Archived Main Page Talk (Page 7)

Nice Guitar Pick

Kudos to whoever's idea it was for the Dan Miller guitar pick --Goodtimes2

That was Ant that made the Dan Miller guitar pick. He also has something special for Danny Weinkauf too! -- Jason DeLima - ♥! - 19:01, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Re-read that...he said "kudos to whoever's idea it was", not "who made it". Ha! --Duke33 19:07, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

true dat; i cannot claim responsibility for conception, only production. -- 19:26, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

I was just kidding of course. I just had the idea, but Ant did all the heavy lifting. --Duke33 19:43, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

WOO I WON

Just got the call from the Jimmy Fallon show--scored two tickets for the TMBG band pass tomorrow night. Anyone else win? :D -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 15:52, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Jealous. I haven't heard. Did you enter all four times? The rules said something about 4 entries, but didn't specify if that was for different bands or if you could do multiples for one band. Maybe I just didn't read it well. But congrats! I will be watching for you tomorrow night. --MichelleMaBelle 23:43, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

I won,too! :D ---KathyK 00:00, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

Ok, seriously jealous. I wouldn't have been able to go anyway do to work but still...seriously jealous. Wave at those of us at home! --BlueCanary 05:13, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

I'll be wearing my TMBW shirt. Maybe it'll be visible on the HD feed! Hahah. I only entered once, Michelle. And a friend named Ryan who lives a few buildings away from me in Stony Brook won, too. Crazy, huh? -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 13:26, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

Get a haircut, hippie! --badqueso 05:43, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

Can it, disappearing buttburger. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 06:01, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

Did you at least try to hide that false vinyl sleeve in it as a souvenir? --badqueso 06:12, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

Now that was some prominent placement behind the band you score there! --BlueCanary 10:25, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

Yep. And the LP sleeve actually had the tracklist on the back (just in case Fallon were to turn it around on-air, I suppose). I find it funny that they kept "CD+DVD" on it. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 14:54, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

• It's up on Hulu.com Starts after the second to last commercial break +/-37:00

TMBG's Facebook status today

They Might Be Giants are in Detroit daydreaming. See the view from the bus at www.theymightbegiants.com, and comment at the fan wiki at www.tmbw.net. From the Onion, an interview ABOUT being interviewed with Flansburgh. http://chicago.decider.com/articles/meta-interview-they-might-be-giants-john-flansburg,33288/

Cool, huh? -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 17:25, 8 October 2009 (UTC)

Very cool. I couldn't find "the view from the bus" though. What does that mean?--HerRoyalFlyness 18:52, 8 October 2009 (UTC)

That would likely be metaphorical. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 01:04, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

October 10 Update: Here's the band's Facebook status today:

They Might Be Giants want to encourage y'all to contribute to www.tmbw.net, the content rich audience-generated TMBG wiki! Review shows, add links, post stuff. And Old Fashioned Sunday brings you Ana Ng... Indianapolis-we haven't forgotten you!

Exciting!! -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 01:04, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

Forum

Question: Are there any TMBG forums? Ive never found any in my internets travels... --Raulbloodworth 23:27, 12 October 2009 (UTC)

See Fan Communities. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 01:22, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

Jonathan Coulton

Jonathan Coulton along with Paul and Storm and a special guest appearance from Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me's Peter Sagal performed the album Flood in its entirety on October 10 at Chicago's West Park. The entire show can be watched on YouTube, starting here.

Craig Ferguson in November

According to Flans at on of the shows last week, TMBG will be on the Craig Ferguson show while they are in LA in November. I don't know the exact date and my 30 seconds worth of research didn't turn it up but keep an eye out. --BlueCanary 10:34, 19 October 2009 (UTC)

Ok, now I'm confused. Flans said they were appearing on Craig. I found an article listing the date as November 16th but now I can't find any other confirmations and I have found multiple listings that have a different musical guest appearing. Can anyone else confirm or deny? --BlueCanary 00:03, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

I think I may have figured it out. If you find different, please chime in. It appears that Craig regularly pre-tapes it's musical guests. So while the band may be recording their appearance on November 16th it may be airing at a later date. Which is very much not what the article I read said but which would explain the conflicting listings. If that turns out to be the case some corrections should be made to our listings. --BlueCanary 00:25, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

And more confusion. Facebook says tomorrow. Marty's Twitter feed says today. DVR both just in case. Official listings don't have them on either day. Ahhhhh! --BlueCanary 21:47, 16 November 2009 (UTC)

Marty's Twitter feed now says it won't be airing until December after all.

CORRECTION. TMBG is not on Craig Ferguson tonight. We just taped our performance which will be airing in Dec. But...

And yes, BlueCanary the Late Late Show does pre-tape its musical guests. Occasionally they'll accidentally let you get a peek at the empty audience. — User:ACupOfCoffee@ 00:19, 18 November 2009 (UTC)

Kid's Go

I should point out in addition to Kid's Go shipping early from Amazon it will likely start popping up in a lot of brick and mortar bookstores this week too. It doesn't have a strict on sale date so bookstores can sell it whenever they get it in and it started arriving in the warehouses this past week. So if you happened to order it from an actual bookstore you will probably see your copy this week as well and you will likely be able to pick one up off the shelf too. Just had to put that in there as the employee of a physical bookstore since Amazon is our direct competition. I can't wait to be able to put it right into some customers hands :-) --BlueCanary 15:16, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

TMBG mentioned in CNN article

TMBG mentioned in an article about Weird Al. The interview is here. At the very end he was asked if he would team up with John Linnell for the Polka Monsters. It is actually a pretty funny interview. I would check it out --Goodtimes2

Vic Mizzy

Vic Mizzy died on October 19th this year! Just thought those of you who didn't know might like to. I wonder if TMBG know? He probably didn't get much coverage.

