Word: homer
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...admirable attempts to address the stereotypes fall short--if only because a lot of people don't recognize satire. Apu on The Simpsons is a ludicrously drawn character, a heavily accented and mustachioed man who runs a Kwik-E Mart and offers guru-like advice to his befuddled friend Homer (when he is not making his own gauche mistakes). I don't think most Americans even recognize that The Simpsons uses Apu to mock American conceptions of South-Asian Americans...
...Britain. And, in fact, it is not particularly hard to figure out the rules governing the Harry Potter books. Place appealing characters in interesting but perilous situations and leave the outcome in doubt for as long as possible. Nothing new here, nothing that storytellers as far back as Homer did not grasp and gainfully employ. But, as devoted Harry Potter fans have learned, knowing a magic charm is not the same thing as performing magic. Rowling's secret is as simple and mysterious as her uncanny ability to nourish the human hunger for enchantment: she knows how to feed...
Baseball memorabilia is having an MVP year. Last week three new treasures were made: Mark McGwire's career homer No. 500, and Tony Gwynn's and Wade Boggs' career hits No. 3,000. Grab one of those balls, and it will be the biggest hit of your life too. The McGwire ball is a certain smash. Months before Big Mac launched his historic bomb, memorabilia dealer Mike Barnes of Festus, Mo., offered $100,000 as an immediate cash advance to the fan who recovered it. Barnes plans to auction the ball. The fan will get the proceeds, which Barnes estimates...
This isn't kid stuff. McGwire's 70th homer ball last season fetched $3 million. The famous Barry Halper collection, which includes Ty Cobb's dentures and a lock of Babe Ruth's hair, will rake in an estimated $45 million at auction next month. Baseball memorabilia has never been more dear, owing to a tidal wave of enthusiasm for the sport that stems in large part from last year's Sammy and Mark show--airing again this year...
Even with management support, employees can be squeamish about offsites. The corporate retreat from hell was memorialized on an episode of The Simpsons, in which Homer and the other workers at Springfield's nuclear-power plant head up snow-covered Mount Useful in pairs, competing to be first to reach a cabin at the top. The boss cheats, the employees just want free sandwiches, and an avalanche sabotages the whole thing. In the real world, climbing a mountain or learning to handle a kayak with someone you've barely met or, even worse, someone you see at the office every...