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Justin

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Halup
Kirk Hammett of Metallica waited in line at an autograph show in L.A. to have Don knotts sign his Mr Limpitt movie psoter.

That is awesome. Were you there to see it?

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Halup

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Justin

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Halup
Kirk Hammett of Metallica waited in line at an autograph show in L.A. to have Don knotts sign his Mr Limpitt movie psoter.

That is awesome. Were you there to see it?

I wasn't but a friend was there and saw Kirk standing in the line like everyone else at the Hollywood Show in Burbank.

It's interesting seeing what musicians are good about signing versus those who are not. McCartney is a good signer, considering his stature. I once waited in a line of about 50 people while Paul signed 1 each for everyone in that line. Paul used to wait by the artist entry at a theater in Liverpool when he was young and get people to sign autographs, so he gets it. There's a photo of John Lennon standing right next to Gene Vincent as Gene is signing autographs. so I assume John got one. David Gilmour, on the other hand, has said in interviews that he doesn't understand autographs, so no surprise, he isn't very good about signing them.

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Rolling Hansie
Thanks Halup. You said it very well

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Halup

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Max'sKansasCity
I never understood autographs anyway... who cares? Why?

I have asked many times and I have never heard of one good reason why autographs are cool. I sometimes hang out with somewhat famous people and their more famous friends (of course I dont drop their names like some around here) and never in a million years would I ask one of them or their famous friends for an autograph when we are just hanging around... why would I? Why would anyone?... what would it mean? who cares? Do people do that so they can show it to someone? and then?... so what?... it is probably fake (they think) but even if it is real... who cares?... it means what? That someone mooched someone famous to sign their name... and that means what? Tell me what I am missing and maybe I will start collecting them like albums and posters and shirts (which imuho are artwork themselves... to be held, worn, framed, hung and admired)

I can only think of a one example, and that would be when an artist signs their painting (or another one of a kind type of artwork) as a time when I would want someone to sign something.

One key to understanding is in your last sentence. You say that you would want a painting when an artist is signing it. If you expand the idea of an artist being more than painters and use it to refer to musicians, writers, actors or anyone who works in the arts as being an artist, there you go.

A painter can sign the visual thing they created, but as a musician creates sound, how can they sign that? The closest thing they can do is sign the cover of a record which is the visual representation of the art that they created (the music contained within), and as you admitted, are already artwork in themselves. By having a musician sign the LP, it essentially creates an exhanced version of their album and a much more rare and unique looking item.

Most of us here on this site collect all sorts of variations on Stones albums and memorabilia and from many other artists. We already have the collector mentality. Some people want many different copies of the same album in teir collection, including pressings from around the world, even though they are essentially the same. By having an autographed copy of an album, you are now owning an even more rare and exclusive copy of it. For some people, having copies of the same album with different catalog numbers feeds into their desire to collect and that's good enough for them. For others, they like to have a copy of an artists work signed by the artist in their collection. I don't think one is right and one is wrong. They both are silly and cool in their own ways.

I have a huge amount of autographed items in my collection, almost all of which I have obtained in person. Is it a silly hobby? Sure, it's crazy, but as a big music and film lover, I've been able to meet so many people I never would have dreamed I would otherwise have met. To be able to meet a person like Keith Richards and have a chance to say a few words to him and have an autograph as a lasting moment of these encounters is great and it makes my record collection more unique.

I guess the answer is that an autograph can mean different things to different people. Some like it for the visual enhancement of an item that they can put up on the wall, the same way someone would put up a signed painting. For others it is a simple momento from an encounter with someone whose work they like.

I can fully understand that if you are hanging out with famous people, where you wouldn't have a desire to have them autograph something for you. Even if you wanted it, it would be awkward to ask.

I find it interesting when famous people collect autographs. Johnny Ramone was a big collector of memorabilia and would write to musicians and actors for their autograph. Kirk Hammett of Metallica waited in line at an autograph show in L.A. to have Don knotts sign his Mr Limpitt movie psoter. Paul McCartney, when he performed at the Bridge School concert in 2004, went from dressing room to dressing room to have all of the artists on the bill sign his poster for the concert.

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Halup


....I find it interesting when famous people collect autographs......

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Max'sKansasCity

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Halup


....I find it interesting when famous people collect autographs......

I find it highly amusing when famous people, whom I have personally heard complain not really complain.. more just blather a bit about about how they dont like all the extra attention or picture/autograph seekers... BUT then the same person will get all excited when they see/encounter someone more famous than them.... and they act the same way which they blathered about... and.... I have learned (the hard way) that it is probably best to not point such things out... Honesty like that sometimes doesnt go over well... because... you know... it was different in that instance.... sure it was.

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Halup

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Max'sKansasCity

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Halup


....I find it interesting when famous people collect autographs......

