Entertainment For Lively Minds
Post your pictures of people who make the world a better place to live in
Posted by Dave Amitri on 3 September 2010 - 8:16pm.
I posted this picture of Justin Hawkins on another thread yesterday and the positive response confirms my belief that his very existence makes the world a better place to live in.
So I thought it might be a good idea to create our own gallery of people who meet this criteria. A pictorial record of the good, the great, the eccentric or the just plain nice people who improve our lives by just being. If you're not sure how to post images go to Frasers FAQ here http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/faq/
By the way, if anyone who reads this happens to have some influence in the music industry can you give Justin some money, access to a studio and tell him to go and have some fun making a new Darkness record?
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I give you, to start thing off, the mighty Mark Williams.
He deserves a knighthood for Industrial Revelations, never mind all the Fast Show stuff.
And is a mighty
Mr. Arthur Weasley in the Potter films - the combination of himself and Julie Walters is just great.
They should be every small child's ideal, imaginary parents.
And...
... won the World Snooker Championship twice!
Ooooh
I've always had a crush on the mighty Mark Williams. He's LOVELY.
Tom Baker...
Who could not love a man who has his own tombstone at the bottom of his garden?
Mr. Bill
there will be more
The sublime...
Eddie Izzard. A man of many talents, a big heart and small ego.
Simples
Here's another
Host of the longest running TV programme in the world:
Although I was recently dismayed
when I learned of his far right political activism, especially in the 70s.
Yeah, probably an obvious choice...
...but come on, he's brilliant, isn't he?
Little known fact...
the screen grab above shows him whispering.
Hawkmen
DI-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-IVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let's have a lady
Kelly?
I see what she's done there...
With a little imagination, cherries could look like nipples. By holding two cakes topped with the aforementioned fruit in front of her breasts she has created this fantastic illusion. Marvellous what these creative types think of...
Nipples!
I wasn´t...paying...
What?
Dennis Cometti
An Australian Rules football commentator (wait come back!)Although the game is nothing more than an oddity elsewhere it is BIG business here and the commentators mostly treat it like it's life and death.
Cometti knows it's not that big a deal and his commentary reflects that. Also he LOVES music so much he has started his own record label just releasing stuff he likes. He could scarcely be more Word friendly, I love the bloke.
Most of his jokes would be unintelligable to a non-fan but here's an example of what I'm trying at say
Gerard Healy: "Word is this guy is the most reliable kick for goal in the side. They say down at Collingwood if you had to have someone kicking for your life, Tarkyn Lockyer would be the man."
Commetti: "I'd prefer my mum."
(silence)
Commetti: "Not a great footballer, but at least she'd care."
Some of his other in-game quotes,
"I love that surname Fixter. Sounds like something from a Batman movie - The Fixter. But I digress ... "
"Scotty Cummings is in the goal square jumping up and down waving his arms about like they're playing My Sharona!" (he was too)
"The Hawks play modern football with sixties haircuts. They're my kind of team!"
After a violent clash
"McManus goes back to collect the ball, a free kick and several teeth"
and this is the man himself
It's a brave Australian man..
Who can be so verbal in the commentary box whilst wearing THAT thing on his head.
As Pat and Dave said: "This is not America."
The best sport ever invented
I LOVE Australian rules football with a passion and watch the games and the weekly AFL show on Eurosport 2 religiously.
A couple of months ago they suddenly started to use a couple of swedish commentators ( well, one spoke swedish with an aussie accent, but still ) and I had a fit of rage before I remembered that I could change the audio track through the digital reciever.
So much better!
Is AFL a sport?
It always looks more like skill-free, synchronised thuggery in 70s style tight shorts to me.
He could be...
the love-child of Brian Johnston!
"Welcome to Worcester where you've just missed seeing Barry Richards hitting one of Basil D'Oliveira's balls clean out of the ground. "
This...
...is the cricket commentator I would miss most.
Christopher Martin-Jenkins. Gently humorous, quietly wise, and the father of a Sussex cricketer.
