Laissez le Hound voir le lapin.

Henri Leconte, Valery Giscard d'Estaing, Dominic Rocheteau, Robespierre, Madame Curie, Sebastien Chabal, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Brigitte Bardot, Daft Punk, Emile Zola, Johnny Halliday, Obelix, Juliette Binoche, Blaise Pascal, Gustave Eiffel, Auguste Renoir, D'Artagnan, Olivier Dacourt, Andre the Giant, Edith Piaf, Bixente Lizarazu, Charles de Gaulle, Henri Becquerel, Vanessa Paradis, Honore de Balzac.

Just some of my favourite des Francais in tribute to our bourgeoning French following, reputed to be outnumbering other nations cumulatively by 2 to 1 currently. My ancestors and les Francais go all the way back to the Auld Alliance anyway, so Vive La France!. Chemin de Fer, Rodney, Chemin de Fer.

Cracking on. 3 Hounds present, Robin, Steve, My good self. Wait a minute though, Suicidal Mike makes one too many Lady & the Tramps who are boosted by a couple of  Antipodean guests, so Mike makes 4 for us. To be fair a much more upbeat Mike today, his love life back on track. Appropriately, a vaguely Valentines related Pictures Round ensues.

 

 

Questions as follows; 1. Name the Sweets 2. Name the Play 3. Name the Sculptor 4. Name the Birds. 5. Name required 6. When? 7. Name both Characters. 8. Name both. 9. Name the Film (slogan says 'love means never having to say you're sorry') 10. Where?

 

We got all bar 6. and 10. continuing our recent appalling run on Royal questions. I am trying to improve this by swotting up but only limited success so far. Current Affairs definitely improving though, another 8 out of 10. Steve pulled Asda out of the (5p) bag as the lowest rated supermarket,  good get by Robson for Miranda Hart leaving 'Call the Mid Wife' for a West End stage debut. Couldn't name the Californian dam that has been in the news, nor guess that a 1943 Philippe Patek watch had sold for £9m.

 

New governor is in the house, and free sandwiches materialise, cheese & onion, egg mayo or chicken roll, all very nice!

 

Art + lit. 8 out of 10 again. Good gets for the Little Mermaid (Steve again), Tintin and Botticelli (mine). Didn't get the writer of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie writer - Muriel Spark, or the year of death of Agatha Christie - 1976. Modesty prevents me from saying who got the Connection based only on the first question (no it doesn't, it was I). Robert Downey Jr has done chokey, and so have all of the other 8. We only dropped points trying to recognise who said 'If god didn't exist it would be necessary to invent him'. Voltaire, not Descartes. I had never heard of Martha Stewart, so fair play to Robson for that one.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Some mugshots, what about that James Brown photo! Wesley Snipes is in character in the film 'Undisputed' in the above photo, and Macca's photo was used for an album cover.

All teams got the ten pointers, useful corroboration from Mike on the Matteus Rose question.

We missed a 3-link chain in the chain letters round... LateX-XeniA-AlcopoP-  . This despite having 3 clues for Xenia, a character in Goldeneye, sister of Czar Nicholas II and Greek term for friendship. Got the rest.



Jeopardy Round, we are considering going all in on the Jeopardy Round, but that perennial Bear Trap the Harvey Wallbanger has reared it's ugly head again. I fondly half remember a lively discussion with Daren where it was established that Vodka and Orange is a screwdriver, with Grenadine added to make a HW. Robson remembers it slightly differently suggesting Galliano not Grenadine. He's right and the best bit of work we did all night was to swerve this one. 9 correct and no-one else got all 10. Anoraks claim to have only missed out on Donkey Kong as the video game originally featuring Super Mario. Miss is good as a mile in the J Round and we romp home first of six by fifteen points. Good effort by the unfamiliar Selwyn Chicks in second place. £12.50 to Mike and the rest goes into the Hound kitty. Only missed one in the music round can't remember what it was.

This was a day for being one out numerically, the Queen married in 1947 not 1948, Agatha died in 1976 not 1977, and Westlife had 14 number ones not 13. However, much closer than anyone else on this latter one, worth a bag of Maltesers and a first Domestic Double for a little while.

No Robson for the next 2 weeks. Possible in-betweener at the Foxley Hatch this coming Monday.

G-Force