Muppets and Grunge

“I miss the comfort in being sad”

Nirvana, Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle.

I was watching The Muppet Movie the other day and I realised how much of an influence the Muppets had on much of great 1990s American art. Kurt Cobain was Animal. Animal was grunge. The Muppets is one of the few things in what is ostensibly children’s television to not shy away from sadness and the causes of it. Remember when Mr. Hooper died on Sesame Street. Big Bird asking where he’s gone. And the human adults taking the time to sit him down and talk about death with him and how it was okay to be sad. That blew the world’s minds.

I don’t remember where I was or when it was that I learned about death. I do remember my sister finding out about it. We shared a bedroom then, a big one. She was five, I was seven. Our grandmother had died. Anyway there’d been lots of crying and sadness and then we got taken to bed and my sister asks my mum “Does this mean you’re going to die one day?”

Anyway it was awful because what do you do in this situation. You can’t lie but you can’t upset your kids any further because fucking hell you’ve got to go and deal with your own personal reaction to this and the housework and other shit. Any pause here is disastrous. A pause to a child is confirmation of the truth.

So, there was a pause and my sister starts losing it. Then she realises that she too will die one day and my sister, just five, is having a massive existential crisis. Death is inevitable. He’s coming for us all and one day you won’t wake up from your sleep.

So Mr Hooper dying wasn’t our introduction to death but it will have been for millions of American kids. They showed it on Thanksgiving Day 1983. Kurt Cobain is what, 16. So he’s too old for Sesame Street most likely but I guess he’ll have seen it, it was a massive cultural moment. For a generation of kids that's their introduction to the end of it all. No wonder emo happened. Emo was Grunge plus Elmo.

The Muppets didn’t airbrush death, they just explained it away as part of the natural order of things. Gonzo the undefinable flightless bird came from a fine tradition of glass half empty children’s characters such as Eeyore and Droopy. His perennial sadness wasn’t there to make the other characters seem even happier, it was the other way round. Kermit’s unflappable goodness, Fozzie’s indefatigable efforts to entertain – they put Gonzo’s inner torment into perspective. In the Muppet Movie, a film made memorable by one of the very best soundtracks of all time, Gonzo sings a campfire country lament called “I’mGoing to Go Back There Someday.” The Muppets car has broken down and their journey to Hollywood with it. Rather than have an optimistic, never mind anthem sung by Fozzie or Miss Piggy, it’s Gonzo’s turn in the spotlight.

This song devastated me as a kid. I was that kind of kid mind. It still floors me now. It’s like Bright Eyes by Art Garfunkel.

“Sun rises, night falls. Sometimes the sky calls.

Is that a song there and do I belong there?

I’ve never been there. But I know the way.
I’m going to go back there someday.”

Gonzo is singing about dreams, about flying, about the elusive nature of meaning. But, to me, he’s also singing about the pointlessness of it all, that death is coming anyway and we might as well accept it. It’s not a million miles away from “I miss the comfort in being sad.”

Anyway, I was going to talk about the influence of the soundtrack on artists such as Grandaddy (listen to He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s the Pilot and then listen to the start of Muppets Rainbow Connection) and Mercury Rev whose albums from Deserter’s Songs onwards show the same affection for the big American music as the Muppet Movie. I was going to talk about that and the influence of Fozzie Bear on Stephen Tombolowsky’s unforgettable Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day (now there’s a movie that I’d love to see a Muppet retelling of). I was going to do quite a lot of things but Death is calling and I haven't put the bins out.

366 Day Challenge - A New Hope

Hi

I just thought I'd say that I am no longer the captain of the good ship 365(6) Day Challenge. I've really enjoyed doing it but lately it's become too much work for me to do alone and I feel more worn out by doing it than inspired. Rather than let it fall away into ruin like an abandoned funfair or my own body, I felt it best to look for a new, younger, fitter skipper at the helm, and quietly walk away with my carriage clock for loyal service. That cavalcade of mixed metaphors thankfully over, I'd like to give my sincere thanks to everyone who has ever responded to a challenge. It wouldn't have worked without you all. I've been genuinely amazed at how popular it's been which it's why it's best for me to sneak off now before neglecting it etc. I'm talking about the challenge now, not my body.

