SomaCow

SomaCow Media is proud to present SomaCow, brought to you this week by They Might Be Giants. A phenomenal band doing remarkable things utilizing a modicum of skill playing various instruments.

In this hour we discussed Producer Jen and I’s two concerts in one day. As she gets frothy talking about TMBG, I will allow her to explain further:

Hi! Jen here. I’m still giddy about that day… I started listening to TMBG back in the late 80s and was an instant fan. The first song I heard was Cowtown, and I just thought it was so different and quirky. About a year later, I went to my first TMBG concert and what an amazing show (Thanks Janus Landing in St Pete!). I have almost always known every song by heart at every show. Over the last 20 years, I have seen them every time they have come to the state. Geoff and I started talking on MucheDumbre because I had “Blue Canary in the Outlet by the Lightswitch…Who watches over you? Make a Little Birdhouse In Your Soul” as my signature. We married 5 years later, and were introduced at the reception as a couple for the first time to Birdhouse. So this band has a deep meaning to me.

We found out the day before the shows, that Geoff won tickets to see a small intimate showing at a local radio station. We got there early, per usual for us, and sat downstairs as instructed. One by one we identified them…the other winners. There is something about a TMBG fan. While we all might look different, you can just tell a TMBG fan from others. I had my camera there, just in case we could take pics (it ends up we couldn’t) and then my sensors went off. OK, that just sounds dorky, I really just looked to my left and saw John and John getting out of a van. They were walking them through the front door with the fans just sitting there? I mean we’re not a crazy bunch, but I have seen J & J yell at many a Florida crowd for being too rambunctious (seriously, mosh pits and crowd surfing to Birdhouse in your Soul??), but this crowd was calm. I mean yeah, I had my camera pointed through the glass taking pics, but why not?

So we filed upstairs, with me pushing forward and, having scoped out where the little studio was, got to be first in line. It ended up that it didn’t matter though, as Geoff’s winning was “special” so we were in the front row anyway! They played 4 songs, “Mesopotamians” off of their new album, “Dr Worm”, “Istanbul (not Constantinople)”, and then “New York City”, so all great songs. They were a little off, though. We had been warned that one of the Johns was sick (to be revealed later-hold tight!), and Linnell stated he had just woken up. If only I could have snuck a shot of his bed hair!

Ooh, I got it! So the sounds were a little off and they stumbled on some words here and there. Not their best show, but still cool as shit. I think the best part was during a commercial break when they broke out into the themes from Barney Miller and The Rockford Files.

So after this 1 hour show, they start packing up and said they had to go to get ready for the HOB show that night so they couldn’t stick around. Some douche kept begging Linnell for an autograph pointing out he had Flansburgh’s but not his. Linnell said, “how about if I shake your hand. That’s more personal than an autograph, right?” and the guy said no! So I took this opportunity to quietly move my sympathetically pregnant belly up to the Johns and quickly ask, “We do a podcast/internet radio show and would love it if we can play your music on SomaCow” and I got a quick “sure!”. I was about to pass out I was so excited. They also do a podcast you can download on iTunes (or your iTouch you can win here!) for free.

So fastforward a few hours and Geoff and I are on our way through beautiful Thursday afternoon I-4 traffic to get to Downtown Disney and the House of Blues. HOB is probably one of my favorite venues we have in Central Florida… We get there to find out that to get in the front line you have to eat at HOB or buy something in the store. Well, the store had crap in it. We were all prepared to buy stuff at the concert, but not from HOB. So we were 2nd in line in the ‘regular people’ line. My only issue was I had to find a table. Between my being all knocked up and Geoff’s toe (see the next SomaCow Episode), it was just necessary. We had a plan. Sis and her friend go to the bar with drink orders, Geoff goes to the table with the stuff to scope it out and I find the table. I run (yes, literally run) to “my table” only to find it is taken. I look and see one. I pass someone whoosh! and scoop up the table. Geoff sees me, smiles, and grabs two extra barstools on the way over. Victory!

Now at this show, they did their thing. John Flansburgh came out and announced to us all that he had the flu (so it was him!), and that he had taken every OTC flu medicine known to man and was ready to put on the best show of his life thanks to all of these pharmaceuticals! He didn’t disappoint. He was funny all running around the stage. You could tell he felt no pain but would the next day! Every single song was AWESOME. They have the best concerts. They will play about 80/20 if not 90/10 of old to new songs. They know their audience and why they are there. Have you had that experience? Or the opposite? TMBG knows that they have a babillion hits (to their fans), and they always throw a new one or two in there you haven’t heard in a while. They get their new stuff out there, too, but focus on the old. They make their fans happy. And happy we were! Oh man and Dan Miller on acoustic guitar doing his 10 minute intro to Istanbul. Just amazing and the SomaCalf went nuts! She was flopping left and right, she loves that guitar! We were both prepared to leave early if need be, due to physical pain, as we’ve seen their show, but there was nothing that would take us out once it started…except when the lights came up.

Brilliant show, and since this will probably be our last concert for the foreseeable future, it was the perfect one.

Mickey shares his wisdom on following the styles of Information Society and speaking your mind.

Oh, and this is also the I Love You episode (if you don’t know, they’ll explain it) so Geoff gives us all 5 great tips to keep love alive and we definitely do!

And we also played this great music:

• They Might Be Giants – Cowtown

• Enter the Haggis – To the Quick

• Straight Outta Junior High – Love Song

Tags: birdhouse, coaching, comedy, dan, enter, flansburgh, haggis, high, independant, independent, internet, john, junior, life, linnell, miller, music, orlando, outta, Podcast, radio, somacow, straight, talk, they might be giants, tmbg

SomaCow Media, Inc. is proud to present SomaCow, brought to you this week by MucheDumbre.com. Social misfitication is a horrible affliction, and I have it bad. Seriously.

