Category: Stephen Colbert

Johnny Comet chases Al Gore

This week, Stephen Colbert talked with GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz. He touted the new Chevy Volt, a car that is mostly electric, with a backup gas engine.

This is so bizarre, considering GM’s EV-1, the subject of the outstanding documentary, Who Killed the Electric Car?. Lutz still disputes the existence of global warming. Looking at this lunkhead, I can see why GM is destined for bankruptcy.

Johnny Comet asks, \"Where is Al Gore?\"

But what about Al Gore, who won an Oscar by educating everybody about the threat of global warming? He’s been conspicuously absent of late. Well, to my surprise, it seems he’s taking an entirely different approach to alternative automotive fuel. By chance I’ve found evidence that he’s involved with the development of an atomic carburetor!

Johnny Comet chases Al Gore

Johnny Comet chases Al Gore

Bad and loud

My ears aren’t what they once were (well, they’re bigger, just not better), but I’m bugged by the latest audio technology going backwards in sound quality. Over a year ago I talked about overcompression, and today tastewar pointed out something on Gizmodo about Metallica’s new stuff sounding better on Guitar Hero III than it does on the CD release.

Speaking of Guitar Hero, Stephen Colbert has been digitized and is available for downloading on the video game Rock Band 2.

And coming in November will be “A Colbert Christmas“, with musical guests, including Elvis Costello. Check out the pictures at that link. Looks like the pilot for “Colbert’s Playhouse”!

Hajdu, Don’t Make It Bad


Peanuts, June 22, 1952

Comic books, like the movies, were under attack in the 1950’s. Movie people were accused of being communists, and comic book people were accused of causing juvenile delinquency. A book by David Hajdu, called The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America, gives some serious thought to what happened and how it influenced later events beyond comic books themselves. Stephen Colbert, who’s obviously a comic book fan, interviewed Hajdu a couple of weeks ago.

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There’s irony in the “TV 14” rating that’s so prominent during Colbert’s introduction. It’s almost like the Comics Code Authority seal that appeared on comic books after the big scare. Oh no! How did that commercial get left at the end of the interview?

EC Comics publisher William Gaines did a lousy job testifying before the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency in 1954. His entire testimony is at this link. He should have emphasized that his horror comics were inspired by radio shows such as Inner Sanctum, Lights Out, and The Whistler. But there was probably no defense against the public sentiment of the day. In a way, losing the comic book business was the best thing that could have happened to Gaines, because he was left with MAD Magazine, which was far more subversive and influential anyway, and it ended up being vastly more successful.

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