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David Attenborough's 100th Birthday

bbc.com

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Re: David Attenborough's 100th Birthday

#151

Post by jonmoore »

pgalvin wrote: post #101
deepsun wrote: post #85

Unpopular opinion: I don't understand why people are so fascinated with a man simply because of his voice narrating truly marvelous, artistic documentaries. I have way more respect for operators, who spent months in harsh conditions with a slim chance to film anything interesting.

He is far more than just a narrator. His 77-year career created and defined the wildlife/nature documentary as a genre, beginning at a time when television was so new that it really was just him and a few individuals making all the decisions. In his youth, he was given some cash and sent to travel the world in a 2-3 man team, off-grid for months, in the “Zoo Quest” series - the first time anyone had really seen anima…

Life on Earth was hugely ambitious in ideas too, covering the whole history of life, with evolution as an underpinning theory throughout. As a child, it had much more impact on me than anything else on TV, and I still remember a lot of scenes.

Re: David Attenborough's 100th Birthday

#152

Post by duncans »

lanza wrote: post #53
vr46 wrote: post #33

Top man, lives up on Richmond Hill and absolutely loves it - when asked about his travels and adventures and where he would choose to live, he replied, "I already live there" Fairly well-known locally is that my favourite bookshop, The Open Book in Richmond, stocks signed copies of all his books. They used to be signed directly on the page, but since he got to the mid-to-late nineties in age, tons of hardbacks are to…

I always find it really weird when somebody on the anonymous internet talks about local places as if we're all neighbors or something. Googling "Richmond Hill" gave me multiple pages of results that had nothing to do with the one that Attenborough lives at.

Get better at Googling https://www.google.com/search?q=The+Open+Book+in+Richmond

Re: David Attenborough's 100th Birthday

#154

Post by Projectiboga »

barrkel wrote: post #57
lanza wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always find it really weird when somebody on the anonymous internet talks about local places as if we're all neighbors or something. Googling "Richmond Hill" gave me multiple pages of results that had nothing to do with the one that Attenborough lives at.

If you're familiar with London, you know where Richmond is and that it's a wealthy area. A search confirms there's a Richmond Hill in Richmond.

The hill offers the only view in England to be protected by an Act of Parliament—the Richmond, Ham and Petersham Open Spaces Act passed in 1902—to protect the land on and below it and thus preserve the fine views to the west and south. Two years before the wooded isle centrepiece of the view, Glover's Island (also known as Clam Island), was bought by a local resident and given to the Richmond Corporation (Borough) in return for the latter noting against its records that it and its successors would not develop the isle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond_Hill,_London

Re: David Attenborough's 100th Birthday

#156

Post by jmull »

deepsun wrote: post #85

Unpopular opinion: I don't understand why people are so fascinated with a man simply because of his voice narrating truly marvelous, artistic documentaries. I have way more respect for operators, who spent months in harsh conditions with a slim chance to film anything interesting.

> I don't understand...

Why not stop there?

You've got some awareness that there's something other people know that you don't.

Better to ask a question than express an opinion based on ignorance, right?

Re: David Attenborough's 100th Birthday

#157

Post by deepsun »

jmull wrote: post #156
deepsun wrote: post #85

Unpopular opinion: I don't understand why people are so fascinated with a man simply because of his voice narrating truly marvelous, artistic documentaries. I have way more respect for operators, who spent months in harsh conditions with a slim chance to film anything interesting.

> I don't understand... Why not stop there? You've got some awareness that there's something other people know that you don't. Better to ask a question than express an opinion based on ignorance, right?

I wouldn't get so many good responses (upvoted all).

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Cunningham%27s_Law

Re: David Attenborough's 100th Birthday

#158

Post by johnny_reilly »

vr46 wrote: post #33

Top man, lives up on Richmond Hill and absolutely loves it - when asked about his travels and adventures and where he would choose to live, he replied, "I already live there" Fairly well-known locally is that my favourite bookshop, The Open Book in Richmond, stocks signed copies of all his books. They used to be signed directly on the page, but since he got to the mid-to-late nineties in age, tons of hardbacks are to…

Just around the corner from The Open Book is Richmond Green. And that's where David Attenborough's brother lived; Richard Attenborough. Jurassic Park at the bottom of Richmond Hill and Blue Planet at the top of the hill.

Oh and if you were at Richmond Green today, you could have gone to the May fair.

Re: David Attenborough's 100th Birthday

#159

Post by ownlife »

Silamoth wrote: post #22
welferkj wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "cult of line go up" is why we aren't living in caves and eating each other. Come on, we can criticize the deleterious aspects of modern society without disparaging the idea of growth itself.

1. At a certain point, the idea of growth must be criticized. Unless, of course, you think infinite growth is possible. 2. Claiming the modern capitalism’s “cult of line go up” has anything to do with humans leaving caves is a stretch at best and intellectually dishonest at worst. Humans left caves out of a desire to create better lives. Stable shelter, better quality and variety food, tools to make life easier, clot…

Why shouldn't infinite growth be possible?

Re: David Attenborough's 100th Birthday

#160

Post by ownlife »

dh2022 wrote: post #102
ownlife wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You want to the documentary to end with David Attenborough saying that it is too late to revert the destruction of natural habitat?

Since this is the truth, yes, I would like the documentary to end by saying it is too late for natural habitat regeneration.

Many things are the truth, so it's really a question of framing. Another truth: humans have done reversible and irreversible damage to their natural environment; they can collectively reverse some of the damage and prevent further reversible and irreversible damage.

To focus on only irreversible damage -- especially as David Attenborough, somebody who over the better half of a century has earned massive respect and trust from people all over the world -- would be wildly irresponsible.

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