View Full Version : The real Heros of Telemark (by Mr Mears)
It has to be discussed :soapbox: :aargh4: :mrgreen: So, who saw it, what do you think and wern't they 'ard men :notworthy
MartiniDave
22-09-2003, 09:35
I'm gutted to learn that Kirk Douglas wasn't really there! :lol: :lol: :lol:
As usual with rays TV stuff I thoroughly enjoyed it. Good blend of history, survival and a bit of bushcraft.
Off to see him doing a lecture on Telemark in a couple of weeks a King Lynn.
Dave
bigjackbrass
22-09-2003, 19:20
All credit to the man, he can put together a fine show when he's enthusiastic about the subject. Here, of course, he's helped by the remarkable surviving members of Grouse and the gripping nature of the story. I'm happy to see that he can do other than a straight survival programme, actually, as I expect it means we'll see him on our screens long after the current TV infatuation with survival has faded.
Mind you, am I the only one who raised an eyebrow when he left the volunteers to their tents and trotted off to join the crew in the heated hut?
Mind you, am I the only one who raised an eyebrow when he left the volunteers to their tents and trotted off to join the crew in the heated hut?
Nope, my good lady said "you'd have thought he would go with them - looks like he would cope with the lack of calories better than the others..." :lol: :lol:
I was impressed that he did the static line, or rather impressed that he actually managed some commentary on the way down. I did one a few years ago and my language would certainly not have passed the TV censors. :-D
Enjoyed the program immensly. I think next Sunday's episode will be a good one - survival in the mountains.
i was gutted to have missed it. got tickets for his talk in cheltenham next month. i think he's doing/has done a book on the same subject.
cheers, and.
qweeg500
22-09-2003, 23:46
I've got a ticket the the Reading HofT talk in October. I think there's a book signing in Basingstoke too.
What with my Hoochie and Woodlore knife that bloke's made a mint from me this year.
Roger Gregory
22-09-2003, 23:48
As someone who is similar in shape to Mr Mears I know I could never survive on 2,500kcal per day so I'm not surprised he didn't join in :-D
I really enjoyed the programme, I'll look out for the next one. It's good to see that someone manaed to sell the idea of the programme to the production company as well as the channel without it becoming something tacky.
As for the members of Grouse .... talk about testicular fortitude!
Andy, is Mr Mears talking at the Town Hall in Cheltenham? When is the talk, where do I get tickets? I'm in Gloucester so it's not far to travel ..... and yes, we need to meet up for a pint sometime!
Roger
qweeg500
22-09-2003, 23:58
Hi Roger,
Check the news section on http://www.raymears.com
Regards,
Roger Gregory
23-09-2003, 00:09
Thanks Qweeg, just looked at the link. I might even be able to get to Malvern if Cheltenham is sold out.
Roger
Well impressed. Also amused by the mini "rant" from the Norwegian chap about children having no idea where their food came from. Good for him ! (and for demo'ing what to do when you fall through the ice).
and yes, we need to meet up for a pint sometime
my thoughts exactly!
cheers, and.
I like my Sundays again! SAS and Ray Mears.
Still got to watch it all though (putting daughter to bed).
Re: the kids thing, I have frequently been shocked at the ignorance of kids, in several departments, including food. I wonder if it's got anything to do with prepackaged, 'formed' food? After all, it doesn't look like anything real, does it? (How can companies sell steak made of formed cuts of meat?) they're in rectangles, or letters etc.
Sez
bigjackbrass
24-09-2003, 00:53
I'd almost forgotten about the SAS programme. Despite having the greatest admiration and respect for the SAS I do silently despair at the continuing flood of SAS this, that and the other (the other, in particular, bothers me...). I only saw the latter part, but Ray Mears' programme seemed all the better to me because it wasn't a gun-toting testosterone fest like the SAS show, especially remarkable considering it's about a wartime operation. Maybe I just see too may people who like to play at being soldiers by buying BB guns and DPM clothes without a thought to what soldiering is really about, and what a serious business it is. "Telemark" put over that side of the equation with admirable force and clarity.
MartiniDave
24-09-2003, 09:02
A bizzarre twist to all this from my personal perspective is that I watched the movie "Heroes of Telemark" on TV as a youth with my best mate, and I remember saying to him "I want one of those knives like he (Kirk Douglas) has got" That knife was a puukko of some description. Now as a result of Ray Mears tv appearances getting me interested in bushcraft, I actually own a couple of them!
I know - I'll get me coat! :oops:
all the sas merchandising gets on my wick too. i can sort of realate to the whole military trip. but when i start flicking through things like the sas mountain survival/sas desert survival/sas jungle survival only to find that they're all basically the same book with different photos! :twisted: i can't help but feeling that barry davies BEM is laughing all the way to the bank...
disengage rant mode.
cheers, and.
Did anyone happen to see the article in the Radio Times entitled 'Your life in their hands' - a comparison between Eddie Stone and good old Ray. It made quite an amusing read.
