Besides atheism what other interests do you have?

Tim Robbins

Ok, just to lighten the mood a bit around here what are interests do you have besides the big metaphysical question?

Personally besides my girlfriend (sorry ladies it's true), friends and family, I am interested in:

1. Politics. I like intelligent or idealistic politicians, McDowell, Harney, Trevor Sargent. Ireland should boycott the olympics.
2. Rugby
3. Reading Science, History, Philosophy, Politics or the odd bit of fiction.
4. Zany Humour, Curb Your Enthusiasm rocks
5. Electronic Music
6. Have a love for dogs.

(thread open to theists aswell, especially the ones who always post here and seem very interested in Atheism :-)).

CerebralCortex

Science fiction
Science
Computer engineering
Trying my hardest to get a girlfriend
Politics
Death Metal
Fantasy
Anime
Movies
Martial Arts
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
World War 2 History
Irish History
Death of the Catholic Church
etc.

Dave!

I'm a student in UCD, studying Computer Science and History. Exams coming up in May , and then 1 year left!

-Quite interested in politics, domestic and international
-Big into music. I've been playing guitar about 6 years, and whenever I get my hands on a piano/keyboard, I try to teach myself that. Anyone wanna start an atheistic band? I'll have to try my hand at songwriting again, in the near future.
-Sports... I'm especially into football (read: United!), but will watch most big occassions in rugby, boxing, and so on.
-Nature! I love going for walks in scenic areas, drives up the mountains, and so on. Gonna start doing it more regularly during the summer, when I don't have to worry about exams, etc. Also a big fan of the likes of Ray Mears and Bear Grylls, so might take up the bushcraft thing (they're organising something over on Outdoor Pursuits, FYI)
-Like most people I guess, I like watching films.... Favourite actor at the moment is Christian Bale. Favourite film is Schindler's List. I also work in a video shop, would ya believe
-I'll echo your love of dogs Tim! I have a 3 year old boxer called Jessie, and wreck my head though she does, ya gotta love her!
-Travelling. I haven't had much of a chance to do alot so far in my life, but I'm gonna remedy that straight after college. Going to Oz to work, then around Asia and America.

Can't think of anything else!

Red Hand

Like all good atheists, I like boiling and eating babies.:)

Zombrex

Does "debauchery" count as an interest? :pac:

Good question by the way, will answer it seriously later.

Dave!

Perhaps people could also include what area they work in, or if they're studying, etc.! Give us a bit more context! I edited it into my previous post

Dades

Good man Tim - atheists are people too.

Beside raping and pillaging...

I love old cars, photography, reading (sci-fi/fantasy), writing (feature scripts and my barely started novel!), playing soccer, playing golf. And I play far too much Xbox for someone my age.

By this September I'll have to give most of this up for a new hobby - fatherhood. :eek:

I'm in the design end of web video, btw.

estebancambias

I like

Consumerism. The City. Wide open areas. Video Games- PC, PS3. I especially like Age of Empires, Doom and GTA. Sports: Wrestling, football, GAA and tennis. Football by far my favourite. Youtube. Daydreaming Improbabilities Programmes about the world-believe me I have loved questions about how the world was formed since I was a little kid. Skateboarding. Tarnishing the city with graffiti. Irish Nationalism Reading about the IRA Pro-Immigration Rap-Eyedea, Eminem, 2pac is the ****, me, black metal, melodramatic popular song TV-Watching Mark Little( I think) Documentaries. South Park. Running. Myspace Hating on liberal tree hugging dirt worshippers Reporting Stormfront meetings to the Police As with some people here, I like Dogs and also Hamsters. Food

I'm in ''college'' in Dun Laoghaire. Really shoud have worked harder for Leaving Cert, and by work I mean done anything. Anyway I enjoyed the later years of Secondary School, so I couldn't give a **** about the Leaving Cert.
My dream job would be a games designer. Somehow I doubt it.
Hopefully I will get into UCD in September.

I refuse to work part-time again unless I can get a place that is outdoors and ends at 6, and only work during hot summer days.

Tim Robbins

Dades wrote: »

Good man Tim - atheists are people too.