Heads-up

I know someone will probably want to post this to the news, so I'll just say here that this part at the end of the latest newsletter is (with utmost certainty) a joke:

COMING IN 2012! THE AVATARS OF THEY ALBUM!

-CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 06:48, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Trading/Sellling

Does anyone think it would be a good idea to put a page up where we could trade/sell TMBG items? I suppose there could be some complications; but even if it was just like a craigslist page, it might help some of us fans get some of the things we don't have!

VHS

I own both Video Compilation and The Videos 1986-1989 on vhs, but I haven't watched them until now. To my surprise, they both were the exact same video, same order of songs, and even the same intro. I looked at the tapes and they both have different labels for each one. Does anyone else have both of these and can verify if they are the exact same or different? --Inunaota4a 05:25, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Terminology

Not really TMBG-related, but why do songtitles on TMBW need quotation marks and album titles etc. don't? Also, in response to Magbatz, over here - in Belgium - we use double quotation marks only for literal citation (he said "blablabla") and single quotation marks for all other stuff that needs quotation marks. - Wout

It's just the particular way American English seems to do it, though I guess there's no rhyme or reason per se. Googling "MLA" or American English title punctuation would probably say it more accurately, but the basic rules are:

• What you called "Literal citation" goes in quotation marks; if the quote quotes something, then, as they say, "'Literal citation' uses a single quotation inside the quotation-ed phrase"
• For titles it can go one of two ways.

• For longer/substantial/stand-alone works, the titles are often either underlined or in italics (italics are preferred digitally, especially when all links are underlined anyway). (The Spine)
• Shorter works, songs, or typically anything that could be culled into a collection, anthology, or soundtrack, are put into double quotations. ("Spines"). (And then to talk about it, for example, Linnell says, "That song 'Spines' is neat.")

For a wiki open to all locations and people, it's never a rule or made explicit that the wiki's grammar/punctuation follows the American standard for English writing, but it's just the grammar that has happened to prevail. We've still arguably got some British-isms in reference to placement of end-quotations and end-punctuation (I like "Spines." vs. I like "Spines".) throughout the wiki (which is perfectly fine), and I'm sure a huge number of articles here do not use quotations or italics to denote titles at all (yet!). With that said, it's always nice to have another crusader in the battle to insert punctuation across TMBW's expansive fields of words and links, and sorry that my edit assumed you were just messing with the pre-existing quotation marks. ~ magbatz 22:54, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Also, I should probably just mention another implicit "rule" on the wiki. We do a lot of listing, and whenever the title of a song or album or anything appears outside the context of a sentence, we just leave off quotations or italics. There might be a couple exceptions, but I can't think of any specifically. ~ magbatz

Okay, thanks for the explanation! Sadly, I am that kind of crusader (following a grammar course on saturday mornings at the moment, voluntarily...). Naturally American English should be the standard on TMBW, some stuff (like the quotation marks) just seemed a little odd to me. But I'll comply and keep coming back to this talk page whenever I'm confused. :) - Wout

The "real" date for Craig Ferguson

As of now, the performance TMBG recorded with John Hodgman for Craig Ferguson last week is scheduled to air on December 11th. I'm holding off putting in on the main page for now until I see it confirmed by multiple sources, to avoid any more mix-ups. --BlueCanary 06:52, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

Interesting

They Might be Giants is currently the number ten most popular search on Yahoo. Which is pretty cool.--74.69.201.249 17:34, 29 November 2009 (UTC)

No longer the case unfortunately.--74.69.201.249 17:37, 29 November 2009 (UTC)

Lyric search

I'm a relatively new fan to TMBG (Been a fan for several years, but only recently have been able to blow money on albums) and I haven't ever been able to use the search feature to look through lyrics to songs I haven't heard yet. I'm pretty sure it's not possible. If it is, can someone correct me in a horrifyingly public and embarrassing manner? -JMCatron 4 December 2009

You can use the "Lyrics" link on the left navigation to browse a list of all lyric pages. Does that help?--Duke33 14:21, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

No since I don't know the name of the song. I'm talking about something like typing in the search box "not actually your friend" and Birdhouse comes up. -JMCatron 4 December 2009

I'm not going to lie, MediaWiki's search engine is not the most intuitive thing ever built. Here's the help page that should give you some more info on forming your search queries: This Might Be A Wiki:Searching --Duke33 16:50, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

A little pointer apart from that: go to the search page itself and make sure that only the box marked Lyrics is ticked (or whatever other namespace you want to limit your search to). You can enclose the search string in double quotes "like this" so that you don't pull in a lot of unrelated stuff. ~ blitzente (talk) 17:47, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

indeed, what blitzente said. i have found myself getting to that page often enough that i have it bookmarked. -- 18:59, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

For simplicity, I'd recommend just using Google to search TMBW. Check these queries out:

• site:tmbw.net intitle:lyrics "not actually your friend"
• "i'm not actually your friend"

For accuracy, I'd go with what was said above; use TMBW's search, tick only the "Lyrics" checkbox and put your query in quotes, like here:

• "not actually your friend"

-CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 19:02, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

TMBG in Sports Illustrated???

