A Few Observations - A Few Questions
Mrs. C. wasn't feeling too clever last night, and so took to her bed earlier than usual. This explained why number 2 daughter took control of the remote control, or to give it its technial name, the hoofer - doofer, and that explains how I came to watch Chris Tarrant's "The Colour of Money " last night for the first time. If by any chance this leads you to think - hang about , that's a game show and not a quiz show, which is outside our remit in "Life After Mastermind"- well, yes, you're absolutely right, but it is relevant. Allow me to explain.
Cast your mind back to about this time last year. Now, what was the big game show on a Saturday night on ITV ? Nick Hancock's Duel. At the heart of that show, as you might recall, was a quiz. Put it another way, you had to know stuff to win. ITV were reportedly disappointed with the audience the show received, and its noticeable by its absence this year. "The Colour of Money" is worrying confirmation of what I call the "Deal or No Deal " syndrome. Put in simple terms, for me it is proof that the big prize quiz show bonanza which we have enjoyed since "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire " first burst onto our screens in 1998 seems to be over.
Why call it the "Deal or No Deal " syndrome ? Well, the afore mentioned show is the first show that Channel Four have managed to come up with that replicates the popularity of the much missed Fifteen To One. I feel ashamed to say it, but I quite enjoy DOND, but Fifteen to One it's not. Who cares ? Not Channel Four, and certainly not the daily audience. Look at the appeal to the makers. Everyone wins something eventually. Incredibly simple format. No questions to compile. The first time I ever saw DOND actually was in the Yorkshire TV studios in Leeds when I was a stand in for the Mastermind semis of 2006. They make Countdown there, and so I guess that they had been watching it in the green room, and couldn't be bothered to change channel. When I saw it I did think that this was a development that could spell trouble for genuine quiz shows.
So where does the Colour of Money fit into this ? Well, its different from DOND in as much as not everybody wins something on the show. However it is about making the correct, or should I say lucky , choices, and knowing where to stop, and that's pure DOND. But its prime time Saturday night. I don't know what the ratings are like on the show, but if its a success, then I'm thinking we can kiss goodnight to the chance of any more massive jackpots for a genuine quiz show. Wouldn't it be strange if the highest jackpot for a genuine quiz on TV actually became the BBC's top prize for In It To Win It , or 1 v. 100 ? How long before the BBC decide that big money quizzes are past it, and they make their own 'choose your own cash' show ? Anyone who thinks that the BBC wouldn't go that far need only watch "The Wall Game " and "Total Wipeout" to see just how populist the Beeb are prepared to go. The worst thing is that I do actually quite like both of those shows.
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Conversely, however, quizzes thrive at the moment on TV in the early evening slots. "The Weakest Link " and "Eggheads " continue, with seemingly a lot of life left in both of them. In the last twelve months we've had two series of "The Battle of The Brains " and "Terry Wogan's Perfect Recall ", we've had the BBC's own elimination quiz, "A Question of Genius" and also we've had "Are You An Egghead ? "
Now, to get to the point, the word is that 12 Yard Productions, makers of "Eggheads" amongst other shows, are looking to make a new series of "Are You An Egghead ? " From a TV quiz fan's point of view, that's pretty good news. "Are You An Egghead ?" was an enjoyable series, although you could make criticisms of it in the same way that you could criticise any show if you put you mind to it. There were a significant number of truly superb quizzers who took part, of whom Barry was one, and a worthy winner. However since I heard the news, I can't help saying that a number of questions have occurred to me. I'll share them with you now.
* Is one of the Eggheads leaving, or are they going to rotate 7 Eggheads instead of 6 ? Let us say that you get paid according to the number of shows you play in. 7 players would mean that you play in 5 shows out of 7, rather than 5 shows out of 6, which is less work, and therefore less money, which makes the prize less attractive than last year's.
* If one is leaving, then are they going of their own volition, or are they being pushed ? I formed the impression last year when I considered applying for the first series that the contract for the winner was only guaranteed for one year. Apologies to all concerned if I am wrong. However if that is the case, then it doesn't strike me as being very fair to Barry. Of course, its always possible that one of the Eggheads may wish to go. Be honest, though - if you were being paid for quizzing, would you ?
* Will the unsuccessful contestants from last year be allowed/encouraged/ asked to reapply for this series ? I've got to be honest, if I was to apply this year I'd feel my chances were a lot better knowing that luminaries such as Olav Bjortomt, Ian Bayley, Pat Gibson, David Edwards and Mark Kerr, to name but a few, were not taking part because of their appearance in the first series. This is actually an important point. Consider the two series of Battle of The Brains. Now, for the second series they didn't actually have a rule banning teams who had been in the first series exactly, but the rule was that no more than three of your original team could appear in the same team this time round. Its quite possible that a number of last year's teams didn't actually want to take part again for various reasons. Now don't get me wrong. There were some fine teams who played in the second series. Yet in my opinion, the average level of ability of the teams in this series was not as high as the average level of the teams in the first series. So lets think about the generally very high standard of the competitors on the first "Are You An Egghead ? " How do the producers aim to get such a high level of competitor again ? Even if they don't set their sights so high this year, they surely still want as many good competitors as possible to avoid any total mismatches.
* What are the conditions if, heaven help us, you win ? I ask myself this because I am not close enough to retirement age yet. If I was, then I might be tempted to say what the hell, and have a stab. With a job that pays a decent wage - although if my local authority wanted to offer me more I wouldn't turn them down - and a large family, I'm afraid that I couldn't afford to take a cut in salary, or risk being on the Old King Cole in a year's time if I won. I expect a significant number of other serious quizzers probably face the same problem.
OK - so if I did apply there's no guarantee that I would even get on the show. The rumour persists that Mark Bytheway applied for the first series and didn't get on. If that's true, then it would seem to be a glaring, and to be honest, rather despicable omission. Yet the Mastermind thing would seem to count for something. Its also struck me that although I have applied for other shows in the last 12 months, I'm the only Humphrys era Mastermind Champ who hasn't appeared on a TV quiz in the last few months. We had Shaun Wallace in "Are You An Egghead ?", Pat in "Are You An Egghead?" and " Battle of the Brains ", Geoff in "Battle of the Brains" and Andy in "Battle of the Brains". Perhaps this is trying to tell me something. Not sure what, though, that's the problem.
