Pope Goes the Weasel

At a time when there is no Pope we are finding out that our sweaters are possessed by demons. This couldn't come at a worse time. Pat Robertson gave us the warning but Stephen had a Consumer Alert. If you look at the labels on your clothes you will probably find the occult symbols plus instructions so that you can cast out Lucifer, always wash in cold, tumble dry low. Stephen then blessed all our clothes.

The artist formerly known as the Pope has resigned. He had times of great joy during his time as Pope but also times when he thought the Lord was sleeping. That's right. Sleeping. Of course this is not true and Stephen told us why.

As for the next Pope, we don't know who it will be. Therefore, three Pope outfits are made, in sizes small, medium and large. I imagine once the new Pope is known for sure, the tailors will be able to get those robes to fit just right. In the meantime, vendors who sell Pope merchandise are trying to move out that old merchandise before a new Pope is named. You can't blame them for trying to cash in with all those mementos and memorabilia. Stephen had examples. And he assured us that the carpet matches the shoes. I won't go into details. He also quoted scripture: "Look for the souvenir stalls in the temple, just past the moneychangers. You can't miss it!" Matthew 21:13

The Sequester is making the news all the time. Lots of bad stuff is happening. People's lives will be affected. Why is this happening? Why can't it get fixed? Perhaps Stephen had the answer with a simple explanation. The senators and representatives still get their salary regardless of what they get accomplished or not accomplished. Where do I sign up? He explained it like this. Congress thinks that it's like a loan shark that says if you don't pay up, I'm gonna break your neighbor's legs. Stephen had a solution that involved a monkey, food source and a locked door.

Jon Favreau was the guest on Thursday night. He has been working with Barack Obama since he was 23 years old - just a youngster. Favreau is much older now - he's 31. He is the former speech writer for Obama and also John Kerry. It was interesting to hear how the speech writing process works. I imagine it can be different for different people, that just makes sense. Barack Obama would talk with Jon Favreau, say all the things that were important while Favreau would type all of it. Then, he would go to work polishing it.

If you go to the Google machine to find out more, be aware that there is a Hollywood actor with the same name. Interesting, because it seems that is where this Jon Favreau is heading off to soon.

Neil Peart Drum Solo

This year, in Canada, Santa Claus is Rush. And that jingle up on the roof, that's Neil Peart doing a drum solo. (Feel free to drum along in unison with him.) I'm sure we will hear more about Christmas from Stephen as the special day gets closer.

Meanwhile, some words to throw out at you. Fiscal Cliff. Sequestration. Stephen was somewhat disappointed that just because Obama ran on the promise of raising taxes and just because he won the election, now he wants to raise taxes. On the show to talk about these problems and his book "Grand New Party," was Reihan Salam. And while they did talk money a bit, more importantly they discussed which was the Real America, Brooklyn or South Carolina.

Originally, I was going to name this post "Dreams Do Come True," but upon Googling that, I learned that it was the title of a song by Dolly Parton. Yes, Stephen's guest Dolly Parton! Upon remembering what Stephen had said when he introduced her, the part about being a song writer and writing over 3000 songs, I figured I had to come up with something that Dolly had not written a song about yet. Hopefully I succeeded.

Dolly did talk about her book, "Dream More," and she did talk about Imagination Library, and, (be still my beating heart) she and Stephen did sing a song together. Stephen played guitar also, and since he is so camera shy, it took a few takes for them to get going on the song. But is was wonderful to hear them sing together. I personally wonder if they won't end up going on tour together sometime in the future. If they do, remember, you heard it here first.

But I'm jumping ahead in the interview. Dolly Parton has 11 siblings and you probably know that Stephen has 10 siblings. What else could you expect from that than a sibling name-off. They both recited the names of their own siblings as fast as they could. I think Stephen won, but of course the winner could just be lucky enough to have siblings with shorter names. More research is needed to determine the real winner.

The two of them also discussed their families a little bit. Dolly suggested that Stephen probably was Catholic. Yes he is. She was right. She then volunteered a little bit of information about her family background and the reasoning behind her folks having so many kids.

Anyway, Stephen and Dolly sang, "Love is Like a Butterfly." As I mentioned, Stephen was a bit nervous to sing with Dolly, but she coaxed him along and they made a lovely duo.