Taskmaster-adjacent things and also SF books meme
Since I last posted, our household has acquired a new stove (with a working oven) and a purple mystery snail named Manischewitz. Both are at L's insistence, but I've been responsible for a bulk of the associated work :P (I have to admit, it's a cute snail, and it's nice to have a working oven again.)
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Taskmaster Oz s03e09 -- SPOILER Jenny wins an episode, so now everyone has won! And has passed Josh again, in series scores, although they are still pretty close (2 points apart). Even with a pretty good episode, it seems inevitable that Wil will finish third, as he is 9 points behind Anne and 11 behind Lloyd, and I don't think he's going to be able to make up either of those.
Prize (object to be adapted into a film) - Wil's "barbie" film "based on pre-existing IP" with the tag line "this one's for the fellas". Tom: "So this movie reestablishes the patriarchy? I'm into it! We're back!" -- and giving it 5 points in a shocking twist. I did think Jenny's eczema girl comic deserved more than Anne's Nokida Western, but have to agree that Josh and Lloyd's prizes were on the weak side.
Hovering balloon task -- Ahaha, Jenny redemption with the balloon tied to a thing. Anne's chipmunk voice was quite funny, and poor Wil for getting DQ'd form a beautiful attempt. Amazing that Lloyd's 1 second "hover" earned him 3 points, and well done Josh with his fairly haphazard 17.
Authentic video team task -- meh. I did like Anne and Josh's more than the Wiggles', but really the most worthwhile thing about it is that this sets up the weirdness of Lloyd making the SECOND 9/11 reference in the next task shown (is this his Roman Empire? XD)
Pub quiz task -- I have to agree with Lloyd that this was basically impossible for him to win, and this seems like it's just there to drag his scores down (and have Anne pass him, as she is now leading 144 to 142), but it was very fun to watch. (Although why does Lloyd get a second individual task? He also got the anti-sabotage task on the mattress one.) Anyway, that was very funny, especially everyone's bafflement at the 9/11 question.
Surprising appearance homework task -- My favorite was actually Lloyd jumping out at G.tom out of a dumpster, and the resulting interior monologue of G.Tom's ("'You're not Greg Davies!' I've been killed by a nerd." and the Reddit reference that r/Taskmaster got very excited about), but I guess there's a kind of logic to what he says, that he wasn't surprised WATCHING IT BACK, since he was there. I don't think Wil deserved the 5 points, but nice to see him OVERscored for once. Oh, and I had to watch Anne's back twice to actually see her XD I do think that one should've been the winner.
Live task (thongs and tongs on the BBQ) -- this looked like a classic live task, although the editing made it rather confusing what was happening when Jenny threw the golden thong. Poor Josh who got disqualified, and I'm still finding myself surprised that the way TM Oz does scoring for ties is different than the way TM UK does it -- I bet in the UK version, Wil, who came just below the three-way tie at the top, would've gotten 4 points, not 2.
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Taskmaster meme (I'm as shocked as you are that it's taken me so long to have Taskmaster + meme together, but I guess all this stuff lives on Tumblr still...)
👥- you get put in a team with 2 other TM contestant/s. it's a DISASTER. who's on your team?
Well, Rhod is definitely one of them XD While he is my favorite contestant of the lot, I do also think he is the WORST team-mate, because he goes off and does his own thing, and he cares about doing the funniest thing, not the most efficient thing. I almost think any additional person would detract from the difficulty of working with Rhod... Maybe Iain Stirling? I think that would get very uncomfortable...
😡- what would be the worst team task from previous series to put you on?
Oh, I think the complicated colored ball-catching one in s8 that Sian cheated at. It definitely doesn't play to my strengths and sounds to have been quite unpleasant. I mean, I don't think I would enjoy ANY team tasks, except maybe the purely creative ones like gameshow or film which are more fun to do with a group, but I feel like I would have something to offer to many of the others; not that one though!
🕴🏼- your team has to deal with Qrs - what service-type job are you going to be weirdly good at?
I've never worked in a service job in a hospitality sort of setting, but the technical program manager aspects of my job have given me a lot of experience with being the calm, professional, "we are solving this collaboratively" interface when dealing with stressed, angry people, so I think I would do OK in the, like, customer-facing aspects like checking in, switching rooms, weird requests, even though I'd hate it.
🧑🎤- if you were on taskmaster, which previous contestant's outfit would you choose to wear when doing the tasks?
Sophie Willan's dungarees. I feel like dungarees are sort of in that half-dress-up/half-street clothes zome, and I always feel playful when I put them on (hasn't happened in a while, because I wore them a lot when I was pregnant and afterwards when I was wearing them when not pregnant, I felt like I had to clarify in response to questioning looks), so the outfit would put me in a good mindset for Taskmaster. Runner up would be Mel's boiler suit, but I've never worn one, so not sure I wouldn't find it weird.
🤵- you get to invite a previous contestant on for a task cameo - who do you invite? what do they do?
To bring someone back for a cameo I'd wanted them to DO something, not just wear a costume or pretend to be wallpaper -- like, that was funny, on NZ, but could've been anyone. And Al Murray or Richard Osman dropping by to help out contestants was also not all that interesting. If I were to bring someone back, I think it would be like Josh was brought back to participate in a team task to make a group of 3 and 3. In which case I'd bring back Rhod, to inflict on unsuspecting teams XD
🤫- you get to give a contestant a secret, series-long task revealed in the finale - what do you do?
Great question, that I don't think I have a good answer for. I think my favorite option would be something along the lines of the "umbrella" secret task in s17, only more sophisticated -- a particular set of connected words you need to work into your other tasks (of course, the challenge here is that not all tasks are aired typically, but let's ignore that complication), and if the other contestants figure out that's what's happening and guess the connection, that person loses X points, otherwise whey gain X points.
🐕- what task would you like to see alex attempt (if he had no knowledge of the task)?
