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I watched that program with the wife, while having a rare break from studying the form.
I am in two minds about this bloke. In one way it was a pretty selfish thing to do but in another it was a right a proper way to go. It was pretty obvious to me that the authorities thought he would never make it, perhaps he should have told his wife the same and then she wouldn’t have been so upset about him dying.
On balance, I would reserve judgement on him because it’s not something I would ever consider doing myself and his reasons for doing it are beyond me. He is a completely different type of human to me, I’ll never properly understand what motivates anyone like that.
A really good film though, you could have flash backs about worse things.
Didn’t see the programme but checked it out on utube..the thought of that man’s little boy waving goodbye to a man who looked like something in a horror movie was horrible…he could at least have looked human when he kissed him goodbye…..it gave me the creeps.
I watched that program with the wife, while having a rare break from studying the form.
I am in two minds about this bloke. In one way it was a pretty selfish thing to do but in another it was a right a proper way to go. It was pretty obvious to me that the authorities thought he would never make it, perhaps he should have told his wife the same and then she wouldn’t have been so upset about him dying.
On balance, I would reserve judgement on him because it’s not something I would ever consider doing myself and his reasons for doing it are beyond me. He is a completely different type of human to me, I’ll never properly understand what motivates anyone like that.
A really good film though, you could have flash backs about worse things.
Dave, as you say, it was obvious the authorities never thought he’d make it so it was odds on he’d die. What emotionally sound person could show such a disregard for his wife and son? I gamble with money but I wouldn’t play russian roulette with my life, which is what this guy was effectively doing, except he had four bullets loaded as opposed to the usual one.
I can’t help but feel that people that make these types of decisions must be emotionally retarded to an extent. I just can’t get my head around it.
Saw this programme tonight and thought it was wonderful; Alexandra Tolstoy lived for 2 weeks with the Yakuta in Siberia; these people depend on horses the way that the people in Scandinavia depend on reindeer; there was one terribly sad scene which had me in tears where they slaughtered an old barren mare to provide food for a feast [they actually live on horsemeat and pretty well nothing else] and she could sense straight away that she was going to be killed [makes me feel even stronger about live transportation of horses]. The was a tree on which were the skulls of their favourite horses and the favourites of their fathers and grandfathers, and they say that when horse dies it’s spirit goes into another horse. I love these programmes that show people in other cultures that live such a simple, basic sort of existence, but somehow seem happier than we are for all of our money and gadgets. Might be worth checking it out on BBCi if only for the fact that I think you chaps will be quite taked with the rather beautiful lady who presents it!
I think they look happy because they all have pretty much a similar ammount of things in life, and they don’t think about what they haven’t got because they don’t see adverts or read magazines etc, in other words they don’t have the material imbalance that exists in western countries. They’re also more likely to have healthier diets, and put more emphasis in the more important things in life.
Is anyone watching the wonderful nostalgiafest that is Electric Dreams on BBC4? I’ve still got one of those ping pong tennis tv games; have kept it safe for years thinking it might be valuable one day..then a few weeks ago I trod on it. Have also got a proper dial phone in the hall which I rented from BT for years. Do find, though, that the people in the programme seem to be getting all of these gadgets about 20 years before I did. I’ve also got loads of compilation tapes floating around that various teenage lads gave to my daughter as a token of their devotion. There’s something very touching about them….so much thought went into them; this is me, they seem to say…wonder what teenage lads do now to impress the girls? Facebooky stuff, I suppose.
Have also got a proper dial phone in the hall….
Funny you should mention the old phones. My missus came in a couple of weeks and cheerily declared she’d brought me a phone. I should explain I’ve never had a mobile and she’s been on at me for years to get one – so I was about to tell her "you can ******* take back" when she pulled out one of the old BT ones.
It still works and we put it in the kitchen and it’s so loud you can hear it when your down the bottom of the garden.
I think it’s great and she said it cost £35.00 from an antique shop in Stratford (but you can never tell with her – could of cost anything
)I think it’s great and she said it cost £35.00 from an antique shop in Stratford
I hope to god that’s not Stratford, east London.
If it was, the phone had probably been stolen out of some old dears house.
Last night they had 2 members of Ultravox showing them how to use a synthesiser [the kids weren’t all that impressed but their parents were]. Then they had the Betamax versus VHS video recorder debate. We had Betamax because, with my husband being an engineer he knew it was the better system [oh dear]. The Christmas we got a video recorder I was scared to go away for a couple of days as I was convinced we would be burgled for our video recorder. I think I left some money in the kitchen in the hope that they would see the cash and leg it.
Games Britainia, Yet another cracking BBC 4 programme about the history of games and how we adapted them from their original eastern format. Lots of mention of The Great Exhibition [my moment in time that I would go back to in my time machine]. Interesting to hear about the Spassky/Fischer [sp] chess championships during the cold war. Can’t wait for the next installment.
Just started watching Cold Case on Sky 3 – loving the back to back episodes they’ve been showing of an evening.
Anyone else watch it?
Anyone watching this series? Nearly gave up on the first episode, because I found the presenter a bit dull, but by last nights programme I was glued to the screen. Hereward the Wake, Ely Cathedral, Manorbier Castle, then off to Scotland, Wales and Ireland. So many fascinating facts thrown into one programme; I felt I should be taking notes, and I’ve got to watch it again to take it all in. Am even more boring than usual, and going around saying to people ‘did you know that…..’
Hi Moe,
Yes, I’ve been watching, though like you I find the presenter a bit hard to take and the director is overly keen on those walking and talking shots that ruin many documentaries.
I was fascinated by the section about how the Normans introduced so many French words into our language – and how they used English words for animals on the hoof and French words for them once they became food. So pig was Anglo Saxon, pork was French, cow Anglo Saxon, beef French etc.
I was also unaware that the Normans had invaded Ireland – and that was how the names like Fitzgerald and Fitzpatrick arrived there.
If you’ve never been to Ely, I recommend a visit. It is quite the most amazing structure to view, both close up and from the a distance across the fens. Ely in the morning and Newmarket in the afternoon makes a great day out.
AP
Ely is on my tick list of ‘places to visit before I die’ and for that reason I’m almost afraid to go there. It featured in my favourite children’s book, Tom’s Midnight Garden, in which the river was frozen over and so they skated to the cathedral. I fear that, when I do get there, I shall be very emotional and cry a lot. And there was a series on the telly about Hereward the Wake when I was very young [starring Alfred Lynch] so I’ve always been fascinated by him. I also had a holiday in the shadow of Manorbier Castle many years ago. The language bit was fascinating [as was the bit about William’s funeral and his exploding belly, plus that guy escaping down the lavvy..in fact, it was like an adult’s version of ‘horrible histories’!]. I never thought of Fitz and fils as being the same word, either. The presenter might seem a bit dull, but I’ve seen Michael Wood [swoon] programmes where I’ve felt as if I’d been to the seaside and back, and hadn’t got a clue what I’d been watching. This guy knows how to tell a tale.
Programmes taped and looking forward to them. Prof Bartlett presented an interesting little series on BBC4 last year: Inside the Medieval Mind, which is worth a gander if it’s repeated. He is a little intense and dour but gets his ideas across clearly enough in plain English
The octagonal Lantern Tower in Ely Cathedral is stunning. Fred Dibnah the steeplejack who was well-versed in architectural engineering found it almost unbelievable that such a structure could have been built. Now, let alone then.
A must see, as are all our Norman cathedrals of course
All time greats
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