Share your obscure passion - Are you into Mongolian basket weaving?

[LazarusOwenhart]

Buying old stuff off flea markets, ebay and other places and reparing it. Sometimes also dumpster diving. Mostly electronics. Then I resell it. I don't need the money at all and when push comes to shove it isn't always that profitable but it's interesting to me and I get to look at other peoples electrical engineering while also training my skills. It taught me that even the simplest every day items sometimes have an enormous amount of innovation and engineering thought put in. Some things were put together in really clever ways, some others in very shoddy ways where you have to wonder why they even work. There's not always a connection to the percieved market value of the item.

It also really opened the eyes for me regarding what society throws away. In a lucky week I could outfit you from everything to a home computer to a stereo, smartphone, HD- and 4k TVs and even gadgets like ereaders and mp3 players for a tenner. I recently picked up an eink reader for 2€. The repair involved a dot of glue to hold a cable down better. When I started off with computing, the computer in that eink reader would've been considered incredibly high end and it would've been faster than anything that comes at least 20 years after that point.

I also picked up tons of old computers from the 80s and 90s up in the process of this. Those I have mostly kept.

So yeah this thread is showing me that actually none of my passions are that obscure. I do all this sort of stuff.

 

[Alpacawitz]

I used to be into repairing/restoring old school shaving equipment. Guy sell their shitty stuff for so much though. I hear the states is better for finding cheap and run down shave gear.

Like 70€ for a pitted and rusty straight razor with broken scales. Gfy.

 

[Recoil]

I used to be into repairing/restoring old school shaving equipment. Guy sell their shitty stuff for so much though. I hear the states is better for finding cheap and run down shave gear.

Like 70€ for a pitted and rusty straight razor with broken scales. Gfy.

Rolls Razors erryplace at US flea markets & swap meets.

Stories from the past, superstitions and folk lore. The very small and local things are being forgotten as people die off and I think that's a shame. When a village or small town was very remote their versions generally didn't travel outside of that area because few people traveled.
It mainly involves talking to very old people and I really should have written things down because I'm starting to forget myself.

Have you read the FoxFire books?

 

[Rick Pratt]

It's not obscure but I love reasearching and watching old comedy clips from people like Lenny Bruce and Joan Rivers, (I really love old comedy shows like Black Adder and The Golden Girls), I also like watching old talk shows like the Dick Cavett Show and Wogan.

Dick Cavett, Michael Aspel, Ruby Wax and Wogan were just so chill when they interviewed people like David Bowie and Stephen Fry, compared to people like Graham Norton who can at times be very obnoxious, Cavett, Aspel and Wogan are very mellow, Joan Rivers was also once a talk show host and she was good too.

I like watching and reading old interviews of different actors and musicians,whether it's a serious interview or a funny one, it teaches me more about what they were like as people, David Bowie's interviews were very philosophical, Pete Burn's interviews were honest and at times snarky and Rik Mayall's interviews were philosophical, funny and honest.

Pete Burns is an interesting figure to me,most people see him as either a former 80s synth musician who had a very androgynous appearance and others see him as an example of someone who went too far with their plastic surgery (he did at times go a bit too far with that he looked like Cher)

I only recently got into the music he made with Dead or Alive as I found out about him via his Spin me like a record song, a comment on the Contra thread which referenced him and a clip of some fan reading weird poetry to him.


Reasearching about different subcultures like Goth, Punk, Mod etc. is another interest of mine, I like learning about the different aesthetics,fashion and music genres associated with those subcultures.

 

[MerriedxReldnahc]

More dorky than obscure, but I collect bottlecaps. I've had my collection since I was a kid and everyone in my family likes to drink different things (Grandpa likes Corona and other Mexican beers, my Aunt is into Budweiser, my Dad likes undrinkable dark stouts, I like cider and fruity sodas, etc) so I was always getting a wide variety. That's the nice thing about the whole microbrewery trend now, errybody's got their own caps. I sometimes pick out bottled drinks based on what caps I don't have and have actually passed some up based entirely on them having plain caps.
The crown jewel of my collection is a Zima cap, not from the ill-advised relaunch a few years ago, but from the ill-advised heyday of Zima. I was probably 5 when I found it. A quick Google search shows that this cap is easily worth a princely sum of $2.

If you're a drinker looking for an easy hobby, cap collecting is for you.

 

[Hecate]

How on earth do you get into that? I mean it's super interesting. Have you tried making hemp or linen fiber paper as an alternative to parchment?

it started off as just me going to a illuminations class within this historical re-enactment group called the SCA. I didnt learn as much as i wanted to from that class so i had to find stuff online and actually test shit, and luckily ive been having a blast fucking up inks and parchment lol
i do actually plan on making some linen based paper in the future, but right now im actually waiting until spring of next year so i can start growing some flax and not have to worry about it dying in the frost here.

This is fucking awesome. To add to what @LazarusOwenhart said, if you're interested in papermaking for the sake of it, making paper from silk carrier rods might also be a fun thing to look into. I got a big grab bag of assorted silk products a while ago - there's lots of really interesting byproducts aside from just the silk fibre, such as throwster's waste (which is covered in sericin, i.e. the stuff silkworms use to glue their cocoons together - I'm trying to work out an easy way of degumming it).

(Maybe there should be a separate thread for craft talk?)

those are actually some really great suggestions. ive never really looked at silk stuff because i always assumed that it was super expensive, but it looks like the byproducts and "waste" are pretty decently priced. im actually really curious to see if the sericin would actually be useful in making paper and help it stick together when forming the sheets.
im also really big on hand dying stuff so im glad to see that the undyed material is priced cheaper

 

[LazarusOwenhart]

@Hecate Do you have any pictures of your work?

