Well, not just Afrikaans, but this was just the last in a line of several lessons in vernacular I've received this weekend. I've told you about my weakness for Superbuzzer before, and although the game usually restricts me to just a handful each day, I enjoy these usually. The game suffers from some defects, not the least being that even though players are encouraged to contribute questions, the same ones do tend to recur. This leads onto the main point of this post, which I will get to shortly. Another drawback is that the checking of these questions, if indeed there is any, leaves quite a lot to be desired. One of my favourites yesterday was the suggestion that the Greenwich Meridian somehow manages to pass through Norway and Russia.
Well, as I say, if you play regularly the questions tend to recur, and for a certain type of person, once a question has recurred a couple of times, well, not only will you remember it, you'll remember it from the first few words. In a game in which speed of reaction is so important, you'll understand that this can have a huge effect on the game's outcome.
Unfortunately, some players either don't understand or can't accept this. As a result, if you start to win on a regular basis, you are going to either be called a cheat, or to be told to go and do things to yourself which would require both a very supple body and a very broad mind. In several different languages. The last player I played today had a little South African flag next to his avatar, and when I defeated him in the final round he favoured me with a couple of words of Afrikaans. Being of a naturally inquisitive nature, I used google to translate it. With respect to all readers, especially those in South Africa, I shan't repirnt them here.
I'm not having a go specifically at South Africa or the good people there of, since I've been requested to do similar things by a range of people in a range of different places across the world, it just so happened that it was Afrikaans today. But I mean, come on! Get a grip. Not for the first time, I reflected on these sage words, once uttered by my friend Rob Merrill,
"You can beat a man 10 – nil in a football match, during the course of which you have also insulted him and his family and inflicted physical pain upon his person, and he’ll often shake hands with you afterwards, and share a beer with you in the bar. However, if you make a man feel stupid in his own local. . . you're in trouble!" For local, read 'Facebook game, I suppose.
Sunday, 31 August 2014
Saturday, 30 August 2014
LAM Podcast 8
In this week's Podcast: -
Questions on Doctor Who
Talking points on the mentality of phone cheats - UC - Mastermind
The Hall of Shame
The Verdict on Eggheads
The Court of Public Opinion
Answers to Last Week's Questions
Questions on Doctor Who
Talking points on the mentality of phone cheats - UC - Mastermind
The Hall of Shame
The Verdict on Eggheads
The Court of Public Opinion
Answers to Last Week's Questions
In the News
Who or what are the following, and why have
they been in the news?
1.Carol
Mills
2.Bardarbunga
3.Paul
Collingwood
4.Sean
Foley
5.Iain
Watters and Diana Beard
6.William
Pooley
7.Uxbridge
and South Ruislip
8.Abdel
Majid Abdel Bary
9.Steven
Moffat
10.Angel
di Maria
11.Helen
and Maurice Kaye
12.Zara
13.Neil
Young
14.Peter
Theo Curtis
15.Charles
Vacca
16.Kamla
Devi
17.Sir
Gerald Howarth
18.Joan
Rivers
19.Douglas
Carswell
20.KSC
Lokeren
21Ashya
King
22.Jim
Murphy
23.Outlaw
Pete
In Other News
1.How
old was Lord Attenborough, who passed away last week?
2.Nick
Clegg visited which country to promote trade?
3.Which
clergyman began a week long fast and vigil for world peace?
4.Where
did Kate Bush kick off her 22 night residency last week?
5.Due
to a price crash, which drug can now be prescribed on the NHS to any men who
need it?
6.An
Earthquake struck the northern coast of which state?
7.How
was Lewis Hamilton forced out of the Belgian GP?
8.In
which rarely run event did Mo Farah beat Steve Ovett’s 36 year old British
Record?
9.What
was the score in the Rugby League Challenge Cup final?
10.A
mint condition issue of Action Comics 1- featuring Superman’s debut – sold for
a world record on ebay. How much?
11.Who,
rather surprisingly, spoke out about his dislike of manufactured boy bands?
12.What
was the score in the Man City v. Liverpool match?
13.Which
team added to Louis Van Gaal’s woes by inflicting a humiliating defeat on Man
Utd. in the Capital One Cup?
14.Francois
Hollande announced the new French Government. How many Governments does this
make 15.during his presidency so far?
16.What
did the BSI introduce last week?
17.Which
dish caused all the furore over The Great British Bake Off last week?
18.Which
team knocked premier league Leicester out of the Capital One Cup?
– and QPR?
19.Which
106 cap veteran announced his international retirement last week?
20.What
was the score between Arsenal and Besiktas?
21.Who
was named as ‘new’ manager of Crystal Palace?
22.Where
did the second ODI between India and England take place?
23.Apple
announced that they would release what on 9th September?
24.Which
3 members of the Friends cast reunited for a ‘Friends’ sketch – and on whose
show?
25.Which
Hollywood couple tied the knot?
26.Which
team did Spurs beat in the Europa League?
27.To
whom did the Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police apologise last week?
Friday, 29 August 2014
Mastermind - Round One - Heat Three
Well, this series continues to surprise, delight, and even shock. I
wondered whether this third heat would, like its two predecessors have an even
split between Mastermind virgins, and Mastermind recidivists. The short answer
was yes, it would. Not only recidivists, but recidivists returning for a third
series. Let’s have a look at the specialist rounds.
My friend Les Morrell, brave enough once more to take up arms against the curse of being supported from the Clark sofa, first appeared in the 2007 SOBM, where he reached the semi-final – not my semi before you ask. We first met in the heats, where Les’ heat was being recorded immediately after mine. Les reappeared in Jesse’s 2010 series, where he was beaten by a single point in the first round, but still earned a repechage slot in the semis. Les won his semi and went on to take his place in the 2010 Grand Final. This year Les was offering us Bobby Moore. An exceptionally good round it was too, with only the name of Bobby Moore’s character in the so-bad-it’s-bad Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone movie “Escape to Victory” failing to add to his total. I notched up 11 correct answers – not all through my wiki work, I hasten to add, although a good few were, but I also had a few good guesses, such as Jimmy Greaves being his 1966 room mate. – Well done Les – I thought – should be halfway there now.
