I’m sure you’re all aware that The Simpsons in the Classroom: Embiggening the Wisdom of Springfield has been out for a month now. Denise has had a few write ups, a radio interview, and an “evening”! I’ll be on “Insight” on our local NPR station on Tuesday (you can listen live or stream it later). I may also get a write up in the Sacramento Bee. My beloved co-author will be flying out to join me for a book launch at Bistro 33 in Davis, May 26, 7-8:30. I hope you’ll come join us!

I also learned that the UC Davis bookstore has a copy of the book, so I’ll be off to see myself on the shelf sometime this week.

How does it all feel? Surreal . . .

is here: http://www.matchflick.com/column/2165

Today, as we were standing in line to see Iron Man 2, Courtney noticed that the box office sign had crossed out two letters on the name of another film.

That’s right–they were showing KICK A**.

We sent the boy over to check out the large poster hanging on the side of the building. The solution there? The name of the film didn’t appear anywhere on the poster.

If your kids can’t see the word “ass,” you haven’t done a very good job preparing them for the world.

A few weeks ago, I was in Montreal for a conference. Montreal, even in Spring, is very cold and the wind whips through the city the way it does in Chicago. Like most of Canada (the Canada I’ve seen anyway), it was clean. However, it was more empty than other cities I’ve seen. Except for two shopping streets, the place was eerily quiet.

I was very lucky to have Melissa with me, as she speaks French. Montreal is a very French city. Luckily, most places had English menus (upon discovery of my ignorance). There was only place we went in which a waitress spoke no English.

Some of the cathedrals were quite lovely. As I grew up a Protestant in the South, where churches are often converted warehouses, I am always in awe of old churches and their beauty. However, in the churches and on some streets were depictions of the white man bringing Jesus to the Natives. (I don’t believe we encountered any Natives in the city, however). Never before have stained glass windows seemed so imperialistic.

on Margot at the Wedding is here: http://www.matchflick.com/column/2157

In other news, Denise did an amazing job with her radio interview–it’s available online–go hear it!

Also, have decided that all of my friends must copy Mandy Dawn and Nathan in their own wedding plans–they did not subject me to a ceremony (except for an amazing remix of said), they fed me great food, including cookies and ice cream, and invited all these other wonderful people for me to hang out with! Congrats, my wonderful friends.

David Silverman reminded us all on Facebooktoday that we first saw the Simpson family in a short, “Goodnight, Simpsons” on The Tracey Ullman Show in 1987.

Yes, I saw it. I was 12.

I doubt that anyone thought on that night that the family would ever even get their own show, much less that they would be on the air 23 years later. Who could have guessed that there would have a movie and that they would change the face of television, of primetime, of satire, forever?

I doubt anyone could have guessed that the subject of this short would become one of the foci of my life, that I would teach classes on it and one day write a book on it with my best friend.

Thank you, The Simpsons, for giving me so much happiness over the years, for reminding me that television doesn’t have to be stupid, and for showing that dysfunctional families are revelant to our lives. Thank you for being my longest and most satisfying relationship.

Last night, I was eating kalua pork and my roommate heard the doorbell. When I went to check, I found a small box and saw that the return address was McFarland.

I called my son into the living room–surely the book, The Simpsons in the Classroom (co-authored with Denise Du Vernay), was finally here. I got my knife and some champagne.

It occured to me as I made the first incision that I might in fact be cutting into the cover of my book. Luckily, the packers anticipated this and thus a protective layer was the first thing I saw.

I handed the first copy to my son, and showed him the dedication. He hadn’t known that I dedicated it to him. Of course, being a sixteen-year-old, he had to pretend that it wasn’t the coolest thing ever, and he refused to smile in the photo we tried to take. It’s a good thing he’s wonderful in every other way.

A few minutes later, I finished my dinner and then headed out to a choral concert. Today, a few hours later, I will grade papers and prep my lectures for Monday and then head to a garden party.

Somewhere near my solar plexus, there’s a small flame of excitement, and when I catch sight of my book on the coffee table, or when people mention it on Facebook, it flares up and fills my whole body for a second. I become giddy and amazed.

It’s going to be interesting to see how long this high lasts.

I’m putting together a book launch event–stay tuned for details!

April, Courtney, and I headed to WonderCon yesterday. We parked close to the convention center and then followed the people in costumes to the door. First, we headed to the exhibition hall, where April found some amazing Simpsons toys. Several artists were trying to sell their wares–a few were handing out samples. Then, we came upon the stars.

Which stars? Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar on STTNG), Aaron Douglas (the Chief on BSG), Lou Ferrigno (the Hulk), Richard Hatch (BSG), Richard Herd (the Greatest American Hero), Suzie Plakson (Q’s “wife” on STTNG), Q himself, Brent Spiner (Data), and Lindsey Wagner, the original Bionic Woman. We didn’t actually get to speak to any of these people–they were charging for pictures and photos and thus weren’t open for free geeky conversation. Spike from Buffy was behind a curtain somewhere, charging $40 for an autograph. The Chief from BSG had a sign up that his money was going to a charity, at least.

There was one man we couldn’t resist, however. Adam Baldwin, from Firefly and Chuck, made us gasp in a display of nerdiness we hadn’t experienced in years. We pooled together $10 to get a picture with him. (Just as we were crowding together, he commented on the aroma of weed that passed by us.) The best part was that I got to touch him for free. The second best part was that we kept hearing people say that “Alec Baldwin” was there.

After a quick lunch, we headed back in for panels. We were going to sit in on a panel on Star Trek and Philosophy, but the speaker, a preacher, seemed boring, so we headed off to a celebration of the “anniversary” of the Galaxy Quest television show. We were afraid that a few of the audience members wouldn’t play along with the panel as they discussed their favorite episodes, guest appearances, and the resurgence of the series, but everyone seemed game. In the very entertaining panel, they mocked the conventions of sci-fi tv and showed that we nerds can make fun of ourselves.

Then, as we were heading into a panel on Kick Ass, we were stopped by one of the marketing people of the film. He asked us if we would see the film that night for free and then be interviewed on camera about it afterwards. He said that they needed to reach out to a female audience and that our femaleness (combined with our hotness) made us ideal. He also seemed to think we were young.

Thus, armed with our VIP tickets, we went into a crowded room for a panel discussion with the cast and one of the graphic artists. I’ll be reviewing the film for matchflick soon, so I’ll sign off with this:

April, Adam, Courtney, Karma

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