STARTING FIVE
1. “We are the Nation/We are the Children…”
Nation, our fearless leader, @StephenatHome, signed off last night (but he did gain immortality, and not just from the Museum of Television and Radio). Besides the grand finale sing-along for “We’ll Meet Again,” our favorite moment was when he noted that he’d started a “revolution” and that a revolution is actually one full turn of a 360-degree circle, which is to note that we are right back where we began in 2005.
Pull-quote? “My first impression of immortality? Kinda lonely, a little snacky. Overall, I can see why God went this way.”
My not-quite-but-nearly-complete guest list of those celebrities who participated in the sing-along:
Jon Stewart, Randy Newman (playing piano), Alan Alda, Bob Costas, Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterston, Keith Olbermann (in a pink dinner jacket), Matt Taibbi, Yo Yo Ma, Katie Couric, Michael Stipe, Gloria Steinem, Andrew Sullivan, Willie Nelson, Tom Brokaw, Smaug, Dean Kamen, Neil Degrasse Tyson, David Gregory, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Mike Huckabee, Thomas Friedman, Paul Krugman, Pussy Riot, Stone Phillips, Ric Ocasek, Big Bird, Elijah Wood, Jeff Tweedy, Patrick Stewart, JJ Abrams, Cyndi Lauper, Vince Gilligan, a space station astrounaut, Ken Burns, Tim Meadows, Bryan Cranston, Arianna Huffington, Paulina Porizkova, George Lucas, James Franco, Eliot Spitzer, Alexei Lalas, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Cookie Monster, Cory Booker, NYC Mayor Bill Deblasio, Mandy Patinkin, aaaaaaand Stephen’s longtime nemesis, Barry Manilow.
2. Rondo is Gondo!
The Boston Celtics trade Rajon Rondo to the Dallas Mavericks.
3. TESLA roars
Wall Street analysts call it “the stock of 2015.”
4. Michelle Caruso Cabrera in Cuba
If you have to be a journalist covering the events in Cuba, aren’t you happy that it’s in December and not July?
5. “Serial” Killer
Didn’t listen to the final episode of Serial or any of the other episodes because I don’t yet listen to podcasts (Hey! Get off my lawn!), but I hope to someday. I think Spencer Hall summed it up best when he tweeted, “(Host) Sarah Koenig admitting she was The Zodiac Killer was undoubtedly my favorite part of Serial’s finale.”
*This (2-5) is what happens when you accidentally press “Move to Trash” instead of “Publish.” Thanks so much, Tim Cook (because why would I blame it on my own stupidity?)
Remote Patrol
Seahawks at Cardinals
Sunday 8:30 p.m. NBC
Will either of these two NFC West powers return to this stadium in early February for the Super Bowl? Depends if either can win in Green Bay, most likely.
Sure, sure, TSLA made a nice little 12% comeback since the 2014 market bottom on 12/16, but I can tell ya about a stock that was at $4.54 last Friday & closed today at $7.15 – that’s a 57% jump, my Imperial Poobah. In a WEEK. What is this, ahem, wondrous stock? SSE : a spin-off from CHK earlier this year. I own a teeny bit as I own CHK. But here’s the WHOLE story (take note Rolling Stone & New York mag…), this stock started sinking since the day it spun off. Down, down, down it went. I’ll have to check some “figures” but I think the only thing that went down this fast & this far was the friggin Titanic.
I actually own 3 other stocks that have gone down further (ala Mariana Trench) but they did the sloooooowww sink. And yes, I bought allllll the way down. Well, almost. I finally stopped when I ran out of money. Thank goodness my lottery win hasn’t happened yet. In case you’re just dying to know these 3 “winners” – PBR (CRY for me, Brazil!), WPRT (not even GAS-X can cure my stomach over this loser), & SD (short for ‘Some Dog’, well, that’s MY nickname for it).
A Christmas Carol update – have now seen 5 versions so far this season. Would have been 6, but I fell asleep before the Ghost of Xmas Past made an appearance in the 1935 movie broadcast on AMC last night, so it doesn’t count. I was actually excited & mystified when I saw this one on the onscreen Guide as I’m not sure I’d ever seen it before. Scrooge was played by an actor named Sidney Hicks, whom I did not recognize or remember. I think my Carol Count this year will be at least 7 as I will be watching ‘Mr Magoo’s Christmas Carol’ next week (it began my obsession all those, ahem, decades ago, think of it as Version Zero) & I’m hoping to catch the 1938 version with Alastair Sim.
Any Xmas movies for you this year?
Finally, did KO wear that jacket on his own show last night or just on Colbert’s sign-off? We’ll be SEEING you’ is right. 😉
John,
“I don’t listen to podcasts” says the erstwhile podcaster. That made me laugh.
You can skip it. He did it. It obvious he did it though the details are murky and he can be charming and introspective. It made for good podcasting for awhile (you’ll have to take my word for that).
Merry Christmas
Patrick