"not that they never have -- just that they don't now"
Ah, OK, so "willing to drink" is a murky area for me. For example, if I throw a party, and there is no alcohol, and no one mentions anything, these to me are not drinkers.
This may simply be our difference in usage. Given I have parties often bi-weekly (esp. during the summer), and leave out alcohol, (and good stuff too), only to find it all or mostly unopened, is interesting. As a result, I have amassed a huge collection of gift spirits. My two day parties however will often result in more being consumed, since often people will simply stay over, sometimes a dozen or two.
This may also be a west coast vs. east coast type of thing, hard to tell without more data.
uh...151x59x5(2)x2(2)
Now you have to teach me something. I seem to have to use the "old layout" to post. The new layout does not give me a [Submit] button...I'm on FF version recent.enough.
What am I missing?
Please don't interpret my reply to you as a argument, but rather a friendly debate, I'm more testing out Slashdot and my email settings...but I did want to understand something...
"I wouldn't say that most geeks don't drink, but there is a significant number who don't."
So...on a scale of 1 - 10, where would you place 'most' and where would you place 'significant', and...how do you correlate this relationally? Meaning, did you take it to mean I was saying most geeks don't drink - relative to other geeks? Or relative to other people in general? And, of the statement 'most don't' does it mean we "never do" or have "never done"?
[I for example, have never had a sip of alcohol in my life, neither beer, nor anything else. Nor, have I have had coffee, smokes, or recreational drugs, ever. Although it is important to note I hope for all to enjoy what ever they indulge in, and since our audience here are for the 'most' part smart, I leave it to them to do so smartly.]
I shall stand by my use of 'most' in all the cases though, since for me I tend to assign 'most' to mean 2/3rds. Otherwise I would say 'over half' or some such more exacting yet social term. However, I do so with empirical data, and somewhat formal data as well (where somewhat might be the inverse of 'most' of course. In fact, to the degree of polling hundreds of people over dozens of years, and hundreds of parties.
This is my first post on Slashdot. Normally I don't have anything useful to say (smarter faster posters seem abundant), but I think here I can step up.
Comatose51 (687974) got very close.
Aside from having thrown a lot of very successful parties in my life (even making the news papers), I formed www.HIKEtheGEEK.com a few years ago. Most of the hikers are indeed mathematicians, physicists, and other technically minded people...we also have an amazing geek-girl to geek-guy ratio, which is very cool.
Let's ignore that they are mathematicians, and just recognize they are smart. Smart people are not impressed by shinny objects and noise makers.
Here are some ideas:
- Play music that people will get a kick out of, like the movie soundtrack to a well known or fun movie. Forrest Gump has a very cool sound track for example. It often surprised people when they realize how much music was in that movie. But camp movies can work also.
- Fondue - It involves very hot liquids, and experimentation. The more pots the better. Some can be wine based, others chocolate, etc. It ain't just for the 70s any more.
- Speaking of wine, don't bring beer. Beer is boring...ask people to bring something small, tasty, and interesting. Most geeks don't drink, but if the do, they tend to want to experience something original.
- Invite non-geeks, and invite as many women as you can... Women are naturally social, it is simply wonderful how a well balanced party will just flow.
- Ask everyone to dress nicely. This is rarely done now-a-days. But it is really cool to see your friends at their best, or at the very least, a great chance for black-mail material for later.
- Ask everyone to bring a fav game. Cheap Ass Games is a good example. But don't start games until later. Apples to Apples is another great party game for smart people.
- Show a movie later in the evening, something fun most people would not have seen. Either really old, or really new. (I'm planning on Surfwise next for example).
- Get the invites out early, invite all people in person (on the phone is fine). Do not invite people just by email. - Hire someone, or get some friends to agree before hand to help clean up.
- Lastly, host the party. This is worth a thousand words on its own, but to be brief, a host is an active job, make sure people meet each other. Introduce people by name, and by someone that others might think is interesting. Even if you don't know someone, you can still make a statement, for example "Terry, meet Pat, Pat meet Terry. Terry wears white vans to parties, while Pat knows how to make the colour red *work*"
Slashdot Mirror
Thank you. I get it now. Annoying to be FORCED to preview first, but OK.