Show some love and appreciation to Duncan McVey, the new skipper. He's already got off to a flyer and I'm happy that it's going to continue.

I won't single out anyone for thanks, you've all been wonderful. I'll be back on Twitter soon, poisoning the air with libellous descriptions of world leaders and drunken tirades against Muse.

x


PS - RESOURCE CORNER - If you've ever wanted to know if we've asked a question before - the links to everything up to May 22 2020 are here.

2020 So Far - the 366 Day Challenge Questions

Links to 2019 questions here.

Jan 1: GUEST QUESTION from @CountryChic1976 - Do you have any unfulfilled ambitions and do you have plans to realise them in 2020? 

Jan 2: GUEST QUESTION from @markcurtains -What's the weirdest cover version on an album you own?

Jan 3: GUEST QUESTION from @joannethejenius -What's the strangest thing you've queued for?

Jan 4: What forgotten and obscure catchphrase do you still say? 

Jan 5: GUEST QUESTION from @AWrightStuff -Which Twitter bio do you find hilarious or clever or fantastic?

Jan 6: GUEST QUESTION from @den_jw -What’s the best insult you've ever heard?

Jan 7: If you could live in any fictional universe (already committed to screen or print) which one would you choose? 

Jan 8: What’s the most "How did they do that" thing you've ever seen? 

Jan 9: GUEST QUESTION from @treharrisboy - What's your favourite outro in music? 

Jan 10: GUEST QUESTION from @morefromchris -What’s the big gossip from your first week back at work? 

Jan 11: GUEST QUESTION from @dmartw -Which song is the one guaranteed to get you on the dancefloor?

Jan 12: GUEST QUESTION from @Rover9495 -What quote sticks in your head, not necessarily your favourite or most profound, but the thing off a TV film or song that always pops up?
Jan 13: "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" - HOWARD BEALE, Network. Given your own sudden live slot on the news channels, what 12 words would you say to the world? 

Jan 14: GUEST QUESTION from @YPLAC -What phrase or euphemism that you've learnt in the last six months do you use the most?

Jan 15: Have you ever assisted someone in their aim of securing a romantic partner a la Steve Martin in Roxanne?

BONUS GUEST QUESTION from @diaryof annepank -If you could buy a candle that smelt of someone's penis, who would you choose?
 

Jan 16: GUEST QUESTION from @CountryChic1976 - For what achievement do you still seek recognition/adulation/awe? 

Jan 17: GUEST QUESTION from @LapsedCat -Please give a brief review of the last film you watched in the style of your mum or dad. 

Jan 18: GUEST QUESTION from @DeanoB24 - What is the most overrated or underrated? 

Jan 19: GUEST QUESTION from @StaggerLeeF -What fact, that you've vigorously argued for all your life, later proved to be absolute nonsense?

Jan 20: GUEST QUESTION from @CassInTheAttic - Have you ever held onto a grudge, which you know to be petty and ridiculous, but you can't let go?

Jan 21: GUEST QUESTION from @MariaDonovanWri -What puns make you smile?

Jan 22: GUEST QUESTION from @drunkenbutcher -What remake/reboot do you prefer to the original? 

Jan 23: GUEST QUESTION from @k8andrews - What's the pettiest rage-induced thing you've done?

Jan 24: What is your "happy place"? 

Jan 25: GUEST QUESTION from @llanerch -Have you ever been a "have-a-go" hero? 

Jan 26: GUEST QUESTION from @den_jw -What’s the stupidest thing you've ever done that still fills you with pride?

Jan 27: GUEST QUESTION from @ChrisSamsDad - If you could live your life over again, but remembering only one piece of wisdom you've learnt this life, what wisdom would you choose?

Jan 28: When was the last time you cried in public? 

Jan 29: GUEST QUESTION from @MoroneyAl - Who is your favourite ancillary characted from a sitcom?

Jan 30: GUEST QUESTION from @DaveThePitt- What is the last song that got stuck in your head and will probably get stuck in everybody else's?

