Answer Me This! - AMT317: Multiplexes, the Peace Symbol and the D-Box

Episode Date: June 25, 2015

Today we help listeners deal with their ex-flatmates, their saucy-looking sibling relationships, and their inferiority complexes over their local multiplex. We also learn about the peace symbol, St Petersburg becoming Leningrad becoming St Petersburg, and an extremely foolish bet one questioneer is in danger of losing.For more details about this episode, and different ways to obtain it, visit http://answermethispodcast.com/episode317.Send questions to [e-mail], or the Question Line (dial 0208 123 5877 or Skype answermethis)Tweet us http://twitter.com/helenandollyBe our Facebook friend at http://facebook.com/answermethisSubscribe on iTunes http://iTunes.com/AnswerMeThisBuy old episodes and albums at http://answermethisstore.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Will the TFI revival mean a comeback for Reef? Has to be this, has to be this Does Zadie Smith feel the pressure to maintain white teeth? Has to be this, has to be this Helen and Ollie, has to be this You'll remember last episode we were discussing which city or country wouldn't be too hot or too cold but just right for our very own Goldilocks pat from canada uh well helen you suggested tasmania yes ben has said don't choose tasmania all right i live there and working

i don't want you anywhere near stay out and working outside this morning in tasmania it was minus five degrees celsius bad suggestion. Bad suggestion, Helen. Sorry! I could have got that wildly wrong as well, because I'd never concentrated once in geography class. Literally not once. Do you know where Tasmania is? No. You know where Tasmania is because in Neighbours, when they want somebody to go not too far, but far enough away,

they never have to employ them again. They're like, oh yeah, she's gone to Tassie. Anyway, I thought in Tasmania there were various different climates, but sorry. Try and cancel the plane ticket, Pat. Someone called Unpopcult, who is on Twitter, says, How about Sucre or Chocha Bamba in Bolivia for Pat and her husband? Spring all year round. Indeed, this town is known as City of Eternal Spring.

Oh, but she needs City of Eternal Autumn if she's retiring there, right? Nice. Rob suggests that Bogota in Colombia is the perfect location for Pat from Canada. The average temperature is 14.5 centigrade, 58 Fahrenheit. Other similar locations that are equatorial but at altitude would also suit her temperature needs. That is very smart. Equatorial for the constants, but high altitude for the coolness. Reid says Pat from Canada can find a pleasant climate in Canada

at Salt Spring Island in British Columbia. It has a Mediterranean climate. Unthinkable in Canada. Yeah, I'm not sure this is right. And is close by to Victoria, the capital of BC, and Vancouver.

If Pat prefers to be in a bigger place, then Victoria is always nice. You went and you thought it was just alright, didn't you? Yeah, it wasn't that nice when we went on our honeymoon. It was rainy.

Yeah, we went to the cinema and they started the film 40 minutes early, so we missed half of it. What was it? Source Code. That's really confusing to miss the first 40 minutes of Source Code. Yeah, you can't watch Source Code having missed the beginning. Well, we kind of worked out what had happened, given the repetitive nature of the film.

But then they gave us free tickets to Bridesmaids, so it worked out alright. Oh, very good. Nice one and a half bill. We've had another question of relocation from a lady in israel who prefers to remain anonymous but says i am a journalist and i write for a lifestyle magazine here in israel i do about 90 of my work via the internet from home and i don't need to go into the office mostly i use skype interviews mail and internet research much like doing this yeah it's astonishing to think this is how modern journalism operates,

even in the Middle East, and yet the BBC spent millions moving people to Salford. Well, Salford you really have to experience from the ground. Because otherwise you don't get to go to the outlet more. Can't do that online. No, I mean, unlike in Israel, there's plenty of important news happening outside your door in Salford. Yeah, if your door is where they film all the BBC news talking heads.

She continues, the last time I went to the office was eight months ago. Good one, anonymously. I am now thinking, she says, about going abroad for a year or two. But I hesitate to ask my editors if that would be OK with them, especially since there are a lot of cutbacks and redundancies in the magazine you've saved them so much money by not using their toilet roll she says being able to work from virtually anywhere i feel i could do my job adequately even from the moon so helen answer me this do i tell my editors i want to move and risk being fired or do i not tell them continue communicating with them via email and whats and stuff, and just visit every three or four months for the tasks that I can't do from afar?

