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Lost Python Sketches Will See The Light
Beli writes: "According to this story over at BBC, 3 lost Monty Python sketches written by the late Graham Chapman have been found and are to be played this year at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Now if only John Cleese, Eric Idle and Co. would perform them. Apparently a comedy group called Sketch Club will have such honor."
Woo Hoo
First post to me. CLIT sucks, and obviously is slow, since *I* got the first post. Eat it, troll-e-o's.
How long until it makes it to DVD?
There should be a moratorium on the use of the apostrophe.
Max V.
NeXTMail/MIME Mail welcome
Now the Crafter's will have new material.
You yankee clods.
"I've heard WinXP removed the cmd/command prompt."
No, Microsoft didn't remove the CMD.EXE or COMMAND.COM prompt from Windows XP. But Windows XP has reduced functionality, in many ways, not just in the command line. The command line is a big embarrassment because of its limited capabilities, but at least in Win 95 it worked. With every version since then it has worked less well. (There are two kinds of command prompt, and, according to Microsoft employees, the differences between them are not documented.)
The command line prompt sometimes begins to display short file names. Microsoft employees say that Microsoft has no fix, although someone not connected with Microsoft did make a work-around.
Cutting and pasting into a command line program often puts successive extra spaces before each line. Microsoft employees say that there is no plan to fix this.
The fast paste mode that is in Windows 98 is gone in Windows XP. Microsoft employees say there is no plan to fix this.
When using the command line interface, Windows XP doesn't always update the time. After several hours, the time reported to command line programs can be several hours in error.
There is a DOS program called START.EXE that can be used to start other programs. But it does operate the same way as in other versions of Windows. It starts a program, but cannot be made to return control to the command line program as previous versions did. There is no technical reason for this; it is just one of the shortcomings that are allowed to exist.
People often say that DOS has gone away. But Microsoft still calls the command line interface DOS, and in Windows XP Microsoft has added new programs for configuring the OS that work only under DOS.
Sometimes when you press a key while using Windows XP, it is seconds until there is any response. Apparently there is something wrong with the CPU scheduler in XP, because there are a lot of complaints about this in the forums and MS people have said that they are working on it. On one particular fresh installation of XP, on an Intel motherboard with either a Matrox G550 or an ATI Radeon video adapter, it requires 18 seconds to display a directory listing of 94 items. This is apparently related to a bug in the video software, not the adapter drivers.
Something is wrong with the Alt-Tab display of running programs under Windows XP. If there are a lot of programs, not all of them are displayed. The order jumps around in a seemingly random way.
Although articles often say negative things about Microsoft, I've never seen an article that fully documents how bad the situation really is. Microsoft's management is so bad that the company has become self-destructive. For example, Windows XP is spyware. Here is a list of ways Windows XP connects to Microsoft's servers:
- Application Layer Gateway Service (Requires server rights.)
- Fax Service
- File Signature Verification
- Generic Host Process for Win32 Services (Requires server rights.)
- Microsoft Application Error Reporting
- Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer
- Microsoft Direct Play Voice Test
- Microsoft Help and Support Center
- Microsoft Help Center Hosting Server (Wants server rights.)
- Microsoft Management Console
- Microsoft Media Player (tells Microsoft the music you like)
- Microsoft Network Availability Test
- Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service
- MS DTC Console program
- Run DLL as an app
- Services and Controller app
- Time Service, sets the time on your computer from Microsoft's computer.
- Microsoft Office keeps a number in each file you create that identifies
your computer. Microsoft has never said why.
- Microsoft mouse software has reduced functionality until you let it connect
to Microsoft computers.
These are just the ones I know. There may be others.So, if you use Windows XP, your computer is dependent on Microsoft computers. That's bad, not only because you lose control over your possession, but because Microsoft produces buggy software and doesn't patch bugs quickly. For example, as of July 7, 2002, there are 18 unpatched security holes in Microsoft Internet Explorer. This is a terrible record for a company that has $40 billion in the bank. Obviously, with that kind of money, Microsoft could fix the bugs if it wanted to fix them. Since the bugs are very public and Microsoft has the money, it seems reasonable to suppose that top management at Microsoft has deliberately decided that the bugs should remain, at least for now.
