Post a recent photo of yourself!

for example, i like historic places a lot. Say some huuge field where a battle took place during WWI. Or a particular house where some secrete deal was signed. Etc. They're not as impressive as the Empire State building but there's something about them, which I prefer to the view from a sky-scraper. Maybe it's a similar fascination with going to Jon Bonbon's high-school.

I don't really think it's the point either. It's the same thing as visiting a historical figure's home and sightseeing important places for them. Fans just rate their idols at least as high as famous historical politicians, scientists or artists from the past and probably wish for Jon's house to turn into a museum someday.


Ponrauil

It's seen that way on the Bruce board too. Asbury Park and the surrounding area was once a music hub - probably the way Nashville is now. Some of the sights have been sung about and people who love the music like to see where it started.

Unfortunately the area is in no way what it used to be.

And Neil we did go into New York City the next day and we saw many of the sights.

I'm not condemning anyone who chooses to visit such places - I'm only curious as to why people do actually want to visit them, because I can't understand it. That's all.

Don't get me wrong, I have been to both the Empire State Building (but there was no view, because it was so foggy), and Times Square (which I did indeed find slightly awe inspiring), I was just trying to point out that people see different sights for different reasons ... I'm sure there's a lot of people who couldn't care less for views of any kind

They're neither random or arbitrary ... just because they're not in any 1001 Thing To Do When Visiting New Jersey book or whatever, doesn't mean they're not landmarks.

As to the celebrity culture thing, maybe it's just the Social Scientist in me talking, but I find it incredibly fascinating to find out the meanings and the stories behind the lyrics to the songs which have captivated me for years. And like it or not, those meanings are completely tied up in the experiences and life of the songwriter. Although I agree, Jon's old high school isn't likely to provide much insight, I'd much prefer to check out the bars and clubs they used to play at in the early days and stuff

From another point of view ... lets face it, most people's lives are pretty mundane. Most people are never going to be rockstars (although as Nickelback says, they all want to be). I don't know about you, but sitting here in my student house in Canterbury, I feel like I'm light years away from the glitz and glamour of that world. That's why, when I'm at a gig of any famous artist, especially one who's music has really touched me, I can't help but feel a little awed that I'm in the same place as them ... like Florin said, it seems to bring you so much closer to the things that you've previously only appreciated from afar

It's just you're in interested in what JBJ does, not in who he is nore in why he is who he is.

Some fans just want to know the latter, if only to know who it takes to do the music they enjoy the most.

Ponrauil

Good grief, it was a fun day trip, guys! I've been to NYC before, so I've visited most of the tourist attractions that I really wanted to see. The original reason for this trip was a Southside Johnny concert on Friday night. I thought it was interesting to visit this little area of New Jersey that produced Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny and Bon Jovi as well as a lot of the musicians that play with one or more of them from time to time. I've heard so much about the Stone Pony and the Fast Lane, and now I've seen them. And yes, we saw a few JBJ landmarks, too. It was all in good fun. I hardly worship the man.

I've been on plenty of "serious" or "educational" vacations in my life. My dad was a history teacher, so I've seen the tiny house that Harry Truman grew up in; Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois; sod houses in the midwest; Civil War battlefields in the south; the White House; the Kennedy graves in Arlington National Cemetary; and on and on. Sometimes you just want to have a little fun.

EDIT - Kathleen was also more than willing to take me to the great museums in NY, but I made it clear that I'd rather have bamboo under my fingernails.

How far do you take it then? Do people visit specific public toilets because Jon might have been in there for a piss once?

Perhaps that's another difference then - I prefer to listen to a song and take my own interpretation. There could be many reasons why a song was written, and I don't personally see how visiting places could give any kind of insight - be it his old school or places he played in his youth.

I can agree with this to an extent - but you do seem to imply that only celebrities have interesting lives, when you know it isn't true. If you put yourself in a mindset that somehow these people are 'better' than the rest of us then yes, you might see all of our lives as mundane, but I personally don't see it that way. Have you seen the film Rock Star? I know that it's only a film, but it does give a glimpse into the real world of showbiz, rather than the 'glitz and glamour' side of it.

I'll admit that the first time I saw Bon Jovi I thought it was cool to finally see them in person after only seeing them from afar for so long, but I'd certainly not describe what I felt as awe. I was just happy to be able to see them perform live, in person, and not just listening to yet another bootleg.


As I said, I'm not trying to suggest that people don't do as they wish - if someone wants to visit places like this then it's up to them, and I'm not suggesting that I'm somehow better for not caring about those same things. We all enjoy different things in life, I'm just trying to understand peoples motivations in being interested in celebrities.

I'll bet that there's one with a hand written sign on the wall saying: "Donna took a dump here too!"


Ponrauil

I have no idea if people do that or not. But schools and homes are fairly important in a persons's development, so I suppose they'd be obvious ones

OK, you're a film buff yeah? Have you never wanted to see the location where a famous film was filmed, or wanted to read what the writer's inspiration was, or anything like that?

Just as an example, considering that a song like Blood On Blood deals pretty much specifically with Jon growing up, I think it'd be interesting to fit pictures to the story. Like wanting a favourite book to be made into a film or something

Yeah, I worded that badly. Just what I mean is that the world of celebrities and the world of ordinary people seem so far apart that any bridging of the gap is cool. I have seen Rock Star, and I think it shows both sides of stardom ... the immense highs, and the lows which become immense lows if you don't know how to deal with them. I don't know about you, but I think most people would love to have 50,000 odd people hanging on their every word every night, and that's the appeal. I'm not saying that celebrities are "better" than ordinary people, but they are doing what loads of us would love to do