"not that they never have -- just that they don't now" Ah, OK, so "willing to drink" is a murky area for me. For example, if I throw a party, and there is no alcohol, and no one mentions anything, these to me are not drinkers. This may simply be our difference in usage. Given I have parties often bi-weekly (esp. during the summer), and leave out alcohol, (and good stuff too), only to find it all or mostly unopened, is interesting. As a result, I have amassed a huge collection of gift spirits. My two day parties however will often result in more being consumed, since often people will simply stay over, sometimes a dozen or two. This may also be a west coast vs. east coast type of thing, hard to tell without more data.
uh...151x59x5(2)x2(2) Now you have to teach me something. I seem to have to use the "old layout" to post. The new layout does not give me a [Submit] button...I'm on FF version recent.enough. What am I missing?
Please don't interpret my reply to you as a argument, but rather a friendly debate, I'm more testing out Slashdot and my email settings...but I did want to understand something... "I wouldn't say that most geeks don't drink, but there is a significant number who don't." So...on a scale of 1 - 10, where would you place 'most' and where would you place 'significant', and...how do you correlate this relationally? Meaning, did you take it to mean I was saying most geeks don't drink - relative to other geeks? Or relative to other people in general? And, of the statement 'most don't' does it mean we "never do" or have "never done"? [I for example, have never had a sip of alcohol in my life, neither beer, nor anything else. Nor, have I have had coffee, smokes, or recreational drugs, ever. Although it is important to note I hope for all to enjoy what ever they indulge in, and since our audience here are for the 'most' part smart, I leave it to them to do so smartly.] I shall stand by my use of 'most' in all the cases though, since for me I tend to assign 'most' to mean 2/3rds. Otherwise I would say 'over half' or some such more exacting yet social term. However, I do so with empirical data, and somewhat formal data as well (where somewhat might be the inverse of 'most' of course. In fact, to the degree of polling hundreds of people over dozens of years, and hundreds of parties.
This is my first post on Slashdot. Normally I don't have anything useful to say (smarter faster posters seem abundant), but I think here I can step up.
Comatose51 (687974) got very close.
Aside from having thrown a lot of very successful parties in my life (even making the news papers), I formed www.HIKEtheGEEK.com a few years ago. Most of the hikers are indeed mathematicians, physicists, and other technically minded people...we also have an amazing geek-girl to geek-guy ratio, which is very cool.
Let's ignore that they are mathematicians, and just recognize they are smart. Smart people are not impressed by shinny objects and noise makers.
Here are some ideas:
- Play music that people will get a kick out of, like the movie soundtrack to a well known or fun movie. Forrest Gump has a very cool sound track for example. It often surprised people when they realize how much music was in that movie. But camp movies can work also.
- Fondue - It involves very hot liquids, and experimentation. The more pots the better. Some can be wine based, others chocolate, etc. It ain't just for the 70s any more.
- Speaking of wine, don't bring beer. Beer is boring...ask people to bring something small, tasty, and interesting. Most geeks don't drink, but if the do, they tend to want to experience something original.
- Invite non-geeks, and invite as many women as you can... Women are naturally social, it is simply wonderful how a well balanced party will just flow.
- Ask everyone to dress nicely. This is rarely done now-a-days. But it is really cool to see your friends at their best, or at the very least, a great chance for black-mail material for later.
- Ask everyone to bring a fav game. Cheap Ass Games is a good example. But don't start games until later. Apples to Apples is another great party game for smart people.
- Show a movie later in the evening, something fun most people would not have seen. Either really old, or really new. (I'm planning on Surfwise next for example).
- Get the invites out early, invite all people in person (on the phone is fine). Do not invite people just by email.
- Hire someone, or get some friends to agree before hand to help clean up.
- Lastly, host the party. This is worth a thousand words on its own, but to be brief, a host is an active job, make sure people meet each other. Introduce people by name, and by someone that others might think is interesting. Even if you don't know someone, you can still make a statement, for example "Terry, meet Pat, Pat meet Terry. Terry wears white vans to parties, while Pat knows how to make the colour red *work*"