Harry Potter And The Order Of The Swell Saturday

It's time once again to laud five more sultans of swell. Here are this week's favorites in no particular order.

The Wailin’ Jennys: My mom has fantastic taste in music, so I’m constantly borrowing (or stealing) her CDs. My most recent snatch is The Wailin’ Jennys' “40 Days” and I’ve listened to it every day this week. Cara Luft, Nicky Mehta, and Ruth Moody make up the pop/folk band and besides having one of the best names in the music business, they also write their own songs, play their own instruments, and sing impeccable three part harmony. Although they sometimes remind me of the soundtrack to a CW show (but a really classy CW show like the first season of "Felicity"), their songs are lovely and melancholy and the perfect accompaniment to a good book and a cup of hot chocolate.

Blueprint Magazine: A few months ago, everyone in my small group Bible study shared their favorite way to relax. I was amazed at the mature responses: go on a walk, work out, read a good book, etc. Alas, my answer wasn’t quite as impressive. I usually buy a giant salami sandwich and Diet Pepsi at Safeway and then eat it on my couch while reading a magazine. (And when I'm feeling really lazy, I lie on my couch and balance the plate on my stomach.) So while my friends exercise their bodies or their minds while they relax, I manage to damage them both at the same time. However, Blueprint magazine helps me feel a little better about my sloth. While many magazines aimed at 20-30 something women feature articles like “What’s Your Flirting Style?” or “The Best Jeans for Your Body Type”, Blueprint is a breath of fresh air. Consider the topics in this month’s issue:

-Bridesmaid Revisited: How to transform an old bridesmaid dress into haute couture with fabric paint and sponge paintbrushes.
-The Cutting Room: Creative ways to use wallpaper in your home, such as insets for your doors or a headboard.
-100 Reasons to Hit the Road: Their picks include the All Night Flea Market in Wheaton, IL, Congress Avenue Bats (1.5 million bats take flight at sunset) in Austin, TX, and In’N’Out Burger.
-The Guide to Surefire Grilling: Did you know that you can grill pizza?

Say what you will about Martha Stewart, she knows how to produce a great magazine.

Hairspray: Let’s face it. Hollywood hasn’t had much luck with the movie musical in recent years. After the brilliant “Chicago,” it’s been a string of critical and box office failures including “Rent”, “The Producers” (which was much better than critics would have you believe), the painfully tedious “Dreamgirls”, and in a strange way, "Spiderman 3". I thought “Hairspray” would be another nail in the movie musical’s coffin. I was wrong. “Hairspray” is my favorite movie of the summer and perhaps my favorite movie of the year so far. It’s a master class on how to make a movie musical (take notes, “Dreamgirls”) and I couldn’t stop smiling the entire two hours. The visuals were stunning, the choreography was brilliant, it was both sweet and sardonic, and John Travolta was a revelation. And with Tim Burton's "Sweeney Todd" currently in production, I'd say that the future of the movie musical looks pretty bright.

Threadless: This website combines two of my great loves: capitalism and democracy. Anyone can submit a t-shirt design, the public votes on their favorites and Threadless posts the winners each week, which you can purchase for about $15. My current favorite is the "I Listen To Bands That Don't Even Exist Yet" shirt.

The Following Quote: Here’s how writer-producer Al Jean sums up “The Simpsons Movie” in Entertainment Weekly, “As an event, I think it’ll be somewhere between Sgt. Pepper’s the album and Sgt. Pepper’s the movie.”