Sunday, 29 March 2009
Saturday, 28 March 2009
Weekend Mini Quiz 9 - Answers to Mini Quiz 8
Answers to Mini Quiz 8
Round One - in honour of the boys in white finally starting to find a bit of form - The England Rugby Union Team
1) Who captained the English team in the inaugural world cup of 1987 ?
Answer - Mike Harrison
2) While we're on the subject, which former England 5 nations winning captain had his name borrowed for the hero of a very popular series of historical novels ?
Answer - Richard Sharpe
3) Which winger scored a hat trick of tries in his second appearence in an England shirt against Ireland in 1988 ?
Answer - Chris Oti
4) For what is the England v. Australia test at Twickenham in January 1982 most often remembered ?
Answer - The streaker - Erica Rowe
5) In which year will Twickenham celebrate its centenary ?
Answer - either centenary of first club match - this year 2009 - centenary of first international ( v. Wales ) - 2010
Round Two - General Knowledge
1) Who was the most famous ever holder of the title Duke of Bronte ?
Horatio Nelson
2) Which temple , later converted into a christian church, is the most complete ancint roman building in the city of Rome ?
The Pantheon
3) Charles Dickens used a work by one of his friends to help him write " A Tail of Two Cities". Which friend, and what was the book called ?
Thomas Carlyle - A History of The French Revolution
4) What is the derivation of the word hydrogen ?
Hydro - Genes - greek - literally born of water
5) British sitcoms. In "Fawlty Towers " what is the name of the Bernard Cribbins character that Basil mistakes for a hotel inspector ?
Mr. Hutchinson
Well , how did you do ? If you didn't do so well, then here's your chance to make amends, as we proudly present : -
Weekend Mini Quiz 9
Round One - Send in the Clowns
1) Which musical features the song "Send in the Clowns " ?
2) Which ruling house of Europe shares its name with a famous clown, and what was the name of the clown ?
3) How does a circus clown copyright his own distinctive face make-up ?
4) What is the name of the clown in the Shakespeare play "Twelfth Night " ?
5) What was the name of the very famous clown associated with the Blackpool Tower Circus in the 1950s, 60s and 70s ?
Round Two - General Knowledge
1) Emerald is the distinctive green form of which mineral ?
2) In computer technology , what does DOS stand for ?
3) Who composed the St. Matthew Passion ?
4) If you are an MHR in Australia - what is your business ?
5) Which town or village on the Gower Peninsula is famous for its cockles ?
Round One - in honour of the boys in white finally starting to find a bit of form - The England Rugby Union Team
1) Who captained the English team in the inaugural world cup of 1987 ?
Answer - Mike Harrison
2) While we're on the subject, which former England 5 nations winning captain had his name borrowed for the hero of a very popular series of historical novels ?
Answer - Richard Sharpe
3) Which winger scored a hat trick of tries in his second appearence in an England shirt against Ireland in 1988 ?
Answer - Chris Oti
4) For what is the England v. Australia test at Twickenham in January 1982 most often remembered ?
Answer - The streaker - Erica Rowe
5) In which year will Twickenham celebrate its centenary ?
Answer - either centenary of first club match - this year 2009 - centenary of first international ( v. Wales ) - 2010
Round Two - General Knowledge
1) Who was the most famous ever holder of the title Duke of Bronte ?
Horatio Nelson
2) Which temple , later converted into a christian church, is the most complete ancint roman building in the city of Rome ?
The Pantheon
3) Charles Dickens used a work by one of his friends to help him write " A Tail of Two Cities". Which friend, and what was the book called ?
Thomas Carlyle - A History of The French Revolution
4) What is the derivation of the word hydrogen ?
Hydro - Genes - greek - literally born of water
5) British sitcoms. In "Fawlty Towers " what is the name of the Bernard Cribbins character that Basil mistakes for a hotel inspector ?
Mr. Hutchinson
Well , how did you do ? If you didn't do so well, then here's your chance to make amends, as we proudly present : -
Weekend Mini Quiz 9
Round One - Send in the Clowns
1) Which musical features the song "Send in the Clowns " ?
2) Which ruling house of Europe shares its name with a famous clown, and what was the name of the clown ?
3) How does a circus clown copyright his own distinctive face make-up ?
4) What is the name of the clown in the Shakespeare play "Twelfth Night " ?
5) What was the name of the very famous clown associated with the Blackpool Tower Circus in the 1950s, 60s and 70s ?
Round Two - General Knowledge
1) Emerald is the distinctive green form of which mineral ?
2) In computer technology , what does DOS stand for ?
3) Who composed the St. Matthew Passion ?
4) If you are an MHR in Australia - what is your business ?
5) Which town or village on the Gower Peninsula is famous for its cockles ?
Anniversary - Mastermind Update
Anniversary
Yes, its been a quiet week. There was no chance of me getting out to a midweek quiz this week, being as it was the week in which we had to send out the sample of our GCSE coursework for external moderation. At my school, we're great believers in the school of 'measure twice, and cut once ' or to put it another way, make sure that the folders are as perfect as you can before they go. Its a good approach, but the problem is that it does take a lot of time and effort in marking, checking, re-marking, arguing, checking again, re-marking, filling the folders with comments justifying the marks given, etc. Thus I rationed myself to the unpleasant experience last Sunday which was the subject of my previous entry , and Thursday night's quiz, of which more later.
Not only that, then, but its been a bit of a quiet week TV wise.I've enjoyed "A Question of Genius" although I haven't caught much of it this week due to one thing and another.Then last night Mastermind was held over so that the BBC could show the world track cycling. Now, I can understand why they want to show the cycling. What happened in the Beijing Olympics was unprecedented, for the GB and NI team to so dominate a sport . I just wish that it wasn't poor old Mastermind being used as the 12th man again. You can understand why the BBC do it, though. They obviously feel that Mastermind viewers are a steady audience, many of whom will actively seek it out, and will loyally come back even if they take it off for a week without so much as a by your leave. They're probably right too.
