“Uh, do know ‘Insane in the Brain’?” – B-Real
“We mostly know classical, but we could give it a shot.” – London Symphony Orchestra Guy

We’ve got a real range of music this week, ranging from rap and hip-hop to jazz, proudly dorky indie rock, and sentimental 70s classics that seem a bit less sentimental than they once did.  There’s also a mixed bag of usage, more cool embroidery, David Silverman being a mensch, Simpsons scarecrows, and a Spanish version of the Max Power song.

Enjoy.

SIDESHOW BOB PRINT – Awesomely disturbing fan made print of Sideshow Bob having hacked off one of Bart’s arms.  I especially like the death’s head in his hair.  If you live in New Zealand you can even buy it. 

Elzhi and Yuck try to bring back 90s music. – The kids are alright:

I’m not old enough to have real nostalgia for the 1990s–the oldest music I heard as a kid that I still listen to has to be the singles off Speakerboxx/The Love Below. But I’ve heard more than enough about it—bands were ethically purer, less willing to sell out, hip hop wasn’t commercialized, the Simpsons was still funny.

I can’t 100% vouch for everything there, but that last part is definitely true. 

the simpsons embroidery project – 2 – More Simpsons stitch work, and even better than last week’s.  There’s Grampa riding the bike from “Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy”, a Lisa so brightly colored it almost looks electric, and a sewn version of everyone’s favorite Valentine’s Day card.  Outstanding.

Foreign Policy: The Poor Have Preferences, Too – Poor usage:

Money is a convenient yardstick because it follows a simple rule: All other things equal, we’d always like to have another dollar. Think here of a line from The Simpsons, spoken by Montgomery Burns after Barney expresses admiration for his incredible wealth: "Yes, but I’d trade it all… for just a little more."

For a small error, Burns doesn’t say “just”; for a larger one, why on Earth would you think that’s Barney?  You don’t even need to know much about the show to know that it’s overwhelmingly likely Homer speaking to Mr. Burns.  Bad NPR, bad Foreign Policy.

A Mother and Daughter Discover the Beauty of Spontaneity – David Silverman is apparently a nice dude (even to fans too casual to know that Krusty is spelled with a “K”):

Next, we met animator David Silverman. Among other things, he has been an artist for The Simpsons and directed The Simpsons Movie.  He drew a picture of Crusty the Clown for us.  Above Crusty’s head he wrote, “Hey, Hey Zach.”  He was really friendly and nice and seemed genuinely pleased to meet fans, even if one of them was absent.

Awww.

Q&A – Yo La Tengo discusses the version of the theme song they recorded for “D’oh-in In the Wind”:

Muddy Mae Suggins ! Yes. In a conceit that possibly strained credibility, Homer has apparently never heard about hippies or hippy culture before this episode. But he likes what he hears. No washing, no working . . . it sounds right up his alley. We were asked to record a psychedelic version of the theme music for the closing credits. We worked out three ideas and they chose the one they liked best.

Would it be fair to say the version you came up with owes a considerable debt to The Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows? Yes. Unless you work for The Beatles publishing company, in which case I would tell you that it bears no resemblance whatsoever.

Fashawn Explains Bart Simpson Metaphor & Title Of New Album, "The Ecology" – That “Bart Simpson” song just got deeper:

In an interview with Denmark’s DrozDailySteezin.Dk, he explained the idea behind his "Bart Simpson" track, and the cartoon character’s placement on his Higher Learning Vol. 2 album cover.

"Bart Simpson is a concept I came up with. I was on my way from this camp called Camp Woodward which is a prominent extreme sports, skating camp,” he said. “I was there, and I guess The Simpsons was on TV, and I was just looking at Bart wondering ‘How is Bart Simpson such a big iconic figure in the world?’ Like how people wanted to package him and put him on lunch boxes and make T-shirts out of him, all that type of stuff. People want to do that with rappers—start making toys out of them and putting their names on all types of stuff with their likeness. That’s why I call myself Bart Simpson. That’s where the whole Bart Simpson thing originated from."

Album cover goes here.

Mona Lisa – Mona Lisa Simpson – A website with a ton of Mona Lisa pictures, including a rather startled looking Lisa Simpson Mona Lisa.

Max Power – On Twitter, our old friend Friz writes:

The Max Power song is so much better in Spanish.

I have to agree:

Our 15 Favorite Twins in Pop Culture – Patty & Selma check in at #11 here.  Sadly the accompanying YouTube clip is Zombie Simpsons.

ASCAP to honor Badalamenti, Clausen – Entertainment News, Music News, Media – Alf Clausen is going to get some well deserved recognition:

Clausen will be presented with the Golden Note Award, given to songwriters, composers and artists with significant career milestones, with previous honorees including Garth Brooks, Stevie Wonder and Tom Petty. Clausen, best known for scoring "The Simpsons," has composed for shows such as "The Mary Tyler Moore Variety Hour" and "Moonlighting," along with pics such as "Half-Baked," "Splash" and "Ferris Beuller’s Day off."

