Hallo and welcome once more to the Daily Dirty Fork, the tastiest newsletter on the web! Merry Christmas to one and all, or, if you don’t celebrate Christmas, then have a merry holiday, whatever you celebrate! And happy New Year as well!As you may as well already know, SPAMALOT took off on Tuesday night, so we have a bit of news to report pertaining to it. Actually, there’s quite a bit of news having to do with SPAM this issue… As well as some new voice work Eric’s been doing, and Idleized Heaven’s own ‘The Twelve Days Of Eric Idle.’ Remember, if you have any questions or comments whatsoever, or any replies to the DDF, please email me at webmistress_diane@eric-idle.com!Finally, at long last, SPAMALOT is here! It opened last Tuesday, and will be running in Chicago and then eventually move over to New York where it will play until September. So, to keep with the upbeat of the show, we have a TON of news to ‘spam’ you with.Secondly, the official SPAMALOT website, as I just linked to above, is going to be THE place (other than Idleized Heaven, of course!) for all your SPAMALOT news, photos, links, and contests. It’s very high bandwidth, but beautifully animated with sound effects and music and flash. Check it out if you haven’t already.Thirdly, I heard through the grapevine that the press won’t be able to release anything until January 9, about three weeks away. However, to wet our palette, Kim Howard Johnson (Python friend and fan, whom I just have happened to have met) wrote a small article pertaining to the opening night:This is NOT a review--no, more like an aperitif to whet the appetite of starving Python fans. The critics won't get a look at Spamalot for nearly 3 more weeks. No, this is just a word of advice. If you have a chance to nab tickets for Spamalot in Chicago between now and Jan. 23, do not hesitate.I just got back from the very first show, and my brain is hurting from the thunderous ovations the audience delivered throughout the two-and-a-half hours. This is a genuine Broadway spectacular, folks (as Eric joked, the lawyers' fees for this show are more than the entire budget of the original film). The cast is superb. David Hyde Pierce looked as though he were having the time of his life portraying Sir Robin and a few random villagers and guards. Hank Azaria proved to be an inspired casting choice for such Cleese roles as Sir Lancelot, the French Taunter, and Tim the Enchanter. And Tim Curry's King Arthur is the glue that holds the entire company together. I won't single out the rest of the cast, which is superb from top to bottom.Eric has done the impossible--he's actually come up with the plot that the original Holy Grail never quite managed to achieve. Along the way, he fleshes out the characters from the film, creates some new ones, and turn it into a solid piece of theatre.If this was a review, I'd go on at great length with even greater enthusiasm, but it's getting late, so I'll sign off for now with these last bits of advice.Do what you have to do to get tickets to the show in Chicago.If you can't do that, come to New York, where previews start Feb. 14. Last, but not least, if you are attending one of the shows, PLEASSEEE send us a review or a story (and pictures too, if you take any!) about your experience!!!
"SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM lovely SPAM, wonderful SPAM!!!"We know the lines well to the famous SPAM song. We also know of the SPAM sketch, and the repeated SPAM jokes throughout Python history, always poking a bit of fun at this canned meat. And now, Hormel SPAM is nodding back to Python- and giving them their own SPAM flavor!Well, kind of. In honor of SPAMALOT (yet another example of spoofing), the SPAM line will soon feature "Golden Honey Grail" SPAM in a very shiny gold collector’s edition tin decorated with Holy Grail cartoons. Unfortunately, it will only be sold in New York, starting in February to co-inside with the opening previews of SPAMALOT at the Shubert Theatre. It will be sold in stores as well as at souvenir stands at the shows. But if you can, try and grab a hold of one- they are limited!
Even though we haven’t been able to see Eric in the theatres since Ella Enchanted, his line of voice work for films and cartoons has continued to grow over the past couple of months.For those of you who are Simpsons fans, Eric’s character Declan Desmond returned in the episode "Fat Man And Little Boy" which aired back on December the 12th, Declan’s first appearance being in "Scuze Me While I Miss The Sky."Back over the summer months, Eric could be heard as the spokesman of the Pepsi company’s Aquafina, encouraging people to drink water, saying that it would ‘Make your body happy." Whether or not he’ll continue doing Aquafina commercials we will have to wait and see.Also, Eric has become a character on the new Disney cartoon "Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!" as Scrapperton. Only a few episodes have aired so far, and he’s done two episodes, so he might become a regular character. If you’re interested in watching this show, it airs on Toon Disney and ABC Family (times unknown).Finally, don’t forget about Delgo! It was supposed to be released this month, but as you can see, naturally, it has not, and is now set for ‘sometime in 2005.’ 
Back in May, Eric wrote a very politically heavy song entitled "The FCC Song" which bashed people such as George Bush and Dick Cheney, and organizations such as the EPA. Then, one day after the results of the 2004 American presidential election, Eric wrote this list of things to do for those who are disappointed in the outcome of the election:Always look on the bright side of life!Here’s a little song I wrote with the intention of giving us a bit of a laugh. Tune is the same as "The Twelve Days Of Christmas" of course.
Once more, as you have seen, I changed the layout. It’s not a drastic change from 5.0, since I very much liked the new look and choice of colors, but just cleaned up a bit and with a new navigation system and banner. If you have a minute, please take a look and tell me what you think!For those of you with SPAM Club pride, the SPAM Club page now includes a small buttons and banners section where you can link to the SPAM Club from your own website. More buttons will be added soon!Speaking of buttons, the buttons pages have boosted enormously! We now lay claim to 34 Idleized Heaven buttons, 78 Eric buttons, 66 icons and avatars, and 6 holiday images! So if you need a bit of spice to your website, or livejournal, or blog, why not pick a few up?And now that you mention livejournal, why not stop on by IH’s own LJ and say hi? We’ve finally been getting some members, and that means posts as well! It’s a great place to catch up on Eric news and meet fellow fans, along with our forum, which has grown a little lonely the past couple of weeks.The entertainment section will be receiving some spicing in the next couple of weeks. The trivia page will be updated, there will be an all-new Adopt An Eric section with buttons and icons to show off your adoptee, an extensive Ericylopedia with everything Eric, and the Six Degrees Of Eric Idle for those who like to play that game. And don’t forget to play the Caption Contest!
