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Dr Paul's Blog, News

Thu 7th Mar 2019: Quiz Action In Edinburgh Tonight

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Quizzes Tonight:

7pm – Argyle Bar (Cellar). Jackpot £30. Cheat answer: Mariah Carey (pic round)

9pm – The Newsroom. Jackpot £50. Cheat answer: Bad Company (music round).

The cheat answers for tonight include this song by Bad Company: It’s a song called ‘Feel Like Makin’ Love’ which is a song about a guy who really wants to have sex, soon.

This is from the 1970s when men tried to attract female mates via the use of wide-hemmed trousers. It didn’t work, the baby-boom crashed and the population took a hit until the 80s brought sexy back.

Anyway, as you do know: Thursday is currently MOVIE Thursday: I’m counting down the list of my ten favourite films of all time.

Here is the chart so far:

10 .Flash Gordon (1980)

9. Jesus Christ Superstar (1979)

8. The Good The Bad & The Ugly (1966)

7. Zardoz (1974)

6. Das Boot (1981)

5. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004)

4. Hair (1979)

3. Mary Poppins (1964)

This week:

2. They Live (1988)

Whoa! Aliens have invaded Planet Earth, have taken over, are running the whole thing… AND YOU DIDN’T EVEN REALISE IT

This is the concept of ‘They Live’ which stars wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper who uncovers the aliens and then faces a race to save his life.

This happens when he accidentally puts on some sunglasses which show the world for what it truly is: a shitshow run by intergalactic freaks who control your mind every day:

Image result for they live obey

It turns out EVERYTHING has a hidden subliminal but then THEY know that he knows:

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Then there’s a top class fight where Roddy Piper forces the other bloke to wear the shades

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Look, even if you don’t watch the movie – watch the fight scene:

I don’t even like fight scenes, but this is good. It’s also epic, as in long – over 5 minutes. This post explains why the fight is so long.

Are you trying to say you don’t like dancing penguins?

In lots of ways, They Live is slightly shite – it’s essentially a B-Movie, but I watched it again a couple of years ago after a long time and it’s still compelling and great and it’s one of those films that you are constantly reminded of by the real world.

Just do as you’re told, citizens.

Image result for they live

Next week: THE NUMBER ONE MOVIE OF ALL TIME

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See you tonight

Cheers,

Dr Paul

By the way: Dr Paul is on Twitter and Dr Paul also is on instagram. Enjoy.

For cheats and hints to win Dr Paul quizzes in Edinburgh, get the weekly email.

Dr Paul's Blog, News

Thursday Night Quiz Action

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Quizzes Tonight:

7pm – Argyle Bar (Cellar). Jackpot £60. Cheat answer: Chef (music round)

9pm – The Newsroom. Jackpot £50. Cheat answer: Pablo Picasso (pic round).

The cheat answers for tonight include this song by Chef out of South Park:


The song is about snacks but also kind of about his bollocks. This is why South Park became so popular in the late 90s. There wasn’t much else to do.

Anyway, as dedicated readers will know: Thursday now MOVIE Thursday: I’m in the middle of a list of my ten favourite films of all time.

The chart so far:

10 .Flash Gordon (1980)

9. Jesus Christ Superstar (1979)

8. The Good The Bad & The Ugly (1966)

7. Zardoz (1974)

6. Das Boot (1981)

5. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004)

This week:

4. Hair (1979)

Definitely the greatest film ever made. It’s got a pounding soundtrack, hippies who appear to live wild in New York City, life death, babies and LSD trips mixed up with the Hare Krishna tribe.

I think I watched this once a month during 1994 which is when my group of friends discovered this movie that by then was already a relic.

I was too young to be a 1970s hippy but I’d been vaguely fascinated with this subculture before. My favourite character out of ‘The Young Ones’ was Neil and what teenager doesn’t want to be Danny out of ‘Withnail And I’?

Image result for withnail danny

But this American film gave a new spin to my understanding of 70s hippies: they could also be cool, blag their way into high-society parties and execute some pretty nifty pre-rehearsed song-and-dance routines.

The film evolved from an earlier stage musical. Apparently the musical’s writers thought the film wasted the original story and was a poor adaptation but I’ve seen a stage production and it was tedious compared to this grand entertainment.

Watch it but don’t ask for it to make much sense at all until it gets near the end and suddenly there is a real and possibly fatal human drama on top of all the sexy foolery of the last hour.