Oh, well, when you put it like that, it seems like you'd be able to get away with it if you haven't seen them for eight months. I think don't deceive them by lying to them, because that will count against you. If they ask you outright, you have to tell them, but don't volunteer the information. It's not important where you are. As you point out, it's not affecting your day-to-day work. And you could always pretend that you'd gone to follow a story that you hadn't got all of the information for you actually can't tell them what it is maybe it's not that kind of magazine she says lifestyle

that's very broad that covers everything from readers digest to readers wives what if your lifestyle was being 5 000 miles from work easy if she moves house though she may legally have to provide a new address for invoices and stuff and then that will flag it up so it's going to come up but i guess by that time then it would possibly even be illegal for them to discriminate against you by firing you because you've changed address could she get say a po box and she's saying she's only going to go abroad for a year or two that would probably work yeah but then if ever the editor wants to pop round for a cup of tea, you'll have to get a friend to dress up like Connie Booth

pretending to be Sybil in Fawlty Towers. If she hasn't been there for eight months, they might not even remember what she looks like. And it seems unlikely that the editor would pop round unannounced after such a long estrangement. There is precedent in contemporary history for very renowned journalists writing about a city from a complete different country. Yeah.

John Lahr, renowned American essayist, contributor to The New Yorker, profiler and all the rest, history as a Broadway theatre critic, lives in London. Huh. Does it all from London. He did live in New York for 20 years. How does he review theatre shows? He doesn't anymore.

He's more senior now. Okay, so he doesn't just try and blag that. It sounds like it's going to be shit it's some time which means none of the tunes are catchy but i think what he's three stars what he's secretly done i think is uh done profiles of people like barry humphries and neil labue and kind of international theatre practitioners when they're in london and then written it for a new york magazine as if it practitioners when they're in London and then written it for a New York magazine as if it's because they're in New York. It was quite clever, really.

So your average New Yorker, New Yorker reader wouldn't know he wasn't a New Yorker too. Isn't there someone who does an overnight show on British radio who does it from Boston, Massachusetts? You say that like I wouldn't be aware of this, like I wasn't cursing him every day that I worked overnight. It would have been perfect for you,

one till four in the morning, if you'd been living in, say, Los Angeles, your dream place to live. Yes, all right, Helen, some people have it better. A lovely late afternoon job for you. But if you'd been doing that and being like, oh, yeah, London things from underneath your palm tree. It's difficult, isn't it? Yeah, getting into the character of someone

reporting on the middle of the night London. Yeah, I think... Isn't it difficult when you try and go surfing and there's not enough waves? In London. Oliver Fawcett Flowers. Helen and Ollie, answer me this. Why are there no Greggs for bakers in Cornwall? I have a bet on

with my best man and it may result in me having the Greggs logo tattooed onto my bottom. Because I'd like to know why there aren't any so I can prove him wrong and say my bum. one do not make bets where a tattoo is the loser's outcome or winners it doesn't make it clear point two are there definitely zero gregs's in cornwall there aren't any gregs in cornwall none there are none what about in neighboring devon there is one near exeter that's the closest there's a lot around bristol um so it's not a

total west country embargo no it is specifically a cornish one and that is why there are some conspiracy theories out there so let me outline it for you okay thank you and i imagine oliver you with your bet with the best man you've your debate is is probably between these two different positions and i'm going to come down on one side okay okay so argument number one as to why there are no cornish gregs uh is I suppose what I'll call the pragmatic argument um that Cornwall is a relatively remote place within the UK they need to build a bakery you know a factory a centralized factory in the west country to be able to supply all of those bakeries and you know for example there isn't one north of Aberdeen either you know

when you get into slightly more remote places away from big cities, there aren't so many Greggs. So there's no Greggs at either John or Groats or Land's End. Correct. However, where north of Aberdeen differs from, say, Penzance and St Ives is there are fuckloads of tourists in Cornwall. And yes, it's seasonal, but it's for like six months of the year.

So they could, theoretically, couldn't they, shift a lot of bread rolls at lunchtime and sustain a business? So that is why I come down on argument number two, that it's all about the Cornish pasty. The Cornish pasty is such an emblematic, iconic feature of Cornwall. That Greggs wouldn't dare. They wouldn't dare. Well, more likely just Cornish people wouldn't shop there.

They'd shop with a local chain. They don't need the negative publicity of a rebellion, basically. Because Gregg's is a northern chain. People up north love cheap food that makes you fat. As they've gone down south... Why would you say this? I'm talking about the Gregg's customer here. I doubt there's anyone listening in Sheffield who's going to disagree with that.

It sounded like you were being a little bit broader than that. Well, as you come further south, Greggs has traded on that proud heritage as offering cheap snacks to people who want the kind of sandwich that Inan would make at lunchtime. And in Cornwall, there would be a rebellion. There wouldn't be the enthusiasm that they see when they typically open a brunch of Greggs and undercut the competition on the high street. You know, you think, oh, sandwich, only one pound instead of £3.50. There would instead be people saying they're selling pasties. They're not even proper pasties because they're not made in Cornwall

and they're undercutting our local Cornish bakers. What if Greggs did regional variations as McDonald's is prone to do and so they didn't sell pasties in Cornwall but they still sold eight sausage rolls and eight donuts for a pound or whatever it is they do. It's possible that that would roll.

Pardon the pun. Nonetheless, I still think it's the home of the pasty the pasty by the way is a protected geographical indicative food now um so you can only actually call it a pasty if it's in cornwall anyway so greg's have now called it a lattice yeah or a slice so i just don't think knowing that it's the company that makes the thai chicken lattice is not going to cut it in cornwall here's a question from p in Ealing who says, my ex-housemate who lived with us for six months two years ago

was very religious. We no longer have any contact except that at Easter, Christmas and New Year... Is New Year a religious festival, really? Well, that's a good point, isn't it? I suppose... In Russia? Yeah, you're right. It's not really in England, is it?

Anyway, on Easter, Christmas and New Year, she will send me, and presumably the rest of her phone book, a very religious text message. I wish she'd provided an example of a very religious text message. I'm at best agnostic, says Pete, and don't really appreciate these messages, so Helen, answer me this. Short of replying with the word unsubscribe in block

capitals, how do I get myself off her Christian mailing list without upsetting her on what is clearly a very important day for her? Well, why can't you just block her number? If she's only contacting you for that so you wouldn't be like you were missing out on other comms from her.

Can you do that? Yeah, on iPhone you can. Can you? Yes. So someone tries to text you and they say, I'm trapped down a well, you're my last chance. Tough shit. You're not going to get it. Maybe Pete could start playing with her

and rising to text messages but creating a little counter-narrative where he's possessed by Satan or something. Otherwise, I mean, me not being someone who knows how to block people's numbers. Tech expert Olly Mann. I was just going to say.

Really? It's three texts you've got to delete a year is it really all that more irritating than ppi messages or discount deals to watch frankie boyle at the o2 you know i think it's on a par i get those and i look down and i think that's an offer i'm not interested in but i actually quite like being offered things that i'm not interested in because it's only by being offered things i'm not interested in you realize how rich you are in this life no that you can qualify what you are interested in i look at it well i could be the kind of person who'd be interested in 40 off frankie boyle at the o2 i'm not that's made me feel better about myself yeah so you know when

you get this text just think oh that's a path my life could go down i'm choosing not to but ultimately i would delete it rather than get in touch and ask them to take me off the list because you don't want that embarrassing confrontation with them because they're not really thinking of you as you say pete when she texts it to you she's really texting everyone in her phone book well you don't know that she could think very special things about pete and his godlessness but i suppose pete think it's not necessarily for you it's for her and allow her this pleasure at these sacred times of year and also new year that is not sacred she thinks she's more likely to go to heaven by doing this.

So let her think that. She's just trying to help. The truth is as well, that if this woman is anything like the guy who stands outside Leicester Square tube station singing from the Bible on a Saturday night, she's not going to listen to criticism. She's not going to take it on board.

If you say, you know, good to hear from you, thanks very much, but actually can you not send me these things every Easter? She's not going to change tack she's going to carry on she's going to think he needs me even more yeah doesn't realize but he does this is a challenge sent to test me now regular listeners will know that around this point of the show we play a jingle with our email address in it to help you remember such an ungainly email address don't reveal the tricks of the trade helen it was a pragmatic decision that became an artistic one. But listener Clem says, here's a version

of your lovely jingle that I've made less lovely by creating it out of bits of other songs. Try to recognise the artist. Amazing, so it's a plug for our email address and a game at the same time. And a copyright nightmare. Thanks Clem. Here it is If you got a question Then leave me

Your question To answer me This podcast And Click on Google Answer me This

Podcast Google Mail Dot Com If you were playing along at home, you can find out who was in it. Queens of the Stone Age. Them Crooked Vultures. Madeleine Peyroux. Radiohead. Elvis. Chet Baker.

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Elvis Costello Screamin' Jay Hawkins Eminem Elton John And Nirvana Martin got Nirvana, well done You all got Nirvana You're the real muse though, Martin

I found it a bit disorienting Here's a question from Will from the DC metro area who says, I genuinely enjoy spending time with my siblings. That's nice. One of them has moved away, my older brother, whilst the other is currently living at home, my older sister. This is a bit like a round robin, isn't it? One of them is no longer in the DC metro area.

The other one is. However, continues Will, whenever my sister and I are out doing something like going to the Renaissance Festival or watching the Six Nations tournament in a bar, people we don't know seem to assume that we are in a relationship, even if we're with a small group. How would you know?

I know this because on multiple occasions, people, mostly men, have explicitly addressed me under the assumption that I was her boyfriend. Ew. It has happened to me. Sometimes people have assumed that I am my brother Andy's wife. Really? Because we both have the surname Zaltzman.

