TNR-TMBG Convergence

You know The Spine as a home of evidence-free libel ("Frankly--I have not a scintilla of evidence for this but I do have my instincts and my grasp of his corruptibility--I suspect that [Jesse] Jackson was let in on the diamond trade or some other smarmy commerce [by Charles Taylor].") but it's also a They Might Be Giants Album:

I was somehow unaware of this even though I've been to more TMBG shows than I care to admit.

Comments

"even though I've been to more TMBG shows than I care to admit."

Why do I find this utterly unsurprising?

Posted by Petey | June 5, 2007 10:04 AM

But really I'm not actually your friend... ;)

Posted by low-tech cyclist (formerly RT) | June 5, 2007 10:08 AM

mathew..

Loved this. I try to stay away from The Spine but like an addled crack addict who knows it's hell on my health but can't control myself, I find myself marveling at it daily. Even more entertaining are the acolytes...fun bunch...

Posted by mrcookie1 | June 5, 2007 10:09 AM

Make a little birdhouse in Marty's soul.

Posted by Klein's Tiny Left Nut | June 5, 2007 10:10 AM

I've been to more TMBG shows than I care to admit.

One?

Posted by right | June 5, 2007 10:15 AM

"Smarmy trade"? What, he was not only profiting from the labor of Liberian citizens, but he was smug about it?

Posted by David | June 5, 2007 10:24 AM

Does Jesse Jackson think the Palestinians are human?

Posted by otto | June 5, 2007 10:26 AM

Right wins the thread.

Posted by jhupp | June 5, 2007 10:27 AM

I would think this is more Peretzian (and it's from The Spine):

"He says he knows me
But I don't know that guy
He's waving at me
But he looks kind of mad
Some crazy bastard wants to hit me..."

unless you want to make the obvious reference to Your Racist Friend.

Posted by jfaberuiuc | June 5, 2007 10:33 AM

It all makes perfect sense. What is "Instanbul (not Constaninople)" but a lament for the lost Western glory of Byzantine civilization wrecked by murderous sub-human Muslim invaders?

Posted by justin | June 5, 2007 10:41 AM

s/b Constantinople

Posted by justin | June 5, 2007 10:42 AM

"My friend, Barack Obama."
What in the unholy name of Jeebus is that about?

Posted by charles pierce | June 5, 2007 11:03 AM

"My friend, Barack Obama."
What in the unholy name of Jeebus is that about?

Posted by charles pierce | June 5, 2007 11:03 AM

My personal favorite Marty moment was his contention that Ethan Allen would roll over in his grave at the news of current Vermonters organizing to secede from the US out of frustration with the war in Iraq.

If Marty were 1% as knowledgeable as he believes himself to be, he would know that Ethan Allen: 1) originally organized the Green Mountain Boys to free Vermont from New York, whom he denounced as elitists (and the claims of New Hampshire); 2) proclaimed the independent nation of Vermont in 1777; and 3) negotiated with Canada about having Vermont become of province when Congress balked at having Vermont enter the Union independent of New York.

So Marty's attempt to out-Vermont current Vermonters by invoking the memory of Ethan Allen evidences:

1) Marty does not know anything about Revolutionary War era Vermont;

2) Marty does not know anything about the fidelity of current Vermonters political outrage to historical Vermont; or

3) The war in Iraq.

Honestly, if The Onion mixed parody and actual posts from The Spine, I believe they would be virtually indistinguishable.

Posted by Ephus | June 5, 2007 11:16 AM

TNR -- the rantings and ravings of countless screaming argonauts.

(TMBG are great live!)

Posted by David | June 5, 2007 11:37 AM

The right is always about projection.

It was, of course,Pat Rboertson not Jesse Jackson, who went into the diamond-selling business with Charles Taylor . . .

Posted by rea | June 5, 2007 11:53 AM

Pat Robertson

Too indignant to spell . . .

Posted by rea | June 5, 2007 11:55 AM

TMBG is a great band, always worth seeing live, but The Spine is a pretty lousy segment of their output. Draw your own analogies.

The documentary Gigantic gives a good account of the strange process by which They Might Be Giants, originally a downtown performance-art project about rock bands, accidentally became an actual rock band.

Posted by J. Ellenberg | June 5, 2007 12:44 PM

Not J. Jackson... Pat Robertson.

Posted by G. C. | June 5, 2007 1:29 PM