Before I retired from the Professional Drinker’s League, I used alcohol as a way to hide the fact that I was a complete social square peg in a round hole world. Heavy drinking led to me getting mugged. But that is a story for another time.

Geoff uses his drinking to be the entertainment pillar of his office parties. And there is no office party like a Christmas office party. Even worse than getting drunk at the office party, Geoff got Wine Drunk.

Which reminds… Red Wine… Don’t Do It! (I can’t type out the details, so listen to the show to find out why.)

So… ok… wow. This is uncomfortable. I’m not sure how to eloquently bring this to an end. This is typical. I do the same thing with phone conversations. I just don’t know how to cut the chord. I feel that if I try to hang up, I will somehow hurt the other person’s feeling. But I don’t want to hang on the line and make them feel awkward.

I think it is a deep seated psychological issue that I have. When I was young, I used to love the telephone, but that was because it was a rare thing for me to actually get a phone call. Although it could be a problem that I usually get phone calls when I am in the middle of doing things and I can’t mutli-task very well. I can multi-task, just not when the phone is involved. I wasn’t trained properly. Like I said, I didn’t get that many calls when I was younger. And… I was always too shy to pick up the phone and call someone.

God, I think back and imagine how much… uh… interaction I could have gotten in high school if I wasn’t so shy, if I would have called the girls in my class, or if I was a little more forward at times.

I’m not trying to look back on life with regret. I have a good “The Chick That I Am Dating“, great actually. We have a lot of … uh… interaction. I’m just describing how I got to where I am with how I handle a phone call. I suck at phone conversations. I’m down right awful. I can’t ever seem to close out the conversation and disconnect.

It’s stupid. I should just be able to call someone and let them know what I have to say. I just feel like, I’m going to hang up and think of something important I needed to tell the person. And that leads to me feeling really dumb for having to call them right back. I hate when I have to call someone right back when I just had them on the phone. The people I often call are mature enough to handle a second call if it is …

You know what, I have to go. Ok, I love you, Goodbye.

Hillbilly Hellcats – Drinkin’ Buddies
Mad Caddies – Drinking For 11
4th Wall Broken – Let Me Ride
London After Midnight – The Kids Are All Wrong

Tags: alternative, birth, bomb, butthole, buzz, carlin, cheese, common, dan, dolphins, eggs, hardcore, history, independant, independent, infertile, intelligent, internet, jesus, mxpx, news, orlando, Podcast, pregnancy, radio, richard, ryan, sanjaya, sense, sperm, sports, suck, surfers, surrogate

SomaCow Media Network proudly presents SomaCow (featuring portions of The Lunar Room). In this, our finest hour, we create the machinations for the overthrow of the world powers.

When SomaCow Media Network takes over the world, things are going to change. Rules will be put in place to change a lot of things. Spit will no longer be tolerated in porn movies. Traffic will be smoother. The kicker will take his proper place among the revered sports heroes of the world. Colorado will be disarmed. Kids will be banned from public restrooms (or just being in public). The staff at the Great American Cookie Company will be more attentive to our needs, DAMN YOU EMO BOY!

SomaCow, is also brought to you this week by dancarlin.com. Dan does great work, both in Common Sense and Hardcore History, and I highly recommend him if you like intelligent talk. SPEAKING of… um… intelligent talk, we also do a l’il show round here, you might’ve heard of that…

We rejoin SomaCow, emboldened by the presence of Lauren and Xander, and tackle the tough issues, like Sanjayan Surrogate Mommies for Rich Infertile Brits. Who knew we would see childbirth outsourcing? I guess it was just a matter of time, with pregnancy and birth being seen as an inconvenience and stuff these days.

We talk about selling eggs (how much should an egg cost?) and the shameful fact that sperm costs LESS? All eggs do is LAY there…

Also had some lively discussion on sportzzz in Florida, namely the Dolphins and their continued commitment to sucking. 13 losses and growing is no small feat. Once, when I played softball and our team was down 32 to nothing, I bravely took myself out of the game in the first inning by leaping 12 feet from the first base with all my might, landing 8 feet closer to the bag and breaking my pinky under my bulk. It was epic. Out.

You know who does Sports up Right? Ryan, of http://www.sportsbuzzradio.com, THAT’S WHO.

Jesus, I keep sending you guys away from here to listen to other shows… Why could that be? It certainly couldn’t be because I choke during the news bomb in this episode, falling flat on my face… Thank God Mickey and J were there to kick sand in my face. Preesh, dudes.

Anyway… I know you will listen, and laugh, and hate me all the more. And I thank you for it. Bunch of funny stuff in this episode, and I wanna go listen, so… Bye.

The following Revolutionary tunes rose up
Butthole Surfers – Pepper
MXPX – You’re On Fire
Richard Cheese – Jingle Bells (In the style of the singing dogs)
The Orion Experience – Obsessed With You

By the way… who is Eddie Bauer?

Why did Dan and Butter remove the link?

Where the hell is Josh?

Will Oprah help get Obama elected?

The answers to these and more questions when the Revolution continues in episode 103!

Tags: alternative, birth, bomb, butthole, buzz, carlin, cheese, common, dan, dolphins, eggs, hardcore, history, independant, independent, infertile, intelligent, internet, jesus, mxpx, news, orlando, Podcast, pregnancy, radio, richard, ryan, sanjaya, sense, sperm, sports, suck, surfers, surrogate