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Saturday, February 28, 2009

The 41st Circle Time: The Show and Tell Weekly Thread

Show and Tell is wasted on elementary schoolers. Join several dozen bloggers weekly to show off an item, tell a story, and get the attention of the class. In other words, this is Show and Tell 2.0. Everyone is welcome to join, even if you have never posted before and just found out about Show and Tell for the first time today. So yank out a photo of the worst bridesmaid's dress you ever wore and tell us the story; show off the homemade soup you cooked last night; or tell us all about the scarf you made for your first knitting project. Details on how to participate are located at the bottom of this post.

Let's begin.

I love They Might Be Giants. I was a counselor at a summer day camp when Flood was released and we took the kids on a camping trip. I shared a tent with my friend, Tate, and we stayed up sharing the two ear buds from a Walkman, listening to his copy of the tape. When we got back to the camp, the headmistress yelled at us because male and female counselors were not supposed to share tents on trips. I remember being really stunned by this news and said, "but I shared tents with boys all the time back when I was a camper here." And she snarled, "it's a different world now, Melissa." And I always associate that moment with the album, Flood.

I love They Might Be Giants so much that they were one of the sole tapes (Apollo 18) I listened to during my walk to campus every morning my freshman year. I set out down Langdon to "Dig My Grave" and when I hit the all-girls co-op house on the corner, it changed to "I Palindrome I." I was at Le Chateau for "My Evil Twin." And then at the Union for "Mammal." And then I usually was in the throng of people near H.C. White in the middle of "The Statue Got Me High" and I was at my first anthropology class right around the beginning of "The Guitar" and almost always got to the psych building afterwards for "Dinner Bell." I could tell if I was running late if I wasn't hitting my buildings at the right song.

I just really wanted to proclaim my love of They Might Be Giants.

This song is probably my favourite song; maybe due to my love of water and the boat imagery or because I get all emotional thinking about population explosion.



What are you showing today?

Click here or scroll down to the bottom of this post if this is your first time joining along (hint: link to the permalink for the post, not the main url for your blog and use your blog's name, not your name). The list is open from now until late Tuesday night and a new one is posted every week.

Other People Standing at the Head of the Class:

1. infertility rocks!
2. Weebles Wobblog
3. Busted
4. Crazy Lady Ramblings
5. Michelle
6. Baby Smiling In Back Seat
7. Bubeaner
8. The Steadfast Warrior
9. Kristin/ Dragondreamer's Lair
10. Wise Guy
11. Tubeless in Seattle
12. a very open book
13. Parenthood for Me
14. Bodhi eKa H
15. Fractured Rainbows
16. Bear and The Comedian
17. SSV
18. Queenie
19. Rachel
20. Tales of the Phoenix
21. Cara
22. I Want To Be A Mommy
23. Emmy
24. The Real Bean
25. Mrs Spock
26. Tand Cookies
27. Conceive This!
28. Life Induces Thoughts, mostly random
29. bleu at soulbliss
30. In Due Time
31. The Life of Liv
32. Baby Making Journey
33. Smiling Scar
34. Jo
35. Jim and Jenn's Baby Journey
36. Wordgirl
37. one- hit_ wonder
38. Lauren
39. Katie
40. Still No Explanation
41. My So- Called Life
42. Relaxing Doesn't Make Babies





Want to bring something to Show and Tell?
  • If you would like to join circle time and show something to the class, simply post each Saturday night (or earlier in the week or on Monday if you can't do the weekend), hopefully including a picture if possible, and telling us about your item. It can be anything--a photo from a trip, a picture of the dress you bought this week, a random image from an old yearbook showing a person you miss. It doesn't need to contain a picture if you can't get a picture--you can simply tell a story about a single item. The list opens every Saturday night and closes on Tuesday night.
  • You must mention Show and Tell and include a link back to this post in your post so people can find the rest of the class. This spreads new readership around through the list. This is now required.
  • Label your post "Show and Tell" each week and then come back here and add the permalink for the post via the Mr. Linky feature (not your blog's main url--use the permalink for your specific Show and Tell post).
  • Oh, and then the point is that you click through all of your classmates and see what they are showing this week. And everyone loves a good "ooooh" and "aaaah" and to be queen (or king) of the playground for five minutes so leave them a comment if you can.
  • Did you post a link and now it's missing?: I reserve the right to delete any links that are not leading to a Show and Tell post or are the blogging equivalent of a spitball.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

I loved the first song, very quirky, like the songs on the Juno soundtrack. The song I remember the most from these guys was the "Istanbul, not Constantinople"...makes me want to ride in the backseat of my parents' station wagon again, chomping on some HubbaBubba Watermelon Burst!

Your second video didn't work for me, boo! I'll come back later and see if it did.

LJ said...

I love those two album, seriously, they were on continuous repeat in HS/College for me

Lori Lavender Luz said...

I thought the 2nd one said "Fingerboarding" (btw, it's been disabled. I could watch the first but not the second).

We love TMBG, too. We got "No" when Tessa was a baby, and one of our early memories is marching around the house to "Fibber Island."

"No Means No" is a great song, too!

I tried to find these when you tweeted today, but I can't find them. Thanks for the memories!

Busted said...

