ON THE HOT SEAT Hello and welcome to Week 13 of “On the Hot Seat”. Whilst this may be an unlucky number for some, readers I can assure you that we are in fact in luck this week, as we have the privilege of grilling our very own Mr Chidell. There’s more to this tennis racquet wielding, German speaking, English teaching, food loving, (you should see what he has for breakfast each morning!) member of the English Department than might perhaps first meet the eye. Did know, dear readers, that Mr Chidell lived in Thailand for two years before coming here and loved everything about it? That is, other than the horrific traffic jams and, on one occasion, finding surprise chicken feet (complete with mini toenails) in a bowl of soup! Upon one visit to a wildlife sanctuary, he was taken out by a baby elephant, (we are pretty sure he was trying to take a #selfie but the elephant was having none of it, #awkward). Luckily for us this was all captured on video – we are working on procuring a copy of this. Perhaps it could be shown in documentary film club… which Mr Chidell runs! Interesting… Before Mr Chidell was your English teacher, he worked as a journalist on the foreign desk of the Times as an editorial assistant and night editor. In his (long but much needed) holidays he enjoys travel writing and photography and has even had some bits of work published, (we may have googled him… what a talented young chap. We don’t feel inferior whatsoever…). To top it all off, he plays tennis well, speaks good German, “passable” French and “nitnoy” (a tiny bit of) Thai and, oh, hold on, he failed his Grade 4 clarinet, (phew, we’ve finally found his Achilles heel). This man of many talents might even give Mr Dawson a run for his money! Is it any surprise then, dear readers, that when he was about five, on a holiday in Cornwall, a woman tried to kidnap him. She filled his curious little five-year-old mind with stories of her home under the sea and invited him to go and see it. Luckily before she’d taken him too far, Daddy Chidell spotted her leading him away and came to the rescue! So, on that bombshell let us begin…
Siegerin!
1) Elizabeth Bennett or Jane Eyre? Jane Eyre 2) Croissant or pain aux raisins? Pain aux raisins
Eaves vs Chidell 3) Murray or Djokovic? (This question seemed to fluster Mr Chidell) Neither, *pouts* ok, obviously Murray. (Some moments later) No, Federer! Can you just put Federer?! #challengechidell 4) Starter or dessert? Starter 5) Wine or beer? Beer 6) Germany or Thailand? Thailand, (sorry Frau Eaves) #cheekychidell 7) Cinema or DVD Cinema 8) Red curry or green curry? (Mr Chidell claps his hands in glee) ooooh red! 9) Call or text?
Señor McFaul and Mr Chidell are ready for their close up
(expletive) I prefer calling, generally… but I love a text, soo…. #chattychidell 10) Landscape photography or portraits? Portraits 11) What was the first concert/gig/play/production you ever went to? I remember as a kid about being really excited about going to see Joseph, (with Jason Donovan) and I sang it for weeks afterwards, (which no one enjoyed…) #childhoodchidell 12) What would you do if you didn’t have to work? I would travel the world, I would play a lot of tennis, I’d write and I’d photograph. When Mr Chidell runs #clichédchidell out of tennis balls… The Barometer - 27/01/2017 23