Friday, November 26, 2010

 

Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - November 23

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. What modern country was called the "jewel in the crown" of the British Empire? India
2. A month ago in Saitama, the last Japanese factory closed that was still producing what electronics product that debuted in 1979? Sony Walkman
3. The Freedonia Gazette was the longtime fan magazine devoted to what comedy team? Marx Brothers
4. Before 1913, the U.S. Department of Labor was a part of what other Cabinet-level department? Dept of Commerce?
5. The "Up Your Nose with a Rubber Hose" Game was a board game released in 1976 as a tie-in with what TV series? Welcome Back Kotter
6. What's the only currently married couple in which both partners have won all four events in tennis's Grand Slam? Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these birds, and no others? Bird of paradise, crane, crow, dove, eagle, peafowl, swan, and toucan. A guess - the male and female of the species have different names (e.g., cob vs. pen, peacock vs. peahen).

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. Since Switzerland joined the United Nations in 2002, what has become the only nonmember "permanent observer" state of the U.N.? The Vatican is still not a U.N. member, but it likes to watch. I am never certain what term to use to accurately describe the Vatican. Is it a state?
2. What product has recently advertised itself by coining new words like "Peanutopolis," "Satisfectellent," and "Hungerectomy"? Remember those ugly new words in the Snickers font in their ads? Would you want to eat something that was "Satisfectellent"? Ugh. It's feculent AND repellent! correct
3. What major North American sports team is planning a 2012 move from its current city to New York City, which will make it the first team to play in Brooklyn since the Dodgers moved? The New Jersey Nets are planning on becoming the New York Nets soon. correct
4. What substance was once classified into a "yellow" variety, actually a fossil resin, and a "gray" variety, actually a precious oil from sperm whales? The ancients thought that ambergris was literally "gray amber," a darker version of regular yellow amber. The ancients may have figured out trigonometry and stuff, but sometimes they could be just as dumb as we are. I guess that amber is correct. But I also learned from this question that amber is not the same as ambergris.
5. The Los Angeles Police Department retired its badge number 714 to honor the 1982 death of what TV actor? Jack Webb wore badge 714 as Joe Friday on Dragnet. correct
6. The Greek island of Patmos is home to a much-visited cave in which, according to tradition, what religious figure once lived? The Book of Revelation was supposedly written on Patmos, by none other than St. John, the apostle. We went through a lot of religious figures in trying to guess an answer but St John was not one of the possibilities I thought of. Guess I needed more clues.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these music acts and no others? Jimmy Buffett, the Grateful Dead, B. B. King, Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and now Pearl Jam? These are all the artists with their very own satellite radio station. Are there really Sirius or XM subscribers that want to hear 24 hours of Pearl Jam a day? Think how much weed you'd have to smoke to actually like the later albums. KMac got this. Was I misled in expecting to see Dylan on the list - http://www.xmradio.com/bobdylan/ ?

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

 

Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - November 16

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. Since Switzerland joined the United Nations in 2002, what has become the only nonmember "permanent observer" state of the U.N.? The Palestinian Authority?
2. What product has recently advertised itself by coining new words like "Peanutopolis," "Satisfectellent," and "Hungerectomy"? peanuts, satisfies, hunger ---> Snickers
3. What major North American sports team is planning a 2012 move from its current city to New York City, which will make it the first team to play in Brooklyn since the Dodgers moved? the NJ Nets
4. What substance was once classified into a "yellow" variety, actually a fossil resin, and a "gray" variety, actually a precious oil from sperm whales? fossil resin ---> amber
5. The Los Angeles Police Department retired its badge number 714 to honor the 1982 death of what TV actor? Jack Webb
6. The Greek island of Patmos is home to a much-visited cave in which, according to tradition, what religious figure once lived? don't know that I have heard of this before. Mohammad? Jesus? Abraham?
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these music acts and no others? Jimmy Buffett, the Grateful Dead, B. B. King, Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and now Pearl Jam? does this relate to awards? What has Pearl Jam done lately to be added to this list?

