Ray Mears Lecture review

  • Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.

firecrest

Full Member
Mar 16, 2008
2,496
4
uk
Don't know if anyone has started a thread yet, but I just got back home from Rays `Survivor` lecture. All in all, a good little piece. It lasted around an hour, much shorter than the Infront and Behind the Lens lecture, however I think thats probably more to do with the constraints of the public lecture series as I attended one last year and it lasted exactly the same amount of time, plus the book signing was treated the same with staff urging people to open the books where they wanted it and no personal requests, where as Ray usually signs his books personally.

He covered about the environment, global warming , extinction. I got the impression he would like to have talked at length about these subjects but was restricted fir time. Perhaps this lecture is a condensed verson of the one he will be doing later on in the year.

anyways, Im veeeery pleased because the guy is so nice. I had sent a painting down to woodlore last week on the off chance Ray might see it, I figured it was worth sending even if it went in the bin and at the signing I asked Ray if he had recieved ` a picture` and he said "oh that was you was it?!" I didnt have to specify which he mustnt get pictures very often because he knew what I was talking about imediatlye. I asent the burnt leather hands, I used the reference from his wild food series so it was only fitting I sent that one. He said he really liked it, and they will be writing to me. :D:D:D

let me put a few more of them here....
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
 
Sounds like you had a good evening Lindz, mixing with the stars aswell eh.

It's nice that he got to see the picture and has obviously asked them to write you. Cool.
 
He said he really liked it, and they will be writing to me. :D:D:D

let me put a few more of them here....
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Congratulations Linds.... I'm really pleased for you :) somehow I don't think anyone would chuck such a work of art in the bin and I'm pleased you got a good response from him. He's a good bloke and cares about his audience as well. Look forward to hearing what they say to you about the picture. :)
 
Thanks guys.
Yes Ray seems to be really geniune, I was dissapointed with the Philharmonic staff rushing everybody through the booksigning as Ray seemed to wish to be a lot more friendly than that, perhaps they have to close by a certain time or maybe because its free lectures but they were treating it like a cattle market.
 
My pics with him
DSC_0043.jpg


DSC_0040.jpg


here is one of fire breather (Greg)
DSC_0051.jpg


sorry Linz i didnt get any of you good that he had seen your pic :)
 
Come to think of it, that's the same shirt he was wearing two years ago when he appeared at the Outdoors Show.

I had thought it was the same shirt he wore when I saw him do a talk in Tunbridge Wells in April 2005 - but I've just checked and it was the same style of shirt in khaki.

Still he's probably got a lifetime supply from 5.11 :rolleyes:
 
I found the lecture very interesting and an interesting subject I could have sat and listend for another hour at least :)

Neil
 
Glad you had a good show folks, and all got to meet Ray. I enjoyed talking to him after the Derby lecture, I was a tad nervous too which suprised me, but he was a real gent.

Glad you are having luck with your painting Lindsey.:cool:
 
It was nice to meet those of you I said hi to there.

I have to say I was very impressed by the lecture.
I love the way he can answer questions and address issues surrounding some pretty controversial topics without getting caught up in the argument.

When he touched on global warming (as Linz said, it was a bit quick-fire at times) he basically said "there's still a debate about why it is happening, but it is happening" and just moved onto his point which was how it is affecting indigenous people.
I loved his description of agriculture as "a still experimental form of food gathering" (or words to that effect).

His answer to the young kid who asked if he had any other interests as a young'un was excellent. Directed to him, simple and very encouraging. That it came in the form of advice more than a simple answer just concreted the "Uncle Ray" moniker for me.

I did get the feeling the sudden end to the questions (there were 2 or 3 people on their way to the microphones on the top deck alone when it was all called to an end) was more to do with the philarmonic and liverpool uni staff than with Ray. Also I can kinda understand the rushed signing, when I was leaving the line of people waiting didn't seem much smaller than when I got my copy of Essential Bushcraft signed.

Even despite that he seemed happy to chat (albeit briefly) - I'm gonna be heading along to on of the "an evening with" events coming up and hopefully will have a chance to discuss it a bit more (I asked about how he goes about making first contact with a indigenous group to which his answer was "How long have you got? It's so difficult and different for every group." the Phil staff were hovering ever closer so I thanked him for a great lecture and left. I'd love a more detailed answer to that though.

Can't say I was at all starstruck, but my first job was working with some of the most famous people in the world (Manchester United) so I'm kinda immune to that.

He struck me as an incredibly nice guy. A bit of a gem really.
 
eh up Andy - Th'ats my business card on his desk with singeblister and mental nurse on it. He bloody well better of remembered it!!
 
Ray and Greg look to be the same sort of build, Ray always looks like a bear on TV, I seem to remember him being massive too. I bet he can't breathe fire though like our Greg! Nor does he wear ludicrous cammo pants, Ray I mean!

Glad you all had a good time though, Ray is really good at public speaking. I saw him in Leeds and a bit of his wicked side came out when some poncy fellah tried being all clever asking a question only a toff could, trying to use big words and basically making no sense at all! Ray started rolling his eyes and we were all laughing at this fellah who ducked back under the parapet quite quickly! Twit!
 
Since you mentioned build Spamel...
After seeing him in person I can't say I agree with the "tubby" title many people seem to like using for him.

He's a reasonably big guy for sure, I wouldn't say he had an imposing stature, but looks about as strong as an ox to me. Good food and plenty of exercise methinks.

No slur here, but I reckon he's got a smaller build than Greg. Hard to tell with him sitting down though.

There were some "big words" questions at the end yesterday too.
Some of them seemed carefully crafted to get him to say a certain thing. One in particular was so convoluted I lost track but Ray looked like he was just about following it and gave a decent answer.


So, does someone try to get him to slag off Bear Grylls in every question time or was it a rare incident he had to sidestep in Liverpool?
 
I think the tubby thing is just a bit of a laugh, I don't think he is fat in anyway shape or form. He's just a big bloke, I've seen some really big geezers, one that took five minutes to get out of his car which is a pain when you want to get your work done and knock off quickly! I've seen fatter squaddies to be honest!
 
So, does someone try to get him to slag off Bear Grylls in every question time or was it a rare incident he had to sidestep in Liverpool?

The 2 times I've seen him there was exactly the same question... 'who would win in a fight between you and Bear Grylls?' You could tell he was really fed up with it and just moved on to the next person.

Another question he's asked it seems every time is'have you ever used your skills in a real life or death situation?' One person he answered yes and moved on. the other person was a young kid about 7 or 8 and he explained when he did use it.
 
Yes I think the most intelligent question was asked by a small child in the audience

"did you have any other interests as a child"

None of that convoluted rubbish, just a nice straight forward question and obviously geniune.

If I had the nerve to ask a question, Id ask if the roles of men and women were consistent in the indiginous populations or were some quite unexpected. Im just curious about the answer to that, for instance men usually hunt but are there places where women do to, or go fishing?
 

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE