Dr Paul, Edinburgh (2025)

20/11/2025

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QUIZ NEWS: Sandport Tavern down at Leith Shore has now become 3 Old Monks and is at the usual time: 7.30pm
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Had to remind myself the other day that Prince is dead. You know, the musician.

It’s funny (the odd kind of funny) about dead famous people. There’s a huge hoo-hah when they die. This lasts for a couple of days and then everyone moves on.

I guess when you’re dead, the story doesn’t change much and our interest is driven by novelty. You’re still dead? It’s not really news.

All these people who used to make headlines are dead: Freddie Mercury, Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Mark E Smith, Keith Chegwin and Janice Long.

Janice Long died in 2022 and I only just realised that now. I didn’t know. Her show was a big part of my growing up and now she’s gone. I only looked her up to confirm that she was Keith Chegwin’s sister and in the last few minutes I found out these two things.

One: she’s dead.
Two: Alongside her first husband, she was part of the winning couple on the very first episode of the ITV game show ‘3-2-1’. This was in 1978, before she was famous.

I was also the winning contestant on the first episode of a TV quiz show (‘Win Beadle’s Money,’ 1999), and one day I’ll be dead.

Funny old world.

Anyway, see you tonight…

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6.30 pm – Brass Monkey Grange (with me)
Jackpot – £50
Free answer - PICTURE round: "TOM ODELL"
Book - 031 667 2335
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7 pm – Leith Social Club (with Stewart)
Jackpot – £50
Free answer - PICTURE round: "MADONNA"
Book - 031 554 0897
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7.30 pm – 3 Old Monks (with Alan)
Jackpot – £60
Free answer - MUSIC round: "DIANA ROSS"
Book - 031 554 9999
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7.30 pm – The Willow (with Brigid)
Jackpot – £150
Free answer - PICTURE round: "SINGAPORE"
Book - Willow Website or Willow Facebook
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9pm – Newsroom (with me)
Jackpot – £50
Free answer - PICTURE round: "MEDUSA”
Book: 0131 557 5286 or Newsroom online booking
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With quiz and love,
Dr Paul

20/11/2025

Violence and marriage. Two very quick quiz questions to get you going.

19/11/2025

OK - I started last night saying “F—- the football” and finished last night punching air and yelling like every other idiot.

Now I’m behind with work because most of this morning has been spent re-watching goals #3 and #4. No regrets.

My first thought after the game last night was for my friend Graham MacKenzie who lives in Japan.

I remember finding Graham on the steps of the Vic Bar (Glasgow School of Art) in 1998, which is where we had just witnessed Morocco’s ruthless murder of Scotland in Saint Etienne.

He was very down. I said - “Don’t worry - there’s always next time.” Graham replied that he didn’t think Scotland would be qualifying for the World Cup again for a long time. I said “Nahhhh - we always qualify”. (Which was more or less true during the time I was growing up)

Graham said “I’m not sure about that - I think we’ll be out for a while - I ‘m trying to work out how many World Cups there are before we die…”

It seemed ridiculous at the time, but he was deadly serious. It took longer than I thought, we’re both in our fifties now, but Scotland are back.

All we have to do now is stay alive until next July to see it happen…

Meanwhile, quizzes tonight:

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6 pm – The Joker & The Thief (with me)
Jackpot – £30
Free answer - PICTURE round: "BRISTOL CITY"
Book: 0131 556 3274 or Facebook
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6 pm – Oz Bar (with Stuart F)
Jackpot – £30
Free answer - MUSIC round: "THE ROOP"
Book: 0131 259 6295 or Facebook
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7 pm – Ship Inn, Musselburgh (with Barry)
Jackpot – £30
Free answer - PICTURE round: "DETROIT SPINNERS"
Book: 0131 665 2642 or Facebook
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8 pm – West Port Oracle (with Stuart F)
Jackpot – £60
Free answer - PICTURE round: "GRACE KELLY"
Book: 0131 283 1960 or Facebook
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8.30 pm – Brass Monkey Shore (with me)
Jackpot – £50
Free answer - PICTURE round: "HIROSHIMA"
Book: 0131 555 7306 or Facebook
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With quiz and love,
Dr Paul

19/11/2025

Nicked from a friend's post - something they saw in Naples:

18/11/2025

Most of the leaves on the big trees out the back are gone.

So fair play to these tenacious bastards who have held on this far, while their weaker friends were dropping off as early as September.

I wonder if any of these little fellas will make it all the way to December?

18/11/2025

Exclusive glimpse inside the number ten machine:

18/11/2025

Goddamned football is at it again. Throwing itself around like a drunken bar-room bully.

“Any time is my time. I am football. I’m the big dog. You will work around me. I’m the Top G. Who are ya?”

