CRAZEE HOBBIES : Here's Number 10!

FINALLY

Here's NUMBER TEN

in our list of

CRAZEE HOBBIES!

Number ten in the list goes to the strange hobby of Elvis Sighting!This is a hobby pursued by many people around the world who go out of their way to prove that The King faked his death and is actually alive and well, and travelling around the world working as a shop assistant/garage attendant/waiter/gardener/many other jobs

--- in fact anything except a singer!

Weekly World News has frequently promoted the popular rumor that Elvis is alive. Numerous stories have been published featuring photos and interviews with a healthy, but notably aged Elvis Presley. In the late 1990s, they ran a front cover that said "Elvis Presley Dead!", claiming that he had been living a secret life since 1977, but was now "really dead".

NUMBER 9 is here!

Number nine in my list of

UNUSUAL AND CRAZEE HOBBIES is:

Trying to clock up the record for seeing

The Sound of Music the most times!

The title works better if you sing it in the 'Sound of Music' style.

The most ardent Sound of Music fans dress up to go the cinema to see it. I wonder if they dress up when they watch it on DVD in their own homes? Perhaps GROUPS OF FANS get together for special viewings in each other's homes, dressed up in the costume of their favourite character!

I once saw a photograph in the newspaper of a special cinema viewing where dozens of the audience were sat in a Nun's costume. Individually, of course! Not all collectively in ONE Nun's costume, that would have been strange!

Of course, dear reader, I realise that maybe one or two of you absolutely love this film, and so, especially for those of you who do, here's a few pics.

Here's NUMBER 8 in our CRAZEE HOBBY list!

Number EIGHT in my list of UNUSUAL & CRAZEE HOBBIES is:

Photographing & cataloguing molehills.

These are mini wonders of the world, appearing as they do overnight. You get up one morning, go out to look at the pristine lawn that you are so proud of and Hey Presto! some creature has been at work in the dark hours doing their best to destroy years of hard work. You will rarely --- if ever --- see the culprit, for by the time you know that you've had a subterranean visitor not only has the damage been done, but the mole will probably be busy anywhere but where you search for him.

Molehills are, of course, simply a by-product of the moles' industrious nature as he (or she) tunnels away underneath your lush, green sward. I remember sitting up one night, many years ago, in the garden of a country inn where I was living at the time, intent on actually seeing a mole break the surface as it was building a molehill. When I set out on the task I expected it to happen during the evening, but in the end it was about 5 o'clock in the cold, misty morning when I saw a movement. It was a long cold night, but my reward was to have witnessed something that most folk, tucked sensibly up in their warm, cosy beds, would never see. Mind you, probably most of them will not mind having missed out on the long cold wait to see something that will probably be shown one day on a nature programme!

Moles are fascinating creatures, much-loved by all except the owners of the beautiful stretch of green, especially the groundsmen who look after bowling greens, cricket pitches and golf courses. They have been immortalised for the many people who have read about ‘Moley’ in The Wind in the Willows. Molehill activity tends to be greatest between autumn and spring, and some parts of the country can be riddled with molehills and tunnels. On racecourses, grass airstrips and sports fields, molehills could conceivably present risk of injury to pilots, horses, riders, and others participating in sport.

Moles have been famously (and falsely) implicated in the death of a king. In popular folklore William III is supposed to have died after his horse tripped over a molehill. The incident for years after allowed Jacobites to toast the vanquishing creature as 'the little gentleman in black velvet'. Sadly for romance, the story is only partly true. Certainly William's horse stumbled on 21 February 1702 and the king broke a collarbone in the fall. However, he made a steady recovery from his injuries in the next couple of weeks, and was soon back conducting business, if not appearing in public. It was only on 5 March that the true cause of death-a pulmonary fever-became evident." (From the Dictionary of National Biography - William III).

If you decide to participate in this hobby you will need a good camera, a stout note-book (one of those with a pen or pencil attached by a chain is ideal) and plenty of patience. As a means of helping your concentration and yet allowing time for meditation and contemplation it's wonderful, and is to be highly commended. The main problem for the average participant is going to be the extreme cold that sometimes has to be endured in the pursuit of this hobby!

