Update: Collectible Minifigs series...um...14?

MinifigPriceGuide.com has an image of collectible minifigure series 14, subtitled Monsters, confirming what we've already known about the series: that they're going to be Halloween-themed.

The image isn't in high resolution because it's a scan from a small image in a print catalog.

Of more interest, though, are the various figure prototype images on the same story, some of which we hadn't seen before.

Update: QuizMeUp

Some updates on where I am in my attempts to get every achievement in QuizUp...

I've passed 9000 games (actually up to 9265 as I post this) played on my quest to get the Ubreakable achievement (10,000 games played)...

...and am at 79% winning percentage which means I have about 7320 wins on my way to Praetorian status (needing 10,000 wins to earn it)...

Currently I'm working my way through the 80's Music category, having gotten now to level 43 and being (at least before this week's vacation in a South Carolina campground (and likely without much cell reception) in the top ten in the world in that category for this month...

.

...even having beaten the number one player in the world in that category.

Go me!

Update: QuizMeUp

Updating my QuizUp progress...

I've crossed halfway to the Praetorian which requires 10,000 victories. I screenshotted my progress when I was just over halfway to that with 5007 victories. The other achievement in the distance for me is Unstoppable which requires 10,000 games played. Add in my 1559 losses and 95 ties, and that gives me 6661 total games played, nearly exactly two thirds of the way there.

I cut the photo off with the topics in which I've crossed the level-sixty line because those are the ones needed for the Avatar achievement. I have upped my average score to 116 from the 112-point average that you saw last time. Helps that I played a bunch of categories that I know well to get to Avatar instead of banging away against those categories that required level fifteen for the achievements.

The other two achievements that I'm lacking are going to require some traveling, needing me to play in four and ten countries each. Supposedly, I've played in three countries, though I've no idea why QuizUp believes that. I've only played within the cute confines of these here United States of America.

I dropped all the stats from the QuizUp website into a spreadsheet (Google Drive link, check it). Admittedly, I typed them into a spreadsheet because the QuizUp website presents its numbers as graphics not as copyable text. Here's what I found.

My best winning percentages (minimum of level 60)

• Batman - 94.5%
• Chemistry - 93.5%
• Name the Element - 92.8%

Categories with the most wins without a loss

• Animals - 6 wins
• Riddles - 5 wins
• Commercials - 5 wins

 Highest average points (no minimum level)

• Math: General - 158 (1 game)
• Mothers - 156 (1 game)
• Name the Dish - 150 (1 game)
• Back to School: Science - 149.8 (469 games)
• Name the Element - 147.4 (542 games)

Most games required to get to level 60 

• Actually, I can't tell. I don't know what the stats are exactly when I hit level 60. Name the Elements, for example, is currently on level 64, so saying it took me 542 games to get to level 60 would be wrong. Wish I could've gotten the stats at each milestone.
• See, if I could get to level 60, I was probably pretty good at the category, so I was fine to keep playing at it.

Most games required to get to level 15 (I'm assuming if I wasn't great at it, I stopped at level 15. Hence anything that would've taken me the most games would be a category in which I stopped at level 15.)

• MMA - 98 games (this felt eternal, a 9.2% winning percentage)
• Poetry - 72 games
• British Royals - 70 games
• Formula 1 - 69 games

 Most games without a win

• Harry Potter (movies) - 4 games
• Baking - 2 games
• App Logos - 2 games

Worst non-zero winning percentages

• Bob Dylan - 9.1%
• MMA - 9.2%
• Dog Breeds - 20%

Highest non-hundred winning percentages

• Action & Adventure (movies) - 94.6% (37 games - I am stunned that I have a winning percentage that high in this category.)
• Batman (movies) - 94.5% (475 games)
• Chemistry - 93.5% (494 games)

Update: A gag that never gets old

One more for the pile...sadly, the print is sold out...

And, from Super Punch...

"All day this couple ran up to different Batmans, yelled 'son!' and then dropped to the floor."

Update: QuizMeUp

I've been playing QuizUp since Spring Break this past school year.

