Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - January 15
THIS WEEK'S QUIZ
1. What's the first name of Coach DiCrescenzo, the Olympic steeplechase hopeful and Bryn Mawr track coach who inspired a hit 2007 single? Superman? that's the only hit single from 2007 I can think of
2. The Purple Heart medals currently being awarded by the U.S. military were all originally manufactured for what war? Vietnam? WW 2?
3. What sport is played with a ball called a "pallino"?
4. Who was the only regular of Frasier Crane-era Cheers never to appear on the spin-off Frasier? I could say Coach but that is because Nicholas Colosanto died after the first season of Cheers. I'll say - Diane. Lots of guessing this week.
5. In the summertime, it's called estivation. What's it called when it happens in the winter?
6. Buchanan is the second largest city in what world nation? my guess is Liberia since the largest city is Monrovia
7. What unusual distinction (unusual for a literary classic, anyway) is shared by these classic novels? Alice in Wonderland, All Quiet on the Western Front, Catch-22, Kidnapped, Little Women, Things Fall Apart, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What is the knife called an "izmel" specifically used for? It's used by the mohel in a Jewish circumcision, or bris. oy, vey!
2. What world leader officially holds only the rank of colonel, despite being commander-in-chief of his nation's military? Muammar Qadhafi of Libya (however you want to spell it) never promoted himself above colonel, to demonstrate, he says, that all power in Libya really belongs to its people. hmm. what is Chavez's rank?
3. What mountain of Centre County, Pennsylvania still has a famous name today because of the mountain lions that lived there until the 1880s? Those are the "Mount Nittany Lions" that Penn State named its teams for. correct
4. What city is often threatened by the acqua alta? The acqua alta, or "high water," is the periodic flooding that sometimes put much of Venice underwater. correct
5. What Greek philosopher founded a secret society of followers called the Mathematikoi, whose members were forbidden to eat beans? Pythagoras was the anti-beanite. His guys also weren't allowed to touch a white rooster, or look into a mirror by candlelight. this is a non-Euclidean answer
6. What street is conspicuously missing from Washington, D.C.'s street grid--as a stab at a Supreme Court Chief Justice, according to one popular myth? There is no J Street--but it's not really a slam at John Jay, as is sometimes claimed. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these movies? Blade Runner, Chicken Little, ConAir, Hard Boiled, I Am Sam, The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Pearl Harbor, and Red Dragon. All these movies belong in the same fold, as it were, because they all feature origami. Deckard is a replicant! bad question - origami??? I don't know all these movies but I have watched The Manchurian Candidate several times and don't recall where origami is featured.
1. What's the first name of Coach DiCrescenzo, the Olympic steeplechase hopeful and Bryn Mawr track coach who inspired a hit 2007 single? Superman? that's the only hit single from 2007 I can think of
2. The Purple Heart medals currently being awarded by the U.S. military were all originally manufactured for what war? Vietnam? WW 2?
3. What sport is played with a ball called a "pallino"?
4. Who was the only regular of Frasier Crane-era Cheers never to appear on the spin-off Frasier? I could say Coach but that is because Nicholas Colosanto died after the first season of Cheers. I'll say - Diane. Lots of guessing this week.
5. In the summertime, it's called estivation. What's it called when it happens in the winter?
6. Buchanan is the second largest city in what world nation? my guess is Liberia since the largest city is Monrovia
7. What unusual distinction (unusual for a literary classic, anyway) is shared by these classic novels? Alice in Wonderland, All Quiet on the Western Front, Catch-22, Kidnapped, Little Women, Things Fall Apart, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What is the knife called an "izmel" specifically used for? It's used by the mohel in a Jewish circumcision, or bris. oy, vey!
2. What world leader officially holds only the rank of colonel, despite being commander-in-chief of his nation's military? Muammar Qadhafi of Libya (however you want to spell it) never promoted himself above colonel, to demonstrate, he says, that all power in Libya really belongs to its people. hmm. what is Chavez's rank?
3. What mountain of Centre County, Pennsylvania still has a famous name today because of the mountain lions that lived there until the 1880s? Those are the "Mount Nittany Lions" that Penn State named its teams for. correct
4. What city is often threatened by the acqua alta? The acqua alta, or "high water," is the periodic flooding that sometimes put much of Venice underwater. correct
5. What Greek philosopher founded a secret society of followers called the Mathematikoi, whose members were forbidden to eat beans? Pythagoras was the anti-beanite. His guys also weren't allowed to touch a white rooster, or look into a mirror by candlelight. this is a non-Euclidean answer
6. What street is conspicuously missing from Washington, D.C.'s street grid--as a stab at a Supreme Court Chief Justice, according to one popular myth? There is no J Street--but it's not really a slam at John Jay, as is sometimes claimed. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these movies? Blade Runner, Chicken Little, ConAir, Hard Boiled, I Am Sam, The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Pearl Harbor, and Red Dragon. All these movies belong in the same fold, as it were, because they all feature origami. Deckard is a replicant! bad question - origami??? I don't know all these movies but I have watched The Manchurian Candidate several times and don't recall where origami is featured.
