Archive for Colbert U
May updates at our sister site, Colbert University
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Cross-posted from the Colbert University update blog, authored by WordsWithGrace.
Welcome students! Here’s what we added to CU in May:
- The May It-Getter's Quiz, written by Faculty Associate Vigwig…
- Stephen’s interview with anti-gay-marriage activist Tony Perkins is added to Nailings 101, our collection of particularly memorable nailings.
- More Vintage Stephen from Second City, in Musky Treasures!
- Guest Andrei Cherny (The Candy Bombers) dishes about making his own prop hours just hours before his interview.
- Stephen promotes tourism in Philadelphia, in Musky Treasures, Vault 2.
- A British newspaper explains Stephen to a new audience, with eloquent reflections from the man himself, in Colbert Platinum: Interviews and Articles.
- We reorganize our Character Breaks course, creating a section dedicated to prop malfunctions (spilled beer, burst condoms, snapping mousetraps, “shocking” experiments, and more).
- Newly added audience questions: To what song would Stephen dance with Bill O’Reilly? Are Noblet and Geoffrey still together? What was Stephen’s favorite birthday present? Was he ever a waiter? What’s his favorite Sunday school lesson to teach? Does Tek Jansen prefer blondes, brunettes, or redheads? And more…
- We celebrate Mother’s Day with Stephen’s mother, Lorna Colbert, and a radio interview with Stephen about his childhood.
- Wayback Machine: How did Stephen celebrate his birthday (May 13) five years ago? Talking with radio’s Leonard Lopate in a wide-ranging interview about working with Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris, their book Wigfield, and comedy in general.
- New in Dancing with Stephen: The unforgettable Colbert-Rain Dance-Off!
- Meg fans unite! We update the character’s bio with her recent appearance.
- Stephen adds Arabic to his stockpile of Foreign Languages
- And Faculty Associate Lisa continues to update and expand the Extra Credit Reading List, a list of books whose authors have appeared on the show, making it more and more impressive—check it out!
For more, stay tuned!
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When’s the last time you visited Colbert University? Well, that’s too long.
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For those of you who may be new to the No Fact Zone family of web sites, our sister site, Colbert University, has been described as a viewer’s companion to The Colbert Report. I think that’s a severe understatement – it’s more like a massive encyclopedia of everything that has ever been on The Colbert Report, ever. The site is laid out like a college course review, with “Colbert 101” basic courses, and more advanced and topic-specific courses of study for those who have been watching the show a while. Virtually every time I do research on the site, I learn something I did not know. But be warned – it’s seriously easy to get lost on the site, digging and learning and watching videos and just immersing yourself in the Colbert University experience.
The site is updated on a very regular basis. Our Senior West Coast Correspondent over here, WordsWithGrace, is the head guru and Senior Communications Specialist and Reference Librarian over at Colbert University. Quite frankly, the site would not be there without all of her hard and dedicated work over there, and I am very grateful she’s decided to tackle this project with the gusto that she has.
She also has a crew of hard working Faculty Associates that help her with gathering information and completing projects. For example, every month, Vigwig creates a new It-Getter’s quiz every month to test your knowledge of what’s going on with the show. The April quiz is up and posted – go take it and see how you fare!
Another project that the CU crew is working on is spearheaded by Lisa (who you may know by her frequent contributions to our comments here at NFZ). She’s getting a list of authors together who have appeared on the show, by subject. Check out her progress on this project over at ‘The Colbert Report’ Extra Credit Reading List section of Colbert University.
And if you really, seriously want to know every single little thing about “Stephen Colbert”, you need to go visit the Character Data pages. NFZ Senior International Correspondent Jennie has gone through every single episode through the end of 2007 with a fine tooth comb, and pulled out facts about the character in seriously specific details. To be quite honest, this is one of my favorite sections of the site, and I get lost every time I open one of the different courses in this segment.
