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Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
Bostonist: Photo of the Day, May 24, 2010: They Might Be Giants :-)
* ** *** ***** ******* *********** ************* ***************** *******************
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
NO EDIT
photographer: BRITA LIGHT
grant photos
Are We Witnessing the Start of a Global Revolution?
North Africa and the Global Political Awakening, Part 1
by Andrew Gavin Marshall
For the first time in human history almost all of humanity is politically activated, politically conscious and politically interactive... The resulting global political activism is generating a surge in the quest for personal dignity, cultural respect and economic opportunity in a world painfully scarred by memories of centuries-long alien colonial or imperial domination... The worldwide yearning for human dignity is the central challenge inherent in the phenomenon of global political awakening... That awakening is socially massive and politically radicalizing... The nearly universal access to radio, television and increasingly the Internet is creating a community of shared perceptions and envy that can be galvanized and channeled by demagogic political or religious passions. These energies transcend sovereign borders and pose a challenge both to existing states as well as to the existing global hierarchy, on top of which America still perches...
The youth of the Third World are particularly restless and resentful. The demographic revolution they embody is thus a political time-bomb, as well... Their potential revolutionary spearhead is likely to emerge from among the scores of millions of students concentrated in the often intellectually dubious "tertiary level" educational institutions of developing countries. Depending on the definition of the tertiary educational level, there are currently worldwide between 80 and 130 million "college" students. Typically originating from the socially insecure lower middle class and inflamed by a sense of social outrage, these millions of students are revolutionaries-in-waiting, already semi-mobilized in large congregations, connected by the Internet and pre-positioned for a replay on a larger scale of what transpired years earlier in Mexico City or in Tiananmen Square. Their physical energy and emotional frustration is just waiting to be triggered by a cause, or a faith, or a hatred...
[The] major world powers, new and old, also face a novel reality: while the lethality of their military might is greater than ever, their capacity to impose control over the politically awakened masses of the world is at a historic low. To put it bluntly: in earlier times, it was easier to control one million people than to physically kill one million people; today, it is infinitely easier to kill one million people than to control one million people.[1]
- Zbigniew Brzezinski
Former U.S. National Security Advisor
Co-Founder of the Trilateral Commission
Member, Board of Trustees, Center for Strategic and International Studies
An uprising in Tunisia led to the overthrow of the country’s 23-year long dictatorship of President Ben Ali. A new ‘transitional’ government was formed, but the protests continued demanding a totally new government without the relics of the previous tyranny. Protests in Algeria have continued for weeks, as rage mounts against rising food prices, corruption and state oppression. Protests in Jordan forced the King to call on the military to surround cities with tanks and set up checkpoints. Tens of thousands of protesters marched on Cairo demanding an end to the 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. Thousands of activists, opposition leaders and students rallied in the capitol of Yemen against the corrupt dictatorship of President Saleh, in power since 1978. Saleh has been, with U.S. military assistance, attempting to crush a rebel movement in the north and a massive secessionist movement growing in the south, called the “Southern Movement.” Protests in Bolivia against rising food prices forced the populist government of Evo Morales to backtrack on plans to cut subsidies. Chile erupted in protests as demonstrators railed against rising fuel prices. Anti-government demonstrations broke out in Albania, resulting in the deaths of several protesters.
It seems as if the world is entering the beginnings of a new revolutionary era: the era of the ‘Global Political Awakening.’ While this ‘awakening’ is materializing in different regions, different nations and under different circumstances, it is being largely influenced by global conditions. The global domination by the major Western powers, principally the United States, over the past 65 years, and more broadly, centuries, is reaching a turning point. The people of the world are restless, resentful, and enraged. Change, it seems, is in the air. As the above quotes from Brzezinski indicate, this development on the world scene is the most radical and potentially dangerous threat to global power structures and empire. It is not a threat simply to the nations in which the protests arise or seek change, but perhaps to a greater degree, it is a threat to the imperial Western powers, international institutions, multinational corporations and banks that prop up, arm, support and profit from these oppressive regimes around the world. Thus, America and the West are faced with a monumental strategic challenge: what can be done to stem the Global Political Awakening? Zbigniew Brzezinski is one of the chief architects of American foreign policy, and arguably one of the intellectual pioneers of the system of globalization. Thus, his warnings about the 'Global Political Awakening' are directly in reference to its nature as a threat to the prevailing global hierarchy. As such, we must view the 'Awakening' as the greatest hope for humanity. Certainly, there will be mainy failures, problems, and regressions; but the 'Awakening' has begun, it is underway, and it cannot be so easily co-opted or controlled as many might assume.
The reflex action of the imperial powers is to further arm and support the oppressive regimes, as well as the potential to organize a destabilization through covert operations or open warfare (as is being done in Yemen). The alterantive is to undertake a strategy of "democratization" in which Western NGOs, aid agencies and civil society organizations establish strong contacts and relationships with the domestic civil society in these regions and nations. The objective of this strategy is to organize, fund and help direct the domestic civil society to produce a democratic system made in the image of the West, and thus maintain continuity in the international hierarchy. Essentially, the project of "democratization" implies creating the outward visible constructs of a democratic state (multi-party elections, active civil society, "independent" media, etc) and yet maintain continuity in subservience to the World Bank, IMF, multinational corporations and Western powers.
It appears that both of these strategies are being simultaneously imposed in the Arab world: enforcing and supporting state oppression and building ties with civil society organizations. The problem for the West, however, is that they have not had the ability to yet establish strong and dependent ties with civil society groups in much of the region, as ironically, the oppressive regimes they propped up were and are unsurprisingly resistant to such measures. In this sense, we must not cast aside these protests and uprisings as being instigated by the West, but rather that they emerged organically, and the West is subsequently attempting to co-opt and control the emerging movements.
Part 1 of this essay focuses on the emergence of these protest movements and uprisings, placing it in the context of the Global Political Awakening. Part 2 will examine the West's strategy of "democratic imperialism" as a method of co-opting the 'Awakening' and installing "friendly" governments.
The Tunisian Spark
A July 2009 diplomatic cable from America’s Embassy in Tunisia reported that, “many Tunisians are frustrated by the lack of political freedom and angered by First Family corruption, high unemployment and regional inequities. Extremism poses a continuing threat,” and that, “the risks to the regime’s long-term stability are increasing.”[2]
On Friday, 14 January 2011, the U.S.-supported 23-year long dictatorship of Tunisian president Ben Ali ended. For several weeks prior to this, the Tunisian people had risen in protest against rising food prices, stoked on by an immense and growing dissatisfaction with the political repression, and prodded by the WikiLeaks cables confirming the popular Tunisian perception of gross corruption on the part of the ruling family. The spark, it seems, was when a 26-year old unemployed youth set himself on fire in protest on December 17.
With the wave of protests sparked by the death of the 26-year old who set himself on fire on December 17, the government of Tunisia responded by cracking down on the protesters. Estimates vary, but roughly 100 people were killed in the clashes. Half of Tunisia’s 10 million people are under the age of 25, meaning that they have never known a life in Tunisia outside of living under this one dictator. Since Independence from the French empire in 1956, Tunisia has had only two leaders: Habib Bourguiba and Ben Ali.[3] The Tunisian people were rising up against a great many things: an oppressive dictatorship which has employed extensive information and internet censorship, rising food prices and inflation, a corrupt ruling family, lack of jobs for the educated youth, and a general sense and experience of exploitation, subjugation and disrespect for human dignity.
Following the ouster of Ben Ali, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi assumed presidential power and declared a “transitional government.” Yet, this just spurred more protests demanding his resignation and the resignation of the entire government. Significantly, the trade union movement had a large mobilizing role in the protests, with a lawyers union being particularly active during the initial protests Social media and the Internet did play a large part in mobilizing people within Tunisia for the uprising, but it was ultimately the result of direct protests and action which led to the resignation of Ben Ali. Thus, referring to Tunisia as a “Twitter Revolution” is disingenuous.
Twitter, WikiLeaks, Facebook, Youtube, forums and blogs did have a part to play. They reflect the ability “to collectively transform the Arab information environment and shatter the ability of authoritarian regimes to control the flow of information, images, ideas and opinions.”[5] [Editors Note: The US based foundation Freedom House was involved in promoting and training some Middle East North Africa Facebook and Twitter bloggers (See also Freedom House), M. C.].
We must also keep in mind that social media has not only become an important source of mobilization of activism and information at the grassroots level, but it has also become an effective means for governments and various power structures to seek to manipulate the flow of information. This was evident in the 2009 protests in Iran, where social media became an important avenue through which the Western nations were able to advance their strategy of supporting the so-called 'Green Revolution' in destabilizing the Iranian government. Thus, social media has presented a new form of power, neither black nor white, in which it can be used to either advance the process of the 'Awakening' or control its direction.
Whereas America was publicly denouncing Iran for blocking (or attempting to block) social media in the summer of 2009, during the first several weeks of Tunisian protests (which were largely being ignored by Western media), America and the West were silent about censorship.[6] Steven Cook, writing for the elite U.S. think tank, the Council on Foreign Relations, commented on the lack of attention being paid to the Tunisian protests in the early weeks of resistance prior to the resignation of Ben Ali. He explained that while many assume that the Arab “strongmen” regimes will simply maintain power as they always have, this could be mistaken. He stated that, “it may not be the last days of Ben Ali or Mubarak or any other Middle Eastern strongman, but there is clearly something going on in the region.” However, it was the end of Ben Ali, and indeed, “there is clearly something going on in the region.”[7]
France’s President Sarkozy has even had to admit that, “he had underestimated the anger of the Tunisian people and the protest movement that ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.” During the first few weeks of protests in Tunisia, several French government officials were publicly supporting the dictatorship, with the French Foreign Minister saying that France would lend its police “knowhow” to help Ben Ali in maintaining order.[8]
Days before the ouster of Ben Ali, Hillary Clinton gave an interview in which she explained how America was worried “about the unrest and the instability,” and that, “we are not taking sides, but we are saying we hope that there can be a peaceful resolution. And I hope that the Tunisian Government can bring that about.” Clinton further lamented, “One of my biggest concerns in this entire region are the many young people without economic opportunities in their home countries.”[9] Her concern, of course, does not spur from any humanitarian considerations, but rather from inherent imperial considerations: it is simply harder to control a region of the world erupting in activism, uprisings and revolution.
The Spark Lights a Flame
Tunisia has raised the bar for the people across the Arab world to demand justice, democracy, accountability, economic stability, and freedom. Just as Tunisia’s protests were in full-swing, Algeria was experiencing mass protests, rising up largely as a result of the increasing international food prices, but also in reaction to many of the concerns of the Tunisian protesters, such as democratic accountability, corruption and freedom. A former Algerian diplomat told Al-Jazeera in early January that, “It is a revolt, and probably a revolution, of an oppressed people who have, for 50 years, been waiting for housing, employment, and a proper and decent life in a very rich country.”[10]
In mid-January, similar protests erupted in Jordan, as thousands took to the streets to protest against rising food prices and unemployment, chanting anti-government slogans. Jordan’s King Abdullah II had “set up a special task force in his palace that included military and intelligence officials to try to prevent the unrest from escalating further,” which had tanks surrounding major cities, with barriers and checkpoints established.[11]
In Yemen, the poorest nation in the Arab world, engulfed in a U.S. sponsored war against its own people, ruled by a dictator who has been in power since 1978, thousands of people protested against the government, demanding the dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. In the capitol city of Sanaa, thousands of students, activists and opposition groups chanted slogans such as, “Get out get out, Ali. Join your friend Ben Ali.”[12] Yemen has been experiencing much turmoil in recent years, with a rebel movement in the North fighting against the government, formed in 2004; as well as a massive secessionist movement in the south, called the “Southern Movement,” fighting for liberation since 2007. As the Financial Times explained:
Many Yemen observers consider the anger and secessionist sentiment now erupting in the south to be a greater threat to the country’s stability than its better publicised struggle with al-Qaeda, and the deteriorating economy is making the tension worse.
Unemployment, particularly among the young, is soaring. Even the government statistics office in Aden puts it at nearly 40 per cent among men aged 20 to 24
On January 21, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Albania, mobilized by the socialist opposition, ending with violent clashes between the police and protesters, leading to the deaths of three demonstrators. The protests have been sporadic in Albania since the widely contested 2009 elections, but took on new levels inspired by Tunisia.[14]
Israeli Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom stressed concern over the revolutionary sentiments within the Arab world, saying that, “I fear that we now stand before a new and very critical phase in the Arab world.” He fears Tunisia would “set a precedent that could be repeated in other countries, possibly affecting directly the stability of our system.”[15] Israel’s leadership fears democracy in the Arab world, as they have a security alliance with the major Arab nations, who, along with Israel itself, are American proxy states in the region. Israel maintains civil – if not quiet – relationships with the Arab monarchs and dictators. While the Arab states publicly criticize Israel, behind closed doors they are forced to quietly accept Israel’s militarism and war-mongering, lest they stand up against the superpower, America. Yet, public opinion in the Arab world is extremely anti-Israel, anti-American and pro-Iran.
In July of 2010, the results of a major international poll were released regarding public opinion in the Arab world, polling from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. Among some of the notable findings: while Obama was well received upon entering the Presidency, with 51% expressing optimism about U.S. policy in the region in the Spring of 2009, by Summer 2010, 16% were expressing optimism. In 2009, 29% of those polled said a nuclear-armed Iran would be positive for the region; in 2010, that spiked to 57%, reflecting a very different stance from that of their governments.[16]
While America, Israel and the leaders of the Arab nations claim that Iran is the greatest threat to peace and stability in the Middle East, the Arab people do not agree. In an open question asking which two countries pose the greatest threat to the region, 88% responded with Israel, 77% with America, and 10% with Iran.[17]
At the Arab economic summit shortly following the ousting of Ben Ali in Tunisia, who was for the first time absent from the meetings, the Tunisian uprising hung heavy in the air. Arab League leader Amr Moussa said in his opening remarks at the summit, “The Tunisian revolution is not far from us,” and that, “the Arab citizen entered an unprecedented state of anger and frustration,” noting that "the Arab soul is broken by poverty, unemployment and general recession.” The significance of this ‘threat’ to the Arab leaders cannot be understated. Out of roughly 352 million Arabs, 190 million are under the age of 24, with nearly three-quarters of them unemployed. Often, “the education these young people receive doesn't do them any good because there are no jobs in the fields they trained for.”[18]
There was even an article in the Israeli intellectual newspaper, Ha’aretz, which posited that, “Israel may be on the eve of revolution.” Explaining, the author wrote that:
Israeli civil society organizations have amassed considerable power over the years; not only the so-called leftist organizations, but ones dealing with issues like poverty, workers' rights and violence against women and children. All of them were created in order to fill the gaps left by the state, which for its part was all too happy to continue walking away from problems that someone else was there to take on. The neglect is so great that Israel's third sector - NGOs, charities and volunteer organizations - is among the biggest in the world. As such, it has quite a bit of power.[19]
Now the Israeli Knesset and cabinet want that power back; yet, posits the author, they “have chosen to ignore the reasons these groups became powerful,” namely:
The source of their power is the vacuum, the criminal policies of Israel's governments over the last 40 years. The source of their power is a government that is evading its duties to care for all of its citizens and to end the occupation, and a Knesset that supports the government instead of putting it in its place.[20]
The Israeli Knesset opened investigations into the funding of Israeli human rights organizations in a political maneuver against them. However, as one article in Ha’aretz by an Israeli professor explained, these groups actually – inadvertently – play a role in “entrenching the occupation.” As the author explained:
Even if the leftist groups' intention is to ensure upholding Palestinian rights, though, the unintentional result of their activity is preserving the occupation. Moderating and restraining the army's activity gives it a more human and legal facade. Reducing the pressure of international organizations, alongside moderating the Palestinian population's resistance potential, enable the army to continue to maintain this control model over a prolonged period of time.[21]
Thus, if the Israeli Knesset succeeds in getting rid of these powerful NGOs, they sow the seeds for the pressure valve in the occupied territories to be removed. The potential for massive internal protests within Israel from the left, as well as the possibility of another Intifada – uprising – in the occupied territories themselves would seem dramatically increased. Israel and the West have expressed how much distaste they hold for democracy in the region. When Gaza held a democratic election in 2006 and elected Hamas, which was viewed as the ‘wrong’ choice by Israel and America, Israel imposed a ruthless blockade of Gaza. Richard Falk, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Inquiry Commission for the Palestinian territories, wrote an article for Al Jazeera in which he explained that the blockade:
unlawfully restricted to subsistence levels, or below, the flow of food, medicine, and fuel. This blockade continues to this day, leaving the entire Gazan population locked within the world's largest open-air prison, and victimized by one of the cruelest forms of belligerent occupation in the history of warfare.[22]
The situation in the occupied territories is made increasingly tense with the recent leaking of the “Palestinian Papers,” which consist of two decades of secret Israeli-Palestinian accords, revealing the weak negotiating position of the Palestinian Authority. The documents consist largely of major concessions the Palestinian Authority was willing to make “on the issues of the right of return of Palestinian refugees, territorial concessions, and the recognition of Israel.” Among the leaks, Palestinian negotiators secretly agreed to concede nearly all of East Jerusalem to Israel. Further, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (favoured by Israel and America over Hamas), was personally informed by a senior Israeli official the night before Operation Cast Lead, the December 2008 and January 2009 Israeli assault on Gaza, resulting in the deaths of over 1,000 Palestinians: “Israeli and Palestinian officials reportedly discussed targeted assassinations of Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists in Gaza.”[23]
Hamas has subsequently called on Palestinian refugees to protest over the concessions regarding the ‘right of return’ for refugees, of which the negotiators conceded to allowing only 100,000 of 5 million to return to Israel.[24] A former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Egypt lamented that, “The concern will be that this might cause further problems in moving forward.”[25] However, while being blamed for possibly preventing the “peace process” from moving forward, what the papers reveal is that the “peace process” itself is a joke. The Palestinian Authority’s power is derivative of the power Israel allows it to have, and was propped up as a method of dealing with an internal Palestinian elite, thus doing what all colonial powers have done. The papers, then, reveal how the so-called Palestinian ‘Authority’ does not truly speak or work for the interests of the Palestinian people. And while this certainly will divide the PA from Hamas, they were already deeply divided as it was. Certainly, this will pose problems for the “peace process,” but that’s assuming it is a ‘peaceful’ process in the first part.
Is Egypt on the Edge of Revolution?
Unrest is even spreading to Egypt, personal playground of U.S.-supported and armed dictator, Hosni Mubarak, in power since 1981. Egypt is the main U.S. ally in North Africa, and has for centuries been one of the most important imperial jewels first for the Ottomans, then the British, and later for the Americans. With a population of 80 million, 60% of which are under the age of 30, who make up 90% of Egypt’s unemployed, the conditions are ripe for a repeat in Egypt of what happened in Tunisia.[26]
On January 25, 2011, Egypt experienced its “day of wrath,” in which tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets to protest against rising food prices, corruption, and the oppression of living under a 30-year dictatorship. The demonstrations were organized through the use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook. When the protests emerged, the government closed access to these social media sites, just as the Tunisian government did in the early days of the protests that led to the collapse of the dictatorship. As one commentator wrote in the Guardian:
Egypt is not Tunisia. It’s much bigger. Eighty million people, compared with 10 million. Geographically, politically, strategically, it's in a different league – the Arab world's natural leader and its most populous nation. But many of the grievances on the street are the same. Tunis and Cairo differ only in size. If Egypt explodes, the explosion will be much bigger, too.[27]
In Egypt, “an ad hoc coalition of students, unemployed youths, industrial workers, intellectuals, football fans and women, connected by social media such as Twitter and Facebook, instigated a series of fast-moving, rapidly shifting demos across half a dozen or more Egyptian cities.” The police responded with violence, and three protesters were killed. With tens of thousands of protesters taking to the streets, Egypt saw the largest protests in decades, if not under the entire 30-year reign of President Mubarak. Is Egypt on the verge of revolution? It seems too soon to tell. Egypt, it must be remembered, is the second major recipient of U.S. military assistance in the world (following Israel), and thus, its police state and military apparatus are far more advanced and secure than Tunisia’s. Clearly, however, something is stirring. As Hilary Clinton said on the night of the protests, “Our assessment is that the Egyptian government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people.”[28] In other words: “We continue to support tyranny and dictatorship over democracy and liberation.” So what else is new?
According to some estimates, as many as 50,000 protesters turned out in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and other Egyptian cities.[29] The protests were met with the usual brutality: beating protesters, firing tear gas and using water cannons to attempt to disperse the protesters. As images and videos started emerging out of Egypt, “television footage showed demonstrators chasing police down side streets. One protester climbed into a fire engine and drove it away.”[30] Late on the night of the protests, rumours and unconfirmed reports were spreading that the first lady of Egypt, Suzanne Mubarak, may have fled Egypt to London, following on the heels of rumours that Mubarak’s son, and presumed successor, had also fled to London.[31]
Are We Headed for a Global Revolution?
