Nov. 13th, 2003

robinbloke: (Default)
Robert Heinlein
Robert Heinlein wrote you - you stranger in a
strange land, you.


Which Author's Fiction are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
robinbloke: (Clik-a-clak typing)
Conversation is an important thing, it's the basic fundamental of all communication between humans, it allows information exchange, helps develop bonds, relationships and much more.
The business world (supposedly) thrives on communication and as such develops and refines it, or in the case of marketing debases it - words such as 'empowers' make me shudder.
One such important conversation type in the world of business is the fly by conversation, the brief morning chat you have as you walk past a semi-known co-worker in the corridor who is going the other way; such conversations are normally limited to the following
A: Morning.
B: Morning.
Now you might think that such conversation is pretty limited, but there is a lot of scope even with these two words here (before we get into advanced stuff) to express more.
A: Morning.
B: Morning. (Assertively)
Here just varying the pitch and tone of your reply can indicate a whole new level of conversation, indicating not only you have successfully countered their basic grasp of this important conversation type but you have reached the second level of it's understanding and injected additional meaning into it. In short you have trumped them.
Now, should you meet someone who has already reached level 2 of this, what then?
A: Morning.
B: (a nod, a brief pause) Morning. (With conformational meaning)
Here B has double trumped A, not only have they seen A's intoned greeting and responded, but they have added an additional pause to indicate contemplation but a nod to indicate acknowledgement and that a greeting will follow after they have considered this. A is clearly outclassed here.
All this in the space of around three seconds.
Now we move onto fly by conversation grad school; beyond the realms of 'Morning'
A: (nod, eye contact) Morning.
B: (briskly) Indeed!
Now where does that leave A? Completely outclassed. Not only are they unsure of exactly the meaning of the returned greeting, but B has jumped into a whole new world of conversation that is beyond the ken of A - they have a lot of studying to do.
At this level of fly by conversation you can start to truly inject some of your own personality into your reply as well as implications and meaning, wild cards among you may feel at this point you may be ready for the highly advanced custom replies, beyond the recommended...
"Indeed", "Afternoon", "Alright.", etc.
"Alright." is a particularly impressive greeting, it simultaneously greets, indicates current state, inquires as to the well-being of the other and/or supplies a confirmation as to your own state of being. It is advised that you use this one sparingly so as not to imply that you are using it frivolously.
"Afternoon" can be a trap unto itself, it should be used extremely carefully, certain people are somewhat asleep in the morning and if you can catch them before their first coffee the result can be devastating...
A: Afternoon! (brightly)
B: (long pause, passing the crucial three step maximum for a reply) Afternoon? (inquiringly)
B has clearly indicated here that not only are they not awake, barely aware of what time it is and desperately in need of coffee, they are likely also barely aware of who or where they are. One of the only effective counters to this is as follows...
A: Afternoon! (brightly)
B: (very brief pause, just enough to indicate disapproval) Indeed. (sincerely)
A is now up a creek without a certain implement, B has called their bluff and also implied with their reply that they are much more aware than A of their current situation, they have also deigned to reply with any information regarding their state. B is giving A a mental slap, "You need more coffee, I am quite awake." they are saying.

Fly by conversation is an interesting form of conversation, there are many levels and nuances to it's use. I hope this introductory guide has wetted your appetite to study further into this field, there are many courses available that can help you hone your skills.
robinbloke: (Holy pulsating penguins batman!)
One word )
robinbloke: (Don't punt the penguin!)
I have a mood, and I have called it 'Bob'.
Sometimes I just have this whole sense of... wierdness wash over me, then it sort of sits there and orders coffee and scones, which annoys me because it never bothers to get me anything - selfish sod. Then it sort of sits in my brain and ruminates for a while and I wonder what it's going to do, or what it's going to think. Sometimes it can be quite fun and sometimes it can last for ages, other times it passes by (ooops, there it goes) and I am left wondering where it came from or what it was about.
Bob has gone, if it shows up again today I'll be sure and let you know, after all it's a funked up crazy old world where moods called Bob can strike at any moment and any time.
I need more sugar.

Sequels...

Nov. 13th, 2003 11:13 am
robinbloke: (Hi ho silver!)
Thinking of films now.

Think think think.

Back to sequels again, I will up my respectable sequel count now to a tentative three; these being... (in order of respectability)

Alien/Aliens
X-Men/X2
Batman/Batman returns

Are there any other sequels that are at least as respectable as the first? And no, I don't count (from my own point of view at least) Reloaded in this. Also films definately pre-planned as multiple releases don't count (Qv. Kill Bill, Lord of the Rings)

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