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Argh, man where does the time go? Tons o’ stuff to catch up on here and I’m way behind and most of this, unfortunately, is kinda old news. They say one of the key things to having a successful blog is frequent updating.  They’re probably right. 

However, since I’ve mentioned some things in previous posts, it’s only proper that I follow up with the conclusion of the latest Colbert shenanigans, even if I’m weeks late on it.

Stephen didn’t get his portrait into the Smithsonian. But he did get it into the National Portrait Gallery….which is still part of the Smithsonian.

It’s hanging in a true place of honor. Check it out here: Colbert Exhibit. I don’t want to spoil it by telling you here. Also, if you happen to be in the Washington DC area, check it out in person as it’s only there for a limited time!

Meanwhile, A Colbert Coincidence MAY be in the works as I write this. Check this out…

Back on Tuesday January 22, Stephen had Ambassador Aaron Young (former Mayor of Atlanta) as a guest on the program. Ambassador Young is one of the original of Dr. Martin Luther King’s Inner Circle and in 1969 helped negotiate a settlement between striking black hospital workers and two Charleston, South Carolina hospitals. As I’ve mentioned before, Colbert is from Charleston and come to find out, one of the hospital administrators at the time that Ambassador Young worked with to settle the strike was none other than Dr. James Colbert. Stephen’s dad. Yes, really!

The best summary of what went down on that particular Colbert episode can be found at the Huffington Post .  Additional reading can be found at the Atlanta Journal Constitution  and Wikipedia.

Anyway, after getting the history on that, Ambassador Young came on and he and Stephen talked a little about the current writer’s strike and the Ambassador suggested that perhaps Stephen could do something about all this. Given the family history, ya know…

Hmm… On Wednesday, Jan. 23, talks resumed between the writers and the producers. As of yesterday, February 8th, it looks like the strike could be close to ending.

Coincidence?

In all seriousness, this particular episode of the Colbert Report was serious in it’s acknowledgement of the strike and support for it’s writers and was especially poignant in the connection to a part of history that involved Stephen’s dad and was an excellent tribute. (His father, along with two of Stephen’s brothers, were killed in a plane crash in 1974.)

It’s obvious this strike has gone on much much too long. I’ve bitched and complained about the strike on another blog. As much as I’ve sympathized with the writers, I have a hard time supporting the “Guild” in it’s decision to strike. Yet, I’m not fan of the producers either and they way they handled this. People who aren’t even writers, are out of work. This thing has just gotten ridiculous.

In fact, it’s now come to the point that perhaps the WGA is realizing it’s about to hang itself. A recent article in the NY Times put it quite well and speaks of a possibly cold reception awaiting the writers once this strike ends. It kinda echoes some sentiments from Brian’s blog a month or so ago.

Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Okay, that’s all I gotta say about Stephen….until I catch up with this past week’s episodes.  In the meantime, additional news to catch up on will be forthcoming.