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Clive James RIP

Loafing Oaf

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-50578512

Been 'terminally ill' for nearly ten years, which must be some sort of record.

Wouldn't describe myself as a huge fan, but I did derive some enjoyment from his tv and columns.

Edit: Apologies for the typo in the title, can a mod correct?

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B.A._Baracus

I liked watching his documentaries years ago. Was well too young to fully appreciate them but enjoyed them none the less.

Rip dude. Between him and Gary Rhodes it's not a good day for classic tv personalities/stars of the 90s.

Thelonious Monk

I liked him, seemed like such a nice bloke. I can't believe he was only 80, I thought he was 80 about 20 years ago.

Wanderer78

Rip, always loved his presentation on the screen

[Deleted User]

Jonathan Miller also

possibly not as widely known, but a towering intellect and achiever in several fields from comedy through to opera production as well as writing.

blastman

Miller was a member of Beyond The Fringe with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and had a degree in medicine, very talented man.

everlast75

A very clever and funny bloke. Came across as very genuine. Always enjoyed his witty repartee and presentation style.

RIP.

blastman

Leçons De Ténèbres

By Clive James

But are they lessons, all these things I learn
Through being so far gone in my decline?
The wages of experience I earn
Would service well a younger life than mine.
I should have been more kind. It is my fate
To find this out, but find it out too late.

The mirror holds the ruins of my face
Roughly together, thus reminding me
I should have played it straight in every case,
Not just when forced to. Far too casually
I broke faith when it suited me, and here
I am alone, and now the end is near.

All of my life I put my labour first.
I made my mark, but left no time between
The things achieved, so, at my heedless worst,
With no life, there was nothing I could mean.
But now I have slowed down. I breathe the air
As if there were not much more of it there

And write these poems, which are funeral songs
That have been taught to me by vanished time:
Not only to enumerate my wrongs
But to pay homage to the late sublime
That comes with seeing how the years have brought
A fitting end, if not the one I sought.

-- First published in The New Yorker magazine, May 27, 2013

OldRio

Lovely poem above.
I read a number of books by Clive James but 'Unreliable Memories' is simply wonderful. Very very funny.
A great intellect with warmth and compassion.
RIP

[Deleted User]

Deleted User wrote: »

Jonathan Miller also

possibly not as widely known, but a towering intellect and achiever in several fields from comedy through to opera production as well as writing.

Two renaissance giants depart for the grand stage. Thank goodness we still have the Kardashians to fill the cultural void.

Zubeneschamali

'The Book of my Enemy Has Been Remaindered'
The book of my enemy has been remaindered
And I am pleased.
In vast quantities it has been remaindered
Like a van-load of counterfeit that has been seized
And sits in piles in a police warehouse,
My enemy's much-prized effort sits in piles
In the kind of bookshop where remaindering occurs.
Great, square stacks of rejected books and, between them, aisles
One passes down reflecting on life's vanities,
Pausing to remember all those thoughtful reviews
Lavished to no avail upon one's enemy's book --
For behold, here is that book
Among these ranks and banks of duds,
These ponderous and seeminly irreducible cairns
Of complete stiffs.

https://web.cs.dal.ca/~johnston/poetry/bookofmyenemy.html

Loafing Oaf

blastman wrote: »

Leçons De Ténèbres

By Clive James

But are they lessons, all these things I learn
Through being so far gone in my decline?
The wages of experience I earn
Would service well a younger life than mine.
I should have been more kind. It is my fate
To find this out, but find it out too late.

The mirror holds the ruins of my face
Roughly together, thus reminding me
I should have played it straight in every case,
Not just when forced to. Far too casually
I broke faith when it suited me, and here
I am alone, and now the end is near.

All of my life I put my labour first.
I made my mark, but left no time between
The things achieved, so, at my heedless worst,
With no life, there was nothing I could mean.
But now I have slowed down. I breathe the air
As if there were not much more of it there

And write these poems, which are funeral songs
That have been taught to me by vanished time:
Not only to enumerate my wrongs
But to pay homage to the late sublime
That comes with seeing how the years have brought
A fitting end, if not the one I sought.

