Okay, so you'd think I'd want to talk about the last bit, because this is my THING, but we talked about that previously, and what I really want to comment on is the t-shirts. Because you see, that has been a THING for me recently.
I have never been a t-shirt person. Ever. And esp not t-shirts with anyting on them. If I was going to wear one, it was going to be solid color, plain. I saw no need to wear a bumpersticker around.
And then sommehow that changed when I picked my music up again, because of course, musicians are big on t-shirts. It's how we signal our musical tastes to fellow musicians fromm across a crowded room. ALong with the stickers on our guitar cases. but those are harder to carry around all the time. So t-shirts started to become a Thing.
And then of course, when I went to Liverpool this winter (yes, I'm going to work that into EVERY SINGLE CONVERSATION until I go again and then I'll work that into EVERY SINGLE CONVERSATION), t-shirts became a thing again. Because they are the obvious purchase at various places, right? Strawberry Field, the Cavern etc. Also there were friends who wanted them, so I was Aware of T-Shirts in a specific way.
And it was intersting because I did in fact come back with t-shirts for friends and for others, but I found myself very specifically NOT buying any Beatles t-shirts. That was the rule. Whatever else, but nothing that says Beatles. Nothing that has a photo of the Beatles. It wasn't like I was disciplining myself here. I just didn't want that at all.
And when I thought about it, I realised it's to do with avoiding the "fan" appellation, which I'm quite put off by because that's not what's going on here as my long rambly FB post of awhile back specified. There's something too shallow and consumerist about "fan." Writer, scholar, expert, researcher, hell, even accoylte. ALl good. Fan. No.
And the other thing was, I loved the idea of finding things that woud only read "Beatles" to people who loved the Beatles. I don't want to get into a conversation with someone who doesn't know about them. (Oleg, you are an exception to this, but mostly I don't find it fun to engage in dialogue with someone about something I'm passionate about and know much about with someone who doesn't, but usually somehow thinks their opinion is of equal interst. But I digress.)
So what I came home with was an interesting and ecclectic assortment of t-shirts that evoke Beatleness, but don't mention the Beatles. A t-shirt with the original design for the Cavern poster on it. An abstract silhouette of the famous photo of the day John and met Paul from St Peter's Church. My favorite, though, is a black t-shirt (I always go for black) with a red silhouette of the iconic gates of Strawberry Field. When someone says to me, "Isn't that Strawberry field?" I KNOW this is someone I want to talk with. And it's happened once already, which is so cool.
It is interesting how a not-recognizable-to-all prop accelerates tribal identification with a stranger. I have a Green Lantern ring, which draws out the comic-book nerds like moths to a... um, lantern.
I've been thinking about this today, that maybe in some ways, signallingt-shirts are the forerunner to the lovely way that the internet that allows us to connect so easily with a very specific tribe of people who share our quirky interests. For me at least, that's one of the great blessings of the digital age. As someone who has spent a lifetime being passoinately interested in very specific and niche things, it's lonely when youre the only one (and if you go on about your quirky obsessions to your non-quirky niche friends, you soon have no more friends...)..
I mean, if you're into, you know, centaur porn, there is a tribe for that. (No, I'm not making that factoid up. When you are interested in niche/quirky things, it takes you to some strange places on the interwebs.)
Secret signals of affinity groups is a robust and fertile topic! Whereas with the internet, it's easier to seek out your funky fetish, in the past it was someone's older brother, a magazine found in an alleyway, or being at the right place at the right time that nudged you through a tiny door into the world of your tribe.
I'm not sure there's anything wrong with being a fan. Fan is short for fanatic, isn't it? It's someone who is obsessed, not just a fellow traveler as I am for so many subjects. But I understand regarding your shirts -- you only want to talk to other otaku, people who are knowledgeable enough that you share a short-hand and a heartbeat. Anything less is exhausting.
For what I do, "fan" is trivializing and inaccurate, which is my main objection. I think of Beatles "fans" as being the ones who go to International Beatle Week (where I will not go unless I'm a presenter...) and wear Yellow Submarine hats...
I think that's materially different from my engagement with them which involves research trips, scholarly and serious writing and research, etc.
But that said, I've never cared for the term. Something about it rubs me entirely the wrong way, when applied to myself. I haven't quite gotten at what it is.
Seems like there are fans and then there are Fans. But generally both categories are subsumed as groupies. Maybe you don't want to be seen as a groupie but someone who adds value to a performer's universe rather than simply takes.
Okay, so you'd think I'd want to talk about the last bit, because this is my THING, but we talked about that previously, and what I really want to comment on is the t-shirts. Because you see, that has been a THING for me recently.
