Skip to main content

'University Challenged 2017/18: Volume Eleven (02.10.17)'


Tonight’s University Challenge was always set to be interesting, as it was a Cambridge Vs. Oxford affair.

One thing the show - and the series as a whole thus far - has lacked, however, is a Monkman. Oxford and Canada’s finest manic erratically fringed celebrity has yet to have his University Challenge crown stolen by a new contender to the throne. The closest we got tonight was Emmanuelle Cambrodge’s Derby and his spectacular hair, which stole the show for me, but this was still nothing when compared to the joy I felt each time Monkman appeared on the screen; something tells me he’ll never be bettered.

See below for my tweets on tonight's pompous, over-educated student-fest:

Emmanuel Cambridge Vs. St Hugh's Oxford (02.10.17)


8:02PM: Derby's hairstyle is an event.

8:02PM: Is Mistlin wearing a jumper, or is that his body?

8:03PM: Cambridge's Derby is studying Physics. I'm studying the physics of his hair.

8:05PM: De Witjze shows humorous promise.

8:05PM: Chevallier came as Pocahontas.

8:06PM: Grainger's beard. Discuss.

8:08PM: De Witjze's birdie jumper is sponsored by Hilda Ogden's living-room wall.

8:10PM: I recognised Beethoven's Fifth sheet music on sight. I rock.

8:14PM: Fraser wears the worried expression of that guy who wandered into the BBC Newsroom by accident & bluffed an interview.

8:15PM: Derby's suave expression is superbly undercut by his hair.

8:17PM: Derby would ride a horse side-saddle, while looking immensely proud about it.

8:21PM: Paxman's suit: GREY.
Paxman's tie: GREY.
Paxman's hair: GREY.

Paxman's mood: GREY.

GREY. GREY. GREY. GREY.

8:22PM: Mehigan has the diction of a man recovering from heavy dental work.

8:23PM: Derby's hair should be protected a National Trust.

8:27PM: De Witjze's jumper is a murmuration.

8:28PM: Is Mehigan mumbling in the hope his answers will sound vaguely correct?

8:29PM: Squint and Mistlin appears to have worryingly fleshy neck-folds and be wearing a strapless dress.

Popular posts from this blog

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Have Parker from Thunderbirds and Noel Gallagher ever been seen in the same room? The resemblance is uncanny. So much so, I think something’s afoot. If my suspicions are correct, I've stumbled across a secret that will blow the music and puppet industry wide apart. In the mid-60s / mid-90s at least. It doesn’t take long to see the signposts. There’s the similarity between the name of Oasis’ first single, Supersonic, and Supermarianation, Gerry Anderson’s puppetry technique. The Gallagher brothers would often wear Parkas . Live Forever was clearly a reference to Captain Scarlet and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants to the size difference between Noel and his bandmates. The more you think about it, the more brazen it gets. It’s fishier than Area 51, Paul is Dead and JFK's assassination put together. The only glitch to the theory is scale . According to Wikipedia, Anderson’s marionettes were 1’10” and Gallagher is 5’8”. How does he maintain an illusion of avera...

'...I'm Gonna Look at You 'til My Eyes Go Blind."

Over the past week or two, I’ve been on a bit of a Sheryl Crow kick, largely thanks to rediscovering her cover of one of my most-liked Bob Dylan songs. She has one of my favourite female voices, yet despite this, I only own one CD and that’s just a single (her '97 release ‘Hard to Make a Stand’); on that basis, you can only imagine how much of her back catalogue I’d own if I hated her (it would fall into minus-figures). Dylan, conversely, takes up more of my collection than anyone else, save The Beatles and Paul McCartney’s solo work. He’s one of those artists who, when you get him, you really get him - and once I’d tuned into his style as a student, I'd time and again be blown away by his lyrics; he’ll have more jaw-dropping imagery in one track than other people fit in a whole career. These days, I mostly listen to music in the morning when getting ready, and more often than not, this will consist of a suggested YouTube playlist when I’m in the bath, r...

Stevenage: A (Tiny) River Runs Through it.

If ever a river was mis-sold, it’s the Roaring Meg in Stevenage. I just walked past it on my way to the retail park that has taken its name. They’re similarly uninspiring. The river is less of a roar and more of a dribble; cystitis sufferers produce greater flow. The retail park is soulless. What was once a thriving enterprise is nearly devoid of atmosphere, save an underlying essence of emptiness and despair. With a Toys R Us. When it was first built I was excited. Back then, the thought of a bowling alley, an ice rink, a Harvester and a Blockbuster Video within a small surface area was enticing. I celebrated many birthdays on site. There was an indoor cricket pitch there for a while where I once had a joint party with a friend. Why someone with an almost pathological fear of sport would agree to such a venture is beyond me, but I did it. Now, there’s very little at the Roaring Meg of note. The river would be a metaphor for the shopping ce...