From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V14 #37 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Friday, February 11 2005 Volume 14 : Number 037 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: just announced ["Gene Hopstetter, Jr." ] Re: NEW on EZT: Robyn Hitchcock October 1990 Demos and Rough Sketches ["] reap ["Stewart C. Russell" ] REAP: Death of an Author ["Jay Lyall" ] Re: a whole new world ["A Wonderful Human Person" ] Re: Comic book Guy [Eb ] Re: a whole new world [jeff albertson ] Re: a whole new world [jeff albertson ] Re: a whole new world [Tom Clark ] Re: NEW on EZT: Robyn Hitchcock October 1990 Demos and Rough Sketches [J] Playlist fun [Tom Clark ] RE: Comic book Guy [Jeff Dwarf ] Re: NEW on EZT: Robyn Hitchcock October 1990 Demos and Rough Sketches [J] Hot Hot Heat in Detroit (0%RH) ["Brian Nupp" ] Re: Playlist fun [Eric Loehr ] Re: Playlist fun [Eb ] Re: Comic book Guy [FSThomas ] Re: Playlist fun [Tom Clark ] Re: NEW on EZT: Robyn Hitchcock October 1990 Demos and Rough Sketches ["L] Re: Comic book Guy [Jeff Dwarf ] Re: Playlist fun [Eb ] anyone else? [Jill Brand ] Re: NEW on EZT: Robyn Hitchcock October 1990 Demos and Rough Sketches ["L] reap ["Danny Lieberman" ] a reap and an unreap [James Dignan ] Re: reap [Jon Lewis ] RE: Comic book Guy ["Marc Alberts" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 08:05:46 -0600 From: "Gene Hopstetter, Jr." Subject: Re: just announced > From: "Roberta Cowan" > Subject: just announced > > Oddly, I recently received a recording of the only other time Robyn > played the Ram's Head and was listening to it for the first time > today. I musta conjured him.. :) That would be this, , then. Lessee, I do remember that Bayard, Scary Mary, and Luther, also attended. It was a nice Feg gathering. The Ram's Head did not allow photographs, or talking during the set, which was a drag. IIRC, Robyn was not in top form that night. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 09:39:28 -0500 From: "Stewart C. Russell" Subject: Re: NEW on EZT: Robyn Hitchcock October 1990 Demos and Rough Sketches MP3s, for them that prefer 'em: Stewart ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 11:18:25 -0500 From: "Stewart C. Russell" Subject: reap Arthur Miller, 89. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 10:30:32 -0600 From: "Jay Lyall" Subject: REAP: Death of an Author Authur Miller http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4258065.stm - ---------------------------------------- Jay Lyall - Houston, Texas "Making people laugh is the lowest form of comedy." - Mike Donohue ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 10:12:17 -0800 From: "A Wonderful Human Person" Subject: Re: a whole new world well, the thing you need to understand about eb is that he *is* a dick. BUT, he's also an interesting human person which makes many interesting contributions to this board. so my advice to you is as follows: revel in the interesting contributions, and ignore the dickedness. (i offered the same advice a little over seven years ago (!) -- -- and it hasn't failed me yet.) admittedly, though, it *is* pretty fun to get him wound up. especially so when you're able to elicit one of his patented "that argument is so stupid i won't even bother replying to it" bail-outs. in that case, you should organise a CD-tree instead. *i* don't really care, but the bittorrent community is pretty adamant that mp3s should not be struck from downloaded torrents. in fact, i believe that one of the stipulations for being allowed to use FLAC is that the user will not convert files to mp3. <> unless you're matthew seligman, in which case it's pronounced "wahj". he kept telling me, "i think wahj is completely brilliant," and i kept agreeing -- without correcting his pronunciation, as i actually found it not a little bit charming. if i recall, robyn once asked bayard if he (bayard) were "also wahj". the rock armada stopped in denver. but i don't know if there are any fegs left there -- hal has moved away. KEN "Coughing up stuff that would terrify *Darwin*" THE KENSTER ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 10:46:19 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Re: Comic book Guy >And it was the worst Simpsons episode in years -- trying >> to parody the overreaction to Janet's boobs and _The >> Passion of the Christ_ in one swell foop just didn't gel >> at all. A spectacular failure. This show really needs to make a graceful exit, while (if?) it still can. "The Simpsons" used to do a miraculous job of balancing a *staggering* number of characters and really sustaining the sense of a "community." It was the story of a town. Now, every time I turn it on (only every third episode or so?), the plot thrusts Homer into some implausible, radically different world for a day, then withdraws him again at the end. And all the writers' self-deprecating "Say, I thought you worked at a power plant?!" jokes don't excuse how badly they've compromised the show's continuity. Still, it's a miracle that they can come up with any scripts at *all* after this many years. This goddamn rain. This goddamn rain. Eb ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 14:07:20 -0500 From: jeff albertson Subject: Re: a whole new world one time at band camp, A Wonderful Human Person (tews@drizzle.com) said: >unless you're matthew seligman, in which case it's pronounced "wahj". oh yeah. common mispronounciation. by brits and yanks alike. germans, of course, say it /voy/. >robyn's returning to the rockies. woo!