The Areas of My Expertise is a 2005 American satirical almanac by John Hodgman . It is written in the form of absurd historical stories, complex charts and graphs, and fake newspaper columns. Among its sections are a list of 700 different hobo names and complete descriptions of "all 51" US states. The full title of the book is:
85-519: John Kellogg Hodgman (born June 3, 1971) is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as his satirical trilogy The Areas of My Expertise , More Information Than You Require , and That Is All , he is known for his personification of a PC in contrast to Justin Long 's personification of a Mac in Apple's " Get a Mac " advertising campaign , and for his work as
170-435: A Flash document to stream the songs. In 2002, Dial-A-Song's answering machine broke down, and fans responded by sending new similar models. In the following year, Dial-A-Song resumed service with a new answering machine. By 2005, a computer system from TechTV was provided to maintain the system, but technical difficulties started bringing the system to an end. In 2006, Dial-A-Song became increasingly difficult to maintain as
255-471: A Manhattan Tower Records , was included in a documentary directed by A. J. Schnack titled Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns) . The film was released on DVD in 2003. In 2002, they released No! , their first album "for the entire family". Using the enhanced CD format, it included an interactive animation for most of the songs. They followed it up in 2003 with their first book, an illustrated children's book with an included EP, Bed, Bed, Bed . In 2004,
340-530: A Tony Award for Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre along with other composers of the show for SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical . In total, the group has sold over 4 million records. Johns Linnell and Flansburgh first met as teenagers growing up in Lincoln, Massachusetts . They began writing songs together while attending Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School but did not form
425-505: A satirical tongue-in-cheek almanac that contains almost no factual information, was published in 2005. His second book, More Information Than You Require , went on sale October 21, 2008. His third book, That Is All , went on sale November 1, 2011. Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches , a collection of "real life wanderings" about Hodgman's life experiences (especially in Western Massachusetts and coastal Maine),
510-537: A stand-alone podcast produced by Maximum Fun . Hodgman was a guest alongside Jonathan Coulton on episodes of You Look Nice Today . Hodgman was a guest on This Week In Tech with Leo Laporte , Stuff You Should Know , the Doughboys podcast with Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger , and has been featured on the podcast Boing Boing TV . Hodgman appeared in person and on the NPR radio broadcast of City Arts and Lectures , in
595-518: A " Netflix Original ". The special featured material from Hodgman's most recent book, That Is All , and his December 21, 2012, show at The Bell House in New York. In 2010, Hodgman began hosting a weekly, comedic court show podcast called Judge John Hodgman . The program features Hodgman acting as a judge (with Jesse Thorn as bailiff ) adjudicating real-life disputes within a fictional courtroom setting. The cases answer questions like, "Should
680-518: A Former Professional Literary Agent" at McSweeney's Internet Tendency. Hodgman appeared on The Daily Show on November 16, 2005, to promote his book, The Areas of My Expertise . Host Jon Stewart described the book as "very funny" and said that the section on hobo names in particular was written with "a certain kind of genius." Hodgman has returned to the Daily Show numerous times for "resident expert" interview segments, and has been listed on
765-513: A Mac user in 1984. On November 10, 2020, he made a surprise brief appearance at the 45:27 mark of Apple's virtual "One More Thing" event, where Apple unveiled its first Macs based on its own Apple silicon chips. In 2007, Hodgman appeared in the " Bowie " episode of the HBO television series Flight of the Conchords . He played the manager of a musical greeting card company who was considering using one of
850-496: A band at that time. The two attended separate colleges after high school and Linnell joined The Mundanes , a new wave group from Rhode Island . The two reunited in 1981 after moving to Brooklyn (to the same apartment building on the same day) to continue their career. At their first concert, They Might Be Giants were introduced as and performed under the name El Grupo De Rock and Roll ( Spanish for "the Rock and Roll Band"), because
