Monday, December 12, 2011
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - December 6
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. HBO's In Treatment and Showtime's Homeland are both based on TV series from what foreign--but not European--country? I don't know either of these shows since I don't have pay cable. Australia?
2. How many basic positions of the feet are there in classical ballet? 5
3. What war is referred to by its other participants as the "6/25 Upheaval," the "Fatherland Liberation War," and the "War to Resist U.S. Aggression"? "Participants" plural? The Iraq War started in March, not June. Resist US Aggression sounds Western Hemisphere-ish, like Cuba. Spanish-American War?
4. According to a once-popular myth, oysters could only be eaten in months containing what letter in their names? "R"
5. What river is dammed by the Hoover Dam? Colorado
6. What Broadway hit was named for a fanciful figure painted by Marc Chagall on a mural at the Moscow State Yiddish Theater in 1920? Fiddler on the Roof
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these songs? "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down," "A Better Man," "Crush on You," "Earth Angel," "Hotel California," "(I'm) Stranded," "Indian Reservation," "It's Too Soon to Know," "Lies," "My Boyfriend's Back." All were recorded by bands whose names are sports nicknames - Eagles, Saints, Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Mavericks, etc.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What annual sports event is nicknamed "the Frozen Four"? The NCAA hockey championships. Get it? Like the Final Four? Only on ice? And no one ever watches or makes office brackets? correct
2. What is the national fruit of China, despite its close association in the West with a different nationality? The kiwifruit got its new name in the 1950s as a marketing gimmick. Before that, it was the "Chinese gooseberry." correct
3. Who was the first U.S. president voted for by women nationwide, leading critics of suffrage to claim that his good looks had won him the election? You know who's hot? Warren G. Harding. Coolidge, Harding - who can tell the difference?
4. What organization uses an E-meter in its auditing? Would you rather be audited by the IRS or the Church of Scientology? It's a tough call. correct
5. What Iberian dance, mentioned in a Queen song, also provided the original title for Maurice Ravel's Bolero? Scaramouche, Scaramouche, can you do the fandango? It's a dance about buying movie tickets on the Internet. correct
6. Besides white, what color is on every national flag of Central America? Most have red, but ALL have blue. I had a 50-50 shot at this and missed. MM22 knew it.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these actors? Roberto Benigni, Kate Capshaw, Johnny Depp, Hugh Grant, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Lee, Rebecca Pidgeon, Meg Ryan. All have played booksellers in the movies! For completists, the films are Life Is Beautiful, The Love Letter, The Ninth Gate, Notting Hill, 84 Charing Cross Road, Hugo, State and Main, and You've Got Mail. Why are all these movies post-1985? Didn't movie bookstores exist before the mid-'80s? (Don't say Dorothy Malone in The Big Sleep. She didn't own the shop, she was just filling in. Ditto for Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face.) If Jennifer Aniston was on the list, I definitely would have guessed that they were waitresses. She has played a lot of them. But I don't know the booksellers very well.
1. HBO's In Treatment and Showtime's Homeland are both based on TV series from what foreign--but not European--country? I don't know either of these shows since I don't have pay cable. Australia?
2. How many basic positions of the feet are there in classical ballet? 5
3. What war is referred to by its other participants as the "6/25 Upheaval," the "Fatherland Liberation War," and the "War to Resist U.S. Aggression"? "Participants" plural? The Iraq War started in March, not June. Resist US Aggression sounds Western Hemisphere-ish, like Cuba. Spanish-American War?
4. According to a once-popular myth, oysters could only be eaten in months containing what letter in their names? "R"
5. What river is dammed by the Hoover Dam? Colorado
6. What Broadway hit was named for a fanciful figure painted by Marc Chagall on a mural at the Moscow State Yiddish Theater in 1920? Fiddler on the Roof
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these songs? "All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down," "A Better Man," "Crush on You," "Earth Angel," "Hotel California," "(I'm) Stranded," "Indian Reservation," "It's Too Soon to Know," "Lies," "My Boyfriend's Back." All were recorded by bands whose names are sports nicknames - Eagles, Saints, Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Mavericks, etc.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What annual sports event is nicknamed "the Frozen Four"? The NCAA hockey championships. Get it? Like the Final Four? Only on ice? And no one ever watches or makes office brackets? correct
2. What is the national fruit of China, despite its close association in the West with a different nationality? The kiwifruit got its new name in the 1950s as a marketing gimmick. Before that, it was the "Chinese gooseberry." correct
3. Who was the first U.S. president voted for by women nationwide, leading critics of suffrage to claim that his good looks had won him the election? You know who's hot? Warren G. Harding. Coolidge, Harding - who can tell the difference?
4. What organization uses an E-meter in its auditing? Would you rather be audited by the IRS or the Church of Scientology? It's a tough call. correct
5. What Iberian dance, mentioned in a Queen song, also provided the original title for Maurice Ravel's Bolero? Scaramouche, Scaramouche, can you do the fandango? It's a dance about buying movie tickets on the Internet. correct
6. Besides white, what color is on every national flag of Central America? Most have red, but ALL have blue. I had a 50-50 shot at this and missed. MM22 knew it.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these actors? Roberto Benigni, Kate Capshaw, Johnny Depp, Hugh Grant, Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Lee, Rebecca Pidgeon, Meg Ryan. All have played booksellers in the movies! For completists, the films are Life Is Beautiful, The Love Letter, The Ninth Gate, Notting Hill, 84 Charing Cross Road, Hugo, State and Main, and You've Got Mail. Why are all these movies post-1985? Didn't movie bookstores exist before the mid-'80s? (Don't say Dorothy Malone in The Big Sleep. She didn't own the shop, she was just filling in. Ditto for Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face.) If Jennifer Aniston was on the list, I definitely would have guessed that they were waitresses. She has played a lot of them. But I don't know the booksellers very well.
