WEBVTT 00:00:35.500 --> 00:00:37.939 the 20th of December, by the time this podcast 00:00:37.939 --> 00:00:44.679 goes out. We decided that we were going to centre 00:00:44.679 --> 00:00:48.840 Christmas around, centre the podcast around Christmas. 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:50.840 That's what I meant to say. The words are eluding 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:57.159 me. So in order to give us a bit of break of 00:00:57.159 --> 00:01:01.600 all the research that we normally put into podcasts. 00:01:02.649 --> 00:01:05.129 I decided that we would go along the format of 00:01:05.129 --> 00:01:11.150 a quiz. You guys can take part at home. I'm basically 00:01:11.150 --> 00:01:15.189 going to ask James some questions, and once he's 00:01:15.189 --> 00:01:19.790 given an attempt at an answer, I'll give him 00:01:19.790 --> 00:01:22.150 the answer, and we can talk about it. So that's 00:01:22.150 --> 00:01:25.590 how we're going to lay out this podcast. You 00:01:25.590 --> 00:01:28.810 happy with that, James? Yeah, sounds fine. Definitely 00:01:28.810 --> 00:01:31.920 give this a go. Cool. I know there are some really 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:35.959 crazy facts about Christmas. So I thought this 00:01:35.959 --> 00:01:38.560 might be a nice change of pace for ourselves 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:42.340 and, of course, for our listeners. So let's, 00:01:42.340 --> 00:01:47.840 without further ado, shall we get into it? Let's 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:51.819 go for it, Nick. Yep. Cool. So let's start with 00:01:51.819 --> 00:01:54.400 question one. What Christmas food was banned 00:01:54.400 --> 00:01:57.900 in the 17th century in England for being sinfully 00:01:57.900 --> 00:02:04.689 indulgent? Was it Figgy Pudding? No. It was banned 00:02:04.689 --> 00:02:07.950 under Oliver Cronwell of all people. Now, we've 00:02:07.950 --> 00:02:09.629 spoken about Oliver in the past, haven't we? 00:02:10.009 --> 00:02:14.150 Well, he banned theatre. He banned a lot, yeah. 00:02:14.270 --> 00:02:18.810 He banned bishops. Like, he used a cathedral 00:02:18.810 --> 00:02:21.770 as his base, but he literally used the cathedral 00:02:21.770 --> 00:02:27.150 as his stables. Like, he loved literally shitting 00:02:27.150 --> 00:02:35.539 over High Church. But looking at the way that 00:02:35.539 --> 00:02:42.919 he did things, it's very difficult to believe 00:02:42.919 --> 00:02:46.319 he was a pious man. Just kind of looking at how 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:48.479 practical, and if I'm honest with you, how ruthless 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:55.240 he was. I can't take him seriously as a follower 00:02:55.240 --> 00:02:58.479 of Jesus. But anywho, sorry. Right, okay, assuming 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:04.139 it was him. Anything could be sinfully indulgent 00:03:04.139 --> 00:03:07.759 in his eyes. This has been a Christmas food for 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:12.000 a very long time. It wasn't the goose, was it? 00:03:12.139 --> 00:03:15.159 No, no, no. Right, I'm going to try one more 00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:22.939 time. The thing is, were mince pies even a thing 00:03:22.939 --> 00:03:24.520 at that point? Because I know they were brought 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:26.979 over during the Crusades. It was mince pies. 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:33.300 It was mince pies, yeah. Okay. Yeah. I guess, 00:03:33.300 --> 00:03:37.280 yeah, they're kind of rich, I guess. I do love 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:42.400 them in spire. They are amazing. None of my kids 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:46.680 like them. My wife doesn't like them. So every 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:48.659 Christmas we get a six pack of mince pies and 00:03:48.659 --> 00:03:52.520 I just end up scoffing at myself. Yeah. I mean, 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:55.879 all the better for yourself, I guess, but like, 00:03:55.960 --> 00:04:01.050 I don't know, they are, they're not, Like modern 00:04:01.050 --> 00:04:06.270 sweets, you know? But then again, maybe it's 00:04:06.270 --> 00:04:08.610 just a generational thing. Like, I grew up with 00:04:08.610 --> 00:04:14.949 occasionally hanging out with my neighbour and 00:04:14.949 --> 00:04:20.930 his family used to get, like, Mr Kipling apple 00:04:20.930 --> 00:04:25.230 pies. Yeah, yeah. And they're good. You know, 00:04:25.290 --> 00:04:27.189 obviously they're mass -produced and stuff, but... 00:04:27.740 --> 00:04:29.560 they're good so like i don't know that's what 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:33.000 kind of led me to led me to that whereas if you 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:38.759 haven't if you haven't done um if you're not 00:04:38.759 --> 00:04:42.019 used to having pies as like a sweet snack thing 00:04:42.019 --> 00:04:45.759 then i can understand like the flavor not being 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:50.259 for everyone yeah i um when i was growing up 00:04:50.259 --> 00:04:52.259 i used to have a bakery that i passed every day 00:04:52.259 --> 00:04:55.920 on the way to school and um it's the first place 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:01.639 i ever had Like bread pudding. Love bread pudding. 00:05:02.420 --> 00:05:04.399 But as well as that... When it's done right. 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:07.100 When it's done right, yeah. I used to be able 00:05:07.100 --> 00:05:10.579 to buy a slab for like a quid. You know what 00:05:10.579 --> 00:05:13.139 bakeries used to be like as far as the prices 00:05:13.139 --> 00:05:16.500 of things would be. It was so cheap to buy like 00:05:16.500 --> 00:05:20.220 a slab of bread pudding. I used to go in there 00:05:20.220 --> 00:05:22.720 with a quid every day and just buy as much food 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:26.879 as I could. But as well as that... Also got a 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:29.939 love for Eccles cakes. They used to do a lovely 00:05:29.939 --> 00:05:33.399 Eccles cake, the size of a bleeding bus steering 00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:37.600 wheel, you know. But that's where I first tasted 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:42.579 mincemeat. And, yeah, never look back. I love 00:05:42.579 --> 00:05:47.939 the stuff. It's weird that it is meat, isn't 00:05:47.939 --> 00:05:50.540 it? Because it just feels, it's like very, very 00:05:50.540 --> 00:05:54.160 fruity. It is fruit. It's fruit. It's not meat. 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:56.300 It's just called Mincemeat. I don't know where 00:05:56.300 --> 00:05:59.819 that name comes from. As a matter of fact, a 00:05:59.819 --> 00:06:03.160 little bit of behind the scenes work for you, 00:06:03.180 --> 00:06:05.199 James. Find out why Mincemeat is called Mincemeat. 00:06:07.180 --> 00:06:09.920 Whilst you're doing that. I'll do that and then 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:13.860 we'll literally, I'll either break that out during 00:06:13.860 --> 00:06:15.680 this episode or I'll break it out on the next 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:20.990 one. Yeah, no worries. So question two. All right. 