935-803: A college radio hit. The video for " Don't Let's Start ", filmed in the New York State Pavilion built for the 1964 New York World's Fair in Queens , became a hit on MTV in 1987, earning them a broader following. In 1988, they released their second album, Lincoln , named after the duo's hometown . It featured the song " Ana Ng " which reached No. 11 on the US Modern Rock chart. Both albums were produced on 8-track tape at Dubway Studios in New York City. In 1989, They Might Be Giants signed with Elektra Records and released their third album Flood
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#17328912322711020-502: A contributor on Comedy Central 's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart . His writings have been published in One Story (to which he contributed the debut story " Villanova "), The Paris Review , McSweeney's Quarterly Concern , Wired and The New York Times Magazine . He has also contributed to This American Life , CBC Radio One , and Wiretap . His first book and accompanying audio narration, The Areas of My Expertise ,
1105-577: A fledgling band. In an earlier radio interview, John Linnell described the phrase as "something very paranoid sounding". The duo began performing their own music in and around New York City at the East Village Pyramid Club – Flansburgh on guitar , Linnell on accordion and saxophone and accompanied by a drum machine or prerecorded backing track on audio cassette . Their atypical instrumentation, along with their songs which featured unusual subject matter and clever wordplay, soon attracted
1190-449: A new audience to the band. Not only did the band contribute the theme, songs from all of the Giants' previous albums were used on the show: for example, the infamous punching-the-kid-in-the-wheelchair scene from the first episode was done to the strains of "Pencil Rain" from Lincoln . Another song to feature in the series was "Spiraling Shape". "Boss of Me" became the band's second top-40 hit in
1275-666: A nurse and educator, and John Francis Hodgman, the President and CEO of the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation and a professor at Tufts University . He attended the Heath School and Brookline High School , where he edited the underground magazine Samizdat , named for the grassroots dissident publishing movement produced under the Soviet Bloc. During his last year of high school, he hosted
1360-573: A playable game area named Hobopolis, which was directly inspired by Hodgman's work. The hobos that appear in Hobopolis (with the exception of the six bosses) are randomly named, although the possibilities borrow heavily from Hodgman's list of hobo names. The final boss, Hodgman the Hoboverlord, is named for John Hodgman himself. The developers of The Kingdom of Loathing were granted personal permission by Hodgman to use his material, as well as his name, for
1445-470: A political campaign song from the presidential election of 1840 . The compilation was released by Barsuk and featured indie, alternative, and high-profile acts such as Death Cab for Cutie , The Flaming Lips , and Bright Eyes . All proceeds went to progressive organizations such as Music for America and MoveOn.org . Flansburgh and Linnell made a guest appearance in " Camp ", the January 11, 2004, episode of
1530-717: A recorded interview by Dave Eggers, in front of a live studio audience on November 10, 2008, at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, California. He was a guest on Neil deGrasse Tyson 's radio show StarTalk Radio on February 27, 2011. He appeared again on City Arts and Lectures , in front of a live audience at the Nourse Theater, interviewing Adam Savage on May 29, 2013. Hodgman appeared on Ken Reid 's TV Guidance Counselor podcast on September 23, 2016. As contributor: As author: The Areas of My Expertise The book
1615-432: A recording deal. From the 1980s until 1998, Dial-A-Song consisted of an answering machine with a tape of the band playing various songs. The machine played one track at a time, ranging from demos and uncompleted work to mock advertisements the band had created. It was often difficult to access due to the popularity of the service and the dubious quality of the machines used. About this, one of Dial-A-Song's many slogans over
1700-515: A result of unreliable answering machines that had to be replaced. The stress placed upon the answering machine in addition to its age caused excessive wear, and the machine broke down soon after. In August, Dial-A-Song ceased production and because fans started taking advantage of the internet, it was replaced with a page promoting the They Might Be Giants podcasts . John Linnell stated in an interview in early 2008 that Dial-A-Song had died of
1785-491: A science-themed children's album. This album introduced listeners to natural , formal , social , and applied sciences . It was released on September 1, 2009, and nominated for a Grammy Award on December 1, 2010. On November 3, They Might Be Giants sent out a newsletter stating, "The Avatars of They", a set of sock puppets the Johns manipulate for shows, would have an album in 2012, suggesting another children's album. However,
