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Saturday, May 9, 2009

Big Bang Theory

One of my Favourite TV shows these days is the American comedy 'Big Bang Theory', a wonderfully funny, wordy and thought provoking look at the lives of four anally retentive OCD research science geeks.

It chimes with the nerdy educated side of our brains, as opposed to our drink-a-lot, rufty tufty Jock side of our brains, (maybe this is just a guy talking, Ladies please comment), and the fond hope that an understanding of every branch of learning is our key to "Approval Status" and "Goodness" for those of us who never quite qualify for the Highland Games.

Of course in our nimble youth, we can all claim to be hot in our own particular sports, but gradually being cerebral takes over from the rigours of training, and the denial of "thinking we are hot at sports" takes over when our timing, prowess and skills are, in turn, over taken by more youthful people.

Actually, corner any older English guy in a bar and have the "I wish " type of conversation, and often second to the "being stinking rich " wish....the name C.B.Fry crops up.

In America, if you had a guy, who not only went to Yale or Princeton, but went on to be a top Major League Baseballer and play in the World Series AND at the same time played NFL football AND appeared in the Superbowl AND at the same time hold world records in Athletics Long Jump and 100 yards AND play top Rugby AND at the same time be a Teacher AND then go on to be elected to Congress AND be an Editor, Writer and broadcaster...you'd be pretty darned impressed...


and so it was with Charles Burgess Fry. (1872 - 1956 ).



...who did the English equivalent of the above, by going to Wadham College in Oxford, and was a top class Cricketer for county and Country, and at the same time played international soccer for England and his team Southampton Football Club, who he got to the FA Cup Final
(our Superbowl ), who held the world Long Jump record, of over 23 ft, for years, and the 100 yard dash, who played Rugby for the Barbarians club, taught in schools and was elected to Parliament as a Liberal.


Sheesh!! just one of those and I would feel like the King of England.

But 'CB' bless him...was a rarity,and every school boys hero...and I digress from my original point, that I picked up on in the Comedy Show...when a throw away line briefly covered, that in life humans do a majority of things for some kind of deep seated approval; mostly from our parents, or our partners, or our peer groups or friends, keeping up with the neighbours or even just a status in what society expects of us by a certain age. Very rarely and honestly do we do it for ourselves. We somehow need that kind of pressure or we would follow, like water, the easiest course in life.

They even have a term in America, that we don't in the UK...that of Under-Achiever, which quite shocked me when I first hit the colonies in the 70's.

On the surface anyway, we never got around to drawing a line like that across a life. Class distinction...sure..we were world famous at that, but Under-Achiever...what the hell was that??...


Worse still, I found, a more feverent belief that in religious terms, there might be an accounting, a "Judgement Day"..."A Day of Reckoning", which to be honest... I tend to flip a finger to this particular fanciful notion...preferring to be prey to the Alfred Nobel type of Posthumous Paranoia and having just my ears burning in hell listening to what people really thought of me at my memorial service.


Alfred Nobel, the armaments manufacturer and inventor of Dynamite and Nitroglycerin, did this so well. One morning in 1888, Alfred Nobel was quite surprised to read his own obituary in a French newspaper. Obviously, it was a journalistic mistake.

One of his brothers had died, and a careless reporter had used a prewritten obituary of the wrong man. But as he read, Nobel was shocked and deeply disturbed to learn what the world really thought of him. He was seen simply as the dynamite king, the merchant of death, who had amassed a great fortune out of explosives.

Nobel had hoped his inventions would be useful to people and to nations. At that moment, Nobel resolved to show the world the true purpose of his life. He revised his will so that his fortune would be dedicated to the recognition of great creative achievements with the highest award going to those who had done the most for world peace. Today, we all associate him with the Nobel Prizes."

So from the Big Bang Theory to a man who grew rich through Big Bangs, to a Jerry Springer like thought at the end;

We all lie when we say we don't care what people think of us. Being able to say great things about other people at memorial services is hugely life affirming...but can you look at yourself in the bathroom mirror everyday, and honestly say, you've done your best? Well, I'll leave it with you.

Sir Dayvd (the lapsed tryer, who seeing as its his birthday soon, is willing to overcome all his cynicism and prejudices and lazyness and give it another go) of Oxfordshire.

10 comments:

  1. Ah,Big Bang Indeed! First, as an American, all be it not a know it all, I have never heard of the show Big Bang Theory. Sorry? Sounds like a good show. Perhaps I just missed it with my other 759 channels I try to keep up with!

    I'm still a hot football, baseball, basketball, golf and swimming Jock legend...in my own mind anyway! Those are hard to give up! Just ask Bret Farve!

    I was the Fairfield Mules (don't laugh at our mascot please) leading pass reception wide receiver (still hold that record), made it to the State finals as a starting guard in basketball, actually won the State finals in baseball playing second base (just like in bars, I never seem to be able to make it to home plate!...but I did drive in the winning run in the bottom of the 9th of the championship game!) I have won several amateur golf tournaments, including my most prized win...the Rolling Hills Country Club Silly Golf Club Throwing Contest! I was a decent swimmer, something I still do, but made my fame there by taking my city club to a Conference win as its Coach.

    What drove this mad jock?! You're right, it is a lie if we say we don't try to impress someone in our lives. For me, the driving sports motivator was the fact that my father, God rest his soul, played professional baseball. Try to live up to that one! I think I invented the term Over-Achiever as a result!

    Not that it's all bad...it has formed who I am today...and some of my fondest memories are relived on the legalized battlefields of sports!

    But enough about me...this is about CB! We Americans have someone who can stand in, and probably surpass CB's shoes...Jim Thorpe. Jim's problem is that he was a Native American Indian...in a society and time that didn't even recognize them as citizens and individuals. That didn't stop Jim.

    Jim Thorpe, pretty much a contemporary of CB, went to college, was an All-American football player, professional football player with the Canton Bulldogs who formed the NFL, an Olympic Gold medalist, track star, basketball player, the first free agent in professional sports and ball room dancing champion. Jim had his gold medals stripped, suffered racism and died penniless of cancer. I doubt if that was the same ending for CB.

    And poor ole' Alfred. I admire what he did...but who can name more than one if not two Nobel Peace Prize Winners? But look yourself in the mirror and I bet you can name at least three people who have blown shit up!

    Sir Hook the CB of Warrick

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  2. .......lol CB of WarricK.??.. LOL...I can hear the grand old gentleman of Sport turning in his grave... .. Playing for your country in one sport is incredible...in three different sports!!! lol yowser!!

    My soccer trophys and medals when I played in Germany in the early seventies, all clink in a plastic sack in the loft somewhere..tarnishing away along with the darts trophys , and the 400 and 800m track medals.. ahh halcyen days... all tucked away with the photos of me with hair and moustache... a different person..

    I just settle for the odd sponsored 5 or 7 k these days.. which reminds me i have a 13 mile sponsored walk to do in London next Saturday.. "The MoonWalk" , wearing a Bra with several thosand ladies in theirs..

    Last one i did in Edinburgh a few years ago i couldn't walk straight for days..

    I love the sound of Jim Thorpe. I must read up on him...he sounds absolutely great!!! sad about his end I wonder why he got his gold medals stripped ... He sounds like a real hero...

    Peace Prize!! Hooky!!! you're a History don LOl......you must know of the winners??? i can think of loads LOL..... Martin Luther King Jr....Mother tereasa...desmond tutu... Gorbochov... even Al Gore got one a couple of years back... plus a bunch of other US presidents.. Teddy roosvelt... ummm woodrow...and Jimmy Carter...tho i'm not sure what that was for. I don't think our prime ministers ever got one... tho the guys who sorted the trouble out in Ireland they both got one.. I must check whether Clinton got one for it...i don't think so, hope not.