I find it highly amusing when famous people, whom I have personally heard complain not really complain.. more just blather a bit about about how they dont like all the extra attention or picture/autograph seekers... BUT then the same person will get all excited when they see/encounter someone more famous than them.... and they act the same way which they blathered about... and.... I have learned (the hard way) that it is probably best to not point such things out... Honesty like that sometimes doesnt go over well... because... you know... it was different in that instance.... sure it was.

I have seen this to a certain degree as well. Most entertainers had someone that was their inspiration to getting into whatever work they do and when they meet them, they turn into a fan like the rest of us.

I attended a screening of Slumdog Millionaire when it came out and it had a QandA following with Danny Boyle. After it ended there were about 20 people waiting afterwards to meet Danny and say some words to him or have him sign something. Everyone waited patiently for their chance, then this one girl introduced herself to him and said "Hi, I'm Drew". It was Drew Barrymore, who was meeting him for the first time and telling him how much she likes his work. She was going on like a normal fan. He told her he would tell his daughter he met her, as she's a big fan fo her films.

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Max'sKansasCity

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Rolling Hansie
Thanks Halup. You said it very well

I'll second those thanks... although...

Glad it made sense to you Hans, I still dont get it.
A signed one of kind piece of artwork is one thing, a (possible fake) signed mass produced album is another. I dont see how a mass produced item being signed makes it any better.

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Halup

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Max'sKansasCity

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Rolling Hansie
Thanks Halup. You said it very well

I'll second those thanks... although...

Glad it made sense to you Hans, I still dont get it.
A signed one of kind piece of artwork is one thing, a (possible fake) signed mass produced album is another. I dont see how a mass produced item being signed makes it any better.

Please explain why a signed one of a kind piece of artwork has some appeal to you Would that same piece of artwork has the exact same appeal to you if it was unsigned versus signed?

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NICOS

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NICOS

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Max'sKansasCity

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NICOS
It would be stupid in 2012 that autographed devices make signature that all looks the same, technically it´s easy to make one that make little differences in signatures.

Great point... It would seem that is would be easy to vary it all slightly from signing to signing... vary the size, vary the spacing, very the pen pressure, very the ink flow... why not?

What Lurks In Handwriting



I worked in applied acoustics for a number of years, and this idea occurred to me one day while driving home. I don't believe that it is particularly practical, unless there were some special conditions, but it might be the basis for a good story.

The thought is this: when you write with a pen or pencil on paper, that writing device is acting like a microphone, picking up vibrations in the air, and recording them in the trace left on the paper. This, after all, is the principle by which the phonograph worked. The problem of course is that the trace is very faint, and the signal (the words you actually are writing) is all over the place when examined under a microscope.

A pen held in a hand while writing (with no acoustic signal present) probably has a fairly simple dynamics. As it moves over the paper, the unevenness of the paper will cause some deviation from a completely straight edge. Adding an acoustic signal should cause further deviations from the intended path of the pen. (If I make a 1/4 inch pen stroke, it seems to take about 1/10 of a second; for a 1000 Hz sine wave signal, this would mean 100 peaks, with each peak having a separation of .0025 inches - this seems like a reasonable trace to detect.) Modeling what the pen would do due to the irregular surface of the paper, and measuring what it actually did in order to find the difference due to the acoustic influence might still be quite hard.

But if it worked! Imagine listening to the room during the moment John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence. Or any of a number of other historical events that took place when someone was writing.

Could it work? The acoustic energy is low, but it is there. The problem is in the analysis. One would have to build a mathematical model of the pen used, the ink, and even the paper (the threads of which would cause natural oscillations). Then, this model would be used to identify the parts of the writing (the edges) which were unexpected - these would be where acoustic information was.

While this seems almost impossible, and it might be, I would expect that the mathematical model for a hand holding a pen, moving over a known but rough surface, might be pretty simple - containing a few parameters no doubt, but the basic spring-like nature of the problem, the relatively simple abstraction of a pen (described by several moments of inertia), might be basic. It also might be such that all of these parameters could be learned by examining the entirety of the writing, either statistically or in detail.

Stepping back, while I'm not sure we could use this technique to hear the voice of George Washington or Napoleon, it might be used to verify that a particular document was written in a particular environment. Did Lincoln write the Gettysburg Address while on the train? I think that's a myth, but if it weren't, I expect it could be tested - the vibrations on trains, especially of his time, were sufficiently large to leave traces detectable to the human eye (as I've verified on Amtrak frequently).

(First idea: 1988; on this web page, December 16, 2002)

By the way this article is not by me ...just downloaded from the INet

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Justin

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paulm
I'm not surprised by these accounts. Are you?

I read an account once of a guy asking Keith to sign his Tele, on the streets of NYC. Keith and bodyguard ducked into their taxi/limo and drove off with dude's guitar. I don't know where I read this, but I don't doubt it. These guys are ruthless conquerors of the rock world. Show your true colors guys!

If you're going to be a Debbie Downer all over the board...at least get the story right.