Jan 31: GUEST QUESTION from @sonofmars - Explain the reasoning behind Brexit to a European.

 

Feb 1: GUEST QUESTION from @scareyjoe - With the possible Brexit food supply problems, what emergency food might you be forced to survive on? 

Feb 2: What town have you sworn never to return to and why?

Feb 3: GUEST QUESTION from @lloydbinding - What does your city/town smell like?

Feb 4: GUEST QUESTION from @Travers2002 - Name your eight Desert Island Discs, book and luxury item?

Feb 5: GUEST QUESTION from @felicefan - What's the most cringeworthy word?

Feb 6: GUEST QUESTION from @kloob - Give us your wisest, wittiest quote that sums up life today and which will be uttered for centuries to come.

Feb 7: GUEST QUESTION from @robertdee - If you were a choo-choo train driver and could drive a train between any two destinations, what would they be, what would you name the journey and who would you have as a ticket inspector?

Feb 8: GUEST QUESTION from @boosh71 - If you had one day to yourself, what would you do?

Feb 9: GUEST QUESTION from @felicefan - Name a song that would be vastly improved by the changing of one member of personnel

Feb 10: GUEST QUESTION from @ChrisDuzTweets -  Whose looks don't match their character?

Feb 11: Which siblings that you know are the least alike - in terms of physicality or personality?

Feb 12: GUEST QUESTION from @matronboy-  Which minor pleasure never gets old?

Feb 13: GUEST QUESTION from @StuartLaidler - As in the film Indecent Proposal, what job/task/thing would you never, not ever, do, not even for a billion quid deposited questions-free into your bank account?

Feb 14: GUEST QUESTION from @Rover9495 - What credits for a TV show do you love?

Feb 15: GUEST QUESTION from @IanNorris87 - What makes a great Ploughmans and where serves the best?

Feb 16: GUEST PICTURE ROUND from @Sergio-Georgini (photo is of a bouquet in a pub urinal) - what does this represent?

Feb 17: GUEST QUESTION from @ChrisSamsDad - What would be a 100% deal breaker in a potential new relationship?

Feb 18: GUEST QUESTION from @lloydbinding- Name your eight nightmare Desert Island Discs, book and luxury item?

Feb 19: GUEST QUESTION from @cherryaimless - The crew of the ISS are to get access to BBC iPlayer. If you were up there, what would you watch?

Feb 20: GUEST QUESTION from @drunkenbutcher -What fact/truth do you know intellectually but your heart still doesn't believe?

Feb 21: What have you done in your life that you feel necessitates a film-style montage sequence, and what music should soundtrack that?

Feb 22: GUEST HOST - @BigPaulWales - five part question

If you won a Golden Ticket at a Pie Emporium, what would you request for the following

a) The filling of the pie
b) The shape and size
c) The side dishes
d) The beverage
e) The background music

Feb 23: GUEST QUESTION from @Rover9495 - What's the worst business name you've seen?

Feb 24: ANONYMOUS GUEST QUESTION - What rude alternative lyrics do you sing to famous songs?

Feb 25: GUEST QUESTION from @drunkenbutcher - If you could shout to the rest of the world, what would you tell them to stop being so selfish?

Feb 26: GUEST QUESTION from @lloydbinding- What did you catch yourself doing tat makes you cringe?

Feb 27: GUEST QUESTION from @PRICEYBAY- What's your go to film/TV series and comfort food when you're ill?

Feb 28: GUEST QUESTION from @Junkyard_Fool - What politician that's sort of under the radar/doesn't enter most people's consciousness have you despised the most?
Feb 29: GUEST QUESTION from @drunkenbutcher - What did you initially reject on principle or without trying ?

 

Mar 1: GUEST QUESTION from @TheStevenThomas - If you had the power to create new patron saints for the modern day, who would they be and who or what would they oversee?

Mar 2: GUEST QUESTION from @browniemaker69 - What's the most brutal break up you've been through?

Mar 3: GUEST QUESTION from @nutupdate - What's the most inappropriate song you occasionally find yourself singing?
Mar 4: GUEST QUESTION from @YPLAC - What names did you have for things when you were younger that were way better than their actual names?

