As we stare into the void of a touring gap of undetermined length, this blog and I once again face the prospect of several months without live They Might Be Giants to enjoy and report on. My solution this summer was the creation of several weekly features to make the time go by a little faster. I've been enjoying these a lot and I hope they've been fun for you as well.
Heading into this new lull, I'd like to change things up a bit. I want to change Stage Announcements into an "as it happens" sort of thing rather than a weekly round up, meaning I'll post news as I find it rather than waiting until the end of the week. By the time Friday rolls around I often feel like I am reporting on old news and I've also been struggling to make interesting posts on slow news weeks like the ones we've been having lately. Hopefully, sharing news and interviews and such immediately will alleviate both problems, though if anyone has any strong feelings about leaving it as is I am happy to hear them.
This would leave Fridays open for a new feature. I have an idea but it relies heavily on the involvement of you, the people, so I need to know if anyone is actually interested before proceeding. I'd like to give all of you an opportunity to share your TMBG story in a feature called TMBG And Me. Tell us how you became a fan, what the music means to you, how the lyrics to your favorite song explain your soul, how making eye contact with Linnell at a concert changed your life, how the band led you to your future spouse, basically anything that shares your passion for the band. You can write an essay, a poem, sing a song, make a video, a piece of art, pretty much sky's the limit. My idea is that you would each sign up for a specific week, send me what you'd like to post and I'll put them up every Friday. Is this something that anyone would be interested in participating in? You don't have to be a regular follower of my blog. I'll take entries from anyone, anywhere.
I am also completely open to suggestions for other features. Does anyone have any ideas for things they'd like to see? I am willing to add in features for other days of the week if anyone has suggestions. Would anyone be interested in a Song of the Day discussion?
Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. I look forward to hearing any suggestions and seeing what people think of my idea. Don't be afraid to tell me you aren't interested. I'm a big girl. I can take it :-)
Heading into this new lull, I'd like to change things up a bit. I want to change Stage Announcements into an "as it happens" sort of thing rather than a weekly round up, meaning I'll post news as I find it rather than waiting until the end of the week. By the time Friday rolls around I often feel like I am reporting on old news and I've also been struggling to make interesting posts on slow news weeks like the ones we've been having lately. Hopefully, sharing news and interviews and such immediately will alleviate both problems, though if anyone has any strong feelings about leaving it as is I am happy to hear them.
This would leave Fridays open for a new feature. I have an idea but it relies heavily on the involvement of you, the people, so I need to know if anyone is actually interested before proceeding. I'd like to give all of you an opportunity to share your TMBG story in a feature called TMBG And Me. Tell us how you became a fan, what the music means to you, how the lyrics to your favorite song explain your soul, how making eye contact with Linnell at a concert changed your life, how the band led you to your future spouse, basically anything that shares your passion for the band. You can write an essay, a poem, sing a song, make a video, a piece of art, pretty much sky's the limit. My idea is that you would each sign up for a specific week, send me what you'd like to post and I'll put them up every Friday. Is this something that anyone would be interested in participating in? You don't have to be a regular follower of my blog. I'll take entries from anyone, anywhere.
I am also completely open to suggestions for other features. Does anyone have any ideas for things they'd like to see? I am willing to add in features for other days of the week if anyone has suggestions. Would anyone be interested in a Song of the Day discussion?
Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. I look forward to hearing any suggestions and seeing what people think of my idea. Don't be afraid to tell me you aren't interested. I'm a big girl. I can take it :-)
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If it's similar to what I'm imagining from the name (an open thread dedicated to anything remotely related) and isn't restricted entirely to the better-known songs, I think "Song of the Day" sounds awesome! You'd have one comment on each of those, at least. :P I don't know if I'd submit much to the "TMBG and Me" idea, but that could turn out interesting too.
ReplyDeleteI see a lot of interesting potential in the TMBG And Me idea, and I'd be happy to contribute my 19-year story. "of the Day" sounds a little, um, frequent? Maybe "Song of the Weekdays that contain a T"?
ReplyDeleteWell, I think I'd be a little shy to submit to the fan stories thing, but I love hearing fan stories, so I think it would be interesting. Sure I have a few, just... I don't know. I'd feel silly, haha.
ReplyDeleteBut "Song of the Day" or whatever sounds fun. I feel like it would turn into a kind of TMBG and Me. Where we all talk about our memories with the song and whatnot alongside what we love about the song. Why not?
Could perhaps contrib, though would be anonymously. 18 years of history here. Appreciate you on twitter, brw
ReplyDeleteTMBG and Me -- yes! I'm pretty non-creative (and also pretty busy), so I think my only contribution could be the story of my fandom, which might actually be fun to write out. But I'm sure I'd enjoy others' more original entries. Really, anything you post here would be welcome as far as I'm concerned. With no concerts in sight, I think I discovered your blog (and all its fantastic photos) just in time. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for responding guys. That was a pretty mixed bag of answers.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like some of you would be interested in TMBG and Me but probably not enough to make it a weekly feature. I'm wondering if I could use a rotating cycle of features on Fridays and intersperse that with some other things. Of course I don't have any particular ideas for the other things. Anybody?
I think I am going to do the Song of the Day thing because I think it might be fun. I'll pick the songs at complete random, then everybody can discuss whatever they want about them.
Song Of The Day (or week, or whatever) would be interesting, I think. I'm interested in tidbits and opinions and stories and personal experiences others have to offer, and like Erin said, I think it may turn into a sort of TMBG And Me except without other forms of expression (songs, poems, drawings, etc.)
ReplyDeleteThe original idea of TMBG And Me be quite interesting, too, but I don't know if I'd be able to submit anything really worth viewing. I'd just enjoy seeing what other people submit.
Still doing audience participation Mondays?
Another thing I'm interested in that I don't know if you'd want to include but could be fun is fan fiction pieces on TMBG. I've never actually read one -- about TMBG or anything else -- but I've heard of them and they sound quite intriguing. *ramble ramble..*