I came across this YouTube video of Christopher Walken reading the book, "Where the Wild Things Are" by friend of the show, Maurice Sendak. It's about 9 minutes long and is typical Walken.
You may remember Maurice Sendak was on The Colbert Report back in January of this year. You can read about Sendak on this blog.
Once Upon a Time
and
Give Me Twenty Bucks and I'll Eat a Bug
and
Coincidence - You Decide
Grab a bowl of popcorn and a root beer and sit back, listen, and enjoy the golden tones of Christopher Walken's voice.
Showing posts with label Maurice Sendak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maurice Sendak. Show all posts
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Coincidence - You Decide
So this morning I was just Googling around and found something that made me think, "Wow, what a coincidence!" The two people that were on last night's The Colbert Report also were together before. Oh, I know what you are thinking. Maurice Sendak was not actually on the show. It was taped previously and shown last night. Point taken.
But it seemed like it could have been planned. Or maybe it' just that Terry Gross interviews lots of people and eventually she would interview Maurice Sendak. Whatever it is, coincidence or good planning,I found "This Pig Wants to Party: Maurice Sendak's Latest" over at NPR. It's about 20 minutes, so maybe grab a cup of coffee and a scone and Listen to the Story.
But it seemed like it could have been planned. Or maybe it' just that Terry Gross interviews lots of people and eventually she would interview Maurice Sendak. Whatever it is, coincidence or good planning,I found "This Pig Wants to Party: Maurice Sendak's Latest" over at NPR. It's about 20 minutes, so maybe grab a cup of coffee and a scone and Listen to the Story.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Give Me Twenty Bucks and I'll Eat a Bug
Tonight was the conclusion of Stephen's interview with Maurice Sendak. He gave us a little bit of insight into his likes in literature. He does say that he thinks the current state of children's books is abysmal.
Green Eggs and Ham - Good, everything by Seuss is Good.
Give a Mouse a Cookie - UGH
Curious George - Great
But on to the serious matters of the night. Although Stephen is a celebrity, apparently he is not enough of a celebrity to be able to whip out a children's book in such a short time. He needs suggestions from Maurice. So what's it take to make a successful book?
"You've started already by being an idiot." See, that's the neat things about literary giants. They come right out and say what they think. But Stephen did have a rough draft of a book he has written, "I Am a Pole" and he shared it with Maurice.
"The sad thing is I like it." Maurice is kinder than I expected he would be about Stephen's book.
"Can I get that as a blurb?" asks a hesitant Stephen.
"Oh absolutely."
Stephen also got drawing lessons from Maurice and it was in high style when they finished their drawings. We can look forward to the book coming out soon.
Tonight's guest was Terry Gross from Fresh Air on NPR. She interviews lots of people so it was interesting for her to be in the hot seat, so to speak. She stressed the importance of paying attention to all her guests, even when they seem to be rambling on and on. It seems once upon a time she was interviewing Grover Norquist, the man behind the no tax pledge that some Republicans sign.
He was going on and on about the Estate Tax (or Death Tax as it is sometimes called). Then she heard Grover Norquist say this, "The morality of the Death Tax was the morality of the Holocaust." When she asked if he actually compared the Holocaust to the Death Tax, he said, "No, no, I compared the MORALITY of the Death Tax to the MORALITY of the Holocaust."
Stephen doesn't understand the concept of letting the guest do a lot of talking. In a way, that was a compliment to her. He also said that after 25 years at NPR, it must be hard to keep asking for money. He suggested that eventually all that will be left will be "Give me twenty bucks and I'll eat a bug."
"I'll try that," she told him.
Note: I found this website and noticed that January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Green Eggs and Ham - Good, everything by Seuss is Good.
Give a Mouse a Cookie - UGH
Curious George - Great
But on to the serious matters of the night. Although Stephen is a celebrity, apparently he is not enough of a celebrity to be able to whip out a children's book in such a short time. He needs suggestions from Maurice. So what's it take to make a successful book?
"You've started already by being an idiot." See, that's the neat things about literary giants. They come right out and say what they think. But Stephen did have a rough draft of a book he has written, "I Am a Pole" and he shared it with Maurice.
"The sad thing is I like it." Maurice is kinder than I expected he would be about Stephen's book.
"Can I get that as a blurb?" asks a hesitant Stephen.
"Oh absolutely."
Stephen also got drawing lessons from Maurice and it was in high style when they finished their drawings. We can look forward to the book coming out soon.
Tonight's guest was Terry Gross from Fresh Air on NPR. She interviews lots of people so it was interesting for her to be in the hot seat, so to speak. She stressed the importance of paying attention to all her guests, even when they seem to be rambling on and on. It seems once upon a time she was interviewing Grover Norquist, the man behind the no tax pledge that some Republicans sign.
He was going on and on about the Estate Tax (or Death Tax as it is sometimes called). Then she heard Grover Norquist say this, "The morality of the Death Tax was the morality of the Holocaust." When she asked if he actually compared the Holocaust to the Death Tax, he said, "No, no, I compared the MORALITY of the Death Tax to the MORALITY of the Holocaust."
Stephen doesn't understand the concept of letting the guest do a lot of talking. In a way, that was a compliment to her. He also said that after 25 years at NPR, it must be hard to keep asking for money. He suggested that eventually all that will be left will be "Give me twenty bucks and I'll eat a bug."
"I'll try that," she told him.
