We asked around for ideas, added some of our own ideas to the list, cut out the hobbies and fandoms we've already experienced in some capacity, and then we whittled down the list to the five fandoms we were most eager to try out.
The key here is that we both had to be complete newcomers to the fandom, and we both had to be interested. We received some great suggestions, including reading manga, attending a live Rocky Horror Picture Show, and underwater basket weaving; however, I've dabbled in way too many fandoms for my own good because I am the everygeek, and Alex is just no fun--he was concerned he'd need to start buying an over-the-counter cream for Quidditch, which I assure you is a real sport. Apparently.
After a laborious (read: five-minute-long) selection process, here are the five hobbies and/or fandoms we've agreed on...
...AND YOU GET TO CHOOSE WHICH ONE WE TRY OUT!!!
tHAT'S RIGHT! Oh, whoops, Caps Lock.
::ahem::
That's right! For a limited time only, we'll be keeping a poll at the top of the blog so that you can vote on our horrible, horrible fate. We'll close the poll either in one week or when we get 30 votes, whichever happens later.
Behold the options!
Watch Battlestar Galactica
A minimum of one season of the sci-fi TV series that ran from 2004-2009. Yeah, yeah; I know there are, like, 4.8 bajillion episodes in total if you count the original TV series and the movies and... well, we think one season oughta do.
Go on a ghost hunt
You know; a ghost hunt. Going on a stakeout for paranormal activity. Just like those guys from Ghost Hunters. We'll bring doughnuts, I bet.
Read the best of H.P. Lovecraft
We'll both sit down and crack open the Necronomicon, take a hike up the Mountains of Madness, and spend some quality time with Cthulhu. If nothing else, we hope to learn how to spell "Cthulhu" so we don't need to consult Wikipedia every time.
Watch essential Akira Kurosawa films
Considering Kurosawa is reportedly one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, it's a wonder we've never seen any of his films. We'll undoubtedly give his reputation a boost by saying he's influenced us after we've watched Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, The Hidden Fortress, and/or whatever else our local library has in stock.
Do a road trip to local tourist traps
Surely our corner of the world has a wealth of tourist traps on par with The World's Largest Ball of Twine, the Celebrity Vegetable Museum, and the Dino Bungee National Memorial. We'll map out a trip and hopefully come back with lots of stories and a minimal amount of kitschy swag. If nothing else, we hope to learn how to spell "kitschy" so we don't need to consult the dictionary every time.
Have you made your decision yet? Go on, now--vote in the poll and make us exfand our horizons for a change.
5 comments:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/20/surfacescapes-puts-dungeons-and-dragons-on-surface-makes-your-d20/
Here's some technology exfanding one of your existing horizons. It would be nice if they made dice with RFID chips in them so that you could just roll physical dice and the computer would be able to tell what you rolled.
Aha! For once in my life I'm actually with the times and have seen that! I think it'll be a while before I upgrade from my whiteboard, though...
By the way, you mentioned eliminating reading manga recommendations because you've already read manga before, but how is that different from, say, not watching a TV show (or movie) because you've already watched TV shows (and movies) before? >.>
As a side note, the plethora of widgets on the page are really, really starting to add up and lead to a noticeably longer loading time...
Ah, but did I actually say I eliminated manga suggestions from the list because I've already read manga? Technically, no, though the implication was certainly there.
The desired end result of trying out a new fandom is to expose us to some fairly mainstream geekiness that we've missed (Battlestar, Lovecraft, Kurosawa) and/or give us some interesting stories to tell (ghost hunt, tourist traps). The bottom line for us was whether or not we'd still be writing about the experience in the months to come.
Both Alex and I have had some exposure to manga, but for whatever reason, manga never captured our attention the way, say, TV and movies have.
Your suggestion of Yotsubato is one I'm likely to pursue for myself--Azumanga Daioh! is my favorite comedy anime, after all--but the impact of reading any given manga didn't seem to be as great as the impact of anything that made the final list.
One good manga is all it takes to get a person hooked, though, so I admit we might have done ourselves a disservice by leaving it out.
The other reason for the omission is that I'm secretly trying to get Alex involved with more fandoms that don't resemble comics. For example, Mega Man. Hint hint. :D
Oh, and the widgets. After I consult with Alex, we'll trim a few and hopefully that will speed things up a bit.
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