Simpsons Top 100 Countdown

#71 Brother's Little Helper
Season 11, Episode 2 (guide form the Simpsons Archive)

After a day of exceptionally bad behavior at school, Skinner says that Bart will be expelled unless he starts taking drugs to counteract his attention deficit disorder. After initial reluctance, Bart starts taking Focusyn. He is transformed into a good student and manages to stay focused at home and school, avoiding trouble. However, Bart starts to believe he's being monitored from space and seems to go off the deep end. He's taken to the drug place for testing, but breaks out, steals a tank from the nearby army base, and, after driving it through town, uses it to shoot down a Major League Baseball satellite, which it turns out was spying on everybody. Mark McGwire shows up on the scene to distract everyone and recover the reconnaissance information. I thought that part of the beginning, relating to Bart, was overdone, and the whole Mark McGwire appearance was pretty weak, but I was amused in between it all. Memorable moments include Ralph, the bear, the Flanderses' fire safety skit and Skinner's intro, the hamsters, various drug talk, Homer trying to get Bart to take the drugs, time burglar, cut-offs, personal organizer with cheese grater, Bart behaving unusually, and just about everything relating to the tank except the shooting-down the satellite bit.

Simpsons Top 100 Countdown

#72 Jaws Wired Shut
Season 13, Episode 9 (Guide from the Simpsons Archive)
While fleeing some movie theatre ushers, Homer runs into the fist of a statue of boxer Drederick Tatum, breaking his jaw. With his jaws wired shut and unable to speak coherently, Homer learns to listen more and starts acting in a more sane manner. Marge convinces him to continue this behavior even after his jaws are no longer wired shut. However, she realizes that she misses Homer’s crazy behavior, so she joins a demolition derby and – okay, well, the story stinks (at least/especially towards the end), but it still provided some laughs. Memorable moments include Homer breaking his jaw and Homer with his jaw wired shut, and probably a few other moments.

A few disjointed notes and links

Plans for a draft dodger memorial were revived in Canada. The statue would show two Americans -- a man and a woman -- crossing a border to the welcoming arms of a Canadian. What draft, exactly, would the woman be dodging? I'm just saying.

Ever wondered why African nations are so endebted? Wonder no further.

Probably the most interesting of these links, part of Belgium's army has gone missing. I'm not sure what to say, except hahahhahahahaha. Must be an embarassing problem.

Here's an interesting experiment relating to Cheney's shooting accident. Anything that includes the words "when we undressed the pig" cannot be a completely boring read.

Some other notes regarding the Cheney shooting incident:
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) criticized the delay in notifying the media, but he didn't notify the media for three days after he suffered a stroke.
Senator Hillary Clinton (D- "New York") criticized the administration and said it had a pattern of withholding information. Not exactly something to bring up given her and her husband's track record.

Simpsons Top 100 Countdown

#73 War of the Simpsons
Season 2, Episode 20 (Guide from the Simpsons Archive)
Marge and Homer host a party for their friends at which Homer gets intoxicated and generally embarrasses himself. Reverend Lovejoy happens to be hosting a couple’s therapy weekend, and Marge decides to sign them up, much to Homer’s disappointment. They use Grandpa as a last-minute replacement babysitter for the kids while they’re away. Homer tries to sneak off to go fishing, but Marge stops him, though he ends up doing it anyway. He catches an enormous fish that is a local legend, but when Marge complains that he spent the morning fishing instead of being with her working to save their marriage, he throws it back to prove his love. Meanwhile, the kids take advantage of Grandpa and, among other things, host a wild party that trashes the house. Grandpa tricks them into cleaning it up by the time Homer and Marge return by pretending to cry. Memorable moments include Homer’s party behavior, his recollection thereof, the listing of faults, most scenes of the kids taking advantage of Grandpa, Homer punching and beating the fish with an oar, Grandpa’s wily ways, and the very weak resolution to the marital problems of Homer and Marge.

