Whaddya Mean, Might? They Are Giants!
Mar. 15th, 2002 04:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
omorkaI haven't gotten any grading done, and we go back on Monday. Granted, I only have to have everything done by Tuesday, so I can finish Monday afternoon, but really the lion's share of it has to be done in the next three days. Maybe I can do it in small doses.
I've been watching far too many DVDs. I watched _Tron_ yesterday with the commentary on, as well as all the special features. It really is amazing how well it holds up, considering the advances the technology has made. (I also hadn't realized how many of the light effects were hand-done; ai, that's a lot of person-hours!) Of course, I see it as a religious/philosophical movie more than a techfest, and I was amused that the director gave a couple of nods to that interpretation in the commentary. Oddly, they weren't during RAM's death scene, which I thought was the most moving part of the movie.
This evening, we had dinner at IHOP with the MIL. The waiter was both competent and cute, which was a definite improvement over the last several times. The MIL's been promoted again, which means that she's once again changing offices - this is like the third or fourth office she's had in that building. Now that we're not dependent on her for transport, she seems to have worked out a lot of her work stress; that may also have to do with not working for the obsessively hands-on boss any more.
Afterward, we went to Numbers, a club I really rather dislike, to see the They Might Be Giants show. The Spouse had been to two other shows of theirs there, and one at the Abyss back when it existed; this was my first time seeing them live. The opening band told us their name four different times and I still don't remember it. They were technically proficient, rather goofy, cussed prodigiously, and only played for about forty minutes. Then the roadies spent another forty resetting the sage and tuning one particular guitar, during which the crowd got rather ugly and I did a bit of peoplewatching.
We ran into M.C., husband of S.N.C., in line (and let him cut in front of us, which was kinda tacky but lots of other people were doing it so I don't feel too terribly bad). He seems to be doing okay, and was happy to hear about the upcoming Beans show. J.W. was in the crowd; I waved to him in passing, and he sort of nodded back. He showed no particular interest in talking, so I didn't bother him. A number of Rice people were there, but the only ones I recognized enough to say hi to were a clutch of MOBsters, and I still couldn't remember any names, only the instruments they played. They didn't remember my name either, so it was okay. Behind us there was a couple who looked like they were high school seniors; they were dead ringers for what I suspect M.L. and S.W. would have looked like at that age. (I still miss them a lot.)
TMBG were great. They had someone standing in for the usual bassist, who was wonderful. John F. showcased the drummer during "She's Actual Size." He also did the lion's share of the singing; I got the impression that John L.'s throat hurt him - F. looked like he was having a great time, while L. smiled a lot but looked very tired when he wasn't grinning. (I also got reminded that John L. looks like a missing Garson brother; more nostalgia for those who aren't here.) The whole band looked like they were having fun on "Fingertips" (yes, they did all the snippets, in the right order yet), and they even let the guitarist (one of the Dans) sing. They did two encores and ended the second one with "Istanbul (not Constantinople)" and I _finally_ got to shout out "Byzantium!" at the stage at the end of the song. They did the "Malcolm in the Middle" song as one of the encore pieces, which struck me as odd, given that they'd just won a Grammy for it and all.
The audience seemed to be fairly familiar with the new stuff, for which I was grateful. The big sing-alongs were predictable - "Particle Man," "She's an Angel," "Ana Ng," "Why Does the Sun Shine?," "James K. Polk". Almost everyone sang along to "The Guitar," which I didn't expect. They didn't do much from _John Henry_, and not as much from _Lincoln_ as I would have liked, but they do have to promote their newer work, and I rather liked that. It'll be interesting to play their upcoming children's album against some Trout Fishing.
I've been watching far too many DVDs. I watched _Tron_ yesterday with the commentary on, as well as all the special features. It really is amazing how well it holds up, considering the advances the technology has made. (I also hadn't realized how many of the light effects were hand-done; ai, that's a lot of person-hours!) Of course, I see it as a religious/philosophical movie more than a techfest, and I was amused that the director gave a couple of nods to that interpretation in the commentary. Oddly, they weren't during RAM's death scene, which I thought was the most moving part of the movie.
This evening, we had dinner at IHOP with the MIL. The waiter was both competent and cute, which was a definite improvement over the last several times. The MIL's been promoted again, which means that she's once again changing offices - this is like the third or fourth office she's had in that building. Now that we're not dependent on her for transport, she seems to have worked out a lot of her work stress; that may also have to do with not working for the obsessively hands-on boss any more.
Afterward, we went to Numbers, a club I really rather dislike, to see the They Might Be Giants show. The Spouse had been to two other shows of theirs there, and one at the Abyss back when it existed; this was my first time seeing them live. The opening band told us their name four different times and I still don't remember it. They were technically proficient, rather goofy, cussed prodigiously, and only played for about forty minutes. Then the roadies spent another forty resetting the sage and tuning one particular guitar, during which the crowd got rather ugly and I did a bit of peoplewatching.
We ran into M.C., husband of S.N.C., in line (and let him cut in front of us, which was kinda tacky but lots of other people were doing it so I don't feel too terribly bad). He seems to be doing okay, and was happy to hear about the upcoming Beans show. J.W. was in the crowd; I waved to him in passing, and he sort of nodded back. He showed no particular interest in talking, so I didn't bother him. A number of Rice people were there, but the only ones I recognized enough to say hi to were a clutch of MOBsters, and I still couldn't remember any names, only the instruments they played. They didn't remember my name either, so it was okay. Behind us there was a couple who looked like they were high school seniors; they were dead ringers for what I suspect M.L. and S.W. would have looked like at that age. (I still miss them a lot.)
TMBG were great. They had someone standing in for the usual bassist, who was wonderful. John F. showcased the drummer during "She's Actual Size." He also did the lion's share of the singing; I got the impression that John L.'s throat hurt him - F. looked like he was having a great time, while L. smiled a lot but looked very tired when he wasn't grinning. (I also got reminded that John L. looks like a missing Garson brother; more nostalgia for those who aren't here.) The whole band looked like they were having fun on "Fingertips" (yes, they did all the snippets, in the right order yet), and they even let the guitarist (one of the Dans) sing. They did two encores and ended the second one with "Istanbul (not Constantinople)" and I _finally_ got to shout out "Byzantium!" at the stage at the end of the song. They did the "Malcolm in the Middle" song as one of the encore pieces, which struck me as odd, given that they'd just won a Grammy for it and all.
The audience seemed to be fairly familiar with the new stuff, for which I was grateful. The big sing-alongs were predictable - "Particle Man," "She's an Angel," "Ana Ng," "Why Does the Sun Shine?," "James K. Polk". Almost everyone sang along to "The Guitar," which I didn't expect. They didn't do much from _John Henry_, and not as much from _Lincoln_ as I would have liked, but they do have to promote their newer work, and I rather liked that. It'll be interesting to play their upcoming children's album against some Trout Fishing.
