OT: Simpsons mention Cornell

[French Rage]

Apparently Sideshow Mel and some guy named Thomas Pynchon are both Cornell alums!

[sockralex]

I saw it too.  I think all the Hahvahd writers are throwing a few jabs at us.   Highly doubt its hockey related though.   As my housemate put it after seeing the episode: "Sideshow Mel is well versed and apparently smart - but he still has a bone through his hair."  So at least they weren't calling us dumb.  I am not familiar enough with Thomas Pynchon to catch the gag they were doing on him.  But I checked it out and he is a Cornell alumnus ('58).

[Bio '04]

I think Thomas Pynchon has been on the show before (with a paper bag over his head).  Don't know if that's how it was yesterday since I couldn't watch it.

So if Sideshow Mel went to Cornell, does that mean that Cornell is also considered to be a Clown College, just like Princeton?  :-P

[Pete Godenschwager]

It's a pretty big coup for the Simpsons to get Pynchon on the show.  According to news reports and the credits it was actually his voice.  He's incredibly reclusive, I don't think any public pictures of him exist since he was at Cornell (hence the paper bag).  According to one story, he was flattered when the Simpsons referenced Gravity's Rainbow on a show, and he contacted them.    

[RichH]

[Q]French Rage Wrote:

 Apparently Sideshow Mel and some guy named Thomas Pynchon are both Cornell alums![/q]
I believe that's the first mention of Cornell by name on the show.  I think that leaves Columbia as the final Ivy not to be.

And this list seems to support that:
http://www.snpp.com/guides/ivy.html

[Beeeej]

Attributing that "ask about our Latin motto contest" thing to an intentional Cornell reference is quite a stretch.  Reminds me of a Cornellian who wrote to Uncle Ezra thinking the band "Better Than Ezra" was probably a bunch of Big Red alums - and of someone on the old Billy Joel discussion group who thought the Eagles lyric "The more I think about it, ol' Billy was right - let's kill all the lawyers, let's kill 'em tonight" must be a Billy Joel reference.

Beeeej

[Bahnstorm]

Cornell is clearly referenced in the episode "Homer goes to College" too. The college that Homer attends has what can be recognized as the clock tower Uris library and Sibley dome. There also is a sign on the gate saying "ask about our latin motto contest" a reference to us being the only Ivy without a latin motto. This episode was written by Harvard alum, Conan O'brien. Most of you probably knew that, but I post it anyway for those viewers who might not be up on their Simpson trivia. You can download the episode on your favorite file sharing program and look at the buildings for yourself. Some our obvious, but you might have to pause the scene in the movie parody with Nixon to see a good shot of Uris library.

Thomas Pynchon is in Glenn Altschuler's 100 Most Notable Cornellians books. Because of his reclusive nature he is the only person in the book who does not have a photo with him. Aparantly he got pretty upset with CNN a few years ago when they tried to track him down. You can read about it here http://www.cnn.com/US/9706/05/pynchon/

[French Rage]

As for the dome, I rewatched the episode, and it doesnt really look that much like Sibley.  Alot of schools have domed buildings.

And Beeej, I thought BTE was an IC band, thus the name?

[Pete Godenschwager]

[Q] I thought BTE was an IC band, thus the name?[/Q]

According to "Ask Uncle Ezra", they went to LSU

[nyc94]

[q]And this list seems to support that:
[www.snpp.com] [/q]

Homer went to Springfield College.  The pig, Sir Oinksalot, was the mascot of Springfield A&M.  I always assumed the rivalry was supposed to mimic any number of large state school rivalries such as Univ. of Texas and Texas A&M.  It seems unlikely both schools are supposed to be Cornell.

[Josh '99]

[Q]Pete Godenschwager Wrote:
According to "Ask Uncle Ezra", they went to LSU[/q]Allmusic.com would seem to confirm this; they say the BTE's hometown is New Orleans.

[CowbellGuy]

Actually, the name comes from a line in Hemingway's Movable Feast.
[q]Anything was better than Ezra learning to play the bassoon...[/q]
This is random, but I saw them play Brat Days in Sheboygan, WI this summer. This is not the reason I was in Sheboygan. At any rate, they were far less drunk and sounded a lot better than they did at Cornell in '94 or '95 or whenever that was, and a new studio album is apparently forthcoming.

I now declare the thread drift in this topic complete.