If the movie didn’t thump you with big emotions at the end it would probably be worth a single watch. But the heartbreak keeps me coming back, as do the songs and the mad set pieces.

e.g:

The horse ride in the park for the song ‘Sodomy’

Claude’s trip:

The bit where Woof won’t have his hair cut for a short spell in jail and is subsequently interrogated to find out if he is gay. He sings his way out of trouble, of course:

There’s load more but you have to watch the film. It’s the greatest film ever made and I fear that I have left no room to improve for my top 3. I’m gonna have to think hard to come up with something for next week.

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See you tonight

Cheers,

Dr Paul

By the way: Dr Paul is on Twitter and Dr Paul also is on instagram. Enjoy.

 

For cheats and hints to win Dr Paul quizzes in Edinburgh, get the weekly email.

News

Thursday 7th Feb 2019 – Quizzes Tonight In Edinburgh

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Quizzes Tonight:

7pm – Argyle Bar (Cellar). Jackpot £210. Cheat answer: Stakka Bo (music round)

9pm – The Newsroom. Jackpot £50. Cheat answer: Simple Minds (pic round).

Certified big money at the Argyle tonight. £210 on offer. Get a faceful from 7pm

Now, here’s the cheat clip for tonight’s music round at the the Argyle : which is a floppy Euro-rap effort from the early 1990s by Swedish weirdo Stakka Bo.

Pish but kind of engaging. And why does everyone look orange?

Anyway, Thursday now MOVIE Thursday where I use this blog to detail my ten favourite films of all time.

The chart so far:

10 .Flash Gordon (1980)

9. Jesus Christ Superstar (1979)

8. The Good The Bad & The Ugly (1966)

7. Zardoz (1974)

This week:

6. Das Boot (1981)

Literally the greatest film ever made. Did I say that last week? I’m sure I did but this is better.

Lots has been written about how good Das Boot is. I read this page yesterday. It’s fairly well-written and gives you a good idea of the film without giving too much away.

The need-to-know stuff is that the film is a story of German submariners during the Second World War, on patrol.

Their job is to sink British merchant shipping while avoiding being sunk themselves by the deadly destroyers of the Royal Navy.

War is hell. Can you survive hell?

My favourite things about Das Boot are:

  1. The tension.
    Related image
  2. The madness
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  3. The engineering.
    Image result for das boot tension
  4. The music.
  5. The bits where people die.
    Related image
  6. The bits where people don’t die.

    Image result for das boot terror

I watched this with my dad when I was a kid and it blew my mind. I had been brought up on Victor comic and British war films where Jerry was always the bad guy.

This was the first time I had seen anything from the German point of view.

This was a big deal in itself but didn’t take too long to get used to. After succesfully putting aside partisanship you can start enjoying the film. I know the film but watched it again last month. It is still emotional and nail-biting.

Will they survive or will they die? You don’t know – you really don’t know – right up to the end…

So that’s Das Boot. It’s a massive classic and it’s on Netflix if you want to watch it.

I still have five films to pick. Maybe next week I’ll pick something modern. But probably not.

In any case, come to the quizzes tonight. You could win £280.

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See you tonight

Cheers,

Dr Paul

By the way: Dr Paul is on Twitter and Dr Paul also is on instagram. Enjoy.

 

Dr Paul's Blog, News

Thu 24th Jan – Pub Quiz Scene In Edinburgh Tonight

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Quizzes Tonight:

7pm – Argyle Bar (Cellar). Jackpot £150. Cheat answer: Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick and Titch (music round)

9pm – The Newsroom. Jackpot £50. Cheat answer: Gone With The Wind (pic round).

That’s four rollovers at the Argyle over the last four weeks. Surely we’ll get a winner tonight?

Meanwhile here’s the cheat clip for tonight’s music round at the Argyle: which is a sixties called Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch with a quality rocker from back in the day…

Tremendous.

Anyway, Thursday now MOVIE Thursday where I use this blog to detail my ten favourite films of all time.

The chart so far:

10 .Flash Gordon (1980)

9. Jesus Christ Superstar (1979)

This week:

8. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (1966)

Literally the greatest film ever made.

Image result for the good the bad and the ugly

I know I said that last week’s film was the greatest film ever made  but this chart hasn’t been written in advance, I’m just thinking of the best film I can every week for 10 weeks so by the time we hit number 1 it should be totally banging.

Anyway-  I re-watched The Good The Bad And The Ugly a couple of months ago just to check it is still brilliant and I was not let down.

Maybe you know the title but don’t know the film. Basically a story of bounty hunters, outlaws, civil war and treasure and it’s set in the American old west but filmed in Europe and made by the Italian director Sergio Leone.

There were several films of this ilk in the 60s which were made by Italian directors so they got the (slightly derogatory) name ‘Spaghetti Westerns’.