During the first phase of the global economic crisis in December of 2008, the IMF warned governments of the prospect of “violent unrest on the streets.” The head of the IMF warned that, “violent protests could break out in countries worldwide if the financial system was not restructured to benefit everyone rather than a small elite.”[32]
In January of 2009, Obama’s then-Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the greatest threat to the National Security of the U.S. was not terrorism, but the global economic crisis:
I’d like to begin with the global economic crisis, because it already looms as the most serious one in decades, if not in centuries ... Economic crises increase the risk of regime-threatening instability if they are prolonged for a one- or two-year period... And instability can loosen the fragile hold that many developing countries have on law and order, which can spill out in dangerous ways into the international community.[33]
In 2007, a British Defence Ministry report was released assessing global trends in the world over the next 30 years. In assessing “Global Inequality”, the report stated that over the next 30 years:
[T]he gap between rich and poor will probably increase and absolute poverty will remain a global challenge... Disparities in wealth and advantage will therefore become more obvious, with their associated grievances and resentments, even among the growing numbers of people who are likely to be materially more prosperous than their parents and grandparents. Absolute poverty and comparative disadvantage will fuel perceptions of injustice among those whose expectations are not met, increasing tension and instability, both within and between societies and resulting in expressions of violence such as disorder, criminality, terrorism and insurgency. They may also lead to the resurgence of not only anti-capitalist ideologies, possibly linked to religious, anarchist or nihilist movements, but also to populism and the revival of Marxism.[34]
Further, the report warned of the dangers to the established powers of a revolution emerging from the disgruntled middle classes:
The middle classes could become a revolutionary class, taking the role envisaged for the proletariat by Marx. The globalization of labour markets and reducing levels of national welfare provision and employment could reduce peoples’ attachment to particular states. The growing gap between themselves and a small number of highly visible super-rich individuals might fuel disillusion with meritocracy, while the growing urban under-classes are likely to pose an increasing threat to social order and stability, as the burden of acquired debt and the failure of pension provision begins to bite. Faced by these twin challenges, the world’s middle-classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest.[35]
We have now reached the point where the global economic crisis has continued beyond the two-year mark. The social repercussions are starting to be felt – globally – as a result of the crisis and the coordinated responses to it. Since the global economic crisis hit the ‘Third World’ the hardest, the social and political ramifications will be felt there first. In the context of the current record-breaking hikes in the cost of food, food riots will spread around the world as they did in 2007 and 2008, just prior to the outbreak of the economic crisis. This time, however, things are much worse economically, much more desperate socially, and much more oppressive politically.
This rising discontent will spread from the developing world to the comfort of our own homes in the West. Once the harsh realization sets in that the economy is not in ‘recovery,’ but rather in a Depression, and once our governments in the West continue on their path of closing down the democratic façade and continue dismantling rights and freedoms, increasing surveillance and ‘control,’ while pushing increasingly militaristic and war-mongering foreign policies around the world (mostly in an effort to quell or crush the global awakening being experienced around the world), we in the West will come to realize that ‘We are all Tunisians.’
In 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr., said in his famous speech “Beyond Vietnam”:
I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.[36]
This was Part 1 of "North Africa and the Global Political Awakening," focusing on the emergence of the protest movements primarily in North Africa and the Arab world, but placing it in the context of a wider 'Global Awakening.'
Part 2 will focus on the West's reaction to the 'Awakening' in this region; namely, the two-pronged strategy of supporting oppressive regimes while promoting "democratization" in a grand new project of "democratic imperialism."
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
The Chin tattooed women live in the Chin, Rakhine and Arakan states in northwestern Myanmar. The origin of facial tattoos in the region is unknown. Some believe that the practice began during the reigns of Kings long ago. The royalty used to come to the villages to capture young women. The men from the tribe may have tattooed their women to make them ugly, thereby saving them from a life of slavery. Interestingly, I heard a similar origin for body modification among the Mursi tribe in Ethiopia. As legend has it, the tribeswomen began wearing giant lip plates to make them uglier to would-be kidnappers. Now, the bigger the lip plate the higher the bride price.
For years, access to the tribal Mindat area was restricted by the burmese government. It was opened just two years ago. Only about 700 tourists visit per year. Most of them only visit the bucolic Mount Victoria by bus, never meeting the tattooed women who remain isolated, hours away by foot. Those who do wish to meet them better pack good walking shoes and be prepared to sleep in smoke-filled local houses complete with rats.
There are a few different face tattoo patterns. The spiderweb tattoo is popular in the Mrauk U region. It takes a three hour long tail boat ride to reach this remote area. This tattoo is usually accompanied by a circle in the center of the forehead which represents the sun or lines under the nose symbolizing tiger whiskers.
Another design, known as the bee pattern, is common in the Mindat area. It is composed of dots, lines and occasionally circles. It is worn by the Muun tribe who inhabit the hills of the Arakan state.
The Magan tribeswomen wear huge earrings made of beads and calabashes. They can also play the flute with their noses.
I ventured to Kanpelet village in search of the women from the U Pu tribe who have the incredibly rare whole face tattoo. This is one of the most impressive styles: the entire face is inked up. Rumors had it that only three women in this area had the tattoo. After hours of off roading, I arrive in the village only to learn that one died recently and another was very ill. I was lucky enough to meet Pa Late. At 85, she is nearly deaf but still works hard with her family in a small house on the top of a little hill.
Pa Late said that a completely black face had become a symbol of beauty in the past. The few women who refused to do it looked ugly to the men. The tattoo took three days but the pain lasted over a month.
There are two ways to make the tattoo needle. The first consists of tying three pieces of bamboo together and the second uses thorns. The ink is a mixture of cow bile, soot, plants, and pig fat. It usually took one day to complete the standard tattoo and a few more for the totally black one. The tattoo artist was a specialist or in some cases a parent. Infection was a common problem as the girls had blood all over their face.
Everything, including the eyelids, was tattooed. Many women say that the neck was the most sensitive area.
Ma Aung Seim shared her memories of the tattoo sessions : “I was 10 years old. The day before the tattoo ceremony, I only ate sugarcane and drank tea. It was forbidden to eat meat or peanuts. During the tattoo session, I cried a lot, but I could not move at all. After the session, my face bled for 3 days. It was very painful. My mother put fresh beans leaves on my face to alleviate the pain. I had no choice if i wanted to get married. Men wanted women with tattoos at this time. My mother told me that without a tattoo on my face, i would look like... a man! The web drawn on my face attracted the men like a spiderweb catches insects!”
Not all the tattooed women live in remote areas deep in the mountains. Some have integrated into modern society. Miss Heu, 67, lives in Kanpelet. Her grandmother forced her to get tattooed. She lives in a modern house and even has TV (when electricity is not out). Chin people have maintained their modesty and shyness: when a movie showspeople kissing or making love, most of them still fast forward the scene.
As a leader in the local community, Miss Heu had the chance to meet Aung San Suu Kyi when she came in the area for a meeting. She is very aware of the tattooed women and the ethnicities that are forgotten by the central government. She says she and Aung San Suu Kyi are friends now. Heu’s daughter has graduated and works in Singapore.
The Chin culture is threatened by the government as their teachers are usually not Chin. For a long time, they fought for independence, but since the country began to democratize, things have calmed down.
“I am old. Soon I will die” says to me a Chin woman from Pan Baung village, while she does the gesture of drying tears from her eyes. In her village, only 6 tattooed woman remain alive. Those women are the last of their kind…
© Eric Lafforgue
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
VII Ordinary Meeting of the Council of Heads of State and Government of the Union of South American Nations
Paramaribo, August 30, 2013
The Council of Heads of State and Government of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), meeting in Paramaribo, Republic of Suriname, on August 30, 2013, at its VII Ordinary Meeting, reaffirms that South American integration and unity must be established in a flexible and gradual manner, within the framework of cooperation, solidarity and respect for pluralism. The Council also emphasizes its determination to build a South American identity based on shared values such as democracy, the Rule of Law, absolute respect for human rights and the consolidation of South America as a zone of peace.
2. It honors the memory of Commander Hugo Chávez Frias, President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and shares with the Venezuelan people and with his family, the enduring pain of the void that his absence has left us, in the sense that his life example and Latin American dignity will always be a source of inspiration for the commitment to project his strategic vision in the relentless fight toward the sovereign strengthening of the Latin American and Caribbean union.
3. It firmly declares that President Hugo Chavez is the symbol of a generation of statesmen who led the strategic course and laid the foundation of the South American identity and union, and who was under his visionary motivation in April 2007 when the decision to create UNASUR was taken in Margarita Island, Venezuela. Since then, his unwavering commitment to the South American cause has impressed upon our integrating process a mark inspired by the pursuit of the welfare and social justice of our peoples.
4. The Council of Heads of State and Government highlights the important work carried out by H.E. Ollanta Humala Tasso, President of the Republic of Peru, in exercising the Pro Tempore Presidency of UNASUR during the period 2012-2013, which has contributed to the ongoing integration process of our continent.
5. It expresses its satisfaction with the acceptance of H.E. Desiré Delano Bouterse, President of the Republic of Suriname, as the Pro Tempore President of UNASUR for the period 2013-2014, wishing him the best of success during his tenure and assuring him of its commitment to contribute to the implementation of the goals established during this phase.
6. It is of the view that the exercising of the Pro Tempore Presidency of UNASUR by the Republic of Suriname will represent a great opportunity to deepen the union and the integrationist spirit of all the peoples of South America.
7. It applauds the effective administration of Dr. Ali Rodriguez Araque at the helm of the General Secretariat of UNASUR during the period 2012-2013, conveying its thanks for his unquestionable and decisive contribution to building the strategic vision of the Union, based on his tremendous determination to bring to the fore the importance of the sovereign treatment of the sustainable use, defense and protection of natural resources as one of the elements of aforementioned strategic vision of South America. It further recognizes his valuable leadership in the process to strengthen our General Secretariat, especially the legacy represented by the Center for Communication and Information of UNASUR.
8. The Council of Heads of State and Government underscores the fact that South America is rich in natural resources, such as minerals, energy, forests, agriculture and water resources, as well as its vast biodiversity and ecosystems, in addition to the advantages of its geographic location and in particular, the potential offered by its human resources, and considers that these attributes distinguish the region, strengthen its strategic potential and contribute to its sustainable development. It congratulates the General Secretariat of UNASUR on convening the first UNASUR Conference on Natural Resources and Comprehensive Development of the Region in Caracas on May 27-30. Thus, it calls on the organs and Ministerial Councils to consider the results of said Conference, which are elements that should form part of a strategic vision to utilize the natural resources with complete respect for the sovereignty of States.
9. In spite of its natural wealth however, inequality and social exclusion persist in our region. UNASUR must therefore contribute to the identification of types of regional cooperation that would allow its Member States to capitalize on South America’s assets in order to make strides in the fight against historical social problems. Thus, the Council of Heads of State and Government believes that a long-term strategic vision of UNASUR should be based essentially on the following guidelines:
a) the need to strengthen a South American strategy that would project the region in the global context and which would be capable of promoting the common objectives of development and social inclusion, at a time of significant change in the international economy and politics;
b) the priority given to UNASUR to promote forms of cooperation that would allow progress to be made in eradicating poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion, as well as overcoming the asymmetries that currently exist. It therefore underscores the approval of the Decision on the Agenda of Priority Social Actions and makes an appeal for its implementation and ongoing evaluation.
c) the importance of evaluating the way in which coordination and cooperation in natural resource management and protection can contribute to the scientific, technological, productive and social development of South America, taking into consideration the diversity of South American biomass, the different characteristics and priorities of each country and the sovereign rights of States in relation to the exploitation of their natural resources.
d) The strengthening of the physical infrastructure and connectivity among Member States to promote the integration of their citizens and encourage the establishment of the South American identity.
10. The construction of a South American identity requires the coordination of different dimensions such as economic, political, social, civic, defense and security, cultural, amongst others. That essential plurality of UNASUR issues and bodies also represents an important institutional challenge, which calls for the improvement of the management mechanisms of UNASUR, in such a manner so as to guarantee coherence in the integration process.
11. The Council of Heads of State and Government instructs the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs to prepare, having consulted the Ministerial Sectorial Councils, in accordance with the procedure set forth in the Constitutive Treaty and the Regulations, an annual Road Map, to be presented during the Ordinary Summits, which would establish among the strategic objectives and activities outlined in the Plans of Action of the UNASUR bodies, the priority initiatives for the coming year.
12. To ensure an adequate flow of communication between the institutions and political bodies of UNASUR, the Council of Delegates is instructed to invite representatives of the Presidencies of the Ministerial Councils to attend its meetings, when deemed necessary, so as to facilitate the formulation of a half-year report by the General Secretariat regarding the evolution of the work of the sectorial bodies of UNASUR, for the consideration of the Foreign Affairs Ministers.
13. The strengthening of the General Secretariat is imperative in order to guarantee coherence in the integration process and to execute the mandates issued to the UNASUR bodies. The Council calls upon the Secretary General to begin, within a period of six months, a process for the institutional strengthening of the Secretariat, furnishing it with the permanent staff necessary to perform its duties fully, bearing in mind the budgetary aspect and what is established in the Constitutive Treaty and General Regulations of UNASUR, to ensure effective management without undermining the voluntary contributions of the States regarding their diplomatic representatives at the General Secretariat.
14. The Council places strategic importance on the financing of common initiatives within the scope of the Ministerial Sectorial Councils of UNASUR, as a means of producing concrete results in the short and medium term, to the benefit of South American citizens. It is therefore necessary to strengthen the mechanisms for managing the Common Initiatives Fund. The Council instructs the General Secretariat to organize, during the second half of 2013, a meeting to formulate recommendations regarding ways in which to facilitate the selection, design and execution of projects and to present them to the next meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, through the Council of Delegates, for their consideration and approval.
15. They reiterate the importance of civic participation in the integration process, and in that context, they approve the guidelines for the establishment of the Civic Participation Forum, and ratify the convening of the First Forum in the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia, preferably in 2013. As part of the process for holding the Forum, a preparatory meeting will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the purpose of sharing the guidelines with the citizenry and producing a debate that would help to promote information mechanisms and participation from social stakeholders in the first Forum.
16. It emphasizes that UNASUR has been the ideal space for moving forward in the development of strategic topics, such as the possible development of a shared vision on regional defense, which is outlined in the series of achievements made in the South American Defense Council. Thus, the Ministers of Defense are urged to draft and present a proposal on the strategic guidelines of UNASUR for the progressive and flexible creation of a shared regional defense vision, which shall be presented at the next Ordinary Meeting of this Council.
17. They also highlighted the work of the South American Defense Council as a body for the development of the regional strategic thought by strengthening the Center for Strategic Defense Studies and the initiative to create a South American School for Defense, designed as a center for higher studies and the coordination of networks among the national initiatives of member countries, to train civilians and military personnel in matters related to regional security and defense.
18. It reaffirms its commitment to the defense, protection, promotion and strengthening of the guarantees for the full enjoyment of human rights. With the creation of the High Level Group on Cooperation and Coordination in the area of Human Rights, emphasis is placed on the importance of the cross cutting nature of human rights in the ambit of UNASUR, as well as the significance of promoting and coordinating actions that would have a positive impact on the full enjoyment of human rights in the Member States of the Union.
19. It reiterates the importance of the Union having a common strategy and vision in the area of energy and the Ministers of the South American Energy Council are instructed to present the progress made in the South American Energy Treaty during the next Ordinary Meeting of the Council of Heads of State and Government.
20. The Council reaffirms the importance of building South American citizenship, which is one of the greater objectives of UNASUR. It also determines which Member States would continue to work on the proposals presented during the Pro Tempore Presidency of Peru, outlined in a Road Map, a document containing the principles governing the drafting of a conceptual report on South American citizenship and a comparative matrix of national contributions.
21. The Council also welcomes as an UNASUR body for coordination and cooperation, the South American Conference on Tourism, reiterating that tourism activity constitutes a significant contribution to the economies of South American countries, through the generation of business opportunities, the reduction of poverty, the promotion of economic growth and the sustainable development of peoples.
22. It recognizes the need expressed in the processes for rapprochement among our peoples in the pursuit of unity, as included in the first youth Congress of UNASUR held in February 2011 and in the Declaration of the CARICOM-UNASUR Youth of June 2012. In this regard, it expresses its agreement with the proposal put forward by the Republic of Suriname to hold a Youth Congress of UNASUR in November 2013, on a date further to be coordinated through diplomatic channels, for the purpose of evaluating the possibility of establishing a permanent body on the youth in UNASUR.
23. South American integration is an open, plural and common-cause process that stimulates cooperation with other regions and international organizations, especially those in which the Member States of UNASUR participate. In its relations with third parties, UNASUR must strive to establish closer ties with other fora that could help to strengthen and democratize the bodies for global governance.
24. In order to identify the interests of UNASUR in terms of financing, the Council instructs COSIPLAN to analyze, in coordination with the Council on Economy and Finance, the possibility of establishing UNASUR mechanisms to finance infrastructure projects, with participation from regional development Banks and respecting the UNASUR guidelines governing its relations with third parties.
25. UNASUR must also serve as an instrument for the international cooperation between South America and the Latin American and Caribbean region. We accept the request presented by the Haitian Government for support from UNASUR countries for cooperation projects in the area of literacy. The Council instructs the South American Education Council, through its Pro Tempore Presidency, to establish immediate contact with the Technical Secretariat of UNASUR in Haiti and identify methods of cooperation.
26. It expresses its recognition of the work developed by the Technical Secretariat of UNASUR in Haiti and by its Special Representative, Ambassador Rodolfo Mattarollo and that of his team, among others, in the areas of food security, health systems, housing, strengthening of the rule of law and the set of human rights. It highlights in particular, the opening of the Nestor Carlos Kirchner Hospital in the city of Corail. Likewise, it conveys its appreciation to the Republic of Argentina for confirming its willingness to continue executing and financing until the conclusion of the projects underway.
27. The Council of Heads of State and Government endorses the Declaration of Cochabamba dated July 4, 2013 and reaffirms its deep sense of indignation and intense rejection of the unwarranted withdrawal of the flyover and landing rights previously granted by the authorities of some European countries to the aircraft transporting H.E. Evo Morales Ayma, President of the Pluri-national State of Bolivia, in his travels throughout said continent. In that regard, they underscore that such an attitude is contrary to International Law and was a serious offense against the Bolivian President and all South American peoples.
28. It strongly rejects the interception of telecommunications and espionage actions in our countries by the national security agency of the United States Government, or whoever may be engaging in such activities, which constitute a threat to security and serious violations against the human, civil and political rights of international law and of our sovereignties and which damage relations among nations.
29. It instructs the South American Defense Council (CDS) and COSIPLAN, to assess cooperation with other competent Ministerial Councils and to move forward in their respective projects regarding cybernetic defense and the interconnection of the fiber optic networks in our countries, whose objective is to make our telecommunications more secure, strengthen the development of regional technologies and promote digital inclusion. It welcomes MERCOSUR’s interest in improving its coordination with UNASUR on such matters and instructs the CDS and COSIPLAN to maintain regular coordination with the recently created Working Group of MERCOSUR responsible for the matter of telecommunications and to submit to us during the next Ordinary Summit of UNASUR, a report containing the recommendations on possible advancements in this area.
30. It expresses its solidarity with the peoples and countries that have been the targets of defamation campaigns like those developed recently by certain extra-regional transnational groups and corporations against the Republic of Ecuador and against the Republic of Argentina. In that respect, it stresses the need for transnational corporations and groups to respect the national legislation and observe the principles and standards for responsible conduct, consistent with the public policies adopted by the investment receiving States. It also applauds the organization of the First Ministerial Conference of Latin American States Affected by Transnational Interests, held in the city of Guayaquil on April 22, 2013 and the establishment of an International Observatory on Transnational Corporations.
31. It emphasizes that it is strategically important for the countries of UNASUR to coordinate common positions with respect to significant global matters, strengthening the sense of unity in the region. Therefore, it is pleased to accept the participation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Peru, Ms. Rivas Franchini, representing the Pro Tempore Presidency of UNASUR, during the opening debate on the issue of “Cooperation between the United Nations and regional and sub-regional organizations in maintaining international peace and security", in the framework of the United Nations Security Council, during the session led by the Head of State of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Likewise, it promotes greater participation by UNASUR in debates held in international fora.
32. It expresses its support for the legitimate rights of sovereignty of the Argentine Republic over the Falkland Islands, Georgias del Sur and Sandwich del Sur and the surrounding maritime spaces.
33. It expresses the commitment to the implementation of effective measures and actions that would allow the Republic of Paraguay to overcome the difficulties that it is facing as a landlocked developing country, satisfying its special needs in order to promote the absolute integration of its economy into international trade.
34. They reiterate the commitment to strengthening multilateralism, with the comprehensive reform of the United Nations and with the democratization of the international decision making bodies. They expressed the importance of intensifying intergovernmental efforts to promote the change required by the Security Council, with a view to transforming it into a body that is more representative, legitimate, efficient, democratic and transparent. In that regard, they deemed it essential to revitalize the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council. They also underscored their commitment to the strengthening and effectiveness of the Human Rights Council, the principal organ of the United Nations for the multilateral treatment of Human Rights.
35. They reaffirm that quinoa, given its nutritional value, plays a role in achieving food and nutritional security and in the fight to eradicate poverty and hunger, as a result of which, they express their commitment to participate and assist in the activities of the International Year of Quinoa and to fulfill the series of recommendations arising out of such activities, so as to promote its consumption.
36. It confirms that the full validity of institutions, values, democratic principles and respect for the rules of international law, is an indispensable condition for building the South American integration process, respecting the sovereignty of States, the principle of non-intervention, their right to self-determination, the full exercising of human rights, as well as the legal equality of same, as universal principles and under the terms of the Constitutive Treaty of UNASUR.
37. It congratulates the Ecuadorian people on the electoral process that resulted in the election of H.E. Rafael Correa Delgado as President of the Republic of Ecuador and they extended their best wishes for success during his tenure.
38. It congratulates the Venezuelan people on the electoral process developed in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela that resulted in the election of H.E. Nicolás Maduro Moros as President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, wishing him success during his term in office.
39. It congratulates the people of Paraguay on the electoral process developed, which resulted in the election of H.E. Horacio Cartes Jara and on his assumption of duties as President of the Republic of Paraguay, and it expresses its best wishes for success in performing the high functions entrusted to him.
