Good night, Mrs. Hitler

[vovat]

Last night, bethje and I watched the Venue Songs DVD that They Might Be Giants put out recently. It was pretty cool, although a bit on the short side. I guess it would have been prohibitively expensive to make a video for EVERY Venue Song, although I can't imagine that videos like the Asbury Park one cost much to make. It does seem like they ignored some really good songs in favor of less-good ones, but that's their decision, I suppose. I loved the introductions by John Hodgman, the self-made millionaire. Nonsensical jokes and Garrison Keillor references were in abundance. And Beth thought he was attractive. {g}

Anyway, I'm going to try to say a little bit about each song:

Dallas--I'm not sure why the band seems to love this song so much. I guess it lends itself better to animation than some of the others, but that doesn't explain why they play it at so many shows. Oh, well. The animation for this was in a weird, old-fashioned style. And, well, I can't really think of anything else to say about it.

Albany--This one was pretty cool, blending animation and live footage of the Johns. The color scheme reminded me of the "Purple Toupee" video.

Los Angeles--Probably my favorite of the fully animated videos, the visuals followed the lyrics directly, but also included a lot of clever references (Buy Best, Buckstars Coffee, a magazine with the slogan "kicking ass and taking names since [whatever year it was]").

Anaheim--I think this my favorite of the Venue Songs, so I'm glad they did a video of it. It stars Chris Anderson, of Muckafurgason, People Are Wrong!, and The Last Car. I do have to say that I don't like the re-recorded version of the song as much as the live one, though.

Vancouver--Another live-action one, starring some girl. I liked it, but I can't think of anything in particular to say about it.

Pittsburgh--Was this the one with the animated Johns driving a car and turning into bees? I can't say I remember it that well, honestly.

Asheville--k1cup mentioned how the one apple-headed person among the orange-headed people reminded her of Rene Magritte's Le Fils de L'Homme. I find I would have to concur. I also hadn't really noticed before how much this song sounds like "Can You Find It?" from Here Come the ABCs. In fact, the instrumental break is so similar that I almost expected to hear, "Now where are you hiding, D?" {g}

Glasgow--Another not-too-memorable animated one, with a lot of cars in it.

Charlottesville--Unlike "Anaheim," I prefer the re-recorded version of this song to the live one. The country influence is made more apparent, especially in John Linnell's vocals. The video itself is basically just a guy in a cowboy outfit walking around and matching things he sees to slides he's carrying. Kind of weird.

Asbury Park--Mostly a lot of still photographs put together to make a video. It ends up looking pretty cool. Chris Anderson makes an appearance in this one, too.

Brooklyn--Perhaps the most clever video of the bunch, this one uses still photos in animation.


I haven't listened to the CD yet, but I think I've already heard all the songs on it, so there's no real hurry. Overall, though, I have to say that the Venue Songs prove just how amazing the Johns are as songwriters. I mean, they must have written them really quickly, and while they're not all among the band's best work, they show a lot of variety and creativity. I wish I could write off-the-cuff songs as well as the Johns. Hell, I wish I could write ANY songs as well as the Johns.

And speaking of TMBG, here's a quote from their newest e-mail newsletter:

"Our warehouse is buzzing with Venue Songs DVD/CD set orders and special Holiday bundle orders (and we say Holiday because it freaks out Bill O'Reilly)"

I'd say freaking out O'Reilly is a noble goal, although perhaps a bit too easy. We saw him on TV just last night, going on about how there's a "war on Christmas" because some retailers are saying something generic like "Happy Holidays," rather than "Merry Christmas." According to him, people want to see a sign that says "Merry Christmas" when they walk into a store. Whether anyone KNEW this was what they wanted to see before Bill got all O'Riled up about it was never addressed. As Beth pointed out, when they have a bunch of trees, wreaths, and Santas all over the place at every store, who cares whether they use the word "Christmas" in their advertising? Are people going to forget what holiday they're supposed to be shopping for?


Courtesy of travspence, here's my letter to Santa:

Dear Santa... Dear Santa, This year I've been busy! In June I gave revme a life-saving blood transfusion (50 points). Last Thursday I helped eagledna across the street (6 points). Last month I saved a busload of nuns in Angola (326 points). Last Tuesday I gave arfies a wet willie, then I took it back (-5 points). Last Saturday on a flight to Colorado Springs, I stole the emergency flight information card (-40 points). Overall, I've been nice (337 points). For Christmas I deserve a new bike! Sincerely, vovat

Write your letter to Santa! Enter your LJ username:

In my dream last night, my family (which was apparently the Stereotypical Nuclear Family within the context of the dream) was going out to eat at some restaurant that was located near a Kmart. It turned out, however, that not only was the restaurant closed down, but the actual building was completely gone. Also gone was a water ice stand in the same shopping center, and some kind of bazaar was closing down. I went to buy something from this guy who was selling TMBG CD's and wood carvings of rock stars' faces, including (and these were actually the ones he advertised) Neko Case and Carolyn Mark. Instead of buying any of these things, however, I was somehow convinced to spend $16 on a book of addresses and address forms (or something like that; I don't remember what they were actually called in the dream, and I doubt it would make sense in my waking life anyway) for people at Drexel. Then there were these guys (who might have been puppets, and who also might have been in a previous dream of mine) who kept saying all this nonsensical stuff, and everybody seemed to think what they were saying was totally accurate. I started trying to argue with and making fun of one of the guys, but he just kept on talking regardless. And then I woke up and typed out this summary, so I wouldn't forget it.

And I suppose that's all for now.

Comments

[vovat.livejournal.com]

That's a good article. It reminds me of how so many people who claim to be Really Devout Christians are actually pretty weak in their faith. It's like how some people are vehemently anti-evolution, presumably because, if it can be proven that humans WEREN'T literally made out of dirt, the entire Bible should immediately be thrown away. You would think someone who really believes would be able to sustain that belief even if it isn't taught in public schools and acknowledged in department stores.

As for "the Christmas of yore," I understand that Christmas in Europe was once a quite decadent celebration, which was one reason why Oliver Cromwell banned it in England. So we're hardly the only society that hasn't been keeping what some Christians would consider the true spirit of Christmas.

[arfies.livejournal.com]

Heck, the Puritans thought ANYTHING with colors besides black, gray, brown, and white in it was "too decadent."

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Heh, true. But really, Christmas celebrations of that era were presumably more like Halloween today. From this page (http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/holidays/christmas/real2.html), here's a description:

"On Christmas, believers attended church, then celebrated raucously in a drunken, carnival-like atmosphere similar to today's Mardi Gras. Each year, a beggar or student would be crowned the 'lord of misrule' and eager celebrants played the part of his subjects. The poor would go to the houses of the rich and demand their best food and drink. If owners failed to comply, their visitors would most likely terrorize them with mischief. Christmas became the time of year when the upper classes could repay their real or imagined 'debt' to society by entertaining less fortunate citizens."

Ebenezer Scrooge would REALLY have hated that, wouldn't he? {g}

[arfies.livejournal.com]

Weird... why is "Topsy Turvy" from "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" stuck in my head?

I wonder when Christmas evolved from "helping the poor" to shoving them over to the day after (Boxing Day- Feast of Stephen, yanno, Good King Wenceslas?) http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/boxing.asp

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I don't really know. It probably varied from one country/culture to another. Boxing Day sounds like it was a specifically British tradition.