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Michael Palin - live webchat Tues 8 Oct at 11am

(87 Posts)
CariGransnet (GNHQ) Tue 24-Sep-13 11:50:36

We love his bestselling travel books and we love his TV travel series, including Pole to Pole, Around the World in 80 days...oh and so many more. And that's before we even get started on how much we love Monty Python. And A Fish Called Wanda. And...

Is it any wonder we are just a teeny bit excited that Michael Palin will be joining us for a live webchat?

Add a question for him and you could win a SIGNED copy of his latest book - Brazil, described by The Independent as "a fascinating portrait of a nation". With the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016, all eyes are on Brazil as never before. Michael explores this vast and disparate nation by train, floatplane and on foot and it makes a fascinating read.

Deedaa Tue 08-Oct-13 21:10:52

My mother worked in W.H.Smith in he 70's. Michael was in her queue one day and they had a long chat about silliness. Lovely man, made her day!

Greatnan Tue 08-Oct-13 17:24:27

I thought the questions were all very good.

NfkDumpling Tue 08-Oct-13 15:49:08

I just had to ask something as that's the closest I'm ever likely to get!

Greatnan Tue 08-Oct-13 13:13:09

I didn't post any questions because I hate to sound sycophantic and I like him so much! He and David Attenborough are my favourite presenters.
He comes across in these answers just the way I expected - kind, funny, self-deprecating, and charming. Long may he continue.
His remark about needing to see what is over the next hill, or round the next bend, exactly mirrors my own attitude to travel.

whenim64 Tue 08-Oct-13 12:52:59

Brilliant dubdubdub. Congratulations!

NfkDumpling Tue 08-Oct-13 12:47:21

Congratulations Dubdubdub!

CariGransnet (GNHQ) Tue 08-Oct-13 12:28:16

We put everyone's names into a giant cake tin (had to eat the cake first - shame) and the name pulled out to win the signed copy of Brazil was...

dubdubdub

Congratulations to you. Email winging its way to you shortly

sannao75 Tue 08-Oct-13 12:04:18

When's the next time you and the other Pythons will meet up?(I assume you do from time to time)

whenim64 Tue 08-Oct-13 12:04:11

Lovely, lovely man! smile

MichaelPalin Tue 08-Oct-13 12:03:16

The hour with you all has gone far too quickly - great to have your questions and to know that you're out there looking at the programmes and appreciating the work we all put in.

My latest journey was to Brazil and the book, which is basically my diaries of the journey, is out there is now in the shops. So I would be pathetically grateful if any of you, or your dog, would like to go in buy one. It's fun - as Brazil was, and what I saw and experienced in Brazil would warm up any cold winter night in the good old UK.

Thanks again and have a very happy life!

sannao75 Tue 08-Oct-13 12:01:17

Silly question but I'm curious. Can you type on the keyboard "properly" or do you do it like me, the index fingers thing? :-)

MichaelPalin Tue 08-Oct-13 12:00:30

JS06

From your recent experiences in Brazil please can you tell us something surprising which you came across which really touched you and also something which shocked you.

Love all your work.

I was very touched by the welcome we were given in a village deep in the Amazon by people who had only very recently made contact with the outside world. They laid on a wonderful dance for me on my arrival, which was not the normal tourist performance.
In the poorest part of the big cities, a lot of working people live in slum areas called favelas, and though they are making successful attempts to improve the quality of life there, there are still children eating beside open sewers, and areas still run by criminal gangs.

MichaelPalin Tue 08-Oct-13 12:00:18

Wallygrom

hi Michael
Having traveled the world for various TV series and personal enjoyment, how much of the world do you think you have personally traveled to in your life and is there somewhere you would still desperately like to go to?

There’s still, in the words of the old song, a lot of world to see. And I would very much like to see more of Latin America, Mexico and Nicaragua perhaps. Also, rarely visited islands like Madagascar are very tempting. Whatever happens, I shall keep on going, until I fall over!

MichaelPalin Tue 08-Oct-13 12:00:01

Sockmonkey79

Hello Michael, i think you're fab. I actually named my 2nd son Samuel Palin - after you (I couldn't have Michael as there's already a Michael in the family).
I'm hoping he turns out as funny and adventurous as you.

You have a reputation for being a very lovely person, what do you do not to let fame & fortune go to your head?

I hope so too, and I hope he's a better footballer! Thanks

MichaelPalin Tue 08-Oct-13 11:59:17

mazgoli

This is not so much a question as a thank you. I believe that the media generally can make the public distrust a country even a whole nation of people by its selective reporting. You always seem to actually try to understand the people amongst whom you travel, and not judge them by how 'British' they are or how they conform to the ideas and values that we hold dear on our little island.

I really appreciate your thank you, because if there's one thing I've learned from my travels, is that no one has the answer, or the perfect way to live. We can all learn something from each other. I think that I've been lucky to make direct contact with people from all over the world, and very often you get quite a different view of the way they are and how they feel than you would get from one's own London-centric view.

Sockmonkey79 Tue 08-Oct-13 11:59:12

Also... Your favourite biscuit?

Rumbledoll Tue 08-Oct-13 11:58:07

I'm sure you'll find someone on here to teach you how to dance Michael....I 'offer' myself up as your language teacher - lets start with German, and maybe a bit of Swedish and Norwegian.

Sockmonkey79 Tue 08-Oct-13 11:58:03

Is there something, other than family, you look forward to most when you get back from your travels?

MichaelPalin Tue 08-Oct-13 11:56:31

NfkDumpling

Hi, can I throw in a late question? Have you ever thought of producing Life of Brian with a Muslim slant? Could be fun! wink

No.. I think we'll leave that probably.

whenim64 Tue 08-Oct-13 11:56:16

We won't watch, Michael. Go ahead!

NfkDumpling Tue 08-Oct-13 11:55:26

Hi, can I throw in a late question? Have you ever thought of producing Life of Brian with a Muslim slant? Could be fun! wink

MichaelPalin Tue 08-Oct-13 11:54:41

whenim64

We can't let a provocative statement like 'I'd love to learn to dance' slip by unnoticed! Strictly!!!!! Why isn't Michael Palin in your sights? grin

Actually, I meant dancing when no one else is looking!

MichaelPalin Tue 08-Oct-13 11:54:07

Ian42

Hi Michael,

Have you ever thought of making a film on traveling around Britain in a unusual way? Especially as I cannot afford exotic places abroad.

I've often thought of a documentary set in my own country, but I think I'd miss the the anonymity that I have in places like the Himalayas, or the Sahara. I love being the observer rather than the observed.

But you never know. My father taught me to appreciate the countryside around me - so I might eventually inherit the gene. At least I wouldn't have to have all of the injections.

Vidubo Tue 08-Oct-13 11:53:00

Bravi! You sound very much alive. And your new project sounds an absorbing one. There's definitely still time for you to learn to dance. I stopped at 35 and began again this year, at 67. It brings music so much more alive; and my plants seem to like it, too. So does my upstairs neighbour, who's 68.

whenim64 Tue 08-Oct-13 11:52:30

We can't let a provocative statement like 'I'd love to learn to dance' slip by unnoticed! Strictly!!!!! Why isn't Michael Palin in your sights? grin