Anne (bleugh) Robinson: What “h” precedes “be thy name” in the Lord’s Prayer?

Contestant: Howard.

Anne: Sorry?

Contestant: Howard.

Anne (smirking): Hallowed.

Poor Marco.

Filed under things I keep going back to enjoy – a wee while back Ellie double dared her son Jacob to audition for American Idol. It’s so good I’m even prepared to open Internet Explorer (it won’t work in Firefox or Opera). If these two performances don’t make you smile broadly and want to adopt/date/manage/offer a starring role to (delete as appropriate), then you’re either dead or a republican.

Other bright and shiny things

A quick game of Hangman from Steven DeGraeve whose Color Palette Generator is one of the most useful design tools I’ve come across. You type in the url of an image to get a color palette that matches the image. For example, if you enter the header image from the next link you get a lovely rich palette of colours to kick off your design.

Talking of spicy, Quick Indian Cooking does what it says on the tin in providing quick, easy recipes for Indian food. Definitely one to keep an eye on. I suspect that Saturday’s menu chez Daisy will include traditional Bengali fish cakes, Macher Chop.

While we’re still in the kitchen, here’s a sweet photograph of saucepans. Yes, saucepans.

That’s it for now. Himself has a really bad dose of flu and ever the generous soul has shared it with yours truly so I’m off to make another pot of hot tea before collapsing back into a heap on the sofa. Bonne nuit.

If you have access to BBC America you need to cancel all appointments for next Monday evening (July 24, 10pm ET), settle yourself down in a nice comfy chair, unplug the ‘phone and start watching the 8 part BBC series Life on Mars.

Sam Tyler, a cool, sharp young detective, is working hard to keep the streets of 21st century Manchester safe from crime. But his world is turned upside down when the hunt for a serial killer becomes a personal vendetta after Maya, his girlfriend and colleague, goes missing. Desperately afraid she has been kidnapped by the killer, he sets out to find her, only to become involved in a near-fatal car accident. When he wakes, he finds himself in a different era – 1973. Is this reality, madness or a dream? Sam struggles to understand what is happening to him.

Disoriented and traumatized, 21st century Sam is completely bewildered by his new environment. As all attempts to return to his own time fail, Sam falls back on what he knows best – his job. … This is a world without cell phones, where cops rely on paperwork and memory instead of computers, there’s no DNA profiling and what forensics do exist take two weeks to process.

How to sum it up? Brilliant scripting, fine performances, a superb soundtrack of fab and groovy seventies music and a storyline that keeps you guessing right ’til the end. And beyond. A second series is currently being made (hooray!).

The brief: Here’s a list of televsion shows, bold all the shows which you have seen at least 3 episodes.

Additions: I’ve added a few British and Australian ones for a slightly more international flavour. Oh and I threw in NYPD Blue and Starsky & Hutch so that I had a few more boldings. I was starting to feel like a freak. Feel free to add your own if you‘re bored and want to take part.

24
7th Heaven
Adam-12
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alias
Angel
Arrested Development
Battlestar Galactica < -- original only!
Baywatch
Beverly Hills 90210

Bonanza
Boy Meets World
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Bug Juice
Chappelle’s Show
Charlie’s Angels
Charmed
Cheers [And have made a pilgrimage to the Cheers bar in Boston.]
Columbo
Commander in Chief
Coronation Street
Coupling [British version only!!!]
Cowboy Bebop
CSI: Miami
CSI: NY
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Danny Phantom
Dawson’s Creek
Dead Like Me
Deadwood
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Desperate Housewives
Doctor Who
Eastenders
Entourage
ER
Everwood
Extras
Family Guy
Farscape
Father Ted
Fawlty Towers
Felicity
Firefly
Frasier [I might even have seen every single episode. Love it.]
Friends
Futurama
Get Smart
Gilligan’s Island
Gilmore Girls
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Grey’s Anatomy
Gunsmoke
Hannah Montana
Happy Days
Hogan’s Heroes
Home and Away
Home Improvement
Homicide: Life on the Street
House
I Dream of Jeannie
I Love Lucy
Inuyasha
Invader Zim
Invasion
JAG
Jackass
Joey
Little House on the Prairie
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lost [but I stopped watching around episode 19 of Series 1]
Lost in Space
Love, American Style
M*A*S*H
MacGyver
Malcolm in the Middle
Married… With Children
Medium
Melrose Place
Miami Vice
Mission: Impossible
Monk
My Three Sons
My Two Dads
NCIS
Neighbours
Nip/Tuck
Numb3rs
NYPD Blue [I think I've only missed 1.25 episodes of those aired in the UK so far]
Only Fools and Horses
Oz
Perry Mason
Pokemon
Power Rangers
Prison Break
Rescue Me
Roseanne
Roswell
Saved by the Bell
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?
Scrubs
Seinfeld
Sex and the City [I came to this late, caught late night repeats on Paramount]
Six Feet Under
Smallville
So Weird
South Park
Spongebob Squarepants
Starsky and Hutch
Star Trek
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Voyager
Stargate Atlantis
Stargate SG-1
Superman
Supernatural
Surface
Taxi
Teen Titans
That 70’s Show
That’s So Raven
The 4400
The Addams Family
The Andy Griffith Show
The A-Team
The Avengers
The Beverly Hillbillies
The Brady Bunch
The Cosby Show
The Daily Show
The Dead Zone
The Flintstones
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Good Life
The Honeymooners
The Jetsons
The Love Boat
The Munsters
The O.C.
The Office [I can't believe I've never seen this, just the odd clip]
The Shield
The Simpsons
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Sopranos
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
The Twilight Zone
The Waltons
[Oh yes indeedy! There was always a fight in our house growing up since The Waltons (BBC2) clashed with Tomorrow's World (BBC1). Ah, the days when we only had 3 channels and video recorders were unheard of.]
The West Wing [No but the minute they start a repeat of Series 1 I'll be watching.]
The Wonder Years
The X-Files
Third Watch
Three’s Company
Twin Peaks
Veronica Mars
Weeds
Whose Line is it Anyway?
Will and Grace
Wings

