Author Topic: Keeping BetterMost Alive...  (Read 9862 times)

Offline Ray

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Re: Keeping BetterMost Alive...
« Reply #10 on: May 14, 2006, 02:03:38 am »
Phillip, Fast or slow, I love the direction you're headed.  I stopped talking about the film/story/book/screen play itself some time ago, and as I have written in previous threads, the people who have congregated because of the film are my fascination now.  These people become more real and more important daily.  I love that you see this too and strive to become more than your forum.  BBM was a catalyst for change and for finding people we didn't even know existed, and for trying out our newly learned perspective on the world with understanding and without judgement, and for simply being happy that we are not experiencing difficulties all alone.  We have a wonderful community here and your vision to support that beyond the 'credits' is exactly what most of us hope for.  The movie Brokeback Mountain opened my mind, you people have filled it.  I am happy to progress with you.
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Offline Two_mules

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Re: Keeping BetterMost Alive...
« Reply #11 on: May 14, 2006, 06:11:05 am »
Some of my comments here are related to the fact that some of the people posting the stuff which seems a way off from Brokeback Mountain AND that the only connection of Brokeback Mountain and their lives is they took time to see the movie.

You seem to imply that some posters are more worthy than others, TJ. I've not posted a lot on the film in this community, but that's because I did all my discussing, pre- and post-film, on LiveJournal. As long as there are places to discuss the film at BetterMost, I can't see why you would object to off-topic forums. I've been active  in another fandom for 5 years, we still talk about our shared passion, but over five years you need other topics of conversation to sustain the friendships.
Give back your heart to itself, to the stranger who has loved you all your life, whom you ignored for another, who knows you by heart.
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Offline YaadPyar

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Re: Keeping BetterMost Alive...
« Reply #12 on: May 14, 2006, 06:49:33 am »

Phillip, Fast or slow, I love the direction you're headed.  I stopped talking about the film/story/book/screen play itself some time ago, and as I have written in previous threads, the people who have congregated because of the film are my fascination now.  These people become more real and more important daily.  I love that you see this too and strive to become more than your forum.  BBM was a catalyst for change and for finding people we didn't even know existed, and for trying out our newly learned perspective on the world with understanding and without judgement, and for simply being happy that we are not experiencing difficulties all alone.  We have a wonderful community here and your vision to support that beyond the 'credits' is exactly what most of us hope for.  The movie Brokeback Mountain opened my mind, you people have filled it.  I am happy to progress with you.


Wow!  Ditto everything!
"Vice, Virtue. It's best not to be too moral. You cheat yourself out of too much life. Aim above morality. If you apply that to life, then you're bound to live life fully." (Harold & Maude - 1971)

Offline maggiesmommy GayLee

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Re: Keeping BetterMost Alive...
« Reply #13 on: May 14, 2006, 11:53:13 am »
Ray,
YOU are the best thing that has happened to me since i first saw BBM...this board brought you and the other fantastic people here into my life. You helped me on an especially bad, vunerable day..you were there, you invited me to the chat room, you talked to me and the others there did too, and before long i felt so much better...i have taken your positive, encouraging attitude with me every day since...BBM changed my life, but YOU and people like you have madt it live in me...You have PM'd me just to say hi, to ask how i am feeling and to tell te to have a good day...that is friendship and human compassion, personified....that is what this board can mean to us...it is the perfect segway to living the life that BBM inspired in a different way in each of us....
I am SO looking forward to the new viewers...i will get my chance to "be there" for them, united with all of you, my new BBM family....some peopl poo-poo the idea of cyber friendship...they are WORNG!!! I have had more support here on this board than i have had with face to face friendships...something about being a bit anomoyous that helps us open up on a level we never would othersiwe....
ok..i have posted x2 here about the same subject, but i can't say enough how much BetterTHANmost means to me..
and you Ray....wow....i just love you, friend...
gaylee   


Phillip, Fast or slow, I love the direction you're headed.  I stopped talking about the film/story/book/screen play itself some time ago, and as I have written in previous threads, the people who have congregated because of the film are my fascination now.  These people become more real and more important daily.  I love that you see this too and strive to become more than your forum.  BBM was a catalyst for change and for finding people we didn't even know existed, and for trying out our newly learned perspective on the world with understanding and without judgement, and for simply being happy that we are not experiencing difficulties all alone.  We have a wonderful community here and your vision to support that beyond the 'credits' is exactly what most of us hope for.  The movie Brokeback Mountain opened my mind, you people have filled it.  I am happy to progress with you.
It is not the Number of Breaths We Take that number our days
Rather the Moments that Take our Breath Away

Offline Pipedream

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Re: Keeping BetterMost Alive...
« Reply #14 on: May 14, 2006, 12:33:41 pm »
Phillip, thank you so much for making this site such a great place and for letting it live, prosper and devellop!  :-*

= aside = 

TJ, I know that name-calling is forbidden on here, but this time I just can't help it: what a smart-ass you are! Of course, the German word for it sounds much more impressive: Klugscheißer. Why don't you just not read the posts you find annoying?   


« Last Edit: May 14, 2006, 02:40:47 pm by Pipedream »

Offline serious crayons

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Re: Keeping BetterMost Alive...
« Reply #15 on: May 14, 2006, 03:50:05 pm »
Why don't you just not read the posts you find annoying?   

