“Amy Sedaris would play these little squirrel-like characters and goofy oddballs. Stephen Colbert was the twinkly-eyed, good-looking smarty-pants who actually performed a song about the conflict in the Balkans and managed to make it hilarious. (“We’re talkin’! We’re talkin’! We’re talkin’ ’bout the Balkans!) And Steve Carell could make anything funny. I don’t think I ever saw him die on stage. In one scene, a couple had a ton of kids, and the cast kept running through the stage, each one playing a different unruly child. Steve Carell simply walked through, holding up a piece of foam mat and said, “I found foam!” and could bring the house down with just one line.” (Pages 33 – 34)

Book: Girl Walks into a Bar … : Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle.

If you like this vid, show your love in the comments.

From the Examiner:

“Six military non-profits have teamed up with San Jose giant eBay.com in order to honor veterans this Memorial Day as part of the online auction site’s three-week “Honoring Our Heros” campaign. The campaign is organized to help bring awareness and raise funds for organizations who provide services and support to service members, veterans and their families within the community.

The campaign began on May 14, 2012 and will run through June 3, 2012 on eBay’s website, eBay.com. Each week a different organization will be featured.

May 14-21: Blue Star Families & USO will be featured.

• The first of three Brooks Bros. suits worn and signed by Stephen Colbert will be auctioned off, will all proceeds benefitting USO, Blue Star Families and Team Rubicon.

Anyone can participate in the “Honoring our Heros” Campaign on eBay.com. Supporters can participate by buying items on eBay.com which have been designated as donating 10%-100% of the proceeds to the named charities. Shoppers can also buy anything on eBay’s website and donate that item directly to the nonprofit of their choice.”

You can check out the ebay listings of Stephen’s suits here and here.

How awesome is it that Stephen is donating his suits to this cause? Nation, bids are only at $250.00 or so, and these auctions end soon. Colbert Platinum members step up, so we can help out an organization that supports military members and their families.

*Autographed suits available only at the auction. Television host sold separately.

Today in Fan Art we examine the work of Wisconsin-based artist Steve Moore, who also refers to himself as “PXL8R.” Steve creates portraits of subjects using perler beads, the kind that are super-strong and typically fused together in crafty projects. His work was featured in a recent post on Wired’s design blog, and features the visage of someone you may know:

Image Courtesy of Steve Moore

Moore pixelates regular old pics, and then carefully selects various colored beads to re-create the pixelated image. He will “perler-ate” any image for interested customers, and has quite a portfolio of some famous faces. Do check out Mr. Moore’s other celeb renderings in the Wired post, or at his Etsy shop. There, you can have a custom built Stephen portrait of your very own! Next to Stephen, I am partial to his portrait of Snoop Dog.

What do you think of the perler portrait? What other art mediums will Stephen’s face conquer/ have conquered for him next?

Hello! My name is Victoria. I’ve never posted here, but have been lurking around for a while now. I’m from NYC and I’m a Graduate Student getting my Master in Mental Health Counseling. But enough about me. I was able to attend the book signing, so I figured I would send you a recap (if you are interested in reading it).

I arrived with my mother at 8:45am and there was already a line of people. We were lucky to have a warm, sunny day (finally), so waiting outside for a while wasn’t an issue. A couple of minutes later, more people started to come, including a man with a 5 month year old baby! They were standing right behind us, so we ended up chatting the entire time. I applauded him for having the smarts to bring his daughter up right from the beginning … with Stephen! During our wait, the book store manager kept coming by, endlessly thanking us for coming to the signing. He was clearly happy we were there. I assured him that there was no arm twisting required. At 9:30am, they began to let us in to purchase the books. We were led upstairs, where I saw the table neatly set up, markers and bottles of water, all ready for Stephen. I already had a copy, but bought two in the store-one for me and another for a
gift.