Update: 3 more added – Medium, The Good Life and Weeds.

They’re a very friendly bunch and Millie is adorable but much as I’d like to go out there and have a chinwag, offer them all tea and biscuits in the true Daisy mi casa/su casa spirit, I feel as if I’m intruding. Dammit.

Google has been quite helpful in finding out more:

A six-part sitcom written by twins Beth and Emma Kilcoyne described as a “quirky character comedy, part sketch, part narrative” which is due to air this autumn. Produced by Celador and the BBC in Sunderland.

It stars Emma Kilcoyne and Sam Battersea, and follows on from a sketch show they performed in Edinburgh. It also stars stand-up Dave Johns as Norman, the son of a 73-year-old fortune-telling dwarf.

I’m off to twitch a few more nets…

University Challenge

Bamber Gascoigne: What was Ghandi’s first name?
Contestant: Goosey, Goosey?

The Weakest Link

Anne Robinson: In traffic, what “J” is where two roads meet?
Contestant: Jool carriageway.

Anne Robinson: Which Italian city is overlooked by Vesuvius?
Contestant: Bombay.

Anne Robinson: What insect is commonly found hovering above lakes?
Contestant: Crocodiles.
Anne Robinson: Wh…?
Contestant (interrupting): Pass!

Anne Robinson: In olden times, what were minstrels, travelling entertainers or chocolate salesmen?
Contestant: Chocolate salesmen.

Anne Robinson: The Bible, the New Testament. The Four Gospels were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and…?
Contestant: (long pause) Joe?

Anne Robinson: Who was a famous Indian leader, whose name begins with G, revered by millions, who was assassinated and received a state funeral?
Contestant: Geronimo!

National Lottery Jet Set

Eamonn Holmes: What’s the name of the playwright commonly known by the initials G.B.S.?
Contestant: William Shakespeare.

Chris Serle Show, BBC Bristol

Searle: In which European country is Mount Etna?
Caller: Japan.
Searle: I did say which European country, so in case you didn’t hear that, I can let you try again.
Caller: Er… Mexico?

Family Fortunes

1) Something a blind man might use? – A Sword

2) A song with the word Moon in the title? – Blue Suede Moon

3) Name the capital of France? – F

4) Name a bird with a long Neck? – Naomi Campbell

5) Name an occupation where you might need a torch? – A burglar

6) Where is the Taj Mahal? – Opposite the Dental Hospital

7) What is Hitler’s first name? – Heil

8) A famous Scotsman? – Jock

9) Some famous brothers? – Bonnie and Clyde.

10) A dangerous race? – The Arabs

11) Something that floats in a bath? – Water

12) An item of clothing worn by the Three Musketeers? – A horse

13) Something you wear on a beach? – A deckchair

14) A famous Royal? – Mail

15) Something that flies that doesn’t have an engine? – A bicycle with wings

16) A famous bridge? – The Bridge Over Troubled Waters

17) Something a cat does? – Goes to the toilet

18) Something you do in the bathroom? – Decorate

19) A method of securing your home? – Put the kettle on

20) Something associated with pigs? – The Police

21) A sign of the Zodiac? – April

22) Something people might be allergic to? – Skiing

23) Something you do before you go to bed? – Sleep

24) Something you put on walls? – A roof

25) Something slippery? – A conman

26) A kind of ache? – A fillet of fish

27) A jacket potato topping? – Jam

28) A food that can be brown or white? – A potato

29) Something sold by gypsies? – Bananas

30) Something red? – My sweater

Radio Lincolnshire phone-in

Presenter: Which is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world?
Contestant: Barcelona.
Presenter: I was really after the name of a country.
Contestant: I’m sorry, I don’t know the names of any countries in Spain.

