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By Jennifer Burns

How does being a guest on The Colbert Report compare to being a guest on The Daily Show? Here’s a breakdown!

More Face Time with Everyone: Backstage at The Daily Show was a blur; I had no sooner arrived than I was in make-up, met Jon, and was heading out into the lights. By contrast, I had lots of time at The Colbert Report to see the stage, meet the producers, and chat with sundry tech people. And I got way more face time with Stephen Colbert! “I’m not my character!” was pretty much the first thing he said to me. He explained that he would feign willful ignorance and my job was to educate him and the audience. And of course we talked about Ayn Rand. Colbert told me he read Anthem in a Christian ethics class in college, and then while backpacking in Europe traded somebody for Atlas Shrugged. But he only made it to the scene where Dagny discovers world renowned philosopher Dr. Hugh Akston flipping burgers at a roadside diner and recognizes his genius by the way he handled a spatula — this stretched credulity for Colbert and he gave up on reading the rest!

The Audience: The audience was a much more intimate part of The Colbert Report than The Daily Show, where guests make a grand entrance and can’t even see the audience because of the blinding lights. This time, I was seated on the set for about a minute beforehand in full view of the audience, and their laughter and response seemed a bigger part of the interview. While I was waiting to go on, I could hear everyone laughing uproariously, clearly having a great time, and that made me feel excited and ready.

The Host: The biggest difference, of course, is Jon vs. Stephen, but I had an unexpected reaction. Where most people seem to think Stephen Colbert would be a more difficult interview, I actually found him to be personally warmer and easier to talk to than Jon Stewart. Some of this was because I felt more confident the second time around. But the interview itself was also less serious and more of a performance, whereas on The Daily Show I felt I was being grilled by a formidable intellect. Before The Daily Show interview, the producer told me it would be extemporaneous, and that Jon didn’t have notes. But as I was waiting for my interview with Colbert to start, I was told he was finalizing his jokes. When I was seated on the set, I could see a detailed note card on Stephen’s side of the table. I’m pretty sure we veered off the script, but that level of planning was reassuring. The Colbert producer also did a great job of helping me understand what would create a good interview. Her top piece of advice (which I also heard at The Daily Show): “Don’t be funny!”

Author Jennifer Burns on The Colbert Report

Author Jennifer Burns on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

Jennifer Burns is Assistant Professor of History at Stanford University and the author of Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right. A nationally recognized authority on Rand and conservative thought, she has discussed her work on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Book TV, and has been interviewed on numerous radio programs. Read her previous blog post: “Top Three Questions About My Interview On The Daily Show”

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Maria Stuart has a blog of daily drawings that, with the captions added, are like sublime little cartoons: Mrs. Stuart’s Dailys.

Posted by John Martz on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: Comics, daily, Drawing

Stuart Immonen has been posting daily caricatures based on photos he finds on Flickr. Check out his Flickr People photoset.

(via Illustration Friday)

Posted by John Martz on Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog | Permalink | No comments
Tags: Caricature, daily, portraiture, Stuart Immonen

Too Many Zombies is a daily drawing project which gives us a new zombie drawing every day. The zombies are drawn on an iPod Touch using the Layers app.

To celebrate her 35th birthday, artist Somsara Rielly is creating a collage a day for 365 days: Art Design 3(6)5.

In 2001, Hilary Leung started a personal illustration project called 1000strangers in which he would illustrate a different stranger he noticed in Toronto each day. It’s 8 years later, and the project continues.

He’s currently selling pieces to pay for his upcoming wedding, and originals are currently on display in the art window at the sadly-now-closing Pages book store here in Toronto.

Johan Leion has been drawing a self portrait every day for a year, and judging from the results, it’s prime evidence that these sorts of projects increase one’s creative skills. It’s only after he starts trying to fight the monotony of such a task by experimenting with new media, techniques, and styles that they start to get interesting.

The latest addition to my feed reader is Mexican illustrator Patricio Betteo’s 365 Minutos. Every day, a new numbered drawing by himself or a friend. So far the series is up to 820. Check it out:

Link: 365 Minutos

We love details. It could teach us about patience, patience, and patience heehee..

This was Papa's playthings, it's a little bit dusty and were torn apart here and there, but it still nice to play with it, I think this stuff was the first form of pixel art design :)




















:: Helloo NeeeeMooooooo!























:: And this is the today toy stuff, Beados, quite cute too don't you think?

And one more sad thing, we lost the caterpillar, it did not make into a butterfly, I think the environment make a big deal, rest in peace dear Katie..

Rain. Means playing outside. Get wet. Jumping and Running.

Rain. Means enjoying the nature, feel the drip and drop of happiness in your face and feet.




And be alive - again :)

Daniel Sperling is a Professor of Engineering and Environmental Science and Policy at the University of California, Davis and a Founding Director of US-Davis’s Institute of Transportation Studies. He and Deborah Gordon wrote Two Billion Cars: Driving Towards Sustainability which provides a concise history of America’s love affair with cars and an overview of the global oil and auto industries. Check out the video below to see Sperling’s appearance on The Daily Show.