It's true. They Might Be Giants are mentioned on pg. 52 for anyone that owns the "SI: Photo's Of The Year" issue. A picture is shown of the NY Giants vs. NO Saints, with the Saints making a play. The title of this photo is "They Might Not Be Giants" I hadn't noticed it until today. I just thought it was cool for anyone interested in football. --Goodtimes2

I subscribe to google news feeds for "They Might Be Giants". You wouldn't believe how many sportswriters think they are being witty when they title an article "They Might Be Giants" about the San Francisco Giants or New York Giants . Still pretty cool though. --Duke33 14:18, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

Paul and Storm

Thought this is worth posting here:

Musical comedy duo Paul and Storm present “It Might Be Christmas”, where every Monday, Wednesday and Friday until Christmas they will be releasing an original holiday song created in the style of They Might Be Giants. This is a follow-up to last year’s project “The 25 Days of Randy Newman”.

Here's the link: paulandstorm.com --Duke33 22:24, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

A John and John show?

Hey, I put together this group on facebook about the possibility of a modern John and John show. Do you guys think that this is even a possibility? I doubt it but I'd like to know what you guys think. the group is here (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=204855366682&ref=mf). Join if you're interested!

It appears They have had the thought that the ol' Johns lineup would be fun for them and their nostalgic audience. They've been doing some encores with just the two of them at recent shows. They also had a whole tour in 1997 or so, called Then & Now (in support of Then), where they would do one set with their full band and would also play a John and John set, mostly doing pre-1990 songs. So it's a possibility they'd do one. They have been doing John and John + drummer shows since their children's music got them bookstore gigs, but that's kind of different. Really, though, They seem more attached to the notion of their 5-man band being TMBG lately, but you never know.

HBO Family Thing?

My mom was watching a movie on HBO (channel 82, where I live, in northern New Jersey) and afterwards they always have a bunch of self-advertising and there was a commercial for something about families and having "two mommies or two daddies." There was a musical backing and while it was mostly an instrumental, in the brief periods of singing, it sounded incredibly like Flansburgh. I believe "family" and "combinations" were mentioned, but I couldn't find anything on the site. This may be because it had nothing to do with TMBG and I'm insane, or because I'm really bad at navigating the site (but still probably insane.) I would appreciate it if anyone who knows anything about it could set me straight. Sorry if this was the wrong place to ask, or this was just a waste of time. --Apollo 01:06, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

It's possible, although we don't have anything listed. A good place to check is their BMI repertoire, which lists all of their works, even stuff like background music. If they did the piece, it would show up there (eventually). --Duke33 02:26, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

I can't find it just at the moment (which may be because it was from a radio interview rather than a print one) but I distinctly remember something in an interview with Flansburgh where the interviewer asked what the band had upcoming and Flans mentioned they were working on something for an HBO program that wasn't going to be on for a while. The interview was either from last spring or possibly even the previous fall so enough time has passed that it could be the same thing. I'll dig around a little more and see if I can find it again. --BlueCanary 05:35, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

Ok, I think I found it. It's the new Rosie O'Donnell special "A Family Is A Family Is A Family: A Rosie O'Donnell Celebration." It's a documentary about different types of families with animated musical segments by several bands including TMBG according to this. It will be airing on HBO starting on January 31st. The HBO site says to stay tuned for more info on the program. I would assume it's a new original TMBG song for the doc based on what Apollo heard in the promo and assuming it is what Flans was talking about in that interview. Cool! --BlueCanary 06:15, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

Well, it's awesome that you were able to get that all connected so quickly! Thanks, I'll be checking the site regularly. --Apollo 21:56, 12 January 2010 (UTC)

This what you're looking for?: http://vimeo.com/9663774 --Sparkling_Omelets 21:05, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

Haha, well, yes, but you might notice that this was 5 months ago, before that was even on television! We already found it! ;) -Apollo. 21:10, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

Well, I knew that, but I like to feel like I'm helping. =-) --Sparkling_Omelets 02:56, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Research Papers

This semester I will be writing four smaller research papers and one larger comprehensive one on TMBG. I'm not really worried about there not being enough information out there, and indeed I know enough about the band to write outlines without much research, but remembering where my information came from and finding interviews and writings etc. to cite, especially older ones, may be tricky, especially since my computer recently crashed and the interviews I've bookmarked since 2006 are all gone. If anyone else has saved links to good interviews, would you mind sharing? Or audio/video interviews I could download would be great, too, especially if they're older. I'm not asking anyone to do my work for me, but it would be nice if you could at least point me in the right direction if there's any good information you can think of on the subjects I'm looking for.

My first paper is about "the identity and importance" of the artist. Basic biography/history stuff I've got covered, but I was wondering if anyone could help me with the 'importance?' Specific things i'm looking for:

-Any official record of bands or people They've influenced. Like, either a band admitting they've been influenced by TMBG, or a knowledgeable person stating the connection.

-It's generally believed (among the fans I'm friends with) that They popularized the accordion as an instrument. Is there anything I could use to cite this fact?

-Official reviews, especially where Their influence and uniqueness are highly praised. Especially from Rolling Stone or someplace major. ESPECIALLY if it's from the 80's-early 90's.

-Also, if the original People Magazine review of the 1985 demo tape is floating around the net anywhere, I'd like that...

I'm not less worried about being able to cite the influence of their kids' music, but anything on that wouldn't be turned down.