Unlike most American-made westerns, then men in the films were not clean-cut heroes. They were all dirty bastards, even the “goodies”. It was a refreshing change.

The Good The Bad and The Ugly is the last and the most famous of a trilogy by Leone and it’s just terrific.

There’s dirt in spades, sudden death at every corner and situations that just look like the end of the line, scenes of real desperation.

Image result for the good the bad and the ugly clint eastwood deserty

The film carries a constant sense of murder, menace and cheap life. All the way through you’re thinking “Ah couldnae cope with this”.

Image result for the good the bad and the ugly cleef

At the same time it manages to be funny, but without being a stupid clown.

Image result for the good the bad and the ugly tuco bath

Anand it has some of the greatest film music ever recorded. The music was composed by Ennio Morricone and stands the test of time. It’s a byword for “epic”

The main theme is a cracker, and very famous – but one of the best bits of tune is here: ‘The Ecstacy of Gold‘, when they finally find the cemetery they’ve been looking for, the cemetery with all the buried gold. The loot is in one of those graves.,the one marked ‘Arch Stanton’… all you have to do is find it…

Actually, Tuco finds the grave pretty quickly which is fortunate cos the music’s great and everything but it would be rubbish if this scene was two hours long which seems a more realistic prospect.

That’s why films are great though, isn’t it. They just tell you the story. None o’ the shite!

Watch this film – it is more satisfying than most. In fact, as I said above, it’s the greatest film ever made.

You want another recommendation? I happen to know this is James the Baker’s favourite film.

How is this film only number eight on my list?

Well, I have one week to think of something better.

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See you tonight

Cheers,

Dr Paul

By the way: Dr Paul is on Twitter and Dr Paul also is on instagram. Enjoy.

 

For cheats and hints to win Dr Paul quizzes in Edinburgh, get the weekly email.

News

Thu 17th Jan – Quizzes Tonight

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Quizzes Tonight:

7pm – Argyle Bar (Cellar). Jackpot £120. Cheat answer: Mister Nonsense (pic round)

9pm – The Newsroom. Jackpot £100. Cheat answer: Alvin Stardust (music round).

Both pubs jackpots are in a rollover status tonight. This is unusual. Come and win the dough.

Meanwhile here’s the cheat clip for tonight’s music round at the Newsroom:

I love Alvin Stardust and I wish I went to see him a few years ago when he played Peebles but I spurned the opportunity and how he’s dead. This is, somehow, a bit like Brexit.

Speaking of which-  I’m not talking about politics any more on Thursdays. I’ve had enough. Thursday is now MOVIE Thursday where I use this blog to detail my ten favourite films of all time.

The chart so far:

10 .Flash Gordon

This week:

9. Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

Jesus Christ Superstar - film soundtrack
Fantastic

Literally the greatest film ever made.

I know I said that last week but JCS is absolutely banging. It’s the story of the last week of the life of Jesus, but largely from Judas’s point of view and with loads of strong rock music.

And a couple of nice ones too, just to smooth the butter.

This film includes the bit where Judas has to run away from tanks:

The bit where Jesus gets 39 lashes of the whip, to the pounding rhythm of raw rock:

It has the best religious hats of any film from the 1970s:

And it’s got the bit where Simon Zealotes goes absolutely mental and redefines dance itself:

The first ever production of JCS was the original album in 1970. On that cut, the part of Jesus was sung by Ian Gillan out of Deep Purple  – the quality was high.

And, because it was all songs, the Broadway theatrical production which followed was deemed a “rock opera”.

Debate continues over what the term “rock opera” means and whether it has a meaning at all. Is it just a musical with an electric guitar?

Then, a few years later the film was made by Norman Jewison, a director whose other credits include ‘Rollerball’, ‘Moonstruck’ and ‘The Cincinnati Kid’.

Andrew Lloyd Webber (who wrote the music) apparently hated the film but he must be a lunatic.

So is it a rock opera? Does Webber approve? It doesn’t matter. All that matters is the acting is spot on, the scenery is amazing, the songs are unforgettable, the story is tight and emotional and it’s just fucking brilliant.

If you haven’t seen it because you “don’t like musicals”, you need to drop that toxic masculinity shit and get on board.

How is this film only number nine on my list?

Well, I have one week to think of something better.

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See you tonight

Cheers,

Dr Paul

By the way: Dr Paul is on Twitter and Dr Paul also is on instagram. Enjoy.

 

For cheats and hints to win Dr Paul quizzes in Edinburgh, get the weekly email.

News

Thursday 3rd January

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Quizzes Tonight:

7pm – Argyle Bar (Cellar). Jackpot £60. Cheat answer: Duck  (pic round)

9pm – The Newsroom. Jackpot £100. Cheat answer: Thin Lizzy (music round).

