Whose politics? Despite the fact I watch West Wing, I'm not happy if it's going to just be a US Politics thread. Won't somebody think of the Unamericans?

I'll talk Australian politics with you, John. You may have to remind me of some of the names, though.

I don't keep up with Natter because it goes too fast for me to keep up with. So it's nice to drop in sometimes, and I know that it's full of cool and interesting people, but there's no way in hell that I can read all the posts that have happened since last I posted - so I'm generally conscious that I'm bouncing in rudely and interrupting, and that somebody may very well have just announced that such-and-such a trauma happened to them this morning and I've missed it because I only went back 20 posts. But this is my issue, and it's why I don't get into Natter very often. Not out of a rejection of the people in Natter, but out of a consciousness that I'm not contributing fully and am effectively interrupting.

I wanted to say something like this, but I post in natter more than FayJay. But still, I am always feeling like I am interrupting. So I don't think we are rejecting the Buffistas by not being able to natter. I think it is just that perhaps the more shy among us feel inhibited about skipping and then posting. I know it is me, and that everyone does it, it just feels weird. But I don't want anyone to feel that I am rejecting Buffistas, it is more that I wish I could talk more and smaller threads might give me a chance to do so.

Smallville and Due South were made in the WX days, to move specific HoYay out of the way, back when we were freewheeling and fancy free.

And then they came here.

so I'm generally conscious that I'm bouncing in rudely and interrupting, and that somebody may very well have just announced that such-and-such a trauma happened to them this morning and I've missed it because I only went back 20 posts. But this is my issue, and it's why I don't get into Natter very often. Not out of a rejection of the people in Natter, but out of a consciousness that I'm not contributing fully and am effectively interrupting.

I know I can't do anything if this is how you feel, but bouncing into Natter is never rude. For the most part serious and big messages are posted in Beep Me first. Also, and I cannot really emphasize this enough, there is NO INTERRUPTION IN NATTER, just as there no "on-topic" in natter. 10 people may be discussing the low-pressure system over Iowa at the same time 3 people are talking about the drugging of race turtles and 2 others about the come-back of velour jumpsuits.

In otherwords, as you feel like it, come, join the non-sequiterness of it all.

so I'm generally conscious that I'm bouncing in rudely and interrupting, and that somebody may very well have just announced that such-and-such a trauma happened to them this morning and I've missed it because I only went back 20 posts.

This is a danger; though I think most truly traumatic events will probably appear in Beep Me. The John H diet will probably minimise the risk.

but in a weird way I never really understood how Smallville and Due South threads got started.

Well, at WX anyone could create a forum. I think people got sick of natter being all Clex all the time, and so Smallville was created. Then the people in Smallville started talking about Due South, and thus it was born. Same with Spoilers Lite. At WX, though, we all had our own Bureacracies, too.

I don't keep up with Natter because it goes too fast for me to keep up with. So it's nice to drop in sometimes, and I know that it's full of cool and interesting people, but there's no way in hell that I can read all the posts that have happened since last I posted - so I'm generally conscious that I'm bouncing in rudely and interrupting, and that somebody may very well have just announced that such-and-such a trauma happened to them this morning and I've missed it because I only went back 20 posts.

This is how I feel too. Also, if I have to skip 200 or 300 posts at a time (which I do), I'm not really conversing -- I'm jumping in, making an announcement or posting an immediate reaction, and jumping out. That's not something that interests me, bottom-line.

I have a question: does anyone participate in another forum where there's so much resistance to new threads? Because everywhere else that I post or have posted, it's pretty much start one if you want one. It's funny on a meta level how something that started out of necessity (we weren't allowed to have a bunch of threads on table talk) is now viewed as a major virtue.

Smallville started as a weird subset, like Bitches, but not. And then Due South became a subset of Smallville.

The current Due South thread has included discussion of Stargate and Sports Night to some degree. But mostly it's discussion of Due South.

I'm rather against combing Smallville and Due South under one thread. For two reasons. One, Smallville is a currently running show so there will be more Smallville discussion than Due South, etc (I assume). Two, and this is purely selfish, I now dislike Smallville to the point where I get irrational when I hear about the storylines.

I don't keep up with Natter because it goes too fast for me to keep up with.

Honestly? I doubt that anyone keeps up with Natter. If they do, it is by far the minority of Buffistas. The rest of us skim a little, skip a lot, and join in. I don't understand why so many folks have I-can't-keep-up-with-Natter issues. Fine, don't keep up. We still want to say "hello" to you.

exactly Burrell. I do the Diet - read the last 20-50 posts, Beep me and Press, then join in for the time that I am on-line. Next day, do the same. I occasionally search on my name or on a topic if I was waiting for or expecting a response to something.