The Fabulous Rutles!

After an afternoon of working on taxes, I’m planning to kick back to watch the Beatles special on CBS tonight. I thought it was worth mentioning that Eric Idle is also going to be a part of it, narrating a few segments and doing whatever else needs to be done to help pay tribute to the Fab Four. In addition to being a member of Monty Python and being a close friend of George Harrison, Eric, of course, created The Rutles. (And I’m sure I don’t have to explain to any Beatles or Python fan who the Rutles are. Right? But if you’re still not certain, click here.)

It’s interesting to see art imitating art this way. Eric once told me of how he was filming a scene for The Rutles: All You Need is Cash (now out on Blu-Ray!), dressed in mid-60s Beatle-ish attire, when a frantic fan came up to him, begging for an autograph. She was convinced that she had just met one of the Fabs, even though none of the real Beatles had looked like that in 10-12 years. But she didn’t care, so Eric obliged her with an autograph, and she went on her way. What she failed to realize was that, standing next to Eric, was George Harrison, dressed for his role in the film as a TV interviewer.

Eric also told me about another occasion, when he and (fellow Rutle) Neil Innes were visiting George at his home in Henley. Ringo showed up, and the four of them (two Beatles and two Rutles) sat around singing Rutles songs. The older I get, the more I see how life is becoming a mash-up–and I can’t think of a better example.

At any rate, the Beatles special includes a Rutle–and I think all of the Beatles (and Rutles) would be happy.

The Beatles and Me and My First LP

It was 50 years ago this weekend that the Fab Four arrived in America. Me? I didn’t have a clue. But once I did, I made up for lost time.

I missed their first appearance. But when I got to school Monday morning, the day after their historical appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, it was all that anyone else in Miss Langbehn’s class could talk about.

After spending the next week hearing about little except The Beatles, I was determined that I wouldn’t miss their second appearance coming up again on Sunday night. I would be staying at my grandparent’s house, but I extracted a promise that we would have to watch Ed Sullivan that night. They gamely agreed, and I planted myself three feet from the black and white screen.

When they came on, I studied them closely. I wasn’t sure what they were, but I knew they were different, that things were changing. And when I returned to school the next morning, I joined in the conversation.

That week, my parents announced they were raising my weekly allowance, from ten cents to twenty five cents. I immediately spent the entire allotment on five packages of Beatles bubble gum cards, and they immediately questioned their judgment. (I still have the cards, which are now worth considerably more than a nickel, though I’m not planning on getting rid of them).

Then, I decided to get a Beatle album. It would be my first LP ever, a milestone of my childhood. One was cheaper than the others, so I grabbed it and went home to listen, and realized I had been ripped off. The voices coming out of the tiny, tinny speaker were not the Beatles. There were four Beatle songs and six songs nobody else has ever heard of, and none of them were sung by the Beatles. I read the liner notes on the back cover, which started with “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” and knew I had been robbed.

As soon as I could scrape together the money, I immediately ran out and bought “Meet the Beatles”–the genuine article. That was more like it. It was my second LP.

The rest was history, the kind of history that so many of us shared, watching The Beatles develop and grow, just as we developed and grew. I never saw them in concert–I was a little too young–but they were a huge part of my life then and now. I never met them, although I was delighted beyond words to meet and hang out with George Harrison on several occasions (as I’ve written about elsewhere on this site–thank you Monty Python).

I once did a radio interview with Frank Gorshin, best known today for his appearances as The Riddler on the ’60s Batman TV show. But before that, he was best known as an impressionist. He also performed on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, so I couldn’t resist asking him about it. The moment I did, I could tell he wished I hadn’t brought it up. Simply put, it was apparently not one of the highlights of his professional career. Of course, no one else on the show that night did very well either, as the audience was filled with teenaged girls who were only there for one reason. And it wasn’t Frank Gorshin.

My first LP is long gone. But I still have my second LP, and I’m not planning on getting rid of it, either.

Okay, I couldn’t resist this one… but nobody rocks an invisible horse like this lot.

Another Great Review!

Great to see The Last of the Time Police get another nice review on Awesomeindies.net! Thanks to everyone there, it’s nice to know that a time travel-steampunk-action-adventure-historical-fantasy book featuring Ben Franklin, Leonardo DaVinci and Samuel Warner isn’t getting lost in the mix!

To see the Awesome Indies review, click here.

And to order, click here.

Python Live 1, Scalpers 0

The Pythons have managed to scrape together a few more seats for the second week of Monty Python Live: One Down, Five to Go in London this July. For the latest update, look here. FYI: there are reportedly still seats available in the sections that get stomped by the giant foot.

The Last of the Time Police Free Sample!

I’ve been meaning to post the first chapter of The Last of the Time Police on here for a while now. With the abysmal winter weather we’ve been having and will, apparently, be having for a while longer, this seemed like a great weekend to curl up in front of a warm laptop and sample the beginning of my Time Authority series. Enjoy.

Just click on the link below!

Time Police Bk 1

Continued in The Last of the Time Police: The Time Authority Book One

Happy Terry Jones Birthday!

Happy birthday to my dear chum Terry, who is getting a couple of great birthday presents this year–a brand new movie (Absolutely Anything) and a Python stage show. And many more, Terry!

It Was 45 Years Ago Yesterday…

It was January 30, 1969 that the Beatles last performed in public, a 20-minute concert on a London rooftop.
I’m sure that LET IT BE, the documentary film, will eventually be re-released to theatres and DVD. There are some who say that Paul and Ringo aren’t in any hurry, as it was filmed during what became the final breakup of the group. But just about everything else they’ve ever recorded is out there or likely to be, so we can only hope that this is in the queue. In the meantime, this is the best we can do.

To Norway, Home of Giants

This is a bit longer than the videos I usually post, but it’s a good one. John Cleese hosts this 1979 travelogue spoof which, if memory serves, was Norway’s entry to the Montreux Festival that year. Enjoy.

An iO Python Winter

If you live in the American Midwest and you have any sense, you probably stayed someplace warm Monday night and didn’t bother to venture out in the sub-zero temperatures.

But the dozen brave souls who were students in my Python Process writing class at the iO Chicago and I had a more interesting time.

You see, when I started teaching this class, the idea was to use the Monty Python writing process (and showing them a lot of Python-related film clips and talking about my own personal experiences) as a sneaky way to teach them about re-writing and collaborating.

I thought about postponing Monday night’s class, but when I heard that one of the students was driving in–from Michigan, no less–I figured I’d better give it a go. And in fact, the interstate roads were mostly dry and clear, and the trip was surprisingly easy.

And I was glad I did. What started as a group that liked watching Python clips, is doing some terrific writing work, producing some very funny material, and making it better by allowing other groups of students to re-work it. It’s a great group, although I’m not sure why I’m surprised that Python fans would make good sketch writers. And now, my only regret is that it’s just a four-week class, and it’ll be over just as they’re hitting their stride.