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more from same (The Goodies) |
The February edition of the Goodies Clarion & Globe newsletter (#183) is now available from the website.
It can be accessed from either the "Last Articles" box at the bottom of this page or from the "Articles / Guides" menu on the left.
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Posted by bretta at 15/02/2011 10:07 GMT |
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| Network DVD releasing "Astronauts: The Complete Series" |
more from same (British Comedy) |
 A 1981-1983 series written by Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, "Astronauts", is being released by Network DVD. The 2-disk set will include both series of the show; the scheduled release date is 21 March 2011. Here is a description from Network's website,
http://www.networkdvd.net/product_info.php?products_id=1325
Astronauts: The Complete Series
Two men, one woman and a dog are cooped up together in darkest space.
Occupying a two-room 'sky-lab' on Britain's first manned space mission, they are under constant surveillance as they orbit the Earth - even on their visits to the lavatory. Tensions simmer, resentment builds and relationships become strained. and it's not long before they're ganging up on their earthbound American contact at Mission Control.
Written by Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, this hilarious comedy was inspired by and based upon actual conflicts documented by the astronauts of the NASA Skylab programme. Christopher Godwin is Mission Commander Malcolm Mattocks, Barrie Rutter is his truculent partner David Ackroyd, and Carmen du Sautoy is no-nonsense Science Officer Gentian Foster; Bruce Boa stars as their much-abused mission controller, Beadle.
Astronauts was produced by Tony Charles and Douglas Argent (whose combined credits include Fawlty Towers and The New Statesman), with Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais acting as script editors. This set contains both series, first aired between 1981 and 1983.
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Posted by lisa at 04/02/2011 15:20 GMT |
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| Bill Oddie article about RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch |
more from same (Bill's Nature Shows) |
 This article by Bill comes from the Guardian's website at http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2011/jan/26/birders-rspb-big-garden-birdwatch (Note that webpage also includes links to page with Big Garden Birdwatch 2010 data & photographs)
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Fellow birders unite for the RSPB Big Garden BirdwatchWhether you consider yourself a birder, ornithologist, or simply a bird lover, the Big Garden Birdwatch needs you this weekend
Whether you consider yourself a birder, ornithologist, or simply a bird lover, the Big Garden Birdwatch needs you this weekend
The hobby that dare not speak its name. Well, that's how it used to be. By the time I was seven, I knew I was a birdwatcher. I didn't admit it until I was 10. The response of my peers was puzzlement and mockery. "Birdwatching!? How soppy! Why can't you go scrumping apples and pulling girls' pigtails like us normal schoolboys?"
Adults were just as indifferent, but men could rarely resist coming out with that most tedious of "bird jokes": "Oh yes. I'm a bit of a birdwatcher too! Two-legged kind, eh? Eh?" I endured that several hundred times, before I discovered the deserved riposte, which is: "All birds have two legs. Unless they've been in an accident and lost one, in which case it's very distasteful to laugh at disabled creatures."
The "I'm a bit of a birdwatcher too" quip, pathetically, is still going strong, but the joyous truth these days is that many people really are watching birds. "What, the feathered kind?" Yes. Indeed, things have changed so much since I was a lad that, instead of being an minority activity, birdwatching is one of the fastest growing leisure pursuits in the world. Well, that's what I read in the business section of an American Airlines magazine about five years ago. It has probably been overtaken since by ballroom dancing but nevertheless it is undeniable that birdwatchers are no longer alone. We are out – outdoors that is – and proud. No longer are little lads and lasses teased about their hobby. Parents encourage them and many join in.
Birdwatchers are not one harmonious band, but that is no bad thing. One of the delights of birds is that they can be enjoyed in so many ways. Some people draw and paint them. Others photograph and film them. Some record their songs. Others "twitch". "Twitcher" is not simply a synonym for "birdwatcher". In the same way that a sprinter is an athlete, but an athlete is not necessarily a sprinter, a twitcher is a birdwatcher, but a birdwatcher is not necessarily a twitcher. Twitching is the often rather frantic pursuit of rare birds. We've all been on an occasional twitch, but a serious, knowledgeable birdwatcher who is not obsessed with his or her "list" would prefer to be called "a birder". I am a birder.
I am not a "bird spotter", an expression that belongs in pre-war Boy Scout manuals and I-Spy books. Nor would I claim to be an "ornithologist", a title which implies scientific knowledge, a capacity for protracted study, an understanding of graphs, figures and statistics, and possibly a doctorate. Finally, at the opposite – but not bottom – end of the birdwatcher's league are people who put out bird food in their gardens, may not even be able to identify all the species, but simply enjoy having them there. Let's just call them "bird lovers".
Bird watchers, twitchers, ornithologists, birders, even bird spotters (if they are not extinct) and bird lovers – we need you all this weekend.
• Bill Oddie is a council member of the RSPB. This weekend is the annual RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch
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Posted by lisa at 26/01/2011 23:09 GMT |
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| summary of Slapstick 2011 events with Tim, Graeme, and Bill |
more from same (British Comedy) |
The following information comes from http://www.slapstick.org.uk/events.htm# , which also includes links for booking tickets at the Slapstick 2011 festival in Bristol, England at the end of this week.
