In my last post “Travelogues” I listed a number of famous personalities who have done TV travelogues, or similar programs, here is a quick overview of what they have done, as far as I can remember.

Home Grown

Across the Pond

If I’ve missed anyone I’m sure one my many readers will remind me.

I’m off to Manchester soon – on the train for a gig. Its not really ambitious travel, but until my long weekend in Italy next January and my drive home for Christmas it’s all I’ve got.

As much as I am looking forward to all three (yes I am looking forward to my trip to Manchester,  its a break from the norm, a railway line I haven’t been on and it’s been a while since I’ve been down the curry mile for a meal. Plus last time I went to Manchester I didn’t have time to check the food in China Town.

Its at times like this I tend to turn to books, magazines, various internet site and yes – what has been refared to as my “whopping electronic canvas suitable for opening a small-time cinema“; the TV.

I have been reliving Mr Palin’s Travels (I have lost count as to how many times I’ve seen them now) it got  me thinking about who else has done a travelogue. I’m not going to look at Pilot Guides/Globe Trekker here – suffice to say I enjoy it.

Well Billy Connolly, Stephen Fry, Ewan McGregor & Charley Boorman, Paul Merton, Griff Rhys Jones (with and without Dara Ó Briain and Rory McGrath), Victoria Wood, The Children In Need 80 Day Challenge Team, Martin Clunes, Robbie Coltrane, James May and Oz Clarke, John Sergeant, Sir Trevor McDonald, Julia Bradbury and Kate Humble are the only one I can think of for now. I’ll add Bruce Parry and Ray Mears to the list as their shows are about travel and/or different cultures.

Our American cousins who are lucky enough to have the Travel Channel – have the likes of Anthony Bourdain, Andrew Zimmerman and the ever hungry Adam Richman amongst others to watch.

Unlike many “critics” I am by no means going to rip these people apart, or their producers why would I – they provide me with entertainment, escapes, inspiration and fuel my dreams. Those that think not another famous personality (I refuse to use the “C” word) getting to travel, funded by someone else’s wallet – good for them – if I was in their position I would be sending letters, faxes and emails to every producer and television company I could to get them to pay for me to do something like this – who wouldn’t?

As far as comparisons go everyone of the names above (with the exception of Bruce Parry and Ray Mears) are going to be graded against Mr Plain – the only one I feel can compete is Billy Connolly, although Stephen Fry does come close too. For those who are music fans consider this – there is only one drummer worthy of being the best ever and no one with any sense can argue with this – Animal. There is only one man who can come close to him – Keith Moon. Like all other drummers, there is yet to be another travel presenter who can compete.

So please just enjoy the show – have a little escape and wish it was you doing it.

George McGavin, Michael Palin, a Film Crew,

and 6 Barrels of Borneo Brew

The Royal Geographical Society’s annual expedition and fieldwork planning weekend is called, rather fittingly, Explore! It’s 2 days and a night of non-stop lectures, seminars and workshops led by some of the worlds best known and most experienced explorers, adventurers, researchers, and educators in the world, oiled with tea, cake and beer breaks where the networking begins.

The beer on sale this year was, you guessed it, Borneo Brew! Skinners Brewery very kindly donated 6 barrels of Borneo Brew and the RGS donated the profits from the sale of the beer to the expedition. We have to say a huge thank you to Shane Winser, Manger of the Geography Outdoors at the RGS, for promoting the beer and our expedition generally.

FXP 2010 had a team of 10 people at the event, giving learning and networking opportunities to team members and 2011 hopefuls. It was a huge success for the team. We made loads of new contacts, learned a lot of new skills from experts, and came away with a rocket up our collective backsides.

We were also filming the event on behalf of tghe RGS, and managed to get an interview with Python, travel presenter, and RGS President, Michael Palin, who wished the FXP 2010 team success. Star of the BBC expeditions to Borneo, Guyana and Papua New Guinea (Lost Land of the Volcano) shared a Borneo Brew with us too!

I attended Explore ’08 and it is one of the biggest reasons that FXP2010 has taken off: the energy and sense of support that this event creates is electrifying – you can’t help but come away with a sense of urgency, as well as the contacts to make whatever you decide to do happen.

It will be a dream come true if, next year, the FXP 2010 team return to Explore as guests, panelists and speakers, sharing our experiences and telling our tales from what ought to be one of the most excitin, challenging, and innovative expeditions of the year.

All good things must end, and with some drama and sea sickness Jose Lawrence & Shane Richie attempt to doge a hurricane (Bill) and race to get back in time to make the 80 days target.

So how do you spend your time on a transatlantic voyage, on a cargo ship. Options are limited and I suppose after you have counted the containers, engines, pipes and watched your wake for a while and spotted the local wildlife your a bit stuck. Not with a film crew and two celebrities, you make a cheesy soap opera.

Meanwhile a rescue plan is put into place, a ship to ship transfer just off the Lizard Point, boat to Plymouth and a train to London. Sounds simple… well to disembark you need a rope ladder and the captain, can’t stop. He just moves course a little. Its all dependant on good weather.

Its at this point you realise a few things, a solo 80 day attempt does not have the power of the BBC behind it and (as I predicted) in earlier posts both sea sickness and the ocean crossings are the most important parts of the trip and you have no control over either.

Off the cargo ship and its the last day, with only 17 hours the most beautiful racing yacht and the most wonderful Dame Ellen MacArthur at the helm. I cannot emphasise enough how much respect and admiration I have for her. It would be nice to see her with longer hair though. There is only one thing I rather do (and have less chance of completing) that a solo circumnavigation of the globe in a racing yacht.

The whole team is at the reform club to great them,  just a note here – no one met Mr Palin.

