<p><pre><code>  Oh, come on. You're just disagreeing for effect here.
  I've never used Ruby but that snippet is clear as day.
</code></pre>
The hell it is. I find it quite confusing. I'll take the Python 2 solution anyday, which clearly seperates <i>what</i> is called from <i>when</i> it is called. One of the main problems with the 'my language is so flexible' approach is that inventing concise solutions becomes a goal in itself.