Seeing as the Beeb is being violent and uncivilized in its choice, my own:
Galileo, of course, was cheating ... as all good scientists in search of grants have to do. He hadn't actually invented the telescope - although what he did with it was earth-moving (literally - it was used to shatter the crystal spheres and put the sun firmly at the centre of our little part of the universe).
Cook
was almost cheating ... off to discover a continent the Dutch had already been to - but, hey, we won the publicity race!
After all where else could we send all our future criminals (and, if you think about it - most of them would have otherwise been executed - so transportation was a good thing).
Pity the Australians developed such an awful attitude to sport (they actually try to win and get upset when they don't) and never developed a decent accent. Mind you, we did get Kyle out of the place so most other things can be forgiven.
As for Leonard Bernstein - where to start?
Nutty as a fruit cake - talented and totally charismatic. Whether he was conducting Mahler or writing West Side Story or talking on a talk show, entertainment guaranteed.
I can't see why the BBC insist on picking out the war related and its like ... there is plenty to choose otherwise and much of it celebrates (as does Bernstein's conducting) the tremendous spirit which can infect all humans.
Technorati Tags: Captain Cook, Galileo, Bernstein, BBC, 25 August
- 1609: Galileo Galilei demonstrates his telescope to the Venetians
- 1768: James Cook begins his first voyage
- 1918: Leonard Bernstein born
Galileo, of course, was cheating ... as all good scientists in search of grants have to do. He hadn't actually invented the telescope - although what he did with it was earth-moving (literally - it was used to shatter the crystal spheres and put the sun firmly at the centre of our little part of the universe).
Cook
was almost cheating ... off to discover a continent the Dutch had already been to - but, hey, we won the publicity race!After all where else could we send all our future criminals (and, if you think about it - most of them would have otherwise been executed - so transportation was a good thing).
Pity the Australians developed such an awful attitude to sport (they actually try to win and get upset when they don't) and never developed a decent accent. Mind you, we did get Kyle out of the place so most other things can be forgiven.
As for Leonard Bernstein - where to start?
Nutty as a fruit cake - talented and totally charismatic. Whether he was conducting Mahler or writing West Side Story or talking on a talk show, entertainment guaranteed.I can't see why the BBC insist on picking out the war related and its like ... there is plenty to choose otherwise and much of it celebrates (as does Bernstein's conducting) the tremendous spirit which can infect all humans.
Technorati Tags: Captain Cook, Galileo, Bernstein, BBC, 25 August
Powered by ScribeFire.
No comments:
Post a Comment