As of late last week (when I typed this up), I'd played 3887 games...at a minute per game, that's...um...that's...that's sixty-four hours of QuizUp-ing since then...2.6 full days...a lot of time, in other words.

But I'm happy with my efforting because I'm rolling in the achievements. Take a look at my stats, folks...

I'm clearly way better at some categories (those up near the top: name the element, periodic table, chemistry, movies: general, batman, grammar) than I am some of those that I had to scrape to get across the level 15 barrier (like British Royals, oddly Queen, Bob Dylan for heaven's sake).

The reason for the large number of categories with exactly level fifteen is because many of the achievements require getting to level fifteen in two entirely unrelated categories. For example, to get the GoKart Motzart achievement badge, I had to get to level fifteen both in Classical music and in Formula 1 racing. A number of those took just forever to earn...but earn them I did.

I've highlighted the six achievements that I don't have yet. One, Slam Poet, is the next one for me. It requires me to get to level fifteen in both Poetry and MMA. I know almost nothing at all about MMA, so that's going to take a while, and I know only a very little about Poetry, so that'll take a while, too.

Avatar will require me to get level sixty in five more categories. I'm guessing that'll be Movies: General, Batman, Grammar, and...I don't know about the other two. That'll take a while.

Unstoppable takes 10,000 games played. I'm about 40% there. Praetorian is about the same but with 10,000 victories, so that'll be a little longer. Both will take a long while to earn.

The others are Wandering Explorer - play in four countries - and In Orbit - play in ten countries. I've - according to the game, at least - played in three countries so far. I have no clue what those countries are other than the US. I have played as though I am in other countries, changing my flag to various nations in order to play people in different countries for the UN Assembly achievement.

I'm up to 104 ribbons or whatevers earned, but most of them come as being the best in the Seychelles for some month. It's kind of cheating by choosing to be 'from' the Seychelles. The average points per game of 112 is a bit of a drop from the 114 from before I went after the last couple of achievement badges - GoKart Motzart and a couple of others that took efforting.

So, if you're going to challenge me, feel free to do so by helping me work toward an achievement. Hit me up on Poetry, MMA, Batman, General Knowledge, Movies: General, Batman Movies, or Grammar. Bring it on.

Update: My favorites

I first posted this in December, 2005, my first year blogging. We're not more than eight and a half years since then, and I think it a decent enough time to see what's changed since then.

In case you were ever wondering...

My Favorite Decently Nice Restaurant in the Cincy Area

Knotty Pine on the Bayou - I don't get down there nearly as much as I would like, but it's still a fine treat when I do. Let's go with Troy's Cafe much closer to my house.

My Favorite Much Cheaper Restaurant Near My House

Waffle House on Cincy-Dayton Rd - no doubt at all

My Favorite Fall Flavor

Pumpkin - hands down, easily my favorite flavor pretty much year round - no doubt at all

My Favorite Summer Fruit Flavor

Peach - no doubt at all

My Favorite Flavor Combo

Peanut Butter & Chocolate - I still like it, but I don't know that it still holds the sway it once did for me.

My Favorite Candybar Snack

Take 5 - the original flavor only, the rest of the flavors stink - I guess so, but I haven't had one in probably a couple of years. Don't know that I've had a candy bar in a while.

My Favorite Game of the Moment

Volley Pollo - It's fun and all, but I haven't played it in a long while. I'll go with QuizUp the app on my phone.

My Favorite Movie to Watch Over and Over

tough call - O Brother, Where Art Thou and Hoosiers probably - Scott Pilgrim maybe...

My Favorite Fast Food Milkshake Place

White Castle - but the hometown one only serves chocolate now, blech - Haven't had any White Castle in a while. If I want a milkshake in the summer, I go to The Cone. In the winter I go to UDF.

My Favorite Milkshake (non-fast food division)

Pumpkin malt at the Cone - It's tough to remember this flavor exactly as it's a late, late summer only thing. The rest of the year, I go for the peanut butter malt.

