What's your area of expertise?

Damn, those 2 are fields I’m an expert in also! Really helps when you can do an old Stan Hugal using his voice.

Add:

Chef
History
Good working knowledge of non-gunpowder weapons
Medieval Irish and Scottish textiles and costume
Coracle-building
Corporate travel

I know many things, but nothing exceptionaly well. All I can really claim is that, for my age, I have a fairly extensive knowledge of music and films throughout history. Name an indie band, and I’ll name several more you would probably enjoy. Same with movies.

This is useless with Google and the internet, of course, but it makes me happy.

My kids think I’m some sort of music historian because I can always name the artist of any song we hear on the radio. Thing is, it’s my radio, with my pre-sets, and all of the stations are classic rock or popular music of the 60s, 70s, or 80s. It’s a finite amount of material. :slight_smile:

(speaks through mask and snorkle) I’m an expert on nudibranchs (flip, flop, flip, flop, splash)

But not so seriously, I also have an interest in ancient history and mythology, and seafood.

Horse racing. I’m okay at the history of the sport, but my expertise lies in being able to analyze the mass of information in the Daily Racing Form and come up with reasonable selections for upcoming races. Usually, my picks are in line with those of the professional selectors, and my success percentage is roughly the same as theirs also.

Pipes and cigars. I’ve been asked for advice by a couple of prominent tobacconists in the past, and I’ve written on fine cigars and pipe tobaccos. While I still need to know a little more about pipes themselves, I’ve been able to hold my own in conversations with pipemakers, so I must be doing something right.

There are a few other topics I’m pretty good at (other forms of gambling, music, history, cats), but I don’t think I’m quite as expert in those as I am in the ones listed above.

Packaging components - specifically packaging components for wine, but there’s some general crossover.

Glass bottles - finishes, shapes, sizes, colors, etc.

Cork - The production of natural cork stoppers, grades of cork, synthetics, etc.

Labels - Paper stocks, printing processes, adhesives, etc. Legal requirements of wine (and some knowledge of other alcoholic beverage) labels, and what all the gibberish printed on a label actually means. - Mostly pertaining to US labels, but I’ve got a pretty good working knowledge of the requirements of just about all wine producing countries.

Misc packaging - Capsules, screw caps, bag in the box, tetra pack, corrugated boxes, etc.

Basic laws pertaining to alcohol as governed in the US by TTB and/or individual states.

Thanks to work, I guess I’ve slowly become something of a cork dork or a wine geek. What I absolutely am not is a wine snob.

I understand most of the basic concepts of viticulture and oenology, as well as the evaluation and service of wine, and hope to expand on them with classes over the next few years. Basically a pretty solid knowledge base of wine from grape to glass that I continue to expand and will never, ever learn even half of all there is to know, making it a fun topic to learn. I’ll never get bored. And it tastes good! And it gets me drunk!

Other topics are sailing and cycling, but my knowledge and experience are pretty limited in both.

Sure make us look it up. :wink:
Welcome to the Board

Jim {nudibranchs = type of Sea Slugs}

education-related: the sex lives of coral reef fishes

job-related: Section 7 consultation

hobby related: Asian films and DVDs. I’ve got a couple hundred DVDs I’ve ordered from Korea and Hong Kong, and I’ve rented/watched several hundred above that. I don’t know if that makes me an “expert” but I can contribute something worthwhile to just about any discussion on Korean/Hong Kong films and DVDs.

(Oh, and I think nudibranchs are NEAT!)

I’m great in the kitchen. At a party last week, two different people told me that the best meals they’ve ever had in Colorado were at my place. And I’m still in the learning phase.

I’m a workout fiend.

Not an expert yet, but I’m studying engineering and mathematics.

I follow politics madly, though it seems that’s pretty common to the board.

I’ve recently become interested in military tactics from all eras. If I stay with it for the next couple years, maybe I’ll be able to talk about that.

Relative to my demographic, my tastes make me knowlegable about fine liquor, and I’m probably destined to become a wine collector.

Two areas I could be called an “expert” in-

Rodeo Queening and Cheesecake baking.
What?

Barrels