[Python] Asterisk in Python?

[Rob Hudson]

I was reading this page about template tags in Django:
http://www.b-list.org/weblog/2006/06/07/django-tips-write-better-template-tags

He has some Python code that I never knew existed.   In the last code 
sample in the sub-section titled, "Iteration 4: Make and Model" he has 
this code:

class LatestContentNode(Node):
     def __init__(self, model, num, varname):
         self.num, self.varname = num, varname
         self.model = get_model(*model.split(‘.’))

     def render(self, context):
         context[self.varname] = 
self.model._default_manager.all()[:self.num]
         return ”

In the description, he states:
the asterisk in there is a Python shortcut for saying “take this list of 
things and use it as your arguments”

I had this conversation with Python:
 >>> l = [1,2]
 >>> *l
   File "<stdin>", line 1
     *l
     ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
 >>> def fun(a,b):
...     print a
...     print b
...
 >>> fun(l)
Traceback (most recent call last):
   File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
TypeError: fun() takes exactly 2 arguments (1 given)
 >>> fun(*l)
1
2

Hmmm, that's kind of cool.  I never knew that existed.

-Rob