How Fast Are You?

What a fantastic show, with a great cast and an excellent arrangement of material! iFMagazine has a better review of the show than I could write, but suffice it to say that I highly recommend it! From their review:

Of the stand-out moments, Holmes gets to re-enact the “Travel Agent” sketch from the show and goes off on a long involved tangent that never quite stops. Tudyk (a Joss Whedon regular on FIREFLY and DOLLHOUSE) gets to showcase what a truly underrated performer he is. He’s flawless throughout the show and if you didn’t know any better, you’d think he was British. He is given the Cleese part in the Parrot sketch, but takes it into surprisingly darker and more intense territories. It’s a signature moment for him and he delivers it with zeal.

It’ll be at the Ricardo Montalbán Theater in Hollywood¹ through October 4, then in NYC² October 6-10.

From the official site (which also has a link to buy tickets):

A celebration. A very, very funny night. Not your usual theatrical experience. A Celebration of Forty Years of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

A very silly and refreshing interlude of Sketches, Spam, Songs and Custard Pies lovingly drawn from the Python canon.

OR

SIMPLY, THE VERY BEST OF MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS’ SKITS & SONGES PERFORMED L I V E !
(But only for a few nights.)

Starring the very Python-esque: Jeff B. Davis, Jane Leeves, Alan Tudyk, Rick Holmes and Jim Piddock performing:

(This is the partial list of sketches)
PEPPERPOT MONTAGE – SPAM SONG – CAMP JUDGES – MICHELANGELO – SILLY WALKS – SPANISH INQUISISTION – NUDGE NUDGE – LION TAMER – WORKING CLASS WRITER – ALBATROSS (Also featuring the original fowl!) – CRUNCHY FROG – ARGUMENT CLINIC – THE BRUCES – TRAVEL AGENT – PARROT SKETCH – FOUR YORKSHIREMEN – CUSTARD PIE – LUMBERJACK SONG.

All written and composed by John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin.

Jealous?

I have no idea who took this picture, when or where it was taken, or who is in it. I just like it.

Via adski_kafeteri (frequently nsfw).

As a follow-up to Mr. Lupo’s post, here’s today’s fun travel fact: if the TSA forces you to check your laptop, camera and other expensive goodies, then the airline loses or breaks them, you are SOL. It seems that, according to international rules, airlines are only liable for £15 per kilogram for lost or damaged luggage. Worse, your own travel insurance probably doesn’t cover more than £1,500 for all losses, with a cap of £400-500 per single item.

That puts the “shit” back in shit-out-of-luck.

Musicians with the Bolshoi theatre company are having a particularly prickly problem, in that a) some of their instruments are worth tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, and b) they are legally obligated to keep those pricey fiddles with them at all times. So they’re taking the train. Just like I will next time I have to travel.

Meanwhile, after suddenly becoming a grave threat to both transportation security and the American way of life, lipstick and baby food are apparently no longer being used to make bombs, nerve gas, or whatever other FUD-based weapons the “experts” were blathering on about on the “news.” [Attention "experts" and talking-heads: you are helping the terrorists by spreading terror. Knock it off. Speak calmly and rationally about the facts. Don't make stuff up to fill the airtime between commercials. Thank you.]

Via The Consumerist and Boing Boing.

In related news, Robin Hardy, director of the 1973 version of The Wicker Man, has a lot going on too. From The Scotsman:

Scotland on Sunday can reveal that Hardy is “very committed” to bringing The Wicker Man to the theatre as a musical. The celebrated director is keeping the details close to his chest, but revealed he is already in discussions with two production companies about making his vision a reality.

But wait, there’s more! The new (kinda) follow-up book to The Wicker Man!

Robin Hardy spent a month with evangelists in the southern United States in search of inspiration for his latest novel, Cowboys for Christ. In his new book, Hardy returns to The Wicker Man’s themes of religion, paganism, sex and sacrifice.

…

The plot involves Beth, a gospel singer (and Britney Spears lookalike), and her cowboy boyfriend, Steve – two virgins promised to each other through “the silver ring thing” who set off from Texas to enlighten the Scottish heathens to the ways of Christ.

Meanwhile, in the Scottish Borders village of Tressock, preparations for the May Day feast get under way with Sir Lachlan Morrison, laird and chairman of Nuada Nuclear Power Station, going on the hunt for the Queen and her Laddie to fulfil a horrifying pagan fertility ritual.

Damn! It’s actually a real book, with an ISBN (1905222416) and everything! Who knew that The Wicker Man would provide so much fodder for two, count ‘em two! boring and long-winded posts!

This Sunday (July 23) The American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre presents an Enchanted Tiki Luau Night!

Join us in the Egyptian Courtyard for a Royal Southern Californian-style Luau between a double feature of island adventures exotic musical entertainment from King Kukelele and his Friki Tikis There will also be Tiki vendors and other special surprises in the courtyard from 1:00 PM till we shut it down.

…

Tiki Vendors to include: Tiki Tony, Adrift Clothing, Crazy Al’s Bone Productions, “Dumb Angel” Magazine authors Dominic Priore and Brian Chidister, Tiki Diablo, Falling Cocos, Coconut Kids Clothing,Tiki Farm and the American Cinematheque selling posters from our fabulous collection!

They’ll also be showing Enchaned Island (“He dared to love an cannibal princess!”) from 1958 with Dana Andrews and Jane Powell at 4:00 PM, and Blue Hawaii from 1961, starring Elvis Presley, Angela Lansbury and Joan Blackman at 7:30 PM.

Movies Only: General: $12.00, Sr/Students: $10.00, AC Member: $9.00
Luau Dinner Only: $15.00
Movies & Luau: General: $25.00, Sr/Student: $23.00 and Member: $22.00.

“A limited number of dinners will be sold at the door. To guarantee a dinner ticket please purchase in advance.” says they.

Via Boing Boing