The journal and the carpet bag are now both up for auction…  as I type this the journal has just flown past £20,000 (there goes my chance of owning it) and the carpet bag making a good start at £3,000.

Data
Title: Brazil
Year: 1985
Length: 142 minutes
Director: Terry Gilliam
Writers: Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard & Charles McKeown
Starring: Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin, Ian Richardson, Peter Vaughan, Kim Greist
Music: Michael Kamen
Distinctions: currently #240 on IMDb’s Top 250

My reaction
Synopsis: a man in a bureaucratic dystopia obsesses over a woman from his dreams
How I saw it: on video several times (used to have on DVD), most recently (rented from Netflix) yesterday
Concept: Good.
Story: Bad.
Characters: Good.
Dialog: Great.
Pacing: Bad.
Cinematography: Great.
Special effects/design: Great.
Acting: Good.
Music: Great.
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay). I used to think this movie was great, but I can’t figure out why. Maybe it was just because I loved other Gilliam movies, so I thought I should love it. Or maybe it’s the same reason that every young person who hasn’t read too many books thinks 1984 is the best thing ever. In any case, I was pretty bored watching this yesterday. The visuals are great, but they rarely actually contribute to the storytelling. There are some great scenes, mostly when it’s being silly, and some great acting from Holm and Palin (meanwhile, De Niro is pretty bad), but the story just doesn’t make a lot of sense if you think about it too much.
Objective Rating: 7/10 (Pretty good).

This is a bit of a challenge for me – as  child I was afflicted by car sickness. Unfortunately as I got older and was able to get used to this, then learn to drive which made a huge difference as did moving from the back of the car to the front passenger seat (sorry mum).

I remember and I sure my  family does many occasions a drive was interrupted by my poor constitution. If you remember my first post and my thoughts on the origins of my passion for travel this makes little sense as all the long journey’s I had done had been affected.

Back to more recent times and the sea sickness,  its a terrible thing – you can stop a car and get out – no chance of that on a boat. One irony is I love sailing, back in my youth I did some dingy sailing and I spent a few days on an amazing racing yacht called Mandrake cruising around the Whitsunday Islands off the Queensland coast.

A week earlier on a ferry to Fitzroy Island, a journey of only 45 minutes I was very, very ill and subsequently when learning to dive suffered the same fate.

Add that to bad experiences on Irish Ferries between Holyhead and Dublin, more than one on North Sea Ferries between Hull and Zeebrugge or Rotterdam (saved by sea sickness tablets) and the Inter Island Ferry between Picton and Wellington.

Now my experience on the ferry to Dublin may have had something to do with a few pints of Guinness I had consumed in the wonderful Sky Lounge, on an empty stomach (yes there are more excuses coming), on a rough sea followed by a walk down to the restaurant… yes it was mainly the Guinness.

All that said if I want to complete the the 80 days I’ll have to spend at least 2 weeks crossing the Pacific and the Atlantic, if not the Persian Gulf and other bodies of water… Are there any sea sickness tablets that work? Are there enough to last me that long?

I know that Ginger is a help – a few bottles of ginger beer got me though the trip across the Cook Straits and has helped on other car related occasions, but it has its limitations. I have used some travel sickness tablets before, on recent flights over the Atlantic which seemed to work and once when I was very young on a North sea crossing (basically they sent me to sleep – which doesn’t happen these days).

One thing I have found is fresh air and a view of the horizon in all but the worst cases is also a great help – again this helped on the Cook Straits crossing and when I went for a trip down Milford Sound. On Milford Sound this made me look pretty hard core as the only people outside when we reached the mouth of the Fjord were those who felt like me, the smokers (tucked away in a corner) and the photographers.

I’m at a loss – careful preparation, lots of ginger, sea sickness tables, very few or no alcoholic beverages, and praying for good weather are my only options. Maybe the Pacific won’t be that bad (fingers crossed).

THE SPANISH INQUISITION
Remaining expected by no-one since September 22, 1970

(Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam)

Picture by: wikipedia Caption by: Cobaltmotari via Poster Builder

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Monty Pythons “The Parrot Sketch” is a classic.

If you’re even a casual Python fan it’s pretty much an unwritten rule that you at least have to quote this sketch by heart.

BUT the first time I saw “The Parrot Sketch” was when I caught it on SNL, nearly a decade ago. It wasn’t till years later that I finally got to see the original version.

I haven’t seen the SNL take on the sketch since I saw it first aired but bless the internet, not only is the original sketch up and about, so is the SNL one!

Lets watch shall we….

And below is the link to the SNL one….

http://www.hulu.com/watch/102861/saturday-night-live-the-parrot-sketch#s-p2-sr-i1

The funniest story concerning the SNL version was that on the week of the show, Lorne Michaels asked John Cleese and Michael Palin if they could perform the sketch on SNL that week.

Cleese and Palin agreed, but both realized they completely forgot how the sketch went.(And mind you, this was before internet video was as big as is it today so they couldn’t have just looked it up.) One of them came up with pretty brilliant idea to figure out the sketch…go to a local college and find a fan.

Thats exactly what they did. They went to NYU, found a fan, the fan wrote the whole sketch FROM MEMORY(see, what did I tell you) and thats the version that went up on SNL later that week.

So knowing this, it’s pretty clear why the newer one isn’t that good. The number one problem is that the pacing is very slow in the newer one. Cleese and Palin’s performance just doesn’t have the same energy (which is fine, it was just a couple of decades since they last did it). My theory is that since it has been so long, they forgot how to play for the laughs in the sketch.

In the end, the big problem is that it was trying to recapture the magic of the first time, and with that long between doing it the first time (and most likely not having enough time to rehearse) and doing it for SNL, we have a very flawed version of the sketch.

That being said, it was very cool to see Palin and Cleese act together in a sketch again, especially being it being that sketch.