00:06:21.389 --> 00:06:25.370 Why are poinsettias red in winter? Now, you might 00:06:25.370 --> 00:06:27.329 know this because there's a little bit of horticulture 00:06:27.329 --> 00:06:32.610 in you, isn't there? There is. I'm studying it 00:06:32.610 --> 00:06:39.250 at the moment. Yeah, I won't say the college 00:06:39.250 --> 00:06:43.569 name just because, although there is only so 00:06:43.569 --> 00:06:51.959 many around. Right. What was the name of the 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:55.680 plant? Why is it red right now? Poinsettia. I 00:06:55.680 --> 00:07:00.199 should know this. I should know this, but I don't. 00:07:01.660 --> 00:07:05.699 Do you have its common name? Is it literally 00:07:05.699 --> 00:07:07.920 just called the poinsettia or is that the Latin? 00:07:08.660 --> 00:07:15.980 Poinsettia is the plant, I'm pretty sure. Let 00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:20.470 me have a look. Yeah, it's just called a poinsettia. 00:07:21.670 --> 00:07:26.509 Okay. I know that I've literally worked with 00:07:26.509 --> 00:07:29.449 this plant. Couldn't tell you what it looks like, 00:07:29.449 --> 00:07:33.569 though. Annoyingly. It's a really interesting 00:07:33.569 --> 00:07:36.230 plant because it looks like it's covered in flowers 00:07:36.230 --> 00:07:41.990 on top. But they're not. Okay. It's not flowers. 00:07:42.269 --> 00:07:45.250 It's got like... Okay, there we go. Poinsettia 00:07:45.250 --> 00:07:52.050 search. Yeah, I have worked with these. See, 00:07:52.089 --> 00:07:54.069 it looks like flowers, doesn't it? But they're 00:07:54.069 --> 00:07:58.029 leaves. Yeah, they're modified leaves. But this 00:07:58.029 --> 00:07:59.730 is the annoying thing about botany generally. 00:08:01.069 --> 00:08:03.750 Everything that looks like something quite often 00:08:03.750 --> 00:08:07.949 isn't. It's all guidelines. There's no hard rules 00:08:07.949 --> 00:08:12.089 in botany. It's all guidelines. Yeah, so they're 00:08:12.089 --> 00:08:16.889 essentially leaves that are discoloured because 00:08:16.889 --> 00:08:22.430 of the change in sunlight hours. Yeah, so the 00:08:22.430 --> 00:08:25.910 chloroplast has been removed and it's got another 00:08:25.910 --> 00:08:31.730 chemical in there. And I used to know the name 00:08:31.730 --> 00:08:35.269 for it a couple of weeks ago, where it's the 00:08:35.269 --> 00:08:41.649 red chemical. Yeah, shows through. Okay. That's 00:08:41.649 --> 00:08:44.070 interesting. So they're literally, none of that's 00:08:44.070 --> 00:08:48.029 flowers, that's all leaves. Yeah. I mean, that's 00:08:48.029 --> 00:08:53.509 far... Fontisia cross feserai, or red robin, 00:08:53.509 --> 00:08:57.690 or magna volcano, has a far more elaborate name, 00:08:57.750 --> 00:09:03.570 but a far less vivid effect. It's like this, 00:09:03.809 --> 00:09:07.509 only the things that are on top still tell their 00:09:07.509 --> 00:09:10.590 leaves, and sometimes they're green at the base 00:09:10.590 --> 00:09:13.250 of the leaf, and it goes red towards the end, 00:09:13.250 --> 00:09:19.240 as if it's on fire. Wow. Yeah. Just put in a 00:09:19.240 --> 00:09:21.379 red robin plant, and you'll see what I mean. 00:09:23.340 --> 00:09:26.779 Okay, so I've done a quick search, and it's because 00:09:26.779 --> 00:09:33.740 during the Middle Ages, mincemeat, it had the 00:09:33.740 --> 00:09:36.039 same fruit stuff, but it used to have finely 00:09:36.039 --> 00:09:39.919 chopped meat, such as beef or venison, combined 00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:44.259 with the fruits. Oh. And alcohol for... Oh, okay, 00:09:44.340 --> 00:09:45.879 and the alcohol's in there for the preservation. 00:09:47.579 --> 00:09:50.480 Okay, so the meat didn't go bad because it was 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:53.259 steeped in alcohol. Because it was steeped in 00:09:53.259 --> 00:09:58.840 alcohol and fruit. Wow. That's cool. It also, 00:09:58.980 --> 00:10:04.259 apparently, it's derived from the French word 00:10:04.259 --> 00:10:10.220 mincia and the Vulgar Latin word miniatia, which 00:10:10.220 --> 00:10:14.059 means to finely chop. Oh, okay. So it's because 00:10:14.059 --> 00:10:20.029 it's finely chopped. But I will admit, again, 00:10:20.110 --> 00:10:23.009 it's interesting that none of those individually 00:10:23.009 --> 00:10:26.690 fully covers it, but all together you kind of 00:10:26.690 --> 00:10:29.929 go, all right, yeah, I can see that. Yeah, that 00:10:29.929 --> 00:10:30.870 makes sense. It's just something that we've gone 00:10:30.870 --> 00:10:34.669 on with. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Interesting. All right. 00:10:34.730 --> 00:10:37.210 Sorry. All right. Sorry, a complete right. So, 00:10:37.309 --> 00:10:40.850 so far, I've got the first question wrong twice, 00:10:40.970 --> 00:10:45.480 only to get it the third time. And the second 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:47.539 question, I'll just whiff that because I'd forgotten 00:10:47.539 --> 00:10:50.580 the plant. So let's see if I can get this third 00:10:50.580 --> 00:10:53.340 one. Okay. So what did the word, sorry, where, 00:10:53.500 --> 00:10:58.059 where did the word Carol come from and what did 00:10:58.059 --> 00:11:04.860 it originally mean? Interesting. You know what? 00:11:04.919 --> 00:11:07.919 I've never actually thought about this because 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:10.519 you get, so when you, when you're taught stuff 00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:13.580 as a kid, you just quite often accept it. Yeah. 00:11:13.700 --> 00:11:17.049 Yeah, you do. This is called this, and you just 00:11:17.049 --> 00:11:21.190 go, okay, rather than why, or that's stupid. 00:11:21.610 --> 00:11:28.289 Yep. See if you can have a dig at it, though. 00:11:28.350 --> 00:11:34.669 Why is it called a carol? Okay, so a Christmas 00:11:34.669 --> 00:11:38.730 carol tends to be carols. They're not nowadays, 00:11:38.830 --> 00:11:41.950 but traditionally they used to be religious songs. 00:11:42.750 --> 00:11:50.409 Could the term carol refer to a form of chanting 00:11:50.409 --> 00:11:54.590 or a type of chantry or something along those 00:11:54.590 --> 00:12:00.090 lines? Unfortunately, no. It's from the old French 00:12:00.090 --> 00:12:05.870 word carol, which meant a joyful dance in a circle. 00:12:05.889 --> 00:12:11.279 Love it. And obviously... It wasn't exclusive 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:14.980 to Christmas. You could have a carol that was 00:12:14.980 --> 00:12:19.659 a dance and song with your friends all in a circle. 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:24.559 I love that because it's like the name Kayleigh, 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:28.799 which is a... I've got a cousin named Kayleigh, 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:32.320 I've got a friend named Kayleigh, but I love 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:35.539 it as a name because it literally is celebration 00:12:35.539 --> 00:12:40.879 or dance and it's nice to know the carol. also 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:43.379 means the same. It's got the same kind of history, 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:47.639 yeah. Yeah, that's nice. What's one of your favourite 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:57.860 Christmas carols? It's, okay, it's an old classic 00:12:57.860 --> 00:13:00.240 and it's not the coolest one out there but I 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:04.340 do like Silent Night just because you listen 00:13:04.340 --> 00:13:07.929 to it. There's another one which I can't remember 00:13:07.929 --> 00:13:10.129 the name of as well because I need to actually 00:13:10.129 --> 00:13:18.830 go to traditional church a bit more. Is it Silent 00:13:18.830 --> 00:13:21.610 Night? No, because there's... There's one which 00:13:21.610 --> 00:13:31.200 goes... Oh, I know the one. That one, and what's 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:33.340 