Behold: Fanny the Roborat.

Chicago.

Hooray! Fanatical Apathy got an upgrade! Or a facelift. Well, it's something snazzy-looking.

Best of all? Adam Felber's added in a few other bloggers, including Mo Rocca and Fanny Roborat. Fanny would be the official FA mascot, as inspired by this story of science gone mad. Seriously. This is like some kind of B-movie setup. The next step, I think, involves massive amounts of radioactivity¹, resulting in giant monster robot rats that destroy much of downtown Akron before pseudoscience saves the day. Or possibly Godzilla. He hasn't been around much lately, though.

And speaking of city-smashing excitement, I finally got around to seeing The Incredibles this past weekend. It's a shame Brad Bird hasn't directed more throughout his career - even his stint on "The Simpsons" was primarily as a creative consultant - because he does such wonderful work. Moreso than the previous Pixar features, this felt like a complete film.

Not that the others² weren't wonderful, but they felt like kids' movies brought up to a level of sophistication where adults could enjoy it. The Incredibles felt more like a movie intended for adults, but which happened to be just fine for kids. Issues that wouldn't mean much to young'uns - like marital infidelity - are touched on in more subtle ways that zip over their little heads. And the usual superhero clichés were tweaked or contrasted so wonderfully with the mundanity of real life, and it was genuinely a relief from the big, mindless action flicks.

Among the points that cheered me the most:

• The juxtaposition of the super and the mundane. Bob's and Helen's problems require the same sort of gentle relationship maintenance as anyone else, regardless of their crime-fighting superpowers. Bob's put on a lot of weight in middle-age, past his glory days, like every ex-football player you've ever seen. And so on.
  
  
• Edna Mode's vehement opposition to superhero capes. Sure, they look snazzy on the comic book cover, but they're pretty silly in most cases. Batman's an exception, but one of the few. And Brad Bird as Edna is just delightful.
  
  
• Superheroes with previous engagements. It's so rare that a superhero just lets the criminal go because he's got something more important (that isn't some other, more impending, world-threatening disaster).
  
  
• Well-chosen voices. No one seemed bigger than their characters, which is the unfortunate norm these days. Until the credits ran, I was expecting (and hoping) that Frozone was voiced by Phil LaMarr. Not that Samuel L. Jackson didn't do a find job, but I'd love to see the real voice talents get bigger roles. But Craig T. Nelson? Sarah Vowell? Excellent, unexpected choices.

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¹Possibly from outer space.

²Excluding Cars. Haven't seen that yet, so no comment.