Alex's brain is clearly a very interesting place. It would be fun to watch him solve a multi-part puzzle like the "half-task" from s17 or s12's "revelation in the lab. I'm trying to think of a good solo task along those lines. Maybe the "eat a grape" one?
🙈- what task would have been the worst to attempt naked (or almost naked)?
The location tasks that involved being out in public, but especially "high-five a 55-year-old" from s1, since even with most of the location tasks you didn't HAVE TO involve other people, but in that one there was no choice. Also, the cooking tasks would be fraught/unsanitary.
👀-what would have been the 'best' to attempt naked?? your own definition of best, please!
Can I say the greenscreen one from s17, or would the morph suit invalidate being naked? Or maybe the puppet show one from NZ s2? (Also, you know that both David Correos and Rhod Gilbert would think nothing off attempting ANY task naked; they seemed to just look for the opportunities.)
🎼- taskmaster: the musical episode. yes or no? hard yes or horrific no?
I confess I'm not 100% clear on what a musical espisode of TM would entail -- all musical tasks? I think that's far better spread out across a series, honestly, than all concentrated in one episode. I have enjoyed some musical tasks a lot -- song for a stranger in s5 is amazing, s14 with the classical music tune ("Me, Fern Brady") is iconic, the "make a pretend musical instrument and pretend you're playing it" task in s15 is another fun one, "House Queens" in s13 is epic as well, both the "serenade yourself" and TM tune tasks in s9 were enjoyable (and that's without getting into NZ's amazing musical tasks like the diss track, the or anthem) -- but there are also musical tasks that I was merely meh on, like the TM: The Musical in s6, whatever the thing in s7 was, s15's lullaby -- or mixed, like s2's nursery rhyme (Doc's amazing rap vs everybody else's efforts). And a lot of my favorite musical endeavors on TM were in response to open-ended rather than musical tasks -- Mike Wozniak's "song about animals" (a prize task), Nick's Assistant's Day song, Asim's "tall motherfucker with the ivory hair" rap. Anyway, I think musical tasks are better spread out, so no on a musical episode, but not a horrific no, just, there are better ways to use music in the show.
🧸-you're doing a prize task, and have been asked to bring in your most sentimental item. what is it and why?
I have a lot of items I consider sentimental, but not sure what the most sentimental one would be. For TM specifically, it would need to be something that would allow to drill down into the narrative. And probably something a bit weird, to be memorable. If I could find it, it should probably be the surviving black velvet mouse -- it's made from my great-grandmother's scarf, by my mother, and there's a Chernobyl evacuation story I can tie it to ("keep it light") -- but I'm not sure I'd be able to find it on demand, as it's in deep storage in the garage somewhere. Remnants of the ancient computer on which I typed my first stories? (or maybe the floppy disks that go with it, or dot matrix printer printouts?) I suspect that (and similar things from my high school self -- earth from Tolkien's grave, my physics tack, etc.) would go over similarly to John Robins's farthings... There's also the "things from my children's childhood" route, but that's a more common thing, and I wouldn't be as weird as Bridget Christie about it, so why even try...
😈- how likely would you be to cheat on a task if you had enough confidence that you could get away with it?
I wouldn't cheat. There are no real stakes, so why compromise integrity? Also, there are cameras everywhere, so the likelihood of getting caught is very high.
😇- on a scale of "malicious compliance" to "paying alex to do the task for you", how likely would you be to find loopholes for the task at hand?
I think not very likely -- the loopholes contestants find pretty much never jump out at me as options, even after mainlining the series, I mean, I'm also not TRYING to solve the tasks as I'm watching, so maybe I would do better in a real TM situation, but my strength in problem-solving tends to be throgoughness rather than lateral thinking.
👑- you get to choose a "champion of champions"-esque episode, but for an entirely different category (worst contestants, funniest contestants etc.). what category, and which contestants do you choose?
r/Taskmaster has been recently running polls on brackets of lovable losers and runners-up. As much as I enjoy watching some of the "losers" (e.g. Victoria, Nish), I think runners-up is actually more interesting, because it's a shot at redemption and also you have more variety there, I feel, in terms of Taskmastering styles. I mean, a Champion of Runners-Up line-up would be Romesh, Jon Richardson, Dave Gorman, Joe Lycett, Mark Watson for CoR I; Tim Vine, Jess Knappett, Iain Stirling, Rose Matafeo, Daisy Mae Cooper for CoR II; Mike Wozniak, Guz Khan, Chris Ramsey, Sarah Millican, and Kiell (possibly to be replaced by Mae, lol) for CoR III -- I would genuinely love to see the third one of those, and I think the first one would be a really good time too, except for the complete lack of women. (CoR II is less to my personal taste, but I think it's still a nice mix of contestants that could be fun.)
But what I'd really enjoy, I think, is a CoC style competition for the most inconsistent contestants -- your Bridget Christies, your Rhod Gilberts, who tended to do brilliantly on some things but absolutely crash on others (because they didn't get the task or they didn't care to win, or whatever). I'm not entirely sure how best to objectively identify such people. I think maybe the contestants with as many [high number] top as bottom places, or just about? Maybe, high percentage of (first + last places) out of total tasks, and then first and last places are fairly evenly matched? So for example, Tim Key had 8 task wins and 6 last places, Richard Osman had 7 wins and 5 last places, Al Murray had 7 wins and 6 last places, Mel had 10 wins and 8 last places and Lolly had 9/8; Mark and Sally had 8/8 and Rhod had 14/13, Iain had 13/11, Katy had 11/10, Lee had 11/13, Bridget had 14/16, Frankie Boyle had 11/12 and Kiell 10/11, Julian had 11/11 and Sue 11/14, Steve had 9/8. That's just from eyeballing, though.
