Elwood's Heroes (some quite obscure):
| Isaac Asimov | Brilliant writer in every genre from Science Fiction to crude limericks - "Foundation" series is no.1 SF |
| Roger Bacon | The world's first scientist. If people had listened to him we might all be living in space by now. |
| Leonard Bernstein | Composer, conductor and lecturer par excellence. His lectures are an invaluable source for music lovers. |
| Havergal Brian | Composer of amazingly craggy & highly individual music who continued writing till the age of 96 |
| Kate Bush | Kate's music is a refreshing breath of cool air in a world choking on a surfeit of stale pop regurgitations. |
| Roy Castle | Amazingly versatile musician, dancer, wit and all-round good guy whose battle with cancer was legendary. |
| Arthur C. Clarke | The very first web page I ever visited was ACC's home page way back in the mid 90's. It's changed a bit since. |
| Pat Condell | Click that link and go to his website and listen to what he has to say. You might not like it, but LISTEN! |
| Salvador Dali | I'm not a great admirer of art, but Dali's works fascinate me, possibly because of the dream connections. |
| Richard Dawkins | "Darwin's rottweiler". Everybody on the planet should read his book "The God Delusion". Get a copy and READ IT. |
| Richard Feynman | One of the greatest geniuses of the 20th Century. Autobiography: "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman?" |
| Mohandas Gandhi | A truly great and wise man, excellently portrayed by Ben Kingsley in the film of the same name. |
| Terry Gilliam | From cartoonist to film director, a man with a truly unique perspective on the world. |
| Robert Heinlein | Science fiction writer extraordinaire and eminently quotable genius. Try some of these quotes for example. |
| Mike Jittlov | Beg, steal or borrow his superb film "The Wizard of Speed and Time" - or download the LEGAL torrent file! |
| Stan Laurel | Arthur Stanley Jefferson, I salute you. Forget Chaplin - Movie comedy began with Laurel & Hardy. |
| Harpo Marx | Hollywood's most genial gentleman. Read "Harpo Speaks!", his hilarious autobiography. |
| Terry Pratchett | A great writer and just as quotable as Heinlein or Gandhi. Heed the wisdom of all three and you're set for life. |
| Gene Roddenberry | Even non-Star Trek fans should read Yvonne Fern's book on Gene "The Last Conversation" - Philosophical. |
| Carl Sagan | Scientist and astronomer with remarkable insights into the cosmos, and our place in it. |
| Dmitri Shostakovich | The archetypal tortured composer, brilliantly played by Ben Kingsley (him again!) in the film Testimony. |
| Ben Kingsley | I suppose I had to include him here as he has so convincingly played many of my heroes on film. |
| George W. Bush | How this cretin ever got where he is now totally defies logic. He has made the U.S. a figure of hate and scorn throughout the world. If he gets voted in again, God help all of us. Americans - you deserve better than this, and your voting decisions affect everybody on this earth. GET HIM OUT! Addendum: I wrote the above in 2004 before the U.S. elections. I am writing this just after the 2006 elections, and Bush is still there, albeit with his strings effectively cut. It's a start... |
| Maputo Archbishop Francisco Chimoio | Finally I can now add another name to this roll call of evil. According to this BBC news item, this particular deranged individual gets my vote as the person currently in most need of having his mouth sewn up. Careless talk costs lives, especially talk of this kind - and he claims to be a "man of God" too. Utterly shameful. |