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#17328912322711870-576: A song called "Furry Old Lobster." Also, on October 18, 2008, Hodgman appeared again on Attack of the Show to talk about his newest book, More Information Than You Require. Hodgman appeared in the North American Get a Mac advertising campaign for Apple Inc. , which ran from May 2006 through 2010. In the ads he plays the personification of a PC alongside his Mac counterpart, played by actor Justin Long . In reality, however, Hodgman himself became
1955-487: A strong local following. Their performances also featured absurdly comical stage props such as oversized fezzes and large cardboard cutout heads of newspaper editor William Allen White . Many of these props would later turn up in their first music videos. From 1984 to 1987, They Might Be Giants were the house band at the Pyramid Club and Darinka, a Lower East Side performance art club run by Gary Ray. They played on
2040-515: A technical crash, and that the Internet had taken over where the machine left off. On November 15, 2008, the Dial-A-Song number was officially disconnected, though the number has at times been re-used in a similar style by other independent artists. In 2015, Dial-A-Song was reactivated with a new toll-free number : (844) 387–6962. The duo released their self-titled debut album in 1986, which became
2125-450: A time. During this hiatus, they began recording their songs onto an answering machine , and then advertising the phone number in local newspapers such as The Village Voice , using the moniker "Dial-A-Song". They also released a demo cassette, which earned them a review in People magazine. Authored by Michael Small, the review caught the attention of Bar/None Records , who signed them to
2210-726: Is a Vietnamese name. The song is about someone who's thinking about a person on the exact opposite side of the world. John looked at a globe and figured out that if Ana Ng is in Vietnam and the person is on the other side of the world, then it must be written by someone in Peru ". Further interest in the band was generated when two cartoon music videos were created by Warner Bros. Animation for Tiny Toon Adventures : " Istanbul (Not Constantinople) " and " Particle Man ". The videos reflected TMBG's high "kid appeal", resulting from their often absurd songs and pop melodies. In 1991, Bar/None Records released
2295-418: Is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell . During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as a musical duo , often accompanied by a drum machine . In the early 1990s, TMBG expanded to include a backing band . The duo's current backing band consists of Marty Beller , Dan Miller and Danny Weinkauf . They have been credited as vital in
2380-399: Is in turn taken from a Don Quixote passage about how Quixote mistook windmills for evil giants . According to Dave Wilson, in his book Rock Formations , the name They Might Be Giants had been used and subsequently discarded by a friend of the band who had a ventriloquism act. The name was then adopted by the band, who had been searching for a more suitable name. A common misconception
2465-609: Is sold through Emusic . Also, in 1999, the band contributed the song "Dr. Evil" to the motion picture Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me . Over their career, the band has performed on numerous movie and television soundtracks, including The Oblongs , the ABC News miniseries Brave New World and Ed and His Dead Mother . They also performed the theme music " Dog on Fire ", composed by Bob Mould , for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart . They composed and performed
2550-400: Is that the name of the band is a reference to themselves and an allusion to future success. In an interview, John Flansburgh said that the words "they might be giants" are just a very outward-looking forward thing which they liked. He clarified this in the documentary movie Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns) by explaining that the name refers to the outside world of possibilities that they saw as
2635-513: The BBC 's intellectual comedy quiz shown on BBC America , Hodgman was invited to appear on the show. He was the first “fifth panelist" on the program broadcast December 3, 2009 (the usual line-up being Stephen Fry as host, Alan Davies as regular panelist and three guests)—and won, continuing the tradition of a guest winning their "rookie" appearance on the show. In 2012, Hodgman guest-starred in an episode of Delocated called "Reunion Show," acting as