First Thursday of the year and decent jackpots too. Hope to see you at the quiz tonight

Here’s the cheat clip for tonight’s music round at the Newsroom:

The youtube comments on the song argue over whether it was heroin or alcohol that killed singer Phil Lynott in 1985. Wikipedia says “he died of pneumonia and heart failure due to septicaemia… on 4 January 1986, at the age of 36.”

But the heroin obviously didn’t help.

POLITICS THURSDAY

Thursday is the day when I express my opinion on the crazy world of politics

This week’s point: ELECTIONS ARE NOT DEMOCRATIC. MPs ARE NOT REPRESENTATIVE.

We are told we have a “representative democracy“.

Members of the UK Parliament are currently paid over £77k a year. This is the basic salary, before expenses and any other income from writing books, chairing committees, property investments, after-dinner speaking and all that baloney.

The average UK salary is nearer £28k

So all MPs earn nearly three times as much as an average earner, and the multiples are intensified when you look at the people beneath that average.
An article on GQ gives these averages: retail assistants (£10,296), hairdressers and barbers (£10,019), cleaners (£7,919), waitresses (£7,554)

How can an MP have any clue at all what life is like for his or her constituents earning ten times less cash? How can they truly “represent” any class except their own?

I don’t think they do. I say they only represent their own class, the professional class, and that’s what parliament is: it’s a talking shop for the well-to-do.

The only thing that could change this is either if MPs were paid the national average, or if parliament was chosen in the same way that juries are chosen: by random selection.

If the last option sounds mad, it’s not without precedent. Elections are a new way of doing democracy, random selection stretches back to Ancient Greece and, in a limited fashion, Ireland is doing it now

Our current political systems are broken, they have created a professional political class that naturally gives first service to the wealthy and treat the rest of us as an afterthought.

Get rid of MPs. Get rid of elections.

Disagree? Come and argue with me at the quiz.

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See you tonight

Cheers,

Dr Paul

By the way: Dr Paul is on Twitter and Dr Paul also is on instagram. Enjoy.

 

For cheats and hints to win Dr Paul quizzes in Edinburgh, get the weekly email.

News, Politics

Thu 27th Dec 2018 – Quizzes Tonight

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Quizzes Tonight:

7pm – Argyle Bar (Cellar). Jackpot £30. Cheat answer: Malaysia  (pic round)

9pm – The Newsroom. Jackpot £50. Cheat answer: Iron Maiden (music round).

Last Thursday of the year. I hope you enjoyed Christmas but now it’s quiz time again. Bring your loved ones if they are visiting.Should be good for a couple of answers.

Anyway, here’s the cheat clip for tonight’s music round at the Newsroom:

The full version of the song is elsewhere, but this is the bit of the song that everyone my age remembers: the Daley Thompson bit, the Lucozade bit.

Advertising was a powerful influence of the early-1980s mind of a child. We genuinely thought the drink would make us run very quickly.

But for some reason, we only ever got to drink it if we were off school with the chicken pox or whatever.

What a waste!

POLITICS THURSDAY

By the way- Thursday is the day when I express my opinion on the crazy world of politics

This week’s point: PLANET IS DOOMED (UNDER CAPITALISM).

Capitalism is the dominant life-form on the planet. Capitalism requires MORE. Profit can only come from expanding markets and more sales.

Therefore, any idea of consuming LESS is not tolerated.

But it is only consuming LESS (on a grand scale) that will reverse climate change.

Therefore the only consumer messages with a environmental impact which are given their head are “RECYCLE” and “REUSE”, while “REDUCE” is ignored as cranky.

The thing with RECYCLE is that you can make a new thing and sell it. Capitalism is aroused by this.  REUSE means a something new in the first place and Capitalism is still interested in this.

But REDUCE has no interest for any entrepreneur. Buy less? What is the point of that?

So it gets ignored. Even though it’s the only action that will fix anything. You can fill your car with green fuel or you can walk. Know what I mean?

Disagree? Come and argue with me at the quiz.

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See you tonight

Cheers,

Dr Paul

By the way: Dr Paul is on Twitter and Dr Paul also is on instagram. Enjoy.

 

Harambe – never forget.

For cheats and hints to win Dr Paul quizzes in Edinburgh, get the weekly email.

News

Thursday Night Pub Quiz Action

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Quizzes Tonight:

7pm – Argyle Bar (Cellar). Jackpot £90. Cheat answer: Iggy Pop  (music round)

9pm – The Newsroom. Jackpot £50. Cheat answer: Alexander The Great (pic round).