First of the virgins was Jeremy Renals. His subject was the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe. Jeremy didn’t have quite the perfect start to his round. However after the first couple of questions, woosh! He was away. Jeremy managed 14, one less than Les. However he hadn’t passed, and as we saw last week, in a tight contest the passes can be absolutely crucial. As for me – well, I found it a difficult subject to wiki, and if you checked out my post with the questions you’ll know that I posted fewer about these than other subjects. So I wasn’t unhappy when the couple of things I wikied, a decent knowledge of a couple of the stories I have taught in the past, and the odd good guess brought me 6 points. Running total for me – 17.
Chris Grandison, our third contender, was the second newbie of this heat. His subject was the TV series “Our Friends In The North”. This was a 1990s BBC drama series which received many plaudits when broadcast, and has been rated as one of the most important drama series ever on British Television. I had never seen it. Which gave me problems when approaching the round. Not Chris, though. As had Les, Chris produced an almost flawless round, helping himself to 15 points, for the expense of a single pass. As for me – well, not all of my 6 points were taken from questions I had picked out, but they all came from my reading of the Wikipedia entries about the series, and the specific episodes. Running total – 23. This left the target for the last round at 8, which would break last week’s aggregate record of 30.
Back for a third series was our last contender of this heat, Susan Sworn. Susan, like Les, reached the semi finals in the 2007 SOBM. Like Les, she went on to compete in Jesse’s series in 2010. Unlike Les she didn’t get past the first round. In both of her last two shows, Susan scored brilliantly in her specialist rounds, yet couldn’t hold onto a lead in GK. So I predicted that she would produce a hell of a specialist round on Richard the Lionheart. Let’s be fair – I wasn’t disappointed, either. Susan sat on the edge of her chair, and veritably shot the answers back at John, almost as quickly as he’d finished asking them. In the end she finished with 17, and it’s difficult to see how she could possibly have scored much more in this round. A hugely impressive performance. As for me – well, wiki-derived questions, wiki reading, and prior knowledge brought me 11 points, to set my new specialist aggregate record at 33. Unless there is the most incredibly fortunate and favourable set of subjects in any of the remaining shows, that aggregate is not going to be beaten by me for a long time.
It’s pretty hard lines if you score an excellent 14 points and no passes on specialist, and still find yourself in 4th at half time, but that was the situation that Jeremy Renals had to deal with. Deal with it well he did, too. It wasn’t the fastest GK round we’ve seen, but Jeremy kept his head well, and applied the tactic of answering what you know correctly, guessing what you don’t, and not letting anything you get wrong put you off. Not easy to do. 11 points meant that Jeremy had set the bar at 25, a total that might well be beatable, but was certainly enough to put the other contenders into the corridor of uncertainty.
Les needed 11 points himself to set a new total – well strictly speaking 10 and no more than one pass – and this was certainly within his capabilities. He was well on the way to getting it as well, but it was a round that lost its way in the second half. In the end he scored 9 – very bad luck. I know that how important Mastermind is to Les, but he is a man who can stand up to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, and will already be planning a future appearance. Go Les!
Being a Mastermind virgin, Chris Grandison’s GK was something of an unknown quantity. It was going to take a round of some quality to put him iin with a shot at a win, though. In a way his round was similar to Jeremy’s. It wasn’t the fastest round that you’ve ever seen, but what Chris was doing was concentrating intently, treating each question according to its merits, answering what he knew, guessing what he didn’t. It sounds simple, but don’t you ever believe that it is until you’ve actually tried it in the chair for yourself. 11 points were needed for an outright lead, and 11 points were exactly what he got. A good performance.
The fact about Susan’s last two GK rounds is that they didn’t go as I’m sure that she had hoped that they would. Both of them saw her fall into what looked like soul destroying pass spirals, and I desperately hoped that history would not repeat itself again in this GK round. She needed 9 points to win outright. It certainly looked do-able, but I felt it would be a pretty close run thing, and that there was unlikely to be more than a point in it either way at the end. Susan certainly looked calm enough for the first part of the round. The danger of going at 100mph in the GK round is that you can end up passing to keep the momentum going, and when you pass at speed, one pass soon leads to another, and before you know it you’re in a pass spiral. Susan seemed to be taking a more measured approach in this round, surely a sensible thing to do. The target was in sight, but then so was the finishing line, and agonisingly, Susan fell just slightly short, scoring 8 to finish on 25.
The three runners up in tonight’s show could certainly be forgiven for casting a rueful glance back at last week’s heat, for all of their scores would have won that heat with some to spare. That’s the nature of knockout competitions, though, and just the way that it goes. Hard lines to you all, and congratulations to Chris. Good luck in the semi finals.
The Details
Repechage Standings: -
My friend Les Morrell, brave enough once more to take up arms against the curse of being supported from the Clark sofa, first appeared in the 2007 SOBM, where he reached the semi-final – not my semi before you ask. We first met in the heats, where Les’ heat was being recorded immediately after mine. Les reappeared in Jesse’s 2010 series, where he was beaten by a single point in the first round, but still earned a repechage slot in the semis. Les won his semi and went on to take his place in the 2010 Grand Final. This year Les was offering us Bobby Moore. An exceptionally good round it was too, with only the name of Bobby Moore’s character in the so-bad-it’s-bad Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone movie “Escape to Victory” failing to add to his total. I notched up 11 correct answers – not all through my wiki work, I hasten to add, although a good few were, but I also had a few good guesses, such as Jimmy Greaves being his 1966 room mate. – Well done Les – I thought – should be halfway there now.
