Jokes We Don't Get

[I'm David Croket!]

I get it, I get it
Sitters are a worldwide problem

[kuje]

You make a good point RM, but mine could also be correct. If you watch it again as I have just done, with my opinion in mind, you can see that it 'works'. As does yours. It depends how you look at it

Anyway, may aswell stay on topic:

In Homer The Vigilante, where the town is trying to find the treasure burried under a big 'T', the music and animation style suggests that it is all a parody of something. As well as the guy in the car driving in the stream: "What's the matter with you kid?! You told me this stream was shallow...".

It all seems extremely familar, but I can't think where from?

[Moose of Doom!]

The entire ending is a parody of "It's a Mad, Mad World", an old film from the 60s crammed with almost every celebrity at the time.

[Roger Myers III]

Sorry, SPD, but I challenge anyone to watch it again and see.

The guy in the car in the stream was Phil Silvers, one of the seeker of fortune in that movie, whose treasure was buried under a "Big W" - which was made of 4 palm trees - which explains the "T" shaped palm tree on OFF. The "screwball" music you hear is an homage to the older movie's soundtrack.

If you haven't seen Stanley Kramer's "Its A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" - you should. "Rat Race" of a couple years back was a painfully lame remake.

[Ryan]

Okay, I'm tired, so I'm just gonna quote this post of mine from another thread:

"You're gonna laugh at me. Point even!! But, I never learned what's behind the line "I'm the first non-Brazilian to travel through time!" Sorry, but in 1994 (or '93) I was eight years old and didn't give a crap about news. I gave a crap about toys and living life..."

[Roger Myers III]

I will not laugh at you.
I will lead you to Zen calm.
As far as I know... it is a nonsense Homer assumption. I know of no urban legends, stories, jokes, or references for time-traveling Brazillians.

[Charmy]

Actually, according to 'The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favourite Family', the Brazilian reference alludes to the halluciogen-inspired author Carlos Castaneda. More than that, I do not know.

[Warren]

Snpp says

Mark Johnson's best guess is that Homer was referring to Carlos
Castaneda, "a Brazilian who wrote about his chemical-induced
`adventures' about twenty years ago. A rather trendy (for the
college crowd) set of books from the late-60's, early 70's."

Charmy was right.Roger Myers III got something wrong.

[Roger Myers III]

Oh, ye of little faith...

While that may be Mark Johnson's "best guess", the CG's been plenty wrong before. For 2 reasons: Castaneda was likely not Brazillian, and, while he expanded his world dimensionally, he never wrote about or claimed to have experienced "time travel."

Here's a decent biographical blurb:

Carlos Castaneda's early history is obscure. He claimed to have been born in South America but immigrated from Mexico to the United States in 1951. He received his B.A. in anthropology from the University of California an his M.A. two years later, and his PhD in 1970. He has published nine books to date, including The Second Ring of Power, The Fire from Within and The Art of Dreaming. In 1960, while waiting for a Greyhound bus in Arizona, Carlos Castaneda first encountered the man who change his life forever-don Juan Matus, a Yaqui Indian shaman from Sonora, Mexico. A year later, Castandeda-then an anthropology student researching medicinal plants-again sought out don Juan and began to form an apprenticeship in the uses of hallucinogenic drugs, Indian sorcery and mythology. Castaneda's initial experiences are recounted in the Teachings of Don Juan, which started as his master's thesis but went on to become one of the best-selling books of the early 1970's-making cult figures of both its author and its subject."

Many scholars actually believe him to be Mexican or even Mexican-American. But he never pinpointed which country in SA, and time-travel is not the same thing as mind-expansion.

You're next, on, apparently, "Stump Roger Myers III".

[Charmy]

Okay, in '$pringfield', Lisa and Ralph get special awards for being the kids who obviously didn't have any help from their parents. Ralph says 'I'm Idaho!' and has a piece of paper to that effect taped to his chest.

Not being familiar with your 'states', I was wondering if there's supposed to be a whathamacallit, one of those double-meaning thingies, or not.

[Roger Myers III]

No "double-entendres" that I'm aware of.
Any Idahoans out there in the audience tonight?

[Tibor]

Originally posted by Roger Myers III
Oh, ye of little faith...

While that may be Mark Johnson's "best guess", the CG's been plenty wrong before. For 2 reasons: Castaneda was likely not Brazillian, and, while he expanded his world dimensionally, he never wrote about or claimed to have experienced "time travel."

RMIII doesn't know something? I'm... scared.

I've read Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Castaneda, and he doesn't mention time travel, but the area between what he does and altering space and time is grey. I had always took the guide's word for it. It still sounds like a reference to something.

[Simpsonian]

In "I Am Furious Yellow", when Homer gets mad he gets those lumps that pop out on the side of his neck. What is that about?

