Monday night is TV night in this house. As well as Silent Witness, there’s also University Challenge to be savoured. University Challenge, for those who don’t know, is a quiz show for university students. Students can be quite interesting sometimes, and unintentionally funny now and then, and some of them know the most obscure things while being ignorant on such questions as ‘What’s the capital of Britain?’ The best bit, though, is watching the legendary Paxman’s expression when somebody answers ‘Pablo Picasso’ to the question ‘Which Flemish artist painted the portraits of Henry VIII’s wives?’
So anyway, one of the students in one of tonight’s teams looked every bit the British upper class chinless wonder. A real Hooray Henry type, in appearance at least. Turns out he was from Australia.
‘This cannot be,’ I thought to myself. ‘Surely, Aussie men are all at least 6ft 2, with tans-that-didn’t-come-out-of-a-bottle, Sir Lancelot hairstyles, and sporting three six-packs – one between the rib cage and groin, and another under each arm.’ Aren’t they? He was from Melbourne, apparently. Do they breed ’em posh there?
8 comments:
LOL Sounds like the kind of show I would like!
yeah they get posher the more South you go by the time you hit melbourne you can hit downright snooty, lol.
Too far North or West and the accents become broad etc.. i like just off the centre towards south and east...LOL moderate fencesitter...
So Tasmania would be the hotspot of High Culture, then?
I remember University Challenge from my days in Holland when we'd get the BBC. It was a good show but I often felt bad for the students being subject to the disparaging sarcasm of Jeremy Paxman. Not as bad though, as that other (reality) show about the London billionaire looking for someone to hire.. Ouch! Not big on the competition thing, I guess (no wonder I'm not working :)
No. Tasmania would not be classified as the "hotspot of High Culture" - I'd wager because it's off the mainland. Victoria is probably the most "upper class" state.
Della: I've heard Paxman interviewed about UC, and he seems to have a genuine fondness for students. I think the occasional bit of sarcasm is just his way and is never bitter on that show (as it sometimes is when he's interviewing politicians and the like.) It's now established as just part of the entertainment. As for the other one, I assume you're referring to Alan Sugar, in which case ABSOLUTELY!. That sort of mentality leaves me colder than a fire ant in a fridge. I only pick up the odd trailer now and then. There's no way I would ever watch it.
Actually, Anon, I'd always thought of Tasmania as a bit chilly and predominantly bucolic. It's interesting that we hear so much about Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, yet Adelaide, Cairns and Hobart hardly ever get mentioned.
That was it – Alan Sugar! So just the trailer left you "colder than a fire ant in a fridge," – ha, I can imagine. Yes, it was bad, I watched it a few times in disbelief. It's what's wrong with our world in a nutshell.
I'm happy with competition where it's appropriate, such as in sport. What I so dislike about this kind of programme is that it encourages the attitude that competitiveness is inherently a high virtue. For me, it isn't; it's simply an attribute. What's more, if it's taken to extremes it can be a very destrcutive attribute. And yes, we seem to live in a society now in which only the competitive are seen as worthy of 'success.' That doesn't accord with either my value system or my definition of success. I think it's an impoverished view.
Absolutely.
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