40. It conveys its thanks to the Government of the Republic of Ecuador for its efforts undertaken toward the construction of the permanent headquarters of the General Secretariat of UNASUR, as reported by H.E. Rafael Correa Delgado, President of the Republic of Ecuador, and it acknowledges the importance that this infrastructural work will have in the South American integration process.
41. It expresses its appreciation to President Evo Morales Ayma, President of the Pluri-national State of Bolivia, for the presentation of the architectural draft of the headquarters of the South American Parliament and for the announcement of the impending commencement of its construction. In that regard, an appeal is made for agreement to be reached on the final draft of the Additional Protocol that will establish the composition, authority and functioning of the South American Parliament, in accordance with the Constitutive Treaty.
42. The General Secretariat shall provide the Republic of Paraguay with the set of Decisions, Resolutions, Provisions and other regulatory documents and pronouncements adopted by UNASUR between June 29, 2012 and August 15, 2013, for the purpose of the provisions of Paragraph 5, article 13, “Adoption of Policies and Creation of Institutions, Organizations and Programs” of the Constitutive Treaty of UNASUR.
43. In view of the fact that the efforts of the Working Group of High Level Experts for the Settlement of Investment Disputes has experienced significant progress, the instruction has been given for this work to be completed as soon as possible, preferably before the end of the year, for the eventual establishment of a Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes.
44. It expresses its heartfelt gratitude to the people and Government of the Republic of Suriname for the excellent welcome enjoyed on the occasion of the VII Ordinary Meeting of Heads of State and Government of the Union of South American Nations.
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Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
2013 PyeongChang The Special Olympics World Winter Games
Opening Ceremoney
Ariel Ary Chinchilla (right) The leader of democratization of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, and star figure skater Kim Yu-na
PyeongChang Dome, PyeongChang, Gangwon-Do
2013.01.29.
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
Korean Culture and Information Service
Korea.net
Special Olympics Opening Ceremoney Foreign Press Pool
-------------------------------------------
2013 평창 동계 스페셜올림픽 세계대회
개막식
김연아 선수와 아웅산 수치 여사, 스페셜올림픽 글로벌 메신저들이 성공적인 대회 개최를 기원하고 있다.
용평돔, 평창, 강원도
문화체육관광부
해외문화홍보원
코리아넷
스페셜올림픽 개막식 외신풀(Pool)
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
“The Lovable, Laughable Story of Lilliput Land.”
“The Amazing Adventures of GULLIVER in the land where people are as short as your thumb . . .”
-------------------------------------------------
Quick Readers are a fascinating slice of mid-century publishing history. Produced by Royce Publishers of Chicago (and occasionally Canada) between roughly 1943 and 1945, these pocket-sized paperbacks were part of a broader wartime trend: compact, affordable books designed for quick entertainment during paper shortages and long train rides—or even to be tucked into a soldier’s kit.
The series featured abridged versions of classic literature and popular stories, often condensed into 128 pages or fewer, with the promise that the “beauty of the story” remained intact. The format—roughly 3" x 4.5"—was ideal for portability, and the inclusion of color covers and black-and-white interior illustrations added a touch of charm and visual appeal
Royce published forty-eight Quick Reader titles. While they weren’t bestsellers in the traditional sense, they were part of a broader movement that democratized reading during the war years. Think of them as cousins to the Armed Services Editions—books made accessible, digestible, and portable. Their success was modest but meaningful, especially among readers looking for quick literary escapes. Trimmed-down formats, lightweight bindings, and condensed storytelling weren't just economical; they were deeply practical for men reading in barracks, on transports, or in foxholes with a flashlight tucked under a blanket.
Titles include works by Emile Zola, David Frome, H. Allen Smith, Ogden Nash, and Ring Lardner, among others. Some volumes were published in Canada, which hints at a broader North American distribution. Today, they’re quite collectible, especially in good condition with intact covers and illustrations. Their scarcity, wartime context, and charming design make them appealing to collectors of vintage paperbacks and WWII-era ephemera alike.
[Note: Although the artwork is uncredited, only two artists were used for these books, Axelrod and Cirkle.}
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
It might be cool if the iPhone camera were doing these false color "broken Nintendo game" effects intentionally, rather than at random, by surprise, when you least want it to do so. Oh well.
Posted via email to ☛ HoloChromaCinePhotoRamaScope‽: Technicolor TMBG.
• • • • •
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
Hilton Hotel Reforma – this young stud muffin is about to get a quick lesson in how tough tempered glass really is. Saturday 1 December 2012 was inauguration day for the newly elected President of United Mexican States (MEXICO). While a friend and I were walking near where the inauguration was taking place, a small riot broke out around us; my friend being smarter than me immediately returned to the hotel while I stayed to take picture. A lot of young people showed up with bandanas covering much of their face. Here the protesters have turned their fury on the Hilton hotel Reforma. The protesters were upset by the election of Pena Nieto, and believed election fraud had taken place. Several of the “rioters” identified themselves as belonging to Yo Soy 132.
Yo Soy 132 is an ongoing Mexican protest movement centered around the democratization of the country and its media. It began as opposition to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Enrique Peña Nieto and the Mexican media's allegedly biased coverage of the 2012 general election. The name Yo Soy 132, Spanish for "I Am 132", originated in an expression of solidarity with the protest's initiators.
’S WANDERFUL│Making Pictures－Steve McCurry Solo Exhibition
2018/02/24-2018/05/06
臺北當代藝術館 MOCA Taipei
策展人：陳昌仁／Leo Chanjen Chen
攝影在數位年代的普及已經凌駕電影之上，儼然成為最重要的藝術了。如何學習影像思考、判斷與操作愈形重要。華語世界首度舉辦麥柯里個人攝影展因而有著雙重意義：一方面讓臺灣與全球攝影藝術語境對話接軌；另一方面重新定位麥柯里攝影與當代藝術的關係。展覽名稱「晃影 ─’S Wanderful | Making Pictures」以麥氏漫遊世界拍照為意象，強調他喜歡東晃西晃，即興捕捉人性的深層意義。英文標題結合好奇漫遊(wander)與驚異奇觀(wonder) – 亦即無奇不遊(no wander no wonder)，並隱含百老匯蓋希文的(Gershwin)名曲「’S Wonderful」來指涉攝影中的音樂性。
麥柯里攝影感動人心，成名作《阿富汗少女》召喚人們加入義工去幫助難民，影響深遠。好照片除了過目難忘，賦與生命軌跡以形象之外，並形塑記憶結構，經典作品甚至能以影像表達歷史縱深與當代關連。麥氏跨越許多文化與世代，從攝影記者到以影像說故事，從膠片到數位，不變的是他對人性本質行為之捕捉與呈現。他說肖相：「要有情感，要說出其人特質，要不同而難忘，更要表現出人性的共相」。不啻是美學判斷(sensus communis)哲學家康德的代言攝影師。麥氏人物攝影銳利地凝視著你，彷彿來自亙古宇宙角落的眼神(sub specie aeternitatis)， 並充盈著巴特(Barthes)強調的刺點(Punctum)，亦即感受每張照片無法控制的關鍵。弗立得(Fried)攝影新論融合影像的劇場性(Theatricality)與自足性(Absorption)，將無意識的情感刺點與有意識的表演安排結合並置，而麥氏攝影已先行多年了。
本展以影像之取像(making picture)，成像(rendering image)及in/印象(innervating impression) 三階段為軸，設計包含12件裝置藝術的展覽空間，探求、解答並提出更多攝影藝術與哲學問題。例如：攝影的本質是什麼？攝影藝術史的理論與實踐進程對當代創作的啓發為何？攝影藝術如何能提昇全民美感教育並培養創造力？期待「晃影」觀展後能顯其所以然，提高視覺思考及美感判斷力,那麼我們對影像藝術創新的展望就不僅始於漫遊。電影「迷魂記/Vertigo」中詹姆斯史都華搭訕金露華，約她一起漫無目的地晃晃，金回答：「一個人會去漫遊晃晃，兩個人一起就會去某個地方了(One wanders, two are always going somewhere) 。」 有麥柯里同行，我們會比較有方向感要往哪裡晃去晃來。
’S WANDERFUL│MAKING PICTURES ─ Steve McCurry Solo Exhibition
Curator: Leo Chanjen Chen
About the Exhibition
The ubiquity and democratization of photography in digital era has elevated its position above cinema, making it “the most important art”, which is why it is increasingly imperative to learn how to think, analyze, and make images to communicate. Hence the significances of the first Steve McCurry solo photography exhibition in Chinese-speaking worlds are two-fold: on the one hand, the McCurry at MOCA, Taipei exhibition connects and engages Taiwan to the discourses of global photography art, on the other hand, the exhibition intervenes, reconsiders and repositions the relationship between McCurry’s photography and contemporary art. Title of the exhibition, ’S Wanderful | Making Pictures, refers to McCurry’s photo journeys around the world, highlighting his fondness for wandering and the profound meanings behind his serendipitous capturing of humanity. The title coinage combines “wander” and “wonder”, suggesting a notion of “no wander no wonder”, while also alludes to the musicality embodied in photography by referencing classic Broadway song, “’S Wonderful”, composed by George Gershwin.
McCurry’s photography touches hearts and moves people, his iconic Afghan Girl has inspired people to volunteer and join refugee relief forces, and its impacts are far-reaching and continue to resonate. Memorable photographs impress upon you with indelible imprints of beauty, visualize human experiences by giving life forms, and structuring memories; some iconic works even convey layers of historical depths and contemporary connectedness. McCurry traverses space and time as he transcends different cultures and generations, from a photojournalist to an artist telling stories through images, from the medium of film to the digital. What remains unchanged is how he captures and makes visible human nature and behaviors in poesis. McCurry believes that a portrait should have emotions, tell of the person’s notable features, it must be different, unique and unforgettable, and yet, above all, it must also showcase the universality of humanity. In that regard, McCurry’s photographic aesthetics not only embody philosopher Kant’s aesthetic judgment - sensus communis, the individual sensibility that communicates with all mankind, but also makes him a Kantian photographer par excellence. McCurry’s portraits gaze sharply at you, with looks that seem to come from corners of the universe, transport you through perspectives of eternity - sub specie aeternitatis. Full of Barthesian punctum, the points that trigger involuntary reaction in experiencing each photograph.
McCurry’s photography has been exemplifying for decades what art critic Michael Fried tried to theorize, to integrate the absorption and theatricality in photography that juxtapose and combine unconscious emotional pathos with conscious performative ethos.
This exhibition consists of three cohering themes about photography: “Making picture”, “Rendering image”, and “Innervating impression”. Twelve installation artworks extend the exhibition space to explore, answer, and challenge issues of photography, art and philosophy, including: What is the essence and sine qua non of photography? What inspires contemporary art that transpires theories and practices in the art history of photography? How would the art of photography elevate aesthetic education and foster creativity? It is our aspiration that McCurry’s pictures in ’S Wanderful | Making Pictures, would make some of the answers and more of the questions apparent while nudging in visual thinking and aesthetic judgment as habit. Through the process of making photography art, our prospectus for visual art will expand beyond the initiating wander. In the movie Vertigo, James Stewart asks Kim Novak to wander together. Novak replies: “One wanders, two are always going somewhere.” Accompanied by McCurry, we would have a better sense of direction for where to wander.
It might be cool if the iPhone camera were doing these false color "broken Nintendo game" effects intentionally, rather than at random, by surprise, when you least want it to do so. Oh well.
Posted via email to ☛ HoloChromaCinePhotoRamaScope‽: Technicolor TMBG.
• • • • •
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
I. 'Political Cartoon' - THE TRUTH is not an amalgam of fantasies & possibilities- the truth is FACT. - "Wikileaks takes a big bite out of gov secrecy". Wikileaks Series- first set of studies/sketches ( more to come )
18" x 24.5" acid free paper, sumi ink & ebony pencil
"War has become a luxury that only small nations can afford." -
Hannah Arendt
-Samantha Power - Development and Democracy - "Samantha Power discusses the political challenges facing democracy promotion and the practical needs of effective democratization." www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUUOO5cCNVg
"Capable, generous men do not create victims, they nurture them." - Julian Assange, editor & founder of Wikileaks
( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_ecology )
"WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange on the 'War Logs- ; ''I Enjoy Crushing Bastards" www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,708518,00.html
- ( !! Yessssssssssssss.. Enough of bastards... )
-
"The leak of tens of thousands of Afghanistan war-related documents tells us more than the sum total of many official communiqués about the war. On balance, more disclosure is a good thing, but the leaking of raw military intelligence is a special case that requires a careful, rather than a cavalier, approach.
There is not enough information about the war, and much official information is misleading. In Canada, the federal government's quarterly reports contain a few updates based on its goals in Kandahar, but little else that informs. The government has already shown itself to be an unreliable source on issues relating to Afghan detainees.
The situation is now too dangerous for the most trustworthy chroniclers – journalists, UN personnel – to go outside NATO-protected areas.
So reliable, independent information is lacking. The circumstances in this war make such information even more necessary."
www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/editorials/we-neede...
"The first phase was chilling, in part because the banter of the soldiers was so far beyond the boundaries of civilian discourse. “Just fuckin’, once you get on ’em, just open ’em up,” one of them said. The crew members of the Apache came upon about a dozen men ambling down a street, a block or so from American troops, and reported that five or six of the men were armed with AK-47s; as the Apache maneuvered into position to fire at them, the crew saw one of the Reuters journalists, who were mixed in among the other men, and mistook a long-lensed camera for an RPG. The Apaches fired on the men for twenty-five seconds, killing nearly all of them instantly."
Read more www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/06/07/100607fa_fact_khat...
"Women always disproportionately suffer the effects of war, and to think that women's rights can be won with bullets and bloodshed is a position dangerous in its naïveté." www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/30/is-the-war-in-afghanist...
"Instead, many eyes will now pore over this data from many different directions, looking for patterns and attempting to eliminate the noise, disinformation and fog of war.
Many will look to it to criticise and condemn the US presence in Afghanistan, but if those on the other side – those who support such military incursions – have any sense, they too will use it to understand better the war in which they find themselves and adapt their counsel to fit more accurately the facts on the ground.
That’s the benefit, usually, of an open society. We get to triangulate on the truth by gathering facts in the public space, then providing them to all sides to chew over. We use this against our own illusions and those of more closed societies who can only view the world through one narrow perspective.": www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2010/0730/1224275801...
"We journalists should be delighted that WikiLeaks exists because our central task has always been one of disclosure, of revealing public interest material that others believe wish to be kept secret.The website deserves our praise and needs to be defended against the reactionary forces that seek to avoid exposure."
edition.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/07/29/wikileaks.roy.greensla...
"With the release of the WikiLeaks documents, Arab media may finally feel vindicated, as Western media finally start to give greater prominence to civilian casualties." newamericamedia.org/2010/07/wikileaks-documents-validate-...
"Wikileaks confirmed: A plan to kill American geologist with poison beer
The Wikileaks documents contain a claim that Pakistan and Afghanistan insurgents were working to poison alcoholic drinks in Afghanistan. While that's unproven, one US adviser in Afghanistan tells the Monitor he was almost poisoned that way in 2007." : www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2010/0728/Wiki...
"This is duplicitous only if you close your eyes to the Pakistani reality, which the Americans never did. There was ample evidence, as the WikiLeaks show, of covert ISI ties to the Taliban. The Americans knew they couldn't break those ties. They settled for what support Pakistan could give them while constantly pressing them harder and harder until genuine fears in Washington emerged that Pakistan could destabilize altogether. Since a stable Pakistan is more important to the United States than a victory in Afghanistan—which it wasn't going to get anyway—the United States released pressure and increased aid. If Pakistan collapsed, then India would be the sole regional power, not something the United States wants."
www.billoreilly.com/site/rd?satype=13&said=12&url...
"How to read the Afghanistan war logs: video tutorial
David Leigh, the Guardian's investigations editor, explains the online tools we have created to help you understand the secret US military files on the war in Afghanistan": www.guardian.co.uk/world/datablog/video/2010/jul/25/afgha...
"Jonathan Foreman, writing for the right of center National Review's Corner blog, hopes the documents will force America to deal with the possible deceptions being made by ally Pakistan. "It is possible that the publication of documents that provide actual evidence — rather than rumors — of the role of ISI personnel in Taliban planning, logistics, and strategy will give the West greater leverage in dealing with Islamabad and might force Pakistan’s political elite to confront the reality of the ISI’s secret activities. If so, that would be a silver lining to what is otherwise a military disaster abetted by the U.S. and British media."
www.nbclosangeles.com/news/politics/NATL-The-Importance-o...
A War Without End: www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,708314,00.html
"Julian Assange on the Afghanistan war logs: 'They show the true nature of this war'
Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, explains why he decided to publish thousands of secret US military files on the war in Afghanistan Afghanistan war logs expose truth of occupation": www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2010/jul/25/julian-assange...
The history of US leaks: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10769495
Freedom of Information Act: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_Information_Act_(United_...
"A long-delayed Afghanistan war funding bill, stripped of billions for teachers and black farmers, is back before the House and walking now into the storm over the Internet leak of battlefield reports stirring old doubts about U.S. policy and relations with Pakistan.": www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40254.html & www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/40251.html
This ongoing series is dedicated to everyone who has needlessly had their lives destroyed, been injured or die in this almost past decade of war. For the sources, journalists & average citizens who risk their lives to inform us.
Reuters reporters Namir Eldeen, Saeed Chmagh & the good samaritan ( father ) who died trying to save them & of course his two surviving small children who will forever be impacted by the brutality of war for decades to come.
Please help Private Bradley Manning- www.bradleymanning.org/
"One surprising consequence of the war in Iraq is the surrender of postmodernism to a victorious modernism. This has been largely overlooked in North America.
In reaction to the U.S. intervention in Iraq, Jacques Derrida, a famous postmodernist, signed on as co-author of an article drafted by the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas, previously an opponent of his, in an unmistakable endorsement of modernist Enlightenment principles. Derrida, the apostle of deconstructionism, is now advocating some decidedly constructive and Eurocentric activism.
The article appeared simultaneously in two newspapers on May 31, in German in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as "After the War: The Rebirth of Europe," and in French in Libération, less triumphantly, as "A Plea for a Common Foreign Policy: The demonstrations of Feb. 15 against the war in Iraq designed a new European public space."
Other famous intellectuals joined in with supportive newspaper articles of their own: Umberto Eco (of The Name of the Rose) and Gianni Vattimo in Italy and an American philosopher, Richard Rorty. This provoked much discussion in Europe, but only a few comments so far in North America, the Boston Globe and the Village Voice being rare exceptions.
This week in Montreal, there was an anti-globalization riot in which windows were broken in protest against a World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting. But the Habermas-Derrida declaration praises the WTO and even the International Monetary Fund as part of Weltinnenpolitik: maddeningly hard to translate, but something like "global domestic policy" or "external internal policy."
Yet it is not much of a stretch to claim the young anti-globalists as disciples of postmodernism and Derrida, who has hitherto been a foe of "logocentrism" (putting reason at the centre), "phallologocentrism" (reason is an erect male organ and, as such, damnably central) and Eurocentrism (the old, old West is the homeland of all of the above).
Derrida added a note to the article, observing most people would recognize Habermas's style and thinking in the piece, and that he hadn't had time to write a separate piece. But notwithstanding his "past confrontations" with Habermas (Derrida had objected to being called a "Judaistic mystic," for one thing), he agreed with the article he had signed, which calls for new European responsibilities "beyond all Eurocentrism" and the strengthening of international law and international institutions."
More: www.16beavergroup.org/mtarchive/archives/000361.php
"In early 2003, both Habermas and Derrida were very active in opposing the coming Iraq War, and called for in a manifesto that later became the book Old Europe, New Europe, Core Europe for a tighter union of the states of the European Union in order to provide a power capable of opposing American foreign policy. Derrida wrote a foreword expressing his unqualified subscription to Habermas's declaration of February 2003, "February 15, or, What Binds Europeans Together: Plea for a Common Foreign Policy, Beginning in Core Europe,” in Old Europe, New Europe, Core Europe which was a reaction to the Bush administration demands upon European nations for support for the coming Iraq War[25]. Habermas has offered further context for this declaration in an interview."
More: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%c3%bcrgen_Habermas#Habermas_and_D...
Habermas: ”The asymmetry between the concentrated destructive power of the electronically controlled clusters of elegant and versatile missiles in the air and the archaic ferocity of the swarms of bearded warriors outfitted with Kalashnikovs on the ground remains a morally obscene sight
I consider Bush' s decision to call for a "war against terrorism" a serious mistake, both normatively and pragmatically. Normatively, he is elevating these criminals to the status of war enemies; and pragmatically, one cannot lead a war against a "network" if the term "war" is to retain any definite meaning.”
Derrida: “To say it all too quickly and in passing, to amplify and clarify just a bit what I said earlier about an absolute threat whose origin is anonymous and not related to any state, such "terrorist" attacks already no longer need planes, bombs, or kamikazes: it is enough to infiltrate a strategically important computer system and introduce a virus or some other disruptive element to paralyze the economic, military, and political resources of an entire country or continent. And this can be attempted from just about anywhere on earth, at very little expense and with minimal means. The relationship between earth, terra territory, and terror has changed, and it is necessary to know that this is because of knowledge, that is, because of technoscience.
