Michael Palin

Chirpy Red

I am and always have been a huge Python fan. I must admit Michael Palin wasn't my favourite- I was a Chapman and Idle fan. However, and I am not the first to say this, is he not just the nicest bloke in the whole of showbiz?
I've loved all his Travellog progs over the years and will certainly be tuning in tomorrow night for his new one, unless celebrating goes on too long at The Oval!
He is just so decent, charming, modest, entertaining, enthusiastic and plain bloody funny.
I am half way through his Python diaries. A must for any fan, wonderful insights to all the characters from the team and the time.
Whenever people talk about a President of the UK it always seems to be Branson nominated, well I'd vote for Michael Palin.

nolly

i like him,i think all the pythons seemed stand up guys,my favourite was idle,hes eternal high hopes even when the chips were down were legendry,lose a leg and the f was still chipper.loved them all.

nolly

no man played a jailer like gilliam either!!

kigelia

i would second that opinion. the diaries are a fantstic read. gives good insight into their writing processes and who was responible for what areas of the scripts.

InspectorSands

A pal of mine's a photographer who did a shoot with him a couple of years back, and confirms that he is a very nice man indeed.

LoOkOuT

I'm gonna have to pick up the Python Diaries. I've heard only great things about them. And they'd make a perfect gift for my old man, who is a very naughty boy Python and Idle fan. Think he'd like the insider insight that Palin gives.

Henry Irving

I really enjoyed them. Honest without being bitchy or nasty.

Watched his new europe programme last night. Tragic what happened to a beatiful country like the old Yugoslavia. Looking forward to seeing the other places he visits.

nolly

very intrested in the new programme,love seeing some of the old countrys and there traditions,makes you realise england has none

Henry Irving

[cite]Posted By: nolly[/cite]very intrested in the new programme,love seeing some of the old countrys and there traditions,makes you realise england has none

No none at all apart from moaning about having no traditions.

Never been to a firework night party and burnt a guy or watched trooping the colour, done first footing or danced around a Maypole, eaten pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, worn a poppy on 11 November, watched the last night of the proms, etc, etc, etc, etc then Nolly.

Of course we have no traditions or maybe you don't/won't look hard enough.

nolly

henry firework night is a tradition is celebrating young guidos demise hardly tradition ,dancing round a maypole needs no comment,eating pancakes is done everywhere ,much more in church going countrys,and wearing a poppy should me a must anyway to all people,my family proudly served in both wars,and served as paid soliders.

Henry Irving

[cite]Posted By: nolly[/cite]henry firework night is a tradition is celebrating young guidos demise hardly tradition ,dancing round a maypole needs no comment,eating pancakes is done everywhere ,much more in church going countrys,and wearing a poppy should me a must anyway to all people,my family proudly served in both wars,and served as paid soliders.

Guys. Hardy tradition but we've been doing it since 1605? Explain why that is not a tradition.

Maypole, no comment! why not? It's a tradition. Do you think everyone in Croatia thinks their folk dancing is cool and the thing to do?

Eating pancakes isn't done everywhere. Lots of Christian countries celebrate Shrove Tuesday by eating up food but not always pancakes.

Do they wear poppies in France or the US? Not as far as I know. A tradition you honour as I do as I had family who served in both world wars including Jutland and Dunkirk. As I said because you do it every year you take it for granted but it is a tradition over 80 years old.

Why do we have to run our country done rather than reminding ourselves and others about it's traditions and try to keep them going.

kigelia

[quote][cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite][quote][cite]Posted By: nolly[/cite]henry firework night is a tradition is celebrating young guidos demise hardly tradition ,dancing round a maypole needs no comment,eating pancakes is done everywhere ,much more in church going countrys,and wearing a poppy should me a must anyway to all people,my family proudly served in both wars,and served as paid soliders.[/quote]

Guys. Hardy tradition but we've been doing it since 1605? Explain why that is not a tradition.

Maypole, no comment! why not? It's a tradition. Do you think everyone in Croatia thinks their folk dancing is cool and the thing to do?

Eating pancakes isn't done everywhere. Lots of Christian countries celebrate Shrove Tuesday by eating up food but not always pancakes.

Do they wear poppies in France or the US? Not as far as I know. A [u]tradition[/u] you honour as I do as I had family who served in both world wars including Jutland and Dunkirk. As I said because you do it every year you take it for granted but it is a tradition over 80 years old.

Why do we have to run our country done rather than reminding ourselves and others about it's traditions and try to keep them going.[/quote]

to your list I would add the more local traditions round the country:

think cheese rolling
the old style 'football' matches between villages in various parts of the country
weighing the mayor

loads of traditions if you look around.

nolly

look its just my view henry could be righ could be wrong,but i find the fact we have to look to find tradition a worry,eating pancakes is done by many countrys,and the last night at the proms is a musical event.tradition should be natural,christmas here is about opening presents these days not a thought of what it means,this country is on the slide,we have a mayor who intent on ruining anything english[im not being racist].

Salad

also,

- orderly queuing

- needless panicking

- fish and chips

- full English breakfast

- a nice cuppa

- April fools

- Burns night

- Eisteddfods

nolly

dear me where in trouble

ThreadKiller

what are we competing with on the tradition front?

