Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - May 19
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. What kind of product has its effectiveness measured in terms of "SPF"? sun block
2. What English phrase means "potato" when translated into French, and names a famous historical globe when translated into German? potato in French is pomme or pomme de terre. But apple is also pomme. "Apple of the earth"
3. What group's upcoming album The E.N.D. was influenced by the Australian techno sound one of its members heard while filming the Wolverine movie last year in Sydney? E.N.D. makes me think of a band that spells its name that way - N.E.R.D.
4. What do you call a rhombus whose angles are all right angles? I believe that is a square. "Be there or be rhombus" just does not resonate.
5. What Brooklyn landmark is named for the rabbits that had overrun it in the 17th century when the Dutch first landed there? Brooklyn landmark? I can only think of two - the bridge and Ebbets Field which has not existed for about 50 years. Wasn't the stadium named after a person? Wait -I got it now! Coney Island for the coneys.
6. What TV show killed off a beloved character in the 1975 episode "Abyssinia, Henry"? M*A*S*H. RIP Henry Blake.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these political leaders, past and present? Jimmy Carter, Winston Churchill, Benjamin Disraeli, Newt Gingrich, Saddam Hussein, and Benito Mussolini.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What's by far the best-selling genre in American publishing, accounting for over half of all paperback sales? Romance novels! See, this is why Fabio has, like, ten houses, and you and I don't. My first thought was right this time. I should have stuck with it.
2. Last week, Afghanistan officials quarantined the country's only what? The country's only pig, a star attraction of the (somewhat down-market) Kabul Zoo. They thought about slaughtering the pig to prevent a swine flu outbreak, but were persuaded merely to quarantine it instead when excerpts from the Qur'an began to appear in a nearby spiderweb. correct
3. The first verse of what 1985 rap hit begins, "Well, they call me Sweetness, and I like to dance"? "Sweetness" is the late great Walter Payton, the first member of the Chicago Bears to try out his skills at the mic in the classic sports rap "The Super Bowl Shuffle." Hey, at least Payton turned out to be a better MC than Jim McMahon. correct
4. There are two movies in which Peter Fonda plays a character inspired by a Marvel Comics character. Both those movie titles share what word in common? Peter Fonda played "Captain America" in Easy Rider, and a comic-book demon in Ghost Rider. I might have had a chance if I had ever watched Easy Rider.
5. In 1952, the landlocked province of La Pampa was renamed for what woman? La Pampa, as you might guess by the name, is in Argentina, and was briefly known as "Eva Peron" in the years after Evita's death. correct
6. Which color of visible light in the rainbow has the longest wavelength? Red's the longest, violet the shortest. I know, I always get these backwards too. I was wrong, but at least KJ is with me in reversing which is longest.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these fictional characters? Holly Golightly, Strawberry Shortcake, Tom Sawyer, and Yogi Bear. They all have "huckleberry friends"--Holly Golightly sings about hers in "Moon River," and the other three know Huckleberry Pie, Huckleberry Finn, and Huckleberry Hound, respectively. correct
1. What kind of product has its effectiveness measured in terms of "SPF"? sun block
2. What English phrase means "potato" when translated into French, and names a famous historical globe when translated into German? potato in French is pomme or pomme de terre. But apple is also pomme. "Apple of the earth"
3. What group's upcoming album The E.N.D. was influenced by the Australian techno sound one of its members heard while filming the Wolverine movie last year in Sydney? E.N.D. makes me think of a band that spells its name that way - N.E.R.D.
4. What do you call a rhombus whose angles are all right angles? I believe that is a square. "Be there or be rhombus" just does not resonate.
5. What Brooklyn landmark is named for the rabbits that had overrun it in the 17th century when the Dutch first landed there? Brooklyn landmark? I can only think of two - the bridge and Ebbets Field which has not existed for about 50 years. Wasn't the stadium named after a person? Wait -I got it now! Coney Island for the coneys.
6. What TV show killed off a beloved character in the 1975 episode "Abyssinia, Henry"? M*A*S*H. RIP Henry Blake.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these political leaders, past and present? Jimmy Carter, Winston Churchill, Benjamin Disraeli, Newt Gingrich, Saddam Hussein, and Benito Mussolini.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What's by far the best-selling genre in American publishing, accounting for over half of all paperback sales? Romance novels! See, this is why Fabio has, like, ten houses, and you and I don't. My first thought was right this time. I should have stuck with it.
2. Last week, Afghanistan officials quarantined the country's only what? The country's only pig, a star attraction of the (somewhat down-market) Kabul Zoo. They thought about slaughtering the pig to prevent a swine flu outbreak, but were persuaded merely to quarantine it instead when excerpts from the Qur'an began to appear in a nearby spiderweb. correct
3. The first verse of what 1985 rap hit begins, "Well, they call me Sweetness, and I like to dance"? "Sweetness" is the late great Walter Payton, the first member of the Chicago Bears to try out his skills at the mic in the classic sports rap "The Super Bowl Shuffle." Hey, at least Payton turned out to be a better MC than Jim McMahon. correct
4. There are two movies in which Peter Fonda plays a character inspired by a Marvel Comics character. Both those movie titles share what word in common? Peter Fonda played "Captain America" in Easy Rider, and a comic-book demon in Ghost Rider. I might have had a chance if I had ever watched Easy Rider.
5. In 1952, the landlocked province of La Pampa was renamed for what woman? La Pampa, as you might guess by the name, is in Argentina, and was briefly known as "Eva Peron" in the years after Evita's death. correct
6. Which color of visible light in the rainbow has the longest wavelength? Red's the longest, violet the shortest. I know, I always get these backwards too. I was wrong, but at least KJ is with me in reversing which is longest.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these fictional characters? Holly Golightly, Strawberry Shortcake, Tom Sawyer, and Yogi Bear. They all have "huckleberry friends"--Holly Golightly sings about hers in "Moon River," and the other three know Huckleberry Pie, Huckleberry Finn, and Huckleberry Hound, respectively. correct
