GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Pretend to be a Time Traveler on 12/8/7!

POSTED BY: CLJOHNSTON108
UPDATED: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 16:49
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Tuesday, October 16, 2007 4:49 AM

CLJOHNSTON108


I just heard about this on the Flare Sci-Fi Forums, and got kinda excited, because it sounds like it'd be something even a stage fright-ridden guy like me can participate in!

Koala Wallop :: View topic - Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day: 12-8-7
http://forums.koalawallop.com/viewtopic.php?p=51108&sid=56d2c281a0efbb
7c408f628251913448


Quote:

You must spend the entire day in costume and character. The only rule is that you cannot actually tell anyone that you are a time traveler. Other than that, anything's game.

There are three possible options:

1) Utopian/cliché Future - "If the Future did a documentary of the last fifty years, this is how badly the reenactors would dress." Think Star Trek: TNG or the Time Travelers from Hob. Ever see how the society in Futurama sees the 20th century? Run with it. Your job is to dress with moderately anachronistic clothing and speak in slang from varying decades. Here are some good starters:

- Greet people by referring to things that don't yet exist or haven't existed for a long time. Example: "Have you penetrated the atmosphere lately?" "What spectrum will today's broadcast be in?" and "Your king must be a kindly soul!"

- Show extreme ignorance in operating regular technology. Pay phones should be a complete mystery (try placing the receiver in odd places). Chuckle knowingly at cell phones.

2) Dystopian Future - This one offers a little more flexibility. It can be any kind of future from Terminator to Freejack. The important thing to remember is dress like a crazy person with armor. Black spray painted football pads, high tech visors, torn up trenchcoats and maybe even some dirt here or there. Remember, dystopian future travelers are very startled that they've gone back in time. Some starters:

- If you go the "prisoner who's escaped the future" try shaving your head and putting a barcode on the back of your neck. Then stagger around and stare at the sky, as if you've never seen it before.

- Walk up to random people and say "WHAT YEAR IS THIS?" and when they tell you, get quiet and then say "Then there's still time!" and run off.

- Stand in front of a statue (any statue, really), fall to your knees, and yell "NOOOOOOOOO"

- Stare at newspaper headlines and look astonished.

- Take some trinket with you (it can be anything really), hand it to some stranger, along with a phone number and say "In thirty years dial this number. You'll know what to do after that." Then slip away.

2) The Past - This one is more for beginners. Basically dress in period clothing (preferably Victorian era) and stagger around amazed at everything. Since the culture's set in place already, you have more of a template to work off of. Some pointers:

- Airplanes are terrifying. Also, carry on conversations with televisions for a while.

- Discover and become obsessed with one trivial aspect of technology, like automatic grocery doors. Stay there for hours playing with it.

- Be generally terrified of people who are dressed immodestly compared to your era. Tattoos and shorts on women are especially scary.



And that's it. Remember, the only real rule is staying in character and try to fit in. Never directly admit you're a time traveler, and make really, really bad attempts at keeping a low profile. Naturally, the dystopian future has a little more leeway. And for the record, I've already tried out all of these in real life, in costume. It is so much fun you want to pee yourself.

I've set the tentative date for December 8th. Who's in?


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Tuesday, October 16, 2007 5:19 AM

KAYNA

I love my captain


That sounds like fun. As a member of the SCA ( http://www.sca.org/ ) who likes to wander around in town in garb, I think I would enjoy this. It's fun to confuse people.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.

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Tuesday, October 16, 2007 5:28 AM

FINN MAC CUMHAL


Okay, there’s another way to appreciate history without running the risk of looking like an idiot in public. Years ago I lived like a Roman patrician for 3 weeks, as a way of learning to appreciate the Roman lifestyle in as much context as possible. I didn’t show up at work dressed in a toga or speak Latin in public, but I did try to mimic the atmosphere and flavor of an ancient Roman patrician home. It was actually pretty difficult to get right and I’ve since concluded that so many things were impossible to imitate that the experience was far less than authentic. I didn’t have any servants, and my house isn’t nearly large or opulent enough, certainly didn’t eat or drink anything containing lead and I never went to war against the Gauls, although there were a few Vandals once. But it was kind of fun and I learned to cook ancient Roman cuisine, which is rather unusual to say the least. I did gain some appreciation. In many ways Romans enjoyed their life more than modern societies do. They slept more, because they went to bed and awoke with the sun. They were more in tune with nature. And they had softer skin! I didn’t bath in Olive Oil, the way the Romans did. I did use soap and brushed my teeth before I went out in public, but I shaved using olive oil and washed my hands in olive oil – and you’d be surprised how smooth and soft it makes your skin; gets rid of all the calluses and exfoliates.

Also, I should point out that I got this idea from an article in Popular Mechanics which described the author's experiences over a month when he abandoned all technology that wasn't in existence and common public use by 1955.



Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.

Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.

-- Cicero

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Tuesday, October 16, 2007 5:51 AM

RIVERISMYGODDESS


That sounds like fun! I'm in (tentatively)

Is the date significant for anything ??



~jimi
Lt. Alexander - Chief Medic / XO Alpha Co. / Logistics Specialist - 76th IAB

Silas: Shane, don't forget, W.W.V.M.D.
Shane: W.W.V.M.D? Of course! What Would Vic Mackey Do? He'd plant some evidence, then go rough up the suspect and force a confession!

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Tuesday, October 16, 2007 3:13 PM

NCBROWNCOAT


Saw a bit on the news last week about a guy that tried to live "Biblically" for a year. His wife complained about the tent in the living room and the scraggly beard.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/









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Tuesday, October 16, 2007 4:49 PM

CYBERSNARK




Quote:

Originally posted by cljohnston108:
1) Utopian/cliché Future - "If the Future did a documentary of the last fifty years, this is how badly the reenactors would dress." Think Star Trek: TNG or the Time Travelers from Hob.



"Groovy." --Tom Paris

Quote:

- If you go the "prisoner who's escaped the future" try shaving your head and putting a barcode on the back of your neck.


*looks around warily, turns up collar, and waits for chrisisall to manifest*

Quote:

I've set the tentative date for December 8th.
Whenever time travellers use the term "tentative date," I get scared.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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