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What hero of the 2010 World Cup died last month in Oberhausen, Germany? Paul the amazing match-predicting octopus died at the ripe old (for octopi) age of two. He is survived by his American counterpart, Arnie the Point-Shaving Squid. correct
2. In the Rolling Stones song "Satisfaction," what type of product does the singer watch a TV commercial for? Well, the spokesperson tells Mick "how white (his) shirts could be," so I assume it's either detergent or bleach. I guess this is trivia. Even though I love music I am singularly uninterested in knowing the answer to this question
3. How many hours' difference is there between Pacific Standard Time and Atlantic Standard Time? A (very) little trick here: Atlantic Standard Time isn't the Eastern Seaboard time zone; that's Eastern Stanedard Time, of course. Atlantic Standard Time is one more zone eastward, mostly Newfoundland and some Caribbean islands, so it's four hours east of Pacific time. correct
4. What TV series recently replaced the "Welcome to" text in its credits with the phrase "Badly Titled"? Cougar Town flirted with changing its title to equally terrible alternatives like "The Cul de Sac" and "Neighborhooding" before deciding to stick with the cougar that brung 'em. Yawn
5. Five years of whose journal are often published under the title The Voyage of the Beagle? A young Charles Darwin was the naturalist aboard the HMS Beagle. correct
6. A recent study of ten thousand Facebook status updates revealed that what day of the year is the single least likely day for a relationship to break up? Christmas is the safest day of the year for relationships, but the run-up to Christmas is, along with the week after Valentine's Day, the the most popular season of the year for breakups. I think a more interesting question would have been the day of the year that is the likeliest for a break up
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these U.S. presidents, and no others? Arthur, Cleveland, Garfield, Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Hayes, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Taft? Not a hard one this week: these are all the presidents who wore facial hair in office. I'm not counting Bush 41's muttonchops, since it turns out those only existed in a dream I had once. Alex named that tune in one note

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

 

Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - November 9

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. What hero of the 2000 World Cup died last month in Oberhausen, Germany? Paul The Octopus who Has Merely Become More Powerful Than You Could Possibly Imagine
2. In the Rolling Stones song "Satisfaction," what type of product does the singer watch a TV commercial for?
3. How many hours' difference is there between Pacific Standard Time and Atlantic Standard Time? 4 hours. Atlantic is one hour east of Eastern
4. What TV series recently replaced the "Welcome to" text in its credits with the phrase "Badly Titled"? South Park? Or is this The Simpsons episode where Banksy did the opening credits?
5. Five years of whose journal are often published under the title The Voyage of the Beagle? Snoopy. No wait. Charles Darwin
6. A recent study of ten thousand Facebook status updates revealed that what day of the year is the single least likely day for a relationship to break up? holidays can be stressful for a relationship so the days around holidays like Valentine's Day, Xmas, Thanksgiving, Mother's Day, etc. might be more common for breakups. How about a nice non-stressful day like St. Patrick's Day.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these U.S. presidents, and no others? Arthur, Cleveland, Garfield, Grant, Benjamin Harrison, Hayes, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Taft? I'll admit that I am kind of bored with presidential trivia. Interesting that Benjamin Harrison is included but not William Henry and Teddy Roosevelt but not FDR.

