#sorry jf this looks a little weird looking

[crunchy-rocc]

pevin (pineapple kevin)

[defectzim]

Everytime someone ships tripitaka with someone, anyone, an angel loses its wings btw

[langsty-langst-lance]

Ooh, how about Lance going to a planet and landing red or something. He gets chased and is running back to red but they’re gone. He gets tortured and his arm gets shredded or something. One of the other paladins save him and they’re back at the castle. The pods can’t fully heal it and it turns out that Red went to save Keith during a mission where he wasn’t even in that much danger. Cue super langst yay moment where he screams to her about without his sniping he means nothing.

This was fun to write lol. It’s pretty angst and has a little bit of gore at one point so beware of that. I hope you enjoy!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Disarmed and Disfigured

Hard breaths ran through his lungs as he struggled to get any air in. He was almost there. He was almost safe. Just a little longer.

Behind him Lance could hear the wolf like creatures chasing after him. There were too many for him to take on. He had tried at first but after he had taken down 3 he realized he wouldn’t have the time or ability to take down the last 4 by himself. Not without getting seriously injured anyways.

He realized that he didn’t have to fight them. He only had to outrun them. So outrun them he did. He was fairly close to wear he had left Red. He had landed Red behind a large structure of rocks where he would be hidden. He was pretty close to it, he could get to Red before the wolves got to him.

Lance quickly shot at the wolves trying his best to distract them before taking off for Red. He was just around the corner, almost there and almost safe.

Lance turned the corner, heart beating fast, lungs working as hard as they could. He stumbled around the rocks ready to run into Red. Lance’s heart stopped dead in his throat when he was met with an empty space. This wasn’t right. Red should be right here. He had left him right here. Where was Red?

For a second Lance wondered if he had ran to the wrong rock shelter but he realized that made no sense. Lance panicked for a second before quickly shouting into his comms. “Guys! Red is gone, I don’t know where he is. I need help!”

There was an immediate response. “I’m on my way!” Pidge shouted back.

Behind Lance he heard rocks being shifted as the tumbled down. There was a low growl and Lance felt his stomach turn. He quickly swiveled around, gun readied for the wolves. He had to hold them off now. There was no other option.

Lance glanced around the rock structure wondering where they were hiding and where one was going to pop out from. One caught him by surprise as they sprung out from the side. Lance quickly turned and hit it square in the shoulder but it barely even slowed it down.

Lance shot again desperately. It wasn’t doing much. Another wolf came out from behind the rocks. It lunges at Lance and he was just barely able to move out of the way in time. He shot desperately at the two wolves. He knew there were still two others hiding.

He had little time to recover before the third one attacked. Lance shot and dodged as best as he could. He was more than outnumbered. He just had to try to hold them off until Pidge got there.

The fight wasn’t even close to fair. Lance couldn’t be blamed for what happened next. The last wolf cake from behind him. The other three had been occupying his attention and gun shots. The last one lunged from behind Lance. His sharp teeth sunk deep into Lance’s right arm.

Lance yelped in pain as he tried to shake the wolf from his arm. He desperately turned the gun towards the wolves head and shot it. The wolf went slack and rolled to the floor, taking a sickly chunk of Lance’s arm with him.

Lance grimaced in pain. His arm felt like it was burning. Parts of him that should never see the light of day was being exposed to the harsh environment. Lance swung his left arm around and shot at the other wolves. He managed to get another one down but the other two were still advancing on him.

Lance was convinced he was going to die here on this planet. He was ready to accept it. No matter how much he shot at these wolves they wouldn’t seem to go down. He only slightly slowed them down or moldy inconvenienced them.

Lance was ready to give up all hope when he heard Pidge land the Green Lion behind him. Green roared as intimidatingly as possible. The last two wolves who were already injured whimpered and ran away before they were killed by something that could easily destroy them.

Lance quickly ran up the ramp to the inside of Green. “Pidge go!” Lance yelled desperately. He was trying to hold on through the pain but it was hard. There was so much blood. He couldn’t see his arm anymore, it was only a gruesome mess of blood and bone. The smell drifted up in a sickly scent that made Lance want to vomit his insides out.

He struggled to walk up to Pidge in the cockpit. He stumbled into the area and looked at Pidge who’s eyes were wide at the sight of Lance and his arm. He could tell what Pidge was thinking. He was going to bleed out.

“Lance, just hold on. Your going to be okay,” she reassured him but her voice was growing faint to Lance. Everything around him got blurry as his head grew increasingly light. He got one last glance at Pidges worried face before the universe turned black.

