Is James May OK?
Discussion
You know what I'd like to see on TG? Performance cars that are fast as a result of tuning and not pricetags over 100k. Why not have a Skyline, Rex, Supra, Z, Vette, or any other car that is 5-10 years old but tuned by well known specialists dedicated to each car? It would be a breath of fresh air to see a car every now and then that isn't a Bugatti, Ferrari, Lambo, Porsche, or dare I say it... Aston, yet still offering the same level of performance, if not greater. Of course, then Clarkson would have to learn something about the aftermarket world.
stuttgartmetal said:
There were rumours last year James was on about a £40k [?] salary, and the other two far far more. Anyone update this ?
If that's true, May would have to work on the show for 150 years in order to earn what Jonathan Ross earns in one year.Woss earns £40,000 in less than 3 days. And they both have the same employer.......us lot
RingFan said:
You know what I'd like to see on TG? Performance cars that are fast as a result of tuning and not pricetags over 100k. Why not have a Skyline, Rex, Supra, Z, Vette, or any other car that is 5-10 years old but tuned by well known specialists dedicated to each car? It would be a breath of fresh air to see a car every now and then that isn't a Bugatti, Ferrari, Lambo, Porsche, or dare I say it... Aston, yet still offering the same level of performance, if not greater. Of course, then Clarkson would have to learn something about the aftermarket world.
They (just clarkson) don't want them on the show, I can't remember the reason, but I do remember it was a rubbish one.EDLT said:
They (just clarkson) don't want them on the show, I can't remember the reason, but I do remember it was a rubbish one.
This I don't doubt. I do remember them doing a test with an Austin-Healey Sprite versus a yellow modified Peugeot 306 at the Prescott Hill Climb Course. Unfortunately, the 306 was filled with ICE and was.... ok, a Peugeot.Silent1 said:
I can't see the point of tuned cars being tested, 99% of the time they're unreliable to hell.
As long as the tune isn't too wild, there are some that can be extremely reliable. If you're going to feature a custom Golf that doesn't handle for sh*t and nothing in the interior works, what's the difference? 
Gizmo535 said:
However I must disagree with your evaluation of Clarkson; he has after all been one of the country's leading motoring journalists for nigh on 20 years .....
And spouts vitriolic comments on other people as well, and admits his ignorance of things at the same time!Unbelievable. What a match. Having proved to the Australians that they aren't even any good at sport, we took on the French in the finals . . . and won.
Or lost. It's hard to say for sure because today's Friday and the match hasn't happened yet. But one thing's certain: when it does I'll be there, glued to the screen, with my boy and some beers, talking a load of absolute codswallop.
The problem is that I like rugby very much and I have many opinions about who should do what and when, but never having played I do not have the first clue what's going on. I have no idea why the forwards play at the back and the backs at the front. And nor do I understand what's meant by "the blind side".
I can't see why one side of the pitch is blind and the other is in full view. It all makes no sense.
And it makes even less sense when 140 tons of beef all lands in a big muddy lump on top of the ball and you have no idea what on earth is going on in there. Not until the referee blows his whistle, does some signing for the deaf and decides that someone at the bottom of the pile has let go too soon, or not at all, or come in from the side or made the ball go forwards and that as a result, another big muddy lump must be formed to get the game going again.
Despite all this, though, you have to love the collisions, the moments when someone with thighs made from oak and a chest the size of a tugboat smashes into a winger with such ferocity that you wonder how his skeleton hasn't just disintegrated into a million pieces.
That and the fights, those cherished moments when a man mountain smashes his fist, which is the size of a Christmas ham, into someone else's face and all hell breaks loose. Brilliant.
And that brings us on to the referee who, instead of wading into the melee and showering the participants with red cards, simply asks everyone to calm down, pauses while the more badly injured have their noses and ears sewn back on, and then restarts the game.
Compare this attitude with the homosexual nonsense we see in football. Flick someone's earlobe in a game of football and some jumped-up little gnome, sweating like a rapist, will mince over and order you off the pitch.
What's more, a rugby referee is not so drunk on power that he won't go to the video ref if he's not sure. The commentators complain about this but I think it's marvellous: the chap knows how important this game is to the players and he wants to make sure he gets the decision right.
Football refs are not allowed to consult technology even though, so far as I can see, they never ever make a correct decision. No really. They don't notice when the ball goes over the goal line, they send players off for breathing and do nothing when Ronaldo hurls himself to the ground and claws at his face as though he's been showered with acid.
And you can't argue with these power-crazed idiots because then you get sent off as well.