Mar 5: GUEST QUESTION from @cherryaimless - If you could revive a game show/quiz show, which one would you bring back, who would present and who would be the regular team captains?

Mar 6: In the spirit of Denmark at Euro 92, What unlikely location have you been happily summoned from?

Mar 7: GUEST QUESTION from @Marshallmedia - What song will you and your mates be singing when you're 75 and on the bus home from an all dayer?

Mar 8: GUEST QUESTION from @CassInTheAttic - What's the strangest event/place/appointment you've ever decided to attend on your own?

Mar 9: GUEST QUESTION from @lloydbinding- Which act would you only buy a Greatest Hits of, and not a proper album?

Mar 10: GUEST QUESTION from @TheStevenThomas - What's the one commodity nobody's yet realised we ought to be stockpiling?

BONUS GUEST QUESTION from @MickMuldoon - show us your CLEAN device wallpaper.
 

Mar 11: GUEST QUESTION from @MichaelGVine -  Without telling us a date or age tell us how old you are.

Mar 12: GUEST QUESTION from @felicefan - What are you REALLY good at, that if it were something worthwhile, would make you rich and famous?

Mar 13: GUEST QUESTION from @FifeDawg84 - If the Coronavirus was human, which human would it be?
Mar 14: If you were a TV show, what kind of TV show would you be?

Mar 15: GUEST QUESTION from @lloydbinding- Which song do you shamefully know all the lyrics to?

Mar 16: GUEST QUESTION from @mogwynfeather - Without naming names, who is your greatest nemesis and why?

Mar 17: GUEST QUESTION from @TheStevenThomas - What's the one tweet you've written that should be on your gravestone?

Mar 18: Did you ever keep a diary?

Mar 19: GUEST QUESTION from @stymistress - What's the best/worst fib you've ever told?

Mar 20: GUEST PICTURE QUESTION from @mogwynfeather - Share a photo of a time you were proud.

Mar 21: GUEST QUESTION from @drunkenbutcher -What do you have in your cupboards and can people help out with recipes?

Mar 22: GUEST QUESTION from @safeasfuck -a) What was the last gig pre-lockdown you attended and b) Which gig do you most hope will still go ahead?

Mar 23: GUEST QUESTION from @lloydbinding- What are the top 5 things you are going to do post-lockdown?

Mar 24: GUEST QUESTION from @SiHudPod- Which great song has an ever better video?

Mar 25: GUEST QUESTION from @Denchthefirst - What would be your pitch to Dragon's Den in these troubled times?

Mar 26: GUEST QUESTION from @dmartw -What is your food heaven and food hell?

Mar 27: Have you ever sabotaged something?

Mar 28: GUEST QUESTION from @drunkenbutcher -What nonsense superstitions do you have?

Mar 29: GUEST QUESTION from @Sue_Pook -What is your current favourite lyrical couplet?

Mar 30: GUEST QUESTION from @drivenbybordom -What would your crap coat of arms be?

Mar 31: GUEST QUESTION from @Rover9495 - If you could do over one non-relationship thing in your life, what would it be?