Beside raping and pillaging...

I love old cars, photography, reading (sci-fi/fantasy), writing (feature scripts and my barely started novel!), playing soccer, playing golf. And I play far too much Xbox for someone my age.

By this September I'll have to give most of this up for a new hobby - fatherhood. :eek:

I'm in the design end of web video, btw.

I used to love playing Soccer, supported Liverpool and then grew out of it all.
It had a real shedding of skin feel about very like growing out of religion only about 10 years later.

Congrads on Fatherhood. I presume you have preplanned your baptism stradegy :-)

estebancambias

DaveMcG wrote: »

I'm a student in UCD, studying Computer Science and History. Exams coming up in May , and then 1 year left!

-Quite interested in politics, domestic and international
-Big into music. I've been playing guitar about 6 years, and whenever I get my hands on a piano/keyboard, I try to teach myself that. Anyone wanna start an atheistic band? I'll have to try my hand at songwriting again, in the near future.
-Sports... I'm especially into football (read: United!), but will watch most big occassions in rugby, boxing, and so on.
-Nature! I love going for walks in scenic areas, drives up the mountains, and so on. Gonna start doing it more regularly during the summer, when I don't have to worry about exams, etc. Also a big fan of the likes of Ray Mears and Bear Grylls, so might take up the bushcraft thing (they're organising something over on Outdoor Pursuits, FYI)
-Like most people I guess, I like watching films.... Favourite actor at the moment is Christian Bale. Favourite film is Schindler's List. I also work in a video shop, would ya believe
-I'll echo your love of dogs Tim! I have a 3 year old boxer called Jessie, and wreck my head though she does, ya gotta love her!
-Travelling. I haven't had much of a chance to do alot so far in my life, but I'm gonna remedy that straight after college. Going to Oz to work, then around Asia and America.

Can't think of anything else!

A legend.:D

Scofflaw

Dades wrote: »

Good man Tim - atheists are people too.

Beside raping and pillaging...

I love old cars, photography, reading (sci-fi/fantasy), writing (feature scripts and my barely started novel!), playing soccer, playing golf. And I play far too much Xbox for someone my age.

By this September I'll have to give most of this up for a new hobby - fatherhood. :eek:

See you on the other side of the great divide, then!

Dades wrote: »

I'm in the design end of web video, btw.

Are you indeed...hmm. Freelance or company? I ask because I have a contract at the moment that seems to involve them asking me a lot about web video - and I'm at the website/development end of things.

cordially,
Scofflaw

Dades

Scofflaw wrote: »

See you on the other side of the great divide, then!

You can feed 'em catfood for the first year, right?

Scofflaw wrote: »

Are you indeed...hmm. Freelance or company? I ask because I have a contract at the moment that seems to involve them asking me a lot about web video - and I'm at the website/development end of things.

Small company swallowed up by big company!
We do solutions for organisations with deep pockets. PM me if you want I'd be happy to talk streaming video if you were curious.

Now back on thread and reveal yourself!

biko

Psychology, sociology, hurling, computers, user-friendliness, human-computer-interaction, drinking and fighting

Sangre

Interesting thread, a change of pace.

I haven't had that much time for hobbies for the last 2 years between college and part time work. Going into a corporate firm in September to be a trainee solicitor. Hoping to get some serious travel done before then (just finished yet ANOTHER set of exams).

Big rugby fan, especially Leinster love going to their games. (very annoyed I forgot Saturday's game because of exams).
Big into reading, can't go to sleep without flicking through a few pages. I grab what ever is in the house, no preference (except romance!). Reading includes online forums like this, which i do alot (not a tv man) Enjoy reading about health/fitness.
I like playing squash, rugby, table tennis and going for walks (with dog). I have some free time so hoping to re-acquaint myself with the gym.
I've a passing interest in music/movies/tv shows (downloaded).

I also enjoy what most other strapping young men enjoy, going out for a few brews.

Scofflaw

Dades wrote: »

You can feed 'em catfood for the first year, right?Small company swallowed up by big company!
We do solutions for organisations with deep pockets. PM me if you want I'd be happy to talk streaming video if you were curious.