The free answer for the music round at the Argyle tonight is Mister Iggy Pop who, as many have pointed out, you can’t beat.

Anyway, nice doomy tune with a Balkan flavour:

POLITICS THURSDAY

By the way- Thursday is now the day when I express my opinion on the crazy world of politics

This week’s point: REFERENDUMS SHOULD BE DECISIVE.

SIMPLE point but if anyone’s planning another referendum on anything can we agree to make it at least 60/40, preferably 66/33 result required for a change.

Anything less is a razor’s-edge territory, and guarantee of lingering enmity and division.

Obviously that’s too late to stop the current shithouse. It’s disappointing that no one back in 2016 advocated for a two-thirds or 60/40 majority.

Ah well,. whatcha gonna do?

Disagree? Come and argue with me at the quiz.

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See you tonight

Cheers,

Dr Paul

By the way: Dr Paul is on Twitter and Dr Paul also is on instagram. Enjoy.

Harambe – never forget.

For cheats and hints to win Dr Paul quizzes in Edinburgh, get the weekly email.

News

Thu 29th Nov – Quizzes Tonight

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Quizzes Tonight:

7pm – Argyle Bar (Cellar). Jackpot £60. Cheat answer: Dad’s Army  (pic round)

9pm – The Newsroom. Jackpot £50. Cheat answer: Liverpool Express (music round).

I love the free answer tune in the Newsroom music round tonight. The band is called Liverpool Express and it just sounds so damn Seventies smooth that they could be from California rather than Merseyside.

Apparently, Liverpool Express were big in Brazil and played to crowds of 250k people down there. Who knew?

Anyway, great tune:

POLITICS THURSDAY

By the way- Thursday is now the day when I express my opinion on the crazy world of politics

This week’s point: TOURIST TAX.

Estimated Revenue: £11 million Per Year

This is what they say a tourist tax of £2 per room per night would bring to Edinburgh. It doesn’t sound like a lot but I guess it all helps.

People talk about a possible tourist tax being used for street cleaning. I’d like to see it spent in our underfunded primary schools.

Hotels claim the tax would lead to reduction in visitors and an overall loss to the city but I can’t see that couple of quid making a difference to anyone’s choice to visit Edinburgh.

Tax ’em

Disagree? Come and argue with me at the quiz.

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See you tonight

Cheers,

Dr Paul

By the way: Dr Paul is on Twitter and Dr Paul also is on instagram. Enjoy.

Dr Paul Drambuie
Here is some booze for you

 

For cheats and hints to win Dr Paul quizzes in Edinburgh, get the weekly email.

Dr Paul's Blog, News

Quizzes Tonight – Thu 22 Nov

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Quizzes Tonight:

7pm – Argyle Bar (Cellar). Jackpot £30. Cheat answer: Syd Barrett (music round)

9pm – The Newsroom. Jackpot £50. Cheat answer: Grace Kelly (pic round).

So who is Syd Barrett? you might ask, having just read the music cheat clue for the Argyle Bar.

Syd Barrett was a scout troop leader from Cambridge who went on to be the original front man and guitarist for Pink Floyd before he went mental in 1968 and got kicked out of the band for being useless to the Pink Floyd world-domination project.

After leaving the Floyd, Barrett did a couple of solo albums and they are bonkers/brilliant. The one that’s in the Argyle music round tonight is one of my favourites:

After Syd Barrett, the Floyd became a lot more serious and continued to be so, forever. Ho hum.

POLITICS THURSDAY

By the way- Thursday is now the day when I express my opinion on the crazy world of politics

This week’s point: INDEPENDENCE? I DON’T REALLY CARE ANY MORE.

I voted YES in 2014 but I’m not so sure now.

Thing is, whether we are UK or Scotland or EU, the same rules apply: the rules of market capitalism.

Where you draw the line on the map matters less than how you set up the rules of the game.

If the rules allow individuals and corporations to become immensely rich, the you can draw the border wherever you like and it will make no difference.

As long as you allow one person to own more than one house, then you have landlordism and a continuing rich/poor division.

Scottish independence offers a new line on the map but no new line on property rights and no new vision on the bigger questions.

So right now, I ain’t buying it. I can’t be arsed with all that palaver again for the trivial goal of a line on a map.

Disagree? Come and argue with me at the quiz.

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Anyway – come to the quiz. I love you all.

Love,

Dr Paul

By the way: Dr Paul is on Twitter and Dr Paul also is on instagram. Enjoy.

doodle of a sad pig
A pig who is sad because we do not allow pigs at the quiz

 

 

For cheats and hints to win Dr Paul quizzes in Edinburgh, get the weekly email.