aficionados

I reckon it’s interesting that simply keeping track of the progress in a field of interest, be it a hobby, your work or something that you’ve just got some perverted curiosity about, can take you from being an amateur to being quite the aficionado in a very short space of time.

For me I think that freshwater fishes fish, fly-fishing, the surf in sydney, marine aquariums, and some photography seem to be up there. How do you tell if you’re an aficionado? Well, I think it’s when you start receiving emails or telephone calls from random people asking your opinion about things.

What other afficianados do we have at t&z.xcom?

25 Responses to “aficionados”

  1. Phildo says:

    with regards to your test i think there is an issue of perception vs reality. I had a call today from some random person asking for my opinion on something. The perception was that I was a aficionado on the topic but the reality was that I had no idea. Am I an aficionado?

  2. tom says:

    interesting point Phildo, this is a definite issue, i’m not sure - i don’t think that makes you an aficionado.

    to use another example. one could perceive (based on the fact that people ask her questions) that Amanda Vanstone is an immigration aficionado; In reality, she has no idea.

    clearly i haven’t thought this through! :)

  3. Phildo says:

    there seem to be a few issues to consider

  4. tom says:

    yes, I’m sure timtim will help us wade through this one!

  5. YLD says:

    http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=aficionado

  6. YLD says:

    http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2001/08/01.html

  7. timtim says:

    i would refer you to tom for wading through the afore mentioned topic as i believe he is an aficionado regarding passtimes involving wading. To add to the perception vs reality debate does not perception = reality. My reality is the word as I percieve it therefore perception = reality. the fact that other peoples’ perception and therefore reality differ from mine is irrelevant as the only time that perceptions will conflict is when there is a shared reality and if the reality is the same but the perception different then all you have proven is that two sentient beings have shared the same reality.

  8. timtim says:

    it’s a tough thing keeping up with all this smart talkin’..

  9. timtim says:

    so i think that if someone percieves you as an aficionado than you might as well play up to it as much as you can… questions about bikes or climbing anyone

  10. YLD says:

    If you look at the dictionary definition, aficionado means “fan”. This doesn’t imply expertise or knowledge. You might be a fan of something like Tom is to flyfishing, or Tim is to climbing. It doesn’t mean you have any idea.
    I think Tom might be an afishionado :)

  11. jodi says:

    you guys have too much time on your hands….

  12. timtim says:

    welcome back, it appears you don’t have enough

  13. jodi says:

    i’d agree with that statement. too much time in the rainforest where things are either stingy, bitey or prickly. We renamed it the PAIN-forest.

    http://jodi.thesodapop.com/tw2005/tw2005.html

  14. Phildo says:

    the defn is “An enthusiastic admirer or follower; a fan.” I think my line of thinking is that if one is an “enthusiastic follower” some sort of level of expertise can often result - of course, however, this is an assumption.

  15. Phildo says:

    BTW I often think about my line of thinking - c’mon it is Monday morning!!

  16. tom says:

    nice work fellas,

    timtim - that was a bit deep ;) have you been smoking?

    did you guys see the photos of the Tully Gorge, where we went tubin’?

    http://jodi.thesodapop.com/tw2005/tw2005-Pages/Image39.html

  17. timtim says:

    i concur with phildos line of thinking. i believe that by being an enthusiastic follower knowledge and expertise come with the territiory. Of course you can also easily fall into that trap of becomming a fanatic too.

  18. timtim says:

    i have not smoked since ‘that’ fateful evening..

  19. timtim says:

    jodi you are a right little Steve Irwin wanna be. I hope you say “crikey” a lot when you catch those snakes!

  20. Uncle Dave says:

    My brain hurts. Maybe it’s because you’re all upside down the blood rushes to your heads.

  21. Cousin Tim. says:

    Dad’s brain always hurts when he goes on the internet - or even the computer. Same with mum. They ask for help so often that I’ve nicknamed myself ‘Microsoft Helpdesk’ and the nickname seems to have stuck.

    One of the burdens of being a computer nut. You know a bit about web design, networking and Windows and suddenly everbody thinks that you’re a computer expert or something. It’s one of the burdens of being a computer afficionado. Which I think is where we came in isn’t it.

    (BTW all those years ago when you came to visit I got you a naff cheapo Amiga computer game for £1.99 as a Christmas present. I’d like to apologise. Should have got you socks. In my defence I have to say that I was a broke student at the time and it was best clone of ‘breakout’ I’d seen.)

    It’s 15.16 over here. Dad’s not completely accurate about the blood rushing to your head - it’s New Zealand that’s directly beneath us I believe so you’d be a little to the right or left which means that the blood may have rushed only to one side of your brain. Judging by timtim’s creative efforts I’d guess it would be the Left side. Which is no insult of course. How could I insult someone with such a fine name (though I’m not sure of the reason for repetition)

    I talk too much. Even online.

    ;)

  22. tom says:

    the reason for the repetition has gone down in the annals of history, but deserves repeating. it anyone would like to email me their version of events I’d be happy to post it up as a guest reporter slot!

  23. timtim says:

    no can do i can’t remember..was i even there?

  24. tom says:

    mmmm… maybe I need to do a favourite stories of all time section on the website. It could include:

    - how timtim got his name;
    - how to poo in laneway; and
    - what not to do at a pool party.

  25. tom says:

    oh, and Cousin Tim, Zoe and I will come over and visit soon (maybe next year!).

Leave a Reply