Superbowl Commercials 2010

While I watched the Superbowl on Canadian TV and didn't get to see any of the commercials, but there is this thing called the internet. Also, the makers of commercials don't care where you see it as long as you see it so the SB XLIV commercials are easy to find. There were a few pretty hilarious ones but my fave was this one with Alec Balwin for hulu. Other people will tell you it was the Betty White Snickers add that was the funniest (and it was pretty funny) but nope it was this one. Delightful!


But a very close second was of course this one with The Simpsons for Coke:

2010 | Super Bowl Ads | SPIKE.com

p.s. If you're curious, SPIKE has the goods on Superbowl commercials way back to 2002 (and a list of the all time classics, like that Budweiser one with the donkey and the one with the cowboys herding cats. Good times.
p.p.s. Also, it was a feel good story that New Orleans won even though they weren't KWs pick.

Simpsons Spoofs: Old Art

Since the last Simpsons art spoof was so popular, let's take a look at some pre-20th Century Simpsons art. This time we'll have a peep at some Italian Renaissance painters (turtle power!) and some influential Dutch artists. Learning is fun! Hurray!

Here we have Bart in the most well known panel "The Creation of Adam" from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling created for Pope Julius II. FYI That isn't the only Simpsonized version of that Sistine Chapel panel, in fact check the end of the Simpsons episode in this post for Homer's Sistine chapel ceiling. Anyway, Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni painted the Sistine chapel for 4 years between 1508 and 1512. The ceiling is in the large Papal chapel in the Vatican in which Papal conclaves and other important ceremonies take place. The Sistine Chapel also features the work of other important Italian Renaissance painters including several large tapestries by Raphael.

Which brings us to our second feature. Here are two Simpsons takes on the detail of the cherubs at the bottom of Raphael's painting "Sistine Madonna" (c.1514). Raphaello Sanzio (1483-1520), like Michaelangelo, was an Italian artist during the High Renaissance. He lends his name to one of the 3 High Renaissance ninja turtles (Donatello was the odd man out because he was in the early Renaissance). This detail image has become much more recognizable than the complete original due to it's widespread use in pop culture, greeting cards, coffee mugs, etc.

And now, just to make our High Renaissance ninja turtle triumvirate complete we have Homer as Leonardo Da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man". This famous sketch was named after the Roman writer, architect, and engineer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio. Da Vinci illustrated his Vitruvian Man from Vitruvius' writings on geometry and human proportions in Book III of De Architectura. The sketch is probably the most recognizable Renaissance image as it has been used for many different kinds of symbols for logos, medical professional, etc. and it's even on the Euro. It is the embodiment of the Renaissance idea of the marriage of art and science. Da Vinci's notebooks are available at Project Gutenberg. Also from Da Vinci we have Homer painting the "Mona Lisa" (Simpson). The painting itself is smaller than you might think (only 77cm x 53cm)and is a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. The Mona Lisa is owned by the Louvre in France but has actually been stolen twice. In probably the most famous art theft ever, the painting was removed by a museum employee Vincenzo Peruggia who was an Italian patriot who believed the art should be back in Italy. After hiding it for 2 years he tried to sell it to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and was caught. Italians in general agreed with his motives however so he only did a few months in jail for it. The painting was taken again in WWII and moved around. It has also survived several vandalisms as well as aggressive preservation techniques to continue to smile enigmatically at us today.

And last we have three drawings imitating some famous works by Dutch painters from www.limpfish.com (the artist has some pretty neat and funny art, mostly politically and/or socially relevant mash-ups, cool beans):

First, here is Homer as Rembrandt's "Self-portrait". Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn is generally considered one of the most important painters in European art history. He painted during the period known as the "Dutch Golden Age". So many brilliant paintings! I love his landscapes like "Mill", "Stone Bridge" and "Stormy Sea". I generally don't prefer his portraits but I like "Monk Reading". I also love "Philosopher in Meditation" and "Artist in His Studio", the way he uses light and shadow in the indoor scenes is beautiful! It has been suggested the Rembrandt may have had stereo blindness, which would have played havoc with his depth perception but would have allowed him to better adapt the 3D world to a 2D canvas.

Here is a Simpsonized version of Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring"(and here's a version with Lisa instead of Marge). Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) was a Dutch Baroque painter, famous for his vivid and detailed paintings often featuring individuals or scenes from every day domestic life. Baroque art was characterized by dramatic, vivid images using rich colours, intense light and dark shadows. The painting is undated but is considered a Vermeer masterpiece and is often called the Dutch Mona Lisa.

