I learned a lot from watching last night's show. I learned that Jason Collins is gay and he plays basketball for the Washington Wizards. I learned that this acceptance of gays is upsetting to some people, for example Father Gerald Murray and Ralph Reed. And I learned that some guy thinks Christians will be forced to wear identification markers and wouldn't you know it? Stephen showed someone who has already been forced to wear a necklace with a cross dangling from it. It's happening!
In The Word, Stephen continued with the comparison of this struggle for marriage equality with the civil rights struggle of the 1960s. Not all people think the comparison is fair. Pat Buchanan said this on April 16 of this year: "When Martin Luther king Jr. called on the nation to 'live up to the meaning of its creed,' he heard an echo from a thousand pulpits. Treating black folks decently was consistent with what Christians had been taught. Dr. King was pushing against an open door." (Too bad that jail cell door was locked, but never mind. And too bad that open door was marked "colored" or "white" but again, never mind... I digress.) But the struggle goes on.
Go to yelp if you want good reviews for all kinds of places, including finding out the best places for getting arrested and the worst places for getting arrested. Some jails are great with juice boxes, others, not so welcoming. Then Stephen shared a review from yelp and I'm quoting. " ... a dangerous crowded cramped situation ... I almost passed out from the heat ..." "Don't bring guns - there's a sensitive metal detector" " ... you will sit outside in a dark holding pin that feels like a dungeon." And that was .... Colbert Report! Actual reviews from actual people. I'm glad I didn't get tickets to the show last night.
Iggy Pop was dressed nicely for the interview with Stephen and then he got more casual and he and The Stooges sang a nice little song. Here's the best part. Members of the audience got to sing along with him, not a group sing, but an actual duet with Iggy Pop on The Colbert Report. Ooohh I knew I should have gotten tickets for last night to the show. That could have been me singing with Iggy Pop.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Singing Like a Canary
Stephen has given you homework. I did not know he had the authority to do that, but who am I to argue? You are all to read the words inside the book, "The Great Gatsby" by May 9. You see, Stephen has started his own book club, the COlbert Book Club, and the F. Scott Fitzgerald book is first on the list of must reads. And yes there will be a quiz, in that he will be discussing the book on air with Jennifer Eagan and Baz Luhrmann in two weeks. I'm hoping he will also be able to get F. Scott Fitgerald on as a guest in the future.
Better Know a District - Representative Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania's 17th District agreed to be interviewed by Stephen. The 17th includes Scranton, and of course you know that's where the documentary of The Office was filmed, and Easton, where Crayola Crayons are made. Even though Representative Matt Cartwright is a Democrat, he told Stephen he did not agree with what Stephen said was a plan by Crayola to rename the white Crayon "Republican." And although the white crayon is rather bland, Stephen enjoyed eating it. Other crayons Stephen might enjoy are Asparagus, Jazzberry Jam, and Cotton Candy. Please note: I'm pretty sure you are not supposed to eat Crayola Crayons. Stephen was able to create or clear up many misunderstandings including, religion, Spanish language, GLBT issues, transient farm workers and the Bike Caucus. Speaking of bikes, Representative Matt Cartwright taught Stephen how to ride a bike in what I assume was one of the Halls of Congress. Touching, heart warming, and head hurting.
"Turns out the Boston bombing suspect was singing like a canary until the judge showed up." And that is according to everyone, Everyone!, on Fox and Friends. Stephen gave a complete wrap-up of everything that the Fox and Friends missed about Miranda and Samantha as it relates to the Boston bombing suspect. Seems like everyone over at Fox and Friends was singing the exact same tune.
Bishop Gene Robinson, Episcopalian Bishop in New Hampshire, was Stephen's guest on Thursday. Bishop Gene Robinson is the author of God Believes in Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage. No surprise to anyone, they talked religion, including Leviticus. When Stephen asked if being Episcopal was a choice, Bishop Gene Robinson compared it to Advanced Placement Religion. Even though Stephen did not assign "God Believes in Love," for homework, I think it would be a great choice for the second book to be read for COlbert Book Club.
Stephen's usual short sign-off was longer than usual. And so much cuter. I must confess, I wasn't even paying attention to Stephen. He was upstaged by someone much younger than him. And dare I say it --- better looking!
Better Know a District - Representative Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania's 17th District agreed to be interviewed by Stephen. The 17th includes Scranton, and of course you know that's where the documentary of The Office was filmed, and Easton, where Crayola Crayons are made. Even though Representative Matt Cartwright is a Democrat, he told Stephen he did not agree with what Stephen said was a plan by Crayola to rename the white Crayon "Republican." And although the white crayon is rather bland, Stephen enjoyed eating it. Other crayons Stephen might enjoy are Asparagus, Jazzberry Jam, and Cotton Candy. Please note: I'm pretty sure you are not supposed to eat Crayola Crayons. Stephen was able to create or clear up many misunderstandings including, religion, Spanish language, GLBT issues, transient farm workers and the Bike Caucus. Speaking of bikes, Representative Matt Cartwright taught Stephen how to ride a bike in what I assume was one of the Halls of Congress. Touching, heart warming, and head hurting.
"Turns out the Boston bombing suspect was singing like a canary until the judge showed up." And that is according to everyone, Everyone!, on Fox and Friends. Stephen gave a complete wrap-up of everything that the Fox and Friends missed about Miranda and Samantha as it relates to the Boston bombing suspect. Seems like everyone over at Fox and Friends was singing the exact same tune.
Bishop Gene Robinson, Episcopalian Bishop in New Hampshire, was Stephen's guest on Thursday. Bishop Gene Robinson is the author of God Believes in Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage. No surprise to anyone, they talked religion, including Leviticus. When Stephen asked if being Episcopal was a choice, Bishop Gene Robinson compared it to Advanced Placement Religion. Even though Stephen did not assign "God Believes in Love," for homework, I think it would be a great choice for the second book to be read for COlbert Book Club.
Stephen's usual short sign-off was longer than usual. And so much cuter. I must confess, I wasn't even paying attention to Stephen. He was upstaged by someone much younger than him. And dare I say it --- better looking!
Saturday, April 27, 2013
@PrezBillyJeff = @BillClinton
I have been trying to make this post 140 characters and still get everything in from Wednesday's show, but I have finally given up. Since so much time has gone by, I'll make it short, just not short enough to be a tweet. Twitter is very powerful and can send Wall Street into chaos. But it's also fun as we saw when ChelChel, ColbColb and PBJ had an interesting back and forth conversation. Bill Clinton is busy working on the Clinton Foundation and yet he still has time to talk with Stephen if only by appearing, seemingly, on Stephen's wall. Everyone who has been following @PrezBillyJeff should now start following@BillClinton. Stephen Colbert is following @BillClinton. And Bill Clinton sent his second tweet: "Excited to join @ChelseaClinton and my good friend @StephenAtHome."
In news that is so exciting for basically the whole world, for Mars, and even for our Solar System, Stephen highlighted the recent accomplishments of NASA. So many people love Science that NASA's website ran out of internet tubes and NASA's website crashed. It is so great to see President John F. Kennedy's dreams finally realized.
Stephen's guest was Danica Patrick. It was interesting, but I was so hoping for a race between Danica and Stephen. So, we didn't get to see that, but I will say that Danica's car now looks Marvelous after she appeared on The Colbert Report.
In news that is so exciting for basically the whole world, for Mars, and even for our Solar System, Stephen highlighted the recent accomplishments of NASA. So many people love Science that NASA's website ran out of internet tubes and NASA's website crashed. It is so great to see President John F. Kennedy's dreams finally realized.
Stephen's guest was Danica Patrick. It was interesting, but I was so hoping for a race between Danica and Stephen. So, we didn't get to see that, but I will say that Danica's car now looks Marvelous after she appeared on The Colbert Report.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Scooby Gate
Politifact is one of those websites that keeps everyone on their toes with honesty. Recently, Governor Chris Christie was caught in a lie. He told a 4-year-old boy that he shared the same enthusiasm for Scooby-Doo, Where Are You. He said it was also his favorite show when he was 4 years old. With much research and a lot of digging on the internet, Governor Chris Christie was exposed. The popular cartoon series did not start airing until Governor Christie was 7 years old. Well, although Politifact gave him a pass for not being able to recall everything that happened when he was 4 years old, I consider it to be political pandering to the powerful 4-year-old community. If and when he runs for president in 2016, I'm sure he will be reaching out to that segment of our population for donations, volunteers, and supporters. Mark my words and thank you Stephen for bringing this to the attention of the Colbert Nation. Never mind that Stephen is also confused about favorite cartoon shows and how old he was when Inspector Gadget was on.
If you just checked out that last link, you probably saw that Inspector Gadget was able to fly without any sort of airplane, at least for short distances. However if you are trying to fly today, in an airplane, you may be having some trouble. Well, times are difficult and therefore the smartest thing to do is to cut spending all over the place. And there's proof except for the fact that it's wrong.
Go read "Growth in a Time of Debt" and then come back here. I'll wait. Okay, that was fascinating. However, as much as many people like to quote it as if it is Biblical truth, it's just not quite what it's claimed to be. There are coding errors on the spreadsheet they used that could invalidate their conclusions. Note: Their paper wasn't peer reviewed. (These are not the conclusions you're looking for.) You don't have to take Stephen's word for it. Take the word of this guy - graduate student Thomas Herndon. Stephen even had Thomas Herndon on The Colbert Report to show how the conclusions of Professor Carmen Reinhart and economist Ken Rogoff are wrong.
It's worth watching this segment just to hear Stephen come up with creative aliases for Reinhart and Rogoff. Plus, Stephen wrote a bunch of Scientific Papers that were so easy because he realized it didn't have to be all scientific or mathy. Thomas Herndon was able to explain to Stephen how austerity measures are being counter-productive.
