I can maybe understand Steve Martin's character flying all over to bird watch, but to book a last minute flight to all of these states had to cost a ton of money-even more than the ten grand that Jack Black had mentioned (renting cars, hotels).
shareI have to admit that I was thinking the same thing. How does a broke guy afford all this running around the country. I know they made a nod to maxing out credit cards. Now there's a good lesson.......
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yea i assumed it was one of the least expensive hobbies in history
shareYa but the expensive part is the traveling. Your not gonna see all the different birds at your nearest place, like the movie explains. Most are ONLY at certain places at certain times of the year. Think thats the point, to see all kinds of different species and the only way you can do that is by traveling. Ya these guys were hardcore, but even if your not. Your not gonna have fun seeing the same species over and over.
shareSorry to be a ball buster, but it was "you're."
sharenot really. ever try kartin or formula 1 racin? how bout horse racin? wat bout yacht racin? i can go on.
I live, I love, I slay, and I'm content
Formula 1 and Yacht racing are only really expansive if you're a team owner and even then your costs are going to be covered by attracting sponsors, it's not like the Alonzo has to pay Ferrari for the privilege of driving in Formula 1.
shareYou can see birds in your back yard or your local park. I now live in the UK. One morning I put some bread out in our back yard for the birds. They must have been really hungry that morning. I swear that over the course a few hours I saw over two dozen different kinds of birds flying over our fence to eat the breadcrumbs.
sharei thought the same thing...who max's out SIX CREDIT CARDS??
thats Hard core!
if i wanna bird watch, I'll go to the nearest park.
It's not only an expensive hobby, it's an incredibly dull and boring hobby. I'd rather poke my eye out with a sharp stick then watch this film again. If there's anything more boring than bird watching, it's watching a movie about bird watching. What a wasted film for Jack Black, Owen Wilson, and Steve Martin to be in.
I see the body's a beast, and I am the rider. And wither the beast goes, so shall I.
how bout go to the zoo?
this just means that you didn't get that this movie is not about bird watching itself
shareOne of the best things about birding is that it gets us out and away from the kind of people who find it really boring.
Birding is not expensive at all, just go outside and look at a bird, and if you enjoy that, maybe buy a book and binoculars. If you already thought the movie was boring as is, how would you feel if the characters never left their back yards? But it is a MOVIE, so it's set in the world of 'extreme-biriding' which actually does exist, oxymoronic as it may be.
Otterprods, to keep those aquatic Mustelidae in line.
i had the same thought that the OP had,
but i choosed to think of it as this:
all the money that these three actors got in real life... i imagined the characters being them,and so they had alot of money to go watch birds for ;)
actors = have a easy life. they get paid TONS of money,and get to go all over the country.making a movie about watching birds.
I agree. I saw this movie on a plane and i was hoping for it to fall out of the sky at one point.
Best signature ever
You really missed the point of the flick.
House: I have been on a date before.
Wilson: Not since disco died.
It's just like any other hobby, it can be really expensive if you make it be really expensive. You can hunt for less than $500 even with buying a gun, or you can spend $1000's, you can play open league softball for $50 or you can spend $1,000, and as far as bird watching goes, you can pick up a pair of Tasco's from Wal-Mart for $30 and watch in your backyard or you can buy a $1,000 pair of Zeiss bino's and fly all over the country. It all just depends on the person's budget or how broke they're willing to go to have a little fun.
shareI birdwatch all the time and the only costs I've incurred are gas and snacks, and occiasionally a park fee. As others have said, you can birdwatch locally or internationally depending on your tastes and budgets. Sure, I'd like to spend 10,000.00 to go to the Amazon rainforest to see the Hoatzin bird, but I can have nearly as much fun spending 100.00 to drive to Lake Tahoe to see Pileated Woodpeckers. I'm using the same binoculars and bird guide books that I bought 10 years ago - equipment costs are actually quite minimal compared to other hobbies and sports. It's the travel that kills you in birding.
shareNice Post. This film gives such a distorted view of birding, its BS. I know highly skilled and passionate birders who are experts in their own little areas, without spending a little gas $, and some snacks and coffee.
Also, the notion, that the person who gets the highest ABA area year list is the "world champion birder" is absolute B*llSH*T.
The most highly skilled field ornithologists I know, have some of the lowest lists (worldwide).
This is a very poor film.
crispycreme says it.
Also, this movie is about a sort of tunnel vision in the frenzied pursuit of a goal.
To see a movie about a different kind of birding, check out Birders: The Central Park Effect (2012) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2310157/). That is a documentary which shows birdwatching as a way to widen your field of vision, and become more aware of what is around you in the everyday world.
(While interviewing Central Park birders over the course of a year, the filmmakers documented more than 100 species, without leaving Manhattan's "back yard.")
last 2 dvds: Matka Joanna od aniolów (1961) & Alambrista! (1977)
Agreed, the Central Park documentary is a far more accurate portrayal of birders. Birding can be as cheap or as expensive as one makes it. The folks doing the big year in North America would spend a small fortune. On the other hand, I'll bet most people in the US live no more than 30 minutes from a productive birding spot. So one could bird all day, and spend 10 bucks for gas and a pack a lunch. When we carpool on a birding trip, we usually pay about 100 $ each for a weekend. I consider that pretty darn cheap entertainment.
shareWow, you think $10K a year is an expensive hobby? I guess you haven't heard of racing jet aircraft, or ocean racing, or big yachts. Jeez, even a premium golf membership and set of clubs would put you way over $10K.
shareYeah, yachting is the most expensive hobby, closely followed by racing horses, and collecting cars.
I spent $50 my first ten years of birding - for a pair of cheap Bushnell binoculars and a bird book. Of course I could spend fortunes on travel if I were insanely competitive, but I could be just as competitive on the cheap as there are local contests that cost next to nothing.
But most of the local birders are more oriented towards conservation than competition, always posting about their population surveys or the status of breeding colonies.
If we're going to die, let's die looking like a Peruvian folk band!
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Not just ten grand.. maxing out 7 credit cards :))
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