Its a little ironic, though, since last Tuesday saw the first anniversary of the broadcasting of last year's final. Not of the filming of the final itself, which actually took place on the 15th June 2007 - which by coincidence was my 43rd birthday. Still, it is a personal milestone of sorts, even if I didn't actually realise that it had passed until Thursday ! In her fine book about her Mastermind experiences, " And No Passes " the 1989 champion Mary Elizabeth Raw prints extracts from her diary to give an example of the sort of things that happened to her in the year after her win. I'm afraid that my experiences in the past year tend to pale into insignificance alongside Ms. Raw's, but then Mastermind was on BBC1, and far more of a national institution in those days. I suppose that some of the highlights of the year would have to be these : -
* Being recognised in a car boot sale in Swansea
* Being the answer to a question in the Quiz of 2008 in the Rugby club
* Nancy Banks- Smith's review of the final in the Guardian
* Having a civic reception at the Mayor's Parlour in Neath
* Being on the front page of the South Wales Evening Post
* Being invited to become a resident expert on the website of the London Bridge Museum and Educational Trust
* Having the Mayday in Melincryddan Quiz charity Quiz Trophy renamed The David Clark Mastermind 2008 Trophy
* Being invited to spend a day with my old school, and to present the prizes on the Presentation Evening
* Being invited to attend the 900th anniversary of the Opening of Old London Bridge as a guest
* Being invited to give a speech at the Bro Morgannwg Unison Learning awards.
Actually, now that I see it all written down in the same place, its not too shabby at all. Of course, there have been a couple of less pleasant outcomes, but lets not dwell on those at all. Instead, lets take this opportunity to update ourselves on the relative performances in this series of Mastermind so far. I last gave you an update at the halfway stage, after 12 heats. Since then we've had another 10 heats, and the table looks like this : -
So - with only two heats left there are at least 4 of the finalists in this list . Who would you pick ? Before you start putting your money down, I would like to sound a note of caution. In the last series, if you did this same exercise, and set out the first round heat winners in a table ranked first according to total scores, then separated those with the same score by taking into account the total passes, then out of the top 10 performers in the first round, only 2 won their semi finals. This was partly due to the fact that there were two very top heavy semi finals. In the first semi final last year, three of the 4 contenders had all scored 30 or more in the first round, and in another semi final two contenders had scored 30 or more, and one had scored 29 in the first round. Even then they were all beaten in that semi by someone who had scored much lower in his first round. So I guess what I am trying to say is don't read too much into relative positions and scores - but it is interesting to compare.
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The quiz in the rugby club was actually good fun on Thursday - yes, we did win, how did you guess ? I was particularly pleased at remembering who Ireland's first Grand Slam team captain was ( Karl Mullen ) and for correctly guessing which the first Bob Dylan song ( as in song written by Bob Dylan ) to top the UK charts was ( Mr. Tambourine Man by the Byrds )This quiz was a connections quiz - that is, in each round three of the questions would have answers which had a connection. 'Kick Yourself For Getting It Wrong Connection' of the night was this one : -
1) Which US General burnt Atlanta during the Civil War ?
2) Which english painter is widely reckoned to be the finest ever painter of horses ?
3) In George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' what is the name of the pig whose dream leads to the animal rebellion ?
Answers
1) William Tecumseh SHERMAN
2) George STUBBS
3) Old MAJOR
So what would you say the connection is ? Not easy if you don't see it at once , is it ? Its actually Fawlty Towers - Polly's surname is Sherman - the reputable one of the two builders is Mr. Stubbs, and of course Major Gowan is the hotel's longest term resident. Maybe a little bit specialist , but you can't get by on a diet of bread and butter all the time. Good stuff.
Yes, its been a quiet week. There was no chance of me getting out to a midweek quiz this week, being as it was the week in which we had to send out the sample of our GCSE coursework for external moderation. At my school, we're great believers in the school of 'measure twice, and cut once ' or to put it another way, make sure that the folders are as perfect as you can before they go. Its a good approach, but the problem is that it does take a lot of time and effort in marking, checking, re-marking, arguing, checking again, re-marking, filling the folders with comments justifying the marks given, etc. Thus I rationed myself to the unpleasant experience last Sunday which was the subject of my previous entry , and Thursday night's quiz, of which more later.
Not only that, then, but its been a bit of a quiet week TV wise.I've enjoyed "A Question of Genius" although I haven't caught much of it this week due to one thing and another.Then last night Mastermind was held over so that the BBC could show the world track cycling. Now, I can understand why they want to show the cycling. What happened in the Beijing Olympics was unprecedented, for the GB and NI team to so dominate a sport . I just wish that it wasn't poor old Mastermind being used as the 12th man again. You can understand why the BBC do it, though. They obviously feel that Mastermind viewers are a steady audience, many of whom will actively seek it out, and will loyally come back even if they take it off for a week without so much as a by your leave. They're probably right too.
Its a little ironic, though, since last Tuesday saw the first anniversary of the broadcasting of last year's final. Not of the filming of the final itself, which actually took place on the 15th June 2007 - which by coincidence was my 43rd birthday. Still, it is a personal milestone of sorts, even if I didn't actually realise that it had passed until Thursday ! In her fine book about her Mastermind experiences, " And No Passes " the 1989 champion Mary Elizabeth Raw prints extracts from her diary to give an example of the sort of things that happened to her in the year after her win. I'm afraid that my experiences in the past year tend to pale into insignificance alongside Ms. Raw's, but then Mastermind was on BBC1, and far more of a national institution in those days. I suppose that some of the highlights of the year would have to be these : -
* Being recognised in a car boot sale in Swansea
* Being the answer to a question in the Quiz of 2008 in the Rugby club
* Nancy Banks- Smith's review of the final in the Guardian
* Having a civic reception at the Mayor's Parlour in Neath
* Being on the front page of the South Wales Evening Post
* Being invited to become a resident expert on the website of the London Bridge Museum and Educational Trust
* Having the Mayday in Melincryddan Quiz charity Quiz Trophy renamed The David Clark Mastermind 2008 Trophy
* Being invited to spend a day with my old school, and to present the prizes on the Presentation Evening
* Being invited to attend the 900th anniversary of the Opening of Old London Bridge as a guest
* Being invited to give a speech at the Bro Morgannwg Unison Learning awards.
