Day 85 - Egghead likes his booky-wook!

Those of you who know me well might be surprised that I've waited this long before quoting The Simpsons on this blog (see this post's title).


Having covered the exciting worlds of cinema, television and (briefly) music in 1978, it's time I devoted space to literature, or as we in the art-world like to call it, "them things with words".


Of course, that would require me:
(a) to have read some of the books that were published in 1978; or
(b) to actually have heard of the books that were published in 1978.


And sadly, despite my extensive book collection (every book by Matthew Reilly, some of the paperbacks by Dean Koontz with the best covers, multiple books featuring angsty 20-somethings and 30-somethings, and that issue of Superman where he ends up in the future and has no powers!) I haven't really done (a), and can't really do (b).


Except.


Except there were a few books from 1978 that I have read. Classics in fact. Here are their titles:
Mr Busy
Mr Clever
Mr Grumpy
Mr Mischief
Mr Clever
(Actually, I tell a lie. I've never read Mr Mischief. I just wanted you to think more of me.)


The Mr Men books were a series of colourful children's books all written by super-genius Roger Hargreaves (except some of the recent ones by his kids, but really, the less said about the incredibly lame Mr Birthday, the better).


The concept is simple...the name describes the characteristic that best encapsulates the character. Mr Strong was strong. Mr Small was small. Mr Funny was funny (ish). Mr Tickle was...well, actually, I don't know what the *#%@ Mr Tickle was. I like to think that if I was a Mr Man, I would be Mr Awesome. (Or, Mr Deluded).


Let's take Mr Busy, first published nearly 30 years ago. Mr Busy is great, not just because he highlighted the plight of the time poor years before it became fashionable, but because his name is AWESOME in other languages. In French, he's Monsieur Rapide. In German, Unser Herr Schnell. And in Spanish...this is fantastic...Don Ocupado. Can't you just picture the scene with Don Ocupado?


A: "Don Ocupado?"
B: "Yes? I'm very busy. Mr Busy, in fact."

A: "I need a favour, Don Ocupado. This guy, he has freakishly long arms and keeps tickling me."
B: "We'll send a message to this...Mr Tickle. Mr Strong will take care of it."

A: "Thankyou Don Ocupado. But if your name is in Spanish, shouldn't everyone's name be in Spanish?"
B: "..."

A: "Don Ocupado? What are you...no...no...NOOOOOOOOO!!"
And so on...


By the way, apparently there's going to be a TV cartoon of the Mr Men soon...but some of the men have been...changed. Mr Nosy, for example, does not have a big nose. Hey - note to the producers...Mr Nosy has a big nose. It's not that hard.


Lastly, I will leave you with this thought. The story of Mr Cheerful, the last Mr Man (is that the singular?) created by Roger Hargreaves, is the story of a man who is cheerful only to hide his embarrassing secret! What is his embarrassing secret? Did he write the truly awful Mr Birthday? No. His secret is that he is balding. Seriously. Then he learns to live with it (because he's still a cool guy and plus Mr Happy is just a big circle - it could be worse). Yeah, that's right Mr Men. Mr Cheerful is balding and still cool.


Mr Cheerful is my new hero.