Demoralising - but you can’t fight FIFA, so we just have to deal with it. Practically, this means that I will be aiming to get the Brass Monkey Gorgie quiz finished a little bit early so that you can all stare, slack-jawed, at the millionaires kicking the thing.

Tonight’s match up is “significant” because Scotland might qualify for the World Cup for the first time in decades. But is this even an achievement if it comes because they’ve expanded the World Cup so much that about a quarter of the teams in the world qualify?

And does it even matter?

Y’all know fine well that if “we” do qualify then there will be a small window of hope followed by the inevitable truth: pumped by Paraguay, nullified by Nigeria, and slaughtered by Slovakia.

You already know that one of these teams will win next year’s world cup: Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Spain. Outside bet: England.

That’s the way it goes, a bit like Pepeeja at the Safari Lounge.

Anyway, here are tonight’s quizzes:

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6 pm – Old Eastway Tap (with Manet)
Jackpot – £30
Free answer - PICTURE round: "NEPAL"
Book: 0131 259 3495 or Facebook
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6.30 pm – Brass Monkey Gorgie (with me)
Jackpot – £100
Free answer - PICTURE round: "BRISTOL"
Book: 0131 327 0543 or message their Instagram
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6.30 pm – Porty Tap (with Stuart)
Jackpot – £30
Free answer - MUSIC round: "THE CARDIGANS"
Book: 0131 629 6266 or Facebook
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8 pm – Waverley (with Bonni)
Jackpot – £30
Free answer - PICTURE round: "CHICAGO"
Book: 0131 557 9855 or Facebook
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8 pm – Gilded Saloon (with Dee)
Jackpot – £50
Free answer - PICTURE round: "GWAR"
Book: Opentable
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9 pm - Safari Lounge (with me)
Jackpot – £30
Free answer: PICTURE round: "CARDINAL"
Book: 0131 661 4741 or Facebook
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With quiz and love,
Dr Paul

18/11/2025

Astronomy and Disney

17/11/2025

La Dickson and property magnate war games. Class war, that is.

17/11/2025

The exasperation of the nation, summarised in a team name.

17/11/2025

I’ve been working on an idea for a quiz event that takes place in a theatre rather than a pub and has a big prize.

What is difficult is judging demand for such an event. The real proof will be when we try to sell tickets.

But let me ask you reading this now - would you pay £20 to go to a quiz show in a theatre-type setting where everyone in the audience will get chances to get on stage and answer questions and ultimately win £1000?

You’d be playing as an individual rather than as a team.

What do you reckon? Tell me at the quiz or reply to this email or post. Let me know.
Anyway, here are the quizzes tonight:

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6.30pm – Brass Monkey Leith Walk (with me)
Jackpot – £50
Free answer - MUSIC round: "SZA"
Book: 0131 554 5286 or Facebook or the Monkey's online booking system
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8 pm - Amber Rose (with Alan)
Jackpot – £50
Free answer: PICTURE round : "FANDANGO"
Book: 0131 226 1224 or Facebook
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8 pm - Ryan’s Bar (with Manet)
Jackpot – £50
Free answer: PICTURE round : "JAMES BOND"
Book: 0131 226 1224 or Facebook
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9 pm – Brass Monkey Drummond St (with me)
Jackpot – £100
Free answer - PICTURE round: "ULTIMATE WARRIOR"
No bookings but you can call the pub for info: - 0131 556 1961
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9 pm - Brass Monkey Grange (with Bonni)
Jackpot – £50
Free answer: PICTURE round : "WAKEFIELD"
Book: 0131 667 2335 or Facebook
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With quiz and love,
Dr Paul

Street

16/11/2025

I visited the “city” of Dunfermline yesterday and I don’t think I could ever live there. Pros and cons, obviously.

Pros:
• Nice buildings and, unlike Edinburgh (an actual city), fully unencumbered by tourists. You can actually walk about.
• The Carnegie birthplace museum is FREE and very interesting, although if you lived there, it could only bear so many visits.
• Pittencrieff Park. Aye - very nice.

Cons:
• Fifers puking up in graveyards due to adverse effect of booze… at one o’clock in the afternoon. Good grief.
• Insane town-planning which has resulted in motorway-like curved roads through the “city” centre. It genuinely felt like a dangerous place to walk around.
• Town has been built on a big slope. Whole “city” is semi-vertical. Makes you dizzy.

What do you think? Have you ever lived in Dunfermline? What’s it like? I’ll stick to North Edinburgh for now.

Tonight’s quizzes:

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6pm – Persevere (with me)
Jackpot – £30
Free answer - PICTURE round: "KENYA"
Book: 0131 554 0271 or get in touch with them on Facebook
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6.30 pm – Nineteenth Hole (with Bonni)
Jackpot – £150
Free answer - MUSIC round: "THE EXPLOITED"
Book: [waiting for phone number] or get in touch with them on Instagram
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With quiz and love,
Dr Paul

Dr Paul

20/11/2025

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