I love my passport and I am very lucky it is a British one, this gives me a good chance of getting into most countries with the bar minimum of hassle.

I am however struck by the problems the relay pairs have had getting across borders. I think up to now, (they got across the pacific last night) they have been refused entry to 5 or 6 countries, including China – now that is a huge detour.

I found myself wondering why they hadn’t stuck to the original route (see the header image); Mr Palin managed it, so why not this time. Well he had to cross the Persian Gulf between the middle east and India and then cross India. Unfortunately the sea crossing Mr Palin did is not very safe and pretty much impossible to do on the Dhow as demonstrated in 80 Days Revisited and even if you do manage to get out on the water it hugely dangerous thanks to pirates.

Pirates are quite a serious problem these days, there are unfortunately they seem to be increasing their attacks on shipping.

On top of piracy on the high seas there are other more pressing problems on land, this is where politics rears its head – which it does frequently. In the last few years Thailand has suffered with social unrest that briefly crippled the tourist industry, Russia invaded Georgia, the Middle East large areas of Africa and the Indian sub-continent continue to be less than safe. All of this depresses me – I’d love to visit these places.

Paperwork is a serious issue and failure to get a Visa could well be disastrous, Ewan Mcgregor and Charley Boorman demonstrated a large scale overland trip around the world is possible in Long Way Round, another great travelogue/challenge – but they took longer than 80 days and I think there may have been some flights involved on the way. Plus I don’t think I would like to ride a bike around the world.

Charley Boorman continued the madness with London To Sydney: By Any Means and Sydney To Tokyo: By Any Means.  In the second instalment they have unfortunately been plagued by problems and forced to fly, this even happened in the first adventure. The idea of both was to avoid flying, and politics, border control and the weather spoiled this.

21 years ago Mr Palin had to overcome some pretty big obstacles - but now it seems almost impossible.

Monty Python

Monty Python:
Celebrating 400 Years Of Monty Python (17 Discs)

Mit der Veröffentlichung von “MONTY PYTHON´s 40th Anniversary Boxset Celebrating 400 Years of MONTY PYTHON” feiert das bahnbrechende und unwiderstehlich komische Team des Monty Python’s Flying Circus ein wahrhaft denkwürdiges Ereignis.

Beide Discs sind auf den deutschen Markt bis dato unveröffentlicht und ausschließlich in dieser Box erhältlich! Zum Trojanischen Hasen geht es hier!

Mehrfach ausgezeichnet, erhielten die „Monty´s“ u.a. 1983 den „großen Preis der Jury“ beim Cannes Film Festival oder den Europäischen Filmpreis für ihr Lebenswerk 2001. Das Boxset, bestehend aus 17 DVDs, erscheint anlässlich des 400. Jubiläums von Monty Python (oder ihres 40. Jubiläum, kommt ganz darauf an, aus welcher Sicht man es betrachtet …) und enthält die beliebten Filme der unerschrockenen Truppe, darunter Die Ritter der Kokosnuss, Das Leben des Brian, Der Sinn des Lebens, Die wunderbare Welt der Schwerkraft und Monty Python Live At e Hollywood Bowl.

Erweitert wird die Box durch 2 Bonus Discs: eine über 2-stündige Dokumentation zum FLYING CIRCUS sowie einen 30-minütigen Zusammenschnitt von PERSONAL BESTS! Beide Discs sind auf den deutschen Markt bis dato unveröffentlicht und ausschließlich in dieser Box erhältlich!

Abgerundet wird diese sagenumwobene Box, neben der grandiosen Umverpackung Marke „Trojanischer Hase“ – in Anlehnung an eine Szene aus Die Ritter der Kokosnuss – durch ein kultiges Monty Python Wristband, 4 Monty Python´s Sammler-Buttons sowie ein limitiertes und nummeriertes Senitype (Kunstgrafik aus dem Film Die Ritter der Kokosnuss).

Das Leben des Brian (Disc 1-2)

Brian wird im Jahre des Herrn geboren, allerdings im Kuhstall nebenan. Und die Heiligen Drei Könige, die sich versehentlich zuerst in Brians Stall begeben, bemerken ihren Irrtum schnell, als sie von Brians Mutter angekeift werden: „Der echte Jesus liegt nebenan“.

Auch sonst scheint Brians Lebensweg vorbestimmt: Widerstandskämpfer der Judäischen Volksfront, äh … Volksfront von Judäa, neuer Messias und zum Schluss – Kreuzigung. Aber alles halb so schlimm, am Kreuz stimmen schließlich alle mit ein: „Always Look On ¬ e Bright Side Of Life“ …

Wer ist der wahre Messias? Na klar, Brian, wer sonst? Englands Kult-Komikertruppe Monty Python beweist auch in ihrem zweiten Spielfilm, dass sie wieder mal vor nichts und niemandem Respekt hat, weder vor Bibelverfilmungen noch vor der Heiligen Schrift … Einer der größten Hits des Prittischen Plödelteams.

Die Ritter der Kokosnuss (Disc 3-4)

Im frühen Mittelalter durchwandert König Artus das noch relativ unbewohnte England mit seinen edlen Recken, um das Reich von den einfallenden Franzosen zu befreien und den sagenhaften Heiligen Gral zu erobern. Leider handelt es sich bei seiner Truppe um eine Ansammlung irrer Trottel und sein Unternehmen erleidet schnell zahlreiche Rückschläge …

„Halt! Wer da?“ „Ich bin es, Artus, Sohn des Uther Pendragon, von der Burg Camelot, König aller Briten, Bezwinger der Sachsen, Herrscher über ganz England.“ „Verschwindet!“ Ein Gag- und Nonsensfeuerwerk der Extraklasse vom legendären Monty-Python-Team – ein absolutes Highlight im Schaffenswerk der britischen Comedians!

