Skip to main content

University Challenged 2016/17: Volume 3 (25.07.16)


While I know I probably shouldn’t stoop to this level, every week I find myself switching on University Challenge, and settling down for a spot of low-level Twitter bullying.

I know it’s not acceptable to be like this to any group of people, thought that said, it can be a lot of fun. It goes some small way to redress the balance between their high and my slightly lower intellect.

Here are today’s tweets. I promise I’m quite a nice chap in person, so don’t judge me.

Liverpool Vs. Warwick.
8:02pm: Kurek is channelling the character Harry Enfield used to do in the opening credits of Harry Enfield & Chums.

8:05pm: Van's follicles are so potent, his hair grows while you watch.

8:06pm: Van was created in a laboratory.

8:06pm: Kurek owns a sex dungeon.

8:10pm: Van modelled his look on Sully from Monsters Inc.

8:11pm: Paxman's still rocking that middle-aged woman's hairstyle look.

8:13pm: ...and so the deadly murderous double act of Kurek and Van was born.

8:14pm: Kurek and Van are the modern-day Keymaster and Gatekeeper.

8:16pm: Kurek is Niles Crane's secret evil twin.

8:18pm: After the recording, Kurek & Van lured the other contestants, crew & audience to their secret Industrial Area lock-up.

8:21pm: I'd like to see the equation calculating the likelihood of Van's hair and knitting pattern combination.

8:22pm: The dog in the final painting looked like Van.

8:23pm: I used to know a girl called Sarah Tonin.

8:23pm: Warwick's Van would like to lure you into his van.

8:25pm: Kurek comes to us, thanks to Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation.

8:27pm: Kurek's favourite 'Allo Allo!' character is Herr Flick.

8:27pm: Van gets wider while you wait.

8:29pm: After the recording, Kurek staved everyone's head in with that brick.

Popular posts from this blog

Not The Bayeux One.

The Carole King album Tapestry has been my 'getting-ready-in-the-morning' soundtrack for the past few weeks.  It's been a favourite album ever since I was a student, which makes for a pleasantly gentle way to usher in the start of a day. I've always been a fan of a well-crafted song, which is something of a Carole King hallmark, ever since she started writing with her first husband in the early Sixties. Tapestry may be an unimaginative choice for a favourite LP, as it suggests I haven't delved that far into her career, but it's still an undoubted classic; anything with '(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman', 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?' and 'You've Got A Friend' on it can't really fail; if nothing else, it proves she likes writing songs with long titles.  Next month, she's set to perform the album live in its entirety for the first time at a gig in Hyde Park, which I would have loved to have gone to, if it weren...

Hitchin is Mine.

As of six o’clock tonight, I take over the Hitchin is Yours Twitter account for a week; a stewardship I’m anxious to get right. I’m proud of my hometown. It’s a great place to live, with so much going for it. I've always sold it to my non-Hitchinite friends; so much so, that a lot have gone on to move here. Any town expansion plans are partly my fault. Feel free to picket outside my house. I love its history and architecture. Take St Mary’s Church, for example. The building is beautiful inside and out, and huge for a town of our size. There has been a place of worship on site since the 7 th Century. Much of the present building dates from the 1300s. You wouldn't get that in America. (Don't forget the British Schools Museum too.)  Hitchin is a hive for creative people and a hub for the arts. It boast two theatres, two comedy clubs, a couple of art galleries, a festival for world music and a thriving music scene. This drew...

'Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream..."

While I’ve been practising meditation for quite some time now, I’ve recently taken to using the mindfulness app 'Headspace' . If you’ve never meditated before, or you’re an old hand at it, it’s a great resource, offering daily ten-minute guided meditations that create a sense of progress, rather than stagnating and going through the same process every day. Until I started using the app, I’d often listen to a handful of audio guided meditations I have on my phone in case of a brain emergency. If you see me with my eyes closed and my earphones in on public transport, I’m probably doing this (unless I’m sleeping and using this blog as an elaborate alibi). While the tracks on my phone are great, they can get a little repetitive as I become too familiar with them and start to anticipate everything the person on the recording will say. This is where Headspace is great, as it offers you a daily course with a different focus each day, as well as pl...