Hello. I've hurt my back. Luckily, it says here in my diary that today is "National Sleepy Head Day", a Finnish celebration where...um, the last person awake in a household gets covered in water and famous Finnish personalities get thrown in water. Thank god I'm only big in Greenland.
So, while I lie here on my bed typing an an angle and swearing at passing oxygen, here's a small snoozy Susan of a quiz for you bedtime buddies.
Which TV programmes feature the following bedrooms? And who's bedroom is it for a bonus?
1. The Simpsons (Lisa Simpson's room), 2. Only Fools And Horses (Del Boy and Raquel's room), 3. I'm Alan Partridge (Alan's room at the Linton Travel Tavern), 4. Father Ted (Ted and Dougal's room)
5. Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Buffy Summers' room) 6. Wallace And Gromit (Gromit's room, specifically The Wrong Trousers here), 7. Red Dwarf (Lister and Rimmer's Sleeping Quarters, sadly from Back To Earth),
A: 8. Doctor Who (Adric, later Turlough's room), 9. Friends (Monica's room), 10. Rugrats (Angelica's room)
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got an all-nighter to pull...
On June 20th, 1973 the world lost one of its most iconic figures at a ridiculously young age when Bruce Lee died just days before the release of the biggest film of his career "Enter The Dragon". His name would become synonymous with deadly accuracy, quiet dignity and martial arts skills envied the world over. ...unless you were a schoolboy in the 70s and 80s in which he was probably most famous as something bigger boys would shout whilst pretending to do kung fu kicks on bus stops and throwing the smaller ones' bags on the science block roof.
Despite being an 18 certificate release, "Enter The Dragon" would have been seen by every single lying schoolboy for decades although its actually much more likely that their information was gleaned not from the movies but 1984's "Bruce Lee" for ZX Spectrum and C64, one of the most popular games of the era as this powerful footage reveals...
The 80s were a strange but wonderful boom time for games with tiny teams of people working on full titles that could go on to be million sellers. With so many games on the market though, celebrity endorsements quickly became common with every sports person, musician or actor worth their salt having their own barely recognisable 8-bit home version.
Which famous folk are featured here in their own real 80's 8-bit licensed games?
1. Daley Thompson (Daley Thompson's Decathlon), 2. Benny Hill (Benny Hill's Madcap Chase!), 3. Frank Bruno (Frank Bruno's Boxing)
4. Gary Lineker (Gary Lineker's Hot-Shots), 5. Bob Monkhouse (Bob's Full House) 6. Samantha Fox (Samantha Fox Strip Poker)
A: 7. Geoff Capes (Geoff Capes Strong Man), 8. Bruce Forsyth (Bruce's Play Your Cards Right), 9. Jocky Wilson (Jocky Wilson's Darts Challenge), 10. Michael Jackson (Michael Jackson's Moonwalker)
Did you guess them all? If so, tell me on Twitter @ twitter.com/punkrockpubquiz! And if you liked the quiz, please do tell your friends. And now the serious celebrity tie-in omission I know you were all about to spam the comments with...Stuart Henry's Pop Quiz!!!!!!!!!!
Many achievements have been fought for and won throughout the centuries but the world never looked at us with such respect and admiration as this very date twenty years ago when the following epoch shattering moment occurred...
I can still remember where I was, although for decency I'll spare you what I was doing. Being a indie kid I should've loathed the Spices and all the gooey, hugging pure pop they stood for and yet, despite fancying them rotten, I couldn't help but be swept away by the sheer joy of the singles which would only get better and better throughout the next 18 months. When contrasted to the dreary post-Britpop indie fallout of the time, its easy to see why the nation embraced them with such love and inappropriate touching.
But it wasn't all Spice Spice Spice in the 90s, no ma'am, as some of the greatest pop of the decade had been performed by girl groups. Along with a load of old forgotten shite like Girl Thing, Girls@Play and Girly Girl Girlingtons Group (although I may have just made that one up). I wont have a bad word said about 21st Century Girls, mind who were bloody great fun.
Now I know what, you're all thinking, "Wot? No Buffalo G?" to which I say YES BUFFALO G!
Oh no, July's getting on and all the big shows are finishing. It can only mean one thing...SUMMER SEASON TELEVISION! Run, while you still can! As a reminder of those hazy, lazy, tediouzy days of yore, here are ten TV capsules from the Radio and TV Times with the programme names removed from this very day - July 14th - in the past.
What TV programmes are these highly informative and interesting capsules for?
A: Mission Impossible, Ghost Train, Murder She Wrote, The Two Ronnies, Sale Of The Century
A: Tales Of The Riverbank, Hale and Pace, The Incredible Hulk, Tom and Jerry, Charlie's Angels
If you like this quiz, please share it. Its that nice 'share' button on Facebook and Twitter. (But please not the Cher button, I don't have the insurance)
This week sees the 127th anniversary of the first issue from America's largest circulated newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, known best in the UK from such classic film lines as "Vice President! Fetch me my Wall Street Journal!", "Hey buddy, I'm reading my Wall Street Journal here!" and "Why don't you come up and see me and bring a Wall Street Journal with you sometime?" But for me as a bit of a font nerd, the most interesting thing about the WSJ is this...
Do you see it? Go on, have another look. Yes, the Wall Street Journal is bizarrely the only newspaper of note to have a bloody full stop in the title! A small visual point that makes it instantly recognisable and beloved to its daily U.S. readers. But how well would you recognise British newspaper logos, especially when reduced to the smallest features. Sounds like a quiz to me...
Which thirteen UK newspapers are represented here?
Oh, did that spell some words? Completely accidental I assure you.
Have I got some of the answers for you (yes)...
In order: The Mirror, MEtro, The Daily Mail, FinancIAl Times, Morning Star (the star), The National (Nat Onal), The Sunday Sport, The Daily TelegrapH, The GuARDian, The StAR, The Sun, The ObsErver, The Times
Which famous TV programmes are being written about in these genuine letters from listings magazines from the 60s, 70s and 80s?
1. Not The Nine O'Clock News, 2. Doctor Who, 3. Knight Rider, 4. Tenko, 5. Match Of The Day, 6. The Cosby Show
7. Blake's Seven, 8. Roland Rat (The Series), 9. Cheers, 10. Spitting Image, 11. The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, 12. Coronation Street
If you have any Radio Times scans, particularly of the 70s to 90s, and would be willing to share them for more future quizzes like this, please send a message on Facebook, Twitter or to the email address taxiforbaker@hotmail.com And if you like it, share it! Have a great weekend everybody! Hope there's something good on the telly...