And finally, our most recent feature is Willie Van Gogh, a re-imagining of Dutch painter Vincent Willhem Van Gogh's September 1889 self-portrait (and here's a version with Homer instead of Willie). Van Gogh is was a highly influential Post-Impressionist painter and was the pioneer of the Expressionist style. This painting was one of several famous self-portraits Van Gogh created while in Saint-Rémy de Provence at Monastery Saint-Paul de Mausole sanitarium. He went there after "the unpleasantness" which included stalking Gauguin with a razor, chopping off his own earlobe (probably) and giving it to a prostitute, and all in all going pretty cuckoo although no one knows exactly why. All of the self-portraits from this period show the artist's head from the left (i.e. the side with ear not mutilated) and one of them, "Self-Portrait without beard", was one of the most expensive paintings ever sold, going for $71.5 million in 1998. Some of his most well known works date to this year in his life including what is widely considered to be his magnum opus "Starry Night", painted in 1889 and depicting the view outside his sanitarium window at night using swirls and densely painted impasto. The next year Van Gogh, in a deep depression, walked into a field and shot himself with a revolver, dying 2 days later, with the final words "La tristesse durera toujours" (French: "the sadness will last forever"). Despite the popularity and melodrama associated with his later works, one of my personal favorites is his early work "Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette" (painted in 1885). I guess I'm just a sucker for comedic yet anatomically correct skeleton art.

Chickens! Cultural Moment: La Bohème

The latest offering by the Saskatoon Opera is Puccini's La Bohème. Puccini's best known work (except maybe for Madame Butterfly) and considered one of the most romantic love stories in opera. It is arguably the most commonly performed Italian opera and has inspired several popular movies, plays, etc. including Rent and Moulin Rouge (actually a cross between La Boheme and La Traviata). Pop culture references that I know off the top of my head include The Simpsons (of course) and Kate and Leopold (who doesn't love Hugh Jackman?).

The story is actually based on the novel "Scènes de la Vie de Bohème" by Henri Murger. Murger's work enjoyed little initial popularity but a subsequent play based on the collection of stories increased exposure and demand. It inspired another opera called La Bohème by Ruggero Leoncavallo, which descended into relative obscurity while Puccini's work became one of the most popular operas of all time. The story is set in Paris in the 1840's and follows several struggling artists, particularly Rudolfo and to a lesser extent his friend Marcello and their respective loves Mimì and Musetta.

Unfortunately, my musical knowledge doesn't really extend to the intricacies of operatic performance (yet) so you'll all just have to be satisfied with my juvenile "them thar singy peoples made my eardy boneses happy" impressions as opposed to an intelligent critique of their prowess. That said, I think it was a delightful opera and I enjoyed it thoroughly on the whole. You know, while "the man" says this is in the running for most popular opera ever, I can't say I recognized any of the songs offhand. The "Sì, mi chiamano Mimì" song stands out in my memory because I thought it was funny (what's wrong with the name Lucia?). Similarly the story has a few parts along these lines that are nonsensical prattling on, playing, or running around, but it's funny and adds to the charm and feel of the thing I think. Anyway, the tenor that played Rudolfo (Christopher Bengochea) was also in Rigoletto as the Duke. I actually liked him much more in this role, it suited him better than the playboy Duke character and I enjoyed his singing more because of it. While I generally don't prefer sopranos, the one that played Mimì (Marianne Fiset) was excellent and Musetta (Karen Charlton) was good too (she was a hussy but Marcello deserved it) and the better actress of the two. There wasn't too much in the way of lower registers in this one, but the part of Marcello is a baritone (played by Alexander Dobson) and was enjoyable and fun to watch, he played his character well I thought. And remember, if you get to go to the performance, keep your eyes peeled for JT as a hilarious Parpignol (and doubling as one of the background guys too). Yay JT!

Now, since I haven't had a non-english Simpsons in a while, here is El Homer de Sevilla (The Homer of Seville - Simpsons season 19 episode 2). The reference to La Boheme happens about 8 minutes in):

Simpsons Spoofs: 20th Century Art

It's time once again for The Simpsons spoofs. Today we're going to learn about famous 20th Century (mostly) art/artists. Woohoo! There have been quite a few art parodies produced officially by the Simpsons people over the years, mostly for posters.

To start with the most recent we have the ubiquitous "L'Enfant" poster of a photograph of a male model holding a baby. Taken by photographer Spencer Rowell in 1987, the poster has sold over 5 million copies since it was first published. Hmmm... I wonder who it's target audience is?

Inching our way back in time we have Lisa as Roy Lichtenstein's "Hopeless" image painted in 1963. Lichtenstein is most famous for his 1950's/60's comic book inspired pop art images. Though the images are painted in oil and Magna paints they will often depict Benday Dots to mimic the appearance of printing.

Continuing in the pop art vein we have a homer painting in the style of Andy Warhol. This most closely resembles Warhol's celebrity paintings made during the 1960's when he was focusing on iconic American symbols, excepting that Warhol's portraits would typically depict 4 (or more) identical poses with altered colour schemes.

