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 #34-9 tmbg-list Digest, Volume 34, Number 9 Wednesday, 11 October 2000 Today's Topics: TMBG: Comedy Central TMBG Mention TMBG: The Recher Theatre Re: TMBG: The Recher Theatre Administrivia: If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing send mail to tmbg-digest-request@tmbg.org for instructions on how to be automatically removed. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The views expressed herein are those of the individual authors. --------------------------------------------------------------------- tmbg-list is digested with Digest 3.5b (John Relph ). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mbrosendale@cs.com Message-ID: Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 20:48:40 EDT Subject: TMBG: Comedy Central TMBG Mention For thos that don't receive the Delete Me First e-mails from Comedy Central, here's a story that mentions TMBG: *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* EMBRACING YOUR INNER GEEK A Peek Inside The Swinging World of Internet Parties By Steve Raizes (sraizes@comedycentral.com) *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* I'm not sure how it happened. Or even when. Although I certainly know why. It seems to be more of a gradual movement than a sudden shift -- something almost glacial in nature -- slow, lumbering ... inevitable. But no matter how one describes it, people can no longer escape the truth. Over the past six years, Geek has become, for lack of a better word, good. Geeks have risen up from the cultural basement that we have been relegated to for so many years and suddenly found ourselves thrust into the spotlight. A spotlight in which we stand -- wide eyed and pale, with our Dungeon Masters guide tucked carefully under our arm, gazing with wonder at a world that suddenly seems a far more welcoming place. And I, for one, think that it is a great thing. A phenomenal thing, in fact. And I am proud to note that Comedy Central has decided to offer up a piece of programming that seems designed to appeal specifically to this group -- a show that, heart and soul, is a celebration of all things truly geek: technology, futurism, weaponry and the chance to blow things up with little to no physical exertion. God bless BattleBots -- it is a true labor of love for all involved. Such a labor deserves a special place on ComedyCentral.com -- a site that would do justice to both the Bots and the people who love them. It is in moments like these that ComedyCentral.com had to reach out to other design companies to lend a helping hand, to share with us their knowledge and expertise (and their ability to build a kick-ass online BattleBots video game -- entitled METAL BREAKDOWN -- premiering online this month at www.comedycentral.com/bots). And so a proposal was sent out to various companies, and these companies came to our offices, sat in our chairs, drank from our special Comedy Central Soda Dispensers (all Ginger Ale, all the time!) and told us stories of how they envision the BattleBots site. And it was special, and we all shared the love. And then, to insure the love was duly shared, they invited us to their parties. And they got us drunk. And that, too, was a good thing. Going to multiple design company parties is analogous to attempting to date more than one person at the same time. While it might seem like a good idea in the abstract, the reality is that you always feel a little guilty about it. You can't seem to shake the nagging sensation that someone is going to end up the loser, and as you happily crunch on their shrimp kabobs and partake of their top-shelf liquor, you feel guilty. You feel bad. You even occasionally feel remorse. But not bad enough to turn down free booze at a party. And the parties, on the whole, are great. Full of fun, interesting people -- the type of people who have lots of visible tattoos and piercings, people with amazingly intricate haircuts and a fashion sense so downtown it's almost painful (who knew that so many people could wear a wool stocking cap in the middle of August?) And in a stunning tribute to the culture that they deal with, the house band at one of these parties was Geek-rock darlings They Might Be Giants. For the ComedyCentral.com team in attendance -- myself, Jesse (graphic designer supreme) and Paul (Editor of Delete Me First and in-house horoscope stud) it was a special thing indeed. Simply put -- the band rocks. Go buy an album; give to the cause. They deserve it. And they play a mean private party. When the music started to really kick, when the "mad phat beats" were in the process of carefully laying themselves down as it were, the crowd began to move in a way that only the truly bland, technophilic people can. An amazing asynchronous dance that managed to be both on, then off, and yet then amazingly on the beat again. As Paul noted, "It was like a dance party for everyone who got picked last to play dodgeball." Of course, as in any concert situation, there are always occasionally crowd stand-outs that deserve a quiet moment of recognition. So let me take this time to single out the following using a cheap (but effective) literary list-type device: Long Gray Haired Guy In Front Left Side Of The Audience In a bold move managed to provide a fusion-based choreography with an up-tempo adaptation of the fabled "noodle-dance." This resulted in an energetic version that, if one where to glance at out of context, looked suspiciously like the onset of an epileptic seizure. Overzealous Drunk Girl Near Back Bar A must in every concert (but to be honest, a bit of a surprise addition in a "private party" situation). While initially cleverly disguising herself as "overly enthusiastic girl with remarkable lack of respect for/sense of personal boundaries," she revealed her true colors towards the end of the evening. It was then with little warning that she danced next to me, smiled, and suddenly grabbed me in a surprisingly violent bear hug from behind. There was pure, brute, alcohol-inspired madness channeled through an addled brain and delivered to the nearest unsuspecting target. Interestingly, the level of intoxication seemed to have little effect on the tenacity of her grip. The girl was a veritable bear trap. She held on for what seemed like an eternity (I was later told she clocked in at about ten seconds -- which I still contend to be an impressive amount of time) before letting go and bounding after Paul. The concert ended 15 minutes later. Sweaty, tired, and mildly buzzed, we headed towards the door. And in what seemed to be a fitting evening to the Geek-inspired theme, three young, single men in New York City left the trendy party -- filled with beautiful women -- and headed back home alone. ------------------------------ From: MikeTheGiant@aol.com Message-ID: <59.14ca291.27152423@aol.com> Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 22:02:11 EDT Subject: TMBG: The Recher Theatre Anyone that lives in the greater Baltimore/Washington area, this question is for you: Do you possibly know if The Recher Theatre goes through Ticket Master, or Protix? Or do you have to buy tickets for the show there at the theatre (located in Towson)? I'm going to get tickets for the November 4th TMBG show, and I was wondering if I have to go to the theatre to get them. If anyone can help me out, I'd appreciate it. Mike Stabile "The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, 'You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.' " - George Carlin ------------------------------ Message-ID: <39E3CC3C.EC05DC2@fruhead.com> Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 22:11:08 -0400 From: lawrence solomon Subject: Re: TMBG: The Recher Theatre MikeTheGiant@aol.com wrote: > > Anyone that lives in the greater Baltimore/Washington area, this question is > for you: Do you possibly know if The Recher Theatre goes through Ticket > Master, or Protix? Or do you have to buy tickets for the show there at the > theatre (located in Towson)? I'm going to get tickets for the November 4th > TMBG show, and I was wondering if I have to go to the theatre to get them. > If anyone can help me out, I'd appreciate it. It's Ticketmaster. It's an IMP show. (it's even listed on the 9:30 club's website) I got my ticket at the same place as I got my ticket for the previous day's 9:30 club show. -- lawrence solomon * http://www.fruhead.com/users/zaph * zaph@fruhead.com "And I don't know whether I believe in me, but I still believe in my friends." -The Nields ------------------------------ End of tmbg-list Digest #34-9 *****************************