I’m writing about every song by They Might Be Giants. Equal parts: Fandom, Personal Reflections and Experimentation on what is tolerable to the human reader. Like a negroni of Nerdom. First time here? Get the next one in your inbox.
Noisy chatter fills the open space around me. The clanging of coffee cups and crinkling paper wrappers as pastries get stuffed inside.
“Fig mocha, for here!” a barista calls out. That’s mine. I’ve never had a fig mocha before, but it sounds like a nice fall flavored option beside pumpkin spice seasoning. And no hate to pumpkin spice flavors – I’m on that train too. Are figs a fall thing? When do figs ripen? And don’t come into the comments telling me all about the fig wasps that inhabit every fruit, lay eggs inside and die.
Oh, I KNOW about the nightmare-hellscape that is natural growing figs. Oh, I get it. The terrifying science of figs is precisely what must make them appropriate for the spooky season. Ok, moving on.
At the time of writing, today is my three-year anniversary of writing Kiss Me, Son of Blog. Some of you have been checking in and since the beginning of this and I just wanted to say thank you. This came about entirely on a whim while working on a different project. In fact, this newsletter is very much one of those creative endeavors that one starts as a means of distraction from the intended creative project. I continued both at the time, but this one remains and I don’t see myself ever putting it away.
Bluebeard Coffee Roasters in Tacoma, WA is the location I find myself sitting in today. I used to visit my friend Milo at Naomi Joe’s on Saturday mornings to visit and write but they’ve changed their schedule up. I decided today would be the perfect opportunity, as I begin my fourth year of this newsletter, to start a new routine. I’ll visit my friend Lane at work. I arrived and ordered my nightmare coffee drink and a cookie just moments before they walked in the door to start their shift.
There’s no better way to start writing, or even just your entire day, than seeing a good friend and sharing a quick hug. Okay, enough waxing poetic; let’s talk about the song Experimental Film.
Track one from They Might Be Giants’ 2004 release, The Spine. An album that I only ever owned digitally, and not until within the last decade, although I’d end up hearing and loving several songs from it since its release. Back in those days, By 2004, I’d become a dad to a second kiddo and was the only working parent in the house. It would be accurate to say that didn’t have much time that belonged to me anymore. And I wasn’t really allowed to spend money on something for myself, even if I could afford it – which we rarely could.
There will be several albums that I have missed out on (unless it was for the kids) and had to enjoy from afar. Feeling left out of the fandom. As if the band had continued without me. That was the general feeling I had in the years to follow until my oldest kid reached an age in elementary school where he began searching for more TMBG songs online and wondered why I hadn’t shared those as well. I’ll share those stories in later posts.
Homestar Runner
Don’t you love it when one of your favorite creative things collaborates or mentions being a fan of one of your other favorite creative things? It’s so reaffirming and validating that you are tuned into exactly the corner of the universe that you ought to be. That was the case for me with Experimental Film.
Do you any of you remember this early 2000’s Star Wars rap, flash animation1? That’s the first instance I remember seeing something on the internet that seemed like a uniquely internet kind of animation and content. I thought of that comedy rap animation the day I came across homestarrunner.com. I can’t recall how exactly I first saw a Homestar clip, but somebody emailed me a link to something and I was hooked.
For me, and most people who loved visiting the site, it was all about Strong Bad reading his emails. To this day, I still think to myself in a grumbly voice while checking work emails, “checking out the emails,” as I clack away at my keyboard. My inner narrator at work immediately becomes Strong Bad and I don’t know how I could make it through my workday any other way.
But there was an even deeper, funnier element to homestarrunner.com. Deep within the menus there was a series of cruder animation that were supposed to have been drawn and narrated by Strong Bad called, “Teen Girl Squad.” The comedy content that I loved the most was created by the comedy content that I loved. It was so unique for me.
One day, while checking for new Homestar updates, there was an episode where the gang was going to make a movie. Strong Bad and The Cheet wrote and directed an Experimental Film. What followed was a video that was fully animated by the Homestar creators for They Might Be Giants’ newly released single, Experimental Film.
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An entire day has passed since I posted the YouTube link above. Rather than focusing on the task at hand, I got pulled into a Homestar Runner rabbit hole of videos. Mostly, Teen Girl Squad, if I’m being honest.
Listening to Experimental film—aside from it being just an absolute banger—takes me back to those fun early internet days. When it felt as if you were always on the verge of discovering the next fun thing. When, one day, you could wake up and find out that your favorite band also really digs the same goofy internet videos that you do.
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I found it (it was extremely easy)
The number of times I call TMBG the Super Giants because of HSR is OFTEN. One of my favorite crossovers ever.
I never saw that video before! So cool! I am a big fan of this song (and Memo to Human Resources coming soon!), and replaying The Spine today after a long, tall weekend has me appreciating it more than ever.
Oh, and happy 3rd Anniversary! That’s a huge accomplishment and you deserve all the huzzahs.🎉🍸