"This is a fine, elegant Harvey Wallbanger"

It seems to me that there's been a lot of superhero stuff going on lately...or, maybe it's always gone on, and I only just recently started paying attention to it when I took li'l ~j. & Curly to see The Incredibles last November. I knew about the Spiderman, and now the Batman and the Fantastic Four, and I'm sure there are lots of others. In the spirit of all this, let me pay tribute to a movie about superheroes that I love dearly: Mystery Men.

If you haven't seen Mystery Men, you should watch it - I have it, if you'd like to borrow it. I even think it's rated PG for those of you that think that if you watch a PG-13 movie you can't go tio heaven - I'm sorry, did I say tio heaven? I meant to heaven. Anyway, I'd like to share some of the finer aspects of the movie, things I love about the movie, since telling the storyline does not do the film justice:

~The Spleen's jacket

~The disco-pimp bodyguards especially the ones named Tony

~The names of the superheroes that The Invisible Boy knows

~The Sphinx does cut guns in half with his mind

~The Blue Raja's real name is Jeff; also, he is played by Hank Azaria, who is my boyfriend

~The Bowler's reference to Cat Stevens

~The Shoveler's wife's blue gloves

~The Waffler, his Truth Syrup (which is low-fat), and his theme song

~Is that Kimmy Gibbler in the Supergirl fight? (**no, it's not, but it looks like her**)

~Dr. Heller's Blame Thrower

~Captain Amazing may or may not be Lance Hunt

~Mr. Furious's motorcycle; it's a Harley...compatible. Basically the same engineer.

~The Supervillian's name: Casanova Frankenstein

and, my favorite:

~Sally, Mr. Furious's boss

While I'm reviewing media, let me give you my review of a CD I recently bought: Lost and Found by Will Smith. Yes, I like hip-hop, it's great dance music - how do you think I won all those dance contests at EFYs? Certainly not by boot-scootin'-boogie-ing. This is one of the best CDs, as in I-could-sit-and-listen-to-the-whole-thing, that I've heard in a long time. Favorite tracks (mine or my kids'): #1 (li'l ~j.'s favorite - and she doesn't even know the Spiderman theme song), #3 (the reason I bought the CD), #4 (makes li'l ~j. laugh, and Curly sings parts of this one), #7 (I'm such a sentimental sob for September 11th, plus it's got Mary J. Blige), and #15, which is a smooth remix of #3. Snoop also makes an appearance, and I can't hear his voice without giggling with glee.

And finally, my review of the latest Harry Potter book:

It's basically Star Wars: Episode II; not very exciting, but some very good information. Actually, lots of great information and clues (I have my own theories about stuff from the book - if you care to know, ask, and I'll share them with you). Okay, lots of great information. I just find it hard to believe that Harry can't trust in Dumbledore's belief in Snape's loyalty, yet, with all his raging teenage hormones, has the wisdom to say, "Ginny, I really feel that we shouldn't see each other right now." Right. Okay, so it's not quite Episode II. Maybe if Harry turns into Voldemort...