Talk:Main Page

Shows with multiple posters

I'm sorting through my big ol' pile of miscellaneous TMBG stuff I need to sort through and came across a show poster, but the show already has a different poster uploaded. I'm sure there must be some way to include both but I'm not sure how that works with the template. It's actually an early show/late show situation so I suppose one poster could be linked to the early and one to the late, but neither of them are actually specific to either. If it matters I will also add that the one I have is a smaller flier sort of thing, and I vaguely remember some discussion at some point about posters vs. fliers vs. small listings in newspapers, but I don't recall what if any conclusions were ever reached. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 04:34, 19 June 2023 (EDT)

Collection feature

It seems that the collection feature has been broken since January. Every time I try to add something to my collection, the button just disappears. Does anyone know what's going on? -Cf20936

Code is broken. Cap has already alerted one of the coding moderators of it.--You&Me!! (talk) 14:53, 10 May 2022 (EDT)

new version of file problem

I’m having problems with uploading new versions of files. I tried to upload a new version of TMBGApp2.png and it just uploaded a stretched-out version of the same image.

I tried the same thing with Beatles.jpg and on the The Beatles article, it displays the same image, but on the file page, it displays the image I uploaded. What’s happening?? - HotelDetectiveInTheFuture🪗 talk 🎸

Your browser doesn't realize there's a new file at the same URL as the previous image it already loaded. Just need to do a cache refresh to see the new image come through. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 09:54, 15 May 2022 (EDT)

Flansy Accident

According to a post by Linnell to the Facebook page, Flansy was in a car accident last night on the way home from the concert, breaking seven ribs. https://www.facebook.com/theymightbegiants--Pittsburghmuggle (talk) 11:56, 9 June 2022 (EDT)

Photographer??

Hold on, is Linnell a photographer? I always assumed that there were two people named John Linnell, one an awesome very-talented songwriter, and the other a photographer, but now I'm starting to think they're the same guy. Somebody please clarify because I am very confused. - HotelDetectiveInTheFuture🪗 talk 🎸

TMBG Linnell is an outspoken camera enthusiast and enjoys taking photos, but I don't think there's any famous photographer named John Linnell. There is an 18th century painter with the same name. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 21:49, 6 July 2022 (EDT)

The Dystopianist, Thinking of His Rival, is Interrupted by a Knock at the Door

in 2004, an audiobook named "Men and Cartoons" was published, a collection of short stories, with one being by john linnell. "The Dystopianist, Thinking of His Rival, is Interrupted by a Knock at the Door" is 22 minutes of john linnell narrating his own original short story (with the first 1:30 having music). it is also available on museumofidiots.com. there is hardly any information about it online anywhere, or any transcription. i think a page on TMBW would be a good place for it, but i want to verify first: would such a page be deleted for not actually being music (at least, past the first 1:30)? --Ncrecc (talk) 09:34, 4 August 2022 (EDT)

It should definitely have a TMBW page! Just probably not a "song" page. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 10:42, 4 August 2022 (EDT)

on further inspection, it seems that the story actually originates from the print version of men and cartoons, written solely by johnathan lethem, and john linnell's only involvement was narrating the audiobook version. i should probably have deduced that (it is an easy deduction to make) before transcribing the audio... good way to spend half of an hour. --Ncrecc (talk) 12:48, 4 August 2022 (EDT)

In the future, if you're curious or confused about something on my site, just ask me. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 16:46, 4 August 2022 (EDT)

Just following up to say I still think the audiobook reading should have a page on TMBW! (I admittedly skimmed your initial message and would've pointed out Linnell didn't write the story if I caught it.) -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 17:37, 4 August 2022 (EDT)

Collections & Upcoming Attendance stopgap fix

When TMBW moved to HTTPS in January, it broke a couple of features including the ability to add/remove albums from Collections and mark yourself as attending future Shows. I put in a few rigs to get these working again today, and we can remove my inline JS mess when Brad makes the appropriate tweaks. (I cannot similarly fix Song Ratings, sorry.) -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 18:25, 12 August 2022 (EDT)

Anyone know what this is?

