Team Shmuli
So far, being thirty-four doesn't feel any different from being thirty-three. Really, though, that's the case with every year, isn't it? It's only when you look back that you see the change. I feel like I haven't changed much at all when compared to other people I know, though. It seems like other people have some experience that makes them feel grown up, and that's never happened with me. I don't feel exactly like I did when I was a kid, and I hope I'm not as clueless as I was in my younger days, but how I react to things and what I enjoy doing are still about the same. I wonder if that's true, or if my perspective is skewed because I'm seeing it from the inside instead of the outside.
I just got around to watching last week's Simpsons, and this week's while I was at it. The food blog one was pretty good, although the show does seem to be a bit inconsistent on what Homer will eat. Sometimes he'll eat anything, and other times will avoid anything exotic. I remember a joke in "The Last Temptation of Homer" about his having a cheeseburger at a Chinese restaurant. I guess they just go with whatever they think is funny in a particular scene. It is kind of weird that Homer doesn't want to be a food critic when he already was one in "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner," but maybe the fact that this led to his almost being killed was what turned him against the idea. I also have to give points to the video game convention scene, although the parody names they come up with have been getting a bit weak. I know we've seen the Funtendo Zii in other episodes, but really, how long did that take for the writers to come up with? Five seconds? There was some discussion of this over at Press the Buttons. Also, I give credit for Lisa ranking Weird Al as one of the sexiest vegetarians. From what I understand, Edward Cullen isn't a vegetarian, but I know that was Stephenie Meyer's fault. Apparently no one every explained to her what a vegetarian was. Last week's Family Guy, with Stewie and Brian going back in time to the very first episode, was a pretty creative idea. It also allowed for a lot of meta-humor, and we finally learn what the characters do after setting up cutaway gags. As for American Dad, Principal Lewis is pretty much always funny, so I approved. The bit about Diff'rent Strokes being based on his childhood was a good running gag.
While this week's Simpsons was another parody of a movie I haven't seen, the idea of collaborative young adult fiction writing as a criminal scheme was amusing enough in and of itself. I also think it did a better job with the multiple twist endings than other episodes have in the past. ("The Great Money Caper" comes to mind here.) A coming-of-age story about trolls is probably actually a good idea, although I have to suspect it's probably been done before. I don't know that the golem love story has, though. One joke I found a bit interesting was when Homer called Neil Gaiman "British Fonzie," because bethje told me that not_glimmer said Gaiman was the Fonzie of graphic novels. (I think it was her, anyway.) I'm kind of surprised that it took them this long to have Gaiman guest star, but I guess it's a generational thing. He's been pretty well-known for a while, but mostly with younger people, not people the age of the veteran writers. Family Guy finally found a way to bring back Joe's son Kevin, who was around in earlier episodes and then just kind of disappeared. That he was killed in Iraq was just a one-off line from an earlier episode to explain his absence, but they did incorporate that. They did apparently forget that Brian and Stewie also fought in Iraq for a little while, though.
I just got around to watching last week's Simpsons, and this week's while I was at it. The food blog one was pretty good, although the show does seem to be a bit inconsistent on what Homer will eat. Sometimes he'll eat anything, and other times will avoid anything exotic. I remember a joke in "The Last Temptation of Homer" about his having a cheeseburger at a Chinese restaurant. I guess they just go with whatever they think is funny in a particular scene. It is kind of weird that Homer doesn't want to be a food critic when he already was one in "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner," but maybe the fact that this led to his almost being killed was what turned him against the idea. I also have to give points to the video game convention scene, although the parody names they come up with have been getting a bit weak. I know we've seen the Funtendo Zii in other episodes, but really, how long did that take for the writers to come up with? Five seconds? There was some discussion of this over at Press the Buttons. Also, I give credit for Lisa ranking Weird Al as one of the sexiest vegetarians. From what I understand, Edward Cullen isn't a vegetarian, but I know that was Stephenie Meyer's fault. Apparently no one every explained to her what a vegetarian was. Last week's Family Guy, with Stewie and Brian going back in time to the very first episode, was a pretty creative idea. It also allowed for a lot of meta-humor, and we finally learn what the characters do after setting up cutaway gags. As for American Dad, Principal Lewis is pretty much always funny, so I approved. The bit about Diff'rent Strokes being based on his childhood was a good running gag.
While this week's Simpsons was another parody of a movie I haven't seen, the idea of collaborative young adult fiction writing as a criminal scheme was amusing enough in and of itself. I also think it did a better job with the multiple twist endings than other episodes have in the past. ("The Great Money Caper" comes to mind here.) A coming-of-age story about trolls is probably actually a good idea, although I have to suspect it's probably been done before. I don't know that the golem love story has, though. One joke I found a bit interesting was when Homer called Neil Gaiman "British Fonzie," because bethje told me that not_glimmer said Gaiman was the Fonzie of graphic novels. (I think it was her, anyway.) I'm kind of surprised that it took them this long to have Gaiman guest star, but I guess it's a generational thing. He's been pretty well-known for a while, but mostly with younger people, not people the age of the veteran writers. Family Guy finally found a way to bring back Joe's son Kevin, who was around in earlier episodes and then just kind of disappeared. That he was killed in Iraq was just a one-off line from an earlier episode to explain his absence, but they did incorporate that. They did apparently forget that Brian and Stewie also fought in Iraq for a little while, though.