title: MySQLdb initial connection timeout
body: <p>I'm using <code>MySQLdb</code> in python to connect to a remote database and execute a query.  So far so good.  However, it's possible that, for any number of reasons, there simply isn't a MySQL server (or indeed any server) at the designated IP address.  In these cases, at the moment <code>MySQLdb</code> hangs indefinitely. This isn't ideal, I'd prefer to be able to set a timeout which if exceeded would allow me to raise and exception and get on with my life.  </p>
  
  <p>Is there a simple way to do this?</p>