More on Cheney's Shooting Accident

The media is in a self-righteous rage over not being told about the incident for nearly 24 hours. David Gregory of NBC was especially having a hissy fit. Personally, I think they lose a lot of their right to complain about "the public's right to know" when they won't publish those Danish cartoons, among other things (incidentally, if you still haven't seen the cartoons, I have a link to them in this post). They further complain that when the story was told, it wasn't to them, but to a minor newspaper. Somehow it doesn't count as disclosure unless they are the ones being told. I severely dislike their self-important preening. Some are even trying to portray the waiting period before the story broke as a "cover-up" which doesn't make the least bit of sense.

Also, it appears that the man who was shot was not following proper etiquette at the time which contributed to the shooting. He had seperated from the group and was coming to rejoin it without alerting them that he was coming.

Some people are raising a stink over Cheney not having the proper hunting stamp on his hunting license, too. First, the vice president does not typically take care of such things on his own, but a member of his staff does it. Apparently, said staff member was misinformed over the requirements (mailing in $140 -- $125 for the license, and $15 for a federal stamp or something for fowl hunting, which he already had, but not the $7 for the stamp he needed). Apparently, this stamp is also a fairly new requirement, so perhaps outdated materials were relied upon. At any rate, the policy, even before Cheney, was to merely issue warnings for it at this time. The $7 has been mailed in to obtain the correct stamp, et cetera. It seems more a tale of bureaucratic snafus than any misdeed on Cheney's part.

On a lighter note, I found the photo compilation of Cheney here (scroll down) amusing. That site, by the way, belongs to Lucianne Goldberg, mother of syndicated columnist and National Review writer Jonah Goldberg, one of my must-reads, and she is also the one who encouraged Linda Tripp in some of her actions in the whole Lewinsky affair. I like random trivia.

Double Standards in the Media, British Edition

Just recently, the British media decided that it would not publish the Danish cartoons of Mohammad because they would provoke outrage. Then they decide to publish images from two years ago showing British troops beating some Iraqis. What exactly was the method of thinking here?

Simpsons Top 100 Countdown

#74 Duffless
Season 4, Episode 16 (Guide from the Simpsons Archive)
Homer sneaks out from work to visit the Duff brewery with Barney. After both imbibing large amounts of alcohol, Homer decides that Barney is too drunk to drive, so he takes his keys and starts to drive. Wiggum was secretly monitoring the parking lot and calls for some more cops to bust him. Homer’s license is revoked and he has to attend traffic school and two months of Alc-Anon meetings (a pretty light punishment). Marge uses the ordeal to get Homer to give up beer for a month. Meanwhile, in the secondary plot, Bart ruins Lisa’s science fair project by throwing her steroid enhanced tomato at Principal Skinner, so Lisa tries to exact revenge in her new project by comparing her brother’s intelligence unfavorably with that of a hamster. Bart discovers her plan, and while he does not directly adversely affect her project, he uses his showmanship to pull off a first place performance in the science fair. Memorable moments include Homer mixing up his thoughts and speech, Homer escaping the power plant, the Duff brewery tour, Homer trying to knock out Barney, Wiggum rolling, Lionel Hutz, Troy McClure, Wiggum’s home movies, the science fair, the Alc-Anon meetings (especially Homer being kicked out), and Homer answering Marge’s questions when she’s figuring out that he has a drinking problem. As a side note, Lisa decries the lack of scientific merit of Bart’s project, but what was the scientific merit with her project, or, for that matter, most elementary school science fair projects?

This would be filed under "meanderings"

Every now and again, I like to look to see who's been reading my blog, and if it's not from one of my regulars, where they came from. It turns out that I got a link from the Washington Post because I linked to one of their articles in this post. They have a little box that allows you to view what bloggers are saying on the topic. Makes me feel bad that I didn't really say anything about it. Someone from the Department of Education was checking out what bloggers had to say, though. I'm a bit curious if it was for their job or for pleasure. That entry also got several hits from people doing searches for the Danish Mohammad cartoons, which I also didn't much comment on, but did provide a link to them and other images of Mohammad.

