He's not drunk. He's just an idiot. It was just about bearable on the radio but on TV it becomes painful.
Interview with Uncle Ray in today's Guardian
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He's not drunk. He's just an idiot. It was just about bearable on the radio but on TV it becomes painful.
There is nothing worse in the world than 30 mins of Mrs Brown's Boys, Nothing. But I'll wager half our chums on this here site will shoot me down in flames while proclaiming it the funniest thing since Cannon & Ball.
When I watch McIntyre I think I can see a robot ceaselessly refining a laughter algorithm to create the optimum level of mirth from the maximum number of viewers, but then I find myself laughing and hate myself for being so cynical.
Well, I wouldn't say that there was nothing worse, but certainly it has less pleasurable entertainment value than, say, a good solid kick in the face.
Anything or anybody that gets people off their jaxy and out and about doing constructive stuff is a positive thing in my opinion. I haven't read the article linked in the OP as I'm not really interested in the tittle tattle to be honest.
As to Mr Ray, I see him as a positive influence in promoting people to get out there in a constructive way. Media hype and spin for the most part, but just a cursory scan of the various posts on this forum demonstrates the huge influence this type of media production has, and has on such a diverse bunch of people as can be found here.
I don't use the term "bushcraft" to describe what I'm about. I see the term as a media creation, at least as far as we'd use the term today to describe a common theme. Still, it's a handy catch all term despite the term meaning different things to different people, as can clearly be seen in the individual narrative posted within these many pages.
The thing that attracts me to Mr Ray's many productions is the focus, for the most part, on the cultures that many of the methods originate. For me it doesn't go far enough though, likely from a fear of upsetting our modern sanitized, squeamish, sensibility. I want to see the real stuff, like the sami making treats of dried ptarmigan hearts & livers, for example.
Or these guys from Ness on Lewis, the last non marine natural harvest within a far reaching cultural context in existence within these islands;
http://www.intrepidcinema.com/Intrepid_Cinema/The_Guga_Hunters_of_Ness.html
The right for this traditional and cultural venture is protected in law by the very act that protects the gannet in UK waters and limits the lewis people to an annual allowance of 2000 juvenile birds. This is the last remaining window into wild "non sporting" traditional fowling in these islands. The last community to depend on fowling as a way of life was the community on St Kilda who evacuated in 1930. Modern day Guga hunting is on the extreme side the whole venture is fraught with difficulty uncertainty and no small amount of danger for those venturing out to the rock
The mountaineer Doug Scott talks about "being out there" in his book "Big wall climbing" (I think thats the title I don't have my copy anymore). "Being out there" means pushing or finding oneself beyond ones comfort zone and coping, Doug asserts that anyone can "get out there" regardless of their operating level. For Doug it's all about the doing.
The guga hunt is out there, for me it's just a pity our collective squeamishness precludes making more of it in the mainstream media. I'd like to think a guy like Ray could focus more on the immediate past and whats left of our fragile traditional present. As a media presence he could certainly sell it to another wise detached and squeamish population.
I've had recent dealings with a former veteran of some 11 trips out to Sula Sgeir, he tells me there's uncertainty as to the viability of the venture continuing after Dod, the present leader of the operation, hangs up his ropes. One of the main reasons St Kilda was evacuated was due to the fact they ran short of manpower to man/woman the various harvests on the lofty island heights. It would be a pity for the Sula Sgeir hunt go the same way.
As to Mr Ray, I see him as a positive influence in promoting people to get out there in a constructive way. Media hype and spin for the most part, but just a cursory scan of the various posts on this forum demonstrates the huge influence this type of media production has, and has on such a diverse bunch of people as can be found here.
I don't use the term "bushcraft" to describe what I'm about. I see the term as a media creation, at least as far as we'd use the term today to describe a common theme. Still, it's a handy catch all term despite the term meaning different things to different people, as can clearly be seen in the individual narrative posted within these many pages.