A fan had a guitar he wanted Keith to sign. As Keith walked past, the fan stuck the guitar out and Keith and/or his bodyguards grabbed the guitar and took it with them inside their car. The fan chased after the car screaming that he wanted his guitar back...at a red light, the window rolled down and Keith was laughing because he thought the fan was GIVING him the guitar. Keith was happy to return the guitar back.

A little less dramatic than your version of the story, eh?

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Max'sKansasCity
Sounds like that mastercard TV ad....

guitar back but no signature......LUCKY!
Keith had a laugh at his expense.... PRICELESS!!

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EddieByword

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Max'sKansasCity
Sounds like that mastercard TV ad....

guitar back but no signature......LUCKY!
Keith had a laugh at his expense.... PRICELESS!!

COL.........chuckling out loud..............

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Max'sKansasCity

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EddieByword

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Max'sKansasCity
Sounds like that mastercard TV ad....

guitar back but no signature......LUCKY!
Keith had a laugh at his expense.... PRICELESS!!

COL.........chuckling out loud..............

Eddie, I think your version is correctest.
I remember the part about eyes with Dollars signs

This scene must make into a movie at some point..
the guy running down the street after the limo screaming HEEEEEY!!! MY GUITAR!!
That stuff is just too good not to.

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EddieByword

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Max'sKansasCity

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EddieByword

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Max'sKansasCity
Sounds like that mastercard TV ad....

guitar back but no signature......LUCKY!
Keith had a laugh at his expense.... PRICELESS!!

COL.........chuckling out loud..............

Eddie, I think your version is correctest.
I remember the part about eyes with Dollars signs

This scene must make into a movie at some point..
the guy running down the street after the limo screaming HEEEEEY!!! MY GUITAR!!
That stuff is just too good not to.

I'm fairly sure I heard that from a Keith interview...........can't remember when or where though..........

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trainarollin
Here is a closeup of the autopen signature.

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Max'sKansasCity
I never understood autographs anyway... who cares? Why?

I have asked many times and I have never heard of one good reason why autographs are cool. I sometimes hang out with somewhat famous people and their more famous friends (of course I dont drop their names like some around here) and never in a million years would I ask one of them or their famous friends for an autograph when we are just hanging around... why would I? Why would anyone?... what would it mean? who cares? Do people do that so they can show it to someone? and then?... so what?... it is probably fake (they think) but even if it is real... who cares?... it means what? That someone mooched someone famous to sign their name... and that means what? Tell me what I am missing and maybe I will start collecting them like albums and posters and shirts (which imuho are artwork themselves... to be held, worn, framed, hung and admired)

You're so cool Max. I wish I was in your gang, with all your famous friends, drinking Pina Coladas on the rocks. The reason riff raff like us want autographs is because it brings us closer to the cats that make the music. of course they are only great if you get them in person, or there is a story to tell.

I do understand this company and their invention... it makes sense in this day and age of marketing that this company wants its mailers to appear personal... and hand written might do that. "Hand written" might get that unsolicited marketing letter opened by 3 out of a 1000 versus only 2 of a 1000...... but as far as a signed book... who cares? Why is that cool? Please understand I am not bashing on the OP, I asppreciate the shared story, I amjust asking... why are autographs cool?

I can only think of a one example, and that would be when an artist signs their painting (or another one of a kind type of artwork) as a time when I would want someone to sign something.

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letitloose

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Max'sKansasCity
I never understood autographs anyway... who cares? Why?

I have asked many times and I have never heard of one good reason why autographs are cool. I sometimes hang out with somewhat famous people and their more famous friends (of course I dont drop their names like some around here) and never in a million years would I ask one of them or their famous friends for an autograph when we are just hanging around... why would I? Why would anyone?... what would it mean? who cares? Do people do that so they can show it to someone? and then?... so what?... it is probably fake (they think) but even if it is real... who cares?... it means what? That someone mooched someone famous to sign their name... and that means what? Tell me what I am missing and maybe I will start collecting them like albums and posters and shirts (which imuho are artwork themselves... to be held, worn, framed, hung and admired)

I do understand this company and their invention... it makes sense in this day and age of marketing that this company wants its mailers to appear personal... and hand written might do that. "Hand written" might get that unsolicited marketing letter opened by 3 out of a 1000 versus only 2 of a 1000...... but as far as a signed book... who cares? Why is that cool? Please understand I am not bashing on the OP, I appreciate the shared story, I am just asking... why are autographs cool?

I can only think of a one example, and that would be when an artist signs their painting (or another one of a kind type of artwork) as a time when I would want someone to sign something.

You're so cool Max. I wish I was in your gang, with all your famous friends, drinking Pina Coladas on the rocks. The reason riff raff like us want autographs is because it brings us closer to the cats that make the music. of course they are only great if you get them in person, or there is a story to tell.

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trainarollin
Well, it was made official yesterday when I had 2 certified document examiners over to my place