A True Sense of Community!

[WhoFan]

I felt the need to write this, because of the recent news of the passing of several members loved ones. Specifically the news of Mr. Harry Fielder�s wife, to my surprise, affected me very much. Yes, I said to my surprise! Please bear with me and I will do my best to explain.



To begin I think you should know just a bit about me. I lived, up until 2001, an extremely active life. I proudly served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War and survived three nine-month tours in country. After the Navy, my civilian jobs offered me many opportunities to travel all over the World. As a computer programmer for a large corporation, I travelled to 38 of our states. As a label, printing systems consultant I lived in Hong Kong for six months and travelled to England, Germany, Spain, Italy and Russia. As a manufacturing systems design consultant I was able to travel to China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Singapore Philippines and Thailand. I was extremely fortunate to be able to visit China several times which gave me the opportunities to be able to walk on the �Great Wall�, see the �Terracotta Warriors� in Xian, walk through �Tian'anmen Square� and visit the �Forbidden City�. Obviously up to this point in my life, I had been blessed!



In 2001, I become stricken with �peripheral neuropathy� caused by type 2 diabetes. I had nerve damage to my peripheral nervous systems, which made it difficult to walk, drive or use my hands without extreme pain. After many programs of pain management and several operations on my left hand and arm, it became obvious this condition was manageable, but not curable. Early in 2003 I lost my job and became house bound. Later that year my wife, of 23 years, left me. I started to feel sorry for myself and withdrew completely, sleeping 12-16 hours a day and wondered how someone that was so active all his life could live like this?



In 2004, things changed dramatically actually by accident. My son (22 yrs old), who is my hero, had all this time been taking care of me and doing his best to get me interested in anything again. One of his girl friends had lived in England for some time and often brought DVDs of British TV over for them to watch. Then one day they had left a copy of �Blakes 7� in the DVD player and when I turned on the TV, for my typical background noise, the DVD started playing where they left off. Well I actually became interested and ended up watching the entire series in a few days of almost non-stop viewing. It turned out that this girl was an avid collector and allowed me to watch many of her British series �Moonbase 3�, �Survivors� and �Doctor Who�. I became fascinated especially with Doctor Who. She had unfortunately only had the Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker episodes, so I went on a search of my own for more. It became a true passion to find everything I could on Doctor Who; I wanted to watch it all. I found myself getting engaged again I was sleeping less, was on my computer again and enjoying the gift of Doctor Who that the British gave me.



After watching the entire original series, I became fascinated by the many actors that played the monsters of Doctor Who, but were never seen on screen, like the Daleks, Cybermen and Ice Warriors. So, being a computer guy I created a simple database and started searching the Internet for these wonderful characters that I had not seen. Every time I identified a Dalek operator or the voice behind the Cybermen, I was ecstatic. I then decided I should find a picture of everyone who appeared in Doctor Who and my quest began. I tried contacting many of the actors but didn�t have much luck probably because they were more obscure, didn�t want to bother with a crazy fan, or had passed away. However, then I found Harry Fielder and his website and left him a message describing how I felt �Doctor Who� saved my life and how much I appreciated his part in that. He answered me with an extremely kind response and even went farther in recommending that I checkout this little website called �Britmovie�.



I had already joined and visited every website I could find on Doctor Who and many other Brit sci-fi series. I was also pretty skeptical of forums, because in my experience most of them were about who could shout the loudest. Besides the forums is where all the so-called experts showed to advise you and tell you how much you did not know. I never professed to be a �Doctor Who� expert, far from it, just a �fanatic� with a thirst for knowledge and I found out how many of the so-called experts, didn�t know jack! In spite of my trepidation, I went to the Britmovie forum on Mr. Fielder�s recommendation. After a tentative start, I was pleasantly surprised! Not only were there people here that actually responded to my questions, they did it with respect and decorum and Harry Fielder, please call me �Aitch�, was an active member.



Now finally to the point:

I have been a member of Britmovie forum for four months now and was very proud to become a senior member. After MySpace, Facebook and many other forum accounts I did not honestly believe you could make �true� friends on-line, Britmovie has changed my mind. For the first time in almost ten years I�ve found people that I like talking to and actually would feel comfortable meeting. I found a place where there are truly experts that do not hit you over the head with their expert or credits; they just help in an unassuming manner. I have found a place that celebrates the actors/actresses that have entertained us in the past and have kept their memory alive with tremendous respect. I have found a place where if you are attacked there are people who have your back and bring it back to the civility that is expected here. I suspect that many actors and relatives of actors visit here because of the respect and civility that is always present. I login every day if for nothing else just to see familiar avatar! The Britmovie forum has a sense of community I have never felt anywhere else!



