An unnamed KERA-Dallas engineer saved this clip of Festival 75, “11 Great Nights on Channel 13.” KERA-TV in Dallas was the first PBS station to broadcast Monty Python’s Flying Circus, and it was the Pythons’ first stop in the US after the premier of Monty Python and the Holy Grail in Los Angeles in 1975. But it cuts off after about 14 minutes… the engineer taped over the rest.

It’s a wonderful bit of tape, they look exhausted, doing whirlwind promo in the previous week in NYC, Philadelphia, Washington and L.A. They are plunked down on a low stage of a relatively small studio packed with young long-haired adoring fans. Very close fans, fans close enough to kick in the face if needed. The phone bank is right behind them, a constant buzz of bell ringing and pledge-taking is heard throughout. They are interviewed by Ron Devillier the local station executive who first put the Pythons on the air in the U.S. Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, and Graham Chapman are there. The Lumberjack skit from 1969 is shown. Palin dances the hind end of a stuffed armadillo, given to him by a fan at the camera during the clip, and then you hear a Python say “old joke,” when they return from the clip. They are asked about censorship, Gilliam takes that one. Chapman interrupts to apologize for giving a bad interview. Then answers a question about starting out late-night at the BBC. They mildly berate a woman who asks “Who is Monty Python?,” a question they had long ago been asked too many times, but Terry Jones fields the question, then the tape ends. It is great to see them all, young and vital, in a live situation, just breaking into America’s consciousness.

Provided by The Sound of Young America, a public radio show about things that are awesome — online at maximumfun.org. Special thanks to KERA in Dallas and Python, Monty Ltd.

Artist Kim Maria has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a very rare, very painful cancer of the blood that attacks bone marrow and the immune system. Without health insurance, she and husband Craig LaRotonda are facing a very challenging time. The gallery is Aidan Savoy Gallery, 175 Stanton St (@ Clinton), NYC, NY. 10002 The phone number there is 212.253.8303. Please join us for a Benefit Auction for Kim Maria of Revelation Studios. Sunday, April 1st, 2007 7 to 9 - cocktails and bidding 9 to 9:30 pm - payment and wrapping Cocktails will be served and donated works by over forty artists will be auctioned via silent auction with 100% of the proceeds going to help Kim with her medical costs. More details and images.

and stop funding this war?” - Dennis Kucinich

“Where do we go from here? We go to where America has always gone, and that is the strength of a powerful civic response.” - Dennis Kucinich

Dennis Kucinich speaks at The Service Employees International Union’s (SEIU) New Leadership in Health Care - A Presidential Forum which was held on March 24, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A rousing speech advocating a single-payer health care system for the U.S. without subsidies for insurance companies.

It’s painful to see an 81-year-old Gore Vidal, tired and physically weak, interviewed in a back alley at the Texas Book Festival, October 29, 2006. But he is as sharp and perceptive as ever. Though he appears visibly annoyed at some of the questioning, he bravely soldiers on. Topics include our loss of habeas corpus, the possible military stand-down on 9/11, the Bush Coup d’état, and the emptying of the treasury. Interview by Alex Jones and an unidentified woman.

Point to Point Navigation: A Memoir

This is very strange, but pretty funny, a romantic action fantasy comedy. A teenager’s right hand is his girlfriend. In Japanese with English subtitles. A review
Episode 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.