Monday 29 October 2018

A Late Post.

I am late putting on a post tonight because it is University Chall enge night and I always watch that and keep a tally of how many questions I can answer (8 tonight, about par for the course).   Given five minutes to think about my answer I could probably double that number but those young brains are too quick for me - and any chemical or ancient history questions pass me by.  Quite often the ones I answer are too easy for them (good example was a question a few weeks ago about 'who was furnished and burnished by Aldershot sun' - a starter question about which nobody had the slightest idea.    It was, of course, Miss Joan Hunter-Dunne in the Betjamen poem (far too low brow for our teams on tele).

I watched The Budget earlier and decided that it was all pie in the sky given the stage we are at with Brexit.   If there is no agreement then I suspect things will change dramatically.   I have reservations about budgets anyway - they never seem to make a lot of difference.

Very heavy frost here this morning.   My newly-planted polyanthus were flat on the ground and white over.    Out came the sun and half an hour later they were flourishing again.   My dog walk had to be late this morning as all the paths were slippery - the state of things to come I suppose.

Until tomorrow.   Might even get a photograph of my sitting room on.

17 comments:

Tom Stephenson said...

Joan Hunter-Dunne, oh, Joan Hunter Dunne, how the Aldershot sun doth burnish thy bum... (I could go on)...

angryparsnip said...

Yes please a photo of your sitting room.

cheers, parsnip and badger

Bonnie said...

It is fun to challenge yourself with questions like that isn't it? Sometimes I am surprised at what I do and don't remember.

I would love to see pictures of your redecorated sitting room.

Cro Magnon said...

Blimey. 8?. I'm lucky if I can get 2 right.

Rachel Phillips said...

The general knowledge of the University Challenge teams is much lower than it was 30 years ago. General knowledge, like common sense, is almost dead.

Gwil W said...

I used to like that quiz series hosted by the wonderfully named Magnus Magnusson. All kinds of people used to win it. A taxi driver I remember was one. Watched university challenge when Bamber Gascoigne was the quizmaster. I found it all a bit too fast for my slow working brain though. But then I consoled myself that some of the team members can sit there for the duration and not get any right.

By the way I was a contestant once on a quiz hosted by Barry Cryer. My celebrity partner was Joan Bakewll. We didn't win!

Derek Faulkner said...

I had hoped for such a frost here on Sheppey during this cold spell but it hasn't happened. It would of hopefully stopped the lawns from still growing so fast and reminded a lot of bugs and garden plants that summer has now ended.
I watched the Budget through and as there was nothing in there that affected me I was quite happy with it. Fun watching Corbyn afterwards having a predictable Opposition Party rant about everything the Tories had proposed or forgotten to mention. PMQ's on Wednesday will probably be just as lively and fun to watch.

Sue said...

Only got two right last night but I was only half watching because I was chatting to my daughter on the computer. That's my excuse anyway.

Librarian said...

No proper frost here just yet, but we've been close. Now the forecast is for up to 17 Celsius again on the weekend! Very windy and chilly at the moment, though, and still no substantial rain.
Aldershot sun? Joan Hunter-Dunne? I must admit I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about!

Rachel Phillips said...

John Betjeman, English poet, poet Laureate 1972 till death and defender of great Victorian architecture. Loved by all and we haven't had a decent Poet Laureate since.

Derek Faulkner said...

You and I both re. the poem, Librarian - the wrong type of general knowledge for us as well.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

Eight sounds a very decent score to me - after all there are four on each team so the number of correct answers per contestant must be quite low, even for these young brainboxes.

Heather said...

Well done on your University Challenge score - I am happy to find that occasionally I can answer some of the Eggheads questions.
Looking forward to seeing your sitting room photos.
Very frosty here first thing this morning but by 8am it had gone and I am very snug with my new fire installed and working.
I agree with you re the Budget - it doesn't seem to make a lot of difference.

Sue in Suffolk said...

Must remember to keep a count of how many I can answer on University Challenge. Only Connect is even more obscure do you watch that too?

galant said...

I also enjoy answering some questions on Uni Challenge (or Universally Challenged as our elder son calls it!) I'm OK on classical music, literature, history, geography, some poetry, art, general knowledge, but not on physics, chemistry, the Periodic Table (which always crops up in some way) or mythology. I've not kept a tally of my score, but I seem to know obscure facts. I've always soaked up unrelated facts, I surprise myself at what I know at times, but - of course, if time is your your side which it isn't in a quiz prog - sometimes the answer can be worked out, for example I was once on a quiz show on local radio (which, incidentally I won) and one question was "what is the letter on British aircraft" Well, it was something like that, and I thought about it, and thought that aircraft perhaps started commercial flying in the reign of George V, and so said "G, for George" and I was right. I like to try and work things out logically. Often there is a Latin word behind it, one question last night was about light, was it not? The answer was "Lux" (Latin for light.) Anyway, I will now start to count the questions I can answer, and no cheating. I like to yell out the answer before anyone rings their bell!
Margaret P

galant said...

PS I also knew the Joan Hunter-Dunne quote, Pat! Yes, too low-brow for those clever young people!
Margaret P

Sue said...

You do better than me, I was dancing round the living room last week when I managed to get around six questions right, a never done before happening. This week was the usual three, although I did get two right on Only Connect this week and I was better at The Wall than one of the teams :-)