It seems possible that there is a connection between all the bugs and the U.S. government's friendly treatment of Microsoft's law-breaking. The U.S. government's CIA and FBI and NSA departments spy on the entire world, and unpatched vulnerabilities in Microsoft software help spies.
Windows XP, and all current Windows operating systems, have a file called the registry in which configuration information is written. If this one (large, often fragmented) file becomes corrupted, the only way of recovering may be to re-format the hard drive, re-install the operating system, and then re-install and re-configure all the applications. The registry file is a single, very vulnerable, point of failure. Microsoft apparently designed it this way to provide copy protection. Since most entries in the registry are poorly documented or not documented, the registry effectively prevents control by the user.
Note that Microsoft does not support making functional complete backups under Windows XP. Look at Microsoft's policy about this: Q314828 Microsoft Policy on Disk Duplication of Windows XP Installation. Only those who work with Microsoft software will understand the true meaning of Microsoft's policy. Since almost all programs use the registry operating system file, if you cannot make a functional copy of the operating system you cannot make a functional copy of all your application installations and configurations. There are other software companies that try to fix this, but they don't work well, and Microsoft can, of course, break their implementations, as they have often done with other kinds of competitors.
Because the configuration information for the motherboard and the configuration information for the are mixed together in the registry file, the registry tends to prevent you from moving a hard drive to a computer with a different motherboard. That's another implication of the above Microsoft policy. So, if you have a motherboard failure, and a good complete backup, you may not be able to recover unless you have a spare computer with the same motherboard.
Note that Windows XP Professional can support only ten simultaneous incoming network connections. If you want more than that, you must use Windows 2000 server, and pay much, much more. (There is no Windows XP server yet.) Many businesses have very light network traffic; they just move files from staff member to staff member; they really don't need a dedicated server computer. The staff computers could easily handle the load except for this artificial limitation.
Apparently because the Windows XP GUI comes from Windows 98, Windows XP has the same problem with desktop icons that Windows 98 has. The icons sometimes flicker. Sometimes they move themselves around, particularly after the user switches monitor resolutions. Also, sometimes the taskbar settings un-configure themselves, as they do in Windows 98.
Only technically knowledgeable people know how to avoid signing up for a Microsoft Passport account during initial use of Windows XP. The name Passport gives an indication of Microsoft's thinking. A passport is a document issued by a sovereign nation. Without it, the nation's citizens cannot travel, and, if they leave, won't be allowed back in their own country. In Microsoft's corporate thinking, the company seems to be moving in the direction of believing that they own the user's computer. Most people are both honest and intimidated. Apparently about 95% do whatever they are asked on the screen. They give their personal information to Microsoft. They don't realize that, if they feel forced to get a Passport account, they should enter almost completely fictitious information, since the real question is not "What is your name and address", but "Can we invade your privacy". The honest answer to this is "No, you cannot invade my privacy", and the only effective way to communicate that is to give completely fictitious information. Since it is the educated people who have computers, Microsoft is building a database of the personal lives of educated people. Microsoft knows when they connect and from what IP address (which tends to show the area), what kind of help they ask, and information about what they are doing with their computers, including what music they like. It is not known, and there is no way to know, how much Microsoft or other organizations make use of this information, or their plans for future use.
