Mazel Tov!

August 29, 2003 2:36 PM

Janis Ian, Nashvillian, society's child and author of this fine article on music downloading (and this follow up) was married on Wednesday to her partner, Patricia Snyder, in Toronto. Congratulations all around.
posted by mikrophon (20 comments total)

I don't understand why you consider this to be MeFi-worthy news, mikrophon. Or are you likely to tell us about other celebrity marriages, too?
posted by five fresh fish at 3:39 PM on August 29, 2003

But the real question is, will the song "At Seventeen" still be so incredibly sad if you know that the singer is happily married?
posted by Space Coyote at 3:43 PM on August 29, 2003

I learned the truth at seventeen . . .

A girl must keep her privates clean.. ..

(sorry)
posted by Danf at 4:06 PM on August 29, 2003

I found the article on downloading to be fabulous. Thanks for the link.
posted by aclevername at 4:11 PM on August 29, 2003

those lines were not original to me. . something I heard years ago, that just stuck in my head. . ..
posted by Danf at 4:12 PM on August 29, 2003

Too bad they'll become unmarried again on their way home.
posted by kindall at 4:49 PM on August 29, 2003

I don't know if this wedding is newsworthy, but the honeymoon sure is different.
The couple plan to honeymoon at Torcon III, the annual Worldcon science fiction convention, and celebrate their marriage with a round of free dinners courtesy of various publishers and friends.
Both brides wore clothes.
Said Ms. Snyder: "After 14 years, it's about time. I think the idea of spending my wedding week with a group of geeks masquerading as giant lobsters and Star Trek characters is perfectly in character with my life with Janis."
posted by Frank Grimes at 6:25 PM on August 29, 2003

The article on downloading should be required reading for anyone who listens to music, period.

Thanks for the link.
posted by jokeefe at 7:22 PM on August 29, 2003

It is a good article. Thanks. I hope that those in the RIAA and NARAS have read it too.
posted by ashbury at 9:20 PM on August 29, 2003

So...uh...I guess that explains why she was never lucky with the kids back home as a teen?
posted by HTuttle at 10:42 PM on August 29, 2003

And she blamed it on them!
posted by HTuttle at 10:43 PM on August 29, 2003

C'mon, wasn't "At Seventeen" the only pop song of the '70s a true total dork (of any sexual orientation) could relate to?

Or am I the only true total dork here?

yeah, I'm asking for it
posted by wendell at 12:57 AM on August 30, 2003

Honeymooning at the Worldcon takes more courage, and energy, than I've ever had.
posted by rosvicl at 5:21 AM on August 30, 2003

How does this relate to Iraq or Arnold running for governor?
posted by mecran01 at 6:22 AM on August 30, 2003

I think the notion that gay celebrity marriages are as un-newsworthy as straight celebrity marriages is false; there's no push by the President of the United States to outlaw straight marriage. And yes, I'm a happily (and recently) married man myself.
posted by digaman at 12:12 AM on August 31, 2003

WE ALL PLAY THE GAME, AND WHEN WE DARE
WE CHEAT OURSELVES AT SOLITAIRE
INVENTING LOVERS ON THE PHONE
REPENTING OTHER LIVES UNKNOWN
THAT CALL AND SAY - COME ON, DANCE WITH ME


Wow. That's real.
posted by Twang at 9:34 AM on August 31, 2003

I think the notion that celebrity marriages are newsworthy is false.

The marriage had SFA to do with the interesting bits of the FPP links, which were well-researched, well-considered, and well-written arguments demonstrating the common sense of file trading as a tool to improve album sales.

Tossing the marriage news in that FPP just creates a carnival-spectacle aura to it: "Step right up, see the faggots perform feats of stunning ordinariness! Watch as they take part in a legal act! See them behave just like you!"

Her marriage should be a big yawn for us all. It was inappropriate to emphasize: as absurd as posting links to Walter Cronkite eating a cheese sandwich or Krugman putting money in a parking meter. The only reason you'd make links to that sort of thing is to make a spectacle of the subject.

At least, that's what it all felt like to me.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:26 AM on August 31, 2003

Watch as they take part in a legal act!

Isn't that the point? It's not a legal act in the country the people are citizens of. Janis and her partner, along with thousands of other American citizens, have to leave their country and go elsewhere to get equality. Once they cross back over to the border, that legal act is suddenly illegal (as kindall pointed out). The marriage news IS the news--janis's articles on file-sharing are old news, and have been posted here before, more than once i think.

Are we hearing about it because she used to be famous? Sure. Not many journalists write about the gay couple down the street who spent a long weekend in Toronto, and came back married. While you may find it a big yawn, and have moved on from the fact that Canada's allowing gay marriage and we're not, until that difference, which has enormous repercussions to couples and families and children all over the country, is legislated or voted away it'll continue to be an issue of fairness and equality, to many of us americans who care about that sort of thing. Her marriage can't be a yawn until it's legal, see?

and mazel tov, digaman!
posted by amberglow at 10:43 AM on August 31, 2003

Okay, then, if it's the marriage news that's the news, then the file-sharing links are the inappropriate ones, although they're also the only links with any worthwhile content.

They should have been replaced with links like, oh, The Vatican's Own Words about same-sex unions, or A Load of Pro-Marriage Links, or even a polling of support that indicates America isn't ready to support equality.

Frankly, given the quality of links, I think the FPP was meant to be about music sharing, with the lesbian marriage thrown in as cheap tittilation.
posted by five fresh fish at 2:01 PM on August 31, 2003

Yay! I became acquainted with Janis Ian and her works last year at the Canmore Folk Festival. I'm glad, as a Canadian, to know that Ms. Ian and her partner were able to get married in our fair country.
posted by kate_fairfax at 9:38 AM on September 1, 2003