When Lance woke up he was stumbling out of the cryopod. “Whoa!” Shiro yelped as he caught Lance in his arms.

Lance’s head felt dizzy and confused. It took him a second to realize where he was and what had happened. That’s when it sunk in. He had almost died. He was shocked he was still alive. That planet, those wolves. They had almost torn him apart. They had torn him apart. They had torn apart his arm. His arm…

Lance glanced down at his arm. It didn’t look completely healed. It was bent at a weird angle and scarred all over the flesh. Lance tried to move it only to realize his movements were very limited. His arm didn’t work like it used to. Not even close.

The weight of reality came crashing down onto Lance all at once and he felt like vomiting again. Tears pricked at Lances eyes as he desperately tried to move his arm like he did before. He begged and pleaded silently in his head that he would be okay, that this wasn’t really happening.

“-ance… Lance… Lance,” Shiros voice finally managed to make its way into Lance’s confused brain. Lance looked up at Shiro, worry etched across his face. “Lance, it’s okay. You’re going to be fine.”

Lance was silent for a minute as he struggled to process words. “My arm…” he finally whispered. “My arm,” he said louder, the word getting stuck in his throat and coming out strangled.

“I know, I’m sorry. It’s all the cryopod could heal it. It was beyond repair. I’m sorry.” Lance could barely hear Shiros words. It felt like a lot of empty nothings being tossed his way. Everything sounded underwater to Lance. He was stuck in a daze he couldn’t seem to escape.

Lance looked up at Shiro and tears quickly made their way down his face. “I can’t move my arm. I can’t move my arm!” He shouted frantically. He was panicked. This wasn’t right. Something was wrong. This was all so, so wrong.

“I know, Lance, just breath. It’ll be okay,” Shiro reassured.

It took time but Lance finally was able to take deep breaths and calm himself down. “W-what happened? Red, he wasn’t there- he wasn’t where I left him. He was just gone-“ Lance rambled hopelessly. He stopped when he noticed familiar violet eyes hidden behind long dark hair. “Keith?”

Keith only gave a grimace back. “I- I was in trouble. On a mission with the Blade. I… I guess Red heard me and knew I was in trouble. He came to save me. I… I’m sorry, Lance…” What Keith was explaining, it just didn’t make sense to Lance. Why would he need Reds help? Why would Red leave him? Why would he chose to save Keith over him?

Lance felt himself breakdown again. It was all too much. Too much information at once, his brain couldn’t take it. Lance pushed himself away from Shiro and started walking out the door.

“Lance! Where are you going?” Shiro asked worriedly. He tried to follow him but Lance waved him off.

“I just… I just need to do something,” he answered half dazed. He couldn’t focus on words he could only think of Red.

Lance stumbled to the Lions hangars and walked into the one that held Red. He walked in and the lion was sitting proudly like always. As he neared the lights in his eyes flickered to life.

“You…” Lance mumbled. Red gave a curious growl in Lances mind. “You,” he repeated with more conviction.

Red lowered his head so he was looking at Lance. A growl in Lances mind prompted Lance to continue speaking.

“You left me out there. You left me to die!” Lance yelled, lunging forward towards Red. “You left me by myself! You knew damn well I would die by myself. There was no way I could defeat those creatures. You literally left me to the wolves!”

Red said nothing but Lance wasn’t sure what exactly he was expecting so he continued on. Maybe the lion would decide to talk back if he kept going.

“You left to save Keith! He’s not even your Paladin anymore! He left you! I’m your Paladin! I thought you accepted me as your new Paladin? You… you chose Keith over me!” Lance was crying now. He wasn’t sure when the tears had started to fall but now they were falling hard and fast and he couldn’t stop it.

“You left me to die so you could save him. Look what happened because of you. Look at this!” Lance gestured hopelessly to his disfigured arm. “My arm, my right arm. I can barely use it normally let alone to fight! What am I supposed to do now? I can’t fight like this! I can’t use my gun! And if- jf I can’t use my gun then what can I do? Shooting is all I’m good at and now I can’t even do that…”

Lance sunk down to the floor and brought his knees up to his chest as he sobbed. He felt so hopeless, so useless. “Now what, Red? I could barely do anything to begin with. Now I’m really useless. Why would they keep around someone as useless as me? Something as useless as my arm…”

Red made no movement or said no words. Lance wasn’t sure he was expecting him to. He knew where he rested with the team and with everyone else. He had always been stuck in Keith’s shadow and he knew he always would be. When it came down to it, anyone would chose Keith over him without question. Keith was obviously the better choice. Lance wanted to blame Red but he couldn’t. If he had to choose between himself and Keith he would choose Keith without a second thought. Keith was better at everything. There was no question about it.