TMBG are credited as music composers... https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2099740/ --ColorOfInfinity (talk) 00:17, 27 August 2022 (EDT)

Enjoy! https://youtu.be/Y8oXz1ZKeHU -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 00:23, 27 August 2022 (EDT)

John Flansburgh and Frank Black performance

I found this old video of John F. and Frank Black performing Istanbul via. Facebook. Couldn't find anything about the venue or the show, but I think it might have taken place on a boat? There was also a mention about a Valentine's Day yacht. They were called the "Ed Krattiger Blues Experience" and they also performed Dirt Bike, but there's no footage of them performing the song online currently. Does anyone have more information about this show? - Mrsomebodyelse (talk) 02:17, 27 August 2022 (EDT)

Your best bet might be to ask Ed himself - he's got contact info on his website. Let us know if you find anything else out! -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 10:49, 29 August 2022 (EDT)

Info Club

I found a 1996 copy of the Info Club Newsletter with the letter Flansburgh's Brush with Greatness. Can't find any pages for these Info Club newsletters though, was wondering if I should scan and upload for the Wiki's use or if I'm just not looking in the right place. Typing "info Club" into the search just gives me TMBG Info Club FAQ.--Pittsburghmuggle (talk) 12:05, 7 September 2022 (EDT)

I don't think the wiki generally hosts scans of these sorts of things, but I'd be happy to take it for my site. The wiki does already have a a typed version of what you're talking about, on the Letters from J&J page, but you're absolutely right that this page is hard to find unless you know what you're looking for. Awhile ago I offered to take on the project of getting all this stuff organized/more findable, but then it got pushed to the back burner due to the million other projects I'm working on at any given time. But this is a reminder that it's important and I should bump it up the queue. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 14:39, 7 September 2022 (EDT)

Rarities collection

I heard a while back that they might be giants may be working on a rarities collection, like the EP songs, mrs train ext. Is this true? or was I mistaken. sep 16 2022 Pinata time

Flansburgh hinted on a KMSU interview last year (on Nov 19, 2021) that a vinyl compilation of Elektra B-sides and remixes is potentially in the works. No talk of it since then, but he also announced Mink Car on vinyl was coming on that interview and it did shortly after. To my understanding, TMBG has the rights to rerelease their Elektra material including the out-of-print '90s EPs but hasn't gotten to it yet. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 16:55, 16 September 2022 (EDT)

Another Alice Cooper reference?

Anyone ever note the similarities between Rat Patrol & Alice Cooper's Billion Dollar Babies? The dynamics, guitar solos, & singing style (sort of) are a little uncanny. The lyrics not so much, other than they are a bit creepy. Another nod to the Godfather of Shock? Twitter: @timmyjim

ParticleMen profile photo

Does anyone know whose face is on TMBG's profile pic on YouTube? I thought it was William Allen White at first, but now I'm not so sure. - HotelDetectiveInTheFuture🪗 talk 🎸

It’s New York governor Mario Cuomo! - FloridaFlamingoGirl talk

Band members past and present

Is there a page on the wiki that lists all of TMBG’s backup members, including ones who no longer work with the band like Dan Hickey, Brian Doherty, and Hal Cragin? I think it would be quite useful if there was one. As of now the Band Members page only lists the two Johns. - FloridaFlamingoGirl talk 14 November 2022, 1:00 PST

Yes. I found this by just looking at the individual page of one of the former members, Dan Hickey, and checking if there was anything listed--this is an easy method if you have a similar question in the future. That said, this could be a case where it's info that could be made more prominent/easy to find. --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 04:47, 14 November 2022 (EST)

Also helpful (though perhaps incomplete) is Wikipedia's band timeline for TMBG. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 08:51, 14 November 2022 (EST)

Honestly the entire WP page needs a makeover, specifically the last paragraph. It's all over the place.--You&Me!! (talk) 09:18, 14 November 2022 (EST)

I would much rather go on TMBW than Wikipedia to learn anything about TMBG. Last I checked, the Wikipedia page for them made John Henry and Mink Car out to be massive failures that tarnished the band's career. -FloridaFlamingoGirl

That's based on critic reviews for John Henry and Mink Car (although beloved by fans), were not rated highly by critics upon release. TitanicFog (talk) 12:41, 15 November 2022 (EST)

It also lists a one-star The Guardian review of The Spine, but based on a review of a live show I think The Guardian just has a problem with TMBG in general. --ColorOfInfinity (talk) 00:37, 16 November 2022 (EST)

What is “Negative Ad”?

Seriously. Is it a new song? Is it a vibe report? An announcement? I need to know! - HotelDetectiveInTheFuture🪗 talk 🎸

It was a cute 28-second video that advertised TMBG’s tour in the style of a political attack ad. -FloridaFlamingoGirl

We Are Meh!