Also, if anyone can think of any good interview(s) where They talk about who or what influenced THEM, that would be great. What bands and music inspired their style, as well as what they go for in song writing, their songwriting process, and what they find interesting to write about.

I'm sorry this post is superlong. To all TMBG gurus who lend a hand: THANK YOU so much for your time. Ana 05:02, 19 January 2010 (UTC)

Goodness, didn't you post this on LiveJournal, too? You're certainly being thorough. Well, like I said on LJ, it would be good to check out their Rolling Stong profile-ish thing [1]. It mentions influences, too, but vaguely. Also, if you haven't, check out the Famous Fans page, it cites sources, and has some bands listed. This has a short bit about early influences (just ctrl + F "influences" to find it.) I'll keep looking for more uselful stuff though.--Apollo 02:57, 20 January 2010 (UTC)

I did indeed... just want to make sure anyone with some good tips could see it. :) Thank you for the links! The Rolling Stone thing has been invaluable. Also, I forgot about the famous fans page! And it cites sources? :o You are awesome. Thank you so much! The two papers coming up are going to be the hardest, as they are the most specific, I think. I'm going to make sure I know exactly what my prof is looking for, then post back again. Once more, I really can't thank you enough for your help. I think TMBG fans must be the nicest people ever. :3 Ana 18:05, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

Just a thought

I think it would be cool if we had TMBW.net jerseys. You know with numbers and user names on the back. I've seen the fan base of the Avett Brothers (local band with a huge fan base) do the same thing, and this is the same thing, except with TMBW - Goodtimes2

I agree with that completely. Ana 18:07, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

Lincoln Library

TMBG (Album) at the Lincoln MA library

TMBG CD collection at the Lincoln MA library

I've just added a couple photos that I took this month at the library in Lincoln, MA: one of the self-titled album, and one picture of the set of TMBG CDs. (They don't have Lincoln!) I'm not sure if these photos have a particular place to live here, but that they might be interesting for some to see. TomInBoston 15:38, 21 January 2010 (UTC)

Wow, I don't know that I've ever seen that many TMBG CD's in one library! It's funny that they don't have Lincoln, though. My local library doesn't have any They Might Be Giants...anything. --Apollo 03:07, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

Are you sure someone doesn't just have it checked out? ;p Ana 18:06, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

My library only has the Self-Titled album. Not Flood, not Lincoln, not Apollo 18. Just They Might Be Giants

new accounts

i believe i have discovered the purpose of all the spam accounts that were created this morning; it was pointed out to me on irc that A Self Called Nowhere has risen to #1 on the song rankings... checking out the individual breakdown for that song, it seems a lot of the 10s were done by those accounts. hopefully there is a way to undo that? ballot stuffing is pretty low -- 20:12, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

Mildly irrelevant, but there have been a lot of accounts with typical names being made recently, too. It seems suspcious. -Apollo 00:30, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

i think it may actually be related to tmbw being mentioned both in the interview with linnell yesterday and tmbg's facebook post actually linking to a page here today. publicity ≟ more new faces -- 00:42, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

Oh, wow! That's cool! But some people come up with weird usernames. -Apollo 00:54, 6 March 2010 (UTC)

Some Covers

It's definitely not front page news, but Alan Lastufka of DFTBA records has compiled various "lullabies" recorded by various (usually minor) artists for the newborn son, Henry, of John Green, the vlogger and YA author. Two happen to be covers of They Might Be Giants songs (Cowtown, and Why Does The Sun Really Shine?) recorded by Hank Green and Charlie McDonnell respectively. If any one is interested, they can download the songs, and others here.

TMBG vs Metallica

   A long time ago I purchased 'Rubaiyat: Elektra's 40th Anniversary' tribute/cover CD.  At some point I THOUGHT I had read that They Might Be Giants wanted to do a cover of Queen's "We Will Rock You" and/or "We Are The Champions" for the compilation, but there was a problem....    Metallica (I guess) wanted to do a cover of a song by the Stooges (?), but John Zorn (and Naked City) already had chosen them.   I assume Metallica came to the project late in the process and Queen was chosen by They Might Be Giants at this point, so (I guess) they were going to not participate unless they got Queen.

   I assume John Zorn (and Naked City) had already recorded 'TV Eye' at this point and Lenny Kaye (considering the following quote) wasn't going to bump John Zorn from his band of choice - even for Metallica.

   Of all the cuts, [executive producer] Mr. [Lenny] Kaye said he had a particular fondness for John Zorn's rendition of the Stooges' T.V. Eye.

   For me the Stooges were one of the most important bands on Elektra in terms of pointing toward the future of rock, he said. I think John captured the essence of what they were about, which was complete and utter primal noise.

   http://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/03/arts/the-pop-life-783290.html?pagewanted=all

   I assume the powers within Elektra felt bumping They Might Be Giants to do a Phil Ochs cover in lieu of the potential sales that Metallica might bring in with their participation was a price they were willing to live with (even though (to me) Metallica doesn't bring in a particularly inspired performance - even though it won a Grammy).

Has anyone heard about any of the above?

No search on Google -- or searching through Google's news archive (http://news.google.com/archivesearch/advanced_search?as_q=) has brought up anything for this - or I'm not keying in the best keywords.

