....you find yourself answering many of his interview questions before he can...... because he actually needs time to think about the answer but you don't... and you get it right.
...you make a cover band for him over the internet, and suggest a "vacuum cleaner solo" for one of the songs... or ...request songs that he has never played live, or even never played accompanied by guitar...
ETA: ...raise your hand before he asks for volunteers for "Chiron Beta Prime"...
...You overhear the phrase "Heya, Tom" and turn to see if the speaker is a Zombie... (this actually happened to me once, and in the cafeteria no less. To top it all off, the other guy (Tom, presumably) then turned around and responded, "Oh, hey Bob". It was a bit weird).
...Whenever anyone uses some variation of the phrase "What's with all the ____" you mentally fill in the word "screaming", and envision a monkey-pony monster.
...Almost everything reminds you of a JoCo song, and you have to restrain yourself from talking about it so people don't think you're nuts. (e.g., when a non-JoCo fan mentions Ikea, or invites you to dinner at Applebee's, or says something about Tom Cruise, or god forbid you see someone using a shopvac, or etc, etc, etc.) And even if you restrain yourself from talking about it, you can't get the song out of your head....
(Hey Bry, you should link, because when I saw this thread before going to bed last night, I thought, 'I should search Bry's blog and link to that song! That is, if I can be bothered finding it.' And now I find that you mentioned it but didn't link, thus crushing my hopes of not having to Google. Besides, I'm going to link to my blog, so you wouldn't look narcissistic in comparison.)
...when you hear the name of the new New Zealand prime minister, the first thing you think is that it rhymes with 'ponkey'.
...you stalk JoCo all over England, and when you get a contract with a Texan university, you hope that you'll have to visit said university some day when there's a JoCo concert nearby.
(I can relate to Jmonkee's, I say, 'I have a song about that!' several times a day, but they're not all JoCo songs.)
Not exactly JoCo, but allied since it is more of a Paul and Storm thing- Your psych professor says the next test on human development will be on "Adolescence to Death" and you instantly add "Is the name of my emo rock band" to the phrase in your notebook.
[This was done over two years ago, and it was literally the first thing I ever did in the fandom. To give you an idea, I joined the forums in order to promote this thing.]
It's not so much that I'd like to have a beer with JoCo -- although I'm sure that would be fun -- as I'd like to learn how to do what he does, as far as music production. (Which, in fact, is what I'm trying to teach myself). I mean that "what he knows" and "what he does" are more interesting to me than "who he is." He'd probably agree with that, as he seems to be less ego-driven than a lot of performers. Even Zaphod Beeblebrox, president of the galaxy, was just this guy, you know?
JoAnn: I think yes, one of Paul and Storm's goals is to adolescence their audience to death. I also mean that in the nicest possible way of course!
I'm just imagining the 3 of them in the van for these cross-country drives. Do think think, in between their fascinating discussions about Sartre's Being and Nothingness, the Federalist Papers, and the Upanishads, they ever take a moment for a simple fart joke? : P
TO be honest... Thats why I *stayed away* at Glasgow. I nipped over to say hi and tell him about the Ponkey, met Kerrin et al... But then left the man alone.
And after the gig, once I'd taken my stuff back to the car, the invite was there to go back. But I had *had* my moment (Met him, saw him, filmed him, on stage with him, met him (He stole my new sharpie)), and didn't want to impose...
Paulrpotts- have you ever seen any videos of what they eat on those road trips? I suspect that it isn't just one long fart joke but that the windows are usually left open to prevent methane asphixiation...
Paul: I remember hearing in an interview (jawbone radio, maybe?) that JoCo said he was looking for the next "big project". Maybe it could be instructional material... "How To Write, Record, and Publish JoCo Songs for Dummies", anyone?
voidptr: I have actually been thinking along the same lines. He might find it boring at this point, but a lot of people would love the opportunity to learn what he has learned about how to produce a full song from scratch. The problem is likely to be that, like many musicians, he does most of what he does by intuition (turn the knobs until it sounds good) rather than thinking everything through analytically. I think this is one reason that this kind of knowledge is usually transmitted by apprenticeship/practical experience than by books or videos.
