Monday, March 31, 2014

MONTY PYTHON PARTY

Our party Saturday started earlier and the guests trickled into the club little by little.
The Monty Python Trivia I made had a lot of errors but the questions that did worked were answered correctly. I better check them the next time.
Dj Anj had made a great set of songs mixed with parts of Monty Python sketches. Here are the pictures I made.
DJ Anj
After the party Ellbee said; "Tis but a scratch."
Caasper as the Killer Rabbit

Thursday, March 27, 2014

MONTY PYTHON PARTY

Saturday there will be a special party at T.R.A.C.S.
Special, because DJ Anj is a Monty Python fan and has a big collection of tunes and sketches and he knows a lot about Monty Python. He will, for sure, let us listen to parts of sketches between his set of songs.
Second special Saturday is that it is the birthday of Eric Idle. English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, comedic composer and a member of the English surreal comedy group Monty Python.
Last but not least, the party starts an hour earlier CET, than normal. Sunday night, in Europe, the time will set to "summertime". Saturday the party will start at 8 pm CET (noon SLT).
T.R.A.C.S at Timothy Plaza on River Island

Eric Idle

Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer and comedic composer. Idle was a member of the English surreal comedy group Monty Python, a member of the Rutles on Saturday Night Live, and the author of the Broadway musical Spamalot.

Monty Python (1969–1983)
Idle wrote for Python mostly by himself, at his own pace, although he sometimes found it difficult in having to present material to the others and make it seem funny without the back-up support of a partner. Cleese admitted that this was slightly unfair – when the Pythons voted on which sketches should appear in a show, "he only got one vote", but says that Idle was an independent person and worked best on his own. Idle himself admitted this was sometimes difficult: "You had to convince five others. And they were not the most un-egotistical of writers, either."

Idle's work in Python is often characterised by an obsession with language and communication: many of his characters have verbal peculiarities, such as the man who speaks in anagrams, the man who says words in the wrong order, and the butcher who alternates between rudeness and politeness every time he speaks. A number of his sketches involve extended monologues (for example the customer in the "Travel Agency" sketch who won't stop talking about his unpleasant experiences with holidays), and he would frequently spoof the unnatural language and speech patterns of television presenters. Unlike Palin, Idle is said to be the master of insincere characters, from the David Frost-esque Timmy Williams, to small-time crook Stig O'Tracy, who tries to deny the fact that organised crime master Dinsdale Piranha nailed his head to the floor.
 
As the second-youngest member of the Pythons, Idle was closest in spirit to the students and teenagers who made up much of Python's fanbase. Python sketches dealing most with contemporary obsessions like pop music, sexual permissiveness and recreational drugs are usually Idle's work, often characterised by double entendre, sexual references, and other "naughty" subject matter – most famously demonstrated in "Nudge Nudge." Idle originally wrote "Nudge, Nudge" for Ronnie Barker, but it was rejected because there was 'no joke in the words'.

A competent guitarist, Idle composed many of the group's most famous musical numbers, most notably "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", the closing number of Life of Brian, which has grown to become a Python signature tune. He was responsible for the "Galaxy Song" from The Meaning of Life and "Eric the Half-a-Bee", a whimsical tune that first appeared on the Previous Record album.

Monty Python

Monty Python (sometimes known as The Pythons) are a British surreal comedy group that created Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. The Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and impact, spawning touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books and a stage musical as well as launching the members to individual stardom. The group's influence on comedy has been compared to The Beatles' influence on music.
The television series, broadcast by the BBC from 1969 to 1974, was conceived, written and performed by members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a sketch show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach (aided by Gilliam's animation), it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy team responsible for both writing and performing their work, the Pythons had creative control which allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while in North America it has coloured the work of cult performers from the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to more recent absurdist trends in television comedy. "Pythonesque" has entered the English lexicon as a result.

In a 2005 UK poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, three of the six Pythons members were voted by fellow comedians and comedy insiders to be among the top 50 greatest comedians ever: John Cleese at #2, Eric Idle at #21, and Michael Palin at #30.

There is more to read about Monty Python at WikiPedia.
Here some famous Monty Python's sketches:

And the famous song from the movie "Life of Brain"

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

The Liberty Bell March

"The Liberty Bell" (1893) is an American military march composed by John Philip Sousa.
John Philip Sousa (November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known primarily for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J. Alford also being known as "The March King". Among his best-known marches are "The Liberty Bell", "The Thunderer", "The Washington Post", "Semper Fidelis" (Official March of the United States Marine Corps), and "The Stars and Stripes Forever" (National March of the United States of America).

History
"The Liberty Bell" was written for Sousa's unfinished operetta "The Devil's Deputy," but financing for the show fell through. Shortly afterwards, Sousa and his band manager George Hinton attended the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. As they watched the spectacle "America", in which a backdrop depicting the Liberty Bell was lowered, Hinton suggested "The Liberty Bell" as the title of Sousa's recently completed march. Coincidentally, Sousa received a letter from his wife, saying their son had marched in a parade in honor of the Liberty Bell. Sousa agreed. He sold "The Liberty Bell" to the John Church Company for publication, and it was an immediate success. The march is played as part of an exhibit in the Liberty Bell Center.

The United States Marine Corps Band has played "The Liberty Bell" march at four of the last six presidential inaugurations: the 1993 inauguration of President Bill Clinton, the 2005 inauguration of President George W. Bush, and the 2009 and 2013 inaugurations of President Barack Obama.

"The Liberty Bell" is also the official march past of the Canadian Forces Public Affairs Branch.
Monty Python
The march is often associated with the British TV comedy program Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–74), which used the piece as a signature tune.The British comedy troupe Monty Python's use of the melody is ironic; the bouncy melody of the march may be what the troupe found appealing. Terry Gilliam, the only American in the troupe, decided to use the theme. He has said the piece was chosen because the troupe thought it could not be associated with the program's content, and that the first bell strike and the subsequent melody gave the impression of getting "straight down to business". It was also chosen because it was in the public domain and free from royalties, as there was no budget for theme music copyrights.

The Monty Python mode of presenting the tune was with a single strike of the bell, lifted from the third section and increased in volume, followed by a strain of each of the first two sections, followed by the famous stomping foot and a noticeably flatulent "splat" sound reminiscent of a whoopee cushion (though the first episodes used a "hiss"). At the end of Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl, the entire march was played over the closing credits.
"The Liberty Bell" was used by the Foot Guards before it became associated with the television series, after which they chose another march. Nevertheless, the march remains popular with British military bands.
 Because he is a fan of Python, the radio broadcaster Steve Oliver uses the music as his opening music on his Sherwood Radio show.

Obama: it has been truly gezellig

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke during a press conference at the Gemeente museum in The Hague on March 25, 2014 at the end of the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS).

Spring Party in Sweetgrass

That's me in the corner
 That's me in the spotlight
 Losing my religion
 Trying to keep up with you
 And I don't know if I can do it
 Oh no, I've said too much
 I haven't said enough
Picture of the winners is made by Ganymede.
More snapshots of the party at: http://sweetgrassparties.weebly.com/index.html

SHOPPING PARTY at T.R.A.C.S

Shopping with a friend is cool. There's nothing forbidden, no rule.
And no parent to say what is suitable, or to tell you what's unaffordable.
Actually you don't need to be rich, to try on whatever your eyes wish.
But shopping is more pleasant with a friend, which has a thousand lindens to lend.

Here are the snapshots I made.