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2720-515: The Cinemax series The Knick . In 2016, Hodgman played the role of Travis, a local television station manager, in four episodes of the second season of Amazon's Red Oaks series. In November 2017, Hodgman was named one of Portland Magazine's "10 Most Intriguing Mainers." Netflix , the American streaming media website, aired the comedy special John Hodgman: Ragnarok on June 20, 2013, as
2805-536: The 123s , a DVD/CD follow-up to 2005's critically acclaimed Here Come the ABCs children's project, was released on February 5, 2008. On April 10, 2008, They Might Be Giants performed the song "Seven" from the album on Late Night with Conan O'Brien . In 2009, the album won the Grammy Award for "Best Musical Album For Children" during the 51st Annual Grammy Awards . The band's fourteenth album, Here Comes Science ,
2890-533: The 800 hoboes. In one section of The Areas of My Expertise , "A Brief Time Line of the Lobster in America," Hodgman explains that lobsters as we know them today were not introduced to Maine until the turn of the century, after Theodore Roosevelt built a secret canal from lobster-ridden New York City to the coast of Maine. Before that time, writes Hodgman, an entirely different animal - particularly "a kind of sea otter" -
2975-453: The ABCs , Here Come the 123s , and Here Comes Science have all been certified gold . The duo has been nominated for four Grammy Awards , winning two. Flansburgh and Linnell won for writing the theme to Malcolm in the Middle ( Best Film or Television Theme ) and They Might Be Giants won for Here Come the 123s ( Best Children's Album ). Linnell and Flansburgh were also nominated for
3060-520: The B-sides compilation Miscellaneous T . Though consisting of previously released material (save for the " Purple Toupee " B-sides , which were not available publicly), it gave new fans a chance to hear the Johns' earlier non-album work without having to hunt down the individual EPs. In early 1992, They Might Be Giants released Apollo 18 . The heavy space theme coincided with TMBG being named Musical Ambassadors for International Space Year . Singles from
3145-551: The Brothers Chaps also included several Puppet Jam segments with puppet Homestar and the music for a Strong Bad email titled "Different Town". In 2008 they recorded a track for the 200th Strong Bad e-mail, where Linnell provided the voice of The Poopsmith. TMBG also contributed a track to the 2004 Future Soundtrack for America compilation, a project compiled by John Flansburgh with the help of Spike Jonze and Barsuk Records . The band contributed " Tippecanoe and Tyler Too ",
3230-492: The UK which they performed on long-running UK television programme Top of the Pops , and in 2002 , won the duo a Grammy Award . On September 11, 2001, they released the album Mink Car on Restless Records . It was their first full album release of new studio material since 1996 and their first since parting ways with Elektra. The making of that album, including a record signing event at
3315-464: The album included " The Statue Got Me High ", " I Palindrome I ", and " The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight) ". Apollo 18 was also notable for being one of the first albums to take advantage of the CD player's shuffle feature. The song "Fingertips" actually comprised 21 separate tracks — short snippets that not only acted together to make the song but that when played in random order would be interspersed between
3400-452: The album on Late Night with Conan O'Brien . In the rest of 2007, They Might Be Giants wrote a commissioned piece for Brooklyn-based robotic music outfit League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots and performed for three dates at the event, and covered the Pixies "Havalina" for American Laundromat Records Dig For Fire - a tribute to PIXIES compilation. The band's 13th album, Here Come
3485-512: The album's full-length songs. Due to mastering errors, the U.K. and Australian versions of Apollo 18 contained "Fingertips" as one track. Following Apollo 18 , for live shows, Flansburgh and Linnell (who themselves play the guitar and accordion or saxophone, respectively) decided to move away from recorded backing tracks and recruited a supporting band ( Kurt Hoffman of The Ordinaires on reeds and keyboards, longtime Pere Ubu bassist Tony Maimone , and drummer Jonathan Feinberg). John Henry
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3570-497: The album, Flansburgh and Linnell along with drummer Marty Beller embarked on a short tour, performing for free at many Borders Bookstore locations. In November 2005, Venue Songs was released as a two-disc CD/DVD set narrated by John Hodgman . It is a concept album based on all of the "venue songs" from their 2004 tour. TMBG covered the Devo song " Through Being Cool " in the 2005 Disney film Sky High . In 2008, they rerecorded
