Stephen Colbert vs The Hungarian Government

jefu writes "The Hungarian government is sponsoring an internet vote to name a new bridge. So far naming the bridge after acter Chuck Norris has been the most popular. However, last night Stephen Colbert (of Comedy Central's "Colbert Report") suggested that viewers vote to name the bridge after him. Remembering the effect that a Colbert segment had had on Wikipedia, I visited the voting page (in Hungarian when it works) soon after that and it was completely non-responsive. This morning (8:00 Thursday Pacific time) it is showing a "Horrible exception" and a Jetspeed/tomcat stack trace. " I believe Colbert's straight-talking sensibilities have earned him far more than just a bridge in whatever continent Hungaria is in. Instead I think we should consider renaming one of our lesser used states as an honor more appropriate to his grippy contributions to America. We're not doing anything with Colorado these days anyway, but imagine the appeal of a new and improved state with a virile name like Colberado. Book your tickets today!

Comments

Re:Hungaria?

[The Good Reverend]

Perhaps you're unaware of Steven Colbert's comic stylings of purposefully making gaffs like this? Taco's entire contribution is in that style. While there are plenty of people who don't know their geography, I think the most likely explanation here is that the joke went over your head.

Re:Why stop at a bridge?

[kiscica]

Well they are a country that is civilized enough to include the name of the national wine (Tokaji Aszu) in thier national anthem.

Well, not exactly. The lines [note: ö will stand in here for a long ö, which doesn't seem to be showing up in preview] Tokaj szölövesszein / Nektárt csepegtettél ("you dripped nectar on the grapevines of Tokaj") do appear in the third stanza of the full Himnusz (not that anyone, ever, sings the whole thing). Tokaj is a wine-growing region, justly famous for the wines that are internationally known under the Tokay name (including the sweet dessert wine type called aszú, made with a proportion of moldy grapes :-)

Kiscica

Re:changes on top list

[theStorminMormon]

As far as I can tell (my Hungarian is not that great, I'm a native English speaker) this is what we've got:

Zenebutik-Zenehid -> Music boutique - Music bridge (I've never heard zenebutik stuck together like that, so it may mean something other than the literal translation)

Chuck Norris Hid -> Chuck Norris Bridge. Hid means bridge, I'm not going to keep translating that word.

Zrinyi Hid -> Zrinyi is a famous historical Hungarian family (http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/Z/Zrinyi.asp)

Vásárhelyi Boldizsár -> Not sure on this one. Vásárhelyi is an adjective that means "shopping place", so that's weird, and I don't know what Boldizsár means.

Bethlen Gábor -> Another hero of another failed rebellion. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Bethlen) Hungarian history is very sad for the last couple of hundred years, if you haven't gathered that.

Batthyány Lajos -> Hero of the failed uprising of the Hungarians against the Austro-Hungarian empire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lajos_Batthy%C3%A1ny for more in English)

Szent Korona -> Holy Crown

Bocskai István -> Transylvanian Prince (that was part of Hungary) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Bocskay

Hunyadi Mátyás -> Popular Hungarian king (http://www.iearn.hu/balkans/bpeople/matyas.htm)

Szent István -> Saint Steven (don't ask me how Istvan translates into Steven, let alone how the nickname for Istvan is Pisti, kind of richard and dick, but even more off). He was the first Christian king of Hungary, also known as "Istvan a Kiraly" (Stephen the King)

Re:Where's Magyarország?

[vertinox]

To be fair, I can't find Deustchland on the map either nor Myanmar... But in reality the Hungarians don't refer to their nation as Hungary, but rather Magyarország.

So heck... We can keep calling Hungary or Germany or Burma anything we want because they call themselves something else.

Re:changes on top list

[A beautiful mind]

As someone authentic (I live less than one km/mile away from the now-under-construction bridge) I attempted an explanation:

Zenebutik-Zenehíd 260730 [13%] - Music shop - Music bridge (from some hungarian 20y old music programme)
Chuck Norris - híd 158656 [8%]
Zrínyi híd 156978 [8%] - named after Zrínyi, historical figure
Vásárhelyi Boldizsár - híd 155314 [8%] - historical figure
Bethlen Gábor - híd 152720 [8%] - historical figure
Batthyány Lajos híd 122877 [6%] - historical figure
Szent Korona - híd 122325 [6%] - Saint Crown bridge
Bocskai István - híd 121137 [6%] - historical figure
Hunyadi Mátyás - híd 120784 [6%] - historical figure
Szent István - híd 119985 [6%]- Saint Stephen, 1st king of Hungary

Híd = bridge
Btw, the bridge is part of the M0 beltway that goes 'round Budapest. It is supposed to be built "any year now" for the last twenty...

Instructions on how to vote for Stephen

[nofactzone]

The mission, should you choose to accept it: Get Stephen Colbert's name voted in as the bridge name for this new bridge in Hungary spanning the Danube River.

To accomplish your task:

To vote, go here- http://www.m0hid.gov.hu/szavaz

UPDATE!!! Walk-through of the voting process:

• If you can actually get through to this page, do an "Edit - Find (on this page)" for "Colbert" and it should take you straight to his nomination.
• Make sure you have found Stephen Colbert and not Steven Colbert (don't split the vote kids!). Click on the button by his name to vote for him.
• Then go to the bottom of the web page and click the "Elküld" button (the square one at the bottom of the page), and your vote should be submitted.
• DO NOT try to sort the nominees by ABC, because as heavily trafficked as this site is right now, you're lucky to connect to the site once.
• If you can click the round button by his name, and click on the "Elküld" button at the bottom of the page, your vote should count.

The site is still only partially accessible due to the overload in traffic I imagine (lots of "Cannot Find Server" errors). But I did submit the nomination and at least one of the members of the Colbert Nation got through enough to get him on the ballot. On the form for justification for the nomination, I submitted "Lép Colbert van a áthidal között Magyarország és Amerika" Which means (according to Translation-guide.com): "Stephen Colbert is the bridge between Hungary and America". (Actually, what I'm pretty sure has happened is that the internet translation tool has mangled the translation and it says something like "Stephen Colbert has complete apple frog feet for the Mopping of Americans" or something.)

So vote early, and vote often.

The Top Nominees: (as of 8/10/2006 11:15 AM CST) http://www.m0hid.gov.hu/toplista

Toplista
Az indoklás megtekintéséhez kattintson a névre!
Zenebutik-Zenehíd 260730 [13%]
Chuck Norris - híd 156741 [8%]
Zrínyi híd 156415 [8%]
Vásárhelyi Boldizsár - híd 155314 [8%]
Bethlen Gábor - híd 152669 [8%]
Batthyány Lajos híd 122824 [6%]
Szent Korona - híd 122266 [6%]
Bocskai István - híd 121083 [6%]
Hunyadi Mátyás - híd 120734 [6%]
Szent István - híd 119933 [6%]

Some Other Nominees: (as of 8/10/2006 12:15 PM CST)

Stephen Colbert - 168
Jack Sparrow - 37
Monty Python - 25
Bruce Lee - 29
Skywalker - 21
Jackie Chan - 20
Steven Colbert - 12
Abe Vigoda - 3
Gene Simmons - 3
Sponge Bob- 1

Re:Why stop at a bridge?

[langelgjm]

(including the sweet dessert wine type called aszú, made with a proportion of moldy grapes :-)

For those of you who were wondering about the mold: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_rot