Mr. Blobby Builds A Roman Villa

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Building a Roman Villa, C4.....I have been watching the programme and I find it very comical. A bit like a carry on film. The Prof has chosen the Blobbyist fattest unfit builders he could find. How many were that size working as slaves in those days. He then has them set out several courses with lime putty which prove to be inadequate. Why, didn't he find that out before they started. So, it has to be done again. They then make a trolley thing for transporting stone with wooden axles. Which amazingly breaks. I hope this isn't the best of the funny bits. You must watch it.
 
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I watched it, funniest bit for me was when the prof caught them using 20th century wheelbarrows :LOL: nearly had a coronary.

Great viewing.
 
He then has them set out several courses with lime putty which prove to be inadequate. Why, didn't he find that out before they started. So, it has to be done again.

Yes if the time scale on the programme is correct they burnt the lime and were using it straight away so it's understandable why the wall didn't work. Lime needs to be matured for at least 3 months before use.
It is funny though maybe they should be dressed as roman builders for full impact and comic value. The prof also adds something to the mirth too, a classic example of someone who's expertise is straight out of a book or manuscript.
I do feel it would be better to employ builders with the right apptitude and some experience in this form of building as this program does give a bit of a image of builders as foul mouthed , fat thickos :mad:
 
Last nights episode showed a new axe being made which was far stronger but the cart couldn't be used because it was a Health and Safety risk. So out came the band wheelbarrows.
The Prof. is a real toss pot telling them they are not working hard enough. For Mr. Blobbies they are working very, very hard. It must be difficult for them to bend over with the rolls of fat they have around them. Now they've got women labourers it'll be interesting if we can hear the chat.
 
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It's very subliminal but I reckon you've got a problem with 'fat' people wreckedit.
 
i too think its comical,especially the way they are slagging each other off,
the chippy having to work out the cutting list and doing his utmost not to fook it up,must be a bit of a nightmare to sort out,but it is very intresting how he has got to cut and shape the timbers the old way.

WONDER IF THEY PUT A PRICE IN FOR THE JOB :LOL:



auf wiedersehen pet,which 1s OZ, ;)
 
It's very subliminal but I reckon you've got a problem with 'fat' people wreckedit.

In the context of this Roman build nobody could possible look like that in them days doing 16hr days on a building site.
The only ones that did, would have been in the ruling class, the rest would have been slaves. I wouldn't be surprised if in one episode they brought French & Saunders on to pass around the drinks.

Fat is the word that TV,Radio and newspapers use all the time so who am I to change what is now the accepted norm. I have tried using 'big' but fat people aren't stupid, they know I'm being patronising. So, I would never say anything like that unless they invited it, which occasionally they do.
 
It's so farsical..DON'T use wheelbarrows, but for H&S, use steel scaffolding. Build a cart, it's rubbish, and falls apart! I wonder - in Roman times....when there were specialists making coinage, wine, boats, pottery, so your domestic builder surely wouldn't construct their own cart? They would buy one at a cart dealerership? They don't make their own tools, someone makes them, they buy them from a tool shop. They don't make their own shoes, they buy them from a shoesmith(?)

It's like a modern person being asked to construct an iPod, and been given a collection of copper, alloy, gold, plastic, and a bug.
 
Cobblers, MM. ;)

I think you meant cobblers, not a shoesmith. Cobbler - one who makes/repairs shoes.

You're confusing Low Tech with High Tech.

Granted, what we see now as Low Tech was once High Tech, as perhaps the iPod, and it's ilk, will, one day, be seen as Low Tech. Then, maybe, someone will be able to construct an iPod from a collection of copper and other metals, plastic, etc.
 
Wreckedit, I wasn't having a go mate. It was meant as a joke due to the amount of references you made to fat people in the program.

