Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - June 1
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. What long-running show is currently being broadcast from the Ryman Auditorium, after recent flooding damaged its famous home? The Grand Ole Opry
2. What town in southwest France is, appropriately enough, home to a museum dedicated to birth control devices? Is there a French town whose initials are IUD? Might be Lourdes because of its association with the Virgin Mary. If so, I am not sure that I like the clue very well. To my understanding the immaculate conception did not involve birth control devices.
3. What iconic newspaperman is pictured on the Pulitzer Prize medal? Um. Wouldn't it be Joseph Pulitzer? I don't think it is William Randolph Hearst or Otis Chandler or Rupert Murdoch.
4. In what two Best Picture Oscar-winning films does a young boy wind up in the filth under an outhouse? Slumdog Millionaire - for sure. I have not seen several of the other recent winners - Hurt Locker or The Departed or Million Dollar Baby. Maybe Oliver? Gandhi?
5. Which Winter Olympics sport is the only Olympic discipline in which only men can compete? ski jumping. This is very controversial. On some hills, women in their competitions have jumped further than the men in theirs.
6. What nation almost lost its only access to the Atlantic Ocean during the Beagle Channel dispute of the 1970s? HMS Beagle --> Darwin. Makes me think of a South American country. Chile
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these animals? Beetles, chameleons, jackals, kangaroos, lizards, octopi, pumas, rhinoceroses, scorpions, vultures.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. Which two 2008 U.S. presidential hopefuls each had a great-grandfather with five wives? Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. If there's one thing Utah has in common with East Africa--besides the lack of decent sushi--it's a history of polygamy. correct
2. "Demerara" is the name for one brown type of what common substance? Demerara, named for the Guyana colony that first produced it, is a kind of sugar. correct
3. What country's name and flag appear prominently on the Space Shuttle's mechanical arm? A big maple leaf appears on the "Canadarm," Canada's most prominent contribution to the U.S. space program (apart from the lifetime supply of maply syrup they awarded Neil Armstrong). A good guess
4. What Baseball Hall of Famer wrote the autobiography "Say Hey"? Willie Mays was, of course, the "Say Hey Kid." correct
5. In 1958 and 1978, respectively, what father-son duo won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series? Carl Reiner won the 1958 one for letting Sid Caesar yell at him, and Rob Reiner won the 1978 one for letting Archie Bunker yell at him. correct
6. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands contain the southernmost point of what country? The Andaman Sea is southeast of India, whose southernmost point is Indira Point in the Nicobar Islands, named for former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi. Indira Point - that would have helped a lot.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these movies? City Lights, Eraserhead, Flags of Our Fathers, Halloween, House of 1000 Corpses, Leaving Las Vegas, The Others, Spy Kids. They all had soundtracks by Rob Zombie. Wait, that's not right. They all had soundtracks composed by the director--in one case, Rob Zombie, but Clint Eastwood, Charlie Chaplin, John Carpenter, Mike Figgis, David Lynch, et. al. also dabble in music.
1. What long-running show is currently being broadcast from the Ryman Auditorium, after recent flooding damaged its famous home? The Grand Ole Opry
2. What town in southwest France is, appropriately enough, home to a museum dedicated to birth control devices? Is there a French town whose initials are IUD? Might be Lourdes because of its association with the Virgin Mary. If so, I am not sure that I like the clue very well. To my understanding the immaculate conception did not involve birth control devices.
3. What iconic newspaperman is pictured on the Pulitzer Prize medal? Um. Wouldn't it be Joseph Pulitzer? I don't think it is William Randolph Hearst or Otis Chandler or Rupert Murdoch.
4. In what two Best Picture Oscar-winning films does a young boy wind up in the filth under an outhouse? Slumdog Millionaire - for sure. I have not seen several of the other recent winners - Hurt Locker or The Departed or Million Dollar Baby. Maybe Oliver? Gandhi?
5. Which Winter Olympics sport is the only Olympic discipline in which only men can compete? ski jumping. This is very controversial. On some hills, women in their competitions have jumped further than the men in theirs.
6. What nation almost lost its only access to the Atlantic Ocean during the Beagle Channel dispute of the 1970s? HMS Beagle --> Darwin. Makes me think of a South American country. Chile
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these animals? Beetles, chameleons, jackals, kangaroos, lizards, octopi, pumas, rhinoceroses, scorpions, vultures.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. Which two 2008 U.S. presidential hopefuls each had a great-grandfather with five wives? Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. If there's one thing Utah has in common with East Africa--besides the lack of decent sushi--it's a history of polygamy. correct
2. "Demerara" is the name for one brown type of what common substance? Demerara, named for the Guyana colony that first produced it, is a kind of sugar. correct
3. What country's name and flag appear prominently on the Space Shuttle's mechanical arm? A big maple leaf appears on the "Canadarm," Canada's most prominent contribution to the U.S. space program (apart from the lifetime supply of maply syrup they awarded Neil Armstrong). A good guess
4. What Baseball Hall of Famer wrote the autobiography "Say Hey"? Willie Mays was, of course, the "Say Hey Kid." correct
5. In 1958 and 1978, respectively, what father-son duo won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series? Carl Reiner won the 1958 one for letting Sid Caesar yell at him, and Rob Reiner won the 1978 one for letting Archie Bunker yell at him. correct
6. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands contain the southernmost point of what country? The Andaman Sea is southeast of India, whose southernmost point is Indira Point in the Nicobar Islands, named for former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi. Indira Point - that would have helped a lot.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these movies? City Lights, Eraserhead, Flags of Our Fathers, Halloween, House of 1000 Corpses, Leaving Las Vegas, The Others, Spy Kids. They all had soundtracks by Rob Zombie. Wait, that's not right. They all had soundtracks composed by the director--in one case, Rob Zombie, but Clint Eastwood, Charlie Chaplin, John Carpenter, Mike Figgis, David Lynch, et. al. also dabble in music.
