"And who knows if for a time such as this, God created the Region 2 DVD?"

I've mentioned a few times my friendly local video/DVD rental store, Ozen Hashlishit ("The Third Ear"). This store contains a treasure trove of the most eclectic mix of movies you could ever want. In one place: American, Israeli, French, Russian, Japanese, and British films and TV series. Maybe Spanish, too. They've got everything from "The Parent Trap" and the entire first season of "Little House on the Prairie" to blockbusters like "The Matrix Reloaded" and Israeli standards like "Sallah Shabbati." They've got every episode of Friends, about 10 DVDs of The Simpsons, Faulty Towers, Who's the Boss, and every episode of Babylon 5. It's paradise.

Today, in the shelves next to "Murder on the Orient Express" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," and not so far from "50 First Dates" and "Kadosh," I found . . .

All 85 episodes of "Battle of the Planets"!!!!!

Aaaaaahhhhhhhhh . . . do you remember "Battle of the Planets"? This is the first show I remember watching religiously. Even before I first saw Star Wars, even before I discovered the Monkees, I was slavishly devoted to Mark, Jason, Princess, Tiny, and Keyop. The G-Force. 7-Zark-7. God, it's no wonder I'm not married yet . . . what real guy could possibly live up to the animated teenage godly hunkiness of Mark and Jason? This show premiered when I was 6 years old, and spoiled me for good. I remember dreaming many years later of joining the G-Force and being able to fly and swoop around just like them. I mean, real dreams, at night. I still remember them. Aaaaaaahhhhhhh . . . . the G-Force . . . .

So, with happy tears in my eyes, I brought the first DVD to the desk. And guess what? It is a Region 2 DVD. And guess what? I bought my computer, with the DVD player in it, back when DVDs were new technology, and there is no option for switching the region. It is all Region 1, all the time. Believe me, I tried to switch it, back when I wanted to watch the last 2 DVDs of "Sex and the City" and discovered that while Ozen Hashlishit had gotten the first gazillion episodes in Region 1 version, the last 16 were out of my reach. Maybe I can have someone hack into the software and change it, but right now I'm stuck.

But, it's OK, because you know what? The DVDs are there, just a 15 minute walk from my house. Battle of the Planets. Battle of the Planets!!!! The G-Force. Princess. Mark and Jason. Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh.

(Yes, I know. I'm very weird. And I like it.)