Once you’ve gone through the site, and you really feel like you’ve mastered the content, you can now print out your very own Colbert University degree! Click below to go to the PDF of our new offering for fans of the Colbert University web site and create your own CU degree, suitable for college dorm rooms, cubicles, and home offices everywhere. (My favorite touch is the eagle’s feet – instead of holding an olive branch and arrows, he’s holding arrows and more arrows. Ha!)
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Colbert University’s “Better Know A Staffer” series
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Our resident CU guru WordsWithGrace has compiled mini-bios of all of the “Colbert Report” writers that flashed by Stephen Colbert on last Tuesday’s show. If you’d like to learn more about who we are rallying behind and put some names to the writer’s faces, I’d highly recommend visiting Colbert University today and doing a little reading.
Go to Colbert University by clicking here!
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Annoucing the newest site in the NoFactZone.net family, Colbert University!
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Ok, we’ve FINALLY done it! We’ve finally completed the work on Colbert University that we needed to do so that we could officially launch this puppy.
Please read below for all of the scoop on our new site, and if you like the site, please link to us in your blogroll, LJ journal, or web site. Also talk about it on your favorite message boards, e-mail your friends, send smoke signals, do whatever you need to do. I am going to do the best I can to get this word out on the usual haunts, but the more people that can get the word out to their own circle of friends, the better. Thanks so much for all of your link love!
http://colbertuniversity.nofactzone.net
Colbert University is a fan-written homage to the brilliant, creative, and hilarious writing on The Colbert Report. It is a sister site of NoFactZone.net, a Stephen Colbert-centric news blog and reference site founded on July 16, 2006. (For the press release announcing the opening of CU, visit our Press Office.)
The goal of Colbert University is to serve as a permanent, accurate resource for those wishing to know more about the characters, terms, ideas, and world of The Colbert Report, and to inspire thoughtful analysis (as well as riotous enjoyment) of this groundbreaking experiment in interactive television.
Wherever possible, we have used Comedy Central’s video clips to illustrate our courses. Only when clips are unavailable there have we resorted to other sources.
Colbert University is not a money-making enterprise and accepts no advertising (except for the occasional discreet button enabling the purchase of an official Colbert-produced item from an official Colbert-sanctioned source).
Colbert University has as its foundation an encyclopedic “Colbert Report Recurring Elements” page that once existed on Wikipedia. It contained all kinds of information about many of the running gags, catch phrases, quotes, and miscellaneous trivia in the Colbertoverse and was maintained by dedicated members of the Colbert Nation.
One day in the fall of 2006, some Wikinazis (probably still pissed over the Report’s August 2006 Wikiality segment) decided it was in the best interest of Wikipedia to delete the article.
Long story short: Wikipedia is now Dead to Us, and we have used the information formerly housed on the “Recurring Elements” page as the foundation of Colbert University. The already superstantial Wikipedia documents have been expanded and augmented by the Colbert University faculty and co-conspirators.
Colbert University’s motto, Verum adveho ex animus, non ex libri, loosely translated from the Latin, means “Truth comes from the soul (gut), not from books.” The original version was “Truth is more purely apprehended through submission to the soul’s blinding rage to feel than by crafty manipulation of a halved and yellow-coiled slow-seeping mass of copulating worms that only thinks” — but let’s face it, that’s a bit silly.
Colbert University has taken many months to assemble, and is a labor of love by an all-volunteer staff. Despite our sincere efforts, errors, omissions, and broken links may have crept in. Please help us keep our University strong by emailing your corrections, as well as any suggestions or other feedback, to ColbertUniversity (@ at sign) NoFactZone.net. Enjoy!
For Release: July 16, 2007
For more information:
DB Ferguson, db@nofactzone.net
Dallas, TX, July 16: Wondering why Stephen Colbert is afraid of bears? What happened to his original “black friend”? Who the other writers are behind his smash-hit television show The Colbert Report? What he did before the Report and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart? A new website launching today has all the answers: Colbert University (colbertuniversity.nofactzone.net).