Eric Schmidt was the real guest last night, the one in the interview chair over by the table. He (along with Jaren Cohen) has a new book out, The New Digital Age - Reshaping the Future of People, Nations, and Business." They talked about driverless cars and the future. We all know the internet is a bunch of tubes and yet we can't explain exactly what it is. We are going to see a ton of new internet users in the future and no one can predict what that will mean. That must be why he wrote the book, to let us know what the future will be like. The thing that really excited me is that our digital identity will live forever!
If you just checked out that last link, you probably saw that Inspector Gadget was able to fly without any sort of airplane, at least for short distances. However if you are trying to fly today, in an airplane, you may be having some trouble. Well, times are difficult and therefore the smartest thing to do is to cut spending all over the place. And there's proof except for the fact that it's wrong.
Go read "Growth in a Time of Debt" and then come back here. I'll wait. Okay, that was fascinating. However, as much as many people like to quote it as if it is Biblical truth, it's just not quite what it's claimed to be. There are coding errors on the spreadsheet they used that could invalidate their conclusions. Note: Their paper wasn't peer reviewed. (These are not the conclusions you're looking for.) You don't have to take Stephen's word for it. Take the word of this guy - graduate student Thomas Herndon. Stephen even had Thomas Herndon on The Colbert Report to show how the conclusions of Professor Carmen Reinhart and economist Ken Rogoff are wrong.
It's worth watching this segment just to hear Stephen come up with creative aliases for Reinhart and Rogoff. Plus, Stephen wrote a bunch of Scientific Papers that were so easy because he realized it didn't have to be all scientific or mathy. Thomas Herndon was able to explain to Stephen how austerity measures are being counter-productive.
Eric Schmidt was the real guest last night, the one in the interview chair over by the table. He (along with Jaren Cohen) has a new book out, The New Digital Age - Reshaping the Future of People, Nations, and Business." They talked about driverless cars and the future. We all know the internet is a bunch of tubes and yet we can't explain exactly what it is. We are going to see a ton of new internet users in the future and no one can predict what that will mean. That must be why he wrote the book, to let us know what the future will be like. The thing that really excited me is that our digital identity will live forever!
Monday, April 22, 2013
You Say Chechnya, I Say Czech Republic
There has been a lot happening in the news media related to the events in Boston. Stephen pointed out that shortly after The Colbert Report aired on Thursday night, Suspect 1 and Suspect 2 were found. One suspect, T.T. was mortally wounded and his younger brother, D.T. was captured. (I'm not putting the details here, you can easily find the details anywhere.) The Chechen brothers are from the Caucasus Mountain region which therefore makes them the ultimate Caucasians.
Stephen brought up a detail that does not have a lot of impact on the story, but still, it must be said. He reported that the Czech Republic Ambassador has made it clear that Chechnya and the Czech Republic are two very different countries. It seems there has been a lot of confusion in all the social media and he wanted that distinction to be made perfectly clear. I heard this first over at The Rachel Maddow Show. She implied, for some reason, that we are deficient in our geography knowledge. She may be right. But then she went on talking about violins on TV. I wonder why she threw that comment in.
Good news sort of. We have gone from a D to a D+ for infrastructure. That is according to ASCE, the American Society of Civil Engineers. Go Solid Waste!!! That's things like bridges, levees, dams, roads. You know, those things that make the country function. Kind of important. And the EPA says nearly half of our rivers can support life.
The George W. Bush Library opens on May 1. Stephen is not invited, but he is going anyway. You can get tickets online. Of course some of them will be for the George W. Bush Library and some will be for the Al Gore Library, but the ticket takers will count them all for Bush.
Michael Pollan was the guest tonight. After a Food Book Intervention, Stephen and Michael Pollan discussed the really important aspect of a healthy diet. It's not what you eat that is important, but who cooks your food. If a human being cooks your food, instead of a corporation, you will probably be eating a perfectly fine and nutritious diet. If a corporation cooks the food for you, in that it goes from the farm to the corporation and then to your stomach, maybe not so healthy. You will probably be getting your food served with lots of sugar, fat, salt and additives. So, Do It Yourself when it comes to meal preparation and you will be looking and feeling as great as Stephen Colbert and Michael Pollan.
Stephen brought up a detail that does not have a lot of impact on the story, but still, it must be said. He reported that the Czech Republic Ambassador has made it clear that Chechnya and the Czech Republic are two very different countries. It seems there has been a lot of confusion in all the social media and he wanted that distinction to be made perfectly clear. I heard this first over at The Rachel Maddow Show. She implied, for some reason, that we are deficient in our geography knowledge. She may be right. But then she went on talking about violins on TV. I wonder why she threw that comment in.
Good news sort of. We have gone from a D to a D+ for infrastructure. That is according to ASCE, the American Society of Civil Engineers. Go Solid Waste!!! That's things like bridges, levees, dams, roads. You know, those things that make the country function. Kind of important. And the EPA says nearly half of our rivers can support life.
The George W. Bush Library opens on May 1. Stephen is not invited, but he is going anyway. You can get tickets online. Of course some of them will be for the George W. Bush Library and some will be for the Al Gore Library, but the ticket takers will count them all for Bush.
Michael Pollan was the guest tonight. After a Food Book Intervention, Stephen and Michael Pollan discussed the really important aspect of a healthy diet. It's not what you eat that is important, but who cooks your food. If a human being cooks your food, instead of a corporation, you will probably be eating a perfectly fine and nutritious diet. If a corporation cooks the food for you, in that it goes from the farm to the corporation and then to your stomach, maybe not so healthy. You will probably be getting your food served with lots of sugar, fat, salt and additives. So, Do It Yourself when it comes to meal preparation and you will be looking and feeling as great as Stephen Colbert and Michael Pollan.
Bucket List
I have been glued to the TV, the newspapers and magazines, waiting to see if the people who brought mayhem to the Boston Marathon have been captured. Luckily, now, that seems to have been accomplished. And it's a good thing because two unlucky guys have their photos on the front cover of the New York Post. Both have bags of some sort and one of them is wearing a baseball cap. So that pretty much is all anyone needs for a description. Except that it ain't the guys. They did nothing wrong other than having a backpack or other bag and wearing a baseball cap. Perhaps more will come of this. Time will tell.
Stephen did give a Tip of the Hat to New York Post for accusing the two innocent men of a horrible crime. He mentioned that the New York Post follows those famous Four W's we all know for writing a good news story: "Who, Whatever, and Why Wait?"
If you have never been to New York City and would love to go there but need a reliable source of information, there's only been one place, so far, to get good information about the tourist havens to seek out for a good time. That one place has been Stefon. But now, Stephen has the scoop on where to go and what to do in New York City. Of course, since he is so famous, he can't really just walk around the streets of the city. Everyone would want a piece of him.
Luckily, technology is able to let Stephen walk around New York City at the same time as Stephen is sitting on the couch in his studio office. I know. That sounds impossible. But it's not. Here's how it works. Stephen puts the Ask-o-Matic on Jay the Intern and sends him out to walk the streets of New York City. Meanwhile, Stephen has a Second Bucket with an iPhone. Everyone, including red and blue furry people loved him. It allowed Stephen to steal a magazine with no consequences, talk with all the locals, eat Egyptian food, fight with Bernard when Bernard is not playing his saxophone, get a caricature drawn of himself, and visit other cultural icons of the city and participate in those cultural activities. We even got to see New Yorkers join in a wonderful song and dance number of New York New York. I might also mention that the footwear worn by New Yorkers is quite colorful. Just when I think The Colbert Report can't get any better, it surpasses all my expectations.
Stephen's guest last Thursday was Richard Engel. One might say that his job is even more difficult than Stephen's job. They both are in broadcasting, but Richard Engel is out in the field and that tends to have more challenges and even dangerous situations.
Stephen did give a Tip of the Hat to New York Post for accusing the two innocent men of a horrible crime. He mentioned that the New York Post follows those famous Four W's we all know for writing a good news story: "Who, Whatever, and Why Wait?"
If you have never been to New York City and would love to go there but need a reliable source of information, there's only been one place, so far, to get good information about the tourist havens to seek out for a good time. That one place has been Stefon. But now, Stephen has the scoop on where to go and what to do in New York City. Of course, since he is so famous, he can't really just walk around the streets of the city. Everyone would want a piece of him.
Luckily, technology is able to let Stephen walk around New York City at the same time as Stephen is sitting on the couch in his studio office. I know. That sounds impossible. But it's not. Here's how it works. Stephen puts the Ask-o-Matic on Jay the Intern and sends him out to walk the streets of New York City. Meanwhile, Stephen has a Second Bucket with an iPhone. Everyone, including red and blue furry people loved him. It allowed Stephen to steal a magazine with no consequences, talk with all the locals, eat Egyptian food, fight with Bernard when Bernard is not playing his saxophone, get a caricature drawn of himself, and visit other cultural icons of the city and participate in those cultural activities. We even got to see New Yorkers join in a wonderful song and dance number of New York New York. I might also mention that the footwear worn by New Yorkers is quite colorful. Just when I think The Colbert Report can't get any better, it surpasses all my expectations.
Stephen's guest last Thursday was Richard Engel. One might say that his job is even more difficult than Stephen's job. They both are in broadcasting, but Richard Engel is out in the field and that tends to have more challenges and even dangerous situations.
Friday, April 19, 2013
Oopsie-Daisy
Apparently the bitcoin bug bit Stephen. At first he was thrilled but he soon became almost sick to his stomach. He hoped for riches but he may have lost it all. Hard to tell. I am willing to help Stephen out with an alternate money form that I have in a box in the basement family room. In this box I have a supply of colorful money, white ones, pink fives, canary tens, green twenties, blue fifties, buff hundreds and goldenrod five-hundreds. If Stephen will contact me, we can do some trading - my money for his money. One of us is guaranteed to come our richer. But back to bitcoin. Joining Stephen on the show was Adam Davidson of NPR with this advice, "Never buy bitcoin."
Country Music was featured, finally, on the show. Some of the favorite songs by Stephen's favorite singer Brad Paisley include Alcohol, Camouflage, Toothbrush and Chicken Chet.