..You write two versions of an ode to Jonathan Coulton. ...Your husband exacts a promise from you not to leave him for Jonathan Coulton. ;-)
Colleen, those are great. And I can relate to your other thing too!
I've had the thought to pen a tribute to Jonathan to the tune of Washy Ad Jeffy, but haven't set down to do it yet. "Jonathan Coulton, Internet Star, ...etc." Would have to figure out a way to word it to not worry my husband further, too...
@JoeCov, I think a lot of us have that feeling, and rightfully so, not to impose on JoCo. Sure, he's this cool music guy and he writes songs we like and he is willing to talk to us, but he is also a regular guy who doesn't know you. I always try to keep it formal when I talk to him, be it an age thing or just general "we don't actually know each other" thing.
...every time there's a new concert announcement, your immediate thought is "Hey, I could go to that one. I just have to [insert complete rearrangement of life and/or finances here]."
If you are me this thought is quickly followed by "Guess I should bring my husband along so he doesn't think I'm more obsessed than I am."
(And my personal thought trio is completed (still quicker) by the realization that the actual bringing of said husband increases the complication equation exponentially, given his Joconess won't break down and visit Vancouver!)
...when one of your greatest musical ambitions is to sing alongside JoCo at a concert ...when you wake up to go to your job as a programmer humming 'Code Monkey' ...when learning the lyrics to all of JoCo's songs seems like it's just going to happen by natural processes, rather than as a part of any particular effort on your part (this has nearly happened to me with Karine Polwart songs, but she's not done quite as many yet due to not having done a Thing A Week)
...when one of your greatest musical ambitions is to sing alongside JoCo at a concert ...when you wake up to go to your job as a programmer humming 'Code Monkey'
...you should quit your job as a code monkey and become a singer/songwriter/internet superstar.
... when your idea of requesting a song is to make a homemeade memento that relates the events in that song (it also helps if he calls you his stalker when introducing the song).
...when learning the lyrics to all of JoCo's songs seems like it's just going to happen by natural processes, rather than as a part of any particular effort on your part...
...including the complete lyrics to DNA... (no, I don't know them)
Thanks for the welcome! On the topic of husbands... mine's a big JoCo fan and actually thought I wrote the Ode to JoCo for him... the fact that I included him in the lyrics helped!
Ive been sitting on this for a long time because its just so embarrassing; but I suppose I can talk about it now. Not because its any less embarrassing but because since Jonathan has moved it doesnt reveal private information about him anymore. This is a story about how a bored geek, cool online tools and a little bit of detective work may cost youre your privacy. A couple of years ago someone pointed out a device on one of the map services called birdseye view. Similar to street view, but from the air, it provides oblique angle views of the buildings below. Around that same time I saw a video about Jonathan with footage shot on the roof of his old apt. I know it was his roof because his friend Awryone, who used to post here more often, mentioned he had a nice roof complete with a pergola and stuff. Apparently it was the roof he was cleaning up with a shop vac that inspired the song of the same name. Anyway, I noticed the video provided a couple of different views of the cityscape behind him including a few unique looking buildings. This got me to thinking, I knew what part of New York this was, thats no secret; so, could I recognize those buildings with Birds eye view? Further, if I could find those buildings would it be possible to triangulate on the roof shown in this video? Given the features on the roof, and on the rooftops nearby, it seems like it would stand out. Well, long story short; yes, you can. Two thoughts crossed my mind in immediate succession, Holy Crap! I just found JoCos house! And then, Oh shit! I just found JoCos house! They sound like the same thought I know but the first thought had more to do with geek pride of solving a puzzle the second had to do with realization that Id just done a creepy stalker thing and now had knowledge I really didnt want. So, Im sorry, Jonathan. I didnt really think out the implications before I started, I just thought of it as a simple challenge. On the other hand, I never did anything with that knowledge nor did I ever tell anyone about what I knew.