Not that any of this matters in the least, but thanks for any help (and your time) if you're aware of any of this -- steve

• From alt.tmbg.net: the album [Superfueled Freaksickle] WAS apparantly finished and ready-to-go. Ask anyone who handles incoming-inventory at an HMV at the time *cough cough* and they'll remember that it had a scheduled release-date of 10/24/95. (Well, some might not remember as precisely as I. ;} ) In an interview around the time, (perhaps Linnell's long interview in "Music & Computers" magazine, although that might've been a few months later), it was mentioned that SF would be a comp of the elektra b-sides plus a handful of other elektra-sessions from the era (including the studio version of Queen's "We Will Rock You", originally recorded for the Rubaiyat CD, which Flans had alluded to perhaps being on SF and claiming to have the only DAT of.) Wout 12:47, 25 January 2010 (UTC)

TMBG Song on Almost Alice CD

I don't have time to post about it, but I just wanted to mention here that according to iTunes (http://itunes.apple.com/us/preorder/almost-alice/id355793198), there's going to be a TMBG song called "You Are Old, Father William" on the upcoming Alice in Wonderland CD "Almost Alice." So, if somebody wants to add that info to the main page, that'd be great! (Sorry, wasn't thinking when I posted that at the top of the page.) ~Drew

Chopping Block Print

The Chopping Block's Chop Shop's selling 11x17 prints of the old tmbg.com design! http://www.chopshopstore.com/product.php?productid=16277&cat=62 so rad. --Valerie 08:25, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Each copy sold gets a randomly generated question added to the shield hovering above the accordion.

They're also now selling a print of the cover art of No! http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41701827 --Valerie 20:43, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

Cowtown

So uh...if I revived Cowtown (the AIM Wed. night--it was Wed. right? it's been so long--TMBG fan chat) would people come? --Self Called Nowhere 00:35, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

I'd come! But honestly, Cowtown always seemed a little strange to me. I guess I didn't know most of the older fans back when I tried frequenting around 2006, and most people seemed to be complete assholes (and no one talked about TMBG). Then again, I did meet certain long-term friends there! -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 01:24, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

Yeh, I remember you being the new kid on the block! It did turn less TMBG-discussion-centric over time for some reason...I think a lot of the people who were coming were just becoming less interested (TRAITORS). As for people being assholes, haha, I can't really speak to that. --Self Called Nowhere 01:46, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

I've never heard of it before, but a TMBG chat? Yes! -Apollo (oh no!) 01:30, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

YES. I recently came across the archive and got really sad that I had missed it. I'd absolutely LOVE if this came back. Ana 22:12, 2 March 2010 (UTC)

Ok guys, since people are interested I'll try to get it started back up! I'm going to be out of town for a couple of weeks but I'll try to get it going the week after next (Wed.). I'll update the fan communities page with the info about it when I do. Yay! --Self Called Nowhere 22:22, 2 March 2010 (UTC)

Ok, bringing it back starting next week! 5 Pacific/8 Eastern, you can invite yourself or IM me (TypewrittenGirl) and I'll invite you. :D --Self Called Nowhere 00:10, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

Kupperman Art

Micheal Kupperman, artist of the Long Tall Weekend cover, has drawn a rather similar looking cover for an anthology: http://mkupperman2.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/screen-shot-2009-09-23-at-3-08-43-pm.png?w=450&h=589

Not saying there is anything nefarious about it, Its just curious that he'd reuse a similar image.

--Raulbloodworth 15:35, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

Wow, yeah, that is ridiculously similar. Weird, yo. --Valerie 03:13, 10 March 2010 (UTC)

I wonder if it's a reference or this guy is just really lazy. -Apollo (moo) 03:35, 10 March 2010 (UTC)

KindieFest

Just in case anyone is interested, Marty Beller will be appearing as a panelist at KindieFest: The Family Music Conference on May 1st, speaking about how to produce a good kindie record. There is more info about the Fest on their website.

Shirt.Woot

I don't know if this is the sort of thing the rest of you are interested in, but this shirt.woot was doing a "Band Names Reinterpreted" derby, and the 2nd place winner is TMBG themed shirt. For today only (March 20, 2010), It can be bought for $10 (shipping included). After today, it will never be seen again, unless it sells really well, then it will stick around for a while at $15. Yoyogod 15:12, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

That's one spiffy shirt. -Apollo (moo) 15:18, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

Snopes TMBG Reference

Snopes.com has posted a new debunking with a title ostensibly referring to TMBG. --67.42.83.151

That's been there forever. It's nothing new. But, alas, it was the first time I ever saw a TMBG reference. -Apollo 19:52, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

Puppet Playlist

I saw this the other day, and thought it would be good to post here:

Every once in a while, a band comes along that changes the course of human history. And that band is THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS. Every once in a while, a Puppet Playlist comes along that features They Might Be Giants. This is that Playlist. Puppet Playlist takes talented puppeteers and brilliant musicians and slams them together into an evening of live theater to stir the senses.

This month we bring you brand-new puppet pieces inspired by the immortal Brooklyn ambassadors of love, They Might Be Giants. The show will run the gamut of Giant's songs and attempt to bring their unique sensibility to the stage through puppets in what can only be described as "Sisyphean." The Playlist will also feature live musical interpretations of TMBG's songs by some of New York's most exciting young singer-songwriters. Featuring pieces by: Carole Simms, Eric Wright, Kate Brehm, Wonderspark Puppets, Jodi Eichelberger and Cathy McCullough, Nappy, Lydia Andrien and Matt Leabo, and Jigsaw Jones.