Note to aspiring Country Music songwriters, if you don't know what to write about, go outside, spin around ten times with your eyes shut. Okay, now stop, open your eyes and say the first thing that you see. Write a song about it. I did this and now I'm writing a song entitled, "There's a Crack in the Sidewalk and Bird Poop in the Crack."
So anyway, Stephen loves him that Country Music. One of the reasons Stephen loves Brad Paisley's music is that Paisley solved racism. He had help from LL Cool J. Stephen gave a real quick critique of the song, "Accidental Racist."
Not to be outdone in the music world, Stephen performed that monster hit single, "Oopsie-Daisy Homophobe." And might I say that Stephen wears that cowboy hat very well and sounds marvelous. He was joined on-stage halfway through the song by equally handsome guest, Alan Cumming. I'm pretty sure Stephen is busy on the weekends working on a new CD of songs to come out soon. (At least I sure hope he is. He's such a great singer with a voice like butter.) He probably is collaborating with all the best talent out there. Time will tell if I'm right or just indulging myself in hopeful wishing. For sure it would be a chart topper if he released a new CD. (Come on Stephen. Start singing.)
Alan Cumming, a man who has the talent to play many varied roles, was Stephen's guest on Wednesday's show. And Stephen was suitablly impressed as he told Alan Cumming, "You clean up real nice." Alan was wearing his Shakespearean actor suit which was in contrast to his earlier gay urban look when he sang with Stephen. The two of them could have talked about a long list of movies, plays, etc. but they focused on the current CD that is out by Alan Cumming - "The Head That Wears a Crown, Speeches for Royal Men by William Shakespeare." I can understand why he would do this. His voice is so nice to listen to. There's nothing quite like a British/Scottish accent to make someone sound regal. In addition to the CD, he is also on Broadway now doing Macbeth. Stephen had thought it was a one-man Macbeth, but he was corrected. There are two other people also in the play, however Alan Cumming does play Macbeth as well as sixteen other parts. (Wow, I would hate to be the understudy for him. Whew.)
We learned that even on Basic Cable there are some things that you just can not say. We did not learn what that something was, but we do know there are some things that you just can not say on Basic Cable. Also interesting was learning what you can't do on stage. Nearly two hours on stage and you have to be careful not to burp or cough or, well, use your imagination.
Country Music was featured, finally, on the show. Some of the favorite songs by Stephen's favorite singer Brad Paisley include Alcohol, Camouflage, Toothbrush and Chicken Chet.
Note to aspiring Country Music songwriters, if you don't know what to write about, go outside, spin around ten times with your eyes shut. Okay, now stop, open your eyes and say the first thing that you see. Write a song about it. I did this and now I'm writing a song entitled, "There's a Crack in the Sidewalk and Bird Poop in the Crack."
So anyway, Stephen loves him that Country Music. One of the reasons Stephen loves Brad Paisley's music is that Paisley solved racism. He had help from LL Cool J. Stephen gave a real quick critique of the song, "Accidental Racist."
Not to be outdone in the music world, Stephen performed that monster hit single, "Oopsie-Daisy Homophobe." And might I say that Stephen wears that cowboy hat very well and sounds marvelous. He was joined on-stage halfway through the song by equally handsome guest, Alan Cumming. I'm pretty sure Stephen is busy on the weekends working on a new CD of songs to come out soon. (At least I sure hope he is. He's such a great singer with a voice like butter.) He probably is collaborating with all the best talent out there. Time will tell if I'm right or just indulging myself in hopeful wishing. For sure it would be a chart topper if he released a new CD. (Come on Stephen. Start singing.)
Alan Cumming, a man who has the talent to play many varied roles, was Stephen's guest on Wednesday's show. And Stephen was suitablly impressed as he told Alan Cumming, "You clean up real nice." Alan was wearing his Shakespearean actor suit which was in contrast to his earlier gay urban look when he sang with Stephen. The two of them could have talked about a long list of movies, plays, etc. but they focused on the current CD that is out by Alan Cumming - "The Head That Wears a Crown, Speeches for Royal Men by William Shakespeare." I can understand why he would do this. His voice is so nice to listen to. There's nothing quite like a British/Scottish accent to make someone sound regal. In addition to the CD, he is also on Broadway now doing Macbeth. Stephen had thought it was a one-man Macbeth, but he was corrected. There are two other people also in the play, however Alan Cumming does play Macbeth as well as sixteen other parts. (Wow, I would hate to be the understudy for him. Whew.)
We learned that even on Basic Cable there are some things that you just can not say. We did not learn what that something was, but we do know there are some things that you just can not say on Basic Cable. Also interesting was learning what you can't do on stage. Nearly two hours on stage and you have to be careful not to burp or cough or, well, use your imagination.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
While Googling NRCC
Just a note. While Googling NRCC for the previous post, I came upon something that might be of interest to those interested in Genealogy.
I'm assuming that you know that Elizabeth Colbert Busch is Stephen's sister. And I assume that you know she is running for Congress. That's right, you can read about it here.
Anyway, when I looked for NRCC on the internets, I found this link that relates to the NRCC, and Colbert Busch and her opponent and friend of the show Mark Sanford, so that's interesting.
You see, he was using his cell phone for a flashlight and you can get really neat and cheap apps for your cellphone that are pretty darn good flashlights. They will drain the battery a bit, so you don't want to make that your main flashlight, but still, it is handy to have when you are leaving the house of your spouse after the Superbowl game.
Oh yikes. House of Your Spouse. That's a poem I could have written for the previous post. I think I need to eat some nutritious breakfast cereal or if not that at least some eggs on a stick to get my brain working better.
I'm assuming that you know that Elizabeth Colbert Busch is Stephen's sister. And I assume that you know she is running for Congress. That's right, you can read about it here.
Anyway, when I looked for NRCC on the internets, I found this link that relates to the NRCC, and Colbert Busch and her opponent and friend of the show Mark Sanford, so that's interesting.
You see, he was using his cell phone for a flashlight and you can get really neat and cheap apps for your cellphone that are pretty darn good flashlights. They will drain the battery a bit, so you don't want to make that your main flashlight, but still, it is handy to have when you are leaving the house of your spouse after the Superbowl game.
Oh yikes. House of Your Spouse. That's a poem I could have written for the previous post. I think I need to eat some nutritious breakfast cereal or if not that at least some eggs on a stick to get my brain working better.
Vertical Cooking Technology
First of all, Boston. Stephen changed his usual start of the show to talk words of encouragement and support to the wonderful people of Boston and in Boston for the Marathon. No doubt there will be ways that we can help in the coming weeks. Be generous but also be cautious. When donating money, be sure you are donating to a legitimate organization. If someone comes to your door or approaches you on the street asking for money to help the victims, you should probably be a little wary.
Also a way you can help is to donate blood. Not because it is going to be shipped to Boston, but because it is a good habit to get into. The supply of blood to be used for accident victims, cancer patients, etc. always is low in the summer. So find out how to donate in your community and make an appointment to do so this summer. It doesn't hurt that much, not much more than a mosquito bite. The technicians and volunteers are super nice. And it helps people.
Stephen is worried about the coming cicada invasion. Even more worrisome to him though is that the last invasion was 17 years ago and he has aged a lot since then. Poor Stephen. (Hey, you still look just fine to me.)
Stephen is always concerned about good health practices. Last night he emphasized the importance of a good breakfast each morning.
The NRCC is on top of the best website designs. Cute comes to mind but also personal responsibility. For example, shouldn't that cat show some initiative? Okay, that was a photo of a cat with the heading, "I Can Haz Erned Cheezburger?" Anyway, the website is cute while also being informative. You can find 13 Animals that are really bummed on ObamaCare's Third Birthday,
So many TV shows have cooking segments. I wish Stephen would have a cooking segment each night, but he doesn't. Perhaps after reading this post (I'm sure he reads this every day) he will get on the bandwagon and share some wonderful family recipes with us. But what he could do is share with us some wonderful inventions and recipes for cooking eggs. Vertical Cooking Technology is going to be the wave of the future. Personally I have been so bored with my current Horizontal Cooking Technology. It's been that way since the first cave woman cooked for her man. I assume that, I'm not that old, so not entirely sure. Anyway, this new technology makes for an easy to eat shape. However, it could be easier. Stephen demonstrated. It looks easy and delicious.
I tried to write a poem for the next section, but I'm just not much of a poemist, so I'll just write as usual. Caroline Kennedy was the guest last night. Her most recent book is "Poems to Learn by Heart." It was great because Stephen and Caroline Kennedy had a poem-off. I'm not sure who won because they both kept spouting off poetry lines. Obviously they both have memorized quite a bit of this wonderful branch of literature.
Also a way you can help is to donate blood. Not because it is going to be shipped to Boston, but because it is a good habit to get into. The supply of blood to be used for accident victims, cancer patients, etc. always is low in the summer. So find out how to donate in your community and make an appointment to do so this summer. It doesn't hurt that much, not much more than a mosquito bite. The technicians and volunteers are super nice. And it helps people.
Stephen is worried about the coming cicada invasion. Even more worrisome to him though is that the last invasion was 17 years ago and he has aged a lot since then. Poor Stephen. (Hey, you still look just fine to me.)
Stephen is always concerned about good health practices. Last night he emphasized the importance of a good breakfast each morning.
The NRCC is on top of the best website designs. Cute comes to mind but also personal responsibility. For example, shouldn't that cat show some initiative? Okay, that was a photo of a cat with the heading, "I Can Haz Erned Cheezburger?" Anyway, the website is cute while also being informative. You can find 13 Animals that are really bummed on ObamaCare's Third Birthday,
So many TV shows have cooking segments. I wish Stephen would have a cooking segment each night, but he doesn't. Perhaps after reading this post (I'm sure he reads this every day) he will get on the bandwagon and share some wonderful family recipes with us. But what he could do is share with us some wonderful inventions and recipes for cooking eggs. Vertical Cooking Technology is going to be the wave of the future. Personally I have been so bored with my current Horizontal Cooking Technology. It's been that way since the first cave woman cooked for her man. I assume that, I'm not that old, so not entirely sure. Anyway, this new technology makes for an easy to eat shape. However, it could be easier. Stephen demonstrated. It looks easy and delicious.
