Mika's Dad

[Niki27]

Alex, you said perfectly what I've always tried to say about it...

 

I remember my second day on the MFC. I wanted to post a reply in a thread, and accidentally I created a new thread. I didn't notice, 'cause my eyes were not used to see the difference. The following day, I had more than 20 replies; half of them, saying bad things about me (like 'you're a f*cking perv'), the other half, saying funny things that made me laugh as well. Because now, a year later, I know that what I wrote being a newbie is totally stupid and funny.

I don't think sarcasm works, it has not a good side when it comes to newbies, 'cause I didn't get the sarcastic lines at first being new and naive, and specially because I was not used to read in english. Many newbies nowadays are from foreign countries, don't expect them to know that you're so great because you can say sarcastic things, when they're trying to adapt themselves to this kinda messy place

 

Romi you got me confused... I had to investigate. The first threads you started were about wishing Mika a happy birthday and this one maybe about the BG he's kissing on one of the live pictures. I haven't seen any mean comment... Moreover, it was after more than a month hun, you weren't a real newbie anymore, were you?

 

Anyway, I firmly believe no newbie has ever been bullied like some seem to insinuate in this thread. Maybe they indeed didn't get a few ironic answers but these are sill a minority. And the forum is no idyllic place, I mean, it reflects what happens IRL: new members have to make efforts to adapt themselves to an existing community, friendship relationships will develop between some members, some others will always disagree, etc etc. It's not the MFC, it's human nature.

 

As for Mika's mum... she voluntarily started to appear on public events, she was even in the Mika DVD, right? So did Yasmine, which explains why our policy is slightly different when they're concerned.

[marie-andrée de rougemont]

Marie-Thérèse

 

Being used to being one of an opinion I was surprised and amused (not more) to see some MFC members react to the admonitory messages of moderators.

 

 

Some of us may indeed be more articulate than others, but not all of us blow our own trumpets at the same volume. (Blue Sky).

 

Exactly my point : louder, less submissive, less tameable… irritating.

 

 

As for the crotch-circling photos... ok, I hate them too. I would be very happy to have any sort of chance to make that sort of stuff discouraged on the forums. But... I'm not everyone else, and I'm not Mika. Mika has put himself out there, this is within the normal bounds of what goes on at fansites and within celebrity culture in general... and honestly, Mika does not discourage it himself. I wish he would! But no, the man seems quite happy to strip on stage, and make his dance moves ever-more focused on his gyrating hips, etc etc, so I don't think he is unduly bothered by this kind of attention. (Jack Violet).

 

Again, exactly my point : if Mr Penniman (sorry, I do call him that, will you let me know if he changes his name ?) enjoys gyrating his rear end and pelvis to a drooling audience it shouldn’t bother him to see close ups of his crotch circulating on the Internet. Although I personally find it unpleasant to read a thread about the bulge in his pants when he is going out of a restaurant with a friend (incidentally, when they are on the skinny side all men look in the mood all the time unless they are wearing very baggy pants), but then I am not him (lucky for us both). But in the same way members of his family who work very closely with him on his projects and appear in countless TV coverages and blogs shouldn’t be coy about appearing on a picture taken on very public occasions.

 

 

So you can say you have seen them or met them? So you can harass them for non-existent special privileges? Or no reason other than simple curiousity/nosiness ? (Bluesky).

 

Ha ha… so it p…s moderators or older members off when the hoi polloi approach Mika closer than they do ? I shouldn’t have been allowed to attend the press conference, for instance, as I was the only MFC member to be there, and a junior one at that ? Sorry to disagree but I was very happy to, if only for being able to share a most interesting occasion with you all.

The only privilege I expect from an artist who gives me incredible pleasure with his music is to buy his records, go to his gigs and thank him very shyly when he goes out of the theatre even if it means waiting three hours in the cold. I was not part of the unruly posse of fans at the Brixton after party and I don’t remember Mika, on coverages of the event, looking particularly scared or annoyed ; he likes to be liked and he does get that from his fans.

And I certainly did not harass him in Beirut. Read my post again. I very much wanted to talk to him to thank him on behalf of my mother and believe me, not being able to say “Thank you” is much more frustrating than not being able to get an autograph. The lovely elderly lady who sat next to Mika during the press conference even took me with her to the room where he was having a drink but I soon went out because I felt I was intruding.