Bonus:
DISC 3:
• Film
• Das Killer-Karnickel
• Kommentare von Terry Gilliam und Terry Jones, John Cleese, Eric Idle und Michael Palin
• Untertitel: Drehbuch: Lies mit, was du siehst!
• Untertitel: Für alle, die den Film nicht mögen

DISC 4:
• Lieder zum Mitsingen
• Die Suche nach dem Heiligen Gral
• Heilige Relikte • Nicht verwendetes Material
• Extraordinäres: Prüft Euer Wissen über den Heiligen Gral
(für Eingeweihte, Fanatiker und Leute, die den Film nicht mögen…), Monty Python‘s Spamalot, Geheimnisse um den Heiligen Gral

Der Sinn des Lebens (Disc 5-6)

Die sechs verrückten Pythons (John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam und Michael Palin) mit ihren irren Abenteuern sind wieder da!

In diesem Kultfilm der 80er Jahre werden überaus witzig und ohne alle Hemmungen die einzelnen Abschnitte des menschlichen Lebens sehr verzerrt dargestellt, wie das Wunder der Geburt, des Krieges und eines supermodernen Himmels. Wer nach den großen Mysterien unserer Zeit sucht, findet sie in „Der Sinn des Lebens“. 1983 gewann diese irrwitzige Filmkomödie den Cannes Film Festival Special Jury Prize.

Die Wunderbare Welt der Schwerkraft (Disc 7)

Die Wunderbare Welt der Schwerkraft ist Monty Pythons erster Kinofilm – eine urkomische Sammlung der witzigsten Szenen, Sketche und Parodien aus ihrer beliebten TV-Serie. Hier gibt es Oma-Banden, Mörder-Autos und den legendären Papageien-Sketch (er ruht sich bekanntlich nur aus!) sowie wertvolle Tipps zur Selbstverteidigung, falls Ihnen je ein Angreifer mit Obst in der Hand über den Weg laufen sollte.

Da darf der unvergessliche Holzfäller-Song („Ich fäll‘ den Baum, trag‘ Stöckelschuh‘, Strapse und BH …) natürlich nicht fehlen! Auch sind die berühmt-berüchtigten Monty Python-Animationen zu sehen – eindeutig das amüsanteste Comedy-Material seit Ernest Scribbler den komischsten Witz der Welt schrieb und prompt vor Lachen ins Gras biss.

Live at the Hollywood Bowl (Disc

Unflätig und hemmungslos ungeniert mischen die Pythons die legendäre Hollywood Bowl in einer ausverkauften Live-Show auf, die neben ihren wohlbekanntesten Liedern und Sketchen brandneues Material zum Besten gibt, das nie in der Flying Circus-Serie zu sehen war.

Mit seinem digital re-masterten Bild und Ton sieht dieser zum Schießen komische Auftritt nicht nur ganz und gar umwerfend aus, sondern ist dazu noch ein echter Brüller in Sachen Monty Python-Humor. Also nehmen Sie Platz und machen Sie sich seelisch auf ein schlicht unversäumenswertes Komödienerlebnis gefasst.

Flying Circus Season 1-4 plus Bonusdisc (Disc 9-16)

Werter Box-Set Schmökerer, inzwischen kennen Sie die Geschichte: Am Anfang war das Fernsehen öde. Schmerzlich öde. Desillusionierte Zuschauer litten unter Apathie und Verbitterung. Gott hatte ein Einsehen mit ihnen, erschlug die Frevler und schuf Monty Python´s Flying Circus, die unorthodoxeste und urkomischste Comedy-Show aller Zeiten.

Vier sagenhafte Staffeln lang vollbrachten die Pythons mit ihrem hemmungslos einfallsreichen Humor Wunder und ließen das Fernsehen und die Welt in einem freundlicheren, lustigeren Licht erstrahlen. The Complete Series Of the Flying Circus in der englischen Originalfassung mit deutschen Untertiteln.

A TASTE OF MONTY PYTHON’S PERSONAL BEST (Disc 17)

It wasn’t to long ago that we wrote about Chris Christie being accused of copyright infringement by the New York Times.

Well Deja Vu, literally, Chris Christie is at it once again and this time Chris Christie Rips Off Monty Python, in an ad spot titled… you guessed it Deja Vu.

The Huffington post reports the story and also goes into Christie’s ties to the mafia.

UPDATE, 11:12 p.m.:

Having been exposed for their copyright theft and facing a lawsuit from Monty Python, the Christie campaign moved into damage control mode at high speed on Sunday night to try and limit the political fallout from their illicit action. Within an hour of the story appearing, the Christie commercial using pirated footage of a Monty Python skit was scrubbed from the campaign’s website and their separate campaign site on YouTube. The only evidence left was the tell-tale wording on the clip’s YouTube page “This video has been removed by the user“

Monty Python captured the video before it was removed. The Christie campaign should now be expecting the Spanish Inquisition…

Watch the ad:

//

———-

Chris Christie, the Republican candidate for Governor of New Jersey in Tuesday’s knife-edge gubernatorial election, has been called out as a copyright thief. The 47-year-old lawyer, who was controversially appointed by George W. Bush as a U.S. Attorney in 2001 on Karl Rove’s recommendation after being a top Bush fund-raiser in the 2000 election, has created an election commercial that steals copyright-protected material from British comedy troupe Monty Python — without permission or credit.

The official campaign advert — titled “Deja Vu” — attacks incumbent New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine by using scenes from a famous skit on the “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” TV show that features Michael Palin. The ad is on Christie’s official YouTube campaign site, and has already aired on national TV.

But neither Christie — a lawyer for 22 years — nor anyone in his campaign bothered to seek any permission for using the copyrighted material in his election spot.