Actually, now that I see it all written down in the same place, its not too shabby at all. Of course, there have been a couple of less pleasant outcomes, but lets not dwell on those at all. Instead, lets take this opportunity to update ourselves on the relative performances in this series of Mastermind so far. I last gave you an update at the halfway stage, after 12 heats. Since then we've had another 10 heats, and the table looks like this : -
| John Beynon | 15 - 0 | 14 - 0 | 29 - 0 |
| James Corcoran | 16 - 0 | 13 - 3 | 29 - 3 |
| Richard Heller | 14 - 2 | 14 - 0 | 28 - 2 |
| Mel Kinsey | 16 -1 | 12 - 1 | 28 - 2 |
| Gillian Taylor | 18- 0 | 9 - 0 | 27 - 0 |
| Nancy Dickman | 13 - 0 | 14 - 1 | 27 - 1 |
| Roger Canwell | 14 - 1 | 13 - 1 | 27 - 2 |
| Gary Grant | 14 - 2 | 13 - 3 | 27 - 5 |
| Edward Pearce | 16 - 1 | 11 - 4 | 27 - 5 |
| Thomas Armer | 13 - 0 | 13 - 0 | 26 - 0 |
| Ian Bayley | 13 - 0 | 13 - 0 | 26 - 0 |
| Stuart Macdonald | 14 - 0 | 12 - 2 | 26 - 2 |
| Louise Mayer | 15 - 0 | 11 - 3 | 26 - 3 |
| Paul Moorhouse | 12 - 0 | 13 - 0 | 25 - 0 |
| Sally Jones | 15 - 2 | 10 -1 | 25 - 3 |
| Gareth Kingston | 16 - 0 | 8 - 0 | 24 - 0 |
| Jenny Dunn | 13 - 0 | 11 - 3 | 24 - 3 |
| Shrirang Raddi | 16 - 0 | 8 - 4 | 24 - 4 |
| Hugh Brady | 13 - 1 | 11 - 4 | 24 - 5 |
| Paula Keaveney | 14 - 1 | 10 - 5 | 24 - 6 |
| Ara Varatharaj | 16 - 0 | 7 - 1 | 23 - 1 |
| Nicholas Flindall | 15 - 1 | 8 - 4 | 23 - 5 |
So - with only two heats left there are at least 4 of the finalists in this list . Who would you pick ? Before you start putting your money down, I would like to sound a note of caution. In the last series, if you did this same exercise, and set out the first round heat winners in a table ranked first according to total scores, then separated those with the same score by taking into account the total passes, then out of the top 10 performers in the first round, only 2 won their semi finals. This was partly due to the fact that there were two very top heavy semi finals. In the first semi final last year, three of the 4 contenders had all scored 30 or more in the first round, and in another semi final two contenders had scored 30 or more, and one had scored 29 in the first round. Even then they were all beaten in that semi by someone who had scored much lower in his first round. So I guess what I am trying to say is don't read too much into relative positions and scores - but it is interesting to compare.
-------------------------------------------------
The quiz in the rugby club was actually good fun on Thursday - yes, we did win, how did you guess ? I was particularly pleased at remembering who Ireland's first Grand Slam team captain was ( Karl Mullen ) and for correctly guessing which the first Bob Dylan song ( as in song written by Bob Dylan ) to top the UK charts was ( Mr. Tambourine Man by the Byrds )This quiz was a connections quiz - that is, in each round three of the questions would have answers which had a connection. 'Kick Yourself For Getting It Wrong Connection' of the night was this one : -
1) Which US General burnt Atlanta during the Civil War ?
2) Which english painter is widely reckoned to be the finest ever painter of horses ?
3) In George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' what is the name of the pig whose dream leads to the animal rebellion ?
Answers
1) William Tecumseh SHERMAN
2) George STUBBS
3) Old MAJOR
So what would you say the connection is ? Not easy if you don't see it at once , is it ? Its actually Fawlty Towers - Polly's surname is Sherman - the reputable one of the two builders is Mr. Stubbs, and of course Major Gowan is the hotel's longest term resident. Maybe a little bit specialist , but you can't get by on a diet of bread and butter all the time. Good stuff.
Monday, 23 March 2009
My Flabber has never Been So Gasted
So Farewell, then , Culverhouse Hotel -
I believe that it was in "Othello" that William Shakespeare wrote of jealousy as " the green eyed monster that doth mock the meat it feeds on. " Mind you Shakespeare also wrote 'Titus Andronicus', which proves that he wasn't always half as clever as people think that he was. However, I digress. Gentle readers, as good quizzers yourselves, which I am sure that many of you are, you'll be fully aware of the occasional jealousy that a virtuoso display can arouse in other teams. Alas, last night this turned rather ugly.
If you've been with me since the summer, then you'll be aware of the difficulty I found trying to find a good Sunday evening quiz. The nature of the problem was twofold. Firstly, I don't like Redtooth Quizzes. For the uninitiated, Redtooth are a private company that produce quizzes for pubs and clubs. I don't like them, but they are popular, and if you play in them regularly and you like them, then good luck to you. Unfortunately for me, a significant number of pubs and clubs within a reasonable travelling distance subscribe to Redtooth, so finding a home grown quiz of a halfway decent standard on a Sunday evening can be quite difficult. This problem is complicated by the fact that we really need to have two different quizzes we can go to on a Sunday, so that we can alternate between the two, making sure that we never win any quiz more than once a fortnight.
We hit something close to the jackpot when we found the Culverhouse Hotel in Cardiff. You pay a pound each for a decent quiz, made up of 40 questions and a handout. 4 questions are 3 point multiples, and you play the joker on a round of your choice to double your score for that round. Then after the quiz its a pound each for the chance of the jackpot on a single name the year / guess the number question - closest to the correct answer scoops the pot. As regards the prize money for the quiz itself, well it covers your petrol and a round of drinks, but no more, but that doesn't matter. Its a bit of fun.
