Harvard Bookstore is hosting Michael Palin on Friday, Sept. 7th to read from his upcoming book “Diaries 1969 - 1979: The Python Years”. Event is at the First Parish Church in Harvard Square and tickets are $5, which I’m sure will go fast.

Like any self-respecting nerd I have greatly enjoyed Monty Python. That said, there is xkcd comic that perfectly captures my feelings about how they are celebrated:

"Does anyone else find it funny that decades later, people are still quoting -- word-for-word -- a group loved for their mastery of shock, the unexpected, and defiance of convention?"

Right on. Something similar struck me on a recent trip to the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, a sterile building filled with art about breaking down of convention of form and expression, and watching someone get yelled at for photographing the placard accompanying a piece of art. Not even the piece itself, which was also off-limits. And the young employee of the ICA couldn’t explain why, but was told that was the rule and she had to enforce it, grudgingly. The irony was thick that day, friends.