I tried to write a poem for the next section, but I'm just not much of a poemist, so I'll just write as usual. Caroline Kennedy was the guest last night. Her most recent book is "Poems to Learn by Heart." It was great because Stephen and Caroline Kennedy had a poem-off. I'm not sure who won because they both kept spouting off poetry lines. Obviously they both have memorized quite a bit of this wonderful branch of literature.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Simple
To honor Thursday night's guest, I will keep this post very simple.
Asteroids. NASA wants to lasso an asteroid. I have a better idea. Lasso asteroids and haul them to Pluto. Glue them to the surface and make Pluto bigger. It's time to make Pluto a planet again and this might help it achieve its former glory.
Should pot be legal? This will have to be decided in Nancy Reagan vs. Cheech and Chong.
In New York, or the Big Apple as some call it, costumed characters are behaving badly, so much so that Shrek had to give some advice to Elmo.
Stephen's guest last Thursday was Cass Sunstein. His book "Simpler: The Future of Government" looks at ways to make government more streamlined. One way this has been done already is that the Food Pyramid has been changed to the Food Plate. Cass Sunstein says that instead of following a lot of confusing rules about what to eat and how much to eat, just see that your plate is about half fruits and vegetables and that should do a good job of making sure you are have a balanced diet.
Asteroids. NASA wants to lasso an asteroid. I have a better idea. Lasso asteroids and haul them to Pluto. Glue them to the surface and make Pluto bigger. It's time to make Pluto a planet again and this might help it achieve its former glory.
Should pot be legal? This will have to be decided in Nancy Reagan vs. Cheech and Chong.
In New York, or the Big Apple as some call it, costumed characters are behaving badly, so much so that Shrek had to give some advice to Elmo.
Stephen's guest last Thursday was Cass Sunstein. His book "Simpler: The Future of Government" looks at ways to make government more streamlined. One way this has been done already is that the Food Pyramid has been changed to the Food Plate. Cass Sunstein says that instead of following a lot of confusing rules about what to eat and how much to eat, just see that your plate is about half fruits and vegetables and that should do a good job of making sure you are have a balanced diet.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
Somehow Stephen was able to link Iran, the Navy, Lasers, cats, Cher and a dollar bill all together in his first story. Did you know that it only costs a dollar to use a laser cannon to evaporate enemy drones out of the atmosphere and send them spiraling into the ocean? I hope I got that right, I'm not an expert on military capability. Stephen showed the actual dollar needed to drop a drone down into the depths of the sea. Funny thing though. It seems like it was a generic dollar because there were no serial numbers on the dollar bill. Maybe a laser burned the numbers off the dollar bill. Anyway, this laser cannon can go up against anything except for bad weather, water vapor, smoke, sand, or dust.
Stephen had a special segment of Tip of the Hat Wag of the Finger because the United Nations is trying to curtail guns. Although the United States voted for that resolution, Syria, Iran and North Korea voted against it. Also showing support against it was the National Rifle Association. Stephen calls these three countries and the NRA the Axis of Freedom. Stephen went on to argue with "Greg" about gun control, demonstrating that it was actually good that evil guy Hitler had a gun because Hitler shot himself with that gun.
Soon it will be time to vote for a new Mayor in New York. There are many potential candidates for that soon to be vacant office, including Anthony Weiner. Stephen highlighted some of highs and lows of Anthony Weiner's political career. But of course the best part of this segment was all the "High Fives" that Stephen and someone (maybe Michael Stipe?) performed to bring a little excitement to the segment.
Shane Smith, wearing his formal t-shirt, was the guest last night. He is all about Vice. Vice is even on HBO. I had always thought that vice was either the assistant to someone else or the part of the police department that goes after the really naughty crimes. But there is news, entertainment, even fashion in the Vice magazine although Stephen did point out that naked ladies or naked men does not really encompass "fashion" since they are not wearing clothes. We got to see a video clip of a recent trip to Afghanistan/Pakistan border which was interesting. Shane Smith considers himself a storyteller. When asked if the stories were accurate, Shane Smith said yes. Stephen asked why. He replied that they have to be accurate. Again, Stephen asked why. It was actually Vice that sent Dennis Rodman over to North Korea. Stephen thanked him for sending Rodman there. In light of that, perhaps we will see Dennis Rodman on the show soon. It could happen....
Stephen had a special segment of Tip of the Hat Wag of the Finger because the United Nations is trying to curtail guns. Although the United States voted for that resolution, Syria, Iran and North Korea voted against it. Also showing support against it was the National Rifle Association. Stephen calls these three countries and the NRA the Axis of Freedom. Stephen went on to argue with "Greg" about gun control, demonstrating that it was actually good that evil guy Hitler had a gun because Hitler shot himself with that gun.
Soon it will be time to vote for a new Mayor in New York. There are many potential candidates for that soon to be vacant office, including Anthony Weiner. Stephen highlighted some of highs and lows of Anthony Weiner's political career. But of course the best part of this segment was all the "High Fives" that Stephen and someone (maybe Michael Stipe?) performed to bring a little excitement to the segment.
Shane Smith, wearing his formal t-shirt, was the guest last night. He is all about Vice. Vice is even on HBO. I had always thought that vice was either the assistant to someone else or the part of the police department that goes after the really naughty crimes. But there is news, entertainment, even fashion in the Vice magazine although Stephen did point out that naked ladies or naked men does not really encompass "fashion" since they are not wearing clothes. We got to see a video clip of a recent trip to Afghanistan/Pakistan border which was interesting. Shane Smith considers himself a storyteller. When asked if the stories were accurate, Shane Smith said yes. Stephen asked why. He replied that they have to be accurate. Again, Stephen asked why. It was actually Vice that sent Dennis Rodman over to North Korea. Stephen thanked him for sending Rodman there. In light of that, perhaps we will see Dennis Rodman on the show soon. It could happen....
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Poop Power - I Have a Business Card
The big news in the world is how many followers @PrezBillyJeff has. Last night Stephen noted that in just 24 hours, Billy Jeff Clinton has 88,076 followers. Now there are 131,717 and that will probably go up by the time I'm done writing this post. It is the epitome of the famous "The Colbert Bump." Also of interest to the Colbert Nation would be to follow the Clinton Foundation Twitter Feed @ClintonTweet .
Most of you reading this did not attend the Clinton Global Initiative University in St. Louis. I wasn't there so I'm just assuming that you weren't either. I wish I had gone. Stephen talked about Jessica Matthews. She designed a soccer ball that generates electricity while you play soccer with it. After half an hour of playing soccer, it could keep a light bulb lit for three hours. Stephen met up with Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton at the CGIU Exchange Fair. It was a great opportunity for him to learn more about the innovative young minds coming up with the projects. We saw how to extract drinkable water from air, and football helmets with sensors to detect injuries. Of course, not everyone who plays football suffers from injuries. Stephen played football and he never suffered any injuries. Other projects include helping farmers in Columbia grow their product (tea) and market it here. Also of interest is the Humanure Power Project. Again, another source of power that has been under-utilized.
Stephen was so inspired by the young people, but also disappointed that each project only addressed one problem. To lead the way, Stephen demonstrated his model volcano that symbolized how he would solve many of today's problems or address today's goals, including Public Health, Peace, Human Rights, Climate Change, Poverty, and the Environment. There were many people who witnessed Stephen's demonstration of his Volcano Metaphor Project, but none were more impressed than Stephen himself. His applause was so heartfelt that there was no need for anyone else to applaud. And indeed, neither Bill Clinton, nor Chelsea Clinton, nor the thirty or so young creative innovators watching applauded.
In the next segment, I learned something I had not known before. The pilgrims landed in Mayflower, Arkansas. Oops that's wrong, It was in Little Rock. Whichever place they landed, it was definitely Arkansas because they came over on an ark. Anyway, you may remember that oil spill in Mayflower, Arkansas. Exxon thinks of it as more of a free oil giveaway than an oil spill. The good news is that we are not seeing much more damage. That's because the area is off limits (as in you will be arrested) to reporters and photographers. And there is a no-fly zone over the area. But still, quilted paper towels are being used to clean up the oil as well as pushing it down storm drains so that the oil will head over to wetlands where it can mingle with nature.
Stephen's guest last night was a Detroiter or is it Detroitite, Detroitan, a Detroitman? Oh of course - Detroit native Charlie LeDuff taking with Stephen about his book "Detroit - An American Autopsy." He warns that we need to pay attention to Detroit learn lessons from what has happened there. The auto industry is booming, that is the companies are doing fine. But the jobs have been shipped overseas. There is concern on his part that if we don't invest in our children, in our cities, we are going to see more instances of decline.
Now for an update. The followers for @PrezBillyJeff are now up to a whopping 132,725. That's more than one thousand new followers in just the time it took me to write this post. Keep following fans, keep following.
Most of you reading this did not attend the Clinton Global Initiative University in St. Louis. I wasn't there so I'm just assuming that you weren't either. I wish I had gone. Stephen talked about Jessica Matthews. She designed a soccer ball that generates electricity while you play soccer with it. After half an hour of playing soccer, it could keep a light bulb lit for three hours. Stephen met up with Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton at the CGIU Exchange Fair. It was a great opportunity for him to learn more about the innovative young minds coming up with the projects. We saw how to extract drinkable water from air, and football helmets with sensors to detect injuries. Of course, not everyone who plays football suffers from injuries. Stephen played football and he never suffered any injuries. Other projects include helping farmers in Columbia grow their product (tea) and market it here. Also of interest is the Humanure Power Project. Again, another source of power that has been under-utilized.
Stephen was so inspired by the young people, but also disappointed that each project only addressed one problem. To lead the way, Stephen demonstrated his model volcano that symbolized how he would solve many of today's problems or address today's goals, including Public Health, Peace, Human Rights, Climate Change, Poverty, and the Environment. There were many people who witnessed Stephen's demonstration of his Volcano Metaphor Project, but none were more impressed than Stephen himself. His applause was so heartfelt that there was no need for anyone else to applaud. And indeed, neither Bill Clinton, nor Chelsea Clinton, nor the thirty or so young creative innovators watching applauded.
