Opera nuts and the nature of fandom in general

[eyeresist]

I didn't want to post this in the ghetto of the opera forum

Interesting article about opera fandom, fandom in general, and how it can affect one's life.

Some highlights:

Wayne Koestenbaum spends a lot of time in The Queen's Throat: Opera, Homosexuality, and the Mystery of Desire trying to make opera a gay thing. While the wealthy do remain patrons of the opera houses, statistically speaking, the average opera viewer is much more...normal. On paper at least. Benzecry — who treated the Teatro Colón like a mysterious village and reported back on the inhabitants' behavior as an anthropologist would — found that the most devoted of its guests are middle class, many the children of immigrants, and, statistically, don't lean more straight or gay than the outside world. So when you do remove the opera, you find that the addicts share much in common — probably to their protestations and their horror — with people who get obsessed about other things, whether that be comic books or Lord of the Rings or certain pop musicians or television shows.

...

Both Benzecry and Koestenbaum write about the difficulty fans have in sustaining a romantic relationship that doesn't revolve around a shared opera obsession (it's no coincidence that this is also the stereotype of nearly every fan culture). It's as if these fans accidentally fell in love not with a human being but on opera, like a deluded gosling who imprinted on a sheepdog rather than its own mother.

...

I came across my copy of his book at the used bookstore, and I could read not only the text but the previous owner's increasing frustration with Koestenbaum's certainty. Next to yet another of the writer's line insisting opera is the territory solely of the gays — "Opera's apparent distance from contemporary life made it a refuge for gays, who were creations of modern sexual systems, and yet whom society could not acknowledge or accommodate" — my co-reader scrawled in an exasperated, "This is crazy!"

Follow the link to read the final hilarious/horrifying anecdote.

The Sopranos : Dissecting opera's fervent fans

[Sergeant Rock]

Follow the link to read the final hilarious/horrifying anecdote.

"Why don't you bring the records into the house? This is a terrific collection!" His friend replied, "You don't know what would happen. You have no idea what would happen."

The horror...the horror...I know it well. I let my records into the house and now they've taken over completely. Every inch of shelf space consumed and the overflow now living anywhere they can. I need a periscope to see my monitor screen 




Sarge

[mc ukrneal]

"Why don't you bring the records into the house? This is a terrific collection!" His friend replied, "You don't know what would happen. You have no idea what would happen."

The horror...the horror...I know it well. I let my records into the house and now they've taken over completely. Every inch of shelf space consumed and the overflow now living anywhere they can. I need a periscope to see my monitor screen 




Sarge

Very clever! You even have the OP's post on the monitor. Anyway - looks just fine to me!

[DavidW]

To steal an idea from Harry Potter, Sarge's cds are cursed: if you touch a cd, it will become two cds!  He'll be buried in no time!!

[Mirror Image]

Sarge

What a mess! You need some serious organization, Sarge.

Thankfully, my classical collection (around 6,000 CDs in all) is put up in storage bins and filing cabinets. I do have some recordings on one of my desks, but this is my "to rip to my iPod pile."

[eyeresist]

Great pic, Sarge. Those stacks of CDs certainly look familiar... Is that a Buddy Jesus on the printer? And why can't I see any speakers?

[Sandra]

My collection wasn't as big but it still made my studio look cluttered, no matter how well I organized it. I finally took the time (a couple of days, actually) and uploaded all into my PC and a back-up drive, and then sold the rest at a used CD store, gave away some to friends. I'm 100% digital now!

[eyeresist]

So now your problem is well hidden.

[snyprrr]

"Why don't you bring the records into the house? This is a terrific collection!" His friend replied, "You don't know what would happen. You have no idea what would happen."

The horror...the horror...I know it well. I let my records into the house and now they've taken over completely. Every inch of shelf space consumed and the overflow now living anywhere they can. I need a periscope to see my monitor screen 




Sarge

PORNOGRAPHY!!! MODS!!!


(You know I'm secretly trying to look at all those cd spines, haha)


However,... you're much worse than I am,...  I feel a lot better all of a sudden,... I'll use this pic to counter anyone who says I have too many cds!!

[Mirror Image]

My collection wasn't as big but it still made my studio look cluttered, no matter how well I organized it. I finally took the time (a couple of days, actually) and uploaded all into my PC and a back-up drive, and then sold the rest at a used CD store, gave away some to friends. I'm 100% digital now!

What a shame. As an avid buyer of CDs, this pains me to read this.

[DavidW]

My collection wasn't as big but it still made my studio look cluttered, no matter how well I organized it. I finally took the time (a couple of days, actually) and uploaded all into my PC and a back-up drive, and then sold the rest at a used CD store, gave away some to friends. I'm 100% digital now!

I want to do that now, in fact I've started.  Similarly with books->ebooks at least for novels.  The less useless things I have cluttering things up the better!

[eyeresist]

However,... you're much worse than I am,...  I feel a lot better all of a sudden,... I'll use this pic to counter anyone who says I have too many cds!!

Wow, if you think what's in that pic constitutes too many CDs...

My place is worse

[knight66]

You mean better.

Mike

[Bulldog]

"Why don't you bring the records into the house? This is a terrific collection!" His friend replied, "You don't know what would happen. You have no idea what would happen."

The horror...the horror...I know it well. I let my records into the house and now they've taken over completely. Every inch of shelf space consumed and the overflow now living anywhere they can. I need a periscope to see my monitor screen 




Sarge

My situation is very similar to yours except that my computer table is wider so my screen needs no periscope.

[The new erato]

Sarge, you post some good porn.

[Mirror Image]

The thing about my collection is that most of it is put up neatly. I can't stand a cluttered mess, but sometimes the CDs just start to pile up after awhile. The desk that sits next to my computer desk is getting quite a pile of to-listen-to CDs. Hopefully, I'll be able to clear this out soon.

[kishnevi]

Sarge, you don't have a problem.  Looks to me like you have plenty of floor space, enough for at least a few more hundred CDs.

[Sergeant Rock]

Sarge, you don't have a problem.  Looks to me like you have plenty of floor space, enough for at least a few more hundred CDs.

Dude, you haven't seen the floor. I'm surrounded! 






Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

What a mess! You need some serious organization, Sarge.

   I know, I know...as an NCO, used to instilling discipline and order, I'm appalled by my situation. In my defense,  my music library is organized. It's just become too small, overflowing into several other rooms.


Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Great pic, Sarge. Those stacks of CDs certainly look familiar... Is that a Buddy Jesus on the printer?

It is indeed our good buddy Christ...a gift from an old friend:

And why can't I see any speakers?

They are buried underneath the rubble    Here's a pic (click to enlarge) from an earlier, happier, less cluttered time of my life: Altec ACS340 (the subwoofer is underneath the desk):




Sarge