arbitrary constant

I'm very much looking forward to the start of the University Challenge final — it's great television, and you learn stuff, too.

This year has got quite a lot of coverage because of one Gail Trimble — perhaps the cleverest UC contestant ever. There appear to be two schools of thought on Trimble: either she's (1) annoying; or (2) strangely sexy. I'm firmly in the first camp, but appreciate there's little you can tell about someone from the way they approach answering things on a television quiz (notwithstanding the fact you can tell a fair bit about most UC contestants from the fact they're on, erm, University Challenge).

Either way, The Sun nicely demonstrates the total difference between academic and real-world knowledge by challenging Trimble to answer questions on such pressing issues as Big Brother and the new Chelsea manager's name, which, of course, she didn't know. A consultant anaesthetist friend of mine is adamant (rightly, to my mind) that he'll only win Who Wants to be a Millionnaire by knowing such trivia, alongside proper knowledge. We'll see if such questions crop up in tonight's final, and whether they'll enable Trimble to be the cleverest contestant ever...

Update: Corpus Christi, Trimble's team, won, and Trimble is having to get used to the extra attention, including, erm, an offer from Nuts magazine.

Update II: It appears Corpus Christi fielded an ineligible student. This is perhaps the first time in human history that everyone is in uproar that someone was in paid employment rather than a student.

Filed in General Interest, Personal