We decided it would be fun to ask Sperling some questions before and after his big television appearance. After the video are the post-show questions. Click here to read the pre-show questions.  Read other OUPblog posts about this book here.

OUPblog: What advice would you give authors preparing to go on the show?

Daniel Sperling: Watch previous interviews, try to stay calm, have a glass of wine, and pray for the best. Try to formulate your main messages but don’t count of articulating more than 1 or two.

OUPblog: Was it what you expected, did you get your key sound byte in?

Sperling: I got 2 of my 5 or so main points across. I guess that is a success?!

OUPblog: What was the green room like?!

Sperling: Perfectly comfortable and pleasant, but way overhyped. Light green walls, flat screen TV, sofa, bag of goodies (the best being a Jon Stewart cap and t-shirt).

Karen Greenberg is the Executive Director of the Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law.  Her newest book, The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo’s First 100 Days, is a gripping narrative account of the first 100 days at Guantanamo and an analysis of how this time set up patterns of power that would come to dominate the Bush administration’s overall strategy in the “War on Terror.”  Below is an excerpt from the very beginning of the book.  Be sure to watch tonight when Greenberg appears on The Daily Show.

Two days after Christmas, the decision was announced to the public.  Donald Rumsfeld made it official.  The new detention operation would be set up at Guantanamo Bay.  SOUTHCOM would supervise the activities on the base.  The 2nd Force Service Support Group, normally based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, would run the effort.  It would be a joint command, combining the efforts of the various branches of the U.S. military.  The name of the joint task force would be JTF 160-the very same label that had been used for the task force during the migrant crisis.

Relying on the patriotism of the forces on the ground and their obedience to the chain of command, Secretary Rumsfeld anointed Guantanamo in defiance not just of warnings from the past, but of military professionalism.

True, the military men and women on the ground, their superiors at SOUTHCOM, the interagency group in Washington, and the Pentagon all seemed to agree with one another.  In the shadow of 9/11, they all wanted to do the patriotic thing-which in this case was to help General Franks get rid of the prisoners under his command.  But the ready assent was the beginning of a long, slow slide into an untenable and, as it would turn out, extralegal situation that would be more and more difficult to end with each phase of its existence.

But underneath the narrative of agreement lay missteps and warning signs that would come to plague Guantanamo going forward and that were apparent even before the operation was up and running.  Chief among these exceptions to the norm had been the subversion of process that had been illustrated in the exclusionary and secretive way in which the Military Order of November 13 had been drafted and turned into policy, a habit that would come to define the Bush administration through its eight years.

This bureaucratic exclusivity would grow in its destructive impact as Guantanamo came into being, but for the moment, there was a more pressing danger, one that lay outside of the usurpation of powers in Washington or the extralegal premises of Guantanamo, and one that was overlooked by those making policy in D.C.  This was the danger posed by the fact that the United States military was not quite equipped to handle the mission that was about to be handed them-that of detaining prisoners of war.  It wasn’t just that the naval base itself was being asked to perform well above its capacity in terms of resources.  It was also a matter of professional expertise.  The nation’s military did not have the requisite expertise in prisoner of war detention, as the United States had not had to deal with prisoners of war on its own since World War II.

Nor was it helpful that the military was to conduct the operation on the blueprint of migrant detention operations.  The task at hand and the professional skills readily available to the Pentagon did not match up.  The plan for the detention effort that JTF 160 was given stood on the books as a migrant crisis operation, a template that ironically had itself struggled with definitional terms when it forbade the use of the term “refugee” for the camp’s residents. Now, in the year 2001, the definition of terms was intentionally obfuscated once again.  No matter what words were used, prisoner incarceration was not equivalent to migrant detention.  Captives were neither refugees nor migrants; they demanded a whole other kind of treatment and a separate set of policies.  This lack of expertise was further hindered by the fact that the job of SOUTHCOM was to deal with the countries and of the Caribbean and Latin America and issues germane to that geographical part of the globe.  Thus, its knowledge base was largely irrelevant when it came to Middle Eastern and South Asian culture.

Though Guantanamo may have provided a legal godsend and a logistically manageable environment, deeper realities suggested that trouble lay ahead for the detention facility.  It stood not just on historical precedent and legal opportunism but on the unstable ground of secrecy, disregard for professionalism and expertise, and a legal flexibility.  The deployed of JTF 160 to Guantanamo was an emergency act, done in lieu of a better option-the least worse choice for the least worst place.

No one understood better the treacherous pragmatic-and moral-implications of sidesteppping established law and policy than the man chosen to command the detention operation there.

