Sidebar Update, Part II

Man, can you believe it's been over a month since I've done one of these? It's been a bad month for me, peoples. But at long last I'm back to blogging full time, or what passes as full time around here, and back to my favorite regular feature at the ol' blog: the Threatdown! No, wait, that's Stephen Colbert. (#1: Bears.) I meant: the Sidebar Update!

This week's Object Of My Affection: Katharine McPhee. Some of you may have no idea who she is. Until this last Wednesday, neither did I. Then I went to a friend's house for dinner, and we had to watch American Idol. It was literally the first episode of American Idol that I have ever watched. Ever. I hate the very idea of that show, shoving a manufactured "idol" down America's throats: we'll tell you who to love, and you'll like it! The majority of America appears to have rolled over and obeyed. I have not. That said: this Katharine McPhee dame is smokin' hot. I will admit, her dress may have helped somewhat in this impression (warning: mildly naughty but non-naked images at link). I may even watch another episode just because of her. Though it's pretty frickin' unlikely.

I vow this is the last time I will ever have Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell as my Reading selection. I have almost exactly 200 pages left to go, and I will finish it by next weekend. I've been reading that damn book since the beginning of February. I might actually have started in January. That's three months for one book. I mean, it's a long book, sure, but that's a little embarrassing.

I haven't been Watching nearly as much TV or TV DVD box sets recently. Doesn't mean I've gotten away from the television; it just means I've been playing a lot more video games. Primarily, Hot Shots Golf 3, which I've recently gotten back into in a big way. So much fun! And it's almost as much exercise as real golf.

Under Listening we have Bad Religion's The Process of Belief, which I bought last week. It hasn't instantly knocked my socks off the way some of their other albums have (mainly The Gray Race, and Stranger Than Fiction, which is one of my ten favorite albums ever), but it's growing on me. I thought it was a brand new album, but it came out in 2002 (the most recent would be 2004's The Empire Strikes First). Shows how aware I am.

Hating the Dodge "silly little fairy" ad. Hating with a passion. I indirectly addressed this ad via Zombie Tom before, but I'll go ahead and say it flat-out here: this ad is a blatant expression of homophobia. It is not cute. It is repellent. It is Dodge saying, "We don't make cars for fags." And I'm really hating, judging by the way this ad blankets the airwaves, and the rabid defense of it that has risen on the internet, the fact that America is all right with this, that insulting and demeaning gays is back in vogue. Truly, truly awful.

Lyric of the Week is from Billy Joel. Yes, Billy Joel! Damn straight! And I will fight any man who dares speak out against him! Provided he is small and weak.

For a while, I've been featuring The Wit and Wisdom of Barney:



But given the drastic decline in quality How I Met Your Mother has gone through in the second half of the season, I decided to shelve that feature for now. (Although Neil Patrick Harris' Barney continues to be -- wait for it! -- legendary.) Replacing it: The Wit and Wisdom of Dwight K. Schrute. With Arrested Development off the air, The Office is unquestionably the best sitcom on television, by a fairly large margin (and I say that despite my fierce devotion to Scrubs). And Rainn Wilson's Dwight is a huge part of its success. Schrute Up!