I Just Read About That…

  SOUNDTRACK: THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS-Tiny Desk Concert #145 (July 28, 2011).

I have loved They Might Be Giants for decades.  But I have kind of fallen off the TMBAndwagon over the last few years.

I must have watched this Tiny Desk when it came out, but i didn’t really remember it at all.

John and John (and Marty Beller on drums) play 2 songs from their then new album Join Us (the last one I bought I think).

The first is “Can’t Keep Johnny Down” sung by Flansburgh who also plays keyboards.  It sounds very much like classic TMBG (that voice, of course).

“Cloisonné” is a slower song sung by Linnel while Flans plays a very long saxophone (seriously, it’s very long).  This also sounds very TMBG–Johns voice and the sax are right on).  I don’t know why I didn’t listen to this album more.

They wrap up the set with the brilliant 21 part “Fingertips” from Apollo 18.  And it sounds perfect–just like the record, only live and a little more fun.

[READ: January 19, 2016] Mermin: Book Two

I enjoyed Mermin Book One quite a lot.  And of course, I couldn’t wait for Book Two.  And then I forgot about it.  I need some kind of reminder system, I guess.

Anyhow, this book picks up right where the previous one left off.

Mermin (not to be confused with Moomin) has completed his adventure and is trying to settle in with Pete and his friends–you know go to school and be normal even he is a green fish type creature.  And Benni (the round goldfish like creature) is still around to watch over Mermin (even if he is not appreciated).

And now suddenly Penny is trying to hang out with the boys.  Pete and his friends are reluctant for her to join them because she usually hangs out with other people and besides, they are trying to keep Mermin a secret.  They are not doing a good job of it though.

There are several villains in this book.  Randy is a bully in their class.  The first thing he asks Mermin is if the fish are his girlfriends.  When he asks later about a girlfriend Mermin wonders, “What is it with you bullies and “girlfriends.””

The other villains are two guys in green jumpsuits.  Agent Bird and Agent Smitt are after Mermin for real.  The first encounter between the agents and Randy comes when the agents accidentally trap Randy instead of Mermin.  But rather than being mad, Randy joins them in the help to capture the freak.

He tells them where the gang’s new hideout is.  And that’s when the agents reveal their giant Mermin-catching-machine. It is fearsome at first but on closer look the kids notice: “is that a bathtub?  Yeah and I see a refrigerator and…”  But Agnet Bird retorts, “We built this on a limited budget okay?”  Nevertheless, it is still super powerful and starts a huge fight between itself and Mermin (who is very strong, you might remember).

Turns out the agents think that Mermin is from another planet and they intend to study him and get in all the science books.

But the return of a beloved character from Book 1 causes all kinds of wonderful mayhem.

The book ends on a cliffhanger which can only be solved in book 3!

And this time I won’t wait three years to read it.