Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
{{infobox album | name	Matters| Type Album | Artist Pulley| Cover pulley matters.jpg| Released April 6, 2004| Recorded 2004| Genre Punk rock| Length 33:35 | Label Epitaph| Producer | Reviews * Allmusic [ link] Punknews.org link
last album	''Together Again for the First Time''(2001)
this album	''Matters''(2004)
next album	''Time-Insensitive Material''(2009) }}

''Matters'' is the fifth full-length album by the punk rock band Pulley.

Track listing

# "A Bad Reputation" – 2:54 # "Blindfold" – 2:43 # "Huber Breeze" – 2:25 # "Insects Destroy" – 3:20 # "Looking Back" – 2:48 # "Poltergeist" – 2:16 # "Immune" – 4:24 # "YSC" – 3:09 # "Stomach Aches" – 2:51 # "I Remember" – 2:20 # "Suitcase" – 3:13 # "Thanks" – 1:12

Track 7 is actually two songs. "Immune" ends at 3:24. At the 3:26 mark begins a cover of the theme song to the 1970's children's television show, ''Land of the Lost''.

Category:Pulley albums Category:2004 albums

it:Matters

Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
name	James Carville
birth name	Chester James Carville, Jr.
birth date	October 25, 1944
birth place	Carville, Louisiana
nationality	American
political party	Democratic
residence	New Orleans, Louisiana
education	Louisiana State University (A.B., J.D.)
occupation	Political consultant, Political science professor of practice, Tulane University
spouse	Mary Matalin (since 1993)
website	carville.info }}

Chester James Carville, Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, commentator, educator, actor, attorney, media personality, and prominent liberal pundit. Carville gained national attention for his work as the lead strategist of the successful presidential campaign of then-Arkansas governor Bill Clinton. Carville was a co-host of CNN's ''Crossfire'' until its final broadcast in June 2005. Since its cancellation, he has appeared on CNN's news program, ''The Situation Room''. As of 2009, he hosts a weekly program on XM Radio titled ''60/20 Sports'' with Luke Russert, son of the late Tim Russert who hosted NBC's ''Meet The Press''. He is married to Republican political consultant Mary Matalin. In 2009, he began teaching political science at Tulane University.

Early life and education

Carville, the oldest of eight children, was born in Carville, Louisiana, the son of Lucille (née Norman), a former school teacher who sold World Book Encyclopedias door-to-door, and Chester James Carville, a postmaster as well as owner of a general store. He is of Irish and Cajun heritage. James attended Ascension Catholic High School in Donaldsonville, Louisiana.

He received his undergraduate and Juris Doctor degrees from Louisiana State University. He served for two years in the United States Marine Corps.

Early career

Before entering politics, Carville worked as a litigator at a Baton Rouge law firm from 1973–1979. Carville spent two years serving in the United States Marines, achieving the rank of Corporal, and later worked as a high school teacher.

Prior to the Clinton campaign, Carville and consulting partner Paul Begala gained other well-known political victories, including the gubernatorial victories of Robert Casey of Pennsylvania in 1986, and Zell Miller of Georgia in 1990. But it was in 1991 when Carville and Begala rose to national attention, leading appointed incumbent Senator Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania back from a 40-point poll deficit over White House hand-picked candidate Dick Thornburgh. It was during Wofford's campaign that the "it's the economy, stupid" strategy used by Bill Clinton in 1992 was first implemented.

Bill Clinton's 1992 Presidential campaign

In 1992, Carville helped lead Bill Clinton to a win against George H. W. Bush in the Presidential election. In 1993, Carville was honored as Campaign Manager of the Year by the American Association of Political Consultants. His role in the Clinton campaign was documented in the feature-length Academy Award-nominated film, ''The War Room''. One of the formulations he used in that campaign has entered common usage, derived from a list he posted in the war room to help focus himself and his staff, with these three points: # Change vs. more of the same. #The economy, stupid. # Don't forget health care.

Political and media work

After 1992 Carville stopped working on domestic campaigns, stating that he would bring unneeded publicity. He then worked on a number of foreign campaigns, including those of Tony Blair - then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - Ehud Barak of Israel's Labor Party, and the Liberal Party of Canada. In 2002, Carville worked as a Greenberg Carville Shrum (GCS) strategist to help American-educated Bolivian Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada win the presidency in Bolivia, which was portrayed in a documentary Our Brand Is Crisis.

In 2004, he was brought in for last-minute consulting on Senator John Kerry's Presidential campaign, but he did not play a major role.

In 2005, Carville taught a semester of the course "Topics in American Politics" at Northern Virginia Community College. Among the guests he had come speak to the class were Al Hunt, Mark Halperin, Senator George Allen, George Stephanopoulos, Karl Strubel, Stan Greenberg, Tony Blankley, representatives from the Motion Picture Association of America, James Fallows.

In 2006, Carville switched gears from politics to sports and became a host on a sports show called ''60/20 Sports'' on XM Satellite Radio with Luke Russert, son of the late NBC journalist Tim Russert. The show is an in-depth look at the culture of sports based on the ages of the two hosts (60 and 20). After the Democrats' victory in the 2006 midterm election, Carville criticized Howard Dean as Democratic National Committee Chair, calling for his ouster, as he believed Dean had not spent enough money. In late November 2006, Carville proposed a truce of sorts.

Carville is the executive producer of the 2006 film ''All the King's Men'', starring Sean Penn and Anthony Hopkins, which is loosely based on the life of Louisiana Governor Huey Long.

Carville had believed that Al Gore, whom he helped put in the White House as vice president in 1992, would run for president in 2008. This prediction did not come true.

On March 4, 2009, ''Politico'' reported that Carville, Paul Begala, and Rahm Emanuel were the architects of the Democratic Party's strategy to cast conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh as the face of the Republican Party. Carville was particularly critical of Limbaugh for saying he wanted Barack Obama to "fail." It was later reported that Carville had voiced the opinion, during the presidency of George W. Bush, that, "I don’t care if people like him or not, just so they don’t vote for him and his party. That is all I care about. I hope he doesn’t succeed, but I am a partisan Democrat. But the average person wants him to succeed. It is his country, his life or their lives. So he has that going for him." Carville made the remarks on September 11, 2001, shortly before the terrorist attacks on the United States. Upon hearing news of the attacks, Carville asked reporters to "disregard" his prior comments.

Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani hired Carville as a campaign advisor in July 2009. Carville said that the 2009 Afghan presidential election is "probably the most important election held in the world in a long time," and he called his new job "probably the most interesting project I have ever worked in my life." Carville, whose work for Ghani is ''pro bono'', when asked about similarities between politics in Afghanistan and politics in Louisiana, responded: ::Yeah, I felt a little bit at home, to be honest with you.

In 2010, Carville worked as senior advisor for the campaign of Colombian presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos.

He is acting as advisor for Daniel Scioli (Governor of Buenos Aires) re-election campaign.

