Right now I’m watching The Colbert Report. Wednesday night had one of his best openings ever.
The end was equally great.
July 8th, 2010
Novelist Monte Schulz’s follow-up to his dark, yet rollicking This Side of Jordan is The Last Rose of Summer, which should be out in December.

Monte has had a long association with the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. His father attended the conference for many years, as did Ray Bradbury. The conference ran into financial trouble and ended up in bankruptcy court. Monte made an offer and now he owns the conference, presumably along with all of the headaches that go with it.
WRITERS CONFERENCE SOLD: Monte Schulz, son of the late Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz, has purchased the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robin Riblet, on Tuesday, June 8, approved the $27,000 sale. Monte plans to hold the next conference next June. There was no conference this year or last due to prior owner Marcia Meier’s bankruptcy.
And with apologies to Stephen Colbert, I think the title of this post qualifies for greatest pun of all time.

June 10th, 2010
Lia Pamina of Spain is no fan of bullfighting. She calls it torture. This is Lia expressing her opinion in a bullring.

Recently, matador Julio Aparicio was on the receiving end of some bullish wrath in Madrid. Stephen Colbert calls it one of the craziest f#?ing things he’s ever heard.
June 3rd, 2010
Everybody’s favorite diskinetic Parkie, Michael J. Fox, dropped in on Stephen Colbert last night. I’ve always loved the fantasy aspect of Snoopy’s doghouse, with its pool table and Van Gogh original, and I enjoy it when Colbert has the same sort of fun with his desk.
May 5th, 2010
After Eric and I watched Tuesday night’s Colbert Report, Carol wanted to know what we were laughing at so loudly. (Note: I had to explain to Eric who Steve Guttenberg is.)
April 29th, 2010
Monday’s ‘The Colbert Report’ had a special moment between Stephen and his guest Tom Hanks, who was 2/3 of the show. It starts at 2:15 into this video.
Mr. D.F. Rogers, B.A. History and WWII buff, watched this segment, and had these comments to make:
Hanks mentioned that much of the new show ['The Pacific' on HBO] is based on the [Eugene] Sledge book. I’ve had it for years and I brought it with me to read on the train to NYC, but instead I read a book by a B-17 pilot. I guess I’ll have to read the Sledge book next! Plus, the companion book for the series is by Ambrose’s son, so I assume that is what the father was working on when he died.
Hanks also brought up a point that I have found interesting and feel is very much forgotten and not written about. The events that happened AFTER the war finished. As mentioned, like Colbert’s Uncle Eddie, THOUSANDS of guys died in the months after the war in strange accidents and non-war related incidents.
It was very chaotic, and the U.S. troops were also saddled with going from fighting in fierce battles to being administrators and security guards almost overnight. There were millions of displaced persons from all over Europe, hundreds of thousands of surrendering troops, POW’s, starving civilians, retribution from freed slaves and workers, etc. Plus, hundreds of thousands of young American males suddenly let loose once the fighting stopped, doing what young men always do, participate in various untold “risky” behaviors of all kinds — driving cars too fast, getting blind drunk, riding horses, climbing mountains and hunting, etc.! Things had to be reined in after a few weeks of that, and the officers had to gain control again. There was some semblance of military order and duty, of course.
March 10th, 2010