WATCH
Better Know a District When a politician goes on the late-night talk shows, he’s likely to field softball questions. On MSNBC, it’s “Hardball.” And if she’s brave enough to go on “The Colbert Report” on Comedy Central, she’ll take questions from an oddball. So far, two members of Colorado’s congressional delegation have taken Stephen Colbert’s bait and submitted themselves to his “Better Know a District” segment, a 434-part series in progress. (Yes, there are 435 congressional districts. But Colbert announced early on that one of them is dead to him and will never be featured.) The quick-witted Colbert asks irreverent questions that leave politicians – including Reps. Mark Udall and Diana DeGette – speechless. To DeGette, who represents Denver: “Are you a member of the Mile High Club?” To Udall, who hails from Eldorado Springs: “George W. Bush: Great president or greatest president?” Find the segments at comedycentral.com/shows/the_colbert_report/index.jhtml.
LISTEN
Authors on Tour You might have missed former newspaper columnist Dave Barry’s hilarious speech last month at Denver’s Tattered Cover Book Store to promote “Dave Barry’s Money Secrets,” or Frank McCourt, who spoke there about his new book, “Teacher Man,” in April. But you can catch up on what the writers had to say with podcasts. Subscribe to the podcasts through your usual outlet or listen to them individually at authorsontourlive.com. The website has a cool interface: The media player looks like a little iPod, with all the controls. The podcasts are produced by Denver-based Burstmarketing and offer more evidence that Tattered Cover is one of the nation’s leading-edge bookstores.
CLICK
addictinggames.com/zidaneheadbuttgame.html If you’re the famous French soccer player Zinedane Zidane, and someone just insulted your mother and sister, you drive your head into that person’s chest, knocking them to the ground and getting you thrown out of the World Cup final. If you’re not Zidane, you do the next best thing: You go on the Internet and play a video game where you pretend to be Zidane and head-butt a relentless series of Italian soccer players (actually, the same one over and over). The goal is to rack up as many red cards as you can. The game is simple, cathartic and addictive. If you’re not the aggressive type, try some of the site’s other games, like mini putt or mahjong.
