Leave Eric Alone–Being Shy Isn’t Self-Centered!
Today is a whirlwind and not in a good way. I feel discombobulated and of course, unprepared for my trip to Mexico tomorrow. I’ll be gone a week, and we’ll be spending time at a beachfront hotel with a stunning pool and lots of time to do…nothing. I’m not sure that I need so much of this vaunted downtime. But we’ve got the tickets and we’re set to go. It was nice to pack shorts and tee shirts instead of heavy sweaters and mittens.
As is my usual habit, I visited Van Dog’s blog and found a post entitled “The Eric Suher Show,” where the famously shy music mogul appeared at the Holyoke Conservation committee hearing. He was there to answer questions about the trees he cut down on top of Mount Tom. Eric wasn’t comfortable being videotaped, and he told the committee he’d rather not talk in front of the leering lens. Van Dog got it all on tape, Eric’s request, and then their answer, which was a reasonable compromise to move the shooter to the back of the room so they could proceed.
What bothered me was the comments that appeared below the post. People called him self-centered, and made melodramatic statements about not visiting his music venues any more. Even the mild-mannered Van Dog was put off because he didn’t feel that Eric should be able to send the videotaper to the back of the room.
I commented that I think reticence about being taped or photographed is part of who Eric is. It wasn’t unreasonable…and it wasn’t a big deal. Eric’s done so much for the city of Northampton’s arts scene. He employs dozens of people and isn’t in it for the money. So give him a break, he’ll talk about the music venue when its ready.
January 24, 2009 @ 3:24 am
“[Eric Suher] isn’t in it for the money”You jerk. I just spit beer all over my laptop. Thanks a lot…
January 24, 2009 @ 7:37 am
To clarify, I feel that putting all public, including the A/V people in the gallery area was perfectly reasonable. That’s why I refrained from further shooting when asked. I was on the wrong side of the room. Which would be OK as long as no one has a problem with it. The main thing that irked me was the request to stop taping period.I hope you have a nice trip Max. Mexico sounds wonderful this time of year.
January 24, 2009 @ 5:10 pm
It was an ‘Open Meeting’ subject to that pesky thing called The Open Meeting Law, and as such VanDog was perfectly within his rights to tape the proceedings.The law simply states you have to shoot from a fixed position (can’t act like frekin Paparazzi and run all over the room for different angles and such thus causing a disturbance).So if the Gazette had showed up (not like they have that many boots on the ground these days) would Gordon Daniels put down his camera because Mr. Suher is “shy”?
January 25, 2009 @ 12:38 am
the shooter in question was pointing his lens straight at Eric, too close, so by your definition, then, he deserved to be asked to move to the back.