Last night was the first time we had played there for three weeks, actually. We left it a week longer since last time we played there we won the quiz and Phillippa scooped the jackpot, so we thought that we'd better give them a bit longer to get over it. Apparently 3 weeks was nothing like enough. This is what happened. We were joint winners of the quiz, with another team, who shall remain nameless in order to protect the guilty. So there was a tie break.
"Name the year in which the RNLI was first formed " asked our genial host. Immediately John, the King of the Tie Break , wrote down the answer 1824. The other team answered 1820. Of course it was 1824.
I think at this point that I should explain something. This quiz is a little unusual in that the QM reads through all 4 rounds without a break. Then he allows something like 15 minutes before asking you to swap over your papers for marking by another team. Now, the problem with this is that it is something of a cheat's charter. We saw several other teams immediately start texting on their phones, one of which, I have to say, was the team who tied with us. They were a team who quizzed standing up at the bar, a group of 20-and 30-something men who , I have to say, were somewhat the worse for drink, and did not fit your stereotype image of a successful pub quiz team. Not neanderthals, no, but certainly a team who managed to exude a bit of an aura of menace. They were incensed by our win, and called the QM over.
He came over to our table, and basically accused us of cheating. Of course, my daughter had just taken her phone out at that point, and was in the process of texting, and he leapt on this. At first I couldn't help laughing - until I realised that he was serious . Then I quickly went through surprise, shock, frustration, then extreme being-peed-off-ness, and I am afraid to say that I rose to the challenge. I explained that the phone had come out after the tie break - and pointed out that he himself had seen nothing, otherwise he would have done so when he presented us with the prize money. I then pointed out that the other team would not have even got into a tie break with us if they hadn't been texting for the whole of the 15 minutes before handing over. He backed off a little bit, but used the morally bankrupt argument that everyone ( except us ! ) used their phones a bit during the quiz, but it wasn't right in a tie break. He didn't ask for the prize back though.
After that I don't think anything would have persuaded John to go back to the Culverhouse Hotel again. However there was a particularly nasty incident just before we left. I had to pass the other team involved on my way to the Gents, and one of them made a point of calling me a * * * * ing cheat. Did I mention what shining wits they were ? Or is that a Spoonerism ? I know that the right thing was to maintain my dignity and not answer, and I didn't respond at all. Hence I am in one piece, as is the rest of my team, and we are not banned from the Culverhouse Hotel. Well, not in so many words, anyway. But we'd be very foolish to go back. Yes, we've done nothing wrong, and yes, the other team involved acted in a childish, threatening and frankly hypocritical fashion. At the end of the day, though, that doesn't make a lot of difference. If we went there again, we'd be looking for trouble.
I suppose that if I were a better person I'd be able to look at all this from the lofty perch of my own moral superiority and laugh it off. I'm not a better person , though. It leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.
I believe that it was in "Othello" that William Shakespeare wrote of jealousy as " the green eyed monster that doth mock the meat it feeds on. " Mind you Shakespeare also wrote 'Titus Andronicus', which proves that he wasn't always half as clever as people think that he was. However, I digress. Gentle readers, as good quizzers yourselves, which I am sure that many of you are, you'll be fully aware of the occasional jealousy that a virtuoso display can arouse in other teams. Alas, last night this turned rather ugly.
If you've been with me since the summer, then you'll be aware of the difficulty I found trying to find a good Sunday evening quiz. The nature of the problem was twofold. Firstly, I don't like Redtooth Quizzes. For the uninitiated, Redtooth are a private company that produce quizzes for pubs and clubs. I don't like them, but they are popular, and if you play in them regularly and you like them, then good luck to you. Unfortunately for me, a significant number of pubs and clubs within a reasonable travelling distance subscribe to Redtooth, so finding a home grown quiz of a halfway decent standard on a Sunday evening can be quite difficult. This problem is complicated by the fact that we really need to have two different quizzes we can go to on a Sunday, so that we can alternate between the two, making sure that we never win any quiz more than once a fortnight.
We hit something close to the jackpot when we found the Culverhouse Hotel in Cardiff. You pay a pound each for a decent quiz, made up of 40 questions and a handout. 4 questions are 3 point multiples, and you play the joker on a round of your choice to double your score for that round. Then after the quiz its a pound each for the chance of the jackpot on a single name the year / guess the number question - closest to the correct answer scoops the pot. As regards the prize money for the quiz itself, well it covers your petrol and a round of drinks, but no more, but that doesn't matter. Its a bit of fun.
Last night was the first time we had played there for three weeks, actually. We left it a week longer since last time we played there we won the quiz and Phillippa scooped the jackpot, so we thought that we'd better give them a bit longer to get over it. Apparently 3 weeks was nothing like enough. This is what happened. We were joint winners of the quiz, with another team, who shall remain nameless in order to protect the guilty. So there was a tie break.
"Name the year in which the RNLI was first formed " asked our genial host. Immediately John, the King of the Tie Break , wrote down the answer 1824. The other team answered 1820. Of course it was 1824.
I think at this point that I should explain something. This quiz is a little unusual in that the QM reads through all 4 rounds without a break. Then he allows something like 15 minutes before asking you to swap over your papers for marking by another team. Now, the problem with this is that it is something of a cheat's charter. We saw several other teams immediately start texting on their phones, one of which, I have to say, was the team who tied with us. They were a team who quizzed standing up at the bar, a group of 20-and 30-something men who , I have to say, were somewhat the worse for drink, and did not fit your stereotype image of a successful pub quiz team. Not neanderthals, no, but certainly a team who managed to exude a bit of an aura of menace. They were incensed by our win, and called the QM over.
