I might be on MTV!

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So this evening I went to the Village Voice office, and the administrative assistant, Jen, has a boyfriend who works at MTV2 as a producer for The Wrap, which I've never seen since I don't have MTV2 on my cable. He was around the corner at Other Music, filming a segment inspired by the recent Godspeed pullings-over, called "Terrorist or Indie Rocker?" She dragged me to the store and I agreed to be filmed. They showed me 12 photos, all grainy and black and white, and I had to guess who the photos were of. I got eight right--not bad at all, but mostly guesswork, since several of them were artists who were semi-shadowy (Dan Bejar, for one, who doesn't tour w/the New Pornographers) and since I don't make a habit of memorizing terrorists' faces. It actually got more difficult as it went on, for some reason--maybe on purpose (I mean, no. 4 or 5 was fucking Jarvis Cocker), maybe due to impending nerves or something.

The reason I am telling you about this, aside from plugging the fact that you might be seeing my newly shiny dome on national television any night now, is that I got no. 12 wrong. It was a reedy-looking guy, probably in his mid-to-late-30s, wearing tiny glasses and a short haircut and an impassive, intelligent expression, and he looked really familiar. "I know who it is," I said, "and I'm pretty certain he's not a musician, so I'll say terrorist." Then they told me who it was.

It was J0hn D@rn13113.

J0hn, if they show that segment on MTV2 with me on it, I am really, really sorry.

― M Matos (M Matos), Friday, 4 April 2003 22:42 (twenty-two years ago)

snarky alternate ending: If I'd had any presence of mind, I would have said, "Oh, then he's not a musician!" ;-)

― M Matos (M Matos), Friday, 4 April 2003 22:43 (twenty-two years ago)

mtv is fucking with us!

― chaki (chaki), Friday, 4 April 2003 22:48 (twenty-two years ago)

newly shiny dome?

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 4 April 2003 22:53 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, I went and had my head shaved yesterday afternoon. Astor Place barbers, the ones near Kim's. the guy did a magnificent job--totally flawless. I tipped him $7.

― M Matos (M Matos), Friday, 4 April 2003 22:54 (twenty-two years ago)

This whole story is beautiful. :-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 4 April 2003 23:16 (twenty-two years ago)

whoa, I totally can't imagine Matos with a shaved head. I can imagine John as a terrorist, though (no offense).

― hstencil, Saturday, 5 April 2003 00:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Tweeorist.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Saturday, 5 April 2003 01:18 (twenty-two years ago)

(Not that J0hn is twee, I just like that word.)

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Saturday, 5 April 2003 01:19 (twenty-two years ago)

http://zoom.cafepress.com/3/2062873_zoom.jpg

― Ally (mlescaut), Saturday, 5 April 2003 01:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Matos Television?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Saturday, 5 April 2003 01:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Are you going to get clippers now, Matos? They don't need to be tipped $7, fo sho.

― Mark C (Mark C), Saturday, 5 April 2003 07:55 (twenty-two years ago)

He may be a musician, but to us Bjork lovas, he will always be, in our worried hearts, a terrorist too. (One word: cookies.)

― Cozen (Cozen), Saturday, 5 April 2003 07:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I've been shaving my head regularly for 12 years now, I'm not sure why everyone seems so alarmed by this

― M Matos (M Matos), Saturday, 5 April 2003 10:31 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm going to post my tale of fifteen seconds of video channel infamy again and repeat that I WON $4,600.00 on the otherwise deplorably lamentable "Name That Video" back in the early, seemingly carefree days of 2001. And yes, I mentioned Killing Joke at least twice.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 5 April 2003 10:32 (twenty-two years ago)

announcer: "OK, Alex in NYC, here's a video for you to guess!"
[cue: Michael Jackson's "Thriller"]
Alex in NYC: "Um...Killing Joke!"

― M Matos (M Matos), Saturday, 5 April 2003 10:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I made it to the final `round (missed the tenth video -- something by REO Speedwagon, alas), but managed to get the host -- the singularly plastic Karen Bryant -- to utter the name of the Joke as well. Huzzah.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 5 April 2003 10:38 (twenty-two years ago)

did you yell "Honor the fire!"?

― M Matos (M Matos), Saturday, 5 April 2003 10:41 (twenty-two years ago)

(even more important, did you get her to?)

― M Matos (M Matos), Saturday, 5 April 2003 10:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Nah. It was pretty understated, really. During the entirely ridiculous "gettin' to know our contestants" segment, she simply asked who my favorite band was, and we engaged in some truly stupefying chit chat about it. In the final segment, when she was telling me how I might've won the "Vh1's 100 Greatest Albums of All Time," she admitted that the Joke were probably not among them, a comment I sneered at, typically (actually, I believe I said something equally preposterous like "not yet, they're not!")

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 5 April 2003 10:53 (twenty-two years ago)

that's fucking great. of course, you didn't gratutiously, if accidentally, insult a member of this board on that show, so I've still got a leg up on you on that.

― M Matos (M Matos), Saturday, 5 April 2003 11:18 (twenty-two years ago)

It was a reedy-looking guy, probably in his mid-to-late-30s, wearing tiny glasses and a short haircut and an impassive, intelligent expression, and he looked really familiar. "I know who it is," I said, "and I'm pretty certain he's not a musician, so I'll say terrorist." Then they told me who it was.

It was J0hn D@rn13113.

Haha, this is the greatest ile story ever.

― Nicole (Nicole), Saturday, 5 April 2003 11:42 (twenty-two years ago)

(nb change "I know who it is" to "I recognize him")

― M Matos (M Matos), Saturday, 5 April 2003 11:44 (twenty-two years ago)

The logic "he is an acquaintance of mine = he must be a terrorist" worries me.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 5 April 2003 12:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Maybe Matos thought he was a Generation Terrorist.

― Nicole (Nicole), Saturday, 5 April 2003 12:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Axis of Tweevil.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Saturday, 5 April 2003 12:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Nicole, you don't know how tempted I am to repost that "Fuck Blur! We Want Some Pie!" picture.

― Ally (mlescaut), Saturday, 5 April 2003 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

great story!!!

I was probably on MTV once: in the audience of singled out (I threw the game), Sarah Cawood (from top of the pops) pushed me in the back. This was years ago, so if they ever show a repeat (I doubt this), I'm the geek in the man or astroman? t-shirt looking hella happy to be getting the hell out of there.

― jel -- (jel), Saturday, 5 April 2003 17:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Have all the NYC ILXors ever gone down to the TRL studios to try to be part of the audience or at least hold up a ILX-y sign? I really think this should be done.

― teeny (teeny), Saturday, 5 April 2003 19:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I just got done watching MTV2's "The Wrap" and no Matos.

― teeny (teeny), Sunday, 6 April 2003 15:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Just got this email from a friend:

Hey, can you tell Michelangelo that he'll be on TV this week? Here are
the times:

Airtimes:
Premieres Sunday 9:30PM on MTV 2 then repeats:
Monday 10:30 AM Friday 1 PM
Tuesday 8:30 AM Saturday 7:30 PM
Wednesday 12:30

― M Matos (M Matos), Friday, 18 April 2003 20:45 (twenty-two years ago)

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