Nearfantastica

*sniff* No "Man from Harold Wood?" I realize that initially it was just tagged on as an outro to Flashdance, but it *is* still listed on the back cover of this record. *is pouting* Oh well. "Life Beyond" is a good one too:)

Er, no...these are demos as well. They're "demo recordings" or "demo tapes." Matt recorded them independently as "demonstrations" of his work in an effort to get signed to a major label. We've been calling these songs the MG "demo's" for ten years now, and just because some geocities website says otherwise is a ridiculous notion. Hell, even the website is sort of on the right track: "The CD 'release' known as History Teacher is a compilation of demos, albums, and EPs that preceded Matt's emergence onto the public scene with Last Of The Ghetto Astronauts." And just to clarify for the people that *don't* know? That History Teacher "release" was also illegal (though I will say that whoever is making copies of it in exchange for a charitable donation is on the right track. Kudos to them) Matt hasn't started releasing other "demos" until very recently (ie: 2004) so I would say it's still perfectly alright to refer to the songs that predated his Astronauts release as "demos." And with a note to the poll: I favor Parable myself:)

I had mixed feelings about it. We went and saw it with 40 other people at an empty midnight showing on Wednesday last week. I thought it was kind of funny that a 30 second spot of Kong fighting a t-rex in the original turned into a 15 minute spectacle of violent goodness in this version. I suppose we can thank PJ for that. It did run a tad long, but visually, it was a gorgeous film. I had few problems with it, and I enjoyed this new Kong. That managed to capture his character very well. What suprises me the most about this movie release is the number of people who hadn't seen King Kong in the past and were judging this as the most original concept since the creation of the wheel. What part of "bringing a classic into the 21st Century" part of the banner do these people no understand? *shrug* I thought it was a good movie. Not the greatest film of our generation or anything, but decent.

At this point, I don't care who wins as long as it's not Steph...get rid of her! She had her shot. They should have chopped her weeks ago!

Agreed! Steph needs to go ASAP. Rafe deserves to win.

I'm not familiar with the smurfs as communists, but I heard a "Klan" analogy years ago. A bunch of guys wandering around in white caps with a leader who wears a red cap, and the "evil" smurfs were all black. It traumatized me to think of one of my favorite programs as a child having such a negative conotation, subtle or not.

I had thought Kevin Costner was rumored to play Indi's brother in that film. O_o T4....iffy. I HATED the last one with a passion (excuse me, but if you're writing a sequel to a hugely successful franchise, you might want to at least make sure you get the TIMELINE figured out so that it follows the canon. grrr) But if James Cameron is returning, there might be hope. Arnie *is* too old, but I've sat through enough crap movies with aging stars to not care so much anymore. I just watched JP3 on TBS, and it stinks...almost as bad as the second one, which I couldn't stand. Empire Strikes Back notwithstanding, I usually don't like sequels. There are a few sequels I'm looking forward to though, and they're all scheduled for release in '06. Merlin's Apprentice (The sequel to the miniseries "Merlin" that was on tv in 1998. I don't know *how* they're going to manage to do a sequel to that story, but Sam Neil is returning as Merlin, so it has my interest) POTC: Dead Man's Chest. I loved the first one, and Johnny Depp makes the most fabulous pirate to grace the screen. They released the trailer for this movie this week, and Bill Nighy is set to play Davey Jones. It looks hysterical. X3. Comic Book inspired movies, if done well, are suited to sequels. I'll go and see this out of principal. It's sad that they can't come up with anything original in Hollywood anymore, but at the same time, I'm a sucker for brining back my fav characters over and over...

I have the American version. I got it free from an Atlantic Records "street preacher" whom I knew back in the day. I can't imagine paying $162 US to own it though. O_o Especially since it's basically just a crappy little booklet with cheap staples for a "binding."

lol. Good one! I have pictures of Pat in a silly scenario that he'd probably not appreciate being shared on the internet. How's that for teasing?

As far as I know, the cover art for "Broken" is the only time he ever used one of his paintings in the linear notes.

I love Pat. Funniest guy ever:) Did he do the "cowbell" thing at all the Ladies and Gentlemen performances over this tour? He is nice though. Very fun guy to chat with.

Some of them are actually double-sided. The water cycle art can be found on the back of the larger posters. So, if you see one of those, and they don't mention what's on the back, ask. Chances are good it'll be the image you're looking for.

Holy shite. $162 US?! That's what it went for, eh? *wonders what a signed copy would go for* Well, it's nice to know if I have trouble paying my bills...

I've read that article before....one of their other publications somewhere in the country printed it. It's sad to see that they couldn't even write a proper show review and instead rehashed something from elsewhere.

