Some Quite Interesting Additions

I've been playing about with the blog today, so there are some nice new features that you might want to take notice of.

One is the list of YouTube videos in the sidebar. This replaces the previous list that linked to the videos of QI on YouTube. These new ones will now play on this blog (they will open at the top of the page).

I've also added a list of the recording dates during May/June for QI series E. Plus if you look at the very bottom of the page there are now TV listings for QI. QI isn't showing on any of the BBC channels at the moment but it is running on UKTV Gold 2 (and does so nearly all of the time since UKTV own the rights to repeat each series 12 times!!!) so I will aim to update that list fairly regularly. Don't be afraid to post a comment reminding me to update it if I forget.

Otherwise please do add your comments about the changes I've made. I'm particularly interested in comments concerning any problems with the format (please specify your browser). There have been some problems with the site for those using firefox today. Thank you to WordLover for helping me to correct them.

Daily Telegraph QI Column - Week 8

The 8th QI Column takes a focus on the letter C this week. Cornwall, Cats, China, Culture, Castro, Cigars, Castles, Cadbury, Chocolate and Casanova, all in one QingQong style column here.

A Quite Interactive DVD Returns

A new QI interactive DVD will be released this autumn. The DVD will be the successor to the QI's first interactive DVD game released in 2005.

It is planned that the DVD will take a different format compared to the first DVD. It is likely that it will include "rounds" of questions and the most exciting new planned feature will be a multiplayer option. Of course at this early stage changes to the format are possible before the interactive DVD's release.

Work is currently underway to write approximately 400 questions for the DVD.

A name and release date for the DVD is yet to be announced.

Keep an eye on this blog for the latest news about future QI releases.

Changelings

A new game of changelings has been started on the QI forum here.

Daily Telegraph QI Column - Week 7

This week's Telegraph column is now available online. Teletubies, cartoons and children's TV are the QI subjects of the week.

QI Tickets Available

The first batch of tickets to the recordings of series E of QI have now become available on the applause store website.

Go here to register and book tickets to the shows on Thursday 10th May, Friday 11th May and Thursday 17th May.

Life as an elf

Hi there, my name’s James and I’m a QI elf, though if you’re a regular on QI.com you might know me better as Eggshaped.

I’m living proof that anyone can become a QI researcher. After the head gnomes saw me posting quite interesting facts on the forum at QI.com, I was asked to help out on the C series, and by the D series I was a fully paid-up member of the research team. Here we are now, the next series has been commissioned and we’ve already begun work on subjects beginning with the letter E; I thought I’d give you a quick idea of how the process works.

There are about 10 elves in all, most of whom spend most of the week working from home. Every week we’ll meet up at the QI club in Oxford, sitting around a large oval table with a strong pot of coffee, a large teapot and a couple of bottles of water. We sit surrounded by bookcases full of Lithuanian dictionaries, hefty tomes about string theory and (of course) the Encyclopaedia Britannica and OED.

The head elf will kick things off by recounting any news from the previous week and we will then head round in a clockwise direction with each elf explaining what they had been researching in the previous week. As a very rough rule of thumb, we’d each hope to get around 5 subjects covered in a week: sometimes we have a question ready and try it out on the other elves, and at other times we would just go through the research and the question will present itself from the following conversation. Of course the specific subject matter is strictly secret, if I told you I’d have to kill you, and we don’t really want to lose viewers if we don’t have to. However, you can look forward to some incredible stories and facts about Europe, Epidemics and Electricity. The meeting will continue, through lunch, until each elf has had his or her turn, and then we’ll head off to the pub – which is where the real work is done!

Fancy becoming a QI elf? Well the best way is to head over to QI.com and get posting. The elves are always there, and always on the lookout for new talent.

QI Coming Soon!!!

The E (5th) Series will start recording on Thursday May 10th. All episodes of the series will be recorded on Thursdays and Fridays only up until the Friday 15th June. Make sure that you mark the following dates* in your diary:

Thursday 10th May
Friday 11th May
Thursday 17th May
Friday 18th May
Thursday 24th May
Friday 25th May
Thurday 31st May
Friday 1st June
Thursday 7th June
Friday 8th June
Thursday 14th June
Friday 15th June

You can register your interest for free tickets to the show here in the "show schedule". In order to book tickets you will need to register a request for each show when dates appear on their website.

A guide to going to watch the series being filmed will be published on this blog nearer the start of recordings.