[brazilian812]

the neck thing, along with character of angry dad, is a reference to the comic book character, "The Hulk". Hes a "mild mannered scientist" who, when angry, grows big and green and damn strong.

[eddie]

In "Brother's Little Helper", Bart mentions that Bill Buckner opened up a chain of laundry mats. Who is Bill Buckner?

[huh?]

Bill Buckner is a former baseball player who is most remembered for letting a ball go through his legs during game 6 of the 1986 world series, allowing the Mets to win the game and hurting the Boston Red Sox's chances of winning the title.

[eddie]

Originally posted by huh?
Bill Buckner is a former baseball player who is most remembered for letting a ball go through his legs during game 6 of the 1986 world series, allowing the Mets to win the game and hurting the Boston Red Sox's chances of winning the title.

Does the chain of laundry mats have any real significance?

[Generic]

I'm guessing it's just a random joke about him being able to start a business after having his confidence broken by the 1986 World Series blunder.

[Roger Myers III]

It is.

[DaSimpsons]

actually its a joke about him not being in the major leagues any more because thats one of the most hated moments in baseball history. Just a joke about how one bad moment at a crucial time can override years of good play. Thats exactly what happened with Buckner. Buckner, now out of the league, is still not excepted into anything baseball related because the fans hate him so much, so he has to start his own laundry mat store to earn some income.

[Roger Myers III]

Originally posted by DaSimpsons
...is still not excepted into anything baseball related...

Do you mean "accepted"? If so, that's pretty much what Huh? and AB said. [Besides, as rabid as Boston fans are, is he truly a "hated" individual?] More importantly - did he, in fact, actually begin a chain of laundromats? If not, it is indeed a random joke about "starting over" after a tremendous error.

[DaSimpsons]

yup thats what i meant. Maybe he did or didnt start a laundromat but he did start some rather pedestrian business like that.

[SideshowTim]

In The Mysterious Voyage of Homer when Homer is hallucinating, Jasper says Goo-goo-ga-joob is this a Beatles reference and if so why was it used?

[kelly]

The "Goo-goo-ga-joob" is a Beatles reference..... My only suggestion as to why Jasper says it is because I am the Walrus is such a trippy song, and also because there are a few other slight Beatles references in Homer's hallucinations... There's a link on snpp.com that lists all of them. Others include the pyramid that Homer had to climb, which resembles a pyramid in "Yellow Submarine" It also says
"Several viewers have suggested that Barney Gumble's echoing belch when Homer is hallucinating may be a reference to the final chord in 'A Day in the Life'"
Beatles and the Simpsons.... if there's a better combination, I'd like to know it

[George Cauldron]

Yes, the line "Goo Goo G'joob" is from the 1967 song I Am The Walrus, written at at time when Lennon and McCartney were high on LSD. It fits in with the mood of Homer's hallucinations and his "trip."

The same song is also spoofed in Homer's Barbershop Quartet - "Poo-Poo-Pa-Doop."

[Miss Springfield]

The thing with Lisa babysitting and Ned asking when can you come over is just a joke. Its not meant to be deep its just that he doesn't care about what Lisa did and can't be bothered finding another babysitter. N.B. In Last Exit to Springfield Lisa gets braces and theres the same thing "Look its Lisa in the Sky, No diamonds though" (Lucy in the Sky with diamonds.)

[Roger Myers III]

brooke, the Lisa/Ned/babysitting line is indeed a joke, but one you obviously still "don't get." [Neither of your 'assessments' of Ned's attitude make any sense whatsoever with his character.] Please leave well enough alone.

GeorgeC, you can easily go overboard in looking for Beatles' references - and there are quite a lot - but the B-Sharps' singing "Poo-poo-pa-doop." ain't one. That phrase, and similar ones, are commonly utilized in barbershop and Doo-Wop music in America. They are nonsense phrases that are used to carry the tune in vocals. If anything, Lennon's (the primary writer) nonsense phrase was derived from that type of singing, rather than the other way around.

Also, since SSTime asked, "Goo-goo-ga-joob" is the final line in the chorus of "I am the Walrus."

[mr. broom]

I can pretty much guarantee, RM3, that "poo-poo-pa-doop" is a Beatles reference, on account of the fact that that episode is deliberately filled with Beatles references because the whole point is that it's a Simpsonized spoof on the band's career.

[Roger Myers III]

No! You're kidding me!! There were Beatles' spoofs in that ep??

[Charmy]

In the episode with Stephen Hawking (sorry, I forget the name) Mr. Hawking says he might steal Homer's theory. This normally wouldn't stand out, but a similar joke was made about Mr. Hawking in Futurama.
Has Steven Hawking ever been accused of stealing ideas, or is this just talking about scientist/physicist/etc. in general stealing ideas?