I'll be at the Reading talk too Qweeg - look out for the tall guy wearing a bushshirt :lol:
Last nights episode was really good :biggthump
I went to see Ray Mears this week [After twisting a mates arm to come along, with the promise of beer afterwards] He was giving a talk at the
Ilkley Literary festival, [North Yorkshire] at the Craiglands Hotel. There were about 150 people present, mainly families and a couple of widescreen televisions on either side of the podium, showed pictures from the series. Ray came on and talked for about fifty minutes, [during which time my bladder was ready to explode from the three pints consumed in the bar prior to the show]
He signed books before the talk and afterward. The talk itself covered most of the information already discussed in the T.V documentary, but there were some facts, that he must have left out of the series because of their gruesome nature. He took questions afterwards, but refused to tell what his next project would be, only that there was one and it was secret. All in all, definetly worth the fiver entrance fee!
[I kept looking at his belt but he must have left his knife upstairs]
Hugh Fearnly Whittingstall is on at the same venue next week..........
Are you going to Hughes as well?
Fraid not. Couldnt get anyone to go with me. Hugh's not as big a pull as Ray up here.
I know what you mean, it's a bit like the bushcraft God and the small holders Prince :mrgreen: I do like Hugh though, very entertaining and I bet he's brilliant at foraging.
Getting off the subject now though!
For me the 2nd of the 3 hero’s of Telemark was the best one. Over all though it was a very good series and I wish I had the opportunity to go to the talks as well. Oh well next time!
bigjackbrass
13-10-2003, 23:35
For me the 2nd of the 3 hero’s of Telemark was the best one.
Absolutely. I thought that the three part format was just a little too long given the focus of the documentary. Either three slightly shorter episodes or two slightly longer ones would have been perfect, but as it was I was left thinking that twenty minutes or so was a bit padded. Still good stuff, mind, but the pacing was uneven. Overall I rate the show pretty highly, and it was rather poignant that one of the members of Grouse died so soon after filming. So many real heroes slipping away before we learn about them.
Does anyone know if the DVD release is identical to the telly version? I read somewhere (on this forum, I think) that Series 3 of "Extreme Survival" was edited for DVD, and indeed I had the opportunity to check that last night when BBC2 showed the "Roger's Rangers" episode again. It looks to me as though the DVD is edited for overseas markets
gurushaun
14-10-2003, 00:20
I agree with BJB, that there are signs of an Overseas slant being put on some of the shows, but the Rodgers Rangers show was still my favorite as it contains so much to do with boreal forests, closest to the stuff we find in the UK. Worth watching for the firelighting info alone.
Cheers
Shaun
I agree with BJB, that there are signs of an Overseas slant being put on some of the shows, but the Rodgers Rangers show was still my favorite as it contains so much to do with boreal forests, closest to the stuff we find in the UK. Worth watching for the firelighting info alone.
Cheers
Shaun
I like the one he did in Belarus (is that spelt right?) for the same reasons.
bigjackbrass
14-10-2003, 14:32
Actually I wasn't suggesting an overall foreign slant to the shows - I'm perfectly happy learning about the wider world of bushcraft - so much as the way the DVD episodes are shorter and have a brief walk-on by Ray introducing himself, which I don't recall from the ones on the Beeb.
I do especially enjoy the episodes in similar climates to ours, though, and I suppose that it's partly familiarity and partly the practical application of the skills he shows. The "Rangers" programme is one I particularly like because I lived and worked in New England over many years, very much out in the woods, so watching it is almost like being home (although it's not my home at all). I'd love to see Ray do an expanded version of his short slots on "Tracks" (or was it "Country Tracks"? Something like that) exploring the UK countryside. Indeed, impressive as his skills are in any environment I think I have most enjoyed the glimpses of him in Britain, dealing with the small things we overlook on our own doorstep. It's something I like about this site, too.
I couldn't agree with you more BJB. I recorded many of Rays' appearances on 'Tracks' and 'Country Tracks' when they were first aired in the mid-90's and I still think some of them are his best! I rang Woodlore a few months back to enquire if they were ever going to get those snippets out on video / DVD but they couldn't promise anything in the near future - probably hassles with ownership or similar.
In fact I'd be interested in anyone else out there recorded these as there are several I never saw and would like to do so.
Bob :-D
Guys - I have only ever seen one 10 minute episode and I would love to see the rest of Rays early stuff :-D We should have a tracks meet up and watch them all :biggthump
Dave Farrant
15-10-2003, 14:17
I also was a little dissapointed when Mr Mears was not mucking in with the lads trying to survive in the same way.
But then just as I was saying to my fellow TV watchers,
"Wouldn't it be good if Ray was butchering that reindeer instead of some highly trained bush butcher"
Lo an behold who should emerge from the said carcass triumphant, liver in one hand, heart in the other than RM hmself.
My estimation of the bloke went up no end. :notworthy
I believe you shouldn't eat it if you couldn't kill it.
more of the same please, with ketchup on.
i was gutted to have missed it.
Can someone tell me what language this is in? :-?
you'll have to look it up in one of those english/american slang dictionaries :roll: :lol:
oi! and no using that "W" word over this side of the pond either!
cheers, and.
What days is ray mears on tv in the uk ??? I though his series has ended ?
wayne
In fact I'd be interested in anyone else out there recorded these as there are several I never saw and would like to do so.
Bob :-D
Bob,
I only have one tracks snippet still on tape (and regret not saving more) because I thought it was too good to get rid of.
It's the flint knapping one. Do you have it already?