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 #2-344 tmbg-list Digest, Volume 2, Number 344 Monday, 16 December 1996 Today's Topics: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details TMBG: Re: Sabrina Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details Re: TMBG: TMBG recurring themes & Brave Combo TMBG: www.tmbg.org questions Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details TMBG: Lansing merchandise, or lack thereof TMBG: Themes [heads vs. bands] TMBG: All about heads... TMBG: Ununoctium, Flans changing song interps, specific subject hea Re: TMBG: TMBG recurring themes & Brave Combo Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details Re: TMBG: TMBG recurring themes & Brave Combo Re: TMBG: TMBG recurring themes & Brave Combo TMBG: farewell, lovely people Re: TMBG: if you've got a secret boy...FORGET ABOUT IT!!! Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details TMBG: Till my head falls off TMBG: Dirtbike revealed! Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show TMBG: 9:30 + Nova/DC people PLEASE read Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details Re: TMBG: TMBG recurring themes & Brave Combo TMBG: Free the Expo 67! RE: TMBG: Till my head falls off TMBG: I had a dream, Joe... Re: TMBG: Free the Expo 67! Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details Re: TMBG: Wasn't too much later they came out with johnson's wax TMBG: goodbye and that sexxy linnel TMBG: About sexxy Linnell Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Fwd: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show TMBG: Cage and Aquarium TMBG: Re: free the Expo 67 TMBG: Re: Stuff (Great subject, huh?) TMBG: everyone is my friend (fwd) Re: TMBG: Cage and Aquarium TMBG: everything is beautiful when you're young and pretty... TMBG: yawn as your plane goes doooown (beat) in flaaaaames Administrivia: 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: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 02:09:56 -0500 From: The Flying Pollock Subject: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details Pittsburgh, 12/14/96....YOU ARE THERE. Now I know that everyone else has already given the basic happenings of the concert, but I have my own little details to share with you all. The wait was long and arduous, being over 3 hours total with nothing to do but get sore feet and listen (barely audible) to our opening act of CDs. The crowd, I one of them, was getting really antsy about 45 minutes after They were supposed to be on. You see, no one had told us that there would be no opening act for the evening, and we all were upset. We were getting so bored that we began cheering random roadies or guards walking across the stage just for being there. The catering guy was awesome. The only word for him, I am sorry. This catering guy with this poofy white hat walked across the stage with a plate of carrot dip. Everyone cheered him and he raised his hands and smiled broadly and did some sort of a fist pump. The other guards we cheered just grumbled. The guards, yes. The security at the Metropol, while I can find no fault in their handling of the two crowd surfing incidents, were remarkably rude in matters other than security. One of the guards had this pony tail with the rest of his head shaved. I have dubbed him "The Highlander". He was not a nice guy. I was situated in the front row in the far left corner right in front of Flans, and next to the security guards. First, when TMBG played "XTC vs AA" (i think but someone can correct me) The Highlander said quite distinctly, "This is terrible!!" For the next five minutes he and his beefy friends began pointing at crowd members and laughing. Then to top it all off, The Highlander climbed up one of those amp boxes and mockingly pretended he was surfing to the bemusement of his fellow bouncers. When TMBG played "Spider", I distinctly heard one of them say (quite loudly) "What is this SHIT?". Now I really don't feel the need to insult these guards personally. I mean, obviously TMBG just doesn't stand up to their version of music with the loud guitars, scantily clad women, and bat head-biting, but they should keep their ignorant opinions amongst themselves and not publicly mock the band their employer is putting on stage. This part of the evening annoyed me. I would also like to congratulate the man in the front row who went bezerk on a dark haired girl and her friend who were trying to push their way to a better spot. The concert overall, was "totally rockin" but what else can you expect from TMBG? I heard someone say that she had discovered on important thing about herself on this night: her pelvis bone is the strongest bone in her body. The pushing was abusive against the barrier, but fortunately all of our pelvises came through. Was Linnell's microphone messed up or something? You could barely hear him over any of the music. Especially when Flans was really going nuts on his guitar, like only Flans can. Are all girls attracted to Linnell? Are they? I took my girlfriend to the concert and all she could talk about afterwards was how "incredibly hot that John Linnell is". Something about his manly forearms... ?? I got into a car accident after the concert, so if any of you saw a gold Pontiac 6000 on the curb of Penn St. ten minutes after the concert, that was me! I think I have a little whiplash action on the neck. Maybe the guy who hit me was really a secret agent for the terrible metropol guards trying to wipe out all potential informants of their raucous behavior. Maybe not. Detail concluded, Casey -=-=-The Flying Pollock-=-=- -=Casey Grunnet-=-=Penn State-=-=- ckg110@psu.edu-=-=-Jaluit22@aol.com "What's the sense in ever thinking about the tomb when you're much too busy returning to the womb?" -----They Might Be Giants -=-=TMBG-==-RockyHorror-=-=XFiles-=-=- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 07:45:00 GMT From: sfkoch@mail.rpn.fullfeed.com (Thor) Organization: United Federation of Planets Subject: TMBG: Re: Sabrina On 14 Dec 1996 00:44:31 -0500, lanio@u.washington.edu ('Honey Bunny' N Olson) wrote: > >I just watched that "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" or whatever it's called. >I've never seen it before, but that is the Clarissa girl, right? Or am I >confused? Yes, that is Melissa Joan Hart, aka Clarissa. "The trouble with computers, of course, is that they're very sophisticated idiots." - Dr. Who ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 04:30:51 -0500 (EST) From: Deanna Rubin