He came over to our table, and basically accused us of cheating. Of course, my daughter had just taken her phone out at that point, and was in the process of texting, and he leapt on this. At first I couldn't help laughing - until I realised that he was serious . Then I quickly went through surprise, shock, frustration, then extreme being-peed-off-ness, and I am afraid to say that I rose to the challenge. I explained that the phone had come out after the tie break - and pointed out that he himself had seen nothing, otherwise he would have done so when he presented us with the prize money. I then pointed out that the other team would not have even got into a tie break with us if they hadn't been texting for the whole of the 15 minutes before handing over. He backed off a little bit, but used the morally bankrupt argument that everyone ( except us ! ) used their phones a bit during the quiz, but it wasn't right in a tie break. He didn't ask for the prize back though.
After that I don't think anything would have persuaded John to go back to the Culverhouse Hotel again. However there was a particularly nasty incident just before we left. I had to pass the other team involved on my way to the Gents, and one of them made a point of calling me a * * * * ing cheat. Did I mention what shining wits they were ? Or is that a Spoonerism ? I know that the right thing was to maintain my dignity and not answer, and I didn't respond at all. Hence I am in one piece, as is the rest of my team, and we are not banned from the Culverhouse Hotel. Well, not in so many words, anyway. But we'd be very foolish to go back. Yes, we've done nothing wrong, and yes, the other team involved acted in a childish, threatening and frankly hypocritical fashion. At the end of the day, though, that doesn't make a lot of difference. If we went there again, we'd be looking for trouble.
I suppose that if I were a better person I'd be able to look at all this from the lofty perch of my own moral superiority and laugh it off. I'm not a better person , though. It leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Weekend Mini Quiz - 8
Round One - in honour of the boys in white finally starting to find a bit of form - The England Rugby Union Team
1) Who captained the English team in the inaugural world cup of 1987 ?
2) While we're on the subject, which former England 5 nations winning captain had his name borrowed for the hero of a very popular series of historical novels ?
3) Which winger scored a hat trick of tries in his second appearence in an England shirt against Ireland in 1988 ?
4) For what is the England v. Australia test at Twickenham in January 1982 most often remembered ?
5) In which year will Twickenham celebrate its centenary ?
Round Two - General Knowledge
1) Who was the most famous ever holder of the title Duke of Bronte ?
2) Which temple , later converted into a christian church, is the most complete ancint roman building in the city of Rome ?
3) Charles Dickens used a work by one of his friends to help him write " A Tail of Two Cities". Which friend, and what was the book called ?
4) What is the derivation of the word hydrogen ?
5) British sitcoms. In "Fawlty Towers " what is the name of the Bernard Cribbins character that Basil mistakes for a hotel inspector ?
As usual , answer at the end of the week
1) Who captained the English team in the inaugural world cup of 1987 ?
2) While we're on the subject, which former England 5 nations winning captain had his name borrowed for the hero of a very popular series of historical novels ?
3) Which winger scored a hat trick of tries in his second appearence in an England shirt against Ireland in 1988 ?
4) For what is the England v. Australia test at Twickenham in January 1982 most often remembered ?
5) In which year will Twickenham celebrate its centenary ?
Round Two - General Knowledge
1) Who was the most famous ever holder of the title Duke of Bronte ?
2) Which temple , later converted into a christian church, is the most complete ancint roman building in the city of Rome ?
3) Charles Dickens used a work by one of his friends to help him write " A Tail of Two Cities". Which friend, and what was the book called ?
4) What is the derivation of the word hydrogen ?
5) British sitcoms. In "Fawlty Towers " what is the name of the Bernard Cribbins character that Basil mistakes for a hotel inspector ?
As usual , answer at the end of the week
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Genius ? - Perhaps not, but a good idea nonetheless
A Question of Genius - BBC 2 Weeknights - 4:15
The BBC seems to be making a serious attempt to woo away the audience of Channel 4's popular "Deal or No Deal" with this new show. On the face of it there's little comparison between the two shows , apart from the fact that they occupy the same slot on different channels. For "A Question of Genius" is a quiz show, which DOND clearly isn't. But is it any good ?
Well, I'll come clean now. I've known that this show was in the pipeline for some time. To their credit the producers have actively encouraged regular serious quizzers to apply. The presenter is Kirsty Wark,- more on that story later - also currently presiding over BBC4's enjoyable The Book Quiz. This tells us that the BBC are serious about this quiz. Why is it that so many BBC quizzes are fronted by either broadcast journalists, or presenters with a background in current affairs and news ? Think about it - Jeremy Paxman and University Challenge - John Humphrys and Mastermind - Dermot Murnaghan and Jeremy Vine and Eggheads, and in the past Angela Rippon and Masterteams, Martyn Lewis and Today's The Day, and Robert Dougal and Pets Make Prizes. Actually I made that last one up. Well, my admiration for Kirsty Wark has been documented already, so she's a plus for the show and so what if she does seem to be enjoying herself a little too much.
How does the game work ? Well apparently the contestants stay on all week, with an extra one joining each day in place of the previous show's winner. However we don't actually get to see the first round where 10 contestants are whittled down to 8. Yes, I did say whittled down. If you perked up when you read that, and the words "Fifteen to One" crossed your mind, well don't get too excited. This is rather more complicated , and nothing like as cutthroat as the Channel 4 show of blessed memory. There are four seperate rounds, a round where 8 are whittled down to 4, 4 are whittled down to 2, 2 play head to head , and a final where the last contestant plays for the money. Each round is called "A Question of . . . " and we have "A Question of Knowledge ", " A Question of Judgement " , "A Question of Pressure " , although not, I have to say " A Question of Sport". Actually, they can call these rounds whatever they like, but they are all general knowledge rounds, just with slight variations in the way that they are played.
Here's where the show's unique selling point comes into play. When you get to answer a question, you get to choose how easy it is. These range from a point for a "what's your own name" question, to up to 5 points for a practically impossible question. In practice most contestants opt for 3 or 2 point questions most of the time, although a couple of these have proven to be surprisingly tricky. In each round apart from the final , it is not about how many questions you answer, but how many points you get. Each of the first three rounds operates on a first past the post system, with 5 points needed in round 1, 10 in round 2 , and 15 to get to the final. So in order to get to the final its a matter of two things - great anticipation and buzzer technique and a good, although not necessarily great, general knowledge.
