Britain was obsessed with Princess Diana — not any longer
The traditional biography is dead. That soup to nuts, start with the birth, end with the death, 'all that David Copperfield kind of crap', as Holden Caulfield put it in The Catcher in the Rye, 'but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.' Him and publishers alike.
Writers have been playing with the biographical format for a long time, from Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy to Alexander Masters's Stuart: A Life Backwards. The vogue today is, instead of getting bogged down in the subject's life, to focus on their place in cultural history. The great benefit to readers is that biographies are no longer just about one person, but about all of us. 'How does this relate
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Scottish Sun
17-05-2025
- Scottish Sun
Millionaire contestant forced to guess tricky £32k question – but would you get it?
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up A WHO Wants To Be A Millionaire player was forced to make a guess after burning through half their lifelines - would you have got it right? Air traffic controller Mike Hayes from Altrincham made it through to the famous black chair and all the way up to the £125k question. 3 Jeremy asked the £32k question - which left Mike momentarily stumped Credit: ITV 3 After using half his lifelines on the previous question, Mike was reluctant to use up any more, so he took a guess Credit: ITV But it was the £32k question that left him momentarily stumped. Host Jeremy Clarkson read: "Which literary character is the narrator of the J.D Salinger novel 'The Catcher in the Rye'? The choices were: Nick Carraway, Scout Finch, Holden Caulfield, Esther Greenwood. Despite reading the novel 30 years ago, Mike struggled to recall the author. After using half his lifelines on the previous question, Mike was reluctant to use up any more. So, he took a punt without using any of his remaining lifelines and guessed Holden Caulfield. Jeremy said: "It's funny how these facts live in our heads. That was correct, well done." Later in the show, Mike reached the £125k question - but with no lifelines remaining. So, he decided to happily walk away with the whopping amount money. The episode also featured contestant Faridah Oyetunji, a bio medical science student from Abbey Wood. Millionaire player forced to make a guess after using lifeline on 'easy' £2k soap question - would you have got it correct- She made it through to the famous black chair after winning fastest finger first. Faridah struggled from the start and had to use her audience life line to answer the £300 question. Jeremy asked: "Which of these are traditionally swapped by opposing players at the end of a football match? The choices were Shirts, Shorts, Boots or Socks and not being a big football fan, the audience helped her correctly choose shirts. Hardest Quiz Show Questions Would you know the answers to some of quizzing TV's hardest questions Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - Earlier this year, fans were left outraged after what they described as the "worst" question in the show's history. Host Jeremy Clarkson asked: 'From the 2000 awards ceremony onwards, the Best Actress Oscar has never been won by a woman whose surname begins with which one of these letters?' The multiple choice answers were between G, K, M and W. In the end, and with the £32,000 safe, player Glen had to make a guess and went for G. It turned out to be correct as Nicole Kidman, Frances McDormand and Kate Winslet are among the stars who have won the Best Actress gong since 2000. - Earlier this year, fans were left outraged after what they described as the "worst" question in the show's history. Host Jeremy Clarkson asked: 'From the 2000 awards ceremony onwards, the Best Actress Oscar has never been won by a woman whose surname begins with which one of these letters?' The multiple choice answers were between G, K, M and W. In the end, and with the £32,000 safe, player Glen had to make a guess and went for G. It turned out to be correct as Nicole Kidman, Frances McDormand and Kate Winslet are among the stars who have won the Best Actress gong since 2000. The 1% Club - Viewers of Lee Mack's popular ITV show were left dumbfounded by a question that also left the players perplexed. The query went as follows: "Edna's birthday is on the 6th of April and Jen's birthday falls on the 15th of October, therefore Amir's birthday must be the 'X' of January." It turns out the conundrum links the numbers with its position in the sentence, so 6th is the sixth word and 15th is the fifteenth word. Therefore, Amir's birthday is January 24th, corresponding to the 24th word in the sentence. - Viewers of Lee Mack's popular ITV show were left dumbfounded by a question that also left the players perplexed. The query went as follows: "Edna's birthday is on the 6th of April and Jen's birthday falls on the 15th of October, therefore Amir's birthday must be the 'X' of January." It turns out the conundrum links the numbers with its position in the sentence, so 6th is the sixth word and 15th is the fifteenth word. Therefore, Amir's birthday is January 24th, corresponding to the 24th word in the sentence. The Chase - The ITV daytime favourite left fans scratching their heads when it threw up one of the most bizarre questions to ever grace the programme. One of the questions asked the player: "Someone with a nightshade intolerance should avoid eating what?" The options were - sweetcorn, potatoes, carrots - with Steve selecting sweetcorn but the correct answer was potatoes. She then had to use Jeremy as her second lifeline when she was asked to name the thoroughfare that connects Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyrood House. But Faridah made it to her safety net of £1000 by confidently answering the next question that came along. However, the £2000 question confused her, when Jeremy asked: "Which recurring TV soap character has been played by Lisa Riley since 1995." The choices were Mandy Dingle, Kim Tate, Tracy Barlow or Sharon Mitchell. Faridah said: "I've got absolutely no clue, I'm not a soap fan." She then decided to use her third lifeline and go 50-50 and was left with A and C - Faridah then took a guess at Mandy Dingle, which was correct. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire airs on ITV and ITVX. 3 Faridah had to use her third lifeline to help her answer a soap question Credit: ITV
Times
03-05-2025
- Times
Britain was obsessed with Princess Diana — not any longer