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What does a "tasseomancer" read? The dregs at the bottom of a cup--most commonly tea leaves. "Tasse" is a French word for cup, as you might recall from the word "demitasse." correct
2. What music star's debut was a 2001 Christian pop album self-titled with her birth name, which she then changed to avoid confusion with actress Kate Hudson? Lots of guesses here for Jennifer Hudson, which I hadn't considered but is a great guess. The real Christian-pop veteran is none other than Katy Perry, nee "Katy Hudson." others thought as I did
3. "The Rise and Fall of" what public figure are being told in a new documentary titled Client 9? Former New York governor/prostitute connoisseur Eliot Spitzer. correct
4. What one river flows through the canyons for which two different U.S. national parks are named? The Colorado River forms the Grand Canyon, of course, but it also forms much of Canyonlands National Park in Utah. correct
5. Last month, the U.S. Senate voted to have the FCC regulate, for the first time, the volume of what? TV commercials will be getting quieter. Geico will be replacing their caveman with a librarian. correct
6. What *two* 1980 biopics reach their emotional climax with the protagonist bellowing, "I am not an animal!", despite both having animals in the titles? Weirdly, they're both black and white as well, a rarity in 1980. The movies are Raging Bull and The Elephant Man. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these athletes in the four major North American sports associations, and no others? Barry Bonds, Billy Burch, Wilt Chamberlain, Eddie Collins, LeBron James, Moses Malone, and Alex Rodriguez? These are all the athletes who switched teams while they were still a reigning league MVP. I had originally planned to include Wayne Gretzky, which I thought would make the question easier...only to discover that the year of The Trade was the one year Lemieux edged him out as MVP. Ah well. correct

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

 

Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - November 2

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. What does a "tasseomancer" read? tea leaves. Does "tasse" mean tea? Is that the origin for the company Tazo?
2. What music star's debut was a 2001 Christian pop album self-titled with her birth name, which she then changed to avoid confusion with actress Kate Hudson? Jennifer Hudson? did her career begin as early as 2001?
3. "The Rise and Fall of" what public figure are being told in a new documentary titled Client 9? Client 9 ---> Eliot Spitzer
4. What one river flows through the canyons for which two different U.S. national parks are named? Colorado? Grand Canyon and Canyonlands?
5. Last month, the U.S. Senate voted to have the FCC regulate, for the first time, the volume of what? it's the volume of either broadcast commercials or tv broadcasts. People have complained about being blasted when the volume changes from show to ad or vice versa
6. What *two* 1980 biopics reach their emotional climax with the protagonist bellowing, "I am not an animal!", despite both having animals in the titles? one I know - The Elephant Man. is the other Raging Bull? that came out in 1980
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these athletes in the four major North American sports associations, and no others? Barry Bonds, Billy Burch, Wilt Chamberlain, Eddie Collins, LeBron James, Moses Malone, and Alex Rodriguez? Is it a clue that there are no football players? Each of them notably jumped teams. Each has been successful and won awards, though not all have won championships (not yet, LeBron). Here is a potential pattern - win the MVP in the year before changing teams.

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What national capital is the oldest European-founded city in the Western Hemisphere? Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, founded by Christopher Columbus's brother in 1496. In hindsight, that was a pretty tough question...kudos if you knew it. Correct. Kudos to me. But this was not hard.
2. What actress wrote a 1987 memoir subtitled "How I Went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind"? Lindsay Lohan, weirdly. No, this a book called The Making of The African Queen, by Katharine Hepburn. correct
3. Kali is the consort of which Hindu god? Kali, the death goddess, spends a lot of time, as you might expect, hanging out with the destroyer god, Shiva. good get, Alex
4. Now that the Texas Rangers are in the World Series, name either of the two remaining major league teams that have never played in one. Residents of either Washington feel this one particularly keenly: the Mariners and the Nationals are the only teams with such a sad resume. correct
5. The annual Orionid and Eta Aquariid meteor showers owe their existence to what well-known astronomical body? Meteor showers are caused by the Earth passing through the tail of a comet, and in the case of these two showers, Halley's Comet is the culprit. I was thinking asteroids. I guess I should have thought of comets.
6. A person can be described as "tow-headed" if they are very what? Tow is an old-timey word for flax, so a towhead has very blond hair. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these albums? The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, Diamond Dogs by David Bowie, Hotel California by the Eagles, Like Water for Chocolate by Common, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel by Mariah Carey, Please by Pet Shop Boys, Seal II by Seal, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles, Solitude Standing by Suzanne Vega, A Song for You by the Carpenters. Each includes a "reprise" in its tracklist--in other words, the same song twice. correct

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?