Hosting Conversion Events by Delia

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Hosting Conversion Events

POSTED BY: DELIA
UPDATED: Sunday, May 9, 2004 13:04
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VIEWED: 2617
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Thursday, May 6, 2004 3:12 PM

I've offered (once finals are done and papers are handed in) to have a classmate over for her first Firefly viewing. Don't want to mess up the conversion process, so I thought I'd appeal for suggestions from those among us who have succeeded at spreading Firefly-ocity to the fuzzy-wuzzies.

Ideas, thoughts, suggestions?

Thanks!

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Thursday, May 6, 2004 3:40 PM

JERSEYBROWNCOAT

This'll probably sound too simple... I made an evening out of it, several times. I invited friends over my place over a course of five weekends; three episodes a night (Serenity counted as two, as a double-header), followed by group discussion at a local bar. We got to all sorts of philosiphizing and academicizing, and a couple have begun to spread the word themselves. And we *all* intend to attend Serenity opening night, many of us costumed folk.

Of course, methods would vary from person to person, but the show ultimately speaks for itself.

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Thursday, May 6, 2004 4:21 PM

GUNHAND

My method is kinda like Jersey's there. I call up my friends and get them to come on over for the evening, we get lots of beer and some chinese food, pop in the DVDs and let 'em play. With schedules though it usually works out to one of 'em can come on a Thursday and another on Saturday so I wind up doing 2 of basically the same episode sets in a week, which is all fine with me.

I don't have a set number to show, the last two of my friends I got hooked on them each did it over a span of 2 seperate nights per. The one guy was hooked during Serenity so he watched...4 of them I think, then took his wife out for dinner to mollify her then came back the next week to watch the rest of them in a row. Pretty much the same story with the other one.

Funny thing is another one of my friends started on his conversion the other night and both the other guys came over to rewatch them. Which is all manner of Shiny.

Basically just do what you normally do when you hang out with your friends, then just add Firefly, sit back and see how much of it they wanna see at a time and go from there.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Oh hey, I got an idea. Instead of us hanging
around playing art critic till I get pinched by
the Man, how's about we move away from this
eerie-ass piece of work and get on with our
increasingly eerie-ass day, how's that?"

My eerie-ass website:
http://gunhandsfirefly.homestead.com/Index.html

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Thursday, May 6, 2004 5:13 PM

ZOID

Delia:

I've got a somewhat devious, but tried and true method. I've converted 8 people (virtually everyone I know). I show "Serenity", then I skip to "Out of Gas". That's the 'somewhat devious' part -- showing out of air-date sequence; but, there's not a lot of 'big arc' stuff going on, and it doesn't spoil any of the intervening eps.

Then, if they're avid for more (and they all have been so far), I show females "The Message" and guys "Our Mrs. Reynolds". Again, out of sequence, but not dependent on previous eps, and not spoiling of future eps.

I did sorta mess up once by showing one of my coworkers OMR, then backing it with "Trash" for a double-shot of the guy-magnet, Christina Hendricks. Problem is, there's a lot of continued subplot from "Ariel" in "Trash". Major mistake.

But I think you should definitely try "Serenity", OoG and TM (female)/OMR (male). It works and doesn't spoil anything. "Serenity" and OoG fill them in on the entire backstory of how each character got aboard, and are arguably the best two eps of the series: brilliant and golden. Any male with two cents worth of testosterone in his body digs YoSafBridge; he may fancy Inara, Zoe, Kaylee and/or River, too. But, oooohhh buxom redheads with lips so full they cast shadows from sidelighting? (Check it out: Saffron's spiel to Mal about how everybody gets played, in the snow-bound cabin. She's lying on her back with lighting from her left. Scope out the shadows her lips cast. Let's just say I can "see my unborn children in her eyes.")