My Favorite Cartoon (phenomenally vulgar division)

South Park - This one has changed to probably Archer.

My Favorite Cartoon (superhero division)

Justice League Unlimited - new entry here, used to be the 90's Batman - Now it's Bob's Burgers. I watch it pretty much every week via Hulu.com.

My Favorite Movie Theater

Rave - edging out The Esquire based on recent more-commercial fare at the Esquire - Sadly the Rave closed. I have become more mercenary, shifting from The Rave in Milford to AMC in West Chester to wherever we happen to be. I still see most things in West Chester at what used to be the Rave but is now the AMC. I don't care for the price increases or the crumbling area around the theater itself, but it's the closest to my house.

My Favorite Candle Scent

Any spice-ish thing...pumpkin, cookie, vanilla, harvest, apple pie...nothing with flowers - absolutely still true

My Favorite Ultimate Series

Ultimate Fantastic Four - I'm surprised I picked that one. In general, I enjoyed Ultimate Spider-Man more, even through the change to Miles Morales.

My Favorite Season

summer - no school  - no doubt, no doubt

My Favorite Sport to Play

Tennis - I haven't picked up a racket in probably five years. The lack of playing has been far worse for my health, and I miss it terribly. Of course, with my commitments to ASM and OEA, I'm not sure leisure time is something I have a lot of.

Favorite Sport to Watch

Tennis, again, though high school basketball is a near second - still true

My Favorite TV Series (current)

The Office or Scrubs, probably The Office - Neither is still on the air in original form (though Scrubs seems to be constantly on somewhere in syndication). The shows I watch regularly are The Goldbergs, Community (in whatever form it is on Yahoo now), Parks and Rec, Modern Family, The Middle, The Daily Show, Colbert Report, and Bob's Burgers). Let's make this Favorite Live-Action, Scripted Sit-Com and say my favorite is Parks and Recreation, but it's close. 

My Favorite Basketball Player

The Basketball Jesus - Either him or Steph Curry or Kelsey Mitchell.

My Favorite Joke

The Thor Joke - It's still that one, yes.

My Favorite Web Comic

Order of the Stick - It's XKCD instead.

My Favorite Food

steak - nothing fancy, just a very nicely grilled, medium-rare steak with olive oil, salt, and pepper (or Montreal Steak seasoning) - Yeah, probably so, but this was well before the Year of Living Steakishly, so that taste in steak has changed dramatically. I can't deal with a home-cooked steak anymore as compared to the best in Cincy.

My Favorite Color

What am I, like four years old? - I'm still immature, but I don't have a favorite color.

My Favorite Movie

The Muppet Movie - It's certainly in the running.

My Favorite Country (non-US division)

Scotland - yup...haven't really been to another one other than a very quick visit to Canada from Niagara Falls.

My Favorite Friend That I've Recently Reconnected With

Kristin Butler ne Reichow - I'm not still in contact with Kristin, but I am digging having more Facebook friends of late.

My Favorite Temptation (today division)

chicken fried bacon - meh...that might be tasty, but I don't want to try it

My Favorite Thing to Do This Time of the Year

Sit on the couch, late at night, snuggled with the dog, watching the Christmas tree with my glasses off - It's summer now, so I'll go with playing a round of frisbee golf first thing in the morning.

My Favorite Park

Turkey Run State Park - I miss it terribly. Wanted to get there this summer, but it looks like I won't do that.

My Favorite Dessert (non-Pumpkin Pie division)

Tiramisu - possibly tiramisu gelato - still a good choice...might include a great ice cream sandwich, chocolate chip cookie variety...really want one of those tonight as I type this...

My Favorite Band

Wilco - Yeah, good choice still.

My Favorite Guitarist

Richard Thompson - yup...and he's coming to Middletown in a couple of months

My Favorite Pudgy Comic Book Geek Turned Famous Movie Director

Kevin Smith - I got very, very bored with Smith and have just been annoyed with him for the past few years...pretty much since I read (I think) My Boring-A$$ Life.

