The Connecticut primary is next Tuesday, and instead of being a speck in the sandbox, it appears our little state will be heard from.
Clinton’s been here, Obama’s coming, and so is McCain.

That’s nice, considering they could be spending all their time in Arizona, California, New York, or Missouri.
And they could be spending all of their money elsewhere, too, but they’re buying time on Connecticut television. (And thank you so much!)

But what’s really nice about it is that, so far, the voters have made the system work.
They’ve ignored polls and they’ve ignored pundits. They’ve paid attention to the candidates and their issues, and they’ve voted with their (hearts and) minds.

Best example: McCain. The media (new and old) declared McCain’s candidacy DOA last summer. Now he’s knocking on the door. Why? Voters listened to HIM, not Olberman or O’Reilly…not Russert or Stephanopoulos…not anyone armed with a keyboard.

In what Brian Williams calls “the most extraordinary race for President in modern American political history” (a rather sweeping statement, I thought)…America could elect a woman, a black man, or a war hero.

Driving home after the 11pm news Monday night, I blew by a car with the vanity plate NASCAR.

Why is it that folks in the Hartford area think nothing of hopping in the car for a night out in New Haven...

Her name, according to the program, is Christina Marie Norrup (left). She played “Inga,” Freddie Frankenstein’s “able” assistant. I googled her (which felt like stalking), and discovered that while she’s been around a while, she hasn’t done all that much we’d know about. Judging by her credits, I may never see her in anything ever again.

But she was a terrific singer and dancer, and I didn’t feel that I had missed anything by having her assume the role. She, as a supporting actress, certainly enhanced the show.

An hour later, I learned that another supporting actress who certainly enhanced the show she was most famous for had died.

What would “The Bob Newhart Show” have been without Suzanne Pleshette?
For that matter, what kind of actor would the stand-up comedian have been without Suzanne Pleshette to play off of?
The answer to both questions, I suspect, would be, “not much.”

That original Newhart show was part of a fabulous Saturday night lineup of CBS sitcoms in the early-to-mid ‘70’s. Yes, people used to watch television on Saturday nights. And those sitcoms, which included, at various times, “All In The Family,” “M*A*S*H,” and “Mary Tyler Moore,” were good enough, radical enough, and funny enough to even keep college kids from starting their partying until 10 o’clock (with apologies to Carol Burnett.)

One of the things that set Newhart’s show apart was that we had never really seen a sitcom wife like Suzanne Pleshette/Emily Hartley before.
She actually slept in the same bed as her husband…she was on the same (if not higher) intellectual plane…she would pour a cocktail.
If Mary Richards captured your heart, Emily Hartley gave an impression she might go for another part of the anatomy.
Mary would wail, “Ohhhh, Mr. Grant.” Emily would put Newhart in his place with a simple, straightfaced, husky-voiced “Oh, Bob.”
She was the “Mrs. Robinson” of sitcoms.

She also gave college kids everywhere one of the great drinking games of all time. Every time Emily uttered “Oh, Bob,” it was time to knock one back.
Based on everything I’ve read about Suzanne Pleshette in the last couple of days, I’ll bet she was very, very pleased with that.

So let’s have one for her.

Also Sunday at 3, Roger Bart (right) leads the cast of “Young Frankenstein” onto a Broadway stage. I do have tickets.
Or, more accurately, the Dearly Beloved has two tickets and one husband who will be firmly in tow.

You know Brady.
If you’re not sure who Bart is, he’s a very talented guy, best known as the crazy pharmacist on “Desperate Housewives” a couple of seasons ago.
So I will be at the show…enjoying…and hoping I get to see the end of the game. In the nearest bar.

Wouldn’t it be a hoot if Bart and the other headliners take Sunday off…TO WATCH THE GAMES?

NO. NOT AT ALL.

I know the understudies have talent, but hey, nobody’s going to watch the game to see Matt Cassel quarterback the Patriots.

Have a good weekend, and Go Pats! (And Giants, too.)

...still goes a long way.

NBC 30 held its first "Town Hall Talkback" session Wednesday night at Middletown City Hall.

We're in the business of communication, but it's always beneficial to hear from the good people on the receiving end of what we do.

