“This next one’s for the ladies. How many times have you gals been late for a high powered business meeting only to realize you’re not wearing makeup?” – Homer Simpson
“That’s every woman’s nightmare.” – Marge Simpson
“That’s why I invented this revolutionary makeup gun! It’s for the woman who only has four fifths of a second to get ready. Close your eyes, Marge. . . . And now you’re ready for a night on the town.” – Homer Simpson
“Homer, you’ve got it set on whore.” – Marge Simpson
That Marge related makeup line they announced a few weeks ago got its big marketing rollout this week, so there were a ton of links to it. Amusingly, personal blogs and sites were mostly filled with geeky love while the big commercial sites were uselessly parroting the press release. In addition to all that merchandising glamour, we’ve got a couple of really stand out analysis pieces, one about animation and Bob’s Burgers, and another about the delicacy of translating Flanders. Plus there’s some great fan art (including zombies!), a couple of lists, some usage, some soccer, some Australian politics, and the Lisa Simpsons version of Sir Mix-a-Lot.
Enjoy.
Beyond Easy: Bouchard Buffet, Part 5: Bob’s Burgers - Smooth Charlie’s Link of the Week is this detailed look at Bob’s Burgers and the early years of The Simpsons from our old friend Patrick R. The focus is on animation, but it goes deep into characters and stories as well. It’s worth reading even if you aren’t a Bob’s Burgers watcher, because it really gets at the underlying comic sensibilities of various shows. Bravo.
The Fun of Nonstandard Lang-diddly-anguage - This was going to be the link of the week before I read the above, and it is also very much worth a read. It’s a linguistic look at translating Flanders into other languages, with particular attention to the Fladerseses from around the world in “Lisa the Vegetarian”:
When assimilating these tics to their respective linguistic systems, several European translators opted to use variations of typical expressions (“salut”, “salve” and “hola” in FR, IT and ES for “hi-diddly-ho”) distorted in such a way as to retain the rhyme, alliteration and assonance that characterises the odd, yet distinctive, effect created in the English.
How do you translate “ding dong diddly días” into Italian?
Vampire Mob Graphic Novel – Issue 1 - I am really good at ignoring press releases and I get a lot of practice because this is a semi-popular internet site in a time when everyone is starved for attention, but I got one this week for an Indiegogo for a graphic novel based on a web series that Marcia Wallace was in before she died:
Zombie Simpsons: Mrs Krabapple by danosborne on deviantART - And speaking of Edna Krabappel, this is one of a series of excellent fan made zombie drawings. There’s also Otto, Willie, and Krusty.
The Simpsons Wasted My Youth: Top 15 Episodes, Pt. 2 (Top 5) - Completing the list from last week, there is still no Zombie Simpsons and Hank Scorpio sits atop them all.
A Guide to the Dark, 420 Simpsons Remix on Twitter - The complete Denton write up.
Simpsons on the Block - A minimalist design of the family on a t-shirt.
The Simpsons - Heh:
“I like big books and I cannot lie
You other readers can’t deny
When a good book walks in with
A good plot base
And a big spine in your face
You get sprung!
Simpsons football lookalikes: Luiz Suarez as Cletus and David Luiz and Sideshow Bob – 12 football stars who look like your favourite characters - It just isn’t that hard to find a picture of Sepp Blatter looking like the personification of desiccated greed.
Dagwood Bumstead - TV characters and their sandwiches. I think you all probably know the sandwich Homer has.
Makeup Like Marge: The MAC Simpsons Collection - That makeup collection from a few weeks back got a release date: end of August. Give them this, it may be the first makeup to use the title “Nacho Cheese Explosion”.
Marge x MAC - But this just seems silly:
The Simpsons x MAC collection won’t hit stores until September, but the nerds at Comic-Con get first dibs when it goes on sale there for one day only in a few weeks. Me? Well, I’m yellow with envy
Ha! Giving out makeup at Comic-Con . . . do they know their audience at all?
mac x simpsons makeup collection: it’s not a want, it’s a need. - Oh, one last link:
And a probably the first makeup tip I ever learned:
Ladies pinch. Whores use rouge.
5 best memes of the Brazil World Cup 2014 - Comparing Brazil-Germany to Ralph’s heartbreaking moment on the Krusty 29th Anniversary show.
Webcomic Wednesday - There is a Simpsons Facebook page dedicated to making fun of Australia’s Liberal Party. That is all.
Time For Change - Cool fan made Bart and Milhouse (among others) sketches.
Pick one and Never Lego - Ralph graffiti in the city of the angels.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 28
8 pm The Simpsons (Season 26 Premiere)
8:30 pm Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Season 2 Premiere)
9 pm Family Guy (One-Hour “The Simpsons Guy” Season 13 Premiere Crossover Event)
Krusty go BOOM! - The destruction and rebuilding of a Tapped Out Krustyland.
Should I Purchase Lincoln? - The irony of that headline is tough to beat. Heh.
Good or bad teeth? The genetics of tooth decay - Excellent reference from CNN:
Remember “The Big Book of British Smiles” from “The Simpsons”?
The dentist used it to scare children into proper dental hygiene.
And let’s be honest, it was funny! Because though British tea and good manners have an excellent international reputation, British teeth are mostly used as a punch line.
Top Thirteen Female Characters – #3: Lisa Simpson - Awesome:
I don’t remember a lot about that first season (I do now since I own it due to the miracle of DVD), but I do remember pretending to be Lisa Simpson. In kindergarten there was a stage you could play on and I distinctly remember playing Jem and the Holograms with my friends, but wanting to be Lisa Simpson instead of Kimberly of the Holograms. The mind of a five-year-old, right?
Round 117: Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire vs. Bart vs. Australia - Tough.
30 All-American Simpsons Episodes - There’s some Zombie Simpsons on this list, but it’s all buried down near the bottom, so well done on that.
How Fireworks Work, It’s All In The Chemistry - Excellent reference:
In the immortal words of The Simpsons, July 4th is a time to celebrate the independence of our nation by blowing up a small part of it.
Draw your friends - Well done:
I spent the whole night drawing my friends. Haha. Simpsons and Tim Burton styles.
Simpsons Denied Animated Emmy Nom for First Time - I suppose I should make a note of this, but I don’t give even the teensiest of fucks about the Emmys, so I have nothing to add.
I Want to Write for The Simpsons - And finally, I get to end with someone who agrees with us. I’m on record, just as recently as yesterday, as saying there is no hope for the show ever resuscitating itself, but there are some good ideas in here, and he agrees with us:
What made The Simpsons great wasn’t that they were going for just gags, instead they told simple stories and then gently assaulted viewers with witty jokes. The Simpsons were witty, they didn’t linger on jokes, they didn’t beat dead horses. I don’t see why the writers don’t return to this style. Worst case scenario, people are too busy laughing at one joke to hear the next, but that just adds longevity; people will want to rewatch episodes to catch everything.
The show was smart, but not up its own ass with pretentiousness. Everyone was self-aware but not self-obsessed.
Al, hire this kid.