More info can be found from the production's official website

Also, tickets are available for $7 from brownpapertickets.com

Dates/Times
"Puppet Playlist #6:
They Might Be Giants"

Friday, April 02, 2010; 7:30pm - $7
Friday, April 02, 2010; 9:30pm - $7
Saturday, April 03, 2010; 7:30pm - $7
Location: The Tank at 354 W. 45th Street, New York, NY 10036
A, C, E, to 42nd Street; 1, 2, 3, S, 7 to Time Square

--Duke33 17:33, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

Wouldn't "Sisyphean" entail pushing a rock up a hill...forever? Oh, but this...er...well, I'm a bit confused about exactly what it is, sounds pretty cool! -Apollo 20:44, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

Screen caps

I have an interjection! I think the whole two-screen-caps-and-a-video on short song pages looks really...silly. In both monobook and azure. It makes the page much too long with a lot of blank space (not always, of course). I wanted to point that out. If we want to keep the video (probabaly a good idea) we should take off a screen cap. Of course, it's not like it's a really top priority thing, just something to consider. -Apollo. 02:39, 2 April 2010 (UTC)

I think it looks just fine in Azure, but still; you make a good point. --Sparkling_Omelets 03:02, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

I agree with Apollo, actually (this almost never happens on this wiki). I personally don't see the need for screenshots and the actual video. -- DidgeGuy (आ ज) 03:08, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

I think I agree too. Though in pages with too much going on on the right side, I'd be in favor of keeping screenshots over embedded video. ~ magbatz 18:15, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Oh, that's what Apollo was saying?! I was just referring to the screencaps not looking normal. If what you guys are saying is the case, then yes totally I agree with Apollo. No need for screen captures if the actual video is on the page. --Sparkling_Omelets 20:10, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

if i could weigh in here... i don't see a convincing reason to keep videos on pages at all... as long as we provide a link, people can still watch them. and for me at least, i prefer my videos to display bigger than 180px wide. -- 20:16, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

Aren't screenshots things that give people an idea of what the video is like? (if not what for?) Ant made a good point. -- Buzzmusic100 ("Keep your voice down...")

We could just put a screenshot and a link to the video. That makes sense, right? So that people could get to the video and have it be bigger but they could also see what it looks like. Does that make any sense? --Sparkling_Omelets 18:21, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

mm...late to my own thread. I think the best thing is to keep the screencaps and 86 the video, this way we can point out interesting/important/notable/funny parts, and if people want to watch the video they will take the time to find the link. Of course, it's important to remember that sometimes just the video is probably ok (commercials, maybe?), and sometimes the screencaps and the video work, too. And also, we don't always need two stills. -Apollo. 03:48, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

I...I dunno. I still think that there should be a link to the video at least. Sometimes the videos are hard to find. But whatever you guys think is best, that's just my opinion. --Sparkling_Omelets 03:38, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

..."if people want to watch the video they will take the time to find the link" as in "the link that is on the page under 'videos'" I mean. -Apollo. 03:56, 30 June 2010 (UTC)

Newsworthy?

Thought maybe it would be a good idea (you decide) to alert wikians to the fact that adultswim.com is giving away Bonnaroo tickets this month. Wish I could go!! http://www.adultswim.com/promos/sweepstakes/index.html

New fan forum.

I don't know if anybody is interested, but I made a new fan forum. It's still being tweaked but posting is fully functional. Feel free to check it out! -Lekker 13:50, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

Oh, so you started that? Cool, I'm 'Ana Ng' on the forum. 'spretty cool. --Sparkling_Omelets 14:55, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Hira Kamasu Saensu

something i made with photoshop. i really don't know what to do with this, if anything. there should maybe be a section for fanart or something.

--Inunaota4a 04:41, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

ok that's totally awesome. i've been known to do a couple of those. do you have a bigger version? -- 04:51, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

Flood is hilarious

http://yfrog.com/5kherecomessciencep --Inunaota4a 04:57, 23 April 2010 (UTC)

[citation needed]

Are we supposed to cite things? Because I'd like to cite some things, but I don't know if I should just use the [2] thing or if I should do Wikipedia-style ^superscript citations. And, if the latter, how to do those.

Just use the Ref template. You don't need to cite everything like wikipedia does...so use your best judgment. --Duke33 18:31, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

Oh, wow, I totally missed that! Thanks. -Apollo. 19:39, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

Time

In Time this week (Time is weekly, no? Or is that Reader's Digest?) in the "Life" section, there was an article about parenting. More specifically "parent-friendly kindie bands." You know where this is going. It calls They Might Be Giants "established musicians," who are now well known for "kindie music" (the focus was Kindie-fest [look up], and Kindie music which is "proudly distinct from the bubblegum stuff on Radio Disney"). It has a statistics bit ("Minivan Music") that says Hot Dog! has 54 million views on YouTube. The article is accompanied by a picture of Marty Beller watching his kids dance, and immediately followed by an article about the technology from Star Trek. It's like too much awesome. -Apollo. 13:48, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

Oh, so that's what was? I saw that, my friend showed it to me. She asked me if I knew anything about it and I think all I said was "That's Marty,". And "Kindie" is a cool word. --Sparkling_Omelets 14:31, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

New non-childrens album soon?

Has anyone heard anything about a new album from TMBG thats not a children's one? Its been 3 years since The Else, and some new non-children's (not that I'm saying that adults can't enjoy it... Pictures Of Pandas Painting is a great song) TMBG music seems as if it might be a bit overdue...

