h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'd be happy to write about the history, alumni, etc. of 'Emma', but as it's been 10 years since I stopped being an undergrad there, and 6 since I stopped being a postgrad, ideally someone else should provide a bit of 'what's it like now' perspective.

That'd be fabulous, Danny. What a lovely place to study!

Random facts:

Founded 1584 by Puritan Sir Walter Mildmay as a training college for Protestant preachers.

University website: http://www.emma.cam.ac.uk/
Students' Union website: http://ecsu.org.uk/

Famous alumni: Lots - John Harvard...who popped across the pond to donate funds to a new American university in the 17th Century, playwright/novelist Michael Frayn and critic FR Leavis, politicians Cecil Parkinson and Tim Yeo and an awful lot of comedians! Griff Rhys Jones, Rory McGrath, Graeme Garden of the Goodies (A1075574).

And of course...this allows us to link to a wonderful Entry on the Godlike genius Graham Chapman at A687954! Did this influence you in choosing Emmanuel as a place of study, Danny?

"...the Godlike genius Graham Chapman at A687954! Did this influence you in choosing Emmanuel as a place of study, Danny?"

Erm... ...only very slightly. Ahem...

My second and third choice colleges were:

Pembroke (Eric Idle)
Downing (John Cleese)



And you had to mentioned Cecil Parkinson, didn't you... Actually, the college bar was renamed the 'Parkinson/Yeo' bar when I was there, to coincide with a safe-sex campaign, but I can't imagine it's still called that!

I honestly can't think of a better reason to study anywhere! Did you balance it out against an Oxford application as three against two (ie, Palin and Jones?) Or did Chapman outweigh everything? (I seem to remember that he described King's College as the most...'pauntly' of the colleges!)

Aw I love the ingenuity of the student bar-naming process!

My university seems so...studenty in comparison. The bar was called Trevor and, truly a thing of its time, the cafe on the main campus was called (it's changed now) the Nelson Mandela Coffee Bar (cue all sorts of hilarious jokes on his release about the coffee not being free ).

For reasons that escape me, it was always going to be Cambridge rather than Oxford. Perhaps because Cambridge is generally better at science than Oxford. But, as Graham died about a year before I applied to University, it just seemed appropriate that I should apply to Emmanuel. I always wonder if it would have made any difference if I'd have mentioned that in my interview... (God knows what I did say; probably something about the duckpond!)

Hi all,
this may sound crazy, I know - especially after five years! sorry... - but I'll have a try: what does pauntl(e)y/pauntliness mean?
I'm translating the autobiography of the Pythons and these words appear several times in Graham Chapman's parts (all quotations from "A liar's autobiography" I think), but I can't find them anywhere except this forum.
I suppose it's Graham's invention, but I need confirmation of that and first of all I need to understand the sense (or the nonsense ) of it.
Please, HELP. You're my only hope!

Yes, 'pauntly' is a word made up by Graham Chapman, so there's no direct translation. You'll just have to invent something

Thanks, Danny