Good shout Inky
and while we're talking about sports commentators.... Every time I hear Jon Miller's voice I am transported to Fenway Park in Boston and Little League diamonds and hot dogs and Sam Adams beer and Kevin Youklis and Big Papi and the Green Line out to Kenmore and the voice of baseball.
Jon Miller
...now the voice of the San Francisco Giants
CMJ
is easily my favourite cricket broadcaster.
While we're on the subject, has anyone read any of Gideon Haigh's books? I can warmly recommend them.
while were on the subject
I submit
Bill Bailey, the bewildered genius. Just the sight of him makes me grin.
And Joan Cusack, who is ALWAYS a joy in whatever film she's in.
He's no longer with us
but everything about him still makes the world a better place to live in:
1-5 to 0-8...from Lapland to the Antarctic, that's level scores
No other voice gets me going more than Micheal O'Muircheartaigh on the radio. The greatest sports commentator on the planet. And I ain't shifting on this one to anyone.
60 years commentating and he can still evoke great moments of drama in lay person's terms. (See below).
Read some great quotes here
seconded.
I was thinking just the same thing, Paddy, but reckoned that it might be a trifle lost on the audience here! M O'M celebrated his 80th birthday recently, and was on with Ryan Tubridy on t'wireless for just a general chat. His voice alone - no matter what he says, or what he talks about - is a thing of rare beauty, and he could, honestly, recite the periodic table of the elements, and make it sound like, well, a thing of wonder. (Which it is. But you get my drift.)
In any event, on the show, they asked him (as Sinead O'Connor was another guest) to read out the lyrics to Nothing Compares 2 U. I was rushing to get to court, but HAD to slow down and risk being late JUST so I could hear him get to the end. I'm not sure is it up as a podcast - there could be a publishing rights issue, but it was quite quite magical.
GAA produces magical commentators
And what about Michal O'Hehir?
Ivan, being in Liverpool and not wanting to get Sky, I have to rely on Radio Éireann for my GAA.
Summer Sundays in the presence of Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh are magical - the day Armagh got to the final of the All Ireland in 2002 when Ray Cosgrove hit the post with a last minute free was incredible.
For all others wondering what we are talking about, this documentary is available on YouTube in six parts.
This will be what you
were talking about Ivan
'tis...
I was two minutes and 4 seconds later into work than normal this morning 'cos of it.
(It got played again...I don't recall the muzak, still half a loaf, and all that.)
What's the pronunciation of "O'Muircheartaigh"?
O'Murtagh, I'm guessing. But my guesses on such things are normally wrong by several orders of magnitude. It's probably "Bloggs" or something.
dude...you really don't want to go there...
letters don't necessarily have the same sound in Irish as they do in English, or rather combinations of letters do funny things...but here goes!
The O' part is as in 'Owe'
Then Muir - almost like a Home Counties person would say 'mirror' but with a bit more 'u' than 'i' in it; then there's effectively a silent minisyllable there
Cheart comes in at something like 'Hurt' but slap on another 'h' after the final 't'.
Thus far we're at Owe Murrahurth
final 'aigh' is close enough to 'egg' but put an 'i' instead of an 'e'
Or alternatively, Tubs at 0:25 does it
Good man..
well explained.
Watching the "Sound Of Sunday" clip above at 0:35..
You get it from the horse's mouth, so to speak. And I can't manage either one of them.
And.. blimey.. he can commentate a bit, can't he? Poetry. What a voice.
My two favourite Michaélisms (as I remember them)
On describing the build-up to a kick-out: 'The backs are back, the forwards are forward, and the midfielders are on the 50 yard line.' (you need to imagine the hard Kerry accent stress on the words 50 yard line.)
And from an Ulster final in Clones of many years ago involving Down. When a massive brawl broke out he uttered this wonderful description:
'And there are 20 men involved in a melée on a bit of ground you couldn't grow a handful of cabbage on.'
Pure class, take that Mike Ingham/ Alan Green.
