Happy Aloha Friday!
Since its first airing, on December 17th 1989, over the past 33 years, the Simpsons has become the longest running prime time scripted show in the US and the longest running animated series EVER! Talk about consistency! Well, how about content. Ask Dr. G. (aka Google) about any subject + The Simpsons and you have a high probability of getting a hit. The ability to stay relevant after so many years is a testament to its creator, Matt Groening as well as the amazing support staff of writers. It is a Masterclass on living in the frenetic energy of constant change. But there is something more. The Simpsons will always be the Simpsons. That singular thread that runs consistent through the years, that tie that binds, are the characters authenticity. For me, this week, that was the lesson. While things change around me, and they do fairly often, it is important to remain adaptive, while never forgetting who I am at the core: A nature loving, number crunching hippie who has spent to much time and money on sneakers and the band Phish.
So it was this week with two very notable authors, Jane Austen and Arthur C Clarke, that I found myself asking Dr. G how these two were intimately connected with The Simpsons. For Jane Austen, its is obviously Lisa Simpson. Lisa’s favorite prose author is Jane Austen. Check out some pretty fascinating facts about Jane Austen. For Arthur C Clarke, author of the book and script for 2001: A Space Odyssey, the connection a little more obscure, but nonetheless there, tied to Brainiac Martin Prince. Martin, if elected President, was going to build a library focused on the ABC’s of Science Fiction, Asimov, Bester, and of course Clarke.
What Aloha Friday would be complete without some sort of musical nod. So to tie up the loose logic of this week’s rambling, I present to you Phish at the Met Theater in Philly on 12/3/2019 performing the theme song from 2001: A Space Odyssey: Also Sprach Zarathustra. This number comes in a breezy 11 minutes and the jam that ensues out of the song proper launches for the stratosphere before landing back on terra firma. Check out the layering effect at around the 4:20 mark of this song. Phish, who have been made characters on the Simpsons, used to drop a subtle nod to The Simpsons during the middle of songs, playing a riff from the theme before gracefully segueing back. Coincidentally, this performance was just a fortnite prior to the 30th anniversary of the first airing of Simpsons.
Mahalo & Namaste!
