Hiya, Kryptonite fiends, and welcome to the Surrey, B.C. neighborhood of Cloverdale, which serves as "Smallville", the filming location and stand-in hometown of Superman in his angst-ridden teen years. Smallville, for those of you who've never seen the show (like me), is a weekly series on the WB network which follows the adventures of the Teen of Steel and his arch nemesis Lex Luthor, back when he was just a Skater Boy or something like that...

Anyway, since the beans have never actually seen Smallville on TV (they're too busy watching Food Network, naturally...), they'll have to take your word for it of what's happening here. But if any of you die-hard fans out there know more, be sure to let us know.

And here it is - Main Street, Smallville USA..um...Canada. The beans have been huge Superman fans for years, ever since first watching Christopher Reeves don the tights many years ago. There have been several versions of the Superman story told over the years, from the Lois & Clark era to the Justice League of America, where Superman got to hang out with such dignitaries as Aquaman and the Legion of Doom. But the beans favorite? That has to be Bizarro, who made Seinfeld a whole lot funnier.

While looking for info on Smallville the Series online, I did stumble across a Smallville drinking game, which sounded interesting:

  • Every time someone says Clark's full name (i.e.-"That's all part of the mystery that is Clark Kent...")-Drink once.
  • Every time Lex Luthor says "my Father"- Drink once.
  • Every time Martha Kent says "Oh, Jonathan..."-Drink once.

You get the idea. Anyway, after experiencing a painful morning following a Nick at Nite "Bob Newhart Show" marathon a few years back, the beans have given up drinking themselves into a stupor over a TV show. We should all be thankful.

Ambassador John says that not many of the businesses in Cloverdale actually use the "Smallville" name on the outside, which we suspect may have something to do with licensing rights or some nonsense. But here you'll see the beans checking out Smallville Antiques, where hopefully they have a mint copy of Action Comics #1 for sale. The beans consider themselves to be vintage, too, but would rather not sit on a shelf collecting dust, so they kept moving.

Now, this is the Clova Theater, which I understand subs as the Talon Coffee Shop, where Lana Lang works. A coffee shop inside a movie theater? That's a new one to me. Personally, the beans prefer a jumbo sized Pepsi to wash down their Ju-Ju-Bees, and not an espresso. But hey - if it works for Superman, then I guess it's okay.

Anyway, the beans did have a good time in Smallville/Cloverdale, and promise to try to remember to turn on the WB one of these nights and check it out for themselves. In the meantime, they'll be watching Iron Chef...