I may well do so, thanks.

Dades wrote: »

Now back on thread and reveal yourself!

Ha. Had a daughter in 2004, and a recent Revenue audit revealed that I have had no other interests since, or at least none that require any uninterrupted period of time. I was beginning to redevelop my interests (previously hill-walking, travel, history, science, politics, civics), but then this blasted Lisbon Treaty came along and I've been sucked into it by the same reflexes that sucked me into the Creationism thread.

cordially,
Scofflaw

aidan24326

Work/Study and all that- Doing an engineering degree in DIT. Mature student (but not that old!) Will return to the working working world in year from now.

Interests would include:

-My delightful young lady friend of course
-Reading ,mostly non-fiction. Science, technology, a particular interest in space/astronomy, a bit of politics, the odd autobiography, anything interesting and thought-provoking.
-Sports especially GAA but also soccer, rugby, horse racing.
-Playing pool/snooker.
-Spending far too much time on the internet.
-Music though just listening as I can't play anything. Like rock but also a
bit of easy listening.
-Docu TV, discovery and national geo etc. Like air crash investigation, seconds from disaster, that sort of stuff.
I'm sure there's more but there's a snapshot.

toiletduck

Have a degree in Electronic Eng, currently doing a postgrad in Software Design. Work part time in a bar.

My interests would be:
Sci-fi
Computers
Politics
History
Music
"Socialising"
Being a militant secularist

5uspect

okay, won't be clicking that link...

Apart form being paranoid I have a B.Eng in Aeronautical Engineering but I've grown out of the whole Aviation thing.

I'm currently finishing off my PhD write up in fluid mechanics down here in UL and have just started as a Postdoc (or is that Predoc?)

General interests are:
Photography (How's the 400D going Daisy?)
Photoshop and general digital editing
Anything to do with computers
Games
Movies (big fan of David Lynch)
Science
Sci-fi (BSG is back!)
Books, books, books

Additional work related interests would include:
Machine Vision (Particle image velocimetry)
CNC machining
Turbulence
Electronic cooling
Messing about with Matlab

and whatever time is left is spend with the better half.

Pompey Magnus

My interests include:

- History, especially Ancient Rome.

- Films, particularly ones with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro or Anthony Hopkins. My favorite film alternates between Donnie Brasco and The Mission.

- Music, especially Depeche Mode, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. Counting down the days until 22nd May when I will be seeing Bruce in Dublin.

- Karl Pilkington. For those who don't know Karl he was the producer of Ricky Gervais' radio show and his stupidity is breathtakingly hilarious.

- As for sports I follow Aston Villa but over the last few years I have become a little bored of the Premiership.

- Reading, I read quite a bit and am jumping between The Divine Comedy by Dante and Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Neitzsche. Neither is really holding my attention but I'm determined to get through them .

I work at Geographic Information Systems, currently deciding whether to move to Scotland for a new job or stay in Ireland.

estebancambias

Depeche_Mode wrote: »

My interests include:

- History, especially Ancient Rome.

- Films, particularly ones with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro or Anthony Hopkins. My favorite film alternates between Donnie Brasco and The Mission.

- Music, especially Depeche Mode, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. Counting down the days until 22nd May when I will be seeing Bruce in Dublin.

- Karl Pilkington. For those who don't know Karl he was the producer of Ricky Gervais' radio show and his stupidity is breathtakingly hilarious.

- As for sports I follow Aston Villa but over the last few years I have become a little bored of the Premiership.

- Reading, I read quite a bit and am jumping between The Divine Comedy by Dante and Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Neitzsche. Neither is really holding my attention but I'm determined to get through them .

I work at Geographic Information Systems, currently deciding whether to move to Scotland for a new job or stay in Ireland.

I really hate this guy. Is he misunderstood, or was he truly a loon?

robindch

Dades wrote: »

atheists are people too.

Damn, and I thought we were all solyent green...

Workwise, I'm working software development, where I've developed most of a largish (450,000+ lines of C++) transaction-based payment device and network simulator which simulates and certifies ATM's, POS devices and the acquiring networks and credit/debit card issuing systems they connect to.

