MULLING IT OVER: When Newport Harbor Art...

MULLING IT OVER: When Newport Harbor Art Museum Chief Curator Bruce Guenther was selecting pieces for his first show--which previews today--Martin Mull impressed him so much he chose two of his paintings. But Guenther doesn’t watch TV, so he had no idea Martin Mull has another career--actor and urbane talk show wit. . . . Museum spokeswoman Maxine Gaiber says of Mull: “He’s really an artist who just dabbles in acting.” Mull is expected to attend the preview.

PRIORITY PROTOCOL: You don’t have presidents of whole countries pass through that often. So when Lithuania’s Algirdas M. Brazauskas wanted to visit Orange County today while in Los Angeles for a trade conference, the county’s Office of Protocol geared up. . . . A late change Thursday forced cancellation of his business here. But Brazauskas is still taking time for the other local stop he wanted to make--Disneyland, of course.

HOMELESS: It’s Adopt-a-Dog month, and local animal shelters must serve up an ugly fate to thousands of dogs each year that nobody wants. Sinjin, an 18-month-old brindle pit bull, has lived at the Irvine Animal Shelter since June. Pit bulls have bad reps anyway, and large dogs are hardest to place. Says Barbara Bilotta, her kennel attendant: “She’s really a sweet dog. She looks mean, but she loves people.’ . . . The shelter has a high success rate in finding good homes. But if Sinjin doesn’t get a break, her future could match that of some 3,000 other dogs a year countywide--euthanasia.

GOODTIME COUNTRY? Local boot-happy dancing fans here have eagerly awaited tonight’s debut of the Country Rock Cafe in Lake Forest. One selling point: The saloon and dance hall managed to hire Goodtime Gordie, recently named best country nightclub deejay by the California Country Music Assn.’s local chapter. . . . “He has a sixth sense of what to play when he sees the crowd’s not dancing,” says chapter President Jack Schroeder, and “he’s always smiling.”