Four Horsemen of the Apopcalypse – Pop culture references in The Colbert Report: April 27-30, 2009

Welcome to No Fact Zone’s weekly roundup of cultural references on The Colbert Report. From Darcy to Dangermouse, String Theory to Shakespeare, we’ve got the keys to this week’s obscure, oddball, and occasionally obscene cultural shout-outs (hey!).

Hey Zoners!  I’ve been out sick for a couple of weeks, but I’m happy now to be back watching the Report, and back on the Apopcalypse posts. My favorite line this week has to be “That’s the 7th law of arbitrariness.  Why seven? No reason.” Be sure to post your favorite bits in the comments!

Monday: The Decemberists

Anyone else think Decemberist guest vocalist Shara Worden was channeling Grace Slick in that song? In the interview, Colin Meloy spoke of musical influences for this album, in particular the British folk revival of the 1960s & 1970s. So for your listening pleasure, here’s traditional folk singer Anne Briggs with a haunting version of “She Moved through the Fair”; guitarist/vocalist Nic Jones playing “Billy Don’t You Weep for Me”; and Shirley Collins with her sister, organist Dolly Collins, singing “Go from My Window”.  Colin Meloy has also recorded an EP of Shirley Collins songs, and they’re just lovely.

Tuesday:  Where and When Is Stephen Going to the Persian Gulf?

“Now some foreign correspondents like Amanpour, Robertson, and Logan put themselves in harm’s way.  Others like Rivera give harm their exact coordinates.”

Let’s all pause right now to give thanks for the comedy Geraldo Rivera has unwittingly provided fans of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.  While embedded with forces in Iraq in 2003, Rivera infamously reported about classified troop locations, even going so far as to draw a map of their planned movements in the sand.  He was roundly criticized for the epic dope-move, and subsequently expelled from Iraq by the Pentagon.  Comedy gold for The Daily Show, with Stephen’s  spot-on impression of Geraldo and his sand-drawing escapades (don’t miss the tiny moustached smiley face at the end!).

Wednesday: Enemy Swine – A Pigcalypse Now & David Kessler

“Yes, it is the new Black Death.  SARS is so two years ago.  I wouldn’t be caught dead with it.”

Stephen’s been alerting us to the dangers of global pandemic since the very beginning of the Report.  The bubonic plague may have killed an estimated 75 million people (30-60% of Europe’s population), but Stephen always manages to find the bright side, too.

As for David Kessler’s plans for food rehab? Stephen says “No no no!”

Thursday:  President Obama – the First 14 Mondays & Ethan Nadelmann

“He went on to say ‘I have had it with these motherf*in’ sneezes on this motherf*in plane!”

Oh Samuel L. Jackson, how I love you so. As apparently do our Report writers.  The title really tells you all you need to know about the 2006 camp action flick Snakes on a Plane, starring Samuel L. Jackson.  Last week, Stephen praised TV networks’ creative dubbing (“I’ve had it with these monkey fightin’ snakes on this Monday-to-Friday plane!”) of the now-famous line. 

“I just want to tell the viewers who might be watching this show high right now, start Dark Side of the Moon… Now.”

Next time you watch the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, turn the sound down, and play Pink Floyd’s 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon instead. Stoners and fans of the band have listed in excruciating detail apparent correspondences between the film and album which occur when the two are properly synchronized.  The phenomenon is sometimes referred to as The Dark Side of the Rainbow, and is generally thought to reveal hidden layers of meaning in the album.  Members of the band, however, maintain the correspondences are entirely coincidental, and psychologists point out that humans are hard-wired to see patterns even where none exist (known as apophenia).  Still, there are probably worse ways to spend a free evening.  Like, perhaps, watching Snakes on a Plane?