Ah. Thank Grog It’s FIRDAY!
This is one of those weeks when my head is spinning with things that make me go, “ERGH!” and “Whaaaaaa?”and “Really??????” and “SoooooCoooooool!” And no. I’m not talking about tweets, or politics, or cable news talking heads….I’m actually talking about THE GAME (and the Bracket Challenge.) Oh…and at the end, I’ll share some good news.
Let’s start with the update(s). I admit, as out-of-context and “space/time breakin'” as the Toaster Update was, I liked it. It was fun…and I got everything I wanted…not, everything available…but everything I wanted. No donuts spent (except on the tree-slide…which is about the loudest water sounding thing in the game..makes me have to pee). I laughed at the “Favio/Sexy-Pirate”…especially when he let his gut hang loose. All in all…Fun Update!
This “mini-update?” Uhm. Not so much. I’m not going to get into it…as I think the concept of Pride Week is important (if not just another way to be divisive in a world that is already so full of marches, you need a scorecard to keep track of the placards, when we should all be celebrating our similarities, rather than our differences). But, like most “hot topics” taken on by the writers, the dialogue is pretty narrow and stereotypical, even for a cartoon-based mobile game. And that’s all I’ll say about that…
But…the REAL reason I’m Crankified, is that we now have a couple of MORE characters who barely appeared in the show, in our games…and we DON’T Have Bleeding Gums Murphy yet!!!
Oh. And I’m apparently at the BOTTOM of the “Mod-Heap” in 216th place…in Safi’s Bracket Challenge. WTH????
I think it’s time for me to use my “bully pulpit” to make the case for “why we need to pick the Jazz Hole” in this challenge. I’ve been a paid PAC writer before…and this time, I think it’s time we hear from the ICCMU, and their desire to be represented!! Rainbows or no rainbows!
The ICCMU (International Comic Character Musicians Union) is a small, and under-represented group of musical comic characters who have unionized in order to get their fair share of press, and back pay for music played during animated episodes. Started by “Clyde,” one of the last remaining California Raisins (those guys were pretty old before they became famous), the ICCMU lobbies for recognition of the extra hard work they do, to bring peace, harmony, and soul into the slapstick world of cartoons.
As someone who has done scores of music with these talented artists in past projects, I am an honorary member (although my flesh and blood pedigree prevents me from getting my official ICCMU card). I can speak of the pain, pathos and struggles of musicians everywhere, who dedicate their lives to their art, only to be passed by when it comes to recognizing the place that art plays in the lives of those watching.
That is the case with Bleeding Gums Murphy…and the tacit disregard EA/Gracie/Fox apparently have for him. and perhaps the entire world of Jazz (and perhaps even the saxamophone). After all…what could possibly explain the appearance of TONS of random “Pride Buildings” (including a chance to buy “The League of Extra Horny Gentlemen” which is in the Bracket Battle), and NOT giving us the “Jazz Hole” and Bleeding Gum Murphy?????
Yes. Julio appears in 17+ episodes (most notably “Three Gays of the Condo” and “Flaming Moes”), but Grady is only in 6 episodes…and only the same primary six that Julio is in (which kinda makes sense, since they are kind of a couple).
But, Murphy (his real name is Murphy Kenneth Hibbert), appears not only in 22 episodes, plus the Simpsons Movie, and most notably, in two of the BEST episodes in the entire Simpsons 500+ episode history.
Even though season 1, was still struggling with animation (a bit crude, and the voices still developing), it is important to note that each episode laid out the basic groundwork for the prime characters of the show. The sixth episode of season one, “Moaning Lisa,” reveals the inner depth and pathos that Lisa carries with her in her life, while she struggles to be the only truly “normal one” in a family of misfits. Some of the dialogue is heartbreaking…but, in the end, she finds her voice, that of a little girl who finds solace in playing the blues, to get through life. Her mentor and guru…Murphy.
While the Simpsons is full of slapstick, and backhanded politics…it is the moments when the writers reach deeper into the characters, that I appreciate the most. From the first time that Lisa plays on the bridge (an homage to Sonny Rollins) with Murphy, it is clear that some part of her soul will always be in a woeful lament for the human condition. I get it. It’s why I play music. Nothing…and I mean nothing else in the world (even golf), can take me away from wondering “what the hell has gone wrong with the world,” like sitting down at the keyboard, or taking a guitar in hand…and letting the pain of watching the news come across my business news servers…wash away.
It’s why our Springfields NEED the Jazz Hole and Murphy in our game. Enough with the politics…and ways to divide us all up into quadrants of bathrooms, and picketers, and tweet-sharing. It’s time to have a place to get away from it all. The Jazz Hole is that place!
But fear not, folks… I won’t leave you hanging (or trying to hang yourself from the pirate gallows) in a state of depression.
Nope…I promised Good News…and Here it is!
YOUR donations at work…as promised…bringing light to a world where none existed before (at least after the sun goes down).
Here are some pics of the Solar Lights being installed at the Buyijja School. Whooohooo!
Let there be light! And THANKS to all who donated! In this world, with all that is going on…it’s nice to know we can make a positive change…effectively and efficiently! You guys rock!