Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - March 16
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. Which two signs of the Zodiac have names that come from Latin plurals? my own (Gemini) and Pisces. What would the singular of each be? With a little research - piscis and geminis
2. Chen Kenichi, Yutaka Ishinabe, Masahiko Kobe, and Rokusaburo Michiba were the first four men to hold what TV title? Iron Chef
3. In what appropriately-named Tom Hanks movie does Dr. J have a cameo? Dr J was a longtime 76er -- > Philadelphia
4. When air-breathing divers get "the bends," the culprit is bubbles of what gas? nitrogen
5. "Klondike" is the specific name for the most popular form of what card game? can't be poker. Gin rummy? Pinochle? Klondike sounds like Alaska gold rush but that does not evoke any card games.
6. What historical event was led, from 1483 to 1498, by Tomas de Torquemada? nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! (what an easy set up)
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these famous people? Ludwig van Beethoven, Jean Cocteau, Archduke Ferdinand, Brian Jones, H. P. Lovecraft, Harvey Milk, Natalie Portman, Babe Ruth, Jean Paul Sartre, Andy Warhol.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. In what field of the entertainment industry does a "roustabout" work? "Roustabouts" just SOUND like sex workers. They're actually circus laborers. It's a glamorous life, what with all the sawdust and elephant pee and whatnot. In LA, "the entertainment industry" generally implies TV, movies, music, not the circus.
2. What piece of fruit did Andy Warhol put on the cover of the rock album The Velvet Underground & Nico? It's the most famous banana in the history of rock.
3. Who was the only U.S. president to appoint more than one Chief Justice to the Supreme Court? A tough one, since everyone forgets about the pre-Marshall Chief Justices. George Washington nominated no less than four Chief Justices, though one (William Cushing) declined. I remembered John Jay, the 1st Chief Justice, but I did not know that there were others before John Marshall.
4. By what nickname is TV's Mike Sorrentino now better known? Down on the Jersey Shore, they call him "The Situation." Or so and his abs would have us believe... I am so over Jersey Shore trivia. Can we please move on? Let's go. Nothing to see here. Keep moving.
5. What do you call an ellipse whose eccentricity is zero? BORING! Also, a circle. correct
6. What two rivers join forty miles northwest of Basra to form the Shatt-al-Arab? Since Basra is Iraq's major port, you might have guessed these to be the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, cradles of ancient civilization. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these movie directors? Bernardo Bertolucci, Roland Emmerich, Stanley Kubrick, Harold Ramis, Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, Wong Kar-Wai. Each directed a movie named for a year: 1900, 2012, 2001, Year One, 1492, 1941, and 2046, respectively. Kubrick's and Scott's names were semi-cheats, since both those movies had subtitles after the colon, but they're more commonly known by just the year. correct!
1. Which two signs of the Zodiac have names that come from Latin plurals? my own (Gemini) and Pisces. What would the singular of each be? With a little research - piscis and geminis
2. Chen Kenichi, Yutaka Ishinabe, Masahiko Kobe, and Rokusaburo Michiba were the first four men to hold what TV title? Iron Chef
3. In what appropriately-named Tom Hanks movie does Dr. J have a cameo? Dr J was a longtime 76er -- > Philadelphia
4. When air-breathing divers get "the bends," the culprit is bubbles of what gas? nitrogen
5. "Klondike" is the specific name for the most popular form of what card game? can't be poker. Gin rummy? Pinochle? Klondike sounds like Alaska gold rush but that does not evoke any card games.
6. What historical event was led, from 1483 to 1498, by Tomas de Torquemada? nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! (what an easy set up)
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these famous people? Ludwig van Beethoven, Jean Cocteau, Archduke Ferdinand, Brian Jones, H. P. Lovecraft, Harvey Milk, Natalie Portman, Babe Ruth, Jean Paul Sartre, Andy Warhol.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. In what field of the entertainment industry does a "roustabout" work? "Roustabouts" just SOUND like sex workers. They're actually circus laborers. It's a glamorous life, what with all the sawdust and elephant pee and whatnot. In LA, "the entertainment industry" generally implies TV, movies, music, not the circus.
2. What piece of fruit did Andy Warhol put on the cover of the rock album The Velvet Underground & Nico? It's the most famous banana in the history of rock.
3. Who was the only U.S. president to appoint more than one Chief Justice to the Supreme Court? A tough one, since everyone forgets about the pre-Marshall Chief Justices. George Washington nominated no less than four Chief Justices, though one (William Cushing) declined. I remembered John Jay, the 1st Chief Justice, but I did not know that there were others before John Marshall.
4. By what nickname is TV's Mike Sorrentino now better known? Down on the Jersey Shore, they call him "The Situation." Or so and his abs would have us believe... I am so over Jersey Shore trivia. Can we please move on? Let's go. Nothing to see here. Keep moving.
5. What do you call an ellipse whose eccentricity is zero? BORING! Also, a circle. correct
6. What two rivers join forty miles northwest of Basra to form the Shatt-al-Arab? Since Basra is Iraq's major port, you might have guessed these to be the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, cradles of ancient civilization. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these movie directors? Bernardo Bertolucci, Roland Emmerich, Stanley Kubrick, Harold Ramis, Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, Wong Kar-Wai. Each directed a movie named for a year: 1900, 2012, 2001, Year One, 1492, 1941, and 2046, respectively. Kubrick's and Scott's names were semi-cheats, since both those movies had subtitles after the colon, but they're more commonly known by just the year. correct!
