We've been waiting for 18 years, and The Simpsons movie is here! And nothing embiggins the summer--nay, a lifetime--with joy like finally seeing the beloved Springfieldians on the silver screen. Is it going to be a satirical masterpiece filled with hilarious quotes like the episodes of old, or will it be silly and nonsensical like the episodes of today? Will it leave viewers saying "Meh," or will it be the best ... movie ... ever?

OK, I know you're thinking that this is a blog about reading and writing, so why am I writing about the Simpsons? Well, not only is The Simpsons a pop-culture phenomenon, but the show has parodied many great novels. It's also featured the voice talents of some awesome authors, such as Stephen King, Helen Fielding, J.K. Rowling, Tom Wolfe, and Gore Vidal.

And as a special treat ... mmmmm, treat ... for all of you Simpsons fans out there, here is an interview with director David Silverman.

Word: For years, there have been rumors of a Simpsons movie. Why now?

Silverman: It's actually been in the works for some time, but we didn't have the man power. Some screenplays just take a long time.

Word: What does a director for an animated feature do?

Silverman: A director for animation does the same as the director for a live action movie. You talk to the animators, which isn't too different from how you talk to the actors. You are also in charge of blocking, which is figuring out where a character goes in the shot. Part of my job is saying where we're going. You have to make a decision at every step of the way. As a director, you have to choose the direction of the film. I’ve also been sitting with the writers and working with rewriting. At that time, I come up with other ideas.

Word: Do the voice actors record together? Which is done first, the voice recordings or the animation?

Silverman: Sometimes we have as many as four actors in at once. But the voice recordings are first. You don't want to hamstring the actors, and the animation restricts them. The animation is inspired by the actors. The way the performers act affects the staging.

Word: Did you go to school to learn to be an animator and director?

Silverman: I went to the University of Maryland and then to UCLA to study it, and I got into all the aspects of animation.

Word: Did you do any of the animating for this movie?

Silverman: I didn't have the time. I'd be a little rusty animating for the movie.

Word: Why was this movie made as a cartoon instead of live action or CGI?

Silverman: We didn't make it live action because we actually wanted people to see it. Doing a CG movie would change the Simpsons universe. They would become different characters. The Simpsons are hand drawn. Almost every other cartoon you see today is made on a computer. We send some of the scenes to be animated overseas in Korea, but for the movie a lot more was animated here. The bulk of it is here.

Word: How do you know if a joke for the movie is still funny after hearing it over and over?

Silverman: You just know it's funny. Sometimes I hear jokes in old episodes that I wrote years ago and they are still funny.

Word: Do you worry about the movie living up to the fans' expectations?

Silverman: We want to make sure all the jokes work. We want to live up to everyone's expectations--and our own. We know fan expectations are high, and so are ours.

Word: If people could only see one movie this summer, why should they see The Simpsons?

Silverman: I hope they can see more than one movie! Well, tell them it'll be a very funny, enjoyable, visual ride.

Word: Can you tell us anything about the plot of the movie? Any secrets you want to spill?

Silverman: As the movie gets closer, I'm sure we'll let some cats out of the bag. But right now, that bag is sealed.

We all love reading here. (Well, I'm going to assume we all do. After all, what would you be doing reading a reading and writing blog if you didn't? However, you know what they say about assuming ...) That love of reading often goes hand in hand with buying a lot of books, which consequently get left all over the house. I, for example, recently added to my chick lit collection with two more books, Something Borrowed and Something Blue, both by Emily Giffin. Don't judge me!

Anyway, sometimes buying books gets out of hand. Suddenly, you have more books than you know what to do with. (OK, so you know what to do with them. You read them. I meant you don't know where to store them. Sheesh!) This happened to John Puchniak from Pennsylvania. Puchniak is a bookstore owner who took his love of books to the extreme, and amassed 3,000 of them. And then his house was condemned.

Apparently, having 3,000 books sitting around your house is a fire hazard. Who would've thunk it?

Well, Puchniak is now living in a hotel and is trying to get the city to let him move back into his home.

Now, I love books as much as the next person, but there is a limit. I'm sure Puchniak hasn't even looked at some of his books in years, so how about donating some of them?

I mean really, who has that many books anyway? ...

Besides a library, of course.

A disgruntled writer and Jane Austen-aficionado recently conducted an experiment to see if the classic writer could get published here in 2007. According to the UK's Guardian Newspaper, David Lassman, the director of the Jane Austen Festival in Bath, sent slightly modified versions of the first two chapters of Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey to major book publishers. Lassman changed the titles of the books and names of main characters, but left the plot details the same. Then the rejections piled up and seemingly, only one publisher out of 18 spotted the ruse.

Lassman told the Guardian, "I was staggered. Here is one of the greatest writers that has lived, with her oeuvre securely fixed in the English canon and yet only one recipient recognised them as Austen's work."

After reading this article, I started thinking about the nature of publishing. Interestingly, the people reading manuscripts for these publishers did not recognize Austen's nor did they think they could publish it. I've always leaned toward reading modern fiction rather than classics (with notable exceptions). Language and art evolves with time and people. So I do understand why dear Jane may have slipped under the radar. Those people were busy looking for the next bestseller, which most likely will be a lot different than Austen. And yet, I think to a well-worn copy of Northanger Abbey that I purchased in a Cambridge bookstore, which currently gathers dust on a shelf at home. Austen did pave the way for the new masters I so enjoy. Ah, it's probably time to give dear Jane another try.

What do you think?

Muggles, the wait is over--Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is here, casting a spell on readers all over the world. And 8.3 million copies were sold on the first day. 

In other Harry Potter news, even though millions and millions of copies of The Deathly Hallows have been sold, apparently the book will not be on the New York Times's best sellers list. It is technically a children's book, and there's some rule that children's books can't be on the list. There was also an argument that the Harry Potter books were hogging the list and no other books could get on it. Well, no one likes a list hog, but come on! Shouldn't a best seller be on the best seller list? Are you outraged, or are you too busy reading to care?

So anyway, what do you think? Did it live up to your expectations? Was it worth the wait, or was it the equivalent to Christmas morning? (You know, you're excited for days, weeks, even months before the big day. Then you open your presents and play with your new toys for a little while before the novelty wears off and you start figuring out your plans for New Years.) Are you glad to finally know what happened, or are you just relieved that people will stop referring to you as a 'Muggle'? Does Harry die? Oh wait, don't tell me. I haven't had a chance to read it yet--or any of the Harry Potter books for that matter--but I'm definitely going to one of these days.

And even if you are sad that this is the last Harry Potter book, you can be happy about one thing: the end of all the wizard and magic-related puns! That is, until the next movie comes out ...