Monday, July 16, 2012

I get it: Stephen Fry is very smart

TV in London is not great.   I guess I should mention that I'm not allowed to have SKY cable in my building, and I honestly believe that the Virgin Media package leaves you asking for more, a lot more. 
It's a struggle to find many decent TV shows to watch.   There are the NatGeo shows which are awesome, and some Discovery ones too. My default is the ones mentioned, and Food Food Food (which if cancelled will break my heart, but will make Oquai quite happy).   And then there's the reality stuff - chat shows, The Voice, and wide-hipped, but hot Dashians, the 'Housewives from....' all over the world I think, by now, but, it is so so hard to find a show that I can leave on for a good hour.

In the midst of all this TV madness, I've been introduced by Oquai to 'Quite Interesting' - and boy, I wonder where I was living all this while.  I feel like I've lost out on so much QI time!

It's a panel show, and quite an interesting one.   It's possibly the ONLY talk show on TV that does not discuss celebrity break ups, or the weight someone has gained, or express fake pity on someone who has OD'd.

Stephen Fry is a wonderful host, and has his sidekick Alan Davies on every night, with five different guests.  The USP of the show is in its ability to discuss topics that prove that you are really well read, have fantastic deduction and analytical skills, are a trivia hound, or are just plain smart - hence QI (you know, IQ, QI...I think).   So, as an example, can you tell me who received the first driving license? Or how the word Hagrid or Dumble Door originated?

It's not so much the correct answer that is is being sought after, as it is the process of arriving at what 'could' be an answer.  It's all about making it interesting.   It could be funny, it could be dead wrong, it could be that there is no answer, as is the case in the 'hypotheticals'.   It's all about the train of thought that any of the panelists start out with.   It's wonderful to watch them sometimes as a team, to take one word and lead it to another way of thinking.  Team effort you can call it, with words and actions thrown in that are simply quite hilarious sometimes, and silly the others.   Unless of course you get a braniac who just blurts out the answer - 'Hagrid came from Hag+ridden, meaning you were bothered by a hag or witch, or in other words, a nightmare'.   


Such a spoil sport.  Hmmph. 


Oh and as a by product, here's another tidbit, if you ever pronounced J.K. Rowling as 'Raa-u-ling', you're wrong, its Ro, as is 'Row Row Row your boat' Rowling.   There, that's better.

And seriously, how much does Stephen Fry know?   He's from Queen's College, Cambridge which probably explains it.   Did I mention, I'm from Queens' College, Cambridge as well?  Hmm...there's something about 'smart by association', no?

In other news, I'm off to the UK parliament tomorrow for 'Question Time.  I wrote to my MP, and got a ticket for the session.  It's going to be on Health.  Tres excited.


Today I'm humming:   Mais Que Nada by the Black Eyed Peas 

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