Subject: Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details The Flying Pollock writes: > rude in matters other than security. One of the guards had this pony tail > with the rest of his head shaved. I have dubbed him "The Highlander". He > was not a nice guy. I was situated in the front row in the far left corner > right in front of Flans, and next to the security guards. First, when TMBG > played "XTC vs AA" (i think but someone can correct me) The Highlander said > quite distinctly, "This is terrible!!" For the next five minutes he and > his beefy friends began pointing at crowd members and laughing. Then to top > it all off, The Highlander climbed up one of those amp boxes and mockingly A) I was probably two feet behind you. Funny, isn't it? (we were in the front left corner..) B) I thought that guy's hair was really cool, but he was an asshole. Metropol staff tend to be.. at least that one guard was menacing enough that nobody wanted to crowd-surf. > I would also like to congratulate the man in the front row who went > bezerk on a dark haired girl and her friend who were trying to push their > way to a better spot. I dunno about that but I know that there was this one particular guy there, the "metropol dude" as I was dubbing him; he was you know, average height, shoulder-length brown hair, look of "boy I'm so cool cause I go to all of these random shows and mosh" on his face, very oblivious, and well, I have long nails and every time he came into our group and tried to push us around, i would just put out my hand with nails towards him; I think he got the hint after getting clawed about four times and left us alone. :) You know, I think they should rope off the front five feet or so of these concerts for people who specifically do not mosh, will not mosh, and just want to be near Them. > Was Linnell's microphone messed up or something? You could barely > hear him over any of the music. Especially when Flans was really going nuts > on his guitar, like only Flans can. I think so. It was weird, I think whoever was doing sound got the bass and Linnell's mics messed up at some point; I totally couldn't hear him for most of the second half of the show.. > Are all girls attracted to Linnell? Are they? I took my girlfriend > to the concert and all she could talk about afterwards was how "incredibly > hot that John Linnell is". Something about his manly forearms... ?? I dunno, I've had a crush on him since eighth grade or so (i'm a junior in college now) but I can't really explain it.. ..whee. *---------------------------------------------------------------------------- deanna rubin entropy+@CMU.EDU http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~dr4b/ *---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ From: Raldus@aol.com Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 04:58:14 -0500 Subject: Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details In a message dated 96-12-15 02:12:23 EST, you write: << Are all girls attracted to Linnell? Are they? I took my girlfriend to the concert and all she could talk about afterwards was how "incredibly hot that John Linnell is". Something about his manly forearms... ?? >> It's not just the ladies. Linnell is hot. He carries himself very well too. Didn't notice the forearms though. Oh well, I won't bore you with this. Just felt like putting in my two cents. ------------------------------ Date: 15 Dec 1996 12:54:39 GMT From: "Royce M. Lee" Organization: Parvenu Design Subject: Re: TMBG: TMBG recurring themes & Brave Combo > > What is the song about if not a band? Why is > > the Dirt Bike called "they"? I'll go with it being a band unless I hear > > a better explanation. > > From the Good Morning America appearance they did in 1994, they played > Dirt Bike and said that the Dirt Bike was a cult moving through the town. > They may have said that, but it doesn't make it so. In Australia, They said in an interview that their album was a tribute to the Eagles drummer "Don Henley". Quite a funny interview.... -- Royce M. Lee parvenu@ozemail.com.au ------------------------------ From: Leo Bicknell Subject: TMBG: www.tmbg.org questions Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 12:01:14 -0500 (EST) If you've been visiting the web site you've probably noticed a number of changes recently (a nice byproduct of me having no job at the moment, and waiting for some easy exams :-). While these revisions are far from done (notably bluedawg is working on doing something with the links section, not an easy task) I thought it might be time to get a little off the cuff feedback. I have a couple of concerns. The first is that the home page (http://www.tmbg.org/) takes too long to load over a modem. Being spoiled here I don't even have a modem to try this with. Has it grown too large? To you find yourself getting irritated when you visit the site because you have to wait? The second thing I am worried about is that the home page is getting to cluttered. When this version of the home page was conceived by Jonathan it was an effort to flatten the web site...move all of the common links to the top to make navigation easier. Again, I'm spoiled with a large monitor so it all easily fits on my screen. Is there too much stuff on the home page now? Would you prefer some of the items on it be moved back down? If you have an opinion please reply to me. I would really like some feedback, be them complaints or compliments. -- Leo Bicknell - TMBG List Admin - tmbg-list-request@tmbg.org System Administrator / Network Technician bicknell@ufp.org - bicknell@vt.edu - bicknell@tmbg.org ------------------------------ From: Kmsog@aol.com Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 12:04:47 -0500 Subject: Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details << Are all girls attracted to Linnell? >> I think the proclivity corresponds with the much discussed topic of if you (we) are one of those people who Might get Them or not among, say, your group of friends. Ive had a reoccurring crush on linnell since the beginning (that's '89 for me) and have had to justify this crush to many a (girl)friend who just doesn't get this: "but he weighs like fourteen pounds," or "you tend to like awkward boys" or "wait, which one, again?" or just plain: "what the hell are you thinking?" but these tend to be people who are not seriously into Their music. it's generally a topic with friends b/c Ive tended to like guys who resemble linnell -- sparking parallel incredulousness. which is not to say that many