3655-502: The animated sitcom Home Movies . They voice both a pair of camp counselors and members of a strange hooded male bonding cult. On May 10, 2004, they made a guest appearance on the final episode of Blue's Clues called "Bluestock" alongside Toni Braxton , Macy Gray , and India.Arie . They Might Be Giants were in a letter for Joe and Blue. Following the Spine on the Hiway Tour of 2004,
3740-424: The band announced that they would take an extended hiatus from touring to focus on other projects, such as a musical produced by Flansburgh and written by his wife, Robin "Goldie" Goldwasser , titled People Are Wrong! . 2005 saw the release of Here Come the ABCs , TMBG's follow-up to the successful children's album No! . The Disney Sound label released the CD and DVD separately on February 15, 2005. To promote
3825-446: The band created one of the first artist-owned online music stores, at which customers could purchase and download MP3 copies of their music, both new releases and many previously released albums. By creating their own store, the band could keep money that would otherwise go to record companies. With the redesign of the band's website in 2010, the store was reincarnated. Also, in 2004, the band released its first new "adult" rock work since
3910-451: The band while in the role of The Deranged Millionaire up to May 16, 2007. Hodgman appeared again with They Might Be Giants on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson , on December 11, 2009. Hodgman performed the spoken-word portions of the song " Why Does the Sun Shine? " In February 2006, Hodgman appeared on Attack of the Show , a show that aired daily on G4 , to share some insight with
3995-422: The band's songs for a greeting card. On October 1, 2008, Boing Boing ' s Xeni Jardin announced the official debut of the web series SPAMasterpiece Theater . Hodgman himself described it as "true tale[s] of romance, adventure, infamy, and low-cost prescription drugs, all culled from the reams of actual, unsolicited emails, received here by us and people like you – what we call SPAM." Hodgman appeared in
4080-526: The bands Lincoln and Candy Butchers which were previous opening acts for TMBG. Weinkauf and Miller continue to work with the band to the present day. For most of their career, TMBG has made innovative use of the Internet. As early as 1992, the band was sending news updates to their fans via Usenet newsgroups. In 1999, They Might Be Giants became the first major-label recording artist to release an entire album exclusively in MP3 format. The album, Long Tall Weekend ,
4165-492: The continent by unknown means and seems to disappear altogether." He also says that Hohoq is home to the " Thunderbirds ," giant eagles who shoot lightning from their eyes and transform into men. The state is described as having a complicated political history with the federal government, at one point being represented in the Senate by an enormous shape-shifting raven. The internet browser game The Kingdom of Loathing features
4250-446: The conversation has been included as a hidden track on the EP for " (She Was A) Hotel Detective ." In the late '90s, TMBG started switching to a digital unit to update the format for Dial-A-Song, but due to frequent crashes, the band returned to the original format. In March 2000, TMBG started the website dialasong.com, which was more reliable than the original, phone-based version, as it used
4335-663: The creation and growth of the prolific DIY music scene in Brooklyn in the mid-1980s. The group has been noted for its unique style of alternative music, typically using surreal, humorous lyrics, experimental styles and unconventional instruments. Over their career, they have found success on the modern rock and college radio charts. They have also found success in children's music with several educational albums, and in theme music for television programs and films. TMBG have released 23 studio albums. Flood has been certified platinum , while their children's music albums Here Come
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#17328912322714420-430: The creation of the website, www.e-hobo.com . The URL refers to hobo #450 in the list, "my-e-hobo.com". The 700 names were completed on September 5, 2006, coinciding with the release date of Areas of My Expertise to paperback, which contains an additional 100 hobo names. As of September 2006, there have been over 200 contributors to the project, spanning the globe. In March 2007, Adam Koford completed illustrating each of
4505-475: The episode " No Exit " of Battlestar Galactica , appearing as the civilian neurosurgeon, Dr. Gerard. He had earlier visited the set in 2005 to write about the show for The New York Times Magazine . On June 19, 2009, Hodgman was the headline speaker at the 2009 Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, D.C. Hodgman referred to this event as a "Nerd Prom." Many of his jokes were on