I wonder whether they assume that when he's out with my dad, they're married because they have the same surname. Everyday sexism. As you might imagine, continues Will, this all feels rather uncomfortable to me and it just bothers me to think that random people are assuming we're a couple. It's not like we're affectionate with one another.

Heaven forfend. Or hold hands. Or some shit. Girls, cooties, gross. Beyond the fact that it just makes me feel gross, it also puts me in the weird position Of inadvertently warding off her potential suitors For lack of a better term

On the other hand, continues Will There have been at least two occasions Where men have asked me if it's alright if they flirt with her Which I guess is considerate Why don't they ask her? Exactly, yeah I tell them it's none of my business And then they proceed to act like sexist arseholes

Or the world's worst pick-up artists. So it probably is good that you're there usually to deter them. Everything about this, says Will, feels uncomfortable and icky. So Helen, answer me this. I'm glad he's asked this to you because, of course, I don't have a brother or a sister or a care in the world. No. How can I dispel these assumptions without being weird about it

or having to explicitly tell people she's my sister i don't think wearing a shirt that says i'm her brother would go down well i wonder how this is a big problem because very rarely do i have this with my brothers and i think it's because we don't act in a touchy-feely way with each other or in any way to indicate we're a couple maybe they cuddle a lot i don't know so he said they don't he said that they said they don't hold hands or any of that shit i think that would definitely cover hugging they just kiss a lot i actually think what it might be and i'm saying this is someone who is an only child in my experience of people who do have siblings generally speaking grown adults aren't that close to their siblings now that's not the same all over

the world of course but i'm talking about london here and i imagine dc therefore quite a work orientated professional environment as well quite similar metro area still still um i imagine it might be the case that generally you meet adults in a bar and they're not with their brothers and sisters and so the general public around you are probably going to assume that you are first of all a couple if not a couple you are perhaps colleagues and if not colleagues just friends before they jump to the conclusion of brother and sister that is how my brain works when i meet two adults together well statistically it's much more likely that they would be friends or lovers or colleagues then because of brother and sister because the parents aren't there if

you saw a family together then you'd know well also just most people have more friends than they have siblings yeah unless they have very few friends yeah maybe you're right maybe this is an evening bar situation whereas if you were somewhere in the day it wouldn't necessarily be such a surprise still if you saw a grown man and grown woman sitting on a park bench together enjoying a sandwich you'd still in that order i think you'd think couple colleagues friends but i think maybe there's something about the body language doesn't have to be like touchy feely but i think there's probably a certain amount of relaxation you have around someone that you've known your whole life. That familial...

But I think maybe that's what it is. People just see that relaxation and maybe there's like mutual laughter and that kind of thing that you have with anyone that you're close to. For me, it horrifies me more than when people might assume that my brothers and I are a couple

than when people assume you and I are a couple, Ollie. That's the worst to me. Although, now that's an interesting point. No offence, it's not about you. It's just more about our relationship. Sure, it's not about you. It's just more about our relationship. Sure, it's not about me. It's just about the way that you hate me. It's a very special targeted hate.

But actually, I don't find it surprising when people think we're brother and sister. No, not at all. Yeah, that makes more sense. In fact, we do have quite a siblingly relationship in that I don't feel the need to be polite to you at all. Yeah, noted. Easy solution for Will,

but it would still involve the other people making a snap judgment about him would be for him to pretend that he's gay. Yeah, but then there's quite a lot of artifice going on in this evening. Yeah, but it seems like that's where we're going. And actually, we don't know he's not gay. That's true.

So he could be gay and people are still reaching this conclusion. That doesn't help. I think what you have to do, Will, and this is the best I'm going to give you, I'm afraid, is you have to, and you might think this is sexist, but whatever, think what you have to do will this is the best i'm going to give you i'm afraid is you have to and you know you might think this is sexist but whatever i think you have to introduce her as your sister to everyone so you have to say hey have you met my sister whatever her name is just examine your body language well you don't have to hold hands

to look intimate i think just uh look a bit uncomfortable together and that will probably work that's what most couples like yeah yeah just imagine you have been married for 10 years if um i'm out with my grandmother my father and my mother that is a hot pack of mans but not my girlfriend people look at that foursome and assume that my father and my grandmother are married because my father looks his age my grandmother looks about 15 years younger than her age i think younger than that so the same age roughly as my dad actually is and my mum also looks about 15 years younger than her age i think younger than that so the same age roughly as my dad actually is and my mom also looks about 15 years younger than her actual age so it looks like basically and because i look a bit older than my age i think it looks like me and my mom are roughly the same age maybe my mom's like five years older than me so people assume

that me and my mom are a couple i would never assume my grandma are a couple and everyone everyone thinks that's funny apart from my dad but he's he's the luckiest one because because he's actually screwing the person who looks like they're 35 and and also terry's a hot piece so your dad has it always i wouldn't assume that you and your mum are a couple because you're dressed as if you wouldn't even go in the same circle yes basically shorthand for you listeners i'm dressed as uh safi from uh absolutely fabulous and I'm dressed as Safi from Absolutely Fabulous and she's dressed as Adina. Yeah, and Patsy in one.

