Weekly Sidebar Update: Now Monthly!

Ahoy hoy! Say, it's only been five weeks since my last "weekly" sidebar update. That's pretty good for me, this year. Let's get to it.

The Object of My Affection is the lovely and talented Amy Adams, who charmed the heck out of me in a fairly minor role in Talladega Nights. I also remember her as Jim's girlfriend on The Office -- the one he dumped in the Booze Cruise episode. She was also apparently very, very good in Junebug, for which she got an Oscar nomination. Haven't seen it yet. I do know that Roger Ebert lavished such incessant, moon-eyed praise on her for that role that I expected him to leave his wife and start stalking her. Hey, get in line, pal!

Reading: Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way, by Bruce "Don't Call Me Ash" Campbell. This book (an "autobiographical novel," which means "everything in the book actually happened, except for the stuff that didn't") could've used a second fine-tuning by an editor or a proofreader -- or a first. It's jammed full of misspellings and missing or duplicated words, which bugs the hell out of me. So amateurish. (Please do not now point out any typos in this post. It will not endear you to me.) But it's a breezy, funny read, just like If Chins Could Kill.

Watching: NewsRadio season 4 on DVD -- the best season of the show. I started watching it a while ago, and got distracted, and now I'm back to it again. This is the year that starts off with a series of episodes featuring Lauren Graham as an efficiency expert hired by Jimmy James to make cutbacks in the office. I love me some Lauren Graham; in fact, I think this is where I first developed my crush on her. But apparently, according to the commentaries, her presence caused some strife; when asked if she recalled why Khandi Alexander decided to leave the show, Maura Tierney says, "Two words... Lauren Graham." Ouch! I hate knowing bad stuff behind the scenes of shows I love. And man, do I love this show.

Listening: Highway Companion, Tom Petty. Not a very inspired choice, considering I already wrote about it. But I haven't bought any new albums since then. And it really is very, very good. Hey, at least I didn't say the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack!

Hating: Sports Stacking. I don't often do this, but I am going to repeat here the entirety of a post I made elsewhere concerning this crap:

This is the lamest thing I've ever seen:

Speed Stacks

It's a "game," consisting of 12 plastic cups, which you stack in pyramids. That's it. That's the whole thing. You try to stack your plastic cups in pyramids faster than your opponent.

These 12 cups, plus assorted crappy accessories, sell for $39.99.



Forty dollars. For a dozen plastic cups.

Holy. FUCKING. SHIT.

What is wrong with America??

And on further research, this isn't just some "never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public" scammer looking to bilk suckers out of forty bones by pretending stacking cups is fun. I mean, it's not just that. Oh no. This is more than a game. This is a sport:

World Sport Stacking Association

ESPFN (that's ESP Fuckin' N) -- the original, not ESPN2, not even the Ocho, but the original ESPN -- which, last I checked, still bore some resemblance to an actual sports network (despite the presence of Stuart Scott), aired a one hour special on Sport Stacking last Wednesday.

I weep for this country. I truly do.

I'm going to market my own game for idiots now. It's called NUT PUNCHING!! You send me forty bucks, I send you one (1) Nut Punching Glove and a paper cutout target for your nuts. Then you punch the fuck out of your nuts!! It's NUTPUNCH-TASTIC!!!

America is dumb.

Lyric of the Week: "In State," by Kathleen Edwards. I like her more the more I listen to her. She's just tremendous. Her music is usually classified as "alt-country;" to me it sounds kind of like a little bit of Sheryl Crow and Lucinda Williams. Maybe that sounds awful to you, but at least give her a try. Here's the video for this song:



And here's a link to a video for another great song, "Back To Me," from the same album (also called Back To Me). She's just great. And a likely future candidate for Object of My Affection, to boot. So purty!