"python" challenge

Ganked from memepool, someone has a puzzle that they intend to be solved with python. Being a geek but not python fan (I don't dislike python, just haven't found a good reason to learn it yet), I thought I'd try to solve it otherwise.

( spoilers )

Yay for drinking too much too early in the evening, so now I'm awake, with a slight headache, and feeling just blah.