The thing that attracts me to Mr Ray's many productions is the focus, for the most part, on the cultures that many of the methods originate. For me it doesn't go far enough though, likely from a fear of upsetting our modern sanitized, squeamish, sensibility. I want to see the real stuff, like the sami making treats of dried ptarmigan hearts & livers, for example.
Or these guys from Ness on Lewis, the last non marine natural harvest within a far reaching cultural context in existence within these islands;
http://www.intrepidcinema.com/Intrepid_Cinema/The_Guga_Hunters_of_Ness.html
The right for this traditional and cultural venture is protected in law by the very act that protects the gannet in UK waters and limits the lewis people to an annual allowance of 2000 juvenile birds. This is the last remaining window into wild "non sporting" traditional fowling in these islands. The last community to depend on fowling as a way of life was the community on St Kilda who evacuated in 1930. Modern day Guga hunting is on the extreme side the whole venture is fraught with difficulty uncertainty and no small amount of danger for those venturing out to the rock
The mountaineer Doug Scott talks about "being out there" in his book "Big wall climbing" (I think thats the title I don't have my copy anymore). "Being out there" means pushing or finding oneself beyond ones comfort zone and coping, Doug asserts that anyone can "get out there" regardless of their operating level. For Doug it's all about the doing.
The guga hunt is out there, for me it's just a pity our collective squeamishness precludes making more of it in the mainstream media. I'd like to think a guy like Ray could focus more on the immediate past and whats left of our fragile traditional present. As a media presence he could certainly sell it to another wise detached and squeamish population.
I've had recent dealings with a former veteran of some 11 trips out to Sula Sgeir, he tells me there's uncertainty as to the viability of the venture continuing after Dod, the present leader of the operation, hangs up his ropes. One of the main reasons St Kilda was evacuated was due to the fact they ran short of manpower to man/woman the various harvests on the lofty island heights. It would be a pity for the Sula Sgeir hunt go the same way.
@Uilleachan
he would need to go back to bbc 2 to popularise it i think.
Also, are the hunters in Ness forraging or not? i think not myself. Too organised and like your manpower statement says, lots of people too. I know its illegal for commoners like me to kill them.
he would need to go back to bbc 2 to popularise it i think.
Also, are the hunters in Ness forraging or not? i think not myself. Too organised and like your manpower statement says, lots of people too. I know its illegal for commoners like me to kill them.
This write up reveals why I respect Mears so much. He doesn't adhere to the celebrity lifestyle, doesn't care about being a macho "survivalist" and he has a respect for nature that Grylls and others just don't show.
I don't call what I do "Bushcraft", however. I'm completley seperate from this whole franchise which is becoming more and more mainstream. I'm just a woodsman... We're all woodsmen and women, really. Some of us stick to the more domestic family camping, others spend their time trying to connect to the ancient past with traditional skills. I'm trying to be the latter. Again, in regards to this article I just admire Mears' personality.
I don't call what I do "Bushcraft", however. I'm completley seperate from this whole franchise which is becoming more and more mainstream. I'm just a woodsman... We're all woodsmen and women, really. Some of us stick to the more domestic family camping, others spend their time trying to connect to the ancient past with traditional skills. I'm trying to be the latter. Again, in regards to this article I just admire Mears' personality.
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Referring back to the guy that was forced to eat his dog in the Amazon, It does make me chuckle about how people are with dogs 
I wonder how they would react to the survivors of Flight 571 forced to cannibalise their fellow passengers to survive lol probably wouldnt bat an eyelid most of them!
I wonder how they would react to the survivors of Flight 571 forced to cannibalise their fellow passengers to survive lol probably wouldnt bat an eyelid most of them!
Referring back to the guy that was forced to eat his dog in the Amazon, It does make me chuckle about how people are with dogs
Well as the other passengers were already dead, probably not. If people wilfully went somewhere without adequate supplies, and then murdered a couple of the locals or their trail-mate for food, perhaps it might be a bit of an issue.