The traditional biography is dead. That soup to nuts, start with the birth, end with the death, 'all that David Copperfield kind of crap', as Holden Caulfield put it in The Catcher in the Rye, 'but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.' Him and publishers alike. Writers have been playing with the biographical format for a long time, from Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy to Alexander Masters's Stuart: A Life Backwards. The vogue today is, instead of getting bogged down in the subject's life, to focus on their place in cultural history. The great benefit to readers is that biographies are no longer just about one person, but about all of us. 'How does this relate
The Guardian
21-04-2025
- The Guardian
Stawell Gift 2025: silk singlets, a power blackout and Gout Gout add to fun of historic race
The Stawell Gift, one of Australia's more peculiar sporting traditions, is held each year during Easter at Central Park in the small town of Stawell in western Victoria. Though the ground shares its name with the green hub in the middle of Manhattan, it is not often confused with it. New York's version has been made famous by literature, film and television. There are the scenes from Ghostbusters. References in The Catcher in the Rye. Countless glimpses in Seinfeld, or Sex and the City. Stawell's alternative does not enjoy the same status within international culture. But for a moment over the Easter weekend it did at least enjoy the world athletics spotlight. Gout Gout, one of sprinting's fastest teenagers, chose to complete his season with an appearance at the Stawell Gift, Australia's oldest running race. It has now been run 143 times, going back to the formative years of the town in the midst of the gold rushes of the 19th century. That history permeates this Central Park. From the winners' plaques on the clubhouse, to the ground's charming but dilapidated grandstands, the manual scoreboard, a grassy bank populated by camping chairs, hot chips in cups and a quaint English garden. Despite the long traditions, few locals could remember ever seeing a show like Gout. The attendance at Central Park on Monday was 5,827 – around double who came last year – and almost every vantage point was occupied. The paths snaking around field slowed to a standstill for much of the day. That attendance figure, to put it in perspective, was the highest recorded for at least two decades. The town's official population is 6,220. Hotels, motels and caravan parks around town were packed and it was clear many, like Queensland's Gout, had come from afar. The 17-year-old ran 19.84s over 200m in Perth last weekend, flew back to Brisbane for three days of school, then flew to Victoria. He was drawn by the occasion, the tradition and the atmosphere. It was to be a fitting way to conclude an extraordinary season, but the money was pretty good too. There was a $50,000 appearance fee, and the chance to win the first prize of $40,000. The spectacular drone shot, that has been shared millions of times in recent days, was a bonus. 'It was a really cool drone shot, and to see how I catch up to everyone was pretty cool,' Gout said. 'In my blocks, I could hear it, and I'm saying to myself, 'What is that?' And at the end, I found it was a drone,' he said. There's a 17-year-old kid in Australia, named Gout Gout, who has run 100m in 9.99 seconds, and 200m in 19.84 is considered to have as much potential as Usain Bolt, and will probably be an Olympic champion one some absolutely crazy footage of him today... That vision was also a good way to enjoy the work of Kevin 'Cabbage' Rickard. The curator has been turning the town's footy oval into a high-level grass athletics surface for 40 years. He said this year's was his best work, and nobody disagreed. The grass track may be common to the so-called professional circuit of country meets that occupy the Australian summer, but to high-level sprinters competing on such a surface is unusual. It is not the only thing about Stawell that demands adjustment to outsiders. There is the format of the racing, where handicappers give all but the fastest runners head starts, some as large as 10m in a 120m race. The desired outcome is that each runner has at least a chance of winning each race, encouraging punters a compelling bet on the outcome. There is a single on-course bookie, who was busy throughout the day. But the appearance of Gout was unusual in this context too. Under local gambling laws, bets can't be taken on children, and so – as much as those present might have wanted to – a wager on a victory for the 17-year-old was prohibited. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Volunteers from the Stawell Athletic Club, dressed immaculately in maroon blazers and ties were dotted around the venue. Inside the tent handing out singlets, one said the tradition of requiring athletes to wear the brightly-coloured but consistent uniforms can be a point of contention. There are two sizes, but some athletes will choose to tie up their singlets at the waist to reduce the drag. Not long after Gout put on his red silk singlet for the semi-final, two heavy showers passed through. The second one resulted in a power failure, killing the commentary and forcing the big screen to go black. On a heavy track, and with his red uniform billowing in the headwind, the teenager could do no better than second and was eliminated. The final image the thousands of fans will have of Gout was the teenager's appearance in the back-markers' invitational, a mixed-gender consolation race. Although he could not be the subject of wagering, Gout was able to wear the logo of the beer company which sponsored the race. He did not get close to winning, but spent minutes signing autographs and posing for selfies to the young fans shouting 'Gout, Gout, Gout' at every opportunity. One police officer was impressed by the turnout, suspecting Gout had helped sell many thousands more tickets over the weekend. A local he was conversing with suggested it was a positive outcome for athletics, helping creating a cycle and draw more child to the sport. 'Better than playing a Playstation,' he said. Gout's team was treating the appearance at Stawell as a celebration of what has been a fantastic few months. And the teenager seemed to enjoy it. Just as the men's final was about to begin, he hugged the day's star performer Bree Rizzo, who did something even Gout couldn't do – win as a back-marker, from scratch. Rizzo was in a state of elation. 'I did it,' she said, asking Gout how his run was. 'It was really good,' Gout said. 'It was actually so fun.'