Apr 1: GUEST QUESTION from @nutupdate - If you could bring someone back from the dead for just one day, who would you choose. Also, if you could bring someone back from the dead just to give them a slap, who would you choose?
Apr 2: GUEST QUESTION from @mogwynfeather - If you could go to any fictional place, where would you go?Apr 3: GUEST QUESTION from non-Twitter person Roberta Smoke - What's the most British thing you've ever said?
Apr 4: GUEST QUESTION from @zellishrows - If you ran a Theme Pun, what would it be called and what would the theme be?Apr 5: GUEST QUESTION from @robertdee - Which supporting character from a TV show would you like to have their own show?
Apr 6: GUEST QUESTION from @Rover9495 - Which fictional character would be your choice for a PM?
Apr 7: GUEST QUESTION from @cherryaimless - What was your last Big Night Out or day trip before lockdown?Apr 8: ANONYMOUS GUEST QUESTION - Who would be in your celebrity threesome with you?
Apr 9: GUEST QUESTION from @kloob - Invading aliens have asked you to challenge them to a game. Lose and they will destroy everything. Win and they'll leave. What sport or game do you choose that you think you'd win and what's your special cheat move to ensure the survival of the planet?
Apr 10: GUEST QUESTION from @YPLAC - What song have you introduced to someone cool and muso-y that has genuinely impressed them?
Apr 11: GUEST QUESTION from @_davebrown_ - What is your favourite fictional character's name?Apr 12: GUEST QUESTION from @PeteDavies2006 - If you had to wait 27 years for something, knowing that it would make you just really, really happy when it came, what would it be?Apr 13: GUEST QUESTION from @felicefan - Is there a moment in a film/TV show that, no matter how many times you've seen it, still makes you nervous and tense in case it goes wrong?
Apr 14: GUEST QUESTION from @kloob - the following fights are taking place, the losers will be destroyed forever, the winners are never going away - who do you want to win? Continental vs Full English, Film vs Theatre, Pizza vs Cake, Piers Morgan vs Frequent Flatulence, Capt. America vs Batman, Sex vs a good book, Higher Wages vs More Holidays, Drugs vs Rock N Roll
Apr 15: GUEST QUESTION from @robertdee - It's 1988. You have to give Pablo Escobar a prostate exam. How do you escape, knowing you can't be allowed to live.Apr 16: GUEST QUESTION from @drunkenbutcher -What piece of misinformation were you told as a child whch spoiled things when you found out the truth?
Apr 17: GUEST QUESTION from @kloob - What's the most disgusting thing you've come across that people seem fine with?
Apr 18: GUEST QUESTION from @Phulax_Wolfgang - What films, books, authors etc have you discovered through Twitter?
Apr 19: GUEST QUESTION from @TonmeisterJones- What long forgotten bit of telly or film gave you the most joy when you found it on YouTube?Apr 20: GUEST QUESTION from @brennig - Are you avoiding (not blocking or muting, just avoiding) following someone on Twitter who you know personally?
Apr 21: GUEST QUESTION from @markcurtains -What will you miss most about lockdown?Apr 22: GUEST QUESTION from @MrChrisRoyston -What opinion do you hold that you suspect that you're wrong about and everyone else is right?Apr 23: GUEST QUESTION from @fluffybagelmix -If you had to isolate for weeks or months at any other point in your life when would they choose?
Apr 24: GUEST QUESTION from @safeasfuck -What won't you miss about lockdown?Apr 25: ANONYMOUS GUEST QUESTION - What is the nearest you've come to death due to a faulty or poorly designed consumer product?
Apr 26: GUEST QUESTION from @sipperana -What esoteric names do you have for different types of music?
Apr 27: GUEST QUESTION from @DeanoB24 - What is the favourite piece of memorabilia you own?Apr 28: GUEST QUESTION from @MariaDonovanWri - What life tips did you inherit and what tips will you pass on?
Apr 29: GUEST QUESTION from @joannethejenius - Since Lockdown, have you become addicted to eating or drinking a particular thing?Apr 30: GUEST QUESTION from @WhyAyeMrs -What song have you adapted for a mundane chore e.g. Putting Out the Bins for Putting on the Ritz?