one of the lyrics in that? It's not a biblical 00:13:33.340 --> 00:13:36.799 lyric, but it's one that sums it up, which is, 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:40.679 with the mean, the meek, the lowly, lived on 00:13:40.679 --> 00:13:44.360 earth our saviour holy. Yeah. When I say it like 00:13:44.360 --> 00:13:46.919 that, it sounds incredibly dry, but it's just, 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:50.419 I don't know, for some reason, I didn't believe 00:13:50.419 --> 00:13:53.919 it growing up, but when I, now that I do, when 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:57.460 I hear those, yeah, when I hear those songs, 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:00.779 it does. does have an emotional effect on me 00:14:00.779 --> 00:14:03.879 um yeah so so silent night what's your favorite 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:06.600 one uh i've got a few obviously for different 00:14:06.600 --> 00:14:08.799 reasons i was in scouts a little donkey came 00:14:08.799 --> 00:14:13.379 up with different um lyrics uh fantastic of course 00:14:13.379 --> 00:14:16.720 you tend to find load of songs in scouts that 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:18.019 have different lyrics than what you remember 00:14:18.019 --> 00:14:20.899 um yeah ones that you wouldn't necessarily sing 00:14:20.899 --> 00:14:25.679 in the church um but i think out of all the ones 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:27.440 that i would sing in the church on christmas 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:32.769 eve Is it Old King or Good King Wenceslas? Oh 00:14:32.769 --> 00:14:34.769 yeah, Good King Wenceslas. Oh, that's such a 00:14:34.769 --> 00:14:37.769 good one. I love it when Sheldon Cooper in The 00:14:37.769 --> 00:14:41.350 Big Bang Theory literally sings that. He belts 00:14:41.350 --> 00:14:45.029 it out but then doesn't stop. Yeah, he does all 00:14:45.029 --> 00:14:49.750 the verses. All the verses. There's of course 00:14:49.750 --> 00:14:56.149 that everlasting question slash joke about that 00:14:56.149 --> 00:14:59.480 carol as well. How does Good King Wenceslas like 00:14:59.480 --> 00:15:07.600 his pizza? Firm and crisp and even? Deep pan, 00:15:07.639 --> 00:15:11.360 crisp and even. Love it, love it, love it, love 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:16.899 it. Yep. That's a good one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:15:17.019 --> 00:15:24.159 That always comes up. Yeah, yeah, good stuff. 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:29.440 Right, so let's move on. Question four. Which 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:32.580 country first decorated Christmas trees with 00:15:32.580 --> 00:15:48.340 real candles? Was it Norway? No. I'm not even 00:15:48.340 --> 00:15:53.059 in the right area, am I? A bit too north. A bit 00:15:53.059 --> 00:15:56.000 too north. Okay, let's say Hungary. No, it's 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:00.340 Germany. Damn it. They're Germans. They obviously 00:16:00.340 --> 00:16:03.860 learned to engineer some things a lot better 00:16:03.860 --> 00:16:06.419 after they set fire to their trees a number of 00:16:06.419 --> 00:16:09.720 times. I was actually explaining to my daughter, 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:13.840 actually, that the Christmas lights on the Christmas 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:17.340 tree used to be candles. She was blown away. 00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:19.379 And I was like, yeah. And then after that, they 00:16:19.379 --> 00:16:22.230 actually had... like christmas lights like fairy 00:16:22.230 --> 00:16:25.029 lights that weren't fairy lights they were full 00:16:25.029 --> 00:16:27.169 -blown bleeding light bulbs that were colored 00:16:27.169 --> 00:16:31.529 like dipped in i suppose like ink or like colored 00:16:31.529 --> 00:16:35.669 glass yeah yeah they were they would blow all 00:16:35.669 --> 00:16:37.450 the time as well and cause fires wouldn't they 00:16:37.450 --> 00:16:40.870 they wouldn't weirdly enough i'm just working 00:16:40.870 --> 00:16:44.570 in the cafe today uh i actually saw a number 00:16:44.570 --> 00:16:48.360 of people literally full -on wearing bulbs fairy 00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:50.460 lights around their necks. Yeah, I've seen that. 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:54.539 That's ridiculous. It's new. It's definitely 00:16:54.539 --> 00:16:58.279 new. I prefer it over the David Hasselhoff jacket 00:16:58.279 --> 00:17:02.340 with lights in it. Have you seen those cars that 00:17:02.340 --> 00:17:07.019 they have done up now? There's a car, it's not 00:17:07.019 --> 00:17:10.079 even a car, it's a van that is driving around 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:13.460 my area. It's literally covered from head to 00:17:13.460 --> 00:17:19.259 toe in fairy lights. like okay are they are they 00:17:19.259 --> 00:17:21.980 fixed are they fixed on tight or are they loose 00:17:21.980 --> 00:17:24.980 no no they're fixed on it's almost on like a 00:17:24.980 --> 00:17:28.480 mesh that's covered the car um and then it's 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:31.559 clipped into place i could oh but that's nice 00:17:31.559 --> 00:17:33.779 though because if you use the right programming 00:17:33.779 --> 00:17:38.799 and algorithms on that literally have your car 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:42.940 doing all sorts of things You can have a party 00:17:42.940 --> 00:17:45.339 bus, you can have, like, maybe some kind of rotating 00:17:45.339 --> 00:17:49.920 rainbow or, like, waves of colour, like, coming 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:53.440 and going like the wind. Yeah, yeah. Oh, there's 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:54.960 all sorts you can do with that. I like the sound 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:58.980 of that, but that is mental. That's brilliant. 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:06.859 Number five. What happened to Christmas Day in 00:18:06.859 --> 00:18:11.619 England in 1644? I know that sounds like I'm 00:18:11.619 --> 00:18:14.039 sending you back 500 years to try and find out 00:18:14.039 --> 00:18:16.740 something that you're unlikely to. It's obviously 00:18:16.740 --> 00:18:20.299 distinct from all the other Christmases. Was 00:18:20.299 --> 00:18:25.440 it cancelled due to the death of a monarch? Close, 00:18:25.440 --> 00:18:31.700 but not quite. Was it postponed due to the death 00:18:31.700 --> 00:18:36.579 of a monarch's child? No. It was cancelled because 00:18:36.579 --> 00:18:41.220 Christmas was abolished. It's Cromwell again, 00:18:41.299 --> 00:18:47.799 isn't it? Quite possibly. Quite possibly. I don't 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:51.980 remember specifically. You know what? What was 00:18:51.980 --> 00:19:00.579 the year? 1644. It was Puritans. It was the Puritans. 00:19:00.579 --> 00:19:03.579 Was that Cromwell? That was Cromwell. There you 00:19:03.579 --> 00:19:13.279 go. Alright. Interesting, interesting, interesting. 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:19.099 Okay. I should have seen that coming. To be fair, 00:19:19.299 --> 00:19:28.900 it's interesting that when it comes to... There 00:19:28.900 --> 00:19:31.759 are religious wars over differences, but sometimes 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:35.819 there are internal schisms over the smallest 00:19:35.819 --> 00:19:40.509 flipping thing. Yeah. I think it's ridiculous 00:19:40.509 --> 00:19:44.789 that they just decided, no, we're not doing Christmas 00:19:44.789 --> 00:19:50.109 this year. Yeah. I mean, half the people that 00:19:50.109 --> 00:19:51.890 celebrate Christmas in this country now aren't 00:19:51.890 --> 00:19:54.210 even religious, and yet it's a cultural thing. 