If only all of our commutes could be this eventful.
Li’l Mummy Comes Forth in the Day (2013)
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I just got word that my exhibitor application for Rose City Comic-con has been accepted, and I’ll be sharing table space in Artist’s Alley with my old pal (and former Tranquility Base studio-mate) Lisa Eisenberg. Lisa’s a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to hanging out with her and a bunch of comics for a couple days.
I’ll have a lot of minicomics there at the show, including the Lincoln mini, my Li’l Monsters series, reprints of Chutney Point issues, hopefully some art prints and other projects, and a few other things still in the works. I’m also planning on doing 1-hour drawings live at the table, which is always a challenge for me.
I haven’t been to Rose City before, but it’s being co-organized by my friends up at the Emerald City Comicon. I heard a lot of good chatter after last year’s show, and was really kicking myself that I missed it. So, I’m really looking forward to hitting the floor and exhibiting at a convention again after so many years spent behind the scenes! I’ll post more details as they’re available, but for now, go check out the RCCC site and save the date!
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“In the Nightgown of the sullen moon / How the windows lean into the room.”
They’ll Need a Crane EP, track 4: Nightgown of the Sullen Moon. (Listen on iTunes)
I was at a used bookstore one day, doing some nostalgia shopping in the kids’ books section, and I found a copy of the children’s book this song was titled after. As the story goes, one of the John’s saw a drawing by a child with the title “Nightgown of the Sullen Moon” on it, and he thought it was such a great, creative title that they decided to use it for a song. They didn’t realize until much later that the child got the title from a children’s book (I think this was explained in the liner notes for “Then: The Early Years”).
I never understood how the title fit with the song, which is ostensibly about that weird moment of timelessness and disorientation when you take a really serious fall and things get a bit surreal (“Drug trip / it’s not a drug trip / so you feel a bit insulted”). The same thing happened to me once when I was a little kid – fell off some playground equipment and knocked myself unconscious. I recognized the dreamlike sense of gravity from the song instantly, and the intense focus on random details.
Anyway, the book was good. I was very excited to find a copy of it, and doubly so to find that it had great art by David McPhail, who’s always been one of my favorite illustrators. It’s very much out of print, so good luck finding a copy!
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“I’ll sink Manhattan / I’ll sacrifice friends / I think they’d understand my plan / I’ll never be sure.”
They’ll Need a Crane EP, track 3: I’ll Sink Manhattan. (Listen on iTunes)
Another in a long line of great break-up songs. Must have been a rough one, if he’s willing to sink the entire island to get rid of one person. I know the song describes the flood waters rising, but I always imagined the city going down like the Titanic, towers tipped over. I included the twin towers here, again, because it’s how I always imagined this going down. Besides, the towers were still there when they wrote this song, this is the Manhattan they grew up with, so I’m sticking with it.
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“So I’m rattling the bars around this drink tank discretely / I should pour through the keyhole or evaporate completely”
They’ll Need a Crane EP, track 2: It’s Not My Birthday. (Listen on iTunes)
I always felt a little sorry for this guy, the cake always seemed like such a weighty responsibility that he didn’t even ask for or expect. This is also TMBG’s first use of the ‘There’s no percentage in it” figure of speech, which I’d never heard before, and I think this instance is a better use of the phrase than in their more recent “Old Pine Box”. The lyrical play here: “There’d be no percentage/and there’d be no proof”, as in the way that alcohol content is measured, is one of the great ways that TMBG’s music increased my vocabulary growing up, and gave me a deeper appreciation for using double meanings in poetic lyrics. Well done, guys!
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