* Please Note: The dates provided above should be considered provisional until they are confirmed by applause store. Any dates and times of recordings are subject to change at any time, possibly at short notice. Tickets are not a guarantee of entry. There is a minimum age requirement of 18. Both applause store and the production staff have the right to refuse entry to any person(s).

Welcome to a Quite Interesting Blogger

I am proud to welcome Eggshaped as a new author on this blog.

Eggshaped is one of QI's researchers or "elves". An accountant by profession, he joined the show's team after he impressed with his online research skills on the forum. Eggshaped was also the brains behind QI's Rolling News.

Daily Telegraph QI Column - Week 6

This week's column is already available for your viewing. Take a look here for some cosmic predictions.

Quite Interesting Errors

One of the cornerstones of the QI philosophy is that people know less than they think they do.

However, QI's elves are not omniscient beings. Like any human, they are also capable of making mistakes. What makes them elven? They know their frailties and actively encourage others to expose them.

Here is a short list of some of the mistakes that have been made on the show. It's far from a comprehensive list, so please add some other errors in your comments.

Blue

In episode 1 of the B series, Stephen said that there is no Welsh word for the colour blue. That was plain wrong; the word is "glas".

Berwick-upon-Tweed

On QI it was said that Berwick-upon-Tweed remained at war with Russia until 1966. However, the town was made part of Great Britain by a clause in an Act that imposed the Window Tax during the war. Although it was repealed within a year, the clause making Berwick part of the Great Britain remained on the statute books. Therefore the town was included as part of Great Britain when the peace treaty was signed at the end of the Crimean war.

Florence Nightingale

The nurse, well known for her actions in the Crimean War, did not invent the pie chart. William Playfair invented it nearly two decades earlier in 1801. He also invented the line and bar charts.

Piccadilly Circus

QI was right when it said that the statue in Piccadilly Circus is not Eros (the God in Greek mythology responsible for Love, Lust and Sex). However, it certainly isn't the Angel of Christian Charity. The statue is Anteros (the Greek God of requited love) which was named by Sir Alfred Gilbert. The myth that it is the Angel of Christian Charity is believed to have come about when people insisted on mistaking Anteros for Eros (who many believed was not a fitting memorial to the Earl of Shaftsbury).

Moons

QI has repeated on several occasions (also in the book) that the Earth has more than one natural satellite. This refers to NEOs (Near Earth Objects) . However, they do not orbit the Earth and therefore they are not Moons. In fact they orbit the Sun on a similar orbit to the Earth. This error has been the subject of considerable debate on the QI forum.

Thanks to Gaazy, Jimherbert, Dr Bob (twice) and Saint Micheal who were the original users that posted these mistakes on the QI talk forum.

Daily Telegraph QI Column - Week 5

A basket of B's this week. Books, Bhutan, Bans, Balls, Bangkok, Babies, Beer, Baths, Butter and Burials all right here.

Vote for The Book of General Ignorance

The QI Book of General Ignorance has been shortlisted for the TV and Film Book of the Year 2007 Award by the British Book Awards. You can vote for the QI book to win the award here.

There's a prize draw that you can enter as well if you need any further encouragement to vote!

Rolling News Review

2 months ago QI started its Rolling News feature. The newshounds have been hunting down the most interesting stories from across the Internet and here are the best ones that we have found so far:

Kite Ban Lifted - Grizzly

The world's most dangerous sport - kite flying makes a return in Pakistan. An update of the festival in February here.

Grumpy Bears Stay Up Too Late - Frederick the Monk

We've covered lots of weather stories this winter, many caused by this year's El Nino. Russia's warm winter has even stopped the bears going to bed.

Here be Dragons (in Chester) - Eggshaped

The virgin birth at Chester Zoo.

Craggy Island Football Championship - Dr. Bob

Fans of TV show "Father Ted" invent an interesting solution to a dispute between remote islands.

Frangland - Grizzly

In January we discovered how close France and the UK came to a union, for the second time.

Don't buy Blu-ray if you want to watch porn - Dr. Bob

One pastime that could yet again determine the outcome of the format wars.

Canni-balls - Eggshaped

Art???

Daily Telegraph QI Column - Week 4

The subject of this week's column is smell. You can read it here (if you don't want to wait to buy the paper tomorrow).

Also, this Sunday will be 2 months since the start of QI's Rolling News feature. I'll be doing a round up of the best stories from QI's Newshounds.