Tribute to Mícheál from Irish Times
Fintan O'Toole of the Irish times recently paid tribute stressing Mícheál's place in irish culture outside of sport:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/082/1224277442947.html
A beautiful piece of writing in it's own way. His description of a traditional singer is worthy of a thread of it's own
Not wishing to being pedantic, but I must point out correct spelling of forename:
Mícheál
The Irish version has the e & a transposed - a gaelic grammer rule relating to the connection between broad and narrow consonants.
Up to recent years, I used to turn down the TV sound when a match was on and listen to Mícheál on the radio.
Alas due to digital technology live radio & TV are no longer in sync.
- my loss.
Will close with my favourite quote from a Cork Hurling Match:
"Seán Óg Ó hAilpín.... his father's from Fermanagh, his mother's from Fiji, neither one of them a hurling stronghold."
Ger..
"Alas due to digital technology live radio & TV are no longer in sync.
- my loss."
The telly normally leads the audio by a bit. By judicious use of the pause button, you can get it in sync. It takes a wee while and annoys the hell out of my wife but it's very satisfying when you get it right. My radio feed is off an interweb link and the delay is normally about 12 secs.
Thanks
Cheers Lenny,
I just might work though I can see GLW getting a bit worked up.
Well, but...
Rugby's my game. This man made Saturdays, and Sunday's special. Not only that, but he was one of the few people about whom not a bad word was ever said:
we are, as referenced below, I think, in danger of losing some of the magic of commentators and tv personalities. Bill McLaren was the doyen, for me. But there are others, many of whom are mentioned here. I would add Jimmy Armfield to the mix as well.
This Just In...
The great man is retiring.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0917/1224279095591.html
C.P. Grogan
'Nuff said, really.
I swear
she just gets lovelier....
Giants from my childhood.
They don't make 'em like that anymore...
Now we get gurning, hysterical idiots trying to act like kids who will later in their careers get to front the BBC's live music coverage.
Steve Backshall
Over the summer I got quite addicted to a CBBC wildlife programme called "The Deadly 60". I would normally steer clear of programmes that emphasise the deadliness of wildlife ("When Daffodils Attack", "When Good Ducklings Go Bad" etc), but despite the title it's an intelligent look at predators around the world.
This is thanks to its main man, Steve Backshall, who is a proper naturalist, a proper explorer, and a born populariser and presenter. When he describes something as incredible, it probably IS, by any standards - his encounters with nature are extraordinary.
He clearly relishes the action side of things, and it's a major attraction of the programme. But the depth of his knowledge and his ability to explain quite complicated concepts in a simple but unpatronising way - even with a boa constrictor tightening round his neck - is impressive. His whole "get out there" message is extremely infectious and could be a major force against childhood obesity. And I suspect his crazily buff physique attracts many viewers who might not otherwise have any interest at all in nature or the outdoors. He deserves far more acclaim than he currently receives.
I agree!
With your summary of both his presenting skills and his buffness. My favourite episode was the extremely enlightening one where he was being towed behind a boat at the same speed as the fastest swimming fish (or something like that). Anyway, whatever it was for, he kept losing his shorts.
...
When they asked him to do the same stunt in the 1980's, Johnny Morris was less than keen.
Can I boast????
I got to meet Johnny Ball a month ago. He was brilliant. That is all.
Real People.The N.W.Massive.
Pah!
All piss artists. Every man, woman and young person.
I love you man *blushes*
Just noticed something Beany.
In both piccies guess whose glass is nearest to being empty.
I love you to man *goes all coy*
Forgive me for saying...
...Mrs Pencilsqueezer is very easy on the eye
Steady now
We all are. Surely?
(and don't call me Shirley...)
What can I say
thank you mojo.I know I'm a very lucky man.I adore her and fall in love with her every day and have done for thirty years.
Mr Danny Baker of this parish
has made me laugh more than anyone I can think of.
Danny Baker
I think this man is a broadcasting genius. he makes it sound like he is sharing a lunchtime drink with you & a couple of mates.
I drove up from Liverpool earlier today in the company of DB.Even when he was telling a story I had heard before (throwing a suitcase full of vinyl singles away), & I knew how it was going to end, I was still pissing my pants.
