Butterfly in the Sky

I often say that The Colbert Report is the best show ever. Well, I was reminded last week that there are also other best shows ever.

Thursday's show brought a very refined Stephen out onto a lovely, redecorated set. I am going to love this new set of his. It was about time for a fresh look. Stephen shared with us the book "The Great Gatsby" for his Colbert Book Club. The book, which Stephen definitely did read, is a classic and there is a movie out now that is decent. In the first of many people who showed up on the show, we got to meet Carey Mulligan who is actually in the movie version of "The Great Gatsby" and, like Stephen, did read the book. Go take a look at her Wikipedia page. It is quite interesting. She is married to Marcus Mumford and that name sounds so familiar to me for some reason. I wish I could remember why. Also, she has a lot of Nominations and Wins for all sorts of films and TV shows. I would think Stephen would be somewhat uncomfortable sharing the stage with such talent, but he was enthralled with her.

You would think the excitement ends there, but no. Yet another famous person was on the show. LeVar Burton, another one of my favorite people. He had the ultimate book club of all time, "Reading Rainbow." But you don't have to take my word for it. Anyway, LeVar was able to help Stephen and Carey understand how important the book "The Great Gatsby" was. (Special thanks to James Franco for his help with Carey's lines.)

So, I am not sure what I should do or say now. Is The Colbert Report the best show ever? Or is it Reading Rainbow? Just when I thought I could decide, I was reminded of yet another best show ever, Star Trek. It's more than I can deal with to try to decide which is best.

Next up as a guest was Jennifer Egan, yet another person with links to literature and awards. So she and Stephen had a lot in common.  As most book club fans, she had a "glass" of Chardonnay. They had a lovely discussion of the book and of Gatsby. Everything worked out well for all the characters for the most part. Maybe not everything, but well, a few things. Sort of. Maybe not so good.

And then the regular guest Baz Luhrmann who directed the current film version of The Great Gatsby was interviewed by Stephen. I guess what first got Baz Luhrmann interested in Gatsby was when he read the Australian translation of the book when he was younger. Well, maybe books on tape would be more accurate. Anyway, the book was a favorite of his even though he slept through it. The film, it turns out, is a favorite of Stephen's even though he slept through the movie. But all's well that ends well, and everyone should either read the book or go to the movie or both.

Amercia

Where is spell check when you need it? Apparently, Mitt Romney wants to be president of Amercia. Oops. Stephen talked about this and then sang our new nation's praises. Don't get up. Remain seated. You may remember Mitt Romney likes to sing the song, "America the Beautiful." Well, same tune, different words, really different words. You have to go over to Colbert Nation and listen to Stephen sing the anthem.

Stephen closed that segment by getting his audience to cheer with him for Romney 2102:
SUA   SUA   SUA   SUA

Alan Alda. Where to start? He is to be admired. He still has that boyish charm of Hawkeye from M.A.S.H. He still has that twinkle in his eye. He told us that he tends to be an independent thinker, so in that regard, he probably is quite a bit like Stephen. I wish the interview could have been longer because I think Stephen could learn a lot from Alan Alda, mainly a little bit of comedic chatter. Stephen is a newsman, and a good one at that. However, he could be better if he would lighten up a bit and throw in a joke now and then.

Let me explain. Sometimes interviews tend to be so exciting that both people talk at the same time. That happened with Alan Alda and Stephen. So as not to seem to be criticizing Stephen, Alan Alda just quickly said, "Don't let me interrupt." Ha ha ha. That is funny. I will have to remember that. So much more effective than pouting or yelling at the interviewer.

Enough humor though. Science. Specifically, World Science Festival. I wish I was in New York City. I would so go to this. It's going on right now, even as we speak. Well, maybe not in the wee hours of the night, but still, it would be worth going. Levar Burton, yet another one of my heroes, spoke on May 30. Conductor Brad Lubman and the Orchestra of St. Luke's performed. And what about a Universal Vaccine? Is that possible? So, cool stuff going on there.

What is a flame? That is what Alan Alda wants to know. And he wants scientists to explain it. And he wants them to explain it to 11-year-old kids. Thirty countries plus USA (SUA?) had entries and they were judged by actual 11-year-olds. Not to be outdone by 11-year-olds judgment of the answers, Stephen explained in great detail what a flame is.

Now I understand completely.