My Favorite Cooking Magazine

Cook's Illustrated - I've been preferring Cooks Illustrated, honestly.

My Favorite Sunday Morning Breakfast

Cook's Illustrated's french toast - That is outstanding, though it's been a while since I made it.

My Favorite Book

I'd like to say Electric Brae but I haven't read it in a few years...so I'll go with one I read about once a year: Slaughterhouse 5 - Still that one

My Favorite Side Dish

Cook's Illustrated's roast potatoes - those are outstanding

My Favorite Cookbook

The Best Recipe - I haven't been doing a lot of cooking lately, so this one hasn't had much of a chance to change

My Favorite Single Issue Comic Book Story

Action Comics #775 - Still pretty outstanding

My Favorite Graphic Novel

either Watchmen or Superman: Secret Identity - Yeah, Watchmen is still phenomenal.

My Favorite Taco Bell Item

Carmel Apple Empanada - Yup

My Favorite Gift Ever

my pepper mill - I use it all the time.

My Favorite Online Service

gmail and google calendar - Sure

My Favorite School Cartoon from Chilhood

Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land - Love it

My Favorite Use of Tax Money

The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County (PLCH) - Yup

My Favorite Taste of Scotland

McVitie's Dark Chocolate Homewheats - Love 'em...love 'em...love 'em...best s'mores ever

My Favorite Author

Chuck Palahniuk - Probably true, though I haven't read anything by him in a while. If not him, then Kurt Vonnegut. Actually, Vonnegut is above Palahniuk.

My Favorite Sit-Com (no longer on the air division)

Mad About You - Scrubs also deserves a mention here.

Here are a few that I'm adding in as of August, 2014.

Favorite video game (Wii)

Wii Sports Resort

Favorite cd

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West (seriously, though this changes from time to time)

Favorite snack food not available in Cincy area

Flamin' Hot Cheetos Limon

Favorite burger in Cincinnati

Terry's Turf Club

Favorite barbeque in Cincinnati

Eli's BBQ

Favorite Mexican restaurant in Cincinnati

Taqueria Mercado on Route 4

Favorite soft drink

Cherry Coke Zero

Favorite YouTube subscription

either Smarter Every Day or Veritasium

Favorite workshop destination of the past few summers

probably Provo, UT...maybe Salt Lake City, UT

Anything else that anybody wants to know?

Update: a gag that never gets old

Continuing the collection...

Update: Lego Simpsons - for sale now

The first images of the Lego Simpsons in the wild have been captured.

Update: AV Club Undercover - 2013

I know I've posted about the A.V. Club's Undercover series before, but for the life of me I can't find that post.

In case this is new...

The Onion's A.V. Club invited twenty-five bands into their offices over the course of each summer and presents each band with a list of twenty-five songs to cover. The catch is that once a song is covered, it's out of the rotation and can't be chosen again.

It tends to produce some interesting covers, not all of which work well.

From the 2013 batch, I'll take - as the best - these four...

Update umpteenth: Lego Simpsons...my guesses the official images

The first official images of the Lego collectible minifig series of The Simpsons have been revealed. So, how're Calen and I going to feel for these figures?

• Granpa Simpson - 2x2 square, bendy legs, not Marge's hair...his head feels like a traffic cone with a crown at the top - very distinct
• Chief Wiggum - bullhorn, short night stick
• Nelson Muntz - baseball bat, short legs
• Apu - coffee cup (could be confused with Flanders's mug & Mr Burns's fish bowl), nothing else
• Ned Flanders - toolbox, mug
• Mr Burns - plutonium rod, fish bowl
• Scratchy - axe
• Krusty - pie, very distinct head with tufts of hair coming off sides
• Ralph Wiggum - 2x2 tile, short legs (could be very easily confused with Milhouse), no big nose?
• Homer - 1x2 tile, round donut tile
• Itchy - club, distinct head shape with mouse ears
• Marge - hair and head as one, hugely obvious
• Maggie - teddy bear, baby body
• Bart - skateboard
• Lisa - saxaphone
• Milhouse - 2x2 tile, short legs (could be very easily confused with Ralph), big nose

I'll be looking for Whitefang's figure review and the eventual feel guides that will appear online to get some better hints as to what the various accessories feel like through the bags, because I'm not looking forward to screwing up at an extra $1 per figure this time.

