Henrik Schmidt wrote:
> Basically, I'm looking for the same thing here. What possible use can 
> there be for this feature? I don't get it.

Sometimes I use that "feature" to cache a method's response. e.g.:
   foo = self.foo
   #do a bunch of things with foo without having to call the method

But I think the ability to override a method with a local variable is 
not so much a feature as a side-effect of the synctatic simplicity of 
invoking a method as only "foo" instead of "foo()" or "self.foo"

Like you, I am also a little annoyed by the inconsistence:
   foo        #variable or method
   foo()      #method
   self.foo   #method
   foo=1      #variable
   self.foo=1 #method
   foo=(1)    #variable

but I think consistence is a small price to pay for a syntax that 
doesn't get in your way in 99% of cases.

Daniel