May 1: GUEST QUESTION from @KirstyKomodo -What ridiculously expensive thing do you own that might see you up against the wall, come the revolution?
May 2: GUEST QUESTION from @Shadow_Chaser -What thing did you own in childhood that you miss most?
May 3: GUEST QUESTION from @zellishrows-What is your one luxury coveted item but is financially out of reach?
May 4: GUEST QUESTION from @danielson264 - What phrases need to "get in the sea"?
May 5: GUEST QUESTION from @robertdee - You've been commissioned by the government to create an artwork to commemorate the Corona Virus but you've forgotten and the unveiling is today. Using only what is around you right now, make something. What is it called? EXTRA POINTS FOR ACTUAL PHOTOS!
May 6: GUEST QUESTION from @YPLAC - Have you ever worked with a complete shithead who, if you had to admit it, taught you to do something extremely well?
May 7: GUEST QUESTION from @johnfidler - Which movie would you most like to do a Carry On remake of, complete with original gang?
May 8: GUEST QUESTION from @bensutherland - If you could find the answer to any unsolved mystery which one would you pick?
May 9: GUEST QUESTION from @Rover9495 - Who is the best at their "thing" whilst looking effortless?
May 10: GUEST QUESTION from @simon3862 - What do you do for a job and what would be your dream job?
May 11: GUEST QUESTION from @NickDentsBrain - Inspired by the Repair Shop my wife and I spent two days trying to work out what the oldest item we still owned was - that we had purchased AFTER we had got together 25 years ago. It turned out to be a set of pans. I wondered if your followers were a little more romantic than that….
May 12: GUEST QUESTION from @MoiraWalton - What piece of work gossip from your past could have made a good film plot?
May 13: GUEST QUESTION from @candycane_girl What would your "The Chase" nickname be?
May 14: GUEST QUESTION from @kloob - What is your favourite stock/cliché movie character?
May 15: GUEST QUESTION from @Phulax_Wolfgang - What is the most hipster moment/best demonstration of niche knowledge you've had?
May 16: GUEST QUESTION from @MarkFaulkner24. Does anyone have or is friends with someone who shares a famous name?May 17: GUEST QUESTION from @dmartw - everyone has an inner pedant, what really winds you up pedantically speaking?
May 18: GUEST QUESTION fr0m @Owenradford - what silly pet names do you have for partners/kids?
May 19: GUEST QUESTION from @valleyguitarist - what music do you want soundtracking your final moments?
May 20: GUEST QUESTION from @lloydbinding - if you had a celebrity best mate, who would it be and why?
May 21: GUEST QUESTION from @YPLAC - What everyday feeling does your patented middle-age party drug replicate?
May 22: ANONYMOUS GUEST QUESTION - What are your Lockdown confessions?
May 23: GUEST QUESTION from @sgt_rendall - Which character from one TV show could plausibly show up in another and what might happen?
May 24: GUEST QUESTION from @Phulax_Wolfgang - Based on their tweets, who would you put money on to do well on a quiz show and on what topic?
May 25: GUEST QUESTION from @sonofmars - Just what has Dominic Cummings got on Boris?
May 26: GUEST QUESTION from @DaveThePitt- What wild excuses have you used when you've been caught bang to rights, doing something you shouldn't have been.
 
 
 


  

          








 

365 Day Challenge - Questions for October to December 2019

Below are the questions for  October to December 2019 of the internet phenomenon/cultural behemoth/almost legendarily pointless waste of time that is the #365DayChallenge

January to March 2019 questions are here.
April to June's 2019 are here.
And July to September's are 2019 here

October 1st - GUEST QUESTION from @dmartw - Which album can you only listen to at a certain time of the year?

BONUS QUESTION - Your Wu Tang name is comprised of a word that rhymes with your favourite uncle and a word taken from the worst job you ever had.

October 2nd - What TV programme do you always try to catch (but wouldn't necessarily brag about it on Twitter for example)?

October 3rd - Have you ever named anything after an ex?

October 4th - When did it all start going to shit and what realistic move can we take to start turning it around?