Congrats on the geek bragging rights for solving the puzzle, and twice the congrats for being classy and honorable and not doing anything with the knowledge. That was really nice of you.
After all, Jonathan could have come home to find you sitting on his front steps with an 8 dollar bunch of flowers late at night some time, or something....
(sheepishly looks around before expanding on Colleen's point)
...and you've known for a while, and know she recently stopped blocking her tweets (and are also NOT following her OR checking said tweets, due to extreme creepiness factor)
As far as I recall, her tweets were never protected, though she did add her picture a while ago. Now, Hodgman's wife's tweets had been protected but aren't any longer. Oh, God. I just said all that out loud, didn't I? I swear to goodness, I don't search out this info; I just happen to pay attention. Um, at least I don't make a habit of reading their twitter feeds. Really. :-S
elliomeg and Coleenky.... I have also known for a while and that is only half paying attention like I do...and yes following would feel like crossing into a place that is just wrong..... and yes she used to protect them. Good thing that they are too busy to read any of our confessions here.
Here is another if......
...you cannot even talk about Jonathan Coulton or anything related or your friends will do an intervention.
(I do not even talk about him that much. Dang!!!!!)
... you just played and sang SIX Coulton songs at your family Halloween party. (Out of 17 songs in total). And one of the rest was Paul and Storm's "Nugget Man."
... oh, and you got your whole family to join in on performing "Creepy Doll" and "Re: Your Brains."
... and you make YouTube videos demonstrating guitar and bass parts to JoCo songs...
... if you go to EVERY SINGLE concert of Jonathan Coultons.... and Paul & Storms...... o.O
Phew, glad I'm not going to Dublin! I'd hate to be a stalker.
Going back to robs post, I too figured out where Jonathan lived at one point, from my first ever in person conversation I had with him.
...if when planning your holiday, your destination is determined by where Jonathan will most likely have a concert. ...if on holiday in New York, you walk to Brooklyn for 'no good' reason.
Comments
Also:
... you think your steak is bland because you didn't take your meds.
(you knew I was going to mention it eventually, just be glad I didn't link it as usual)
ETA: ...raise your hand before he asks for volunteers for "Chiron Beta Prime"...
...Whenever anyone uses some variation of the phrase "What's with all the ____" you mentally fill in the word "screaming", and envision a monkey-pony monster.
...Your husband exacts a promise from you not to leave him for Jonathan Coulton. ;-)
...you write a 'roses are red'-style summary of every song in Thing a Week
...when you hear the name of the new New Zealand prime minister, the first thing you think is that it rhymes with 'ponkey'.
...you stalk JoCo all over England, and when you get a contract with a Texan university, you hope that you'll have to visit said university some day when there's a JoCo concert nearby.
(I can relate to Jmonkee's, I say, 'I have a song about that!' several times a day, but they're not all JoCo songs.)
Your psych professor says the next test on human development will be on "Adolescence to Death" and you instantly add "Is the name of my emo rock band" to the phrase in your notebook.
[This was done over two years ago, and it was literally the first thing I ever did in the fandom. To give you an idea, I joined the forums in order to promote this thing.]
It's not so much that I'd like to have a beer with JoCo -- although I'm sure that would be fun -- as I'd like to learn how to do what he does, as far as music production. (Which, in fact, is what I'm trying to teach myself). I mean that "what he knows" and "what he does" are more interesting to me than "who he is." He'd probably agree with that, as he seems to be less ego-driven than a lot of performers. Even Zaphod Beeblebrox, president of the galaxy, was just this guy, you know?
JoAnn: I think yes, one of Paul and Storm's goals is to adolescence their audience to death. I also mean that in the nicest possible way of course!
I'm just imagining the 3 of them in the van for these cross-country drives. Do think think, in between their fascinating discussions about Sartre's Being and Nothingness, the Federalist Papers, and the Upanishads, they ever take a moment for a simple fart joke? : P
Thats why I *stayed away* at Glasgow.
I nipped over to say hi and tell him about the Ponkey, met Kerrin et al...