-- First published in The New Yorker magazine, May 27, 2013

To illustrate the other side of his talent, the line of Clive's I best remember is from one of his tv shows:
"Since I left it Sydney it's quadrupled in size...and I guess I have too.":)

Gynoid

Awwww I just heard

Loved his book Cultural Amnesia and still dip into it now and then. Bit of a polymath, was Clive.

bonzodog2

RIP Clive
I have several vinyl LPs of Pete Atkin singing words by CJ from about 40 years ago
Heres one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Butt2hVdyzg

I gave my dad 2 books by CJ

A master of words.

Loafing Oaf

Somebody on another forum reminded me of those New Year's Eve roundups he used to do. They were brilliant, great anecdote for the saccharine slush everywhere else on telly that night.:D

r93kaey5p2izun

Oh I just loved his deadpan delivery style and his dry wit. I loved Postcards, particularly the Buenos Aires one with his tango lessons and also Havana.

odyssey06

Bittersweet, these are his Desert Island Discs from BBC radio.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00949tr

Edit... download the podcast version as player seems to be overloaded.

Tony EH

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

I can't believe he was only 80

Holy crap really? He seemed 80 in the 80's.

maudgonner

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

Somebody on another forum reminded me of those New Year's Eve roundups he used to do. They were brilliant, great anecdote for the saccharine slush everywhere else on telly that night.:D

I'd completely forgotten those, they were great. There's a bunch of them on Youtube, so that's what I'll be watching tonight

0lddog

Quinton Tasteless Locker wrote: »

Oh I just loved his deadpan delivery style and his dry wit. I loved Postcards, particularly the Buenos Aires one with his tango lessons and also Havana.

Buenos Aires :

:):)

0lddog

odyssey06 wrote: »

Bittersweet, these are his Desert Island Discs from BBC radio.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00949tr

Edit... download the podcast version as player seems to be overloaded.

He may have done DiD more than once

xper

A Point of View, BBC Radio 4, 18 Dec 2009

"I have been registered for VAT since 1973. Great stories are often introduced by a sentence similarly factual, bald, terse. Gaul is divided into three parts. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. I have been registered for VAT since 1973”.

Enjoy: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b00p99nb

stoneill

OldRio wrote: »

Lovely poem above.
I read a number of books by Clive James but 'Unreliable Memories' is simply wonderful. Very very funny.
A great intellect with warmth and compassion.
RIP

The sulphretted hydrogen reference to his uncle still make me laugh!

Loafing Oaf

Does anyone else have Rory Bremner's impression of Clive more imprinted on their mind rather than the man's own voice? This catchphrase 'Mr Mitsubishi Wishy-Washy Plenty Doshy' popped into my head when I heard Clive had died but then I realised it must have been a Rory Bremner line rather than one of Clive's own.

Mad_maxx

wonderfully wry and sardonic observer

Most of the great raconteurs are gone

maudgonner

maudgonner wrote: »

I'd completely forgotten those, they were great. There's a bunch of them on Youtube, so that's what I'll be watching tonight

Watching Clive James on 1993 now and so far we've had Rolf Harris, Gary Glitter, Ted Heath, Michael Jackson and Prince Andrew pop up. There's definitely a drinking game (a very depressing one) in this - if Jimmy Saville features in the next segment I'm cracking open a bottle.

Loafing Oaf

Clive James interviews Jonathan Miller on Sky Arts right now

Better Than Christ

As a child, I used to take notes while watching his 'Postcard From...' series, so I could cleverly adapt/shoehorn his dryly funny little one-liners into essays and stories at school.

Badly Drunk Boy

Loafing Oaf wrote: »

Clive James interviews Jonathan Miller on Sky Arts right now

And there's an Arena programme on BBC4 at the moment with Jonathan Miller, until 00.30.

dxhound2005

OldRio wrote: »

Lovely poem above.
I read a number of books by Clive James but 'Unreliable Memories' is simply wonderful. Very very funny.
A great intellect with warmth and compassion.
RIP

Unreliable Memoirs.

cj maxx

Mad_maxx wrote: »

wonderfully wry and sardonic observer

Most of the great raconteurs are gone

I used to sit up to watch his show on BBC. It took me a while to get his sarcastic ( maybe not the best word) humor