Before we knew it, it was 10:00am! It was book signing time! But … no Stephen! I told my mother he was probably stuck in the Lincoln Tunnel again, chasing down another motor cycle rider. About 5 minutes later, he arrived! I heard cheering and clapping but from where I was standing, could not see him. But suddenly I hear, “Hello everyone! Thanks for coming!” And I see an arm go up, waving in the air! Stephen’s arm! And we started to move. As we were moving closer, that’s when the nerves really began to kick in. My poor mother was
inundated with constant questions of, “You have the camera, right? Do you need mine? It’s a small place, are you going to have room to take it?” She exclaimed, “Take it easy! Calm down!” Too late. But she was right. I needed to calm down, because the line was moving at what seemed to be lightening speed. Before I knew it, we had turned the corner and I was about a minute away from meeting Stephen! I kept telling myself three things: 1.) Wish him a Happy Birthday for tomorrow; 2.) DON’T GET TOUNGE TIED!; and 3). Breath! Yeah, easier said than done. The moment of truth had arrived! I was at the table! Someone took my two books and placed them on the table, as he signed the book of the person in front of me. That person left … and it was my turn. Suddenly, something happened to me that I still have etched in my mind. Before I even approached the table, he looked up and … smiled at me!! Ok, yes nothing groundbreaking, but I, for the first time made eye contact with Stephen Colbert and got to see that wonderful smile face to face. That has always been one of my most
favorite physical qualities about him. His smile radiates happiness and warmth and seeing it up close made it extra special. We said “Hi” to each other and I asked him, “How are you?” He said he was fine and started to sign the book … still smiling. At this point, I know I had the biggest, most silliest grin on my face. He finishes signing the book, looks up at me (still smiling) and notices that there is a second one to be signed. He takes it and says, “Oh, you bought two. Thank you very much.” After he finishes signing that one, he hands
both books to me … yep, you guessed it … big smiles! I take the books, say “Thank you” and … “Happy Birthday.” YES! I was able to articulate those two easy words without it coming across sounding like, “blahtmndhthmaiunblah!” After I said it, he said with a little chuckle, “Oh … thank you.”

I took my books and headed down the stairs. Now, once the books were signed you needed to head down the stairs right away. There were two security guards there that gave me the impression you didn’t want to mess with them, so I obliged. But as I headed downstairs, two things should be noted: 1.) Remember the nice guy with the baby behind me? When they approached the table, I heard Stephen exclaim, “Awwwwwww!” Yep! He saw the cute baby!; and 2.) I was pretty damn happy, causing me to giggle uncontrollably, shake like a leaf and as I got to the bottom of the staircase, almost knock over a display of pens with my elbow. I said ALMOST! I ran out of the store with my mother and found a nice little corner of a building where I could celebrate! I hugged my mother, thanking her for everything. Then she showed me the picture she took! Oh yeah…picture! I ironically almost forgot about that…for a brief second. She was able to get a picture of Stephen looking right at me SMILING…and I’m in the picture, as well! That deserved a second and third and fourth hug!!!! Shortly after, the man with his baby came out and we chatted for a few minutes. He was such a nice guy and his daughter was so cute. He was also able to get a quick photo with his iPhone.

I cannot emphasize enough how wonderfully nice Stephen is! I’ve attended a few book and CD signings and they have all been pleasant. But Stephen’s kindness and pure generosity is so present. If it was only possible to bottle the positive energy he radiates. For any of you that have already met him, I think you probably understand what I mean. It’s clearly apparent when he’s out of character in interviews. Or when I attended a taping of TCR, during the Q&A session or any other time he was out of character, you can see this. But it’s nothing
like seeing it face to face, one on one. I thank him for this!

So, that’s it. My epic story! If you are still reading it by this point, I thank you, for that means I didn’t bore you. Or scare you away with my overly enthusiastic behavior.

Tad has an agenda: Survive seventh grade.

He also wants to: grow a mustache, get girls to notice him, and do a kickflip on his skateboard. . .

But those are not the main reasons he started a blog. Tad just has a lot of important thoughts he wants to share with the world, like:

“Here is the first thing I have learned about having a dog in your house: Don’t feed them nachos. Not ever.”

Online Excerpt: Pages 1 – 127.


Tim Carvell talks about ‘Planet Tad’

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dan Kois’ Sunday Book Review in The New York Times:

It’s unlikely any seventh-grade teacher today would bat an eye at “Planet Tad,” a comic novel for middle schoolers based on Tim Carvell’s serialized story in the pages of modern-day Mad. This fundamentally sweet tale, with illustrations by Doug Holgate, is entirely unsubversive. It’s charming and entertaining, to be sure. But I feel a little bit sad that a book with the Mad logo emblazoned on its cover can safely be handed by librarians to boys who might never appreciate the invigorating grossness of a Don Martin cartoon.

