If you attend the 3rd Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture, then, lucky lucky you - wish I could have! Please post your thoughts on the evening into the comments...
I'm sure Mark Carwardine will make it a memorable event. And if Mark happens to read this post, then er.... HELLO!
2 comments:
Will do Gareth. Am currently in the Apple Store on Regent Street playing with Macs. I have an appointment this afternoon at the National Sound Archive to listen to a couple of episodes of the radio series before going to the lecture this evening. Not that I am trying to rub it in or anything.
David
A most enjoyable day off yesterday. At the National Sound Archive I listened to two episodes of Last Chance to See – Komodo Dragon and Juan Fernandez Fur Seal. I then wandered round some shops and headed off to meet some people in a pub before the lecture. I went via the Royal Institution in order to remind myself where it was and just as I was walking past Mark Carwardine turned up in a taxi, so I got him to sign my ticket.
The lecture was introduced by a UK kid’s TV nature programme presenter called Nick Baker, and then Mark started on his talk. He started on the difficulties in raising money for species conservations as opposed to individual animals and quoted some figures about charitable giving in the UK. Only 0.5% of the £7 billion donated goes to animal charities and the majority of that goes to animal welfare groups. The RSPCA £76 million, Cat Protection League £23.5 million and Donkey Sanctuary £16 million, are in a different league to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society £3.5 million, Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund £1 million, Save the Rhino £0.5 million. He said it is amazing what the conservation charities do with such little money, and how they manage to raise it in the first place.
He then moved on to a variety of anecdotes about working with Douglas, but also about his career as a conservationist and conservation activity in general. These went from his meeting with Douglas, how they decided where to go for Last Chance, through to a piece of advice he says they were given about the food in China - “Keep chewing until its stops moving and only complain if it bites your tongue”.
I will write some more over the weekend.
Oh yes, and I seem to have purchased Douglas’s Z88 computer that is mentioned in the book. Well, I did say to my wife I might buy an iPod but that looks as if it will have to wait a few months.
David
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