Hillary Clinton's 2008 Presidential campaign

As an advisor to Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, Carville told ''The New York Times'' on March 22, 2008, that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who had just endorsed Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination, was comparable to Judas Iscariot. It was "an act of betrayal," said Carville. "Mr. Richardson’s endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic,” Mr. Carville said, referring to Holy Week. Governor Richardson had served in President Bill Clinton's administration as both United States Ambassador to the United Nations and Secretary of Energy, and Carville believed that Richardson owed an endorsement to Senator Clinton in exchange for being offered those posts by her husband. Carville also claimed that Richardson assured many in the Clinton campaign that he would at least remain neutral and abstain from taking sides. Richardson refuted Carville's account, arguing that he had not made any promises to remain neutral. Richardson claims that his decision to endorse Obama was "clinched" by his speech on race relations following the swirl of controversy surrounding Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright. Carville went on to note,"I doubt if Governor Richardson and I will be terribly close in the future," Carville said, but "I've had my say...I got one in the wheelhouse and I tagged it."

Even as Clinton's campaign began to lose steam, Carville remained both loyal and positive in his public positions, rarely veering off message and stoutly defending the candidate. But on May 13, 2008, a few hours before the primary in West Virginia, Carville remarked to an audience at Furman University in South Carolina, "I'm for Senator Clinton, but I think the great likelihood is that Obama will be the nominee." The moment marked a shift from his previous and often determinedly optimistic comments about the state of Hillary's campaign.

After Barack Obama's clear lead for victory in the Democratic presidential campaign on June 3, James Carville said he was ready to open up his wallet to help Obama build a political war chest to take on John McCain in November.

Career as author

Carville is also a best-selling author. With his wife, Mary Matalin - a Republican - and writer Peter Knobler, Carville co-wrote ''All's Fair: Love, War and Running for President'', published in 1995. He later wrote: ''We're Right, They're Wrong: A Handbook for Spirited Progressives'', published in 1996; ''...And The Horse He Rode In On: The People vs. Kenneth Starr'', published in 1998; With Paul Begala he co-wrote ''Stickin''. ''Suck Up, Buck Up... and Come Back When You Foul Up'', in 2001, which detailed strategies for fighting and winning in business, politics, and life. In 2004, Carville released a political banter book entitled ''Had Enough?'', as well as a children's picture book, ''Lu and the Swamp Ghost'', with co-author Patricia McKissack and illustrator David Catrow. In January 2006, he released another book co-written with Begala, ''Take It Back: Our Party, Our Country, Our Future''.

Carville's most recent book is entitled ''40 More Years: How the Democrats Will Rule the Next Generation''.

In 1996, Carville was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield, along with former Louisiana State Treasurer Mary Evelyn Parker and the late segregationist leader Leander Perez.

Personal life

Carville is married to Republican political pundit Mary Matalin, who had worked for President George H. W. Bush on his 1992 reelection campaign. Carville and Matalin were married in New Orleans in October 1993. They have two daughters: Matalin Mary "Matty" Carville and Emerson Normand "Emma" Carville. Carville publicly acknowledged that he has adult attention-deficit disorder.

In 2008, Carville and Matalin relocated their family from Virginia to New Orleans. He is currently on the faculty of the department of political science at Tulane University.

He describes himself as a liberal Catholic.

Film and television appearances

Carville takes a lead role in ''The War Room'', a documentary about Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, together with George Stephanopoulos.

He appeared in the 1996 film ''The People vs. Larry Flynt'' as attorney Simon Leis.

He appeared in three episodes of the sitcom ''Mad About You'' playing himself, as head of a political consulting firm that hires Jamie Buchman, played by Helen Hunt.

In the films ''Old School'' and ''Wedding Crashers'', Carville makes cameo appearances as himself

He appeared as himself in Rachel Boynton's ''Our Brand Is Crisis''

Carville appears as the Governor of Missouri, Thomas Crittenden, in the 2007 movie ''The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford''.

He appeared as himself in NBC's comedy ''30 Rock'', season 2 episode 8 'Secrets and Lies'

Appeared in cartoon form in the ''Family Guy'' episode "Running Mates."

Starred in Steven Soderbergh's HBO series ''K Street'' along with his wife.

Carville is a regular guest on ''The Tony Kornheiser Show'' where he picks both NFL and college football games against the ''USA Today'' spreads.

He will make a cameo appearence in ''The Muppets.

See also

K Street (TV series)

Ray Nagin

References

Further reading

Clinton, Bill (2004). ''My Life''. Vintage. ISBN 1-4000-3003-X.

External links

The Office of James Carville

CNN Biography

Category:1944 births Category:American campaign managers Category:American political consultants Category:American political pundits Category:American political writers Category:American schoolteachers Category:Cajun people Category:Clinton Administration personnel Category:Living people Category:Louisiana Democrats Category:Louisiana lawyers Category:Louisiana State University alumni Category:Louisiana State University Law Center alumni Category:People from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:Tulane University faculty Category:United States Marines Category:United States presidential advisors

de:James Carville fr:James Carville no:James Carville simple:James Carville sh:James Carville

Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
name	Bill Maher
birth name	William Maher, Jr.
birth date	January 20, 1956
birth place	New York City, New York, U.S.
alma mater	Cornell University
medium	Stand-Up, Television, Film, Books
nationality	American
active	1979–present
genre	Satire, Political satire, News Satire, Observational comedy
subject	American politics, current events, American culture, pop culture, freedom of speech, environmentalism, religion, human sexuality, recreational drug use, libertarianism, American liberalism, American conservatism
influences	Steve Allen, George Carlin, Johnny Carson, David Frost, Robert Klein, Don Rickles, Gore Vidal, Lenny Bruce
notable work	Elliot on Charlie HooverHost of Politically Incorrect Host of Real Time with Bill Maher
website	www.BillMaher.com
footnotes	}}

William "Bill" Maher, Jr. (; born January 20, 1956) is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's ''Real Time with Bill Maher'', Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called ''Politically Incorrect'' originally on Comedy Central and later on ABC.

Maher is known for his political satire and sociopolitical commentary, which targets a wide swath of topics: religion, politics, bureaucracies of many kinds, political correctness, the mass media, greed among people and persons in positions of high political and social power, the lack of intellectual curiosity of the electorate, among many topics. He supports the legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage, and serves on the board of PETA. He is also a critic of religion and is an advisory board member of Project Reason, a foundation to promote scientific knowledge and secular values within society. Maher currently ranks number 38 on Comedy Central's 100 greatest stand-ups of all time. Bill Maher got a Hollywood Walk of Fame star on September 14, 2010. His is the 2,417th star dedicated on the famous sidewalk.

