Wait Until The Ministry of Silly Walks Hears About This!

Minister: (rising) Mr Pudey, (he walks about behind the desk in a very silly fashion) the very real problem is one of money. I'm afraid that the Ministry of Silly Walks is no longer getting the kind of support it needs. You see there's Defense, Social Security, Health, Housing, Education, Silly Walks ... they're all supposed to get the same. But last year, the Government spent less on the Ministry of Silly Walks than it did on National Defence. Now we get £348,000,000 a year, which is supposed to be spent on all our available products. (he sits down) Coffee?

Mr Pudey: Yes please.

Minister: (pressing intercorn) Now Mrs Two-Lumps, would you bring us in two coffees please?

Intercom Voice: Yes, Mr Teabag.

Minister: ... Out of her mind. Now the Japanese have a man who can bend his leg back over his head and back again with every single step. While the Israelis... ah, here's the coffee.

Monty Python's The Ministry of Silly Walks

Now add taking a taxi to the Minister's woes.

He can lump it in with all the other troubles the Icelandic volcano ash is causing.



Being that he is already "disheartened", that fans in England think it "the 15th greatest comedy sketch of all time", John Cleese, likely, is not going to be happy with all the references to the Monty Python "Minister of Silly Walks" sketch.

Every Mode but Silly Walks to Get Around

LONDON — For the man who worked at the Ministry of Silly Walks, travel chaos across the Continent was only a modest hurdle.

John Cleese, who starred in the high-stepping sketch for Monty Python, was stranded in Oslo on Friday after appearing on a television talk show. With flights grounded by the volcanic ash over northern Europe, Mr. Cleese found another way home to London: He caught a cab.

With no planes flying and no way to get back by train or boat, Mr. Cleese’s agent in Norway, Kjetil Kristoffersen, called a friend who drives a taxi, and he agreed to take Mr. Cleese to Brussels.

[snip]

Mr. Cleese’s journey, with a fare of about $5,140, may have been costly, but it was not necessarily the most cumbersome trip travelers endured. With flights canceled and trains running out of space, many people resorted to their own ingenuity.

You can already hear the bevy of keyboards clicking, wannabe writers penning a "Made-for-Television' movie of this cab ride, or, what surely will be, scores of other off-beat tales that will settle in with the volcanic ash.

Especially, since scienctests are saying that "Iceland volcano eruption could last months", as well as other, bigger problems;

However, as Science Fair noted previously, the Eyjafjallajokull volcano isn't necessarily the main problem. It's Katla, Iceland's noisier neighbor, that's the concern. If lava flowing from Eyjafjallajokull melts the glaciers that hold down the top of Katla, then Katla could blow its top, pumping gigantic amounts of ash into the atmosphere.

Cleese was lucky to have a connection, others are not;

Demand for train tickets between Paris and London caused the Eurostar Web site to crash several times Friday morning, and long lines formed at ticket counters at Victoria bus station in London, where buses leave for Paris, Amsterdam and Munich via the tunnel under the English Channel.

[snip]

Some people resorted to a digital version of the old-fashioned hitchhiker’s thumb. Liftshare.com, a Web site based in Britain that matches drivers with passengers, experienced “a very marked increase” in international destinations served since British airports shut down, featuring destinations as far afield as Berlin, Warsaw, Vienna, Stockholm and Croatia, said Cecilia Bromley-Martin, the communications manager.

I think we might have only one solution for this problem - Chuck Norris.

After all, according to Chuck Norris Facts;

Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice

Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.

The Great Wall of China was originally created to keep Chuck Norris out. It failed miserably.

When Chuck Norris does a push-up, he isn't lifting himself up, he's pushing the Earth down.

The Bermuda Triangle used to be the Bermuda Square, until Chuck Norris Roundhouse kicked one of the corners off.

Chuck Norris does not kick ass and take names. In fact, Chuck Norris kicks ass and assigns the corpse a number. It is currently recorded to be in the billions.

Chuck Norris once shot down a German fighter plane with his finger, by yelling, "Bang!"

As President Roosevelt said: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself. And Chuck Norris."

Bonus Riffs

Ron Beasley: Grounded for Decades?

Sarah Gordon - The ultimate barbecue: Iceland's volcano becomes the country's 'hottest' eatery

Greg Neale: How an Icelandic volcano helped spark the French Revolution