Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - December 8
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. From what language did English borrow the word "sauna"? My first instinct would be to guess Finnish. But Sana is the capital of Yemen. Sauna is close to Sana. Sauna is not Arabic, is it? I just cannot think of saunas in the middle east where it already is hot as can be.
2. What U.S. state was the original setting for the TV shows The Fugitive, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, and Parks and Recreation? I don't know about The Fugitive and Jeff Foxworthy, but I believe that Parks and Recreation is set in Iowa
3. Qin Shi Huangdi was the first man ever to hold what title? Chinese history. Jerome would know this for sure. Was Qin Shi Huangdi the first emperor? That's the only title that makes sense since Mao was the first to hold all important titles in modern China.
4. What unusual object, a calling card of the Lone Ranger, was also used to kill Lon Chaney's character in a 1944 movie? a silver bullet
5. The first chalkboards hung in classrooms were made of what mineral? Slate is a rock that is made up of a number of minerals. Is it considered a mineral itself? What about shale? Similar to slate.
6. Who sang "Take My Hand, Precious Lord," at Martin Luther King's 1968 funeral, and then had it sung at her own 1972 funeral by Aretha Franklin? When did Billie Holliday pass away? That cannot be right because Diana Ross played her in a movie in 1971 or 72. Dinah Washington? Josephine Baker? Maybe someone who was not African American like Judy Garland? What did KJ just see that might have inspired this question?
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these nations, in this order? Panama, Mexico, France, Great Britain, Italy, Vatican City, Belgium, Canada, Cuba, Haiti, Colombia.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What military unit was named in 1898 after the members of Buffalo Bill's famous Wild West show? I hoped the year might help you pin this down to the Spanish-American War: Teddy Roosevelt's famed cavalry unit from San Juan Hill was named for Buffalo Bill's "Rough Riders." correct
2. The address of Turner Field, where the Braves play, is what appropriate number on Hank Aaron Drive? I figured baseball fans would know to guess "755" for this one, since Hammering Hank's record* career home run total makes marginally more sense than "714" (the number of Aaron's Babe-beating homer) or "44" (his retired Braves uniform number). correct
3. The Tora Bora mountains lie on the border between what two countries? Afghanistan and Pakistan--and they were back in the news last week, again for what coalition troops were unable to do there back in 2001. correct
4. What can be "gibbous" when it isn't full? "Gibbous" means "bulging," especially in the case of a planetary body more than halfway lit by its sun. Technically any of the planets can be gibbous from Earth, but if you can see that, your eyes are better than mine. Generally it's the gibbous moon we talk about, when it's somewhere between half and full. correct
5. What director of a hit 1984 sci-fi film also played the title character, despite not being listed in the opening cast credits? For some reason, we watched this over Thanksgiving, and the question occurred to me. Leonard Nimoy is NOT in the opening cast list of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, presumably to keep some pretense of suspense about the ending. Spoilers: they find him. I just do not think of the Star Trek movies when I read "sci-fi." The whole franchise seems too mainstream at this point. A blind spot, I guess.
6. What British music star did fashion critic Mr. Blackwell describe as "Exploding beehives above...tacky polka-dots below...part 50's car-hop horror" in his final worst-dressed list, in 2008? Amy Winehouse took third place on the list for her carhop look...Victoria Beckham was first, if I remember right. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these classic books? Breakfast of Champions, Flatland, The Hobbit, The Little Prince, The Prophet, Songs of Innocence and Experience, Trilby, Vanity Fair. They were all published with illustrations by the author. In some cases, these were just authors scribbling with a fountain pen, like Vonnegut. Others had genuine talent, like Blake. Thackeray is an interesting case--he illustrated all his own novels, but started out as an artist. He didn't even turn to long fiction until after Charles Dickens had turned him down as an artist--he had hoped to illustrate Dickens' early novels, like The Pickwick Papers. It would have helped if I had gone to a library to actually see these works.