And my dad's dressed as Elliot Gould and my grandma's dressed as Joan Rivers. That's basically the look. It's an eye-catching group, isn't it? It is, yeah. Apart from you two guys who are letting it down. Yeah, I guess. Ladies and gentlemen,

we now present The Intermission, brought to you today by Episode 29, available now at AnswerMeThisStore.com. Hugo says, Helen, answer me this. Recently, I received a soaking, courtesy of a rain shower, while cycling to work. What a bitch. My top was fine, but I'd forgotten waterproof trousers.

What are the point of waterproof trousers? I think you'll find in the course of this question what the point is, Oliver. But they're so ridiculous. Let's not mention the fake leather trousers that you had. That's the disadvantage, listeners. From the discount shopping village in Bicester. The disadvantage, listeners,

of doing any kind of entertainment device with anyone that you've known for more than a few years is that they can drag up these things from your late teenage years. Thank you, Helen. Late teenage? You're in your twenties. Yes, thank you. Let's continue. They were cheap. They were 30 quid. They were not cheap. Something horrible is not a bargain.

At least you'll keep your legs dry in a shower. Hugo continues. You remember, Hugo, listeners. He's the one that sent us that question, that he was in a rain shower on the way to work, that he'd forgotten his waterproof trousers, so he bought some replacements and left his own trousers to dry at work. At the end of the day, I took the new trousers back for a refund. Ooh.

Is this morally wrong, or am I justified in my actions? Well, interesting. It depends whether you think clothes shops are a library or not. So, retrospectives, what historical events are we ticking off on this week's run of Today in History? On Monday, we bring you the real story of the mutiny on the bounty. On Tuesday, the anniversary of the day somebody invented the meatball, but who? On Wednesday, the iconic British car that ripped off an iconic American car.

On Thursday, how American airlines invented air miles. And on Friday, the UFO sighting that gripped colonial America. We discuss this and more on Today in History with The Retrospectors. Ten minutes each weekday, wherever you get your podcasts. Listeners, please do dump your questions on the question line, which you can call by dialling the following number. 0208 123 58 007 Or by Skyping Answer Me This.

I'm Adam from London. Helen and Ollie, Answer Me This. With my limited experience of film premieres um i was wondering do the stars actually go in and watch the film in the cinema um like a regular punter star of the films channing tatum said in a reddit ama this very week he was giving out a competition for somebody to come to the premiere of magic mike xsl with him he was saying no one ever goes it's just publicists and stuff who are actually inside the film but you get to go with him and a bunch of publicists to see the film which presumably means he's going to be sitting through it it often depends frankly on whether or not there's a uh another press

opportunity after the screening like so for example there'll be a q a often on stage with the director or something won't there often a very soft one because obviously it's being paid for by the film's publicity team. What? So there'll be a journalist who's paid to say how great it is and ask them unthreatening questions. But if that's happening on stage after the film's screening, then sometimes the talent have to be there for that.

Yes. But I reckon they'll often fuck off into Chinatown, don't you think, for a sticky fried rice and come back for the Q&A. Oh, lovely. Yeah. Lovely. Because they've seen it. Also, a sticky fried rice and come back for the Q&A. Oh, lovely. Yeah. Lovely.

Because they've seen it. Also, a lot of people can't bear to watch themselves on screen. Like Al Pacino, he's like, once the film is done, you just can't do that because it's too late to change it. I love it when film stars say that because it's just the worst possible publicity, you know, even though you understand where they're coming from. I'm not watching that shit. Yeah, it's like Woody Allen's publicity

for the Amazon stuff he's been making. Have you heard of it? Oh, wait, he's like, oh, it's torture. It's awful. the Amazon stuff he's been making. Have you heard of it? Oh, it's torture. It's awful. It's the worst decision of my professional life. I think I can find worse. It's just the worst possible negative campaign to run beforehand.

But yeah, it somehow works for him, doesn't it? So, I mean, I guess like a London premiere is a relatively big deal. But like how many premieres must they have to go to? And they go to so many now. And all of it, it after all if you're a big American star is just the European

leg you know you've already done five openings in the US yeah and then the Asian market is big now and let's be honest

Magic Mike XL or is it extra XL yeah they all wear very big t-shirts it's not a film that's designed to be seen more than once

even for the protagonist I should imagine I don't know I'd bet there were some women who would disagree with you I thought the first one was meant to be very good the first one even for the protagonist, I should imagine. I don't know. I'd bet there were some women who would disagree with you. I thought the first one was meant to be very good. The first one is very good.