Here's NUMBER 7!

Number 7 in my TOP TEN CRAZEE HOBBIES is:

'Counting Spots' on anything spotty!

As a beginner, the best thing to start with is something really easy like clothing with large spots.

Very soon the accomplished Spot Spotter will be able to graduate to far more difficult tasks such as small evenly spaced spots on umbrellas.

The real benefit of the hobby can only be really appreciated when you progress to a moving target, and what could be better than trying to count the spots on a basketful of spotted puppies? It's probable that only the most expert Spot Spotter will manage this task successfully, but it does allow you the opportunity to (waste) sorry, I meant to say spend several hours enjoying your hobby.

Does it make you a more interesting person? Well, only you can guess at the answer. Certainly you will be able to hold a long conversation on the benefits of spots over no spots, or what size spots are your favourites. Of course I can't promise you that you'll exactly hold your audience and enthrall them beyond belief, but you will certainly create a definite impression about yourself in their minds. If you want to avoid boring them then I suggest that you might consider spotting square spots as well as round ones, and even limiting your hobby to spots of certain colours.Another thing you could do is write about the hobby, much as I am here. Will it hold your readers enthralled? Only they know, and --- most of them at least --- will be far too kind and/or polite to tell you the innermost thoughts that they share about your interesting hobby. Perhaps, after all, that's the best thing anyway!

Have a great day!

Number 6 is HERE . . .!!!

Continuing on with our TOP TEN CRAZEE Hobbies and Interests, here's a suggestion for NUMBER 6:

Collecting Car Registration Numbers

After all, what do you do with them once you've collected them? You cannot use them for anything as far as I know. OK, so someone who collects them will probably tell me different, but that's not going to start me off on collecting them!

I've just been handed NUMBER 5!

Natalie, from Koinonia Community, writes about one collecting craze that went way OTT! She writes:

My husband is a hog farmer. So for years family and friends worked hard to establish a 'pig' collection for him. We had pigs everywhere! Pig Statues, pig pictures, pig pot holders, pig clothes - you name it, we had it. They grew tired of it though. Now we choose only to collect blessings.

I know what you mean, Natalie! A friend of mine has hundreds of 'piggy' things. A while ago I sent her a set of slat & pepper shakers shaped like pigs. She has wallpaper, towels, writing paper, plates, figurines, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!

I also knew someone who had loads of soft-toy type owls, owl plates, owl models, and so on in her house. "Oh", I said, "I didn't know you collected owls." Her reply was swift, "I don't! If only people realised that, then perhaps they would stop giving them to me!!!"

So I have decided that NUMBER 5 on my list of CRAZEE HOBBIES is:

Collecting things with animals, birds or fish on to a crazy degree.

What will number 6 be? You decide!

More CRAZEE Hobbies (Tongue-in-Cheek!)

4. I think that Commemorative Plate Collecting should be in our list because the variety of plates that are around seems to be absolutely ENDLESS! Of course, some people confine their collection to a particular theme such as horses or famous paintings, so that would limit the amount of wall/cabinet space needed to display them. I know that many of the plates are really beautiful, but the problem is that once you start on this hobby people never seem to realise that a gift can be anything else but another plate!


I once knew someone who collected tiny milk-jugs, and whose house eventually had them absolutely everywhere! Some of them were beautiful, but it was the sheer volume of them that hit you in the face when you entered the house! They were on every available ledge, on the fire-mantle, hanging down the side of the staircase, hanging from the walls, --- in fact, you name the place and there was probably a jug hanging there. Definitely OTT!!! Anyway, what do you do with them once you have them?


Of course the manufacturer's LOVE collectors, who, after all, keep them in business!

An IMPORTANT Note

I hope you realise that my list of CRAZEE Hobbies is very much a 'Fun List',

compiled somewhat tongue-in-cheek!

In other words:

Please don't be offended if your hobby is on the list!