a hardcore fan of either gender Might not harbor this proclivity (or might for flans). but which is to agree -- yeah, he's hot (cha). so, no not all girls, but many of us folks. -- (one of the) jen(s) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 12:24:10 -0500 (EST) From: Elitza Nicolaou Subject: TMBG: Lansing merchandise, or lack thereof Hey MIchiganders: In Lansing there seems to be an acute shortage of any TMBG-related merchandise, including t-shirts, posters, pretty much anything except CDs. I know that they were selling shirts when They were here with Hootie, but I didn't get to go to the big fun Breslin Center concert, which was the only place they were being sold. So if anyone has any knowledge of a place in Michigan that isn't Traverse City having any They-stuff, please e-mail me with a location, I might be able to get there. South of CLare preferred, but not necessary. Thanks! And just one more thing- My homepage has moved from Area51/3418 to CollegePark/Quad/1317 in Geocities. This is probably not of interest to anyone on the list but I just thought you all should know. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Elitza's Very Own .sig File!!! Send all complaints/comments to: ana-ng@poetic.com or visit: http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Quad/1317 "You saw it, didn't you? You saw him repressing me? Help, help, I'm being repressed!" -Monty Python and the Holy Grail ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 13:00:37 -0500 From: ntodd@uvm-gen.emba.uvm.edu (Nathan Todd) Subject: TMBG: Themes [heads vs. bands] > >** I'm not sure that ANY topic occurs as often as musical bands. Here are >** some off the top of my head: db's, Young Fresh Fellows, Dirt Bike, XTC, >** Adam Ant, and of course They Might Be Giants (on Flood). There are >** others. [Ed: Replacements, Alice Cooper, Phil Ochs, Marvin Gaye, >Bacharach & David (sp?), MDC, Menudo, Eurythmics, Primus, Bon Jovi (sorta).] >[Ed: Also, Stompbox was a band, correct? But I don't think Dirt >Bike was. Regardless, I doubt either of these songs are about the bands >themselves.] The general theme of 'heads' comes up *far* more often than bands. Head, mind, skull, face, in all there variations come up so often it is amazing. To list a few: Do you realize how many times Linnell says 'face' in 'Welcome to the Jungle'? Or how many times he says 'head' in Mrs. Train? A Whole Bunch. Take just the occurences on the Flood album: 'just pondering this time bomb in my *mind*' 'did a large procession wave their torches as my *head* fell in the basket' 'and you won't see my *head* in the window' 'my *head* is tired from bobbing and pretending' 'listen to some bullet-*head*' 'hit on the *head* with a frying pan' 'buy a big prosthetic *forehead*' 'and wear it on my real *head*' '*foreheads* on their real *heads*' 'something unpleasant has spilled on his *brain*' 'using a green magic-marker, if it's alright, on the back of your *head*?' 'if i had a pair of eyes in the back of my *head*' 'I'd like to poison your *mind*' 'written across her *scalp*' 'i'd like to change your *mind*' 'and hit my *head* on the wall of the jail' 'moving across the beach*head*' 'when you see the *faces* of the women and the men' 'they might be *brain*' 'tabloid footprints in your *hair*' That's 20 individual occurences, not counting times they repeat the lines. Of course death is another big theme, but I doubt it compares to heads. Nathan Todd a.k.a. Tenman *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~> You know your duty to mankind, VOTE INSECTS '96: "Insects, Jesus, & God For President, Vice President, & Sub-Committee" ------------------------------ From: JewelsGirl@aol.com Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 13:49:37 -0500 Subject: TMBG: All about heads... I think Nathan is definately right here. Think of all the OTHER head references: Hall of HEADS (a whole song devoted to heads) Till my HEAD falls off "And after many glasses of work, I get paid in the BRAIN"--Own Worst Enemy Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet HEAD Stand On Your Own HEAD "32 feathers in my brand new indian HEAD-dress"--32 footsteps "All the people are so happy now, their HEADS are caving in"--Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes "The hip-hop and the white funk just blew away my puppy's mind"--Youth Culture Killed My Dog I could go on and on, but I thing it's pretty obvious that They has something about heads... Julie ------------------------------ From: KdsInThHal@aol.com Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 14:23:18 -0500 Subject: TMBG: Ununoctium, Flans changing song interps, specific subject hea ununoctium@juno.com (Ununoctium U. Ununoctium) wrote: >Do not expect any updates of my website at >http://www.inca.de/user/ruprecht/ Wait, guys.... Am I confused, or has Ununoctium been Ruprecht all this time??? >Maybe Flans changed what it was about after it was written! >(Wouldn't be the first time, some would say!) Heh heh.... Why would they feel compelled to write a song called "SEXXY", with 2 X's, if it's about, umm, you know. Because Flans changed the meaning of the song. ;) >What is to be done in such cases? I recomend splitting the >message up into several messages and giving each one an >appropriate subject. Yeah, but then people get annoyed and say you should merge all your messages together to slow down traffic.... it's somewhat of a double edged sword (Oh god, did I just use a cliche??). And hey-- S-E-X-X-Y is on the radio now, it's always on when i post a message to the list! I just thought I'd point that out.. *2 weeks till the freak flag goes up!* ~sarah :) linnellgirl@tmbg.org http://members.aol.com/kdsinthhal "...And in the garage is a skeleton of a coyote, and it's one of those real valuable ones, and that guy from the news already tried to buy it three times." - Bruce McCulloch as Gavin, KITH ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 14:26:46 -0500 (EST) From: Ekul Hpesoj Nevets Subject: Re: TMBG: TMBG recurring themes & Brave Combo On Sat, 14 Dec 1996, Danny Jones wrote: > That's good to know. I remember hearing here on the list that it was > about a band. I don't know what the ultimate source was. Maybe Flans > changed what it was about after it was written! (Wouldn't be the first > time, some would say!) Just wondering, how many of Their songs have a simple singular meaning? And how often do They like to give away the true meanings of their songs? Just curiousity... SJL ------------------------------ From: jting@MIT.EDU Subject: Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 14:43:51 EST << Are all girls attracted to Linnell? >> or just plain: "what the hell are you thinking?" but these tend to be people who are not seriously into Their music. actually, you don't even need to be into tmbg--my rmmates took me to paradise on thurs and neither of them like them BUT both of them thought that linnell was hot...actually, one of them, who essentially cannot stand them...ahem, hates them (don't ask me how this is possible, especially since i play them constantly), said that looking at lin made up for the music....so, i guess you could say that many girls are attracted to linnell...perhaps because he is attractive... ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 14:44:47 -0500 (EST) From: Lawrence P Solomon Subject: Re: TMBG: TMBG recurring themes & Brave Combo Excerpts from internet.music.tmbg: 15-Dec-96 Re: TMBG: TMBG recurring th.. by Ekul Hpesoj Nevets@monte > Just wondering, how many of Their songs have a simple singular meaning? > And how often do They like to give away the true meanings of their songs? > Just curiousity... Most of their songs don't really have true meanings. The most obvious that do are James K. Polk, Meet James Ensor, Why Does the Sun Shine, Istanbul, and Birdhouse in Your Soul (they've said many times that it's simply about a nightlight). I suppose that by some stretch of the imagination, Space Suit could have a fairly clear cut meaning simply by its being an instrumental... I think their reasoning is that they either do or don't want people trying to read too much into their songs - they'd much rather people just enjoy them, because I'm sure, if we knew what really went into some of them, we wouldn't like them as much. I like the explanation of Sleeping in the Flowers, though: "This song is not about getting totally high." -Flans, 6/18/94 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 14:52:58 -0500 From: Evan Chakroff Subject: Re: TMBG: TMBG recurring themes & Brave Combo >I like the explanation of Sleeping in the Flowers, though: > >"This song is not about getting totally high." > > -Flans, 6/18/94 > > here's another: "Here's a song about death." (Not an actual quote) -Flans 12/3/96 -- Evan Chakroff The Internet Mystery Spot http://spot.home.ml.org This Statement Is False ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 14:49:40 -0500 From: dstange Subject: TMBG: farewell, lovely people Due to the sheer volume of the list, I'm forced to unsubscribe. Perhaps I'll glance through the archives the weeks after the box set comes out, if they're being continously updated. Thanks for all the great TMBG info. They'll need a Dwayne... Dwayne Stange non esse illigitimae carborundum. http://www.provide.net/~pukwudji/6fl_1.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 15:02:35 -0500 (CDT) From: Juliet Subject: Re: TMBG: if you've got a secret boy...FORGET ABOUT IT!!! > How can society enforce morality without the local, state, federal > governments' help? Because not everything has to be a law for it to be unacceptable. For instance, it is unacceptable in polite society today to talk about whether or not you can give yourself oral sex, however, there is absolutely no law which says you cannot do so. In society today, it's pretty much unacceptable to give yourself oral sex, and even more so to talk about it. In addition, there are many more social taboos which suffer far greater consequences than the law could ever do. If you go around sleeping with everything that moves, society will exclude you from it and you will suffer a life of misery and torment because you have broken one of society's most esteemed codes- don't be a whore. Got it? Questions? Comments? Statements? Sincerely, Helen =) ******************************************************* Helen Joan Chipman "No one's picking up the phone uhjchipman@latte.memphis.edu guess it's me and me... And this little masochist, she's ready to confess I love you, all the things that I never thought that she could feel..." my Romeo. -Tori Amos, "Hey Jupiter" ********************************* http://www.people.memphis.edu/~uhjchipman ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 96 16:11 EST From: kbrodbec@remcen.ehhs.cmich.edu (Kirsten Brodbeck) Subject: Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details >i guess you could say that many girls are attracted to linnell...perhaps because >he is attractive... Gosh, ya think? ;) Seriously, I've thought Linnell was hot for a long time, but until I joined this list I was afraid to admit it. :) My friend Kristen says she thinks he's hot, even though "he looks like stick boy. Get some meat on that child's bones!" (after our first TMBG concert experience) Kirsten -- ______________________________________________________________________________ "I stand on my head and watch it all go away." -Rancid "Junkie Man" Kirsten Brodbeck AKA Crow kbrodbec@remcen.ehhs.cmich.edu ------------------------------ From: "Adam Poskitt" Organization: Dept. of Defence (Navy), Australia Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 08:14:16 +1000 Subject: TMBG: Till my head falls off YES!!! JJJ are at the moment playing Til My Head Falls of by They Might Be Giants!!! It's the feature album this week and they will be playing ALL the songs... That;s right, this huge Australia wide station, is playing TMBG heaps... I love it to death and I just nearly fainted... really. Hmmm... I hope that tmbg address was right... OK, I'm settling down... I just have to email EVERYONE about this marvellous event... Ta... Oooohhh.. Ok.. Hmm.. Bye Ad. __ |Ad| |OK| |__| ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 96 16:22:24 EDT From: "Pooh Head Bucket?" Subject: TMBG: Dirtbike revealed! The following is a transcription of the pre-Dirtbike intro at the 4/28/93 show at the Count Basie Theatre, in Red Bank, NJ. "This is a brand new song about a fake rock band called 'Dirtbike.' This song is in praise of the fake rock band 'Dirtbike.' It's called 'Dirtbike.'" ...doesn't get much clearer than that. This was actually a fabulous show, complete with a full-horn version of "Lullabye Of Nightmares." It gave me much joy. I wish my tape were of slightly higher quality... "We've Got A World That Swings" is the sweetest song ever recorded. -tom. Tom Soriano * sorianot@alpha.montclair.edu *------------------------------------------ "It's a typical day on the road to Utopia" ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 