Lance wasn’t sure about a lot of things but he was sure that he would be stuck in Keith’s shadow forever. He was sure he would always be seen as expendable and useless. He was always second to best.

As for things he wasn’t sure about, he wasn’t sure what the fate of the universe was and he was even more unsure of what the fate of himself was.

[awfullybigwardrobe44]

Little Prince Caspian (movie) things

Here is my stream of consciousness from rewatching Prince Caspian. IDK if anyone will take the time to read through this lol but here it issss

-Queen Prunarismia, upon delivering and being handed her newborn baby, immediately checks with eagerness (and anxiety?) to see if it’s a boy.

-Susan sits by herself at school. She prefers to be left alone.

-the look of fear on Lucy’s face, and disappointment in Susan ‘s, when Peter is fighting.

-Peter’s desperate look at them when he sees them and realizes they must be disappointed.

-“Act your age” -Security guard to Peter

-it’s weird for me because Ed and Lu changed so much between movies. Ed’s voice obviously got deeper, but Lucy’s did too. She seems SO much older.

-Lucy falling in the water on the beach was probably Georgie falling in real life let’s be honest

-the Cair ruins are SO PRETTY.

-Pevensies running barefoot through the castle ruins

-OK BUT MIRAZ’S BABY IS REALLY CUTE

-I loooooove the Spanish accents.

-“Abducted....... by NARNIANS.”

-the Telmarines calling Narnians “fairy tales” ohhhhhh the irony

-Ok but? Peter does this thing with his head when he’s looking at his statue in the treasure room? He almost shakes his head? As if to say “I can’t believe that was me” or “why am I not like that now”???

-Ed turning away to laugh when Peter includes “The Magnificent”

-Ed’s smile when Peter tells the DLF that Ed will fight him

-the little embroideries on Caspian’s night shirt :)

-parallel between Badger believing Caspian is going to save them and Beaver believing the Pevensies were going to save them

-Pevensies in the history textbooks

-Abcient professor, having studied the Pevensies his whole life, suddenly has an arrow from QUEEN SUSAN in his OFFICE??? (Miraz stabs it in his book)

-his smile. The look in his eyes. The HOPE. The TRIUMPH. The SMIRK.

-that shot. The one looking up into the sky from the water. With the sun and the boat. And the music.

-I love how Lucy and Susan’s hair get frizzy when they’re on the water in the boat. Like? Same. Yet they still look like angels

-Lucy just wants to talk to the friendly Bear!!!

-Peter brandishing his sword and hugging Lucy with the other arm

-the way the Narnian theme turns minor as it shows the steep cliff drop off

-Lucy’s smile when she sees Aslan.

-Lucy trying not to cry after seeing Aslan and Edmund looking all compassionate

-the little lights in the trees during the council meeting in the woods with Caspian

-I REALLY LOVE CASPIAN’S ACCENT WHY DIDNT THEY KEEP IT

-How did no one see the Pevensies hidden behind the log? Susan’s red arrows stick out like a sore thumb

-Parallel between trebuchets at Beruna and the leftover ones at Cair that Ed notices

-The gorge is so prettyyyyyy

-Susan and Lucy’s late night girl-talk about Aslan. I love it. Susan deferring to Lucy as the expert on Aslan...

-The way Lucy’s little head whips around when she hear’s Aslan’s growl

-I have always loved the parallel between Lucy’s expression in LWW when she sees the Dryad and when she sees one in PC- same expression of wonder

-The way the whole dream scene happens in semi-slow motion- exactly like a dream

-”Dear one.”

-”Certainly Lu. Whatever you like.” -direct book quote

-One of the fauns looks like Martin Freeman and it’s throwing me off

-Why did they feel they needed to make Peter angry and prideful... the looks he and Caspian exchange... why can’t my smols just play nice

-Caspian and Peter walking ahead and talking strategy

-Lucy walking with Reep

-BABY CENTAUR alskd;jf;klsjdkl cute

-in that famous scene where the Pevensies walk forward and Caspian stays behind during the centaur salute- Peter and Susan step forward first, then Edmund and Lucy

-UMMMMM?????? I think Susan is crying when they see the Stone Table in the How????????? Feels?????

-When they see the Stone Table I love that it’s Susan and Lucy in the center, staring at it just as they did so many years ago when Aslan rose again...

