title: python assign a variable to a randomly selected string
body: <p>my children and I are messing with a random bedtime story generator. And apart from being amazed at how easy python is to use, we want to generate a random name for our protagonist, but for them to keep the same name throughout the story.</p>
  
  <pre><code>import random
  names= ["Tim", "Ju Ju", "Legface", "Dusty", "Smudger"]
  thing = ["princess", "elf", "fairy", "mermaid", "shoe maker"]
  
  count = 0
  while (count &lt; 1):
  
    print "Once upon a time there was a ",
    print(random.choice(thing)),
    print "whose name was ",
    print(random.choice(names)),
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>so if the random name turns out to be Tim, I would like to continue the story as</p>
  
  <pre><code>print $thevariablethatisTim 
  print "was a very happy man"
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I realise this is a trivial thing, but I can't seem to get it right and we are having such a good laugh at bedtime with this.</p>
  
  <p>Thanks in advance</p>
  
  <p>Neil</p>