The Sound Of Silence
Friday, 25 February 2011
I’m sorry I’ve only written one blog this month. I feel bad. I didn’t write enough in December, then I was all prolific in January, then I went quiet again. What can I say? I didn’t know what to blog about.
I went to a poker tournament in Nottingham but - no disrespect to Nottingham - it just didn’t look as good in pictures as the Bahamas.
I was going to write about Michael Winner, but then I wrote a column about him and it seemed obsessive to go on about him everywhere.
There was something I noticed about the Speaker of the House of Commons and his wife, but it was a bit saucy, and I didn’t want to post it directly after a blog about my new-born niece. Dunno why. Call me old-fashioned. I’ll write about it somewhere at some point.
So maybe I’ll give you my good news/bad news. Good news: we’re filming a new series of Only Connect next month, for broadcast in the autumn! Bad news: we’re filming it in High Definition. The producer rang today to “warn” me.
She used that word, “warn”. Oh God, I thought… she’s noticed my teeth. Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of my teeth. They’re very English. I always laugh when I go to poker tournaments where they have posters up of PokerStars Team Pro. There are the Americans with their perfect shiny white gnashers… Vanessa Rousso’s in particular are a work of art… and then, there are John Duthie and me with our piratical tombstone smiles. No shame in that. I’ve never understood capping. Why would you drill away perfectly healthy teeth to replace them with plastic ones?
Nevertheless, you may find I’m not smiling much in the next series of OC. Not that I smile much anyway. But I’ll be extra careful this time; don’t want to start getting stalked by dentists with hi-def TV’s.
[If you’re an ardent quizzer and the autumn seems too far away: there will be a Comic Relief special of Only Connect in the week of March 14th, probably our usual slot on the Monday night. I’ll be smiling a lot in that one. Our celebrity quizzers were very funny.]
Comments
Sian at 7:24 am on February 25th, 2011
Yay for more ‘Only connect’! And your teeth are fine Victoria - American teeth look a bit weird.
BornDriller at 9:28 am on February 25th, 2011
Why would you drill away teeth indeed? I don’t like doing it.
A very respected consultant who I am now going to rip off, is well known on the lecture circuit for talking about Cosmetic dentists and their diagnosis of “Hyperenamelosis” and “Porcelain deficiency disease” A terrible condition that can only be cured by cutting lumps off the teeth and replacing it with lovely man made ceramics. Daft when so much can be done with tooth whitening and reshaping with tooth coloured filling materials.
Can’t say I have ever noticed a problem with your smile though in any case. Don’t give it a second thought
Oh. i appear to have brought my work home today.
Can I retrieve the situation by asking you to marry me? That seems to be the traditional approach :-) (Just don’t tell my wife hehe)
jim carr at 11:31 am on February 25th, 2011
victoria,your teeth look fine in your blog photo,please dont tell me you have been photo-shopped and in reality you look like margaret beckett? Fine politico, but somewhat cosmetically challenged. Hi-def looking forward to some more OC, i am suffering from withdrawal symptoms!
Did you visit the “trip to jerusalem” during your stay in nottingham, it has claims to be the oldest pub in england. When i visited i found it had the newest prices in england!
The Tim at 1:39 pm on February 25th, 2011
Frankly, I’m not sure why they bother to put a quiz show in HiDef - they do it for Mastermind and it just takes up four times as much space on your disk drive. Oh, of course, they must want to show more of your wonderful body! I’m afraid it’s rather wasted on John Humphries.
Glad to see there’s going to be another series and you’ve not decided to throw in the towel!
Alan C at 9:00 pm on February 25th, 2011
Good news about new series and looking forward to the Comic Releif special. I am sure you will look even more gorgeous in Hi Def as you do in Standard definition.
Also enjoyed your Poker videos you put online. You look just as nice with no make up.
Bill Green at 9:01 pm on February 25th, 2011
I can only agree with the Tim, HD seems wasted on a quiz show. Surely HD is for when the visuals are a key component of the material. I don’t think many people watch Only Connect for the stunning visuals.