16:22:32 -0500 (EST) From: That rascal Eric Webber Subject: Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show I had a great time at the show last night. I didn't think the crowd was that bad. The worst thing was having to wait for an extra hour. On what Boba said: It was Flans who talked about the Electric Banana On what Lawrence said: That unidentified thing that Flans sang was a Madonna song, but I can't remember which one. I was amused when Flans screwed up AKA Driver by saying "We can fly 120. Little hand's on E" Anyway I had an excellent time with all the cool CMU people I went with. Take it easy, Wubba *------------------------------------------------------------------ |Eric Webber- | "We intend to offend and alarm | |erwst9+@pitt.edu | and annoy" -The Penis Wolves | |wubba@tmbg.org | "Maturity is a high price to pay| |http://www.pitt.edu/~erwst9 | for growing up" -Tom Stoppard| *------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 16:25:55 -0400 From: Merciless@vt.edu (McGing "the Merciless") Subject: TMBG: 9:30 + Nova/DC people PLEASE read hello My name is Brian McGing, and until last may I lived in Arlington. In may my fam moved to atlanta, but I am goin to Arlington for new years. I probably won't get there till the 29th, but it's possible that my sister will get sick of my other sister, and want to leave sooner. Any way my point if someone who is going to the 9:30 show can give me a way to contact them (besides email, I will be computer deficent, as of the 19th) just in case I miraculously get there by the 27th I would much appreciate it. Also if any one who lives in the Nortern virginia D.C area is planning on driving to any of the further away shoes between the 29th and Jan 12th also please contact me (merciless@vt.edu) thank you much for readin this. McGing "the Merciless" ############################################################################ ##"For the first time I looked twords the uncertain future with a sense of hope, because if a machine can learn the value of a human life than perhaps we can to. -Linda Hamaltin (T2) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 16:24:23 -0500 (EST) From: That rascal Eric Webber Subject: Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details I'd like to say that Flans has some pretty manly forearms too. Take it easy, Wubba On Sun, 15 Dec 1996 Raldus@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 96-12-15 02:12:23 EST, you write: > > << Are all girls attracted to Linnell? Are they? I took my > girlfriend > to the concert and all she could talk about afterwards was how "incredibly > hot that John Linnell is". Something about his manly forearms... ?? >> > > > It's not just the ladies. Linnell is hot. He carries himself very well too. > Didn't notice the forearms though. > Oh well, I won't bore you with this. Just felt like putting in my two cents. > *------------------------------------------------------------------ |Eric Webber- | "We intend to offend and alarm | |erwst9+@pitt.edu | and annoy" -The Penis Wolves | |wubba@tmbg.org | "Maturity is a high price to pay| |http://www.pitt.edu/~erwst9 | for growing up" -Tom Stoppard| *------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 18:16:20 -0500 (EST) From: Renee L Grebe Subject: Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details The Flying Pollock writes: > Are all girls attracted to Linnell? Are they? I took my girlfriend > to the concert and all she could talk about afterwards was how "incredibly > hot that John Linnell is". Something about his manly forearms... ?? funny, cause when i saw them 3 years ago in philly, i feel in love with flansburgh, and i loved him since then... then, last night, i was front and center right in front of linnell, and MAN, i fell FAST in love! i think last time i saw them, flansburgh talked more, and seemed to a have a lot of personality, but, last night it was definately linnell that took the show! he had GREAT eye contact too!!! ah. it's just ashame they won't be in philly again at new years... :( renee ------------------------------ Subject: Re: TMBG: TMBG recurring themes & Brave Combo Date: Sun, 15 Dec 96 18:12:13 -0600 From: Danny Jones >Just wondering, how many of Their songs have a simple singular meaning? >And how often do They like to give away the true meanings of their songs? >Just curiousity... > SJL Well, as you know, you are asking the wrong person. You are probably asking rhetorically. However, in my opinion, the answer to the first question is "more than most people seem to think." :) Danny ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 19:52:53 -0500 (EST) From: Joshua Hall-Bachner Subject: TMBG: Free the Expo 67! BTW, anyone think that the line in the subject is one of TMBG's cleverest puns ever? It's amused me ever since I first heard it, and still does when I listen to Purple Toupee now just because it's so subtle. >A married woman called up the Don & Mike show and said she would have >sex with Dennis Murphy (really stupid guy) just to get a Tickle Me Elmo >doll for her son. Hmmm...I'm suddenly getting an image of Arnold selling his body to get a Turboman in "Jingle All The Way"...Ugh. :( >Gee, I wish I had that sattelite dish... If you did then you wouldn't have to watch MM, either. Instead you could watch "M2," aka "MTV1984." >If it was, I would be the BIGGEST advocate for adultery and cheating in >general to be punishable by DEATH. I'm not joking folks. I assume you would also like to go back to thievery being punished by loss of a hand as well. Seriously, I'd love to hear you >You cheat on someone, >you deserve nothing but slow torture for the rest of your natural life >and to burn in hell for your eternal one as far as I'm concerned. try to justify that. Three guesses who had a bad relationship experience here. Seriously, cheating is just a form of betrayal of trust. It is a very personal one, but it can be overcome and is often not done maliciously or even uncaringly. Unless you also advocate capital punishment for other forms of broken trust within relationships, you're being completely unfair here. >I disagree about the drugs. I feel that employers have the right and >responsibility to make sure that their employees aren't doing drugs, if that >is the company policy. Ah. I was speaking about churches, however. They can tell you what you should do regarding sex, drugs, etc. but if you don't want to listen, well, tough for them. >I have absolutely no problem with it, many of my best friends are gay This quote always