    I must add another section of folk we all try and seek approval from.. .. Customers. Its interesting trying to write down why we do things of a daytime and to see how little of it is actually for yourself...

    Sir dayvd ( Aiming to drink a beer tonight ..just for himself!) of Oxfordshire

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  3. I remember you sharing the "Moonwalk" last year. That bra, my friend, is something I can get into...and the walk wouldn't be bad either.

    Ole CB sounds like a grand chap. Handsome lad too! I'm sure he swung his bat and had a few "sticky wickets" in his day!

    Yes, you must check out Jim Thorpe. Being part Native American, he was a legend in my family. His gold medals where stripped because they said he was a professional athlete...but others of WASP decent got away with theirs.

    It's ok today, the Red Man is laughing his way all the way to the reservation bank with loads of cash from their Casino's! Pay back for a few trinkets on Manhatten Island!

    OK, I confess that I know a lot of Nobel Prize winners! But, can't the Big Bang Bad Boy have some Explosive Fun! LOL!

    And, by the way, thank you for reminding me of my track days. I was also a sprinter! 100 and 200 meters and anchor the 400. Pretty fast kid in my day. I still don't like taking too long to do things...except sex of course!

    But at last, I confess, the most accolades I received was in band and music. Lots of medals in a box, a full ride scholarship and 257 original compositions and 38,000+ iTunes library later, still a musical nut! My dad hated it! Thank God for my mother, who nurtured this man child into the sensitive creative person that lurks under the crazy jock of a man I am today!

    And yes, Customers! There's no pleasing, just placating!

    Sir Hook Who's Hanging onto What Matters Most in Life of Warrick

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  4. I was a great bench warmer in Pony League one season. And yet, my penis still works.

    I have watched "The Big Bang Theory." Unfortunately, it's against another show I watch.

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  5. Excellent..:)) LOL.... nice one Sir James... you are the King of Succinct . :)) may it keep working well for you.

    which reminds me ..i must send that Wolf off to you tomorrow...i'll cut it out today and pack it. I'll send it to Bowster.

    Sir Dayvd

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  6. Sir James has just cut to the chase on the subject of who we try to please the most...our penis!

    Sir Hook the Pipe Doctor of Warrick

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  7. lol...nah thats just You Hooky.... i'll stick with my list of herd pressure ..peer pressure parents..customers. etc.. the rest of me doesn't even get a seat at the table... :)

    Hey Lady Suz... is Bowster okay?? am missing the young cubby's sage moderation.. Us knights don't leave the wounded behind on the battlefield.. If he is poorly or anything...wish him well soon....from the UK.


    d ( who's off to the seaside..and a great night supporting Placebo woohoo ) of oxfordshire

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  8. I like 'Big Bang Theory' a lot. I agree that it is smart and funny. I was really distressed when, on a recent episode, they went with a fat joke. I'll admit that's a trigger issue for me, but it seemed like such a cheap and easy shot on a show that usually rises above it. And then I remembered that it was a Chuck Lorre show. Like 'Two and a Half Men'. Which, I believe, was funny once a long, long time ago - before it went for every cheap and easy shot out there and became unwatchable. I really hope the same doesn't happen to BBT.

    Lady Howard who should throw her TV out the window

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  9. Well, I tried posting this before and it didn't seem to take. To Sir D of O, Sir D of G's and Lady Suz's home computer got knock out in a storm we had this weekend. He will probably have to reply from work for awhile.

    I look forward to the wolf thing (along with instructions). Thank you again.

    Sir James of "Little Bang" Taylor

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  10. Wow... Loss of Computer!!... i can't think which would be worse.. being ill or that....lol...

    Poor Bowie and Suz.. now they are real backwoodsmen. Maybe they will come back and be changed for ever.

    Thanks Sir James

    D of O

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