The Great Gordino Newsletter – Nov 25th 2014

Hi,
I hope all is well with you.

Glen Larson died this week. Actually, that’s Glen *A* Larson.

His was a name I saw regularly on my tv screen in my earlier years. Well, I say my tv, but it we’re going so far back I was too young to have my own tv, this was on the family tv.

"Battlestar Galactica"
I remember watching Alias Smith & Jones, and The Six Million Dollar Man, but it was another of his shows which for some reason got me noticing his name in the credits – Battlestar Galactica.

Forget the remakes, I’m talking about the original. I was just the right age to be mesmerised by Star Wars in the cinema, so when Battlestar Galactica hit the small screens, I was all over it!

Good theme tune too!

Larson was criticised throughout his career for, er, borrowing ideas from other shows for his own shows, and Battlestar Galactica was dismissed as nothing more than a cheap cash in following the Star Wars boom.

"Buck Rogers"
The same could be said for Buck Rogers In The 25th Century, but I can tell you, watching those 2 shows has had an impact on me, I’ve never looked at lip gloss in quite the same way as the gloss on some of the lips in those shows!

On the sporting front, I gave up watching international friendlies a long time ago. I watch enough sport as it is, without these matches that have no meaning. I made an exception during the week though, as England went up to face Scotland in Glasgow.

It’s the oldest fixture in international football, and much like Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers, I remember the mid to late 70s versions of this fixture, when it was played every year.

In fact this was the first match up in Scotland for over a decade, and the passion of the crowd was superb. England have the better players though, and the England victory was not really in doubt.

Another victory not really in doubt was when the England women’s team hosted Germany at Wembley. It was the first time England had played at Wembley, and a record crowd of 45,000 turned up. Unfortunately they turned up to see England get hammered…

The Germans are right at the top of the tree, previous World Cup winners, and winners of the last 5 European Championships, the women’s game is well established there. Here in England it’s a long slow development. It’s getting there, but when Germany play with their expected efficiency, the England players look second rate all over the pitch, and the 3-0 Germany win was easy for them.

What’s that, you want more passion?

How about Wales v New Zealand, rugby union, at the Millennium Stadium!

It’s one of my favourite games to watch. The passion from the crowd is superb – the physicality of the play is brutal. The players call the ref ‘sir’, and fans from both teams can sit next to each other in the stadium.

On the field, the All Blacks are clinical. Wales can hold their own, but the difference is in the small things. When New Zealand get the ball, you expect them to score unless stopped, meaning they are unlikely to drop passes. When Wales have the ball, although they are quite capable of scoring, they are also prone to dropping the ball, and it’s that level of efficiency that give the All Blacks their famous self belief.

This game also saw the 100th captaincy of Richie McCaw. Not just his 100th test match, but 100th as captain – an amazing feat, and well worth the respect he was shown in Wales.

When watching Wales I’m always reminded of when I did a panto tour winter 1996. We did a lot of shows in Wales, and I remember one tiny club we did in the middle of the valleys, when there was a 5 nations match on.

We walked in and said we were there to do the show, and our English accents had the whole club go silent, and everyone turned to stare at us, wearing their red Welsh jerseys!

Within 5 minutes though, they were buying us drinks and having a laugh, and a great time was had by all. Good memories!

Ok, that’s it, do let me know what you think – I love the feedback!
‘Til Next Time,
Health & happiness,
Gordon
P.S. Don’t forget, I put together a free guide to cover the basics of how to turn *your* passions into profits online: FB Passion Profits – The Basics

Do leave a comment!

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8 Comments

  • You really are into a lot of different sports. Just keeping up with the NFL and NBA is enough for me…

    Also I see that you are a fellow science fiction fan liking the very shows I did (or that I at least watched). Since on the topic, I also like the Doctor Who series which has an amazing record of shows and actors.

    • Oh, it’s fair to say I love my sport, yes!
      The sci-fi too! Oh, those were the days.
      It took a while for DR Who to go global, particularly in the US. I think the BBC did a good job with the relaunch all those years ago now 😉
      cheers,
      Gordon

  • Being criticized is one thing, how to be oblivious about it and remain true to oneself is the key. And it’s something worth learning from.

    Your good memories – Nothing beats being surrounded by familiar and supportive ‘own’ people!

    Just curious, Gordon. What about the ‘looked at lip gloss’ you mentioned??? 🙂

    • Ha!
      because of the time they were made, both shows had women characters that had massive Farrah Fawcett hair flicks, and they were covered in lip gloss, particularly the actress Erin Gray in Buck Rogers.
      They weren’t just there for the lip gloss though, the characters they played were feisty strong people, which was not common back then on tv,
      cheers,
      Gordon

  • I remember watching Buck Rogers and Battle Star Galactica when I was a student. Those were the days. In fact, I watched almost every episodes of them on TV with my brothers. Really bring back memories.

  • I never got into Battlestar Galactica much. It sure didn’t last long. I was more into those older shows like Alias Smith & Jones which goes WAY back. That one didn’t last long, as I recall, but was fun to watch. The 60s was my era of TV as I was born in 1955. Ed Sullivan, The Honeymooners, Twilight Zone, Gilligan’s Island, Red Skelton, Bewitched, Andy Griffith, Beverly Hillbillies, Perry Mason, Ozzie & Harriet, etc. So many good quality shows!
    Knight Rider was one of Glen A. Larson’s shows and I’ve watched every episode multiple times. Loved that show on DVD but never noticed it on TV.

    After that, I couldn’t understand much of what you were writing about. I know it was about sports but my eyes glazed over and I nodded off. Funny how that happens when I read your stuff. Maybe I have an anurism…aunerysm…anotherism…never mind.

    • I do remeber seeing Bewitched and Perry Mason. I didn’t see any of the others, but know the names except Ozzie and Harriet. Knight Rider was big on tv here, but I never got into it.
      Mr Larson did put out some good stuff, although not a lot of it seemed to last.. I couldn’t believe when I found out Galactica only lasted one season, it seemed so much more at my tender years!
      Cheers,
      Gordon