My home town mission (aka Preaching the Gospel According to Mal)

Thursday, October 26, 2006 12:15 AM

HUGHFF

No one put me on to Firefly. I discovered it by accident whilst browsing for something that might be worth seeing; I hired Serenity and enjoyed it enough that I was willing to give Firefly a go - by the end of the pilot, I was hooked. Such is serendipity. However, since then I have made it my calling to convert as many of the ignorant unbelievers as possible. Now I'm fully aware that this is not an unusual compulsion; I know that many of you are on similar crusades. However, being both arrogant and bored, I have decided to run a record of how I have tried to swell the ranks of the brown of coat. At irregular intervals, I will post the next chapter. I'll begin tomorrow with my first convert. If I remember... www.cpfc.org - my life www.nbhs.school.nz - my work

Thursday, October 26, 2006 1:02 AM

SIMONWHO

Thursday, October 26, 2006 1:39 AM

BROWNCOAT1 May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

Thursday, October 26, 2006 10:38 AM

HUGHFF

Quote: Originally posted by SimonWho: Good luck with your mission! Though you might want to say what your home town actually is. Ahem. ( www.nbhs.school.nz - my work ) Hint, hint, hint. www.cpfc.org - my life www.nbhs.school.nz - my work

Thursday, October 26, 2006 4:28 PM

HUGHFF

I'm back with PART 2 on my evangelism. I decided to start small (literally as it happens) with my son, the toxic midget. The normal extent of my contact with him is using a sock full of sand but I figured seeing as how he does, incredibly, have an adequately developed sense of humour, he might appreciate FF. At first, he was in no mood to watch anything recommended by his natural enemy, but I found a sneaky way to subvert both him and my wife in a single blow. I told him that if he went to bed on time, I'd let him take my laptop with him to watch a dvd. Thus he was in bed more or less on time, secretly on the computer, and the unsuspecting Mrs FF thought I was a hero - a lucky hero. FF junior took a wee bit longer than me to be hooked. I had to ask him if he wanted to see The Train Job. However, like so many others, he got a kick out of Mal punting Crow through the air intake. Pretty soon, he was pestering me every evening for another episode. We developed a secret code so that Mrs FF wouldn't learn that he was watching tv during "reading time." I rationed him to a couple of times a week so the wife wouldn't get too sus. Sadly, Junior has a prodigious memory for quotes. He blew our cover by wandering around the house saying things like, "You got a wife? All I got is that dumbass stick sounds like it's raining. How come you got a wife?" Mrs FF, being a married woman and therefore innately distrustful, immediately interrogated him and he dropped me in it faster than poop down a drainpipe. Still, I had my first apprentice, albeit a useless bastard who's never converted anyone. I beat him for it weekly but he hasn't learned a damn thing yet. Tomorrow, I'll tell you about Firefly Friday - which will be appropriate because it will be Saturday. www.cpfc.org - my life www.nbhs.school.nz - my work

Thursday, October 26, 2006 7:28 PM

FORGE

Friday, October 27, 2006 11:24 PM

HUGHFF

I owe the toxic midget an apology. Tonight, he's got a mate round for a sleepover and the two of them are in his room with my laptop watching the BDM. But enough about other people, let's talk about me. Flushed with success, I decided to be more aggressive. I perched in my staffroom aerie and cast a predatory eye around the herd. Which of my colleagues was the runt of the litter, the weak, aged or infirm on the fringes that I could cull first. I settled on two victims: Matt is obviously weak because he's short, bespectacled and likes drama. Mike is obviously ripe for the slaughter because he's newly wed, bespectacled and reads X-Men. (He's also just about the fastest thing I've seen on two legs, a former NZ 200 metre champion.) Collectively, they are 2/3rds of the Chemistry department but I saw them as prey. First, I scouted the land; by the most amazing of co-incidences which you won't believe is true but it is, we all three had a non-teaching period straight after lunch on Fridays. Next, I set the bait; "Hey guys, we should get a pizza for lunch. We could go eat at your place, Matt, since it's just round the corner." Then all I had to do was lie in ambush; "Is that a big screen LCD with surround sound? While we're eating, have a look at this." Finally, the killing blow: "She's called... Inara." Thus, from the carcass of my stalking a phoenix was born (not a rosy one - she's somewhere else entirely ) = the tradition of FireflyFriday. Every week we go round to Matt's place, order pizzas, (parentetically, they are delivered by a former pupil so we get'em cheap) and watch exactly ONE episode. It's just like having a series. I won't reveal how long until, like a certain Doctor, no more re-incarnations are possible, but I can reveal that Jayne just said, "I'll be in my bunk." And at the end of each episode someone always says, "How could they cancel THAT?" www.cpfc.org - my life www.nbhs.school.nz - my work

Saturday, October 28, 2006 1:43 AM

AURAPTOR America loves a winner!