"The Message" on the other hand seems to work very well for the distaff set. Not sure why. I like it too; but the fems really key in on Tracey, Jayne's softer side with the hat from Mama, Simon's fumbling at the carnival and hesitation as Kaylee replays the recording, and I've seen 'em cry over Tracey's funeral... Well, I've seen them get really quiet and intent... Actually, it was me crying and them getting all quiet and intent when I did... ;)

Then, I look at my watch convincingly and say, "Wow! Four hours gone, just like that! I gotta git along." Then I eject the DVD and pack up to the accompaniment of their stunned silence. Usually, I throw in some comment while sheathing the DVD like, "Can you believe that was actually on TV?" or "Can you believe Fox cancelled that, while leaving 'That 70's IQ Show' on the air?" and "The good news is that they start shooting a movie of MY show next month, and it'll be in theatres late next summer." (NB: Hell yes, I claim it. I love the show, therefore it's mine)

I never pause the show or make comments during a viewing. My friends are smart enough to 'get it' without me explaining it. If they ask questions during a showing, I just shrug my shoulders and pointedly return to viewing the show. Afterwards, we discuss and may occasionally rewind to a scene. Remember, as The Good Shepherd has said, there's a special place in Hell for those who talk in the theatre... If I'm going to that Special Hell, it ain't gonna be for talking during a Firefly showing (see, 'buxom redhead with full lips', above).

Unless they're braindead, your friends will not only be hooked, they'll go out and buy the DVDs, too.

Respectfully,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"I felt sorry for River. If you can believe it, she was a frightened, confused child. Well... Things do change, don't they?"

- Zoë Warren, noted children's author, from A Child Shall Lead Them: A History of the Second War of Independence Wilkins, Richard

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Friday, May 7, 2004 1:25 AM

DELIA

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess we'll get together, order some of whatever food meets her dietary restrictions (since coming to grad school I've picked up vegetarian friends, vegan friends, non-dairy friends, etc. Which is great, but means having to remember who does -- and doesn't -- eat what) and start at the beginning. She's already a Buffy fan, so the conversion process should be fairly easy, I hope.

Zoid, am I reading correctly that you basically get people addicted and then cut off their supply? Good plan for boosting DVD Sales, but kind of a mean thing to do. (With all of us on student budgets, she might not get to watch the rest till after we graduate and find jobs!) Also, I've added the Zoe quote to the collection. Now I have over half of them! (But Zoe as a children's author I'm having trouble getting my brain around.)

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Friday, May 7, 2004 1:59 AM

ZOID

Delia:

Yeah, I'm like a 'Firefly pusher': Get 'em hooked for free, then their next fix is gonna cost 'em. A bit more benign, though (at least I hope the Great Scorekeeper sees it that way). All my friends are my age (around 40), so I tell 'em, "Fifteen or so hours of first-rate entertainment for circa $35 bucks? What's that: two movie DVDs at 2 hours for $20 apiece? You do the math." Great art deserves financial support -- from those who can afford it -- in this guy's opinion. The other great part about making them pay is that they then convert others without having to borrow your set. I know at least two couples -- friends of my eldest daughter and her husband -- who have been converted using exactly my technique, watching the the son-in-law's DVDs.

I figure Zoë being a children's author is one of my best fits, actually. We know she wants kids. I figure she'll not only get 'em from Wash, then settle down from her 'warrior woman' ways, but be such a good storyteller that she goes into children's books. You know: Stuff with the kind of values she and Mal share. All this after the 2nd Independence War, of course, when it's safe to raise children.

Please note, Wash is next on the 'future quote' hit list. Hint: Wash's quote is a (perhaps too) subtle play on Zoë's, in similar fashion after the "Bushwhacked" interviews aboard the Dortmunder; and his curriculum vitae tie in with Jayne's, for those keeping up with my little scheme.

Respectfully,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"I felt sorry for River. If you can believe it, she was a frightened, confused child. Well... Things do change, don't they?"

- Zoë Warren, noted children's author, from A Child Shall Lead Them: A History of the Second War of Independence Wilkins, Richard

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Friday, May 7, 2004 5:54 AM

HEB

Quote:
Originally posted by Delia:
I've offered (once finals are done and papers are handed in) to have a classmate over for her first Firefly viewing. Don't want to mess up the conversion process, so I thought I'd appeal for suggestions from those among us who have succeeded at spreading Firefly-ocity to the fuzzy-wuzzies.

Ideas, thoughts, suggestions?

Thanks!

I had just come on here to post exactly the same question when I spotted this post. I've got a buffy fan and a couple of complete joss heathens to convert.

I can't lend out my dvds because they're the US version and don't play on my friends' dvd players in the UK. So I'm gonna have to have them over if I want to convert them.