It is technoscience that blurs the distinction between war and terrorism. In this regard, when compared to the possibilities for destruction and chaotic disorder that are in reserve, for the future, in the computerized networks of the world, "September 11" is still part of the archaic theater of violence aimed at striking the imagination. One will be able to do even worse tomorrow, invisibly, in silence, more quickly and without any bloodshed, by attacking the computer and informational networks on which the entire life (social, economic, military, and so on) of a "great nation," of the greatest power on earth, depends.”
www.16beavergroup.org/mtarchive/archives/000361.php
I am incredibly- delighted at all the vital discussions about the war & US gov that are FINALLY taking place- & on a mass scale- as a result of this leak .. Simply miraculous..
FREEDOM & PEACE ( transparency, diplomacy & the evolution of such ) FOR ALL WAR NATIONS.
( WARNING - links ( after excerpt ) are NOT for sensitive viewers- ) "Wikileaks have released over 150 supressed images. This is the tip of the iceberg, keep looking, keep publishing.In the last week Wikileaks has released over 150 censored photos and videos of the Tibet uprising and has called on bloggers around the world to help drive the footage through the Chinese internet censorship regime — the so called “Great Firewall of China”The transparency group’s move comes as a response to the the Chinese Public Security Bureau’s carte-blanche censorship of youtube, the BBC, CNN, the Guardian and other sites carrying video footage of the Tibetan people’s recent heroic stand against the inhumane Chinese occupation of Tibet."
fortuzero.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/tibet-western-media-sa...
file.wikileaks.org/file/tibet-protest-photos/index.html
FREE TIBET!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also other dire & serious issues ( out of countless ) - that expose corruption by corporations & gov's:
"A documentary about intensive pig farming due to be screened at the Guardian Hay festival on Sunday is facing a legal threat from one of the companies it investigates. Pig Business criticises the practices of the world's largest pork processor, Smithfield Foods, claiming it is responsible for environmental pollution and health problems among residents near its factories."
www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/may/29/pig-business-document...
"In an investigation broadcast on BBC Radio 5 on November 14, 2004,[79] it was reported that the site is still contaminated with 'thousands' of metric tons of toxic chemicals, including benzene hexachloride and mercury, held in open containers or loose on the ground. A sample of drinking water from a well near the site had levels of contamination 500 times higher than the maximum limits recommended by the World Health Organization.[80]
In 2009, a day before the 25th anniversary of the disaster, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi based pollution monitoring lab, released latest tests from a study showing that groundwater in areas even three km from the factory up to 38.6 times more pesticides than Indian standards."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster
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The Blue Mask - Lou Reed - www.goear.com/listen/9960779/the-blue-mask-lou-reed ( & O Superman ) www.goear.com/listen/02cf55d/o-superman-(for-massenet)-la...
Lou Reed The Blue Mask
Lyrics:
They tied his arms behind
his back to teach him how to
swim They put
blood in his coffee and milk
in his gin They stood over the
soldier in
the midst of the squalor
There was war in his body and
it caused his
brain to holler
Make the sacrifice
mutilate my face
If you need someone to kill
I'm a man without a will
Wash the razor in the rain
Let me luxuriate in pain
Please don't set me free
Death means a lot to me
The pain was lean and it made
him scream he knew he was alive
They put a
pin through the nipples on his chest
He thought he was a saint
I've made love to my mother,
killed my father and my brother
What am I
to do
When a sin goes too far, it's
like a runaway car It cannot
be controlled
Spit upon his face and scream
There's no Oedipus today
This is no play you're thinking you
are in What will you say
Take the blue mask down from my face and
look me in the eye I get a
thrill from punishment
I've always been that way
I loathe and despise repentance
You are permanently stained
Your weakness buys indifference
and indiscretion in the streets
Dirty's what you are and clean is what
you're not You deserve to be
soundly beat
Make the sacrifice
Take it all the way
There's no won't high enough
To stop this desperate day
Don't take death away
Cut the finger at the joint
Cut the stallion at his mount
And stuff it in his mouth
---
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GUM (Russian: ГУМ, pronounced [gum], an abbreviation of Russian: Главный универсальный магазин, romanized: Glavnyy universalnyy magazin, lit. 'Main Universal Store') is the main department store in many cities of the former Soviet Union, known as State Department Store (Russian: Государственный универсальный магазин, romanized: Gosudarstvennyy universalnyy magazin) during the Soviet era (until 1991). Similarly named stores operated in some Soviet republics and in post-Soviet states.
The most famous GUM is the large store facing Red Square in the Kitai-gorod area – itself traditionally a mall of Moscow. Originally, and today again, the building functions as a shopping mall. During most of the Soviet period it was essentially a department store as there was one vendor: the Soviet State. Before the 1920s the location was known as the Upper Trading Rows (Russian: Верхние торговые ряды, romanized: Verkhniye Torgovyye Ryady).
As of 2021, GUM carries over 100 different brands,[1] and has cafes and restaurants inside the mall.
Moscow GUM
Design and structure
With the façade extending for 242 m (794 ft) along the eastern side of Red Square, the Upper Trading Rows were built between 1890 and 1893 by Alexander Pomerantsev (responsible for architecture) and Vladimir Shukhov (responsible for engineering). The trapezoidal building features a combination of elements of Russian medieval architecture and a steel framework and glass roof, a similar style to the great 19th-century railway stations of London. William Craft Brumfield described the GUM building as "a tribute both to Shukhov's design and to the technical proficiency of Russian architecture toward the end of the 19th century".
The glass-roofed design made the building unique at the time of construction. The roof, the diameter of which is 14 m (46 ft), looks light, but it is a firm construction made of more than 50,000 metal pods (about 743 t (819 short tons)), capable of supporting snowfall accumulation. Illumination is provided by huge arched skylights of iron and glass, each weighing some 740 t (820 short tons) and containing in excess of 20,000 panes of glass. The facade is divided into several horizontal tiers, lined with red Finnish granite, Tarusa marble, and limestone. Each arcade is on three levels, linked by walkways of reinforced concrete.
History
Catherine II of Russia commissioned Giacomo Quarenghi, a Neoclassical architect from Italy, to design a huge trade area along the east side of Red Square. However, that building was lost to the 1812 Fire of Moscow and replaced by trading rows designed by Joseph Bove. In turn, the current structure opened in 1894, replacing Bove's.
By the time of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the building contained some 1,200 stores. After the Revolution, GUM was nationalized. During the NEP period (1921–28), however, GUM as a State Department Store operated as a model retail enterprise for consumers throughout Russia regardless of class, gender, and ethnicity. GUM's stores were used to further Bolshevik goals of rebuilding private enterprise along socialist lines and "democratizing consumption for workers and peasants nationwide". In the end, GUM's efforts to build communism through consumerism were unsuccessful and arguably "only succeeded in alienating consumers from state stores and instituting a culture of complaint and entitlement".
GUM continued to be used as a department store until Joseph Stalin converted it into office space in 1928 for the committee in charge of his first Five Year Plan.[4] After the suicide of Stalin's wife Nadezhda in 1932, the GUM was used briefly to display her body.
After reopening as a department store in 1953, GUM became one of the few stores in the Soviet Union that did not have shortages of consumer goods, and the queues of shoppers were long, often extending entirely across Red Square.
Several times during the 1960s and 1970s, the Second Secretary of the Communist Party Mikhail Suslov, who hated having a department store facing Lenin's Mausoleum, tried to convert GUM into an exhibition hall and museum showcasing the achievements of the Soviet Union and Communism, without the knowledge of General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. Each time, however, Brezhnev was tipped off and put a stop to such plans.
At the end of the Soviet era, GUM was partially, then fully, privatized, and it had a number of owners before it ended up being owned by the supermarket company Perekrestok. In May 2005, a 50.25% interest was sold to Bosco di Ciliegi, a Russian luxury goods distributor and boutique operator. As a private shopping mall, it was renamed in such a fashion that it could maintain its old acronym. The first word Gosudarstvennyi ("state") has been replaced with Glavnyi ("main"), so that GUM is now an abbreviation for "Main Universal Store".
(more pictures you can see by using the link at the end of page passively!)
Trier - Romans, vines and Karl Marx
Trier was founded by the Romans in 16 BC. Thus, the Rhineland Palatinate town at the river Mosel is the oldest city of Germany. Roman history, thus, one meets in Trier at every turn. The Basilica, the Imperial Baths, the Amphitheater and of course the famous Porta Nigra are relics from that period. But not only because of their architecture, the Roman occupiers made themselves unforgettable. They also operated the cultivation of wine on a high standard and laid in Trier the foundation for its today's importance as a wine capital. Besides Romans and vines, the city but much more has to offer.
A city view of Trier in the early evening. In the foreground, the Roman Porta Nigra. In the sky, dark storm clouds come in.
The Porta Nigra - Trier's landmark from Roman times
From Celtic settlement to Roman metropolis
Trier is located at an altitude of 124 meters and extends to the left and right of the Mosel. The city is surrounded by hills that belong in the north to the Eifel, in the south to the Hunsrück. Already 3000 years before Christ, founded the Neolithic people first settlements on present-day city area. Several centuries before the Romans came, the Treverians settled on the present city area of Trier. This Celtic tribe is also the namesake of the city. When the Romans on their advance during the Gallic Wars subjugated the Celtic tribe and occupied the area, they called the in 16 BC newly founded city in honor of reigning Emperor Augustus "Augusta Treverorum".
Towering ruined remnants of the facade of the Roman Imperial Baths. In the of red bricks built walls round window arches are to be seen. The ancient backdrop is lit by the summer evening sun. Roman luxury life in the Imperial Baths.
The Roman town was developed into metropolis of the province of Gallia Belgica and fortified. The rampart system should protect the Roman city from attack of enemy Germans. That Trier yet then but was far more than just a military camp is evidenced by the many archaeological finds of civil buildings. Trier was a military base, but also mart. Over the Mosel troops and goods were shipped. Above all, it was the wine which the Romans in and around Trier brought wealth.
Trier Cathedral from the front side. In front of the cathedral are city tourists contemplating the building. Right next to the Cathedral is the added Church of Our Lady to see. The Cathedral of Trier with adjoining Church of Our Lady
The end of Roman splendor
To the great importance of Trier also contributed that the city already in Roman times became the center of Christianity and Episcopal see. Although Trier was destroyed by the invasion of the Alemanni for the most part in 275, but it was by the Roman Emperor Constantine - his reign lasted from 306 to 337 - rebuilt. From his era stem many magnificent buildings, which are still partly preserved.
A witness of the Roman luxury life is the huge area of the Imperial Baths. Although from the formerly fashionable bathing temple only stand ruins, but on the basis of surface and underground ruins you can guess how the Roman occupiers were able to have a good time with a sophisticated hot air system. More remnants of Roman architecture are the famous Porta Nigra, the Roman Bridge, which crosses the Moselle, and the huge basilica, which is today used as a Protestant church.
In the years 367-392 AD, Trier with more than 80,000 inhabitants was the largest city north of the Alps and capital of the Western Roman Empire. When the Romans during the Great Migration and the advancing Germans had to withdraw, brought this along, as for many other former Roman cities, for Trier too the decline. The rest of destruction did the invading Franks, Huns and in 882 the Vikings.
An engraving shows the city of Trier in the panorama around 1740. Outstanding of the sea of houses the many church towers are recognisable. In the background you can see the hilly landscape surrounding the city. In the foreground the Mosel flows past Trier. In the front center of the engraving, wine barrel and bishop insignia symbolize important fundamentals of city history. An engraving shows Trier around 1740.
From the Dark Ages to modern times
How much Trier in the early Middle Ages became less important, is especially evident from the fact that the city was then only half as large as in the Roman period. Only gradually under the influence of the ecclesiastical princes who resided here it grew up again into a metropolis. In the reconstruction of Trier Archbishop Henry I in the year 958 relocated the market area from the Roman bridge in front of the so-called cathedral city and thus in his immediate control section. As a visible sign of his power, but also as a symbol of the will to seek again a role as major trading town, the Archbishop on the new marketplace had built a magnificent market cross, which still stands in its place today.
The symbol showed the desired effect: from medieval deterioration, Trier gradually rose again into an important trade and power center. Secular and clerical magnificent buildings emerged. The marketplace now is one of the most beautiful ones in Germany and with its magnificent buildings bears witness to the richness of that time. Another important milestone in the city's history is the year 1473. At that time the University of Trier was founded, at which today approximately 15,000 students are enrolled.
View from the pedestrian zone to the Porta Nigra. On the street play children and stroll pedestrians. On a bench sit people. Pedestrian zone and Porta Nigra
The French are coming
After a long period of economic prosperity, Trier, inter alia, in the wake of the Thirty Years' War (1616-1648) came in the maelstrom of political and military conflicts. Occupation, destruction and oppression were the result. The population and many buildings, including religious structures were affected. During the Revolutionary War, French troops occupied in 1794 again the town at the Mosel. 1801 the citizens of Trier officially French citizenship was imposed. In the course of secularization, churches and monasteries were closed and converted, partially even demolished.
For the strictly Catholic people of Trier bad 20 years were dawning. But as in many other cities the Napoleonic period also entailed the progress. The administration was modernized, the jurisprudence by the Bürgerliche Gesetzbuch, the Civil Code, democratized. Napoleon also prompted to clear off the Porta Nigra of the added church building, whose integral part the old Roman gate in the Middle Ages had become. In this way, the French emperor the people of Trier gave a landmark, which still exists today.
When the French after the wars of liberation in 1814 left Trier, the citizens of the Moselle town, in their view, came from bad to worse. At the Congress of Vienna it was decided to place Trier under Prussian-Protestant administration.
Framed by two more modern homes is the birthplace of Karl Marx. The house is painted white, the roof covered with slate. In the facade a memorial plaque is embedded. Before the house an information board indicates the sight of the city. The house consists of ground floor, first floor and an attic with window dormers. The birthplace of Karl Marx.
Romance, Marx and Capitalism
The end of the Napoleonic and Liberation wars, causing a high death toll and privations, in addition to the desired peace a new attitude to life had in tow: Romanticism. The travelling and wanderlust emerged. As a result of the romantic idea, Trier and the picturesque Mosel region with its many ruins were very popular.
After the romantic wave Trier in the second half of the 19th century experienced the transition into a new era. The industrialization also took possession of the old Mosel town. About the new economic order of capitalism revolted soon a world-famous child of Trier: Karl Marx.
The author, journalist and social philosopher, who with his critical work "The Capital" caused international sensation, saw in 1818 in Trier Bridge road the light of day. A circumstance which to this day attracts streams of visitors from communist countries. Especially for many visitors from China, the native town of Marx Trier has become a veritable Mecca.
A look at beautiful summer weather from castle grounds to the magnificent rococo facade of the Electoral Palace. On your left, adjacent the Basilica from the Roman period. In the foreground, a statue and a flower bed. Castle Park, Electoral Palace and Basilica
Economic boom, with vines and Romans
After the First World War in 1918, the French as part of the victorious powers moved into the Mosel town. Their time of occupation lasted until 1930, but also in another point history should repeat. Had the old Roman city in the past yet often been victim of distructions, big parts of the city in the 20th century again fell in ruins and ashes. Artillery shells and bombs afflicted Trier in the last years of the Second World War. Many people back then died in the rubble.
That many historic buildings have survived the war, however, was not far away from a miracle and probably provided the rapid resurgence of Trier to a major city that today knows how to market its rich history perfectly. Trier with nine monuments stands on the UNESCO World Heritage list and therefore occupies the top position in Germany, though. In addition to the relics from Roman times but also attracts the wine, which is grown in Trier and the surrounding area, many visitors. From the yield of the vines, from tourism and gastronomy, today are living directly and indirectly many of the more than 100,000 inhabitants.
www.planet-wissen.de/natur_technik/fluesse_und_seen/mosel ...
A paper I did for my advanced reporting class that I got a B in. I must have gotten an A or a high B for this paper, because those were the grades I usually got on my reports. I interviewed a lot of friends and artists that I know, but I couldn't use all of the quotes I got. For this, I apologize (and also for taking so long to publish this). I hope you find this interesting, somewhat.
Original post here:
mandatorychaos.blogspot.com/2009/01/journalism-final-pape...
Street Art Movement Grows Stronger
An unlikely contender, graffiti and street art has grown more respected by the modern art world. An illegal and once unappreciated form of art, the medium has now moved into galleries, including the prestigious Tate Modern museum that covered their riverside façade with street art from artists around the world.
“I think [street art] is influencing the art galleries to open their eyes and actually view it as a modern art form,” said Mad One, a street artist from Phoenix.
The most famous graffiti artist of today, and possibly in history, is the anonymous stencilist, Banksy. The artist has left is mark all over the world, including the Israeli West Bank Barrier, Disneyland, decaying sections of post-Katrina New Orleans and his hometown of London.
His art has ranged from sculptures installed in public to towering murals with strong political messages to a “pet shop” in New York City with animatronic food representing the exploitation of animals, but Banksy is best known for his signature stencil work.
"I use whatever it takes,” Banksy stated on designiskinky.net “Sometimes that just means drawing a moustache on a girl's face on some billboard, sometimes that means sweating for days over an intricate drawing. Efficiency is the key."
Banksy has sold canvases to celebrities Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves and Christina Aguilera and other artworks have far exceeded expected prices at auctions, making Banksy one of the most popular - financially speaking - artists of his time. A piece called Space Girl & Bird, depicting a child wearing an antique diver’s helmet, sold for £288,000 (US$576,000).
Banksy’s art is so popular that his street work is sometimes stolen, literally chunks of walls chipped out and sold on eBay for large amounts of money. In 2004, Banksy’s statue The Drinker, a parody of Rodin’s The Thinker, was kidnapped and held for ransom by a group who called themselves AK47. They demanded £5,000 but Banksy only offered £2, told them to buy some gasoline and set it on fire.
Banksy’s fame has opened doors for other street artists to get a chance inside popular galleries but not everyone sees the movement as positive. Some people, especially government organizations, see graffiti as an eyesore. An iconic piece by Banksy imitating Pulp Fiction showed Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta holding bananas instead of guns. Transport for London, the local government transportation bureaucracy, painted over the graffiti and claimed in a BBC News article the work created a “general atmosphere of neglect and social decay, which in turn encourages crime.” Banksy defiantly repainted the scene with the characters instead wielding guns and wearing banana suits.
But judging from the reactions street art can have, positive or negative, art or not, graffiti clearly has influence.
“I was always just aware of graffiti without paying attention to it, until a friend showed me some stuff and I began to realize it had more meaning and expression than just vandalism,” An anonymous graffiti photographer said.
“I don't do it, [but] I photograph it and write about it,” the photographer said. “I want to provide a better quality of descriptive writing with more positive balance about the art and the significance, the symbolism, the history of the genre and anything I know about the writers and artists.”
There are many different types of graffiti, including stickers, installed mixed media objects such as sculpture, paste-ups or wheatpaste (posters that can be adhered to almost any surface) and the best-known type – spray paint.
But modern graffiti does not limit itself. Organizations such as the Graffiti Research Lab have strived to invent new forms of street art, blending technology and public space. GRL invented LED “throwies,” a combination of LED lights, a lithium battery and a magnet, which can be thrown onto any metallic surface and will light up the area.
GRL also invented the L.A.S.E.R. Tag system, a huge laser pointer system that projects an image or phrase onto something as large as a 25-story building front. Such types of street art don’t work as well in a gallery.
“Street art is at its best when it is illegal and created on the street,” the photographer said. “[My favorite kind] is wildstyle writing done without permission. A significant piece of stencil art, which is well-placed, well-cut and thought-provoking is always good. At the other end of the spectrum, paste-ups and stickers are not really street art, there was almost no adrenalin invested in their placement.”
“Graffiti writing is art, tagging isn't,” He said. “When the writer has set out to propagate their message or their ID using their own highly stylized form then the image is simply ‘art’.”
“For me graffiti is what it is.” Prof. Shawn Skabelund, an art teacher at NAU said. “I see it as a form of vandalism. I am all for protest art or what we call guerilla art, art against the corporation and or the art establishment, but I question the need and/or validity of an art form that marks or tags something. I'm not even sure I would go so far as calling it art.”
Crunchy Pickle, an artist from Phoenix, disagrees.
“Anything a human does, in one way or another, is a form of art,” he said. “Of course graffiti is an art. Pure vandalistic destruction is an art too. As with painting, most anyone can fling paint at a canvas, but it takes practice to make something pleasing. With graffiti, it takes practice to achieve the desired result. And, yes, even breaking windows is an art. It is all creative destruction.”
Pickle doesn’t even identify himself as a street artist.
“I'm a graffiti writer,” he said. “In a way they are the same - the creation of unauthorized images - but the "street artist" isn't taking as much risk in a spot. Pasting pre-printed images isn't the same statement as wielding a spraycan in your hand. Street art is like cheating at graffiti.”
“For me it satisfies the urge to Create, and the urge to Destroy.” Pickle said. “Perhaps that's the primal hunt-kill instinct, applied to modern society. And if you ever hear writers sitting around a table of beers, it sounds an awful like the Hunt and War Stories that men have told since before history began.”
Graffiti comes from the Italian graffiato, which means, “scratched.” Graffiti is prehistoric, as old as ancient Egypt, where the Romans carved obscene messages into the walls and monuments. Graffiti has been discovered in Pompeii, including Latin profanity, magic spells, political slogans and famous literary quotes, all of which gives archaeologists clues into Roman street life. The Mayans, the Vikings, and even Renaissance artists such as Michelangelo and Raphael did graffiti, according to an article by The Atlantic Online.
Modern street art is a bit different, since the invention of the aerosol can and heightened security against the act. In the ‘60s, political activists used graffiti, mainly because it is an appropriate medium to get a message across.
“It’s really in people’s faces,” as D3ADM3AT, an artist from Concord, New Hampshire put it. “It’s on almost everyone’s street.”
