Make my videoski

[vovat]

Last night's Simpsons episode was probably the worst of the three so far this season, but it had its moments, like Homer telling the plots of movies to the other imprisoned tow truck drivers, and Bart cutting curse words out of the Bible. It was interesting that Homer actually used the title ("Midnight Towboy") within the episode. That's not to say that's the first time it's happened, but it's pretty rare. I actually quite liked the new Family Guy episode, which did a better job at mixing the main story with the more absurd and meta-referential gags. Incidentally, were Chris and Meg in this episode at all? Brian's part was also pretty minor. It's definitely different in that respect from The Simpsons, which even at its most Homer-centric would give Bart and Lisa at least a few lines per show.

Speaking of cartoons, there have been several animated videos made for songs from the most recent They Might Be Giants album, The Else. While they're interesting and amusing in their own ways, I have to wonder if the band had anything to do with them (other than providing the music, of course). I know that, whenever people asked about the Tiny Toons videos of "Istanbul" and "Particle Man," they were adamant about the fact that they had nothing to do with them. These recent videos, on the other hand, have been promoted by the band as if they're more or less official. Is this because the Johns DID have some input, or is it simply another case of their mellowing out about such things? Because they don't really feel like TMBG videos, you know? They tend to be more straightforward, at least somewhat related the lyrics (something the Johns themselves were dead set against in their early videos), and much less avant-garde. It's cool that we're still seeing TMBG videos of some sort (and it's not like there's any shortage of them; just look at Venue Songs and Here Come the ABC's), but I really wish they'd do a more traditional one. Money might be an object, but hey, they made "Put Your Hand Inside The Puppet Head" on the cheap, and that turned out well. But then, I've pointed out before that, while I do like The Else, I think it suffers somewhat from the band trying too hard to recapture their earlier charm. Maybe a new video would have the same problem.

I have a Facebook account now, because apparently I have to join every one of those largely pointless networking communities that come along, even though I hardly ever do anything with them. Anyway, I was setting up my profile yesterday, and I noticed that one of the choices under "looking for" in the Relationship screen is "Random Play." Isn't that the feature on iTunes that I'm currently using? {g}

Oh, also, happy belated birthday to obsessical and zimbra1006!

Comments

[dragonxbait.livejournal.com]

ooo...I have to friend you on facebook, but I don't know your last name. How is that possible?

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, you apparently found me anyway. If you hadn't, though, I did know YOUR last name.

[leolapyre.livejournal.com]

I was wondering the same thing about the animated TMBG videos coming out. I have a feeling that at least Flans has something to do with the direction or production, since that seems to be his thing. I do wish they would come out with the more traditional videos still, too. Maybe They're too busy to make those? Or like you said, the budget issue and the fact that the animated ones are probably much cheaper and don't really require much of the Johns' time.

I have a Facebook account now, because apparently I have to join every one of those largely pointless networking communities that come along, even though I hardly ever do anything with them. Anyway, I was setting up my profile yesterday, and I noticed that one of the choices under "looking for" in the Relationship screen is "Random Play." Isn't that the feature on iTunes that I'm currently using? {g}

Hahaha! I'm on Facebook, too. If you wanna add me, I'm "Laura O'Hanlon".

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I have a feeling that at least Flans has something to do with the direction or production, since that seems to be his thing.

Yeah, that's definitely a possibility, but I haven't really seen any evidence one way or the other.

There were a few different Laura O'Hanlons on Facebook, but I'm pretty sure I added the right one. {g}

[vilajunkie.livejournal.com]

I'll have to check you out on Facebook, too. I'm pretty sure you know my name from the Regalia mailing list, even though it's been some time since I last posted to it. But, yes, I rarely check them and do anything new to those type of networking sites either. Even LJ is hard to keep up with.

"Random Play?" I think that's code for "I don't really like you, and I don't really like to look at you, but I'll call you when I'm drunk and/or horny. OK?"

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what I figured "Random Play" meant, but I thought it was kind of a funny description. But then, the word "random" gets thrown around a lot nowadays, and often used not quite appropriately.

[k1cup.livejournal.com]

I think Hine's With the Dark video was less straightforward, more surreal, and also a homage to TMBG. I really like that one the best. As for doing something more traditional. Meh. The Johns in their late 40's would come off as, perhaps, silly if trying to star in their own music video. And, while I wouldn't mind a staged video of their performing "live" to the studio cut, I doubt that's the direction they'd want to go.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

The Johns in their late 40's would come off as, perhaps, silly if trying to star in their own music video.

I'm not sure how they could be all that much sillier than they were in their twenties and thirties. {g} Still, I see your point. There wouldn't necessarily be any need for the Johns to physically appear in a live action video, though. I always thought it was a little weird that they appeared in those when they used to refuse to appear on their albums covers, but it looked like they had fun doing the videos back in the day. Maybe that wouldn't be the case now.