So then, because I'm me, I went to Jack Bernhardt's spreadsheet and calculated the percentage of (first OR last) places in solo tasks for each contestant -- you want this to be high, so that these are people who often do either well or terribly -- and then the difference in first vs last tasks (as an abssolute value percentage) -- you also want these to be people who do well and terribly about the same about of time. Then I did two things -- I filtered for people who got first or last place at least 50% of the time (originally I looked at 40$, but that left me with too many people, 29) as it happened, I could've gone with 50%, but I didn't know that at the time) AND ALSO whose difference in first vs last places was <10% -- taken together, these are people who crash and burn about as much as they win, and do one or the other more often than not. This filter left me with 10 names: (in order of series appearance) Al Murray, James Acaster, Rhod Gilbert, Lee Mack, Bridget Christie, Frankie Boyle, Kiell, Mae Martin, Julian Clary, and Sue Perkins. Which, some of these I'm not surprised by at all -- Bridget, Rhod, James, Kiell, and Sue would've been on my list. VERY surprised by Mae, actually -- they are the only winner in this "club". So then I also looked at the difference between (first OR last) - (delta between first and last) to have something to rank them on, and my top 5 most chaotic contestants (ranked by this quantity) are: Bridget Christie (HUGE lead XD), Rhod Gilbert, Lee Mack and Frankie Boyle (tie), and then a 3-way tie between Al Murray, Julian Clary, and Sue Perkins.
So how about a line-up of chaos: Bridget, Rhod, Lee, Frankie, and Sue (just to pick my favorite of the three). I think this would be a ton of fun, and I have NO idea who would win such a lineup. XD
(P.S. I wrote up this meme answer before the 7/15 episode of The People's Podcast dropped, in which Jack looked at chaotic contestants looking at episode scores, but mentioned doing a different analysis to properly measure chaos. On the one hand, I'm curious if the analysis he plans to do is similar to mine, or a more rigorous way of doing it -- I think the rigorous way is via standard deviation, but that would require all the individual task scores, and I can't be arsed. On the other hand, I'm half-tempted to send him an email with the analysis I've done
👤- who has been your favourite guest / reoccurring person on taskmaster? (e.g. fred the swede, rosalind, etc.)
I don't have any strong feelings of attachment to any of them, but Rosalind has definitely led to the most amazing task :)
🔒- which taskmaster contestant would you choose to be handcuffed to for 48 hours?
One of the easy-going ladies who are my age or slighty older, who are also among my favorite contestants, I would say, so, like, Mel or Sue Perkins, or Victoria. I feel like this would result in the minimum of awkwardness given the circumstances, and we could chill, have some coffee/winewhatever, and I could listen to their stories. I think Sue might be the best balance of "chill" + "interesting stories" between the three, so let's say her.
🥔- do you think joe should've gotten the full 5 points for his potato throw?
Nope, he stepped on the red green. Also it's way funnier this way. (Joe W also happens to be one of my least favorite contestants, but I don't think that's informing my answer.)
💌- how likely would you be to argue back if greg gave you a poor score on a task?
I wouldn't argue, I would just shut down and sulk unentertainingly, until I possibly storm out XD -- that's if I wasn't trying to be on my best behavior. If I were trying to be on my best behavior, that would probably look something like John Robin's death mask face of furious mental arithmetic :P
💭- who are you still hoping to see on a future series of taskmaster?
I know he's said he wouldn't do it, but David Mitchell would be pretty funny to see in this context. Barring that, hmm, Tom Allen? I always enjoy him in panel shows when he pops up. (Since I've now been doing a deep dive on Elis James, by extension from John Robins, I'd be happy for more Elis content, because he is just adorable and I like listening to his voice, but I feel like he's on the one hand not competitive enough and on the other hand too competent to be memorable on Taskmaster, and also when he crumbles under pressure, it's not in a fun way.)
And a late addition: after her appearance on Elis & John's holiday livestream intrigued me, I watched Angela Barnes on ROHOG the other day, where she became the only person to win all 5 days and set the record for highest (and also second-highest) individual score in a day, necessitating the competition to basically change to "can the other 3 contestants' scores put together beat Angela's" and "which of the losers will successfully butter up to Angela so she will give them a daily prize", while she was SO fast on the buzzer that one of the competitors, an Olympic gold medalist, suggested she take up ping pong or something, to make sure of her reflexes. That was great, and now I would very happily watch her bring the same chill attitude and unstoppable competence to Taskmaster (or, you know, anything else).