Friday 28 January 2011
* Slapstick Silent Comedy Galawith very special guests
FRI 28 JAN 1930hrs Venue: Colston Hall £20/£16 concs/£6 under 12s
Dir: Fred Newmeyer, USA, 1924, 1h 22m
A star-studded evening of classic comedy and live entertainment with special guests Bill Oddie, Ian Lavender, Barry Cryer, Neil Innes & Paul McGann
This unique event presents four living national comedy icons introducing four classic silent comedy shorts on the big screen from the five masters of silent comedy accompanied live by Jazz Train, and The European Silent Screen Virtuosi This gala is truly a once in a life-time opportunity to see the funniest silent comedy with some of our best loved British comedy performers, promising to be bigger, better and funnier than ever.
Saturday 29 January 2011
*Harry Langdon’s Best Comedy Shorts
With Graeme Garden SAT 29 JAN 1100hrs Venue: Hall 2 (Colston Hall) £7/£5.50
At his best, Harry Langdon rivalled the great silent comics of the twenties. His baby-face antics and subtle forms of visual comedy were so different to the more typical 'slapstick' of the period that he stood alone as a unique performer. Today his films are often passed over and rarely screened. Langdon champion, Goodie and Sorry I Haven’t a Clue Panellist Graeme Garden selects his favourite silent shorts to reveal Langdon at his brightest and funniest. With live piano accompaniment.
Book: 01179223686
* Celebrating Buster Keaton with Ian Lavender SAT 29 JAN 1600hrs Venue: Bristol Old Vic Tickets £16-£5
We are delighted to welcome Ian Lavender to Bristol’s Slapstick Festival to share his long held passion for ‘the great stone face’ with fellow Keaton admirer writer/comedian Graeme Garden. Perhaps best known for playing ‘stupid boy’ Private Pike (against type) in Dad’s Army Ian, has appeared in countless stage and television productions including a three year run as Derek Harkinson in EASTENDERS. Ian now returns to his theatrical roots having trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, to discuss Keaton (his specialist subject on Celebrity Mastermind) before revealing and screening his favourite Keaton short.
Plus: Sherlock Jr (1924) PG 45mins
In Keaton’s thrillingly imaginative and surreal masterpiece, Keaton plays an aspiring detective accused of a crime he didn’t commit by the family of his potential fiancée. Banished, he returns to his day job as a film projectionist, and dreams of apprehending the real culprit, his dastardly love rival. Accompanied live by THE EUROPEAN SILENT SCREEN VIRTUOSI a five-piece ensemble featuring Guenter Buchwald on violin and piano and Triple Oscar winning animator Richard Williams on cornet with their international friends.
Book: 01179877877
* (This one is included for the ISHAC fans): Barry Cryer's Top Comedy Moments in conversation with Rob Brydon
SAT 29 JAN 2000hrs Venue: Bristol Old Vic Tickets £20-£5
Barry Cryer has worked with and written for more comedy talent than almost any other living British comedian. A ‘National Treasure’ in the truest sense of the term Barry will be celebrating the great visual comedians from yesteryear right up to today. From Harold Lloyd to Morecombe and Wise, from Buster Keaton to David Jason, ‘Baz’ recalls, reminisces, and recounts anecdotes and tall tales on a trip down memory lane – and what memories, if only he can remember them! Baz invites you to join him as he recounts his working relationships with some of the greats of visual comedy while delighting us with his top onscreen comedy moments from the last century. All this, in conversation with the inimitable comedian and actor Rob Brydon!
Sunday 30 January 2011
* Marty! With Tim Brooke-Taylor
SUN 30 JAN 1100hrs Venue: Hall 2 (Colston Hall) £7/£5.50
Before finding global recognition in Hollywood Marty Feldman (instantly recognizable for his characteristic bulging eyes) starred in a number of hugely successful British television comedy shows including the seminal At Last the 1948 show and BAFTA award winning show Marty. Tim Brooke-Taylor was a key writer and cast member on both these popular shows from the late 1960s. In discussion with presenter Chris Serle, Tim recounts working with this much loved and now often overlooked comedian illustrated by some of his best visual comedy gags.
Book: 01179223686
* Marty! Young Frankenstein Introduced by Tim Brooke-Taylor
SUN 30 JAN 2000hrs Venue: Watershed £7/£5.50 concs
Dir: Mel Brooks, USA, 1974, 1h 45m
To close Slapstick Festival Tim Brooke-Taylor celebrates the cinematic success of his comedy colleague Marty Feldman in his most iconic role as ‘Eye-Gore’ in Mel Brooks’ classic horror spoof. A crazy tribute to Mary Shelley’s classic, it pokes fun at almost every Frankenstein film ever made. Summoned by a will to his late grandfather’s castle in Transylvania, young Dr Frankenstein soon discovers the scientist’s step-by-step guide ‘How To Bring A Corpse Back To Life’. Inspired lunacy from Mel Brooks starring Gene Wilder and Mary Feldman.
Book: 01179275100
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Posted by lisa at 25/01/2011 01:31 GMT |
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* Graeme will be appearing on 
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Graeme is making a return appearance to the Big Finish Doctor Who audio adventures as "The Monk" in the title "Lucie Miller", which is scheduled to be released on 28 February: 