First of the virgins was Jeremy Renals. His subject was the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe. Jeremy didn’t have quite the perfect start to his round. However after the first couple of questions, woosh! He was away. Jeremy managed 14, one less than Les. However he hadn’t passed, and as we saw last week, in a tight contest the passes can be absolutely crucial. As for me – well, I found it a difficult subject to wiki, and if you checked out my post with the questions you’ll know that I posted fewer about these than other subjects. So I wasn’t unhappy when the couple of things I wikied, a decent knowledge of a couple of the stories I have taught in the past, and the odd good guess brought me 6 points. Running total for me – 17.
Chris Grandison, our third contender, was the second newbie of this heat. His subject was the TV series “Our Friends In The North”. This was a 1990s BBC drama series which received many plaudits when broadcast, and has been rated as one of the most important drama series ever on British Television. I had never seen it. Which gave me problems when approaching the round. Not Chris, though. As had Les, Chris produced an almost flawless round, helping himself to 15 points, for the expense of a single pass. As for me – well, not all of my 6 points were taken from questions I had picked out, but they all came from my reading of the Wikipedia entries about the series, and the specific episodes. Running total – 23. This left the target for the last round at 8, which would break last week’s aggregate record of 30.
Back for a third series was our last contender of this heat, Susan Sworn. Susan, like Les, reached the semi finals in the 2007 SOBM. Like Les, she went on to compete in Jesse’s series in 2010. Unlike Les she didn’t get past the first round. In both of her last two shows, Susan scored brilliantly in her specialist rounds, yet couldn’t hold onto a lead in GK. So I predicted that she would produce a hell of a specialist round on Richard the Lionheart. Let’s be fair – I wasn’t disappointed, either. Susan sat on the edge of her chair, and veritably shot the answers back at John, almost as quickly as he’d finished asking them. In the end she finished with 17, and it’s difficult to see how she could possibly have scored much more in this round. A hugely impressive performance. As for me – well, wiki-derived questions, wiki reading, and prior knowledge brought me 11 points, to set my new specialist aggregate record at 33. Unless there is the most incredibly fortunate and favourable set of subjects in any of the remaining shows, that aggregate is not going to be beaten by me for a long time.
It’s pretty hard lines if you score an excellent 14 points and no passes on specialist, and still find yourself in 4th at half time, but that was the situation that Jeremy Renals had to deal with. Deal with it well he did, too. It wasn’t the fastest GK round we’ve seen, but Jeremy kept his head well, and applied the tactic of answering what you know correctly, guessing what you don’t, and not letting anything you get wrong put you off. Not easy to do. 11 points meant that Jeremy had set the bar at 25, a total that might well be beatable, but was certainly enough to put the other contenders into the corridor of uncertainty.
Les needed 11 points himself to set a new total – well strictly speaking 10 and no more than one pass – and this was certainly within his capabilities. He was well on the way to getting it as well, but it was a round that lost its way in the second half. In the end he scored 9 – very bad luck. I know that how important Mastermind is to Les, but he is a man who can stand up to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, and will already be planning a future appearance. Go Les!
Being a Mastermind virgin, Chris Grandison’s GK was something of an unknown quantity. It was going to take a round of some quality to put him iin with a shot at a win, though. In a way his round was similar to Jeremy’s. It wasn’t the fastest round that you’ve ever seen, but what Chris was doing was concentrating intently, treating each question according to its merits, answering what he knew, guessing what he didn’t. It sounds simple, but don’t you ever believe that it is until you’ve actually tried it in the chair for yourself. 11 points were needed for an outright lead, and 11 points were exactly what he got. A good performance.
The fact about Susan’s last two GK rounds is that they didn’t go as I’m sure that she had hoped that they would. Both of them saw her fall into what looked like soul destroying pass spirals, and I desperately hoped that history would not repeat itself again in this GK round. She needed 9 points to win outright. It certainly looked do-able, but I felt it would be a pretty close run thing, and that there was unlikely to be more than a point in it either way at the end. Susan certainly looked calm enough for the first part of the round. The danger of going at 100mph in the GK round is that you can end up passing to keep the momentum going, and when you pass at speed, one pass soon leads to another, and before you know it you’re in a pass spiral. Susan seemed to be taking a more measured approach in this round, surely a sensible thing to do. The target was in sight, but then so was the finishing line, and agonisingly, Susan fell just slightly short, scoring 8 to finish on 25.
The three runners up in tonight’s show could certainly be forgiven for casting a rueful glance back at last week’s heat, for all of their scores would have won that heat with some to spare. That’s the nature of knockout competitions, though, and just the way that it goes. Hard lines to you all, and congratulations to Chris. Good luck in the semi finals.
The Details
| Les Morrell | Bobby Moore | 15 – 1 | 9 – 1 | 24 – 2 |
| Jeremy Renals | The Short Stories of Edgar Allan Poe | 14 - 0 | 11- 3 | 25 - 3 |
| Chris Grandison | Our Friends in the North | 15 - 1 | 11 - 0 | 26 - 1 |
| Susan Sworn | Richard the Lionheart | 17 - 0 | 8 - 3 | 25 – 3 |
Repechage Standings: -
Gareth Kingston 28
Alice Mennel 26
Jeremy Renals 25 – 3
Susan Sworn 25 – 3
Les Morrell 24 – 2
Howard Towner 23Answers to News Questions
In the News
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1.Alex Pelling and Lisa Grant
2.Vanguard Healthcare
3.Abiraterone
4.Vicky Beeching
5.Mahiedine Mekhissi Benabbad
6.Nouri Al Maliki
7.Shrien Dewani
8.Ron Long
9.Ferguson
10.Dani Pedrosa
11.James Alexander Gordon
12.Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
13.Max Verstappen
14.James Foley
15.Sakari Momoi
16.“John the Beatle”
17.Albert Reynolds
18.Malky Mackay
Cyril Baldock
In Other News
1.Which NHS hospital is facing a slew of legal claims after a large number of patients lost their sight following eye operations?