I saw that on TMBG's Youtube, they posted an official audio entitled: We Are Meh. Is this a rarity or an unreleased track? In the description it said that it was for a website. If anyone can research on this song, that would be awesome, and if anyone could make a page for it that would be awesome as well! Bluecanaryalex (talk) 11:44, 1 December 2022 (EST)

It's had a page for seven years: Meh (We Are Meh) -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 13:21, 1 December 2022 (EST)

Oh! I never knew, LMAOOO Bluecanaryalex (talk) 14:10, 1 December 2022 (EST)

Category:Songs[1] and the search bar can be very helpful! TitanicFog (talk) 11:54, 2 December 2022 (EST)

Danny's Birthday

Happy 59th birthday, Mr. Weinkauf! The wikians wish you a very happy birthday :) Bluecanaryalex (talk) 11:19, 4 December 2022 (EST)

puppet jam article moves

fyi, recently a bunch of puppet jam articles were moved to pages with the "puppet jam: " prefix in the title, but the lyrics/interp/credits/etc. pages were not moved along with them. i keep thinking "oh i'll do it" and then forget --Ncrecc (talk) 17:47, 9 December 2022 (EST)

Done. - HotelDetectiveInTheFuture🪗 talk 🎸

homestar links

Should we make interwiki links for homestarrunner.com, like we do for Youtube? - HotelDetectiveInTheFuture🪗 talk 🎸

I think we should! You might have to ask Jon about it, though, since I have no clue. Ms. Xcitement (talk) 13:43, 27 January 2023 (EST)

Tiny Toons and Birdhouse

It's the anniversary of the Tiny Toons music videos! It's also the anniversary of the Birdhouse In Your Soul single! Ms. Xcitement (talk) 07:43, 1 February 2023 (EST)

Coraline

Happy birthday to one of my favorite movies, Coraline! I adore the Other Father Song and the movie itself. Ms. Xcitement (talk) 07:43, 6 February 2023 (EST)

TMBW's Birthday

Happy birthday to TMBW!! Mrs.Xcitement (talk) 11:12, 25 February 2023 (EST)

Pesky ampersands

There's a formatting problem with show pages where the venue has an ampersand in its name. Check out this show at Hal & Mal's in Jackson, MS, or as it renders on the page, "Hal & Mal's." Clicking through on the venue from the show page goes to a broken link, since the URL only gets the "Hal" bit. I tried changing the ampersand to & on the 2008 page, but that makes it worse, turning the venue on the show page into "Hal &amp&#59; Mal's." Yikes! This is also an issue for 4th & B in San Diego, e.g. here. --Octoflange (talk) 01:54, 2 March 2023 (EST)

i saw pesky ampersands and i thought you were talking about me :'( --You&Me!! (talk)

Thanks for noticing this bug! Just added a little rule to the Show Page template that should fix this. Let me know if you see any other issues with the change, as it's always possible a modification like this could inadvertently introduce other bugs. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 10:22, 2 March 2023 (EST)

Thanks for fixing! Here's a related issue... From the page for "Women & Men," if I click on the link for the song rating breakdown, the URL breaks after "Women" (like so). --Octoflange (talk) 03:30, 4 March 2023 (EST)

IFC 2023

Does anyone know when IFC 2023 will be? And on that note, what is the general price for IFC subscriptions? Thanks! — HotelDetectiveInTheFuture🪗 talk 🎸

No one knows except TMBG. There are usually 2 or 3 price tiers for IFC, with the first one coming in at $99 or lower. Here is the last offering from 2020 on archive.org for reference. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 19:51, 15 March 2023 (EDT)

At tonight's show JL took some pictures with one of his 3-D cameras and explained that they were attempting to create Viewmaster reels for the next offering, but he also admitted it might totally not work. (This does not directly answer your question, but I'm sharing anyway because a) it's tangentially related and b) it would be supercool if they did manage to pull it off.) --Self Called Nowhere (talk) 01:58, 16 March 2023 (EDT)

Apollo 18

HAPPY BDAY APOLLO 18!!! >_< Mrs.Xcitement (talk) 12:56, 20 March 2023 (EDT)

Megaphone pic

You know that image of the Johns speaking into megaphones? They've been using that photo a lot on their social medias, and I'm wondering. Where did that image come from? — HotelDetectiveInTheFuture🪗 talk 🎸

It came from a publicity photo session with photographer Sam Graff. I believe those photos began debuting in late 2019, initially around the release of the song "Social Media." -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 17:58, 17 April 2023 (EDT)

Hooray!!