Absolute legend.
The Word podcasts
are uniformly excellent. But the Danny Baker one stands head and shoulders above the rest.
The best broadcaster... Ever..
Even my wife likes his shows, and she can't stand football.
My personal favourite...
A *flute* driven record, Alice...
Still makes me and the GLW chuckle whenever we hear it.
I don't wanna grow up
In common with many of those pictured above, these people make "growing up" seem a very childish thing to do:
Tim Hunkin - inventor, engineer, cartoonist, curiosity incarnate:
http://www.timhunkin.com/
Ken Campbell (R.I.P.) - actor, ventriloquist, so much more:
Tom Waits - oh, you know. Amongst many other things, the world's greatest interviewee:
Gyles Brandreth - used to loathe him; now admire his approach to life - try everything and never take yourself (or life) seriously:
These....
Three of my favourite writers who have given me countless hours of pleasure:
The Master:
His successor:
Incomparable:
From the wide wide world of sports - Go Sharks!
Have an arrow
For Terry Pratchett and JRR. Currently re-reading LOTR again. I guess I should give PGW a go too if he is in such esteemed company.
thanks
for clueing me into who those dudes were
Sorry
Rather presumptuous of me to assume that I didn't need to explain who these people were! I might just has well have said "Man In Hat", "Man With Pipe" and "Other Man With Pipe"....
Aung San Suu Kyi...
Inspirational.
Aung San Suu Kyi
Patrick, please excuse my ignorance, but could you please enlighten this old sailor & explain who / what she is.
many thanks.
She is the living embodiment...
the Burmese people's fight against the military junta that has ruled the country since 1988. Despite having been under house arrest for fourteen of the past twenty years, her call for democracy has not been silenced. She is a hero.
Have a look at her Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi
she is a hero
Patrick, thanks for the reply. Read the wikipedia entry, fully with you on this.
She is indeed a hero.
Who else?
I think it is safe to say that...
Photoshop has not been used to retouch this photograph.
What has Gollum
ever done for us?
And why not?
I agree
Laurel & Hardy have brightened up my world too.
I like the
extensive and rigorously annotated script of carefully crafted monologues that Mr Hepworth has to guide him through 45 minutes of high quality radio.
Ah yes...
The Saint and Greavesie of rock 'n roll !
Note the look of
slightly strained incredulity on Mr Hepworth's face as Mr Ellen prepares to launch into another tale from Stella Street...or is he about to recount the story of the Fois Gras Faux Pas again?
Gro...........
grovelling shitbag !
You're only jealous
cos I got there first.
Never before
have two blokes talking about stuff and generally waffling on entertained me so well.
I surprised this thread ran for so long before thery popped up!
More.....
Quite possibly an utter cock in real life, but perhaps the finest comic actor ever...
Rosemary Sutcliff, for giving me "The Eagle Of The Ninth" to read when I was growing up (still one of my favourites), and for giving me "A Sword At Sunset" to read this year (a beautifully imagined novel of an Arthur who may actually have existed)
Stay Classy, San Diego!
how could we omit
and newbie
Frank Gardner
The embodiment of all the admirable qualities the British used to be known for - real or imagined.
Mitchell and Webb and Armstrong and Miller...and Palmer
And I should also add Richard Curtis, for creating Comic Relief, from which this comes -
Christopher Walken......
.... or anyone who can do a decent impression of him...
I saw you talking
to Christopher Walken
on my TV screen...
Carol Kirkwood
Might seem a bit odd to pick a weather presenter but she is always so bright and cheerful, nothing ever seems to faze her even at 6am in the morning in a blizzard. And she looks like a real woman not a twig !
http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/hi/about/newsid_7844000/7844896.stm
Turned left at Greenland
I can't post pictures but I will select...
David Simon
Josh Weedon
Emma Thompson
Eddie Mair
Daniel Kitson
He comes in for
a lot of stick these days.
But he made the world a much better place for me, especially when he looked like this:
Mr John Peel
Anyone?