“Marge, I’m going to look for the kids.” – Homer Simpson
The Lego episode is now five days in the past and the internet is starting to move onto other things, but this week’s links are still a little thin from that deluge of marketing. Amusingly enough, though this is just my informal observation, there were a lot more links (on commercial publications and personal blogs) before the episode aired than after. Prior to broadcast, my news feeds and Google Alerts were inundated with people posting links to images and that trailer video. Afterwards there were quite a few reviews, mostly of the “it was pretty good” variety, but far far less overall chatter than there’d been for the build up.
Anyway, we do have a nice smattering of fan made stuff this week, including two professional artists, some Simpsons inspired heavy metal, a Lego Homer car, and an excellent modification to a couple of those recently released Lego characters. In addition to that, we’ve got some excellent usage, a new makeup merchandising tie in, more on Bartkira, and two people doing some grilling, because it is now that time of year.
Enjoy.
Custom Lego Zombie Simpsons Homer Marge Treehouse Horror Glow Dark Minifigures - Someone took the Lego versions of Homer and Marge and detailed them to look like zombies. Excellent.
The Simpsons at 25: Satire in serious times - A nice writeup of the show and what made it great that is, nevertheless, curiously absent examples from the last fifteen years or so. I wonder why?
“Simpsons Doom” band Dr. Colossus release debut EP for streaming - Awesome:
So… do you like… stuff?
“Imagine if we started the heaviest band in the world, like real doomy, Sabbathy kinda stuff. What would we call it…what’s huge?…’Colossus’?…”
“…Or like Dr. Colossus from the Simpsons…
Why don’t we just make a doom band where all the songs are based on episodes of the Simpsons?”That’s a basic summary of Melbourne duo Dr. Colossus. It’s the doomy riffs of Black Sabbath and Kyuss meeting The Simpsons’ funniest quotes re-written into lyrics. And the duo have released their debut EP – simply titled “IV” – for streaming on SoundCloud.
The dental plan riff has never sounded so heavy.
Amazon.com: Homer Economicus: The Simpsons and Economics eBook: Joshua Hall - It isn’t being officially released until next week, but there’s a new book that attempts to explain economics through Simpsons.
The Art Of ‘Bartkira’ At Portland’s Floating World Comics - The Bartkira project rolls forward. You can now buy a 96-page “exhibition book” for $15.
See Every ‘The Simpsons’ Character In LEGO Form - The fine young folks at Uproxx seem to have about the right take on “Brick Like Me”:
was it worth the hype? As a novelty episode of television from a show in its 25th season, yes; otherwise, not really.
For the curious, they’ve got screen grabs of what each character looked like in Lego.
Welcome To Springfield – The Simpsons and MAC Collaboration for Fall 2014 - The 25th anniversary marketing barrage continues, this time with cosmetics.
Rare NEW Fire King Stacking Mug Cup Simpsons 25th Anniversary Made in JAPAN - Further down the merchandising totem pole, plastic cups from Japan.
Homer Simpson Is ‘El Chapo’ In Prophetic Drug War Art Series - An Italian artist created some simple drawings of Homer as a couple of famous drug lords and Barack Obama selling weed to Bart.
Jaimie Warren: ‘That’s What Friends Are For’ - And speaking of art, here’s dueling self portraits, one as Boy George and one as Ralph Wiggum. Click through for the pictures.
Woolies launching Duff Beer at Moe’s Tavern pop-up in Sydney - Aussies will soon be able to buy Duff legally, but this was just a totally blown marketing opportunity:
Kingham said that while the beer has “good novelty value”, the liquid itself will not disappoint.
“We needed to make sure the beer would stack up. It’s a perfectly good lager,” he said.
Don’t call it “perfectly good”, call it “perfectly cromulent”!
‘Simpsons’ Lego episode: Behind the writers’ favorite inside jokes - There’s some decent stuff in here, but an awful lot of it is “brick” puns.
29 Things You May Have Missed in the ‘Simpsons’ Lego Episode - And speaking of brick puns, here’s a list of them. The duck was a nice touch and I actually didn’t notice #26, the “Lego brick separator”, but that’s because I pry those things apart with my teeth and fingernails like a civilized Lego user.
Ill-Fated Simpsons Car “The Homer” Built Out Of LEGOs - Cool:
Now that LEGO is producing sets based on The Simpsons, LEGO enthusiast Brain Williams has taken it upon himself to build an incredible replica of The Homer. You can see the model in person at Brickworld or head over to Williams’ Flickr account, loaded with pictures of plenty of awesome LEGO creations.
The link has pictures as well. Bravo.
The Beaten Path: Aaron Pico Is the Future King of Fighting - Excellent usage:
During one episode of The Simpsons, they catch Bart committing some schoolyard prank, and he must meet his principal for disciplinary activities at 4:30 in the morning.
His response to the punishment: “There’s a 4:30 in the morning now?”
Indeed there is, even if most kids (and adults) aren’t overly familiar with it. This drives to the heart of what makes Aaron Pico so unusual. He knows 4:30 in the morning like the back of his hand
Cue the Opening Theme - YouTube of some famous TV show openings which obviously includes The Simpsons. It’s also nice to see Looney Tunes included. Their opening is just as iconic, but it’s not a typical montage, so it’s rarely on lists like this.
The Gusface Traveller Chilli Con Carne - The chili looks incredibly good, but while you can’t eat it through the internet, there’s a great .gif of Bart’s time for chili hat that you can see.
‘The Simpsons’ Get Better Ratings In LEGO Form - I imagine that tepid spin like this was not the big publicity bump they thought it would be:
amidst a national epidemic of LEGO fever, The Simpsons fared about 20% than usual last night with its LEGO episode. Now, I’m sure with the expense and marketing behind it, the producers were hoping for/expecting a higher number, but with the show getting some of its worst ratings in history these days, any upward movement is welcome.
That sounds like the last thing someone says before a plane crash.
Game of Thrones – Via Text - This is mostly about the most recent Game of Thrones episode, but there is a delightful .gif of Burns laughing at that crippled Irishman.
Sorry, Moe - Apparently, ogling the ladies in the Sears catalog isn’t as shameful as it used to be. Heh.
Scientists reverse aging in mice by giving them young blood - You can’t steal blood from the young and give it to the old without referencing “Blood Feud”.
Hank Azaria Settle on the Upper West Side in $9.2 Million Co-op - Azaria is moving from one massively expensive New York City apartment to another one. That is all.
Hank Azaria on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (Simpsons Voices) - Speaking of Azaria, this is from a few years ago and Azaria does some voices and is generally charming, including a story about an Indian guy who yelled at him for doing Apu. Near the end, they briefly discuss the origins of Jub-Jub.
The Simpsons: Television Royalty - There’s nothing here that your typical Simpsons fan doesn’t already know, but it’s a nice little love letter to the show.
Eat My Shorts! - First hand review of the Lego figures complete with detailed images.
#019 COM: Elizabeth and Ezekiel - Cool fan made drawing.
Help it’s Allergy season! - Oh, man, Milhouse would not last long there.
Tonight we’re grilling beef! - Is that an officially licensed Simpsons grill or a decal? I can’t quite tell. The color is nice, though.
