Next thing you know, they’ll be making musicals about the common housecat, or the King of Siam!
When I was a boy, I used to dream about being in a Broadway audience…
Um, you DO know there was a pre-Simpsons “The King and I”? The Jodie Foster movie was a remake.
And the double-entendre “Tang” line came after Gennifer Flowers, but way before his big trouble with Monica Lewinsky.
Since you’re in Thailand, we’re gonna let the whoosh slide this time.
P.S. There’s also already a musical about common housecats.
Um, whoosh?
Just a few weeks ago, I read an article about a frog outbreak in Australia (cite) and, of course, thought of Bart vs. Australia and then, of course, thought of this:
Australian man: You call that a knife? This is a knife!
Bart: That’s not a knife. That’s a spoon.
Australian man: Alright, alright, you win. Heh. I see you’ve played knifey-spooney before.
…and then laughed my ass off.
“Whoosh”, as in the sound that things make when they zoom over someone’s head.
psiekier’s comment was facetious.
When a very fast object, such as a jet plane passes directly over your head, you are likely to hear a sound that can be described as “WHOOSH”. Around here, when a joke or cultural allusion is not comprehended by a poster, we speak of it as “flying over [the poster’s] head,” and we pretend that a similar sound is produced. We call the phenomenon a “whoosh.” Much merriment is enjoyed at the expense of the “whooshed” poster.
I was trying to tell you that we would be sparing you the humilliation on this occasion.
I wouldn’t call some of these moments particularly prophetic. “All the jerks in tower 1” for example has no predictive value regarding the WTC attacks. Closer would be the “I hope Osama can’t sing” or whatever the dialog was from Family Guy.
It was a line about hoping he doesn’t know any show tunes, followed by a cutaway of Bin Laden singing “I Hope I Get It.” Considering how few people were aware of Bin Laden at that time, it’s a pretty remarkable joke, made all the more freaky for MacFarlane’s near-death on September 11.
I think what’s more remarkable than these predictive moments is how many Simpsons ideas and phrases, like “cheese-eating surrender monkeys” and “don’t blame me, I voted for Kodos,” have passed into wider circulation.
There’s a store on Lower Haight Street called Kweejibo. Not the precise spelling, I know, but I always get a kick out of it when I walk by. And, of course, there’s always “cromulent.”
I’m pretty sure the Bloom County “Don’t Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus” predated the Simpson phrase. It was on t-shirts and bumper stickers. I don’t think it was original then either. Maybe from Pat Paulson?
IIRC, the original bumper sticker was produced during the Watergate scandal, and read: “Don’t Blame Me, I Voted For McGovern”
Any earlier ones will be duly acknowledged.
To be more specific and explain a little bit more, the quotation about unsual musicals is from a Simpsons episode. Smithers has written a musical about his favorite doll. Mr. Burns thinks the idea of a musical about dolls is unusual, and jokes that it would be like writing a musical about the common housecat or the King of Siam- being Mr. Burns (antequated, that is), he doesn’t realize that Cats and The King and I are two of the most famous musicals of all time.
Here’s an interesting Thai website which lists, among other things, all of the references to Thailand that have been made on The Simpsons. Heck, Thailand even has a Flaming Moe’s bar- although I presume one can no longer send a letter to the Prussian consulate via autogyro.
And didn’t it just change to “5-H?”
If you’re referring to the 4-H club, no. Whether or not gays are actually allowed in, I don’t know.
You know, much is made of the Simpsons’s freeze-frame gags, but I find the Dope is also a very helpful resource. I know there are jokes I wouldn’t have gotten without this site.
“Oh, no. Quebec’s got the Bomb!”
Doh! But at the risk of sounding even MORE foolish, I’m not sure why that was “prophetic” since it had already occurred. (And I will humbly accept the whoosh this time, being a Board newbie.)
But I can confirm there is a Flaming Moe’s Bar. It’s in the Queen’s Park Beer Bar area in Sukhumvit Soi 22, with a sign prominently featuring the barman from “The Simpson’s.” I like their motto proudly displayed on the window: “Where Nobody Knows Your Name.” Tongue in cheek, of course, considering it’s such a friendly little place. But believe me, with the characters they have running around this town, that might be a good drawing point if it were true.
Here’s a brief review of it from a local website run by Dave the Rave, long-time American manager of AngelWitch Bar in Nana Plaza:
“We weaved our way along narrow pathways where almost all of these beer bars were merely mirrored versions of standard beer bars with a pool table. Fortunately Khun Leigh had discovered a lovely little oasis. We approached a very smart looking beer bar with an incredible neon sign. The sign featured the cartoon character who is the barman from The Simpson’s, so it is dubbed Flaming Moe’s. It did not take me long to become accustomed to this friendly little bar and I was soon knocking back glasses of Tiger draft beer. Flaming Moe’s run a lengthy Happy Hour from 5.00pm until 8.30pm and it is hard to believe that Tiger draft is only 45 baht. For something a little different to go down with your suds, hot pies are available for 90 baht. The owner always keeps the bar immaculately clean and tidy, they provide clean rest rooms, and they have a fairly new pool table. Flaming Moe’s have both a darts team and a pool team, but following recent thrashings the pool team are like the blind leading the blind. On a brighter note there are some attractive young dolly birds working here, who are friendly and approachable.”
(45 baht is just about a buck and a quarter American.)