University Challenged at Christmas (10): Grand Final (29.12.16)


All good things must come to an end; so it was for the 1970s Briers / Kendal vehicle ‘The Good Life’, for the Libyan revolutionary Colonel Gaddafi (say it out loud), for the lesser-known Nelly Furtado song and for this year’s Christmas University Challenge.

Where will we be without my daily written commentary? Where would be, indeed. Well, essentially we'd be in the same position as we are now, only with five hours of my time and whatever-time-matches-your-reading-speed better off. Still, it kept you busy for a bit and it kept me off the street.

See below for my coverage of the final between St Hilda’s Oxford and Leeds. After that, your time’s your own. Use it wisely, my friend(s).

Leeds Vs. St Hilda's Oxford (29.12.16)
7:30pm: It's the Final (#UniversityChallenge) Countdown. 

7:31pm: Ahmed looks like a Jeff Goldblum / my-friend-Ash hybrid.

7:32 Steve Bell is what would happen if Robert Palmer swallowed Noel Edmonds.

7:33pm Daisy Dunn looks like a girl I went to college with. Just sayin'. 

7:33pm: Daisy Dunn sounds like a sex symbol in a 70s US cop drama. 

7:34pm: "Daisy Dunn Dunn, Daisy Daisy Dunn Dunn". (Sung to the tune of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang).

7:35pm: A round on gaps and pauses should really have a question about Pinter.  

7:36pm: Ahmed is a picture of comfortableness and self-assurance. 

7:37pm: I had my actinides taken out to ease my sinuses. 

7:39pm: Think-tank? No; too many characters. Kitchen sink? Nope. Bugger, it's 'Kitchen' (I was so close.) 

7:40pm: I like words: I know at least ten of them (count). 

7:41pm: Caldicott, you're a psychiatrist. You should know this. 

7:44pm: "A poll of leading conductors". Surely all conductors lead?

7:46pm: I liked Bell when he wore twee jumpers whilst hosting Multi-Coloured Swap Shop. 

7:47pm: I should have known the Caryl Churchill one. 

7:48pm: Unger-Hamilton was Graham Coxon in a past life.

7:49pm: "I have a dream"; I knew the answer. 

7:49pm: “Sans teeth, Sans eyes, Sans everything”. I missed “taste”: I'm tasteless. 

7:53pm: We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel? Nope.

7:55pm: Special mention to the constantly rotating University Challenge Gobo lighting effect; I've noticed. 

7:57pm: “Pater”. I knew this. 

7:58pm: Ah, the awkward 'making them all stand at the end' bit. 

Popular posts from this blog

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Image
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...
Read more

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...
Read more

Comedy That's Worth a Letch.

Today, I nipped to Letchworth to meet with illustrator (and one-time - two-time - comedy poet) Mushybees, to discuss an event Mostly Comedy will act as surrogate parents to as part of Letchworth’s Arts Takeover in a couple of weeks. Months ago he got into contact to see if we’d be up for co-organising a comedy stage as part of Letchworth’s weekend of arts-based attractions in July; something I’d provisionally said yes to, before things got hectic in the lead-up to Edinburgh and we didn’t take it any further. Despite not getting down to the nitty-gritty straight away, we managed to pull a line-up together in a back-and-forth of emails yesterday, leading to me getting Glyn’s blessing and us deciding we’d officially go ahead with it (whatever ‘officially’ means in this context). In reality, it’s not complicated: from 12pm until 6pm-ish on the 22 nd July, Glyn, Mushybees and I will host four Edinburgh previews from four acts (including me), before Nor...
Read more