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Speaking of Elis & John: Elis & John best man/stag planning clip (extended version of the short I linked previously)
And in my backwards journey, I've reached #302 (Dec 2023), which had John talking about his "dread-relief-numb" cycle of emotion for a live performance. John says "I wish I had a sort of massive ego that was dependent on acclaim." Elis, slightly sputtering: "What's your massive ego dependent on?" John (laughing): "Beating people at things. Winning quizzes." Bless XD
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As I mentioned in the other post, I listened to Sophie Willan's Off Menu episode, which reminded me that I've been curious to check out her sitcom, Alma's Not Normal (with autobiographical elements), which all the Taskmaster folks have been raving about. And the Tumblr treasure-trove qwentoozla had pointed me at has all kinds of things, including 'Alma', so now I've watched it (just s1 out so far, and it's just 6 short episodes). On a light note, it's neat recognizing people in other roles now that I've been down the Britcom rabbit hole for a while -- I recognized Thaniya Moore (from ROHOG and one of Elis & John's livestreams) as the woman who runs the escort service, and then the Captain Ben Willbond as Alma's john (Phil) in episode 3. The show is charming (mostly on the strength of Sophie herself in the lead role), and poignant (I teared up at the conversation between Alma and Grandma Joan on the bench, at the end of the last episode, where Alma is talking about how there's space to mourn people who've died but not the "living dead" like her mother), and there are certainly messages to the show, almost nothing felt soap-boxy -- the only thing that felt a bit on the nose was the conversation with the theater guy who was a care leaver himself, when Alma got the touring job. The rest has nuance and compassion for unlikely characters and humour in with the sad stuff, and worked for me rather well -- funny without being trivializing, poignant without being sanctimonious, just a nice blend. I was surprised by where the arcs in this short season went -- especially that Alma's mom went back to drugs (this would not happen on an American sitcom), but also the arc with Anthony, where Alma gets back together with him (and there were some scenes between them that were indeed cute and charming and made it believable that Alma would go back) and then the intervention with Leanne's help to have them break up for good. My favorite episode was Episode 4, where Alma's mother gets released from the psych ward but needs to go into supervised living, and Alma tries to convince Grandma Joan to take her in ("You said you wanted a pet"). The scene where Alma spanks the client who is a luxury condo developer and gives the money to the homeless man she passes outside the highrise could've been cheesy but I found it funny-tragic as played, and the callback to young urchin Alma in grown-up Alma flipping the bird at the neighbors also worked for me, but my favorite scene was actually the weirdly wholesome reunion with her ex, where they are just chatting like mates about whose nose is better -- I think it sets up them getting back together very well, without making Alma seem like an idiot/doormat for taking him back. And I felt like even the last episode, where Alma reads off a list of all the reasons Anthony is terrible (in addition to the reasons which were readily apparent from the start of the show, like him cheating on both her and his new teenage girlfriend and being a drug dealer), I felt like he was portrayed with more sympathy than I was expecting, but without excusing any of the terribleness, which is neat to see. I liked Alma's friend Leanne (I can't recall what I know Jayde Adams from -- ROHOG or WILTY, probably?), and I liked the supportive driver on her escort jobs -- I think them two were my favorites in the supporting cast that I haven't talked about yet. I liked the way the flashbacks were incorporated, and I was amused by Alma's mother reciting "This Be the Verse" at Alma's grandma in the middle of a fancy restaurant (episode 3). Anyway, I'm glad I've seen this show and have the context of it now.
And then, since I was scrolling through the treasure trove, I decided to download a trial episode of Alan Partridge, for John context. I confess I got mored about halfway through the first episode and stopped there (at least for now), but I guess it does give me a little bit of context for some of John's mannerisms on Beat the Internet...
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And because once upon a time I didn't just consume Britcom rabbit hole related stuff:
cafemassolit originally linked me to this Esquire list of "75 best SF books", which I mostly disagree with, but I was idly thinking of turning it into a meme, and then thistleingrey did all the hard work, so stealing with pride:
Boldface: the ones I've read.
Italic: I've read other stuff by the same writer, just not this text.
The Echo Wife, by Sarah Gailey -- I've read several things by Gailey for Hugo homework and hated every one to a greater or lesser extent, so XD
The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal
Redshirts, by John Scalzi -- I've read The Collapsing Empire and sequel, also for Hugo homework
Beautyland, by Marie-Helene Bertino
The Ten Percent Thief, by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
Midnight Robber, by Nalo Hopkinson -- I think only short stories, though
Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
Star Maker, by Olaf Stapledon
Contact, by Carl Sagan
Under the Skin, by Michel Faber
Way Station, by Clifford D. Simak -- in Russian translation
Sea of Rust, by C. Robert Cargill
What Mad Universe, by Fredric Brown
The Book of Phoenix, by Nnedi Okorafor -- Binti and Akata Witch
Semiosis, by Sue Burke -- I started this one off some impressive recs but didn't get very far. I want to try again at some point.
Excession, by Iain M. Banks -- I still need to read some Iain M. Banks...
The Claw of the Conciliator, by Gene Wolfe -- I've read his short stories and fantasy
Lord of Light, by Roger Zelazny
This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone -- read several books by Max Gladstone, bounced off Amal El-Mohta'rs prose elsewhere
The Resisters, by Gish Jen
Rosewater, by Tade Thompson
Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky -- I've read and loved Elder Race and started a novel, but do want to read more
Solaris, by Stanislaw Lem
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein -- this is on my TBR pile, along with Heinlein in general
A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle
The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells -- I've read SOMETHING by Wells in Russian translation, but not, I think, this...
The Body Scout, by Lincoln Michel
An Unkindness of Ghosts, by Rivers Solomon -- it was ambitious but flawed
The Mountain in the Sea, by Ray Nayler
Neuromancer, by William Gibson
The Stars My Destination, by Alfred Bester -- I need to read some Bester, one of these days...
The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller Jr.
Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
Zone One, by Colson Whitehead
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers -- oh look, it's my favorite book that I hate... :P
Engine Summer, by John Crowley
The Children of Men, by P.D. James
Radiance, by Catherynne M. Valente -- I find Valente's writing insufferable except in some very rare exceptions
The City & The City, by China Miéville
A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine -- I found this sadly overhyped...
Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie
The Stand, by Stephen King -- some short stories by Stephen King only
In Ascension, by Martin MacInnes
Dhalgren, by Samuel R. Delany
The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
1Q84, by Haruki Murakami
Future Home of the Living God, by Louise Erdrich
Ammonite, by Nicola Griffith
Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer
Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood
Hyperion, by Dan Simmons
Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson -- I tried on a friend's rec when I was in uni, but I find KSR's writing very boring, alas.
Shikasta, by Doris Lessing
The Sirens of Titan, by Kurt Vonnegut -- I've read several others things
Roadside Picnic, by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky -- pleasantly surprised to find this on the list! Would definitely be on my list, too.
Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
The Complete Robot, by Isaac Asimov
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, by Charles Yu
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
The Employees, by Olga Ravn
1984, by George Orwell
The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu -- I also found this overhyped, but I think mostly because I'm familiar with Soviet/Eastern bloc sci-fi which does many of the same things but better
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel
Exhalation, by Ted Chiang -- surely this should be The Story of Your Life and Other Stories instead?
Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin
Kindred, by Octavia Butler -- I need to read some Octavia Butler one of these days!
The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin
The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
Dune, by Frank Herbert -- I cannot quibble with the inclusion of Dune on the grounds of being foundational, but second? Psh.
Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley -- nobody forced me to read it in school, so I haven't done.