Note: I found this website and noticed that January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Once Upon a Time
It is Day Two of what's come to be known as the Colbert SuperPAC Hostage Crisis. Jon Stewart has the money and took off in his Zeppelin to avoid having to give it back to Stephen. The only possible solution is for everyone to send money to Colbert Super PAC and to give recklessly.
Politics continues to be a favorite topic. In last night's show, Stephen mentioned the possibility of a wet t-shirt contest. He was convinced that Newt Gingrich would win that contest.
Stephen ventured into the world of children's literature (Kiddy Lit as it is sometimes called). He thinks he should get into that venue since so many celebrities are writing books. And Stephen is a celebrity, so he should be able to write a children's book and make lots of money.
We had the pleasure of seeing Stephen interview Maurice Sendak, well-known author of children's books. He now has a new book out - Bumble-Ardy. Stephen and Maurice had a very lively discussion. Although Maurice has kept busy writing children's books, he still has time to closely follow the career of Newt Gingrich. He shared some of his observations of Gingrich. Stephen and Maurice went on to talk about another of Maurice Sendak's book, "In the Night Kitchen." Stephen approved of that book so much, he improved it.
Be sure to keep watching The Colbert Report to see the conclusion of Stephen's interview with Maurice Sendak.
Stephen also mentioned that he is a huge fan of Rick Santorum, because the name Santorum is synonymous with leadership. If you have been paying attention to the news you will know that Rick Santorum was in a bit of a sticky spot recently. A woman in the audience at one of the events Santorum was at said this:
"I never refer to Obama as President Obama because legally he is not. He is an avowed Muslim. He has no legal right to be calling himself President."
When asked about this on Morning Joe, about why he did not correct the woman who said that, he had an excuse. "This was an elderly lady. She was there leaning on a cane. She was quite wobbly. Uh, and I'm not going to sit there and, and slam an older lady, uh, because she has some way-out, you know, some, some bizarre beliefs."
"Bravo," said our fearless host. "You cannot correct an old person every time they say something offensive." Well, as luck, or maybe misfortune, would have it, there just happened to be an elderly lady with a cane in the audience. And she spoke her mind with no opposition from anyone.
"I know for a fact that Rick Santorum runs a white slavery ring." She seemed to have the facts to back it up, and even if she was wrong, she had a cane, no wait, 2 canes. Stephen was very hesitant to correct her until she said something that was way out of line. She then received prompt and courteous assistance of two men who were willing to help her walk off into the sunset.
The actual real sit-down guest was Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Beast. He wrote the cover article in the January 23 issue of Newsweek entitled "Why are Obama's Critics So Dumb?" That did not sit well with Stephen.The discussion became so lively and yes, even loud some times. Here's some of what the two men said:
"Checkmate."
"It is the truth."
"Who cares what's true?"
"Let's go with what feels right."
Stephen was willing to repeat things he (Colbert) said so that they could then be considered to have more truthiness. If anyone would know about truthiness, it is Stephen Colbert.
Politics continues to be a favorite topic. In last night's show, Stephen mentioned the possibility of a wet t-shirt contest. He was convinced that Newt Gingrich would win that contest.
Stephen ventured into the world of children's literature (Kiddy Lit as it is sometimes called). He thinks he should get into that venue since so many celebrities are writing books. And Stephen is a celebrity, so he should be able to write a children's book and make lots of money.
We had the pleasure of seeing Stephen interview Maurice Sendak, well-known author of children's books. He now has a new book out - Bumble-Ardy. Stephen and Maurice had a very lively discussion. Although Maurice has kept busy writing children's books, he still has time to closely follow the career of Newt Gingrich. He shared some of his observations of Gingrich. Stephen and Maurice went on to talk about another of Maurice Sendak's book, "In the Night Kitchen." Stephen approved of that book so much, he improved it.
Be sure to keep watching The Colbert Report to see the conclusion of Stephen's interview with Maurice Sendak.
Stephen also mentioned that he is a huge fan of Rick Santorum, because the name Santorum is synonymous with leadership. If you have been paying attention to the news you will know that Rick Santorum was in a bit of a sticky spot recently. A woman in the audience at one of the events Santorum was at said this:
"I never refer to Obama as President Obama because legally he is not. He is an avowed Muslim. He has no legal right to be calling himself President."
When asked about this on Morning Joe, about why he did not correct the woman who said that, he had an excuse. "This was an elderly lady. She was there leaning on a cane. She was quite wobbly. Uh, and I'm not going to sit there and, and slam an older lady, uh, because she has some way-out, you know, some, some bizarre beliefs."
"Bravo," said our fearless host. "You cannot correct an old person every time they say something offensive." Well, as luck, or maybe misfortune, would have it, there just happened to be an elderly lady with a cane in the audience. And she spoke her mind with no opposition from anyone.
"I know for a fact that Rick Santorum runs a white slavery ring." She seemed to have the facts to back it up, and even if she was wrong, she had a cane, no wait, 2 canes. Stephen was very hesitant to correct her until she said something that was way out of line. She then received prompt and courteous assistance of two men who were willing to help her walk off into the sunset.
The actual real sit-down guest was Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Beast. He wrote the cover article in the January 23 issue of Newsweek entitled "Why are Obama's Critics So Dumb?" That did not sit well with Stephen.The discussion became so lively and yes, even loud some times. Here's some of what the two men said:
"Checkmate."
"It is the truth."
"Who cares what's true?"
"Let's go with what feels right."
Stephen was willing to repeat things he (Colbert) said so that they could then be considered to have more truthiness. If anyone would know about truthiness, it is Stephen Colbert.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)