Sidebar Update

Time to update the ol' sidebar again. Yay!

This week's Object of My Affection is Jan Smithers, who played Bailey Quarters on one of the best sitcoms ever, WKRP in Cincinnati. She may be my very first TV crush. (I would say she was definitely the first, but Yvonne Craig as Batgirl on Batman may have slightly pre-dated her. Is it any wonder I turned into a giant nerd?)

For me, Bailey was always the gal of choice on WKRP, never the more conventional bombshell Jennifer (as played by the giant-haired Loni Anderson). Kind of like I always favored Mary Ann over Ginger: it's that girl-next-door thing, it's a powerful attraction. Speaking of girl-next-door, I discovered a few years back that Jan Smithers lives, if not quite next door, at least in the same town as me, my hometown of Ojai, CA. I ran into her a couple times at the late lamented Ojai Brew Pub. I never quite worked up the nerve to tell her that she was my first TV love*, but I can say that she is still lovely, and she is a complete sweetheart.

Also, I'm hating the fact that WKRP will never be released on DVD -- at least, not in anything resembling the way it originally aired -- due to the impossibility of re-licensing all the music they used. If you've seen the show in reruns, you've probably noticed that the music the radio station plays has been very obviously, and poorly, dubbed over in most instances. Some episodes were so heavily reliant on certain music that removing or changing that music just destroys them. If I ever won the lottery, I'd set aside a chunk of change to buy the music rights for a WKRP DVD release. That would be my contribution to charity!

STILL reading Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I'm up to about page 375, which is not even halfway. I love this book, but man, I gotta remember how to read faster. So, as with last week, because I'm sick of seeing Jonathan Strange on the sidebar, I'm putting up one of the books I plan on reading next: Stephen King's Cell. I understand Zombie Tom didn't care for it, but frankly, I don't think he even read it.

I'm leaving the season 3 DVD of Newsradio up under Watching, because, well, I'm still watching it. I love this show, and I love the commentary tracks on the DVDs, which alternate between the writers making interesting and funny observations on how the program was put together, and Andy Dick laughing like a maniac at stuff he doesn't remember doing.

I'm listening to the new CD from Jim Gaffigan, Beyond the Pale. It's every bit as hilarious as his previous disc, Doin' My Time, only with 100% less F-words this time out. I was listening to this on the road trip, and, as with the other Gaffigan album, almost driving off the road from laughing so hard. Now that's comedy.

In honor of the gigantic blizzard I blundered into while driving through Arizona, Lyric of the Week comes from PE's classic response to the state's refusal to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day, "By the Time I Get To Arizona." Lyric that makes me feel old: "I'm blowing up in '90/Started tickin' in '86." This song came out in 1990?? Damn!

And as for Barney's quote, this week it comes directly from Barney's blog, which is awesome.

---

*How that conversation would probably have gone:
--Um, excuse me, I just wanted to say HOLY CRAP I LOVE YOU BAILEY OH MY GOD!!!
--Security!