Early life and education

Maher was born in New York City, the son of Julie (née Berman), a nurse, and William Maher, Sr., a network news editor and radio announcer. He was raised in his Irish American father's Catholic religion, remaining unaware that his mother was Jewish until his early teenage years. Maher's family stopped attending church services when Maher was thirteen, due to his father's disagreement with the Catholic Church's position on birth control.

Maher was raised in River Vale, New Jersey, and graduated from Pascack Hills High School in Montvale in 1974. He received a B.A. in English and history from Cornell University in 1978.

Early career

Since beginning his career as a stand-up comedian and actor, he occasionally acts and tours. He was host of the New York City comedy club Catch a Rising Star in 1979. Thanks to Steve Allen, he began appearing on Johnny Carson's and David Letterman's shows in 1982. He made limited television appearances, including two separate appearances on ''Murder, She Wrote''. He has also appeared in several films, usually in a comic role. His feature film debut was in ''D.C. Cab'' (1983), and he also appeared in ''Ratboy'' (1986), ''Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death'' (1988), and ''Pizza Man'' (1991), among others.

Television career

''Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher''

Maher assumed the host role ''Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher'', a late-night political talk show that ran on Comedy Central from 1993–1997 and on ABC from 1997–2002. The show regularly began with a topical monologue by Maher preceding the introduction of four guests, usually a diverse group of individuals from show business, popular culture, political pundits, political consultants, authors, and occasionally news figures. The group would discuss topical issues selected by Maher, who also participated in the discussions. Jerry Seinfeld, a regular guest on the show, stated that ''Politically Incorrect'' reminded him of talk shows from the 1950s and 60s "when guests interacted with each other as much as with the host."

''Politically Incorrect'' won an array of awards, including an Emmy Award for Outstanding Technical Direction, two CableACE awards for Best Talk Show Series, and a Genesis Award for Best Television Talk Show. Maher earned numerous award nominations for his producing, writing and hosting of ''Politically Incorrect'', including ten Emmy nominations, two TV Guide nominations, and two Writers Guild nominations. ABC decided against renewing Maher's contract for ''Politically Incorrect'' in 2002, after he made a controversial on-air remark shortly after the September 11 attacks. He agreed with his guest, conservative pundit Dinesh D'Souza, that the 9/11 terrorists did not act in a cowardly manner (in rebuttal to President Bush's statement calling 9/11 hijackers cowards). Maher said, "We have been the cowards. Lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away. That's cowardly. Staying in the airplane when it hits the building. Say what you want about it. Not cowardly. You're right." Maher later clarified that his comment was not anti-military in any way whatsoever, referencing his well-documented longstanding support for the American military.

In the context of the attacks, some corporate advertisers found the comment too insensitive and controversial. Several companies, including FedEx and Sears Roebuck, pulled their advertisements from the show, costing the show more than it returned.

The show was cancelled on June 16, 2002, and the Sinclair Broadcast Group had dropped the show from its ABC-affiliated stations months prior. On June 22, 2002, just six days after the cancellation of ''Politically Incorrect'', Maher received the Los Angeles Press Club president's award (for "championing free speech"). Maher was on the board of judges one year for the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award.

Maher's remarks after 9/11 were not the first time he had sparked controversy on ''Politically Incorrect''. In the same year, Maher was widely criticized for comparing dogs to retarded children. He apologized for his comments.

''Real Time with Bill Maher''

In 2003, Maher became the host, co-producer and co-writer of ''Real Time with Bill Maher'', a weekly hour-long political comedy talk show on the cable television network HBO. During an interview, Maher told Terry Gross (on NPR's ''Fresh Air'') that he much prefers having serious and well-informed guests on his program, as opposed to the random celebrities that fleshed out his roundtable discussions on ''Politically Incorrect''.

As with his previous show, ''Politically Incorrect'', Maher begins ''Real Time'' with a comic opening monologue based upon current events and other topical issues. He proceeds to a one-on-one interview with a guest, either in-studio or via satellite. Following the interview, Maher sits with three panelists, usually consisting of pundits, authors, activists and journalists, for a discussion of the week's events. In the segment "New Rules" at the end of each show, Maher delivers a humorous editorial on popular culture and American politics.

In late May 2005, Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus sent a letter to Time Warner's board of directors requesting ''Real Time'' be cancelled after remarks Maher made after noting the military had missed its recruiting goals by 42 percent. Bachus said he felt the comments were demeaning to the military and treasonous. Maher stated his highest regard and support for the troops and asked why the congressman criticized him instead of doing something about the recruitment problem.

''Real Time'' has earned widespread praise. It has been nominated for more than ten Primetime Emmy Awards and six Writer's Guild awards. In 2007, Maher and his co-producers were awarded the Television Producer of the Year Award in Variety Television.

In early 2006, ''Real Time'' was released as an audio CD, along with another CD entitled ''Bill Maher's New Rules'' which features clips, segments and teasers from Real Time. Starting with Episode 67 (2-23-06), ''Real Time'' became available in the USA on iTunes as a free weekly audio podcast.

Maher holds the record for the most Emmy nominations without a win, having been nominated on 22 occasions and not winning once. Eleven of the nominations were for ''Politically Incorrect'', while nine were for ''Real Time.'' The other two were nominations for two of his HBO comedy specials: ''Bill Maher: I'm Swiss'' and ''Bill Maher: The Decider.''

HBO announced in July 2011 the show was renewed for a tenth season.

Christine O'Donnell

On September 17, 2010, Maher aired a clip of Delaware Republican Senatorial candidate Christine O'Donnell from the October 29, 1999 episode of his old show ''Politically Incorrect'' on his current show ''Real Time with Bill Maher'', where she discussed that she had "dabbled in witchcraft." This was one of the most notable of numerous controversial statements by O'Donnell that made her the most covered candidate in the 2010 mid-term election cycle.

Political commentator

Maher is a frequent commentator on various cable news networks, namely CNN, MSNBC, and HLN. Maher regularly appears on CNN's ''The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer'' and is also a frequent guest on MSNBC's ''Hardball with Chris Matthews'', ''The Rachel Maddow Show'' and ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann''. Maher has also appeared as a guest on HLN's ''The Joy Behar Show''.

Maher hosted the January 13, 2006 edition of ''Larry King Live'', on which he is a frequent guest. Maher appeared as a special guest on the June 29, 2010 edition of the show, on which CNN anchor Larry King announced his retirement. Maher co-emceed the final show of ''Larry King Live'' on December 16, 2010 with Ryan Seacrest.

Since May 2005, he has been a contributing blogger at ''The Huffington Post''.

Views and beliefs

Politics

Maher eschews political labels, referring to himself as "practical". In the past, he has described himself as a libertarian and has also referred to himself "as a progressive, as a sane person".

Maher favors a partial privatization of Social Security, ending corporate welfare and federal funding of non-profits, and legalization of gambling, prostitution, and marijuana. Maher is a member of NORML's Advisory Board, an organization which supports regulated legalization of marijuana. He describes himself as an environmentalist, and he has spoken in favor of the Kyoto treaty on global warming on his show ''Real Time''. Moreover, he often criticizes industry figures involved in environmental pollution.

