Peculiar ways to pass the time

5^th February 2014

Michelle McGill

Michelle McGill

5 February 2014

We all have various things we like to do in our free time. Some of us like to read, some watch TV, some exercise, some enjoy a good puzzle and some even like to bake. These are fairly typical hobbies, ones that we could even list on our CV. However, there are some people who like to fill their time with the most bizarre activities. Here are just a few:

Collecting ecstasy pills

We have all heard the term “pill popping”, but have you ever heard of “pill collecting”? No, we thought not. A Dutch man who spent two decades collecting ecstasy pills of all colours and shapes lost his prized collection to a thief. As some of the pills were poisonous he felt he had to report his illegal hobby to the police.

Knitting breasts

Knitting, another everyday hobby, be it our grandmother, aunt, teacher or friend, we have all witnessed a knitter in action. It is a productive hobby that creates scarves, jumpers and even hats. But have you ever seen anyone produce an assortment of breasts from their knitting pastime? Of course not – yet, Audrey Horncastle, an elderly lady from Sussex likes to knit breasts and give them to her daughter who is a nurse, and uses the knitted boobs to teach new mums how to breast feed!

Car tattooing

Tattooing has a reputation of becoming addictive – once you get one it can be hard to stop. And it seems Taiwanese pensioner, Li Zongxiong, has too been infected with this addiction, but his habit being slightly different – Li tattoos his vehicles! The workshop owner’s hobby began in 1999 when he began tattooing his car, two trucks and a motorbike. He stamps his vehicles with virtuous words from Buddhist texts, effectively covering the entire vehicle, including mirrors, windscreens, bodywork, doors, wheels and even number plates. His hobby has caused him attention from passers by and police. Everyone seems to find his vehicle doodling a tad odd.

Competitive dog grooming

Some people’s hobbies involve making a spectacle out of their pet dogs. Competitive dog grooming is when owners groom their canines into the most ridiculous things. The pooches are turned into ninja turtles, pandas, tigers, Disney characters and other peculiar things. Although some people may gain great enjoyment from the pastime, we are pretty sure the pets are less amused.

News raiding

Paul Yarrow from South London likes to take photo-bombing one step further. He is fascinated by TV but instead of watching TV, Paul likes to appear on it.  When a crew sets up in a public area, the TV enthusiast waits around in the background. He has appeared in the background of live news reports on BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky News at random locations and at random times.

Michelle McGill