Not only has Windows XP definitely gone further in the direction of allowing the user less control over his or her own machine, but with Palladium, Microsoft apparently intends to finish the job: Microsoft will have ultimate control over the user's computer and therefore all his or her data. Even now, under Windows XP, a recent security patch requires that the user agree to a contract that gives Microsoft administrator privileges over the user's computer. The contract says that if a user wants to patch his or her system against a bug which would allow an attack over the Internet, he or she must give Microsoft legal control over the computer. See this article also: Microsoft's Digital Rights Management-- A Little Deeper. You may need to be a lawyer to take apart the crucial sentence. "These security related updates may disable your ability to copy and/or play Secure Content and [my emphasis] use other software on your computer" legally includes this meaning: "These updates may disable your ability to use other software on your computer." Note that the term "security related updates" is meaningless to the user because the updates have no relation to user security. So, the sentence effectively means that Microsoft can control the user's computer without notice and whenever it wants. That kind of sentence is known in psychology as "testing the limits". If there is no strong public complaint about this, expect to see more and stronger language like this.
This Register article shows the direction Microsoft is going: MS Palladium protects IT vendors, not you. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and Microsoft is well down that road. See this ZDNet article, also: MS: Why we can't trust your 'trustworthy' OS.
Microsoft's self-destructiveness does not mean that the user should be self-destructive. There is no need to apologize for using Microsoft software. The correct solution to abuse is persuading the abuser to stop being abusive. Once I posted to a Slashdot story a link to an article on a web site of mine. By far the majority of visitors from the Slashdot story used Microsoft operating systems. Rather than feel embarrassed because Microsoft is abusive, action needs to be taken to prevent the abuse. If you are against Microsoft abuse, you are not against Microsoft; you are more pro-Microsoft than Bill Gates.
These Microsoft policies mean that any government which wants to be independent of the United States government, and any government which represents itself as controlled by the people, cannot use Microsoft operating systems, or other Microsoft proprietary systems.
- posted by poopbot: because we're all crapflooders at heart
9nASgkwy0K
Hopefully, they'll wheel Graham Chapman's urn out so he can be present for the premiere.
.... it's not a Monty Python sketch unless the original troupe is performing it. End of story.
:)
That said, I wouldn't mind checking this out.
Being a great Monty Python fan, and not knowing the comedy group 'Sketch Club', I am very much afraid that it will be something like Backstreet Boys singing a few newly found Beatles songs. It can never be as good as the Python boys doing Python, however hard they will try.
The Edingburgh Fringe Festival is a fantastic place to show these sketches.
My only wish is that there is a lumberjack in a dress, a dead parot, a minister with a walking problem and someone called "Bwian" in the skits
"The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away" -Tom Waits
I heard his last words were "I'm not dead." or was it "I feel happy, I feel happy!" I can never remember.
My impression is that the Pythons wrote many sketches that never saw the light of day. In a Vanity Fair interview several years ago, they said that while producing the show, many sketches were presented but weren't accepted, often because they weren't funny. Does this mean that those discarded skits should rate alongside the Python's best work? The article is a little vague about when these were written.
It's nice that Chapman's work is still considered important enough for this kind of treatment, but in the end, what we have is the work done by the group. And that work is why we love Monty Python so much. Together they were so much more than the sum of their parts, and I think these skits should be viewed in that light.
That said, I can't wait to see the Gay Budgie skit!
or
Nobody expects the Sketch Club!
well, tiny lost sketches do...
Live web cams
"Their first series was so poorly received that it was replaced in the Midlands by a farming programme," :-)
Wow, that's harsh. Your creative works replaced by shots of cows taking a dump...
Good thing those Brits wisened up..
-- Scientist: You aren't going to leave me here, are you? Boagh! Thump...
it's Python as in "Pythn" not "PythAAARRRN". Goddamnit.
Invoicing, Time Tracking, Reporting
What if some lost Three Stooges scripts were found, who would want to see some latter day
imitators?<P>
Interesting as a curio, perhaps.
Okay, I am as psyched about new MP sketches as the next slashdroid, but please let's not go advertising it.
Geekdom in general, and Linuxism in particular, are widely derided by the general public for being obsessed with the [admittedly brilliant] Monty Python comedy group. The programming language "Python" makes us look ridiculous enough.
I pray to Linus that none of my friends or family sees the front page of Slashdot while this story is running. They know I read Slashdot and read Linux, but I assure them it's all technical, and not in the least geeky and antisocial. If they see this, I'm doomed.