Snitching from my wikpedia page, I see my interests include family and friends, classical and organ music, reading, languages, comedy, skepticism, memetics, cultural and biological evolution, travel, photography, the FSU and other weird places, cooking, good pizza, rare steak, beer, wine and helping PDN to see the errors of his ways. I don't like celery and it's my life's objective to finish watching/listening to my AVI/MP3 collection.

Dades wrote: »

By this September I'll have to give most of this up for a new hobby - fatherhood.

Congratulations! Fatherhood's great fun, even in the dark, at four in the morning, when you're scratching about unsteadily in a cot, trying to work out which end of your kid is which without poking her in the eye. Enjoy, as I'm sure you will

Dades

Ye gods this thread is a refreshing read!

Sangre wrote: »

Big into reading, can't go to sleep without flicking through a few pages. I grab what ever is in the house, no preference (except romance!)

Big Barbara Cartland fan then, Sangre?

robindch wrote: »

Damn, and I thought we were all solyent green...

But solyent green IS PE.... :eek:

Fanny Cradock

Is Jesus and acceptable answer

Fanny Cradock

Depeche_Mode wrote: »

I work at Geographic Information Systems

Ah ArchView... Now there is a blast from the past.

Pompey Magnus

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

Ah ArchView... Now there is a blast from the past.

ArcView was horrible, the newer ArcMap is much more user friendly and makes my life easy .

My life revolves around Romanian tax law at the moment

Fanny Cradock

Depeche_Mode wrote: »

ArcView was horrible, the newer ArcMap is much more user friendly and makes my life easy .

Yes, horrendous. Out of curiosity, what manner of course forced to use such an ghastly program?

stevejazzx

serious study
classical guitar, working on concert piecies (austurias, receurdos de alhmabra etc) at the momnet..great fun!

hobies
building pcs, pool,

work
currently managing a bunch of computer engineers with digital home installations

art/books
the novels of joyce and orwell the poems of yeats and keats the music of shostachovich, stravinsky, django reinhardt, gerswhin, coltrane, mclaughlin, de lucia, metheny.

movies
anything by kubrick, friedkin, scorcese, stone (with a few exceptions) tarkovsky, polanski, fellini, pt anderson

programs
cye, seinfeld, office, house and lost(just end goddmannit!) and the apprentice

ambitions
finsih the 'book'.....

stereoroid

estebancambias wrote: »

I really hate this guy. Is he misunderstood, or was he truly a loon?

Nietzsche? Depends on whether you go by what he said and wrote himself, or the warped version of his ideas that his sister Elisabeth sold to Hitler. She used his idea of the "superman" to promote Eugenics, while Nietzsche wrote the following to his brother-in-law about his sister:

After I read the name Zarathustra in the anti-Semitic Correspondence my forbearance came to an end. I am now in a position of emergency defense against your spouse's Party. These accursed anti-Semite deformities shall not sully my ideal!!

edit: I know I didn't answer the original question, partly because I wouldn't call atheism an "interest"; it's more "normal", like (say) my feet, or my teeth. Still, some of you may have seen my posts on the UCD forum, where I'm studying. I play the bass, and I'm into some Progressive music like Yes and Rush, but not so much the widdly "Prog" style. I like it atmospheric & evocative, which pulled me in to Ambient, and some Classical and Jazz, where I still have so much to learn. Other interests are photography, literature (esp. humour), and travelling to cities around the world and testing their public transport systems. :cool:

Sangre

Dades wrote: »

Big Barbara Cartland fan then, Sangre?

Only if I've time to run a bath, light some candles and have some jazz playing in the background.

Scofflaw

stereoroid wrote: »

Nietzsche? Depends on whether you go by what he said and wrote himself, or the warped version of his ideas that his sister Elisabeth sold to Hitler. She used his idea of the "superman" to promote Eugenics, while Nietzsche wrote the following to his brother-in-law about his sister:

I'm very fond of Nietzche. Always read it if I'm depressed, cheers me up no end, and reminds me there is an alternative to becoming one of the Last Men.

cordially,
Scofflaw