“Colbert University aims to help viewers of the show catch up on what they may have missed, and learn more about Stephen—both the character and the actor who plays him,” says DB Ferguson of Dallas, Texas, the founder of the new site. Ferguson is the creator of No Fact Zone (nofactzone.net), a one-year-old website devoted to reporting breaking news about Colbert and the Report.
The core courses at CU include Introduction to “Stephen Colbert” (the character played by the actor Stephen Colbert on the show), Character Studies, and Essential Terminology. The courses are packed with information as well as abundant links to video clips, news articles, and other sources.
Colbert University’s other offerings include: • A theology course on how Colbert integrates his Catholicism into the Report • The Colbert Codex, an encyclopedia of names, terms, and phrases used on the Report, which also functions as a gateway to the rest of the site • The Audience-Questions Archive, which compiles many of the questions Stephen has been asked in the Q&A sessions he holds with the audience before the taping of each show • A course on Audience Participation and the Colbert Nation, which examines how the Report regularly incorporates audience contributions into the show • Short courses with links to video clips showcasing Colbert dancing, speaking in myriad foreign languages, and committing rare but hilarious character breaks (when he dissolves into laughter)
Students can even take a final exam on the site, which will test their knowledge about the Report and Colbert. Questions include: • What is Stephen’s nickname for Bill O’Reilly? • Where was the “Charlene” music video filmed? • Which college has granted Stephen an honorary doctorate? • When did the Report premiere? • Where was Stephen Jr. born?
The university has a fight song too, Ferguson says. “Robert Schneider and The Apples in Stereo are graciously allowing us to use ‘Stephen, Stephen,’” a song Schneider wrote for Colbert and performed on the Report last December.
In addition to its multidisciplinary curriculum, the university also boasts substantial archives of links to video clips from Colbert’s earlier work, interviews with him, and transcripts of his speeches—including, of course, his legendary address to the White House Correspondents’ Association in the spring of 2006.
CU itself plays with concepts established on the Report, with such elements as the Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, DFA, Video Archive (Colbert’s character loves to name things after himself and flaunt his honorary doctorate of fine arts) and the Stephen & Melinda Gates Research Center (Colbert’s character created the Stephen & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has little evident purpose other than to attract contributions).
The site’s creators considered using the colors of Dartmouth, the alma mater of Colbert’s character, but in the end couldn’t resist the purple and gold of Northwestern University, Colbert’s actual alma mater.
Colbert University will grow and evolve as the Report continues. “Like the Report, the university is a process of discovery,” says Ferguson. “But I think we can already say that we are the #1 Stephen Colbert-related university on the Web.”
Colbert University is a sister site of No Fact Zone (nofactzone.net), the #1 site for news about Stephen Colbert on the Web, founded by Ferguson in July 2006. It is not officially affiliated with Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report, Comedy Central, Viacom International, Melinda Gates, any actual university, or bears.
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It’s coming! 20 more days!!!
Posted by: | CommentsAs this AMAZINGLY slow news week winds down, you will be seeing some changes in the static pages over in the right hand menu. You might have seen the phrase “NFZ Staffer WordsWithGrace” and wondered, well, what exactly does she do to make her a staffer? You’re about to find out. WordsWithGrace and I have been working very hard to put together a new site, a companion site if you will, for NoFactZone.net. We’ve still got a little housecleaning to do, but the site is getting more and more polished each day.
Because we’re so close to launching this new project, it’s just about time for me to start shifting some of the more archival elements of our site from here to there. So if you see a page that seems to have disappeared, don’t fret. It’s probably just moved to its new location.
Everybody get excited kids, this new project is going to blow your friggin’ socks off. It launches officially on July 16th, the one year anniversary of NoFactZone.net. (Man, can you believe it’s been one year already?! It seems just yesterday I was discovering Colbert for the first time, watching his shows on my lunch hour at work and slowly giving into the addiction enthusiastic fanaticism …)
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