Serenity and then Out of Gas is a very good idea. I might try that. Thanks.

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Friday, May 7, 2004 8:30 AM

DELIA

Quote:
Originally posted by zoid:
Delia:
Please note, Wash is next on the 'future quote' hit list. Hint: Wash's quote is a (perhaps too) subtle play on Zoë's, in similar fashion after the "Bushwhacked" interviews aboard the Dortmunder; and his curriculum vitae tie in with Jayne's, for those keeping up with my little scheme.

Oh, I'm getting spoilers for the quotes! It makes me feel very important, thank you! I always love logging on here to discover that you've changed your signature -- it's like a bonus on an already pretty awesome site.

I did manage to get one friend to buy the DVD's (and sight unseen, without ever having watched Buffy or Angel either), but he's got an actual income-making job, so it was a little different. For now I shall settle for making converts -- even if they don't buy the DVD's, might boost movie ticket sales -- VERY important if we want to get two more movies.

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Friday, May 7, 2004 1:44 PM

ZOID

Delia wrote:

Quote:
Oh, I'm getting spoilers for the quotes! It makes me feel very important, thank you! I always love logging on here to discover that you've changed your signature -- it's like a bonus on an already pretty awesome site.

Awright, I probably deserved that dig(?). I'm really not taking this all that seriously. I'm just having a lot of fun doing them, and a few folks have written me to say they enjoy them.

And I don't think I'm 'spoiling' the quotes, so much as trying to warn people that I'm too vague to be considered virtuous...

Respectfully,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"I felt sorry for River. If you can believe it, she was a frightened, confused child. Well... Things do change, don't they?"

- Zoë Warren, noted children's author, from A Child Shall Lead Them: A History of the Second War of Independence Wilkins, Richard

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Friday, May 7, 2004 3:43 PM

DELIA

Zoid,

Not at all intended as a dig, and I'm sorry if you took it that way. I really do love your your signature lines, and I'm enjoying speculating on what you'll do for each of the characters. I'm just sorry we've had over half of them now -- only four left. Don't suppose you'd consider doing Niska's and Badger's and maybe Saffon's as well . . . .

(And I like spoilers, so no worries.)

Delia

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Saturday, May 8, 2004 2:24 AM

ZOID

Delia wrote:

Quote:
Not at all intended as a dig, and I'm sorry if you took it that way...

Ummm, I thought you were just 'trying to be nice'; but, it turns out you were actually being nice. Thanks.

I expect I'm not going to do any other characters for the River commentary. Once these are done, the story I'm (sorta) telling will be done, too. I know you've been collecting them -- and we've established that you're actually enjoying them -- so here's another 'hint': when they're all done (4 to go, now), go back through and look at them side-by-side. There's some (way too?) subtle differences in some of them, that sort of tell a different side of some of the relationships. Kinda like telling a story without putting it into words, if I've done it right.

Gotta go earn a living. Y'all have a good Saturday. I'll be home around 5PM, after a day of trying to keep people from killing themselves, and watching Firefly on breaks. Will reattempt contact at that time, zoid out.

Respectfully,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"I felt sorry for River. If you can believe it, she was a frightened, confused child. Well... Things do change, don't they?"

- Zoë Warren, noted children's author, from A Child Shall Lead Them: A History of the Second War of Independence Wilkins, Richard

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Saturday, May 8, 2004 4:57 AM

DELIA

Zoid,

I don't do "trying to be nice," or rather, when I do, I do it by avoiding saying anything. Although I was kidding about Niska and Badger and Saffron.

In what way do you try to keep people from killing themselves?

Delia

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Saturday, May 8, 2004 6:10 AM

SKYDANCE

"But, oooohhh buxom redheads with lips so full they cast shadows from sidelighting?"

Bah. Lips are lips.

YoSaffBridge doesn't have any particular good looks. Yeah, she's shiny, but Inara takes a better picture.

The attraction of YoSaffBridge is her attitude. She has an animal magnitism that knocks you over backward and leaves you feeling like you're about to get some. She's also got that hilarious, irreverrant sense of humor ... and a brain. Brains, humor, and unholy magnitism = difficult to resist. Put it in any above-average body, and it's impossible.

Inara's twice as good-looking as that. But YoSaffBridge is the one I'd want to tame ...