But graffiti began to be used by gangs to mark territory and soon gained a negative connotation. At the same time, it grew into an element of hip hop culture, mostly because it was practiced in areas where elements of hip hop were evolving.
The golden age of graffiti was from the 1970’s to the early 80’s. From 1985 to 1989, new reforms greatly changed the culture of graffiti by making it more difficult to tag. Many taggers quit, but others saw the obstacles as a challenge. This made certain tagging areas more coveted and the movement became violent, possibly the most violent period in graffiti history. Strength in numbers became much more important and artists that went out alone were often beaten and robbed.
Graffiti calmed down once many artists started getting shows and gallery exhibits. Street art moved from darkened alleys into the cultural spotlight and with that shift came commercialization. In 2001, IBM launched an advertising campaign in the streets of Chicago and San Francisco to promote Linux using stencils but several of the “artists” were arrested and IBM was fined more than $120,000 in damages.
In 2007, Adult Swim tried a promotion for their TV show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” by installing LED light boards (similar to the LED throwies) around Boston. The installations triggered repeated bomb scares across Boston, prompting bridges and a stretch of the Charles River to be closed. Adult Swim paid $2 million in fines; $1 million to the city of Boston and another million toward charity.
Graffiti has even been the main theme of several video games, such as Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, a game that pits the player against a totalitarian government. The main character, Trane, fights back using graffiti protest. The game is controversial and was banned in Australia for giving a basic how-to on graffiti. The legal action greatly disappointed Mark Ecko, the urban clothing designer whom the game was named after.
“Graffiti is without question the most powerful art movement in recent history and has been a driving inspiration throughout my career,” he said.
Despite the popularity graffiti is receiving, even if it moves into galleries and becomes more accepted by communities, it will probably always stay on the streets.
“I paint the streets because I want to participate in the development of free urban space,” 500m, an artist from Montreal, said. “And I want my practice to be interdisciplinary. Street art is not just painting, its contextual painting. Always using different spaces and textures and working according to them. I think street art has the role of democratizing the arts; it makes people feel that they need to live with art. They need to embrace their creativity. It has a liberating role.”
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
’S WANDERFUL│Making Pictures－Steve McCurry Solo Exhibition
2018/02/24-2018/05/06
臺北當代藝術館 MOCA Taipei
策展人：陳昌仁／Leo Chanjen Chen
攝影在數位年代的普及已經凌駕電影之上，儼然成為最重要的藝術了。如何學習影像思考、判斷與操作愈形重要。華語世界首度舉辦麥柯里個人攝影展因而有著雙重意義：一方面讓臺灣與全球攝影藝術語境對話接軌；另一方面重新定位麥柯里攝影與當代藝術的關係。展覽名稱「晃影 ─’S Wanderful | Making Pictures」以麥氏漫遊世界拍照為意象，強調他喜歡東晃西晃，即興捕捉人性的深層意義。英文標題結合好奇漫遊(wander)與驚異奇觀(wonder) – 亦即無奇不遊(no wander no wonder)，並隱含百老匯蓋希文的(Gershwin)名曲「’S Wonderful」來指涉攝影中的音樂性。
麥柯里攝影感動人心，成名作《阿富汗少女》召喚人們加入義工去幫助難民，影響深遠。好照片除了過目難忘，賦與生命軌跡以形象之外，並形塑記憶結構，經典作品甚至能以影像表達歷史縱深與當代關連。麥氏跨越許多文化與世代，從攝影記者到以影像說故事，從膠片到數位，不變的是他對人性本質行為之捕捉與呈現。他說肖相：「要有情感，要說出其人特質，要不同而難忘，更要表現出人性的共相」。不啻是美學判斷(sensus communis)哲學家康德的代言攝影師。麥氏人物攝影銳利地凝視著你，彷彿來自亙古宇宙角落的眼神(sub specie aeternitatis)， 並充盈著巴特(Barthes)強調的刺點(Punctum)，亦即感受每張照片無法控制的關鍵。弗立得(Fried)攝影新論融合影像的劇場性(Theatricality)與自足性(Absorption)，將無意識的情感刺點與有意識的表演安排結合並置，而麥氏攝影已先行多年了。
本展以影像之取像(making picture)，成像(rendering image)及in/印象(innervating impression) 三階段為軸，設計包含12件裝置藝術的展覽空間，探求、解答並提出更多攝影藝術與哲學問題。例如：攝影的本質是什麼？攝影藝術史的理論與實踐進程對當代創作的啓發為何？攝影藝術如何能提昇全民美感教育並培養創造力？期待「晃影」觀展後能顯其所以然，提高視覺思考及美感判斷力,那麼我們對影像藝術創新的展望就不僅始於漫遊。電影「迷魂記/Vertigo」中詹姆斯史都華搭訕金露華，約她一起漫無目的地晃晃，金回答：「一個人會去漫遊晃晃，兩個人一起就會去某個地方了(One wanders, two are always going somewhere) 。」 有麥柯里同行，我們會比較有方向感要往哪裡晃去晃來。
’S WANDERFUL│MAKING PICTURES ─ Steve McCurry Solo Exhibition
Curator: Leo Chanjen Chen
About the Exhibition
The ubiquity and democratization of photography in digital era has elevated its position above cinema, making it “the most important art”, which is why it is increasingly imperative to learn how to think, analyze, and make images to communicate. Hence the significances of the first Steve McCurry solo photography exhibition in Chinese-speaking worlds are two-fold: on the one hand, the McCurry at MOCA, Taipei exhibition connects and engages Taiwan to the discourses of global photography art, on the other hand, the exhibition intervenes, reconsiders and repositions the relationship between McCurry’s photography and contemporary art. Title of the exhibition, ’S Wanderful | Making Pictures, refers to McCurry’s photo journeys around the world, highlighting his fondness for wandering and the profound meanings behind his serendipitous capturing of humanity. The title coinage combines “wander” and “wonder”, suggesting a notion of “no wander no wonder”, while also alludes to the musicality embodied in photography by referencing classic Broadway song, “’S Wonderful”, composed by George Gershwin.
McCurry’s photography touches hearts and moves people, his iconic Afghan Girl has inspired people to volunteer and join refugee relief forces, and its impacts are far-reaching and continue to resonate. Memorable photographs impress upon you with indelible imprints of beauty, visualize human experiences by giving life forms, and structuring memories; some iconic works even convey layers of historical depths and contemporary connectedness. McCurry traverses space and time as he transcends different cultures and generations, from a photojournalist to an artist telling stories through images, from the medium of film to the digital. What remains unchanged is how he captures and makes visible human nature and behaviors in poesis. McCurry believes that a portrait should have emotions, tell of the person’s notable features, it must be different, unique and unforgettable, and yet, above all, it must also showcase the universality of humanity. In that regard, McCurry’s photographic aesthetics not only embody philosopher Kant’s aesthetic judgment - sensus communis, the individual sensibility that communicates with all mankind, but also makes him a Kantian photographer par excellence. McCurry’s portraits gaze sharply at you, with looks that seem to come from corners of the universe, transport you through perspectives of eternity - sub specie aeternitatis. Full of Barthesian punctum, the points that trigger involuntary reaction in experiencing each photograph.
McCurry’s photography has been exemplifying for decades what art critic Michael Fried tried to theorize, to integrate the absorption and theatricality in photography that juxtapose and combine unconscious emotional pathos with conscious performative ethos.
This exhibition consists of three cohering themes about photography: “Making picture”, “Rendering image”, and “Innervating impression”. Twelve installation artworks extend the exhibition space to explore, answer, and challenge issues of photography, art and philosophy, including: What is the essence and sine qua non of photography? What inspires contemporary art that transpires theories and practices in the art history of photography? How would the art of photography elevate aesthetic education and foster creativity? It is our aspiration that McCurry’s pictures in ’S Wanderful | Making Pictures, would make some of the answers and more of the questions apparent while nudging in visual thinking and aesthetic judgment as habit. Through the process of making photography art, our prospectus for visual art will expand beyond the initiating wander. In the movie Vertigo, James Stewart asks Kim Novak to wander together. Novak replies: “One wanders, two are always going somewhere.” Accompanied by McCurry, we would have a better sense of direction for where to wander.
The Chin tattooed women live in the Chin, Rakhine and Arakan states in northwestern Myanmar. The origin of facial tattoos in the region is unknown. Some believe that the practice began during the reigns of Kings long ago. The royalty used to come to the villages to capture young women. The men from the tribe may have tattooed their women to make them ugly, thereby saving them from a life of slavery. Interestingly, I heard a similar origin for body modification among the Mursi tribe in Ethiopia. As legend has it, the tribeswomen began wearing giant lip plates to make them uglier to would-be kidnappers. Now, the bigger the lip plate the higher the bride price.
For years, access to the tribal Mindat area was restricted by the burmese government. It was opened just two years ago. Only about 700 tourists visit per year. Most of them only visit the bucolic Mount Victoria by bus, never meeting the tattooed women who remain isolated, hours away by foot. Those who do wish to meet them better pack good walking shoes and be prepared to sleep in smoke-filled local houses complete with rats.
There are a few different face tattoo patterns. The spiderweb tattoo is popular in the Mrauk U region. It takes a three hour long tail boat ride to reach this remote area. This tattoo is usually accompanied by a circle in the center of the forehead which represents the sun or lines under the nose symbolizing tiger whiskers.
Another design, known as the bee pattern, is common in the Mindat area. It is composed of dots, lines and occasionally circles. It is worn by the Muun tribe who inhabit the hills of the Arakan state.
The Magan tribeswomen wear huge earrings made of beads and calabashes. They can also play the flute with their noses.
I ventured to Kanpelet village in search of the women from the U Pu tribe who have the incredibly rare whole face tattoo. This is one of the most impressive styles: the entire face is inked up. Rumors had it that only three women in this area had the tattoo. After hours of off roading, I arrive in the village only to learn that one died recently and another was very ill. I was lucky enough to meet Pa Late. At 85, she is nearly deaf but still works hard with her family in a small house on the top of a little hill.
Pa Late said that a completely black face had become a symbol of beauty in the past. The few women who refused to do it looked ugly to the men. The tattoo took three days but the pain lasted over a month.
There are two ways to make the tattoo needle. The first consists of tying three pieces of bamboo together and the second uses thorns. The ink is a mixture of cow bile, soot, plants, and pig fat. It usually took one day to complete the standard tattoo and a few more for the totally black one. The tattoo artist was a specialist or in some cases a parent. Infection was a common problem as the girls had blood all over their face.
Everything, including the eyelids, was tattooed. Many women say that the neck was the most sensitive area.
Ma Aung Seim shared her memories of the tattoo sessions : “I was 10 years old. The day before the tattoo ceremony, I only ate sugarcane and drank tea. It was forbidden to eat meat or peanuts. During the tattoo session, I cried a lot, but I could not move at all. After the session, my face bled for 3 days. It was very painful. My mother put fresh beans leaves on my face to alleviate the pain. I had no choice if i wanted to get married. Men wanted women with tattoos at this time. My mother told me that without a tattoo on my face, i would look like... a man! The web drawn on my face attracted the men like a spiderweb catches insects!”
Not all the tattooed women live in remote areas deep in the mountains. Some have integrated into modern society. Miss Heu, 67, lives in Kanpelet. Her grandmother forced her to get tattooed. She lives in a modern house and even has TV (when electricity is not out). Chin people have maintained their modesty and shyness: when a movie showspeople kissing or making love, most of them still fast forward the scene.
As a leader in the local community, Miss Heu had the chance to meet Aung San Suu Kyi when she came in the area for a meeting. She is very aware of the tattooed women and the ethnicities that are forgotten by the central government. She says she and Aung San Suu Kyi are friends now. Heu’s daughter has graduated and works in Singapore.
The Chin culture is threatened by the government as their teachers are usually not Chin. For a long time, they fought for independence, but since the country began to democratize, things have calmed down.
“I am old. Soon I will die” says to me a Chin woman from Pan Baung village, while she does the gesture of drying tears from her eyes. In her village, only 6 tattooed woman remain alive. Those women are the last of their kind…
© Eric Lafforgue
4 May 2019. Experts examine the role of clean, affordable, and abundant hydrogen and its impact on democratizing energy for all.
The event was held during the 52nd Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors.
Learn more about the event.
Cluny Museum - Temporary Exhibition: Glass, an inventive Middle Ages
From September 20, 2017 to January 8, 2018.
The glass is, in the Middle Ages, the object of a real fascination. The exhibition traces ten centuries of an unknown creative abundance.
If they draw their inspiration from Antiquity or Islamic productions, master glassmakers also develop virtuosic techniques, such as Venetians, famous for enamelled goblets or craftsmen in the north of France, who develop the first glasses to rod.
From architecture, where the stained glass testifies to the virtuosity of craftsmen, to the most prestigious tables, glass is a luxury product. Over the centuries, it gradually democratizes in the form of civilian glazing or tavern cups.
But glass is also the precision work of service: urinals enable physicians to diagnose, stills used by apothecaries, mirrors that help reading - just like the glasses, which make their appearance in the late 13 th century .
The exhibition "The Glass, an inventive Middle Ages" features some 230 works with illuminations, paintings and engravings, which help us understand the uses of glass throughout the medieval period.
www.musee-moyenage.fr/activites/expositions/expositions-e...
THE POLICE SNATCH A SUSPECT OUT OF THE CROWD WITH THE HELP OF UNDERCOVER POLICE WHO WERE IN WITH THE PROTESTERS.
The riot police and police auxiliary finally showed up to clear out the protesters who were destroying property.
Saturday 1 December 2012 was inauguration day for the newly elected President of United Mexican States (MEXICO). While a friend and I were walking near where the inauguration was taking place, a small riot broke out around us; my friend being smarter than me immediately returned to the hotel while I stayed to take picture. A lot of young people showed up with bandanas covering much of their faces. The protesters were upset by the election of Pena Nieto, and believed election fraud had taken place. Several of the “rioters” identified themselves as belonging to Yo Soy 132.
Yo Soy 132 is an ongoing Mexican protest movement centered around the democratization of the country and its media. It began as opposition to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Enrique Peña Nieto and the Mexican media's allegedly biased coverage of the 2012 general election. The name Yo Soy 132, Spanish for "I Am 132", originated in an expression of solidarity with the protest's initiators.
The Chin tattooed women live in the Chin, Rakhine and Arakan states in northwestern Myanmar. The origin of facial tattoos in the region is unknown. Some believe that the practice began during the reigns of Kings long ago. The royalty used to come to the villages to capture young women. The men from the tribe may have tattooed their women to make them ugly, thereby saving them from a life of slavery. Interestingly, I heard a similar origin for body modification among the Mursi tribe in Ethiopia. As legend has it, the tribeswomen began wearing giant lip plates to make them uglier to would-be kidnappers. Now, the bigger the lip plate the higher the bride price.
For years, access to the tribal Mindat area was restricted by the burmese government. It was opened just two years ago. Only about 700 tourists visit per year. Most of them only visit the bucolic Mount Victoria by bus, never meeting the tattooed women who remain isolated, hours away by foot. Those who do wish to meet them better pack good walking shoes and be prepared to sleep in smoke-filled local houses complete with rats.
There are a few different face tattoo patterns. The spiderweb tattoo is popular in the Mrauk U region. It takes a three hour long tail boat ride to reach this remote area. This tattoo is usually accompanied by a circle in the center of the forehead which represents the sun or lines under the nose symbolizing tiger whiskers.
Another design, known as the bee pattern, is common in the Mindat area. It is composed of dots, lines and occasionally circles. It is worn by the Muun tribe who inhabit the hills of the Arakan state.
The Magan tribeswomen wear huge earrings made of beads and calabashes. They can also play the flute with their noses.
I ventured to Kanpelet village in search of the women from the U Pu tribe who have the incredibly rare whole face tattoo. This is one of the most impressive styles: the entire face is inked up. Rumors had it that only three women in this area had the tattoo. After hours of off roading, I arrive in the village only to learn that one died recently and another was very ill. I was lucky enough to meet Pa Late. At 85, she is nearly deaf but still works hard with her family in a small house on the top of a little hill.
Pa Late said that a completely black face had become a symbol of beauty in the past. The few women who refused to do it looked ugly to the men. The tattoo took three days but the pain lasted over a month.
There are two ways to make the tattoo needle. The first consists of tying three pieces of bamboo together and the second uses thorns. The ink is a mixture of cow bile, soot, plants, and pig fat. It usually took one day to complete the standard tattoo and a few more for the totally black one. The tattoo artist was a specialist or in some cases a parent. Infection was a common problem as the girls had blood all over their face.
Everything, including the eyelids, was tattooed. Many women say that the neck was the most sensitive area.
Ma Aung Seim shared her memories of the tattoo sessions : “I was 10 years old. The day before the tattoo ceremony, I only ate sugarcane and drank tea. It was forbidden to eat meat or peanuts. During the tattoo session, I cried a lot, but I could not move at all. After the session, my face bled for 3 days. It was very painful. My mother put fresh beans leaves on my face to alleviate the pain. I had no choice if i wanted to get married. Men wanted women with tattoos at this time. My mother told me that without a tattoo on my face, i would look like... a man! The web drawn on my face attracted the men like a spiderweb catches insects!”
Not all the tattooed women live in remote areas deep in the mountains. Some have integrated into modern society. Miss Heu, 67, lives in Kanpelet. Her grandmother forced her to get tattooed. She lives in a modern house and even has TV (when electricity is not out). Chin people have maintained their modesty and shyness: when a movie showspeople kissing or making love, most of them still fast forward the scene.
As a leader in the local community, Miss Heu had the chance to meet Aung San Suu Kyi when she came in the area for a meeting. She is very aware of the tattooed women and the ethnicities that are forgotten by the central government. She says she and Aung San Suu Kyi are friends now. Heu’s daughter has graduated and works in Singapore.
The Chin culture is threatened by the government as their teachers are usually not Chin. For a long time, they fought for independence, but since the country began to democratize, things have calmed down.
“I am old. Soon I will die” says to me a Chin woman from Pan Baung village, while she does the gesture of drying tears from her eyes. In her village, only 6 tattooed woman remain alive. Those women are the last of their kind…
© Eric Lafforgue
ANOTHER PHOTOGRAPHER AFTER THE ACTION SHOTS.
The riot police and police auxiliary finally showed up to clear out the protesters who were destroying property.
Saturday 1 December 2012 was inauguration day for the newly elected President of United Mexican States (MEXICO). While a friend and I were walking near where the inauguration was taking place, a small riot broke out around us; my friend being smarter than me immediately returned to the hotel while I stayed to take picture. A lot of young people showed up with bandanas covering much of their faces. The protesters were upset by the election of Pena Nieto, and believed election fraud had taken place. Several of the “rioters” identified themselves as belonging to Yo Soy 132.
Yo Soy 132 is an ongoing Mexican protest movement centered around the democratization of the country and its media. It began as opposition to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Enrique Peña Nieto and the Mexican media's allegedly biased coverage of the 2012 general election. The name Yo Soy 132, Spanish for "I Am 132", originated in an expression of solidarity with the protest's initiators.
It might be cool if the iPhone camera were doing these false color "broken Nintendo game" effects intentionally, rather than at random, by surprise, when you least want it to do so. Oh well.
Posted via email to ☛ HoloChromaCinePhotoRamaScope‽: Technicolor TMBG.
• • • • •
Via the Regent Theatre's web site:
A Special Family Show with . . .
They Might Be Giants
Benefit Concerts for Boston By Foot
Sunday, May 23 at 12pm and 3pm
Both shows sold out - thank you!
They Might Be Giants will be performing two special shows especially for families. These are full band, full length performances. Both shows are to benefit Boston By Foot, the non-profit group giving guided walking tours of Boston for over 33 years. All concert goers can also use their ticket stub to get a free tour from Boston by Foot, including Boston by Little Feet tours for kids, during the upcoming season. All profits will go to BBF. http://www.bostonbyfoot.org/
They Might Be Giants Biography
HERE COMES SCIENCE!
For alternative rock legends They Might Be Giants, rave reviews from the likes of Time Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Pitchfork, NPR and beyond might not be that unexpected, but we're not talking about their regular gig here. Sure, TMBG have sold millions of records, are multi-Grammy winners and have even composed a musical accompaniment for an entire issue of McSweeney's, but these most recent accolades are for the work TMBG has created for children and--as the reviews attest--no other band swings as effortlessly from adult music to children’s fare and back again with the artistic and commercial success of They Might Be Giants.
John Flansburgh and John Linnell's latest CD/DVD is Here Comes Science (Idlewild/Disney Sound). It's an ultra-vivid crash course through topics that in lesser hands could easily put kids to sleep. With rock anthems and electronic goodies crafted to amuse, intrigue and deliver the 4-1-1 on evolution, solar system, photosynthesis, the scientific method and more. Following Here Comes the ABCs and Here Come the 123s, Science is geared for older kids and it introduces ideas in a way that not only inform but will stay in your head forever.
While it may seem like an odd move for a duo recognized as the progenitors of the American alternative rock movement, it really all makes perfect sense. From their earliest days with Dial-A-Song through their online music distribution, TMBG have always challenged rock's status quo and gone out of their way to take their music to brand new audiences, and by the looks of things, they’re having a lot of fun doing it their way. The Giants use every bit of fan interactive technology by connecting with kids via regular podcasts and including a DVD of delightful animated interpretations of their songs with each Here Comes... album.
The band is constantly working on new music, new projects and touring--sometimes with 2 shows a day. Founders John Flansburgh and John Linnell, along with their long standing live combo of Dan Miller, Danny Weinkauf and Marty Beller, show no signs of swapping one successful gig (adult music) for another (children’s music). Rejoice people of Earth--there’s just that much more for us all to enjoy.
