Thursday, April 05, 2012
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - April 3
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. What artist calls her fans Little Monsters, a nod to her 2009 album The Fame Monster? I don't know the term or the album so I will have to guess. Lady Gaga?
2. Oyster, hedgehog, lobster, and abalone are, besides being animals, all types of what food? mushrooms
3. What historical event led to the summer months being renamed Messidor, Thermidor, and Fructidor? When was Gryffendor? Shouldn't the 8th month be called Humidor? hahaha. But seriously. The summer months as we know them already have Roman names - July (Julius Caesar); August (Caesar Augustus). Were Messidor, Thermidor, Fructidor perhaps the names of the months during Greek times? But they appear to have Latin roots. I am very confused.
4. The 2010 book Sterling's Gold, collecting the title character's "Wit and Wisdom," is a spinoff of what TV show? Roger Sterling --> Mad Men
5. What classic 1916 stage comedy ends with the author's note that "Galatea never does quite like" the title character, since "his relation to her is too godlike to be altogether agreeable"? What playwrights were active in 1916? Too late for Wilde. Shaw or O'Neill. O'Neill wrote a comedy? I don't think so. Galatea is probably an important clue. A figure from Greek mythology perhaps? Shaw comedy - not Saint Joan or Picture of Dorian Gray. Oh of course! Pygmalion.
6. From 1960 to 1973, who won 24 women's singles tennis Grand Slam titles, still a lifetime record? Margaret Court
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these countries? Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, Malaysia, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United States. Full disclosure that I accidentally saw the answer. The countries that have been the home of the world's tallest buildings throughout history.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. The star of what current TV show is also one half of the musical duo She & Him? New Girl's Zooey Deschanel is the "She" of She & Him. M. Ward, the "Him," doesn't have a show yet, but I would love to see him as the rookie cop partner in some Law & Order spinoff. correct
2. What airplane first did essentially the same thing that the plane called Bockscar also did three days later? Bockscar dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. The name of the plane that dropped the Hiroshima bomb was Enola Gay, named for the pilot's mother. Wow, talk about a mixed compliment for your mom. I don't believe that I ever knew the name of the other plane.
3. In medieval fables, what kind of animal is Chanticleer? He's a rooster, the sworn enemy of Reynard the Fox. correct
4. Of the forty performers who have won acting Oscars since 2002, who was the only one who didn't give an acceptance speech? Heath Ledger, for reasons you can probably figure out in hindsight. duh, of course
5. What unit of computer memory contains one thousand gigabytes? That's a terabyte. I look forward to many earnest emails informing me that a terabyte actually has 1,024 terabytes. Yeah yeah yeah. Both definitions are true. correct
6. What nickname did William Calhoun use as one of the biggest pro wrestling stars of the 1950s and 1960s? He had a country-boy gimmick and was named "Haystack(s)" Calhoun. Not sure if he was as tall as a haystack, or had a needle hidden in him, or hobos slept on him, or what. my $0.02 - this is a terrible question. Obscure sport and obscure figure in that sport. Might as well ask about bullfighting or roller derby.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these songs? "The Bad Touch" by the Bloodhound Gang, "Beautiful Day" by U2, "Born to Die" by Lana Del Rey, "Come Back to Me" by Janet Jackson, "Justify My Love" by Madonna, "Let's Make Love" by Faith Hill, "Nice & Slow" by Usher, "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinead O'Connor, "Say (All I Need)" by OneRepublic, "Someone Like You" by Adele. Their videos were all shot in Paris. correct!
1. What artist calls her fans Little Monsters, a nod to her 2009 album The Fame Monster? I don't know the term or the album so I will have to guess. Lady Gaga?
2. Oyster, hedgehog, lobster, and abalone are, besides being animals, all types of what food? mushrooms
3. What historical event led to the summer months being renamed Messidor, Thermidor, and Fructidor? When was Gryffendor? Shouldn't the 8th month be called Humidor? hahaha. But seriously. The summer months as we know them already have Roman names - July (Julius Caesar); August (Caesar Augustus). Were Messidor, Thermidor, Fructidor perhaps the names of the months during Greek times? But they appear to have Latin roots. I am very confused.
4. The 2010 book Sterling's Gold, collecting the title character's "Wit and Wisdom," is a spinoff of what TV show? Roger Sterling --> Mad Men
5. What classic 1916 stage comedy ends with the author's note that "Galatea never does quite like" the title character, since "his relation to her is too godlike to be altogether agreeable"? What playwrights were active in 1916? Too late for Wilde. Shaw or O'Neill. O'Neill wrote a comedy? I don't think so. Galatea is probably an important clue. A figure from Greek mythology perhaps? Shaw comedy - not Saint Joan or Picture of Dorian Gray. Oh of course! Pygmalion.
6. From 1960 to 1973, who won 24 women's singles tennis Grand Slam titles, still a lifetime record? Margaret Court
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these countries? Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, Malaysia, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United States. Full disclosure that I accidentally saw the answer. The countries that have been the home of the world's tallest buildings throughout history.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. The star of what current TV show is also one half of the musical duo She & Him? New Girl's Zooey Deschanel is the "She" of She & Him. M. Ward, the "Him," doesn't have a show yet, but I would love to see him as the rookie cop partner in some Law & Order spinoff. correct
2. What airplane first did essentially the same thing that the plane called Bockscar also did three days later? Bockscar dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. The name of the plane that dropped the Hiroshima bomb was Enola Gay, named for the pilot's mother. Wow, talk about a mixed compliment for your mom. I don't believe that I ever knew the name of the other plane.
3. In medieval fables, what kind of animal is Chanticleer? He's a rooster, the sworn enemy of Reynard the Fox. correct
4. Of the forty performers who have won acting Oscars since 2002, who was the only one who didn't give an acceptance speech? Heath Ledger, for reasons you can probably figure out in hindsight. duh, of course
5. What unit of computer memory contains one thousand gigabytes? That's a terabyte. I look forward to many earnest emails informing me that a terabyte actually has 1,024 terabytes. Yeah yeah yeah. Both definitions are true. correct
6. What nickname did William Calhoun use as one of the biggest pro wrestling stars of the 1950s and 1960s? He had a country-boy gimmick and was named "Haystack(s)" Calhoun. Not sure if he was as tall as a haystack, or had a needle hidden in him, or hobos slept on him, or what. my $0.02 - this is a terrible question. Obscure sport and obscure figure in that sport. Might as well ask about bullfighting or roller derby.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these songs? "The Bad Touch" by the Bloodhound Gang, "Beautiful Day" by U2, "Born to Die" by Lana Del Rey, "Come Back to Me" by Janet Jackson, "Justify My Love" by Madonna, "Let's Make Love" by Faith Hill, "Nice & Slow" by Usher, "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinead O'Connor, "Say (All I Need)" by OneRepublic, "Someone Like You" by Adele. Their videos were all shot in Paris. correct!
