[This post is a work in progress, but i must leave for my hair appt.]

1) It is a professional/graduate level anthropology book. If you don't have at least a few jr/sr college classes in anthro, it's going to be next to impossible to follow. The author expects the reader to have a solid background in the histography and methodology of subculture studies.

2) Because it follows standard methodology, even though she interviewed many musicians, fans, and others, no where in the book are they listed or refered to by name. When she uses a direct qoute it is attributed only by the person's intials. Thus there are many quotes from B.H., but I can't even tell you if they are all the same B.H., much less which if any are from Bob Hardy. Other than in the thank yous at the beginning of the book, where she thanks all the members of Franz Ferdinand by name, (but never mentions they're in a band together), there is nothing that directly says anything about Franz Ferdinand in this book.

3) Unless and until you are ready to have the workings of the indie scene revealed to you, don't read this book. If you weren't jaded going into it, you will be coming out of it  As the author herself points out it takes a special kind of person to be able to understand the whys of something happening and still be able to enjoy the ritual of it happening.  I will say, however, that it gives me a better appreciation of of just how special the Franz boys must be to do exactly that.

I'm waiting with baited breath (cliche,  I know) to find out when Franz will be playing NYC. I was so upset that  I wasn't going to be able to go to Bonnaroo. But if they're playing NYC during the week, which is very likely, then I can fly up, see the gig, and fly back before the weekend. ( I have obligations on saturdays.)

I've already worked out all the details and arranged everything  I can, I'm just waiting for the dates and tickets to be released so I can put everything in motion.

Yeah, alot of people think I'm crazy to fly to NYC for less than a day, but dang it  I want to see them. And if there is any compensation to being a fat, 39  yo geek fan, it's that  I don't need my parents permission anymore to do really stupid things.

I'm thinking I'll print out a really nice copy of the photo of Bob I'm using as my icon and see if I can get him to sign it. It's my favorite picture of him. Of course, I'll have to carry it in my sketch book, it's the only thing large enough and stiff enough in my shoulder bag to keep the picture from getting creased.

There's a conversation on s_t about Alex buying a house in NYC. Lots of debate is going on over whether this means he's moving from Glasgow, whether this means he's moving in with Eleanor, whether this means that him and Eleanor are going to have a baby/get married, etc.

First, it's amazing to me that we can all be so bored waiting for the new album that this becomes discussion worthy. Why is it that when Paul supposedly bought a house in London last year there wasn't nearly this much angst? Or did  I just miss it?

Second,  I still haven't figured out how some people can get from a pretty reliable rumor of "Alex may be buying a house in NYC" to  "squee, Alex and Eleanor are going to be having a baby in the near future". Maybe it's just too many years of training in logic for me, but there is no way outside of some very fevered imaginings to get from the first statement to the last.

Third, the only thing that worries me about him moving to NYC is the effect on his music. It's not that  I don't want him to be happy, or that  I think he deserves to be depressed just to make us, the fans, happy, but the reality is that most of the music I like from them is very angsty and dark.  I like the version of  "come on home" on the dvd where he changes the last word to 'stay' exactly because it's the unexpected.  If the record version said 'stay' instead of 'leave', it would be just another weak romance song. Something The Feeling would sing, not Franz Ferdinand.
I went through this with Bruce Springsteen.  I still listen to his early dark albums, but after he got married the second time and became a dad, and basically grew up, his music just wasn't the same. People keep telling me that I'll grow up and like the more settled life and appreciate the more 'home'-ly music, but I'm a year short of 40 and  I don't see it even starting yet. For some people it never does.
I have mixed emotions about this in regards to Alex. I really want him to be happy because I don't think people should be unhappy.  I want to be happy in my life, why shouldn't  I want that for him? But  I know that art changes when the artist changes.  I don't want happy music from him.   I would like to think that he will still write the same music no matter what, but I have yet to find an artist that can do it.  I know my art changes when I'm happy from the stuff  I do when I'm sad or lonely, why should I expect miracles from him?

I decided i really needed a place that  I could just post all my ramblings and energy over Franz, Bob, etc.  My regular journal is boring 39yo stuff, and my <lj user="lemursexbot"> journal is too restricted for good reason. so voila!

(Plus none of my real life friends want to hear about the goodness that is Franz anymore without causing me grevious bodily harm, so  I need to find people who will enjoy my constant stream of Franz related babble.)