So was I surprised to my reaction over Aitch�s loss, yes! However, I shouldn�t have been because he is my friend and a part of my community and in a true community the loss of one is felt by the whole community!



Thank you all, my friends, for the 'sense of community' and allowing me to participate, in my own way, making my life more worthwhile and vibrant!





Bill Blankenship

WhoFan & BritmovieFan

[jimw1]

name='WhoFan']



I�ve found people that I like talking to and actually would feel comfortable meeting. I found a place where there are truly experts that do not hit you over the head with their expert or credits; they just help in an unassuming manner. I have found a place where if you are attacked there are people who have your back and bring it back to the civility that is expected here. I suspect that many actors and relatives of actors visit here because of the respect and civility that is always present. I login every day if for nothing else just to see familiar avatar! The Britmovie forum has a sense of community I have never felt anywhere else!

A very interesting post WhoFan......

and I wholeheartedly Agree.....

The forum really does have a Friendly atmosphere where the less knowledgeable can say what they think without ridicule...........



thanks for the Words....I enjoyed reading them.........

[faginsgirl]

Thanks for your post Whofan. I agree, we have a great little community here.



I`m glad you enjoy British t.v and film a lot too



xx

[Arfur Teacake]

Whofan

let me return some inspiration I found watching an American programme

called Star Trek (which you might have heard of ? )



The episode was called Metamorphosis I think (such a long time since I saw it)



the premise was about a thunderstorm or maybe a ball of electrical sparks ? that falls in love with one of the crew. IIRC



At first I thought , how silly? how ridiculous ?



but then it began to dawn on me that take away our bodies and that is all we really are is just sparks bumping around in our brains.

I then appreciated what a clever piece of writing that had been.

[jimw1]

name='Arfur Teacake']Whofan

let me return some inspiration I found watching an American programme

called Star Trek (which you might have heard of ? )



The episode was called Metamorphosis I think (such a long time since I saw it)



the premise was about a thunderstorm or maybe a ball of electrical energy ? that falls in love with one of the crew. IIRC



At first I thought , how silly? how ridiculous ?



but then it began to dawn on me that take away our bodies and that is all we really are is just sparks bumping around in our brains.

I then appreciated what a clever piece of writing that had been.

That brought back memories Arfur.....



I remember seeing it many years ago....and like yourself I reflected on how good an Idea and Concept it was......



[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6THI4SlytU]YouTube - Star Trek -38 - Metamorphosis Part 3[/ame]

[Edward G]

Whofan,

Enjoyed reading your post and delighted for you that the forum has allowed you to pursue your renewed interests in an atmosphere of friendship and good humour and also lively and informed debate. You've obviously gone through a lot, to say the very least. I've looked at other forums over the years but they often degenerate into slanging matches or can be elitist and a platform for the experts to stand on a soapbox. Likewise, there is often so much junk and irrelevence on other social networks that they are just not worthy of our time. I ditched Facebook as it was just too invasive, packed with meaningless quizzes and bilge.

I don't need the world to see that I have 375 "friends" but only know 4 of them!

[smudge]

I've said this already in private, but it's rather appropriate to this thread. Yes, there is a great sense of community here in BM; there's no sniping or point-scoring and where films are concerned all opinions are valid.



However the real (and striking) sense of community has been in recent weeks when fellow members have suffered sad losses of their loved ones. I have to say how proud I have been of everyone here who has offered kind words in these difficult days for our friends. Remarkable people, each and every one.



Thank you all.



Smudge

[Steve Crook]

name='jimw1']The forum really does have a Friendly atmosphere where the less knowledgeable can say what they think without ridicule...........

Well, maybe a little bit sometimes

name='smudge']Yes, there is a great sense of community here in BM; there's no sniping or point-scoring

Well, not too much

and where films are concerned all opinions are valid.

Most definitely.



And they are, generally, a great bunch of people here



Steve

[Mark O]

You've plenty of friends here Bill............thanks for telling us about yourself, your son is a son to be proud of, I read you were in the Navy, doing your bit against the forces of evil and preserving our taken for granted freedom, for that you have my undieing gratitude.

[billy bentley]

It's a very special place BritMovie and one that I treasure. Smart. friendly people sharing what they know - how great is that ? And it's true !

[WhoFan]

Steve,

You're one of the member's opinion and expertise I respect.

I have used IMDb almost from it's inception and have followed the thread on IMDb with interest and some amusement! I'm looking forward to you letting us know what comes of the design meeting.



