Letters to the Editor
cjstuff
Published Letters: 2 Editor's Choice: 2
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Eerily accurate
[Read the article: All-spin zone]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]From the moment the Fox-inspired graphics flew by in the opening screens through Colbert's trademark dead-pan delivery and "official" pundit red necktie, I thought to myself, "Would someone outside our popular culture understand that this is a joke?" I'm not sure what the answer would be. I have visions of naive au pairs and recent immigrants genuinely wondering whether or not to take the show at face value.
For all of us who are steeped in the bizarre world of talking-head pontificators, the show was a dramatic reminder of the thin line between histrionics and babbling. For me, Colbert's persona demonstrates that content has become irrelevant in a sound bite-driven world of commentators. I thought the gravitas-off was inspired and Stone Phillips a terrific sport.
The Colbert Report is not intended to be laugh-a-minute comedy, and I hope that the producers are never tempted to add a laugh track (other than the live audience) to heavy-handedly remind TV viewers that this show is supposed to be funny. The true humor is that this show could be slotted in between any number of similarly slick shows--and few would notice a difference.
I hope that the show can keep up the energy of the premiere. It's a wonderful continuation of The Daily Show.
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It's easy to find crunched computers
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]After several very close calls with obnoxious seat-slamming passengers who almost shattered my laptop, I also wondered about how many times folks succeed in destroying someone's computer--and who pays for it when that happens. One interesting thing I discovered is that you can find a nice range of "half laptops" on eBay, usually at very attractive prices. All of them seem to have the screens ripped off....
As for "Ask the Pilot," I purchased my copy of at an airport Borders when I was stranded at LAS for 9 hours about a month ago. The store had a nice little bundle of them displayed in the travel section.