Comment of the Day

On my post regarding Ukraine and Crimea, the following comment was posted...

INCLUSIVE SALVATION

Who are those who are included in salvation? All men who believe and obey what the apostle Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost are saved. It does not make any difference what denominational name is written on the church building where you worship, if you obey the gospel preached by Peter, then, you are saved, you are a member of the Lord's church, you are part of the church of Christ, you a member of the body of Christ, you are a Christian.

What did Peter preach?
1. Peter preached that Jesus was a miracle worker. (Acts 2:22)
2. Peter preached that Jesus was resurrected from the dead by God the Father.(Acts 2:24-35)
3. Peter preached that Jesus was both Lord and Christ.(Acts 2:36)
When the three thousand believe Peter, they asked "What shall we do?"(Acts 2:37)
4. Peter told them to repent and be baptized in order to have their sins forgiven.(Acts 2:38)

This is the same message Jesus preached. (Mark 16:16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved....)

THE TERMS FOR PARDON ARE: Faith-John 3:16, Repentance-Acts 2:38, Confession-Romans 10:9-10, Baptism (immersion in water) 1 Peter 3:21

All who meet the terms for pardon are saved regardless of the denominational name on the church building.
YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW MY BLOG.

It included a blog address and the poster's name, neither of which I'm going to mention here because I'm not sure this is a man who needs more traffic.

And I do think he might have missed the point of the original post which was pretty much to say, "hey, here's some info about Ukraine that I didn't know until quite recently."

Update (the fourth): Lego Simpsons...my guesses

The list of Lego Simpsons collectible minifigs has been released by Amazon UK.

Let's see how I did from my revised guesses.

First, my guesses after revision upon seeing the Evergreen Terrace house set...ones I got right in green, wrong in red...

• Homer - alternate
• Bart - alternate
• Lisa - alternate
• Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
• Montgomery Burns 
• Moe Syzslak - In retrospect, alcohol is certainly something that Lego is going to shy away from.
• Milhouse Van Houten
• Krusty the Clown
• Barney Grumble - Same reason as Moe, I assume
• Grandpa Simpson
• Waylon Smithers - I'm very surprised that we're getting a Burns without a Smithers.
• Chief Wiggum
• Ralph Wiggum
• Principal Skinner - All of the school adults were left out. I didn't see that coming.
• Nelson Muntz
• Groundskeeper Willie - All of the school adults were left out. I didn't see that coming.

...and the quasi-official announcement...ones I got right in green, wrong in red...

1. Homer
2. Marge - I didn't think we'd get a second Marge...
3. Bart
4. Lisa
5. Maggie Simpson - ...or Maggie...
6. Grampa
7. Ned Flanders - ...or Ned...
8. Ralph Wiggum
9. Nelson Muntz
10. Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
11. Chief Wiggum
12. Krusty the Clown
13. Itchy - Really?
14. Scratchy - Really?
15. Mr. Burns
16. Milhouse

So, 11 correct out of 16 possibilities. The Marge, Maggie, and Ned misses I don't feel too bad about. I didn't think we would get second versions of them, but Lego is apparently okay with that. I should've know about Moe and Barney being too alcoholic for Lego's target demographic. I'm shocked at the absence of Itchy and Scratchy and the absence of Smithers.

The Toys N Bricks post where I got this news, by the way, was accompanied by an image that appears to just be the Simpsons figures from the Evergreen Terrace set. The only two 'officially released' images are these (from Lego Minifigures tumblr)...

Update: Why this year was a failure

In regards to my recent post about wanting to see the aurora borealis, and it turns out that the lights were visible in Aberdeen where I spent a year a couple of decades ago.

I hate Scotland for having the lights now instead of then.