-Caspian’s look of dejection when he realizes that Peter is High King and he has to call the shots (I still hate that he and Peter’s relationship is like that but good acting on Ben’s part)

-When Peter asks Glenstorm for help, Glenstorm shares a look with Caspian.

-Edmund getting dropped at the castle first... because he has a torch!

-Parallel between Pevensies flying in by gryffin and WWII bombers...

-the muted trumpet/bugle theme for Reep and his mice!

-Susan taking Caspian’s side against Peter when Caspian wants to go find his professor <3

-when the guard accidentally turns the torch on and it shines in his face. Same, dude. Same.

-Edmund canonically calls Peter “Pete.”

-Oh. my. goodness. “Exactly WHO are you doing this for, Peter?” when in the first movie, it was “For Narnia, and for Aslan.” Really shows the error he’s made. He really has given up hope on Aslan. (Again, not saying that I like this change to his character AT ALL but this was a cool way to show it if they HAD to go in that direction...)

-THEN he says “For Narnia.” (but not for Aslan...)

-The Minotaur holding up the gate :’(

-The smile in Edmund’s eyes before he falls backward onto the gryffin

-Peter crying as he see’s what he’s done with the Narnians getting trapped and Susan crying too I can’t

-Lucy. Sitting on the stone table, all alone. While the others are fighting. Holding her healing cordial, wishing she could be there helping. And the significance of her being “near” Aslan when she’s lonely and sad waiting for the others to get back.

-When the Telmarine lords are pledging their troops to Miraz as he’s getting crowned one of them says “Etinsmoor” which sounds a lot like the castle from Hamlet I think??? lol.

-Miraz’s sick cape flip as he walks up to the throne

-parallel between the Stone Table music from LWW and the summoning of the witch music in PC

-ok the Hag is seriously creepy

-The witch’s ice and the witch herself appear in the big archway where Aslan appeared in LWW. Nice parallel. Like she’s coming between them and Aslan...

-You can see Caspian’s breath when the ice appears

-Lucy using her dagger and being ruthless 

-The witch telling Peter he “can’t do this alone” YEAH BUD YOU CAN’T WHICH IS WHY YOU NEED ASLAN NOT HER???

-Edmund breaking the ice. Yeaaaaaah buddy character development

-The shot of the Aslan statue in the background

-Susan’s look of disappointment at Peter and Caspian

-After all this time I think Caspian is still wearing his nightshirt....

-Is... Is Peter looking up at the Aslan statue with tears in his eyes?

-Parallel between Lucy’s “Susan! you’d better come quickly!” and Edmund’s “Pete... you’d better come quickly.”

-UMM Miraz is riding a WHITE HORSE and the horse’s HELMET HAS A UNICORN HORN UMM IS HE TRYING TO BE PETER

-I’m sorry but Edmund walking towards the Telmarine camp carrying a plant as a peace offering

-Susan is NOT impressed with Caspian’s behavior. Giving him the cold shoulder. 

-Susan. Facing the Telmarines. Alone. The director said they had horsemen ride at Anna full-force and she never flinched. 

-Susan’s little smile as she swings up onto the horse with Caspian.... (I’m not a hardcore Suspian shipper but awww)

-Edmund resetting Peter’s arm

-Caspian. with tears in his eyes as he chooses not to kill. 

-Miraz dies with Susan’s arrow stuck in him- like the arrow he took to the Professor’s office earlier- “superstitions”

-This time during battle it’s the Telmarines dropping rocks and not the Narnians like in LWW

-I can’t ever watch Susan pull an arrow out of her quiver without thinking of that blooper lol

-Edmund with a crossbow yeeeeaaahhh

-Peter says “Lucy” and Susan reads his lips from that far off and shakes her head

-and THEN when the trees come in, Peter’s cry is FINALLY “For Aslan!”

-Lucy pulls out her dagger and then makes this EXPRESSION like COME AT ME Y’ALL 

-Aslan and Lucy just look at each other

-the symbolism between the Telmarines trying to control the Narnians or deny their existence and their building the bridge across the river- and then Aslan unleashes the RIVER DUDE and Narnia fights back

-Meeting Aslan, Susan looks afraid to meet his eyes

-The little bit of a growl/sternness in Aslan’s voice when he’s talking to Reep who is being a touch prideful

-When Reep is giving all the reasons he needs a tail, Lucy looks to Aslan and smiles and Aslan looks to Lucy and smiles. All these looks really show that thing the book says that “Lucy understands some of his moods” or something- she knows him best

-”Where is this dear little friend you’ve told me so much about”- Did Lucy tell Aslan about him on the way to Beruna? 

