Just watching The Long Song, Drama about the last days of slavery in Jamaica, on BBC1. Its very good and quite harrowing, featuring an almost unrecognisably skinny Lenny Henry and an excellent cast overall, only marred by a pointless voiceover and some stupid tricks with the film.
Anyone looking for a good family Christmas film this year? We've just watched the Netflix production of The Christmas Chronicles, with Kurt Russell as Santa - great fun, for both kids of all ages and adults. We loved it!! Available on most streaming services I think (we watched it on Showbox), and for download from most torrent sites
This could go on the politics thread, but I’ve had enough of that for a bit. Factfulness by Hans Rosling, a (deceased) Swedish public health professor, shows using undisputed data, that our perceptions about the world (it’s getting worse) are in fact wrong, and we need to guard against the habit of assuming the worst. He proves his point by using data from an international survey of 12,000 people, including Nobel laureates, where in a multiple choice set of 12 questions about health, poverty, population, education, the average score was 2 out of 12. For example only 7% of UK respondents knew that the proportion of the worlds population living in extreme poverty has halved in the last 20 years, rather than stayed the same or doubled. All the trends he examines, except climate change/pollution, are positive. All the perceptions, including on climate change, the only area where most people believe what is proved, are negative. He doesn’t argue that we should relax and that everything is going to be fine, quite the reverse, but it’s fascinating stuff all the same.
Forgive me as I'm confused. Are you saying that Rosling disproves the perception that things are getting worse, i.e. things are actually either unchanged or perhaps improving, and yet he also argues that things are going to deteriorate?
That doesn't cheer me up much, I'm afraid. Climate change and pollution are things that weigh heavily on my life outlook, so no relief there. Does he deal with the likelihood of nuclear Armageddon? That must have increased in recent years.
My poor explanation. He proves that our perceptions of many trends in the world are incorrect, things are much better than we seem to believe. But he does not say we have nothing to worry about, or the future is sorted. Haven’t read the whole book yet, not sure. Cheer up Eeyore.
Anybody else catch the Bob Monkhouse thing on BBC four last night? It was a performance in front of an invited audience of younger comedians in a small club in London, recorded a few months before he died. His comedy is as slick and clever as ever, but the performance moves on to reminiscences and stories about his contemporaries and a surprisingly moving interview with Mike Yarwood. The love and admiration from the audience is palpable. Recommended.
I’ll have a look at that, I was never a fan, altogether too smarmy, but I know he is held in high regard by some surprising people. I recently genuinely shocked my son playing him some Derek And Clive. I loved this smut back in the 70s, when it was truly subversive. It is even more out of place in the 21st century and feels much darker, but I still love the manic nihilistic drive to be offensive. Don’t think I could listen to a whole LP all the way through though. Getting a positive response to ‘Have you heard of John Cooper Clarke?’ Or ‘what’s the worst job you’ve ever had?*’are fantastic short cuts when meeting new people. * the correct response being ‘retrieving lobsters from Jane Russell’s arsehole’. Of course.
I think Monkhouse was genuinely admired and revered by other comedians. Hard to beat this...….. 'When I told people I wanted to be a comedian, they used to laugh at me. They're not laughing now.' The Yarwood bit is interesting in that he says his act went downhill because he forgot that he had to be funny. This is the problem with John Culshaw, I think. A brilliant impressionist, but just not funny.
Brilliant Strolls, I'm not sure that I would've seen that had you not posted it, cheers. Monkhouse was a genius, his delivery was impeccable and he was a master of his craft. Quite a few of his detractors would label him as smarmy whereas I think this is the wrong verb. The correct verb should be polished. He worked really hard at his trade and would put him in my top three comedians. Would've loved to have seen him live but never got the chance. Hashtag - Gon 2 Sune
One other thing Strolls, at 24:45 Monkhouse mentions The Grafton Arms in Strutton Ground, Victoria ( opposite New Scotland Yard. ) where Peter Sellers made some recordings on 'the machine.' I used to work at Westminster Fire Station adjacent to there and we'd often have a few pints in The Grafton after a shift on the White Watch.
Great shout Stroller... a very personal touch after the comedy set; a consummate professional comedian who, you can see, is hugely respected within his industry. Some very interesting stories about his friends and colleagues through the years and very touching listen with Mike Yarwood and the impact of fame and fortune on performance and insecurity. Completely enjoyable with a ting of sadness at the undercurrent of his passing. Thanks Strolls.
Went to the V&A in Dundee yesterday (photos on the architecture thread). Must admit, it looks a lot better in these photos than it does in the flesh. From afar, with RRS Discovery in the foreground it does look good - however, up close it resembles a 1970s office block. Inside is also a disappointment, very few exhibits to look at unless you want to go into one of the paid exhibitions (Ocean Liners: Speed & Style and the Scottish Design Relay not really my bag!). An exceptionally overpriced cafe on each floor and a tacky gift shop - not sure what I was expecting, but left feeling underwhelmed. I may head back if there's an exhibition I fancy (last time I was in the V&A in London there was a Pink Floyd exhibition - brilliant), but struggling to find what all the fuss was about - maybe I'm just a troglodyte that doesn't "get" it, but I normally appreciate good art and architecture. So disappointed I head to head back to our cabin, jump in the hot-tub and sink a load of beer (in fairness, I'd probably have done that anyway ). Off to Glamis Gin Bothy today.....could get messy
