Religion and Ethics Interview with Mark Pinsky

Here's an interview with Mark Pinsky, the author of The Gospel According to the Simpsons. I used the book for my independent study on the subject. Religion and Ethics Weekly covered the story for the premiere of the movie. I promise this is the last of the Simpsons posts...for now. Thanks to Guy Williams for posting this on his blog so that I could post it here.

The Simpsons Movie...Finally

After all the hype, all the promotions, all the advertising, and all my posts about this movie, it finally arrived last Friday. It actually arrived for me at 12.01 AM Friday morning. Admittedly, I was skeptical. As a devout fan of The Simpsons, I have been acutely aware of the apparent decline of the series the last few years. So when I heard about the movie, I hoped and wondered if it would be worth seeing. I was not disappointed at all.

I was very surprised and delighted to find the movie interesting, funny and exciting to watch. I wasn't only interested in the humor, I was also interested in the storyline. That usually doesn't happen for me in an episode. The animation was great too. I expect this movie to get the Oscar for animated film. Or maybe the People's Choice Awards. Or the Golden Globe. Anyway, I'll get it on DVD. If you haven't seen it already, go to it. Enjoy.

I Am So Smrt...I Mean Smart

Couldn't resist this classic...

(Again, just click on the title)

The Shining...I Mean Shinning

Probably my favorite Halloween episode ever on the Simpsons. So many great lines:
1. Homer: No beer, no tv make Homer go something something.
Marge: Go crazy?
Homer: Don't mind if I do!

2. Homer: TV!!! Teacher, mother...secret lover.

Just click on the title to watch...

These Are Some Of My Favorite (Simpsons) Things...

It's only about a week until the Simpsons movie premiere, so I'd like to celebrate by posting some of my favorite moments from the show. Here's my favorite Troy McClure educational movie. Just click on the title to see the show...

Punctuation Vigilante

Taking a page from Lynne Truss' book Eats, Shoots and Leaves, I actually corrected a sign at a coffee shop this weekend. Someone at the shop wrote "Salad's" instead of "Salads" on the menu board in front of the counter. While the guy was making my turtle mocha, I erased the apostrophe between the d and the s. Does anyone know why? That's right: Putting the apostrophe between the d and the s makes the word both singular and possessive, as if to say, "The following items on this menu board belong to this particular salad. If you find them, please return them to the above mentioned salad." In actuality, the word on the board was intended to be plural and was referring to the many salad options available.

To Punctuation Vigilantes (or PV's) like myself, this was something I could not ignore. I had to leap into action and save the day. I felt like I was doing the internet cafe employees and visitors a service by correcting the grammatical offense. But I did so silently. I made no remarks to the employees. I didn't want to offend them or make them feel less then grammatical than me. That is not the PV way. My next project is to not only correct grammar, but also correct spelling mistakes on MySpace and Facebook. This will be a full time job.

Why I Hate Paintball

Man, do I hate playing paintball. But its been a Youth for Christ "tradition" for 3 years. Part of this tradition is getting lost on the way there. Every time. I did it again this year too. So, besides getting lost every year, why do I hate paintball?

1. It's always hot. And I'm wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt. Oh, and a plastic mask over my head.

2. I can't see anything out of the scratched up rental mask plastic visor. This makes me nervous. It also gets fogged up alot.

3. I hate running around the woods while hiding from people who are trying to shoot me. I'm too scared to look around and I'm out of shape.

4. I have horrible aim.

5. I don't know what I'm doing. Real paintball players have strategy and such. I do not. They shoot me first.

6. I don't like getting shot.

7. Getting hit by paintballs really hurts (see #6). And it scares the crap out of me. The plus side is that I get to walk off the field, take off my mask, sit down and relax for a few minutes, laughing at everyone else.

Happy 4th from Wilmore, Kentucky...

Here's some pics from the annual 4th of July parade this year. You just can't beat Wilmore, Kentucky for the best parade - ever.