Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Colbert Watch, Day 2

Still no word from the great man, by whom I mean not our local great man, whose words are boundless, but that Comedy Central character Stephen Colbert, to whom I recently sent a photo of Mayor Brad Cole with him pointing at each other.

Tuesday's show featured more 'over the top' segments and between-the-lines commentaries by Colbert -- including a searing guitar solo by the Hungarian Ambassador to the U.S.

But no Cole.

Brad did get some ink in a local daily, though: two letters in the Southern Illinoisan in support of his candidacy for re-election. I like the first letter (by local business leader Trace Brown) better -- urging voters to put partisan politics aside, and vote for Cole:
Brad Cole puts in more than 60 hours a week as mayor for $9,000 per year, of which he donates a large portion to community charities. If we have someone willing to do this, while doing an outstanding job, then why we want to make the mayor position a part-time job again?
Brown is a partner in the company that built Houlihans and the Holiday Inn at Reed Station Road.

The other letter by local Hall of Famer Marvin Kleinau, former host of Scholastic Hi-Q on WSIU. Marvin argues, why fire a guy who's worked hard and done a great job.

Replacing Brad with Sheila would be like viewers voting Stephen Colbert off his show and replacing him with Tracey Ullman. (ouch).

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

What about the deer attacks, Dave? This non-stop election coverage is a real non-starter for us out-of-towners.

Parentheticus said...

Dear Anonymous out-of-towner,
While I understand your need for variety. This blog is not a newspaper, and I am not a reporter looking for story ideas. I write about what interests me, or what I know about. Currently, only the following things interest me: 1)local art and artists; 2)local transportation (cause I'm taking over the greyhound station); 3)local election; 4)denver nuggets; 5)stephen colbert.

That list will change over time. Soon "Bike 2 Work Day" will get some digital ink.

RE: deer attacks -- a google search doesn't show anything new for a year.

PeterG said...

You are taking over the Grayhound station? You dog. :) Do tell, or at least send email.

Anonymous said...

Today's DE has an intriguing piece on the deer population on the SIUC campus. How can that be less interesting than who wrote a letter to the editor supporting Brad or Sheila?

Any-who... Bike 2 Work Day is a great topic I look forward to. We ride through Chicago's worst ghettos on that day and many other days throughout the year.

Is there anything planned for the Ride Of Silence down there this year?

Anonymous said...

Maybe Colbert will pick this up now that a GOP National PAC just bought $16,000 in television advertising. Seriously.

Parentheticus said...

$16,000 in tv advertising for Cole? What station or network? I don't think that would influence SC. At least not that small amount of money.

I think the comic possibilities are diminished with SS not playing along. By this time, he's probably got his shows planned. Even so, I plan to continue my "Colbert Watch" of new shows through Monday. I like having to watch the show and write about it.

Anonymous said...

At least some of it will be on Channel 3, if my source is correct. TV stations keep all this stuff in a public folder, so you can call/go and check easily enough for yourself.

The PAC is one of Denny Hastert's (again if my information is correct), so that might grab Colbert's attention.

Anonymous said...

If there is no comedy value in it, I am guessing it will not get Colbert's attention. After all, there's a lot of really funny material out there already.