-Lucy still has waves in her hair in the parade scene and I’ve always wondered why but maybe it’s still from her braids from the beginning of her movie?

-Fireworks at the castle again- for a very different reason

-The look between Aslan and Susan. 

-I think you can hear Aslan say “world” to Susan and Peter- like “your world”?

-Susan’s shy little smile as she looks back to her family after KISSING CASPIAN

-maybe i’m just imagining it but I’ve always thought that Aslan was mouthing “bye” to Lucy at the very end when she looks back to him

-I LOVE that they show the transition from Narnia to the platform from Lucy’s perspective. 

[selfcallednowhere]

December 30, 2018 Pawling, NY

This show was at a cute little venue in Pawling, NY, at a very cute little venue owned (amusingly randomly to me) by Daryl Hall of "and Oates" fame. I always appreciate the intimacy of seeing TMBG in small spaces, and it doesn't happen too frequently. For this show less than a week after Christmas, there was still a wreath on the door for some festive feeling.

They opened with the completely rocking "The Communists Have the Music," followed immediately by the also completely rocking "Twisting."

Next came "Why Does the Sun Shine?" Flans fucked up by starting to sing immediately rather than waiting for the brief musical intro, oops. During the spoken parts, John was again doing his difficult to describe but extremely funny weird, slow-and-low-voiced character. After informing us that the sun is so hot everything on it is a gas, he further informed us that he had a hangnail. After "The sun is large" (oddly, he sang for that one, rather than Flans doing it like the normal vocal breakdown of the song), we learned the usual info that a million earths would fit inside the sun if it were hollow, however, "This is purely hypothetical. This would never actually happen." Also, apparently the sun looks so small because it is about 93 miles away. Furthermore, the sun is a "huge smashing thing," and "if the heat and light of the sun were hollow, I would fit inside."

Afterwards, John asked us how we were doing, then demanded two more times to hear how we were really really doing, receiving, of course, excited cheers in response each time.

Next came a couple of Flood regulars, "Birdhouse in Your Soul" and then "Particle Man." Unusually, there was no modified cover in the bridge of the latter, just a slowed-down section with normal lyrics and a musical background that reminded me a bit of another staple Flood selection, "Istanbul."

After "The Famous Polka," Flans thanked us for coming "all the way out to Pawling, New York, a place...on the map for us!" (It did require a rather lengthy commuter train ride from the city for me to get there, going through places I'd never been and mostly had never heard of).

Then he asked John how his holiday was.

JL: It was good. I was over on the other side of the Atlantic, so I'm...I'm gonna be slightly...saying things that I don't mean, cos I'm still on European time. JF: Perhaps in a foreign language. JL: Maybe in a foreign language. Scottish. Could happen. *pause* I'm sorry, how was your Christmas? Or--your holiday. We're part of the war on Christmas--I keep forgetting. How was your holiday? JF: My Kwanzaa was fantastic, John.

Then he said he was in LA "hanging out with some heavy-hitting entertainment people, y'know, working on deals." "In the Kwanzaa spirit," John added.

Then Flans said, "As someone said on social media, 2018 was one of the longest decades of all time, so it's exciting to be so close to the end...of 2018." Then John said, ominously, "I thought you meant something more broadly. It's exciting to be close to the end, as well." This was a stellar example of the sort of morbid sense of humor that makes me adore him so.

Flans then reminded us that if we were videoing the show we'd already broken an FBI law, but if you do, "please make sure that everyone else is videoing as well. It's only fair for the person standing behind you that they capture your screen in their screen." He then said he wanted it to be like the effect in "that Orson Welles movie with the mirrors." John offered that the movie he was thinking of was The Lady from Shanghai which Flans then admitted he hasn't seen (I did based on this banter and the scene in question--the movie in general really--is excellent). John then told us that when we got the video home we would find the FBI warning with it, and Flans encouraged us to be sure to rewind it.

Next they played "I Left My Body," which John introduced as "a new song--new to us, you guys already know this song," which was certainly true for me after having nearly a year to listen obsessively to this album at this point.

Afterwards, John asked, "Now how was your Christmas? Kwanzaa?" When Flans replied that it was good, he said he was only saying it to stall. Flans then said that his flight had been "1/3 people, 1/3 infants, and 1/3...dogs. There was a lot of comfort being dispensed. As well as a tremendous amount of shitting."