> >the rock armada stopped in denver. but i don't know if there are any fegs >left there -- hal has moved away. you know, i remembered that this morning and figured you'd be the person to correct me. +w ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 14:16:45 -0500 From: jeff albertson Subject: Re: a whole new world one time at band camp, A Wonderful Human Person (tews@drizzle.com) said: > >do torrents.> >in that case, you should organise a CD-tree instead. *i* don't really >care, but the bittorrent community is pretty adamant that mp3s should not >be struck from downloaded torrents. in fact, i believe that one of the >stipulations for being allowed to use FLAC is that the user will not >convert files to mp3. the easytree/etree/trader'sden crowd -- as opposed to the bittorrent community -- does tend to be pretty anti-mp3 but i don't think use of flac/bittorrent automatically implies a requirement to swear off mp3s. it's generally considered good etiquette to not redistribute lossless material in a lossy format, especially if the person who recorded a show requests it. but there's no way to stop people from doing it of course and little recourse to the offended when it happens. in the case of these demos, there is no taper per-se to set a policy. so, my feeling would be that it's cool to distribute mp3s, as stewart is doing, provided there's a note about flacs being available and being the preferred way to trade, etc. woj ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 11:53:10 -0800 From: Tom Clark Subject: Re: a whole new world On Feb 11, 2005, at 10:12 AM, A Wonderful Human Person wrote: > robyn's returning to the rockies. woo!> > > the rock armada stopped in denver. but i don't know if there are any > fegs > left there -- hal has moved away. My brother, while not a feglister, will be there. He's looking to hook up with any DenverFegs, so email me if you're planning on attending and would like some extra company. - -tc ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 14:57:15 -0500 From: Jon Lewis Subject: Re: NEW on EZT: Robyn Hitchcock October 1990 Demos and Rough Sketches On Friday, February 11, 2005, at 09:39 AM, Stewart C. Russell wrote: > MP3s, for them that prefer 'em: > > > Stewart > > Stewart, you're my hero! I almost had an aneurysm when I saw the initial post about this particular torrent. (I have a cable connection, but haven't been able to get torrents to work.) Haven't been able to download anything from your site successfully yet, but hopefully it's just my connection having a stuttery few minutes or something. Have the links worked for others already? Jon Lewis ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 12:51:34 -0800 From: Tom Clark Subject: Playlist fun I typed "holiday" into my iTunes search yesterday, looking for the Pixies "Holiday Song", and I ended up with a cool little playlist (minus the xmas music titles): Rodeo: Buckaroo Holiday Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Time I Took A Holiday Nick Lowe Holiday Song Pixies Holiday In Cambodia Dead Kennedys Holidays In The Sun Sex Pistols Alcoholiday Teenage Fanclub Tommy's Holiday Camp The Who - -tc ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 13:00:12 -0800 (PST) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: RE: Comic book Guy Marc Alberts wrote: > Jeff Dwarf wrote: > > It was completely random and > > pointless, which would be fine if it had actually been > > funny. Like if say, Bumblebee Guy's real name had been > > revealed to be Jeff Albertson. > > The general consensus among Simpsons geeks is that > Bumblebee Guy's real name is "Chesperito," for what it's > worth. I do agree, though--it was a waste of > a gag, not funny, and in the process ruined a running gag > that actually was funny. Exactly. If they had to give him a real name, jump to the commercial just as he's about to tell Ned. Or have him be such a narcissitic doofus that he actually legally changed his name to Comic Book Guy. > It is really a sign of how > little respect the current producers and > writers have for the history of the show and the > long-term fans. The current