Slightly/deliberately missing the point of my post, I was making a light hearted joke about the relationship some people have with dogs and used the aircrash to exaggerate it. If the animal that crossed his path was a tapir, or sloth or pretty much any other of the 450 or so species of mammal it wouldn't have raised an eyebrow.
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But it was HIS dog, therefore he owed it a duty of care and loyalty. He didn't take enough food and plainly wasn't capable of living off the land, or couldn't be bothered to, and then compounded it by telling the story as though it made him into some sort of macho man rather than a... well I don't want to get the post deleted so I won't spell out what he is. But I'm sure you can guess my opinion on that one.
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You may want to dig into the story a bit more, he did have enough food but had to escape under a hail of gunfire from smugglers whom he'd bumped into on route and had overheard discussing that they should kill him. While under fire his canoe had capsized and he, dog and supplies were swept down river.
He made the bank and began to follow the route of the river with only the supplies in his pockets, the area is quite inhospitable, food is hard to come by, it is quite sad that the dog managed to survive and find him only to end up being eaten and I do not doubt that Mr Allen thinks so too. Put yourself in his position, would you risk death in the hope that the dog might survive? You are starving, no longer thinking straight, suffering from exposure to the extremes of temperature that environment is throwing at you and no doubt being constantly tormented by the local wild life.
Benedict Allen: my greatest mistake
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Yes, you're likely correct although I wasn't aware he'd moved. Such is my limited TV viewing.
As to the Ness guga hunters. Organised? yes. Foraging? no. Why? because they are an organized pastural crofting community with a long culture of self sufficiency, drawing on fishing and fowling resources to supplement their agricultural shortfall.
Foraging implies an element of chance, you find some or you don't, you can't go to a place like Sula Sgeir on a whim, a high degree of organisation and preparedness is required to maximize the effort in terms of return. It's the way things are done at sea and it's the same with fishing, even non commercial community fishing.
When I was young there were still guys traveling by open row boat from the local village to the north of Rona (inner sound) to fish. These guys rowed a round trip of around 24 miles were usually gone for 48hrs or longer if the weather turned and or the fishing was good, they knew the where and the when and the effort involved to maximize the viability of the venture.
As to the legality of one taking on such a venture, well for them it's a licensed venture. When the license was issued there wasn't a supermarket on the island very little motorised transport and very little work. The life style was, and still is for many, very traditional. One thing in common the western islands have with the past is the lack of work.
Here's an interesting article on the subject;
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/aug/25/scotland-hebrides-gannet-hunt
Quote from the link above:
"Donald S Murray, author of the Guga Hunters, said the critics misunderstood the practice. The Western Isles are impoverished, facing depopulation, and the hunters were men who survived on temporary jobs and low incomes, so partly relied on it to make a living.
They were the last men carrying out a form of subsistence culling which was once common across northern Britain and Ireland, most famously on St Kilda, the Hebridean island group cleared of its residents 80 years ago this month. Its critics were "modern suburbanites who have still not gotten over the assumption that he knows best how to live on the periphery." He added: "In a way, you're depriving a low income society of its right to exist. "
For a population living in some of the harshest conditions in the British Isles, the birds were an essential source of vitamin D and other essential nutrients. Guga hunting was also an essential survival skill which gave the community a measure of independence, while gannet numbers were soaring. "My argument would be who knows what the future might bring? What might happen after the next banking crisis? It's important for the people of the periphery to maintain the skills that enable them to survive; because we have to prepare for all eventualities."
Indeed, it's those skill and the preservation of the same that interests me and why I'd like to see more focus from Mr Ray on the remaining indigenous bushcraft practices. Perhaps Bear could head out to a skerrie or two to show us how he'd survive then escape, he likes getting wet so perhaps he could swim back to the mainland, we could then call him Bear Grilse
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