They were saying spring of this year as in like NOW for awhile, but latest word is NEXT YEAR. *sobs* I don't know what the bums are doing all day, man. --Self Called Nowhere 03:05, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

I do remember reading some interview with Flansburgh where they asked him what was next for TMBG. I think he said he wanted to get back to making "rock" music and that a new "rock" album was "in the pipes". I dunno when the article was put out, but it probably wasn't very recent. If I find it I'll put it here, I guess. --Sparkling_Omelets 14:31, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

The first I heard of it was at a show, Flans didn't go into detail. He just said it was rock (which leaves me wondering if it's Alternative rock as usual, or something else) and it would come out in 2011. -- DidgeGuy (आ ज) 15:53, 18 May 2010

• Well they usually use "Rock" and "Kids" or "Children's" to discribe the different types. I would think "Rock" would be usual, but who knows? Maybe they started doing something completely different. --Sparkling_Omelets 17:11, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

• In my iTunes, their songs are under the Alternative & Punk genre (though They don't exactly strike me as punk), except for the kids albums. I guess They might just call it rock to simplify things. -- DidgeGuy (आ ज) 18:25, 18 May 2010

• In my Rhapsody They're listed as Post-modern Pop and '80s Alternative. --Sparkling_Omelets 18:16, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

Shall we resurrect the old pagey thingy for this discussion? I don't remember where I heard this, but Flansburgh said he wanted to make this album "rootsy." He didn't use that word, but I took from the article/interview that They were thinking of leaning towards the electronic and the oddball and the spunky like in the earlier years. ~ magbatz 17:13, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

I'm not wild about a big speculation page at this point. Also, from what i've heard, i remember them saying early 2011, and that it will sound like kraftwerk and (someone else) "falling down the stairs together". --Duke33 17:38, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Spike Jonze of all people. I hadn't seen it before, but the article is at Billboard:

They Might Be Giants is working on full-fledged rock album and eyeing a spring 2010 release. The band started recording in March and has finished eight tracks so far. "We were hitting it very hard like a month ago, and I think we'll reconvene in about a month and do the second half of it," he says.

Though at least two of the completed tracks are "very straightforward, pop-rock songs," Flansburgh says the band is also experimenting with new musical directions. "We're kind of casting about for new ways of working," he says. "Our drummer Marty just got an electric drum kit, which sounds like we're going techno, but it's actually kind of the opposite…it sort of sounds like Spike Jonze and Kraftwerk falling down the staircase together."

"I think we're just trying to figure out a way to make a less traditional record," Flansburgh adds.

The veteran alt-rockers are working with longtime producer Pat [D]illett

This was from July 2009. Regardless of time concerns, I'm really excited. ~ magbatz 22:18, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

This is getting to sound too fantastic. Of course, this is the first experience I've had anticipating an album from any band. -Apollo. 22:27, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

humanuh humanuh humanuh...They should definitely do an earlier-years-y thing. They can take all the time they want for that. -Apollo. 21:05, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

A question for the wiki

If you, hypothetically, had to show a video of TMBG (preferably a music video, unless it's a really good live one) to a moderate group of hypothetical people, based on the song and to a lesser extent the content of the video, which would you choose? I would like some opinions before I hypothetically decide. Or, because there are some really good songs without videos, which song would you play? -Apollo. 21:31, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Well, it kinda depends on whether I want them to like TMBG right away, or if I want to give them a sense of what TMBG is like. If I want them to like it, Experimental Film. Recognizable characters, catchy tune, and animation. If I want them to get an idea of what They're like, Ana Ng. -- DidgeGuy (आ ज) 22:01 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Ana Ng! Ana Ng!! If you're hypothetically trying to convert these people into fans, you could maybe select something close to the music they're hypothetically already into? There's a lot to pick from if you're not dependent on videos. I've got a friend who was unimpressed by Birdhouse but fell in love with Man It's So Loud In Here on hearing it. But if you don't know, or if it's a diverse group, I'd just take a few of the rocking-est songs and run with them - not necessarily the better-known ones, either. ~ blitzente (talk) 22:06, 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, exactly! I've got a friend who was unimpressed with all the classics, but got hooked on Skullivan. He barely likes anything else They've done. So it seems almost random. -- DidgeGuy (आ ज) 22:34 1 June 2010 (UTC)

Why not the video for Puppet Head? That's a nice example. Though maybe a Linnell song would be a better example... I don't know why. -- Buzzmusic100 ("Keep your voice down...")

BIRDHOUSE BIRDHOUSE BIRDHOUSE. Also, BIRDHOUSE. The song is BRILLIANT, OBVIOUSLY, and even without that the video is pretty much the best video ever (especially if you want to showcase John's HAIR/general hotness. Which you do.) --Self Called Nowhere 00:23, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

Ok, yeah, Quinn. Thank you. I all-encompassingly could not have guessed that you would say that. I WAS ABOUT TO DECIDE ON ANA NG. BLAAAARGH. So here was what I was going to say before I got edit conflicted: I'm not trying to make them fans or anything. Hypothetically. It's just to show them what TMBG is like. I really want to do Ana Ng, but that decision is heavily inluenced by the dancing. Ideally, the song would sum up TMBG singularly, which is why I would like video accompaniment; for the extra TMBG-content. Ok, so probaaaably leaning towards Ana Ng or Birdhouse. -Apollo. 00:27, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

I think I'd probably use the Don't Let's Start video, actually. I mean, if you're trying to give these hypothetical people a sense of what They're like, that is. --Sparkling_Omelets 18:13, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, Birdhouse seems like a pretty good introduction to the band. I don't think I've ever put myself in your situation, though. -j2

I have. Put myself in that situation. I used Ana Ng. And then I threw in Exp. Film for good measure. And people said they liked it. -- DidgeGuy (आ ज) 13:07, 2 June 2010

I'd also choose Ana Ng, I think it's catchier than Birdhouse ;) --ElChanchito 02:08, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

Blue canary nightlights!

