Entertainment For Lively Minds
Does thinking that Eric Robson should have heard of Western Skunk Cabbage make me a .. like .. really terrible person?
I was minding my own business driving the car yesterday afternoon with Gardener's Question Time on. They were in Dumfries and Galloway and Eric Robson seemed a bit baffled by the location, describing it as "south-west Scotland" .
Mild irritation (part of the deal when I'm listening to Eric Robson, but ...hey ... that's my bad) was simmering gently on the back burner, but it was manageable. Then one of the questioners asked about problems with Western Skunk Cabbage. Eric then immediately asked "Could you explain what that is?". He clearly knew nothing about Western Skunk Cabbage.
Now not everyone's an expert gardener. Not everyone can be expected to know all about every variety of plant that grows around the British Isles. But then not everyone is presenting a Radio 4 series providing gardening expertise and advice, and has been working in broadcasting for at least two decades on the basis that they're not "auto-cuties' or showbiz-creeps-on -the-make but genuinely know their onions (literally in this case). If a member of the public knows about, and wants to talk about, western skunk cabbage, so should Eric Robson. You'd think, at least, he'd be interested.
I bet Jo Whiley know all about Jimmy Webb. Small Faces too
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Western Skunk Cabbage?
TMFTL... etc etc etc
Wow
4 minutes to a TMFTL - the Massive never fail to disappoint!!
YDFMD.
My Skunk Cabbage Google Alert just went nuts
what's going on?
Curses!
I was hoping to get that in next.
Having once lived in the swampy bits of
upstate New York I am very familar with Skunk Cabbage. However, my knowldege of Jimmy Webb is limited. What would be an appropriate role for me at the BBC?
Jo Whiley
is a big fan of Skunk Cabbage Anansie.
Don't suppose....
Western Skunk Cabbage is related to Hippy Lettuce a.k.a. The Mario Joe Banana
Yes, a bit
Yes, a bit, if you've mistaken a standard interview device for ignorance; and you're probably being a bit harsh because he gets on your wick a bit for no good reason. But at least the question is couched with a bit of self-doubt and mild self-rebuke.
As for the being able to distinguish between Western Skunk Cabbage and some other not-really-that-similar brand of cabbage: well, in the context of a long-running specialist series about Great British Cabbages I think maybe he should. Or at least do his homework. Or maybe just scribble bits of the relevant Brodies Notes on the back of his hand. Just to show a bit of respect for the subject.
Didn't Skunk Cabbage
play with Steely Dan ?
Indeed he did
and then he joined the Doobies playing on, amongst others, the Taking it to the Sea Beet album. Nowadays he's a gardening consultant, specialising in rocket.
Apologies
I was confusing the Western Skunk Cabbage Lysichiton americanus with the Eastern Skunk Cabbagae Symplocarpus foetidus . Easy mistake to make but the distinction needs to be made (cf Jefferson Airplane and Velvet Underground).
Personally
I'm happy when they are talking about Daisies!
Sexist pig!
Why should men know anything about cabbage?
Everyone knows that ladies do all the cooking, and stuff.
Bet you wouldn't say that about Jenni Murray! Shame on you!
Geography
Um - I would've described the region referred to as south west Scotland, so does Wikipedia, and theGalloway Cattle society. We can't all be meringues, shirley?