Mastermind Specialists tomorrow

Heads up about tomorrow’s Mastermind. Specialist subjects are Billy Joel, JMW Turner, the BBC Sitcom Miranda and Antoine Lavoisier. Looking att my chances of scoring any points – well, I rather liked Billy Joel back in the day, so it’s not impossible I might pick up one or two. A member of my family once said that the BBC sitcom Miranda should have been retitled ‘Large Lady Falls Over a Lot”. I watched an episode once, and while I think that’s a little uncharitable I think there’s a grain of truth in it. Prediction – Royaume Uni nul points. Antoine Lavoisier – hmm, maybe a scraped point. JMW Turner – I’m not saying he will bring me any points, but I do have a slightly tenuous family connection.  Through my Cobden grandmother, I’m descended from a family of artists and engravers, the Dawes. My five times great grandfather Philip Dawe was an artist and engraver, who reputedly learned from Hogarth, and tutored George Morland. He may even have given instruction to Turner at one time. Even if this was not the case, his son Henry Edward Dawe, my four times great grandfather was and engraver who definitely worked with Turner. Mind you, the real star of the family was Henry’s brother George Dawe, who became official first court portrait painter to the Tsar of Russia. Over 300 of his paintings hang in the Hermitage. Not that this connection will necessarily bring me points. I predict – I hope that I’ll manage four or five as a total aggregate.