October 5th - Which “baddie” would you most like to see a backstory film of?
October 6th - Where the fuck are the orange Twirls? And what tv show do you think you’d make a good guest on?
October 7th - You are washed up on an island like Tom Hanks in Cast Away. What piece of sporting equipment would you most like to wash up on ze beach?
October 8th - What's the most thankless role in Britain?
October 9th - GUEST QUESTION - @JunkyardFool - name an @ that's gone and you miss
October 10th - GUEST QUESTION - @SarahChurch - What three words would someone definitely not use if they were describing you?
October 11th - GUEST QUESTION - @ChrisDuzTweets - What's a story you've heard that you hope is true??
October 12th- GUEST QUESTION - @StuartLaidler - Which inanimate object from your childhood do you miss the most?
October 13th - What commodity’s scarcity will cause the first riots in the post Brexit shitfire?
October 14th - Have you ever accidentally stolen something?
October 15th - GUEST QUESTION - @NeilTague - Have you ever been in the stationary car on the hard shoulder everone gawks at?
October 16th - GUEST QUESTION - @DuncanMcVey - What's the weirdest dream you've ever had?
October 17th - If you had to be stuck in a lift for 12 hours, who would you choose to be stuck with?
October 18th - GUEST QUESTION - CW York - what's the strangest thing you've caught someone watching on YouTube?
October 19th - What’s the worst film you’ve ever seen at a cinema?
October 20th - GUEST QUESTION- denjw - What is the greatest lack of cultural reference you've ever witnessed?
October 21st - GUEST -QUESTION Kate Andrews - Why is your best friend your best friend?
October 22nd - What’s the circumstances when you’ve heard yourself saying “You’re not going to believe this but...”?
October 23rd - GUESTQUESTION - ChrisSamsDad - Have you ever been deeply affected by an insult
October 24th - GUESTQUESTION - DiaryofAnnePank - if you could climb inside a piece of artwork
October 25th - GUESTQUESTION - FifeDawg84 - What line in a movie makes you physically feel ill when you hear it?
October 26th - What's the most archaic cultural reference you regularly deploy?
October 27th - GUESTQUESTION - GreenRedSonja - Have you ever been humiliated on live television or radio?
October 28th - What have you got away with at work that, if caught, could have resulted in disciplinary or dismissal?
October 29th - Have you ever witnessed or been caught up in a huge pub brawl?
October 30th - If you could press a reset button on your life and go back to a specific point in your life, with the aim of not making critical mistakes the second time around, would you?
October 31st - What did you want to grow up to be when you were eight years old? How close did you get?

November 1st - GUEST QUESTION - @TheStevenThomas - If you had to be on Stars In Your Eyes, who would you be and why?
November 2nd - What is your favourite related Beatles thing, song or anecdote?
November 3rd - Name a time when you fucked up only for it to somehow work to your advantage?
November 4th - GUEST QUESTION - @RobertDee - Which TV or film catchphrase would you like to have on your gravestone?
November 5th - GUEST QUESTION - @johnedavid - What arcane items from your childhood do you miss seeing?
November 6th - GUEST QUESTION - @DeanoB24 - What five fictitious characters would you put in the Big Brother house?
November 7th- GUEST QUESTION - @KirstyKomodo - What creative thing have you done/made that you thought "Wow, actually that's quite good?" pleasantly surprising yourself?
November 8th - What's the one thing you've continually failed at?
November 9th - GUEST QUESTION - @RobertDee - What's your safe word(s)?
November 10th - If you were sat at the bar in the First Dates Hotel, who or what would you not want to see walking towards you?
November 11th - GUEST QUESTION - @MrAndrewNeary - What piece of music would you have playing on the end credits of a film based on your life so far?
November 12th - GUEST QUESTION - @cherryaimless - Trump's launched the nukes. You've got a bunker with a room for five. Which four people are joining you?
November 13th - GUEST QUESTION - @Denchthefirst - If, as in Anchorman, you had a fight with peers in the same job as you, what's your weapon of choice?
November 14th - GUEST QUESTION - @bazzrose - Ever seen yourself on TV unexpectedly?
November 15th - Everyone knows a Dave. Tell us your most amusing Dave/David/etc related anecdote.
November 16th - If you had to pick three of your belongings to place in a time capsule to tell future generations about life in 2019, what would you pick?
November 17th - If you were on trial for your life, but had no access to properly trained and briefed legal counsel, which non legally trained buddy would you call upon to defend you in court?
November 18th - GUEST QUESTION - @johnedavid - What prejudices have you inherited?
November 19th - If you could unknow one thing, what one piece of knowledge would you be shot of?
November 20th - You're launching a National SOMETHING Day. Raising awareness of or celebrating something, but what are you choosing?
November 21st - GUEST QUESTION - @Cut_Thumb - What tattoo/hair/body modifications did you almost get and chickened out of?
November 22nd - GUEST QUESTION - @das_munch - What is a place and time that exists only in your memory, that you can never now go back to?
November 23rd - GUEST QUESTION - @scareyjoe - What freaked you out as a kid and still does as an adult?
November 24th - If you were giving a guided tour of your hometown, what's the first place you'd take people?
November 25th - GUEST QUESTION - @YPLAC - What inanimate objects or places from your childhood scared the shit out of you?
November 26th - GUEST QUESTION - @twoclownseating - What real or imagined celebrity couple, seemingly loved by everyone, would wind you up the most?
November 27th - GUEST QUESTION - @Countrychic1976 - What phrases really get on your nerves?
November 28th - Your Victorian villain name is the place you holidayed as a child with a word from the name of the nearest train station to where you live. Who are you?
November 29th - Have you ever been brave and immediately regretted it?
November 30th - Have you ever assisted a celebrity in a mundane task?

