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8 - Orono Weekly Times. Wednesday, December 20, 2000 ) Breakfast with Santa Two Aid a half yar old Bailey Elliott munches on some of her favourite food - bacon, at breakfast with Santa last Saturday. This is the last year the Newcastle Optimist Club held the popular popular event, as they plan to cease operation in the New Year. The Breakfast was held in the Newcastle Community Centre. BASIC BLACK ARTHUR BLACK The Simpsons? Twelve? Aye, Carambo! I remember the first time I beheld a Matt Groening cartoon. cartoon. It was back in the late '70's, in an issue of Rolling Stone .magazine. Groening was the (at the time) unknown artist behind a cartoon strip called Life In Hell, featuring two amateurishly drawn rabbits rabbits exchanging very clever bon mots. "Funny guy - too bad he can't draw" I remember thinking. thinking. Huh. Matt Groening is the guy who later invented The Simpsons. So what do I know? That memory came swimming swimming back at me a while back as I read a newspaper story pointing out that the 250th episode of The Simpsons was about to go to air. Think about that. The Simpsons has been on TV for twelve years. Twelve years? That's the age of a decent, single malt Scotch, for heaven's sake! Is it possible that we've been watching the adventures of dumdum Homer, ubercoiffed Marge, kidgenius Lisa and demonspawn Bart for twelve years? TV comedy series is that, after 12 years - it's still funny. Happy Days isn't. Reruns of MASH seem annoyingly chatty. Cheers is a tedious bore and the humour on All In The Family feels positively geriatric. And the current competition? competition? Get real. Shows like Friends and Frasier can share the deep end of the pool with The Simpsons, but so-called comedy series like Will and Grace, Suddenly Susan and Third Rock From The Sun deserve to be relegated to...well, say the fourth rock' from the sun, minimum. Robert Thompson, who runs the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, rates The Simpsons as not only world-class, but all-time classic. classic. "Mentioning The Simpsons right next to Mark Twain does not bother me at all" he says. "There are more funny things in a single act of a single episode of The Simpsons that there was in the entire run of Suddenly Susan." Amen. Of course, enthusiasm enthusiasm for the ongoing adventures adventures of the Simpson family is not universal. The show has its detractors. Religious fundamentalists fundamentalists routinely excoriate excoriate The Simpsons for its unflattering portrayal of 'family 'family values'. Right wing nut- bars see it as a threat to the Amurrikin way of life. And Dan Quayle (Ned Flanders incarnate) was briefly famous for going on TV to condemn Homer, Bart and most of the mythical town of Springfield for everything they collectively collectively stood for. The rest of the planet does not agree. The Simpsons is a cultural icon and a television staple in no less than 70 coun- ■ tries around the world. I am not a TV fan. Fred Allen called it 'chewing gum for the eyes' and I agree. But The Simpsons? For me, that Afraid so. And in that 12 y= ar . s . we I 7=. S66 " show redeems everything vile the hkes of Elizabeth Taylor, =hn|if |h , And Dan Johnny Carson, Ringo Starr, and some 200 other household household names line up to have their voices - and often their Groeningized caricatures -- inserted in one episode or another of The Simpsons. The thing that sets The Simpsons apart from other about the medium. And Dan Quayle? If you're reading this.... Eat my shorts. SUBSCRIBE j Pedicures/Manicures Waxing Nail Extensions Ear Candling . Eyelash Tinting Air Brushing Electronic Muscle Stimulate (EMS) Paraffin Wax Brigitte Brown ESTHETIC STUDIO Certificates Available 15% DISCOUNT with coupon VIDEO N PLUS 5345 Main Street, Orono, Ont. LOB 1M0 905-983-1105 Merry Christmas and a Happy New year! In if e Northcutt Elliott Funeral Home THOUGHTFULNESS, SERVICE & CONCERN A Family Owned Business, Offering: Traditional. Funeral, Services Pre-arranged & Prepaid Services - Cremation Arrangements . Alternatives to Traditional Funerals - Out of Town. Shipping CORY KUÏPERS - PRESIDENT 53 Division Street 623-5668 Bowmanville, .Ontario L1C 2Z8, OFF STREET PARKING of Christmas be with you today and always. Hamiliohs insurance Downtown Orono Mavj Peace & )o\\ be with vjoitr famibj ibis season anb throughout ibe new millennium" ^ ,171 Mill Street, Orono, ON LOB 1M0 • (905) 983-8169 ^ *Qary M. Conway Alan Lobb • Dorothy H. Morris Douglas R. Rutherford Harry Cooke • Ross Metcalf * Debra D>. Kelleher y *Thomas Payton * Paul & Susan Morris Morris Puberal Cbajpel Lttx Since 1841