We learned what's important to the several dozen people who attended, and they learned the process that goes into deciding which stories get covered and why.

Many of us have turned to the internet, and web sites like NBC 30.com, for instant information.

And we exchange thoughts and ideas through blogs like this one.

But it was still nice to see that there are still many, many people who get their news the "old fashioned" way. On television. And like us, they want it to be as good as it can.

Our thanks to those who came out.

It's one of the few seasonal business left on the Cape. Come Labor Day, they're gone.

Two things jumped out at me when I read the Courant’s business section today.

One: there were 12 stories of some significance, and ONE was reported by a staff writer.
AND THEY CRITICIZE TV NEWS???

OK, now that that’s off my chest, the other was the featured story (from Associated Press).
The 23rd generation of the Air Jordan. To be launched at 23 retailers for $230. (Cute. His Airness wore number 23.)
The price will be $185 when the sneakers are rolled out nationally. Such a deal.

Actually, they are “basketball shoes.” No reputable “baller” would call them sneakers.
Over the years, some people have literally killed for these shoes, and some people have actually collected them.

A little of that.
I think I blogged myself out yesterday, so a few quick hits and updates today.

I’m looking at the monitors in the newsroom and all the cable talking heads are still yapping about New Hampshire. (The sound is down.)
In his blog today, NBC’s Brian Williams (the man takes a good picture, doesn’t he?) looked back on how the media “experts” blew it.

“We in the media will beat ourselves (and deservedly so) for reaching conclusions before the voters have spoken. A further prediction? Give us a few weeks — we will promptly forget the lessons of this debacle in polling, predictions and primary politics. We will all live to screw up another day, though our performance in New Hampshire will be hard to beat.”

Really, they ought to wear pins that say “Remember New Hampshire.”

Now, a little housecleaning: I hit the “reject” button on a comment for the first time the other day. I hated to do it, but it was off-topic and critical of a co-worker. This isn’t the place to criticize my colleagues. Let ME do that. (Just kidding!) If you have a problem, you can email them or the station. I, on the other hand, am fair game.

And if my January 3rd post (“My New Toy”) intrigued you, you should know that the price of the U-Record has dropped dramatically since I bought mine (DAMMIT!!!).
You can get one for less than $50 at amazon.com and some other electronics websites. It really is a fabulous toy. I’ve digitized about 300 songs so far (incredibly anal, no?), and they sound great.

So Gerry, what have you been doing with your free time lately?

Hey, thanks for asking. I’m spending a fair amount of time playing with a new toy. It’s called a “U-Record.”
Basically, what is does it let you digitize (it’s a word, I looked it up) your records and cassette tapes, and sends them right into your iTunes library.
All you have to do is plug your turntable (or cassette deck) into the little black box, then plug the box into your computer. It is blessedly simple. Really, I got it right the FIRST time, which is highly unusual.

For years, it’s broken my little heart when I go down to the basement and see my old turntable boxed up on a shelf, and then trip over four boxes full of records.
So far, I’ve transferred more than 200 songs, and they sound as good as the record. (That means your good records will sound great, and your scratched records will sound scratched. There is another, different, program that will clean that up, but I don’t understand it. Yet.)

It’s been a nice walk down memory lane, listening to many of these records for the first time in years.
I did invest in good headphones, and it’s a pleasure to hear the power of Levi Stubbs’ lead vocals for the Four Tops…the writing genius of Stevie Wonder…the evolution of Buffalo Springfield to Poco, CSN (and Y), and Loggins & Messina…the musicians backing Maria Muldaur…the subversive vocal of Grace Slick on “White Rabbit”…and the melding of Simon & Garfunkel’s voices, though in retrospect, some of Simon’s writing now strikes me as pretentious. For a change, I concentrated on the voices of Mary and Flo/Cindy backing up Diana. I was never much of a Carpenters fan, but did you ever hear their version of “Masquerade?” And as enjoyable as it is to hear them again, why is The Dave Clark Five in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

As a bonus, I’ve actually read two books while doing this, and I’m on my third. (If you’re a Steve Martin fan, by all means read his new autobiography.)