No nationalism but Terry Nationalism

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Elizabeth Sandifer

Elizabeth Sandifer created Eruditorum Press. She’s not really sure why she did that, and she apologizes for the inconvenience. She currently writes Last War in Albion, a history of the magical war between Alan Moore and Grant Morrison. She used to write TARDIS Eruditorum, a history of Britain told through the lens of a ropey sci-fi series. She also wrote Neoreaction a Basilisk, writes comics these days, and has ADHD so will probably just randomly write some other shit sooner or later. Support Elizabeth on Patreon.

26 Comments

  1. Chris
    November 16, 2013 @ 1:20 am

    Well at least the pre-order link for Kindle exists. Pre-ordered!

    Reply

  2. Kevin Stafford
    November 16, 2013 @ 5:59 am

    And I just received my copy yesterday from Amazon!

    Reply

  3. Champiness
    November 16, 2013 @ 6:19 am

    Based on the nature of the frying pan line in "Particle Man", and your previously stated conjectures about what that song might mean, I'd say "what it's really like to get hit with a frying pan" will have something to do with the negative ramifications of living in the geek culture that TMBG reflects, or perhaps just living outright – a sort of "dark night of the soul" for the book.
    Of course, it could also just be about the history of slapstick comedy.

    Reply

  4. matt bracher
    November 16, 2013 @ 8:21 am

    Does it matter, Kindle v. paper copy?

    Reply

  5. Elizabeth Sandifer
    November 16, 2013 @ 8:27 am

    Paper helps boost our first-week sales, but it doesn't matter enough that anyone shouldn't get the version they want.

    Reply

  6. BerserkRL
    November 16, 2013 @ 9:58 am

    Frying Pan is obviously a reference to the Greek god Pan, who like all the Greek gods is actually one of Satan's demons (1 Corinthians 10:20) and so of course is frying in hell with the rest of the sinners. Being "hit with" him is obviously a typo for being hit ON by him. Just say no.

    Reply

  7. John Toon
    November 16, 2013 @ 11:45 am

    No wave: "Particle Man". Wave vs Particle… he could be either, but the particle is no wave. Let's talk about No Wave Man. He's doin' the things he can in his jazzy-punky non-commercial scene, but nobody cares – "What's he like? It's not important." (We might even say nobody sees No Wave Man – in which case he cannot be collapsed by direct observation. Maybe he still is Particle Man.) "Is he a dot, or is he a speck?" – on the map of commercial music, neither, presumably. "When he's underwater, does he get wet?" When he's underground, does he get dirty? Or does the dirt get him instead? Or does he avoid the dirt, the filthy lucre, the soiled hands of A&R Man (who's he, Triangle Man?) altogether by going underground? Nobody knows. No Wave Man.

    Reply

  8. Elizabeth Sandifer
    November 16, 2013 @ 6:33 pm

    Thank you! But you should guess to get a free copy too! 🙂

    Reply

  9. Matthew Blanchette
    November 16, 2013 @ 7:18 pm

    You know, Phil, I really wish you'd change your look back to this: http://333sound.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/alex_phil_and_the_band.jpg

    At least S. Alexander had a consistent look, it seems.

    Reply

  10. BerserkRL
    November 16, 2013 @ 8:50 pm

    Yes, I think we should all be in charge of how our host looks.

    Reply

  11. elvwood
    November 17, 2013 @ 3:51 am

    I'd offer some intelligent comment but I keep getting distracted by the fact that SOMEONE keeps moving my chair! >:(

    Good luck with the book!

    Reply

  12. Ed Jolley
    November 17, 2013 @ 6:45 am

    Did a large procession wave their torches as my head fell in the basket?
    Dead

    The traditional accompaniment to the torches wielded by stereotypical mobs is the pitchfork, and yet there is no mention of such an implement in the lyrics to Dead. But what does this omission indicate?

    Bearing in mind the symbolism of the pitchfork in Grant Wood's American Gothic, and the sentiments implied by the track Minimum Wage, it may be a straightforward critique of the Protestant work ethic, but other readings are possible. Could it indicate wholesale rejection of the agrarian lifestyle (or, at least, an expression of sympathy with the viewpoint expressed by Talking Heads' The Big Country and (Nothing But) Flowers)? The ideal of a bloodless revolution (with the decapitation of the song's narrator a reminder that such ideals are rarely lived up to)? An attempt to indicate approval of the mob, by removing from their hands the tool often associated with cartoon devils? Or something less obvious?

