Hi all,
Greetings from my home office at 4 something in the morning!
Yes, I'm back to wonky sleep hours!
On July 19th, JABB will turn 25 years old! I really can't
believe it. It's just mind-boggling to think about.
But it's here and I wanted to spend this month celebrating.
I got to thinking about how I do Q and A's pretty frequently but
there are some very basic things about JABB that I don't think
I've addressed in a long while... if ever outright. So I
thought I'd do that today and then we'll continue on celebrating
in two weeks... which will also mark the beginning of a week-long
staycation for me. Yay!
God bless,
Jenni
Ask a JABB Co-Founder: The Basics
1. Why are JABB newsletters called
that? There's really not much news...
I don't honestly know. I can't remember who first assigned
that word to them. Could have been me. Coulda been
another co-founder. Regardless, back in 1998, we actually
did sometimes put news in them. TBAA's upcoming premiere
date, notice of air times for other John Dye projects,
etc. But by the time the last TBAA DVD set was released,
there really wasn't any more news to share. Still, the
news was never the bulk of what we sent so it is a bit of a
misnomer. However, I don't particularly like the word
"issue" for this. "Edition" might have been a good
option.
2. Why do they come out on Sundays?
Because TBAA used to air on Sundays. If memory serves, the
last couple seasons were moved to Saturday night. But I
believe the show held Sunday night for the bulk of its
run. So it just made sense to release JABB on the same
night. And after TBAA ended, it felt good to still have a
bit of new TBAA-related stuff coming out on Sundays. That
being said, there was no way we could get one out every week
which is why they've always been biweekly. But, unlike
TBAA, we never did and I still don't take summers off...
clearly. :-)
3. Other than news, what are some other things that you
used to do for JABB that you don't any more?
Not to get too maudlin but I really don't feel like cracking
jokes about characters from John Dye's filmography any
more. Was it fun to dunk on Manion? Yup. Do I
think it would still be fun? Nope. On one hand, the
character is as much a loser as he ever was. But simply
the fact that he was John's second-to-last role makes him really
not very funny to me. I can still be jokey about
TBAA/Dyeland characters because they've taken on a life of their
own for me.
There are also more ridiculous things like I used to have a
spreadsheet where I... and I kid you not... tracked what color
schemes I used on every newsletter page so I didn't use the same
colors too often. Yeah... I don't do that any
more. If I send blue newsletters for two months in a
row... oh well! I also used to add quotes to the top of
every newsletter and hide an easter egg. But, over the
years, as demands on my time have increased, I've had to really
look at what's most important and cut away the stuff that really
isn't. Oh! And in the very early days, a midi was
always included. And some people reading this may not even
know what I'm talking about... Rest assured, it was not a
mini-skirt but a very low quality music file.
4. What's the strangest place you've ever written a JABB
newsletter?
In the Atlantic Ocean. I can't even tell you where in the
ocean I was but it was during a Caribbean cruise so thereabouts.
5. Why is the web site domain onthisside.net?
This is probably pretty well known but it's taken from "I want
you to know there's nothing... nothing to be afraid of. On one
side, there's life. And on the other...there's life, too."
Unfortunately/fortunately, I think I misremembered the quote as
"On this side, there's life..." Oops. I was probably
conflating it with the version Monica says in "The Spirit of
Liberty Moon." But I think it actually turned out to be
kinda meaningful as is. Because JABB is being created and
experienced on this side. What happens on the Other
Side... I'm not sure. But I think a lot of the stuff
that I've merely written about will be much greater in that
Ultimate Reality.
And at this point the 3:30 AM wake-up is really hitting me (I
nearly deleted all of this by accident!) so I think I'm gonna
call this good, short as it is, and pick it back up in a couple
weeks.
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(Photo Credits: The photograph used on this page is from Touched
by an Angel and owned by CBS Productions, Caroline Productions,
and Moon Water Productions. It is not being used to seek
profit.)
