"the simpsons" news and stories

Homer Simpson longs for beer. Photo: rodricg, Flickr

Homer Simpson (OK, a human in Homer duds) will cut the ceremonial opening ribbon at this year's Great American Beer Festival, event founder Charlie Papazian revealed on his blog this week. "Giving Homer Simpson a pair of scissors at a beer festival is pretty risky," Papazian quipped, "but it might be worth the risk if we can teach him a bit about respecting beer."

Can Homer learn to "respect" beer? He's spent 20 years drinking Duff, Springfield's fictional Budweiser-esque macro equivalent, in quantities a live-action human would consider excessive. For years though, the GABF -- which takes places in Denver this September -- has served to introduce new stateside brews to folks from all over the world. As appreciation for craft brewing has grown in recent years, so has festival attendance. Part of that growth must come from people who previously preferred big-time brands. Maybe Homer will be the next convert?

Just as long as he doesn't get stuck drinking Fudd (the rival beer drunk by denizens of neighboring Shelbyville)!

Source

Leptin is the Homer Simpson hormone.

That's the finding of scientists at Cambridge University. Leptin is what makes up feel full after we eat a meal, but these scientists have discovered that it also affects the pleasure zone of our brain. In short, if you don't have enough Leptin, it can cause you to overeat. People who didn't have enough leptin were shown pics of pizza and cake. Their pleasure centers went off. People who had enough leptin only had this happen when they were actually hungry.

This could give a huge boost to doctors and others who are trying to find ways to battle obesity.

[via TV Tattle]

I didn't even know that this site had anything to do with a cross promotion that Burger King is doing with the new Simpsons Movie. Even though I went to the site and saw that creepy king guy before I saw a commercial for the site last night it still didn't register.

But this site works really well. You upload a picture of yourself and it turns you into a Simpsons-ish character. I can't find a good enough picture for myself (it has to be a fairly close-up face pic, in color, and at least 640x480 pixels), but a friend of mine did it and the character it created was uncanny. If you do it, put in a link to your site in the comments and show us the results!