Hooray! It's Marty's birthday!! LowRiseJeans (talk) 12:10, 10 July 2023 (EDT)

password reset

password reset seems broken; i requested a password reset and never got one --96.230.216.95 21:38, 30 August 2023 (EDT)

Shows that happened today

Was thinking if instead of just "nothing important happened in TMBG history, there could be a link to "these shows happened today in TMBG history" Just a thought. Still chewing on it in my head.--Pittsburghmuggle (talk) 09:24, 8 May 2024 (EDT)

Dan Miller collaborates with William Shatner on new Shatner album

I don't have time to research the details at the moment, but I'm not seeing any mention of it here, so I wanted to give everyone a heads up that, according to the album's Bandcamp page (click on "Purchase Info" in the app), as well as William Shatner's recent interview with Adam Corolla, Shatner's new children's album, Where Will the Animals Sleep?, was "created in collaboration with longtime guitarist for They Might Be Giants, Dan Miller." The album doesn't have a Discogs page yet, but I hear Dan on backing vocals, and I assume he plays some guitar, at the very least, as well. The Bandcamp page has some images of the CD booklet, so you may be able to see more details there, though most of it was too small for me to make out on my phone. I assume at the very least this info should be added to the news section? Drew (talk)

This is super cool! Dan Miller is credited as a composer, producer, engineer, and performer, playing instruments and singing. Additionally, Marty Beller is credited with 'instruments and backing vocals' on "I'm A Coral See In The Coral Sea". Dan had this to say:

"I would like to thank Bill and Rob for their incredibly satisfying creativity and work. It's a joy to work with such talented and passionate people. Annette and Piper get the biggest thank you and love for putting up with me during this process and providing inspiration and support - I'm often a mess. Evan and Adam did amazing work and have my eternal thanks. Additional thanks go out to Marty Beller for the great song and Danny Weinkauf for just being great. Thanks to Cleopatra Records for their support and for keeping independent labels a living thing - amazing!"

I feel like the album is borderline deserving of a TMBW page since both Dan and Marty are on the album and Danny is specially thanked. Up to the admins I suppose. TitanicFog (talk) 12:55, 19 May 2024 (EDT)

TMBG Lemmy Community

I'm currently on Lemmy (startrek.website, to be exact). I was wondering whether there were any other fediverse people on this wiki and whether they'd be interested in started one. My instance doesn't allow starting new communities (as it is Star Trek-focused), so someone else would need to lets start it.

Update: I went off and started my own, This Might Be Lemmy!.

Proposing massive overhaul to 1983-1985 demo titles

Hi TMBW, I'm proposing a big change to remove the numbers and years off of various demo titles (eg. 1985 Demo, Demo 1, Demo 2) and replace them with more descriptive titles, such as "It's Not My Birthday (Lincoln Demo)" or "Finished With Lies (Nicolo Demo)". This mostly applies to TMBG's demos recorded between 1983 to 1985 that appeared on their demo tapes and will hopefully make the chronology tabs for these demos less messy, as well as fit with the overall theme of the rest of the demo pages, seeing as there's no "Snowball In Hell (1986 Demo)", "On The Drag (1996 Demo)" or "She's Actual Size (1991 Demo 1)". I typed up some potential titles for these pages to be moved to, as well as the merging of some of the promotional demos, similarly to how "I'm Def" has two 1985 mixes but has only one page:

Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head (Demo 1) → Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head (Butler Demo?) (Bill Krauss Demo?) (Handclap Demo?) (DMX Demo?) (Promotional Demo?)
Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head (Demo 2) → Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head (Promotional Demo)
Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head (Demo 3) → Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head (Demo)

Number Three (1984 Demo) → Number Three (Demo)
(Merge 1985 Demo into the album page since it’s a different mix of the same recording)

Don't Let's Start (1985 Demo) → Don’t Let’s Start (Demo)

You'll Miss Me (Demo 1) → You’ll Miss Me (Flexi Demo)
You'll Miss Me (Demo 2) → You’ll Miss Me (Demo)

Cowtown (1985 Demo 1) → Cowtown (Promotional Demo)
Cowtown (1985 Demo 2) → Cowtown (Demo)

Chess Piece Face (1985 Demo) → Chess Piece Face (Demo)