00:19:55.890 --> 00:19:59.470 It's a Great Britain cultural thing. We celebrate 00:19:59.470 --> 00:20:04.650 Christmas, right? So it's almost accepted, if 00:20:04.650 --> 00:20:09.150 you're over it, that you take it. as given that 00:20:09.150 --> 00:20:11.029 we're going to celebrate Christmas, right? Imagine 00:20:11.029 --> 00:20:18.130 George, sorry, not George, Charles, just turned 00:20:18.130 --> 00:20:20.609 around tomorrow and went, no, no, no, we're not 00:20:20.609 --> 00:20:24.630 doing it this year. I don't fancy it. I'm abolishing 00:20:24.630 --> 00:20:27.450 it for a year. There'd be revolt, wouldn't there? 00:20:27.990 --> 00:20:30.490 There would be revolt, but then again, like the 00:20:30.490 --> 00:20:35.869 royal family do not have the power that they 00:20:35.869 --> 00:20:40.710 used to have. There's loads of media about the 00:20:40.710 --> 00:20:43.950 problem of having one person with a huge amount 00:20:43.950 --> 00:20:47.190 of power. And to be fair, there's a lot of programs 00:20:47.190 --> 00:20:49.450 about it because it's literally the way it's 00:20:49.450 --> 00:20:52.869 worked throughout history. Which, unfortunately, 00:20:53.049 --> 00:21:00.450 is badly. But, yeah, you know what? I'd actually 00:21:00.450 --> 00:21:04.849 like to see Charles put his hat... Well, unless 00:21:04.849 --> 00:21:08.029 it's specifically James Masters has to be thrown 00:21:08.029 --> 00:21:11.269 out the country or deserves death or something. 00:21:12.089 --> 00:21:14.910 I'd like to see him put his fist down, actually, 00:21:14.990 --> 00:21:17.730 or put his foot down on something. You know, 00:21:17.789 --> 00:21:22.529 as long as it's... Actually, no, no. Scratch 00:21:22.529 --> 00:21:24.269 that, because it's always going to have negative 00:21:24.269 --> 00:21:29.009 repercussions on someone. You're not going to 00:21:29.009 --> 00:21:30.690 please everyone, regardless of what you do. Yeah, 00:21:30.690 --> 00:21:35.059 you're not. Okay, I'd like to maybe... see him 00:21:35.059 --> 00:21:38.440 do try and do at least try and do something positive 00:21:38.440 --> 00:21:41.539 and put his foot down and even if it ends up 00:21:41.539 --> 00:21:43.619 getting a little bit messy I think we're going 00:21:43.619 --> 00:21:47.240 to have to wait for William for that yeah I don't 00:21:47.240 --> 00:21:51.599 think Dad's got it oh he's battling cancer and 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:55.660 stuff which is a shame that his reign is going 00:21:55.660 --> 00:21:59.579 to be so short but I don't know he's done some 00:21:59.579 --> 00:22:01.700 good work through the Prince's Trust and that 00:22:01.700 --> 00:22:05.650 so that's something Yeah, right, anywho, sorry, 00:22:05.750 --> 00:22:10.269 next question. Let's go. How do we know that 00:22:10.269 --> 00:22:17.569 Santa's reindeer are female? Well, it's the names, 00:22:17.710 --> 00:22:21.549 isn't it? But it's also, well, okay, so this 00:22:21.549 --> 00:22:25.289 is the weird thing. Reindeer are the only type 00:22:25.289 --> 00:22:30.509 of deer where the female deer also has antlers. 00:22:30.789 --> 00:22:34.519 Yeah. Now, it's not just that the females only 00:22:34.519 --> 00:22:37.079 have antlers, whereas all other species of deer, 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:46.920 it's the males who have antlers. But... Were 00:22:46.920 --> 00:22:49.019 they the only ones that were used for pulling 00:22:49.019 --> 00:22:55.059 sleds? No. Oh, OK. Give me a second. I'm just 00:22:55.059 --> 00:23:05.519 going to have another quick think. Now, you know 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:07.480 what? I'm just going to stick with the names. 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:12.259 You can't have a male... It's not the names and 00:23:12.259 --> 00:23:17.740 it's not the engendered use of a particular animal. 00:23:18.059 --> 00:23:24.299 It is because female reindeer keep their antlers 00:23:24.299 --> 00:23:31.240 through winter. Males lose theirs before Christmas 00:23:31.240 --> 00:23:37.180 time. Interesting. Females will keep their antlers 00:23:37.180 --> 00:23:40.880 until spring. Oh, okay. I've learned something. 00:23:40.980 --> 00:23:46.619 That's brilliant. It's pretty cool. That is pretty 00:23:46.619 --> 00:23:48.619 cool. And now that you think about it, that actually 00:23:48.619 --> 00:23:52.680 totally makes sense because it is August, September 00:23:52.680 --> 00:23:57.940 time is when deer normally start shedding their 00:23:57.940 --> 00:24:00.579 antlers or start like literally rubbing them 00:24:00.579 --> 00:24:06.160 against trees until they fall off. Yeah. So that 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:10.000 remains the same for reindeer, but in the males. 00:24:10.200 --> 00:24:13.420 The females will only start to do that around 00:24:13.420 --> 00:24:19.599 February, March time. It's mental. Also, it's 00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:22.619 only just occurred to me, I don't normally think 00:24:22.619 --> 00:24:28.599 about what sex the reindeer are, but that means 00:24:28.599 --> 00:24:35.440 Rudolph is also female. I don't know why. I just 00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:40.539 literally assumed Rudolph was male. I think it's 00:24:40.539 --> 00:24:47.640 because of the natural leaning towards male dominance 00:24:47.640 --> 00:24:52.819 in society more than anything. I think it's a 00:24:52.819 --> 00:24:57.119 societal... I think it's just me being a little 00:24:57.119 --> 00:25:01.650 bit... Yeah, a little... yeah a little bit sexist 00:25:01.650 --> 00:25:03.670 there which so i'll need to keep working on that 00:25:03.670 --> 00:25:07.210 but oh good uh moving swiftly let's try this 00:25:07.210 --> 00:25:10.690 one then how many gifts are given in total in 00:25:10.690 --> 00:25:13.910 the 12 days of christmas oh my god this came 00:25:13.910 --> 00:25:16.789 up in a pub quiz yeah i thought it might i thought 00:25:16.789 --> 00:25:20.509 you might ages ago ages ago and i've already 00:25:20.509 --> 00:25:24.049 forgotten but i should also be able to figure 00:25:24.049 --> 00:25:27.980 this out using a formula I'm not going to do 00:25:27.980 --> 00:25:31.940 that, but if you will give me 15 seconds, I'm 00:25:31.940 --> 00:25:37.660 going to try and just do it really, really quickly, 00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:48.180 okay? Yeah. So we've got 12 days in total. On 00:25:48.180 --> 00:25:53.859 the 12th day, it's 12, so it's 12 plus 11. Sorry, 00:25:54.059 --> 00:25:56.839 listeners. Yeah, this is happening. It's okay. 00:25:56.880 --> 00:25:58.619 This is happening. It's okay. We're back in year 00:25:58.619 --> 00:26:08.200 two. All right. We got 12. Plus 11. So 23. Plus 00:26:08.200 --> 00:26:17.380 10. 33. No, I'm doing this. Plus 9. 42. Plus 00:26:17.380 --> 00:26:32.619 8. 50. Plus 7. 57. Plus 6. 63. Plus 5, 68. Plus 00:26:32.619 --> 00:26:45.900 4, 72. Plus 3, 75. Plus 2, 77. Plus 1, 78. 