executive producer is Al Jean, who was also the main exec producer during a lot of the best seasons (along with Mike Reiss). I don't think it's so much a lack of repect as a lack of inspiration. The sad thing is that even at 70% (your estimate may vary) of what it was at it's peak, it's still better than all but 3-4* other 30 minute sitcoms on the air. If they aren't going to retire any time soon, I think they should cut back to 15 or so episodes a season. Not that that's going to happen any time soon either. *Arrested Development Curb Your Enthusiasm Scrubs and maybe South Park or Reno 911, though the former has the same problems at this point as The Simpsons (though the Paris Hilton episode was pretty great). The 15 minute shows on adultswim don't count. Especially Tom Meets the Mayor, because it sucks. > For me, it replaced "Saddlesore Galactica" in my top > three worst episodes of all time list. Which one was that? > That said, it wasn't worse than "Homer v Dignity," where > one of the key punchlines was that Homer was raped by a > panda bear at the zoo, and a Thanksgiving parade where > people were soaked by buckets of chum. It > was very, very close, though. Simply awful, and > painfully so. Homer being raped by the panda has to be _THE_ absolute low point of the series. Though the couple bits about Waylon Smithers producing his Malibu Stacy musical were funny. Should have been the actual focus of the episode, actually. And at least this one ("Homer And Ned's Hail Mary Pass") seemed to be trying. The problem was it had too many storylines, none of them well done, and they were just thrown together. If it hadn't been aimed as the Super Bowl special, it probably would have been held back and possibly fixed (maybe make it two different episodes -- Ned's religious films and the stuff about athletes searching for better celebrations simply can't work together as one episode). And maybe focusing on cameos by people with more distinct voices? Nothing against Lebron James, Michelle Kwan, Yao Ming, or even the future Mr. Jill Brand, Tom Brady, but you could hire voice actors to do that parts and no one but their families would know the difference. ===== "I had naively believed all these many years that Americans genuinely believed in freedom of speech. [But I] discovered there that when you made an utterance that was remotely contrary to what the White House was saying, then they attacked you. For a South African the deja vu was frightening. They behaved exactly the same way that used to happen here [during apartheid]: vilifying those who are putting forward a slightly different view." -- Desmond Tutu __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Find what you need with new enhanced search. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 16:02:46 -0500 From: Jon Lewis Subject: Re: NEW on EZT: Robyn Hitchcock October 1990 Demos and Rough Sketches On Friday, February 11, 2005, at 02:57 PM, Jon Lewis wrote: > > > Haven't been able to download anything from your site successfully > yet, but hopefully it's just my connection having a stuttery few > minutes or something. Have the links worked for others already? > Strike the above comments. It took a few attempts per song, but down they loaded. Now I am a deleriously happy little pig. Never ever thought I'd be playing the aesthetic game of "what if Perspex were Eye," but these demos are very fine indeed. Interesting that the crappiest track on Perspex Island, "Ultra Unbelievable Love," isn't here. I wonder if they horked that one up strictly in the studio. My goodness, but "Watch Your Intelligence" is good! I never did get to hear that B side. Is that version as toothy as this demo? It almost sounds like an Underwater Moonlight outtake! I know what I'm listening to on my afternoon errands. Thankee, Stewart. Jon Lewis ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 16:16:12 -0500 From: "Brian Nupp" Subject: Hot Hot Heat in Detroit (0%RH) Any Detroit/NW Ohio area fegs want to go to the Hot Hot Heat show at St. Andrews on March 5th with me? Mikey Bachman? The Rev? - -Nuppy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 16:28:04 -0500 From: Eric Loehr Subject: Re: Playlist fun At 12:51 PM 2/11/2005 -0800, Tom Clark wrote: >I typed "holiday" into my iTunes search yesterday, looking for the >Pixies "Holiday Song", and I ended up with a cool little playlist >(minus the xmas music titles): > >Rodeo: Buckaroo Holiday Atlanta Symphony Orchestra >Time I Took A Holiday Nick Lowe >Holiday Song Pixies >Holiday In Cambodia Dead Kennedys >Holidays In The Sun Sex Pistols >Alcoholiday Teenage Fanclub >Tommy's Holiday Camp The Who > >-tc What, no Kinks? (Holiday, Muswell Hillbillies). Eric ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 13:52:02 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Re: Playlist fun > I typed "holiday" into my iTunes search yesterday, looking for the > Pixies "Holiday Song", and I ended up with a cool little playlist > (minus the xmas music titles): > > Rodeo: Buckaroo Holiday Atlanta Symphony Orchestra > Time I Took A Holiday Nick Lowe > Holiday Song Pixies > Holiday In Cambodia Dead Kennedys > Holidays In The Sun Sex Pistols > Alcoholiday Teenage Fanclub > Tommy's Holiday Camp The Who Necessary albums which you are apparently missing: Brian Wilson/Smile The Kinks/Muswell Hillbillies The Kinks/Face to Face The Mothers of Invention/Burnt Weeny Sandwich Fairport Convention/What We Did on Our Holidays Blur/Parklife Jason Falkner/Can You Still Feel? The Olivia Tremor Control/Music from the Unrealized Film Script, "Dusk at Cubist Castle" Weezer/debut The Jazz Butcher/Sex & Travel and of course, Claudine Longet/Love Is Blue Purchase/download them, and report back. ;) Eb ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 17:01:23 -0500 From: FSThomas Subject: Re: Comic book Guy Just today Jeff Dwarf wrote: > The sad thing is that even > at 70% (your estimate may vary) of what it was at it's > peak, it's still better than all but 3-4* other 30 minute > sitcoms on the air. > * > Curb Your Enthusiasm > That is one show I just don't get. Pretty much at all. I find Larry David's little un- or partially-scripted misadventures very tiresome. More importantly the character (or, perhaps the person) is over ninety seven percent annoying. Each episode leaves me wondering if he's got *any* redeeming qualities and why the *hell* people wouldn't avoid him. I pigeonhole a half-hour of /Curb/ in there with any Seinfeld episode that revolved around heavily around George--a character modeled after David in real life. George is to this day is one of the reasons I'll turn to a Seinfeld rerun only as a last resort. Kramer was a unique character on par with Chris Lloyd's Reverend Jim, but George--and David--are just plain annoying. /Arrested Development/ I do get a kick out of, but I fear that it's going to be on the chopping block next season. It's getting its time slot switched to after /Family Guy/ (9:30-10:00 Sunday slot), and Fox has ordered fewer episodes for next year than this season. /Scrubs/ is just danged funny. - -f. [Ben Stiller's Seinfeld character only falls slightly lower than Alexander's on the Annoying Scale, and only then because he appeared less frequently on the show.] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 14:41:11 -0800 From: Tom Clark Subject: Re: Playlist fun On Feb 11, 2005, at 1:52 PM, Eb wrote: >> I typed "holiday" into my iTunes search yesterday, looking for the >> Pixies "Holiday Song", and I ended up with a cool little playlist >> (minus the xmas music titles): >> >> Rodeo: Buckaroo Holiday Atlanta Symphony Orchestra >> Time I Took A Holiday Nick Lowe >> Holiday Song Pixies >> Holiday In Cambodia Dead Kennedys >> Holidays In The Sun Sex Pistols >> Alcoholiday Teenage Fanclub >> Tommy's Holiday Camp The Who > > Necessary albums which you are apparently missing: > Brian Wilson/Smile > The Kinks/Muswell Hillbillies > The Kinks/Face to Face > The Mothers of Invention/Burnt Weeny Sandwich > Fairport Convention/What We Did on Our Holidays > Blur/Parklife > Jason Falkner/Can You Still Feel? > The Olivia Tremor Control/Music from the Unrealized Film Script, "Dusk > at Cubist Castle" Hey wait - I have that! I guess I missed that when I was ripping.. > Weezer/debut > The Jazz Butcher/Sex & Travel > and of course, Claudine Longet/Love Is Blue > I only listen to Claudine on the original mint LP's that I keep in climate controlled storage. Occasionally I'll set up the $12,000 VPI turntable and sit in the dark crying in my Martini during "When I Look In Your Eyes". I think you know what I mean. - -tc ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 18:01:39 -0500 From: "Lauren Elizabeth" Subject: Re: NEW on EZT: Robyn Hitchcock October 1990 Demos and Rough Sketches Jeez...this is like The Best Torrent Ever. I've had my (finally got one) CD walkman attached to me all day. And I thought my heart was permanently stony and black...I forget that Robyn can still get me to tear up on occasion (a "girl thing" I guess.) Many, many thanks to the seeder who seems to be not the same ID there as here. I like this version of "Watch Your Intelligence" - but I pretty much always prefer Robyn's acoustic stuff, especially anything sounding remotely ala "Keswick Sessions." This version of WYI does seem to have the benefit of making the lyrics abundantly clear...it's a very funny song. An added bonus - I can now hear 'Dark Green Energy' without thinking it's the faggiest song ever recorded. I'll end before this devolves into my sounding like a "fan" or something... xo Lauren - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I hate all music. Except 