Youth Culture Killed My Dog (1984 Demo) → Youth Culture Killed My Dog (Promotional Demo)
Youth Culture Killed My Dog (Bill Krauss Demo) → Youth Culture Killed My Dog (Home Demo) [since it’s a solo Flansburgh recording]
Youth Culture Killed My Dog (1985 Demo) → Youth Culture Killed My Dog (Demo)
Youth Culture Killed My Dog (1985 Promotional Demo) → Youth Culture Killed My Dog (Sampler Demo)
[since promo tape #2 is also titled “TMBG Album Sampler”, it could also be merged into the 1985 demo tape version since it’s a different mix with extra overdubs]

(She Was A) Hotel Detective (1985 Demo) → (She Was A) Hotel Detective (Demo)

Hell Hotel (1983 Demo) → Hell Hotel (Original Demo) [since it appeared on the band's original demo]
Hell Hotel (1984 Demo) → Hell Hotel (Demo)

Nothing's Going To Change My Clothes → Nothing’s Gonna Change My Clothes (Demo)
[the promo version could be merged into this page into this page since it’s the same recording but a different mix]

They Might Be Giants (1984 Demo) → They Might Be Giants (Promotional Demo?) (Original Demo?)
They Might Be Giants (1985 Demo) → They Might Be Giants (Demo)
[Could also merge these two together since it’s the same recording but different mixes]

Everything Right Is Wrong (1984 Demo) → Everything Right Is Wrong Again (Demo?) (Promotional Demo?)
Everything Right Is Wrong → Everything Right Is Wrong Again (Demo?) (Flexi Demo?)

I'm hoping to get some opinions on this change and whether or not it'll be more beneficial for site readers, as the original page titles have stood untouched for years on this site. Thank you. − Mrsomebodyelse (talk) 01:53, 20 September 2024 (EDT)

it's funny that you propose this because the page titles were in fact originally more in line with that. the reason we switched is as we learned more about different tapes over the years the more cumbersome the descriptive names became. pages would have to be moved with every discovery. what's more, with the explosion of tapes we've learned about in the past 5 years or so, the band's lack of intentionality with these releases has become starkly apparent, which imo makes giving certain descriptive names rather arbitrary. e.g. we used to have a page [[You'll Miss Me (Flexi-Disc Version)]]; since then we've discovered that it also appears on two tapes, at least one of which probably(?) predates the flexi — thus tagging it with flexi/wiggle/whatever feels wrong. likewise, tacking "promotional" onto page titles that are already quite lengthy seems like unnecessary baggage.

i do strongly feel that the current system of years and/or numbers is the way to go. that said, i think there is definitely room for improvement within the system, but it should be dealt with a case by case basis. (for example i can see the argument for the two clothes demos being merged. but then what makes an edition of a song page-worthy? edits? mixes? that feels like an entirely different, very exhausting discussion with no clear answer). — 03:04, 20 September 2024 (EDT)

I do agree that the current system does have its flaws. It can require assuming the year and chronology of demos (though these details are still required elsewhere on the infoboxes and chronology pages, so assumptions still have to made with some demos regardless). Theres multiple tracks titled "1985 Demo" that were actually recorded in 1984. I however do not know about this proposed system. I'm fine with them being named after how the demos were recorded or what they recorded for, but I dont think pages should be named for what they ended up being released through when thats not what they were recorded for. There's already pages like this on the wiki, such as Hell Hotel (Podcast Demo), Youth Culture Killed My Dog (Bill Krauss Demo), Don't Let's Start (WFMU Demo), and On The Drag (IFC Demo), which were obviously not made for the podcast, Bill Krauss Demos, WFMU, and IFC respectively. I also not sure if any of these 1985 demos should be referred to as "promotional". Not sure if they were made specifically for those tapes or not.− Hailey821 (talk) 07:47, 20 September 2024 (EDT)

Yeah, I would like to add that I'm not a fan of calling demos "Podcast Demo" or "WFMU Demo" or "IFC Demo". These are clearly not what the demos were recorded for, but rather they just happened to be released via these platforms. In my personal collection I have these songs titled differently. TitanicFog (talk) 11:48, 20 September 2024 (EDT)

I'm really liking the idea of having the demos be named after what they were recorded for, but I'm realizing as I've read these that this might actually be a much bigger discussion than I originally thought since it extends sorta beyond the '83-'85 demos that I proposed. I would like to go about modifying these changes in a way that makes everyone happy (including me), but I'm curious to know whether or not this change would be better for the site or make it even more confusing than it may already be before I suggest some more ideas. − Mrsomebodyelse (talk) 17:20, 20 September 2024 (EDT)