Skip to main content

'University Challenged 2017/18: Volume Nine (18.09.17)'


Tonight’s University Challenge wasn’t an overly gripping affair, although I did enjoy the serious intensity of Oxlade.

Everything he said - as I mentioned in a tweet - appeared to be in inverted commas, and it wasn’t so much as if he enjoyed taking part; more that he was driven by some inner urgency to compete, like the world would end if he didn’t answer each question as best he could.

The episode was also notable for Howe’s terribly quasi-psychedelic jumper, which looked like it had been knitted (or ‘knat?’) by George Harrison’s mum as an outfit for his trip to Height Asbury. It really truly wasn’t a good look.

See below for today’s UC-based Twitter ramblings:

Leicester Vs. Fitzwilliam - Cambridge.

8:02PM: Aldred with his egghead.

8:02PM: Howe's jumper is a sensory explosion.

8:03PM: Tindall's severe, Bond villain eyebrows.

8:04PM: Oxlade speaks like he's doing a voice-over, while pulling his best voice-over face.

8:05PM: Howe's jumper is officially a war crime and should be tried as such at The Hague.

8:06PM: Even Gyles Brandreth wouldn't wear that jumper; a jumper so bad, I don't need to point out who's wearing it.

8:07PM: French isn't.

8:08PM: Howe's jumper looks like an Opal Fruit's vomit.

8:08PM Oxlade would like to be Roger Moore.

8:10PM: Just when you think Howe's jumper isn't bad enough... ...his shirt.

8:11PM: Oxlade says everything "LIKE THIS".

8:12PM: Oxlade could out-stern Paxman.

8:16PM: The person who knitted Howe's jumper was attempting to document a late-Sixties acid trip in wool.

8:24PM: Howe's magical mystery jumper is waiting to take you away, 
waiting to take you away, 
take you today. 
(I buried Paxman.)



8:25PM: Howe's depressed face doesn't sit comfortably with his choice of outfit.

8:26PM: Oxlade.



8:28PM: Oxlade says "pass" like it's an answer.

Labels:

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...
Read more

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...
Read more

'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...
Read more