Ogmios School of Zen Motoring
May 17, 2020 7:15 PM Subscribe
Listen to the soothing tones of Ogmios as he demonstrates how a true master navigates the streets of London, with the Ogmios School of Zen Motoring [SLYT]. With bonus Purim content!
I am extremely here for this. Kept pausing to read signs and look places up in street view! I really miss London, despite everything.
posted by wilberforce at 8:33 PM on May 17, 2020
posted by wilberforce at 8:33 PM on May 17, 2020
LIFE IS A JOURNEY. MAKE SURE YOU PACK A CHEESE SANDWICH.
Mmmmm, journey cheese....
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:39 PM on May 17, 2020
Mmmmm, journey cheese....
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:39 PM on May 17, 2020
I didn’t expect this to be so rich, “..oh look, personalized plate - what a surprise.”
posted by bonobothegreat at 9:06 PM on May 17, 2020
posted by bonobothegreat at 9:06 PM on May 17, 2020
..also amazed at the degree of pollarding going on.
posted by bonobothegreat at 9:18 PM on May 17, 2020
posted by bonobothegreat at 9:18 PM on May 17, 2020
Seeing Zen Something-something that probably has nothing to do with Zen immediately raises my hackles. This however, this is brilliant... I may have just learned how to relax more during my drives by watching this (despite it generating mild "you're driving on the 'wrong' side of the road" and "damn - London streets are narrow" anxieties). It also made me wonder how different driving would be if we all drove with the driver's seat on the out-side of the road rather than the in-side... would that make our perspective better or worse when it came to sighting pedestrians and cyclists (of course he's also seated toward the inside of the road - just noting that he has impressive situational awareness when it comes to these groups).
posted by kokaku at 1:33 AM on May 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by kokaku at 1:33 AM on May 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
As someone who used to get around London on bicycle I really love this -- thanks i_am....
Here is its antithesis: Rowan Atkinson joins a minicab driver for a jaunt around London 29 years ago in The Driven Man
posted by Kiwi at 1:43 AM on May 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
Here is its antithesis: Rowan Atkinson joins a minicab driver for a jaunt around London 29 years ago in The Driven Man
posted by Kiwi at 1:43 AM on May 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
Thank you. This is lovely. I particularly appreciated the list of banger synonyms.
posted by Zumbador at 3:35 AM on May 18, 2020
posted by Zumbador at 3:35 AM on May 18, 2020
This is fantastic but also feels very surreal to watch as I live in that neighbourhood! Bless that man.
posted by desultory_banyan at 4:33 AM on May 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by desultory_banyan at 4:33 AM on May 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
The first episode is a bit more sharp-intake-of-breath, but it also contains the magnificent line "They think they're invincible, just because they're from the future".
I used to cycle through this area on my way to either the rather fine climbing centre nearby, or to dingy North London raves. I'm impressed at the level of chill he manages to maintain - a model for us all.
posted by doop at 6:32 AM on May 18, 2020
I used to cycle through this area on my way to either the rather fine climbing centre nearby, or to dingy North London raves. I'm impressed at the level of chill he manages to maintain - a model for us all.
posted by doop at 6:32 AM on May 18, 2020
kokaku, I've driven in London in a left-hand-drive car, and it makes the perspective much worse. It's harder to see around things. You're too close to the parked cars. You feel like you're practically in the hedges when they're right up on the street. The distances to the cars coming the other direction are harder to judge. It was a relief when we got off the Chunnel train and everything was left-hand-drive again.
posted by aneel at 6:47 AM on May 18, 2020
posted by aneel at 6:47 AM on May 18, 2020
Great stuff: Ali G meets Joe Pera, and solid driving praxis to boot.
posted by Flashman at 9:51 AM on May 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Flashman at 9:51 AM on May 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
aneel... thanks for the first-hand report - makes total sense
his voice totally reminds me of someone from a movie or tv show i've watched recently and i cannot for the life of me place it
posted by kokaku at 1:16 PM on May 18, 2020
his voice totally reminds me of someone from a movie or tv show i've watched recently and i cannot for the life of me place it
posted by kokaku at 1:16 PM on May 18, 2020
This is the best content I've seen in a month. An inspiration to us all.
posted by mikelynch at 6:15 PM on May 18, 2020
posted by mikelynch at 6:15 PM on May 18, 2020
My friend Vishal is a Londoner of Punjabi extraction who is extremely chill and has this exact accent. I sent these links to him and he said I'm the second person to do it. Also no one ever called him mellifluous before.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:09 PM on May 18, 2020
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 11:09 PM on May 18, 2020
his voice totally reminds me of someone from a movie or tv show i've watched recently and i cannot for the life of me place it
His voice reminded me a lot of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. Maybe more the attitude that the accent, actually. Kobna was in the second Mary Poppins movie, and he 's the narrator in the Peter Grant series audiobooks written by Ben Aaronovitch and honestly he is by far the best audiobook narrator I've ever experienced. So chill, and he seems to genuinely enjoy the story.
posted by Zumbador at 12:58 AM on May 19, 2020
His voice reminded me a lot of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. Maybe more the attitude that the accent, actually. Kobna was in the second Mary Poppins movie, and he 's the narrator in the Peter Grant series audiobooks written by Ben Aaronovitch and honestly he is by far the best audiobook narrator I've ever experienced. So chill, and he seems to genuinely enjoy the story.
posted by Zumbador at 12:58 AM on May 19, 2020
just came to me... maybe a British Korg (from Thor:Ragnarok)?
posted by kokaku at 2:02 AM on May 19, 2020
posted by kokaku at 2:02 AM on May 19, 2020
Interesting.
When Taika Waititi does Korg's voice, he's using a particular kind of New Zealand English I'm very familiar with. Heavily Māori-influenced (and maybe other Polynesian languages too) and it has an important feature namely giving syllables more equal length and stress than in standard English. And you can hear that sometime in Ogmios' kind of English too, eg the way he says "exacerbate". Combine that with a very gentle, mild intonation and yeah I can totally see what you're getting at.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 2:10 AM on May 19, 2020
When Taika Waititi does Korg's voice, he's using a particular kind of New Zealand English I'm very familiar with. Heavily Māori-influenced (and maybe other Polynesian languages too) and it has an important feature namely giving syllables more equal length and stress than in standard English. And you can hear that sometime in Ogmios' kind of English too, eg the way he says "exacerbate". Combine that with a very gentle, mild intonation and yeah I can totally see what you're getting at.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 2:10 AM on May 19, 2020
Did anyone else have youtube auto-suggest some videos of rap battles with ogmios vs. some other people? Seemed like the same ogmios rapping as was driving
posted by meows at 10:11 PM on May 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by meows at 10:11 PM on May 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
his voice totally reminds me of someone from a movie or tv show i've watched recently and i cannot for the life of me place it
Kind of like Peter Serafinowicz?
posted by Snowishberlin at 10:59 AM on May 20, 2020
Kind of like Peter Serafinowicz?
posted by Snowishberlin at 10:59 AM on May 20, 2020
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posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:20 PM on May 17, 2020 [2 favorites]