Henry Irving

[cite]Posted By: nolly[/cite]look its just my view henry could be righ could be wrong,but i find the fact we have to look to find tradition a worry,eating pancakes is done by many countrys,and the last night at the proms is a musical event.tradition should be natural,christmas here is about opening presents these days not a thought of what it means,this country is on the slide,we have a mayor who intent on ruining anything english[im not being racist].

Just don't understand your logic. Why does it have to come "naturally"? all that stuff you see on TV shows like Palin doesn't happen every day. They don't dress like that all the time. They wear levi's and listen to R & B.

Why is last night of the proms not a tradition because it's a musical event? All those traditonal sea shantys and flag waving. OK pancakes but what's wrong with Bonfire night or the Maypole.

Christmas isn't an English invention by the way. Comes from Jews in Asia : - ) What is traditional in England and which pre-dates Christmas is drinking and feasting around that time of year.

Seems to me you want to convince yourself that we have no tradition so are dismissing all the examples of traditions that you are given.

nolly

humbug

Henry Irving

[cite]Posted By: nolly[/cite]humbug

Another Christmas tradition from a short story about Christmas Traditions. But you knew that didn't you?

And you haven't answered the question. Why aren't Maypole Dancing, Bonfire Night and Last night of the Proms traditions?

nolly

there rather naff henry,ok we have tradition but there second division.

nolly

we have the queens speech!!!!!!!

kigelia

[quote][cite]Posted By: nolly[/cite]there rather naff henry,ok we have tradition but there second division.[/quote]

So it's not that the English have no traditions, just that there are none that you like?

nolly

i love england,but feel we are lacking in identity sadly imo

Salad

With the refusal to use capital letters, the lack of almost any punctuation and deliberate mis-spellings, Nolly sounds rather like a netaddicks wind-up character.

nolly

whos that mate?

Solidgone

Ok Ok OK....apart from Bonfire night, maypole bloody dancing, last nite of the proms, eating pancakes, cheese rolling (bloody weird that one if you ask me), old village football matches, remembrance day and trooping of the colour...we dont have any proper English traditions!

Henry Irving

[cite]Posted By: nolly[/cite]there rather naff henry,ok we have tradition but there second division.

Ha, ha so you think they are naff so they are not traditions but when we see eastern europeans dancing around in their national costumes that's OK and not naff.

Naff has nothing to do with it. You can't have it both ways. You moan that we dont maintain our traditions and blame Ken for ruining everything English and then dismiss all our traditional as "naff" and somehow unworthy.

Sounds like you are doing more damage to our traditions than Ken ever could because if you, as an Englishman, run down and dismiss all our traditions then how can you expect anyone else to know about or care about them. How will our kids know about them unless we tell them and show them.

Of course Morris dancing etc is naff. It's old fashioned. That's cos it's an old tradition. Bonfire night and fireworks maybe a little old fashioned but I enjoy them. Maybe you would like to see us jazz them up, make them part of Diwali? Oh no, how much moaning would there be about that.

nolly

fair point henry ,i suppose i should embrace our naffness,i might well do that mate,off to cornwall for a stag do soon may dance round the maypole then,its a cornish tradition is it not?

Henry Irving

[cite]Posted By: nolly[/cite]fair point henry ,i suppose i should embrace our naffness,i might well do that mate,off to cornwall for a stag do soon may dance round the maypole then,its a cornish tradition is it not?

Naff is cool as is our slang like"naff"

And Maypole dancing and May queens happen in May (big clue in the name Nolly). 1st May which was always a holiday and the scene of much sex and drunkeness. Big Pole sticking up out of the ground, Young ladies dancing around it. Can't see what that has to do with fertility and the harvest myself so maybe someone else can explain

They have lots of weird traditions in Cornwall but they would argue they are not in England . There's one place where they re-inact black slavers kidnapping Cornish people to sell in North Africa. That will please the BNP!!

PassItToLeaburn

And while you're there you could eat a Cornish Pastie, have a Cornish cream tea and have a wander around the traditional druid lands (lots of animal intestines everywhere!).

I honestly think that this country is absolutely littered with history and tradition.

Algarveaddick

I am at a loss to think of what theses traditions thet are so great in other countries are?

In Portugal we have traditional music called Fado, it's very dull.

They parade down the streets with effigies of saints and the virgin Mary at times, but that comes from the church, and the same is done in other southern European countries.

Portugal produces Port, French produce wines, Britain makes ale, Scotch Wiskey and Gin.

The Portuguese have a big family meal on Christmas Eve, Britain does it Christmas day

In many parts of Europe they open presents on St. Nicholas day, we do it on Christmas day to tie in with the pre-christian festival at that time of year, as Henry pointed out.

On New Years day the Portuguese have big firework displays, we do it on November 5th.

In Portugal we have the legend of the Cock of Boros and Fatima; in Britain, the Loch Ness Monster, Old Mother Shipton, Robin Hood, The Beast of Bodmin etc.

What are these fantastic European traditions that Britain can't compete with that don't involve music, booze, food, dressing up in funny costumes or religion?