Maher is a board member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. He has expressed his distaste for the pharmaceutical and health care industries in general, on the grounds that they make their money out of curing people who are made sick by consuming unhealthy food that corporations urge upon the public. He maintains that mass consumption of high-fructose corn syrup is a contributor to the rise in frequency of obesity in the United States.

Before the 2004 U.S. presidential election, Maher became candid in his stated opposition to the re-election of George W. Bush and in his support for John Kerry.

Known for protesting against the demonization of the word "liberal", during the campaign Maher criticized Kerry for being ashamed of the word. On his show, the comedian has noted the paradox of people claiming they distrusted "elite" politicians while at the same time wanting elite doctors to treat them and elite lawyers to represent them in court. Maher supports the death penalty, the legality of abortion and euthanasia. Since the 9/11 attacks, he has endorsed the use of racial profiling at airports.

He was originally against the Iraq War, and has summarized his opinion by saying that the United States and the world have had to pay too high a price for the war. He is skeptical of Iraq surviving without civil war.

In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Maher announced his support for Barack Obama. Although Maher welcomed Obama's electoral victory, he has subjected him to criticism once in office for not acting boldly on health care reform and other progressive issues.

Religion

Maher is highly critical of religion, and views it as not worth the bother. He has referred to himself as an apatheist, instead of an agnostic or atheist, on ''Scarborough Country'' on April 24, 2007, and again in July of 2011. He has reiterated this stance in subsequent interviews, rejecting both the certitude of the existence, as well as the certitude of nonexistence of deities, concluding, "I'm saying that doubt is the only appropriate response for human beings." He is an advisory board member of author Sam Harris's The Reason Project, a foundation that promotes scientific knowledge and secular values within society.

Maher and director Larry Charles teamed up to make the feature film ''Religulous'' (2008), described by trade publication ''Variety'' as a documentary "that spoofs religious extremism across the world." It was released on October 3, 2008.

Maher has been an outspoken critic of religion in general, including Islam. On October 29, 2010, during a Real Time segment, Maher commented on a news story saying that the name Mohammed had become the most popular baby name in the United Kingdom. He asked, "Am I a racist to feel alarmed by that? Because I am. And it’s not because of the race, it’s because of the religion. I don’t have to apologize, do I, for not wanting the Western world to be taken over by Islam in 300 years? Sharia law is being institutionalized in England? Well, then I am right, I should be alarmed." He later defended his comments on CNN, saying, "And when I say Westerner, I mean someone who believes in the values that Western people believe in that a lot of the Muslim world does not. Like separation of church and state. Like equality of the sexes. Like respect for minorities, free elections, free speech, freedom to gather. These things are not just different from cultures that don’t have them. … It’s better. … I would like to keep those values here."

Maher received the Richard Dawkins Award for 2009 from Atheist Alliance International "for his efforts to further the values science and reason in the world."

Health care

Maher has stated that the AMA is a powerful lobbying group and one of the primary reasons why the United States had failed to enact health care reform.

On August 24, 2009, Maher was a guest on ''The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' and on the topic of getting universal health care legislation passed, Maher stated that Obama should forget about trying to get 60 votes for it, "he only needs 51." "Forget getting the sixty votes or sixty percent — sixty percent of people don't believe in evolution in this country — he just needs to drag them to it, like I said, they're stupid; get health care done, with or without them."

Maher has expressed the view that most illness is generally the result of poor diet and that medicine is often not the best way of addressing illness. In an episode of the show about the 2008 presidential candidates' health plans, Maher stated that poor nutrition is the primary cause of illness, and that "the answer isn't another pill."

In a discussion with Michael Moore about the film ''Sicko'', Maher asks, "The human body is pretty amazing; it doesn't get sick, usually, for no reason. I mean, there's some genetic stuff that can get to you, but, basically, people are sick in this country because they're poisoned. The environment is a poisoning factor, but also, we gotta say, they poison themselves. They eat shit. People eat shit, and that's, to my way of thinking, about 90 percent of why people are sick, is because they eat shit. Would you agree?"

On October 9, 2009, on his HBO show, Maher debated the effectiveness of flu vaccinations with Bill Frist and stated, "Why would you let them be the ones to stick a disease into your arm? I would never get a swine flu vaccine or any vaccine. I don’t trust the government, especially with my health." Maher also expressed skepticism about the seriousness of the swine flu and whether completely healthy people could die from it. His comments have generated criticism, and his remarks have been called unscientific and even harmful.

Maher responded to the criticism, noting, "What I've read about what they think I'm saying is not what I've said. I'm not a germ theory denier. I believe vaccinations can work. Polio is a good example. Do I think in certain situations that inoculating Third World children against malaria or diphtheria, or whatever, is right? Of course. In a situation like that, the benefits outweigh costs. But to me living in Los Angeles? To get a flu shot? No." (see Vaccine controversy)

Criticism of 9/11 conspiracy theories

Maher has been a critic of 9/11 conspiracy theories. On October 19, 2007, Maher confronted several 9/11 truthers and had them ejected from his show audience after they interrupted the live show numerous times by calling out from the audience. The incident drew significant media attention and praise from Fox News talk show host and frequent critic John Gibson.

Personal life

Maher has never married. In 2003, he began dating former Playboy Cyber Girl Coco Johnsen. In November 2004, at the end of their 17-month relationship, she sued him for USD $9 million for "pain and suffering" for alleged "insulting, humiliating and degrading racial comments." Her suit stated that Maher promised to marry her and father her children, support her financially, and purchase a Beverly Hills home. Her suit also alleged that she quit her job as a flight attendant and occasional model to be with him. Maher's lawyers in their response filed on November 23, 2004, in Los Angeles Superior Court said Maher is a "confirmed bachelor, and a very public one at that" who "never promised to marry [Johnsen] or to have children with her."

Maher's filing stated that "When the dating ended, [Johnson] (sic) launched a campaign to embarrass, humiliate, and extort ridiculous sums of money from Bill Maher." Johnsen accused another former boyfriend of rape and kidnapping in 1997, and the charges were later dismissed for lack of evidence. Her lawsuit against Maher was dismissed on May 2, 2005.

Maher enjoys his bachelor status and states that he does not want to get married. On his website, he is quoted as saying, "I'm the last of my guy friends to have never gotten married, and their wives — they don't want them playing with me. I'm like the escaped slave — I bring news of freedom."

In 2005, he began dating Karrine Steffans, best-selling author and former hip hop model. When commentators suggested there was a pattern to his dating because both his girlfriend and former girlfriend were black, Maher said, "People say I'm into black women. Robert De Niro is into black women. I'm just into women who are real, and they happen to be black."

