A Changing World

In spite of my pen name, I no longer run quizzes.
And I'm relieved because in the last year or so my a lot of standard questions have changed so I'd be junking some questions that have had the same answer for years, sometimes more than a century

So let's start with that one first:
Q:  Who is the only monarch to have celebrated a Diamond Jubilee?
Well until this year the answer was Queen Victoria (in 1897)

Andy Murray's got a lot to answer for as he managed to trash not one but two standards.
Not only was he the first man to reach the Wimbledon single's final since Bunny Austin in the 1930s (ah Bunny Austin; the very name conjures up a bygone age ) but he also became the first Brit male to win a grand slam since the same period

I'm sure a lot of you welcomed the Arab Spring but spare a thought for the quizmaster.
Up until the revolution there, Libya had the world's only single colour flag.

And finally, Joe Kittinger.
This was the man who in 1961 jumped out of a balloon from 19 miles up. Sound familiar?
Yep but he did first it but will now of course be forgotten

So there you have it
The transient life of the quiz question answer. We quizmasters salute you

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Back To Work I Go

Well my seven week sabbatical ended last Monday with my first day at Pru Health.
Looks like a fantastic company to work for & it seems like a great bunch started with me.

So what have I learnt?
Firstly inaction doesn't suit me. I need the discipline & structure of work.
The alternative would be me becoming really active on the local council or something. And nobody wants that.

Part of the problem was the bloody awful weather & the timing.
I went back to work the week my daughter's summer hols (Hols? FFS I'm turning into Enid Blyton) started.

So what have I done?

I've converted a lot of my vinyl to MP3 & I've catalogued a lot of said vinyl & my CDs.
That might sound a little anal but I really am fed up with getting home from second hand record shops (yes I still call them record shops) only discover I've already got what I've just bought.

I threw myself into my post as secretary of the TVRA including working on the website & FB page. Just my small part in dragging it kicking & screaming into the 21st century.

As I previously wrote, I watched quite a bit of daytime TV.
Last time I went over what didn't impress me but I did make some discoveries.

Highest on my list is Monk. The OCD suffering detective has become something of a guilty pleasure over the last month or so.

Everybody Loves Raymond is also new to me. Love the brother, Robert

So that's it. A little photography, a little computer work & voila, here we are 7 weeks later & back in gainful employment.

The Knowledge Of Fire Delivered To Bournemouth

Friday the 13th saw the Olympic Torch pass through Poole & Bournemouth. This was a BIG event.

The last time the locals got this excited was when they changed the sequence of the traffic lights on Cemetery Junction.

These hardy revellers set up three hours before the event.

The whole thing was typical olympics of profiteering ("Today Only: Olympic Cheeseburger £2.60") & patriotism verging on the jingoistic.

Man selling tat to locals....                                                         ....who promptly drape themselves in it!  

Missing from the classic Olympic mix was the expected incompetence. It really was well organised at least in Wallisdown.     

We also had typical British eccentricity:

This man decided to dress from the 1940's, when our fire had to be delivered by air from Germany.

And finally after the sponsorship vehicles passed by (basically lard, sugar & bankers) the fiery stick itself arrived

We applauded, we cheered, we went home mumbling about how historic events really weren't as impressive these days. Perhaps it's the recession.

What a difference a year makes.

If someone had passed you brandishing a burning torch a year ago, you would be convinced the riots had reached your town.

                           

  

Daytime

As some of you will know, my last job ended on the 31st May & my next one doesn't start until the 23rd July.
So I have the longest period of unemployment in my life.

So what have I learnt?

PPI: God the phone calls just don't stop. At least 4 a day all asking me if I want help reclaiming PPI. The irony is at one point this is a job I was lined up to do. Perhaps I would have got abuse from bothered people.

Daytime TV: As bad as the cliches say it is. Homes Under The Hammer In The Sun In The Attic. Interchangeable formats with interchangeable hosts.
Fortunately I have SKY so I can  look  a bit further afield.
Oh & Discovery Channel; I get it. Hitler was a bad man.

Weather: Trust me to get time off in the most miserable June in years (hence the reliance on TV above).
This means my photography plans have come to nothing but I still have more than two weeks to go so I live in hope.

A Pointless Day

Most of the e-mails I receive are pretty much spam but an unsolicited e-mail from SRO caught my eye. It was an invite to apply to be an audience member for various TV productions.

 I obviously ignored Loose Women (shudder) & The Alan Titchmarsh show (god forbid) but liked the idea of Pointless & so I applied.

And lo & behold got a reply with a ticket for the following day. 

I really must pay more attention as when I applied I thought it was in July not just 24 hours later.

Soo, a nice relaxing train ride to:

Firstly, the security: Just about equal to getting airside at an airport. No disinterested part timers here.

And then we're in to the first part where we dwell for 10  minutes or so before entrance to the studio.

This area is the coffee bar & BBC shop so they give you just enough time to buy the BBC's shiny things before being ushered into the studio.

I had a priority ticket which means I was one of the first 50 let in. Cool

And so to the recording. We started with the warm up guy who was pretty good & got us all in the mood.

Then Alexander Armstrong & Richard Osman came out.

Boy is Osman tall!. Apparently 6' 7"but looks a lot taller which of course you don't tend to notice because he sits down for the duration of the show.

We saw the recording of 2 episodes & the whole thing took about 3 and a half hours. Which is a long time sat on those basic chairs

So there you have it. If you're at a loose end then I recommend it. The tickets cost nothing (tho' of course I had pay for transport).

What I've Been Listening To: The release of a new Neil Young album is always something I look forward to. Check out the Guardia  review here.

The  best way to describe this album is a curio. It's his first with Crazy Horse for 9 years & I was hoping for more. Still, an album of new material is due later this year apparently so I live in hope