Opinion

Fifteen to None

Submitted by Matt on

As an avid fan of TV Gameshows from the 80s, 90s and early 00's, Fifteen to One (along with BlockBusters and Countdown) was staple fare after getting home from school/college/University. Fifteen contestants battling it out against each other over three rounds.  Two quick fire questions in round one, and then nominations throughout round two until the fifteen contenstants had been whittled down to just three.  After a commercial break, host, William G Stewart would spin through 40 general knowledge questions until either all three contestants had lost their respective three lives or the question set had been exhausted.

The no-nonsense approach of Stewart with minimal "chat" with the contestants made this a fast paced game with difficult questions being fired one after another for the duration of the show.  It was a "geeky" show for geeks, but with an all-round appeal that attracted a wide audience.

Axed in 2003, I've never felt that Channel Four has managed to replace this show with anything near the substance or staying power that Fifteen to One had, and despite rumours of a return, nothing ever materialised until yesterday. 

I noticed on my Freesat box that Fifteen to One had been scheduled, so I set series record.  On the "information" screen, it said that Sandi Toksvig would be hosting the revival.  Sandi Toksvig has also been pretty regular entertainment consumtion for me, she was in Number 73, Call My Bluff and I love to hear her on the Radio 4 "News Quiz", but even I was surprised and perplexed that she had been chosen as a replacement for William G Stewart on Fifteen to One. 

Is the Nokia Lumia 1020 Reliable?

Submitted by Matt on

A question to which my personal answer would be no.  In fact, the Lumia 1020 is the most unreliable Nokia phone I've ever bought.  

I'm now on my second handset; within a week of purchasing the first, it began to reboot randomly, sometimes up to 15 times a day.  If it didn't reboot it froze which needed a soft-reset (volume down and lock button together) to kick it back into life, and after one morning of reboot after reboot I had it changed at the local dealer.  

Sochi 2014 - A Quandry

Submitted by Matt on

I've just spent a couple of hours catching up on the week's television - it's fascinating how TV watching habits have changed since the introduction of Personal Video Recorders such as Sky+ and Freesat/View+.  

Nevertheless, I recorded a programme shown last Wednesday which looked at the 1980 Summer Olympic Games which were held in Moscow.  Back then, when I was a mere two years old, Russia was still firmly under the grip of communism and had only just invaded Afghanistan.  Both the United States and Great Britain tried to boycott the games, although some athletes decided to compete anyway under the flag of the games.  

Aspen House - A Slow Demise

Submitted by Matt on

For all those hoping for the pizazz and flamboyance of an implosive demolition, I'm afraid you're going to need disguise your bitter disappointment for the news I'm about to deliver.  Aspen House will be removed from the Swindon skyline floor by floor.  Much like an elderly relative sitting in God's waiting room waiting for the inevitable, the building will linger on as demolition crews hoist heavy machinery to the roof and erase this blot on the landscape piece by piece until they reach the third floor.

Regent Circus - Some thoughts...

Submitted by Matt on

I'm not one to lift images from the web, but I have borrowed the above from the PDF brochure available on the Regent Cirus website to show what the development should look like once it's finished. 

There's no doubt in anyone's mind that the former Swindon College site at the end of Regent Circus was in poor shape when the college moved out in 2005 and it being left derelict, much like Aspen House which became vacant at around the same time certainly has left its mark at the 'top-end' of new town, not only aesthetically, but also economically.  Ashfield Land purchased the Regent Circus site in 2006 and now the former eyesore is starting to morph into a clean and modern structure. 

Aspen to be felled

Submitted by Matt on

Aspen House is an office block located on Temple Street in Swindon, Wiltshire.  While I feel a bit of an attachment for it, the building has been left unoccupied for about eight years now after Heath Lambert left it for Focal Point.  

Killer Pill?

Submitted by Matt on

Swindon Advertiser Logo

As a resident of Swindon for the past 13 or so years, I've had an on/off relationship with my subscription to the local newspaper, the Swindon Advertiser.  The paper has, in my opinion, a natural tendency to sensationalise the most inane snippets of 'news' and occasionally goes randonly off at a tangent to give some of the more 'interesting' residents of the town a soapbox.  One I'd rather they not be given.

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