Old Man Crush #3: Michael Palin

It's amazing to think that I had no clue who Michael Palin was two months ago.

So here's what happened. Pete said, "Hey, John Cleese is in this hilarious TV show called Fawlty Towers that we can stream on Netflix." And I said, "okay, great, let's watch it!"

And I fell in love. John Cleese will be another Old Man Crush, another day.

Also, information about Fawlty Towers will be another blog post. Because we DEVOURED it and it was AMAZING.

So, after we finished Fawlty Towers, Pete realized that I wasn't really very schooled in Monty Python. Yes, I've seen The Holy Grail, and I knew about a couple of the more famous sketches (Dead Parrot, Ministry of Silly Walks, etc), but that was about it.

So, Pete began to educate me on Monty Python. I had bought the entire 16-disc Flying Circus set for his 21st birthday, so we had everything already. I saw documentaries, interviews, and episodes. And I gobbled it up.

Michael Palin...oh, Michael Palin. Why are you so adorable?



I think I really, really first fell for Michael Palin when Pete showed me the Lumberjack song. Seriously. Just THINKING about it made me laugh. So hard. Watch for yourself:



So, that was that. I mean, lumberjacks are unbelieveably amazing (have you seen Pete? He's totally a lumberjack) and here is Michael Palin! He's so cute and adorable and he sings about it! [Fun fact - the girl in the video above was married to John Cleese for ten years or so]



So that pretty much sold me. I continued to watch hilarious clips from Monty Python - this one is a favorite, too:


[although Terry Gilliam's face is the funniest]

Also - here's just a little montage to Michael Palin



However, Monty Python only lasted so long. He was hilarious in it, obviously, as were the rest of the Pythons. But more recently, Michael Palin has been involved with travel documentaries. Really, really cool ones, too. Pete and I are working our way through Around the World in 80 Days, which is all about Palin going around the world in 80 days, taking the same route that Phileas Fogg took in the book. He cannot take planes, only trains/boats/cars. And he's trying to beat the record.

It's really, really good. I've been blown away by it, actually. He's so charming and funny and inquisitive. I think my favorite episode is when he spends a week (I think it was a week?) aboard a shipping boat with 18 Indian crew members. He helps them keep the boat in top shape, he learns how they cook, he sleeps on the deck, under the stars, learns all of their names. It's so sweet, and cool, and just incredibly motivational. It makes me want to travel.



Finally, he's done other documentaries, too. The next series we're planning to watch is called Pole to Pole, which is a lot like Around the World in 80 Days, but he'll be traveling from the North Pole to the South Pole. Awesome.

So. Another old man crush called to your attention.


(far right - bottom. what a cutie!)