Why I can never lose weight...

They keep coming out with new junk food I have to try!

Additionally -

• Last month, 7-11 stores nationwide sold real-life versions of Simpsons food and related goodies to promote the new movie (and about a dozen stores even got deluxe makeovers into Kwik-E-Marts). Since we don't have 7-11 stores in Louisville, my friend Doug in Colorado sent me a can of Buzz Cola, a box of Krusty-O's cereal(!), a copy of Radioactive Man Comics #711, and a talking bottle opener. I love them! The collector in me doesn't want to open these (I even trekked up to Indianapolis last week to see if I could buy more, but all three of their locations were sold out), but I have decided that I will soon open that box of Krusty-O's to see what it's like. You have to admit it looks tempting, no?

• Oh McDonald's, you have made this country obese, but we can't ever quit you completely. How can a lifelong geek like myself resist their latest Happy Meal toy line featuring the Legion of Super-Heroes? I used to read comic books of this obscure offshoot of the Superman legend 30 years ago, never imagining millions of kids some day getting Legion of Super-Heroes toys in their Happy Meals. You know, ordering a cheeseburger Happy Meal to eat as an adult is rather economical. Happy Meals are loss-leaders for McDonald's, which means they are selling them as cheaply as they can. Anyway, thanks to this WB cartoon promotion, I now have toys of Timber Wolf, Lightning Lad, Brainiac 5, and Superman (this is actually supposed to be Superboy, but DC Comics is currently embroiled in a legal fight over the rights to that character), plus some bad guy I never heard of called Mano. I actually only want the good guys around when I was a kid, so the only one I don't have and want is Bouncing Boy. Stay tuned! (Ben is helping me).

• This will, hopefully, be my last really trivial post for a while. Soon it will be time to get serious...

Update, Aug. 20: On the way back to Minnesota from a short weekend visit with his dad and brother (see Aug. 19 photo above, taken at Louisville's Waterfront Park), Ben got Bouncing Boy... so now we have them all!