D'oh-in in the Wind

After appearing in a short promo for Mr. Burns and the Nuclear Power Plant, Homer realizes that he does not know what his middle name is (he has always just used the initial "J." before). Grampa takes Homer to a commune where Homer's mother lived "after life with me became a living Hell," as Abe puts it. They meet Seth and Munchie, (portrayed by George Carlin and Martin Mull) two hippies who knew Homer's mom back in the '60s. Homer finds out that his mother painted a mural on Seth & Munchie's barn, and dedicated it to him using his full name: Homer Jay Simpson.

Being around his mother's old lifestyle makes Homer want to become a hippie so badly that he starts wearing a poncho everywhere (one that he used to own as a child) and otherwise acts in stereotypical hippie fashion. He puts his feet on the table, calls Marge a 'narc', and even lounges nude on the front lawn, much to Maude Flanders' horror. Seth and Munchie befriend Homer and are glad that he has "gone granola."

Homer is shocked to learn that Seth and Munchie are actually the owners of a massively profitable organic juice company; they claim the Sixties died the day they sold their VW van, 31 December 1969. He convinces them to duck out for a freak-out, but upon returning they find that Homer's frisbee damaged their machinery and ruined their shipment. Seth and Munchie kick Homer out.

Feeling guilty, Homer raids their garden and sends out a new shipment of juice. Unfortunately, Homer used the "vegetables" (Peyote Cacti) from Seth and Munchie's "personal" garden and before long the whole town is in a mescaline-induced haze. The cops come for Seth and Munchie and Homer gets shot in the head with a flower (After placing flowers in the rifles of the police officers). Everything returns to normal at the end, except for Homer, who has to wait four to six weeks for the flower to fall out. When Homer asks if he can trim the leaves so he can watch TV, Dr. Hibbert replies, "I'm a doctor, not a gardener."

[edit] Trivia

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One of this episode's guest stars is George Carlin. In a previous episode, Krusty the Clown is told he is being sued by Carlin for plagiarizing "The Seven Words You Can't Say on Television".
While Ned Flanders is driving, he has a hallucination where he sees the Grateful Dead Dancing Bears, the Grateful Dead Dancing Skeletons, one of which says "Mornin' Ned", tipping his hat, attached to his skull. They are followed by the Marching Hammers from Pink Floyd's The Wall marching down the road and the Rolling Stones' "Lips & Tongue" which ask him to "Pucker up Ned". Series creator Matt Groening has admitted to being a huge Dead, Floyd and Stones fan.
Seth and Munchie bear striking resemblances to George Carlin and Martin Mull.
In the flashback to Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, Grandpa Simpson yells to bring on Sha Na Na. If, as implied, Grandpa was at the festival for the full three days, he should know that Sha Na Na immediately preceded Hendrix. (Of course, seeing that it is also Grandpa, he could be booing Hendrix to bring back Sha Na Na)
On the DVD commentary Mark Kirkland mentions that because he was going through a divorce Matt Nastuk took over this episode for the first act (which is why there are two directors for this episode).

Yo La Tengo performs a psychedelic rendition of the theme song over the end credits.

[edit] Cultural references

The title is a play on the Bob Dylan song, "Blowin' in the Wind".
The chalkboard gag, "No one cares what my definition of 'is' is", refers to a deposition made by Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal.
At the end of the credits Homer mutters "I buried Flanders," spoofing the "Paul is dead" theory from the The Beatles' song "Strawberry Fields Forever"; in fact, the psychedelic version of the Simpsons theme in the end credits is a knock-off of The Beatles's "Within You Without You", performed by Yo La Tengo.
The song played while Homer does his midnight harvest is "Time of the Season" by The Zombies, while the song that plays while the town is tripping is "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane. Other songs in the episode include "Incense and Peppermints" by Strawberry Alarm Clock and "Uptown Girl" by Billy Joel.
The scene where Abe and Jasper are sitting on a bench laughing is taken directly from the MTV animated series Beavis and Butt-head.
Seth and Munchie's dog, Ginsberg, is named after the beat poet Allen Ginsberg.
The end title for Mr. Burns's promo for the Nuclear Power Plant reads, "An Alan Smithee Film" - from 1968 until 1999, this was a pseudonym used by directors who wanted to dissociate themselves from a movie they had lost creative control over.
When Dr. Hibbert states that he is a doctor, not a gardener, Star Trek is being referenced, as Dr. McCoy often says "I'm a doctor, not an engineer (or other profession)."
When the Chief Wiggum asks his colleagues to set their "night sticks on wop", this is a reference to Captain Kirk's "phasers on stun".
When Barney becomes frightened by his drug-induced hallucination he drinks some beer in order to overcome it. A pink elephant marches through the door to the aid of Barney. This resembles the same pink elephant that Dumbo the elephant sees when he mistakenly becomes drunk.
Some things in the freak-out and after - such as Homer becoming "The Cosmic Fool", the psychedelic paint job on the car, and the juice being spiked (though inadvertently) with drugs - are loosely based on the antics of the Merry Pranksters.
The song that is playing during the Woodstock flashback is "The Star Spangled Banner" by Jimi Hendrix. The song ends just about when Grampa starts chastising Homer.
Homer greets the one of the hippies with the phrase "Good morning Starshine" a reference to the musical Hair.