@lyndahere wrote to Alan Doyle about his writing style…
@lyndahere to @alanthomasdoyle “When I read Alan’s writing I hear him speaking including his emphasis w. those Capitalized Nouns. It’s perfect”. 26 February 2013
@lyndahere to alanthomasdoyle “You’re characteristic style of capitalizing nouns. It’s an integral part of your writing voice: your editor should keep it” 26 February 2013
Lyndahere has further emerged herself into the life of Alan Doyle by copying his writing style when writing tweets and her blog posts. That is capitalizing nouns like he often does. I find this interesting considering Lyndahere has stated in her blog she worked as editor prior to becoming a full time music fan. Writing for social media is of course not the same as writing for a book that will be read world-wide. Some of the words and phrases used by Great Big Sea are especially from Newfoundland and I don’t believe these should be used by others in order to assimilate themselves into cultures that are not their own and the lives of people and may be used out of context.
In a previous blog post “Lyndahere fandom and mean girl shit” I wrote “Peter Narvaez from Memorial University in St John’s Newfoundland wrote a paper titled “Fandom as Magical Practice: Great Big Sea, Stockwell Day and Spoiled Identity” published in the Newfoundland and Labrador Studies in 2007. Narvaez provides background information on fandom studies (the study of fans of aspects of popular culture) in which he describes how the fans of famous celebrities change their environment and personal circumstances to be similar to and lessen the distance between themselves and the famous person….
The second strategy suggested by Narvaez for fans aimed at decreasing the distance is “similitude emulation, attempting to master the same knowledge that the admired performer possesses by trying to understand and often to relive the artists most important experiences and influences”. Narvaez states that fans do this by taking on the role of researcher and documenting sources of information and performances in order to copy their lifestyle. As it has been documented by herself Lyndahere tries to attend every public event attended by Alan Doyle and Great Big Sea taking thousands of photographs and videos and documenting the experiences. She lives part of the time in St John’s Newfoundland and only briefly to return to Seattle. Klapp as sited in Narvaez (2007) refers to this transformation as “identity voyages” “a mimetic process whereby a fan vicariously lives through a performer, imitating their speech, appearance behaviour and sometimes adopting their attitudes and ideas as well”. This includes watching NHL hockey and of course following Alan Doyle’s beloved Habs ect and attending many of the same events and places he does including charity events, restaurants and pubs.” While she has researched the Internet frequently for information on Great Big Sea and then sending them to Alan Doyle via Twitter it now includes copying his writing style as well. And that is capitalising nouns.
Now for the tour. Lyndahere began with the usual last minute packing and confusion over her reservations over three Email accounts. More tweets outlining the delay of her planes, missed connections, her lost luggage, sleeping in the airport, snacking airport food and drinking her first beer in three weeks. She tweeted Alan Doyle and her followers it is all worth it to watch the opening concert of Great Big Sea XX. Drama, drama and more drama and responded to by a loyal band of followers wishing they were there, wishing her luck and waiting anxiously for the videos. Then there are the tweets from someone interested in buying her photographs of Russell Crowe which she politely refuses.
@lyndahere to @alanthomasdoyle “Day One-delayed flight, missed connection, now flying standby. And worth every bit of the effort” 4 March 2013
@lyndahere 1st standby a no-go. 2nd standby in 3.5 hours. If that fails, confirmed flight 2.5 hours after that. Yes, still worth it. Not a bit of doubt.” 4 March 2013
@lyndahere “At least 3 more hours in the Lounge, maybe 5. I s’pose I could work some more on make for the Dry Spell these past few weeks.” 4 March 2013
@lyndahere to @marieandreeh “Beer & chocolate pretzels = lunch. Maybe supper too. Could be worser. Sometimes it’s the destination, not the journey” 4 March 2013
@lyndahere “Naps are impossible in a busy airport lounge. Up until the phone buzzed. I was dreaming about NW product shortages (adjacent phone convo).” 4 March 2013
@lyndahere “Finally napped. Woke to fin Standby Flight #2 now delayed an hour. I’ve gone from SEA to YYT quicker than this. More Beer and choc pretzels.”5 March 2013
@lyndahere to @alanthomasdoyle “Still awake? Gonna make it? Hey, 11’s a stretch for me tonight and I didn’t ever change time zones. But up at 4 am also.” 5 March 2013
After the concert there were the usual flood of responses. How awesome the music was, how fantastic Alan Doyle was, what a beautiful face he has and the great merchandise everyone can expect to buy. Lyndahere of course has brought hers just in case she missed out. There are no surprises for anyone who reads her tweets and plans to go to a concert. For example a new song or a song performed live are soon put on YouTube like the live version of Billy Peddel or What Are You At.
@lyndahere to @alanthomasdoyle “You really do have the sweetest face on the planet. You should be told that everyday of your life.” ” 6 March 2013
@lyndhere to @alanthomasdoyle @bobhallett @greatbigsean “Awesome live version of Billy Peddle Great Big Sea Anaheim 1st XX show” ” 6 March 2013
@lyndhere to @alanthomasdoyle @bobhallett @greatbigsean @murrayfoster1 @krismacdrum “What Are You At”. ” 6 March 2013
@lyndhere to @alanthomasdoyle @bobhallett @greatbigsean @murrayfoster1 @krismacdrum “and so are you. Awesome, that is. Truly an auspicious beginning.” 6 March 2013
@lyndahere to @alanthomasdoyle “Awesomely well done dear Alan, and there’s a big line at the merch table – bonus. See you in SF” 6 March 2013
@lyndahere “Lots of really cool new Great Big Sea XX merch to buy. Including tour shirts with show dates. Got mine” 5 March 2013
I am looking forward to Great Big Sea and hope to be in Canada shortly. I know they will be awesome because their music is awesome.