Tad isn’t aiming for the stars, is what I’m saying. Carvell is clearly writing about an Everyboy, but there’s a difference between being relatable and being forgettable. Tad has no real interests or passions, few close friends or enemies, not even a particularly fraught relationship with his parents.

What does he have? A little sister who pushes him around. Teachers whom he unwittingly insults. Classmates who can’t even remember his name. Tad most comes to life not when relating his day-to-day struggles, but in the short and sharp gags that interrupt the narrative. “Werewolves are badly named,” Tad muses in one entry. “They’re not people who were wolves. They’re people who are wolves. They should be called arewolves.” With a bit of judicious editing, this would be an excellent tweet. (Indeed, Carvell, the head writer for “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” is a Twitter aficionado.) I wondered, in fact, why Tad hasn’t embraced Twitter or Tumblr or some other microblogging service, rather than using what appears to be LiveJournal for his entries, complete with little mood emoticons garnishing each one. That’s so 2007, Tad!

Facebook Page: Planet Tad

Follow Tim on Twitter @timcarvell

Hey, my name is Zoe and I went to the taping of Wednesday’s episode of ‘The Colbert Report’ and to the book signing this (Saturday) morning.

Starting with the taping report, I got to the studio at around 4:30PM and after checking in, I got online and sat down and read ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ until they let us in. They let us in the waiting room area at a little after 6:00PM. And we stayed there for a pretty long time. About 50 minutes. When we finally went inside, they sat us and played music for about 15 or 20 minutes. Then Pete Dominic came out and he was really funny. I can’t remember most of his jokes though. But when he was talking about La Guardia and was making a joke about how they have a sign that has a picture of a grenade in a circle with a slash through it, and how he was doubtful that it was really going to deter someone from bringing it on board the plane.

But anyway, he introduced Stephen after more jokes. Stephen came out and everyone just went crazy. He ran around and high five’d and finished by throwing the mic up in the air and catching it. Then he took questions. The first question was by this girl who was across the aisle from and she asked about being a dudgeon master in D&D, as she was going to do it from the first time in a few days. And Stephen responded by saying that he’d been playing ‘Dudgeon’s & Dragons’ since the week after it came in 1977 and how he’s played it with the founders of the game, “but I’ve still found a women willing to breed with me.” And he said that being a dudgeon master was a pretty thankless job.

The next question was a guy, who asked if/why his insurance company still lets him run around his studio after he broke his wrist. Stephen explained that about 5 years ago, around this time, he was running around during the pre-show bit and fell and shattered his wrist. But how it was the last show before a 2 week break, and how he didn’t want to wear a cast to the beach. So he didn’t tell anyone during the whole break how much pain he was, and he even built a boat. With a broken wrist. And power tools. While drunk. Then after the break he went to the doctor and said how he had a bit of pain in his wrist and the doctor looked at it and said how cause he waited he’d never not feel some amount of pain in his wrist again.

The next question was by a lady about what Broadway musical he would like to be in and who he would like his co-stars to be. So then he answered with ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and he then sang a bit of one of Judas’ songs and it sounded amazing. He ended the singing by kneeling and crossing himself and then jumping up and saying how awesome he’d be at playing Judas.

There was a question from a couple, who were in the middle of a 3 week road trip and that they’re next stop was Charleston, SC and they asked him for recommendations for places to eat. He gave out two places. The first one I don’t remember, but just that it was very fancy but the food was really good. The place I’m pretty sure was called ‘Husk’ and you needed a reservation for it. But everything in the restaurant was from below the Mason-Dixison line (everything was from the South), except for the coffee and the chocolate. And about he food, Stephen took a pause and said, ‘… Damn, it’s like slap your grandma good.’ (And when the guy was asking the question, he had a weird pause between 3 and week, so Stephen said, ‘For a second I thought you were going to say, ‘We’re in the middle of a three-way. And we’re looking for a third.’