78 00:26:45.900 --> 00:26:51.900 gifts in total. Now... The answer I've got... 00:26:51.900 --> 00:26:54.279 Where did I fuck up? Where did I fuck up? Like, 00:26:54.319 --> 00:26:57.000 I'm really worried about this now. Hold on, hold 00:26:57.000 --> 00:26:59.400 on, hold on. How much of an idiot do I look like 00:26:59.400 --> 00:27:04.180 right now? What you gave isn't necessarily true, 00:27:04.299 --> 00:27:09.500 because if you actually receive a partridge in 00:27:09.500 --> 00:27:15.579 a pear tree only on day one... Counts as two, 00:27:15.720 --> 00:27:18.920 because it's the pear tree and a partridge. No, 00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:21.079 it's the partridge in a pear tree. That's the 00:27:21.079 --> 00:27:23.579 one gift, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And on day 00:27:23.579 --> 00:27:31.880 two, you receive the second day's gift and a 00:27:31.880 --> 00:27:36.220 partridge in a pear tree. Oh, God damn it. Yeah. 00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:45.539 Yeah. That's a lot of partridges. Well, that's 00:27:45.539 --> 00:27:52.240 12 partridges in pear trees, then. Yeah. That's 00:27:52.240 --> 00:27:55.660 also a lot of five gold. That's 45 gold rings 00:27:55.660 --> 00:27:58.660 as well. Yeah, I mean, given the fact that they 00:27:58.660 --> 00:28:02.440 are literally giving you that many presents, 00:28:02.519 --> 00:28:05.059 I think that money is not really the problem 00:28:05.059 --> 00:28:09.400 here. Yeah, no, sorry. I'm just jumping to conclusions. 00:28:09.559 --> 00:28:15.779 You're all good. Oh, mate. Okay, how... Oh, no. 00:28:16.839 --> 00:28:19.279 All right, so I'm right out. Okay, what's the 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:25.259 actual answer? 364. One for every day of a leap 00:28:25.259 --> 00:28:31.819 year, excluding Christmas Day. So you receive 00:28:31.819 --> 00:28:36.599 gifts for almost every, yeah, for every other 00:28:36.599 --> 00:28:41.140 day where you haven't received gifts. Yep. Interesting. 00:28:43.740 --> 00:28:49.950 Okay. Yeah, that sounds brilliant. It's cool, 00:28:50.009 --> 00:28:54.990 isn't it? But once you know... Yeah, once you 00:28:54.990 --> 00:28:57.609 know, you know. Although it didn't work like 00:28:57.609 --> 00:28:59.269 that for you, because they would have told you 00:28:59.269 --> 00:29:04.650 the answer in the pop quiz. I need to remember. 00:29:04.869 --> 00:29:09.230 I'd have loved looking at the quiz papers afterwards, 00:29:09.430 --> 00:29:11.710 seeing the maths on the back of the sheets of 00:29:11.710 --> 00:29:16.390 people trying to scribble it down quickly. Well, 00:29:16.410 --> 00:29:19.029 it's... Pub quizzes are good. Even if you don't 00:29:19.029 --> 00:29:21.309 know the answers, you walk away learning something. 00:29:21.410 --> 00:29:24.750 Absolutely, yeah. Even if it's a really basic 00:29:24.750 --> 00:29:27.710 thing, which you should have known before, the 00:29:27.710 --> 00:29:30.390 fact that you know it now is better than not 00:29:30.390 --> 00:29:35.910 knowing. Anywho, sorry. Right. Next question. 00:29:36.029 --> 00:29:38.970 Hit me there, Nick. Okay, so this one is a little 00:29:38.970 --> 00:29:42.289 bit of a science -y one. Why do Christmas smells 00:29:42.289 --> 00:29:48.210 like pines and spices? seems stronger in winter. 00:29:50.130 --> 00:29:55.509 Is that... Now, what I'm struggling with is whether 00:29:55.509 --> 00:29:58.029 that's pathological or whether it's sensory. 00:29:58.410 --> 00:30:00.910 So I'm going to say that we're going to go along 00:30:00.910 --> 00:30:06.490 the sensory path of during times of cold, your 00:30:06.490 --> 00:30:12.049 nose becomes more sensitive to certain... well, 00:30:12.250 --> 00:30:15.720 to smells generally. because of the temperature 00:30:15.720 --> 00:30:20.380 and i think that that's a survival not even instinct 00:30:20.380 --> 00:30:24.200 i think that's a survival feature which enables 00:30:24.200 --> 00:30:31.880 you to find food when food is more scarce how 00:30:31.880 --> 00:30:37.059 off how off am i i mean it's not to do with your 00:30:37.059 --> 00:30:39.720 nose being more sensitive it's more to do with 00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:44.950 the air moving less and therefore it slows the 00:30:44.950 --> 00:30:48.769 dispersion of the scent. Oh, yeah, that'll do 00:30:48.769 --> 00:30:52.089 it. So you smell more of the scent because it 00:30:52.089 --> 00:30:54.130 doesn't disperse as quickly because the cold 00:30:54.130 --> 00:30:58.329 air doesn't move as fast as hot air. Fantastic. 00:30:59.930 --> 00:31:07.890 Cyanids! Yeah, yep. Which Victorian Christmas 00:31:07.890 --> 00:31:16.910 decoration sometimes contained poison? It's not 00:31:16.910 --> 00:31:20.130 so much about the decoration as much as the colour 00:31:20.130 --> 00:31:34.029 of it. Is it... Right, I'm thinking either ball 00:31:34.029 --> 00:31:39.490 balls or tinsel. Yes to both. Since you've said... 00:31:44.940 --> 00:31:48.099 Right, I'm going to say, I'm going to say, I'm 00:31:48.099 --> 00:31:51.740 going to say bulbuls, and I'm going to say red. 00:31:53.019 --> 00:32:00.380 And the reason being that, is it cadmium red, 00:32:00.440 --> 00:32:02.960 which is the safe one now, or is that the poisonous? 00:32:03.579 --> 00:32:05.440 Yeah, I'm going to say it's that. All right, 00:32:05.460 --> 00:32:09.079 you know what? Shot in the dark of half -remembered 00:32:09.079 --> 00:32:14.049 facts. Red bulbuls, cadmium red. Cadmium red 00:32:14.049 --> 00:32:17.950 being poisonous. You're in the right ballpark, 00:32:18.069 --> 00:32:22.990 but it's the wrong colour. Green. Green dye was 00:32:22.990 --> 00:32:31.890 made with arsenic. That's so much worse. Yeah. 00:32:32.789 --> 00:32:37.670 I do like it though, because there is a red dye 00:32:37.670 --> 00:32:42.119 that was used all the way up until... like the 00:32:42.119 --> 00:32:49.960 early 80s. And that had to be recalled. A number 00:32:49.960 --> 00:32:51.980 of products had to be recalled that were painted 00:32:51.980 --> 00:32:58.500 with this red dye because it's radioactive. Like 00:32:58.500 --> 00:33:01.180 literally this red dust powder, which is used 00:33:01.180 --> 00:33:05.779 as a dye, is literally radioactive and was out 00:33:05.779 --> 00:33:10.180 there as a product until the 1980s. the reason 00:33:10.180 --> 00:33:12.180 I know this is partly some research to do with 00:33:12.180 --> 00:33:18.299 Marie Curie but also Vox Machina one of the first 00:33:18.299 --> 00:33:22.640 campaign of Roll20 the person who plays Percy 00:33:22.640 --> 00:33:27.059 is a famous voice actor but he was also a child 00:33:27.059 --> 00:33:34.920 actor and he advertised a serial which had this 00:33:34.920 --> 00:33:39.269 stuff in it and it got recalled and pulled and 00:33:39.269 --> 00:33:41.849 all of that lot but it's still he distinctly 00:33:41.849 --> 00:33:45.569 remembers doing this advert and there is yeah 00:33:45.569 --> 00:33:48.650 it's like there are yeah there is a video of 00:33:48.650 --> 00:33:51.950 of him being kind of like the child in this advert 00:33:51.950 --> 00:33:55.170 like with to do with this serial that got banned 00:33:55.170 --> 00:33:58.910 but anywho sorry moving on all right arsenic 00:33:58.910 --> 00:34:02.750 though yes so much worse in the green dye that's 00:34:02.750 --> 00:34:08.010 right okay the next one Does arsenic produce 00:34:08.010 --> 00:34:10.570 a lime green or does it produce a deep emerald 00:34:10.570 --> 00:34:13.929 green? Christmas green is more of a deep emerald, 00:34:14.010 --> 00:34:18.510 isn't it? Arguably worth it. Right, moving on. 00:34:19.789 --> 00:34:23.050 Okay, so this one, I think you will know the 00:34:23.050 --> 00:34:29.099 answer to this question. I mean... I think people 00:34:29.099 --> 00:34:31.800 give me too much credit, generally. I can almost 00:34:31.800 --> 00:34:34.260 guarantee you do know it, but what colours did 00:34:34.260 --> 00:34:38.599 Santa wear before red became standard? Wasn't 00:34:38.599 --> 00:34:42.099 it green and red? It was green, but it could 00:34:42.099 --> 00:34:45.039 be also blue and brown for different reasons, 00:34:45.219 --> 00:34:50.800 or bishop's robes. Yeah. Didn't know about the 00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:53.360 bishop's robes. Okay, but I knew it was green. 