Is it Steven Soderbergh? It is Steven Soderbergh, yeah. And it is an entertaining and dramatic piece of fiction. I only saw a few minutes from the very end. It seemed to be a lot of staring up Matthew McConaughey's Norge. But how many times do you think you could stomach sitting through your own film before you just became profoundly depressed? I listened to episodes of answer me this that we're in the process of putting together or resubmitting for something at most five times

before feeling nauseous yeah so you wouldn't make it even outside of the usa leg of premieres well also if you're the director then you've sat in a cutting room probably 500 times i mean you must be unbearable you're just watching it thinking, oh, well, that's a bit crap, isn't it? We should change that bit. Or you can still see the line on his hair. Wish I hadn't used that Nord shot. But then again, if there's supposed to be an audience reaction,

if it's a comedy or a musical, then actually it's probably quite nice to see it with people who haven't poured millions of dollars into the film and are worried that it's no good. Like, it must be quite nice if you see it with a room full of people and they genuinely jump with terror or laugh. But if it's a room full of publicists who are just like, oh, just waiting for the free booze.

Publicists are human beings too, Helen. I know, but they're working late if they're going to a premiere. Apparently often as well, it's people who have given favours to the film. The caterer or the insurance person. They're the people that get the free seat in exchange for their work.

So it's like an extra little sweetener you can do when you're trying to blag stuff, basically. you want tickets to the premiere you know or you can give them always competition prizes yeah but do they specify which premiere like if it's not one of the good ones i think every premiere now is quite good in the sense that it's a good party like the stakes have been raised because i guess in the old days you know pre-internet the european premiere wouldn't be actually seen by people in america but now you know pictures of tom cruise standing in leicester square get beamed back to california instantly don't they it's pretty much dressed up like a theme park set i mean you have to to cover up

the leicester squareness of it all yeah but there's acrobats there's rock bands i mean it's full-on it's not just like some stars on a carpet anymore but it's a it's a proper show yeah it's because they need the coverage yeah it's just not an interesting story no it's not is it yeah film opens yeah i mean that effectively now just means a file has been sent to a computer something may appear on netflix in two months yeah exactly well here is another question of cinema from callum who seems to have been um provoked into writing in because of your mention of the milton keen's in Answer Me This, episode 314. He says, Ollie happened to mention that Milton Keynes Point was the first multiplex cinema in the UK.

This immediately took me back to childhood memories of the Unit 4 cinema in Wallasey on Merseyside. This had four screens and later extended to become the Apollo 6. Now, I'm not sure of the dates, but I was certainly going to the Unit 4 in the mid to late 70s, and it was a bit old and grotty then.

That was the style of the 70s, wasn't it? Yeah, it was, yes. So it must have opened way before the Point opened, which Google says happened in 1985. It did indeed happen in 1985. And closed in 2015, by the way. The Point is no longer with us, yeah. Oh, that recent, though.

Anyway, says Callum, I don't want to big up the unit for us it was certainly no modern multiplex i once described it to my friends as like sitting on the side of a mountain watching a portable tv that's very evocative but it did have a bar fruit machines and vastly overpriced hot dogs and sweets so ollie answer me this why does the unit for not qualify as a multiplex cinema because it only had four screens that's why uh the definition by the industry of a multiplex cinema is a purpose-built cinema with five or more screens right and and just by being early at a time where people may have not been acquainted with the idea of there

being five screens it's still not going to rescue itself by having four no well i don't think in truth there are that many cinemas with five screens when you think about it. I think the reason the level was set at five is because actually there were quite a lot, sorry to dash your childhood dreams, there were quite a lot of cinemas around the country with four screens. Because if you think about it, what there were all over the country, you know, in the 30s and 40s, were these huge auditoria that had two levels, right? One big screen.

And so obviously what happens as the 70s comes along and cinema attendances drop uh is you turn the stalls of the theater into two screens and you turn the circle the uh the gallery into two screens it's quite easy to make a four-screen cinema out of a one-screen big cinema you wouldn't typically be able to fit five because then you've got cinemas that have only got 20 seats in they're not asymmetrical yeah well theyetrical. Yeah. Well, they need a certain minimum number of seats to make money. Although I love screen five at the Brixton Ritzy. Armchairs, little tables, lot of legroom. But a modern renovation, you see.