There was another question by a girl that looked my age (18) who said that she had an AP Literature test tomorrow and she asked if she made the right choice by coming to the show instead of studying. And Stephen asked if it was for all of literature. The girl said yes and Stephen said, ‘Just remember, Moby Dick is a metaphor for God.’

I’m pretty sure I got the questions out-of-order but that’s all of them.

Then the show began. We were cheering and stuff. Stephen flung out WristStrong bracelets and I got one! Stephen began the table of contents but only got the word ‘The’ out before cracking up and headdesking. Then he came up for air and said, ‘That’s the show. I know it seems longer at home, but that’s just CGI. And no one will ever know about this as long as none of you blog.’ Sorry Stephen! Then everything went as it was in the show except for one other bit. It was the bit when he talked about the North Carolina marriage law. The clip didn’t show. So Stephen was just kinda staring into the camera and then cut. Then Stephen did a bit again but the camera wasn’t rolling. So they got it right the third time.

After that, the show went off without a hitch and it was just like it aired on tv.

Then after Stephen did the ending bit when he says goodnight, he said there was time for one more question. So he picked on a guy and the guy asked about how Stephen felt about the Pennsylvania fracking/natural gas drilling industry. And Stephen did that thing where his smile makes a sound. Stephen asked why he wanted to know and the guy said it was cause he works for them and Stephen was all, ‘You’re doing the right thing.’ Then he wished everyone goodnight and we filed out.

After we filed out, everyone else left within a few minutes. But I stayed behind and waited to meet Stephen. He didn’t come out for a while. But while I was waiting for him Paul Dinello came out and I said ‘Hi’ and he said ‘Hi’. And his dog licked me. He asked if I like the show and said he liked my ‘turtles don’t like peanut butter’ t shirt. After waiting for about an hour, Stephen came out and I went up to him he read my shirt while I shook his hand. And he asked my name and we shook hands again. Then he asked if I liked the show and I said I did very much. Then I asked for a photo. And he took it. He went to the car and then I went home.

Stephen came up at a little after 10:00AM. And he started signing them. It was only a signing, there wasn’t a Q&A or anything. But you could talk to him as he was signing. And there was a limit for how many books he would sign. I think it was 5. When he got to me, he said good morning and asked my name, I said it was Zoe. And then he said it back to me. (Yay!) He said good morning again. Then as he was signing my books I said that I met him during the week, and he went, ‘Oh! After the show! Wednesday? Wednesday. It’s nice to see you again.’ And he gave me a big smile. I think I managed to smile back. I thanked him and then before I left the book store, I got a copy of ‘The Fault In Our Stars’, by John Green and it was a signed copy.

I just sincerely hope Stephen doesn’t think I’m a stalker.

Here’s a bonus .gif because I cannot get enough of this goal!!

(Tip of the Hat to F***YeahLateNightHosts for the cap and .gif)

Our Hubsters have been very generous to our page, raising more than $2,300 and helping more than 1600 schoolchildren. There’s lots more work to do. Even a contribution of $5.00 can make a huge difference in supporting a project — here are two we would like to shine our Hubster light on:

• Listening Center Needed for Autistic Preschoolers [Update: Completed!]

• Let’s Do Drama! [Update: Completed!]

 
We are still including arts education projects, as you can see, but also focusing a lot this time around on children with special needs. Your funding of these projects will certainly help their teachers prepare for the upcoming school year.

Please keep in mind Stephen’s other charities of choice: The Yellow Ribbon Fund and U.S. VETS.

On behalf of the staff and community here at Colbert News Hub, a very happy birthday to you, Stephen Colbert. Know that the work you do brings us a great deal of joy, and we in turn want to honor you in one way that we know you will certainly appreciate: by helping kids in need.

* UPDATE: Once again countless thanks to the Hubsterdom that participated in our drive. It has truly been a success. We now have 20 members, have raised $3,105 dollars funding 24 projects total, and have helped 2,800 students.

Of the nine original projects, only two still remain: Mrs. Bradley’s Movin’ and Groovin’ Music Risers, which is very close to completion, and Ms. Griffith’s Art Drawing Supplies. We would truly rock out if we could get these last two done. You guys have proven we can make a difference.