2.IN which country was Sir Cliff Richard when police made a search of his house in Berkshire?
3.The wife of the late Robin Williams revealed that he was suffering from the early stages of which disease?
4.Which were the most popular boy’s and girl’s names for babies born in 2013?
5.Which athlete won gold in the Men’s 400m in the European championships?
6.Which organisation’s new uniforms, unveiled last week, have been derided as ‘ugly’ and ‘tacky’
7.David Cameron called for an alliance with which country to tackle the threat of ISIS
8.It was announced last week that The Generation Game is to be revived by the BBC. Who was named as new host?
9.How many gold medals did GB win on the last day of the European Athletics championships?
10.Which team did England defeat in the final of the Women’s Rugby Union World Cup?
11.Who had his suspension by the Lib Dems lifted last week?
12.Who asked fans not to use iphones and cameras in her forthcoming concerts in Hammersmith Apollo?
13.Which writer accused social services of sexism last week?
14.The rebuilding of the chimneys of which iconic building began last week?
15.What was the score in the Arsenal v. Besiktas champions league match?
16.In which event did the British men’s swimming team break the world record last week?
17.With whom did Celtic draw 0 – 0 in the Champions League?
18.Which was voted Britain’s worst airport for the second year running?
19.Last week it was reported that the rise of which politician is to be made into a TV movie?
20.Mario Balotelli signed for which English club for £16 million?
21.Which club did Spurs defeat 2 -1 in their Europa League tie?
22.An EU report has identified which Scottish city as a Mafia stronghold?
23.Which group are to appear in the Archers?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
Answers
Who or what are the following and why have they been in the news?
1.
A couple who took a round the world trip and
got married 66 times while doing it.
2.
Private
provider to whom NHS hospital in Somerset outsourced eye operations, resulting
in claims from patients who have lost their sight.
3.
Prostate
cancer drug ruled to be too expensive by NICE
4.
Christian
rock star who came out and received abuse on Facebook
5.
French
athlete disqualified from the European 3000m after ripping off his shirt immediately
after his gold medal winning performance.
6.
PM of Iraq
who resigned.
7.
British
man ruled fit to stand trial for the murder of his wife in South Africa
8.
He won the
All England Stone Skimming championship
9.
Missouri
town in which police shot dead a black youth during protests.
10.
Became the
first person to defeat Marc Marquez in a moto gp this season, ending the
winning streak at 10
11.
Man who
read the classified football results on the BBC for 40 years, passed away
12.
Former
Team Sky cyclist who failed in his appeal against his doping ban
13.
16 year
old son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen who signed for F1 team Toro Rosso
14.
The US
journalist killed on camera by Islamic jihadis
15.
World’s
oldest living man
16.
British
terrorist who carried out the murder of James Foley, subject of an
international manhunt
17.
Former
Irish Taoiseach, passed away aged 81
18.
Former
manager of Cardiff City heavily criticized for alleged racist and extremely
offensive emails
19.
70 year
old who became the oldest person to swim the English Channel
In Other News
1.
Musgrove
Park Hospital
2.
Portugal
3.
Parkinsons
4.
Oliver and
Amelia
5.
Martin
Rooney
6.
The Guides
7.
Iran
8.
Miranda
Hart
9.
5
10.
Canada
11.
Lord
Rennard
12.
Kate Bush
13.
Louis de
Bernieres
14.
Battersea
Power station
15.
0 – 0
16.
4x100m
mixed medley
17.
Maribor
18.
Luton
Airport
19.
Nick Clegg
20.
Liverpool
21.
Limassol
22.
Aberdeen
23.
Pet Shop
Boys
Honest multiples
It’s probably the teacher in me that makes me
do it, but whatever the case it’s something I find very difficult to stop
myself doing. Not only telling teams that their answer is not the right one,
but telling them WHY it is not the right one. Case in point – last night was my
turn as QM in the rugby club. As I had promised to do, I stole the great
question about London Underground stations that have names containing the names
of US state capitals which was posted in the Facebook Quiz Discussion group a
couple of weeks ago. Now, two of the teams put down Great Portland Street as an
answer. If they didn’t look it up in a diary – and I’ve no reason to suggest
that they did – then it’s a terrific answer apart from one point. Portland
isn’t a state capital. So, when I gave out the answers, I explained – apologies
to those teams who put down Great Portland Street , but sadly Portland is not a
capital. – Why then did I have to go on with – You were probably thinking of
Portland, Oregon. Portland is actually the largest city in Oregon, but Salem is
the capital – Why do I have to do this? Nobody likes a show off. I just can’t
seem to stop myself.
On the subject of that question, though, at
least it is what I like to think of as a true multiple question. This is what I
mean. This is a question whereby just because you know one answer, it doesn’t
follow that you are necessarily any more likely to know the rest. You might not
know the underground itself very well at all, but still be able to guess that a
station called Richmond would be likely. This wouldn’t mean though that you’re
more likely to pluck Boston Manor out of thin air. Well, compare this with the
five pointer we were asked in Sunday night’s quiz. –
Name the five children – first names and
surnames – who won golden tickets to visit the factory in Roald Dahl’s Charlie
and the Chocolate Factory.
My contention is that for many people this is a
– know one and there’s a pretty good chance that you know them all – question. With
the surnames, you’re probably more likely to know none of them or all of them.
I’d guess it might be pretty much the same thing with ‘name the four houses of
Hogwarts school in the Harry Potter books and films.’