Alerted to the theft of their copyright, members of Monty Python are most unhappy. Michael Palin, who appears in the clip pirated for the advert, is especially displeased that his likeness is being used by the Republican candidate without permission.

“I’m surprised that a former U.S. Attorney isn’t aware of his copyright infringement when he uses our material without permission. He’s clearly made a terrible mistake. It was the endorsement of Sarah Palin he was after — not that of Michael Palin.”

Monty Python’s Terry Jones says that the troupe is strongly considering suing the Republican for his copyright infringement:

“It is totally outrageous that a former US Attorney knows so little about the law that he thinks he can rip off people. On the other hand — another of Bush’s legal appointees was Alberto Gonzales and he didn’t seem to know much about the law either…,” Jones said.

There is a long history of Republican politicians stealing content by entertainers for their political advertisements and rallies. Three months ago, Jackson Browne won a financial settlement and apology from Senator John McCain for the politician’s unauthorized use of his song “Running On Empty” in the 2008 election. Other musicians who have successfully protested the theft of their music by Republicans include Jon Bon Jovi, Don Henley, John Mellencamp and rock bands Foo Fighters and Hear

Christie is no stranger to the world of crime. As the New York Times reported on September 23rd this year, Christie has family ties to the notorious Genovese crime family. As a child, he mingled at family parties with Tino “The Greek” Fiumara — the brother of his aunt’s husband — described by the Times as “a fearsome and ranking member of the Genovese crime family: twice convicted of racketeering, sentenced to 25 years in federal prison, and linked by investigators to several grisly murders, including one in which a victim was strangled with piano wire.”

(A United States Senate sub-committee investigating organized crime in the early 1980s attributed three murders to Fiumara, including the 1967 slayings of two brothers of one of his co-defendants in the 1980 trial. In 1983, Lt. Col. Justin Dintino of the New Jersey State Police called Fiumara “a callous killer who has resorted to violence with little provocation,” and said Fiumara had ordered the murder of the godfather of one of his own children.)

Asked what he had learned from his family connection to Tino “The Greek” Fiumara, Christie says: “It just told me that you make bad decisions in life and you wind up paying a price. Really, for most of my life, he spent his life in prison. That teaches you a lot.”

Asked in 2007 about the presence of organized crime in his home state — such as the Genovese mob in which one of his family members is so prominent — Christie said: “the Mafia is much more prominent on HBO than in New Jersey.”

With Monty Python about to sue Christie for his copyright theft, he may have more in common to discuss with Tino “The Greek” Fiumara at his family Thanksgiving this year.

In a rare appearance at the City Hall, Michael Palin will perform a one man show with highlights from his travels and particularly the various forms of transport he has used to get around the world.  The audience will get a fascinating insight into the life of the world traveller and comic genius. This is guaranteed to be a witty and unique evening!

All proceeds from the evening will go to Whirlow Hall Farm Trust of which Michael Palin is patron.

23 November, 2009 at 7:30 pm

Sheffield City Hall

£29.50 per person

Most people who know me know how much I love older British men. I thought I should just start a “list” here and give everyone some pictures… Granted these guys are old, but they’re so talented and *ahem* attractive The order changes each day, so here they are, in no particular order:

Alan Rickman:

Famous to most people as Professor Snape from the Harry Potter films

Loved him so much in “Sense and Sensibility”.

Anthony Hopkins:

He’s a KNIGHT. He’s AWESOME. Need I say more?

John Lennon:

One of my heroes. Kind of a difficult person, but had the right ideas.

(The Beatles:)

Best rock band EVER.

Colin Firth:

The best Mr. Darcy on screen from “Pride and Prejudice” in my opinion.

Hugh Grant:

Very funny guy, especially in movies like Bridget Jones.

Fantastic job in “Sense and Sensibility”!

Ralph Fiennes:

Amazing performances in “The English Patient” and “Schindler’s List”.

Terry Jones:

Famous from Monty Python. Great guy.

Neil Innes:

Musician who worked with the Monty Python guys.

And Now for my “Favorite” guys.

Hugh Laurie:

Famous for his role as Dr. House, I first knew him as “the dad from Stuart Little”. However, I highly recommend the British Comedy series “A Bit of Fry and Laurie” which he made with his comedy partner Stephen Fry. The dudes are HILARIOUS.

Tim Curry:

Yes, he’s the guy from “Rocky Horror Picture Show”. I love that movie! He was also the original King Arthur in the Broadway musical “Monty Python’s Spamalot” and did a fantastic job. Another movie I really enjoyed him in is “Clue” made in 1985. This guy can sing, there is no doubt about that!

Michael Palin:

First became really famous as a member of “Monty Python”. However he has also done a number of movies like “A Fish Called Wanda” (for which he earned a BAFTA) and “The Missionary” which show that he is a versatile actor. He has also done a number of travel shows for the BBC, and is known as an all-around nice guy. My favorite Python, and definitely one of my favorite people EVER.

Peter Sellers:

So I always enjoyed Peter in the Pink Panther films. Other than that, I didn’t know much about him. He was funny and cute in the first Pink Panther, and that’s probably when I got my fangirl crush. But I didn’t think much of him, because I didn’t know much about him. When I first got really into Monty Python I saw some interviews where they all said they were a fan of the Goon Shows on BBC Radio, and heard them mention Peter Sellers.

Then, a friend loaned me a book called “Being There” which I read in one sitting. (Fantastic book.) I liked it so much, I looked up the movie on YouTube. I was floored by Peter’s amazing performance in that film. I really feel he deserved the Academy Award for that movie. After the movie, and seeing how “cute” Peter Sellers was, I looked him up, and looked up the Goon Show. I’m now a hardcore Goons fan, and I’m sure I’ll post a blog about them one of these days.