This is a weird list. For starters, no Bujold, really? Of the recent books, Murderbot and Hexarchate feels like an omission, and a lot of the ones that are included are just not that good.
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Taskmaster Oz s03e09 -- SPOILER Jenny wins an episode, so now everyone has won! And has passed Josh again, in series scores, although they are still pretty close (2 points apart). Even with a pretty good episode, it seems inevitable that Wil will finish third, as he is 9 points behind Anne and 11 behind Lloyd, and I don't think he's going to be able to make up either of those.
Prize (object to be adapted into a film) - Wil's "barbie" film "based on pre-existing IP" with the tag line "this one's for the fellas". Tom: "So this movie reestablishes the patriarchy? I'm into it! We're back!" -- and giving it 5 points in a shocking twist. I did think Jenny's eczema girl comic deserved more than Anne's Nokida Western, but have to agree that Josh and Lloyd's prizes were on the weak side.
Hovering balloon task -- Ahaha, Jenny redemption with the balloon tied to a thing. Anne's chipmunk voice was quite funny, and poor Wil for getting DQ'd form a beautiful attempt. Amazing that Lloyd's 1 second "hover" earned him 3 points, and well done Josh with his fairly haphazard 17.
Authentic video team task -- meh. I did like Anne and Josh's more than the Wiggles', but really the most worthwhile thing about it is that this sets up the weirdness of Lloyd making the SECOND 9/11 reference in the next task shown (is this his Roman Empire? XD)
Pub quiz task -- I have to agree with Lloyd that this was basically impossible for him to win, and this seems like it's just there to drag his scores down (and have Anne pass him, as she is now leading 144 to 142), but it was very fun to watch. (Although why does Lloyd get a second individual task? He also got the anti-sabotage task on the mattress one.) Anyway, that was very funny, especially everyone's bafflement at the 9/11 question.
Surprising appearance homework task -- My favorite was actually Lloyd jumping out at G.tom out of a dumpster, and the resulting interior monologue of G.Tom's ("'You're not Greg Davies!' I've been killed by a nerd." and the Reddit reference that r/Taskmaster got very excited about), but I guess there's a kind of logic to what he says, that he wasn't surprised WATCHING IT BACK, since he was there. I don't think Wil deserved the 5 points, but nice to see him OVERscored for once. Oh, and I had to watch Anne's back twice to actually see her XD I do think that one should've been the winner.
Live task (thongs and tongs on the BBQ) -- this looked like a classic live task, although the editing made it rather confusing what was happening when Jenny threw the golden thong. Poor Josh who got disqualified, and I'm still finding myself surprised that the way TM Oz does scoring for ties is different than the way TM UK does it -- I bet in the UK version, Wil, who came just below the three-way tie at the top, would've gotten 4 points, not 2.
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Taskmaster meme (I'm as shocked as you are that it's taken me so long to have Taskmaster + meme together, but I guess all this stuff lives on Tumblr still...)
👥- you get put in a team with 2 other TM contestant/s. it's a DISASTER. who's on your team?
Well, Rhod is definitely one of them XD While he is my favorite contestant of the lot, I do also think he is the WORST team-mate, because he goes off and does his own thing, and he cares about doing the funniest thing, not the most efficient thing. I almost think any additional person would detract from the difficulty of working with Rhod... Maybe Iain Stirling? I think that would get very uncomfortable...
😡- what would be the worst team task from previous series to put you on?
Oh, I think the complicated colored ball-catching one in s8 that Sian cheated at. It definitely doesn't play to my strengths and sounds to have been quite unpleasant. I mean, I don't think I would enjoy ANY team tasks, except maybe the purely creative ones like gameshow or film which are more fun to do with a group, but I feel like I would have something to offer to many of the others; not that one though!
🕴🏼- your team has to deal with Qrs - what service-type job are you going to be weirdly good at?
I've never worked in a service job in a hospitality sort of setting, but the technical program manager aspects of my job have given me a lot of experience with being the calm, professional, "we are solving this collaboratively" interface when dealing with stressed, angry people, so I think I would do OK in the, like, customer-facing aspects like checking in, switching rooms, weird requests, even though I'd hate it.
🧑🎤- if you were on taskmaster, which previous contestant's outfit would you choose to wear when doing the tasks?
Sophie Willan's dungarees. I feel like dungarees are sort of in that half-dress-up/half-street clothes zome, and I always feel playful when I put them on (hasn't happened in a while, because I wore them a lot when I was pregnant and afterwards when I was wearing them when not pregnant, I felt like I had to clarify in response to questioning looks), so the outfit would put me in a good mindset for Taskmaster. Runner up would be Mel's boiler suit, but I've never worn one, so not sure I wouldn't find it weird.
🤵- you get to invite a previous contestant on for a task cameo - who do you invite? what do they do?
To bring someone back for a cameo I'd wanted them to DO something, not just wear a costume or pretend to be wallpaper -- like, that was funny, on NZ, but could've been anyone. And Al Murray or Richard Osman dropping by to help out contestants was also not all that interesting. If I were to bring someone back, I think it would be like Josh was brought back to participate in a team task to make a group of 3 and 3. In which case I'd bring back Rhod, to inflict on unsuspecting teams XD
🤫- you get to give a contestant a secret, series-long task revealed in the finale - what do you do?
Great question, that I don't think I have a good answer for. I think my favorite option would be something along the lines of the "umbrella" secret task in s17, only more sophisticated -- a particular set of connected words you need to work into your other tasks (of course, the challenge here is that not all tasks are aired typically, but let's ignore that complication), and if the other contestants figure out that's what's happening and guess the connection, that person loses X points, otherwise whey gain X points.
🐕- what task would you like to see alex attempt (if he had no knowledge of the task)?
Alex's brain is clearly a very interesting place. It would be fun to watch him solve a multi-part puzzle like the "half-task" from s17 or s12's "revelation in the lab. I'm trying to think of a good solo task along those lines. Maybe the "eat a grape" one?