December 1st - GUEST QUESTION - @DeanoB24 - Which company would you like to film a festive ad for and what would be the premise?
December 2nd - GUEST QUESTION - @matthewjh - Do your parents do one of those round robin letters and, if so, what's the worst thing they've ever shared about you?
December 3rd - 100 years from now, there's a blue plaque outside your home marking your residing there. What have you done to deserve such decorative commemoration?
December 4th - GUEST QUESTION - @cherryaimless - What's the name of the cocktail you would invent, and what's in it?
December 5th - GUEST QUESTION - @DuncanMcVey - What would you have in your bespoke advent calendar?
December 6th - GUEST QUESTION - @Nolanwriter - What's the greatest nickname you've ever encountered?
December 7th - Share with us your favourite Christmas clips, songs, memories.
December 8th - If you could be the CEO of any organisation in the world, what would you do with that authority?
December 9th - GUEST QUESTION - @Countrychic1976 - What 21st century/first world trends irritate you?
December 10th - GUEST QUESTION - @DavethePitt - What have you been falsely accused of?
December 11th - GUEST QUESTION - @Sergio_Georgini - What would you nationalise if you could?
December 12th - GUEST QUESTION - @Barcajim3- What's the biggest fashion faux pas you have committed?
December 13th - GUEST QUESTION - @scareyjoe - What silver lining can be found with this Tory victory?
December 14th - GUEST QUESTION - @drunkenbutcher - List your top 5 soft drinks in alphabetical order.
December 15th - You have to rename the planets but in such a way the mnemonic My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets can still be used.
December 16th - Which fictional character would you be happiest with running the country?
December 17th - GUEST QUESTION - @zellishrose -  What's the funniest customer service phone call you've ever taken?
December 18th - What's the last thing that someone admitted to doing that generally shocked you?
December19th - GUEST QUESTION - @Rover 9495 - What's the best bit of karma you've ever seen?
December 20th - What's the shortest amount of time you've ever had a job?
December 21st - GUEST QUESTION - @Rover 9495 - What's the shitest Christmas present you have ever received?
December 22nd - Have you ever helped solve a crime?
December 23rd - What's the funniest thing you've seen someone do on waking up?
December 24th - GUEST QUESTION - @Rover 9495 - What's the worst Christmas present you have ever bought in a last minute panic?

BONUS GUEST QUESTION from @TheStevenThomas - What did you learn at school that you can still recite.

December 25th - You can give any celebrity a gift today. Who is getting what?
December 26th - What would your schoolmates best remember you for?
December 27th - Have you ever ruined (intentionally or otherwise) someone else's surprise?
December 28th - What's the biggest news story you've got caught up in?
December 29th - What's your favourite romantic moment in a movie or TV show?
December 30th - GUEST QUESTION - @crowbloke- What's your favourite, but often overlooked, line from a sitcom?

BONUS GUEST QUESTION from @zellishrose- Have you ever cried reading a book? If so, which one.

December 31st - HUGE FOUR PART GUEST QUESTION from @bigpaulwales

Out of all the contributors to the challenge over the last 12 months, which one made you
a) Laugh the most
b) Cry the most
c) Rethink your general view/outlook the most
d) Want to meet in person the most