Errors-To: owner-tmbg-digest@tmbg.org Reply-To: tmbg-digest@tmbg.org Sender: owner-tmbg-digest@tmbg.org Precedence: bulk From: owner-tmbg-digest@tmbg.org To: tmbg-digest@tmbg.org Subject: tmbg-list Digest #2-27 tmbg-list Digest, Volume 2, Number 27 Saturday, 27 January 1996 Today's Topics: Re: They Might Be Geography Dunces Re: They Might Be Geography Dunces tmbg-list Digest #2-26 (fwd) Re: tmbg-list Digest #2-26 glad to be back TMBG in Paradise the stars at night..... TMBG Rarities CD The Ng Mystery... TMBG Tape Trading Re: The Ng Mystery... Re: Joni's Confession (none) Re: They Might Be Geography Dunces you know.. touche...or is it? Let's end this sorry thread mercifully... Re: Let's end this sorry thread mercifully... They Might Be Geography Dunces RE:Joni's Confesion RE:defined within an inch of it's life Mono Puff Administrivia: CHANGES!!!!! The digest volume and issue numbers have been set to reflect the year and day. This year is volume 2, the issue number should match the day of the year. The ftp server has been reconfigured. Now the _only_ way to get back archives is from ftp.tmbg.org. For all administrative issues, such as change of address, withdrawal from the list, etc., send a message to the following address: tmbg-digest-request@tmbg.org --------------------------------------------------------------------- The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 07:08:09 -0500 Subject: Re: They Might Be Geography Dunces From: mrme@usa.pipeline.com (Rabbit Ears) On Jan 26, 1996 17:30:58, 'michael.carr@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (Michael Carr)' wrote: > I dont know if it's anti clockwise or clockwise "anti clockwise"? that's funny.. i love all these new words i learn on this list.. "ID" "happifying" "ANTI CLOCKWISE" etc. i've yet to use "ID" but i used "happifying" last night, but i KNOW i can find some excuse to use anti clockwise.. (it takes so little to amuse me) -- :Rabbit Ears: ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 27 Jan 1996 01:13:01 +1200 From: michael.carr@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (Michael Carr) Subject: Re: They Might Be Geography Dunces >"anti clockwise"? that's funny.. i love all these new words i learn on this >list.. "ID" "happifying" "ANTI CLOCKWISE" etc. i've yet to use "ID" but i >used "happifying" last night, but i KNOW i can find some excuse to use anti >clockwise.. (it takes so little to amuse me) okay well whatever you want, man, because after all, I enjoy some pretty weirdo things, so hey, why not. If you want me to, I could send you some Uniquely New Zealand things to say...but after all...it's up to you... Mike ------------------------------ From: john@msd.measurex.com (John Pletikapich) Subject: tmbg-list Digest #2-26 (fwd) Date: Fri, 26 Jan 96 9:04:03 EDT > In the song Ana Ng, there is a theory that the Ana mentioned lives in > Vietnam right? No, I think most people agree that Ng is a Chinese name. (Nguyen is a very popular Vietnamese name and probably started the confusion.) -- John J. Pletikapich john@msd.measurex.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 10:14:50 -0500 (EST) From: "Joni M. Back" Subject: Re: tmbg-list Digest #2-26 Plaguerat et al (this is not all intended for you, so please dont' take offense at paragraph #2) Stop being so silly and waxing romantic over roadies and even Tony, and shaming those of of who choose to moon over either one or both of the Johns. it is Them we are discussing. IMHO, THEY are They Might Be Giants...the rest (Tony, too, where ever he may be) are just , well...the band. The rest are to a point DISPOSABLE, they can go to other bands, get replaced, etc. But They Might Be Giants are the Johns. They were the Giants before adding all the rest of the stuff. And, need I point out, what with all this talk of Horns/no horns that years ago, there were no horns when They toured. We have just grown spoiled. I was pleasantly surprised the first time I saw Them and They were playing with horns--it was brand new for Them to be tourign with all of that, and I don't think there is anything wrong with Them playing with out. I dont' know quite how to express this, except to say--the Johns are the band, and all the rest of the stuff is just icing on the cake. I, for one, am looking forward to Thursdays at the Mercury lounge, and I have been hoping that these will be paired-down performances, maybe with just the Johns, even, the way they used to be. I call this separating those who really LOVE what the guys are doing from those who are just into the Concert scene. Sorry, kids. Just had to get it out ouf my system. ANd I'm older than most of you, so there. Miss Joni p.s I still think Linnel is cuter anyway, but Flans *does* have his charms. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 10:21:15 -0600 From: Tharp Teri L Subject: glad to be back Hello all!!! I'm finally back at school and now have access to my e-mail once more. I need news NOW! I am starved for any tmbg's news. tlt7611@usl.edu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 12:26:59 -0500 From: gonzalez@vitaliy.harvard.edu (David Gonzalez) Subject: TMBG in Paradise Mornin', I just subscribed to this service yesterday afternoon, so please forgive me if I'm covering information already mentioned. I saw TMBG at the Paradise "Rock" Club this past Saturday evening. They opened with "Spider" and pretty much did the standard spiel... greatest hits type of ordeal. The last time I was able to see them was way, way, way, back during the "Why Does The Sun Shine" tour. The Paradise show didn't have the same intensity like the "Sun" tour. It was rather "blah". Hopefully, IF and when the next official tour begins, it will be much more like their older shows. Not so much as playing older songs, but...you know....more.....what's the word???..... more "blood-and-guts". That's it. grd ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 12:52:45 -0500 (EST) From: Lady J Subject: the stars at night..... i only have 2 minutes to type this, but we'll see what we can do. i was wasting time on the web the other day when i came upon the Southern Methodist University home page. so i was just a'lookin around, taking a photo tour of campus when suddenly, there i came upon a photo, so blessed, and beautiful that a golden glow shone from it. IT WAS THE BUILDING FROM THE COVER OF "LINCOLN" !!!! it's called "Perkins" something, i think perkins chapel. but i just went nuts. i found it! yowza! go ye into the world and tell what you have read here... 2 minutes, exactly. aims. ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~ "Be a virus, see the world" aimee elisabeth pflieger apfliege@indiana.edu http://silver.ucs.indiana.edu/~apfliege/ `````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ------------------------------ From: "Rensink, Brenden - S" Subject: TMBG Rarities CD Date: Fri, 26 Jan 96 12:00:00 PST Well this is me Brenden the un known guy that is trying to get a TMBG Rarities CD going. Well I have gotten alot of replies, ( thanx for the interest) and I am getting overloaded with stuff. So If you have any copies of rare songs, (not on one of their main CD's, Flood, JH, TMBG, Misc T, Apollo 18, LINCOLN.) please send the names of the songs you have. I am trying to keep this little (actually humungous) project of mine organized. for the subject of the mail, just type SONGS: and the your name. So then I can know what stuffis from who. Oh yea and send it straight to me. (Not through the list.) Brensink@bhs3.bham.wednet.edu ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 13:36:41 -0700 From: bl702@Freenet.UCHSC.EDU (Joshua T. Raulerson) Subject: The Ng Mystery... > In the song Ana Ng, there is a theory that the Ana mentioned lives in > Vietnam right? aha! but Ana lives in China! i believe i heard somewhere that when They wrote the song, They meant for her to be Chinese, but somebody pointed out that Ng is a Vietnamese surname, not Chinese. thus it was assumed that she must be somewhere in Vietnam. But assuming that the guy in the song is in New York, or at least in the U.S., if one were to "make a hole with a gun perpendicular to the name of this town [N.Y.] in a desk-top globe", the bullet would come out in China, not Vietnam ("exit wound in a foreign nation showing the home of the one this was written for"). Since China is (roughly) directly opposite north america, this is where they exit wound would be, and would explain why his apartment looks upside down from there, and why water would spiral the wrong way down the sink (assuming this theory is true). another plank to my theory: Vietnam was at war in 1964 and probably would not have been represented at the World's Fair that year, whereas i'm pretty sure China was; since the song implies that the guy met ana ng at the '64 world's fair, this would not be possible if she were from vietnam. therefore, both parties are in opposite hemispheres, and the assertion that "water spirals the wrong way down the sink" is entirely plausible, provided that this principle is true. anybody care to double check my impeccable logic? Hammer down!! they might be josh -- -----<[([ Josh Raulerson, King of the Little People })]>----- BL702@freenet.uchsc.edu * :)-- <-- drooling smiley The Fauves Homepage: http://www.salamander.com/~salamac/F.html "Once I was the King of Spain (now I eat humble pie)!"### ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 96 16:15:43 EST From: apf@caess1.cae.aro.allied.com (Adam P. Fistler) Subject: TMBG Tape Trading I have an idea. Wouldn't anyone be intrested in setting up a system where people displayed what they stuff they had and made it availbe to those that want it for free (not trading, but charging shipping and the cost of the tape is fair). If you like the idea mail me back, if you like the idea but don't feel like making copies all of the time you can make me a copy (i'll pay you for posting and the cost of the tape and a little more extra for your effort). My hope is that this will let everyone listen thier thier stuff not just the few that have stuff to trade for it. Again if your intrested it this idea email me. If i get enough intrest i'll set up a section on my web page dedicated for it. And if your intrested in the little bit of stuff I have. I will send it to those that want it for free (no shipping cost or tape cost). I have: The State Songs Mono Puff Live in NYC A 5 minute interview with Them on 99.1 WHFS and they perform James K Polk Hopefully this idea will build the collection of those starting out and those that already have some stuff. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 15:04:47 -0600 From: the voice of persephone Subject: Re: The Ng Mystery... while china and america are in fact in different hemispheres (eastern/western), they are also in the same hemisphere, being the northern one. a shot perpindicular to the globe would go into the southern hemisphere if shot from america, vietnam, china or other places... to make things even more confusing, throughout the video there are pictures of maps. one evening with the help of several other people i figured out where the maps are of, and we discovered that they are somewhere in hungaria. perpindicular to hungaria on the globe would be somewhere in south america, more specifically in chile. now if we could only tie in africa, australlia and europe... paul the unraveller ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 12:00:28 -1000 From: Marc Myer Subject: Re: Joni's Confession >ANd I'm older than most of you, so there.< Thanks Joni for that startling revelation. I'm not the only post-grad aged (35) fan, and can now hold my head high: I am older, hear me roar. Now if I can just figure our how to get TMBG out here in Hawaii more often... And for you highbrow souls: have you noticed the coverage TMBG gets in the realms of "Schieckele Mix" radio show on NPR stations? That's like the Good Houskeeping seal of True Music Of Value. Marc ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 14:14:41 -0800 (PST) From: Liam Singer meny meny teckulufarcen. this spelling is probably wrong. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 17:21:39 -0500 Subject: Re: They Might Be Geography Dunces From: mrme@usa.pipeline.com (Rabbit Ears) On Jan 27, 1996 01:13:01, 'michael.carr@stonebow.otago.ac.nz (Michael Carr)' wrote: > >>"anti clockwise"? that's funny.. i love all these new words i learn on this >>list.. "ID" "happifying" "ANTI CLOCKWISE" etc. i've yet to use "ID" but i >>used "happifying" last night, but i KNOW i can find some excuse to use anti >>clockwise.. (it takes so little to amuse me) > > >okay well whatever you want, man, because after all, I enjoy some pretty >weirdo things, so hey, why not. If you want me to, I could send you some >Uniquely New Zealand things to say...but after all...it's up to you... > >Mike OH MAN!!! that would be totally anti clockwise!!!!!! send it on!!! i'll fill you in on some uniquely alex-and-his-friends words if you wish as well.. -- :Rabbit Ears: ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 17:26:32 -0500 Subject: you know.. From: mrme@usa.pipeline.com (Rabbit Ears) you know, i really enjoy it when i frequently hear Them on the radio and on tv, but i believe those stupid tv people should STOP playing snail shell!!!!!!!!!!! between that and istanbul, i'm getting really irritatted... -- :Rabbit Ears: ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 17:06:01 -0700 From: bl702@Freenet.UCHSC.EDU (Joshua T. Raulerson) Subject: touche...or is it? > while china and america are in fact in different hemispheres > (eastern/western), they are also in the same hemisphere, being the northern > one. a shot perpindicular to the globe would go into the southern > hemisphere if shot from america, vietnam, china or other places... to make > things even more confusing, throughout the video there are pictures of maps. > one evening with the help of several other people i figured out where the > maps are of, and we discovered that they are somewhere in hungaria. > perpindicular to hungaria on the globe would be somewhere in south america, > more specifically in chile. now if we could only tie in africa, australlia > and europe... > paul the unraveller whoa...you're right. after consulting a globe i realize that a shot fired perpendicularly through the globe from the united states would come out in neither vietnam nor china. your theory about hungary is interesting, but i still maintain that the character who is singing the song is somewhere in north america; perhaps he's not speaking literally about being on the exact opposite side of the world. another, perhaps more logical conclusion would be that he's in SOUTH america, which is much more directly alligned with indochina, in which case the nation in question could be either china or vietnam, or even a number of others. a third, more far-fetched possibility would be heard island, a tiny land mass waaaaay down near antarctica. assuming the guy is in the eastern u.s. the bullet would come out here. while the maps in the video are certainly compelling, the global opposite of eastern europe is new zealand, which doesn't seem too promising to me. i KNOW there's something about this on the FAQ; i guess i'm gonna have to go back and look it up. i'll also have to figure out where the 1964 world's fair was held - that might have something to do with it. as you can see, i'm dangerously bored... they might be josh not as smug, but determined as ever! -- -----<[([ Josh Raulerson, King of the Little People })]>----- BL702@freenet.uchsc.edu * :)-- <-- drooling smiley The Fauves Homepage: http://www.salamander.com/~salamac/F.html "Once I was the King of Spain (now I eat humble pie)!"### ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 17:14:05 -0700 From: bl702@Freenet.UCHSC.EDU (Joshua T. Raulerson) Subject: Let's end this sorry thread mercifully... OK, here we go with the LAST WORD on Ana Ng! The following is taken from the TMBG FAQ: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about They Might Be Giants (p42 of 104) 20. What does "Ana Ng" mean? Derek Thomas interviews John Flansburgh in the 8/90 THROTTLE magazine: JF: Ng is a Vietnamese name. The song is about someone who's thinking about a person on the exact opposite side of the world. John looked at a globe and figured out that if Ana Ng is in Vietnam and the person is on the other side of the world, then it must be written by someone in Peru. Jon McIntyre says, "John F is wrong; it's a Chinese name. `Nguyen' and `Ngoc' are examples of similar Vietnamese names." ***** There you have it. Flans says Ana's in Vietnam, even though her name is Chinese, and I believe him! The guy is in South America, which was at least one of my theories, i think... Here's something else to screw things up more: according to the 1988 Information Please Almanac, the 1964 World's Fair ("Peace Through Understanding") took place in New York city, home of the Johns and my original hypothesis. Where will it all end??!! They Might Be Josh confused, but happy -- -----<[([ Josh Raulerson, King of the Little People })]>----- BL702@freenet.uchsc.edu * :)-- <-- drooling smiley The Fauves Homepage: http://www.salamander.com/~salamac/F.html "Once I was the King of Spain (now I eat humble pie)!"### ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 17:04:30 -0800 (PST) From: "No. 10 Can of Steam" Subject: Re: Let's end this sorry thread mercifully... > at least one of my theories, i think... Here's something else to screw things > up more: according to the 1988 Information Please Almanac, the 1964 World's > Fair ("Peace Through Understanding") took place in New York city, home of the > Johns and my original hypothesis. Where will it all end??!! Not yet. I believe that that World's Fair has been discussed before in one of the Ana Ng debates that always seem to crop up, and yes, the 1964 World's Fair WAS in NY, and yes (if I remember correctly) both Johns attended. It made quite an impression on Them, although they were quite young, and They have mentioned it on various occasions. Of course, I Might Be Completely Wrong. If so, flame rabidchild.paulswan.@mail.utexas.edu for being annoyingly insane and having a too-long .sig. Jason Weiner * Stanford University * discord@leland.stanford.edu _______________________________________________________________________________ Insults of the Week: "Your father was a hamster, and your mother smelled of elderberries!" "I didn't hire you for your brains, you hippopotamic land mass!" ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 20:13:59 -0500 (EST) From: Paul Sebold Subject: They Might Be Geography Dunces > okay time to get picky people. > In the song Ana Ng, there is a theory that the Ana mentioned lives in > Vietnam right? > well they go onto say about how 'water spirals the wrong way down the > sink'...which of course I've had this asked of me, by iggerent northern > hemisphere people, like what way down does the water go? and the answer is > that I dont know if it's anti clockwise or clockwise, because I never > bothered to look, but it's > WRONG WRONG ALL WRONG > > because: > Vietnam is in the northern hemisphere too. > which means that whoever is singing the song on a narrative basis must be > in Peru like the theory goes. OK, I think maybe I have some insight here. First of all, about the water in the sink. Water goes down the sink clockwise in the Northern and counterclockwise in the southern UNDER IDEAL CONDITIONS. If disturbed in any way, the water could go either way in either hemisphere. the act of pulling the plug disturbs water, so this doesn't happen ideally very often. It's possible that they mean Viet nam, because, hey, maybe They (gasp!!) got some things confuzzeled. (It's possible, you know) Ng is very common for Vietnamese, however it's not inconceivable that someone in Southern Indonesia could have the same name, and that's in the South Hem. I don't know of any Peruvian Ng's. Not that it matters. ALl that really matters is the fact that for this song, Ana Ng is some gal who he's never met who lives on the other side of the world. AT least, that's the crucial part for me. -I don't want the world, I just want your half. SOn of gOD (paul) ------------------------------ From: BOAR_110@access.ohio.gov Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 22:26:33 -0400 (EDT) Subject: RE:Joni's Confesion Your not older then me, for I am 1000 years old. ;) ------------------------------ From: BOAR_110@access.ohio.gov Date: Sat, 27 Jan 1996 02:26:59 -0400 (EDT) Subject: RE:defined within an inch of it's life I believe a saphire bullet of pure love is a bullet used by a manically depressed person who decides to kill themself and rid the world of their presence as a sign of love. BLACKHAWK ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 23:47:16 -0800 From: gregb@westworld.com (Greg Benson) Subject: Mono Puff What's all this then about a full-length Mono Puff CD coming out? I love the Hello CD... Anybody heard anything? And when is Linnell's duet with George Michael due in stores? A part of me is hovering, Greg ------------------------------ End of tmbg-list Digest #2-27 *****************************