Swag Showcase and finishing "Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart"

Before we get to the swag, let’s wrap up PABF09 “Exit Through the Kwik-E-Mart”

• Fantasy fans got a pleasant surprise with our homage to “Game of Thrones” in this week’s couch gag. The visuals were a spot-on parody of the opening sequence of the HBO series and the music, composed by Ramin Djawadi, was licensed and composer Alf Clausen & orchestrator Dell Hake collaborated on recreating the theme for our SIMPSONS episode. Once again they, along with Scoring Mixer Rick Riccio, combined their talents to make our 35-piece orchestra sound like a 70+ member symphony orchestra. If you can catch it “on-demand” on your cable or satellite system and can hear the audio in 5.1 Dolby Digital, then crank it up and enjoy!

• The Swapper Jack’s store in Springfield is modeled after Trader Joe’s which has stores in about 35 states, so maybe a few of you out there (and very likely our international fans) might not have gotten the joke. But for those of us in SoCal who shop there often, it was very funny, especially the window signs as Homer & the kids walk up to the entrance – and that first shot of the interior of the store is EXACTLY like many TJ’s I’ve visited.

• Another entry in this season’s music appreciation class: “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Paul Dukas was used during the scene of Bart & Milhouse spray-painting Bart’s “Dope” image all over Springfield. If you’re not familiar with this work just as a pice of music, you may remember it from the sequence in 1940′s “Fantasia” where Mickey Mouse played the apprentice. Also, we used the “Trout” Quintet by Franz Schubert for the first scene at the art gallery when Bart has his dream and his head blows up. A quintet from this era of music is usually made up of 2 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello and 1 piano. Interestingly, we used a section of the work that didn’t include the piano, so it was really only performed by a quartet.
• The End Credits music was performed by Nick McKaig who has gained quite a bit of internet popularity with his videos featuring his a cappella singing of popular works. His rendition of our theme caught the eye of one of our producers and we used his version for the End Credits of this episode. Here is the full version from his YouTube channel. I used this track and had to edit it down to 40 seconds to fit our show.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, as if it isn’t enough that the show pays me a living wage to laugh and enjoy great music, Gracie Films has also presented me with numerous gifts over the years to celebrate milestones, season premiers, DVD releases, etc. Below are a few photos of some of my faves. In a future post, I’ll show you a few more. Thanks for all the positive feedback about the 500th episode and the blog.

Click on any photo for a closer look.

FIRST. GIFT. EVER! Letterman-style jacket with leather sleeves and patches for key characters

Back of the jacket

Itchy & Scratchy bag that has hidden straps that convert the bag to a backpack

Black silk pajamas

Back of pajamas – translation: “The, Bart The!”

Black and Simpsons-yellow hoodie with naked Bart

Naked Bart

Krusty the Clown Bag

Back of Krusty the Clown Bag

In honor of Groundskeeper Willie’s Scottish heritage, a 100% angora wool throw blanket

Kang & Kodos Picnic Backpack

Plates inside Kang & Kodos Picnic Backpack

All the accessories inside Kang & Kodos Picnic Backpack

Blinky cheese cutting board inside Kang & Kodos Picnic Backpack

Bowling ball!

Lovingly used bowling towel (I’m an avid bowler)

Full-length HEAVY bathrobe

Marge & Homie on the bathrobe

Texas Hold ‘em Poker Chip Set

Texas Hold ‘em Poker Chip Set

Eureka Upright Vacuum with Marge Eyes & Wig

500th Episode Hoodie

500th Episode Hoodie Logo

500th Episode Throw Pillow (swiped from the 500th Episode Celebration)

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