Upon learning
that the show was going to be broadcast from Toronto in February,
a group of local residents extended an invitation to have Conan
undertake a challenging odyssey in
order to gain the honour of being named King of the Castle,
according to an ancient tradition they just made up.
The Letter
of Invitation reads like a page from Lord of the Rings with
references to honour and fortitude. But the tongue is always
firmly in cheek. You can read the invitation and find out what
they have in mind by visiting MyStClair.com,
a community-based website.
And quite the odyssey
it is - one that would even challenge Jason, Hercules or a hobbit
for that matter. It starts at Casa Loma, an actual castle that
sits upon a hill that runs through the middle of Toronto. It
was apparently built to be worthy of regal visits. It ends,
well they are not exactly saying - it is a place of great mystery.
Along the way, the pretender to the throne would be presented
with another side of Toronto, one that a lot of people don't
know about - for example, that Hemingway lived here for a time
while working for the Toronto Star.
"Conan should know that Queen Elizabeth has
completed a part of the odyssey - and she already has a crown",
quips Ernie Marshall, one of the members of the St Clair Coronation
Committee, named after the avenue that forms the main street
of this area, called the Ridge in some circles.
A lot of people are behind Conan's bid to
have this honour bestowed upon him, from City Councillors, to
hockey players and martial artists and just plain regular folk
- and of course all the business groups along the way.
The inspiration
for the odyssey came from a project by local artists Elizabeth
Cinello and Schuster Gindin
Of course there is always the chance Conan
may decline the offer. "We know that could be the case" says
Ernie, "because Americans aren't big on kings and such, well
not since that little scuffle back in '76. While we have a lot
of diversity there is still a fairly strong British tradition
- so we do know how to keep a stiff upper lip - but that's only
if we've been using our viagra chapstick.Otherwise I see images
of pitch forks and torches and the storming of gates and ...
well we're pretty sure it won't come to that. Lord Conan is
a wise soul, otherwise he would not have been chosen for this
high honour (notice how I pronounced honour, the Canadian way
with a 'u' in it - the way Mother Nature intended)."
In a bid by Canadian-born Executive Producer
Lorne Michaels to give Toronto a shot in the arm following the
hit they took from SARS, NBC Late Night is planning to broadcast
from Toronto from February 10-13. So stay tuned to see if Lord
Conan, Earl of O'Brien goes for it.
