I love you too, brake fluid!

I liked last night's Simpsons episode pretty well. So far, the only real clunker this season has been the Halloween one. Granted, there have only been three regular episodes so far, and I think they're all holdovers from the last production season, but still, I've liked all of them. It was cool to see younger versions of Moe and Barney in the flashback scenes. As soon as Marge mentioned her and Chloe's choice between going to journalism school and staying with their sweethearts, I knew they were going to show Chloe dating an established character, but I wasn't sure which one. We also got to see Barney as a helicopter pilot again. I do think the scene with the eruption was a little overly cartoony. Yes, I know it IS a cartoon, but still. I was expecting either Lisa or Chloe to mention how the lava was flowing everywhere except where they happened to be, but neither of them did. I think I would have preferred it if they had. Oh, well. I also found the joke with the skewers in Grampa's back to be too derivative of other similar jokes in the past (something ridiculous cures a person, and then something else immediately counteracts it), but that WAS just one minor joke. I think someone on the alt.tv.simpsons newsgroup mentioned that they had shown it in a preview for this season, though.

One thing I've found odd about this season so far is that, aside from the aforementioned Halloween episode, every show so far has featured Marge in a significant capacity. That's kind of odd, considering that she's usually the Simpson with the least episodes devoted to her (aside from Maggie, that is). I think there might have already been more Marge episodes this year than there are in your average season. This list of upcoming episodes suggests that Marge might also have a major role in "Mommie Beerest," although that one could possibly turn out to be more of a Homer episode. So, yeah, a lot more Marge than usual so far this season.

I'm not a big fan of Christmas shopping. I wish I knew what people wanted. It would be easier if they all liked the same kinds of things I did. Amazon seems to be down now, too. I didn't know Amazon WENT down. I wonder what the problem is.

I also wonder whether I should send out Christmas cards this year.