In the old days, that would have been renovated to a four at most. So the level was set at five, but actually the point opened with 10. So, I mean, it blew merseyside out the park immediately imagine what that must have been like you only ever been in a cinema that has three or four screens out at a time back then yeah but actually i mean that's the problem with multiplexes isn't it you know yes they revived the british cinema going experience but it's mostly people seeing the same star wars reboot in five different screens the whole point was supposed to be you know you'd have an arty film in screen one and a naughty film in screen two and a kid's film in screen three and a sci-fi film in screen four and then you have documentary no one wants to

watch screen five exactly and then you'd have in the other five screens the big blockbuster but actually it's just all the blockbuster isn't it it's just harry potter in every screen starting 20 minutes later and in different forms of dimensional representation and it always has been that explains why mil Keynes' point 10 screens are no longer with us. No, it doesn't. What explains why Milton Keynes' 10 screens are no longer with us

is the continuing evolution of the multiplex. Audiences want more, Helen, and you simply cannot fit into the point an IMAX size screen, which is what the modern multiplex attendee wants. Is it? Yeah. I don't think I've ever wanted an IMAX screen.

No, but you'd be the customer who'd go to that that cinema because you'd think oh that's the cool cinema and you'd choose not to pay the extra for the imax but you'd still choose the one potentially market research says i mean you personally would why are you suggesting that i'm such a sheep i'm not but the a lady in your uh age category and background would be more likely to choose the one with the imax screen because they'd think it was cutting edge even if they chose not to pay the extra for the 3D and the IMAX. I don't want my edges to be cut. Telford's getting a new IMAX. There you go.

Nothing says this story that I'm telling you better than Telford's getting a new IMAX. This is how cinemas develop. This is what I'm telling you. Do you know that a lot of them now, well, not a lot, I think there's only two in the country, but they're trying to expand it, are having these D-box seats.

Excuse you. Which is... Your D-box. kind of theme park style simulator seats like for the 4d cinema yeah it's in a couple of screens and the idea is like watch along and become immersive with the film they're just like broken massage chairs aren't they yeah well look i i get it for indiana jones but for pride and prejudice it's a bit weird look at spay with water when he goes on the leg yeah yo yo one love the best thing about tennis is the women's tennis a women's tennis hearing those ladies are going and makes me go in my pants answer me this sports day out

now answer me this podcast.com slash albums. Here's a question from Kat, who says, Helen, answer me this. Why is a groom, as in bride and groom, called a groom? Is there any connection to a horse and groom or to grooming oneself? No. The horse groom is from the Middle English for young man, because presumably it would be young men that had that job, or boys. If there was any connection, it would be insulting to the bride, wouldn't it? Then the bride would be the horse, in that equation.

It's more appropriate for her stylist than her husband. But groom is from bridegroom, which is from the old English word breedgoomer, which meant suitor, as in the goomer meant man, and the breed was woman who is uh going to be married what was the word breed goomer breed goomer so it still means really bride and suitor of the bride yeah the thing what's interesting about it i find is that from a proprietorial sense the father giving away the wife and the wife then becoming the ownership of the man uh you know it is traditional but it's something that now seems sexist and yet the word bridegroom actually out

of all of the words associated with weddings that almost suggests the man is kind of more property of the woman yes for a very brief period yes no i understand but you know what i mean it's quite interesting it's actually oddly emasculating isn't it you know what's your role here i'm the bride groom you know or rather like i'm the bride stylist and i'm the bride's maid i'm the bride groom i'm just part of the bride's day basically yeah after that brief time of him being subordinate she was then his legal property a lifetime of cooking and cleaning and sex on demand and drudgery and popping out children till she died good times happy wedding season everybody well here's a question from john in melbourne uh who says we have a friend who is a reformed alcoholic and no longer drinks grog kind of goes with the reformed

alcoholic it does doesn't it yes yeah in a way you're proving your earlier statement he recently invited us over for dinner and we weren't sure whether to take along a bottle of wine to share with the other guests or whether to just take some soft drinks in the end we whether to just take some soft drinks. In the end, we decided to just take soft drink. Someone else took wine for others to share and a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne for the host. Don't know whether that's a good move because often people who are trying to stay away from booze don't want things that are booze-like. Yeah, absolutely. So, Helen, answer me this. When one is sharing a meal with a reformed alcoholic, is it okay to drink wine and ignore their weakness? Or should you avoid producing wine altogether and possibly offend them

by highlighting their weakness? Highlighting their weakness? It's your weakness if you can't get through an evening without wine. Arguably, but then... It takes a lot of strength to give up something. Yeah, oh yeah, no, I agree. I don't take issue with you taking issue with his use of the word weakness. Good!

