Retro Yakking

What a jolly good idea! To coincide with the show’s 40th anniversary, Monty Python’s complete library of shows has now been made available for download on iTunes.

That’s correct, thanks to the guys at Sony Entertainment, each and every one of the 45 Flying Circus episodes plus Life of Brian and The Holy Grail can now be downloaded via that Internet thing. It’s really rather clever, isn’t it?

I’ll admit to being a casual fan of the Pythons’ work but not quite one of those ubergeeky ones that can recite whole sketches with flawless accuracy. If I’d have grown up in the late seventies I would have most likely been an avid fan, but as it is I’m more of the mainstream persuasion when it comes to television comedy. Perhaps.

Still, off the back of the recent BBC special, I rewatched The Holy Grail and there were indeed some suitably bizarre bits but on the whole it was an enjoyable watch. I’m not here right now to rate and slate a cult classic, however, maybe I shall save that for another time to catch you off-guard in a moment of weakness. Hahah!

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 Image (c) Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Sunderland managed to condemn Liverpool to their third defeat of the season … thanks to a helpful touch from a rather large and conveniently placed beach ball. Darren Bent’s fifth minute strike took a healthy deflection off the inflatable and past Reina in the Liverpool goal at the Stadium of Light this afternoon. The freak incident sealed a 1-0 win for the north-east side, who now leapfrog today’s opponents in the league table.

During the highlights of the first half, Fox showed a moment from two minutes in…and the beach ball was already in Reina’s goal! Surely he must have seen it there, and in lieu of perhaps popping it or having it disposed of, he let it drift back out of the goal and onto the pitch. That’s all Reina’s fault, right there. — Tony Ling, via The Guardian

Reportedly, the Liverpool goalkeeper had Bent’s shot well covered until it hit the big red ball, which had been floating around the pitch for some time. Post-match, a beaming Bent said of the incident:

It’s another goal at the end of the day and a win for Sunderland. To be fair the ball was there in the middle of the 6 yard box and if they’re not going to move it, then there’s nothing we can do about it really. — Darren Bent

Video on the other side of the break.
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Police have released CCTV footage of an Ashton-in-Makerfield bank robbery which took place in June this year. The raid, on which Retro Yakking reported, involved a five-mile cross-borough chase and concluded in arrests at a Wigan multi-storey car park.

The footage, uploaded to YouTube by Manchester Evening News, shows the moment two hooded thugs forced bank employees to hand over cash, as well as aerial pictures of the Ford Mondeo getaway vehicle reaching its final destination.

Hit the ‘continue reading’ link for the video.

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The litle urn is back in England after the hosts wrapped up a 197-run win over Australia at the Oval yesterday. A good team bowling performance on day four ensured the Aussies were unable to chase down the highly unlikely 546: Harmison and Broad chipped in with some important wickets, but it was Swann who did the bulk of the bowling, taking 4-120.

Retro Yakking does not often make serious predictions, but it seems we at least got one thing right about this game:

The man to watch for me has to be Stuart Broad. He has managed to find a little bit of form in the last match, taking a five-for and smashing a quickfire 60, which will have done his confidence no end of good. — Retro Yakking, 19th August

Stuart Broad proved to be the match-turner in the first Australian innings, taking 5-37 backed up with useful scores of 37 and 29. It was not quite Broad’s Ashes, but certainly he did play a huge part in orchestrating an England win on the second day. A performance fully deserving of his Man of the Match award.

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It hasn’t received much national attention since the Verve homecoming concert of 1998, but Wigan’s Haigh Hall is once again set to be thrust into the spotlight as it provides the backdrop to a stunt for Channel Five’s Fifth Gear tonight.

A camera crew was in Haigh on May 21st (coincidentally the day of the Royal visit) to film a sequence in which Geordie funnyman Ross Noble takes on some breathtaking motorbike stunts under the watchful eye of trials champion Dougie Lampkin.

It all took place in front of the historic Wigan building, said to be haunted by the ghosts of television presenters past. Will two more TV personalities be added to that roster? Tune in tonight to find out…

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