Peter Sellers was no angel. He was from all accounts a difficult person to work with. However, his enormous talent  helps me to forgive him. He was married 4 times, if that tells you anything about his personality. It has been suggested he may have had Asperger’s Syndrome (a high functioning form of Autism). This could definitely be the case. If it is, it helps to explain a lot of his personality clashes with so many collegues. Sadly, he died 10 years before I was even born. :’( I still miss him.

Yes, I have a thing for British comedians. Is it obvious? I’ll be posting more separate blogs about Peter Sellers, Sense and Sensibility, Being There, and the Goons. I have posted plenty of blogs about Monty Python. Feel free to leave comments!

para Daniel Guichard, especulador do sentido da vida

Em outubro de 1969 era inaugurado na TV britânica um novo programa de humor, que contava com talentos como John Cleese, Michael Palin, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle e Terry Jones, e que contava com a colaboração de Terry Gilliam nas vinhetas e por vezes, em frente às cameras também. Foi um tremendo sucesso durante as suas quatro temporadas, mas os caras se cansaram e resolveram parar de fazer televisão. Provavelmente eles não sabiam, mas naquela altura eles já eram lendas. O grupo, a quem deram o nome de Monty Python, fez as temporadas da TV e acharam que o formato estava desgastado. O que não os impediu de invadir o cinema, e para a nossa sorte, também com muito sucesso. Fizeram apenas três filmes. Poucos, mas todos viraram clássicos do humor surrealista e inteligente, e abriram as portas para o humor non-sense e irônico vindo da terra da Rainha. Começaram em 1975 com “Em Busca do Cálice Sagrado“, seguido de “A Vida de Brian” em 1979 e por fim, o último trabalho de todos juntos, este que comento agora, “O Sentido da Vida“.

Ao contrário dos anteriores, que tinham uma história e personagens definidos, este filme traz o formado de esquetes, que usavam na TV, contando várias histórias para tentar explicar o motivo da Existência. No fim das contas o filme fala de tudo, menos do sentido da vida propriamente, o que não é nada nada ruim. Não acho que possa ser comparado ao segundo filme deles, que tira sarro do messianismo e da adoração fanática dos religiosos, ou mesmo o primeiro onde sacaneiam a lenda do Rei Arthur (vale lembrar que esses assuntos são quase sagrados na Inglaterra). Mas “O Sentido da Vida” é um humor verborrágico, de sacadas inteligentissimas, mesmo que irregular; há quadros brilhantes como a familia católica com problemas de procriação, que acaba caindo em um dos números musicais mais divertidos do cinema, onde aparece a música “Every Sperm is Sacred”, indicada ao BAFTA de melhor canção original, isso sem falar do Sr. Creosote, da Máquina que Faz Ping, a aula de educação sexual, o momento da morte, as animações em estilo pesadelo de Terry Gilliam, entre outros atrativos. Para quem não conhece, falando assim parece bem desinteressante ou mesmo sem graça, mas acredite: poucas coisas no mundo são mais engraçadas do que esses caras.

Não é uma comédia que todos possam gostar. É preciso muita atenção para perceber a crítica à sociedade em geral e às frescuras britânicas, e à maneira com a qual eles enxergam a vida, a morte e coisinhas relacionadas. Aqueles que gostam de besteirol, comédia escrachada e que gera muita vergonha alheia, passem longe do filme que, aliás, venceu o Grande Prêmio do Júri em Cannes. Infelizmente não se faz mais humor à moda Python, mesmo que praticamente todos os humoristas e grupos que vieram depois tenham se inspirado neles. E seus integrantes, bem… Cleese hoje em dia faz qualquer filme que caia em suas mãos, Chapman morreu, Palin tem um programa de viagem pelo mundo, Idle escreve teatro, Jones escreve livros sobre história e Gilliam é cineasta consagrado (sendo que antes do filme em si há um curta dirigido por ele, com a sua visão da vida, e que é muito divertido, por sinal) sendo o diretor do recente “O Imaginário do Doutor Parnassus“, último filme de Heath Ledger. Cada um tomou o seu rumo, como se vê. Mas a obra que fizeram juntos marcou para sempre a maneira de se fazer comédia, o humor nunca mais foi o mesmo depois deles.

*Hoje não mostro o trailer, mas um esquete retirado do segundo ato do filme, o musical “Every Sperm is Sacred”, para exemplificar o estilo do humor do filme; infelizmente não há legendas, mas ainda assim é muito bom. ;D

A jewel heist film, with a fish’s title.

A crooked foursome commits the heist of the century and is about to getaway … until the London police arrest one of them. Can the three on the lam (Michael Palin, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline) persuade their comrade’s lawyer (John Cleese) to reveal the stolen loot’s location?

This film is a real treat and it looks like it has fun with both the British and the American, and both blending them together. The jokes are very bold much like John Cleeses’ own Monty Python some that will stick and some that will not.

This is some of the best comedy on paper. Some movies just make you chuckle every once and awhile but this film surely did make me laugh. The two style comedies of regular American and British humor are blended together so well, and fully make this a wonderful watch. There are scenes that come together and can just seem so ironic but instead show up as hilarious in the execution of the story that is told.

This is some high quality story-telling. What this film could’ve done was have a bogus story and forget about it and just put the comedy in but instead they go the other way and create a great story mixed in with some A quality jokes. It’s not just the jokes themselves that are funny it’s timing and how each joke fits in well with each scene, and creates either an ironic or just simply funny joke.

The characters that are created are simply great. They are very inspired but also very zany and goofy and we see how each character tries to get themselves out of each situation so slickly and its cool to see their reactions. Kevin Klines steals almost every scenes he is in and creates a very vain but hilarious character. Along with Jamie Lee Curtis, John Cleese, and Micheal Palin who all do great and don’t get taken down by Kline’s simply amazing performance.

