A great source for information about The Simpsons is a site called Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. I don’t know why the designers chose that name, but it boasts one of the most comprehensive collection of episode guides to the show on the Web. Early seasons have episode guides that are dizzying in their breadth and depth. Later seasons have briefer guides that are still better than nothing.

If you’ve got The Simpsons Season 1 and Season 2 on DVD, this site makes a great companion to demystifying the dozens of allusions and references each episode contains.

Like the scenery or homes in a particular movie? Curious where they were filmed? Of course you are. You’ve got to love the Internet because someone has created a site dedicated to erasing your wondering. Called appropriately, as are most sites on the Web, Famous Locations, it is quite comprehensive though hard to navigate.

Remember The Muppet Show? The Kermitage is a great way to remember it, or find out about it in the first place for you younger visitors. It’s got a complete episode guide from all five seasons of the show. I mean complete in a obsessive sort of way. Here’s the episode guide from the first season with Joel Grey as host.

Who’s Joel Grey? Beats me, I was less than two years old when that particular show was on. But it’s a neat episode guide, if for no other reason than that it and all of the others features a quote from Statler and Waldorf—the hecklers in the balcony. Here it is for those of you who didn’t click on the link:

Waldorf: “More! More!”
Statler: “Hey not so loud, they may hear you!”

Priceless.

American actors, like American baseball players, can make some extra scratch shilling for Japanese companies. One site has coined a term for them: Japander, as in Japan panderer. The site, Japander.com, hosts video clips of these commercials with such notables as The Simpsons, Brad Pitt, and Jeff Goldblum. They’re funny.

Work should be fun. These office toys can help.

In the same vein as the travelling gnome and others, Damien Barrett brings us The Hulk and Hong Kong Phooey Road Trip. Quite funny.

Worried about the sky falling? The Near-Earth Object program at NASA tracks asteroids approaching the Earth. Just check it frequently or when you get that queasy an-asteroid-is-going-to-crush-my-house-and-end-civilization-as-I-know-it feeling.

Luckily, the only asteroid with a Torino scale rating of greater than 0 is 1997 XR2. It may potentially impact Earth on June 1, 2101 though its rating of 1 would indicate that we’re safe.

Sorry for the longish absence. Blogger, the service we use to maintain this blog, was having trouble accessing our layout. Long story short, it figured it out and we’re back to our normally unscheduled operations…

Umm, I can’t recall ever seeing Conference Bikes, ungainly contraptions that seat seven. Yes, seven. It’s a feat of engineering and chutzpah at the same time. And it’s only 9500 Euros ($9,336.94) to boot!

If your needs run more romantic than business (I guess that’s the type of conference they’re implying), may I suggest that you check out the Love Bike instead? It’s heart-shaped and can hold champagne.*

* Painting in the Park encourages safe freaky biking. If you’re going to drink and you’ve bought this strange bike, please be responsible. And bring it by the shop so that we can laugh at it.