🙈- what task would have been the worst to attempt naked (or almost naked)?
The location tasks that involved being out in public, but especially "high-five a 55-year-old" from s1, since even with most of the location tasks you didn't HAVE TO involve other people, but in that one there was no choice. Also, the cooking tasks would be fraught/unsanitary.
👀-what would have been the 'best' to attempt naked?? your own definition of best, please!
Can I say the greenscreen one from s17, or would the morph suit invalidate being naked? Or maybe the puppet show one from NZ s2? (Also, you know that both David Correos and Rhod Gilbert would think nothing off attempting ANY task naked; they seemed to just look for the opportunities.)
🎼- taskmaster: the musical episode. yes or no? hard yes or horrific no?
I confess I'm not 100% clear on what a musical espisode of TM would entail -- all musical tasks? I think that's far better spread out across a series, honestly, than all concentrated in one episode. I have enjoyed some musical tasks a lot -- song for a stranger in s5 is amazing, s14 with the classical music tune ("Me, Fern Brady") is iconic, the "make a pretend musical instrument and pretend you're playing it" task in s15 is another fun one, "House Queens" in s13 is epic as well, both the "serenade yourself" and TM tune tasks in s9 were enjoyable (and that's without getting into NZ's amazing musical tasks like the diss track, the or anthem) -- but there are also musical tasks that I was merely meh on, like the TM: The Musical in s6, whatever the thing in s7 was, s15's lullaby -- or mixed, like s2's nursery rhyme (Doc's amazing rap vs everybody else's efforts). And a lot of my favorite musical endeavors on TM were in response to open-ended rather than musical tasks -- Mike Wozniak's "song about animals" (a prize task), Nick's Assistant's Day song, Asim's "tall motherfucker with the ivory hair" rap. Anyway, I think musical tasks are better spread out, so no on a musical episode, but not a horrific no, just, there are better ways to use music in the show.
🧸-you're doing a prize task, and have been asked to bring in your most sentimental item. what is it and why?
I have a lot of items I consider sentimental, but not sure what the most sentimental one would be. For TM specifically, it would need to be something that would allow to drill down into the narrative. And probably something a bit weird, to be memorable. If I could find it, it should probably be the surviving black velvet mouse -- it's made from my great-grandmother's scarf, by my mother, and there's a Chernobyl evacuation story I can tie it to ("keep it light") -- but I'm not sure I'd be able to find it on demand, as it's in deep storage in the garage somewhere. Remnants of the ancient computer on which I typed my first stories? (or maybe the floppy disks that go with it, or dot matrix printer printouts?) I suspect that (and similar things from my high school self -- earth from Tolkien's grave, my physics tack, etc.) would go over similarly to John Robins's farthings... There's also the "things from my children's childhood" route, but that's a more common thing, and I wouldn't be as weird as Bridget Christie about it, so why even try...
😈- how likely would you be to cheat on a task if you had enough confidence that you could get away with it?
I wouldn't cheat. There are no real stakes, so why compromise integrity? Also, there are cameras everywhere, so the likelihood of getting caught is very high.
😇- on a scale of "malicious compliance" to "paying alex to do the task for you", how likely would you be to find loopholes for the task at hand?
I think not very likely -- the loopholes contestants find pretty much never jump out at me as options, even after mainlining the series, I mean, I'm also not TRYING to solve the tasks as I'm watching, so maybe I would do better in a real TM situation, but my strength in problem-solving tends to be throgoughness rather than lateral thinking.
👑- you get to choose a "champion of champions"-esque episode, but for an entirely different category (worst contestants, funniest contestants etc.). what category, and which contestants do you choose?
r/Taskmaster has been recently running polls on brackets of lovable losers and runners-up. As much as I enjoy watching some of the "losers" (e.g. Victoria, Nish), I think runners-up is actually more interesting, because it's a shot at redemption and also you have more variety there, I feel, in terms of Taskmastering styles. I mean, a Champion of Runners-Up line-up would be Romesh, Jon Richardson, Dave Gorman, Joe Lycett, Mark Watson for CoR I; Tim Vine, Jess Knappett, Iain Stirling, Rose Matafeo, Daisy Mae Cooper for CoR II; Mike Wozniak, Guz Khan, Chris Ramsey, Sarah Millican, and Kiell (possibly to be replaced by Mae, lol) for CoR III -- I would genuinely love to see the third one of those, and I think the first one would be a really good time too, except for the complete lack of women. (CoR II is less to my personal taste, but I think it's still a nice mix of contestants that could be fun.)
But what I'd really enjoy, I think, is a CoC style competition for the most inconsistent contestants -- your Bridget Christies, your Rhod Gilberts, who tended to do brilliantly on some things but absolutely crash on others (because they didn't get the task or they didn't care to win, or whatever). I'm not entirely sure how best to objectively identify such people. I think maybe the contestants with as many [high number] top as bottom places, or just about? Maybe, high percentage of (first + last places) out of total tasks, and then first and last places are fairly evenly matched? So for example, Tim Key had 8 task wins and 6 last places, Richard Osman had 7 wins and 5 last places, Al Murray had 7 wins and 6 last places, Mel had 10 wins and 8 last places and Lolly had 9/8; Mark and Sally had 8/8 and Rhod had 14/13, Iain had 13/11, Katy had 11/10, Lee had 11/13, Bridget had 14/16, Frankie Boyle had 11/12 and Kiell 10/11, Julian had 11/11 and Sue 11/14, Steve had 9/8. That's just from eyeballing, though.