00:34:53.400 --> 00:34:55.659 Did not know about blue and brown. Where is it 00:34:55.659 --> 00:35:00.170 blue and brown? That'll probably be more Norse. 00:35:01.510 --> 00:35:07.309 Yeah, okay. I'll buy that. Yeah. Extra bonus 00:35:07.309 --> 00:35:14.409 points if you can tell me why it's now red. Yeah, 00:35:14.409 --> 00:35:18.750 I can tell you this one. Although I'm worried 00:35:18.750 --> 00:35:23.090 this is now a trap. But I will... Yeah, no, no. 00:35:23.429 --> 00:35:28.469 Totally having an Admiral Ackbar moment. Oh, 00:35:28.610 --> 00:35:30.429 Ackbar's is a very good curry house as well. 00:35:32.849 --> 00:35:39.769 But I'm going to say it because Coca -Cola changed 00:35:39.769 --> 00:35:43.110 the colour of Santa to fit in with their own 00:35:43.110 --> 00:35:47.449 corporate image. Yep. Oh, thank God. They bought 00:35:47.449 --> 00:35:50.809 the rights to Santa. They bought the rights to 00:35:50.809 --> 00:35:54.269 Santa? Yes, because that's a thing they could 00:35:54.269 --> 00:35:58.980 do, apparently. Really? Yeah, they rebranded 00:35:58.980 --> 00:36:01.519 Santa and basically Santa became red because 00:36:01.519 --> 00:36:06.480 of Coca -Cola. That's ridiculous. It is, yeah. 00:36:06.860 --> 00:36:09.159 I hope at least they had to pay a good amount 00:36:09.159 --> 00:36:10.960 for it. Do you know how much they had to pay 00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:18.880 for that? No, not a clue. Okay, but that's mental. 00:36:19.059 --> 00:36:21.760 That's like saying, oh, we're going to buy the 00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:25.650 rights to London. We're now going to change its 00:36:25.650 --> 00:36:27.690 name to something ridiculous, and there's nothing 00:36:27.690 --> 00:36:29.670 anyone can do about it because it's our legal 00:36:29.670 --> 00:36:35.610 property. Well, I suppose he is a fictional character, 00:36:36.050 --> 00:36:41.289 but like IP, intellectual properties has properties, 00:36:41.550 --> 00:36:44.369 and that's, yeah, but okay. But anyway, that's 00:36:44.369 --> 00:36:46.969 a whole other argument for another time. Yeah. 00:36:47.570 --> 00:36:49.530 All right, last one, and then we're going to 00:36:49.530 --> 00:36:55.139 go on to some more funnier questions. What Christmas 00:36:55.139 --> 00:36:58.059 tradition was invented to reduce bad behaviour 00:36:58.059 --> 00:37:09.139 at work? I've got a million and one horrible 00:37:09.139 --> 00:37:13.380 ideas now coming out of this. OK. All right. 00:37:13.420 --> 00:37:18.039 No, we're going to. OK. Right. So I'm going to 00:37:18.039 --> 00:37:22.500 say a bad one. Cool. Kissing under the mistletoe. 00:37:23.340 --> 00:37:26.480 To stop everybody using the smoking area for 00:37:26.480 --> 00:37:30.780 the wrong reasons. No, it's not that. It's not 00:37:30.780 --> 00:37:33.980 that? It's not that? Or just kissing under the 00:37:33.980 --> 00:37:38.320 mistletoe so the boss, who's happily married, 00:37:38.480 --> 00:37:42.500 can get to the water cooler? No, that's not it. 00:37:42.599 --> 00:37:44.659 No? Okay. All right. Fine, fine, fine. All right. 00:37:44.679 --> 00:37:51.920 Different, different thing. Okay, so we've got... 00:37:52.139 --> 00:37:56.960 Got carol singing. Got kissing under the mistletoe. 00:37:58.400 --> 00:38:02.760 It's not making holly wreaths to keep everyone's 00:38:02.760 --> 00:38:05.519 hands busy so nobody ends up stealing stuff. 00:38:05.880 --> 00:38:11.480 No. No, and I'm going to tell you now. It's the 00:38:11.480 --> 00:38:14.119 office party. The Christmas party was invented 00:38:14.119 --> 00:38:19.760 as a means to stop boisterous behaviour in factories. 00:38:21.230 --> 00:38:24.989 In the hopes that if they gave you a massive 00:38:24.989 --> 00:38:30.210 appeasement once a year, you'd stay in line for 00:38:30.210 --> 00:38:33.030 the rest of the year. Or they could literally 00:38:33.030 --> 00:38:35.210 use it as a thing of, look, you keep behaving 00:38:35.210 --> 00:38:37.989 this way, we're not going to fire you, but you're 00:38:37.989 --> 00:38:43.170 not welcome at the Christmas party. That's a 00:38:43.170 --> 00:38:46.329 sad thing, though, that such a big thing is like 00:38:46.329 --> 00:38:49.469 a control element. Ah, that's life, though, isn't 00:38:49.469 --> 00:38:54.059 it? Yeah. Okay, let's move on to some funnier 00:38:54.059 --> 00:39:00.260 ones. Let's go with... Why do more people injure 00:39:00.260 --> 00:39:02.380 themselves at Christmas than any other time of 00:39:02.380 --> 00:39:06.840 the year? Decorations. They're literally hanging 00:39:06.840 --> 00:39:10.800 up decorations in weird places. They're up ladders. 00:39:11.380 --> 00:39:13.900 They go up into their attic. People don't go 00:39:13.900 --> 00:39:16.079 into... I don't know about you. I haven't been 00:39:16.079 --> 00:39:20.880 up in my attic in years. I am in and out of my 00:39:20.880 --> 00:39:22.559 attic all the time, but that's because my wife 00:39:22.559 --> 00:39:24.840 likes to shove stuff up there. But she doesn't, 00:39:24.840 --> 00:39:27.380 to be fair. She gives me things to shove up there. 00:39:28.920 --> 00:39:31.420 Okay. All right. Well, you know what? Fair play 00:39:31.420 --> 00:39:33.300 to you. It's probably a little bit safer because 00:39:33.300 --> 00:39:38.300 you're using the stuff all the time. You're right 00:39:38.300 --> 00:39:46.000 to a point. The most identifiable reason... that 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:48.400 people injure themselves more at Christmas than 00:39:48.400 --> 00:39:51.000 most other times of the year is due to overconfidence. 00:39:52.380 --> 00:39:54.960 At Christmas, you find yourself doing things 00:39:54.960 --> 00:39:57.619 like you alluded to there that you don't tend 00:39:57.619 --> 00:40:01.619 to do at other times of the year. There's a lot 00:40:01.619 --> 00:40:04.360 more knife work. There's a lot more people that 00:40:04.360 --> 00:40:11.679 cook. And they quite often deal with a lot more 00:40:11.679 --> 00:40:14.900 frozen food, which poses risks of... of being 00:40:14.900 --> 00:40:17.719 quite heavy and hard. But also they're up and 00:40:17.719 --> 00:40:20.639 down ladders, like you mentioned. They're dealing 00:40:20.639 --> 00:40:23.599 with things being in the runway all the time. 00:40:24.619 --> 00:40:29.960 Yep. So there's just a lot more occasions for 00:40:29.960 --> 00:40:32.900 people to become overconfident with things they're 00:40:32.900 --> 00:40:36.260 not very well skilled with and injuring themselves. 00:40:40.159 --> 00:40:45.239 Yeah, fair enough. That makes sense. Yeah, if 00:40:45.239 --> 00:40:48.519 you're changing things. Do you know whether it's 00:40:48.519 --> 00:40:51.820 better or worse than the Halloween stats for 00:40:51.820 --> 00:40:59.559 pumpkin carving? Like, to be fair, I love pumpkin 00:40:59.559 --> 00:41:03.960 carving, but I imagine each year you're going 00:41:03.960 --> 00:41:07.639 to get a lot of people cutting their hands a 00:41:07.639 --> 00:41:11.920 little bit. Yeah. By no means makes it a bad 00:41:11.920 --> 00:41:16.079 thing. My pumpkin this year was so much better 00:41:16.079 --> 00:41:18.420 than any one that I've done before. Honestly, 00:41:18.539 --> 00:41:24.880 I feel like since having kids, I have progressively 00:41:24.880 --> 00:41:30.460 got better at pumpkin carving year by year. And 00:41:30.460 --> 00:41:34.239 I'm really proud of that. That's fair enough. 