SELBIES: December 2010

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Snow, Snow, Snoooooow

Here's a little view of the remnants of the NYC blizzard.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Delancey Street, Manhattan

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

My street, Brooklyn

Entrance to the Holland Tunnel

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Little sis turned the big 53 yesterday and had (I believe) one of the best birthday parties ever. Niece Isabelle and nephew-in-law David arrived in the morning, bro Henry and family arrived in afternoon, and all gathered at the Selby Familia House around 6. Uncle Henry had gotten the dinner all together and it was scrumptious. Equally important, it seemed easier than usual to get everyone to gather around the table at the same time. After dinner we had the cake and Bek got all 53 candles blown out on first try (well, maybe there was just a big 5 candle and a big 3 candle but ...).

Then presents were opened. All were enjoyed, but Beka seemed to have a yearning to try out her chops on her new Blues Harp. So off to the music room we went where the usual (dare I say even better than the usual) great time was had by all.

Thanks for a great birthday, sis! We all had a great time.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Okay, one for the girls and boy

Blast from the Way Past

This is actually sort of a test post also, because we just got a new computer at home and have just hooked everything up to it. The scanner and printer work, yea!
So, does everyone know the location, people, year? (Yes, of course there is handwriting on the back of the picture by Grandma). Ye gads, a microbus and a beetle. Who knew the gparents were such individualists. Now you know where you all get it from. (I wonder who took the picture - Uncle Henry, any thoughts?)

Friday, December 3, 2010

Gesellenstück FERTIG!!!!!!

Well...... it's finally finished. Required an extra day, but still. Also, I have lovely friends who were happy to model for me in their more color-conducive clothing (though I have received numerous compliments on my years-old sweater that Isabelle convinced me to get back when we went to NY for two days and one night so that she could do that teacher-interview. My, how far we've come)!

I'm so tired, but happy.

PS: Make sure to keep scrolling down for the iBug's fantastic play by play of the Colbert report!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

The Toss

I found it!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Daily/Colbert - Hanukkah Jumps Christmas

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor

The Daily Show on Facebook

Colbert Report Report

I hope that you all tuned in last night to see me on TV! ...but if you didn't you probably actually didn't miss anything since the only place that you might see me is in the very very quick crowd shot! I was on the left side of the stage (in very good seats) right by where Michelle Rhee was sitting during her interview. So he does point and us during her little segment.

My Review: *************** (a billion stars!)
So you want a play-by-play recap? Ok! Happy to oblige!

First, I got the tickets by randomly going to the Colbert Report site to see if they had tickets. I assumed they wouldn't but I like going to random sites during the day just to check on things. Usually I get a screen that says "No Tickets Available - Check Back Later" but instead I saw a little calender and a place where you could enter your information. I saw that day's date so I didn't actually think I was getting tickets at first... but when I clicked enter it says "Congratulations! You have 2 tickets for the Colbert Report!" I panicked and got super hyper all at the same time. My trusty New York buddy, Robyn, was ready to go with me at a seconds notice. So, we asked our bosses if we could leave at 4:30 to go wait in line on 54th Street. Apparently, even if you have tickets they overbook so you still need to be in line before 5:30. I was a little worried after reading a lot of reviews online that we would need to be there hours in advance, but it turned out that our dreary, wet weather worked to our advantage. I think that they have 150 seats and we were tickets 54 and 55.

After waiting in line for about half an hour they let us into the waiting room after going through airport style security. They were playing the show in the room and it was hilarious, as usual. I also got my picture taken with this painting (seen on blog). Awesome.

After another half hour we were allowed in and Robyn and I got some great seats by the aisle on the 4th row Left. We were psyched. A comedian came out ahead of time to warm us up and just as he started the stage manager came out and told us that Colbert was coming to do a "Toss" with Jon Stewart so he ran away, Colbert ran onto stage and we all started screaming! I didn't know what a "Toss" was but apparently it's just something at the beginning of the show? Wait, I lie, I still don't know what a "Toss" is. It involved Jon and Stephen talking for a bit about Stephen's recent trip to Normandy (which was actually not funny, but very endearing) where he stood on the beach at the exact spot that his great Uncle had stood and he called his 90 year old mother to tell her and could barely get out the words. Apparently said Uncle never returned. I almost started crying! Anyway, then Jon kind of cut him off and we could still hear Jon but he couldn't hear us and started making fun of Colbert (in a funny way, naturally) so Colbert kept saying "Can he hear me? He can't hear me can he?".. then started making jokes about Jon. Anyway, then they actually started shooting the "Toss" which was very very quick. I don't actually remember what it was about. They also told us that they never do Tosses anymore so that we would collectible items.

Colbert ran off the stage again, warm-up comedian came back. He was funny - made jokes about the crowd - told us how to behave.. etc. Then we were told by the stage manager to cheer really loudly and laugh really hard since we were a big part of the show (aw, thanks).
"It's not about authenticity, it's about volume!"
Colbert ran out again, we all cheered, and then he did a little Q&A with us in his normal self telling us that he wanted to humanize himself before he said some awful things. They stressed a lot that Colbert was a character... I guess some people don't realize that?
I thought I would ask him what he thought about he "no singing" ordinance on Sullivan's Island but I was too nervous. However, I was a good cheerleader for Robyn and kept begging her to ask a question. She asked the very last question (!!!) which was: Assuming you will run for the presidential election in 2012 in South Carolina, when do you plan on debating Alvin Green? He laughed and told us that that was a big assumption, but that he would run as a Republican because Obama will win anyway so all the young Democrats in SC will cross over and vote Republican for him and that will mess with them later in their lives.
Then the show began!
We cheered and cheered and the show began. Colbert brought out a menorah from his desk that was lit on the middle and first candle and started his Hanukkah opening. Shortly after he began all the candles started lighting each other which we just assumed was planned or some kind of joke. Apparently, it wasn't a joke and after about 30 seconds he said "Ahhh this thing is burning me! Cut! Cut!" and that scene had to be cut. Apparently the menorah was not supposed to do that. Therefore, we got to do the opening of the show AGAIN! We cheered and cheered and then he did his opening sans menorah.
The whole thing was great, Colbert was hilarious.. we had a good time. He even played Ben Folds Five during one of the commercial breaks because one of the Q&A questions was "What are you listening to now?" His answer was BF5 and when it came on he sang along. Another funny thing was that when the hair and makeup lady came out to fix his hair and smooth it down he would smooth her hair as well :) It was very cute.