As for the money round, well, the finalist receives five questions, level 1 to level 5. With each level of question the contestant gets a choice of 2 categories. If they answer all 5 levels, then they will play for £5000.4 levels gets £2000, and so on down. However this doesn't actually earn them any money yet. Before the start of the show each contestant has nominated a Specialist Subject.Examples of winners' subjects this week are The Lord of the Rings and Rising Damp. For the money they get asked one question about their specialist subject. If they get it right, the money is theirs. They also have the option to take a multiple choice, where they are given three possible answers to choose from. However this means that the prize money is halved. At the end of the show, the names go on to a leaderboard, and in the last show the 10 highest money winners will compete for the trophy and the title of series winner.
Does it sound too complicated ? Don't worry. If you haven't seen it , its nowhere near as complicated as it sounds. Most of the time its a buzzer quiz, and I've always liked a good buzzer quiz. I'm not sure how I feel as a viewer in having so many of the same faces come back the next day during the week. As a potential future contestant, I know that it would be very difficult to commit to being available for consecutive days during term time. But if I say this, then I'm really looking for things to criticise. Lets agree, this is no Fifteen to One, but its enjoyable, and easy to watch. So much so that I didn't realise that it was 45 minutes long rather than 30 minutes until I watched Monday's show on the iplayer. Will the show woo viewers away from DOND ? I don't know. But I know what I like, and I like "A Question of Genius"
The BBC seems to be making a serious attempt to woo away the audience of Channel 4's popular "Deal or No Deal" with this new show. On the face of it there's little comparison between the two shows , apart from the fact that they occupy the same slot on different channels. For "A Question of Genius" is a quiz show, which DOND clearly isn't. But is it any good ?
Well, I'll come clean now. I've known that this show was in the pipeline for some time. To their credit the producers have actively encouraged regular serious quizzers to apply. The presenter is Kirsty Wark,- more on that story later - also currently presiding over BBC4's enjoyable The Book Quiz. This tells us that the BBC are serious about this quiz. Why is it that so many BBC quizzes are fronted by either broadcast journalists, or presenters with a background in current affairs and news ? Think about it - Jeremy Paxman and University Challenge - John Humphrys and Mastermind - Dermot Murnaghan and Jeremy Vine and Eggheads, and in the past Angela Rippon and Masterteams, Martyn Lewis and Today's The Day, and Robert Dougal and Pets Make Prizes. Actually I made that last one up. Well, my admiration for Kirsty Wark has been documented already, so she's a plus for the show and so what if she does seem to be enjoying herself a little too much.
How does the game work ? Well apparently the contestants stay on all week, with an extra one joining each day in place of the previous show's winner. However we don't actually get to see the first round where 10 contestants are whittled down to 8. Yes, I did say whittled down. If you perked up when you read that, and the words "Fifteen to One" crossed your mind, well don't get too excited. This is rather more complicated , and nothing like as cutthroat as the Channel 4 show of blessed memory. There are four seperate rounds, a round where 8 are whittled down to 4, 4 are whittled down to 2, 2 play head to head , and a final where the last contestant plays for the money. Each round is called "A Question of . . . " and we have "A Question of Knowledge ", " A Question of Judgement " , "A Question of Pressure " , although not, I have to say " A Question of Sport". Actually, they can call these rounds whatever they like, but they are all general knowledge rounds, just with slight variations in the way that they are played.
Here's where the show's unique selling point comes into play. When you get to answer a question, you get to choose how easy it is. These range from a point for a "what's your own name" question, to up to 5 points for a practically impossible question. In practice most contestants opt for 3 or 2 point questions most of the time, although a couple of these have proven to be surprisingly tricky. In each round apart from the final , it is not about how many questions you answer, but how many points you get. Each of the first three rounds operates on a first past the post system, with 5 points needed in round 1, 10 in round 2 , and 15 to get to the final. So in order to get to the final its a matter of two things - great anticipation and buzzer technique and a good, although not necessarily great, general knowledge.
As for the money round, well, the finalist receives five questions, level 1 to level 5. With each level of question the contestant gets a choice of 2 categories. If they answer all 5 levels, then they will play for £5000.4 levels gets £2000, and so on down. However this doesn't actually earn them any money yet. Before the start of the show each contestant has nominated a Specialist Subject.Examples of winners' subjects this week are The Lord of the Rings and Rising Damp. For the money they get asked one question about their specialist subject. If they get it right, the money is theirs. They also have the option to take a multiple choice, where they are given three possible answers to choose from. However this means that the prize money is halved. At the end of the show, the names go on to a leaderboard, and in the last show the 10 highest money winners will compete for the trophy and the title of series winner.
Does it sound too complicated ? Don't worry. If you haven't seen it , its nowhere near as complicated as it sounds. Most of the time its a buzzer quiz, and I've always liked a good buzzer quiz. I'm not sure how I feel as a viewer in having so many of the same faces come back the next day during the week. As a potential future contestant, I know that it would be very difficult to commit to being available for consecutive days during term time. But if I say this, then I'm really looking for things to criticise. Lets agree, this is no Fifteen to One, but its enjoyable, and easy to watch. So much so that I didn't realise that it was 45 minutes long rather than 30 minutes until I watched Monday's show on the iplayer. Will the show woo viewers away from DOND ? I don't know. But I know what I like, and I like "A Question of Genius"
Friday, 20 March 2009
Mastermind - First Round Heat 22/24
Mastermind First round Heat 22/24
The word on the streets is that there is no Mastermind next week. Well, why should the schedulers suddenly start to show any considerations for the fans and the regular viewers now ? Never mind the fact that we're getting close to the semis . I can't help wondering how long its been since the first round heats were actually filmed ? I know for a fact that the final was filmed right at the start of September .
Well, on with the show. Four brand new contenders took to the chair this week, so we had no past form to guide us. The first contender, Gary Grant, provided us with this week's sports specialist round, with the Life and Career of Sir Jackie Stewart. He seemed particularly well versed in all aspects of his subject, and answered most decisively. Questions were either answered at once, or passed on. 14 is a good specialist score, and so Gary Grant was very much in contention at the halfway mark.