Seeing as nobody cares about all of this, I'll end this post.

Added (slightly) later: Going further through the list of who's been visiting my site, I see that someone from Iran did (for my post of one month ago today). I would not be surprised if this was a visit for business rather than pleasure (i.e., someone in the Iranian government looking to see what the infidel Americans are saying).

Cheney

What do Aaron Burr and Dick Cheney have in common? They are the only two sitting vice presidents to shoot a man. Of course, Cheney's incident was minor and accidental, whereas Burr's was intentional, deadly, and involved the former Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton (who now appears on our $10 bill, while Burr is a historical pariah). Harry Whittington seems to be doing fine, which is great. Still, not exactly the kind of publicity the administration was going for.

Simpsons Top 100 Countdown

#75 Two Bad Neighbors
Season 7, Episode 13 (Guide from the Simpsons Archive)
In this episode, former president George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, move in across the street from the Simpsons. Homer is jealous of the attention Bush is getting from the very beginning, while Bart being constantly underfoot irritates Bush. Things go further south when Bart destroys Bush’s memoirs, and Bush spanks him. This leads to one of the greatest Simpsons jokes of all time: “I was spanked by Grover Cleveland on two non-consecutive occasions.” It also leads to Homer declaring war on Bush. Annoyingly, it refers to George W. Bush as “George Bush, Jr.” (something that became a pet peeve of mine starting late 1999/early 2000, so I suppose it could be grandfathered in as non-objectionable, but I’m not currently predisposed to do so). Memorable moments include the rant against the ayatollahs, the introduction of Disco Stu (I doubt they figured he’d turn into as big a character as he has), various Bush mannerisms and references to things he did in office or his general biography, the previously mentioned amazingly hilarious quote, Bush doing donuts in the Simpsons’ yard, Mikhail Gorbachev (especially him peering in through the mail slot), and Gerry Ford.

As a random additional note, by complete coincidence the last three on this countdown (inclusive) have each been the thirteenth episode form their respective season and it was a countdown of the season coinciding with the countdown of top episodes. Will the next episode be "And Maggie Makes Three" (the thirteenth episode of the sixth season)? No, it will not.

Simpsons Top 100 Countdown

#76 Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(ANNOYED GRUNT)cious
Season 8, Episode 13 (Guide from the Simpsons Archive)
First, a note on the title: in Simpsons script, "D'oh" is written as "(ANNOYED GRUNT)" so that should explain everything. As you can guess by the title, this is a Mary Poppins spoof. Marge is losing hair from stress, and wants to get a nanny. Sherry Bobbins appears in town to take the job, and is essentially a less-perfect Mary Poppins. Assorted musical numbers ensue. However, unlike Mary Poppins in the movie, Miss Bobbins is unable to cure the problems that plague the Simpsons. Memorable moments include the songs, when they run into Willie, Marge with swiss-cheese-style hair and with a Homeresque combover, and, of course, the very un-Disney ending.

Simpsons Top 100 Countdown

#77 The Joy of Sect
Season 9, Episode 13 (Guide from the Simpsons Archive)
While at the airport, a cult convinces Homer to come to a free weekend getaway. After several futile attempts, they manage to brainwash him into the cult. He gives the Simpson residence over to the cult and the family moves into the cult’s compound. The Simpson kids get brainwashed as well, but Marge manages her escape. She recruits Reverend Lovejoy and Groundskeeper Willie to help her abduct her family, and with help from Ned Flanders, deprograms the kids (though Willie has a harder time with Homer). Homer helps to expose the fraud, and everything somehow goes back to normal in the end. Memorable moments include greeting the team at the airport, the airport stores (most notably the bookstore), the video (and its production values), the Batman theme, the circle of shame, beating Homer, leader beans, deprogramming, and the exaulted leader’s final getaway.

A few random links

You've all heard about the controversy surrounding the Mohommad cartoons, I'm sure. This page shows a long history of images of him, along with the Danish cartoons (which aren't all that offensive) and the three pseudo-Danish cartoons which are being used to help stir up anger (which I'll grant that they understandably lead to anger, but do not justify the kinds of actions we've seen).