Next is a spoof of Edvard Munch's The Scream (Norwegian: Skrik). This was actually a series of images that Munch made featuring this theme (and variations thereon) in different media starting in 1893 and continuing into the early 1900s (so it's still 20th century). It is painted in the expressionist style in which the artist will tend to distort reality to achieve a truer image of the emotional reality (usually angst-ridden). The painting depicts a happy little character expressing himself, bystanders in the background, and a landscape in Oslo at sunset.
Next we have a spoof of Georges Seurat's painting Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte). Painted in 1884 it is one of the most famous examples of the style of pontillism, in which a mosaic of distinct dots (using a reduced colour palette) forms the image. OK fine this painting isn't 20th century... and Seurat died in 1891 so I can't even say he still painted in the 20th century. Oh well.

Finally, just to bring us back into the 20th century, we have "Nighthogs". A spoof of Edward Hopper's most famous painting "Nighthawks" which was painted in 1942 (oil on canvas) and depicts a diner that used be on Greenwich Ave. in New York. Edward Hopper's art is some of the most recognizable of all of America's 20th Century realist painters. Meaning his paintings look like the things they look like - mostly scenes and people from 50's America, which makes sense.

Simpsons References for Moms #8

"Yoink"
Usage: 1) Onomatopoeia referencing a common cartoon sound effect played to enhance the action of an object being quickly taken (esp. if being stolen).
2) Exclamation uttered when taking or stealing an object (esp. if in front of the original owner).

Reference to: first appearance in Season 4 Episode 16 ("Duffless"), but is a recurring Simpsons-ism). Click here for a Yoink list.

Other Simpsons-isms first seen in this episode:
"Pretty lame, Milhouse"
Usage: Whenever something is lame.

Other other references in this episode:
-parody of Sinatra's "It was a very good year"

Also,

Marge: Do you ever drink alone?
Homer: Does the Lord count as a person?
Marge: No.
Homer: Then yes.

Simpsons Spoofs: Album Covers

It's time for super-fun Simpsons spoofs! Album cover edition. Hurray!
First, here is the spoof of The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album that was done for the cover of the Simpsons' "Yellow Album" (which featured the "Hail to Thee Kamp Krusty" song and a bunch of stuff not from the show). Besides this there are quite a few album cover spoofs kicking around that were done up as alternative magazine covers for the Rolling Stone. These included three of the most influential albums of all time: The Beatles' "Alley Road", Nirvana's "Nevermind", and Springstein's "Born in the USA".





























There was also the rejected Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" spoof










and David Bowie's "Aladdin Sane".










Educational Sidebar: Origins of the word 'spoof' from Dictionary.com
Dates back to the British comedian Arthur Roberts (1852-1933) who invented a game called Spoof, which involved trickery and nonsense. Later, the word spoof took on the general sense meaning of nonsense or trickery (first recorded in 1889). The verb spoof is first recorded in 1889 as well, in the sense "to deceive." These meanings have fallen out of use in favour of the noun form meaning "a light parody or satirical imitation," first recorded in 1958, and the verb sense "to satirize gently," first recorded in 1927.

Simpsons references for Moms#7: made up words edition

Embiggen: (verb.) 1. To make physically bigger, larger or increase in size.
2. specifically, with regards to computers, to maximize a window or image (e.g. click to embiggen)
3. metaphorically, to enrich, empower or to make more admirable or great.

Cromulant (also, cromulent):
(adj.) 1. specifically, as a direct reference, to assign validity to or question the validity of any word (e.g. is that word cromulant?)
2. generally, and assuming knowledge of the inherent reference for the purpose of amusement, to refer to anything that is legitimate, helpful, useful, or applicable to a situation. (e.g. Thank you for your cromulant assistance).
3. ironically or sarcastically (depending on intent), used to mean legitimate, but is in reality, spurious and not at all legitimate.
4. used to describe a dubious or made up word, term, or phrase that sounds plausible because it makes logical sense within existing language conventions (e.g. meese as the plural of moose). Usage of the word cromulant in this sense is ironic as the word itself is incromulant (and arguing the cromulance of the word incromulant is doubly ironic).

(Ant.) Incromulant: (adj.) used to describe a dubious or made up word, term, or phrase that does not makes logical sense within existing language conventions, but may make sense in a cultural context (e.g. "Meh" - 1. an interjection meaning mediocre, lackluster, unexceptional, or uninspiring or 2. used to express feelings of general malaise, indifference, or blandness).
Note: The word "incromulent", while it modifies the word cromulant in a cromulant way, it is not a cromulant word as the word base itself is not cromulant. Although, arguably, making a cromulant word out of an incromulant one may encromulate the new word to some extent.

Reference to: Season 7 Episode 16 ("Lisa the Iconoclast")

Jebidiah Springfield [on film]: "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man."
Ms.Krabapple: Embiggens? I never heard that word before I moved to Springfield.
Ms.Hoover: I don't know why. It's a perfectly cromulent word.

p.s. Note that there was in fact a memorial service for Adlai Stevenson in Springfield, Ill. right after he died, but he is not actually buried there. Although it is a temporally appropriate homage considering all of the JFK references in the episode (including the parody of the infamous JFK "wanted for treason" poster).