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Saturday, May 8, 2004 3:28 PM

ZOID

Delia wrote:

Quote:
In what way do you try to keep people from killing themselves?

By being an air traffic controller. Rule #1: If there are two planes in the sky, and either/both are VFR, they will attempt to occupy the same space at the same time (typically, in a 'critical phase of flight', near the approach end of the runway). This is what ATC'ers technically refer to as "Very Bad".

Basically, my goal is that at the end of my shift, everyone I've talked to gets to go home and kiss the wife and hug the kids. If the day meets that criterion it's a win, no matter how ugly it gets.

Today was a good day, despite the best efforts of my customers on at least three occasions to defy the general properties of matter. As a reward, I get to wake up at 4:00AM for another exciting round of hijinks.

What did you think I meant?

Respectfully,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"I felt sorry for River. If you can believe it, she was a frightened, confused child. Well... Things do change, don't they?"

- Zoë Warren, noted children's author, from A Child Shall Lead Them: A History of the Second War of Independence Wilkins, Richard

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Saturday, May 8, 2004 3:54 PM

DELIA

Zoid,

Well, I wasn't sure. There are a lot of jobs that could be described in some way or another as "keeping people from killing themselves" -- from the very literal working on a crisis hotline to giving instruction in rock-climbing or something. I guess it was my roundabout way of asking what you did. I'm glad you had a good day, and kept everybody within the laws of physics.

So, VFR is . . . . ? (As I'm a librarian-to-be, I suppose I could go look it up, but I don't feel like it.

)

Delia

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Saturday, May 8, 2004 4:47 PM

GUNHAND

VFR is Visual Flight Rules, basically it means you're navigating by sight not instruments. Usually means fairly good weather, not a lot of cloud, etc.

At least that's how I understood it, I nodded off during most of the "how we get you there" speeches from the pilot-y types, as long as they didn't put us into a mountain I wouldn't care if they used a Magic Eight Ball.

Although the one time I was allowed to fly I will say that it's not as easy to navigate just by looking around as it sounds. I kept looking at the guages so much that the pilot covered them with a map. Then he smacked me for looking at the map...

So kudos to the pilot-y types and the ground controllers for keeping things where they need to be.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Oh hey, I got an idea. Instead of us hanging
around playing art critic till I get pinched by
the Man, how's about we move away from this
eerie-ass piece of work and get on with our
increasingly eerie-ass day, how's that?"

My eerie-ass website:
http://gunhandsfirefly.homestead.com/Index.html

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Saturday, May 8, 2004 4:55 PM

DELIA

Quote:
Originally posted by Gunhand:
VFR is Visual Flight Rules, basically it means you're navigating by sight not instruments. Usually means fairly good weather, not a lot of cloud, etc.

Okay, see I can barely do that in a car, when there's a road showing you where to go next.

So, yes, kudos to the pilots and the air traffic controllers who keep them from killing themselves.

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Sunday, May 9, 2004 12:25 AM

ZOID

Delia, Gunhand, et al:

G'day! It's 4:30AM, and I'm into my first coffee and breakfast bar...

I love my job. No kidding, no doubt. I like being of service to others, similar to librarians. In fact, since I love books so much (not to mention the peaceful serenity of libraries), that might have been an attractive career choice for me, had I taken a few different turns along my way.

Briefly, 2 types of flight: IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) and VFR (per Gunhand). IFR flights are planned and computer-filed; aircraft operators (pilots in charge, or PIC) are in contact with ATC at all times, every aspect of their route is controlled (i.e., altitude, heading, departure and arrival timing). VFR flights should be planned, but are seldom conputer-filed; PICs only have to be in contact with ATC in the vicinity of airports (oversimplification), and ATC must not issue altitudes and headings. VFR flight is conducted on a 'see and avoid' basis: the PIC looks for and maneuvers her/his aircraft as they deem fit, in order to avoid collisions with other aircraft, obstacles (antenna towers and libraries) and terrain (tha' Earth and things what grow upon her).

Problems: visibility from the flight deck (formerly cockpit, now derogated) is less than that of a chopped '57 Chevy; no rear or side view mirrors. There's a lot more to do when flying a plane than when driving a car; you use your feet as much (or more) than your hands, and like Gunhand said, lots of dials, gauges, levers, etc. There's an extra dimension to worry about; in your car you're only likely to get hit from the front, rear or side. In a plane, people most often get hit from above, or hit others below them (see also, visibility. above).