Please, Slashdot editors, take the reputation of Linux into account before running articles like this.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
For thoses now planning to go and are new to it. The fest is actually consists of around 7 festivals going on at the same time, everything from military performance, book festival, comedians, music, opera, etc.
The place is just packed with performances in every available building, from government offices to local churches. Most of the rooms are small places with just enough room for the performers and the small audiance.
Usally good shows, and during breaks between show you can tour Edinburgh.
Graham Chapman was - IS - a complete hero of mine. Not only did he write much of the Python material (in collaboration with Eric Idle and John Cleese), he starred in The Life of Brian and the Holy Grail films whilst suffereing from a chronic alcohol problem (multiple bottles of gin a day.) He was also one of the first celebrities to come out as gay, and helped found Gay News when sexual relationships between two consenting adults was still illegal in this country.
I strongly recommend his wonderful "A Liar's Autobiography" for a painfully candid (and very funny) story of his life.
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe
in the best tradition of slashdot moderation, mod up:
- any message which correlates python (the programming language) with monty python; references to linux and perl are always welcome too
- any message which creates a hypotetical dialog between monty python people, maybe talking about python (the programming language)
- any silly pun
- any uninformative message which carries obvious and widespread information
- any dumb reference (joke) to a slashdot 'owner'
- anything posted by a high karma wannabe
mod everything else down
Cut-and-pasted from How To Write Unmaintainable Code (the "Naming" section):
Obscure film references: Use constant names like LancelotsFavouriteColour instead of blue and assign it hex value of $0204FB. The color looks identical to pure blue on the screen, and a maintenance programmer would have to work out 0204FB (or use some graphic tool) to know what it looks like. Only someone intimately familiar with Monty Python and the Holy Grail would know that Lancelot's favorite color was blue. If a maintenance programmer can't quote entire Monty Python movies from memory, he or she has no business being a programmer.
What a bunch of wannabes...
#3900656: Everybody knows the true quote is "This is an ex parrot".
#3900719: The correct quote is "And now for something completely different."
#3900723: The original quote was "...sink in water."
The only thing worse than a complete Python geek is a complete Python geek too lame to even get the quotes right.
I'm sorry I'll read that again.
I'm surprised no one has complained yet!
Sadly, I can no longer read them.
My hovercraft is full of eels.
you know, i would've thought that monty python, as a group, would get more respect form the people of slashdot than to reference them as cleese, idle, and co.
terry gilliam, anybody? terry jones?
bah...
Dear Sir,
I must protest in the strongest possible terms the obviously pedantic turn that this thread has taken. I have served in the Navy for seventy-nine years, and have never seen a trace of cannibalism on Slashdot until this post. Why must the average British Linux user be subjected to this filth and depredation!?
Yours etc.,
Rear-Admiral Arthur Mellish Winstanley (Mrs.)
belbo
--
"Just believe everything I tell you, and it will all be very, very simple."
More ...
/* make snafucated */. Never define what snafucated means anywhere. Only a fool does not already know, with complete certainty, what snafucated means. For classic examples of this technique, consult the Sun AWT JavaDOC.
Monty Python Comments : : On a method called makeSnafucated insert only the JavaDoc
I remember seeing an interview with Eric Idle where he performed about thirty seconds of a sketch that was deemed too rough for the BBC. It involved a pretentious wine tasting where the taster would attempt to guess the name of a wine after tasting it, "Chateu LaFite '45, from the south of France?" And then the host would announce, "no, that is wee-wee."
I obviously can't do it justice here, but I laughed my butt off.
If your bitterest enemies are people who hack the heads off civilians, then I would say you're doing something right.
Nobody expects that this line was a Mel Brooks.
"Lost Python Sketches Will See The Light"
/.
No they won't!
Yes they will!
No they won't!
Yes they will!