David R at 1:05 am on February 26th, 2011
A message to Vicky’s, and everybody’s teeth:
“Illegitimi non carborundum. Adiós, buenos dientes.”
KlooRhee at 4:14 am on February 26th, 2011
Heh :)
C’mon…i miss 2s and on a good day someone might just say that im a vampire….
You may just need a bit of polish and whitening and you can laugh at Americans with confidence :D
Rob F at 12:02 pm on February 26th, 2011
Phew, so glad our team procastinated so long about our connecting name that we missed the entry date, HD is certainly not for me.
Incidentally did you see that the new series of High stakes Poker is being broadcast in 3D? Possibly the most pointless application of technology ever.
Phil at 6:22 pm on February 26th, 2011
Always good to hear of a new OC ep. I wouldn’t worry about switching to HD. You have a brilliant, natural smile. I’m very intrigued as to what you have to say about the speaker of the house and his wife. I’ve always thought there’s something very sexy about Sally Bercow. Reading FRFP for the second time and am even more blown away second time around; it has a sadness to its tone which is just beautiful. Any more books in the pipeline?
Phil
John at 9:14 am on February 27th, 2011
If you’re tempted to go down the Yank tooth route you should check out the porcelain fury that is the American Idol judging panel; the one in the middle - “very nice”, the two book-ends - huge amounts of tooth. And everyone thought Simon Cowell had taken oral to the next level.
Simon at 11:11 am on February 27th, 2011
MODERATOR: Simon, I have moved your comment to the thread above as it was about that article. Thank you for posting.
Rog at 12:50 pm on February 27th, 2011
Wow, in life there is always something to think about, -i mean life is about passion, desire, emotional connections and of course your teeth!)
They are beautiful, alhough now you have drawn my attention away and to your teeth, i do notice one of your front molars is larger than the others!! Still we adore you for your wit and knowledge of the English language-forget OC bring back that programme about the meaning of words back- piffledash and baldrick)
Greg at 4:13 pm on February 27th, 2011
In response to your weekly poker column I can only say poker is not a game of skill as you claim. Chess, for example, where no outside influence (such as a random card) impacts the play, is a game of skill. Poker is at best a hybrid: part skill, mostly luck. Why do top players only cash about 15% of the time in tourneys? Why do they ever complain about being card dead?Because the factor luck is greater than the factor skill. Say what you want about good folds or well-timed bluffs but these are rare. Most poker hands play themselves. And, no matter how well you play, without luck you simply can not win. I made a good fold in an online tourny yesterday with KK on a Q56 flop (he had a set). But lost half my stack and went out later with AK against AJ. What good is skill then?
Ken Singtone at 4:39 pm on March 5th, 2011
I can’t find anything wrong with your teeth. They add to your charm and character and besides sometimes altered teeth make people talk strangely.
I’ve just listened again to your silence breaking radio 6 interview. It’s a joy to hear you tell your stories with enthusiasm, wit, and thoughtfulness ... your words lovingly formed and caressed by your gorgeous voice as they go forth to delight the listener. I feel a bit guilty that the lovely deep sexy voice I enjoy so much might be the result of a few too many cigarettes, but I would probably still enjoy a smokeless version. Not so sure about a toothy one.
A (9.31am) photo on the Radio 6 Music website: no sign of your teeth, looks a bit early for you, & I get this urge to give you a hug and a cup of tea.
http://tinyurl.com/6b49z22
Dr Bob at 11:02 am on April 5th, 2011
Good news: you’re filming a new series of Only Connect next month, for broadcast in the autumn! Bad news: my team didn’t make the cut :(
We had an audition in Manchester, which was thoroughly enjoyable, but then got turned down, so I won’t get to meet you in person.
Ooh, that sounds unnecessarily stalkery. I imagine you’re probably glad I didn’t get through now! :-D