Then he said the next song was off Flood (requisite cheers) that features "the guitar synthesizer playing of Mr. Dan Miller!" John added that he liked the fact that they had an "active camera operator" (meaning, for the screen on the back of the stage) zooming in on the person being discussed. "It's very exciting. It's very distracting. 'Oh, that's what the back of my head looks like.'"

After that they played "We Want a Rock," a Flood song they don't play very often and one of my favorites, so this was a thrill for me. Also, at this point in my notes I have the extremely excited all-caps single word "GRAY," which I believe means during the song I realized John was visibly gray at his temples, so that was a thrill as well, although to my eternal disappointment he continues to resist letting it even progress beyond that.

Afterwards, Flans explained to us that the show was two sets and was functioning as "the big warm-up show for our show in Philadelphia tomorrow. We're figuring out what songs we're not gonna play tomorrow. So the ones we really wipe out on tonight you can rest assured will be Xed out on tomorrow's setlist."

JF: I realized--one of the reasons that last song was so effective was that in rehearsal yesterday we all managed to find our own space to enter on the *fast guitar strum* part. It was shocking. JL: It's true, yeh, yeh. I'm sorry that everyone missed that. JF: It was just like, y'know--it was like a--I don't even know what day of the week--it was--Casual Whatever Day It Was. JL: Well, I came in on a Tuesday. JF: I just know I came in first and I was wondering where everybody else was. JL: You were there to greet us at the finish line when we arrived. Like, "Hey! Congratulations."

Next up was "Science Is Real." I've only been to a couple of kids' shows and there aren't that many kids' songs I'd even necessarily want to see live, but this is a great one.

Afterwards, John explained that Dan would be playing keyboard on the next song, and that he wanted to warn him that "people are standing really close to you and can see your hands. It might make you self-conscious. It definitely made me self-conscious." Flans: "Pre-written cheat sheets on your fingers." "Yes. All the pieces of tape on the keys that say the names of the notes." I know that was a joke, but I've been at other shows where he's talking about having members of the band too close to him on stage while he's playing keyboard makes him self-conscious because he's afraid they'll notice his improper technique (as a non-keyboard player I'm not sure what specifically he's referring to), so it seems this is a real fear of his. Strangely, he appears to have no technique-related embarrassment over the fact that (with very very occasional exceptions) he completely ignores a full half of the accordion.

Speaking of accordion, the reason Dan was playing keyboard was because he was on it for the next song, "Let's Get This Over With." I love the arrangement with the accordion so much that I'm really disappointed that it wasn't included on the album version--but all the more reason to relish seeing it live.

Afterwards, John excitedly informed us that Dan was coming back to the keyboard.

JF: By popular demand! What kind of band is so organized as to put all the keyboard songs right together in the setlist? We're seamless. We won't tease you with medleys, but we'll dazzle you with our organization. JL: That's right. Exactly. That's why people keep showing up. It's not the songs. It's not the performances. It's the high-level professional whatnot.

The next accordion + Dan on keys song was "Doctor Worm." Afterwards:

JF: We are gonna emotionally bring it down now, ladies and gentlemen. JL: Emotionally bring you down. But then we're gonna come to your emotional rescue.

The next song was indeed an emotional one: "Trouble Awful Devil Evil."

Flans introduced the next song, "Bills, Bills, Bills," as being written by 14 people, from the aughts, "a terrific decade." John said it was actually from the very end of the '90s, perhaps the first time in recorded history that he was hipper about popular music than Flans is. (Then again, I only know when it was released because, as someone who was in high school in the suburbs of Houston at the time, I have a distinct memory of the uncontrollable excitement of my classmates over this Houston-based band suddenly becoming wildly successful.) He explained that the song was recorded by Destiny's Child and then re-recorded by Jonathan Coulton, who would also be opening their show tomorrow, and they didn't know if he was going to play the song, but if he did they wouldn't (John said this might necessitate "some yelling, some arguing").

They closed out the first set with "Spy." During what I would describe as the Actual Song Part (i.e. before it really gets good with the extended improv section), Flans was singing with what I wrote in my notes as "whispering" but is perhaps more accurately described as a quiet falsetto. As for the improv part, it featured a good amount of full-band jamming (as opposed to the just individual people thing that's often how it goes), and there were also some fun weird samples from John (but more just noises, not bits of recognizable songs like I've seen him often do lately).