Maher has been associated with the Playboy Mansion and, when asked what he liked about it, responded, "The food is out of this world! I get the Playboy thing a lot. People assume I go out with bimbos. I couldn't go out with bimbos if I tried! I scare them off! The women that like me are smart. So I go to the Playboy Mansion four or five times a year, but people think I go all the time."

Maher lives in Beverly Hills, California.

Credits

Bibliography

''True Story : A Novel'', 1994 (ISBN 0-7432-4251-3)

''Does Anybody Have a Problem With That? Politically Incorrect's Greatest Hits'', 1996 (ISBN 0-679-45627-9)

''Does Anybody Have a Problem with That? The Best of Politically Incorrect'', 1997 (ISBN 0-345-41281-8)

''When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden: What the Government Should Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism'', 2003 (ISBN 1-893224-90-2)

''Keep the Statue of Liberty Closed: The New Rules'', 2004 (ISBN 1-932407-47-2)

''New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer'', 2005 (ISBN 1-59486-295-8)

Filmography

Film
! Year	! Title	! Role
1983	''D.C. Cab''	Bob
	''Rags to Riches''	Freddie
''Club Med''	Rick
''Ratboy''	Party Guest
1987	''House II: The Second Story''	John
1988	''Out of Time''	Maxwell Taylor
1989	''Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death''	Jim
1991	''Pizza Man''	Elmo Bunn
1996	''Don't Quit Your Day Job!''	Comic's Table
1997	''Bimbo Movie Bash''	Unknown
1998	''EDtv''	Himself
2001	''Tomcats''	Carlos
2005		Himself
		Himself
''Religulous''	Himself
2009	''New Rules: Best of''	Himself
2010	''Sex, Drugs & Religion (2010)''	Himself
HBO Specials
! Year	! Title	! Role
1989	''One Night Stand''	Himself
1992	''One Night Stand''	Himself
1995	''Stuff that Struck Me Funny''	Himself
1997	''The Golden Goose Special''	Himself
2000		Himself
2003	''Victory Begins at Home''	Himself
2005	''I'm Swiss''	Himself
2007		Himself
2010		Himself
Television
! Year	! Title	! Role
1985		Marty Lang
		Unknown
	Haskel
1989–90	''Murder, She Wrote''	(2 episodes)
1990	''The Midnight Hour''	Host
1991	''Charlie Hoover''	Elliot
1992	''Say What?''	Host
	''Married... with Children''	Adam Gold
''Roseanne''	Photographer
1997	''Dharma & Greg''	Himself
1993–2002	''Politically Incorrect''	Host
2002	''Just for Laughs''	Himself
2003–present	''Real Time with Bill Maher''	Host
2008	''True Blood''	Himself
2010		Himself
2010	''Family Guy''	Himself

References

External links

in 2004 in 2007

HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" site

2006 Maher Interview with ''The A.V. Club''

2009 Maher Interview with writers at the ''Religulous'' DVD release

Category:1956 births Category:Writers from New York Category:Actors from New Jersey Category:Writers from New Jersey Category:American agnostics Category:American cannabis activists Category:American film actors Category:American libertarians Category:American satirists Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television actors Category:American television talk show hosts Category:Cornell University alumni Category:American comedians of Irish descent Category:American writers of Irish descent Category:Living people Category:People from Bergen County, New Jersey Category:People from Beverly Hills, California Category:People from New York City Category:Religious skeptics Category:Former Roman Catholics Category:Actors from New York City Category:Drug policy reform activists Category:Animal rights advocates

ar:بيل مار bg:Бил Мар ca:Bill Maher cs:Bill Maher cy:Bill Maher da:Bill Maher de:Bill Maher et:Bill Maher es:Bill Maher fa:بیل مار fr:Bill Maher id:Bill Maher it:Bill Maher he:ביל מאהר nl:Bill Maher ja:ビル・マー no:Bill Maher pl:Bill Maher pt:Bill Maher ro:Bill Maher ru:Мар, Билл simple:Bill Maher fi:Bill Maher sv:Bill Maher ta:பில் மேகர் uk:Білл Мар zh:標·馬艾

Coordinates	40°26′30″N80°00′00″N
name	Eric Idle
birth date	March 29, 1943
birth place	South Shields, County Durham, England
occupation	Actor, author, comedian, composer, musician, singer, writer
years active	1969–present
spouse	Lyn Ashley (1969–1975) Tania Kosevich (m.1981)
children	Carey Idle (b.1973) Lily Idle (b.1990)
notable works	Monty Python
website	http://pythonline.com/
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano }}

Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer who wrote and performed as a member of the popular British comedy group Monty Python. After Python ceased to exist, Idle has remained in the entertainment business, with notable success The Rutles on ''Saturday Night Live'' and the written the play ''Spamalot''.

Early life and education

Idle was born in South Shields, County Durham (now Tyne and Wear) in Harton Village, the son of Nora Barron (née Sanderson), a health visitor, and Ernest Idle. His father served in the Royal Air Force and survived World War II, only to be killed in a hitch-hiking accident on Christmas Eve 1945. His mother had difficulty coping with a full-time job and raising a child, so when Eric was seven, she enrolled him into the Royal Wolverhampton School as a boarder. The school began as a Victorian orphanage, and during Idle's time it was a charitable foundation dedicated to the welfare of children who had lost one or both parents. Its pupils, mainly the children of dead English soldiers, still referred to it as the 'Ophney'. Idle is quoted as saying: "It was a physically abusive, bullying, harsh environment for a kid to grow up in. I got used to dealing with groups of boys and getting on with life in unpleasant circumstances and being smart and funny and subversive at the expense of authority. Perfect training for Python."

Idle stated that the two things that made his life bearable were listening to Radio Luxembourg under the bedclothes and watching the local football team, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite this, he disliked other sports and would sneak out of school every Thursday afternoon to the local cinema. He was eventually caught watching the X-rated film ''BUtterfield 8'' and stripped of his prefecture, even though by that time he was head boy. Idle had already refused to be senior boy in the school cadet force, as he supported the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and had participated in the yearly Aldermaston March. Idle maintains that there was little to do at the school and boredom drove him to study hard. He consequently won a place at Cambridge University.

Career

Pre-Python career (1965–1969)

Idle attended Pembroke College at Cambridge, where he studied English. At Pembroke, he was invited to join the prestigious Cambridge University Footlights Club by the President of the Footlights Club, Tim Brooke-Taylor, and Footlights Club member Bill Oddie.

When Idle joined the Footlights Club, his future Python fellows Graham Chapman and John Cleese, also attended Cambridge. He became Footlights President in 1965 and was the first to allow women to join the club. Idle starred in the children's television comedy series ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' opposite his future ''Python'' fellows Terry Jones and Michael Palin (who were both former Oxford University students). Terry Gilliam provided animations for the show. Other members of the cast were comic actors David Jason and Denise Coffey.

