But can I come and sit on your pillion instead?

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The first serious point in this so very long thread.

I think that what they've done is slowly take AB nearer the main -stream, and that they've turned it into a bit of a show and circus, and those people who like this kind of life because it's a bit like dropping out don't like the fact it's no longer exclusive - and they behave in the same way that any select few do - they become snobbish, and they call people who like E&C armchair riders and such.

Have to tell you guys, Long Way Round is what inspired me to get off my bum in front of the telly and ride to Russia - I didn't think you needed a back up crew, but I did assume it was probably very expensive.

But then, being an intelligent chap (like most of the audience), I read a little, joined a few forums and discovered that... no.. it didn't have to cost the earth and you can pretty much do it on any bike that came along.

Would I even know who Ted Simon was if it wasn't for E&C - nope - would I be doing this without that initial inspiration I got from them... who knows perhaps something else would have sparked my interest.

I hate this thread. I hate it because it has brought out the very worst in all of us, it's brought out the snobby behaviour and un-friendly jibes that demonstrate that we're not friendly and welcoming, but actually a bit elitist... and I can't stand elitism in any form.

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Yes, of course, but only in very small circles.

Oh and I know a bloke who won Big Brother.

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I love this thread. The only problem is that so much of it is in English.
I need a Canadian to translate it to american english.

..............................................

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[quote=impasto;171770



Charley and Ewan being Brits,[/quote]

Ewan MacGregor is SCOTTISH!!

he would Choke on his Haggis if he read that Mardi..

Martyn

you try telling that to a Scot! they are a touchy race.... I should know my mate is one and he can be a real pedant about it.

[quote impasto] AND, if we reallly want to get technical, British actually originally referred to people of Celtic origin

Tell that to a Glasgow Rangers fan!

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'He who laughs last, was too slow to get the joke'
Never confuse the map with the journey.

Well the Celts displaced the ancient Brits who fled to Wales and the westerly bits ,then came the Romans who displaced the Celts to the mid westerly bits , then after they buggered off came the Angles ,Saxons and Jutes who were then pushed westerly by the Vikings .
William the Bastard came over from Normandy built a few castles and buggered up the language and laws .
In the meantime the Picts and Sots were swapping places and leapfrogging over a Roman wall somewhere up north , molesting sheep and trying on skirts .
Then a few hundred years later when England had run out of suitable king material ,they imported one from the above bunch of leap froggers and everyone though it jolly clever to call it Britain again .
Various forays into Ireland to try to beat them into submission rape their cattle and steal their women ,and another imported king or two , plus a brief period without one ,and it was time to call it Great Britain .

So how about that for a race of misfits ?
And I are one .

Canadians officially now use British spelling , although I can translate if requested -eh .


PS
Dong way down is not on Canuck TV yet , I bet you can tell ,can't you ?

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Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

Beautifully put I'm Welsh, but British, from the United Kingdom originally of Celtic decent but with a bit of Saxon mixed in (for fun).

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Charlie Boorman claims to be Irish (or at least, he has done on Irish tv).. For all I know, he probably claims to be British when it suits him too

Heard he even claims to be an Adventure Biker too....... when it suits, and the moneys rolling in!!

This'll swing it... I was once on Radio 4 and OMG, it's still there on the Listen Again page.

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Charlie and Ewan are like Marmite! You either love 'em or hate 'em.

Their expeditions are a pure money making scam just as Z factor/Pap Idol etc etc are. They are watered down and dumned down for the brain dead who will NEVER leave their comfortable life to do any exploring. Entertainment is what it is called. They are HUGELY successful (businesses) when compared with previous motorcycle films/publications and have brought an ersatz 2 wheel lifestyle to the masses.

Its totally contrived superficiality. Nothing wrong with that in the current climate!!! Nothing at all!!!!

Neither of them are any good at riding motorcycles. That hasn't stopped the faux celeb of Charlie Boorman becoming a reviewer in the national motorcycle press in the UK. I suppose that would annoy a few people. It's a bit like one of the talentless nobodys that your gran pays £1.50/min to vote for on the Z factor telling John/Paul/George and Ringo how to write pop songs. The fact is that Charly has become a de facto 'Expert' on all things 2 wheeled through being a celeb and a mate of Ewan. That's showbusiness....

The 1150/1200 have become best sellers to the cash rich who need another lifestyle accessory ala 4x4s. A mate has had 2 GSs and after 2 years finally decided he didn't like Charly/Ewan afterall and then thought he'd bought the wrong bike. Neither bike ever went of the pavement. Doh! That's advertising.........BMW 1 punters 0.

They didn't need even a third of the people (26 and not counting every local fixer they used) working for them on their 'adventure holiday'. You don't need 2 4x4s and 5 cameramen/security guard/medic////. Most TV production is single camera, presenter, producer,fixer/researcher and that's it. Bigger travel doco's might have a team of 8 people but most multi task. But you can pay for your 26 people and 4x4s when you are getting obscene amounts of money (£300k/hour) from the tax payer so why not? Most viewers won't question this........

I thought that the Long Way idea had had its day after Race to Dakar. You know the one where Charly didn't last more than 5 days but tells everyone he meets that he did the Dakar. I think that was Simon that did it Charly not you. You were a spectator. But the public keep lapping it up.......

Overall the camerawork was better (a bit of HD) and the production values higher than LWA but it was SOOOOOOO formulaic and laboured. Here's Charley and Ewan at this ruin, C+E at this one/C+E at this 5 star hotel then this one etc.
What really really annoyed me and my missus was 'expert' Charly regurgitating every little fact that a fixer/local or guide had told him minutes earlier to camera as if he had 'the knowledge'. Time and time again he would big himself up and make out he was well researched and read. He was using the LWD as his showreel to get a presenting job coz he can't act. He'll fool someother publications/production company or travel programme and we'll have his bad teeth and adolescent antics plastered across or pages or screens for the next 2 years until he's been found out. But then that's the 'MAGIC???' of televsion ain't it......

They are celebs Charly and Ewan. Nothing more. Don't be fooled that because they have thrown their legs over a tax payer sponsored GS that they'll be inviting you round to the Ivy for lunch coz they're bikers just like you. As for presenting a 'positive' image. I don't think pulling wheelies, lighting farts, whining like a girl and crashing into your fellow riders is presenting a positive image. Far from it. But some people believe it........

As for the 'charidy' work. Show me the benefits of any celeb carrying on about aid to Africa. It's the zeitgeist ....renta celeb. Every charidy does it........

Take it for what it is. A couple of luvvies playing at being real adventurers in a nice safe cottton wool wrapped enviroment with plenty of backup and money to get them out of trouble. Switch your brain off and you'll enjoy it more then.


That's why I'm suprised the thread is still active. The programmes were never aimed at those that do or those in the know. They were aimed at bored cash rich mid life crisis types who have a large disposable income but not too many brain cells. Not the kind of people the HUBB attracts. I thought you all would have chuckled at their fake plastic adventure and gone about your business. Seems they hit a raw nerve..........


All the best, S

Nice post S, you got it in one!

The thread survives because it "properly" belongs in the new "bar" that has opened up recently - in other words, it is still winter in the UK and beyond, so some folk, including me, have a bit of time to spare, some days anyway; actually I am waiting for England to give some to the Welsh in the Rugby later today, but that is .
(Ireland 10 - Italy 0, right now).

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Dave