Megan Boggia is the Queen of the Galaxy

7.11.07
3:46 PM
Thanks to Megan Boggia (the aforementioned Queen of the Galaxy) today began with a super special treat.
John and John of TMBG were interviewed via phone by Bob Edwards (NPR demigod) at the Manhattan XM satellite radio studios at

Columbus Circle

and I was one of the four people sitting in the mixing booth right there, watching and listening.
The interview will pop up somewhere on XM at some point so I won't go into that, but I will go into how freaked out I was that my presence would unnerve the Johns.
I have been spotted at several concerts in recent years (and referred to as "the tall guy" on more than three occasions) and I didn't want them to freak because, hey, I'm just this fan of theirs that somehow got into XM studios.
Turns out I was overreacting.
For the first time in my life.
They were totally mellow during the interview and afterwards, they signed Megan's CD and we all chatted for a bit.
I think the biggest thing is that when they're in a concert or at a signing or any other public situation they put on their "scared of their fans" hats, but when it's just close friends (like XM honcho Bill Kates, who I am FINALLY getting together with on Friday afternoon) and/or people who should be there (people from Central Booking who got TMBG to the studio) and/or people who aren't making a big deal that they're there (me is latter) they're much more relaxed.
Or perhaps they were just trying not to make any sudden moves for fear I smell their terror and swallow them whole.
Whichever.
The point is it went totally smooth and I neither freaked them out, freaked myself out nor made a freak of myself.
Score one for the home team.
During the interview (which I will now touch upon, thereby negating my earlier statement about not going into it) they (obviously) talked about elements of the new album (a very interesting bit of back story about the last track, 'The Mesopotamians', was revealed and it will hopefully turn into to something great), the costumes that Marcel Ozama designed and created for the album art (which was shot at a cabin in the Catskills and, sadly,  features none of the band dressed up, merely close friends of the Johns that volunteered to be a part of it) and how much they've really grown to dislike being called 'quirky' after 25 years of making music.
The whole morning was great and I feel less like a creepy fan and more like a less creepy fan.
Victory tastes like a grande skim vanilla latte.
And it's all because of Megan, who remains a true shining star in my Galaxy of Friends and Loved Ones (not to be confused with the galaxy of which she is the Queen mentioned in the first line of this entry and its title; that refers to the ACTUAL galaxy mentioned by NASA, popular fiction and www.spacealumni.com).