 

(while they figure out their place in the pecking order!).

And if you don't think we have one, that it's all completely egalitarian here, then we must be looking at two different forums. Much as I might wish it otherwise. (chickadee)

Actually, I was just thinking about this some more while washing the dishes (I didn't get much done, cos I'm practically straight back here ) and maybe I'd describe it more like high school. There are different friendship groups on here and little cliques and politics and loyalties and it all gets quite tangled to work out sometimes who's in with who, who's fighting with who, who's persona non gratis (sp?) at the moment, etc etc. I'm pretty sure the high school analogy has been used before.... (chickadee).

 

Oh, the school analogy definitely has, chickadee : I wrote about the ‘schoolmarmish’ tone of some of the moderators -other threads mentioned their patronizing approach- so I got more the impression of primary school than high schoolt eachers but if you want to give them promotion, kind of you.

As for a pecking order, don’t make me laugh, my lips are chipped ! Every opinion and voice is worth being heard on the forum, be it that of a passionate and clumsy teenager or that of a middle age cynic. If moderators dream of a more aseptic forum I am sorry for them but I think it would bore most MFC members’ b…ocks off.

 

Something intrigues me. I get a feeling from their posts that some of the moderators, who admire Mika tremendously as an artist, seem to find him, if not obnoxious, shall we say… slightly unsavoury and sometimes on the pathetic side ? It is good for us end-of-the pecking-order fans to see that they can get rather patronizing with Mr Smith too (if that is his new name), and believe that the poor little sod needs their advice from time to time, if only not to make a fool of himself.

 

And to end this message. ‘Topic closed’ ? Not so good, guys, we are neither your pupils nor your kids… who would probably have a fit of the giggles if you talked to them like that.

 

So long,

 

M.-Th.

[Hele_Noor]

Someone was talking about certain people having earned respect around here a few posts back and I forgot to MQ it. I was having a discussion a couple of weeks ago with another MFCer and this came up and we were wondering why certain particular people did seem to have particular respect granted to them and it occurred to me that I afforded some people respect because other people I respected seemed to respect them. Bit convoluted, but I hope you get what I mean.

 

Hey, chickadee. I know what you mean. Actually there is even a theory about this, unfortuantely can't remember how it is called. But the main idea of the theory is that if B likes A and A likes C, then in most cases B likes C too.

 

Now it's my turn to be worried if I was clear enough to make a point to you :roftl:

How about this: if MFCers fancy Mika and Mika fancies Yelle, then most probably MFCers fancy Yelle too.

 

But now I am in hurry as my spa procedures are crying for me.

Hope to be back in the evening. Ciao!

[chickadee]

Hey, chickadee. I know what you mean. Actually there is even a theory about this, unfortuantely can't remember how it is called. But the main idea of the theory is that if B likes A and A likes C, then in most cases B likes C too.

 

Now it's my turn to be worried if I was clear enough to make a point to you :roftl:

How about this: if MFCers fancy Mika and Mika fancies Yelle, then most probably MFCers fancy Yelle too.

 

But now I am in hurry as my spa procedures are crying for me.

Hope to be back in the evening. Ciao!

 

Aha. OK, so it sounds like I'm just doing what enough other people do that someone has come up with a theory about it. Fair enough.

[sienna]

Someone was talking about certain people having earned respect around here a few posts back and I forgot to MQ it. I was having a discussion a couple of weeks ago with another MFCer and this came up and we were wondering why certain particular people did seem to have particular respect granted to them and it occurred to me that I afforded some people respect because other people I respected seemed to respect them. Bit convoluted, but I hope you get what I mean. And now I can't even remember why I was telling you this... It will come to me later. I'll get back to you.

 

Hello chickadee!

 

It was me!

 

 

Only little me, not well known enough to necessarily be quoted but I assure you: I’m happy to be here anyway!

[chickadee]

Hello chickadee!

 

It was me!

 

 

Only little me, not well known enough to necessarily be quoted but I assure you: I’m happy to be here anyway!

 

I'm so sorry Sienna. I didn't mean to make you feel like you weren't worthy of quoting, but I was in a rush (hubby wanted the pc) and I couldn't remember who'd said it and didn't have time to go back and find it.

