University Challenge

[LMcD]

? I would have referred to both as writers of 'genre fiction' without intending to disparage in any way. (But my direct knowledge of JleC is limited to having read The Spy Who Came in from the Cold long ago in the last century, and having watched Tinker, Tailor when it was on television, ditto).

May I suggest you try 'The Constant Gardener', which inhabits a very different part of the literary forest? (Also made into what I would consider a brilliant film).

[Dave2002]

Maybe it's my faulty definition [⬅︎ Smiley] but I'm not sure how one could 'transcend' a genre to the point where one is no longer in it? Genre, for me, is principally the subject matter/environment one chooses to write about, definable by a number of characteristics, and assuming a writer chooses the basic subject /environment in a number of works. Rushdie's comment is like that of most press 'critics' who are paid to give their own opinion. In my view.

I'll read today's low priced offering first, and wait for the others you mention to come along at similar prices later on. Thanks for the suggestions, though.

They occupy only a tiny part of the book - a starting point. The book is about the huge questions behind how and why the world is as it is, and why history has been as it has been. His other great book "Collapse" is about the rise and fall of different civilizations from around the globe...both look at history from angles such as ecology, anthropology and climate change, which were barely on the syllabus when I studied history at one of our top universities. There, politics, economics, diplomacy, religion and military history were the main themes. Also on my reading list would be Yuval Noah Harari's "Sapiens", Alan Weisman's "The World without Us" and a few other mind-expanding works.

[Nick Armstrong]

I did not, however, recognise Samuel Barber from his mugshot.

Barber was the only Pulitzer mugshot I did get

[ardcarp]

Me too.

[Richard Tarleton]

I didn't get any of them, just that IIRC Barber was the only composer??

I don't do social media so won't know if the lady member of the ST J's team's facial expressions when she's trying to think of something has caused comment - she looks as if she's sucking on a particularly bitter lemon. But an awesome team.

[LMcD]

Try googling 'Oscar Powell' .......

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Try googling 'Oscar Powell' .......

Who was on last week's Only Connect, and seems to have grown u ... err ... gained control of his hystrionics.

(Yes - I noticed the StJ's contestant's gurning. Most off-putting.)

[subcontrabass]

I noticed that Paxman followed a contestant's incorrect pronunciation of "Héloïse" (ignoring the diaeresis).

[Richard Tarleton]

Highly entertaining contest this evening, I hope the University of Ulster continue to progress. They seemed to be enjoying themselves hugely. The Yul Brynner joke which Paxo repeated from last time notwithstanding, Mr Milliken is a dead ringer for the dashing Greek ex-finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

They seemed to be enjoying themselves hugely. The Yul Brynner joke which Paxo repeated from last time notwithstanding, Mr Milliken is a dead ringer for the dashing Greek ex-finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.

- the completely bald head aside, there was no similarity with Mr Brynner, who had a much rounder face than Mr Milliken.

[ardcarp]

Amused that one of the 'popular music' questions was Purcell's Funeral Music for Queen Mary ! I suppose being used for a film made it so.

Highly entertaining contest this evening

Yes, except it was a bit one-sided.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Amused that one of the 'popular music' questions was Purcell's Funeral Music for Queen Mary ! I suppose being used for a film made it so.

Odd that they didn't use the Wendy Carlos performance as used in the film - I don't think it would have helped them get the right answer.

Yes, except it was a bit one-sided.

That's what made it "highly entertaining"! (Schadenfreude should be beneath me - but when the score at one point was something like 110 - 0, I just couldn't help lifting it up. )

[Nick Armstrong]

The Yul Brynner joke which Paxo repeated from last time notwithstanding, Mr Milliken is a dead ringer for the dashing Greek ex-finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.

He should be careful, to avoid 42 boys being ripped apart by bears. I had no idea the prophet Elisha was so touchy. Or so bald.

[Richard Tarleton]

He should be careful, to avoid 42 boys being ripped apart by bears. I had no idea the prophet Elisha was so touchy. Or so bald.

My Bible reading being a bit rusty I had to remind myself of 2 Kings 2:24 with the help of Google - actually we never did that bit at school, probably owing to the number of bald masters about.

https://www.jasonstaples.com/bible/a-bald-man-two-bears-and-forty-two-children-misinterpreted-bible-passages-6/

https://carm.org/why-did-god-kill-42...lisha-was-bald ()

Actually the boys must have been very unlucky, the area was on the extreme edge of the brown bear's range even then, it's a long way further north now

A bit of a massacre last night - only a year's difference between the average ages of the two teams, so that wasn't a factor. 2 beards on the winning team. My goodness, Mr Raii, originally from Kabul, was impressive across a range of subjects .

[ardcarp]

Indeed! Not much 'classical' music though. Just the Smetana Ma Vlast SQ, IIRC.