Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - April 29
THIS WEEK'S QUIZ
1. What Cincinnati rabbi opened his first matzo bakery in 1888, though his company didn't own a vineyard until the 1940s? Baron Herzog
2. If you find yourself in "gen pop," where are you?
3. The specialized neurons in what part of your body come in two distinct types: cylindrical and flask-shaped? flask-shaped? if it is the liver, that is the best evidence I have heard for intelligent design
4. What longtime PBS hit is currently hosted by The X-Files's Gillian Anderson? Masterpiece Theater or Mystery. I think Russell Baker hosts Masterpiece Theater so I'll guess Mystery.
5. In 1959, a British engineer led Jumbo from Montmelian, France, to her home at the Turin zoo, in an attempt to recreate the historical route taken by whom? Hannibal
6. What body of water does the Jordan River end by flowing into? the Red Sea
7. Based on the unusual distinction they share, who's the only U.S. president who could be added to this list--and why? Winston Churchill, Charles Dickens, Mel Gibson, James Joyce, Lisa Kudrow, Justin Morneau, Samuel Morse, and James Whistler? Yes, I did research this question. But that is how one is supposed to answer Q7s. Correct answer - George Herbert Walker Bush. He, like all of the others, has two middle names.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What world capital temporarily changed its name to "Middle Earth" for a week in 2001? Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, where the Lord of the Rings movies were made. correct
2. What Baseball Hall of Famer saw his old team kept out of the playoffs in 2007 thanks to a pinch-hit triple hit against them by his own son? That was Tony Gwynn, Jr., cruelly sinking the playoff hopes of his dad's longtime team, the Padres. correct
3. What Johnny Nash hit did Ray Charles once perform, with no apparent irony, on Saturday Night Live? "I Can See Clearly Now." correct
4. What term did the late photojournalist Dith Pran coin for the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in his native Cambodia? Dith Pran, the subject of the film The Killing Fields, actually coined the phrase "the killing fields" himself. correct
5. What two U.S. states have the largest airlines named for them? Alaska Air and Hawaiian Airlines are the ones I had in mind...though we also accepted "Wisconsin," believe it or not, on a technicality. US Airways uses a carrier called "Air Wisconsin" pretty extensively, even though flights aren't branded under that name. correct
6. What one metal is alloyed to make both bronze and brass? Copper, which is mixed with tin to make bronze and zinc to make brass.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these famous people? Tycho Brahe, Johnny Cash, Hernan Cortes, Tina Fey, Harrison Ford, Ernest Hemingway, Harriet Tubman, and Nick Van Exel. Not too hard this week, as it turned out: all have (or had) facial scars. My favorite story here is Hemingway's: on a drunken bender in Paris one night, he pulled a skylight down on his head thinking he was flishing his toilet!
1. What Cincinnati rabbi opened his first matzo bakery in 1888, though his company didn't own a vineyard until the 1940s? Baron Herzog
2. If you find yourself in "gen pop," where are you?
3. The specialized neurons in what part of your body come in two distinct types: cylindrical and flask-shaped? flask-shaped? if it is the liver, that is the best evidence I have heard for intelligent design
4. What longtime PBS hit is currently hosted by The X-Files's Gillian Anderson? Masterpiece Theater or Mystery. I think Russell Baker hosts Masterpiece Theater so I'll guess Mystery.
5. In 1959, a British engineer led Jumbo from Montmelian, France, to her home at the Turin zoo, in an attempt to recreate the historical route taken by whom? Hannibal
6. What body of water does the Jordan River end by flowing into? the Red Sea
7. Based on the unusual distinction they share, who's the only U.S. president who could be added to this list--and why? Winston Churchill, Charles Dickens, Mel Gibson, James Joyce, Lisa Kudrow, Justin Morneau, Samuel Morse, and James Whistler? Yes, I did research this question. But that is how one is supposed to answer Q7s. Correct answer - George Herbert Walker Bush. He, like all of the others, has two middle names.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What world capital temporarily changed its name to "Middle Earth" for a week in 2001? Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, where the Lord of the Rings movies were made. correct
2. What Baseball Hall of Famer saw his old team kept out of the playoffs in 2007 thanks to a pinch-hit triple hit against them by his own son? That was Tony Gwynn, Jr., cruelly sinking the playoff hopes of his dad's longtime team, the Padres. correct
3. What Johnny Nash hit did Ray Charles once perform, with no apparent irony, on Saturday Night Live? "I Can See Clearly Now." correct
4. What term did the late photojournalist Dith Pran coin for the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in his native Cambodia? Dith Pran, the subject of the film The Killing Fields, actually coined the phrase "the killing fields" himself. correct
5. What two U.S. states have the largest airlines named for them? Alaska Air and Hawaiian Airlines are the ones I had in mind...though we also accepted "Wisconsin," believe it or not, on a technicality. US Airways uses a carrier called "Air Wisconsin" pretty extensively, even though flights aren't branded under that name. correct
6. What one metal is alloyed to make both bronze and brass? Copper, which is mixed with tin to make bronze and zinc to make brass.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these famous people? Tycho Brahe, Johnny Cash, Hernan Cortes, Tina Fey, Harrison Ford, Ernest Hemingway, Harriet Tubman, and Nick Van Exel. Not too hard this week, as it turned out: all have (or had) facial scars. My favorite story here is Hemingway's: on a drunken bender in Paris one night, he pulled a skylight down on his head thinking he was flishing his toilet!