In the next segment, I learned something I had not known before. The pilgrims landed in Mayflower, Arkansas. Oops that's wrong, It was in Little Rock. Whichever place they landed, it was definitely Arkansas because they came over on an ark. Anyway, you may remember that oil spill in Mayflower, Arkansas. Exxon thinks of it as more of a free oil giveaway than an oil spill. The good news is that we are not seeing much more damage. That's because the area is off limits (as in you will be arrested) to reporters and photographers. And there is a no-fly zone over the area. But still, quilted paper towels are being used to clean up the oil as well as pushing it down storm drains so that the oil will head over to wetlands where it can mingle with nature.
Stephen's guest last night was a Detroiter or is it Detroitite, Detroitan, a Detroitman? Oh of course - Detroit native Charlie LeDuff taking with Stephen about his book "Detroit - An American Autopsy." He warns that we need to pay attention to Detroit learn lessons from what has happened there. The auto industry is booming, that is the companies are doing fine. But the jobs have been shipped overseas. There is concern on his part that if we don't invest in our children, in our cities, we are going to see more instances of decline.
Now for an update. The followers for @PrezBillyJeff are now up to a whopping 132,725. That's more than one thousand new followers in just the time it took me to write this post. Keep following fans, keep following.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
@PrezBillyJeff or @PresBilly Jeff? ----- "Z" or "S"?
Of course if you get two of the most famous people together with a huge audience and it's televised, that is bound to make the news. And of course there is always the possibility that some mistakes will be made when reporting on such a momentous occasion. So it's not surprising to realize that what some of the news outlets are reporting about President Bill Clinton's Twitter account will have some people confused. I mean, the word is spelled president. But you should ignore the "s".
Stephen Colbert set up the Twitter account as @PrezBillyJeff. He has 68,000 followers so far. I expect more people will start following President Clinton as the word gets out. So in answer to my question in the title of this post, it is Prez. Use a "z" not an "s".
@PrezBillyJeff
Stephen Colbert set up the Twitter account as @PrezBillyJeff. He has 68,000 followers so far. I expect more people will start following President Clinton as the word gets out. So in answer to my question in the title of this post, it is Prez. Use a "z" not an "s".
@PrezBillyJeff
Monday, April 8, 2013
@PrezBillyJeff
I don't know if you have been paying attention to the opening credits of The Colbert Report. It's very patriotic and there's a lot of words, but there's one set of words that changes on a somewhat regular basis. Last week it was Me Pluribus Unum. Tonight I noticed that it is Mano-A-Bubba! Just a bit of interesting trivia.
But there is a reason for that and it is somewhat complimentary but also a little bit humorous. Tonight's show was all about President William Jefferson Clinton. In fact he was the guest for the whole show. I'll just mention a few highlights. There's great information about the Clinton Global Initiative so I'll put links to that and more for you to read.
At one point, Stephen talked about "Young people like us." I now think he was sort of patting himself on the back for being such a young thinking individual. I also wondered how you upstage a president and Stephen did not disappoint. There was applause for the two men, they sat down and then Stephen jumped right back up and took another (well-deserved) bow. So, that's how you upstage a president.
To start off the conversation, Stephen asked, "Why help other people?" President Clinton wants to leave a better world for his daughter (and for grandchildren who have yet to be born). He also said it is part selfishness and part selflessness.
Stephen suggested that perhaps President Clinton could get together with Ted Talks and there could be the Bill & Ted's Excellent Initiative. That is an excellent idea. But what came next was perhaps even more interesting. The two talked about technology. When President Clinton first entered office as President, there wasn't even email as we now know it. They used phones and regular mail. President Clinton still does not use all the technology that younger people are using.
Perfect opportunity for Stephen. "Well, sir, I took the liberty of opening you a Twitter account."
The obvious choices were already taken, but Stephen set up @PrezBillyJeff. We got to see President Bill Clinton send his first tweet. (Stephen did the typing.)
"Just spent amazing time with Colbert. Is he sane? He is cool!" #cgiu
Here's a few more links.
Clinton Global Initiative University at Washington U
Clinton Global Initiative on Facebook
A Decade of Difference - 10 Clinton Global Initiative Milestones
But there is a reason for that and it is somewhat complimentary but also a little bit humorous. Tonight's show was all about President William Jefferson Clinton. In fact he was the guest for the whole show. I'll just mention a few highlights. There's great information about the Clinton Global Initiative so I'll put links to that and more for you to read.
At one point, Stephen talked about "Young people like us." I now think he was sort of patting himself on the back for being such a young thinking individual. I also wondered how you upstage a president and Stephen did not disappoint. There was applause for the two men, they sat down and then Stephen jumped right back up and took another (well-deserved) bow. So, that's how you upstage a president.
To start off the conversation, Stephen asked, "Why help other people?" President Clinton wants to leave a better world for his daughter (and for grandchildren who have yet to be born). He also said it is part selfishness and part selflessness.
Stephen suggested that perhaps President Clinton could get together with Ted Talks and there could be the Bill & Ted's Excellent Initiative. That is an excellent idea. But what came next was perhaps even more interesting. The two talked about technology. When President Clinton first entered office as President, there wasn't even email as we now know it. They used phones and regular mail. President Clinton still does not use all the technology that younger people are using.
Perfect opportunity for Stephen. "Well, sir, I took the liberty of opening you a Twitter account."
The obvious choices were already taken, but Stephen set up @PrezBillyJeff. We got to see President Bill Clinton send his first tweet. (Stephen did the typing.)
"Just spent amazing time with Colbert. Is he sane? He is cool!" #cgiu
Here's a few more links.
Clinton Global Initiative University at Washington U
Clinton Global Initiative on Facebook
A Decade of Difference - 10 Clinton Global Initiative Milestones
Second Favorite Organ
The environment is always nearby. That makes it special. Recently, Mayflower, Arkansas was inundated with oil and not the red hot olive oil kind that is great for dipping. No. It's a mess. Who wants black sticky "diluted bitumen" instead of green grass in their backyard? Yuck. I can't help but wonder what's next when things like this happen.
In an ironic twist, Stephen played portions of the Jeremy Irons Huffington Post interview about gay marriage. When you put your mind to it, you can come up with something that no one else has thought of before. Or at least, not that anyone actually said on camera. And in a rare departure from the news we typically enjoy on The Colbert Report, Stephen put forth some of his opinions on the issues, although he didn't really have strong feelings either way.
One thing that Google hasn't dominated yet is brain mapping. I enjoy their road maps and satellite images and street views, but they don't have a brain map yet, at least not that I know of. But President Obama is planning on mapping brains. Indeed, there is an acronym - BRAIN. Stephen pointed out that it's not fair to use the acronym in the acronym, but I don't have feelings either way about that. BRAIN stands for "Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies." And now you all see the value of acronyms. Anyway, Stephen pointed out that it logically follows that if a gun registry means they're coming for our guns, it follows that a brain registry means they're coming for our brains. Don't worry. I think there are many people out there that won't miss them.
Dr. Francis Collins joined Stephen last Thursday (4th time here) to talk about Brain Mapping. From what Stephen said when Dr. Collins was introduced, it sounds like he has quite a brain himself, maybe even as good as the one Stephen has. And he brought a brain. Not a real brain, but a rainbow colored teaching model. There are 86 billion neurons in each of our brains. So, did the good doctor sit in the green room and count them before the show? Someone had to count them, otherwise how would we know? I guess that doesn't matter. What does matter is that Google will not be driving a tiny car up your nose to map it. There are other ways to do that.
Stephen donned a colorful red and blue cap with nice white dots. The cap had a beautiful rainbow colored ribbon attached which allowed us to see Stephen's brain activity, and it was not unlike the Richter Scale. This incredible technology was duct-taped together, so you know it was built by real techies. Some day, when all is known about brain mapping, it should be possible to get "Call Me Maybe" out of your head. You're singing it right now, aren't you?
While Dr. Francis Collins sees the possibility of some day curing things like Autism, Schizophrenia, Parkinson's Disease, Epilepsy and Alzheimer's, Stephen wondered about the possibility of tricking your brain into thinking it's a snow day and school has been cancelled and your mom brings you tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.
In an ironic twist, Stephen played portions of the Jeremy Irons Huffington Post interview about gay marriage. When you put your mind to it, you can come up with something that no one else has thought of before. Or at least, not that anyone actually said on camera. And in a rare departure from the news we typically enjoy on The Colbert Report, Stephen put forth some of his opinions on the issues, although he didn't really have strong feelings either way.
One thing that Google hasn't dominated yet is brain mapping. I enjoy their road maps and satellite images and street views, but they don't have a brain map yet, at least not that I know of. But President Obama is planning on mapping brains. Indeed, there is an acronym - BRAIN. Stephen pointed out that it's not fair to use the acronym in the acronym, but I don't have feelings either way about that. BRAIN stands for "Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies." And now you all see the value of acronyms. Anyway, Stephen pointed out that it logically follows that if a gun registry means they're coming for our guns, it follows that a brain registry means they're coming for our brains. Don't worry. I think there are many people out there that won't miss them.
Dr. Francis Collins joined Stephen last Thursday (4th time here) to talk about Brain Mapping. From what Stephen said when Dr. Collins was introduced, it sounds like he has quite a brain himself, maybe even as good as the one Stephen has. And he brought a brain. Not a real brain, but a rainbow colored teaching model. There are 86 billion neurons in each of our brains. So, did the good doctor sit in the green room and count them before the show? Someone had to count them, otherwise how would we know? I guess that doesn't matter. What does matter is that Google will not be driving a tiny car up your nose to map it. There are other ways to do that.
Stephen donned a colorful red and blue cap with nice white dots. The cap had a beautiful rainbow colored ribbon attached which allowed us to see Stephen's brain activity, and it was not unlike the Richter Scale. This incredible technology was duct-taped together, so you know it was built by real techies. Some day, when all is known about brain mapping, it should be possible to get "Call Me Maybe" out of your head. You're singing it right now, aren't you?