Monty Python (1969–1983)

Idle wrote for ''Monty Python'' mostly by himself, at his own pace, although he sometimes found it difficult in having to present material to the others and make it seem funny without the back-up support of a partner. John Cleese, another member of The Python Group, admitted that this was slightly unfair – when the team voted on which sketches should appear in a show, “he only got one vote” – but says that Idle was an independent person and worked best on his own. Idle himself admitted this was sometimes difficult: “You had to convince five others. And they were not the most un-egotistical of writers, either."

Idle's work in Python is often characterised by an obsession with language and communication: many of his characters have verbal peculiarities, such as the man who speaks in anagrams, the man who says words in the wrong order, and the butcher who alternates between rudeness and politeness every time he speaks. A number of his sketches involve extended monologues (for example the customer in the "Travel Agency" sketch who won't stop talking about his unpleasant experiences with holidays), and he would frequently spoof the unnatural language and speech patterns of television presenters. Additionally, like Palin, Idle is said to be the master of insincere characters, from the David Frost-esque Timmy Williams, to small-time crook Stig O'Tracy, who tries to deny the fact that organized crime master Dinsdale Piranha nailed his head to the floor.

One of the younger members of the team – a year behind Cleese and Chapman at Cambridge – Idle was closest in spirit to the students and teenagers who made up much of Python's fanbase. Python sketches dealing most with contemporary obsessions like pop music, sexual permissiveness and recreational drugs are Idle's work, often characterized by double entendre, sexual references, and other "naughty" subject matter – most famously demonstrated in "Nudge Nudge." Eric Idle originally wrote "Nudge, Nudge" for Ronnie Barker, but it was rejected because there was 'no joke in the words'.

A competent guitarist, Idle composed many of the group's most famous musical numbers, most notably "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", the closing number of ''Life of Brian'', which has grown to become a Python signature tune. He was responsible for the "Galaxy Song" from ''The Meaning of Life'' and (with Cleese) "Eric the Half-a-Bee", a whimsical tune that first appeared on the ''Monty Python's Previous Record'' album.

Post-''Python'' career (1983–present)

After ''Python'' ceased to exist as a regularly active ensemble in the early 1980s, all six members pursued solo projects. Idle's first solo work was his own BBC Radio One show, ''Radio Five'' (pre-dating the real Radio Five station by 18 years). This ran for two seasons from 1973 to 1974 and involved Idle performing sketches and links to records, with himself playing nearly all the multi-tracked parts.

On television, Idle created ''Rutland Weekend Television'' (RWT), a sketch show on BBC2, written by himself, with music by Neil Innes. RWT was 'Britain's smallest television network'. The name was a parody of London Weekend Television, the independent television franchise that provided Londoners with their ITV services at weekends; Rutland had been England's smallest county, but had recently been 'abolished' in an administrative shake-up. To make the joke complete, the programme went out on a weekday. Other regular performers were David Battley, Henry Woolf, Gwen Taylor and Terence Bayler, and George Harrison made a guest appearance on one episode.

A legacy of RWT was the creation, with Innes, of The Rutles, an affectionate parody of The Beatles. The band became a popular phenomenon, especially in the U.S. where Idle was appearing on ''Saturday Night Live'' – fans would send in Beatles LPs with their sleeves altered to show the Rutles. In 1978, the Rutles' mockumentary film ''All You Need Is Cash'', a collaboration between Python members and ''Saturday Night Live'', was aired on NBC television, as written by Idle, with music by Innes. Idle appeared in the film as "Dirk McQuickly" (the Paul McCartney-styled character of the group), as well as the main commentator. Actors appearing in the film included ''Saturday Night Live'''s John Belushi, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner, as well as George Harrison and Mick Jagger. Idle wrote and directed The Rutles comeback in 2008 for a live show Rutlemania! to celebrate the 30th anniversary. The performances took place in Los Angeles and New York with a Beatles tribute band.

In 1986, Idle provided the voice of Wreck-Gar, the leader of the Junkions (a race of robots built out of junk that can only speak in movie catchphrases and advertising slogans) in ''The Transformers: The Movie''. In 1987, he took part in the English National Opera production of the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera ''The Mikado'', in which he appeared in the role of the Lord High Executioner. In 1989, he appeared in the U.S. comedy television series ''Nearly Departed'', about a ghost who haunts the family inhabiting his former home. The series lasted for six episodes as a summer replacement series.

Idle received good critical notices appearing in projects written and directed by others – such as Terry Gilliam's ''The Adventures of Baron Munchausen'' (1989), alongside Robbie Coltrane in ''Nuns on the Run'' (1990) and in ''Casper'' (1995). He also played Ratty in Terry Jones' version of ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1996). However, his own creative projects – such as the movie ''Splitting Heirs'' (1993), a comedy he wrote, starred in and executive-produced – were mostly unsuccessful with critics and audiences.

In 1994, he appeared as Dr. Nigel Channing, chairman of the Imagination Institute and host of an 'Inventor of the Year' awards show in the three-dimensional film ''Honey, I Shrunk the Audience!'', which was an attraction at Walt Disney World's Epcot from 1994 until 2010 and at Disneyland from 1998 until 2010. The film also stars Rick Moranis and other members of the cast of the 1989 feature film ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids''. In 1999, he reprised the role in the second (and controversial) version of the Journey Into Imagination ride at Epcot, replacing Figment and Dreamfinder as the host. Due to an outcry from Disney fans, Figment was reinstated into the ride. Idle is also writer and star of the 3-D film film ''Pirates – 4D'' for Busch Entertainment Corporation.

In 1995, he voiced Rincewind the "Wizzard" in a computer adventure game based on Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' novels. In 1996, he reprised his role as Rincewind for the game's sequel, and composed and sang its theme song, "That's Death". In 1998, Idle appeared in the lead role in the poorly received film ''Burn Hollywood Burn'' (see ''Criticism''). That same year, he also provided the voice of Devon, a dragon, in Warner Bros. Animated film ''Quest for Camelot'' and as Slyly the albino arctic fox in ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie''.

In recent years, Idle has worked with people who regard him as a huge inspiration, such as Trey Parker and Matt Stone in ''South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut'', in which he voiced Dr. Vosknocker. He has also made three appearances on ''The Simpsons'' as famous documentarian Declan Desmond, so far the only appearance on the show by a Python. From 1999 to 2000, he played Ian Maxtone-Graham on the NBC sitcom ''Suddenly Susan''. He has also acted as Narrator to the AudioNovel version of ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' by Roald Dahl and Waddlesworth the parrot in ''102 Dalmatians'' and the video game of the same name.

In late 2003, Idle began a performing tour of several American and Canadian cities entitled ''The Greedy Bastard Tour''. The stage performances consisted largely of music from Monty Python episodes and movies, along with some original post-Python material. In 2005, Idle released ''The Greedy Bastard Diary'', a book detailing the things the cast and crew encountered during the year-long tour.