Steve Wright Show, Radio 2

Wright: On which continent would you find the River Danube?
Contestant: India.

Wright: What is the Italian word for motorway?
Contestant: Espresso.

Wright: What is the capital of Australia? And it’s not Sydney.
Contestant: Sydney.

This Morning

Judy Finnegan: The American TV show ‘The Sopranos’ is about opera. True or false?
Contestant: True?
Judy Finnegan: No, actually, it’s about the Mafia. But it is an American TV show, so I’ll give you that.

BBC Radio Newcastle

Paul Wappat: How long did the Six Day War between Egypt and Israel last?
Contestant (after long pause): Fourteen days.

Bob Hope birthday quiz, LBC

Presenter: Bob Hope was the fifth of how many sons?
Contestant: Four

BBC GMR, Phil Wood Show

Wood: What “K” could be described as the Islamic Bible?
Contestant: Er…
Wood: It’s got two syllables… Kor…
Contestant: Blimey?
Wood: Ha ha ha ha no. The past participle of run…
Contestant: (Silence)
Wood: OK, try it another way. Today I run, yesterday I…
Contestant: Walked?

Daryl’s Drivetime, Virgin Radio

Daryl Denham: In which country would you spend shekels?
Contestant: Holland?
Daryl Denham: Try the next letter of the alphabet.
Contestant: Iceland? Ireland?
Daryl Denham (helpfully): It’s a bad line. Did you say Israel?
Contestant: No.

But the best, best, bestest of them all is a wonderful lady from Liverpool faced with this question:

Sir Walter Raleigh is credited with introducing tobacco to this country. What else did he bring?

Go on, have a listen.

A quick hop over to Lazy Laces and there’s nothing specifically for 3 and 6 year olds but as always, plenty to keep us older kids happy.

How about creating a talking squirrel animation? Talking flowers or tomatoes? Or maybe some ninja text? Then there’s the movie clapperboard generator.

Best of all though is the newspaper clipping generator.

Unless I find the old microphone that came with this computer I’ll be forced to buy a new one. Wonder if these are available in the UK? [via Red Ferret]

Then again, wouldn’t you feel duty bound to at least put a frock and makeup on to do it justice?

File under “must send this one to my father and brother” – the Morse Code Translator lets you hear what your text sounds like in Morse Code.

File under… well, I’m not sure where to file this pair – Daily Monkey and Jason King. You decide.

But they segue us nicely into this article from The Independent:

Scientists have discovered Africa’s wild putty-nosed monkeys can talk – and they use syntax. They believe it is the first evidence of such communication in non-humans.

If like me you were wondering why they’re called putty-nosed monkeys, look no further…

Bono (yes, that Bono) interviews Eddie Izzard as part of his day as guest editor of The Independent. The “RED Edition” was published on 16 May with half of that day’s profits going toward the fight against HIV and AIDS among women and children in Africa” (and the men with HIV and aids?). More details and discussion at MetaFilter.

And finally, a clip from Room 101 has Paul Merton interviewing and embarrassing Ricky Gervais with a snippet of the bendy one singing(!) in 80s band Seona Dancing. Bless.

I finally got to see Dear Frankie last night:

Nine year-old Frankie and his single mum Lizzie have been on the move ever since Frankie can remember, most recently arriving in a seaside Scottish town. Wanting to protect her deaf son from the truth that they’ve run away from his father, Lizzie has invented a story that he is away at sea on the HMS Accra. Every few weeks, Lizzie writes to Frankie a make-believe letter from his father, telling of his adventures in exotic lands.

As Frankie tracks the ship’s progress around the globe, he discovers that it is due to dock in his hometown. With the real HMS Accra arriving in only a fortnight, Lizzie must choose between telling Frankie the truth or finding the perfect stranger to play Frankie’s father for just one day.

A cracking story, wonderful acting and a first class script. I’m on a mission now to try and see screenwriter Andrea Gibb’s other films.

Tellybox and wireless archives

There’s much excitement over the BBC has opening up its fully searchable experimental programme catalogue – “details of 946,614 BBC radio & TV programmes, dating back 75 years”. There’s a great introduction to the site by Tom Loosemore but best of all, Murky Murdoch is well pissed off about it.

First task: what was on television the day I was born? Harold Wilson (then Prime Minister), a documentary about Japan and another heartbreaking episode of Steptoe and Son.

I love that you can search for your favourite programmes – how about Nice Town? I’m thinking of starting a campaign to get the beeb (or anyone!) to broadcast it again.

Oh and the Woman’s Hour dramatisation of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca with Harriet Walter and Michael Rosen. I still get goosebumps thinking about it.

There’s plenty to explore but first thought is that the radio icon could be improved – I spent the first 10 minutes thinking it was a clapperboard therefore a movie icon. Or maybe I should go find my spectacles.

If you’re having any problems viewing the video clip of kickass Lassie, could you leave a comment? Ta muchly.

[tags]Lassie, clip, dog[/tags]