Tag: Lisa’s Wedding

“And here, out of the mists of history, the legendary Esquilax, a horse with the head of a rabbit, and the body of a rabbit. . . . Ooh, it’s galloping away!” – Chief Wiggum The Easter update for Tapped Out has been live for a little less than two weeks, and the complaints are rolling in.  We’ve got three links this week about how the Easter update hasn’t been the greatest, which, having recently re-installed the game, I agree with.  I realize they have to keep releasing updates to keep people who’ve maxed out their levels interested, but some of these really should be optional.  Of course, that would require EA to not suck . . . so, probably not gonna happen. In other news, I am very ready for this Lego episode to be in the rear view mirror.  They are putting on a full court publicity press and every time they release some new images or someone from Lego says something about the show seemingly everyone with access to the internet links to it.  We’ve got two this week, but both are just entertainment industry fluff jobs.  In addition to all that, there are some cool t-shirts, a Flanders coin, the story of how Harry Shearer met his wife, and some excellent clip show usage, so it’s not all bad. Enjoy. Worst Zine Ever – Some excellent Simpsons tattoo designs with links to more.  Funky See Funky Do would be very obscure but very awesome. Exclusive: Inside The Simpsons’ Very Special LEGO Episode – Today’s News: Our Take – Oh, TV Guide, I’d ask you never to change, but you never do: Cheekily titled “Brick Like Me” and set almost entirely in a LEGO world, it’s also episode No. 550, a staggering accomplishment for a primetime series. This has left the well-seasoned wisenheimers on the production team feeling an odd combination of over-the-moon excitement and enough-already boredom. And let me say a “very special” well done to you cheeky wisenheimers (assuming an algorithm set to 1960s didn’t write that dreck for you). ‘The Simpsons’: See the first image of Lego Homer! – This is an interview with Selman and Brian Kelley, it doesn’t tell you much.  I did like this quote from Jean, though: And how will this episode stack up against The Lego Movie, which has earned more than $250 million at the box office? “I think it’s just as good and it’s free,” quips executive producer Al Jean, who adds: “If anyone out there has an idea for a new material that the Simpsons can be made out of, please write to us. Cardboard? Yarn? Anything is up for grabs.” Spoiler alert: it will not be as good as The Lego Movie. Two by Two, Eggs of Blue – The game is fundamentally exploitative . . .: Honestly this whole event feels unnecessarily complicated. Why can’t decorations just be in the shop and purchased for cash, do we really need to work hard collecting eggs for fences? . . . so, yes. The…

“Oh, these Renaissance Fairs are so boring.” – Bart Simpson “Oh, really?  Did you see the loom?  I took loom in high school.” – Marge Simpson “Meh.” – Bart Simpson It’s a very short Reading Digest this week because two old problems reared their heads at the same time.  First, the signal-to-noise ratio plummeted because smaller media outlets (local TV stations, newspapers, magazines) finally got wind of the official opening of the Simpsons area down in America’s wang.  That blotted out most of the interesting Simpsons related content on Google.  Second, the WordPress tag for “The Simpsons” crashed again.  It’s only displaying a single page of links, which is annoying as hell and means I missed about five days worth of Simpsons related blogging.  Oh well.  We do have some good stuff, however.  There’s an unusual fan drawing of Homer, another clueless FOX executive, a guide to playing Tapped Out without actually getting tapped out, a Simpsons bowtie, and the uncertain history of “meh”.  Enjoy. The Unshaved Mouse’s Top 10 One Shot Simpsons Characters – Here’s a great idea for a list: What’s a One Shot? Well, here are the rules. A One Shot character: a) Appears in only one episode. b) May only appear in one scene for the purpose of one joke (with possibly a second for a call back). c) Is not integral to the plot. d) Is not voiced by a celebrity (or at least, not a celebrity who is a regular cast member.) So, here we go. Needless to say, there is no Zombie Simpsons.  Excellent.  Meh etymology: Tracing the Yiddish word from Leo Rosten to Auden to the Simpsons. – The curious history of apathy’s greatest word.  Get Got – Death Grips – Exit Through The Empty Subway – A little street art after some youthful experimentation with the Simpsons: Ever since I was young I had doodled, even creating my own cartoon series when I was little. I was never very good at drawing, but continued to do so out of misplaced enjoyment. I tried to invent my own characters to craft stories with. They were essentially very poorly drawn Simpsons models, with bulbous eyes, skinny legs that went on too long, and awkward arms. I even had a dog character who followed round the lead character (who was always on a skateboard), and together they had adventures killing aliens (who looked exactly like the aliens out of the Simpsons). 7 tips to hosting a throwdown Hoppy 30th Bierday bash – Now this is a good party idea: Creating custom cup wraps are a simple way to wow your guest of honor and the guests at the same time. I was able to hit the beer theme and Brett’s love for the Simpsons with the Duff Beer solo cup wraps. Scroll down about halfway for the picture.  Best. Episode. Ever. (Round 65) – “Homer’s Enemy” vs. “Lisa’s Sax” is a tough one.  Homer – Cool fan drawing of a giant blob Homer who…

“Oh, this?  No, I’ve just got a touch of the rheumatis.” – Marge Simpson “Oh.” – Lisa Simpson “Whew.” – Marge Simpson  “Mom, picture phone.” – Lisa Simpson Our first link this week is to a YouTube/Google+/Google Hangout/Google Whatever interview with Al Jean.  In it he briefly mentions a non-existent video game (which in turn begets tens of thousands of words of empty, pageview chasing speculation) and discusses a number of other topics, some well trod, some not.  What makes this more fun than most Jean interviews where he repeats the same few statements over and over again (no I don’t know how long the show will go on, no we’re not working on another movie, yes we like having guest voices) is that instead of some properly lit studio, he’s sitting in front of a webcam at such an angle that you can practically see up his nose.  It’s a very different format, and while it’s still prone to the usual pitfalls, a live, unedited chat is far more interesting than some cleverly edited clip or hopelessly intercut sit down interview.  In addition to that, we’ve got cranky Lego fans, calligraphy, excellent usage, two posts about the enduring quality of the show, a new blog dedicated to the freemium money fountain that is Tapped Out, and some handy advice on parenting with The Simpsons. Enjoy. 8-time Emmy winner Al Jean talks ‘The Simpsons’ – Smooth Charlie’s link of the week is this video interview with Al Jean by a site that tracks entertainment awards: It’s nineteen minutes long, which is an eternity in YouTube time, and the kid doing the interviewing has mastered the Hollywood art of asking hopelessly easy and leading questions that allow both subject and interviewer to promote themselves harmlessly, but there are some things worth your time: 3:25 – Jean talks about the ratings with the kind of perspective and detail that I don’t and can’t.  Long story short: the overall numbers remain down, but that doesn’t mean it’s not attractive to advertisers and it anchors that whole bloc on Sundays, so don’t expect a ratings related cancellation anytime soon.  11:40 – This is actually interesting, and I say that as someone who can’t be roused to give a five cent fuck about Emmys, Oscars, and all the other marketing gimmicks the entertainment industry hands out as awards.  Jean points out how silly it is for people to talk about Emmy “snubs” and the like: “When people go, ‘Why did the Emmys do this?’ I go, ‘Because the Emmys isn’t something you can talk to like a person.  It’s a big, unwieldy group of people.”  13:35 – Some love for The Critic, including the fact that they successfully predicted NBC’s slide to fifth place way back in 1994. 17:00 – There’s a link below about this specific comment, but they have in the past talked about writing a Simpsons RPG video game.  That’s it.  He mentions it in passing, not as an active project, so…