While Dr. Francis Collins sees the possibility of some day curing things like Autism, Schizophrenia, Parkinson's Disease, Epilepsy and Alzheimer's, Stephen wondered about the possibility of tricking your brain into thinking it's a snow day and school has been cancelled and your mom brings you tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Farquar Lake
Occasionally I take a break from the rigors of life and relax a bit. One way to do that is with serene and peaceful videos that make your cares just melt away. If you are in need of some simple relaxation without having to do anything more strenuous than clicking a link, go over to bing.com today and enjoy the warm brown tones of Farquar Lake in Apple Valley, Minnesota.
Then when you are ready to get going again, try saying Farquar Lake ten times fast to get your brain in gear. Both the relaxation technique and the energizing technique are proven strategies. Proven by me, but that still makes it valid.
Once I have recovered from the survey (see next posts) being removed, I will write about Thursday's wonderful show.
Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake.
Then when you are ready to get going again, try saying Farquar Lake ten times fast to get your brain in gear. Both the relaxation technique and the energizing technique are proven strategies. Proven by me, but that still makes it valid.
Once I have recovered from the survey (see next posts) being removed, I will write about Thursday's wonderful show.
Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake, Farquar Lake.
Are You Kidding Me? Are You KIDDING ME?????
What???????
I looked at Survey Monkey after I posted the post about the survey and this is what they had:
-----
This survey is currently closed. Please email drew at ciienterprises with any questions. Thank you to the more than 50,000 people age 18-29 who, regardless of party, made their voice heard! A special thanks to Cindy McCain, Marilyn McKenna and Stephen Colbert for making this a great success. Please look for more surveys in the future by following @justplaindrew
-----
Okay, well we know who Cindy McCain is. She is married to John McCain. And I wonder if that question regarding who you voted for in the State of Washington has anything to do with the fact that Rob McKenna's wife is Marilyn McKenna and Rob McKenna lost the race for governor in Washington. And Stephen Colbert, well that's where I learned about the Survey.
So, the survey is over. Luckily, I still have the survey open in a different browser window, so here's a bit more about what the survey was about.
They asked about your gender, with the options being female or male. Your age and you could put anything you wanted, there were no categories. Zip code. Questions about social media, how you get political information, if you are registered to vote, important issues, whether you support gay marriage, abortion, party affiliation, stuff about Republican Party, Tea Party, your level of political involvement, what you think about taxes, whether you know someone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, more about sexual orientation, marijuana, border fence, church, do you work.
So, that's what was there. I can only hope that you are a faithful member of the Colbert Nation and that you already filled out your survey. If I had known they were going to find a way to shut that whole thing down, I would have made sure to have at least posted a link to the Monkey Survey here yesterday.
Time marches on. See next post for more about the RNC Survey.
I looked at Survey Monkey after I posted the post about the survey and this is what they had:
-----
This survey is currently closed. Please email drew at ciienterprises with any questions. Thank you to the more than 50,000 people age 18-29 who, regardless of party, made their voice heard! A special thanks to Cindy McCain, Marilyn McKenna and Stephen Colbert for making this a great success. Please look for more surveys in the future by following @justplaindrew
-----
Okay, well we know who Cindy McCain is. She is married to John McCain. And I wonder if that question regarding who you voted for in the State of Washington has anything to do with the fact that Rob McKenna's wife is Marilyn McKenna and Rob McKenna lost the race for governor in Washington. And Stephen Colbert, well that's where I learned about the Survey.
So, the survey is over. Luckily, I still have the survey open in a different browser window, so here's a bit more about what the survey was about.
They asked about your gender, with the options being female or male. Your age and you could put anything you wanted, there were no categories. Zip code. Questions about social media, how you get political information, if you are registered to vote, important issues, whether you support gay marriage, abortion, party affiliation, stuff about Republican Party, Tea Party, your level of political involvement, what you think about taxes, whether you know someone who is gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, more about sexual orientation, marijuana, border fence, church, do you work.
So, that's what was there. I can only hope that you are a faithful member of the Colbert Nation and that you already filled out your survey. If I had known they were going to find a way to shut that whole thing down, I would have made sure to have at least posted a link to the Monkey Survey here yesterday.
Time marches on. See next post for more about the RNC Survey.
How Do You Most Often Communication With People?
Last night was one of those nights when there was so much news and commentary on The Colbert Report my head was spinning. It still is.
First off, the First Congressional District in South Carolina. The winner of the GOP Primary there was Mark Sanford. You may remember him as the "Appalachian Hiker with extremely poor sense of direction." Yes, he's the former South Carolina Governor who was unfaithful to his wife and betrayed the public trust by leaving the state, even the country, and going to see his mistress down in Argentina. Stephen compared his good fortune at getting a second chance in politics to that of Silvio Berlusconi of Italy.
Who else is running to represent the First District? You might know this. Elizabeth Colbert Busch! Stephen's sister! Stephen whipped up a sparkling poster for her which is quite nice. It has all the right colors - red, white, And blue. It has stars on it and symbols from the flag of South Carolina on it, so I'm pretty sure that means she will win.
Stephen was not even going to mention this political race until Morning Joe basically brought it to Stephen. Morning Joe had his good buddy Mark Sanford on for an infomercial and said that Elizabeth Colbert Busch has her own show - The Colbert Report. The love fest was great but then they talked about Mark Sanford's honesty about his lies to the people of South Carolina. Stephen thinks he would have been just as honest if no one had caught him back when he was hiking. My thought was that age old Fortune Cookie saying, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." I don't know if they ever got around to discussing the trait Mark Sanford seems to be the most proud of, his humility.
Stephen went on to endorse Elizabeth Colbert Busch and to give credit to Morning Joe. It was because of Morning Joe that Stephen was inspired to make such a bold endorsement.
Good friend of the show and proud owner of the complete Petticoat Junction DVD Boxed Set Louie Gohmert had some views on gun control and gay marriage. He also is somewhat of a numbers person, often comparing the number 10 to the number 9 and the number 11. Stephen continued on with the numbers, even dabbling in some basic algebra. You know, If A=B and B=C, then, well something about bees and bacon and then sheep and zoos.
FUN SURVEY
Now comes the fun part of the show. The RNC is going to bond with young people by giving them a survey. It's over at Survey Monkey, the most trusted simian data collection service. Stephen even had a photograph of one of the monkeys who most likely is helping with the survey. The Survey Monkey had on a white lab coat, so that makes it legitimate. You can go over and take the survey. Oops, I take that back. If you are under 30 years of age you can take it. If you are 30 years of age or older, don't go to the survey here at www.surveymonkey.com/s/8PXHD8Y. (update: sadly, survey is closed.)
Lucky for us, Stephen is qualified to take the survey. He had some fave questions, for example, number 36. "Do you think that the Republican Party discriminates against people? If so, which people?" There were many options there, but Stephen pointed out that White People was the only option that the survey refers to as people. (Stephen marked the box for "The Republican Party does NOT discriminate against anyone.")
Stephen's absolute favorite question was number 38. "What is your sexual orientation?" One of the options was "In the closet." Stephen pointed out how smart it is to mark that on a Republican survey. Logically though, you can't mark "In the Closet" because then you would be out of the closet. Stephen really knows his way around all the intricacies of the survey.
I would point out some personal favorites of my own while there is a commercial airing. (It's not airing right now. I'm watching The Colbert Report on TiVo, but if I was watching live, then there would be a commercial now, but never mind.)
#3 is simple. It just asks for your zip code. This is extremely important. Later on, when they figure out what message will make you vote for Republicans, you will get stuff in the mail or hear commercials on the radio in your home town or see TV ads in your marketing area that will reflect what you want to hear. So be sure to fill in your zip code. Don't use 90210 unless you live in Beverly Hills.
#5 is about how you get your political information. I thought there should have been a separate category for "The Colbert Report" but there is a box for television, so I guess that will do.
#6 is great because of the creative use of words. "How do you most often communication with people?"
#14 was tricky for me. I couldn't decide on whether to choose the option with "want support them" or "want to support them." (Good thing they didn't have a question about speaking English. The grammar or spelling or proofreading is a bit shaky on some of these questions.)
#20 is maybe the most important question. It has a box for you to write your answer in. It asks, "What would a Republican have to do or say in order for you to vote for her/him?" This is where #3 about zip code comes in. You write down what a Republican has to say in order for you to vote for him/her. If a lot of people in the same zip code say the same thing, then that is what the Republican will say in that zip code area and voila! you vote for him/her. Good for you/he/she/it!
#22 the nice question. One wonders why there wasn't a nasty option.
#26 the answer is no. The Republican Party does not seem like fun. Only fun. is fun.
#41 you can ignore this unless you live in Washington State. It asks if you voted for Jay Inslee for governor or Rob McKenna. I don't know why they would ask that unless it is because it was such a close election and they think that can somehow help them figure out how to appeal to young folks.
#50 is your chance to say anything you want. (Hey, be nice.) It is optional. Of course the whole survey is optional, especially if you are old. Remember it's just for youngsters. If you can actually remember watching Petticoat Junction on TV, you are too old.
Anyway, that survey link again in case you lost it is www.surveymonkey.com/s/8PXHD8Y.(update: sadly survey is closed.)
A.C. GRAYLING
Stephen's guest last night (and of course by now it is tomorrow so I mean the night before last night) was A.C. Grayling. His latest book is "The God Argument - The Case Against Religion and for Humanism."
Stephen was worried that Humanism is similar to Veganism. You can see how that would be troubling. Stephen admitted, "I am delicious." So, yes he would be worried if the two 'isms are related. But actually, humanism is an attitude about how we live a moral life. As you could expect, Stephen defended religion while A.C. Grayling defended what could be called a more natural form of morality. A.C. Grayling even reached all the say back to Socrates for some moral teachings. Of course, things didn't end well for Socrates.