00:41:34.860 --> 00:41:36.980 Because I was absolutely shocked in the first 00:41:36.980 --> 00:41:42.550 year that I carved a pumpkin. uh well next time 00:41:42.550 --> 00:41:44.829 it's happening we'll need to yeah i need to come 00:41:44.829 --> 00:41:48.570 around and give that a go uh yeah just carve 00:41:48.570 --> 00:41:53.989 a with you that'll be grand okay um all right 00:41:53.989 --> 00:41:58.449 next next what is the most common lie told at 00:41:58.449 --> 00:42:15.820 christmas dinner The stuffing's vegetarian? No, 00:42:15.820 --> 00:42:20.800 that's terrible. No, it's not. Okay, it's not 00:42:20.800 --> 00:42:25.039 that. Right, all right. No, you haven't put on 00:42:25.039 --> 00:42:33.460 weight? I don't know. Oh, nice to see you. You 00:42:33.460 --> 00:42:41.199 don't enjoy seeing all your relatives. No, I 00:42:41.199 --> 00:42:43.829 like it, though. I really like it. It's I'm full. 00:42:46.489 --> 00:42:51.690 Yeah. Although, to be fair, I love Christmas 00:42:51.690 --> 00:42:56.690 dinner, but it's not for everyone. No. It's not 00:42:56.690 --> 00:43:02.429 for everyone. Yeah. Okay. Fair point. Fair point. 00:43:05.349 --> 00:43:09.110 Here's one for you. Why are Christmas gifts statistically 00:43:09.110 --> 00:43:22.230 more likely to be unwanted? Than any other type 00:43:22.230 --> 00:43:28.070 of gift? Yep. Is it because of the number that 00:43:28.070 --> 00:43:34.269 are being given? So because it's not one gift 00:43:34.269 --> 00:43:39.309 from loads of people on one occasion, it's one 00:43:39.309 --> 00:43:45.110 gift per person from everyone, which means that 00:43:45.110 --> 00:43:47.369 you're going to get some crossover. So statistically, 00:43:47.730 --> 00:43:51.210 you're more likely to have a repeat. but also 00:43:51.210 --> 00:43:54.630 the more gifts you're getting for people the 00:43:54.630 --> 00:43:58.349 less you focus on the individual I think it's 00:43:58.349 --> 00:44:03.750 it's stigmatic so it's more about you feel obliged 00:44:03.750 --> 00:44:09.170 to buy for everyone right yeah it doesn't mean 00:44:09.170 --> 00:44:10.809 you know them well enough to buy them something 00:44:10.809 --> 00:44:15.250 meaningful you just buy them something and because 00:44:15.250 --> 00:44:22.559 of that you end up with Because you panic buy 00:44:22.559 --> 00:44:26.300 under pressure, you don't buy valuable gifts. 00:44:27.079 --> 00:44:30.239 I don't mean valuable as in financially valuable. 00:44:30.519 --> 00:44:33.219 Well thought through. Yeah, you don't buy meaningful 00:44:33.219 --> 00:44:35.739 gifts. Because you're just buying something. 00:44:36.000 --> 00:44:40.300 I have to get them something. I always say, just 00:44:40.300 --> 00:44:41.500 get them a bottle of wine. If you don't know 00:44:41.500 --> 00:44:44.539 what to get, get them a bottle of wine. Because 00:44:44.539 --> 00:44:46.539 even if they can't, even if they don't drink 00:44:46.539 --> 00:44:50.300 it. they can put it in a bloody raffle or they 00:44:50.300 --> 00:44:53.360 can put it in um they can they can give it away 00:44:53.360 --> 00:44:56.340 to someone else as a gift you know like it it's 00:44:56.340 --> 00:44:59.880 not something that it'll either go down really 00:44:59.880 --> 00:45:03.539 well with dinner or it will just go to someone 00:45:03.539 --> 00:45:05.239 else so you're solving the problem down the line 00:45:05.239 --> 00:45:21.239 okay fair enough Okay. It's a good point. Alright. 00:45:21.880 --> 00:45:25.079 What's the next one? Here's a good one. Roughly 00:45:25.079 --> 00:45:28.940 what percentage of people secretly re -gift Christmas 00:45:28.940 --> 00:45:37.280 presents? Just at all? Yeah. Because we've all 00:45:37.280 --> 00:45:41.059 done it. I reckon. I reckon it's quite high. 00:45:42.519 --> 00:45:45.980 Okay, so it's like... if it was how many gifts 00:45:45.980 --> 00:45:49.139 do i or does a person who does this do it's not 00:45:49.139 --> 00:45:51.039 going to be that high i reckon you know maybe 00:45:51.039 --> 00:45:55.460 you do one in 20 ideally less than 1 in 20 so 00:45:55.460 --> 00:45:59.659 like 4 but if it's the number of people who have 00:45:59.659 --> 00:46:03.420 re -gifted a gift i reckon it's massively high 00:46:03.420 --> 00:46:11.760 i'm going to say 84 it's 25 that low Oh, I guess 00:46:11.760 --> 00:46:14.880 I'm just scum. 25 % of people secretly re -gift 00:46:14.880 --> 00:46:17.559 Christmas presents. You personally. Nobody's 00:46:17.559 --> 00:46:19.760 getting anything of mine. Even if I don't like 00:46:19.760 --> 00:46:23.619 it, it's still mine. Yeah, okay. It was given 00:46:23.619 --> 00:46:25.820 to you. It was a gift. I'm keeping it. Yeah, 00:46:25.820 --> 00:46:27.500 yeah, yeah. Absolutely. It's mine. But you don't 00:46:27.500 --> 00:46:30.760 like it. It's mine. But it doesn't fit you. But 00:46:30.760 --> 00:46:34.880 it's mine. Yeah. Yeah. No, I completely get that. 00:46:37.320 --> 00:46:40.889 Oh, dear. All right. Which popular Christmas 00:46:40.889 --> 00:46:46.690 beverage is also called Milk Punch? Eggnog? Yep. 00:46:50.889 --> 00:46:53.670 It's that sort of colour. That's the only thing 00:46:53.670 --> 00:46:57.670 that gave it away. Yep. Yeah, absolutely. What 00:46:57.670 --> 00:47:01.150 are the two most popular names for Santa Claus? 00:47:04.469 --> 00:47:11.809 Saint Nicholas and Father Christmas. Yep. Oh, 00:47:11.889 --> 00:47:13.510 thank God for that. Okay, I'm glad I'm getting 00:47:13.510 --> 00:47:16.469 some right for a change. Also, do you know where 00:47:16.469 --> 00:47:24.170 the words Santa Claus came from? Is it like St. 00:47:24.329 --> 00:47:26.949 Klaus or something? Very close. Because it's 00:47:26.949 --> 00:47:32.769 all German. Like, it's all Albert bringing in 00:47:32.769 --> 00:47:37.809 a load of German stuff. Yep. But what's his name? 00:47:43.559 --> 00:47:48.920 Jolly old. It's not St. Nick. Is it St. Nicholas? 00:47:49.980 --> 00:47:55.159 Santa Claus, St. Nicholas. I'm really not. It 00:47:55.159 --> 00:47:57.460 was the Dutch. I'm really not sure. It was the 00:47:57.460 --> 00:48:00.480 Dutch trying to say Santa Claus, St. Nicholas. 00:48:01.420 --> 00:48:07.960 Huh. Misheard or interpreted in a different way 00:48:07.960 --> 00:48:15.000 and ended up Santa Claus. That's interesting. 00:48:15.039 --> 00:48:18.659 But that does happen. Like the whole mispronunciation 00:48:18.659 --> 00:48:22.340 thing. Like killer whales are a type of dolphin. 00:48:22.420 --> 00:48:26.300 And it's not that Inuit people were foolish and 00:48:26.300 --> 00:48:29.559 thought that they were whales. It's because it's 00:48:29.559 --> 00:48:32.360 a mispronunciation. It's a misinterpretation. 00:48:33.179 --> 00:48:35.699 They're not killer whales. They're whale killers. 00:48:36.079 --> 00:48:45.409 Yeah. Here's one I didn't know. Which country 00:48:45.409 --> 00:48:53.150 did eggnog come from? That's a good question. 00:48:54.510 --> 00:49:02.530 Is it Holland? No. See, I thought it was an American 00:49:02.530 --> 00:49:08.170 thing. It's not us, is it? It is us. Typical 00:49:08.170 --> 00:49:11.030 American fashion. They've gone and robbed it 00:49:11.030 --> 00:49:15.150 from us again. Yeah. It's the old apple pie fiasco. 00:49:17.110 --> 00:49:19.730 Don't tell an American that an apple pie is an 00:49:19.730 --> 00:49:23.909 American. Oh my God, they'll murder you. Yeah. 00:49:24.489 --> 00:49:29.469 No, that's ours. We did that. Yeah. As we did 00:49:29.469 --> 00:49:38.250 with Eggnog. That was us. Interesting. But... 00:49:38.590 --> 00:49:40.530 I hate to say it, it's one of these things where 00:49:40.530 --> 00:49:42.750 I'm not a massive fan of it, and because I'm 00:49:42.750 --> 00:49:47.130 not a massive fan, I'm not... What's the right 00:49:47.130 --> 00:49:54.030 word? I'm not that proud of it? Yeah. Do you 00:49:54.030 --> 00:50:01.889 know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. So, like, okay, 00:50:01.929 --> 00:50:05.690 cool, that eggnog is ours, but I'm not super 00:50:05.690 --> 00:50:13.940 happy about it. It's no yoke. All right, but 00:50:13.940 --> 00:50:20.980 moving on. Have you seen Elf? The... Will Ferrell. 