Thanks for your contributions and cool style!







Oh Yeah, I thought thread on the arrows in the target (avatar) was fascinating

[WhoFan]

name='Mark O']You've plenty of friends here Bill............thanks for telling us about yourself, your son is a son to be proud of, I read you were in the Navy, doing your bit against the forces of evil and preserving our taken for granted freedom, for that you have my undieing gratitude.

Thanks for the kind words Mark

I am extremely proud of my son! He has lost a couple of jobs due to taking care of me, but still continues be one of the most positive people I know!



However, he thinks we're all a bunch of old farts and can't understand why we would want to talk about a bunch of old 'black & white' movies!



He is a big 'Doctor Who' and 'Torchwood' fan, so he has some saving graces!





Bill

[ShirlGirl]

I'm glad you found a light that helped to bring you out of the darkness, Bill.



I like having cyber friends to chat with and enjoy common interests, even though my husband, friends and family can't understand it. We all meet up on the same level and things like age and appearance don't have any importance -- we're all equal.

[faginsgirl]

When some people talk about `virtual` friends and don`t understand it, it that means nothing to me. They are just friends. In Georgian and Victorian times upper and middle class people were often friends by letter in the same way, they used to meet by newspaper artiicles etc as people couldn`t afford to travel to meet up, or the journey would just take too long, but they were no less friends



xx

[hhhhancock]

A very moving biography Whofan, I too have type 2 diabetes and although it hasn't affected me in any significant way (I can control it with diet, exercise etc.- at the moment anyway) I can empaphise with you especially given your active life before the problem started.

We all get on pretty well given the occasional arguement, mostly about politics, and I like to think we all respect each other despite sometimes disparate views.

Keep well.

[Moor Larkin]

name='faginsgirl']When some people talk about `virtual` friends and don`t understand it, it that means nothing to me. They are just friends. In Georgian and Victorian times upper and middle class people were often friends by letter in the same way, they used to meet by newspaper artiicles etc as people couldn`t afford to travel to meet up, or the journey would just take too long, but they were no less friends

A nun, a playwright, a museum curator-they made an unlikely trio, but the brilliant insights and stinging wit which they each possessed make them a force to be reckoned with!



Relive their vigorous discussions on everything from the existence of God to the finer points of tango dancing, adapted from the trio's journals and other writings. This film captures the unique nature of an amazing friendship.

[Marky B]

name='WhoFan']

Thank you all, my friends, for the 'sense of community' and allowing me to participate, in my own way, making my life more worthwhile and vibrant!





Bill Blankenship

WhoFan & BritmovieFan

Good to know that life is picking up for you,Bill. Welcome to the site.

Ta Ta

Marky B

[Steve Crook]

name='WhoFan']Steve,

You're one of the member's opinion and expertise I respect.

I have used IMDb almost from it's inception and have followed the thread on IMDb with interest and some amusement! I'm looking forward to you letting us know what comes of the design meeting.



Thanks for your contributions and cool style!







Oh Yeah, I thought thread on the arrows in the target (avatar) was fascinating

Thanks for all of that. I try to be helpful, but in a light hearted way



We had the IMDb meeting just before I went to France. There were about 8 experienced contributors and a load of IMDb staff members in an online session for a few hours. That worked out very well, especially considering it's the first one we've ever done. They had already got our wish lists of improvements on the Contributors Help message board. My list on there included some suggestions from people here and in the P&P email list.



All of us experienced contributors gave a brief summary of our history with the IMDb and were then asked what we liked about it and what we would most like to change about it. That was followed by a few discussions about specific areas that the IMDb are already looking at working on.



Now they are going to go away to work on those changes and say that they'll have more meetings like that in the future because everyone involved found it to be very helpful



Steve

[faginsgirl]

Looks like a good film Moor Larkin, thanks for that



xx

[GoggleboxUK]

Absorbing post Bill. One with a great sense of belonging and an example to any one of us who feels a curtain of depression being drawn.



I agree with everything you, and those who have responded, have said: This certainly is the best online community I've discovered in over 10 years of web browsing.



I'd also like to thank you for the contribution you have made here yourself. The subject of your fanatical odyssey has brought both familiar and unfamiliar actors to the forefront of our minds once again, reawakened memories of episodes and series (not just of Doctor Who) that had perhaps been archived for many of us.



I know your journey is still ongoing but I'd be delighted to hear of you reaching a conclusion to this mammoth task and personally feel there's scope for publication here. Your research might eventually become the Wikipedia of Doctor Who casts! What a resource that would be!



Keep up the good work and be sure to continue to let us know if we can help in some small part.