Posted on 03/19/2006 6:34:59 PM PST by Candor7
David Attenborough is 80 in May, but he has been such a steady, visible presence in our lives .............................. .................................................... It is a brusqueness reflected in his views about the natural world. Attenborough refers to the "irrational romanticism" which dominates so much natural history coverage, including, he suggests, the films March of the Penguins and Born Free. "I mean, Elsa the lioness is a story which is entirely based on violence. George Adamson shot Elsa's mother in the first place; they sustained the cub by killing antelope themselves and giving her half-dead antelope so that she could toy with them and learn how to pounce. Eventually she died of disease; Joy was murdered; George was murdered. And the lions which were trained for the film then proceeded to eat a lot of Africans and one or two Europeans. I mean, it's death all the way through. And yet you get ..." he starts to play the air violin and sing, "Born freeee, as free as the wind blows ..."
Has he seen the film Grizzly Man, in which amateur naturalist Timothy Treadwell comes to a sticky end after getting too pally with the grizzly bears he is studying? Attenborough is familiar with the case. He sees Treadwell's soppy reasoning as symptomatic of the spoilt, modern world in which people "aren't used to being uncomfortable; they think the world owes them a living and the idea that they might be cold or hungry is alien ... There are a number of people in that mad, green [circle] who say nature is wonderful, lovely, and mankind has distorted it, and if you go out there with an innocent heart ... well," he huffs. "If you go out there with an innocent heart, you're eaten."
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Attenborough, a charter member of the old boy's club. He would be all for wearing warm seal skin.
As am I.
Attenborough, a charter member of the old boy's club. He would be all for wearing warm seal skin.
As am I.
Or, as Jack London said it, Nature is red in tooth and claw.
Benevolent Nature is an urban pipe dream. And ignorance can be deadly when it collides with reality. Ask Timothy Treadwell, whose new nickname is "Brunch."
Unbelievably beautiful, heavy as heck, all the fur was lined up to shed water.
I put it back on the rack at Neiman Marcus (price tag: $9000.00).
Egads, imagine how many machines it'd take to keep one breathing to 160!
Bravo for David Attenborough.
I bet it was something to see.
They say the best fur of all was sea otter. Light as a feather, smooth as silk, warm as toast. I'm glad the little critters are recovering from the overhunting of a hundred years ago, and I wish them well. That said, if anybody figured out how to farm them in a sustainable way, and the price were anything I could afford, I would just love to buy my wife an otter coat.
-ccm
Same here. I get a laugh out of those who misconstrue the animal kingdom. Put my head in a lions mouth? .....
Yeah right!
This article is a great reminder from an old boy who has seen it all.
The Great Escape ping!!! Roger X
I figure he must have skimped on the meat budget that month, or he ate some fish he hadn't washed off himself.
I bet they shot the grizzly that et him though!
Even the liberals couldn't bear to witness a, digested, extruded version of Treadwell?
LOL
I never cared for Attenborough but maybe I was wrong.
"...The Great Escape ping!!! Roger X..."
Wrong Attenborough. That was Richard. They are brothers. Richard was also in Jurassic Park, among others.
I haven't seen otter, though, so maybe that's even more amazing. Would also get you a lot of slack from the missus :-)
Each square inch of sea otter fur has ten times more hairs than on a person's entire head, and much finer too. One million hairs per square inch! It is unquestionably the finest fur in the animal kingdom, surpassing sable, ermine, mink or seal by far.
Would also get you a lot of slack from the missus :-)
Wouldn't it ever. I am still weak in the knees from her response when I upgraded the diamond in her engagement ring. Women are funny that way.
-ccm
Heh. Nothing says 'I love you' like pure carbon crystal.
Tag line worthy
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