Update: My top tens

In a post two weeks ago, I listed my top ten movies, books, albums, comic books, and restaurants. I ended by asking if there were any other top tens you'd like to know. Smamy asked for my favorite sports venues.

In no particular order but grouped by sport...

• Seymour High School (high school basketball)
• I spent a number of March Saturdays in the Seymour gymnasium, often watching three games in a day, something that doesn't happen in the Indiana state tournament any more, sadly. I sat courtside. I sat in the highest extremes. I saw Bobby Knight in the stands. I saw Damon Bailey break the state scoring record. I saw New Albany win, and I had my heart broken.
• Southport High School (high school basketball)
• I've only seen a game and a half there, both in the same day when New Albany was undefeated and headed to an obvious state title - only they weren't because of Brownsburg High School and Gordon Hayward.
• New Castle High School (high school basketball)
• New Castle's gymnasium is the largest high school gymnasium in the country with seating for 9,325 rabid fans. I've never seen it full, but I love going to the Hall of Fame tournament whenever I can.
• Dayton Arena (college basketball)
• Five games are played there in a day for the Ohio high school basketball tournament, and they're pretty good games since it's the round of 32 for the state. I've never managed my dream of seeing all five even once. I have seen Princeton play there a number of times in the lucky years when the team is good and the tournament draw is right. I also got to see Indiana edge Temple in the second round of the NCAA tournament last year - admittedly in slightly worse seats.
• Assembly Hall (college basketball)
• Indiana's gymnasium is the first place that I saw a college basketball game, and at this point it's the last one I've seen one. Throughout the years I was taken there by my parents, and I've come to make a pilgrimage there once a year as an adult. I love the place.
• Cintas Center (college basketball)
• This is another place where I've seen Princeton's state title hopes end unsuccessfully and thankfully stay alive a number of times. It's often where the first few rounds are played and always where the Cincinnati area's final four representative is decided. Once since I've been at Princeton that representative was that Vikings.
• PNC Park (baseball)
• The Girl and I have made a number of rounds to various major league ballparks over the years, not having visited a new one for a long while now, though. The Pittsburgh stadium, at the confluences of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers is absolutely the perfect stadium. It's marvelously well designed and gorgeous.
• Wrigley Field (baseball)
• Without romance, without beauty, without the marvels of baseball, this is an aging, outdated, cramped stadium. With the romance, with the beauty of the ivy, with the marvelously picturesque, it's near perfection.
• Mud Hollow (soccer)
• Sure, this is because I lived in the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house and was able to watch a soccer game on our land, haranguing the visiting goalie from over his shoulder - we weren't allowed to stand right behind the goal. Once we were even told by the university that we were being too nasty and negative and had to move to the sidelines. I'm not proud of it, but those were some good times.
• Little Giant Stadium (football)
• For the homecoming games and parades and beauty pageants alone... 

I've been two NFL stadia - the Hoosier Dome and Paul Brown Stadium (only from the concession stands, never seeing an actual game).

I've been to a number of major league baseball stadia...

• Atlanta - Turner Field 
• Baltimore - Oriole Park at Camden Yards
• Chicago - Wrigley Field, US Cellular Field
• Cincinnati - Great American Ballpark, Riverfront Stadium
• Cleveland - Jacobs Field
• Detroit - Comerica Park
• Miami - Sun Life Stadium
• Milwaukee - Miller Park
• Minneapolis - Hubert H Humphrey Metrodome (now torn down)
• New York - Shea Stadium, Yankee Stadium (both now torn down)
• Philadelphia - Citizen's Bank Park
• Pittsburgh - PNC Park
• St Louis - Busch Stadium (now torn down)
• Washington, DC - Nationals Park

...and a few minor league ballparks - Durham, Indianapolis, Louisville, Dayton.

I've seen big-time tennis in two cities - Cincinnati and Indianapolis, including the Davis Cup in the latter.

I've seen one major league soccer game - the Columbus Crew when they were playing at The Horseshoe on Ohio State's campus.