In 2004, Idle created ''Spamalot,'' a musical comedy based on the 1975 film ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''. The medieval production tells the story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table as they journey on their quest for the Holy Grail. ''Spamalot'' features a book and lyrics by Eric Idle, music by Idle and John Du Prez, direction by Mike Nichols, and choreography by Casey Nicholaw.

More recently, Idle provided the voice of Merlin the magician in the DreamWorks animated film ''Shrek the Third'' (2007) with his former ''Python'' co-star John Cleese, who voiced King Harold.

Idle's play ''What About Dick?'' was given a staged reading at two public performances in Hollywood on 10–11 November 2007. The cast included Idle, Billy Connolly, Tim Curry, Eddie Izzard, Jane Leeves, Emily Mortimer, Jim Piddock and Tracey Ullman.

Other credits

Writing

Idle has written several books, both fiction and non-fiction. His novels are ''Hello Sailor'' and ''The Road to Mars''. In 1976, he produced a spin-off book to ''Rutland Weekend Television'', entitled ''The Rutland Dirty Weekend Book''. In 1982, he wrote a west end farce ''Pass The Butler'', starring Willie Rushton. During his Greedy Bastard Tour of 2003, he wrote the diaries that would be made into ''The Greedy Bastard Diary: A Comic Tour of America'', published in February 2005.

Idle also wrote the book and co-wrote the music and lyrics for the musical ''Monty Python's Spamalot'', based on the film ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''. It premiered in Chicago before moving to Broadway, where it received the Tony Award for Best Musical of the 2004–05 season. Idle won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics.

In a 2005 poll to find "The Comedian's Comedian" (UK), he was voted 21 in the top 50 greatest comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

An example of Idle's idiosyncratic writing is "Ants In Their Pants" – a poem about the sex life of ants. It starts as follows:

:'Where does an ant get its rocks off? :How does the ant get it on? :Do ants have it away, say three times a day, :Is it once a week sex, or p'raps none?'

Bibliography

''Hello Sailor'', novel, 1975  ISBN 0-297-76929-4

''The Rutland Dirty Weekend Book'', 1976  ISBN 0-413-36570-0

''Pass the Butler'', play script, 1982  ISBN 0-413-49990-1

''The Quite Remarkable Adventures of the Owl and the Pussycat'', children's book, 1996  ISBN 0-7871-1042-6

''The Road to Mars'', novel, 1998  ISBN 0-7522-2414-X (hardcover), ISBN 0-375-70312-8 (paperback)

''Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python Souvenir Program'', Green street Press (U.S.), 2000

''The Greedy Bastard Tour Souvenir Program'', Green street Press (U.S.), 2003

''The Greedy Bastard Diary: A Comic Tour of America'', journal, 2005  ISBN 0-06-075864-3

''Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)'', co-written, play/musical parody of Monty Python's Life of Brian

Songwriting

Idle is an accomplished songwriter, having composed and performed many of the Pythons' most famous comic pieces, including "Eric the Half-a-Bee", "The Philosophers' Song", "Galaxy Song", "Penis Song (Not the Noel Coward Song)" and, probably his most recognised hit, "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", which was written for the closing scene of the Monty Python film ''Life of Brian'', and sung from the crosses during the mass crucifixion. The song has since been covered by Harry Nilsson, Bruce Cockburn, Art Garfunkel and Green Day. Idle, his fellow Pythons, and assorted family and friends performed the song at Graham Chapman's funeral.

In 1990, Idle sang and co-wrote the theme tune to the popular British sitcom ''One Foot in the Grave''. The song was later released, but did poorly in the charts. However, when "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" was adopted as a football chant in the late 1980s, Idle's then neighbour Gary Lineker suggested Idle re-record and release the popular track. With help from Radio 1 breakfast show host Simon Mayo, who gave the song regular airplay and also used the chorus within a jingle, it became a hit, some 12 years after the song's original appearance in ''Life Of Brian'', reaching number 3 in the UK charts and landing Idle a set on ''Top of the Pops'' in October 1991. He recorded a special version of the song for Mayo's own use on air ("Come on Simon, get another song on now; why don't you put on a nice Cliff Richard record?") and changed the line "life's a piece of shit" to "life's a piece of spit" in order to get daytime airplay on radio.

In 2004, Idle recorded a protest song of sorts, the "FCC Song", in which he lambastes the US Federal Communications Commission for fining him $5,000 for saying the word "fuck" on national radio. Fittingly, the short song contains 14 uses of that expletive. The song can be downloaded in MP3 and OGG Vorbis format at the Internet Archive. In 2005, he received multiple Tony award nominations for his songwriting work on the Broadway musical ''Spamalot''.

He wrote, produced and performed the song "Really Nice Day" for the movie ''The Wild''.

In 2004, the musical comedy ''Spamalot'' debuted in Chicago and opened in New York's Shubert Theatre on February 14, 2005. Idle wrote the lyrics and book for ''Spamalot'', collaborating with John Du Prez on much of the music. The original 2005 Broadway theatre production was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won three: Best Musical, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (Sara Ramirez), and Best Direction of a Musical (Mike Nichols).

In June 2007, "Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy)", a comic oratorio by Idle and John Du Prez premiered at the inaugural Luminato arts festival in Toronto. Idle himself performed during this 50-minute oratorio, along with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and members of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. The composer, John Du Prez, was also present. Shannon Mercer, Jean Stilwell, Christopher Sieber, and Theodore Baerg sang the principal parts. The American premiere was at Caramoor (Westchester County, New York) on 1 July 2007. Soloists were the same as in the Toronto performance, but the accompanying chorus was made up of members of New York City's Collegiate Chorale. The show was revised and expanded for a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 2007, including two sell-out nights at the Sydney Opera House. A tour during the summer of 2008 included performances with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C., the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Virginia, and Houston.

Idle has recently contributed a cover of Buddy Holly's "Raining In My Heart" for the upcoming tribute album, Listen to Me: Buddy Holly to be released on September 6th, 2011.

Tributes

An asteroid, 9620 Ericidle, is named in his honour. Idle was voted the 21st favourite comedian out of 50 in The Comedian's Comedian 2005 poll by comedians and comedy insiders.

Family

Eric Idle married Lyn Ashley, an Australian, in 1969. Ashley occasionally appeared in small roles on ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'', where she was credited as "Mrs Idle". They divorced in 1975. They have one son, Carey, born in 1973.

Idle married his current wife, Tania Kosevich, an American, in 1981. They have one daughter, Lily, born in 1990. Idle has resided in Los Angeles since the early 1990s.

Criticism

In recent years Idle has been criticised for commercialising the legacy of Monty Python. In ''Slate'', Sam Anderson wrote in the article "And Now For Something Completely Deficient" that though Idle "has earned a spot in Comedy Heaven for his Python days...his jokey 'exposure' of his own exploitation (he has called tours 'Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python' and 'The Greedy Bastard Tour') is more irritating than funny." Of ''Spamalot'', Anderson opined that "Python was formed in reaction to exactly the kind of lazy comedy represented by ''Spamalot'' – what Michael Palin once described as the 'easy, catch-phrase reaction' the members had all been forced to pander to in their previous writing jobs".