A vicious rumor has been going around concerning our troops in Iraq; the Mudville Gazette has an excellent takedown of it (both from the logic standpoint and the evidence standpoint, along with some reactions to the story from the unthinking loony left).

A piece on the indoctrination in colleges of education.

Last, for now, a write-up of the case for invading Iran.

Simpsons Top 100 Countdown

#78 King-size Homer
Season 7, Episode 7 (Guide from the Simpsons Archive)
Homer wants out of the exercise program at work and discovers that he can avoid it if he’s on disability. After several attempts at injuring himself, he finds out that if he weighs more than 300 pounds, he’d classify for disability under hyper-obesity. After receiving “medical” advice from Dr. Nick, he’s on his way, with Bart happily helping. Meanwhile, Lisa and Marge worry about his plan. Homer reaches his goal and gets to work from home. After leaving his work station to try to see Honk if You’re Horny, he returns home to find that there’s a pressure build up of radioactive gas that needs to be corrected manually before it leads to an explosion. Unable to call the plant because his fingers are too fat, Homer ventures there himself. He fails to reach the shut-off switch, but falls into the hole in the tank that’s left when it blows its hatch, and his obese body stops further escape of gas. Burns rewards him by granting his request to make himself thin again. Memorable moments include Homer’s attempts to injure himself, the visit to Dr. Nick (and Hibbert, as well), shopping for fat clothes, the ice cream truck, and assorted jokes about Homer’s hyper-obesity.

State of the Union

I don't have a lot to say about Bush's speech, but I would like to briefly comment on the Democrats disgraceful display when Bush mentioned the lack of action on Social Security reform. They loudly cheered and applauded their own inability to address the nation's problems. The Social Security system is horribly flawed and the Democrats would rather take no action and let the problem fester than make any of the tough choices associated with leadership by pressing reform. This is why they're the minority party and why they won't wrest control of either congressional chamber from the Republicans in the fall elections. That said, Bush missed a huge oppertunity by not blatantly calling them on it right there during his speech in front of the widest viewing audience he'll have in some time. His "second guessing is not a strategy" line was good, though. The bit about job growth in the U.S. being higher than that in Japan and the European Union combined was nice, too. Overall, he did well on foreign issues, okay on economic issues, and not as well on other domestic issues.

Simpsons Top 100 Countdown

#79 I Married Marge
Season 3, Episode 12 (Guide from the Simpsons Archive)
Marge leaves to visit Dr. Hibbert after an inconclusive result from Barnacle Bill’s home pregnancy test (which Homer bought because it came with a free corncob pipe). The kids catch onto what’s going on, and Homer tells the tale of how he first knocked up their mother and married her (though he ends up telling the story to Maggie after the other two lose interest). Homer was working at the local mini golf establishment, turning the windmill blades. One night, he and Marge “joined the castle club.” She goes to the doctor and they discover that she’s pregnant. Homer then proposes and they get married at a quaint quicky wedding chapel across the state line. He moves in with her family and starts looking for more gainful employment. When that fails, and all the baby stuff they’d bought (along with Marge’s wedding ring) are repossessed, Homer leaves until he can adequately support her. Patty and Selma find him working at a fast food joint and eventually tell Marge where he is. After she confronts him, he goes to the power plant again and demands a job. A now gainfully employed Homer makes it to the hospital just in time for Bart’s birth. At the end of the episode, Marge announces that she’s not pregnant, much to the joy of Homer and Marge. Memorable moments include when they find out Marge is pregnant, Abe’s advise to Homer, Homer’s proposal, their wedding, the Barnacle Bill home pregnancy test, miniature golf stuff, Homer’s job interview, the montage of Homer’s various jobs (including the Cutco knock-off, reminding me of my old job) and the trapezoid scheme, “repossessing stuff is the hardest part of my job”, Homer demanding a job from Mr. Burns, and the celebration of Marge not being pregnant.