Question: You once said in an interview that TMBGs knew what you didn’t want to do with your music geared for kids: You didn’t want to tell them how to behave or write songs that are educational. But these songs are quite educational, and in fact, you have a science consultant on this record. Did you make a conscious decision to really teach something on Here Comes Science?
John Linnell: I think it’s still a record you can listen to for enjoyment, and that’s real important to us. I am perfectly comfortable with the idea of something that is pure entertainment, but I don’t think there is any need for something just purely educational from us. My sense of this record is that it is mostly fun, musical and interesting and it happens to have lyrics that talk about science.
Question: Did any Children’s books or albums make an impression on you when you were a child? Because now you’re making that impression on children.
John Flansburgh: We get that question a lot, and it’s a valid question, but speaking for myself, I feel like we have something to contribute to kid's music because what we're doing is actually lacking in the general culture. Generally, our stuff is not really coming out of any amazing experience with the kid's stuff from the past. Our childhood was during the really golden era of classic pop and singles. Those songs weren't really designed for kids, but the power of it spoke to us and a lot of other kids quite directly.
Curiously--although I see the obvious connections--we didn’t really grow up with all of the progressive kids stuff of the 70's. We were that micro generation of glitter-rock young teens listening to Alice Cooper and David Bowie and we totally missed the boat on Sesame Street and School House Rock and Free To Be You and Me. But even being a bit too old for it, you could tell there was something cool about that stuff. Basically the cartoons of our generation were either super-violent, like Spiderman, or the really simple-minded Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Question: Which one of you was the science student? Either or you? Neither of you?
J. Linnell: Specifically into science? I would say we were both middling students in school, but philosophically we are both, as adults, very pro-science. We like living in the post-enlightenment era in history. Are we still living in the enlightenment or is it over now, I can’t tell? Are we in the “en-darkenment” now?
J. Flansburgh: I think we’re actually in to the “gee whiz” part of science--all the scientific phenomenon that sparks your imagination. We certainly aren't academics, but there is something remarkable about the world of science and there are ideas in science that just send your mind reeling.
J. Linnell: One the things that is exciting about it is that it makes you realize that things that are true, that can be proven, aren’t always intuitive. There is a difference between what seems to be the case and what turns out to be proven to be the case, and that’s really exciting. The world isn’t always what it seems to be and it makes everything more wonderful in a way. You have an experience of the world, walking around, and then science provides knowledge about the world that is not always anything like the experience.
The history of scientific discovery is partly revealing things that you don’t always experience directly, it’s bizarre in a way that so much of what we know is stuff we can’t always experience directly, like molecules and galaxies.
Question: Does that make it easier or harder to write about Science?
J. Linnell: Well, both. There is a point that you do reflect that you’re trying to explain something preposterous. And luckily, I think kids know the whole world is strange and preposterous, but as they get older, they get used to the idea that there are facts they just have to take someone’s word for.
Question: Considering you guys once used an answering machine to showcase your material, how amazed are you that you have all of this media at your disposal – podcasts, internet, video, etc…how has it changed the way you work?
J. Flansburgh: We enjoyed having an easy-breezy, loose reputation in terms of getting our music out to people. It was very great to be the one of the few acts in the United States who wasn’t preoccupied with getting on the radio or a cash return on our music. Of course now there is almost no end to the free stuff, and it is cool to see how much you can get in to the world, but with the most popular videos on YouTube being cats jumping into a box or people getting pushed down escalators, part of me worries that all this electronic media is just in the service of turning our culture into an endless episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos.
J. Linnell: A lot of what the technology suggests to people is the democratizing of culture and the notion of interactivity kind of caught fire online early on. What’s weird for John and I is that we were never interested in either one of those things. We actually like the idea of controlling what we are doing and we like the old fashioned idea of there being quality control on culture, that you would get the “good stuff” and there would be a way, through a critical apparatus or institutions, that would deliver the good stuff and filter out the bad stuff. It feels like the big problem nowadays is that everything should be available to everyone at all times and the result is a lot of garbage to wade through…not to sound like an 80 year old man! (laughs)
Question: With your accompanying DVD, how did the directors and animators come together? Are they the same people from Here Come the 123s? How much creative control do you give the animators with your songs?
J. Flansburgh: We are the producers on all the animated material and we select the artists we collaborate with pretty carefully. We've been involved in a lot of television and video projects over the years and that was very good training for these projects. There is an expression in rock video production: “Good. Fast. Cheap. Choose two” It’s a very unreasonable thing to expect everything to come together on a tight budget. Our strategy is to give the animators a relatively long lead time so they can do something that will be a good portfolio piece for them and something cool for us. And although we’re on a tight budget, we can offer a large amount of artistic freedom, and that gives us the opportunity to work with the most creative people out there.
Question: For this tour, you’re doing both “kid” and “adult” shows, sometimes 2 in one day. How is it different when you perform in front of kids versus when you perform in front of adults?
J. Flansburgh: Whatever pretensions you might have about your performance get totally re-calibrated when you’re playing for kids–playing a kid show is probably a bit closer to being a school teacher than being a rock star. There are also a lot of parents in the audience and we address them as well which kind of breaks forth the wall of "kiddie-ness."
Just to address the questions we always get: “how is it different writing a song for kids or writing for adults?” or “performing for kids and performing for adults?” Well, there is a real overlap, but there are meaningful differences too. A good song works in a way that is kind of irreducible whether or not it’s for kids or adults. If a song has a strong melody or an interesting concept, it will animate any audience, but in performance, kids have a really short attention span, so keeping things moving is important. Routinely the confetti machine gets the biggest response of the day. That will keep your ego in check.
Although in the past, “Clap your Hands” and "Alphabet of Nations" worked for adults, by and large the kid stuff stayed in the kid show just because it's, well, for kids! (laughs). But with "Here Comes Science" a lot of the songs work good in the adult show. and that’s unusual. “Meet the Elements,” “My Brother the Ape,” “A Shooting Star is not a Star,” and “Why Does the Sun Shine” slid into the adult show without any second thoughts, and “I Am a Paleontologist” is totally rocking live.
Question: What’s next for They Might Be Giants?
J. Flansburgh: We’re working on a rock album right now, but we have so much touring interrupting our effort it's hard to know when it will get done, so the real answer is we're going to be spending a lot of time on a tour bus trying to figure out how to get the WiFi working!
Our children’s book collaboration with Pascal Campion, Kids Go, just came out at the end of last year on Simon & Schuster. It's actually a very beautiful project and a fulfillment of a dream of mine. When we were approached, I wanted to do an actual picture book, which very few people get to do, and it was exciting to realize that dream. A good picture book is something that really stays with you.
4 May 2019. Experts examine the role of clean, affordable, and abundant hydrogen and its impact on democratizing energy for all.
The event was held during the 52nd Annual Meeting of the ADB Board of Governors.
Learn more about the event.
Conviction of Liu Xiaobo for Incitement to Overthrow State Power, December 25, 2009
Chinese text follows the full English translation. Errors in spelling in the Chinese language transcription of the court verdict text that appeared on-line are corrected in the translation. A scan of the original text at crd-net.org/Article/Class18/lxb/200912/20091230104501_191...
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Chinese text from freemorenews.com/2009/12/26/liu-xiaobo-first-instance-ver...
Beijing Municipality First Intermediate People's Court Verdict in Criminal Case
(2009) First Intermediate Court No. 3901
Public Prosecutor: Beijing Municipality People's Procuratorate First Branch.
The accused, Liu Xiaobo, male, 53 years old (born December 28, 1955), Han nationality, born in Changchun City, Jilin Province, doctoral student level education, unemployed, household registration at Qingchun Street No. 5, 2-1-2, Xigang District, Dalian City, Liaoning Province. Resides temporarily at No. 7 Xiancun, Bank of China dormitory Building 10, Unit 1, No. 502 in the Haidian District of Beijing Municipality. In January 1991, he committed the crime of making counter-revolutionary propaganda but escaped criminal punishment; in September 1996 because he disturbed the social order, he was sent to re-education through labor for three years. He was summoned for detention on December 8, 2008 on suspicion of incitement to overthrow state power and on December 9 put under residential surveillance. On June 23, 2009 he was arrested. He is now confined to Beijing Municipality Detention Center No. 1.
Defense counsel: Ting Xikui, a lawyer at the Beijing Mo Shaoping Law Office
Defense counsel: Shang Baojun, a lawyer at the Beijing Mo Shaoping Law Office
Beijing Municipality People's Procuratorate First Branch in Beijing Procuratorate First Branch Criminal Prosecution Indictment (2009) 247 charged the accused Liu Xiaobo of the crime of incitement to overthrow state power and on December 10, 2009 filed the indictment in this court. This court according to law assembled the court and held an open court session to try the case. The Beijing Municipality People's Procuratorate First Branch sent Prosecutor Zhang Rongge and Deputy Prosecutor Pan Xuechu to sustain the indictment. The defense counsel for the accused Liu Xiaobo, Ding Xikui and Shang Baojun came to court to participate in the hearing. The trial has now already concluded.
The Beijing Municipality People's Procuratorate First Branch incitement accuses the defendant Liu Xiaobo has, due to his dissatisfaction with the people's democratic dictatorship state power system and socialist system of our country, since 2005, through various Internet websites such as "Observe China" and the "BBC Chinese Net" published articles such as "The Dictatorial Patriotism of the Chinese Communist Party", "How Can it be that Only Party-Guided Democracy is Suitable for the Chinese People?", "Change the Political Regime by Changing Society", "The Many Faces of the Chinese Communist Dictatorship", "The Negative Effect of the Rise of a Dictatorship on World Democratization", "Inquiring Further into the Case of the Child Slaves of the Black Kilns", and other inflammatory articles. The articles instigate rumors and libels such as "Since the Communist Party took power, the top priority of Communist dictators has been their own power and what they care least about is human life"; "The Chinese communist dictatorial state power promotes patriotism for officials, and the absurd theory of a party that takes the place of the state. What patriotism has become in effect is the call the people to love the dictatorial government power, to love the dictatorial party, to love the dictator. This is simply stealing the name of patriotism to create a reality that brings calamity to the country and to the people. "; "All the methods of the Chinese communists are based on a plan to support the rule and interests of the dictators, but there is no hope for them to continue for long since countless cracks have already appeared in the edifice of their dictatorship." "Expecting a free China to appear from the "new policies" of the rulers is far less likely that hoping for it to come through the steady expansion of 'new forces' among the people." Just as strong are these incitements: "Change the Society to Change the Regime", and "Expecting a free China to appear from the "new policies" of the rulers is far less likely that hoping for it to come through the steady expansion of "new forces" among the people."
Between September and December 2008, the defendant Liu Xiaobo colluded with others to draft and concoct the "Charter 08", that proposed views such as "eliminate the monopoly of one party on the exercise of political power", "to create a Chinese federation under the framework of democratic constitutional system of governance", seeking to incite the overthrow of state power. Liu Xiaobo collected the signatures of over 300 people and sent "Charter 08" together with the signatures in an email to websites outside of the borders of mainland China publish it on websites outside the borders of mainland China such as "Democratic China" and "The Independent Chinese Pen Association".
After Liu Xiaobo committed this offense, he was tracked down and brought to justice.
The Beijing Municipality Procuratorate First Branch provided to this court testimony of witnesses as to the guilt of of the defendant Liu Xiaobo. This included evidence such as the on scene investigation, the record of the investigation and electronic data that had been verified by the experts. The Beijing Municipality Procuratorate First Branch was convinced that the defendant Liu Xiaobo's behavior violated section 105 part two of the "Criminal Code of the PRC", and constituted incitement to the overthrow of state power, a serious offense. The Procuratorate handed the case over to this court for judgment according to the law.
The defendant Liu Xiaobo during the trial said that he was not guilty and that he was merely exercising the constitutional right of all citizens to free speech. The criticisms he expressed did not do any actual harm to anyone and is not incitement to overthrow state power.
Counsel for the defendant Liu Xiaobo argued that the six articles written by Liu Xiaobo mentioned in the indictment and "Charter 08" did not create rumors or libels and did not insult anyone. Moreover, said counsel, the articles published by Liu Xiaobo fall within the scope of the free speech of a citizen, expressing personal opinions and do not constitute incitement to overthrow state power.
During the trial it became clear that the defendant Liu Xiaobo, due to his dissatisfaction with the people's democratic dictatorship and socialist systems of our country, between October 2005 and August 2007, at his temporary residence at No. 7 Xiancun, Bank of China dormitory Building 10, Unit 1, No. 502 in the Haidian District of Beijing Municipality, wrote and published articles on websites such as "Observe China" and "BBC Chinese Language Net". On multiple occasions, he incited the overthrow of our country's political system and the socialist system. Liu Xiaobo in his articles "The Dictatorial Patriotism of the Chinese Communists", "How Could it Be That the Chinese People Are Only Suited to 'Party-Guided Democracy'", "Change the Political Regime by Changing Society", "The Many Faces of the Chinese Communist Dictatorship", "The Negative Effect of the Rise of a Dictatorship on World Democratization", and "Inquiring Further into the Case of the Child Slaves of the Black Kilns" slandered the Chinese Communist Party. He made statements in these articles such as "Since the Communist Party took power, the top priority of Communist dictators has been their own power and what they care least about is human life"; "The Chinese communist dictatorial state power promotes patriotism for officials, and the absurd theory of a party that takes the place of the state. What patriotism has become in calling on the people to love the dictatorial regime, to love the dictatorial party, and to love the dictator. This is simply stealing the name of patriotism to create a reality that brings calamity to the country and to the people. "; "All the methods of the Chinese communists are based on a plan to support the rule and interests of the dictators, but there is no hope for them to continue for long since countless cracks have already appeared in the edifice of their dictatorship." Equally as inciting are the statements "Expecting a free China to appear from the "new policies" of the rulers is far less likely that placing hope in its emergence through the steady expansion of "new forces" among the people."
Between September and December 2008, the defendant Liu Xiaobo colluded with others to draft a document entitled "Charter 08". That document proposed to "eliminate the monopoly of one party on the exercise of political power", "to create a Chinese federation under the framework of democratic constitutional system of governance" and other incitements. Liu Xiaobo colluded with others to collect the signatures of 300 people and then sent "Charter 08" together with the signatures in an email to websites outside of the borders of mainland China and released it on websites outside the borders of mainland China such as "Democratic China" and "The Independent Chinese Pen Association". The documents mentioned above that Liu Xiaobo put on websites were linked to and copied to other websites and viewed by many people.
The accused Liu Xiaobo after he committed this crime was investigated and brought to justice.
The facts above were proved during the trial. The evidence presented has been shown to be true and this court affirms that the following has been demonstrated to be true:
1. The testimony of the witness Liu Xia proves: She is the wife of Liu Xiaobo and lived together with him at No. 7 Xiancun, Bank of China dormitory Building 10, Unit 1, No. 502 in the Haidian District of Beijing Municipality, that there are three computers in the home, one a desktop and other two are notebooks. Because she doesn't understand anything about computers. Liu Xiaobo uses the computer mainly to write articles and to go on-line. Only two people, herself and Liu Xiaobo, live in the home, no-one lives with them. Only very seldom do guests come to visit -- when Liu Xiaobo participates in a meeting, it is almost always outside his home. She doesn't know how the computer connects to the Internet. Liu Xiaobo arranged for the Internet connection in late 2001. Their income comes chiefly from what Liu Xiaobo earns from his writings. Liu Xiaobo opened an account at the bank in her name. Deposits to the account for Liu Xiaobo's writings come irregularly. Every month she goes to the bank at irregular intervals to withdraw money.
2. The Beijing and Muxi branches of the Bank of China, Ltd. provided the "evidence of opening an account" and "bank money order receipt" that prove that Liu Xiaobo's wife Liu Xia went to the bank to receive and withdraw money orders (in foreign currency) coming from outside the borders of mainland China.
3. China United Network Communication Co., Ltd. Beijing subsidiary provided a "Reply to a request for assistance in conducting an examination of digital data". This proves: Liu Xiaobo used an ADSL account, and a record of his having gone on-line.
4. The testimony of the witness Zhang Zuhua proves: she together with Liu Xiaobo at the end of 2008 drafted and completed "Charter 08". She also collected signatures. Thereafter, Liu Xiaobo published "Charter 08" on websites outside the borders of mainland China.
5. The testimony of the witness He Yongqin proves: in early December 2008, he received an email from Liu Xiaobo contained "Charter 08". Liu Xiaobo let him see it and sign it if he wants. After reading the email, he replied to Liu Xiaobo that he agreed to sign it.
6. The testimony of the witness Zhao Shiying proves: that in October 2008, Liu Xiaobo sent "Charter 08" to him through the Internet and asked for his advice on revising it, and asked that he find other people willing to sign it. At a meeting, Zhao showed "Charter 08" to over ten people. Four of them said that there were willing to sign it. Liu Xiabo through the Internet also asked him to go to Guangzhou to collect signatures. In Guangzhou, he collected five signatures.
7. The testimony of the witness Yao Bo proves: that in October 2008, when Liu Xiaobo met him, and discussed the charter with him, and he agreed to sign it.
8. The testimony of the witness Zhou Duo proves: that one day in November 2008, Liu Xiaobo went to his home to show him the draft of "Charter 08", and asked for his help in revising it. After Liu Xiaobo left, he looked over the draft but did not revise it. He did not sign at that time, but later he saw the Charter on-line had his signature.
9. The testimony of the witness Fan Chunsan proves: that in late October 2008, when we was eating with Liu Xiaobo and others, Liu Xiaobo took out a copy of "Charter 08" for him to read. When Liu Xiaobo asked him whether or not he would sign it, he agreed to sign it. He knew that Liu Xiaobo has published this document already on websites outside the borders of mainland China such as "Boxun", "The Independent Chinese Pen Association". He had also read it on-line and knew that the Liu Xiaobo's document was of the kind that criticized contemporary politics.
10. The testimony of the witnesses Xu Junliang, Zhi Xiaomin and Teng Biao prove: that in November and December 2008, they received in their e-mail mailboxes "Charter 08" but did not know who had sent it. They each signed "Charter 08" and sent it back to the mailbox they had received it from.
11. The testimony of the witness Wang Zhongxia proves: that in December 2008, after reading "Charter 08" on-line, he found that he agreed with it and signed it. Later, he had printed some "Charter 08" shirts and wore it himself and gave to other people to wear in order to publicize "Charter 08".
12. The "investigation record" of Public Security organs and material evidence photographs of December 8, 2008 prove: that relying on the testimony of witnesses, Public Security searched Liu Xiaobo's residence at No. 7 Xiancun, Bank of China dormitory Building 10, Unit 1, No. 502 in the Haidian District of Beijing Municipality, found and took into custody the tools that Liu Xiaobo used to write the documents and to send them to websites -- two notebook computers, one desktop computer, and one copy of a printed document "Charter 08 -- Request for Comments".
13. The Beijing Municipality Networking Industry Association Forensic Electronic Data Center provided a "Judicial Testimony Opinion Document" proves: that on December 13, 2008, according to a forensic examination of the data stored on the three computers that authenticated the discovery of the electronic documents "The Dictatorial Patriotism of the Chinese Communist Party", "How Can it be that Only Party-Guided Democracy is Suitable for the Chinese People?", "Change the Political Regime by Changing Society", "The Many Faces of the Chinese Communist Dictatorship", "The Negative Effect of the Rise of a Dictatorship on World Democratization", "Inquiring Further into the Case of the Child Slaves of the Black Kilns" and "Charter 08". In the records of the software "Skype" on his computer were found and recorded from the software a record of multiple emails that he sent from November to December 8, 2008 multiple emails were sent containing "Charter 08" and the "request for comments" document.
14. The on the scene investigation by the Public Security organs, and record of the investigation and the explanation of the work proves:
1.The Beijing Municipality Public Security Public Information Network Security and Supervision Office First Detachment on December 19 - 23 discovered and downloaded the document signed "Liu Xiaobo" entitled "Liu Xiaobo The Dictatorial Patriotism of the Chinese Communist Party". The document resided on a website with the domain name epochtimes.com. The website server is outside the borders of mainland China. The document was marked as having been published on October 4, 2005. That document as of December 23, 2008 links were found to five websites that had either published or republished that document.
2.Between December 19, 2008 and August 3, 2008, Beijing Municipality Public Security Public Information Network Security and Supervision Officer First Detachment founded and downloaded from the Internet a document signed "Liu Xiaobo" entitled "Liu Xiaobo How Can it be that Only 'Party Guided Democracy' is Suitable for the Chinese People?". That document resided on the websites with the domain names epochtimes.com (The Epoch Times) and www.observechina.net (Observe China). Both website servers are outside the borders of mainland China. The document is marked published on January 5, 2006 and January 6, 2006. This document as of December 23, 2008 had been published or republished on five websites and had a total of 402 hits.
3.Between December 19, 2008 and August 3, 2008, Beijing Municipality Public Security Public Information Network Security and Supervision Officer First Detachment founded and downloaded from the Internet a document signed "Liu Xiaobo" entitled "Liu Xiaobo Change the Political Regime by Changing Society". That document resided on the websites with the domain names epochtimes.com (The Epoch Times) and www.observechina.net (Observe China). Both website servers are outside the border of mainland China. The document is marked published on February 26, 2006 and February 27, 2006. This document as of December 23, 2008 had been published or republished on five websites and had a total of 748 hits.
4.Between December 19, 2008 and August 3, 2008, Beijing Municipality Public Security Public Information Network Security and Supervision Officer First Detachment founded and downloaded from the Internet a document signed "Liu Xiaobo" entitled "Liu Xiaobo The Many Faces of the Chinese Communist Dictatorship". That document resided on the websites with the domain names www.secretchina.com (Secret China) and www.observechina.net (Observe China). Both website servers are outside the border of mainland China. The document is marked published on March 13, 2006. This document as of December 23, 2008 had been published or republished on six websites and had a total of 512 hits.