So then, because I'm me, I went to Jack Bernhardt's spreadsheet and calculated the percentage of (first OR last) places in solo tasks for each contestant -- you want this to be high, so that these are people who often do either well or terribly -- and then the difference in first vs last tasks (as an abssolute value percentage) -- you also want these to be people who do well and terribly about the same about of time. Then I did two things -- I filtered for people who got first or last place at least 50% of the time (originally I looked at 40$, but that left me with too many people, 29) as it happened, I could've gone with 50%, but I didn't know that at the time) AND ALSO whose difference in first vs last places was <10% -- taken together, these are people who crash and burn about as much as they win, and do one or the other more often than not. This filter left me with 10 names: (in order of series appearance) Al Murray, James Acaster, Rhod Gilbert, Lee Mack, Bridget Christie, Frankie Boyle, Kiell, Mae Martin, Julian Clary, and Sue Perkins. Which, some of these I'm not surprised by at all -- Bridget, Rhod, James, Kiell, and Sue would've been on my list. VERY surprised by Mae, actually -- they are the only winner in this "club". So then I also looked at the difference between (first OR last) - (delta between first and last) to have something to rank them on, and my top 5 most chaotic contestants (ranked by this quantity) are: Bridget Christie (HUGE lead XD), Rhod Gilbert, Lee Mack and Frankie Boyle (tie), and then a 3-way tie between Al Murray, Julian Clary, and Sue Perkins.
So how about a line-up of chaos: Bridget, Rhod, Lee, Frankie, and Sue (just to pick my favorite of the three). I think this would be a ton of fun, and I have NO idea who would win such a lineup. XD
(P.S. I wrote up this meme answer before the 7/15 episode of The People's Podcast dropped, in which Jack looked at chaotic contestants looking at episode scores, but mentioned doing a different analysis to properly measure chaos. On the one hand, I'm curious if the analysis he plans to do is similar to mine, or a more rigorous way of doing it -- I think the rigorous way is via standard deviation, but that would require all the individual task scores, and I can't be arsed. On the other hand, I'm half-tempted to send him an email with the analysis I've done
👤- who has been your favourite guest / reoccurring person on taskmaster? (e.g. fred the swede, rosalind, etc.)
I don't have any strong feelings of attachment to any of them, but Rosalind has definitely led to the most amazing task :)
🔒- which taskmaster contestant would you choose to be handcuffed to for 48 hours?
One of the easy-going ladies who are my age or slighty older, who are also among my favorite contestants, I would say, so, like, Mel or Sue Perkins, or Victoria. I feel like this would result in the minimum of awkwardness given the circumstances, and we could chill, have some coffee/winewhatever, and I could listen to their stories. I think Sue might be the best balance of "chill" + "interesting stories" between the three, so let's say her.
🥔- do you think joe should've gotten the full 5 points for his potato throw?
Nope, he stepped on the red green. Also it's way funnier this way. (Joe W also happens to be one of my least favorite contestants, but I don't think that's informing my answer.)
💌- how likely would you be to argue back if greg gave you a poor score on a task?
I wouldn't argue, I would just shut down and sulk unentertainingly, until I possibly storm out XD -- that's if I wasn't trying to be on my best behavior. If I were trying to be on my best behavior, that would probably look something like John Robin's death mask face of furious mental arithmetic :P
💭- who are you still hoping to see on a future series of taskmaster?
I know he's said he wouldn't do it, but David Mitchell would be pretty funny to see in this context. Barring that, hmm, Tom Allen? I always enjoy him in panel shows when he pops up. (Since I've now been doing a deep dive on Elis James, by extension from John Robins, I'd be happy for more Elis content, because he is just adorable and I like listening to his voice, but I feel like he's on the one hand not competitive enough and on the other hand too competent to be memorable on Taskmaster, and also when he crumbles under pressure, it's not in a fun way.)
And a late addition: after her appearance on Elis & John's holiday livestream intrigued me, I watched Angela Barnes on ROHOG the other day, where she became the only person to win all 5 days and set the record for highest (and also second-highest) individual score in a day, necessitating the competition to basically change to "can the other 3 contestants' scores put together beat Angela's" and "which of the losers will successfully butter up to Angela so she will give them a daily prize", while she was SO fast on the buzzer that one of the competitors, an Olympic gold medalist, suggested she take up ping pong or something, to make sure of her reflexes. That was great, and now I would very happily watch her bring the same chill attitude and unstoppable competence to Taskmaster (or, you know, anything else).
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Speaking of Elis & John: Elis & John best man/stag planning clip (extended version of the short I linked previously)
And in my backwards journey, I've reached #302 (Dec 2023), which had John talking about his "dread-relief-numb" cycle of emotion for a live performance. John says "I wish I had a sort of massive ego that was dependent on acclaim." Elis, slightly sputtering: "What's your massive ego dependent on?" John (laughing): "Beating people at things. Winning quizzes." Bless XD
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As I mentioned in the other post, I listened to Sophie Willan's Off Menu episode, which reminded me that I've been curious to check out her sitcom, Alma's Not Normal (with autobiographical elements), which all the Taskmaster folks have been raving about. And the Tumblr treasure-trove qwentoozla had pointed me at has all kinds of things, including 'Alma', so now I've watched it (just s1 out so far, and it's just 6 short episodes). On a light note, it's neat recognizing people in other roles now that I've been down the Britcom rabbit hole for a while -- I recognized Thaniya Moore (from ROHOG and one of Elis & John's livestreams) as the woman who runs the escort service, and then the Captain Ben Willbond as Alma's john (Phil) in episode 3. The show is charming (mostly on the strength of Sophie herself in the lead role), and poignant (I teared up at the conversation between Alma and Grandma Joan on the bench, at the end of the last episode, where Alma is talking about how there's space to mourn people who've died but not the "living dead" like her mother), and there are certainly messages to the show, almost nothing felt soap-boxy -- the only thing that felt a bit on the nose was the conversation with the theater guy who was a care leaver himself, when Alma got the touring job. The rest has nuance and compassion for unlikely characters and humour in with the sad stuff, and worked for me rather well -- funny without being trivializing, poignant without being sanctimonious, just a nice blend. I was surprised by where the arcs in this short season went -- especially that Alma's mom went back to drugs (this would not happen on an American sitcom), but also the arc with Anthony, where Alma gets back together with him (and there were some scenes between them that were indeed cute and charming and made it believable that Alma would go back) and then the intervention with Leanne's help to have them break up for good. My favorite episode was Episode 4, where Alma's mother gets released from the psych ward but needs to go into supervised living, and Alma tries to convince Grandma Joan to take her in ("You said you wanted a pet"). The scene where Alma spanks the client who is a luxury condo developer and gives the money to the homeless man she passes outside the highrise could've been cheesy but I found it funny-tragic as played, and the callback to young urchin Alma in grown-up Alma flipping the bird at the neighbors also worked for me, but my favorite scene was actually the weirdly wholesome reunion with her ex, where they are just chatting like mates about whose nose is better -- I think it sets up them getting back together very well, without making Alma seem like an idiot/doormat for taking him back. And I felt like even the last episode, where Alma reads off a list of all the reasons Anthony is terrible (in addition to the reasons which were readily apparent from the start of the show, like him cheating on both her and his new teenage girlfriend and being a drug dealer), I felt like he was portrayed with more sympathy than I was expecting, but without excusing any of the terribleness, which is neat to see. I liked Alma's friend Leanne (I can't recall what I know Jayde Adams from -- ROHOG or WILTY, probably?), and I liked the supportive driver on her escort jobs -- I think them two were my favorites in the supporting cast that I haven't talked about yet. I liked the way the flashbacks were incorporated, and I was amused by Alma's mother reciting "This Be the Verse" at Alma's grandma in the middle of a fancy restaurant (episode 3). Anyway, I'm glad I've seen this show and have the context of it now.