First off, the First Congressional District in South Carolina. The winner of the GOP Primary there was Mark Sanford. You may remember him as the "Appalachian Hiker with extremely poor sense of direction." Yes, he's the former South Carolina Governor who was unfaithful to his wife and betrayed the public trust by leaving the state, even the country, and going to see his mistress down in Argentina. Stephen compared his good fortune at getting a second chance in politics to that of Silvio Berlusconi of Italy.
Who else is running to represent the First District? You might know this. Elizabeth Colbert Busch! Stephen's sister! Stephen whipped up a sparkling poster for her which is quite nice. It has all the right colors - red, white, And blue. It has stars on it and symbols from the flag of South Carolina on it, so I'm pretty sure that means she will win.
Stephen was not even going to mention this political race until Morning Joe basically brought it to Stephen. Morning Joe had his good buddy Mark Sanford on for an infomercial and said that Elizabeth Colbert Busch has her own show - The Colbert Report. The love fest was great but then they talked about Mark Sanford's honesty about his lies to the people of South Carolina. Stephen thinks he would have been just as honest if no one had caught him back when he was hiking. My thought was that age old Fortune Cookie saying, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." I don't know if they ever got around to discussing the trait Mark Sanford seems to be the most proud of, his humility.
Stephen went on to endorse Elizabeth Colbert Busch and to give credit to Morning Joe. It was because of Morning Joe that Stephen was inspired to make such a bold endorsement.
Good friend of the show and proud owner of the complete Petticoat Junction DVD Boxed Set Louie Gohmert had some views on gun control and gay marriage. He also is somewhat of a numbers person, often comparing the number 10 to the number 9 and the number 11. Stephen continued on with the numbers, even dabbling in some basic algebra. You know, If A=B and B=C, then, well something about bees and bacon and then sheep and zoos.
FUN SURVEY
Now comes the fun part of the show. The RNC is going to bond with young people by giving them a survey. It's over at Survey Monkey, the most trusted simian data collection service. Stephen even had a photograph of one of the monkeys who most likely is helping with the survey. The Survey Monkey had on a white lab coat, so that makes it legitimate. You can go over and take the survey. Oops, I take that back. If you are under 30 years of age you can take it. If you are 30 years of age or older, don't go to the survey here at www.surveymonkey.com/s/8PXHD8Y. (update: sadly, survey is closed.)
Lucky for us, Stephen is qualified to take the survey. He had some fave questions, for example, number 36. "Do you think that the Republican Party discriminates against people? If so, which people?" There were many options there, but Stephen pointed out that White People was the only option that the survey refers to as people. (Stephen marked the box for "The Republican Party does NOT discriminate against anyone.")
Stephen's absolute favorite question was number 38. "What is your sexual orientation?" One of the options was "In the closet." Stephen pointed out how smart it is to mark that on a Republican survey. Logically though, you can't mark "In the Closet" because then you would be out of the closet. Stephen really knows his way around all the intricacies of the survey.
I would point out some personal favorites of my own while there is a commercial airing. (It's not airing right now. I'm watching The Colbert Report on TiVo, but if I was watching live, then there would be a commercial now, but never mind.)
#3 is simple. It just asks for your zip code. This is extremely important. Later on, when they figure out what message will make you vote for Republicans, you will get stuff in the mail or hear commercials on the radio in your home town or see TV ads in your marketing area that will reflect what you want to hear. So be sure to fill in your zip code. Don't use 90210 unless you live in Beverly Hills.
#5 is about how you get your political information. I thought there should have been a separate category for "The Colbert Report" but there is a box for television, so I guess that will do.
#6 is great because of the creative use of words. "How do you most often communication with people?"
#14 was tricky for me. I couldn't decide on whether to choose the option with "want support them" or "want to support them." (Good thing they didn't have a question about speaking English. The grammar or spelling or proofreading is a bit shaky on some of these questions.)
#20 is maybe the most important question. It has a box for you to write your answer in. It asks, "What would a Republican have to do or say in order for you to vote for her/him?" This is where #3 about zip code comes in. You write down what a Republican has to say in order for you to vote for him/her. If a lot of people in the same zip code say the same thing, then that is what the Republican will say in that zip code area and voila! you vote for him/her. Good for you/he/she/it!
#22 the nice question. One wonders why there wasn't a nasty option.
#26 the answer is no. The Republican Party does not seem like fun. Only fun. is fun.
#41 you can ignore this unless you live in Washington State. It asks if you voted for Jay Inslee for governor or Rob McKenna. I don't know why they would ask that unless it is because it was such a close election and they think that can somehow help them figure out how to appeal to young folks.
#50 is your chance to say anything you want. (Hey, be nice.) It is optional. Of course the whole survey is optional, especially if you are old. Remember it's just for youngsters. If you can actually remember watching Petticoat Junction on TV, you are too old.
Anyway, that survey link again in case you lost it is www.surveymonkey.com/s/8PXHD8Y.(update: sadly survey is closed.)
A.C. GRAYLING
Stephen's guest last night (and of course by now it is tomorrow so I mean the night before last night) was A.C. Grayling. His latest book is "The God Argument - The Case Against Religion and for Humanism."
Stephen was worried that Humanism is similar to Veganism. You can see how that would be troubling. Stephen admitted, "I am delicious." So, yes he would be worried if the two 'isms are related. But actually, humanism is an attitude about how we live a moral life. As you could expect, Stephen defended religion while A.C. Grayling defended what could be called a more natural form of morality. A.C. Grayling even reached all the say back to Socrates for some moral teachings. Of course, things didn't end well for Socrates.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Americone Dream in Florida
While we are all waiting for June, the month for weddings and Supreme Court rulings to be handed down, we got a glimpse into what Sue Everhart, Georgia GOP Chairwoman, is thinking on the matter of marriage equality. Stehpen had one of her quotes from April 1 of this year. "Lord, I'm going to get in trouble over this, but it is not natural for two women or two men to be married... If it was natural, they would have the equipment to have a sexual relationship." Actually, she thinks this whole current situation is all about heterosexuals getting free health care and therefore committing fraud.
We found out that Austin, Texas is on North Korea's list, probably because of the SXSW Music Festival. The reason is that SXSW has become too commercial. Stephen had Victor Cha, author of "The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future," on to discuss briefly what's going on over in North Korea. It was interesting and somewhat confusing. Hopefully he won't come back on to update Stephen.
Amazingly enough, while doing a segment on Florida laws, Stephen cleverly put in a visual plug for Ben & Jerry's Americone Dream Ice Cream. Some might think he was pointing out the futility of trying to come up with a law that neglects to consider the shoes we all wear each and every day, but I'm pretty sure it was all just a ploy to get us all to go buy some more of his namesake ice cream treat. I know it sure made me hungry for some munchies.
Stephen's guest was the Governor of New Jersey. No not that Governor, this former Governor. Jim McGreevey was a Governor of New Jersey a few years before Chris Christie. Stephen called him Gov Jim. The former Governor currently is working with female women in jail, counseling them and helping them put there lives back on track. He said that about 70% of them are there because of drugs.. They work on a spiritual level, which includes Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism. Jim McGreevey said that in many ways the women are as good as what Jesus meant for us to be. And what Stephen heard him say was that Jesus was a criminal, Jesus was an addict. I guess that good ear of Stephen's is not quite healed yet.
We found out that Austin, Texas is on North Korea's list, probably because of the SXSW Music Festival. The reason is that SXSW has become too commercial. Stephen had Victor Cha, author of "The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future," on to discuss briefly what's going on over in North Korea. It was interesting and somewhat confusing. Hopefully he won't come back on to update Stephen.
Amazingly enough, while doing a segment on Florida laws, Stephen cleverly put in a visual plug for Ben & Jerry's Americone Dream Ice Cream. Some might think he was pointing out the futility of trying to come up with a law that neglects to consider the shoes we all wear each and every day, but I'm pretty sure it was all just a ploy to get us all to go buy some more of his namesake ice cream treat. I know it sure made me hungry for some munchies.
Stephen's guest was the Governor of New Jersey. No not that Governor, this former Governor. Jim McGreevey was a Governor of New Jersey a few years before Chris Christie. Stephen called him Gov Jim. The former Governor currently is working with female women in jail, counseling them and helping them put there lives back on track. He said that about 70% of them are there because of drugs.. They work on a spiritual level, which includes Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism. Jim McGreevey said that in many ways the women are as good as what Jesus meant for us to be. And what Stephen heard him say was that Jesus was a criminal, Jesus was an addict. I guess that good ear of Stephen's is not quite healed yet.
G gle - What Were They Thinking?
Silly me. Stephen said at the beginning of the show on April 1 that "This is not The Colbert Report." And so I turned off the TV machine. Only when I looked at TiVo and found that a whole half hour had been recorded did I figure it out. I watched the show and realized it was his April Fools joke. Guess that makes me his fool. Mea Culpa. What can I say?
Turns out that Easter was not as blessed as it could have been for Stephen. Fox and Friends were upset that Google honored Cesar Chavez as their Google Doodle on March 31. Cesar Chavez was born on March 31 and thus that is why the Google Doodle was there on March 31. Sometimes I think Google just loves putting things up for a Doodle that people don't know about. You know, kind of a, oh what do they call it? Oh, yeah, a teachable moment. I mean, well, did you know it was Cesar Chavez Day?
Anyway, Foxy is upset and wonders "What they were thinking?" Stephen echoed her sentiment, even getting her voice right. What indeed? Imagine honoring the founder of the United Farm Workers who said this, "The truest act of courage... is to sacrifice yourself for others." (March 10, 1968) It was even suggested by Gretchen Carlson that people might boycott Google. I would give you a link to "Google Boycott" but then it wouldn't be a boycott, so there's no way to find out.
After complaining that the new Pope, Pope Francis, was annoying him by acting too humble, Stephen started ripping into Obamacare. Congressional Republicans are doing what they can, in fact, they "have voted 39 times... to repeal 'Obamacare,'..."
