Friday 17 July 2020

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 17-7-2020: Tim Brooke-Taylor

17th July, 2020.


Yep: Bowie does it, again.

Why, I don’t know.

But I’ve got Dollar Days — from Bowie’s Blackstar LP — banging through my head.


Sooner or later?

I’ll end up with the whole LP!

~≈¥≈~

Have you heard of Quora?

It’s a site that lets you ask and answers questions: some of which incredibly naïve!

At any rate?

I saw one question, this morning: ‘Should the United States government provide free access to computers to anyone who needs it?’

And have to admit, the answers made for fascinating reading.

Most of which pointed to the various state run libraries.

And some of which … ?

Aren’t what I’d call sympathetic.

Politics, hey … ?

~≈¥≈~

Let’s move on, shall we?

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Trevor*, Olga and Debbi‡ putting in their answers: with Debbi on five out of five, and Trevor and Olga on four.

I should point out, here, that both Trevor and Olga pointed me at the Wikipedia entry: which gives the date of the Potsdam Conference as the 17th.

However?   I based the question on the BBC piece on the conference: which gives the date as the 16th.

I’m assuming there’s some mix up on dates: but am not sure by whom.

I have, of course, raised this on the Wikipedia entry’s Talk page.

Either way?   Both Trevor and Olga have a good claim to having scored five points, based on this.

Let’s see how everyone does with today’s questions, shall we?

Here they are, along with the How To, License and video … 

Q1) 17th July saw the birth of the late Tim Brooke Taylor.   In which year?
Q2) He died this year: from complications of what?
Q3) Between 1979 and 1982, Tim was Rector of which Scottish University?
Q4) He wrote for, and performed in, a UK comedy series: alongside Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden.   Which comedy series?   (Just so you know?   I’m not talking about Bananaman.)
Q5) Finally … ?   For many years, Time was a panellist on I’m Sorry I Haven’t a … what?
Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers … 

Q1) 16th July is the Feast Day of Saint Helier.   He’s the patron saint of which of the Channel Islands?
A1) Jersey.
Q2) La Paz declared itself independent from the Spanish Crown: on 16th July, 1809.   La Paz is the capital of what’s now which South American country?
A2) Bolivia.
Q3) The leaders of the three main Allied nations — the UK, US and USSR — met at a major conference: on 16th July, 1945.   Where: Potsdam, Yalta or Bretton Woods?
A3) Potsdam.
Q4) 16th July, 1979, saw Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resign as president of Iraq.   Who was he replaced by?
A4) Saddam Hussein.   (Or Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, if you want it in full.)
Q5) Finally … ?   16th July, 1887, saw the birth of baseball player, Shoeless Joe Jackson.   Famously, he was involved in an attempted to fix what?
A5) The 1919 World Series.
Here’s a thought …
“You’ve got to have a right wing neo-con loony.  And with a name like mine I don’t think I can be the revolutionary.”
Tim Brooke-Taylor.
And a sketch …


Today’s questions will be answered in tomorrow’s Teaser.

Have a good day.




*        I think Debbi would confirm this, Trevor^: but I think the World Series is supposed to have been named after the original sponsors, the New York World Telegram.   It says here … !   (You know, I can still remember the fuss about flood-lit cricket, a while back.)

†        Blimey, THAT close, Olga^?   It must make satellite navigation interesting.
The town’s called L’Hospitalet, you say?   Pointless question, here … have you got any idea if the place had links to the Knights of Saint John?   The Hospitallers?   I know they had bases in Rhodes and Malta, which are quite a distance away … but I’m very aware of places like Cressing Temple, and the Temple area of London: which were old Knights Templer possessions.   (I’ve been to Temple Church in London.   The gargoyles are … well, not unnerving … but decidedly iffy … !)

‡        Oh, I knew Detroit was, Debbi.   Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Berry Gordy work in one of Detroit’s motor factories?

^        Sorry about the score: but I based the question on the BBC’s piece!   If it’s any consolation, I’ve added a section to Wikipedia’s Talk page.   That way?   It’s flagged up for the serious editors.

3 comments:

Olga said...

Q1) 1940
Q2) COVID-19
Q3) St Andrews
Q4) The Goodies (it seems they were also together in Broaden Your Mind, although Oddie only join them in the second series).
Q5) Clue

I had checked other places as well about the Potsdam Conference. Here there are some more. All say it was on the 17th of July, including the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/potsdam-conference
https://www.britannica.com/event/Potsdam-Conference
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/how-the-potsdam-conference-shaped-the-future-of-post-war-europe
https://www.cvce.eu/en/education/unit-content/-/unit/55c09dcc-a9f2-45e9-b240-eaef64452cae/3c7c7657-10aa-41e0-b699-3c2c8ccae38e
https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100340254
https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/president-harry-s-truman-s-trip-to-the-potsdam-conference-july-6-august-2-1945-u-s-national-archives/OALSytQzViiqKA?hl=en
It seems that Truman and Churchill had some sort of an informal meeting (if that was possible between those two) on the 16th, but the actual official meetings didn’t start until the 17th, and that’s the date quoted most everywhere. Perhaps the BBC needs to correct it.
Checking about the origin of the name, l’Hospitalet (de Llobregat to give it the full name, Llobregat being a river) seems that in Roman times it was called Provençana, as there were two population centres, one around a chapel (Santa Eulàlia de Provençana) and the other around a Hospital (Hospital de la Torre Blanca). It seems that eventually they went with the second name. And in Catalan, you can create a diminutive by adding either “eta”, for female names or “et” for males, so there you have, small hospital, Hospitalet. They talk about the XII century by the time the city started to resemble something like what it is now (well, it was mostly rural at the time, and, like the neighbourhood where I live now, it was completely separate from Barcelona then, but hey, having hills at the back, and the sea in front, a city has to expand outwards. They say that some parts of Hospitalet are the most densely populated in the whole of Europe. I bought the flat I’m renting there. It’s very close to Barcelona (as I told you. Only 3 underground stops from my mother’s flat) but the prices are lower. Two of my friends moved there when they got married, because they couldn’t afford to buy a flat in Barcelona, and they got more for their money there. And, of course, you can work and do everything else in either place.
They keep talking about new restrictions here. Just hoping they don’t affect the interview on Monday.
Oh, and I love the psychiatrist's visit video!

Debbi said...

I don't know if he worked in a factory, but he was part of the Motown sound, of course.

1. 1940
2. COVID-19
3. University of St Andrews
4. I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again
5. Clue

Henri said...

1. 1940
2. Covid-19
3. University of St. Andrews
4. The Goodies
5. Clue (I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue)

P.S. I don’t use any form of social media, so that is why I haven’t posted a URL along with my name. Hope you don’t mind this.