I'm so glad he came out for you then. I wasn't convinced either, but I only waited for 40 minutes before we took off. Ah well, I guess I'm not die hard enough to wait that long (I was f@#$ing frozen). Still, I'm glad he came out eventually. What total BS about the airport crap, eh? LOL

It's cold. I thought the set was brilliant. This probably isn't the right order, but these are the songs he played: The Rat Who Would Be King Avalanche Load Me Up Empty Road Suburbia 21st Century Living ** Everything is Automatic Blue Skies Over Badlands Hello Time Bomb Weapon Advertising On Police Cars Giant Alert Status Red Prime Time (Acoustic) Apparitions **(No Rant. Has it been like this throughout the tour, or was this a technical difficulty?) Am I missing anything? I'm getting older and I've seen him play so many times they start to bleed together. At any rate, I got two tour firsts: PTD and AOPC. I couldn't be happier with Matt's performance. The Ladies and Gentlemen seemed to have some kind of sonic feel to them. While some of their sounds were very interesting, as soon as they fired up the ol' keyboard I couldn't help but picture Ross on "Friends." Highlight from their set: MORE COWBELL. Pat, I fucking love you. Downsides of the show included the un-enthusiastic people behind me who kept bitching about my screaming. I'm sorry if you were there and I annoyed you, but I get pretty excited at these shows. And it's certainly not MY fault that I know what the song is after a note or two. I also like to dance. I'm not paying $30 to stand stock still and listen. I want to dance, and yes....I sing along too. Though I usually only mouth the words because I'm there to hear Matt sing, not myself. My biggest peeve of the evening: being told by the hotshot security reps that Matt had taken off "to the airport" to reach his next destination. Uh huh. Don't piss in my ear and telling me it's raining. Matt doesn't have an $80 000 Tour Bus for nothing. It was snowing and shitty outside and I don't doubt that Matt wasn't feeling up to hanging out after the show. I just wish that people would have a bit more respect for those of us out *in* the snow, and tell us the truth. I can't figure on Christian, Pat and Rich playing the same show as Matt when *they* didn't bolt to the "airport." A simple "he's not up for it tonight, folks" would have sufficed. Instead, I found the security staff to be very rude with their comments about the "losers in the snow." Being told to "move out of the way, like as in, go home" by some snot-nosed little puke wasn't a very happy moment for me. So yeah, it was an amazing show.....drunkards will be drunkards, and that's all there is to it. Hopefully my pictures turned out. I'll post them if they do.

"Good spot" is all relative:) Maybe it's because I'm (old)er than I once was...but I prefer standing back a bit now. I can hear the sound better, and I'm not left with bruises afterward:) At any rate, I will be there with a few long-term fans tomorrow night. Maybe I'll see some people around. I won't carry a sign, and I have no idea what I'll be wearing yet, but I'm reasonably tall with shoulder-length red hair and black framed glasses. I'll definitely be loitering by the bus afterwards, so if you see me, come and say hello if I don't say hi first. I hope everyone enjoys the show:) Be safe.

at what time are you planning this conregation? It's been my experience in the past that that is where the line starts...at the bottom of the stairs. I'm just thinking about the scary angry eyes while attempting to "meet" there. Just a thought:)

Yeah, me too... I guess it was supposed to be rather low key.

Those were sold in limited quantities just before and during the first leg of the BM tour in 99. I saw them for sale during the Freezing Our Asses Off Tour with Moist. They were later replaced with the round soccer logo patch versions made by Kappa in 2000. I hope that helps:)

Blame Atlantic Records for that fiasco. Universal didn't want to touch the US Market with a ten foot pole.

I don't have any digital photos of Matt and me handy..but I found this one of my buddy that I took last fall at Mac Hall. I edited his mug out because I have no right to post it on the net...mostly I'm sharing this because I love Matt's coat and thought you could all admire it with me. ;) *nice coat*

I think it's beautiful. I love instrumental arrangements. I've been waiting for ages for some musically talented soul to do just this. Thanks so much for sharing! If you ever do anymore, please share again!

I don't think this thread is creepy...not really. It's within our nature as fanatics to consume information about theguy. I *DO* think that Matt's wedding photo's being available online is a bit creepy, but that's just me. ;) I remember Matt saying once that he lived in his parent's basement, and he got used to sleeping with the dryer on. It got to the point where he couldn't sleep unless there was some dryer-like noise. I've always found that story amusing, because I sleep next to a dryer myself, and it f!cking sucks.

Hello. I'm looking for an IAC poster featuring the rabbit. I have posters from every MG release except LOTGA, and I need to get my hands on one of these to complete the collection. I have $$$, but I also have a couple of stickers from the USA Beautiful Midnight release, AOB, Avalanche and WLRRR. I also have extra MGB skater logo clothing tags (I'm fresh out of patches, so please don't ask). I have a couple of old MGB t-shirts that I've worn maybe once or twice as well that I might be willing to part with. On top of that, I have every fricken song you could want on MP3, and am more than willing to burn CD's and ship. If you have an extra IAC poster that you're looking to get rid of, please message me, or email me: [email protected] Thanks:)