00:50:21.360 --> 00:50:28.960 Yeah, I have seen it. I mean, it's got its charms 00:50:28.960 --> 00:50:31.500 in it. You've got Peter Dinklage playing someone 00:50:31.500 --> 00:50:36.480 other than Tyrion Lannister. Yeah, you know, 00:50:36.579 --> 00:50:45.699 there's some nice moments in there. Yeah. You 00:50:45.699 --> 00:50:49.840 know, it's a Christmas film. It's a classic Christmas 00:50:49.840 --> 00:50:56.440 film. I prefer Elf over The Grinch. Some people 00:50:56.440 --> 00:51:00.019 may find that offensive, but you know what? I 00:51:00.019 --> 00:51:04.739 like Elf. My favourite Christmas film is actually 00:51:04.739 --> 00:51:09.320 Christmas Carol, but it's The Muppets' Christmas 00:51:09.320 --> 00:51:13.280 Carol. Well, yeah. There's a lot of... Well, 00:51:13.300 --> 00:51:15.179 there's a reason why that's been played loads 00:51:15.179 --> 00:51:18.320 of times. My family don't like it, but I'm like, 00:51:18.420 --> 00:51:21.019 I don't care. This is the Christmas film for 00:51:21.019 --> 00:51:25.159 me. You've got... What's his name? You've literally 00:51:25.159 --> 00:51:30.699 got Kermit the Frog ice skating. Yeah. It's the 00:51:30.699 --> 00:51:36.880 two narrators, Gonzo, is it, and the rat. I can't 00:51:36.880 --> 00:51:39.840 remember the rat's name. But they were hilarious 00:51:39.840 --> 00:51:43.579 all the way through it. Cracking up. Anyway, 00:51:43.659 --> 00:51:46.780 the question I was actually trying to ask is, 00:51:46.900 --> 00:51:51.920 in Elf, what was the first rule of the Code of 00:51:51.920 --> 00:52:04.519 Elves? Look, no, you know what? An elf must be 00:52:04.519 --> 00:52:07.320 productive? No, it's treat every day like it's 00:52:07.320 --> 00:52:11.809 Christmas. Oh, yeah, it totally was that. Yeah. 00:52:14.010 --> 00:52:20.750 Yep. Yep, I remember that now. That is what it 00:52:20.750 --> 00:52:22.989 is. All right, here's the last one I'm going 00:52:22.989 --> 00:52:26.670 to do, all right? What is the best -selling Christmas 00:52:26.670 --> 00:52:38.179 song ever? Is it Mariah Carey's All I Want for 00:52:38.179 --> 00:52:40.659 Christmas Is You? Oh, God, no. Maybe the most 00:52:40.659 --> 00:52:45.579 played, but certainly not the best selling. Okay, 00:52:45.679 --> 00:52:53.639 right. Is it... It's the Christmas time. Do they 00:52:53.639 --> 00:52:57.599 know it's Christmas time? No. Is it Fairytale 00:52:57.599 --> 00:52:59.739 of New York? No, but my God, that's one of my 00:52:59.739 --> 00:53:02.280 favourites. is one of my favourites, despite 00:53:02.280 --> 00:53:04.119 the swearing in it and stuff. Well, actually, 00:53:04.179 --> 00:53:06.639 I guess partly because of that, but it's just... 00:53:06.639 --> 00:53:09.739 It's just real. That's what I think. Yeah. No. 00:53:10.360 --> 00:53:17.920 It's White Christmas by Bing Crosby. Yeah. Yeah, 00:53:17.920 --> 00:53:20.739 okay, yeah. Sorry, now that you say that, that's 00:53:20.739 --> 00:53:30.960 obvious. Yeah. Yeah. Bing Crosby. White Christmas, 00:53:31.159 --> 00:53:35.679 if I'm remembering correctly, it was in It's 00:53:35.679 --> 00:53:39.860 a Wonderful Life. What an incredible film that 00:53:39.860 --> 00:53:43.219 was. I need to actually watch that. I know that's 00:53:43.219 --> 00:53:46.019 in the Red Dwarf books. That's actually David 00:53:46.019 --> 00:53:49.260 Lister's favourite film, It's a Wonderful Life. 00:53:49.719 --> 00:53:52.719 Yeah, it's such a good film. I'd never seen it 00:53:52.719 --> 00:53:57.360 until I was an activities coordinator at a retirement 00:53:57.360 --> 00:54:00.489 living complex. and i used to do a movie night 00:54:00.489 --> 00:54:03.829 and it got to christmas and i decided i would 00:54:03.829 --> 00:54:06.030 let the residents choose what christmas film 00:54:06.030 --> 00:54:08.969 they wanted to watch they all chose white christmas 00:54:08.969 --> 00:54:12.449 uh sorry it's a wonderful life and uh yeah it 00:54:12.449 --> 00:54:15.409 sat through all of it with them and it was incredible 00:54:15.409 --> 00:54:21.750 very good film okay like i know it's something 00:54:21.750 --> 00:54:24.289 about kind of like it's all about kind of giving 00:54:24.289 --> 00:54:29.309 and um risk -taking but then also about uh communal 00:54:29.309 --> 00:54:33.909 conscience yeah is uh what i've been been told 00:54:33.909 --> 00:54:36.050 it's all about i can't remember the specifics 00:54:36.050 --> 00:54:38.309 but just core values more than anything it's 00:54:38.309 --> 00:54:42.250 just that whole i think a lot of what christmas 00:54:42.250 --> 00:54:45.230 films are about now is about that core value 00:54:45.230 --> 00:54:50.230 that that um christmas philosophy you know and 00:54:50.230 --> 00:54:52.570 it pretty much started from it's a wonderful 00:54:52.570 --> 00:55:02.280 life brilliant Cool. Well, that was a great change 00:55:02.280 --> 00:55:05.599 of pace, James. I thought that was exactly what 00:55:05.599 --> 00:55:07.639 we needed at this time of year, this close to 00:55:07.639 --> 00:55:12.940 Christmas. But I am going to wrap things up there, 00:55:13.000 --> 00:55:16.679 I think. Yeah, fair enough. Fair enough. Thank 00:55:16.679 --> 00:55:22.360 you very much for doing a question segment. Maybe... 00:55:22.699 --> 00:55:24.940 That's something that we should do moving forwards, 00:55:25.099 --> 00:55:28.420 but with other topics. But I can imagine that 00:55:28.420 --> 00:55:31.780 maybe that will devolve. But that's something 00:55:31.780 --> 00:55:35.000 for us to think about. Thank you very much for 00:55:35.000 --> 00:55:37.659 planning the questions and for asking them. You've 00:55:37.659 --> 00:55:41.300 definitely kept it light. I've definitely learned 00:55:41.300 --> 00:55:43.739 a thing or two. One little fact I'm going to 00:55:43.739 --> 00:55:45.920 throw out there. Don't worry, I won't take up 00:55:45.920 --> 00:55:53.420 loads of time. But the singer... of Santa Baby, 00:55:53.639 --> 00:55:57.039 the original one from the 1950s. Yeah, I know 00:55:57.039 --> 00:55:59.179 her name. What's her bloody name? I know her 00:55:59.179 --> 00:56:01.159 name. I can't remember it off the top of my head, 00:56:01.260 --> 00:56:03.460 but did you know that she was a voice actress 00:56:03.460 --> 00:56:08.480 all the way up until the early 2000s? Yeah, Urfa 00:56:08.480 --> 00:56:12.219 Kitt. So, amazingly talented woman. She also 00:56:12.219 --> 00:56:16.280 plays the evil woman in The Emperor's New Groove. 00:56:16.440 --> 00:56:21.500 Oh, really? Yeah, which I found absolutely just... 00:56:21.769 --> 00:56:24.969 kind of amazing that just that somebody who had 00:56:24.969 --> 00:56:28.230 had a music career decades previously is then 00:56:28.230 --> 00:56:30.510 able to just kind of literally just go on a dime 00:56:30.510 --> 00:56:34.150 and then uh or sorry spin on a dime put their 00:56:34.150 --> 00:56:37.550 hand to multiple things and later have a come 00:56:37.550 --> 00:56:40.010 a little bit of a comeback in their career in 00:56:40.010 --> 00:56:43.449 in getting a major movie part uh in the early 00:56:43.449 --> 00:56:48.789 2000s it's crazy that crazy yeah that's it anywho 00:56:48.789 --> 00:56:51.929 um Sorry, I'll let you close up and then we'll 00:56:51.929 --> 00:56:54.349 go about our business. Thank you, as always, 00:56:54.550 --> 00:56:58.909 listeners, for downloading and listening to the 00:56:58.909 --> 00:57:02.170 podcast today. At this time of year, it's really 00:57:02.170 --> 00:57:04.289 important to remember those that are around you, 00:57:04.389 --> 00:57:07.070 especially those that you don't talk to very 00:57:07.070 --> 00:57:12.409 often. So remember to share the love and I wish 00:57:12.409 --> 00:57:16.889 you all a very happy Christmas or a happy holiday, 00:57:17.030 --> 00:57:22.190 depending, obviously. Thank you very much. It's 00:57:22.190 --> 00:57:24.309 goodbye from me and it's goodbye from James. 00:57:25.329 --> 00:57:26.090 Bye, guys.