 

[Much Ado About Nothing]

I suppose it could be described as an "obscure passion". I certainly haven't met many who are interested in it. Most I have found online, and even when I find communties dedicated to it, it is rarely communities that are active and/or sane.

I have always had a fondness for crime-mysteries, murder-mysteries, cold-cases and so on. In my adulthood this has grown into an interest of attempting to match Jane/John Does with missing people. Just as I am typing this I am looking at a Jane Doe case from 2018 and narrowing down possible matches, and excluding others, then attempting to rank likelyhood. I don't look at pictures of dead bodies and such, or try not to. Some sites do not censor, or give warnings, so you end up seeing some shit. So, unless you have a tolerance and acceptance for that you will be seeing some graphic things, it's....perhaps not something one want to nosedive deeply into.

 

[Hecate]

@Hecate Do you have any pictures of your work?

unfortunately I mostly forget to take pictures of my stuff, or it's so personalized that is be worried on doxing myself, but here are 2 projects I'm working on right now. (sorry for the shit quality)

the one on the left is going to be a reproduction of what's called The Courtly Hunt cards, a set of cards from 15th century Germany displaying herons, hounds, hawks, and lures.
and the manuscript on the right is a non-reproduction piece I'm using to test the gouache paint I made. it'll probably end up being just a single sheet with music on it when I'm done.

if I'm successful with growing flax in the spring I can show you what I end up making with it if you'd like

 

[From The Uncanny Valley]

Exploring dying malls. In MA they're a dime a dozen!

 

[stuffandthings]

My friends and I, who are are Milennials, enjoy watching Bonanza together.

 

[LazarusOwenhart]

unfortunately I mostly forget to take pictures of my stuff, or it's so personalized that is be worried on doxing myself, but here are 2 projects I'm working on right now. (sorry for the shit quality)
View attachment 972428
the one on the left is going to be a reproduction of what's called The Courtly Hunt cards, a set of cards from 15th century Germany displaying herons, hounds, hawks, and lures.
and the manuscript on the right is a non-reproduction piece I'm using to test the gouache paint I made. it'll probably end up being just a single sheet with music on it when I'm done.

if I'm successful with growing flax in the spring I can show you what I end up making with it if you'd like

I'd like that. Your art is awesome.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

Have you read the FoxFire books?

Never heard of them, what are they about?

 

[Recoil]

Never heard of them, what are they about?

in the late 70s, students at certain southern Universities started going around and cataloging Appalachian and rural culture that was dying out. They interviewed people, took photographs and wrote about dying practices like Faith healing and home remedies.

the idea was to preserve all this culture somehow before these (then very old) people died.

there are seven books. Number two is my favorite, it has a very extensive chapter on Appalachian ghost stories.

Try searching for "Foxfire books PDF".

Also lookup "Gumbo Ya Ya" which is about this sort of stuff in Louisiana and New Orleans.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

in the late 70s, students at certain southern Universities started going around and cataloging Appalachian and rural culture that was dying out. They interviewed people, took photographs and wrote about dying practices like Faith healing and home remedies.

the idea was to preserve all this culture somehow before these (then very old) people died.

there are seven books. Number two is my favorite, it has a very extensive chapter on Appalachian ghost stories.

Try searching for "Foxfire books PDF".

Also lookup "Gumbo Ya Ya" which is about this sort of stuff in Louisiana and New Orleans.

Thank you so very much, I'm looking it up now and I will save it and read it, hopefully I can get some people to start recording this shit.
[not american but thank you, it might be a good blueprint]

 

[Recoil]

Thank you so very much, I'm looking it up now and I will save it and read it, hopefully I can get some people to start recording this shit.
[not american but thank you, it might be a good blueprint]

the basic approach of Foxfire is to interview the subject with a tape recorder running and then create a transcript, then cite it when talking about things in a larger essay.

Because this backwoods culture stuff wasn't ever written down, when you create a recording of your interview, you are in effect creating your own canon that you later on cite. Just publish it in its entirety as an appendix and stick it behind your essays.

 

[Shibaru]

I Love going to Record Stores, I Really just want to go to a record store. Especially ones that no longer exist in the United States(Tower Records, Sam Goody) or Failed to even try crossing canada to get into the US (hmv)

To Show you how much i've been in so far, I've been in Multiple FYE's and One Sam Goody(Could also count that as the only time I Went to the Media Play Spin-Off OnCue)... Not counting 2nd and Charles because it's only a small section in the store.

I Don't even know why I Do either, I Just Love going to Record Stores.

 

[Inflatable Julay]

I suppose it could be described as an "obscure passion". I certainly haven't met many who are interested in it. Most I have found online, and even when I find communties dedicated to it, it is rarely communities that are active and/or sane.

I have always had a fondness for crime-mysteries, murder-mysteries, cold-cases and so on. In my adulthood this has grown into an interest of attempting to match Jane/John Does with missing people. Just as I am typing this I am looking at a Jane Doe case from 2018 and narrowing down possible matches, and excluding others, then attempting to rank likelyhood. I don't look at pictures of dead bodies and such, or try not to. Some sites do not censor, or give warnings, so you end up seeing some shit. So, unless you have a tolerance and acceptance for that you will be seeing some graphic things, it's....perhaps not something one want to nosedive deeply into.

True crime fandom is at it's peak right now thanks to stuff like Making a Murderer and Serial. Casefile is a great podcast to listen to if you want some lesser-known cases. If you want to deal with redditors, /r/UnresolvedMysteries is pretty active.

 

[Papa Adolfo's Take'n'Bake]

Building Ovens, duh.

 

[Recoil]

Building Ovens, duh.

What kind of wood do you recommend for building the doors?