Do you know a football referee? Do you know anyone who knows a football referee? Have you ever even met anyone who sold a dog to someone who knows a football referee? No. And don't you think that's weird? I know an astronaut. I've even met someone who makes a living from sexing the Queen's ducks. But I've never met a football ref.
Perhaps they're bred on farms, like The Boys from Brazil. Either that or they all hide behind meaningless day jobs in PC World, emerging only on a Saturday like a troop of SuperNazis with their too-tight Hitler Youth shorts and their silly whistles.
It's not just football either. The unseen referees in Formula One motor racing distinguish themselves every year by getting every single decision wrong. Only the other week a Polish driver was made to come and sit on the naughty step because he had the temerity to try to overtake a rival.
Then there's Wimbledon. Half a trillion pounds' worth of electronic projections say the ball was out. But sometimes, and I often feel for the hell of it, the umpire calls it in.
And then docks the player points if he objects. But what's the player supposed to do? He's been on a court, solidly, since he was old enough to vomit. He's never been out with a girl, he's never had a beer, he's never been allowed to masturbate. He has dedicated his whole life to this match and this moment and now some jumped-up power-crazed lunatic has denied him the point.
Of course he's going to be angry. Of course he's going to throw his racket on the floor.
If I were in charge of tennis, I would allow aggrieved players to actually punch the officials in certain circumstances.
Either that, or I would get them all down to Twickenham to see how it should be done.
They will note that rugby refs josh and joke with the players. They give off a sense that they're pleased to be out there and - by constantly issuing instructions during rucks and mauls - that they are on hand to offer advice, as much as they are to enforce the rules.
I was going to say that they are the most important feature in rugby. But obviously that's not true. The most important feature in the game, of course, is watching Australia lose.
Again.
Edited by JMGS4 on Monday 29th October 07:34
Parrot of Doom said:
Here we go:
Quality. Just the reason why hes on the show. James May said:
Bill Bryson. Well, I think that man is a danger, frankly. If there is one thing I can't stand it's beardy, sanctimonious, patronising Americans in tartan trousers coming to England and trying to persuade us to turn into a museum. He wants the East End for the cheeky Cockney chaps pushing wheelbarrows full of eels and he wants northernists to be industrialists with big braces and blokes dying of consumption - Good morning Bill, I've got the consumption, it's tradition alright. I say Bill, if you're watching - OK, now you won't be watching because we're not talking about steam engines or longboats or bear-baiting - but IF you've happened to tune in by mistake: We're not interested in your views of stupid Americans who come over here with their big video cameras saying Gee, I love your history, it's just so old. SOD OFF!
colacube said:
Parrot of Doom said:
Here we go:
Quality. Just the reason why hes on the show. James May said:
Bill Bryson. Well, I think that man is a danger, frankly. If there is one thing I can't stand it's beardy, sanctimonious, patronising Americans in tartan trousers coming to England and trying to persuade us to turn into a museum. He wants the East End for the cheeky Cockney chaps pushing wheelbarrows full of eels and he wants northernists to be industrialists with big braces and blokes dying of consumption - Good morning Bill, I've got the consumption, it's tradition alright. I say Bill, if you're watching - OK, now you won't be watching because we're not talking about steam engines or longboats or bear-baiting - but IF you've happened to tune in by mistake: We're not interested in your views of stupid Americans who come over here with their big video cameras saying Gee, I love your history, it's just so old. SOD OFF!
He is intelligent, disarming and modest and his wine tours with Oz Clarke are lovely telly.
If he is looking a bit hung over these days it is probably because he has to work with those two Joeys on TG.
I know there was a rift amongst the presenters a couple of series back as they were simply getting fed up of being with each other. May was on considerably less money than clarkson and hammond due to him not being a car critic or really being known at all before top gear.
I wouldn't blame him for being a bit off, they do rip the pee quite a bit but it is all scripted adn they all know the script beforehand.
I'm sure he was just a little bit ill...
I wouldn't blame him for being a bit off, they do rip the pee quite a bit but it is all scripted adn they all know the script beforehand.
I'm sure he was just a little bit ill...
colacube said:
s2art said:
r5gttgaz said:
Wouldn't surprise me if he's totally pissed off.
Or recently pissed anyway. I suspect May has a drink problemCommanderJameson said:
Marki said:
Flat in Fifth said:
So why all the gay jokes at May's expense? Is that something I've missed?
I was curious about that 
And gay = funny, also on Clarkson's Comedy Planet.
Marki said:
CommanderJameson said:
Marki said:
Flat in Fifth said:
So why all the gay jokes at May's expense? Is that something I've missed?
I was curious about that And gay = funny, also on Clarkson's Comedy Planet.
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