A few years back, I read an article on Tori Amos, singer of "Cornflake Girl" fame, that suggested that if someone were to open fire on the audience at one of her concerts, they would be likely to take out a large number of Neil Gaiman fans in the process.
Gaiman is a graphic novelist (is a writer of graphic novels a graphic novelist?) who is friendly with Amos, but I can remember thinking at the time that it would be quite strange that the same group of people would be into two quite different forms of entertainment.
Granted, she did attract the same kind of alternative intellectual crowd as he did, but to actually pinpoint it so closely seemed unlikely. Why not say that the audience would more likely be comprised of Portishead fans or something a little closer culturally to the kind of experience that Amos offers?
However, I have found that there is quite an uncanny link between the kinds of diversions that certain groups of people seek, across the spectrum of entertainment media.
Uncanny
I have found that there is quite an uncanny link between the kinds of diversions that certain groups of people seek.
Georgina Guedes, editor, ITWeb Brainstorm
I am an Amazon.co.uk addict. I mentioned this fact in my column before, when I had just finished establishing my wish list of books I would like to read (and possibly have bought for me by my other Amazon-using friends).
One of the offshoots of a wish list is that now, every time I log onto Amazon, it offers me various recommendations for other literature that I might want to read. I have come across a couple of good books through this process.
Last week, when I logged on to check up on something, I noticed that Amazon not only offers me books that I might like, but also music, DVDs and videos. Somewhat sceptical, I browsed the selection.
I was actually chilled by how accurate the suggestions were. The top 10 CDs recommended to me were the top 10 CDs I have been listening to over the past six months.
Way up there was The Killers, my new all-time best band ever, along with other firm favourites like Jack Johnson, Kaiser Chiefs and Jem. DVD suggestions included Motorcycle Diaries, and the video idea was Before Sunrise - both movies with which I was particularly enamoured.
How life works
I guess it shouldn`t have come as such a huge surprise to me. Whenever I meet someone who I feel some sort of connection with, in all likelihood they will like similar movies, books and music to the ones that I do.
But I do find it unsettling on some level that my personal tastes can be so clearly defined, as long as the database is big enough. It`s yet another example of how, in the end, everything in the world can be reduced to mathematical equation.
I wonder if people who like The Killers and The Time Traveler`s Wife also like sushi and chocolate cigars from Madame Zingara`s in Cape Town and green curry?
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