Saturday, October 28, 2006 3:36 AM

PENGUIN

I like this! King of the Mythical Land that is Iowa

Saturday, October 28, 2006 8:22 AM

SIRI

Monday, October 30, 2006 3:52 PM

HUGHFF

So, anyway.... There's this thing I do. I donate everything I read to the school library. Obviously it's easier if I actually own the book. They all get a little sticker and are labelled as the ff collection. I'm proud to report that the ff is quite substantial. I've been at my school for 16 years now - I'm the world's stupidest student - and read 30+ books per year not to mention the... well, I can't mention that. There's this teacher whom, I was told, gets them out. He looked like the next soul in need of enlightenment. I started to talk to him about the books he'd read. I said, "You know, I like a good sf western." "Yeah, so do I." "Then have a look at this mate." Now every Tuesday, he borrows my DVD and watches another episode in his non-ocntact after lunch. www.cpfc.org - my life www.nbhs.school.nz - my work

Wednesday, November 1, 2006 4:10 PM

HUGHFF

I love my wife but she's stranger than a duck in a trenchcoat. She's also not really interested in science fiction, lesbians and violence. In fact, she actively hates violence and can't stand blood. She sometimes switches off Scrubs FFS. Therefore I knew I would ahve to introduce FF to her carefully. The first step was to NOT hire a dvd on a night when I knew there was only crap to watch on tv. I then suggest that she might like to watch a show that I teach at school. She took the bait but after about 10 seconds of the opening scene (the battle for Serenity Valley) she said, "This doesn't look like my kind of show." I protested, with a fair degree of fatalism, that it was only the first couple of minutes but I could see the inevitable. Sure enough, she wriggled off the hook and I had to watch an old Blackadder episode instead. Fortunately, a few weeks later the dvd she had hired turned out to be unwatchable offal (probably staring Jude Law). She said, "If it's really just the first couple of minutes, I'll have another look at your show." (See that - MY show!) And I got her. She loved it. Every Thursday (TONIGHT) we watch another episode. We're up to Jaynestown. I did, however, not show her Bushwacked, and I'm not going to show her War Stories. They are just too brutal for her. It would turn her off and we'd lose a acolyte. www.cpfc.org - my life www.nbhs.school.nz - my work

Monday, November 6, 2006 9:55 AM

HUGHFF

Here's my second to last entry - this is really just a terminating blog, isn't it? As some of you may be aware, I am a teacher; specifically, I teach English and Drama. (I blame all my spelling and gramatical errors on typos - honest!) That means that I have access to dozens of impressionable young minds and I lack the ethical fibre to not exploit this. Therefore, when it became time to do my film study unit with my Year 9 (c.13 y.o.), I decided to teach them Firefly. I showed them two episodes - The Train Job and Our Mrs Reynolds. TJ serves as an effective introduction to the characters and OMR because it's the funniest IMO. Immediately after showing them OMR, one of my pupils came up to me and asked me how he could get hold of the dvd. I showed him the appropriate website and he bought both the series and the BDM. The show seemed to get a lot of positive feedback and I'll be interested to see how many of these guys choose this option to answer on in the exam in a couple of weeks. Once exams are over, I may complete the Saffron arc by showing them Trash. www.cpfc.org - my life www.nbhs.school.nz - my work

Monday, November 6, 2006 2:12 PM

DONCOAT

Tuesday, November 7, 2006 11:28 PM

HUGHFF

Wildfires and Misfires. It's the title of an album of B-sides and out-takes by Jason and the Scorchers, a band that I'm actively campaigning to be officially Fireflied. It's also a title for my last entry on this thread. This is about my many attempts to convince people that they should wear a brownish coat that haven't quite been shiny enough. The guy who runs the planetarium ws, I thought, ripe for plucking but I guess I plucked up. Even though he wears buttons that say "MARS OR BUST" and Star Trek t-shirts (I can see you squirming) he never so much as finished watching the pilot. Another colleague who complemented my Star Wars tie (now I'm squirming) also never managed to appreciate the wonder of the verse. I'm also not sure about my sister in law, who is a professional historian and a confirmed space opera (silver screen only) nut. I'd've thought FF would be natural for her (ok - so she's not US history but the flavour, the flavour...) I'll check next visit. I guess some of those kids in my class didn't love it either, but if any of them admit it... I'll do nothing. www.cpfc.org - my life www.nbhs.school.nz - my work

Wednesday, November 8, 2006 2:19 AM

BROWNCOAT1 May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

It is easy to get discouraged Hugh, especially if those you seek to introduce the show to resist or aren't open minded enough to give it a shot. We have all felt it at one point or another. The key is persistence without being pushy. Take your time, chat the show up, and always be receiptive to questions about the show. I know it took me a year to convert my wife who I thought would be easy to bring over. I just took my time and didn't push her. Now she may not be as diehard a browncoat as me or many here, but she is a browncoat nonetheless. Keep at it and keep flyin'! __________________________________________ Holding the line since December '02! [img] [/img] Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Fans: http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/richmondbrowncoats/ http://www.richmondbrowncoats.org

Wednesday, November 8, 2006 2:14 PM

MARTIANWAY

Hey you, Found this thread in the junk thread pile. All the tacky evening threads are out now, and I want to boost this back onto the homepage. At any rate, not everyone we try to convert always gets it on the first try. The best thing to do is try again, or if all else fails, find fresh meat . At any rate, your posts are funny as hell, and I, for one, can't stand to think that "Wildfires and Misfires" will be the last. So don't let the bastards get you down. We wouldn't be Browncoats if we gave up real easy. "And you can't stop me by gettin' all...bendy..."

Wednesday, November 8, 2006 2:29 PM

HUGHFF

Oh I'm not giving up my apostolic mission, just this bloggish thread. It was always my intention just to share my thoughts. My next plan is to make a dvd of the pilot (and maybe half of The Train Job) and start distributing it to potentials. Then tell them if they want to see the rest... www.cpfc.org - my life www.nbhs.school.nz - my work