amuses me. It is just *soooo* cliche. Does anyone know if there is some sort of origin of this phrasing, or did it just sort of evolve? >Dirt Bike > What is the song about if not a band? Nazi Germany. No, I'm not kidding. Replace "Dirt Bike" with "Third Reich" (rhymes, don't it?) and listen again. Also note how the line "They're over their sophomore jinx" works. The sophomore effort would be the second reich. Now, it's been three years since I did a project on German history and already I can't remember anything about it, so someone help me: was the 2nd reich especially unsuccessful, as, well, reichs go? Josh So they stepped on my hair and told me I was fat /---------------------------Joshua Hall-Bachner---------------------------\ | particle@servtech.com http://www.servtech.com/public/particle/ | |"We all have our idiosyncracies -- maybe thinning hair, or gum disease." | \---- Kowanko, "Will You Come To?" ------ Thank You, And Goodnight. ------/ ------------------------------ From: "Maria, Nick" Subject: RE: TMBG: Till my head falls off Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 12:03:51 +1100 Bummer! You beat me to it!! But it has been great, every hour a new TMBG song on the radio. So far I've heard TMHFO, HCISLAG, MD and NYC. Got to be happy with that!! Must say that I'm having fun forcing everyone to listen to Them too now! Have a nice day!! 10000ft Septic >---------- >From: Adam Poskitt[SMTP:rego@macs.ranteg.navy.gov.au] >Sent: Monday, 16 December, 1996 6:14 AM >To: Erin Luscombe; NJ Powell; Very Fruity Indeed; jive@ifi.unizh.ch; >verjase@pnc.com.au; bronwyn; tmbg-list@tmbg.org >Subject: TMBG: Till my head falls off > >YES!!! JJJ are at the moment playing Til My Head Falls of by They >Might Be Giants!!! It's the feature album this week and they will be >playing ALL the songs... That;s right, this huge Australia wide >station, is playing TMBG heaps... I love it to death and I just >nearly fainted... really. Hmmm... I hope that tmbg address was >right... > OK, I'm settling down... I just have to email EVERYONE about this >marvellous event... Ta... Oooohhh.. Ok.. Hmm.. Bye > >Ad. > > __ >|Ad| >|OK| >|__| > ------------------------------ From: "Maria, Nick" Subject: TMBG: I had a dream, Joe... Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 12:25:54 +1100 I have now fallen into the 'They are now invading my sleeping time' category!! Last night I dreamt that I went to Their concert, and after the first song They had to stop because the mixing was shocking!! Flans and Lin'l left the stage, and I ended up chatting to the other members of the band (who, in my dream, were a real motley looking crew, including a seven foot giant-of-a-man, and a little beardie weirdie). They told me how it was a pretty strange experience touring with the two Johns. I then starting playing hide and seek with a blonde and a brunette, who I assumed were John and John respective partners. It turned out that They were bodyguards (the blonde was the one who picked him up after that show - I made a point of asking her that question). I then got the girls to organise some autographed posters, and I woke up (to a merciless mosquito who I hope has a terrible belly ache after overindulging on me during the night!!). Yours obsessively 10000ft Septic ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 20:37:43 -0500 (EST) From: Ekul Hpesoj Nevets Subject: Re: TMBG: Free the Expo 67! On Sun, 15 Dec 1996, Joshua Hall-Bachner wrote: > BTW, anyone think that the line in the subject is one of TMBG's cleverest > puns ever? It's amused me ever since I first heard it, and still does when I > listen to Purple Toupee now just because it's so subtle. I think it is a little too subtle for me :). What is it about? The quilty seven? The line pervades my understanding. I wonder every time I hear the song. SJL ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 20:40:49 -0500 (EST) From: That rascal Eric Webber Subject: Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show Details On Sun, 15 Dec 1996, Renee L Grebe wrote: > then, last night, i was front and center right in front of linnell, and > MAN, i fell FAST in love! i think last time i saw them, flansburgh > talked more, and seemed to a have a lot of personality, but, last night > it was definately linnell that took the show! he had GREAT eye contact > too!!! Too bad Lin can't see well enough to tell if he's actually looking at someone's face or not. I did note him squinting alot as he looked out into the crowd as if he was trying to see what was going on. Maybe he dosen't wear glasses cause he dosen't want Flans to sue him for infringing on his trademark. Take it easy, Wubba *------------------------------------------------------------------ |Eric Webber- | "We intend to offend and alarm | |erwst9+@pitt.edu | and annoy" -The Penis Wolves | |wubba@tmbg.org | "Maturity is a high price to pay| |http://www.pitt.edu/~erwst9 | for growing up" -Tom Stoppard| *------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 21:58:16 +0000 From: Jonah Subject: Re: TMBG: Wasn't too much later they came out with johnson's wax > > BTW, anyone think that the line in the subject is one of TMBG's cleverest > puns ever? It's amused me ever since I first heard it, and still does when I > listen to Purple Toupee now just because it's so subtle. Yeah! I love that line! But you can't beat "martin x was mad when they outlawed bellbottoms, ten years later they were sharing the same cell". Come to think of it, there's a whole bunch of great lines in that song. But I don't quite see what the purple toupee thing is supposed to mean. Is it another garbled sixties reference I don't understand or what? -- "It's OK to be afraid when the blue spark hits your brain"-Talking Heads Jonah ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 20:58:07 -0500 (EST) From: "M.C.I." Subject: TMBG: goodbye and that sexxy linnel well as finals are here, i just can't be on the list. but i'll be back in january. also, when They were on Conan, a friend of mine watched with me. It being the first time she had ever seen either of the Johns. Her first remark was "wow, the keyboard players hot!". just thought i'd share that. bye for now. mci ?????????? ? Why ? ?????????? ------------------------------ From: JewelsGirl@aol.com Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 21:04:33 -0500 Subject: TMBG: About sexxy Linnell Of course! It's John Linnell! ------------------------------ From: Jordan1c@aol.com Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 