At the municipal airport where I work as a tower controller, most of our weekend traffic is from light general aviation types, out having fun (did I mention it's an expensive hobby?) in their single- or twin-propeller aircraft. Joy riding on a sunny day, mostly. These customers fly maybe 4-6 times a month when it's not too cold or too hot. More than a few of them have trouble reading their instruments correctly (see Gunhand's post) and will unintentionally misrepresent their position in space. This can lead to all sorts of wacky shenanigans, which frankly, if ATC'ers weren't there to sort it out, might lead to really nasty termini to these people's stories, or at least some really scary stories to tell at the bar, as you hoist a triple, hand shaking violently.

Did you know that aircraft aluminum makes a fine cuisinart blade when ripped into thin strips? May God save you all from ever finding out first hand... They force ATC'ers to listen to black box recordings and read descriptions of fatalities on a regular basis; that's something else nobody should have to suffer.

Respectfully,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"I felt sorry for River. If you can believe it, she was a frightened, confused child. Well... Things do change, don't they?"

- Zoë Warren, noted children's author, from A Child Shall Lead Them: A History of the Second War of Independence Wilkins, Richard

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Sunday, May 9, 2004 12:35 AM

GUNHAND

I have mucho respect for both the guys driving and the guys that make sure the guy that's driving doesn't do something damn foolish.

I've seen first hand what happens when people make mistakes and it definately isn't pretty. As in once seeing a daisychain of 3 UH-1s go down like a little stack of dominoes. You see something like that happen and you don't soon forget it. And then you buy YOUR pilot a big beer for getting you on the ground safely.

So my hat's off to you Zoid, keep everyone safe, it's not a job that a lot of people think about unless something goes wrong but we really should.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"Oh hey, I got an idea. Instead of us hanging
around playing art critic till I get pinched by
the Man, how's about we move away from this
eerie-ass piece of work and get on with our
increasingly eerie-ass day, how's that?"

My eerie-ass website:
http://gunhandsfirefly.homestead.com/Index.html

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Sunday, May 9, 2004 1:41 AM

DELIA

Quote:
Originally posted by Gunhand:
So my hat's off to you Zoid, keep everyone safe, it's not a job that a lot of people think about unless something goes wrong but we really should.

Seconded!

May I also just say that this one of the reasons I love this board. I can start a thread asking about converting the uninitiated, and wind up with an introduction to piloting. That's terribly cool. Thanks, to both Zoid and Gunhand.

If you have any questions about the Dewey Decimal system, or virtual reference, let me know.

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Sunday, May 9, 2004 1:04 PM

ZOID

Gunhand:

Thanks for the kind words. Like I said, I love my profession. When it's busy, it's like 100% adrenaline; you plug in and before you know it, somebody's tapping you on the shoulder and it's been two hours. It's like a straight connection from your brain to a 4-dimensional puzzle (3-d + the variable speed of the aircraft involved). I'd do it for free; but, don't tell the FAA -- my mortgage banker wouldn't see it my way.

I had a buddy who used to say helicopters don't crash like normal planes: they hit the ground and then beat themselves to death.

My compadres and I think Wash is more like a controller than a pilot. There's a saying in ATC: "It's hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of stark panic." Every time I see Wash playing with his dinos on the midnight shift ("And we'll call it... This Land"), then sweeping them from the console when the alarm sounds, I swear somebody at Mutant Enemy knew a controller. Likewise the scene in "Shindig" where Wash, Mal and Zoë are on the bridge coming up on the planet, just conversing, when suddenly an alarm goes off and Wash grabs the yoke and says something like "That's because we're coming in too fast. Liable to kill us all," and Mal strolls away casually and says, "Well, call me when that happens." A great example of the 'hours of boredom, punctuated by moments of stark panic', and Mal's reaction is typical Watch Supervisor.

Respectfully,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"I felt sorry for River. If you can believe it, she was a frightened, confused child. Well... Things do change, don't they?"

- Zoë Warren, noted children's author, from A Child Shall Lead Them: A History of the Second War of Independence Wilkins, Richard

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