A Leather-Clad Contestant On Mastermind
I know it’s Celebrity Mastermind, as opposed to the more normal pleb version, but in all the years I’ve watched the program, I’ve never seen a female contestant in a short leather dress.
Years ago, C and I discussed this, as we saw another set of dowdily dressed women on the program. She always dressed well for Court and very much believed that dressing well always gave her an advantage. Especially with a difficult case. Even if it was just about her self-confidence.
I’ve also heard another legal story, where a commercial solicitor had a very expensive, short suit to give her usually male clients the bad news. The person, who told me this tale, always knew, when this suit was getting an outing, the way her colleague’s case that day was going.
Mastermind too, has had its fair share of male winners doing ordinary jobs, but female winners have usually been academics or those that work with their brains.
I’ve never seen a lady on the program, who was stood out from the crowd, dressed well and gave her profession as shop assistant, receptionist or barmaid.
But Adele Silva played it hard in a dress to match the chair, with heels as high as the dress was short. She did reasonably well, so did her style of dress give her confidence? And did it put off her opponents?
CSI Victorian London
The BBC’s new police drama, Ripper Street, was called this in this review in today’s Daily Telegraph.
I watched it and depending on your view of the typical reader of that newspaper, some of the elderly men, who read the Telegraph, probably liked it too. There was quite a bit of Victorian underwear and unrestrained boobs for a start. I don’t know whether Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells liked it, as he hasn’t put pen to paper yet!
I certainly enjoyed it more than Downton Abbey, which because of my allergy to adverts, I never watch!
An Aptly Named Program
I switched on the television to get the News at Six on the BBC. Instead I’ve got the most aptly named program called Pointless Celebrities.
Are they anything else?
Radio 5 Scrapes The Barrel
I haven’t got a television listing magazine, so I thought there might be something sensible to which to listen on Radio 5. all they’ve got is a program about American football called A Week with the Cheeseheads.
That really is the pits and after all they are a British radio station.
Bang Goes Christmas Television
For some reason, my Sunday Times today, didn’t have a copy of the Culture section. So I won’t know how to avoid the total crap on the television over Christmas!
At least as I only watch BBC1 to 4 and Sky Sports1 and 2, I can probably find out what’s on, by just flicking channels.
The X Factor Winner Is Not News
The BBC has been reporting who won X Factor last night.
This is not news and why do we clog up the airways with things like this?
The Man Who Played The Piano, Whilst Einstein Played Violin
Sadly, Sir Patrick Moore has died. This piece is the BBC’s obituary, from where the title of this post comes.
I was lucky to see him once in my last year at school, when he gave a lecture on the connection of the moon to earthquakes at the British Astronomical Association. In those days he was a large man with a booming voice. He was a naturally entertaining and infectious speaker.
This paragraph from another article on the BBC sums him up.
Queen guitarist Brian May, who published a book on astronomy written with Sir Patrick, described him as a “dear friend, and a kind of father figure to me”.
He said: “Patrick will be mourned by the many to whom he was a caring uncle, and by all who loved the delightful wit and clarity of his writings, or enjoyed his fearlessly eccentric persona in public life.
It is such a pity, that there seems to be no possible successor to someone, who may well go down in history as the last great British eccentric.
Two Dave Banks
On BBC Radio 5 Live’s program Double Take on Sunday morning they had a problem.
Both guests were called Dave Banks.
I had to go out, so I didn’t see if it led to any large amounts of hilarity.
I have a very common name and I’ve actually met three people who use the same first and last name combination I do.
I’ve always thought it an idea for a television show to get twenty with the same name and their partners to have a weekend in a hotel and then record what happens. You’d have to be careful about the hotel you choose.
BT Will Setup BT Sport On The Olympic Park
There was good news today for Hackney, when BT said that they will run their BT Sport operation from the Broadcast Centre on the Olympic Park. It’s all here on the BBC.
As BSkyB is also London-based, does it not look to have been a bad decision to move BBC Sport to Manchester?
Memories Of That Was The Week That Was
They’re talking about That Was The Week That Was on Radio 5, this afternoon.
It was on late at night and I had to get up early in the morning. So my father used to get me up just as the program started.
I can remember several things about the program.
- Bernard Levin’s interviews. My father hated pomposity and nearly got himself a hernia laughing at some of Levin’s interviews.
- Frankie Howerd on the Budget, which is surely one of the greatest monologues ever written and performed. It was written by Muir and Norden.
- The program on the death of President Kennedy. Surely, the finest tribute program ever.
- Millicent Martin’s songs. And her dresses that appealed to a 14-year-old.
- David Frost’s tactics to handle overrunning of the program.
I’ve never seen anything so good since.
The Anonymous Widower 