Due South's 18th Birthday

[sage]

In 3 weeks, on Sept 22nd, it will be the 18th anniversary of the start of Due South's first season! Woohoo! The pilot was first aired back on April 23, 1994 as a sort of fall preview, and then they retooled the show a little over the summer. They aired "Free Willie" on September 22nd, and then they re-aired the pilot the next day.

So! Due South is turning 18! YAY!!! To celebrate, I think we should throw a viewing party and watch the Pilot & whatever other eps people feel like seeing. I'm thinking this could start around 1pm Chicago Time (CDT) on Saturday 9/22, but I'm open to suggestions on that. Obviously this will last for as long as there's interest across time zones.

(If you haven't come to a viewing party before, this is a Skype chat where we all press play on our media players at the same time and watch together while typing our squee in the chat window. We use Skype because, while annoying, it's the most reliable chat platform across different operating systems, and it's free.)

So, what do y'all think? Wanna have a party?

Comments

[luzula]

Yay, I'm in!

[sage]

YAY!!

[hazelwho.livejournal.com]

This is an excellent idea, Sage!!! Count me in. =)

[phenyx-tp.livejournal.com]

I'd be interested, but someone will need to remind me. I tend to remember these things the day after they are scheduled.

[sage]

I will post to the comm a couple of more times. Also, I totally just added this to my google calendar so *I* don't forget. *g*

[sage]

Woohoo! *excited*

[sptmbrwind.livejournal.com]

That's also my birthday, so I'll probably be forced to go out and be social, but it still sounds like a good idea for those who can attend.

[sage]

Ooooh, that's awesome! What a great birthday twin! \o/

What time zone are you in? Maybe if there's something in particular you want to watch with the group, we can schedule that for a set time you'll be able to join us for? Also, we can watch things more than once as different time zones come around. :D

[sptmbrwind.livejournal.com]

I'm in Eastern, so it's not far off, but I can't really say when I'll be available until after about 7pm :( My relatives tend to be indecisive.

[sage]

Okay, I will do a reminder post the day before so that people with scheduling restrictions can check in. \o/

[i-want-2.livejournal.com]

Holy cow! No freakin' way! I mean. Shit. It's only been...11 years since my first DS fic and everything. Good god!

[sage]

Time has flown! And there's still a DS fandom, yay!

[i-want-2.livejournal.com]

Yay, indeed!

[ride-4ever.livejournal.com]

I want "in"...but I am suchthnewbie with doing online stuff in "real" time. What kind of equipment do I need to scamper out and buy so I can do this Skype thing and this joint-media-players thing?

Happy 18th Birthday, due South!!

[sage]

YAY! It's super-easy. Just download Skype. (It's free.) Create a username, don't worry about entering any of your phone info unless you actually want to use it as a phone, too -- fandom chats only use Skype's instant messenger function -- and then when we have the chat, I'll post instructions for how to find us.

I generally watch things on my laptop with VLC player open in one window & the chat window open next to it. Some people watch on their tv-dvd players and chat on their laptops -- whatever works. When we watch something, someone counts down and everyone presses play, and then we have an international viewing party, easy peasy! \o/

This is basically how all fandom chats work, so once you have Skype set up, you'll be ready to go. :)

[ride-4ever.livejournal.com]

TYK, ever-awesome sage, for taking this newbie by the hand and leading me towards fandom chats!

I must have misapprehension about Skype. I thought it was going to involve that I had to buy and install a webcam and voice-over equipment (which is why I hadn't yet gotten involved with Skype). From what you've written it seems I don't need to buy any additional equipment...that the communication is by keyboard, not voice-and-visuals?

As for the thing about the VLC player and "when we watch something, someone counts down and everyone presses play," are the episodes, when we watch them, residing in cyberspace like when I use the VLC player to listen to podfics...or is there something I'm supposed to pre-load in advance of the viewing party?

Oh gods how I love that fandom is always leading me to learn new things, do new things!

[sage]

Well, people do use Skype like that, too, but we just use the text instant messenger part. We used to use Yahoo Instant Messenger, but then it stopped being stable across platforms.

You'll need either the Due South DVDs or avi equivalents. I don't recommend trying to stream them off YouTube, etc., since there's always a buffer lag & you end up behind everyone else with the actual DVDs.

[ride-4ever.livejournal.com]

Well, I do own all the dS DVD's and I have now registered with Skype. What else should I be doing between now and the 22nd as far as learning how to use Skype?

[ladyana5.livejournal.com]

Thanks for letting us know! I can't believe it's that old! I don't have Skype, but thanks anyway for the invite,

[sage]

Well, if you want to join in, the instructions for grabbing Skype are in the comments above. It's free & you don't need any equipment since we only use the instant messenger. Drop in if you like. :)