Sarah Reynard offered us The Novels of Wendy Holden. I can't say I'm at all well versed in Ms. Holden's oeuvre, but my eldest daughter swears by them. The contender seemed extremely nervous at first. I may be mistaken, but it seemed to me that she was actually shaking before taking to the chair, and she did take a while to get into her round. When she did, though, she started to make good headway as she settled her nerves, and at the end of the round she had scored 10. What do we always say, people ? Anything in double figures is a good score.
Tony Whelpton, a writer himself, plumped for this week's traditional Mastermind subject with Honore de Balzac. Over a quarter of a century ago I studied French as one of my A Levels, and there was a significant literature component in the course - thank God for that or I'd never have passed - however Balzac was not part of that course. Which is all a very long-winded way of saying that I know next to nothing about him. However to my layman's eyes 12 looked pretty good, and gave Mr. Whelpton a chance.
Bringing the first round to a close was David Christie. Mr. Christie answered questions on those whacky teutonic funsters, Kraftwerk. By the way, if you've never seen Bill Bailey and friends doing the Hokey Cokey as performed by Kraftwerk, then you've never lived. This round certainly had more than a touch of the Trans Europe Express about it, and the contender raced away to a first round lead with a finely judged round to score 15.
Somehow I had a feeling that John Humphrys was unlikely to want to reveal his ignorance about Wendy Holden, and indeed he spent the whole of his inter-round chat with Susan Reynard discussing her work as a contracts manager. She finished her round on 16. Tony Whelpton followed. I was interested to see that one of his questions - what name is give to the selection of small dishes or appetisers in Greek or Turkish cuisine - meze - also featured in tonight's "A Question of Genius". Now there's a show that deserves its own review. Watch this space. He took his score up to 21, but with two contenders yet to come his lead looked precarious to say the least. Gary Grant made his way back to the chair with a determined stride, and indeed, when the round started he accelerated like Sir Jackie in his prime, and was picking the answers off at double quick speed. The second half of the round wasn't quite so impressive, but by then he had sped way past the target, and scored an impressive 13 to set the bar at 27. To avoid a pass countback, David Christie needed to also score 13, and this seemed more unlikely as a tricky round progressed. He too finished on 21.
Gary Grant answers very quickly, and that is actually extremely useful in Mastermind. If he gets a flyer in his Specialist round in the semi final then he'll be tough for anyone to catch. Potential finalist ? Absolutely. But then anyone who reaches the semi final is by definition a potential finalist.
The Details
The word on the streets is that there is no Mastermind next week. Well, why should the schedulers suddenly start to show any considerations for the fans and the regular viewers now ? Never mind the fact that we're getting close to the semis . I can't help wondering how long its been since the first round heats were actually filmed ? I know for a fact that the final was filmed right at the start of September .
Well, on with the show. Four brand new contenders took to the chair this week, so we had no past form to guide us. The first contender, Gary Grant, provided us with this week's sports specialist round, with the Life and Career of Sir Jackie Stewart. He seemed particularly well versed in all aspects of his subject, and answered most decisively. Questions were either answered at once, or passed on. 14 is a good specialist score, and so Gary Grant was very much in contention at the halfway mark.
Sarah Reynard offered us The Novels of Wendy Holden. I can't say I'm at all well versed in Ms. Holden's oeuvre, but my eldest daughter swears by them. The contender seemed extremely nervous at first. I may be mistaken, but it seemed to me that she was actually shaking before taking to the chair, and she did take a while to get into her round. When she did, though, she started to make good headway as she settled her nerves, and at the end of the round she had scored 10. What do we always say, people ? Anything in double figures is a good score.
Tony Whelpton, a writer himself, plumped for this week's traditional Mastermind subject with Honore de Balzac. Over a quarter of a century ago I studied French as one of my A Levels, and there was a significant literature component in the course - thank God for that or I'd never have passed - however Balzac was not part of that course. Which is all a very long-winded way of saying that I know next to nothing about him. However to my layman's eyes 12 looked pretty good, and gave Mr. Whelpton a chance.
Bringing the first round to a close was David Christie. Mr. Christie answered questions on those whacky teutonic funsters, Kraftwerk. By the way, if you've never seen Bill Bailey and friends doing the Hokey Cokey as performed by Kraftwerk, then you've never lived. This round certainly had more than a touch of the Trans Europe Express about it, and the contender raced away to a first round lead with a finely judged round to score 15.
Somehow I had a feeling that John Humphrys was unlikely to want to reveal his ignorance about Wendy Holden, and indeed he spent the whole of his inter-round chat with Susan Reynard discussing her work as a contracts manager. She finished her round on 16. Tony Whelpton followed. I was interested to see that one of his questions - what name is give to the selection of small dishes or appetisers in Greek or Turkish cuisine - meze - also featured in tonight's "A Question of Genius". Now there's a show that deserves its own review. Watch this space. He took his score up to 21, but with two contenders yet to come his lead looked precarious to say the least. Gary Grant made his way back to the chair with a determined stride, and indeed, when the round started he accelerated like Sir Jackie in his prime, and was picking the answers off at double quick speed. The second half of the round wasn't quite so impressive, but by then he had sped way past the target, and scored an impressive 13 to set the bar at 27. To avoid a pass countback, David Christie needed to also score 13, and this seemed more unlikely as a tricky round progressed. He too finished on 21.
Gary Grant answers very quickly, and that is actually extremely useful in Mastermind. If he gets a flyer in his Specialist round in the semi final then he'll be tough for anyone to catch. Potential finalist ? Absolutely. But then anyone who reaches the semi final is by definition a potential finalist.
The Details
| Gary Grant | Life and Career of Sir Jackie Stewart | 14 - 2 | 13 - 3 | 27 - 5 |
| Sarah Reynard | The Novels of Wendy Holden | 10 - 3 | 6 - 1 | 16 - 4 |
| Tony Whelpton | Honore de Balzac | 12 - 1 | 9 - 2 | 21 - 3 |
| David Christie | Kraftwerk | 15 - 0 | 6 - 2 | 21 - 2 |
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