    Reply

  13. jsd
    November 17, 2013 @ 7:20 am

    I'll buy a digital version the second it is available. I've revisited TMBG since you mentioned you were doing a book on them. My daughter (9yo) is now addicted to Istanbul. Can't get her into anything else yet but I'm working on it…

    Reply

  14. Matthew Blanchette
    November 17, 2013 @ 9:00 am

    For starters, I appoint YOU his new hairstylist!

    Reply

  15. BerserkRL
    November 17, 2013 @ 9:15 am

    Nah, pitchforks are for rural mobs. Peasants use pitchforks in farming. Guillotine mobs tend to be urban.

    Reply

  16. BerserkRL
    November 17, 2013 @ 9:28 am

    You should introduce her to the original version too.

    Reply

  17. Champiness
    November 17, 2013 @ 2:50 pm

    And there goes my hope of winning the "entertainingly wrong guess" copy…

    Reply

  18. Josiah Rowe
    November 17, 2013 @ 3:33 pm

    I have nothing witty to say about TMBG, except to note that "Particle Man" is about the pre-Socratic philosophers. But I was a CTY kid too, about a decade before Phil, and I smiled to see that the phrase "mandatory fun" survived at least a decade in the CTY lexicon.

    Reply

  19. Chris
    November 17, 2013 @ 5:01 pm

    When Flood hit the scene, I was too young to really understand music. I heard their version of "Istanbul" and was all "they ruined that song!" At twelve years old, I was a crotchety old man, but I've gotten better, Benjamin Button style, and today I appreciate songs as abstract compositions removed from any particular performance.

    Reply

  20. Chris
    November 17, 2013 @ 5:20 pm

    How Long A Pop Song Is Supposed To Be

    Everything that needs to be said about this topic was already said by The Residents. If you wish to award them the prize, I'll be happy to accept the award on their behalf. The following comes from the CD release of The Commercial Album:

    Point one: Pop music is mostly a repetition of two types of musical and lyrical phrases, the verse and the chorus.

    Point two: These elements usually repeat three times in a three minute song, the type usually found on top-40 radio.

    Point three: Cut out the fat and a pop song is only one minute long. Then record albums can hold their own top-40, twenty minutes per side.

    Point four: One minute is also the length of most commercials, and therefore their corresponding jingles.

    Point five: Jingles are the music of America.

    Conclusion: This compact disc is terrific in shuffle play. To convert the jingles to pop music, program each song to repeat three times.

    Reply

  21. Ed Jolley
    November 17, 2013 @ 6:28 pm

    Guillotine mobs tend to be urban.

    But Guillotines aren't the only means by which people can be decapitated.

    Reply

  22. BerserkRL
    November 17, 2013 @ 7:33 pm

    They're the only method that works consistently and reliably for me.

    Reply

  23. Froborr
    November 17, 2013 @ 8:40 pm

    Yes, I went to the "junior" CTY (forget if it had a special name…) in 92 and the real camp in 94. I distinctly remember having to suffer through quite a bit of mandatory fun.

    One of the towering regrets of my life is turning down the girl who asked me to the dance at the '92 camp. In my defense, I was 11 and still a couple of months away from puberty, but still.

    Reply

  24. Ed Jolley
    November 18, 2013 @ 6:29 am

    If guillotining is what works best for you, that's fine. Nevertheless, others have favoured the use of other implements such as axe, sword or the decidedly rural scythe.

    Reply

  25. encyclops
    November 18, 2013 @ 3:45 pm

    Hopefully Accurate Guess:

    "Everybody wants a [pet] rock to wind a piece of string around [and drag it behind them as though it were on a leash]."

    Probably Inaccurate Conjecture:

    "This song refers to the Baby Boomers and their regressive reaction to the emerging punk culture of the 70s."

    Reply

  26. encyclops
    November 18, 2013 @ 3:49 pm

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    Reply

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