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Rough Clips from "The Simpsons Movie"

Logo for 'The Simpsons Movie.

Two rough clips from the upcoming Simpsons Movie were shown at the recent San Diego Comic Convention. Someone emailed me footage of those clips and I’m now sharing them with you. These may or may not make it into the final movie (scheduled for release on July 27, 2007) — they may even be red herrings created by the Simpsons team.

Still from one of the rough clips for 'The Simpsons Movie' shown at the 2006 San Diego Comic Con.
Click the image to see the clip.

Here’s the first clip [3.2MB MP4], in which Homer is on a dogsled and pushing the dogs hard. Wikipedia summarizes it like so:

Homer begins with a voice over saying “Here’s a scene from The Simpsons Movie. It’s a work in progress so I don’t want anyone asking stupid questions like ‘Hey, what happened to the colour?'”. As Homer says this, the movie logo on screen fades to black and white and he yells “Hey, what happened to the colour?!”

In this scene, Homer is in an arctic location on a dogsled, whipping the dogs and repeatedly yelling “Run!” at them. In the next scene, the dogs are sleeping and Homer continues to whip them now yelling “Rest!” The dogs are then seen running again and Homer says “Okay. That’s enough whipping for now… with this arm!”, as he proceeds to whip them with his other arm. Night falls and Homer begins to untie them saying “Now I know we’ve had a rough day, but I’m sure we can put all that behind us and just…” when the dogs attack him and run away. Homer whines “Why does everything I whip leave me?”

Still from one of the rough clips for 'The Simpsons Movie' shown at the 2006 San Diego Comic Con.
Click the image to see the clip.

Here’s the second clip [3.4MB MP4], in which an angry mob of Springfield townsfolk converge on the Simpsons’ house.

Wikipedia’s summary:

…an angry mob of Springfieldians chanting “We want Homer! We want Homer!” and heading for the Simpsons’ house, where Marge and Homer are hiding, looking out through a bedroom window. Lenny asks Moe, “So, uh, who we gonna kill again?” Moe responds “Uh, I think the people in the front know.”

Marge: Look what you’ve done to us! Our only hope is for you to face that mob and apologize for what you did.

Homer: I would, but I’m afraid if I open the door they’ll take all of you!

Carl: (off screen) No, we won’t. We just want Homer!

Homer: Well maybe not you, but they’ll kill Grampa!

Grampa: (off screen) I’m part of the mob!

The angry mob brings a ladder up and climbs up to the bedroom.

Lisa: Ladders! They’ve got ladders!

The mob breaks the window and people start climbing up one by one as Homer throws items at them as he shouts out puns.

Homer: (throwing a lamp at the Sea Captain) Lights out! (throwing a camera at the Blue Haired Lawyer) Say cheese! (throwing a doily at Dr. Hibbert) And uh… hello doily!

Dr. Hibbert: I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch!

Homer screams and runs as the crowd starts coming in through the window. Downstairs, the mob breaks through the front door and runs into the house, breaking everything in their way.

Krusty: Teeny! Take out the baby.

Maggie smashes her bottle, points it at Mr. Teeny as a weapon and they make karate gestures at each other.

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Step Four is “Profit!”

Very old comic: '1. He sees the bear. 2. He has an idea. 3. The idea works.'

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"Ask Tucows" Chat Next Tuesday

Ask Tucows - Tuesday, August 1st - 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT - http://chat.tucows.com

Just a quick reminder that we’re holding the third open online chat session, “Ask Tucows” on Tuesday, August 1st between 12:00 noon and 3:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (that’s 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon Pacific Daylight Time, or 16:00 – 19:00 UTC). Join us at chat.tucows.com!

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It Happened to Me

My New Title: Technical Evangelist

'Dude, I need a bigger cubicle' image of John the Evangelist.
A slightly doctored image of John the Evangelist.

For the past three years, I’ve held the title of “Technical Community Development Coordinator”. It was meant to be an interim title for use while the job was being defined. While it does have some nifty features — it’s the longest title in the company and abbreviates to TC/DC, which I’ve milked for its resemblance to the band name AC/DC — it doesn’t quite adequately explain what I do.

The title “Technical Evangelist” is more suitable. It’s well-understood in our circles, since it’s had a long history (going back to the 1980s, which is ages ago in this industry) and a noble pedigree, having been started by Guy Kawasaki when he was at Apple, and continued by respected techie statesmen like Don Box and Robert Scoble. It even has a Wikipedia entry.

Yesterday, Boss Ken asked me if I wanted to switch titles, and after having given it some thought, I said yes. So henceforth my title shall be Technical Evangelist. Can ah have an Ay-men, bruthas and sistas?!

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Toronto (a.k.a. Accordion City)

Gentrification with Justice

Comic by Toles on gentrification.

One of the first results of a Google image search for “gentrification”.

Gideon Strauss points to an article in ByFaith Online (“The Web Magazine of the Presbyterian Church in America”) titled Gentrification with Justice. An excerpt (with one bit of emphasis on my part):

I have now seen first hand (yes, inadvertently participated in) the devastating impact that gentrification can have on the poor of an urban community. I have faced panicking families at my front door who had just been evicted from their homes, their meager belongings set out on the curb. I have helped them in their frantic search to find scarce affordable apartments and have collected donations to assist with rent and utility deposits.

But I have also seen what happens to the poor when the “gentry” do not return to the city. The effects of isolation are equally severe. A pathology creeps into a community when achieving neighbors depart – a disease born of isolation that depletes a work ethic, lowers aspirations and saps human initiative. I have seen courageous welfare mothers struggle in vain to save their children from the powerful undertow of the streets. I have witnessed the sinister forces of a drug culture as it ravages unchecked the lives of those who have few options for escape. Without the presence of strong, connected neighbor-leaders who have the best interests of the community at heart, a neglected neighborhood becomes a desperate dead-end place.

The romantic notion that the culture of a dependent, poverty community must somehow be protected from the imposition of outside values is as naive as it is destructive. Neighborhoods that have hemorrhaged for decades from the “up and out” migration of their best and brightest need far more than government grants, human services and urban ministries to restore their health. More than anything else, they need the return of the very kinds of home-owning, goal-driven, faith-motivated neighbors that once gave their community vitality. In a word, they need the gentry.

This leaves us in a bit of a quandary. The poor need the gentry in order to revive their deteriorated neighborhoods. But the gentry will inevitably displace the poor from these neighborhoods. The poor seem to get the short end of the stick either way.

If you’re interested in the ongoing evolution of Accordion City (or hey, your own city) and you want to do it without trampling over people in the process, this article is a worthwhile read.

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In the News Toronto (a.k.a. Accordion City)

Karaoke Copyright Takedown

In today’s news (National Post / Toronto Sun / Marketnews.ca), there are reports that copyright-related arrests were made at two karaoke bars in the Accordion City area. Here’s a snippet from the National Post story:

Staff at two Greater Toronto karaoke bars have been charged with copyright offences as part of an RCMP crackdown on illegal karaoke businesses.

While pursuing a complaint, RCMP officers determined that two karaoke bars were charging the public money to listen to and use karaoke music without copyright permission to do so, the RCMP said.

These people arrested were staff at K-Box Bar and Lounge in Richmond Hill (which, according to these docs [PDF], have run afoul of the law before — for serving after hours) and Club Mirage in Markham (also in trouble for a few violations [PDF], including serving minors), both of which are the “rent a room for you and your friends” style of karaoke club.

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Cat Picture of the Day

Cat picture that defies description.