But then left the man alone.
And after the gig, once I'd taken my stuff back to the car, the invite was there to go back.
But I had *had* my moment (Met him, saw him, filmed him, on stage with him, met him (He stole my new sharpie)), and didn't want to impose...
Does that make sense??
And I can relate to your other thing too!
I've had the thought to pen a tribute to Jonathan to the tune of Washy Ad Jeffy, but haven't set down to do it yet.
"Jonathan Coulton, Internet Star, ...etc."
Would have to figure out a way to word it to not worry my husband further, too...
If you are me this thought is quickly followed by "Guess I should bring my husband along so he doesn't think I'm more obsessed than I am."
(And my personal thought trio is completed (still quicker) by the realization that the actual bringing of said husband increases the complication equation exponentially, given his Joconess won't break down and visit Vancouver!)
...when you wake up to go to your job as a programmer humming 'Code Monkey'
...when learning the lyrics to all of JoCo's songs seems like it's just going to happen by natural processes, rather than as a part of any particular effort on your part (this has nearly happened to me with Karine Polwart songs, but she's not done quite as many yet due to not having done a Thing A Week)
J9,
Welcome to the forums!
On the topic of husbands... mine's a big JoCo fan and actually thought I wrote the Ode to JoCo for him... the fact that I included him in the lyrics helped!
This is a story about how a bored geek, cool online tools and a little bit of detective work may cost youre your privacy.
A couple of years ago someone pointed out a device on one of the map services called birdseye view. Similar to street view, but from the air, it provides oblique angle views of the buildings below.
Around that same time I saw a video about Jonathan with footage shot on the roof of his old apt. I know it was his roof because his friend Awryone, who used to post here more often, mentioned he had a nice roof complete with a pergola and stuff. Apparently it was the roof he was cleaning up with a shop vac that inspired the song of the same name.
Anyway, I noticed the video provided a couple of different views of the cityscape behind him including a few unique looking buildings. This got me to thinking, I knew what part of New York this was, thats no secret; so, could I recognize those buildings with Birds eye view? Further, if I could find those buildings would it be possible to triangulate on the roof shown in this video? Given the features on the roof, and on the rooftops nearby, it seems like it would stand out.
Well, long story short; yes, you can.
Two thoughts crossed my mind in immediate succession, Holy Crap! I just found JoCos house! And then, Oh shit! I just found JoCos house! They sound like the same thought I know but the first thought had more to do with geek pride of solving a puzzle the second had to do with realization that Id just done a creepy stalker thing and now had knowledge I really didnt want.
So, Im sorry, Jonathan. I didnt really think out the implications before I started, I just thought of it as a simple challenge. On the other hand, I never did anything with that knowledge nor did I ever tell anyone about what I knew.
After all, Jonathan could have come home to find you sitting on his front steps with an 8 dollar bunch of flowers late at night some time, or something....
...and you've known for a while, and know she recently stopped blocking her tweets (and are also NOT following her OR checking said tweets, due to extreme creepiness factor)
Hey, look! A fuzzy wuzzy bunny!
They're geeks! They aren't supposed to have wives.
elliomeg and Coleenky.... I have also known for a while and that is only half paying attention like I do...and yes following would feel like crossing into a place that is just wrong..... and yes she used to protect them. Good thing that they are too busy to read any of our confessions here.
Here is another if......
...you cannot even talk about Jonathan Coulton or anything related or your friends will do an intervention.
(I do not even talk about him that much. Dang!!!!!)
... oh, and you got your whole family to join in on performing "Creepy Doll" and "Re: Your Brains."
... and you make YouTube videos demonstrating guitar and bass parts to JoCo songs...
You might be a JoCo stalker if one of your music students turns the day's solfege exercise into an ode to your obsession with JoCo.
Going back to robs post, I too figured out where Jonathan lived at one point, from my first ever in person conversation I had with him.
...if when planning your holiday, your destination is determined by where Jonathan will most likely have a concert.
...if on holiday in New York, you walk to Brooklyn for 'no good' reason.