[JackViolet]

I know that she appears with Mika in his gigs, concerts, etc. I don't know how much she had voluntarily splashed her pics over magazines and papers, but I do have read warnings (more like requests) from mods not to post pics of his family members besides Mika himself and his sister Yasmine here and I'm pretty sure they didn't mean that their request involved only someone's non-professional shots.

 

No, no, that's pretty much exactly it. The reason we can post pics of Mika's mum is that she's out in public so much, and is often in photos that are publicly posted. Photos of Yasmine when she was out accompanying Mika to the Grammies or other award shows, or even a public night on the town with other celebrities--those have been posted as well. If anyone gets a photo of Mika's mum gardening or something, or runs into her on the street and takes a photo that wasn't voluntarily posed for--those would not be allowed to be posted here either.

 

Mods are specifically asking people not to post photos they themselves have taken of his more camera-shy family members, and any family paparazzi photos not involving Mika.

 

When and if Mika's dad and brother accompany him to an awards show and there are photos taken of that, the mods will not mind those photos being posted here. If they do an interview or a magazine article, the mods won't mind it being up here. But since that has not yet been the case, the mods discourage hunting down those family members who have chosen to keep a low profile.

 

Christine's description of Mr. Penniman sr and Fortune--well, honestly, I don't think she should have given it either, although all she was doing was trying to humor people's curiosity without providing any photos. However, describing his family is not against the rules, so it's not like she broke any guidelines. I just think it's better to avoid such talk altogether, and I was the one who said so, but I don't make the rules.

 

By that time Yasmine had given interviews in TV and got a media coverage during the art exhibition last summer. But in MFC she was still treated like not a public person.

 

An interview and an art exhibition does not really a "public person" make. Mind you, since the interview and art exhibition were public, it's not like pictures of that were forbidden here. But overall, hers is not a very public profession. Our very own Blue Sky has been interviewed on tv, for instance. I don't think that means she now has to lose her privacy.

 

--Jack

 

P.S. Is it really that difficult? Professional photos taken an publicity events: a-ok. Personal stealth photos or photos not taken at publicity events: no-go.

 

If you take a photo with Fortune or whatever and he tells you it's ok to post online, that's also ok. But most of the time that Mika's family--including his mum and Yasmine--will agree to take a photo with someone nowadays, they ask it not to be posted online.

[JackViolet]

But in the same way members of his family who work very closely with him on his projects and appear in countless TV coverages and blogs shouldn’t be coy about appearing on a picture taken on very public occasions.

 

Mika's mum and Yasmine aren't very coy about having professional photos taken, but like any normal people who just happen to work with someone famous rather than be famous themselves, do not like to have various surprise shots of themselves taken by fans and posted online.

 

Mika's dad and Fortune have not appeared in "countless tv coverages and blogs" by any stretch of the imagination. Fortune was briefly visible in the Grace Kelly video (along with about 50 other people), and his dad may have happened to get on camera in a tv appearance, but he was never in the center of the shot... he just happened to be there when the camera was.

 

--Jack

[marie-andrée de rougemont]

Marie-Thérèse

 

'Christine's description of Mr. Penniman sr and Fortune--well, honestly, I don't think she should have given it either, although all she was doing was trying to humor people's curiosity without providing any photos. However, describing his family is not against the rules, so it's not like she broke any guidelines. I just think it's better to avoid such talk altogether, and I was the one who said so, but I don't make the rules.'(originally posted by JackViolet.

 

 

So when Christine gives a description of Michael and Fortuné Penniman she is just trying to humour people’s curiosity but when another (smaller –pecking order again…) member does the same, without providing any photos either, she is encouraging fans to harass the poor guys and their entire family ?

 

Just how hypocritical and self-righteous is that ? How can Christine expect to be taken seriously when she criticizes in others what she does herself ? (I didn’t read the thread but feel I can trust JackViolet not to make a mistake about it).

 

If older members and moderators want to be judgemental and critical of what other members do they might practice what psychologists call ‘silent education’ : I don’t advise you, ask you or order you to do or not do something but just do or not do it myself so that you can follow my example. It seems that in the forum the ‘education’ -as we are treated like pupils or children- has been very loud indeed. And thus not very convincing.

 

 

So long,

 

M.-Th.