Congratulations Mr. Clausen.  Oh, and Variety?  It might be a good idea to take “Beuller” out of your spellchecker’s dictionary.

The Toughest “Simpsons” Quiz of All Time – This quiz on the Huffington Post, misleading billed as the “hardest” of all time, was making the rounds this week.  Meh.

Simpsons Video of the Week: Lord Palmerstone – I don’t think I need to explain this.  Pfft, Pitt the Elder.

Mississippi Totally Looks Like Professor Frink – Not really, and if you turned him around he’d look like Alabama.

ET & The Simpsons Descend On Gatcombe & Chillerton – Apparently the Isle of Wight has a Scarecrow Festival every year.  Nice:

Necks are always the bane of scarecrows.

This Simpsons Clip Pretty Much Sums Up The Thrashers’ Move To Winnipeg (Video) – In celebration of hockey returning to a place where you can actually play it, here’s YouTube of “That’s it, back to Winnipeg!”

“Oh, I love your magazine. My favorite section is “How To Increase Your Word Power.” That thing is really, really, really… good.” -Homer Simpson – Well, good.

Quote of the Day: Animation Domination Week – Part two of our quote section this week is Lyle Lanley effortlessly deflecting the objections of the townspeople.  Perfectly quoted, bravo. 

Simpson cake – DIANDRA – This isn’t in English, but pictures of Simpsons donut cakes require no translation.

Win H.M.S. Pinafore tickets at 1 p.m. – Going Out Gurus – They gave away tickets to a Saturday performance of “H.M.S. Pinafore” based on Simpsons responses.  Also, excellent usage:

Sideshow Bob: Well, Bart, any last requests?

Bart: Well, there is one, but…Nah.

Sideshow Bob: No, go on.

Bart: Well, you have such a beautiful voice.

Sideshow Bob: Guilty as charged.

Bart: Uh-huh. Anyway, I was wondering if you could sing the entire score of the H.M.S. Pinafore.

Sideshow Bob: Very well, Bart. I shall send you to heaven before I send you to hell.

Perfectly quoted.

How to Draw Bart Simpson – Step by step instructions of the non-video variety.

Bart Simpson Minecraft Skin – Exactly what it says.

Casual Something: Bellyfire – Excellent usage of Bart’s ballet bellyfire as a way to see beyond the right angled drudgery of the cubicle farm.

Pyramids, Plates, and Carbon Rods – There was a momentous change here in the States this week.  After decades of having our officially sanctioned dietary recommendations be symbolized by a pyramid, they are now symbolized by a plate.  Here that august transition is presented with an appropriate amount of excellent Simpsons snark.

Simpsons – The Food Chain – And here we have the proper Simpsons dieting graphic.

Funny Post of the Day: Clips from The Simpsons (1991 – 1993) Made a Coherent McBain Movie – This is not the original McBain video, someone included the UNICEF pennies thing from “King of the Hill” in this version, but it hasn’t been taken down by FOX yet, so it can still be easily watched on YouTube.

I Miss You Phil Hartman – Two YouTube videos of Troy McClure.

Ask 411 Movies for 05.30.11: 400 Columns that Blow! – This one’s a twofer.  Not only does this guy list “Cape Feare” as his favorite episode, he provides YouTube of “You Light Up My Life”.  That’s Homer and Marge’s song from “I Married Marge”, and it made headlines recently because the guy who wrote it killed himself after it came out that he appears to have been a serial rapist.  This has been “destroying your childhood”, thanks for reading. 

Sax giant still wailing at moon – On a more cheerful musical note, the bridge scene in “Moaning Lisa” was apparently based off of something Sonny Rollins used to do:

”I was looking for some place to practise my horn and I couldn’t do it in my small apartment in New York,” Rollins says.

”I happened to be walking one day and I saw the steps going up to the [Williamsburg] Bridge.

”I walked across to Brooklyn and there’s nobody up there. I said to myself, ‘Wow, this is it! This is a place I can bring my horn and practise to my heart’s content.’

”So yes,” he chuckles, ”it turned into a very romantic story.”

Neat. 

Homebuyers can move into Homer Simpson’s home – Castellaneta’s house is up for sale for a cool $5.75 million.  Also, there is apparently a website called Real Estalker.  Tee hee.

Simpsons – Cuckoo cuckoo – Animated .gif of Bart in the Leg Up Program.

‘Simpsons’ Duff sells well as a cerveza – That Duff beer in Latin/South America made the news again recently.  There’s nothing really new here, it just got noticed again by the media.

Muppets, Baby – Discussing the fact that there’s a new Muppet movie in the works:

The Muppet Show, the older Muppet movies, and even Muppet Babies were classic examples of film/TV that was enjoyable for kids, but well-written enough to be fully appreciated by adults as well.  That is a rare quality indeed and something that only the better Pixar films and the early Simpsons episodes can pull off.

The later Simpsons episodes aren’t entertaining for kids or adults.