21:47:07 -0500 Subject: Re: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show In a message dated 96-12-15 16:27:06 EST, you write: << I was amused when Flans screwed up AKA Driver by saying "We can fly 120. Little hand's on E" >> that reminds me of the Roseland show. in The Guitar, flans messed up and sang... "HUSH MY--SPACESHIP ,THE SILVER SPACESHIP" it was pretty cool! today i asked thsi little 4 year old australian boy named ZEBB that i know "do you know who THEY MIGHT EB GIANTS are? and he said "When will they be?" jordan ------------------------------ From: Jordan1c@aol.com Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 22:02:13 -0500 Subject: Fwd: TMBG: Pittsburgh Show In a message dated 96-12-15 21:49:54 EST, I wrote: << that reminds me of the Roseland show. in The Guitar, flans messed up and sang... "HUSH MY--SPACESHIP ,THE SILVER SPACESHIP" it was pretty cool! >> CORRECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i just realized Flans sang "IN THE---DARLING,BE STILL MY DARLING" thats still pretty cool! --------------------- Forwarded message: From: Jordan1c@aol.com Sender: owner-tmbg-list@ussodyssey.ufp.org Reply-to: Jordan1c@aol.com To: tmbg-list@tmbg.org Date: 96-12-15 21:49:54 EST In a message dated 96-12-15 16:27:06 EST, you write: << I was amused when Flans screwed up AKA Driver by saying "We can fly 120. Little hand's on E" >> that reminds me of the Roseland show. in The Guitar, flans messed up and sang... "HUSH MY--SPACESHIP ,THE SILVER SPACESHIP" it was pretty cool! today i asked thsi little 4 year old australian boy named ZEBB that i know "do you know who THEY MIGHT EB GIANTS are? and he said "When will they be?" jordan ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 22:47:28 -0500 (EST) From: Dan Lee Subject: TMBG: Cage and Aquarium There is an obvious connection between "Cage and Aquarium" and "Age of Aquarius." But recently, a friend had told me that the the actual music in Cage and Aquarium is the same as the music in Age of Aquarius, but just slowed down. Does anyone know if this is true? (Sorry if this issue has been discussed before.) *------------------------------------ Dan Lee dalee@fas.harvard.edu a018205t@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us 3-3724 Pennypacker 36 "Mike Develin is a tool." --Archie ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 22:13:29 -0600 (CST) From: Bill Tatalovich Subject: TMBG: Re: free the Expo 67 Okay, obviously some folks have not read the song interpretation thought up by a whole big group of people that can be found at http://www.tmbg.org. You see, all of Purple toupee is a reference to life in the 1950's and 1960's, with the line "Free the Expo 67" being no exception. As these people realized, the line can be interpreted in two ways: 1. Charles De Gaulle (I think) made a speech at the World Expo in 1967 called "Libre Quebec". I can only assume it was about Quebec and their quest for independence. 2. (my vote goes for this one) Abby Hoffman and the so-called "Chicago 7" were imprisoned following their disruption of the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968. These seven people were considered to be political prisoners, and many people sought to "Free the Chicago 7." Thus, Linnell and Flansburgh mixed this bit of Americana with the World Expo in '67, thus coming up with the line "Free the Expo '67." So there you go. I, too, have always loved this line, especially since I ran across these two interpretations of the line a while back. I suppose most of us here are too darn young to fully grasp many of the concepts in this song. It's kind of like me bringing up Voltron with my younger brother and his friends... Bill Tatalovich wt3@cec.wustl.edu "There's lots of room for you on the bandwagon..." ---REM ------------------------------ From: mjames@sloth.loyola.edu (Matthew James) Subject: TMBG: Re: Stuff (Great subject, huh?) Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 23:31:23 -0500 (EST) > Bob Plass wrote: > > 1) 9:30 Club show - I will be there, as will my sweetie, Lauren. > > We'll be easy to spot, look for a guy with an adorable redhead > > hanging off of him. Please feel free to find us and say "Hello!" > > Don't know what I look like? There's a picture of me somewhere > > at http://www.sunyopt.edu/suny/studorg/svosh.htm . > > Who else is going to the 9:30 club concert on the 27th? > Let's make a list like they did for the Rochester show. > > -Mismirilda I will be there as well, along with 2 non-listies and Liz (goodomenz@aol.com) and 2 of her friends Where do you live Mismirilda? Matt -- Member of the ARM since '96 (let's give 'em hell) *------------------------------------------------------------------- Matt James polk@tmbg.org Matt.James.K.Polk@tmbg.org mjames@envy.loyola.edu Loyola College, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America "Cracking toast, Gromit!" New, Official Bruce Campbell Gazette page: http://www.bcgazette.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 22:22:58 -0500 (EST) From: Dan Lee Subject: TMBG: everyone is my friend (fwd) In response to the comment about the Second Reich: That was the one that Otto Von Bismarck was responsible for. It was extremely successful until World War I. I think that the coolest part about Dirt Bike is that this Third Reich interp works, as does the more typical "lame grunge band" interp. I wrote an interp of New York City and e-mailed it to a friend of mine. Since he agreed with me, I thought I'd share it: (Just because the Johns didn't write it doesn't mean it's not worth interpreting.) And since I wrote this to a friend, it might be kind of annoying (e.g. minimal quoting of song, long-windedness), but whatever... *---------------------------------------------------------- Right now, our best interpretation (yours) is that the song is simply a song which glorifies New York City simply because TMBG love New York (i.e. no interpretation). But this has a few problems, notably the lines "everyone is your friend in New York City" and "the streets are paved with diamonds". Now these comments are obviously absurd. So does that imply sarcasm? No, there is no evidence whatsoever of sarcasm, and we know that TMBG wouldn't diss the Big Apple. So then it's exaggeration? Could the "gimmick" of the song be just silly exaggeration? Most likely not- TMBG wouldn't employ such a stupid and pointless gimmick (even if they didn't write it). So what then? Well, let's examine the overall structure of the song. There are two main elements: (1) praise for New York City, and (2) a cheezy love plot. So then there are two possiblities for the main point of the song. One is that the song is about New York City with a little love subplot. The title of the song would imply this, but is it true? The other possibility is that the love relationship is the main idea of the song, while New York City is simply the background. So we examine the lyrics. The first and third verses (I think) are mostly concerned with the two lovers, while the second and the refrain are about New York. The second verse is just the rattling off of names of places in New York. This is likely the part that is only there for the purpose of speaking about New York. The rest of the song is mostly concerned with the speaker's view of his girl and New York, together. But if the song is primarily about the girl and New York is "simply the background," then why is New York so important? Claim: The speaker is totally in love with the girl and associates New York City with the girl because he met her there and she lives there. As a result, the speaker professes his love for New York City simply as overflow from his love for the girl. So let's see if we can put this interpretation to the test. Well, the exaggeration lines make sense now; the speaker is talking about how wonderful New York is, because he is blinded by love to the realities of New York. There is actual evidence for this claim aside from the fact that there are no contradictions. The most powerful example of the claim is the last line,"I'm 3 days from New York City and I'm 3 days from you." This statement draws a direct connection between the girl and New York. It is implicit that he's excited about going back to New York simply because she is there. In the refrain, there is the line "and everything looks beautiful when you're young and pretty." This line practically screams "blinded by love". And there's also the line,"The best thing about New York City is you and me." There! That's why he loves New York City. He loves it because his wonderful relationship exists only in the environment of New York City. Note that that is the "best thing". Thus the speaker's obsession with this girl causes him to be in love with *everything* about her (a common phenomenon for people hopelessly in love). And the one thing that sticks out is New York City. Aside from the girl, New York City was the only constant during "the best night of [his] life." This has been an overall poorly constructed argument, but you get the point. The only part which you may not go along with is that the speaker's love would actually drive the person to write a song about New York City. But I assure you that it makes total sense to me. The first time I sat and listened to the song start to finish, and this was the first thing that hit me as soon as I heard the last line. And then the whole song seemed to make perfect sense. Anyway, this is actually the first TMBG song which I've actually bothered to interpret on my own in my own way. Usually, I just feed off of what others say. *----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Dec 1996 23:41:09 -0500 (EST) From: Lawrence P Solomon Subject: Re: TMBG: Cage and Aquarium Excerpts from internet.music.tmbg: 15-Dec-96 TMBG: Cage and Aquarium by Dan Lee@husc.harvard.edu > There is an obvious connection between "Cage and Aquarium" and "Age of > Aquarius." But recently, a friend had told me that the the actual music > in Cage and Aquarium is the same as the music in Age of Aquarius, but just > slowed down. Does anyone know if this is true? (Sorry if this issue has > been discussed before.) No, it's definitely not. Cage & Aquarium is in E minor. Aquarius, at least the refrains, are definitely in a major key... it may be G major (which goes with E minor), but even then, the music is still very different. ------------------------------ From: FamousName@aol.com Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 01:31:42 -0500 Subject: TMBG: everything is beautiful when you're young and pretty... In a message dated 96-12-15 23:43:33 EST, dalee@husc.harvard.edu (Dan Lee) writes: << "I'm 3 days from New York City and I'm 3 days from you." This statement draws a direct connection between the girl and New York. It is implicit that he's excited about going back to New York simply because she is there. In the refrain, there is the line "and everything looks beautiful when you're young and pretty." This line practically screams "blinded by love". And there's also the line,"The best thing about New York City is you and me." There! That's why he loves New York City. >> I would say that your interpretation is accurate. I can tell you from my experience with a girl I fell in love with and NYC that I HATE NYC because the girl who was my highly flirtatious and cute pen pal showed a lot less interest after we met. I think it had a lot to do with (what I think but will probably never know) is that her dad liked me and I don't think he was supposed to. I was this Marine stationed overseas in Japan when we first started writing to each other and she was this spoiled little rich girl and then...I completely associate NYC with her and vice versa and that (although probably not very open-minded) is why I HATE NYC. I have also grown to dislike a lot of things that are NY such as very crowded streets, lots of random crime, overpopulation, being forced to take the subway (it's not a car culture like in LA), etc., etc., etc., etc. I think that you can really tell what the song is about if you look at the line "everything looks beautiful when you're young and pretty" taken into the perspective that your interpretation of things is often highly colored by one's emotions. Especially when they are your own as in my case. Joseph Dowdy ------------------------------ From: FamousName@aol.com Date: Mon, 16 Dec 1996 01:31:44 -0500 Subject: TMBG: yawn as your plane goes doooown (beat) in flaaaaames In a message dated 96-12-15 23:45:24 EST, lps+@andrew.cmu.edu (Lawrence P Solomon) writes: << But recently, a friend had told me that the the actual music > in Cage and Aquarium is the same as the music in Age of Aquarius, but just > slowed down. >> Sometimes our friends will tell us anything if they think we will believe them. Even the good ones. Which, of course, may call into question why they are your friends if they do this. I'm sure it's because they love us so much :) Happy Holidays TMBG'ers ------------------------------ End of tmbg-list Digest #2-344 ******************************