''Spamalot'' had mixed reactions from other Python members. Cleese lent his support by voicing God in a recorded performance that was integrated into the musical. Palin observed: "It's a great show. It's not ‘Python’ as we would have written it. But then, none of us would get together and write a ‘Python’ stage show." Terry Gilliam had a mixed reaction to the show, calling it "Python-like". Terry Jones described it as "utterly pointless and full of air".

In 1998, Idle appeared in the lead role in the film ''Burn Hollywood Burn''. The film was nominated as 'Worst Picture of the Decade' in the Golden Raspberry Awards (known as the Razzies) – and was awarded five Razzies including 'Worst Picture of the Year'.

In 2000 ''The AV Club'' gave the album ''Eric Idle Sings Monty Python: Live In Concert'' the title of 'Least Essential Solo Album' of the year.

There has also been criticism of Idle from the other Rutles, who reunited for the ''Archaeology'' album in the mid-1990s without him. On the Channel 4 programme ''What The Pythons Did Next'', Rutles drummer John Halsey (aka "Barry Wom") said that he had to switch off Idle's ''The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch'' after ten minutes. Neil Innes was more diplomatic on the same show, saying "we used to think he had delusions of grandeur, now we know it's only grandeur".

Filmography

! Year	! Film
1972	''And Now for Something Completely Different''
1975	''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''
	''All You Need Is Cash''
''The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch''
1979	''Monty Python's The Life of Brian''
	''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life''
''Yellowbeard''
1985	''National Lampoon's European Vacation''
1986	''The Transformers: The Movie''
1988	''The Adventures of Baron Munchausen''
1990	''Nuns on the Run''
1992	''Mom and Dad Save the World''
1993	''Splitting Heirs''
1995
1996
1997
	''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie''
''Quest for Camelot''
''South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut''
2000	''102 Dalmatians''
''The Scream Team''
''National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure''
2004
2005
2006	''Who is Harry Nilsson? (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him)''
2007	''Shrek the Third''
2008

References

External links

PythOnline

Eric Idle singing his "FCC Song" in MP3 format from Archive.org

Eric Idle – BBC Guide to Comedy

Eric Idle – Comedy Zone

''My Girl Herbert'' – the 1965 Cambridge Footlights Club revue during the time when Eric Idle was President of the Footlights, as well as being a member of the revue cast)

Category:1943 births Category:Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Category:English comedians Category:English comedy writers Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:English film actors Category:English television actors Category:English television writers Category:English voice actors Category:Gilbert and Sullivan performers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Monty Python members Category:Living people Category:People from South Shields Category:People from Wolverhampton Category:Old Royals Category:The Rutles members

bg:Ерик Айдъл ca:Eric Idle cs:Eric Idle cy:Eric Idle da:Eric Idle de:Eric Idle es:Eric Idle eu:Eric Idle fr:Eric Idle ga:Eric Idle gl:Eric Idle hr:Eric Idle id:Eric Idle it:Eric Idle he:אריק איידל lv:Ēriks Aidls hu:Eric Idle mk:Ерик Ајдл nl:Eric Idle ja:エリック・アイドル no:Eric Idle pl:Eric Idle pt:Eric Idle ro:Eric Idle ru:Айдл, Эрик simple:Eric Idle sr:Ерик Ајдл sh:Eric Idle fi:Eric Idle sv:Eric Idle

Mark Bittman (c.1950- ) is an American food journalist and author. Bittman wrote a weekly column for ''The New York Times'' dining section called ''The Minimalist''. His final ''Minimalist'' column was published on January 26, 2011. Bittman continued writing as a columnist for the New York Times Magazine and had a column in the paper's Opinion section; he also blogged.

Career

Bittman is a graduate of Clark University. He has written at least ten books on food and cooking, three of which won IACP/Julia Child awards, James Beard awards, or both. Three books are related to his newspaper column:

''The Minimalist Cooks at Home''

''The Minimalist Cooks Dinner''

''The Minimalist Entertains'' (Selected recipes from these are in the collection "Mark Bittman's Simple and Easy Recipes from The New York Times".)

Bittman also wrote two books with Jean-Georges Vongerichten: ''Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef'', which received the James Beard Award. In 2000 they published the ''Simple to Spectacular''.

Bittman's book ''How to Cook Everything'' first published in 1998, was published in a revised second edition in 2008. An iOS app version was published in 2010. ''How to Cook Everything Vegetarian'' was published in 2007.

In 2009 Bittman published Food matters (Book) discussing the topics of environmental challenges, lifestyle diseases, and the overproduction and over consumption of meat, simple carbohydrates, and junk food.

The publication of ''Food Matters'' followed a pair of articles on food production issues for ''The New York Times Week in Review'', called “Rethinking the Meat Guzzler” and “The Future of Fish”.

In 2010, Bittman followed up ''Food Matters'' with ''The Food Matters Cookbook'', expanding (in "500 Revolutionary Recipes") upon the kinds of foods and issues discussed in the previous book.

Other books include ''Fish - The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking'' (1999), ''The Best Recipes in the World'' (2005), ''Leafy Greens'' (1995), ''Bittman Takes On America's Chefs'' (2005, a companion volume to the TV series), and ''Kitchen Express'' (2009).

Radio, Television and Film

Bittman is a regular on NBC's ''The Today Show'' and has appeared on NPR's ''All Things Considered'' and dozens of other shows.

Bittman is the host of the Public Television series ''Bittman Takes on America's Chefs'', which first aired in spring 2005, and later won the James Beard Award for the best cooking series. The second season, ''The Best Recipes in the World'', aired a year later.

In 2008 Bittman appeared with Gwyneth Paltrow and Mario Batali, in a PBS series called ''Spain... on the road Again''.

Bittman also created a film in 2007 entitled "What's wrong with what we eat?"

Bittman appeared as a guest judge on the Food Network competition series ''Chopped''.

Bittman performs in a video short each week on The New York Times website, in which he describes, cooks, and eats a simple dish.

Personal life

Bittman is married to ''New York Times'' graphic designer and art director Kelly Doe. They live in New York City. He has two adult daughters from his first marriage to the writer Karen Baar. Bittman is a licensed pilot and a marathon runner. Bittman's paternal grandfather was born in Romania.

References

External links

Mark Bittman Bio at his Official website

Video: Mark Bittman and Ezra Klein "Voting with your mouth" a conversation about how we can eat better and improve on planetary effects of our diets.

Mark Bittman articles at Byliner

Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:American food writers Category:American journalists Category:American people of Romanian descent Category:American television chefs Category:The New York Times writers

bg:Марк Битман fr:Mark Bittman