This is just my opinion, and as always . . .
but I rather like questions where you have to work at it a bit, and apply what
you do know to help you figure out what you don’t.
Thursday, 28 August 2014
Contestant Call - Relatively Clever
Just been over to the Mensa website, and I saw this, which may be of interest : -
Chatty, outgoing and clever families are being sought for a new primetime quiz show on Sky1.
Chatty, outgoing and clever families are being sought for a new primetime quiz show on Sky1.
John Stanley Productions is looking for families of two children aged 12-16 - preferably siblings - and two adults (parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles) who have a good grasp of general knowledge.
They would need you to be available during October half term, October 25-30.
To apply, email casting@johnstanleyproductions.com or write to Relatively Clever, John Stanley Productions, 3rd Floor, 102 St Pancras Way, London, NW1 9ND. The closing date for returning application forms is October 6.
Sounds a little similar to my old favourite "Ask the Family", although that show had a strict adherence to the father, mother, older and younger child - and (according to Not the 9 O'Clock News) they all had to be quantity surveyors.
A Salutary Lesson
I give you fair warning that this post is only tangentially about quizzing. Now, if you are a long term regular reader you'll know that one of my guilty pleasures is Strictly Come Dancing. Well, I do have another. Since last series, I have very much enjoyed The Great British Bake Off. Well, the twitterati among you will surely be aware of the furore over what has been dubbed 'Bingate'.
For the uninitiated, here is the one minute guide to the Bake Off. This is a knockout competition. Each week a group of amateur bakers are given three baking tasks. These are judged by Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood. Every week the baker adjudged to have performed best this week is crowned star baker, and the one adjudged to have performed least well leaves the competition.
In yesterday's heat, the final (and probably most important) baking challenge was to produce a baked alaska - for which the bakers had to make everything they needed, including the ice cream. The epsiode showed one of the bakers, Diana Beard, removing the ice cream of another baker, Iain Watters (nickname - the russet Gandalf), from the freezer to place her own in there. What we, the viewers, were shown then was Iain, in frustration, after his icecream was shown to be melted, crying out in anguish, then a little melodramatically throwing all he had made into the bin, and storming off set. In the climax of the show we saw Iain, like a naughty schoolboy, bringing his bin to the judging table to receive a lecture from Paul and Mary, reddening all the time with embarrassment, after which he was speedily ejected from the show.
The BBC received over 500 complaints after the show, and apparently Twitter exploded with indignation over Iain's treatment, with many sadly typically incendiary comments about Diana. Diana herself went on BBC Radio Shropshire this morning, tearfully saying that she feels she has been 'stitched up' by the programme makers. Judging by her remarks, and those left on Twitter by Paul Hollywood and Sue Perkins, she has a point. According to them, the ice cream was out of the freezer for about 40 seconds before Iain was called over to remove it to his own freezer, since space was limited. I haven't timed it, but it seemed to me that there was a darn sight more than 40 seconds between the programme showing Diana removing Iain's ice cream saying 'hasn't he got his own freezer?' or words to that effect, and Iain crying out in anguish over the state of his ice cream. What the programme also failed to do was to show any words of commiseration or remorse passing between the two, leaving people to draw the impression that even if this was not a deliberate act of sabotage, Diana couldn't have cared less about what had happened.
In my opinion - and as always - feel free to disagree - when you take the king's shilling by applying to go on a TV competition, then you know that you are in the hands of the production team, and if you don't quite come across as well as you'd like, well, sorry, that's part of the risk that you take. However, surely the production team must have realised that they had edited this particular show in such a way as to give people the impression that this perfectly nice lady in her late 60s is actually a heartless cheat, exposing her to abuse and vitriol from the more vocal sectors of the interweb. I am serious about this. Unless the production team actually did think that Diana was totally responsible for Iain's elimination, and heartlessly glad about it, they had a duty towards her not to allow her to come across in this way. I can only think that the team couldn't resist the furore that they must have known this would whip up. However the show doesn't need it - it has a huge and loyal audience anyway. It comes across to me as a cynical move, which shows no regard for the people taking part in the competition - without whom there would be no show in the first place.
Now, you might say, well if there is anything positive about this, it's that it shows something about our innate British sense of fair play. Well, maybe. How many of those people foaming at the keyboard over this, demanding the institution of the death penalty for wanton ice cream removal, I wonder, have ever cheated by using their phones in a pub quiz? Just a thought.
Actually, probably the only positive thing about this whole business was Iain's reaction when called up to face the music from Paul and Mary. He smiled sheepishly, took his verbal beating like a man, and at no point blamed Diana. Iain Watters, you, sir, are a man, and what is more, a gentleman. Sometimes you don't actually have to win to prove yourself a winner.
For the uninitiated, here is the one minute guide to the Bake Off. This is a knockout competition. Each week a group of amateur bakers are given three baking tasks. These are judged by Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood. Every week the baker adjudged to have performed best this week is crowned star baker, and the one adjudged to have performed least well leaves the competition.
In yesterday's heat, the final (and probably most important) baking challenge was to produce a baked alaska - for which the bakers had to make everything they needed, including the ice cream. The epsiode showed one of the bakers, Diana Beard, removing the ice cream of another baker, Iain Watters (nickname - the russet Gandalf), from the freezer to place her own in there. What we, the viewers, were shown then was Iain, in frustration, after his icecream was shown to be melted, crying out in anguish, then a little melodramatically throwing all he had made into the bin, and storming off set. In the climax of the show we saw Iain, like a naughty schoolboy, bringing his bin to the judging table to receive a lecture from Paul and Mary, reddening all the time with embarrassment, after which he was speedily ejected from the show.
