Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist – The Canadian edition

Howdy, Zoners! As you might imagine, there’s been quite a bit of Colbert news related to Canada and the Olympics recently, and I thought it would be a good time to round up some of it for a look at what’s going on in the Great White North as Stephen sets his sights on Vancouver. With the announcement last Thursday that he’s going to the Olympics, I hope the attention he’s bringing to U.S. Speedskating and the games in general will fuel what promises to be a great friendly rivalry between the U.S. and Canada.

Official Olympic Ombudsman

As Stephen mentioned on last Thursday’s show, the city of Richmond, B.C., issued an invitation for him to be the official Olympic Oval ombudsman during the Olympics. Here are just two of the many articles from the Canadian press that pondered the possibility of Stephen going to Vancouver.

• Will Colbert bite at Chief Syrup Sucker’s offer? – The Globe and Mail

  VANCOUVER – The invitation is on the table, but Stephen Colbert says he isn’t sure he can come north to the land of syrup suckers to look out for the interests of U.S. Olympic skaters during the 2010 Winter Games. “Can I even legally work in Canada?” Mr. Colbert mused in an e-mailed statement to The Globe and Mail after receiving a letter, released Tuesday, from the “Chief Syrup Sucker” of the City of Richmond. “Don’t I need a green card, or whatever you call it? A beaver board?”

• Wear the toque and you’re in the pink, Stephen Colbert – Vancouver Sun

  If Stephen Colbert thinks he can come to Vancouver and take up his volunteer job as Olympic Oval Ombudsman without wearing a baby-pink toque, he can forget it… Other than wearing the toque, even [City of Richmond spokesperson Ted] Townsend couldn’t be really specific about the Oval Ombudsman’s duties. Colbert will have to do some hanging around with civic officials, since the only way he can get through the door without a ticket is as the city’s guest. And there’s the hope that Colbert will agree to go along to the city’s celebration sites.

Stephen Colbert: Secret Syrup Sucker!

Canadian genealogy website Ancestry.ca has discovered that Stephen has maple syrup in his veins. Two of his paternal ancestors lived in Canada after immigrating from Ireland.

• Stephen Colbert is Canadian – And so can you! – Canada NewsWire (press release from Ancestry.ca)

  Ancestry.ca, Canada’s leading family history website, made the shocking discovery that the right-wing pundit of “truthiness” and opponent of social welfare has not one, but two paternal relatives that lived, worked and even passed on, in the Great White North.

  (Stephen’s great-great-grandfather, James Quinn, was born in Ireland in 1830 and immigrated to Canada, where he worked as a laborer near Kingston, Ontario. Stephen’s great-great-grandmother, Mary Skelton (nee Mary Ann Gurry) was also born in Ireland, but immigrated to the United States, and at some point moved north of the border into Canada, where she spent the last years of her life.)

Shani Davis

There’s been some fallout from Shani Davis’ assertion last week that Stephen is “a jerk.” The general reaction from the press and from Davis’ teammates has been a quick defense of Stephen and advice to Davis to find a sense of humor.

• Is U.S. speedskater Shani Davis beggin’ for that ‘jerk’ Stephen Colbert to put him On Notice? – EW.com’s Popwatch blog

  During a press conference Thursday, humor-deficient U.S. speedskater Shani Davis called Stephen Colbert a “jerk” for the late-night host’s Nov. 5 Canada-bashing segment… Either the guy just doesn’t get it, or he wants his own Report segment so bad he’d pay the $300,000 Colbert raised for U.S. speedskating just to score it.

• Memo to speedskater Davis: ‘Colbert Report’ is satire – Seattle Post-Intelligencer

  Good thing it the Winter Olympics and not the Laff-A-Lympics, otherwise U.S. speedskater Shani Davis’ sense of humor wouldn’t stand a chance at medaling… Davis apparently isn’t in on the joke, or just doesn’t appreciate Colbert’s brand of humor… Chad Hedrick, the veteran that he is, knows better than to bite the hand that feeds him, even if that hand belongs to the theoretical lovechild of Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck. “We’re really fortunate that he jumped on board. It’s a great situation for us,” Hedrick told the AP.

• U.S. speedskater Shani Davis calls Stephen Colbert ‘a jerk’ – Yahoo! Sports

  Stephen Colbert’s whole shtick on his satirical news show, “The Colbert Report,” is that he’s a jerk. Shani Davis isn’t really in on the joke…. Shani Davis needs to get a sense of humor. Getting mad at Colbert for ripping Canada is like getting mad at Ralph Fiennes for killing Harry Potter’s parents. It’s an act, Shani. Get over yourself and stick to the ice.

Keeping Stephen’s “opinion makers” safe

• Stephen Colbert gets Canadian protection from ‘nut-kicker’ – Metronews.ca

  The Comedy Network is sending late-night comedian Stephen Colbert what they say is a beaver fur-lined jockstrap to keep his package safe from the Langley “nut-kicker” during the 2010 Winter Olympics. …[O]n Nov. 18, in his Threat Down segment, Colbert ranked as the No. 1 threat a Langley woman who is believed to have randomly kicked four men in the groin… Colbert said he believes he’s the nut-kicker’s ultimate target.

  “To ensure the safety of his boys, we created and sent Colbert the Maple Member Minder, a beaver fur-lined jockstrap,” a spokesperson for the Comedy Network said in an email.

(h/t DB and Ms I)