4590-668: The episode "Anniversaries" of Parks and Recreation , which aired in February 2014. Hodgman has a supporting role in the FX comedy Married , which premiered in July 2014. In December 2014, Hodgman appeared in three episodes of the Amazon Studios series Mozart in the Jungle . In 2014–2015, Hodgman appeared for three episodes as a fictionalized version of psychiatrist and medical doctor Henry Cotton on
4675-625: The episode "Self-Medication" as Dale Hale, an ex-boy detective in therapy following the death of his father. He has since had multiple appearances in Season 5 as O.S.I. operative Snoopy, along with other roles. Also, during the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards in September 2009, Hodgman provided color commentary with made-up trivia about the winners. He reprised this role for the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards in August 2010. Because of his continuing support for QI ,
4760-521: The following year. Flood earned them a platinum album, largely thanks to the success of " Birdhouse in Your Soul " which reached number three on the U.S. Modern Rock chart, as well as " Istanbul (Not Constantinople) ", a cover of a song originally recorded by the Four Lads . In 1990, Throttle magazine interviewed They Might Be Giants and clarified the meaning of the song "Ana Ng": John Flansburgh said, "Ng
4845-623: The game. He was reportedly "flattered". Furthermore, a tattoo that can be obtained in-game from Hobopolis is the same as the hobo marking that means "It is time for hoboes to take over the United States government" in Hodgman's book. More Information Than You Require is part two of The Areas of My Expertise and covers similar subjects. The book continues from the page where The Areas of My Expertise leaves off. They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants , often abbreviated as TMBG ,
4930-458: The host and promote his book The Areas of My Expertise . In this appearance, Hodgman recounted the sad tale of the lobster (which he said were actually a small, furry, extinct species, killed and replaced by the creatures we think of as lobsters today) and brought along Jonathan Coulton , a frequent Hodgman collaborator and musical director of the Little Gray Book lectures. Coulton performed
5015-475: The host of a fictional show-within-a-show . Also in 2012, he appeared as a psychiatrist in an episode of Community called "Curriculum Unavailable." Hodgman made a guest appearance on the sitcom series Husbands in its second season. In 2013, Hodgman starred as "Special Agent Henry Topple" in Wired 's first scripted web series Codefellas . Hodgman appeared as public radio personality August Clementine in
5100-480: The kitchen sink's built-in dispenser be filled with dish soap or hand soap?" and "Can you stop family members from using your childhood nickname?" Hodgman teamed with fellow humorist David Rees to create the adult animated show Dicktown , which premiered in 2020. As of 2024, the show is in its second season and airs on FXX and Hulu . The show is written, directed and executive produced by Hodgman and Rees; Matt Thompson also executive produces. Dicktown follows
5185-561: The more diverse sounds of their earlier albums, despite the inclusion of two guitarists, the second being Eric Schermerhorn who provided several guitar solos. They left Elektra after the duo refused to do a publicity show, amongst other exposure-related disputes. In 1998, they released a mostly live album Severe Tire Damage from which came the single " Doctor Worm ," a studio recording. Around this same time period, Danny Weinkauf (bass) and Dan Miller (guitar) were recruited for their recording and touring band. Both had been members of
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#17328912322715270-589: The music for the TLC series Resident Life , the theme song for the Disney Channel programs Higglytown Heroes and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse , and songs about the cartoons Dexter's Laboratory and Courage the Cowardly Dog . During this time, the band also worked on a project for McSweeney's , a publishing company and literary journal. The band wrote a McSweeney's theme song and forty-four songs for an album that
5355-425: The newly discovered species] are not the same creature at all, though both are DISGUSTINGLY FURRY." Since then, the book's official website has a page dedicated to the matter, including a photo of the otter-like "lobster" with the caption " Old furry old lobster." Musician/Hodgman collaborator Jonathan Coulton has written a song called "Furry Old Lobster", telling the tale of the lost species. Coulton has performed
5440-587: The opening theme song, in which a variant of a Mickey Mouse Club chant ("Meeska Mooska Mickey Mouse!") is used to summon the Clubhouse, and "Hot Dog!", the song used at the end of the show. The song references Mickey's first spoken words in the 1929 short The Karnival Kid . They also recorded a cover of the Disney song, " There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow " for the film Meet the Robinsons and wrote and performed
