Monthly Archives: February 2013
Richard Briers: A Good Life Well-Loved
It was with profound sadness that I learned of the death of Richard Briers recently.
Born in Raynes Park, Surrey in 1934, he was the second cousin of actor Terry Thomas (with the famed gap in his front teeth). Richard’s mother was a music / drama teacher and pianist.
Leaving school at 16 with no qualifications, Richard first took a job as a clerk, and briefly dabbled in electrical engineering; before being called up for National Service at age 18.
+38Sandhill Crane: Nebraska’s Majestic Migration
Something is happening in Nebraska on the Platte River, that is heralded as one of the greatest natural spectacles in the US.
Every year around Valentine’s day, culminating in March and on through to April, hundreds of thousands of Sandhill Cranes congregate on the Platte River (South Central Nebraska), forming huge flocks and using the sandbars as a nighttime roost.
+37The passing of Paul Holmes
The death of well-known NZ broadcaster Paul Holmes today marks the end of an era in what passes for in-depth news / current affairs interviewing in New Zealand
Personally, I was never a big fan of Holmes’ as a current affairs interviewer; he didn’t have the best diction, he ‘um’ed and ‘arr’ed and in the early days at least had a slight, but noticable lisp. It made listening to a Holmes interview rather irritating.
Holmes may not have been a Jeremy Paxman or John Suchet, but he did manage to cut a number of people down to size; in an interview with Margaret Thatcher, he suggested that her management style resembled a Nuremburg rally. And America’s cup arsehole Dennis Connor walked out of the studio after Holmes suggested that now he was in New Zealand (we had beaten Conner’s arse and taken the cup) he should apologise for insulting comments he had made about members of the Kiwi crew/support team.
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