There are many of these 'medieval re-enactment' fairs, shows, tv programs etc. Do all of the actors 'conform' to what would be the expected weight? I VERY much doubt they do. In fact, if you want to be pedantic, NONE of these programs/fairs/shows etc are factual due to the fact that almost every single person taking part is too tall!
 
In fact, if you want to be pedantic, NONE of these programs/fairs/shows etc are factual due to the fact that almost every single person taking part is too tall!

....and they probably haven't got fleas....and they've probably had a bath or a shower within the last 3 months.. :LOL:
 
Wreckedit, I wasn't having a go mate. It was meant as a joke due to the amount of references you made to fat people in the program.

Yes ok Blas, I was trying to get some debate going about what tripe the programme is but know doubt the building will be fabulous.

Also, what with the boring posts and the way this site behaves on my computer, the cold weather, I'm getting depressed. :)

But the prog. is funny though with all those Mr. Blobbies. I guess if they were skinny it wouldn't be so good. :)
 
Cobblers, MM. ;)

I think you meant cobblers, not a shoesmith. Cobbler - one who makes/repairs shoes.

You're confusing Low Tech with High Tech.

Granted, what we see now as Low Tech was once High Tech, as perhaps the iPod, and it's ilk, will, one day, be seen as Low Tech. Then, maybe, someone will be able to construct an iPod from a collection of copper and other metals, plastic, etc.

Without cheating and doing a Wiki search, I was under the impression that a Cobbler, 'cobbled' back together a shoe, ie my term a shoesmith, whereas the maker of shoes was called something else, hence my term 'shoesmith', to abide by blacksmith et al..to keep the joke running that I made, 'cart' dealership..no? :confused: One has to let their hair down on their birthday, nobody can really seriously say they did this or that in ancient times, historians can make guesses. My point was, the end user bought the goods, they didn't cottage industry them, until the Romans left.
 
Erm , seeing as I've got 30 years in restoration and heritage building and 15 years in re-enactment I suppose I'd better add something. I'm not going to say I'm qualified to answer but I'll have a go.

Micky you are correct , a cobbler doesn't make shoes he repairs them. The maker of shoes was traditionaly called a cordwainer. On the re-enactment circuit there is a German girl called Anna, who makes shoes and she gets uppity if she is called a cobbler. On one show I made her a wooden sign for her shop from a piece of ash (found in the firewood pile , grain lent itsself to the shape of a boot) and was subject to Anna in her typically tutonic manner telling me that it was rather a low class type of boot whereas her footwear was of rather a more higher quality. I just nodded and hmmmed and thought a simple thanks love would have done.

Wreckedit I fully agree the show is tripe, but funny enjoyable tripe and as you say by the magic of tv it'll all be marvelous.

Blas you've made a good point about people being too tall although it's actually averages that are wrong in re-enactment. There are reports of some of the King's archers being 6 feet tall in the fourteeth century, liteally giants of men and some bones from the Marie Rose and archilogical digs that confirm that some people were tall. The average however was shorter. There are other averages wrong too. Our average weight is too high , our average age is too high and then there are other things wrong such as we don't have enough children and we are frankly too well informed on things. By this I mean the average medieavl person knew only what was told to him by his peers and betters whereas we have the benifit of media , books and the internet. We need this knowledge to answer questions from the public however, when doing first person interpretation it becomes difficult. If for example we are portraing 1453 and are questioned about the battle of , say , Towton in 1461 of course then we don't know about it it's in the future and some public have trouble getting their heads around that consept.

Gregers I'd be interested to know what they are being paid.Presumably they will be being paid at least as much as they would be normally and if working in the normal manner of the day i.e. working longer hours in the summer because it's lighter longer then I suppose now they would be on overtime rates. I've done extra work which pays between £90 and £120 a day and that involves more than 4-6 hours "work " a day so I certainly wouldn't work 16 hours manually a day for that.

Oh and Sooey, it's not the offside rule that causes problems for women on site , that's a disgraceful thing to say.
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:LOL: :LOL:
 
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