And then, since I was scrolling through the treasure trove, I decided to download a trial episode of Alan Partridge, for John context. I confess I got mored about halfway through the first episode and stopped there (at least for now), but I guess it does give me a little bit of context for some of John's mannerisms on Beat the Internet...
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And because once upon a time I didn't just consume Britcom rabbit hole related stuff:
cafemassolit originally linked me to this Esquire list of "75 best SF books", which I mostly disagree with, but I was idly thinking of turning it into a meme, and then thistleingrey did all the hard work, so stealing with pride:
Boldface: the ones I've read.
Italic: I've read other stuff by the same writer, just not this text.
The Echo Wife, by Sarah Gailey -- I've read several things by Gailey for Hugo homework and hated every one to a greater or lesser extent, so XD
The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal
Redshirts, by John Scalzi -- I've read The Collapsing Empire and sequel, also for Hugo homework
Beautyland, by Marie-Helene Bertino
The Ten Percent Thief, by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
Midnight Robber, by Nalo Hopkinson -- I think only short stories, though
Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
Star Maker, by Olaf Stapledon
Contact, by Carl Sagan
Under the Skin, by Michel Faber
Way Station, by Clifford D. Simak -- in Russian translation
Sea of Rust, by C. Robert Cargill
What Mad Universe, by Fredric Brown
The Book of Phoenix, by Nnedi Okorafor -- Binti and Akata Witch
Semiosis, by Sue Burke -- I started this one off some impressive recs but didn't get very far. I want to try again at some point.
Excession, by Iain M. Banks -- I still need to read some Iain M. Banks...
The Claw of the Conciliator, by Gene Wolfe -- I've read his short stories and fantasy
Lord of Light, by Roger Zelazny
This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone -- read several books by Max Gladstone, bounced off Amal El-Mohta'rs prose elsewhere
The Resisters, by Gish Jen
Rosewater, by Tade Thompson
Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky -- I've read and loved Elder Race and started a novel, but do want to read more
Solaris, by Stanislaw Lem
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein -- this is on my TBR pile, along with Heinlein in general
A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle
The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells -- I've read SOMETHING by Wells in Russian translation, but not, I think, this...
The Body Scout, by Lincoln Michel
An Unkindness of Ghosts, by Rivers Solomon -- it was ambitious but flawed
The Mountain in the Sea, by Ray Nayler
Neuromancer, by William Gibson
The Stars My Destination, by Alfred Bester -- I need to read some Bester, one of these days...
The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller Jr.
Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir
Zone One, by Colson Whitehead
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers -- oh look, it's my favorite book that I hate... :P
Engine Summer, by John Crowley
The Children of Men, by P.D. James
Radiance, by Catherynne M. Valente -- I find Valente's writing insufferable except in some very rare exceptions
The City & The City, by China Miéville
A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine -- I found this sadly overhyped...
Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie
The Stand, by Stephen King -- some short stories by Stephen King only
In Ascension, by Martin MacInnes
Dhalgren, by Samuel R. Delany
The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
1Q84, by Haruki Murakami
Future Home of the Living God, by Louise Erdrich
Ammonite, by Nicola Griffith
Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer
Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood
Hyperion, by Dan Simmons
Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson -- I tried on a friend's rec when I was in uni, but I find KSR's writing very boring, alas.
Shikasta, by Doris Lessing
The Sirens of Titan, by Kurt Vonnegut -- I've read several others things
Roadside Picnic, by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky -- pleasantly surprised to find this on the list! Would definitely be on my list, too.
Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
The Complete Robot, by Isaac Asimov
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, by Charles Yu
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
The Employees, by Olga Ravn
1984, by George Orwell
The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu -- I also found this overhyped, but I think mostly because I'm familiar with Soviet/Eastern bloc sci-fi which does many of the same things but better
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel
Exhalation, by Ted Chiang -- surely this should be The Story of Your Life and Other Stories instead?
Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin
Kindred, by Octavia Butler -- I need to read some Octavia Butler one of these days!
The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin
The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
Dune, by Frank Herbert -- I cannot quibble with the inclusion of Dune on the grounds of being foundational, but second? Psh.
Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley -- nobody forced me to read it in school, so I haven't done.
This is a weird list. For starters, no Bujold, really? Of the recent books, Murderbot and Hexarchate feels like an omission, and a lot of the ones that are included are just not that good.