We learned a lot about health care, specifically TennCare in Tennessee. Under Obamacare, 180,000 people would be added to TennCare which is what they call Medicaid there. Here's what Governor Bill Haslam of Tennessee said on March 13, 2013: "A lot of people say, 'hey, that's an easy call. Just expand three years 100 percent and then walk away at that point in time.' I don't think you can easily walk away." This points up the difference between telling people they are no longer getting health care versus telling them they are never getting health care. In Tennessee they do know a thing or two about health care because they have a health care lottery. Twice a year, residents who have high medical bills can call and ask for an application to the lottery. After about an hour, the lottery is over and if you didn't make it , you can try again in six months. If you don't win that lottery, Stephen suggested that you can call Nurse Brandy for $2.99 per minute.
About this point into the show, I was beginning to wonder if the whole show wasn't just one big April Fools Joke, but I will continue as if it was all sincere as any other day. Utah DNR is having an Earth Day Poster Contest. The theme is "Where Would WE Be Without Oil, Gas & Mining?" The contest is co-sponsored by the Society of Petroleum Engineers." One of the rules is "Do Not Use Glitter." That's right. If you spill that stuff, it is impossible to clean up. Stephen would know. He still has a bad case of Disco Lung due to an accident at a craft fair in 1998. If you want more information about Earth Day, you can look here, or here or here.
Stephen's guest on April Fools Day was Sigourney Weaver. They are mutual enormous tall fans of each other. When Stephen asked her what she topped out at, she told him, "Seven Four in flats." So taller than I would have expected. No wait, she was fooling with him. She's only Five Eleven. Stephen mentioned some of her more famous movies, the Alien series, Avatar, Ghost Busters. Of those, only Ghostbusters brought cheers and applause from the audience!
Currently Sigourney Weaver is in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. If you look around a little bit at that link there, you will learn that Sigourney Weaver plays Masha whose interests include jetsetting, signing autographs, and humility. Stephen did actually go to see the play and enjoyed it and even had the Playbill to prove that he saw it. He asked her why she would do theater - wasn't it a stretch to play a movie star since she actually is one? She admitted that it was difficult to play such a deeply shallow person.
Trivia fact. Sigourney Weaver's dad, Pat Weaver, started the Tonight Show. They talked a bit about the old days and Sigourney told Stephen that probably Johnny Carson would be impressed with Stephen Colbert. They talked a bit more about Hollywood, movies, TV and political involvement. I wondered if her views didn't tend toward a more liberal side than those of Stephen, a conservative, but he never tried to put her in her place.
Perhaps you can guess where that interview was headed all along and eventually Stephen did get there. He needed to ask her a question. She was a bit concerned but she let him ask his final question. As a journalist, he had to ask it. It's was a tough one, but a good question to end the interview with, so... "Sigourney Weaver, who ya gonna call?"
Turns out that Easter was not as blessed as it could have been for Stephen. Fox and Friends were upset that Google honored Cesar Chavez as their Google Doodle on March 31. Cesar Chavez was born on March 31 and thus that is why the Google Doodle was there on March 31. Sometimes I think Google just loves putting things up for a Doodle that people don't know about. You know, kind of a, oh what do they call it? Oh, yeah, a teachable moment. I mean, well, did you know it was Cesar Chavez Day?
Anyway, Foxy is upset and wonders "What they were thinking?" Stephen echoed her sentiment, even getting her voice right. What indeed? Imagine honoring the founder of the United Farm Workers who said this, "The truest act of courage... is to sacrifice yourself for others." (March 10, 1968) It was even suggested by Gretchen Carlson that people might boycott Google. I would give you a link to "Google Boycott" but then it wouldn't be a boycott, so there's no way to find out.
After complaining that the new Pope, Pope Francis, was annoying him by acting too humble, Stephen started ripping into Obamacare. Congressional Republicans are doing what they can, in fact, they "have voted 39 times... to repeal 'Obamacare,'..."
We learned a lot about health care, specifically TennCare in Tennessee. Under Obamacare, 180,000 people would be added to TennCare which is what they call Medicaid there. Here's what Governor Bill Haslam of Tennessee said on March 13, 2013: "A lot of people say, 'hey, that's an easy call. Just expand three years 100 percent and then walk away at that point in time.' I don't think you can easily walk away." This points up the difference between telling people they are no longer getting health care versus telling them they are never getting health care. In Tennessee they do know a thing or two about health care because they have a health care lottery. Twice a year, residents who have high medical bills can call and ask for an application to the lottery. After about an hour, the lottery is over and if you didn't make it , you can try again in six months. If you don't win that lottery, Stephen suggested that you can call Nurse Brandy for $2.99 per minute.
About this point into the show, I was beginning to wonder if the whole show wasn't just one big April Fools Joke, but I will continue as if it was all sincere as any other day. Utah DNR is having an Earth Day Poster Contest. The theme is "Where Would WE Be Without Oil, Gas & Mining?" The contest is co-sponsored by the Society of Petroleum Engineers." One of the rules is "Do Not Use Glitter." That's right. If you spill that stuff, it is impossible to clean up. Stephen would know. He still has a bad case of Disco Lung due to an accident at a craft fair in 1998. If you want more information about Earth Day, you can look here, or here or here.
Stephen's guest on April Fools Day was Sigourney Weaver. They are mutual enormous tall fans of each other. When Stephen asked her what she topped out at, she told him, "Seven Four in flats." So taller than I would have expected. No wait, she was fooling with him. She's only Five Eleven. Stephen mentioned some of her more famous movies, the Alien series, Avatar, Ghost Busters. Of those, only Ghostbusters brought cheers and applause from the audience!
Currently Sigourney Weaver is in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. If you look around a little bit at that link there, you will learn that Sigourney Weaver plays Masha whose interests include jetsetting, signing autographs, and humility. Stephen did actually go to see the play and enjoyed it and even had the Playbill to prove that he saw it. He asked her why she would do theater - wasn't it a stretch to play a movie star since she actually is one? She admitted that it was difficult to play such a deeply shallow person.
Trivia fact. Sigourney Weaver's dad, Pat Weaver, started the Tonight Show. They talked a bit about the old days and Sigourney told Stephen that probably Johnny Carson would be impressed with Stephen Colbert. They talked a bit more about Hollywood, movies, TV and political involvement. I wondered if her views didn't tend toward a more liberal side than those of Stephen, a conservative, but he never tried to put her in her place.
Perhaps you can guess where that interview was headed all along and eventually Stephen did get there. He needed to ask her a question. She was a bit concerned but she let him ask his final question. As a journalist, he had to ask it. It's was a tough one, but a good question to end the interview with, so... "Sigourney Weaver, who ya gonna call?"
Monday, April 1, 2013
Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice
The Supreme Court is on every one's mind. Last week they were hearing arguments about Prop 8 and DOMA. Justice Ginsberg talked about two kinds of marriage, the full marriage and a sort of skim milk marriage. Defense of Marriage Act grants about 1100 benefits to married couples and that is part of the reason DOMA is up for discussion. So, what's the beef with not wanting everyone to be able to marry? And why do people get married? Well, simply put, it's procreation. There's no valid reason for people to get married unless they are going to procreate. We can all agree, I'm sure, that anyone that is not going to have children and lots of them has no business getting married.
With nine justices on the Supreme Court, Stephen explained that it is evenly divided four-four. The deciding vote often is cast by Justice Anthony Kennedy.You may remember he said in Citizens United that Corporations are people with Constitutional Rights. Stephen mentioned something about people who might just be declared people with Constitutional Rights. Something to think about. (Is a corporation a man or a woman? That would be something that Stephen could investigate for a future show. I wonder why he didn't bring that up in his discussion.)
To explain it all to Stephen, Emily Bazelon, Senior Editor of Slate, came on the show, and when he let her do some of the talking it was all very informative and confusing. Since no one will know until mid summer, he wanted her to tell what is going to happen. She did say at one point, "It looks like DOMA is going down." After their long discussion, I was more informed but way more confused.
Stephen's guest last Thursday night was Dr. Robert Lustig. The two discussed his book, "Fat Chance - Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease." Stephen wanted to know what his beef with sugar is. Fascinating talk back and forth between the two of them. I imagine part of Robert Lustig's concern is that he sees so many young children with obesity which can be quite a problem. He says we need to reduce our sugar consumption, but it is hard because it is an ingredient in many foods that we would not even suspect, such as taco meat. Stephen argued that corn syrup ( a sweetener) is natural, just like parsley or hemlock. Well, Stephen does have a point. Here's something you may not have known. There are 56 names for sugar which makes it hard to check the ingredient list when you are shopping. Luckily, we found out that food wrappers have more health benefits than the food does.
With nine justices on the Supreme Court, Stephen explained that it is evenly divided four-four. The deciding vote often is cast by Justice Anthony Kennedy.You may remember he said in Citizens United that Corporations are people with Constitutional Rights. Stephen mentioned something about people who might just be declared people with Constitutional Rights. Something to think about. (Is a corporation a man or a woman? That would be something that Stephen could investigate for a future show. I wonder why he didn't bring that up in his discussion.)
To explain it all to Stephen, Emily Bazelon, Senior Editor of Slate, came on the show, and when he let her do some of the talking it was all very informative and confusing. Since no one will know until mid summer, he wanted her to tell what is going to happen. She did say at one point, "It looks like DOMA is going down." After their long discussion, I was more informed but way more confused.
Stephen's guest last Thursday night was Dr. Robert Lustig. The two discussed his book, "Fat Chance - Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease." Stephen wanted to know what his beef with sugar is. Fascinating talk back and forth between the two of them. I imagine part of Robert Lustig's concern is that he sees so many young children with obesity which can be quite a problem. He says we need to reduce our sugar consumption, but it is hard because it is an ingredient in many foods that we would not even suspect, such as taco meat. Stephen argued that corn syrup ( a sweetener) is natural, just like parsley or hemlock. Well, Stephen does have a point. Here's something you may not have known. There are 56 names for sugar which makes it hard to check the ingredient list when you are shopping. Luckily, we found out that food wrappers have more health benefits than the food does.
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