The only problem I had with the film was the numerous jokes made towards Palin’s character and his stuttering. I felt like the jokes made towards him were for more of a controversial laugh but I didn’t laugh because I felt it was a little too offensive and in bad taste.

Consensus: A Fish Called Wanda is hilarious, with an inspired plot and characters, that feature some great performances, that till the end will keep you laughing.

9.5/10=Full Pricee!!!

Thanks to a link by one of my Facebook contacts (U.S. music journalist Alan Light), I just found a great video of a Monty Python reunion which happened at New York City’s Ziegfeld Theatre a week ago (the action starts after about a minute).
[Update on November 22, 2009: Unfortunately, the video has been removed - but here's a reasonably Python visit with Regis and Kelly on the morning before the Ziegfeld show:]


Wenn der Clip nicht gelöscht worden wäre, hättet ihr das gesehen:

Lustig für deutschsprachige Zuschauer: Nach ca. 21 Minuten reden die Pythons kurz über zwei Folgen von “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”, die unter Federführung des damaligen Redakteurs Dr. Alfred Biolek für den Bayerischen Rundfunk auf Deutsch produziert wurden. Im Ziegfeld Theatre tauschen sie ein paar radegebrochene deutsche Redewendungen aus.

Mich erinnerte diese Passage an ein Interview, das ich irgendwann in den 80er Jahren im Londoner Monty-Python-Büro mit Terry Jones führte, dem Monty-Python-Mitstreiter, der bei den drei wichtigsten MP-Kinofilmen für die Regie verantwortlich zeichnete.

Er berichtete, dass keiner der Pythons Deutsch sprach. Bei der Aufzeichnung der beiden Münchner Folgen mussten sie die deutschen Dialoge in einer phonetisch aufgezeichneten Form ablesen. Terry Jones konnte sich noch sehr gut daran erinnern, dass eine der schwierigsten Herausforderungen das Wort “Ike-Horn-Ken” war (aka “Eichhörnchen”)

Im Monty-Python-Büro traf ich vor dem Gespräch mit Terry Jones kurz seinen Freund Douglas Adams (“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”), der hinterher mit Terry noch durch die Stadt ziehen wollte.

Eine andere Erinnerung kann ich leider derzeit nicht verifizieren. Ich glaube damals in Londoner Plattenläden ein Monty-Python-Album gesehen zu haben, das wie “Another Monty Python Record” (1971) als Fake-Klassik-LP präsentiert wurde und bei dem als Insider-Gag Dr. Alfred Maria Biolek als Dirigent genannt wurde. Leider ist mir diese Platte seitdem nirgendwo mehr begegnet.

Im amerikanischen Rolling Stone erinnert sich übrigens John Cleese an die Wiedervereinigung von Monty Python:
John Cleese’s Towering Legacy

Eu mais uma vez deixei passar uma data, não é que a soubesse de cor, mas tem a importância de assinalar os 40 anos da genial e constantemente imitada série Flying Circus. Foi à 40 anos que o primeiro episódio deste hilariante série estreou na BBC. Um estilo humorístico que não é apreciado por todos. Completamente non-sense e silly em algumas cenas, humor negro e sarcástico, algo muito inglês , mas que por estes lados não é muito apreciado e confundido com mau gosto. Para mim, não fez nenhuma série a atingir aquele brilhantismo. Um humor intemporal, faz-me sempre rir, nunca se esgota a piada.

Eric Idle, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, os criadores do termo spam (termo adoptado agora na internet para designar as mensagens intrusivas), são capazes de fazer todo o tipo de humor, seja textual ou corporal, com é o exemplo acima do “ministry of silly walks”.

O famoso “the parrot sketch”.

São capazes de invocar escritores, pintores, eventos históricos, etc., e reflectir sobre eles com humor. Coisa que não se vê muito, foram mestres nisso. Ao mesmo tempo que eram hilariantes mostravam um grande nível intelectual, o que é óbvio, pois para fazer humor, é preciso ser-se inteligente.

Finalizo com um sketch particularmente genial, “Mrs. Premise and Mrs. Conclusion visit Jean Paul Sartre”.

Ever since Mr Palin’s first steps in 80 Days I have whenever possible sought out travelogues, holiday programs and literature for travel and a few years ago got around the world on my own. I say on my own, the Round The World Airline ticket was a great help.

I did at one time think that this would be the end of the hunger and I would be able to manage with lighter trips, ones that lasted no longer than about two weeks. I secretly knew this would not be the case. The hunger just increased.

I know I’m not alone and by no means am I the most adventurous of traveller; but I find I need to travel, it a passion, an addiction and I must feed it.

This has not been help by my old friend the BBC and their recent and very entertaining version of Around the World In 80 Days, a Children In need relay challenge. I now find myself wanting to do it again…

I ask myself only two questions 1) Could I manage it and 2) Would it satisfy my hunger to travel.

The answers are simple -1) If I had the chance I would try my best to succeed, who wouldn’t and 2) No, it would only fuel it more.

For the past week-and-a-bit, I’ve been at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, my first time going to such an event. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and the rather tight separation between writers and audience (no real opportunities for interaction apart from Q&As at the end of each session, and signings afterwards) was a little disconcerting at first (I guess that’s the only practical way to run things with so many events and speakers). The Festival was quite celebrity-led (then again, isn’t contemporary publishing the same?); but, generally speaking, they were interesting celebrities, and there was plenty of other stuff going on. All in all, I had a good time, and went to a nicely varied programme of events.