'Roadrunner' by The Modern Lovers." - John Lydon ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 15:07:36 -0800 (PST) From: Jeff Dwarf Subject: Re: Comic book Guy FSThomas wrote: > Just today Jeff Dwarf wrote: > > * > > Curb Your Enthusiasm > > > > That is one show I just don't get. Pretty much at all. > I find Larry David's little un- or partially-scripted > misadventures very tiresome. More importantly the > character (or, perhaps the person) is over ninety > seven percent annoying. Each episode leaves me wondering > if he's got *any* redeeming qualities and why the *hell* > people wouldn't avoid him. As brilliant as I think CYE is, I wouldn't necessarily argue against this. I think it's just a particularly tangy show -- a mixture of sour and, erm, salty that either you like or you don't. > /Arrested Development/ I do get a kick out of, but I fear > that it's going to be on the chopping block next season. > It's getting its time slot switched to after /Family Guy/ > (9:30-10:00 Sunday slot), and Fox has ordered fewer > episodes for next year than this season. You mean this and last, but yeah, it's probably done for after this season, unless Comedy Central or HBO or someone else picks it up or the DVD sales have been better than I assume they were. It's really a miracle it's lasted as long as it has. > /Scrubs/ is just danged funny. > > [Ben Stiller's Seinfeld character only falls slightly > lower than Alexander's on the Annoying Scale, and only > then because he appeared less frequently on the show.] Jerry Stiller. Right family, wrong generation.... ===== "I had naively believed all these many years that Americans genuinely believed in freedom of speech. [But I] discovered there that when you made an utterance that was remotely contrary to what the White House was saying, then they attacked you. For a South African the deja vu was frightening. They behaved exactly the same way that used to happen here [during apartheid]: vilifying those who are putting forward a slightly different view." -- Desmond Tutu __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 15:15:41 -0800 From: Eb Subject: Re: Playlist fun Tom Clark wrote: > I only listen to Claudine on the original mint LP's that I keep in > climate controlled storage. Occasionally I'll set up the $12,000 VPI > turntable and sit in the dark crying in my Martini during "When I Look > In Your Eyes". Hm. Playing Claudine albums on turntables worth under $15K is considered "gauche" in many circles. Eb ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 18:18:09 -0500 (EST) From: Jill Brand Subject: anyone else? Is anyone on the list going to TT's? I can't imagine dragging my husband out on a weeknight (although the fact that there is no longer smoking in bars/clubs/restaurants might help) and I've never developed the knack for going to concerts alone. I'm pretty well-behaved though I sometimes get a a dopey look of adulation on my face. Jill ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 18:17:00 -0500 From: "Lauren Elizabeth" Subject: Re: NEW on EZT: Robyn Hitchcock October 1990 Demos and Rough Sketches "Lauren" says: >"Keswick Sessions" Folks who are not me may know these as "Kershaw Sessions" xo Lauren - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I hate all music. Except 'Roadrunner' by The Modern Lovers." - John Lydon ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 19:47:30 -0500 (EST) From: "Danny Lieberman" Subject: reap science fiction author Jack Chalker, 1944-2005. - -- Danny Lieberman dfl@panix.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2005 14:13:39 +1300 From: James Dignan Subject: a reap and an unreap First the reap - Arthur Miller, 89 Then the unreap (and I was just talking about them) - for a tour at least, Straitjacket Fits. Speculation is rife as to whether Carter and Brough have patched up their differences or whether it's the post-Brough line-up. James - -- James Dignan, Dunedin, New Zealand -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.-=-.- =-.-=-.-=-.- You talk to me as if from a distance .-=-.-=-.-=-. -=-. And I reply with impressions chosen from another time .-=- .-=-.-=-.-=-.-=- (Brian Eno - "By this River") -.-=-.-=-.-=-.-= ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 20:35:47 -0500 From: Jon Lewis Subject: Re: reap On Friday, February 11, 2005, at 07:47 PM, Danny Lieberman wrote: > science fiction author Jack Chalker, 1944-2005. Wow... pretty young. I read the whole Well World series when I was 9 or 10, and remember it with a certain magic. Never read him again after that... I gather he became pretty hacky, but I like to believe there was something more to those Well World ones, his first books. Certainly they gave you a great heaping shitload of different alien races, something a 10 year old appreciates very much. Jon Lewis ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 19:01:46 -0800 From: "Marc Alberts" Subject: RE: Comic book Guy Jeff Dwarf wrote: > > The general consensus among Simpsons geeks is that > > Bumblebee Guy's real name is "Chesperito," for what it's > > worth. I do agree, though--it was a waste of > > a gag, not funny, and in the process ruined a running gag > > that actually was funny. > > Exactly. If they had to give him a real name, jump to the > commercial just as he's about to tell Ned. Or have him be > such a narcissitic doofus that he actually legally changed > his name to Comic Book Guy. They did that sort of thing a few years ago when Apu was studying at casa de Simpson for his citizenship, and right as they were about to show which state Springfield was in, they cut Homer's backside right in the middle so you couldn't see which state it was in. Because it's repetitive, it doesn't win bonus points for creativity if they do it again with a character like Comic Book Guy, but at least it doesn't ruin the show. > > > It is really a sign of how > > little respect the current producers and > > writers have for the history of the show and the > > long-term fans. > > The current executive producer is Al Jean, who was also the > main exec producer during a lot of the best seasons (along > with Mike Reiss). He also had the original writers back then, too, which made a huge difference. However, Al Jean is not the producer for all the shows, and the producers who work for him are inferior as well. I never used to blame Jean as much until I started listening to the DVD commentary tracks, where he took a very laissez faire attitude about the decline in quality, almost suggesting a sort of "what, me worry?" attitude. > I don't think it's so much a lack of > repect as a lack of inspiration. I think it's both, actually, the lack of respect showing in all the "we suck, don't we " jokes they've thrown in in recent years. > The sad thing is that even > at 70% (your estimate may vary) of what it was at it's > peak, it's still better than all but 3-4* other 30 minute > sitcoms on the air. I wouldn't say that--most all the other sitcoms on the air piss me off very little with their collective suckage. The Simpsons, however, because the decline came from such a high peak and has been so noticeable, infuriates me with it's lack of quality. My expectations for it, based on the classic episodes, are just far too high for what the current group of writers and producers can do. > > For me, it replaced "Saddlesore Galactica" in my top > > three worst episodes of all time list. > > Which one was that? Homer and Bart buy a racehorse that they turn into the Dennis Rodman of horse racing, only to have Homer infuriate the jockeys who apparently live underground and are really elves. > > > That said, it wasn't worse than "Homer v Dignity," where > > one of the key punchlines was that Homer was raped by a > > panda bear at the zoo, and a Thanksgiving parade where > > people were soaked by buckets of chum. It > > was very, very close, though. Simply awful, and > > painfully so. > > Homer being raped by the panda has to be _THE_ absolute low > point of the series. Though the couple bits about Waylon > Smithers producing his Malibu Stacy musical were funny. > Should have been the actual focus of the episode, actually. > > And at least this one ("Homer And Ned's Hail Mary Pass") > seemed to be trying. The problem was it had too many > storylines, none of them well done, and they were just > thrown together. If it hadn't been aimed as the Super Bowl > special, it probably would have been held back and possibly > fixed (maybe make it two different episodes -- Ned's > religious films and the stuff about athletes searching for > better celebrations simply can't work together as one > episode). Personally, I always have liked Ned episodes. He is so much more identifiable as a real person than Homer is. I mean, all of us probably know at least one person who is very devout and really tries to be nice to everyone and lives his or her life with the WWJD? Concept very much at the forefront of their efforts. I have never met anyone like Homer has been the last six seasons or so. > And maybe focusing on cameos by people with more distinct > voices? Nothing against Lebron James, Michelle Kwan, Yao > Ming, or even the future Mr. Jill Brand, Tom Brady, but you > could hire voice actors to do that parts and no one but > their families would know the difference. The cameos have been really poorly done in recent years as well. Too many of them smell as if Jean (or Scully before him) wanted to meet someone famous, so in order to do that they promised them a lifeless episode. It's like a giant brown nose session with a lot of them. Marc ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V14 #37 *******************************