I find that strategy works really well for me! Well, there are only a few posts I find out-and-out annoying. But like everyone else, I find some more interesting than others. My solution has been to read the ones I like, and skip the ones I don't.

Phillip, my vote would be to let anyone talk about pretty much anything they want to, so long as others are not offended. Much as I hate to admit it, there may eventually come a day when our interest in discussing the movie itself will start to fade (it hasn't yet, has it? HAS IT?). I hope that even then, people here will still be interested in talking to each other. So I'm all in favor of whatever works to sustain those connections.

Gaylee, I like your idea of a Watch it Again Day!

Offline Shuggy

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Re: Keeping BetterMost Alive...
« Reply #16 on: May 14, 2006, 07:19:07 pm »
Phillip, thank you so much for making this site such a great place and for letting it live, prosper and devellop!  :-*

= aside = 

TJ, I know that name-calling is forbidden on here, but this time I just can't help it: what a smart-ass you are! Of course, the German word for it sounds much more impressive: Klugscheißer. Why don't you just not read the posts you find annoying?   



On the techie side, I find this an extremely navigable, flexible site with heaps of useful features. Most amazingly, it doesn't have an Ignore button and I've never missed it! On the human side, I find the people here very open and friendly: it IS a community, and a growing and developing one. Bravo, Philip for your plans to keep it so!

=aside=
Pipedream, please cut TJ some slack. He's posted his background here: http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php?topic=1010.msg22961#msg22961

Offline Aussie Chris

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Re: Keeping BetterMost Alive...
« Reply #17 on: May 14, 2006, 10:04:46 pm »
Some of my comments here are related to the fact that some of the people posting the stuff which seems a way off from Brokeback Mountain AND that the only connection of Brokeback Mountain and their lives is they took time to see the movie.

Really TJ, sometimes you are too much.  The hypocrisy and double-standards reflected in this statement astound me.
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Offline Phillip Dampier

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Re: Keeping BetterMost Alive...
« Reply #18 on: May 14, 2006, 10:26:58 pm »
Some of my comments here are related to the fact that some of the people posting the stuff which seems a way off from Brokeback Mountain AND that the only connection of Brokeback Mountain and their lives is they took time to see the movie.

I don't think that is a fair comment.  There are a ton of users on here who have posted 700+ messages on this system, even more than I have (I write long, wordy messages so it takes me longer).  I'd say I could make a million bucks if I bottled the enthusiasm people have for this movie and called it Obsession BBM: The Unisex Fragrance for the Outdoor Type. :) The setting is a part of the film, but for those of us who weren't alive in 1963 and have never been to Wyoming in their lives, we *still* got it, trust me.

Quote
But, so many things in the story and the movie, including the dialog or conversations, remind me of my own live and people in my life.

I don't doubt this for a second.  But I wouldn't question other people who can legitimately say the same thing.  For me, I have an Ennis-type friend in my own life, and there is a user on here who can relate to Ennis quite a bit - he's starting to go through some of the same things Ennis did and he lives in Idaho, which isn't exactly the most tolerant state around.

The impact I felt personally was not as much related to the specific characters, although I saw traits of both Jack and Ennis in me and around me, but rather to the theme of missed opportunities and questioning what I was allowing to slip away in my own life.  I *got* the film and it impacted me enough to provoke me to start this site.

I say this to you with respect and kindness - I really do want you to be a part of our family here.  But you do not gain respect and friendship by alienating other people on here by dismissing their own heart-felt feelings and interpretations about the film and its meanings.  Remember Annie also said that people finish the story through his or her life experience, prejudices, world view and thoughts.

I don't think she could tell us to pick up what she is putting down more clearly than she did.  Each of us will take something different from the film and the story.  And if she's okay with that, than so should we all.
« Last Edit: May 14, 2006, 10:28:34 pm by Phillip »
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Offline Phillip Dampier

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Re: Keeping BetterMost Alive...
« Reply #19 on: May 16, 2006, 05:09:16 pm »
A bad pun I was told by one of the people I consult with about this site.

Me: On the other side of the ledger, the thing is growing.
Him: Isn't that something Jake said about Heath?



Now that that is out of the way, he also believes BetterMost has plenty of potential to broaden into a social networking site themed on all-things Brokeback but not limited to discussions about the movie itself.  My opinion has always been we gradually revise the theme of the site from "all things Brokeback" to "all the things in our lives that Brokeback changed" and that, of course, includes all of the new friends we've made.

So, if users approve, I'd like to start bringing new features into the mix that emphasize community a bit more than just movie.  None of the old stuff will be removed - I just want to consider focusing new stuff more on our lives in general and less on the movie.

Meanwhile, my next big project, which I am going to delegate to someone else to administer for us, is a BetterMost version of the Welcome Wagon.  Active users here would help greet the new folks, show them the ropes, and help encourage their participation.  I never want any part of this site to be a "clique" where outsiders have to fight their way in.  Having new people welcomed into the discussions will help bring new folks into our many discussions.  I envision one administrator of the program with a team of volunteers who will see new folks register for the system and send them a PM welcoming them and offering to guide their journey on here.

We only have around 50 regular posters on here with 354 members.  I'm sure some of the 354 were one time visitors who either moved on or didn't find the site a good fit and that is fine, but I'm sure there are lurkers out there who would probably join in if they felt more invited to do so.

I like the fact we remain the small-town feel forum out there.

Let me know your thoughts.

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