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Hey Mom, let�s do the Bartman Does it get much better than this? One week ago today, Laura Pogue and her son, JD, were boogyin� with Homer Simpson at the Backlot Bash, the climax of the first annual Simpsons Global Fan Fest in Los Angeles. The Pogues, of Medford, were ensconced at the plush St. Regis from Friday through Sunday as the big theme party roared around La-la Land like those Star Trek things, only instead of Trekkers you had fans of "The Simpsons" from all over the world. Sunday�s Bash was a carnival with games based on the adventures of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and other Springfield denizens. "We were surrounded by food, food, food," Laura Pogue says. Pizza ("Mmm, pizza "). Homer�s barbecue. Krustyburgers. There was a board with balloons where you could throw darts at the dastardly Mr. Burns, doughnut tossing for Homer wannabes, school buses marked SPRINGFIELD ELEMENTARY. Laura Pogue won the trip in September in a contest hosted by KTMT radio and sponsored by KMVU-TV, which airs "The Simpsons" locally. "It was basically just caller No. 9," she says. Pogue, 37, is an unabashed fan. Ditto JD, 12. "Yeah, I love to watch it," Laura Pogue says. "JD and I watch it together. My husband is more the sports guy." The Pogues� daughter, Adrian, 15, is a fan too, but her band got to take a trip to L.A., so it was JD�s turn this time. You can�t really pick one favorite episode, JD says, but he likes the one in which Homer raises a lobster named Pinchy. On Sunday the Simpsons Orchestra took center stage along with Simpsons creator Matt Groening and Don Castellaneta, who does the voice of Homer. "They showed some clips," JD says. "They did some dialog." Sure, the art is cool, but dialog is the heart of "The Simpsons." To work with stars Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright, Julie Kavner and Yeardley Smith, the show has lured a who�s who of Hollywood as guest voices: Albert Brooks as Jacques, Marge�s amorous bowling instructor; Phil Hartman as Lyle Lanley, a glib con-man a la "The Music Man;" Danny DeVito as Homer�s long-lost brother; Rodney Dangerfield as Mr. Burns� long-lost son; Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony the Mobster; Tom Poston as the Cap City Goofball; Michael Jackson as Leon Kompowsky, a 300-pound mental patient; Jackie Mason as Rabbi Krustofski; Beverly D�Angelo as Lurleen Lumpkin, the country-singin� waitress at the Beer �N� Brawl; Glenn Close as Mother Simpson; Kirk Douglas as Chester J. Lampwick of Bumtown, the bad part of Springfield; Johnny Cash as Coyote, a coyote; Martin Sheen as the real Sgt. Seymour Skinner; Martin Mull as Seth, a hippie; George Carlin as Munchie, a little hippier; Isabella Rossellini as Astrid Weller, the owner of the Louvre American Style Gallery. Actor Mark Hamill was among the guest voices who made it. Laura Pogue says there were families, young adults, people of all ages and kids, but not too many kids. Friday was Homer Palooza, a party at L.A.�s House of Blues. Saturday the Pogues took in Bart�s Extreme Extravaganza in Long Beach at a skateboard park near the Queen Mary with BMXers and board punks from all over the world. That night the hotel hosted the Simpsons Tree House of Horrors, a Halloween party with beanbag chairs strewn around the room and a big screen with Simpsons Halloween episodes. Throw in lots of munchies (umm, munchies ), shuttles to Universal Studios. "It was awesome," JD says. Waitresses wore the outfits of technicians at Mr. Burns� nuclear power plant and carried green, glowing drinks in test tube-like glasses. JD won a T-shirt for knowing the last name of Barney, Homer�s drunken buddy (Gumble). The Pogues bought back plenty of Simpsoniana: Homer slippers (you put your foot in his mouth), T-shirts, posters, Duff Beer coasters, a test tube glass. "It was so much fun," Laura says. "It went by very fast." On JD�s shirt, Bart Simpson is up in the air as if he�s losing it in the middle of a skateboard stunt. "Kiss the sky good-bye," the shirt reads. As Mr. Burns would say, "Excellent." Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.