5.Between December 20, 2008 and August 3, 2008, Beijing Municipality Public Security Public Information Network Security and Supervision Officer First Detachment founded and downloaded from the Internet a document signed "Liu Xiaobo" entitled "Liu Xiaobo The Negative Effect of the Rise of a Dictatorship on World Democratization". That document resided on a website with the domain name www.secretchina.com (Secret China). The website server is outside the borders of mainland China. The document is marked published on May 7, 2006. This document as of December 23, 2008 had been published or republished on seven websites and had a total of 57 hits.
6.Between December 20, 2008 and August 3, 2008, Beijing Municipality Public Security Public Information Network Security and Supervision Officer First Detachment founded and downloaded from the Internet a document signed "Liu Xiaobo" entitled "Liu Xiaobo Persisting with a Deeper Inquiry into the Case of the Child Slaves of the Black Kilns". That document resided on websites with the domain names www.minzhuzhongguo.org (Democratic China) and www.renyurenquan.org (Human Rights in China). Both website servers are outside the border of mainland China. The document is marked published on August 1, 2007. This document as of December 23, 2008 had been published or republished on eight websites and had a total of 488 hits.
7.On December 11, 2008, Beijing Municipality Public Security Public Information Network Security and Supervision Officer First Detachment founded and downloaded from the Internet a document entitled "Charter 08". That document resided on the website with the domain name www.chinesepen.org (The Independent Chinese Pen Center). The website server is outside the borders of mainland China. The document is marked published on December 9, 2008 and is signed by a group of people. The same day, a document entitled "Chinese People From All Walks of Life Join Together to Issue Charter 08" was found and downloaded from the websites with the domain names boxun.com and www.minzhuzhongguo.org (Democratic China). Both of the website servers are located outside the boundaries of China and show publication dates of December 8, 2008 and December 12, 2008. This document as of December 12, 2008 had been published or republished on 33 websites including 19 outside the borders of mainland China and had a total of 5154 hits and 158 replies. On December 9, 2008, it was found that the website with the domain name www.2008xianzhang.info (Charter 08) had as of December 9, 2009 the signatures of 10,390 people who had signed "Charter 08".
8.The Beijing Municipality Public Security Public Information Network Security and Supervision Office investigated Liu Xiaobo's e-mails and as a result of that examination found that Liu Xiaobo's email mailbox is located outside the borders of mainland China. After using a password to get into that mailbox to check it, it was found that the earliest email sent from that mail box was dated November 25, 2008 and that 30 of the sent emails included "Charter 08".
15. Liu Xiaobo's signature in acknowledgement proves: that Liu Xiaobo confirmed the authenticity of documents downloaded and saved by the Public Security network monitoring and control departments "Liu Xiaobo The Dictatorial Patriotism of the Chinese Communist Party", "Liu Xiaobo How Can it be that Only Party Democracy is Suitable for the Chinese People?", "Liu Xiaobo Change the Political Regime by Changing Society", "Liu Xiaobo The Many Faces of the Chinese Communist Dictatorship", "Liu Xiaobo The Negative Effect of the Rise of a Dictatorship on World Democratization", "Liu Xiaobo Enquiring Further into the Case of the Child Slaves of the Black Kilns". Liu Xiaobo acknowledges that the documents in question were written by him and then published on the Internet. The evidence presented about demonstrate that those documents acknowledged by Liu Xiaobo contain inciting speech.
16. The defendant Liu Xiaobo's deposition proves: that Liu Xiaobo deposes that he used his computer to write and then publish on the Internet the documents described above. Liu Xiaobo and the evidence presented above are mutually confirmatory.
17. The account that the Public Security organs provided on the progress of the case proves: that Public Security on the evening of December 8, 2008 went to Liu Xiaobo's residence at No. 7 Xiancun, Bank of China dormitory Building 10, Unit 1, No. 502 in the Haidian District of Beijing Municipality in order to arrest Liu Xiaobo.
18. The previous "criminal verdict document" issued by the Beijing Municipality Intermediate Court (1990) Criminal Case 2373, the Beijing Municipality People's Government Re-education Through Labor Management Committee (96) Beijing Labor Case No. 3400 "Decision on Re-education Through Labor", proves: that Liu Xiaobo on January 26, 1991 although he committed the crime of making counter-revolutionary inciting propaganda was not given a criminal punishment; and that on September 26, 1996 because he had disturbed social order, his case was handled by giving him three years of re-education through labor.
19. Identification provided by the Public Security organs prove: that the name, residence and other information of the defendant Liu Xiaobo.
This court believes that the defendant Liu Xiaobo with the purpose of incitement to overthrow our country's people's democratic dictatorship system and socialist system, used the Internet to distribute his document because of its rapid speed, great scope, large social influence and the attention to which the people pay to it. He wrote the documents and used the Internet to publish it in order to slander and urge other people to overthrow our country's people's democratic dictatorship system and socialist system. This conduct already constitutes the crime of incitement to overthrow state power. Moreover, he has been committing this crime for a long while and the subjective evil caused is great. The published documents have been spread through links and republishing. People read them and they have a bad effect. This is the crime of a major criminal and should be severely punished according to law.
The Beijing Municipality First Intermediate Court First Branch believes that the facts are clear and the evidence has been confirmed that the defendant Liu Xiaobo committed the crime of incitement to overthrow and so he is found guilty of the crime for which he has been charged. As for the views presented by Liu Xiaobo and his defense counsel in court, the court found through its examination that the facts and evidence are sufficiently prove that Liu Xiaobo made use the characteristics of the Internet as a communications medium, by publishing slanderous documents on the Internet, to carry out his action of inciting the overthrow of our country's people's democratic dictatorship system and the socialist system. The actions of Liu Xiaobo are beyond the scope of freedom of speech and constitute a crime. Therefore, the pleas presented by Liu Xiaobo and his defense counsel cannot be established and this court does not accept them. According to the facts and nature of the crime committed by the defendant Liu Xiaobo, the circumstances, and the harm that has been done to society, this court according to Chapter 105, Section two; Chapter 55, Section one; Chapter 56, Section one, and Chapter 64 of the Criminal Code of the PRC, makes the following verdict:
1.The defendant Liu Xiaobo, for the crime of incitement to overthrow state power, is sentenced to prison for eleven years and deprivation of political rights for two years. (The sentence is to be served from the day of sentencing, with deduction for time in confinement on a day for day basis, that is from June 23, 2006 to June 21, 2020.)
2.All the materials that Liu Xiaobo used to commit the crime are to be confiscated (list follows).
3.If the defendant does not accept this judgment, an appeal can be made between two days and ten days after the issuance of this verdict, either through this court or directly to the Beijing Municipality Superior Court. The appeal should be accompanied by an original of this verdict together with two copies.
Jia Lianchun, Chief Judge
Bang Jiaowei, Assistant judge
Zhai Changxi, Assistant judge
December 25, 2009
Gu Xin, Court Clerk
The items confiscated when taken into custody are to be forfeited:
1.Notebook computer (IBM model T43), one
2.Notebook computer (Lianxiang model Chaoyang 700 CFe), one
3.Desktop computer (Lianxiang model Jiayue), one
4."Charter 08 request for comments draft (sealed together with the court papers), 7 pages+
freemorenews.com/2009/12/26/liu-xiaobo-first-instance-ver...
北京市第一中级人民法院刑事判决书
（2009）一中刑初字第3901号
公诉机关北京市人民检察院第一分院。
被告人刘晓波，男，53岁（1955年12月28日出生），汉族，出生土吉林省长春市，博士研究生文化，无业，户籍所在地辽寧省大连市西岗区青春街 5号2-1-2号，暂住北京市海淀区七贤村中国银行宿舍10号楼1单元502号。1991年1月因犯反革命宣传煽动罪被免予刑事处分；1996年9月因扰 乱社会秩序被处劳动教养三年。因涉嫌犯煽动颠覆国家政权罪于2008年12月8日被拘传，12月9日被监视居住，2009年6月23日被逮捕。现羈押在北 京市第一看守所。
辩护人丁锡奎，北京莫少平律师事务所律师。
辩护人尚宝军，北京莫少平律师事务所律师。
北京市人民检察院第一分院以京一分检刑诉（2009）247号起诉书指控被告人刘晓波犯煽动颠覆国家政权罪，于2009年12月10日向本院提起公 诉。本院依法组成合议庭，公开开庭进行了审理，北京市人民检察院第一分院指派检察员张荣革、代理检察员潘雪楮出庭支持公诉，被告人刘晓波及其辩护人丁锡 奎、尚宝军到庭参加诉讼。现已审理终结。
北京市人民检察院第一分院起诉书指控，被告人刘晓波出于对我国人民民主专政的国家政权和社会主义制度的不满，自2005年以来，通过互联网先后在 “观察”、“BBC中文网”等境外网站上发表《中共的独裁爱国主义》、《难道中国人只配接受“党主民主”》、《通过改变社会来改变政权》、《多面的中共独 裁》、《独裁崛起对世界民主化的负面效应》、《对黑窑童奴案的继续追问》等煽动性文章。在文章中造谣、诽谤︰“自从中共掌权以来，中共歷代独裁者最在乎的 是手中的权力，而最不在乎的就是人的生命”；“中共独裁政权提倡的官方爱国主义，是‘以党代国’体制的谬论，爱国的实质是要求人民爱独裁政权、爱独裁党、 爱独裁者，是盗用爱国主义之名而行祸国殃民之实”；“中共的这一切手段，都是独裁者维持最后统治的权宜之计，根本无法长久地支撑这座已经出现无数裂痕的独 裁大厦”。并煽动︰ “通过改变社会来改变政权”；“自由中国的出现，与其寄希望于统治者的‘新政’，远不如寄希望于民间‘新力量’的不断扩张”。
2008年9月至12月间，被告人刘晓波还伙同他人起草、炮制了《零八宪章》，提出“取消一党垄断执政特权”、“在民主宪政的架构下建立中华联邦共 和国”等多项主张，试图煽动颠覆现政权。刘晓波在征集三百余人签名后，将《零八宪章》及签名用电子邮件发给境外网站，在“民主中国”、“独立中文笔会”等 境外网站上公开发表。
被告人刘晓波作案后被查获归案。
北京市人民检察院第一分院向本院向本院移送了指控被告人刘晓波犯罪的证人证言，现场勘验、检查笔录，电子数据司法鉴定意见书等证据。认為被告人刘晓波的行為触犯了《中华人民共和国刑法》第一百零五条第二款之规定，已构成煽动颠覆国家政权罪，罪行重大。提请本院依法判处。
被告人刘晓波在法庭审理中辩称︰自己无罪，自己只是行使宪法赋予公民言论自由的权利，自己所发表的批评性言论，并未给他人带来实际损害，也没有煽动颠覆国家政权。
被告人刘晓波的辩护人在法庭审理中提出的辩护意见是︰公诉机关指控刘晓波撰写的六篇文章及《零八宪章》没有造谣、诽谤、诬蔑的内容。刘晓波所发表的文章属于公民言论自由、表达个人观点的范畴，不构成煽动颠覆国家政权罪。
经审理查明，被告人刘晓波出于对我国人民民主专政的国家政权和社会主义制度的不满，于2005年10月至2007年8月间，在其暂住处北京市海淀区 七贤村中国银行宿舍10号楼1单元502号，以撰写并在互联网“观察”、“BBC中文网”等网站发表文章的方式，多次煽动他人颠覆我国国家政权和社会主义 制度。刘晓波在发表的《中共的独裁爱国主义》、《难道中国人只配接受“党主民主”》、《通过改变社会来改变政权》、《多面的中共独裁》、《独裁崛起对世界 民主化的负面效应》、《对黑窑童奴案的继续追问》文章中诽谤︰“自从中共掌权以来，中共歷代独裁者最在乎的是手中的权力，而最不在乎的就是人的生命”； “中共独裁政权提倡的官方爱国主义，是‘以党代国’体制的谬论，爱国的实质是要求人民爱独裁政权、爱独裁党、爱独裁者，是盗用爱国主义之名而行祸国殃民之 实”；“中共的这一切手段，都是独裁者维持最后统治的权宜之计，根本无法长久地支撑这座已经出现无数裂痕的独裁大厦”。并煽动︰“通过改变社会来改变政 权”；“自由中国的出现，与其寄希望于统治者的‘新政’，远不如寄希望于民间‘新力量’的不断扩张”。
2008年9月至12月间，刘晓波又伙同他人撰写了题為《零八宪章》的文章，提出“取消一党垄断执政特权”、“在民主宪政的架构下建立中华联邦共和 国”等多项煽动性主张。刘晓波伙同他人在征集三百余人对文章的签名后，将《零八宪章》及签名用电子邮件发给境外网站，在“民主中国”、“独立中文笔会”等 境外网站上公开发布。刘晓波在互联网站发布的上述文章，被多家网站链接、转载并被多人瀏览。
被告人刘晓波作案后被查获归案。
上述事实，有下列经庭审举证、质证的证据在案证实，本院予以确认。
1、证人刘霞的证言证明︰她是刘晓波的妻子，与刘晓波共同居住在北京市海淀区七贤村中国银行宿舍10号楼1单元502号，家中一共有三台电脑，其中 一个台式机，两个笔记本电脑。因為她根本不懂电脑。刘晓波使用电脑主要是写文章和上网，家里只有她和刘晓波两个人单独住，没有其他人，平时家里也不怎幺来 客人，刘晓波有聚会也基本都是到外面去。家里的电脑以什幺形式上网她不清楚，是2001年底刘晓波联系安装的。她和刘晓波平日的生活来源就是刘晓波写东西 的稿费，刘晓波在银行以她的名字开户，稿费不定期的匯到帐户里，她每月不定期的去银行取钱。
2、中国银行股份有限公司北京市分行和木樨地支行出具的《开户证明》和《银行匯款单据》证明︰刘晓波的妻子刘霞的银行账户接收和支取过境外匯款（外币）。
3、中国联合网络通信有限公司北京市分公司出具的《关于协助对相关数据进行调查的復函》证明︰刘晓波使用的ABSL账号，有上网记录。
4、证人张祖樺的证言证明︰他与刘晓波于2008年年底共同制作完成了《零八宪章》，他也征集了签名，后刘晓波将《零八宪章》发表在境外网站。
5、证人何永勤的证言证明︰2008年12月初，他收到刘晓波发的《零八宪章》的电子邮件，刘晓波让他看后签名，他看后以电子邮件形式回復刘晓波，表示同意签名。
6、证人赵世英的证言证明︰2008年10月份，刘晓波通过网络向他传送了宪章，并征求他的修改意见，让他寻找别人签名，他在一次聚会上拿出宪章给聚会的十多人传看，有四人表示愿签名。刘晓波还通过网络让他到广州征集签名，他到广州征集了五人签名。
7、证人姚博的证言证明︰2008年10月份，刘晓波在一次与他见面时，跟他说了宪章的事，他同意在宪章后签名。
8、证人周舵的证言证明︰2008年11月份的一天，刘晓波到他家给他看了《零八宪章》的文稿，让他帮助修改。刘晓波走后他看了文稿，但没修改。当时没谈签名的事，可后来在网上看到宪章时有他的签名。
9、证人范春三的证言证明︰2008年11月底，他和刘晓波等人一起吃饭时，刘晓波拿出《零八宪章》给他看了，刘晓波问他是否签名，他同意签名。他知道刘晓波在境外的“博讯”、“独立中文笔会”等网站上发表文章，也在网上看到过，刘晓波写的文章内容都是时政评论类的。
10、证人徐君亮、智效民、滕彪的证言证明︰2008年11月至12月间，他们的电子邮箱先后接收到电子邮件《零八宪章》，不知是谁发给他们的，他们分别签名后将《零八宪章》发回了原邮箱。
11、证人王仲夏的证人证言证明︰2008年12月份，他在网上看到了《零八宪章》，他认同文章内容签了名。后他印制了一些《零八宪章》的文化衫，想自己穿和送给别人穿，宣传《零八宪章》。
12、公安机关出具的《搜查笔录》及物证照片证明︰2008年12月8日，公安机关在见证人的见证下，对刘晓波的居住地北京市海淀区七贤村中国银行 宿舍10号楼1单元502号进行了搜查，发现并扣压了刘晓波撰写并发送文章到互联网上的工具二台笔记本电脑、一台台式电脑和一份《零八宪章》（征求意见 稿）的打印件。
13、北京市网络行业协会电子数据司法鉴定中心出具的《司法鉴定意见书》证明︰2008年12月13日对搜查起获的刘晓波的三台电脑内存储的数据进 行了电子数据司法鉴定，鉴定中发现、提取到电子文本《中共的独裁爱国主义》、《难道中国人只配接受“党主民主”》、《通过改变社会来改变政权》、《多面的 中共独裁》、《独裁崛起对世界民主化的负面效应》、《对黑窑童奴案的继续追问》和《零八宪章》。
在电脑中的SKYPE聊天软件记录信息中，发现、提取该软件自2008年11月至12月8日间多次发送《零八宪章》及其“征求意见文本”的记录。
14、公安机关出具的现场勘验、检查笔录及工作说明证明︰
（1）2008年12月19日至2008年12月23日，北京市公安局公共信息网络安全监察处一大队，在互联网上发现并下载了暑名“刘晓波”的文章 《刘晓波︰中共的独裁爱国主义》，该文章存在于域名為epochtimes.com（大纪元）的网站，该网站服务器位于境外。文章显示发布时间為2005 年10月4日。该文章截止至2008年12月23日，在互联网上存在登载或转载该文章的网页链接共计5个。
（2）2008年12月19日至2009年8月3日，北京市公安局公共信息网络安全监察处一大队，在互联网上发现并下载了暑名“刘晓波”的文章《刘晓波︰难道中国人只配接受“党主民主”》， 该文章存在于域名為epochtimes.com（大纪元）和域名為http://www.obseruechina.net/（观察）的网站，网站服务器均位于境外，文章显示发布时间為2006年1月5日和2006年1月6日。该文章截止至2008年12月23日，在互联网上共存在登载或转载该文章的网页链接共计5个，总点击率402次。
（3）、2008年12月20日至2009年8月3日，北京市公安局公共信息网络安全监察处一大队，在互联网上发现并下载了暑名“刘晓波”的文章《刘晓波︰通过改变社会来改变政权》， 该文章存在于域名為epochtimes.com（大纪元）和域名為http://www.obseruechina.net/（观察）的网站，网站服务器均位于境外，文章显示发布时间為2006年2月26日和2006年2月27日。该文章截止至2008年12月23日，在互联网上存在登载或转载文章的网页链接共计5个，总点击率748次。
（4）2008年12月20日至2009年8月3日，北京市公安局公共信息网络安全监察处一大队，在互联网上发现并下载了暑名“刘晓波”的文章《刘晓波︰多面的中共独裁》， 该文章存在于域名為http://www.secretchina.com/（看中国）和域名為http://www.obseruechina.net/（观察）的网站，网站服务器均位于境外，文章显示发布时间為2006年3月13日。该文章截止至2008年12月23日，在互联网上存在登载或转载文章的网页链接共计6个，总点击率512次。
（5）2008年12月20日至2009年8月3日，北京市公安局公共信息网络安全监察处一大队，在互联网上发现并下载了暑名“刘晓波”的文章《刘晓波︰独裁崛起对世界民主化的负面效应》， 该文章存在于域名為http://www.secretchina.com/（看中国）的网站，网站服务器位于境外，文章显示发布时间為2006年5月7日。该文章截止至2008年12月23日，在互联网上存在登载或转载该文章的网页链接共计7个，总点击率57次。
（6）2008年12月20日至2009年8月3日，北京市公安局公共信息网络安全监察处一大队，在互联网上发现并下载了暑名“刘晓波”的文章《刘晓波︰对黑窑童奴案的继续追问》， 该文章存在于域名為http://www.minzhuzhongguo.org/（民主中国）和域名為http://www.renyurenquan.org/（人与人权）的网站，网站服务器均位于境外，文章显示发布时间為2007年8月1日。该文章截止至2008年12月23日，在互联网上存在登载或转载文章的网页链接共计8个，总点击率488次。
（7）2008年12月11日北京市公安局公共信息网络安全监察处一大队，在互联网上发现并下载了标题為《零八宪章》的文章， 该文章存在于域名為http://www.chinesepen.org/（独立中文笔会）的网站，该网站服务器位于境外，显示网络发布时间為2008年12月9日，作者署名為公民群体。同日在域名為boxun.com（博讯）和域名為http://www.minzhuzhongguo.org/（民 主中国）的网站，发现并下载了标题為《中国各界人士联合发布》，网站服务器均位于境外，文章显示发布时间為2008年12月8日 和2008年12月9日。上述文章截止至2008年12月12日，在互联网上存在登载或转载该文章的网页链接共计33个，其中境外网站19篇，总点击率 5154次，回復158篇。2009年12月9日，在域名為http://www.2008xianzhang.info/（零八宪章）的互联网站发现该网站首页显示截止至2009年12月9日，《零八宪章》签名共计10390人。
（8）、2009年8月14日北京市公安局公共信息网络安全监察处对刘晓波使用的电子邮件进行了核查，经查，刘晓波使用的邮箱属境外，通过密码登录邮箱中核实，邮箱发件箱中最早发件时间為2008-11-25，发送的邮件中有30封涉及发送《零八宪章》。
15、刘晓波签字确认的文章证明︰刘晓波对公安机关网络监管部门下载、保存的文章《刘晓波︰中共的独裁爱国主义》、《刘晓波︰难道中国人只配接受 “党主民主”》、《 刘晓波︰通过改变社会来改变政权》、《刘晓波︰多面的中共独裁》、《刘晓波︰独裁崛起对世界民主化的负面效应》、《刘晓波︰对黑窑童奴案的继续追问》、 《零八宪章》及从其电脑中提取的电子文本《中共的独裁爱国主义》、《难道中国人只配接受“党主民主”》、《通过改变社会来改变政权》、《多面的中共独 裁》、《独裁崛起对世界民主化的负面效应》、《对黑窑童奴案的继续追问》进行了辨认，刘晓波确认辨论的文章是其撰写并发布到互联网上的文章。刘晓波辨论并 签字确认的文章，有上述事实认定的煽动性言论。
16、被告人刘晓波的供诉证明︰刘晓波供认其使用电脑撰写上述文章并发布在互联网站上，刘晓波的供述与上述证据可相互印证。
17、公安机关出具的到案经过证明︰北京市公安局于2008年12月8日晚，到刘晓波的住处北京市海淀区七贤村中国银行宿舍10号楼1单元502号将刘晓波抓获。
18、原北京市中级人民法院（1990）中刑字第2373号《刑事判决书》、北京市人民政府劳动教养管理委员会（96）京劳省字第3400号《劳动 教养决定书》证明︰刘晓波于1991年1月26日因犯反革命宣传煽动罪被免予刑事处分；1996年9月26日因扰乱社会秩序被处劳动教养三年。
19、公安机关出具的身份证明材料证明了被告人刘晓波的姓名、住址等身份情况。
本院认為，被告人刘晓波以推翻我国人民民主专政的国家政权和社会主义制度為目的，利用互联网传递信息快、传播范围广、社会影响大、公眾关注度高的特 点，采用撰写并在互联网上发布文章的方式，诽谤并煽动他人推翻我国国家政权和社会主义制度，其行為已构成煽动颠覆国家政权罪，且犯罪时间长，主观恶性大， 发布的文章被广為链接、转载、瀏览，影响恶劣，属罪行重大的犯罪分子，依法应予从严惩处。北京市人民检察院第一分院指控被告人刘晓波犯煽动颠覆国家政权罪 的事实清楚、证据确实、充分，指控罪名成立。对于被告人刘晓波在法庭审理中提出的辩解及其辩护人发表的辩护意见，经查，本案庭审查明的事实和证据，已充分 证明刘晓波利用互联网的传媒特点，以在互联网上发表诽谤性文章的方式，实施煽动颠覆我国国家政权和社会制度的行為，刘晓波的行為显已超出言论自由的范畴， 构成犯罪。故刘晓波的上述辩护及其辩护人发表的辩护意见均不能成立，本院不予采纳。根据被告人刘晓波犯罪的事实、性质、情节和对于社会的危害程度，本院依 照《中华人民共和国刑法》第一百零五条第二款、第五十五条第一款、第五十六条第一款、第六十四条之规定，判决如下︰
一、 被告人刘晓波犯煽动颠覆国家政权罪，判处有期徒刑十一年，剥夺政治权利二年。
（刑期从判决执行之日起计算，判决执行以前先行羈押的，羈押一日折抵刑期一日，即自2009年6月23日起至2020年6月21日止。）
二、 随案移送的刘晓波犯罪所用物品予以没收（请担负后）。
如不服本判决，可在接到本判决书的第二日起十日内，通过本院或直接向北京市高级人民法院提出上述。书面上述的应提交上述状正本一份，副本二份。
审判长贾连春代理审判员郑文伟翟长璽
二零零九年十二月二十五日
书记员顾昕
扣押物品处理清单
先烈物品予以没收︰
1、 笔记本电脑（IBM牌T43型）1台
2、 笔记本电脑（联想牌朝阳700Cfe）1台
3、 台式电脑（联想牌家悦型）1台
《零八宪章》征求意见稿（随案卷封存）7页
Saturday 1 December 2012 was inauguration day for the newly elected President of United Mexican States (MEXICO). While a friend and I were walking near where the inauguration was taking place, a small riot broke out around us; my friend being smarter than me immediately returned to the hotel while I stayed to take pictures. A lot of young people showed up with bandanas covering much of their face. Here one of the protesters is taking a crack at an ATM machine; banks and foreign businesses were a target of the protesters. The protesters were upset by the election of Pena Nieto, and believed election fraud had taken place. Several of the “rioters” identified themselves as belonging to Yo Soy 132.