[marie-andrée de rougemont]

Marie-Thérèse

 

'Christine's description of Mr. Penniman sr and Fortune--well, honestly, I don't think she should have given it either, although all she was doing was trying to humor people's curiosity without providing any photos. However, describing his family is not against the rules, so it's not like she broke any guidelines. I just think it's better to avoid such talk altogether, and I was the one who said so, but I don't make the rules.'(originally posted by JackViolet.

 

 

So when Christine gives a description of Michael and Fortuné Penniman she is just trying to humour people’s curiosity but when another (smaller –pecking order again…) member does the same, without providing any photos either, she is encouraging fans to harass the poor guys and their entire family ?

 

Just how hypocritical and self-righteous is that ? How can Christine expect to be taken seriously when she criticizes in others what she does herself ? (I didn’t read the thread but feel I can trust JackViolet not to make a mistake about it).

 

If older members and moderators want to be judgemental and critical of what other members do they might practice what psychologists call ‘silent education’ : I don’t advise you, ask you or order you to do or not do something but just do or not do it myself so that you can follow my example. It seems that in the forum the ‘education’ -as we are treated like pupils or children- has been very loud indeed. And thus not very convincing.

 

 

So long,

 

M.-Th.

Marie-Thérèse

 

Re my previous post : I would love to read the message where Christine gave those description but she has been so talkative that I didn't have the courage to go through all her posts. Could JackViolet or any members who read it oblige ? Thanks a lot.

 

M.-Th.

[RAK1]

I've been reading this thread with interest and find myself thinking one thing.

The whole reason we don't go posting pics of Mikas family, is because HE asked us not to!

The whole thing of accusing the mods of being heavyhanded and schoolmarmish, is totally moot and irrelevant. They only put this into place because Mika asked for it.

So, at the risk of being branded patronising, do we just ignore Mikas wishes and take photos of his family willy nilly, and do whatever we like with them?

Wouldn't this make us at bad as the paparazzi that we dislike so much (well I do anyway)?

I have never, and will never take photos of any member of his family,(to be honest even after meeting his mum and Yasmine, I still wouldn't recognise them in the street, if I bumped into them, so I certainly wouldn't have a clue if I bumped into any other family member) without their express permission, and I certainly wouldn't dream of posting them on the internet if I ever did. If it's private, it's private, end of discussion.

[happikali]

Hear Hear Rose ! Thank You !

[babspanky]

This seems to me to almost have become a personal battle between certain people.

I second (or third) Rose's comments.

[mikas_gal07]

I have been reading too ... but didnt post because of the beurocracy ... we should start a mika's dad fan club

 

 

good post rose

[babspanky]

I have been reading too ... but didnt post because of the beurocracy ... we should start a mika's dad fan club

 

 

good post rose

 

Hmm now you mention it. He is more my age.

[mikas_gal07]

Hmm now you mention it. He is more my age.

 

 

dont forget your friends when you get invited round for "tea"

 

 

[Oakie Doke]

*wondered vaguely how this "Mika's Dad" thread is constantly popping up as being active and not already been ended with a b&w picture of mika saying no:naughty:*

*looked in*

**

What's going on here?

 

Firstly and most importantly:

Different to my experience. I'd never been on a forum or fansite before and the idea that I shouldn't just jump straight in with both feet never occurred to me. I was so excited/intrigued/puzzled etc etc that you couldn't shut me up on my first night. I didn't know a whole lot about Mika, so I had no idea about the months of prior knowledge and shared experience of the fanclub members. It never occurred to me that there might be politics. There was so much I didn't know and when I look back now, I can't believe I didn't take the "softly, softly" approach. I managed to upset a more long-standing member on about day 2, through simple sheer ignorance. Maybe my enthusiasm was smiled over privately but tolerated in public, like some big gangly dog who knocks over the potted plant cos he's just so damn excited to see you and hasn't gotten used to his not-puppy body anymore.

 

What on earth did you do?

 

I know ... when you type a list of names and find you have substituted "Mika" for "Michael" ... (fortunately spotted before I'd emailed 30 people).

 

 

P.S. Is it really that difficult? Professional photos taken an publicity events: a-ok. Personal stealth photos or photos not taken at publicity events: no-go.

