity comes from small children have access to video games at a much younger age. My brother James, who is 12, loves World of Warcraft and is a member of a guild. He’s been playing since it first came out with all of his grade school friends.

Comic books. I have a small group of friends that I talk about comic books with, but I’ve gotten out of the scene in general. I used to be so involved that I worked in a comic book store to and went to conventions. Part of the reason why I left the convention was because how I was treated as a female fan. I would either be dismissed or ignored because “girls aren’t into comics” or fawned over to the point where it unnerved me. Now that comic books are more mainstream, I doubt that’s the case, but I’ve been out of it for so long and I have several local friends with whom I can argue "who would win"s so I have no desire to get back into the community.

Cosplay. Although I have friends who are widely respected and famous within the cosplay scene I can not stand it. I love making costumes, dressing up, and posing, but the cosplay scene is full of so much drama and craziness that I refuse to be associated with it. There are whole groups of people that make fun of other people’s costumes and pick on them for accuracy. People will identify with an anime character and will strive to be known as XX cosplayer by being the best at that type of cosplay.

Shooting. As others have said, I’m not a rabid NRA lover. I have a friend who only votes for whoever the NRA tells her to even though she’d be a complete liberal democrat otherwise.

Raves. I don’t do drugs, not even weed. I like the feel of being packed in a tent or under the stars in the desert while pounding your feet and shaking your soul to powerful music. I go with my friends, dance for hours, and then leave. None of us hang out with ravers outside of raves.

Gothic/Industrial music. While I enjoy dressing up in gothic clothes and hitting the club scene, it’s just something that we do every other week or so. I’m not the stereotypical fan with loads of black eyeliner, black nails, and black clothing writing angsty poetry while listening to NIN. In fact, I try to avoid angsty people.

Anime. I got out of this scene for the most part. I used to attend all the cons I could and now I go to 1 or 2 a year. I used to spend all my money on it (anime - crack is cheaper), talk about it constantly with fellow geeks, and even started up anime clubs. I studied Japanese so I could read my manga. Now, I only care about the porn aspect of it. I made the mistake of rooming with hardcore anime fans at the last con I went to and I was reminded why I got out of the cons. A lot of anime fans use cons as a means to hook up. There was a ton of alcohol and a ton of drunken sex. And then of course, drama and emo because everyone dates/fucks everyone in their group. I felt like I was in High School all over again. Although I really like my friend who was in charge of organizing that room, I’ll be sure to avoid staying with hardcore fans again.

I’m sure I’ll think of more later.

79

I’ll be darned! You too? I do a bit of that myself—though it’s been awhile since I’ve worked on a project, and I’ve yet to get around to posting anything…

Y’know, come to think of it, considering my weirdo politics, I think I just proved your point. Sorry. :smack:

80

I will mention Toastmasters. Sometimes I just have to mutter under my breath that it is an organization for people who *realize * they need to improve their communication and leadership skills. Then I remind myself that that includes me. I do love the organization, but planning anything for a group of Toastmasters is bound to be a little more frustrating than average.