It is raining everyday, 3 days since we're feeling the warmth of the sun. or 4 days? it just blurred my mind,
funny isn't it , when it's too hot we want the rain to come, and when it's raining we beg for Mr. sun to shine.. well that's what I'm feeling right now :)


:: Still we managed to do some activity, 2 days ago we catch a few bug, and draw it- and it is difficult to draw them, always walking- hopping, and after examine them for a while we set them free- inside the house hehe.., and you know, it is good to see such a little creature hopping inside your house, amazing.. like welcoming in a little guest, and we surely have fun with them :)







:: And do some signature on the cement with charcoal, when it's possible and dry enough









One side is mom and dad section, the other is grandma and Mika
















:: And these is taken on December when the beautiful Mr. Sun appears for a while, that what we're longing for, may it brighten up our day :)

Lumayan sibuk, abis Natalan keluarga, tanggal 26 kita ngeliat
GPMB- GranPrix Marching Band 2008, keponakanku main di Korps Putri Ursula, wueeh asik... Puas teriak2 kayak jaman sekolahan dulu :D

Jojo, kalo baca ini, asli kereen, pantesan latihannya sampe teler, tapi worth it kok, kecil2 cabe rawit kalian ya hehe..






:: Si Joujou ditengah, keliatan kecil hehehe, anak smp sih :D*jangan nimpuk ai ya Jo!






:: Proud Supporter :)

























Pulangnya maen ke Taman Anggrek, udah lama ngak ke Mal euy, biasanya suka males aja, abis gitu2 doang, drpd buang2 duit mending ngendon deket2 rumah, tapi kali ini kita ke taman anggrek, cuci mata, refreshing sedikit lah, ada dekorasi yang judulnya Winter Wonderland tapi snowmannya udah jadi abu2 gara2 dipegang2 banyak orang wehehehe.. Sebelumnya sempet ngewanti2 Mika kalo kita ngak akan beli apapun selain makanan, dan berhasil.. :)


:: Dirumah ngapain ya, bongkar2 ngeluarin perbekalan jaman dulu, setumpukan buku2 dari Tintin, Arad Maya, Asterix, dsb dsb.. udah belel, tp yg penting isinya toh?

:: Dan baca2 lagi koleksi Beatrix Potter yang disimpen, lumayan bikin mata sikonyil melotot :)
dan hari ini? Kita mau nungguin kembang api- tentunya dengan kuping tertutup- soalnya berisik kata Mika hehe! Happy New Year!

We took a look at Randel Plowman’s A Collage A Day a few years back, but I saw it linked on FitaCola today and realized it was worth another look. Randel creates and sells 4-inch square collages each day, and they’re quite lovely.

Previously on Drawn!: A Collage a Day…

Now that school has begun it is a little bit difficult for us to find a time to go outdoor and play in the morning, still, we manage to do a little time together

Mika still like to copying what I do, mostly drawing :), and she did a little duckie together with a flowery balloon, this is taken after I have finished my IF entry


















Learning about color combination and shape making. This puzzle pattern things is one of her favorite, making the pattern with different position and many alternatives sure can put her into her own time.. :)


















and Grandma accompany her with such an amazed look, seeing the two generation in one same position is such an interesting objects for me, with many different point of view and so many things to learn from both :)

THREAT OF STRIKE FOR WRITERS/PRODUCERS - TV COULD GET A WHOLE LOT WORSE

"With their current deal set to expire on June 30, Hollywood actors and producers had yet to sign a new contract by June 13. And with each passing day, the likelihood of an actors’ strike—while practically unthinkable so soon after the Writers Guild of America strike turned the 2008 development season on its head—seems increasingly possible, especially with both sides sparring so publicly.

SAG president Alan Rosenberg has said the American Federation of TV and Radio Artists, which signed a tentative deal with producers last month, had made no headway on those points. SAG, representing about 120,000 actors, singers, dancers and stunt men, staged a rally last week to persuade the 44,000 or so of its members who also belong to AFTRA to delay ratifying their new contract until after SAG had completed its negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers."

Given the current TV schedule and programs that passed for entertainment this season, things could be a whole lot worse.

Read the entire story here: http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/national-broadcast/e3i5597024fecf11e332dbcd600b1e07895

21 days of creative exercises day 20























Got a loong delay of this creative exercises, guess I'm too busy with all the school holiday prep things, well this is what I doodle on Sunday, one should rest a little bit right? :) We get up at 7.30, Dad not moving until 8.30, I get a cup of coffee, a breakfast in bed and read the newspaper, while Mika playing around with her stuff, I think she might get a little excited about the chance of getting up late,
yes... a lot of laziness in Sunday morning...

and it's fun.. !

and the quote is about Coffeee.. !

Coffee falls into the stomach ... ideas begin to move, things remembered arrive at full gallop ... the shafts of wit start up like sharp-shooters, similes arise, the paper is covered with ink...

-Honore de Balzac

Can’t stop searching for words in Safire’s Political Dictionary? Neither can I. But I have found another great way to see Safire’s genius in action, the youtube video below and his Daily Show appearance. So plug in your headphones and get ready to expand your political vocabulary.

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