When they returned after the set break, Flans said it was "so exciting to be so close to Connecticut." Then he said, uncertainly, that the next song features "the contra-bass clarinet," and when John informed him it was actually the contra-alto he asked "How many times does he have to say it?", which is a fair question because I've seen him mix up clarinet types on multiple occasions.

They followed this with the two obvious low-clarinet-of-some-form songs, "Cloisonné" and then "All Time What." This was followed by the decidedly not obvious "You're on Fire," which they'd only played two other times in the previous three years. This is one of my fav Nanobots tracks, and it makes me sad how songs from their more recent albums have a tendency to fall off the setlist once the tours for them are over (though I recognize too that with the length and prolificness of their career the number of songs they have to whittle down for a setlist is increasingly absurd), so I was excited to see it. Afterwards, Flans said Dan had an "adult-portion" guitar, and that's how you know the guitar is from America. John added that the guitar has a cream filling. "It's not solid chocolate. It's like one of those European pastries. But made here."

After that they played "The Mesopotamians," which I've seen so many times I can't really get excited about it anymore, but after that came something I definitely could, because neither I nor anyone else had seen it yet: "The Bright Side"!!! This was so unexpected and exciting (it's one of my top tracks on I Like Fun, and one of the songs that seemed so obviously designed to be amazing live that the fact that they hadn't been playing it was completely baffling) that it occasioned three exclamation points in my notes as well. Thus far (I'm finally getting to this review a good time later) it remains the only time they've played it, which is even more baffling, since once they've learned it then what the hell is stopping them? But I just feel so fortunate to have been there to witness it--it was every bit as terrific live as I'd expected.

Afterwards, John said he didn't think they'd played it live but couldn't remember for sure (he was right, as noted above). Flans said he thought they'd played it in Germany and then decided not to anymore, "in spite of the fact that fucking up the lyrics doesn't really matter in Germany." Then he noticed that Marty was shaking his head, indicating that they hadn't played it, and I didn't notice but Dan must've somehow indicated that he agreed with Flans, because John said that "the guitar players" thought they'd played it before, and "once again Danny has to cast the deciding vote. *pause* Danny, very diplomatically, is saying we played it at soundcheck."

Flans then said it had been a very successful year of touring for them ("other than the failure in Germany that we alluded to," John added). Flans continued that they'd toured all over the United States and also Canada, "in spite of common sense." John said it was their first-ever tour of Canada, and then:

JF: We've toured places that they forgot to call Canada in our lives, like the northern peninsula of Michigan. It took four days to do one show. JL: And then the snow buried the memory of it. It's like the Franklin expedition. Still trying to uncover the body of that show. *mostly silence* Some people got that reference to the Franklin expedition. I got it. JF: All roads lead to cannibalism for me, John. *pause* So uh--what's next on the setlist? JL: We got some more songs. JF: Thank goodness, thank goodness. Because this patter is not working. JL: So we're counting on the songs at this point. JF: We've got a whole bunch of Mummer Parade jokes ready, but I don't think it's gonna work...here. JL: They don't do a Mummer's Parade in Pawling. JF: No, John, John. JL: They should--they could start one. Then we'd have stuff to talk about. Is there a Mütter Museum here, in this town? You guys should have one of those. That'd be cool.

So, a couple of important notes here. I was not, in fact, part of the group with John who got his own reference to the Franklin expedition, but I looked it up as soon as I got back to my computer and like, of course it's something he'd be interested in. I also love the fact that he finds it appropriate to just casually drop such references in the middle of a rock show. But it's actually really fun for me when he does reference things I don't know--I like getting the chance to learn things from him.

But it's also really fun for me when he references things I do know, which brings me to important note #2: Philadelphia's Mütter Museum, a collection of medical oddities that includes, among other things, an entire wall of skulls, is one of my absolute favorite museums anywhere and the place I was most looking forward to visiting when I stayed in Philadelphia for a bit after the show the following day. It's also the kind of place I always imagine John must also love, so when he mentioned it without even meaning to I yelled "YES!!!!!", a somewhat embarrassing reaction that is now eternally preserved on a bootleg of the show, but not too embarrassing because it really was that uncontrollably exciting.

After "Mrs. Bluebeard" (complete with John adorably standing up on his toes at the end) came "Robot Parade." After it gradually built in intensity from quiet to full-on rocker like it tends to do live (which is always fun, though I wonder what it would be like for them to just do the rocker-all-the-way-through "Adult Version" sometime), Flans (with his robotic vocal effect) began to explain the "human theremin" thing that's also frequently a part of the live shows. "If you don't know what a theremin isssss, ask your friend real faaaaaast. They'll explain it so well. You have five seconds." (He actually gave us a break of a bit longer than five seconds, but did seem to be counting on us to know or have friends to explain because no explanation from him was offered.)