 

Just a random thought: Getty had a bunch of pictures of Paloma and Yasmine from one of the gigs (Beirut, I guess), and it was sort of .. 'reinforced' when they were found that "they don't want pictures posted online, so don't post them, etc, etc." - which seems .. odd, because those are 'official' sort of photos aren't they? Yasmine and Mika at the Igors, that's okay to post, Yasmine and Paloma, not okay. If Mika was standing with them in those pictures would that have made them okay?

(I don't know, I'm just thinking about it )

 

So when Christine gives a description of Michael and Fortuné Penniman she is just trying to humour people’s curiosity but when another (smaller –pecking order again…) member does the same, without providing any photos either, she is encouraging fans to harass the poor guys and their entire family ?

 

Just how hypocritical and self-righteous is that ? How can Christine expect to be taken seriously when she criticizes in others what she does herself ? (I didn’t read the thread but feel I can trust JackViolet not to make a mistake about it).

 

Mmmmm, I have to agree a bit. I did think for a minute, if it was a newer member giving those descriptions it might have been commented on a bit more... maybe. It's on page 3/4-ish btw.

 

However, I think the "blanket ban on any discussion" sort of thing is a bit unnecessary. Liiike..

 

But not knowing what his family looks like when so much of the MFC does, just reinforces for me some of what I'm continually missing out on, being a Mika fan who lives in Australia. This is not a defense, merely an explanation of one of the reasons why I remain curious and am secretly glad that people ask.

 

I totally agree with this. Same goes for new people / anyone who hasn't ever seen Mika live. We feel left out, and maybe some people think wanting to know little things that other people know just from going to a show (not from stalking or anything like that) is perverted or wrong, I don't think so.

 

Yes I was standing near him when Mika walked into the afterparty and he was beaming as everyone cheered. He looked very proud of his son

 

I didn't think his dad was tall - not like Mika height tall. I was really just looking at his face, but since I'm only 5'3" I think I would have noticed if he was over 6' I think.

 

Is this invading their privacy? I don't think so? Asking about the way they act towards Mika? It seems relevant to being interested in Mika to me. I find it interesting. 'So his dad is proud of him, oooh what does this do to the interpretation of SitM?' Where the heck does Mika gets his giant-genes from btw?

 

EDIT: Another thing - it's like in the Lebanon press conference video thread, it's fine for people to say "Oh, his dad is there with him, and he looks so proud of his son, how sweet!" but this observation is a privilege limited to people who have seen him before in RL? Other people can't be 'let in' on it, when so many people already know what he looks like?

I dunno, it just comes across as unfair towards the newer/disadvantaged people, and that's pretty much the whole reason this thread managed to go from "is it okay to talk about his family" to "are newbies treated unfairly".

[dcdeb]

This seems to me to almost have become a personal battle between certain people.

 

I would tend to agree, and would suggest (not command) that the individuals

involved please take this to PM if they wish to continue the discussion.

 

Thanks.

 

dcdeb

[JackViolet]

So when Christine gives a description of Michael and Fortuné Penniman she is just trying to humour people’s curiosity but when another (smaller –pecking order again…) member does the same, without providing any photos either, she is encouraging fans to harass the poor guys and their entire family ?

 

Well all Christine did was provide a description. She did not tell people to take photos or get their cameras ready when they saw someone who looked like this-or-that.

 

The mods did not reprimand you for giving a description. They reprimanded you for telling people how to get photos of Fortune.

 

I would love to read the message where Christine gave those description but she has been so talkative that I didn't have the courage to go through all her posts. Could JackViolet or any members who read it oblige ? Thanks a lot.

 

http://www.mikafanclub.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1652104#post1652104

http://www.mikafanclub.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1588956#post1588956

 

Just a random thought: Getty had a bunch of pictures of Paloma and Yasmine from one of the gigs (Beirut' date=' I guess), and it was sort of .. 'reinforced' when they were found that "they don't want pictures posted online, so don't post them, etc, etc." - which seems .. odd, because those are 'official' sort of photos aren't they? Yasmine and Mika at the Igors, that's okay to post, Yasmine and Paloma, not okay. If Mika was standing with them in those pictures would that have made them okay?[/quote']

 

Probably. We are the Mika fan club after all, not the Yasmine-and-Paloma fan club. We want to see all pics of Mika, and ok, some may have his family in them. But since his family want to stay out of things mostly, why post pictures of them without Mika?

