
Remember that Simpsons where Marge buys a pink Chanel suit for cheap and then wears it over and over again until it's in tatters? It looks like Sarah Palin is totally living that plot line in an attempt to get everyone to forget about how she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on luxurious, rich-people garments. Hahahahahahaha!
Whose encyclopedic knowledge of The Simpsons is "absolutely useless" now, Mom?

Who's afraid of voter fraud this November? If you are, we can't blame you — those electronic voting machines haven't been the most reliable.
In case you forgot about past electoral woes, here's a frightening clip of Homer Simpson attempting to vote for Barack Obama, which turns into six votes for John McCain and, ultimately, the beloved cartoon character's downfall.
It's an American tragedy.
A one euro coin has turned up in Spain bearing the face of cartoon couch potato Homer Simpson instead of that of the country's king, a sweetshop owner told Reuters on Friday.
Jose Martinez was counting the cash in his till in the city of Aviles, northern Spain, when he came across the coin where Homer's bald head, big eyes and big nose had replaced the serious features of King Juan Carlos.
The comical carver had not taken his tools to the other side of the coin displaying the map of Europe. So far, no other coins of the hapless, beer-swilling oaf have been found in circulation.
SIMPSONS ACTUALLY BURNSES "Last week, Fox announced a fall schedule that included animated staple 'The Simpsons' in its normal Sunday timeslot. The hitch? There's still no deal with the voice talent behind 'The Simpsons.' And without one, the 20th season of the series could be in jeopardy. While sources close to both the voice actors and 20th Century Fox TV are optimistic that they're on the road to a new deal, production on the show's 20th season has been on hold for months … The key 'Simpsons' cast members — Dan Castellaneta (Homer), Julie Kavner (Marge), Nancy Cartwright (Bart), Yeardley Smith (Lisa), Hank Azaria (Moe) and Harry Shearer (Mr. Burns) — are believed to make around $360,000 an episode. A new deal could bump that number closer to $500,000 …"
What's in a name? Unfortunately, when 45 percent of adults in America say celebrity endorsements have an influence on their feelings, a whole lot of sycophancy. Using the Social Security Administration's baby name database, we've found even more evidence to support a theory we've had for a while now: many people are malleable to a fault and willing to make major life decisions based on what's popular.
For instance, in 1991, just one year after Mariah Carey released her debut, self-titled album, Mariah was the 69th most popular girl's name in the US, an appreciable jump from its position in 1989: 563. In 2005, Angelina was the 43rd most popular girl's name; it had been 304th in 1995. Kiefer debuted at 854 in the 1990 rankings of the top 1,000 boy names; two years prior, actor Kiefer Sutherland had starred as a heroic cowboy in Young Guns. Beyonce made its first and only appearance at the 700 spot in 2001.
Of course, as you well know, pop culture won't always positively shift the public opinion. In 2007, about a year after the release of the now-canonical gay film Brokeback Mountain, the name Heath dropped from 778 to 905. In 1989, Lisa was the 55th most popular girl's name in America. That year The Simpsons debuted, and Lisa has lost popularity ever since. In 2007 it was ranked 573rd.
Not at all in the top 1,000 names in the last 100 years: Barf, Cord and Apple.

To pass the time between slavery and Scotch, do you often find yourself streaming old episodes of The Simpsons on illegal, Asian-based Web sites? Um, neither do we, but if we did we think we'd notice that almost every old episode offers the viewer something new at which to laugh. The show's got staying power, and a key element of that is its background puns. Specifically, the names of Springfield stores and businesses usually on screen for just seconds, like a French restaurant named Chez Guevara or the Turn Your Head and Coif hair salon.
If you're as big a nerd as we are, you've taken to coming up with your own funny names for fictitious bars and shops. Our best: a family-owned dog catching service called The Brothers Carry Mutts Off. We think it's a good one, but perhaps not the ultimate. What do you have? Leave it in the comments for appraisal.