5525-523: The release of No! , the EP Indestructible Object . This was followed by a new album, The Spine , and an associated EP, The Spine Surfs Alone . It was at this time that Dan Hickey was replaced by Marty Beller , who had previously collaborated with TMBG. For the album's first single, " Experimental Film ", TMBG teamed up with Homestar Runner creators Matt and Mike Chapman to create an animated music video. The band's collaboration with
5610-491: The show was a Sandinista rally in Central Park, and a majority of the audience members spoke Spanish. They had previously chosen a name that, according to John Flansburgh, was "so bad that John [Linnell] and I have made a vow that we will never tell anyone, even our children." Soon discarding this name, the band assumed the name of the 1971 film They Might Be Giants (starring George C. Scott and Joanne Woodward ), which
5695-492: The show's web site as a contributor. In 2005, Hodgman played a character named "The Deranged Millionaire" in They Might Be Giants 's Venue Songs DVD/CD , narrating in between songs with dialog he co-wrote with the band. The Deranged Millionaire character also appeared on The Daily Show on April 2, 2014. He also narrated a number of Venue Songs -themed setlists during the band's live shows in 2005, and has introduced
5780-855: The song "Take Out The Trash" (from The Else ) in Simlish for inclusion in The Sims 2: Freetime . From 2005 to 2014, They Might Be Giants made podcasts on a monthly, sometimes bi-monthly, basis. Each edition included remixes of previous songs, rarities, covers, and new songs and skits recorded specifically for the podcast. The band contributed 14 original songs for the 2006 Dunkin' Donuts ad campaign, "America Runs on Dunkin'", including "Things I Like to Do", "Pleather", and "Fritalian". The band has produced and performed three original songs for Playhouse Disney series: one for Higglytown Heroes and two for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse . The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse features two original songs performed by group, including
5865-465: The song on Attack of the Show , at many of Hodgman's book signings, and on the audiobook version of The Areas of My Expertise . An additional section in Areas of My Expertise , Part Six, "Our 51 United States," contains Hodgman's own descriptions of the states of the United States, including nicknames and mottos. The 51st state, Hodgman says, is called "Hohoq (also known as Ar)" and "frequently moves across
5950-441: The stage there one weekend a month and by the end of their three-year stint, their performances were selling out. On March 30, 1985, TMBG released their 7" flexi-disc , dubbed "Wiggle Diskette" at Darinka. The disc included demos of the songs "Everything Right Is Wrong Again" and "You'll Miss Me". At one point, Linnell broke his wrist in a biking accident , and Flansburgh's apartment was burgled , stopping them from performing for
6035-612: The story of detective John Hunchman and his sidekick David Purefoy (voiced by Hodgman and Rees respectively). Hodgman has been a guest on radio programs including WBEZ 's This American Life , and The Sound of Young America , My Brother, My Brother and Me , [2] WFMU 's The Best Show on WFMU , NPR 's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me , North Carolina Public Radio 's The State of Things , Live Wire Radio (Episode 374), and BBC's Museum of Curiosity. Hodgman has been featured on podcasts including occasional appearances as "Judge John Hodgman" on Jordan, Jesse, Go! which led to
6120-462: The theme song for The Drinky Crow Show . The band was recruited to provide original songs for the Henry Selick -directed film adaptation of Neil Gaiman 's children's book Coraline but were dropped because their music was not "creepy" enough. Only one song, titled "Other Father Song", was kept for the film with Linnell singing as the titular "Other Father". Their twelfth album, The Else ,
6205-516: The topic of President Barack Obama as the first nerd president, and he quizzed the President on his knowledge of Frank Herbert 's novel Dune . Hodgman appeared in the last two episodes of the first season of Bored to Death , "The Case of the Stolen Sperm" and "Take a Dive," as a literary reviewer who wrote a bad review that offended the main character. He returned in the second and third seasons. Hodgman voice-acted on The Venture Bros. in
6290-550: The weekly Radio Consuelo show on freeform station WMFO in Medford . In 1994 Hodgman graduated from Yale University with a degree in literature, focusing on literary criticism. Before gaining fame as a writer, Hodgman worked as a literary agent at Writers House in New York City, where he represented Darin Strauss , Deborah Digges , and actor Bruce Campbell , among others. Hodgman has used his experience as an agent in his column "Ask