The BBC received over 500 complaints after the show, and apparently Twitter exploded with indignation over Iain's treatment, with many sadly typically incendiary comments about Diana. Diana herself went on BBC Radio Shropshire this morning, tearfully saying that she feels she has been 'stitched up' by the programme makers. Judging by her remarks, and those left on Twitter by Paul Hollywood and Sue Perkins, she has a point. According to them, the ice cream was out of the freezer for about 40 seconds before Iain was called over to remove it to his own freezer, since space was limited. I haven't timed it, but it seemed to me that there was a darn sight more than 40 seconds between the programme showing Diana removing Iain's ice cream saying 'hasn't he got his own freezer?' or words to that effect, and Iain crying out in anguish over the state of his ice cream. What the programme also failed to do was to show any words of commiseration or remorse passing between the two, leaving people to draw the impression that even if this was not a deliberate act of sabotage, Diana couldn't have cared less about what had happened.
In my opinion - and as always - feel free to disagree - when you take the king's shilling by applying to go on a TV competition, then you know that you are in the hands of the production team, and if you don't quite come across as well as you'd like, well, sorry, that's part of the risk that you take. However, surely the production team must have realised that they had edited this particular show in such a way as to give people the impression that this perfectly nice lady in her late 60s is actually a heartless cheat, exposing her to abuse and vitriol from the more vocal sectors of the interweb. I am serious about this. Unless the production team actually did think that Diana was totally responsible for Iain's elimination, and heartlessly glad about it, they had a duty towards her not to allow her to come across in this way. I can only think that the team couldn't resist the furore that they must have known this would whip up. However the show doesn't need it - it has a huge and loyal audience anyway. It comes across to me as a cynical move, which shows no regard for the people taking part in the competition - without whom there would be no show in the first place.
Now, you might say, well if there is anything positive about this, it's that it shows something about our innate British sense of fair play. Well, maybe. How many of those people foaming at the keyboard over this, demanding the institution of the death penalty for wanton ice cream removal, I wonder, have ever cheated by using their phones in a pub quiz? Just a thought.
Actually, probably the only positive thing about this whole business was Iain's reaction when called up to face the music from Paul and Mary. He smiled sheepishly, took his verbal beating like a man, and at no point blamed Diana. Iain Watters, you, sir, are a man, and what is more, a gentleman. Sometimes you don't actually have to win to prove yourself a winner.
Thank you all
I'm sorry, I did say back to the quizzes in the last post - but I must make a public thank you to all of my friends who reported the bogus Facebook profile so promptly. Your help ensured that the bogus profile was taken down - I'm impressed with the speed with which Facebook have acted. The fact that so many of you showed your concern is genuinely touching. Thank you.
Wednesday, 27 August 2014
Friends of David Clark
Sorry to interrupt all the quiz stuff. If you're a friend of mine on Facebook, you need to be aware that some complete slimeball has created a bogus page for me on Facebook, and posted to some of my friends, with some scam about a lottery.
If you are one of my Facebook friends, then please treat any messages which seem to come from me as extremely suspicious. I have reported this to Facebook, but if this evil git gets in touch with you, can you report it to Facebook as well?
I would never bother any of my friends about money - a subject I find rather embarrassing at the best of times.
Apologies for the interruption - now, back to the quizzes.
If you are one of my Facebook friends, then please treat any messages which seem to come from me as extremely suspicious. I have reported this to Facebook, but if this evil git gets in touch with you, can you report it to Facebook as well?
I would never bother any of my friends about money - a subject I find rather embarrassing at the best of times.
Apologies for the interruption - now, back to the quizzes.
Mastermind Wiki Challenge
Yes, once more I have decided to take the full monty wiki challenge, the last time I'm likely to have the opportunity for the next couple of months. Well, my wiki
challenge attempts last week were for me a qualified success. My wiki reading-
some of which was reflected in the questions I picked- enabled me to more than
double my expected haul of 14 up to 30. So the target for this week is 31 +
According to the BBC website, this
week’s subjects are Bobby Moore, the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe, the TV
series Our Friends in the North and Richard the Lionheart.
My projected non wiki
scores for these rounds would be: -
Bobby Moore – 4
Poe Short stories – 3
Our Friends in the
North – 1
Richard the Lionheart
– 4
Which I’m sure you
will have worked out is a potential 12. Bobby Moore and Richard the Lionheart
certainly lend themselves to wiki, the other two subjects not. Still, here’s a
list of questions taken from the information on wiki. You'll notice that I haven't included the answers. This is purely in the interests of space. You can download the full Word document if you click on this link : -
Full Wiki Challenge Document
When you get to the webpage, just look in the View the Document box on the left hand side of the page and click bdraf .Ready then? Here we go.
Full Wiki Challenge Document
When you get to the webpage, just look in the View the Document box on the left hand side of the page and click bdraf .Ready then? Here we go.
Bobby Moore
One of Moore’s middle
names was also the name of a London football club – which?
IN 1998 Moore was
chosen posthumously as a member of the World Team of the 20th
century. Which company were behind this competition?
How many caps in
total did Moore win?
Whose record number
of England caps did he beat?
Where was Moore born?
Name the schools
Moore attended
When he made his
debut playing number 6 for West Ham, which player did he replace in the side?
Which other world cup
winner played for Essex County Cricket club’s youth team alongside Moore?
Against which team
did Bobby Moore make his full England International debut in 1962?
Which Tottenham
hotspur player made his debut in the same match?
Moore assumed the
captaincy of England due to an injury to which player?
Against which team
did Moore captain England for the first time?
In 1964 Moore was
successfully treated for which disease?
Against whom did
Moore captain West Ham to the 1964 FA Cup?
Moore led West Ham to
win the European Cup Winners Cup in 1965 against which team?
IN which year did
Moore become the Football Writers’ player of the year?
In 1966 Moore scored
his first international goal for England against which country?
Against which team
did Moore score his second and last goal for England?