YES. --Self Called Nowhere 20:20, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

I think I saw that a while back. Those are really awesome nightlights. :D --Sparkling_Omelets 18:09, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

LOOKIT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ0T6yTmjOc :D -Apollo. 21:59, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

Ooooh they ARE actually working on it and not being total bums, haha. BUT WHY IS IT SO SHORT. --Self Called Nowhere 23:22, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

EW

It's small but TMBG's Bonnaroo appearance earned a mention in this week's Entertainment Weekly. They did a list of Best & Worst which includes: "Best Visuals (Small Scale) - They Might Be Giants' tiny, perfect confetti drop during Doctor Worm." Nifty!

Final Jeopardy!

This was a really great surprise. So: have They finally hit the big time? ~ magbatz 00:08, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

I dunno about TMBG, but I think Don Quixote is one of Jeopardy!'s favourite topics. I like to think of this a milestone in their career, though. -Apollo. 00:25, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

I wonder if that's the reason they played the Jeopardy! theme before the Avatars bit at the Stone Pony? Assuming they were told about it before the episode aired. I've never seen them do that before. -Lekker 00:50, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

The good people of facebook posted a link. I like Alex's explanation. :) Apparently the Stone Pony thing had nothing to do with it, which is uncanny! -Apollo. 01:43, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Newsletter!

To all TMBG friends and London folks! Be part of TMBG history.
Write your reviews, comments and complaints at TMBW.net wiki! It's for YOU!

www.tmbw.net

They linked to us! (incidentally, ant's video was also in there). -Apollo. 23:38, 29 June 2010 (UTC)

A Wordle thing

So I made a thing with Wordle because Jonathan Feinberg is my hero, and then I made some other things with Wordle. The (growing) gallery here is certain pages/information from TMBW in Wordle form. My favourite is this one. I thought I would share because it's quite interesting, I think. Just the result of lots of boredom, lots of copy/pasting, and lots of learning html colour codes. -Apollo. 02:49, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Studio albums ranked by TMBW song ratings

This is a corrected list. These rankings count Fingertips as one whole song, account for the "missing" ratings (which weren't really missing), and account for problems with statistical certainty, considering the number of votes per song (this new list is, theoretically, 99.9% accurate).

1. The Else
2. Flood
3. Lincoln
4. Factory Showroom
5. Apollo 18
6. John Henry
7. The Spine
8. Mink Car
9. They Might Be Giants
10. No!
11. Long Tall Weekend
12. Here Come the ABCs
13. Here Come the 123s
14. Here Comes Science

I wasn't too sure where to put this, but I wanted to share. Results were gathered by averaging each album's song ratings (skipping unrated tracks, which there were only a few of). I was bored, what can I say?

Some of these are no-brainers, some are actually kind of surprising. I guess I'm not the only one who isn't really sold on the children's albums, for example. --El Zilcho

I think The Else's height is related to it's relative newness and small experimental pools or whatever that thing Freud had a problem with was. I have to say, YES to Lincoln being second, but most of the others' positions bother me a whole lot. You know, you can find the "unrated" tracks' ratings manually by altering the url of a song that is rated. Just type the name of the unrated song in the place of any rated one. Example. This reminds me of a terrible idea I had for an album rating system, actually. -Apollo. 03:28, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Oh, it just occurred to me that Apollo 18 is so low because of all the Fingertips. Albums can also be looked at as a whole, so I guess that has to be considered. Which is a merit to my terrible terrible album ratings idea. Don't get me wrong, it's still cool that you did this. -Apollo. 04:02, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Why is no one else voting for Duende? --Veggieman 02:35, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Because we don't even know for sure if that's the whole song and stuff. I'm surprised The Spine is so low. I would think They Might Be Giants and The Spine would be up there in the top five. Why don't we get the rating for Fingertips as a whole? That might be a more accurate assessment of the album. -- DidgeGuy (आ ज) 03:01, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

...seriously? You voted based on THIRTEEN SECONDS? --Self Called Nowhere 08:12, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

DidgeGuy is so true. Yes, as a whole might work. That might really make a difference. The separate songs can be rated badly but Fingertips is rated really good! Oh and nice idea by the way. -- Buzzmusic100 ("Keep your voice down...")

Alright, I fixed the list, hopefully to everyone's satisfaction. Thanks for the feedback, everyone! --El Zilcho

I wonder why Here Comes Science Is rated so low, It has amazing songs on it!! --ElChanchito 03:56, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

Of course The Else is number one! It's my favorite album! yay! --Beautiful Crook 12:28, 12 August 2010 (UTC)

Coulton and Beller, together at last?!

So apparently Jonathan Coulton, famed guy who opens for Them by playing Flood and is having his next album produced by Flansy, is playing BAND SHOWS with That Darn Marty Beller and international man of history Chris Anderson! It's definitely not directly related to the band, so it's probably not newsworthy (but maybe!) but I figured you guys should know about this anyway. Here's a source! -j2