Look, I'm not allowed to argue unless you subscribe to
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
My impression is a maintenance programmer would have is still considered important enough for this kind of $0204FB. The place is actually consists of Slashdot while producing the group. And that work is just enough for being a little vague about new to local churches. Most of my friends or she has no business being a little vague about new MP sketches were presented but I can't wait to work done by the front page of the sum of my friends or she has no business being a maintenance programmer can't quote entire Monty Python comedy group. The place is just packed with Monty Python comedy group. The place is running. They know I read Linux, but please let's not in every available building, from government offices to local churches. Most of Slashdot editors, take the performers and Linuxism in that light. That said, I read Slashdot while this story is a programmer.
Anyone wonder why these have never been performed? Maybe b/c they aren't any good?
I am highly skeptical of this new groups ability to make it as good as the sketches before them. Every effort should be made to get the original people together to do this, hell they could even call it a reunion
I think the real question is, how do those of us who cannot afford a jaunt over to Edinborough manage to see these? Anyone going with a camcorder? Anyone?
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
Well, in case someone would be interested, there is an adaptation in French of some Monty Python sketches... (why do you think I have this outrageous accent?)
5 5625
You can find more information here:
http://txt.pariscope.fr/cgi-o2/TheatreSpectacle?2
I plan to go and see it, but had no time for this till now.
McCartney fans pay bus tickets. [...] Lennon fans too, with discretion.
Isn't it true that most lost songs, lost sketches, lost stories etc. are lost for a reason?
Even hard-core Python fans must surely admit that a lot of crap made it into a lot of episodes, and these sketches obviously weren't good enough even to get in ahead of those.
Face it chaps. It will suck harder than those lost Beatles songs that kept turning up. And that's HARD.
SHADDUP!!!!! (bloody DMA vikings...)
Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10
... is an oxymoron
I heard about something very similar occuring last year in Los Angeles - could not find the original link, but this Usenet post (via Google) seems to cover a lot of ground: http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&threadm=2001 0908143917.09208.00000550%40mb-mp.aol.com
Perfectly Normal Industries
I have them in the 2 disk best of set I got for Christmas.
Yup, sounds like Graham.
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
"Now if only John Cleese, Eric Idle and Co. would perform them."
once, they where offered a 10 million gaurentee for a 6 week tour, they turned it down.
somehow, I don't think they'll be back.
If they ever did come back, I truly pray they write new stuff. I think it would be interesting to see how there writing has change, and how they view current affairs.
"And now, for something completely different, a man with 3 buttocks."
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Otters Noses, Badgers spleens. Oh, and Albatross as well. As long as it comes with wafers. And Salmon mousse, We all have the right to eat Salmon mousse and the right to be entertained by a Cabaret singer and dancer afterwards, regardless of our physical wellbeing.
Slashdot: Where nerds gather to pool their ignorance
The Edinburgh Fringe will accomodate anyone who pays the fee. There is no quality control until they actually get here and are reviewed in newspapers.
LEGO movie of the holy Graal
:-)
What can I say. I love it
Will work for bandwidth
There are very few Python sketches published but not performed (by Them in some way).
The most prolific example, and probably the source of these sketches, is "Ojril : The Completely Incomplete Graham Chapman" by Chapman and Jim Yoakum. Great stuff in the style and (possible) history of Chapman. I would guess that this is the actual source of the 'new' sketches.
Otherwise I'd advise checking out "How To Irritate People", which is a Cleese/Chapman/Others filmoid with a lot of OK sketches and one or two examples of excellence.
Also, on the subject, I'd strongly recommend Chapman's "A Liar's Autobiography". It is just that, but it's amazingly funny.
Omigawd. Leterip.
This is an ex-parrot.
D.
i'm guessing it's this sketch club, and not this one... =)
Large print giveth, and the small print taketh away
maybe it's... jeeze, i dunno...
sounds sketchy to me...
i'd say this is going to draw a lot of controversy...
ugghh... hehe
sorry, horribly off topic.
Large print giveth, and the small print taketh away
Or for those who prefer to do their reading in the bathroom, there's this book. There's also a volume II, but I couldn't find a link.