In the 1966 World
Cup, why was Moore’s place in the England squad put into jeopardy?
According to George
Cohen, Alf Ramsay considered replacing Moore with whom for the final against
West Germany?
What was Moore
memorably filmed doing before shaking hands with the Queen at the presentation
of the trophy?
In 1966 Moore became
the first footballer to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Who was the
next footballer to do so?
Along with his wife,
and Geoff and Kathy Hurst, Moore appeared in adverts for 1966 for which
industry?
Against which country
did Moore win his 50th cap?
In which city was
Moore accused of the theft of a bracelet immediately prior to the 1970 world
cup?
With which other
player had Moore entered the jewellers shop?
In 1970 Moore was
second in the voting for European Player of the Year behind which player?
Along with Jimmy
Greaves, Brian Dear and Clyde Best, Moore was sanctioned for visiting a
nightclub on the eve of an FA Cup tie against which club?
Which sportsman was
the owner of the club?
Against which country
did Moore win his 100th cap?
Against which team
did Moore win his last cap?
How many times did
Moore captain England?
In 1974 Moore made
his last appearance for West Ham against which team?
Which player would go
on to break Moore’s record for appearences for the club?
Moore made his final
appearance in an English club game for Fulham against which club?
Moore played for two
teams in the North American Soccer League – San Antonio Thunder and which
other?
IN the USA
Bicentennial Cup, Moore played for a USA team against an England team captained
by which player?
Which Danish team was
the last team with which Moore signed a professional contract?
Moore managed two
clubs in England – the second being Southend Utd. Which was the first?
In 1990, Moore joined
which radio station as a commentator and analyst?
In 1993 Moore made
his final public appearance, commentating on the England match v. which
country?
Where was Moore’s
funeral held?
Moore was only the
second sportsman to be honoured with a memorial service in Westminster Abbey –
who was the first?
IN the official team
song of the 1996 Euros, 3 lions, writers Brody, Skinner and Baddiel in the
lyrics referenced Moore’s 1970 tackle on which player?
In 2007 who unveiled
the statue of Moore outside the rebuilt Wembley Stadium?
Which honour did
Moore receive in 1967?
What was the name of
Moore’s character in the film “Escape to Victory”
What is the name of
Moore’s son with his first wife Tina?
Whom did Moore marry
in 1991?
Short Stories of
Edgar Allan Poe
Which was the first
Poe short story to be printed?
The early short story
“MS Found in a bottle” won Poe a prize from which Baltimore newspaper?
In 1840 the firm of
Lea and Blanchard agreed to publish the collection of already published short
stories, Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, based on the popularity of which
story?
In which story does a
father’s baptism of a child leave her possessed by the soul of her dead mother?
Which semi
autobiographical story draws on Poe’s own childhood experiences at school in
London?
The Man That Was Used
Up is seen as a satire on which US general?
What was the original
title of Bon Bon?
Which unusual time is
rung by the devilish fiddle player in The Devil in the Belfry
Which short story
contains Poe’s poem “The Conqueror Worm”?
Which story is ofen
combined with Poe’s article “How to Write a Blackwood Article”?
Which story from 1835
was intended by Poe to be a hoax?
Which 1835 story in
The Southern Literary Messenger led to the editor receiving complaints over its
level of violence?
Which character from
an earlier Poe story reappears for the first time in the short story, The
Mystery of Marie Roget?
What was the name of
the cat in The Black Cat?
How did Poe describe
the physical peculiarity of the murder victim in The Telltale Heart?
In which publication
was The Cask of Amontillado first published?
Which short story has
a tale within a tale told during a mountain climb in Norway?
IN the Facts of the
Case of M. Valdemar – Valdemar , who is hypnotised, is suffering from which
disease?
Where in South
Carolina is “The Gold Bug” set?
Which story has the
alternative title “The Eight Chained Orangutans”?
Who is the main
character of “The Masque of the Red Death”?
How did Poe describe
his short detective stories such as The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Who or what are
torturing the narrator of The Pit and the Pendulum?
The third Auguste C.
Dupin Story, the Purloined Letter, first appeared in which annual?
Where was the setting
for The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether?
Our Friends in the
North
How many episodes
were made of the series?
The series was
written by which writer?
In which city was it
set?
The action of the
series takes place over how many years?
Which newspaper rated
it the third greatest Television drama of all time?
Flannery originally
created the series as a stage play while he was a writer in residence with
whom?
Who originally
approached Flannery with a view to turning the play into a TV series?
Who was the
controller of BBC Two who finally commissioned the series?
Who made his name in
the series playing Geordie Peacock?
Name the character
played by Christopher Eccleston
– and Gina McKee
– and Mark Strong
In 1964, why does
Geordie decide to move to London
Nicky drops out of
his university course to work with which corrupt politician?
Which actor played
Felix, Nicky’s father?
When Geordie moves to
London, which underworld baron does he fall in with?
Name the former
police constable who hangs himself in 1966?
In 1966, Nicky leaves
Donohue over his corrupt dealings with whom?
Barrett lends Tosker
the money to start which kind of retail business?
In 1967, who urges
Nicky to make documents proving the corruption of Donohue and Edwards public?
In 1970, who is asked
to head the investigation into police corruption?
In 1970, Nicky’s
family are horrified when they discover that he has what hidden under his bed?
What is the name of
the Conservative candidate who carries out a smear campaign against Nicky in
1979?
In 1979, Tosker asks
Mary for a divorce after meeting whom?
In 1979 Nicky finds
out that which flats he helped Donohue to get built are to be knocked down?
In 1984 which
position is held by Mary?
IN 1984, how does
Mary’s son Anthony lose any chance he has of furthering his career in the
police force?
Which of the four
main characters does not appear at all in 1984?
Which organisation
does Tosker decide to join in 1984?