I've seen high school basketball in dozens and dozens of other gymnasiums - mostly in Indiana and some in Ohio.

I've seen a couple of minor league hockey games - in Cincinnati and Indianapolis.

Update: Update: Update: Lego SImpsons...my guesses

Apparently the Simpsons Lego rumors only beat the official rollout by a couple of days as the Lego Group made the official announcement today (perhaps nudged by the leaks, I dunno). There are loads and loads of high-res pics at the link above or on Lego's official Facebook page. They also announced the listed price of $199.99 and the impending release of February - possibly on February 17 - and the new prices for the May minifigures at $3.99 per figure (hopefully only inflated because of the Simpsons license and need for new head molds).

Update: Update: Lego SImpsons...my guesses

This morning I posted an image from Carlos S of the front of the box of the new Lego Simpsons House. At forum requests, Carlos S (via GrooveBricks) was able to get a photo of the back of the box showing the inside of the apparently hinged house.

Dang...that's a whole lot of detail in the place, and it looks like a lot of new pieces, too.

Update: Lego Simpsons...my guesses

The first leaked image of the Simpsons' 742 Evergreen Terrace Lego set has been leaked, and it's massive.

It also includes the full Simpsons family and Ned Flanders, six of the characters I guessed we'd see in the next collectible minifigures line. Assuming the leak (from Carlos S via Uproxx) is real, how does that change my guesses as to which figures we'll get?

I'm going to go with thinking it doesn't change things much. I think the Lego Group will give us alternate versions of the family - other than Maggie and Marge. There have been enough different costumes and versions of Maggie, Bart, and Homer through the years that I think we'll get duplicates of those three. I don't see another Maggie or Marge outfit because they're really in the same things most all the time. And I'm thinking Ned's already getting his one version - unless we get a set of the Leftorium or Praiseland (complete with gas leak).

That drops out three of my fairly certain characters and leaves me with three to replace. Here are my original choices and reasoning...

• Waylon Smithers
• Selma Bouvier - probably not because Selma requires Patty
• Patty Bouvier - probably not because Patty requires Selma
• Duff Man - This might be the one that I want most just for its quirky nature, but I think Lego will avoid the alcohol overtones.
• Ned Flanders
• Lenny & Carl - That's two characters who really can't be done individually. When we're this tight on spots, I don't think we can use up two spots on these goofs.
• Troy McClure - They've been resolute about not bringing back Phil Hartman's character on the show, so I'm assuming they won't bring him back in the Lego world either.
• Itchy & Scratchy - I don't know how these two would translate to the Lego world and whether they would be two separate figures or one with an accessory of the other.
• Chief Wiggum
• Ralph Wiggum - Ralph stands onstage with Lisa, but bringing him in edges Lego to dealing with special needs characters, something they might want to avoid.
• Comic Book Guy - I would love getting one, but he seems to be a far lesser character in Springfield.
• Hans Moleman - This would be a quirky choice, but he's never been a lead character in a story, and I can't see him as anything other than a cut-to gag character.
• Principal Skinner
• Edna Krabappel - Edna's voice, Marcia Wallace, passed away in October. I'm thinking they'll let Edna pass on peacefully.
• Nelson Muntz
• Groundskeeper Willie - Like Hans Moleman, Willie doesn't drive stories in the Springfield world, so I think we can manage without him.
• Sideshow Bob - Lego isn't known for characters with dark, violent pasts. This one might be a little murderous for Lego's self-professed target audience.

With three new spots to fill, I'll go with bringing back in Ralph Wiggum, Sideshow Bob, and Groundskeeper Willie.

That means my official guesses are now...

• Homer - alternate
• Bart - alternate
• Lisa - alternate
• Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
• Montgomery Burns 
• Moe Syzslak
• Milhouse Van Houten
• Krusty the Clown
• Barney Grumble
• Grandpa Simpson
• Waylon Smithers
• Chief Wiggum
• Ralph Wiggum
• Principal Skinner
• Nelson Muntz
• Groundskeeper Willie
• Sideshow Bob

Wait, that's seventeen. Apparently my original guesses were too generous by one. Let's drop off Sideshow Bob so Lego isn't endorsing murder.