But... My issue is right! Fine. But I wouldn't say necessarily it is weakness to bring wine along to a dinner party. It is convention. Yes, but I think

it would be different at a restaurant. I think it would be okay to order drinks there but bringing it into someone's home... If he was halal you wouldn't bring

bacon bites, would you? I think that's the rule. And if they're vegetarian hopefully you would find it in you not to bring a bag of raw meat. Like, do you mind just sticking this in the oven for me?

Because I can't last for two hours without my meat. So I think the easy get out of this is to take a nice box of chocolates. Yes, I agree. Although if everyone brings chocolates, then you've got too many chocolates. Yes, but then they can give them away as a present later. Josh from Reading, I think. Helen and Ollie, answer me this. When did Leningrad change its name back to St Petersburg?

Because I found out this party, he says, like, a year or two ago. But I think it was way before that. It was before that, Josh. Well done. You win. It was 1991 at the end of the Soviet Union that they changed Leningrad back to st petersburg are there still russians who call it leningrad they're clinging on desperately to uh there is a movement led by the head of the communist party gennady uh zuganov it's okay that you paused there just before saying his name because in the future we can edit in whoever the current leader is before

they get assassinated they'll edit it in themselves um. And he wants to bring back Leningrad and Stalingrad. But Petersburg was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great. He called it Sankt Petersburg because he wanted it to sound Dutch because he wanted the city to be like one of the grand port cities of Western Europe because he really wanted that influence in Russia. So like Amsterdam, he was very keen on. And then in 1914, he was very keen on. And then in 1914, they changed it from St. Petersburg to Petrograd because they thought St. Petersburg sounded too German

and obviously they weren't getting on too well at the time. And then after the death of Lenin in 1924, they changed it to Leningrad to celebrate him. So Peter the Great really naming it after himself, really? But during the time it was called Leningrad, apparently the locals still called it Peter. So I suppose these things stick and I think in in 1991 there was a vote amongst the populace to see whether they wanted to change it back and they did here's a question from Talib

in Monaco uh who says I was reading an article about a bunch of hippies do you think from Monaco everyone just seems like a bunch of hippies? A bunch of hippies ruling the British government. A bunch of hippies that pay their taxes. Who had inadvertently done a big Mercedes sign instead of a peace sign. They are kind of similar, aren't they? I never thought about that. But it's easy to convert a Mercedes logo into a peace sign. It's only one more pen stroke.

Maybe you saw an unfinished peace sign. So Helen asked me this. Why is the symbol of peace a three pointed star in a circle with a line at the bottom? When was that adopted? Does it predate hippies? It does predate hippies because it was first used at Easter 1958 when there was the first big anti-nuclear march in the UK. It was from London to Aldermaston in Berkshire, which was the site of the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment. So the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War and the

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which we know as CND, teamed up, had this march, and the logo was designed by a graphic designer called Gerald Holtham, because they thought there should be some symbol to unify the whole march. So they had like 500 round placards with the symbol on, and it was on the banners, and they had little ceramic badges with it on and there are two explanations for why it looks like it does so it looks like a tree to me like a upside down tree or like a tree with roots oh i don't know which way around is it supposed to be oh i see right at the bottom so the common explanation is that the symbol is the semaphore for N and D, meaning nuclear disarmament. The N is like the two little angular bits at the bottom and the D is the straight line.

But Gerald Holton also said that he drew himself in deep despair. So a forlorn looking stick figure and then put a circle around it. So believe what you will but apparently this symbol may have predated gerald holton because it also appears on the graves of ss soldiers who died in world war ii not so peaceful there well i suppose it's a star really isn't it i mean actually that's what it looks like the most the mercedes logo was based on a star yeah but this doesn't look like a star because it's very bottom heavy but it looks like the mercedes logo so you know the reason why you're going to find any kind of element in history that looks a bit like it is because it does look a bit like a star.

It's a basic shape, isn't it? Yeah, but you can see how it became successful because it's very easy to replicate and for hippies to draw on their stuff and very recognisable. And yet VW somehow managed to colonise the hippie vehicle market. How did Mercedes not capitalise on that? They make vans. Yeah, I suppose. Too expensive. Yeah, I guess.

Error. In the original Mercedes logo, the three elements of it, I mean, I think with these things, they was reverse engineer afterwards, don't they, and pretend it stood for something that it didn't. As I say, really, it's a star. But the three elements of it, they say, were because the company's ambitions were to go on land, sea and air.

And how's that going for them? Have they managed to do the flying hovercraft yet? I'm pretty sure there's a Mercedes component in an aeroplane somewhere, yeah. I'd imagine they've achieved that. I'm sure they supplied the Luftwaffe at one point or another. Yeah, probably. And they designed my school bus, so that's land covered. It's their most famous achievement, isn't it?

Luftwaffe, Helen's school bus. That brings us to the end of this episode of Answer Me This but if you want to baguette another episode of Answer Me This not baguette baguette

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