Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - September 21
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. What brief title is shared by an 1895 verse often voted as Britain's favorite poem, and a Bread song that went to #1 in the U.K. but not Stateside? 1895 ---> Kipling ---> If
2. According to one contemporary source, whose famous last words may actually have been "I think it the duty of every good officer to obey any orders given him by his Commander-in-Chief"? someone who did not obey orders given him by the CIC. Douglas MacArthur? Fletcher Christian? Commander-in-Chief does not sound like 18th century Brit-speak so I will guess MacArthur.
3. In July 1997, who was murdered in Miami and buried in Milan, a funeral watched by millions of viewers worldwide? Gianni Versace
4. Who was the final player chosen in the inaugural draft of the Israel Baseball League in 2007, by a team manager who argued, "It's been 41 years between starts for him"? Sandy Koufax
5. What's the only Best Picture-winning film based directly on newspaper articles, a series of New York Sun pieces that prefix the film's title with the word "Crime"? I worked for a while on this one. The NY Sun is not a contemporary paper. So I thought back to movies from the 30s, 40s and 50s. This is my best guess (Crime) On The Waterfront.
6. What is made up of units called nucleotides? strands of DNA
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these world leaders, past and present? Australia's Julia Gillard, Canada's John A. MacDonald, Germany's Adolf Hitler, Greece's George Papandreou, Ireland's Eamon de Valera, and Israel's Shimon Peres. One common thread (assuming that KJ means Papandreou the grandson) - each was born outside the country that he/she led/leads.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What 2010 film borrowed its title from a 1979 rockumentary, but fixed a spelling error in the title? I was a big fan of The Kids Are All Right, the recent unconventional-family dramedy with Annnete Bening and Julianne Moore. The title, of course, is a nod to the Who song and film, which I thought was just alright. correct
2. What part of the body is described with the word "vermiform"? Vermiform means worm-shaped, and is the official way to refer to your vermiform appendix. I just realized that I used a very similar question last March--oops. I think that might be the first accidental repeat in Tuesday Trivia history. Alex remembered that KJ had asked this before
3. At the time of the U.S. Civil War, what was by far the most populous city in the Confederacy? In 1860, New Orleans had almost 170,000 residents, making it more than four times as large as Charleston or Richmond. correct
4. What TV show again had the highest average Nielsen rating during the 2009-10 season for the sixth time, beating All in the Family's record of five straight Nielsen-leading seasons? American Idol, of course. Norman Lear would be rolling over in his grave, except that he's still alive. correct
5. Stephen Dedalus is the "Telemachus" figure in what influential 1922 novel? Telemachus was the son of Odysseus in Greek myth, and Stephen Dedalus was the protagonist of James Joyce's first novel. If you knew either of these facts, I hoped you'd figure out that this question referred to Ulysses. correct
6. What object appears in the official symbols of both Freemasonry and Rand McNally? A compass--not the magnetic-north-pointy kind, oddly enough, but the circle-drawing kind. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these famous people? Fred Astaire, David Beckham, Mariah Carey, Bette Davis, Jimmy Durante, Liberace, Dolly Parton, Troy Polamalu, Keith Richards, and Bruce Springsteen. All sought career protection--and loads of publicity, more importantly--by having some iconic part of their body insured, whether their hair or legs or fingers or voicebox or, uh, elsewhere. good get, Alex
1. What brief title is shared by an 1895 verse often voted as Britain's favorite poem, and a Bread song that went to #1 in the U.K. but not Stateside? 1895 ---> Kipling ---> If
2. According to one contemporary source, whose famous last words may actually have been "I think it the duty of every good officer to obey any orders given him by his Commander-in-Chief"? someone who did not obey orders given him by the CIC. Douglas MacArthur? Fletcher Christian? Commander-in-Chief does not sound like 18th century Brit-speak so I will guess MacArthur.
3. In July 1997, who was murdered in Miami and buried in Milan, a funeral watched by millions of viewers worldwide? Gianni Versace
4. Who was the final player chosen in the inaugural draft of the Israel Baseball League in 2007, by a team manager who argued, "It's been 41 years between starts for him"? Sandy Koufax
5. What's the only Best Picture-winning film based directly on newspaper articles, a series of New York Sun pieces that prefix the film's title with the word "Crime"? I worked for a while on this one. The NY Sun is not a contemporary paper. So I thought back to movies from the 30s, 40s and 50s. This is my best guess (Crime) On The Waterfront.
6. What is made up of units called nucleotides? strands of DNA
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these world leaders, past and present? Australia's Julia Gillard, Canada's John A. MacDonald, Germany's Adolf Hitler, Greece's George Papandreou, Ireland's Eamon de Valera, and Israel's Shimon Peres. One common thread (assuming that KJ means Papandreou the grandson) - each was born outside the country that he/she led/leads.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What 2010 film borrowed its title from a 1979 rockumentary, but fixed a spelling error in the title? I was a big fan of The Kids Are All Right, the recent unconventional-family dramedy with Annnete Bening and Julianne Moore. The title, of course, is a nod to the Who song and film, which I thought was just alright. correct
2. What part of the body is described with the word "vermiform"? Vermiform means worm-shaped, and is the official way to refer to your vermiform appendix. I just realized that I used a very similar question last March--oops. I think that might be the first accidental repeat in Tuesday Trivia history. Alex remembered that KJ had asked this before
3. At the time of the U.S. Civil War, what was by far the most populous city in the Confederacy? In 1860, New Orleans had almost 170,000 residents, making it more than four times as large as Charleston or Richmond. correct
4. What TV show again had the highest average Nielsen rating during the 2009-10 season for the sixth time, beating All in the Family's record of five straight Nielsen-leading seasons? American Idol, of course. Norman Lear would be rolling over in his grave, except that he's still alive. correct
5. Stephen Dedalus is the "Telemachus" figure in what influential 1922 novel? Telemachus was the son of Odysseus in Greek myth, and Stephen Dedalus was the protagonist of James Joyce's first novel. If you knew either of these facts, I hoped you'd figure out that this question referred to Ulysses. correct
6. What object appears in the official symbols of both Freemasonry and Rand McNally? A compass--not the magnetic-north-pointy kind, oddly enough, but the circle-drawing kind. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these famous people? Fred Astaire, David Beckham, Mariah Carey, Bette Davis, Jimmy Durante, Liberace, Dolly Parton, Troy Polamalu, Keith Richards, and Bruce Springsteen. All sought career protection--and loads of publicity, more importantly--by having some iconic part of their body insured, whether their hair or legs or fingers or voicebox or, uh, elsewhere. good get, Alex