After that, he introduced Marty, making his way to center stage. "Mr. Danny Weinkauf, Mr. Dan Miller now leaving the stage, our crew now entering the stage. Wearing nothing but clothing from the They Might Be Giants clothing line. Available to them at a staff discount of 5%. That 5% is directly related to their fingertips." Then:

JF: I don't think you can have any photography during this portion of the show. Cos you have to experience it in the moment. And then tell your grandkids about it later. "You wouldn't believe this. I saw this thing." JL: "They wouldn't let me use my phone." JF: "They were such PRICKS." I know those guys. I was with them in Pawling.

(They were joking, but--important as photography is to me--I do in fact stop myself from taking pictures during particularly exciting parts of the show, for example during a song I particularly love and haven't gotten to see much, for that very reason.)

So then they played "Shoehorn with Teeth," complete with the glockenspiel (that would be Marty's occasion for moving to center stage). Seeing it performed that way (with Dan Hickey rather than Marty of course) is one of my most salient memories of my early days of show-going, back on the Mink Car tour, so that made me very nostalgic, and seeing it in its old familiar place immediately following "Robot Parade" (though without Flans's "John, I think we're losing the crowd" bit in between) even more so.

Afterwards, Flans gave us permission to get "back to your regular filming now" and said that they were "trying to get into the Japanese-press-conference-style continual video flow." Then he said that he's grateful for cell phones for many reasons, but he did find it very hard to believe (or "suspicious," as John put it) that Bono had a bike accident in Central Park and "like heliported out of there" without there being any videos of it.

JL: Why were there no phone videos of the moon landing? JF: Exactly. JL: Are you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'? JF: Yes. Let's get Alex Jones on the line. JL: Why isn't he a hoax? JF: It turns out he wasn't real. Actually I believe when he was getting divorced that was his defense. That he was in fact a hoax. And his wife agreed.

Then Flans shifted back to the previous song, eliciting more cheers for Marty and telling us, "We spent days sharpening up that glockenspiel." John said they hadn't rehearsed, and that he was "sweating." Flans: "We'd have to charge more if we rehearsed."

Next they played "Letterbox" (a favorite and always an absolute delight for me, although I've seen it a fair bit), followed by "Meet James Ensor" and "Istanbul." Band intros came next and included Dan on the "sister-hugging electric guitar" (Flans thanked and thus moved on from Dan while he was still playing his bit), someone in the crowd yelling "HOLY SHIT" after Marty, to which John responded "Holy shit is right," and then a refusal to allow further soloing from Marty in spite of crowd demands ("He's cut off," Flans explained).

They closed the second set with two wildly tonally different but both completely spectacular songs, "Dead" and "Experimental Film." The latter of which was particularly exciting for me because it's a favorite and I've almost never seen it. Also exciting was the fact that John changed the "but which I'm still figuring out" in the second chorus to "and which," an admittedly silly tiny thing that's always bugged me intensely, because "and" is clearly the conjunction that actually makes sense. I want to believe he changed it intentionally because he finally realized this, but it's much more likely that he actually just forgot how it goes.

When they returned for the first encore, John said "New Year's is gonna be a big disappointment for us," which I'm assuming was meant to be an expression of gratitude for the enthusiasm of the crowd rather than a wry comment on actual expectations.

The first encore was "Man, It's So Loud in Here" (more intense early show memories for me, although it was the rock version), followed by "Damn Good Times," which I've mostly seen as a show opener but also works well in the encore. According to my notes, it included "windmilling, pointing @ Dan, silly faces."

The second encore began with "Ana Ng" (starting with a goosebump-inducing minimal musical accompaniment). Flans said that now, after a song from the second album, they'd been playing one from the first, an introduction that made me excited no matter what it would be as that's (tied for) my favorite album, but the song in question was one that did particularly, as it's also in the "songs I absolutely adore that I've only seen a very small number of times" category: "Nothing's Gonna Change My Clothes"! So that was an absolutely swell way to end an absolutely swell evening.

Final John thoughts: red stripey pocket t-shirt, what I like to think of as an Ultimate Linnellian Shirt (he also has a blue one). His hair was actually a decent length (something I can tragically no longer take for granted like I could for so many years) and looked GOOD. This was my sixth show since all-spex-all-the-time became the rule, but I still haven't gotten used to it, and I doubt I ever will.