1. From what language did English borrow the word "sauna"? My first instinct would be to guess Finnish. But Sana is the capital of Yemen. Sauna is close to Sana. Sauna is not Arabic, is it? I just cannot think of saunas in the middle east where it already is hot as can be.
2. What U.S. state was the original setting for the TV shows The Fugitive, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, and Parks and Recreation? I don't know about The Fugitive and Jeff Foxworthy, but I believe that Parks and Recreation is set in Iowa
3. Qin Shi Huangdi was the first man ever to hold what title? Chinese history. Jerome would know this for sure. Was Qin Shi Huangdi the first emperor? That's the only title that makes sense since Mao was the first to hold all important titles in modern China.
4. What unusual object, a calling card of the Lone Ranger, was also used to kill Lon Chaney's character in a 1944 movie? a silver bullet
5. The first chalkboards hung in classrooms were made of what mineral? Slate is a rock that is made up of a number of minerals. Is it considered a mineral itself? What about shale? Similar to slate.
6. Who sang "Take My Hand, Precious Lord," at Martin Luther King's 1968 funeral, and then had it sung at her own 1972 funeral by Aretha Franklin? When did Billie Holliday pass away? That cannot be right because Diana Ross played her in a movie in 1971 or 72. Dinah Washington? Josephine Baker? Maybe someone who was not African American like Judy Garland? What did KJ just see that might have inspired this question?
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these nations, in this order? Panama, Mexico, France, Great Britain, Italy, Vatican City, Belgium, Canada, Cuba, Haiti, Colombia.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What military unit was named in 1898 after the members of Buffalo Bill's famous Wild West show? I hoped the year might help you pin this down to the Spanish-American War: Teddy Roosevelt's famed cavalry unit from San Juan Hill was named for Buffalo Bill's "Rough Riders." correct
2. The address of Turner Field, where the Braves play, is what appropriate number on Hank Aaron Drive? I figured baseball fans would know to guess "755" for this one, since Hammering Hank's record* career home run total makes marginally more sense than "714" (the number of Aaron's Babe-beating homer) or "44" (his retired Braves uniform number). correct
3. The Tora Bora mountains lie on the border between what two countries? Afghanistan and Pakistan--and they were back in the news last week, again for what coalition troops were unable to do there back in 2001. correct
4. What can be "gibbous" when it isn't full? "Gibbous" means "bulging," especially in the case of a planetary body more than halfway lit by its sun. Technically any of the planets can be gibbous from Earth, but if you can see that, your eyes are better than mine. Generally it's the gibbous moon we talk about, when it's somewhere between half and full. correct
5. What director of a hit 1984 sci-fi film also played the title character, despite not being listed in the opening cast credits? For some reason, we watched this over Thanksgiving, and the question occurred to me. Leonard Nimoy is NOT in the opening cast list of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, presumably to keep some pretense of suspense about the ending. Spoilers: they find him. I just do not think of the Star Trek movies when I read "sci-fi." The whole franchise seems too mainstream at this point. A blind spot, I guess.
6. What British music star did fashion critic Mr. Blackwell describe as "Exploding beehives above...tacky polka-dots below...part 50's car-hop horror" in his final worst-dressed list, in 2008? Amy Winehouse took third place on the list for her carhop look...Victoria Beckham was first, if I remember right. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these classic books? Breakfast of Champions, Flatland, The Hobbit, The Little Prince, The Prophet, Songs of Innocence and Experience, Trilby, Vanity Fair. They were all published with illustrations by the author. In some cases, these were just authors scribbling with a fountain pen, like Vonnegut. Others had genuine talent, like Blake. Thackeray is an interesting case--he illustrated all his own novels, but started out as an artist. He didn't even turn to long fiction until after Charles Dickens had turned him down as an artist--he had hoped to illustrate Dickens' early novels, like The Pickwick Papers. It would have helped if I had gone to a library to actually see these works.
