"But First, A Look At A Local Holiday That Was Called 'Distasteful' And 'Puerile' By A Panel Of Hillbillies: Whacking Day!"

Gentlemen, start your whacking!

May 10th is Whacking Day...mark it on your calendar now and forevermore! This is one of the best Simpsons episodes ever! And the funny thing is, this stuff really goes on...in Australia, anyway. It's the one day of the year I wish I was scared of snakes so I could go out and bash their little skulls in with a clear conscience. I guess I could always do what Homer does and set up a field of practice snakes to whack. Why do so many of my goals involve Simpsons (or South Park) re-enactments? Cuz I'm so hardcore, that's why!

Like all great Simpsons episodes, "Whacking Day" has a meaningful message or two behind the laughter. The first, and most obvious one, is that it's ridiculous to do something on the sole basis that it's a tradition. You need to take an objective look at things every once in a while to see if they make sense or not. At the end of the episode, the citizens of Springfield realize that snakes are usually more helpful than not, and decide to stop whacking them. Which is nice, but lessons like these usually don't stick in the minds of Springfieldians (or other US citizens). I mean, just look who they (and we) keep electing into office.

The other great message of this episode concerns education...basically showing that many of the kids in our schools who aren't performing well (like Bart) aren't necessarily dumb or troubled; they just learn differently than the "normal kids". Free to study what interests himself and to learn in a more interactive way, Bart blossoms into a lover of learning, retaining fatcs with ease...at least until they take him back at Springfield Elementary. And shouldn't that be the real goal of an education system...to foster a love of learning? That's all you really need to do, and kids will, for the most part, do the rest by themselves. Of course, all children need a little guidance, but I think it's far more productive to assist them in pursuing their interests than in just telling them "the way things are". For example, they can learn (and more importantly, retain) math and chemistry knowledge from learing to cook and bake, or algebra and drafting from designing and building a treehouse, or civics and architechture from taking a tour of a state capitol building. The world can be one big classroom, and a love of learning can be the key to open the doors that stand between ourselves and our potential.

So, in conclusion, I think we all need to realize that we all have snakes to whack. Maybe your "snake" is shyness, or gluttony, or sluttiness. Whatever your "snake", why not use Whacking Day, May 10th, as the day you improve yourself and the world around you by the simple act of deciding to stop being such a fat, stuckup, goddamn whore?!?

p.s. If anyone can give me hints on how to get sound clips on me blog, you would totally be doing me a solid. Or, you could just buy this for me. Either way, I'd be eternally grateful and junk. For reals, yo.