 

Although personally, I don't think it's a problem to post pics at publicity events (although was this a publicity event or just pics taken at his show? If it's at his show, it may be a different matter...). However, as rak1 said, Mika's the one who asked us not to. So we're just following his lead.

 

--Jack

[Christine]

Just how hypocritical and self-righteous is that ? How can Christine expect to be taken seriously when she criticizes in others what she does herself ? (I didn’t read the thread but feel I can trust JackViolet not to make a mistake about it).

 

Re my previous post : I would love to read the message where Christine gave those description but she has been so talkative that I didn't have the courage to go through all her posts.

 

I have not criticized anyone for giving descriptions of Mika's family.

 

I realize it's a horrible burden on you, but if you insist on commenting on my posts, I suggest that you actually read them first instead of fabricating things to suit your own purposes.

[zoots14]

I would love to read the message where Christine gave those description but she has been so talkative that I didn't have the courage to go through all her posts. Could JackViolet or any members who read it oblige ? Thanks a lot.

[/Quote]

http://www.mikafanclub.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1652104#post1652104

http://www.mikafanclub.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1588956#post1588956

 

I know I haven't been part of this conversation - just browsing it - but I'd barely even call those posts descriptive. I don't see what the issue is there or how it's hypocritical.

 

"Not very short but not very tall, and proud-looking" is a far cry from a full run-down of stats on a person. She might as well have said "he's sort of tallish-shortish, with brownish-grayish-blondish hair, kind of thin but still kind of fat, average looks and non-descript clothes. Oh, and he loves his son". Does that really help point him out in a crowd or make anyone curious? I just don't see the harm done there.

[Romis]

Romi you got me confused... I had to investigate. The first threads you started were about wishing Mika a happy birthday and this one maybe about the BG he's kissing on one of the live pictures. I haven't seen any mean comment... Moreover, it was after more than a month hun, you weren't a real newbie anymore, were you?

 

 

You made me investigate myself as well. Didn't know I've created 11 threads since I'm here! But the one I'm referring, the first one, is still there, because Dilek read it and me too, even though I didn't want to But you're right, I read it today and I find the comments just ironic. Not what happened when I was a newbie. Nevermind I'm getting stronger every day here

[Christine]

I know I haven't been part of this conversation - just browsing it - but I'd barely even call those posts descriptive. I don't see what the issue is there or how it's hypocritical.

 

Just to be clear there was another post where I mentioned his father's smile and Fortuné's hair being similar to Mika's.

 

But - Christine describes a member of Mika's family + Jack disapproves of descriptions of Mika's family members = Christine is a hypocrite - is some kind of serious flawed logic.

 

As I mentioned to Soaring Simpson earlier, in retrospect, the more effective approach would have been to not entertain people's questions at all. I gave the members here more credit and didn't expect it to lead to people encouraging others to take videos of Mika's brother. My mistake.

 

The rule is that there are to be no private photos of Mika's family posted on MFC. As a moderator I practice that rule as well as enforce it. If other members want to voice opinions about this guideline being extended to include not giving descriptions of Mika's family, that is entirely up to them.

[sienna]

I'm so sorry Sienna. I didn't mean to make you feel like you weren't worthy of quoting, but I was in a rush (hubby wanted the pc) and I couldn't remember who'd said it and didn't have time to go back and find it.

 

No worries, I'm fine!

 

I just couldn't resist to make a litttle joke with you!

[Big Girl]

I didn't think his dad was tall - not like Mika height tall. I was really just looking at his face, but since I'm only 5'3" I think I would have noticed if he was over 6' I think.

 

Mika seems to always tower over everyone. Even his bodyguards.

 

Perhaps not as tall as Mika, but Mikas dad is still very tall.

 

When our car got broken into at a gig last year he stood talking to my husband Mark (Holy Johnny on here) for quite a long time, he didn't say who he was and although Mark knew he didn't let on at first. It was only after they had been chatting for a while Mark actually asked him. He told him he must be very proud of his son as he had been brilliant that night, he replied by saying it was the crowd who had been brilliant and that he had been videoing the crowd all night.

 

I should have added that he approached Mark as our car window had been smashed and was very concerned about us. All in all, a lovely man.

 

Mark is approx. 6'1" and he was definitely taller than him.