In 1987, Nicky begins
an affair with Alice McDonald, who he meets during what?
In 1987, how does
Nicky find Geordie?
In 1987, Geordie
receives a life sentence for which crime?
In 1987 which event
completely wipes out Tosker and Elaine’s wealth?
In 1995, which
business are Tosker and Mary opening?
The last episode ends
with Geordie walking alone where?
Which song is played
as this last scene occurs?
The budget of Our
friends in the north was half of BBC2’s annual budget. How much?
Who was originally
approached to direct part of the series, although he didn’t end up directing
any of them?
Who left after
disagreements with the production team while directing the third episode?
Which of the 4
principal actors was the only native of North East England?
Originally the
Production team wanted Christopher Eccleston to play which character?
Which actor’s scenes
were filmed in a three week block because the budget couldn’t pay for him to be
used longer?
The series faced some
criticisms when scenes were reshot on which pebble beach to pass for Whitley
Bay?
Which award was Peter
Flannery presented with at the BAFTAs for his work on the series?
Which of the four
principals won an acting BAFTA for the series?
Flannery’s projected
prequel, Our Friends in the South, which was never made, would have focussed on
which event of the 1930s?
Richard the Lionheart
What was Richard’s
regnal number as Duke of Normandy?
What nickname was
Richard given due to his tendency to change his mind?
Which king of France
was one of Richard’s co-commandeers of the Third Crusade?
Richard was born
where in 1157?
Who was Richard’s
oldest brother, who died before Richard was born?
What was the name of
Richard’s wet nurse?
What was the title of
Geoffrey de Vinsauf’s allegedly first hand account of Richard’s part in the
third Crusade?
Whose daughter was an
arrangement for Richard to marry made when he was 2 years old?
In the early 1160s
Louis VII of France originally refused to allow which of his daughters to marry
Richard?
At Richard’s
betrothal to Alys, for which territory did he pay homage to Louis?
In 1171 Richard and
his mother Eleanor laid the foundation stone of St. Augustine’s monastery in
which town?
Where in 1172 was
Richard formally recognised as the Duke of Aquitaine?
During the rebellion
against his father, Richard was repulsed when trying to take which port, after
which he withdrew to Saintes?
After Henry II’s
forces took Saintes, in which chateau did Richard take refuge for the rest of
the conflict?
Which Treaty of 1174
between Henry II and Louis specifically excluded Richard from the terms of the
treaty?
Following Richard’s
making peace with his father, who was kept Henry’s prisoner to ensure his good
behaviour?
Whose chronicle is
the main source for Richard’s actions against rebel barons in Aquitaine
following his peace with Henry?
Richard acquired the
epithet Coeur de Lion during the siege of which castle?
A major revolt
against Richard’s rule broke out in which area of Aquitaine in 1179?
In 1182 Richard faced
another revolt over the succession to which county?
In 1183 Young King
Henry and which other of Richard’s brothers invaded Aquitaine?
In return for Philip
II’s aid against his father he promised to give away his rights in which two
areas?
Where in 1187 did
Richard join French nobles in taking the cross?
After his coronation
in Westminster, whom did Richard have flogged, stripped and thrown out of
court?
Whom did the newly
crowned Richard agree to free from his oath of servitude in exchange for 10,000
marks towards his crusading expenses?
William Longchamps,
Richard’s Chancellor also held which ecclesiastical post?
Richard confirmed
which of his father’s appointees to the role of seneschal of Normandy?
What was the name of
the Bishop of Durham appointed as one of two regents on Richard’s departure on
the third crusade?
Who died and was
replaced as regent by William Longchamps?
Richard’s arrival in
Sicily resulted in which of his aunts being freed from captivity?
Which Sicilian city
did Richard loot and burn before making it his base?
Who was the father of
Richard’s Queen Berengaria?
Name the despot of
Cyprus deposed by Richard
To whom did Richard
eventually sell the island of Cyprus?
Where did Richard’s 1191
marriage to Berengaria take place?
Where in the Holy
Land did Richard land in 1191?
During the capture of
Acre, Richard was suffering from which disease?
Whose banner did
Richard’s men tear down and throw in the moat after it was erected in equal
prominence to Richard’s in Acre?
At which battle,
which took place 30 miles north of Jaffa, did Richard defeat Saladin’s forces?
Where did Richard
decide to turn back his army, only about 12 miles from Jerusalem?
Where did Richard and
his forces refortify in 1192?
An election forced
Richard to accept who as the nominal king of Jerusalem?
In June 1192, what
did Richard say was the only way he would take part in an attack on Jerusalem?
On his return from
the holy land, Richard’s ship was forced by bad weather to land on which
island?
Richard was
shipwrecked near which ancient Italian city, forcing him to journey overland
through Europe?
When Leopold of
Austria captured Richard near Vienna, he accused him of the murder of whom?
In which castle was
Richard imprisoned by Leopold?
Which song did
Richard write for his half sister Marie de Champagne while imprisoned?
Where did Leopold
hand Richard to Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor?
Where did Henry
imprison Richard?
What was the ransom
in marks demanded by Henry?
After Richard’s
forgiveness of his brother John for his revolt during his absence, Richard
installed John as his heir in place of whom?
What was the name of
the treaty between Richard and Philip II in December 1195?
Where did Richard
establish his base for operations in Normandy in 1196?
Which chateau did
Richard build on land seized from Walter of Coutances?
After which 1194
battle did Philip II flee leaving Richard to capture many of his financial
documents?
Which motto did
Richard adopt at the battle of Gisors in 1198?
Richard died when
besieging the castle of Chalus Chabrol to suppress a revolt by whom?
According to
contemporary sources, what did Richard give to the boy who inflicted the
crossbow wound which was to result in his death?
Where was Richard’s
heart buried?
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