Ok - don't hate me, but in college one of my best friends was playing "TMBG" and when I asked what it was and she told me, I responded "They might suck" - and I am, 10 years later, still very proud of this joke. Although I don't really mind them. But that's all I think of when I hear about this band!

Baby Smiling In Back Seat said...

Aw man, in my day I was a huge TMBG fan -- lots of shows, their first 5 albums on continual replay, wacky t-shirts, a birthday gift from a friend of an autograph she obtained from John F. for me. After college I stopped buying new albums and going to their shows, but I saw them twice in 2008 and they've still got it. Plus, they make great kids' music. Now I just need to have a kid!

It would be pretty easy to modify the song Fingertips into Fingerboard:

Fingerboard
Fingerboard
Fingerboard

I hear the wind blow
I hear the wind blow
It seems to say, "Hello, hello,
I'm the one who loves you so."

Delenn said...

We love the Giants too! One of Michael's favorite bedtime books is a Bedtime CD (with book) by the Giants.

I love that they do children's music and I love to play Particle Man as soon as the kids are able to comprehend...

Thanks for reminding me of my love!

Bubeaner said...

It appears I am the odd one out. I had to ask my husband what TMBG stood for...Had no idea.

Kristin said...

Very cool...love the way you timed your walk to the album.

BTW...I gave you an award on my blog.

B said...

I blame them enitrely for my tinnitus. My first overage gig - 18 and a day (or at least that is how I remember it) so I was rocking on right up the front way too close to some very big speakers.

I think I remember ventriliquist puppets elevated on broom handles(?!) They must have been permanantly stoned. And now I'm humming along to "rascist friend".

hehe

The Steadfast Warrior said...

So I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who hadn't heard the group before but they sound like a lot of fun and something I could get into.

I too love how you had your walk down pat to the songs. But if you were late, did you jump ahead to where you should have been? I mean, wouldn't that ruin the entire flow and timing not to? Or am I the only crazy one who might do that? ;)

Bea said...

Giants rock, but what rocks even more is a band which only contains the possibility of giants.

Bea

Anonymous said...

It is so funny how music has the ability to transform you back into time. There are so many songs and albums that remind of high school or college. Dave Matthews Band, Under the Table and Dreaming is the soundtrack for my senior year in high school

Queenie. . . said...

I love how there are songs that give me a very specific mental picture of a time and a physical place. It's such a special link back through time.

Rachel said...

I love TMBG, too. The Johns actually went to my high school and one graduated with one of my brothers. They did a benefit at my high school once and I think I've seen them at leaste 10 times live.

I think my favorite songs are Particle Man and Kiss Me Son of God.

kate said...

Oh, how I love TMBG... They are totally the soundtrack of my youth. Amidst all the dark-gothness of the Cure and Depeche Mode and the Smiths, they were a peppy skip-step down a sunlit grassy path.

My favorite is actually an EP release they made of an old elementary school science song, "Why Does The Sun Shine?" (The sun is a mass of incandescent gas, a gigantic nuclear furnace!)

And, if you need further proof of my undying love for TMBG, you need only look at my blog address...

Phoebe said...

I was living in West Africa when my brother sent me a tape of "Flood". I think I wore that thing out! I always loved the line "everybody wants prosthetic foreheads on their real heads".

Maybe I'll be playing TMBG in my new car I'm featuring on S&T this week: Car Shop

battynurse said...

I'm fairly sure I've heard something by this band before (can't remember what) but it's not these songs or I think any of the ones you mentioned. It's funny though how certain songs can bring back memories from that time frame. For me it's Nothing's Going To Stop Us Now by Starship. It reminds me of my last weekend in Washington when I was 17 right before my parents moved to Montana.

Cara said...

Ah- I am of the newer TMBG generation - as in, have you heard the kids album they did about 7 years ago?

It rocks! Kid Style!

Emmy said...

I'm a TMBG fan too! Thanks for sharing!

MrsSpock said...

Ah, takes me back to high school...singing Istanbul, Not Constantinople in the passenger seat of my friend's rusted out Dodge Colt...

Brenna said...

One of my IRL friends just posted to her blog about TMBG recently and how much she loved their kids' album! I had no idea such a thing existed (probably the whole "no kids yet") but I can't wait to listen to it.

'Murgdan' said...

Ha! I had forgotten about TMBG! Thanks for the reminder...(hunts for albums).

Wow. What a POPULAR day for Show and Tell! Better late than never, I guess.

Beautiful Mess said...

I know the band, I just can't don't have a specific memory to any of their songs. I'm going to have to check with my friend, since she was the one who controlled our radio during high school and beyond. I really like the first song though.

ME! said...

I LOVE TMBG!!!I like their style. My other favorite lesser known band is Guster. What a great turn out for Show and Tell! Yeah!! I love this idea!

Wordgirl said...

Now I'm going to be singing this all day! Hooray -- it's hard not to feel happy when you're listening to TMBG.

Jamie said...

Wow . . . it's been a long time since I have thought about They Might Be Giants!! I am on my way to dig out some old cassettes right now. Thanks, Mel!! I pretty excited about it!

SS said...

I was wanting to do the show and tell but can't figure out how to link back my post to your site. I am new to blogging and have along way to go- any comments with a little more direction would be great. What is Mr. Linky? And where is the list of people that did show and tell? Thanks-

oklaln86 said...

I'm so excited about show and tell! Sorry I'm a little late. I just found it. :)