Yo Soy 132 is an ongoing Mexican protest movement centered around the democratization of the country and its media. It began as opposition to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) candidate Enrique Peña Nieto and the Mexican media's allegedly biased coverage of the 2012 general election. The name Yo Soy 132, Spanish for "I Am 132", originated in an expression of solidarity with the protest's initiators.
german/ english/ spanish:
Widerstand im Herzen des europäischen Krisenregimes 31. Mai und 1. Juni 2013 ###
Resistance in the Heart of the European Crisis Regime May 31 and June 1, 2013###
Resistencia en el Corazón del Régimen Europeo de la Crisis 31 de Mayo y 1 de Junio de 2013.###
Erneut rufen wir* zu europäischen Tagen des Protestes in Frankfurt am Main gegen das Krisenregime der Europäischen Union auf. Am 31. Mai und 1. Juni 2013 wollen wir den Widerstand gegen die Verarmungspolitik von Regierung und Troika – der EZB, der EU-Kommission und des IWF – in eines der Zentren des europäischen Krisenregimes tragen: an den Sitz der Europäischen Zentralbank (EZB) und vieler deutscher Banken und Konzerne – den Profiteuren dieser Politik.
Die Verarmungs- und Privatisierungsprogramme, die schon vor Jahrzehnten den Ländern des Globalen Südens aufgezwungen wurden, sind jetzt in Europa angekommen. Die deutsche Agenda 2010 war nur ein Modellprojekt für das, was in noch dramatischerem Umfang jetzt insbesondere in Südeuropa durchgesetzt wird. Diese Verelendung wird sich – auch hier – noch weiter verschärfen, wenn wir uns nicht wehren: der weitere Abbau sozialer und demokratischer Rechte. Damit soll die Zahlungsfähigkeit für die Renditeerwartungen der großen Vermögen erhalten bleiben und durch die Verbilligung und Prekarisierung von Lohnarbeit die „ökonomische Wettbewerbsfähigkeit“ Deutschlands und (Kern-)Europas auf dem kapitalistischen Weltmarkt gesteigert werden.
Gemeinsam mit den Menschen im Süden Europas sagen wir: „Don’t owe, don‘t pay!“ (Wir schulden nichts, wir zahlen nichts!) und wehren uns dagegen, dass die Sanierung des Kapitalismus in Europa auf dem Rücken der Lohnabhängigen, der Erwerbslosen, der Rentner_innen, der Migrant_innen und der Jugendlichen ausgetragen wird. Wir verweigern uns der Komplizenschaft mit der deutschen Krisenpolitik, die nicht nur katastrophale Folgen für die Lebensverhältnisse der Menschen im Süden Europas hat, sondern auch hierzulande die soziale Spaltung immer weiter vorantreibt. Deswegen kämpfen wir auch gegen die hier bereits erfolgten und in noch größerem Ausmaß drohenden Verschlechterungen von Lebens- und Arbeitsbedingungen, die zudem geschlechtsspezifisch ungleich verteilt sind und somit die Geschlechterungerechtigkeit verschärfen. Zu uns gehören Initiativen gegen steigende Mieten, kommunale Verarmung und Schikanen am Jobcenter, gegen Abschiebungen, Lager und Residenzpflicht.
Immer wieder wird versucht, uns zu spalten, z.B. mit dem Hinweis, ‚es wäre genug für die Griechen gezahlt‘. Keine Griechin, kein Grieche ist gerettet, vielmehr sind Banken und Konzernen ihre Rendite gesichert worden. Wir widersetzen uns dem Versuch, mit solchen nationalistischen Parolen Beschäftigte, Erwerbslose und Prekäre in Deutschland und Griechenland, in Italien, Portugal und Frankreich oder anderen Ländern gegeneinander aufzuhetzen. Insbesondere bekämpfen wir alle (neo)faschistischen Tendenzen, Aufmärsche und Veranstaltungen. Wir wehren uns auch gegen jedwede reaktionäre oder rassistische Kriseninterpretation – gleich ob von „Unten oder Oben“ – gleich ob in antisemitischer, antimuslimischer oder antiziganistischer Form.
Wir sind Teil der internationalen Bewegungen, die sich seit Jahren gegen die Angriffe auf unser Leben und unsere Zukunft wehren, für soziale Rechte und Alternativen kämpfen, neue Formen von demokratischer Organisierung und solidarischer Ökonomie entwickeln. Wir widersetzen uns der autoritären Durchsetzung der Spar- und Reformpakete, die in eklatantem Widerspruch zu demokratischen Prinzipien steht, und treten für die Demokratisierung aller Lebensbereiche ein. Wir widersetzen uns der Durchsetzung wirtschaftlicher Interessen mit Krieg und Rüstungsexport. Wir widersetzen uns dem kapitalistischen Wirtschaftsmodell, das auf globaler Ausbeutung basiert, notwendig Armut und soziale Ungleichheit produziert und die Natur systematisch zerstört.
Wir tragen unseren Protest, unseren zivilen Ungehorsam und Widerstand an den Sitz der Profiteure des europäischen Krisenregimes nach Frankfurt am Main. Von polizeilicher und juristischer Repression, die Bewegungen an vielen Orten weltweit und auch uns trifft, lassen wir uns nicht einschüchtern, sondern begegnen ihr mit grenzüberschreitender Solidarität.
Setzen wir unsere Solidarität gegen die Politik der Spardiktate! Machen wir deutlich: Wir werden nicht zulassen, dass die Krise weiter auf den Rücken von abhängig Beschäftigten, Erwerbslosen, Rentner_innen, Prekären, Studierenden, Flüchtlingen und vielen anderen abgeladen wird, weder anderswo, noch hier. Die Frankfurter Protesttage schließen damit an die weltweiten Proteste des vergangenen Jahres, die Proteste im Frühling in Brüssel und anderswo sowie an die Bewegungen für einen Alter Summit in Athen an.
Wir werden gegen die Politik von Bundesregierung und der ganz großen 4-Parteien-Koalition, gegen die Politik von EZB, EU-Kommission und IWF demonstrieren.Wir werden die EZB blockieren.Wir werden die öffentlichen Plätze in der Wirtschafts- und Finanzmetropole Frankfurt okkupieren – wir sind BLOCKUPY!
* Blockupy ist ein bundesweites Bündnis, in dem zahlreiche Gruppen, Organisationen und einzelne AktivistInnen mitarbeiten. Wir sind in unterschiedlichen sozialen und politischen Gruppen oder Strömungen aktiv. Bisher beteiligen sich Attac-AktivistInnen, Gewerkschaften, antirassistische Netzwerke, Parteien wie Die Linke, Occupy-AktivistInnen, Erwerbsloseninitiativen, studentische Gruppen, Nord-Süd-, Friedens- und Umweltinitiativen, die Linksjugend [‘solid], die Grüne Jugend sowie linksradikale Zusammenschlüsse wie die Interventionistische Linke und das Ums-Ganze-Bündnis. ↩
Mehr Informationen auf der HP: www.blockupy-frankfurt.org
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Call for Action: Blockupy Frankfurt!
Resistance in the Heart of the European Crisis Regime May 31 and June 1, 2013
Again we* call for European days of protest in Frankfurt on the Main against the crisis regime of the European Union. On May 31 and June 1, 2013, we want to carry the resistance against the policies of impoverishment of government and Troika- EZB, EU-Comission and IMF-into one of the centers of the European crisis regime: to the domicile of the European Central Bank (ECB) and of many German banks and corporations- the profiteers of these policies.
The programs of impoverishment and privatizations, which already decades ago have been imposed on the countries of the Global South, now have arrived in Europe. The German Agenda 2010 was just an archetype for what now in even more dramatic extent is enforced especially in Southern Europe. This pauperization will aggravate further – also here- if we do not defend ourseleves: the ongoing cutback of social and democratic rights. Thereby the capacity to pay for the expectations on yeald return of large fortunes are to be sustained, the „economic competitiveness“ of Germany and (Central)Europe in the capitalist world market is to be enhanced through the price-reduction and precarization of waged labor.
Together with people in Southern Europe we say: „Don’t owe, don‘t pay!“ and resist the restructuring of capitalism in Europe on the backs of empoyees and unemployed, retirees, migrants and youth. We defy the complicity with the German crisis policies, which not ony have catastrophic consequences for people in Southern Europe, but also in this country even further deepen the social divide. Therefore we also fight against the deterioration of living and working conditions, already implemented here and imminent to an even larger extent. Its effects are also gender-specifically unequally distributed and thus aggravate gender injustice. Initiatives against rising rents, municipal impoverishment and harrasment of unemployed persons, against deportations, isolation camps and mandatory residence are part of us.
Consistently it is tried to divide us, e.g. by saying that „enough has been paid for the Greek“. No Greek person has been saved, in fact the yeald return of banks and corporations has been assured. We defy the intent to incite employees, unemployed and precarious in Germany and Greece, in Italy, Portugal, France or other countries against each other with such nationalist slogans. Especially we fight against all (neo)fascist tendencies, marches and events. We also oppose any form of reactionary or racist crisis interpreation- no matter if from „below or above“, no matter if anti-Semitic, antiMuslim or antiziganistic.
We are part of the international movements who for years have been resisting the attacks on our life and our future, fight for social rights and alternatives, develop new forms of organization and solidarian economy. We oppose the authoritarian imposition of packages of austerity and reforms, which are in blatant contraditction to democratic principles, and stand up for the democratization of all aspects of life. We defy the assertion of economic interests through war and exports of weapons. We defy the capitalist economic model which is based on global exploitation, necessarily produces poverty and social injustice and systematically destroys nature.
We carry our protest, our civil disobedience and resistance to the domicile of the profiteers of the European crisis regime to Frankfurt on the Main. We will not let ourselves be intimidated by police and judicial repression which globally affects movements on many places including ourselves, but react with border-crossing solidarity.
Let´s show our solidarity against the politics of austerity dictates! Let us make clear: We will not permit that the crsis is continuously loaded on the backs of wage earners, unemployed, retirees, precarious, students, refugees and many others, neither here nor anywhere else. The Frankfurt days of protest thereby join last year´s global protests, the protests in spring in Brussels and other places and the movements for an Alter Summit in Athens.
We will demonstrate against the policies of the federal governemnt and the really grand 4-party-coalition, against the policies of ECB, EU-Comission and IMF. We will block the ECB. We will occupy public squares in the economic and financial metropolis Frankfurt – we are Blockupy!
*Blockupy is a federal coalition in which numerous groups, organizations and individual activists collaborate. We are active in different social and political collectives or currents. So far take part: Attac-activists, unions, antiracist networks, parties like Die Linke, Occupy-activists, unemployed initiatives, student groups, North-South, peace and environmental initiatives, the leftyouth [‘solid], the green youth, as well as radical left associations like Interventionist Left and Ums-Ganze-Alliance.↩
informations: www.blockupy-frankfurt.org
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Convocatoria: ¡Blockupy Frankfurt!
Resistencia en el Corazón del Régimen Europeo de la Crisis 31 de Mayo y 1 de Junio de 2013.
Otra vey nosotrxs* hacemos un llamado para jornadas europeas de protesta en contra del régimen de crisis de la Unión Europea en Fráncfort del Meno. El 31 de Mayo y el 1 de junio queremos llevar la resistencia contra las políticas de emprobrecimiento del gobierno y de la Troika – BCE, Comisión Europea y FMI- a uno de los centros del régimen europeo de la crisis: A la sede del Banco Central Europea (BCE) y de muchos bancos y consorcios alemanes- los beneficiarios de esta política.
Los programas de empobrecimiento y de privatizationes, que ya hace décadas han sido impuestos a los paises del Sur Global, ahora han llegado a Europa. La Agenda 2010 alemana sólo era un proyecto piloto por lo que ahora se impone de alcanze aún mas dramático especialmente en el Sur de Europa. Esa depauperización se agudizará aún más – también aquí- si no nos defendemos: la reducción contínua de derechos sociales y democráticos. Así se pretende mantener la capacidad de pago para las expectativas de rédito de las grandes fortunas y de aumentar la „competitividad económica“ de Alemania y (del Centro de) Europa en el mercado mundial capitalista a través del abaratamiento y de la precarización del trabajo asalariado.
Juntxs con las personas en el Sur de Europa decimos: „¡No debemos, no pagamos!“ y resistimos la subsanación del capitalismo europeo a costa de salariadxs, desempleadxs, jubiladxs, migrantes y jóvenes. Denegamos la complicidad con la política alemana de la crisis, que no solamente tiene consequencias nefastas para las condiciones de vida de la gente en el Sur de Europa, sino que también en este país aumenta cada vez más la division social. Por eso también luchamos contra el deterioro de condiciones de vida y de trabajo ya implementado aquí y amagante de extensión aún más masiva. Sus resultados además son redistribuidos desigualmente de forma género específica, agravando todavía más la injusticia de género. Parte de nosotrxs son iniciativas en contra del aumento de alquileres, del empobrecimiento municipal y acoso a desempleadxs, en contra de deportaciones, campos de aislamiento y residencia obligatoria.
Una y otra vez se intenta dividirnos, por ejemplo diciendo que se „ha pagado suficiente para los griegos“. Ningunx griegx ha sido salvado, al contrario el rédito de bancos y corporaciones ha sido asegurado. Nos oponemos al intento de incitar asalariadxs, desempleadxs y precarixs en Alemania y Grecia, Italia, Portugal, Francia y otros paises lxs unxs en contra de lxs ortxs con consignas nacionalistas de este tipo. Especialmente luchamos en contra de todas las tendencias, marchas y eventos (neo)fascistas. Nos oponemos también a cualquier intrerpretación reaccionaria o racista de la crisis- no importa si desde „abajo o arriba“- no importa si de forma antisemita, antimusulmán o antiziganista.
Somos parte de los movimientos internacionales, que desde años están resistiendo los ataques a nuestra vida y nuestro futuro, que luchan por derechos sociales y alternativas, desarrollan nuevas formas de organización democrática y de economía solidaria. Nos oponemos a la imposición de paquetes de austeridad y de reformas, que están en contradicción masiva con principios democráticos, y reividicamos la democratización de todos los aspectos de la vida. Resistimos contra la imposición de intereses económicos a través de la guerra y de la exportación de armas. Nos oponemos al modelo económico capitalista, que se basa en explotación global, necesariamente produce pobreza y desigualdad social y sistematicamente destruye la naturaleza. Llevamos nuestra protesta, nuestra desobedencia civil y nuestra resistencia a la sede de los benificiarios del régimen europeo de la crisis a Fráncfort del Meno. No nos dejamos intimidar por la represión policial y judicial, que gol
pea los moviminetos en muchos lugares del mundo incluyendo a nosotrxs, sino que la contestamos con solidaridad transfronteriza.
¡Pongamos nuestra solidaridad contra la política de los dictados de austeridad! Dejémos claro: No permitiremos que la crisis siga cargada en las espaldas de asalariadxs, desempleadxs, jubiladxs, estudiantes, refugiadxs, y otrxs, ni aquí ni en otros lugares. Las jornadas de protesta en Fráncfort continuan las protestas mundiales del año pasado, las protestas en la primavera en Bruxellas y otros lugares como los movimientos para un Alter Summit en Atenas.
Nos manifestaremos en contra de la coalición muy grande de cuatro partidos, contra las políticas de BCE, Comisión Europea y FMI. Bloquearemos el BCE. Ocuparemos las plazas públicas de la metrópolis económico-financiera Fráncfort- ¡Somos Blockupy!
* Blockupy es una coalición a nivel federal, en la cual cooperan numerosos colectivos, organizaciones y activistas individuales. Participamos activamente en diferentes grupos o corrientes sociales y políticos. Hasta ahora toman parte activistas de Attac, sindicatos, redes antiracistas, partidos como Die Linke, activistas de Occupy, iniciativas de desempleadxs, colectivos estudiantiles, iniciativas Norte-Sur, por la paz y el medio ambiente, la juventud de izquierda [‘solid], la juventud verde, así como federaciones de la izquierda radical como la Izquierda Intervencionista y la Alianza Ums Ganze..
Hybrid Knowledge Spaces is the title of the Ars Electronica Garden Dresden hosted by Industrial Design Engineering TU Dresden (DE), Communication Networks TU Dresden (DE), Schaufler Lab TU Dresden (DE), Deutsches Hygiene Museum Dresden (DE).
The TU Dresden garden offers new perspectives on the technological and social implications of our digital age. How can we shift our designs to a more humanity-centered approach in a post-pandemic world? With respect to the need for sustainable societies, we may intertwine digital and analogue spaces to experience others and share knowledge in an open, immersive and ecological way. Technologically, this development will be accelerated by the next-generation communication tech: 6G. With decreased latency and extremely fast data processing, the interface solutions connecting humans to machines will increase in importance and be accessible to more and more people around the globe. The democratization of knowledge and skills goes hand in hand with a diversification of interface systems according to the different knowledge systems used. Whereas databases need a visual representation, skills such as playing the piano require haptic feedback to support learning. Additionally, interfaces need to be diversified, not just with respect to group status but even more so on an individual level. This raises questions for designers about the personal and, perhaps, the cultural implications of their work.
The program contains a Demo Show and Panel Talk called "From Digital Pianists to Democratizing Skills".
Photo: Tina Bobbe