Oh, and if you're wondering how much the Simpsons' home is going to cost, here are some vague comps based on # of pieces and minifigures.

• 71006 The Simpsons House - 2523 pieces, 6 minfigs, licensed set
• 10243 Parisian Restaurant - 2469 pieces, 5 minifigs, non-licensed - $159.99
• 10234 Sydney Opera House - 2989 pieces, 0 minfigs, non-licensed - $319.99
• 10237 Tower of Orthanc - 2359 pieces, 5 minfigs (and an eagle), licensed set - $199.99

I don't know what the new set's price will be, but I'm thinking I won't be buying it.

Separately, I'm not sure I like the very much non-Lego-minifigure-looking Simpsons shown on the box above. THey look too blocko-ish for my taste.

Update: ...because Eagleton sucks...

I mentioned on Saturday that Guillermo del Toro's Simpsons opening had a ton of references.

Thankfully, somebody has cataloged them.

Update: Update: The Grammy Curse

So last week I posted the long-thought-to-be-lost, primary source documents for the 'is there a Grammy new artist curse?' question.

Smamy went ahead and commented the following...

That's a pretty strong statement there - not the autocorrect, the thing about Mariah Carey.

Let's see if Smamy is correct.

I know that numbers aren't exactly the best way to judge the quality of a musical artist, but numbers can be a bit of a way to measure the popularity of an artist, something that is certainly relevant to judging the type of career an artist has had.

So, to the numbers for Mariah...thanks, wikipedia and wikipedia (all stats are on US charts and via RIAA)

• 18 US #1 singles, totaling 79 weeks in the #1 slot (a record)
• 27 top-ten songs (5th most all-time)
• 6 #1 albums, 16 top-ten albums (including live and compilations)
• 14 studio albums, 14 platinum, 2 diamond-certified
• more than 100 million albums sold world wide
• 3rd best-selling female artist in US history (64 million US-sold albums)

CSN(&Y)...thanks, Wikipedia

• 0 #1 singles
• 2 top-ten singles
• 3 #1 albums, 6 top-ten albums (including live and compilations)
• 18 total albums, 7 platinum

The Beatles...thanks, Wikipedia

• 18 #1 singles
• 29 top-ten singles
• 15 #1 albums, 26 top-ten albums (including live and compilations)
• 43 platinum albums (many of which are compilations)

Is Mariah Carey the equal to the Beatles? No, she isn't. No artist outside, maybe of Elvis Presley is, however. The Beatles have had a whole lot of decades to put out compilations, though. I'm going to definitively say that Mariah Carey belongs in the Huge career category. That's an impressive quantitative resume.

And she's no where near the equal of Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young).

. . . . .

I will readily admit that I have no inkling of Maria Carey commercially. I went through a whole bunch of her videos on YouTube and found that I didn't know almost any of her songs and knew absolutely none of them by name. She's made pretty much no impact on my musical radar.

The one song that I remember and think fondly of is "Fantasy"...



...and I have to admit that her vocal range is impressive...



...but it doesn't do much for me.

Is she a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer in three years when she's eligible?

She's not rock and roll. It would be almost impossible to put her in that category unless we broaden  the definition of rock and roll to a point where it is pointless.

I'm going to say she is a Hall of Famer, though not on the first ballot.

Update: The Grammy Curse

In a post a few weeks ago, I mentioned that Calen and I had a conversation over the summer about the alleged Grammy Curse but that I had lost the original discussion records.

But they have been found...

We broke the various winners for Grammy's Best New Artist and lumped them into categories of very-much-arbitrary career value: Huge, Solid, Minor, or One-Hit-Wonder. At the time we found the following breakdown:

• Huge - 3
• Solid - 16
• Minor - 19
• One-Hit Wonder - 13

That's not necessarily a major curse, though it's clearly not evidence of perfect long-term choices.