I have never been a t-shirt person. Ever. And esp not t-shirts with anyting on them. If I was going to wear one, it was going to be solid color, plain. I saw no need to wear a bumpersticker around.
And then sommehow that changed when I picked my music up again, because of course, musicians are big on t-shirts. It's how we signal our musical tastes to fellow musicians fromm across a crowded room. ALong with the stickers on our guitar cases. but those are harder to carry around all the time. So t-shirts started to become a Thing.
And then of course, when I went to Liverpool this winter (yes, I'm going to work that into EVERY SINGLE CONVERSATION until I go again and then I'll work that into EVERY SINGLE CONVERSATION), t-shirts became a thing again. Because they are the obvious purchase at various places, right? Strawberry Field, the Cavern etc. Also there were friends who wanted them, so I was Aware of T-Shirts in a specific way.
And it was intersting because I did in fact come back with t-shirts for friends and for others, but I found myself very specifically NOT buying any Beatles t-shirts. That was the rule. Whatever else, but nothing that says Beatles. Nothing that has a photo of the Beatles. It wasn't like I was disciplining myself here. I just didn't want that at all.
And when I thought about it, I realised it's to do with avoiding the "fan" appellation, which I'm quite put off by because that's not what's going on here as my long rambly FB post of awhile back specified. There's something too shallow and consumerist about "fan." Writer, scholar, expert, researcher, hell, even accoylte. ALl good. Fan. No.
And the other thing was, I loved the idea of finding things that woud only read "Beatles" to people who loved the Beatles. I don't want to get into a conversation with someone who doesn't know about them. (Oleg, you are an exception to this, but mostly I don't find it fun to engage in dialogue with someone about something I'm passionate about and know much about with someone who doesn't, but usually somehow thinks their opinion is of equal interst. But I digress.)
So what I came home with was an interesting and ecclectic assortment of t-shirts that evoke Beatleness, but don't mention the Beatles. A t-shirt with the original design for the Cavern poster on it. An abstract silhouette of the famous photo of the day John and met Paul from St Peter's Church. My favorite, though, is a black t-shirt (I always go for black) with a red silhouette of the iconic gates of Strawberry Field. When someone says to me, "Isn't that Strawberry field?" I KNOW this is someone I want to talk with. And it's happened once already, which is so cool.
So I use my t-shirts as bait to lure my tribe.
ps apologies for the typos. I've got my dark mode on and I can't see the typos as well... but language is fluid. Space is curved. Time is relative.
It is interesting how a not-recognizable-to-all prop accelerates tribal identification with a stranger. I have a Green Lantern ring, which draws out the comic-book nerds like moths to a... um, lantern.
I've been thinking about this today, that maybe in some ways, signallingt-shirts are the forerunner to the lovely way that the internet that allows us to connect so easily with a very specific tribe of people who share our quirky interests. For me at least, that's one of the great blessings of the digital age. As someone who has spent a lifetime being passoinately interested in very specific and niche things, it's lonely when youre the only one (and if you go on about your quirky obsessions to your non-quirky niche friends, you soon have no more friends...)..
I mean, if you're into, you know, centaur porn, there is a tribe for that. (No, I'm not making that factoid up. When you are interested in niche/quirky things, it takes you to some strange places on the interwebs.)
Secret signals of affinity groups is a robust and fertile topic! Whereas with the internet, it's easier to seek out your funky fetish, in the past it was someone's older brother, a magazine found in an alleyway, or being at the right place at the right time that nudged you through a tiny door into the world of your tribe.
which was also glorious and mysterious and synchronistic. There is somethng to be said for that kind of occurrence!
I'm not sure there's anything wrong with being a fan. Fan is short for fanatic, isn't it? It's someone who is obsessed, not just a fellow traveler as I am for so many subjects. But I understand regarding your shirts -- you only want to talk to other otaku, people who are knowledgeable enough that you share a short-hand and a heartbeat. Anything less is exhausting.
For what I do, "fan" is trivializing and inaccurate, which is my main objection. I think of Beatles "fans" as being the ones who go to International Beatle Week (where I will not go unless I'm a presenter...) and wear Yellow Submarine hats...
I think that's materially different from my engagement with them which involves research trips, scholarly and serious writing and research, etc.
But that said, I've never cared for the term. Something about it rubs me entirely the wrong way, when applied to myself. I haven't quite gotten at what it is.
Seems like there are fans and then there are Fans. But generally both categories are subsumed as groupies. Maybe you don't want to be seen as a groupie but someone who adds value to a performer's universe rather than simply takes.