I never had internet access while I was away, otherwise I’d have blogged about the Festival in more detail while I was there. Instead, I present the edited highlights, which are pretty long as it is…

Friday 9th

6.00 pm: My first event, listed in the festival brochure as ‘The Man Booker Winner’, who of course in the end was Hilary Mantel. 

I haven’t traditionally had much luck with Booker titles (of all the nominees, and one winner, that I’ve read, I can only truly say that I liked Animal’s People by Indra Sinha), but I certainly became interested in reading Wolf Hall after hearing Mantel read from it, and speak so enthusiastically.

7.30 pm: Leaving the Town Hall, I realise that I’ve just passed a fellow Huddersfielder, the poet Simon Armitage. He is today’s Guest Director (there’s one for each day of the Festival, who has programmed three events for that particular day).

Saturday 10th

11.30 am: I have the morning free, so I’ve been to look around town. As I’m going into the Town Hall, I think back to seeing Simon Armitage last night, and wonder if I could play a little game of ‘Guest Director bingo’, just to see how many of them I could spot over the ten days. At the precise moment I think this (and I swear I’m not making this up), I reliase that today’s Guest Director, Richard Eyre, has just walked past me. That makes up my mind: the challenge is on!

1.30 pm: Off to the Centaur pavilion (what a great pun) at the racecourse to see Michael Palin. He talks about his career in the 1980s, the period covered by the new volume of his diaries. Much as I like Palin’s work (he’s one of the few writers I’ll be seeing who I’ve actually read), I’m more familiar with his travel programmes than this part of his career, so it’s interesting to hear his behind-the-scenes tales of (mostly) the films he made at that time.

4.00 pm: Marcus Chown, the New Scientist’s cosmology consultant, talks about his latest book, which (says the brochure) ‘looks at what the everyday world tells us about the universe’. The discussion about science is interesting, but I don’t gain much sense of what the book is actually like.

6.30 pm: Readings and discussion from the novelists Diana Evans and Patrick Neate. The latter, I would say, is the better reader; but both books sound interesting, and so my ‘would like to read’ list grows a little longer.

8.45 pm: Quite interesting stuff from John Lloyd and John Mitchinson, the creators of QI. They can’t talk about their new book, because it’s not finished yet; nevertheless, their enthusiasm is infectious.

Sunday 11th

10.00 am: Am I cheating in my game of Guest Director bingo if the only time I see them is when I know I’m going to? Well, it’s my game, with my rules, so I decide that the answer is no. So, here is today’s Guest Director, Sandi Toksvig, interviewing the novelist Kate Mosse. Actually, it’s less of an interview than a chat between friends — and less informative (to me, as someone who has never read Mosse but thought about it) as a result.

12.00 pm: The first of several occasons when I miss out on an event to which I wanted to go. There were no tickets left for Harry Hill; disappointing, but never mind.

4.00 pm: Back to the vast (and full) auditorium of the Centaur, where Mark Lawson is interviewing Mitchell and Webb. I’ve never really watched them, but find them quite funny here; and the talk of how they work as a double act is interesting.

7.30: Time for something different — two hours of dynamic storytelling by the excellent Ben Haggarty. He weaves a wonderful tale that begins with his visting a freak show at a carnival in America, and ends on the moon, where he discovers the truth about his profession. I don’t know how often Haggarty tours, but if he comes anywhere near you, go and see him.

Monday 12th

10.00: A talk by David Elder about an anthology he has put together of writing about Cheltenham. This was one of the events I was less sure about, didn’t know quite what to expect, and ultimately I found it a bit dry. To be fair, I would probably have got more out of it if I were a Cheltonian.

Lunchtime: I’ve been wandering around, trying to find somwhere nice to have lunch, and end up going from one side of town to the other. It’s good for my game of Guest Director bingo, because at one point I pass a group of people which includes today’s Guest Director, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

4.00 pm: A conversation between P.D. James and Ruth Rendell. As with the Toksvig/Mosse event yesterday, these two are good friends; and, though the talk is interesting enough, I once again feel that the writers’ fans will have got more out of it than I did.

8.45 pm: I did want to see Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall now, but the event had sold out. Instead, I’m at the interview of another Channel 4 presenter, Kevin McCloud, who is talking about European architecture and the idea of the ‘Grand Tour’. He’s a marvellously entertaining speaker, even breaking into spontaneous impersonations of Brian Sewell and Prince Charles. I’m not particularly into architecture, but McCloud makes the subject interesting; and he’s not the only person who will do so this week — but that can wait for another instalment…

The Laser and I went camping (sort of) this weekend. I say sort of, because we went to Malouf’s Mountain, where city cowards like ourselves can get a campsite with all the necessities already there (tent, chow box, fire-starting compost [which Laser insisted on referring to simply as "poop"]). While it did get a little chilly, the whole thing—from the scenic Metro North train ride, to sleeping in jackets, hats, gloves, etc was great. They’re open until the end of October, but if you don’t go this year, hit them up next. (They have spots for real campers, too.)

As I was talking to my brother on the phone yesterday, he was watching the Eagles in the midst of their humiliating defeat to the hapless Raiders. As Oakland moved down the field, he says to me, “I think I’m going to cheer for the Raiders. I don’t even like this Eagles team that much.” Got a text later that read, “Go Raiders.” Pretty funny. Going to see him and the old man tonight for game four.

Oh, almost forgot somehow. Met Terry Gilliam last week. I was interviewing him for his forthcoming movie, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (Heath Ledger’s last film). Pretty amazing dude, with a singular sartorial sensibility. Somehow we went from his movie into Malthusian agricultural crisis. The publicist said that he talked about it for the rest of the junket, laughing and talking about how he had “failed” to help curb population growth, because he has three kids.

Reviewed Daniel Nester’s book

Spoke to Palin

“The Last Book I Loved” on the Rumpus.