6375-422: The years was the tongue-in-cheek "Always Busy, Often Broken". The number, (718) 387–6962, was a local Brooklyn number and was charged accordingly, but the band advertised it with the line: "Free when you call from work". At one point in 1988, the Dial-A-Song answering machine recorded a conversation between two people who had listened to Dial-A-Song, then questioned how they made money out of it. An excerpt from
6460-533: Was discovered in March 2005 in the South Pacific. Hodgman includes a photo of the newly discovered crustacean in the rear cover of the paperback edition of The Areas of My Expertise , along with the words, "Some readers have taken this as a worrisome portent that certain items in my book of lies may be coming true. BUT BE CALM. If you observe the 'FURRY OLD LOBSTER' described in my book, you will see that [that creature and
6545-483: Was known in Maine as the "lobster" (the photo of a European otter at right is included with the caption "Figure 11: The Lobster"). The new lobster threatened the existence of the "Old Lobster," the last of which died in 1980, in the kitchen of a Furry Old Lobster restaurant (which itself is part of a conglomeration owned by [new] lobsters). While Hodgman's story is entirely fictional, an actual furry lobster, Kiwa hirsuta ,
6630-504: Was later released in audiobook form, narrated by John Hodgman himself with some musical accompaniment by frequent collaborator Jonathan Coulton and a guest appearance by Paul Rudd . The interior and exterior of the book are designed by graphic artist Sam Potts who is known for the interior and exterior design of the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. and The Writer's Block . A sequel, More Information Than You Require ,
6715-415: Was meant to be listened to with the journal, with each track corresponding to a particular story or piece of artwork. Labeled They Might Be Giants vs. McSweeney's , the disk appears in issue No. 6 of Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern . Contributing the single " Boss of Me " as the theme song to the hit television series Malcolm in the Middle , as well as to the show's compilation CD , brought
6800-460: Was posted to a page on the promotional website for the book. In October 2005, on hearing the audio file, Mark Frauenfelder proposed on the BoingBoing website to have "700 cartoonists volunteer to draw one of the 700 hoboes" that Hodgman listed in the book. A few days later, the first of the 700 hoboes ("Stewbuilder Dennis") was posted to Flickr by Daniel Cardenas and a Flickr group (700 Hoboes)
6885-460: Was published on October 24, 2017. Vacationland was a finalist for the 2018 Thurber Prize for American Humor . His most recent book, Medallion Status, was released on October 17, 2019. Hodgman was the headline speaker at the 2009 Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, D.C. Hodgman was born and raised in Brookline, Massachusetts , the son of Eileen (née Callahan),
6970-484: Was released July 10, 2007, on Idlewild Recordings (and distributed by Zoë Records for the CD version), with an earlier digital release on May 15 at the iTunes Store . Advance copies were made available to stations by mid-June 2007. The album was produced by Pat Dillett ( David Byrne ) and the Dust Brothers ( Beck , Beastie Boys ). On February 12, 2009, They Might Be Giants performed the song "The Mesopotamians" from
7055-406: Was released in 1994. Influenced by their more conventional lineup, this album marked a departure from their previous releases with more of a guitar-heavy sound. It was released to mixed reviews amongst fans and critics alike. Their next album, Factory Showroom , was released in 1996 to little fanfare. The band had quickly moved away from the feel of John Henry , and Factory Showroom returns to
7140-417: Was released on October 21, 2008, and the final book of the trilogy, That Is All , in 2011 . The 700 Hoboes Project refers to an internet meme that originated with a recording of Hodgman's recitation of the 700 hobo names from The Areas of My Expertise . An audio file of the reading, accompanied by frequent collaborator Jonathan Coulton playing " Big Rock Candy Mountain " "live for an hour, one take",
7225-493: Was subsequently formed. In March 2006, several contributors to the 700 Hoboes Project decided to build a portal to house the drawings posted to the Flickr group. Len Peralta of Jawbone Radio came up with a design for the site and passed it on to Dan Coulter, who built a back end system using phpFlickr , his open source wrapper for Flickr's API. Hobo illustrators Adam Koford , Mike Peterson, Ben Rollman and Eric Vespoor contributed to
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