Thursday, March 28, 2013
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - March 26
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. The Onyx River, a seasonal stream just twenty miles long, is the longest river found where? must be located somewhere remote that is usually dry or frozen. The Mojave Desert? Death Valley? Antarctica?
2. Which of the year's four seasons boasts more U.S. federal holidays than any other? I counted 4 in winter - Xmas, New Years, MLK, Presidents Day. I think this is more than fall (3), summer (2) and spring (1)
3. What Canadian is the only member of the Saturday Night Live house band ever to return to host the show? It's hard to imagine Neil Young as either a host or a band member. So trying to think of actors or performers rather than musicians. Was Jim Carrey ever in the house band?
4. The trigeminal, vagus, and hypoglossal are three of the body's twelve cranial what? nerves?
5. Over 50 U.S. kids caught salmonella in a mini-epidemic that resulted from imitating the crucial behavior in which Disney animated film? kissing a frog? From The Princess And the Frog? I don't think eating an apple like Snow White did would be problematic because it is everyday behavior. Kissing a frog is a little out of the ordinary.
6. What word, recently much in the news, come from the Latin for "with a key," because of its association with a locked room? sequester
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these U.S. states (and one district) in this order, and no others? New York, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, Vermont, Texas. Questions like this often relate to the the plot of a specific movie or book. But nothing comes to mind.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. Athol Fugard, Alan Paton, J. M. Coetzee, and Nadine Gordimer are among the most respected writers ever to hail from what country? They all criticized the apartheid-era policies of their homeland, the Union of South Africa. correct
2. What achievement in baseball can be statistically nullified if the scorekeeper rules "defensive indifference"? You can't officially steal a base if the catcher (or another fielder) didn't care enough to try to throw you out. correct
3. What Cree Indian food staple was usually made by combining equal quantities of dried venison and melted fat? That's how you make pemmican. Mmmm. Pemmican. correct
4. What song topped the British pop charts throughout January 1981, despite having been originally released almost a decade earlier? "Imagine" had its greatest chart success not upon initial release, but ten years later after the assassination of John Lennon. correct!
5. The 2013 OfficeMax/Office Depot merger makes the new company the largest in its space. What company is now #2? Take that, Staples. correct
6. Below fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine on the periodic table sits what heaviest halogen, the rarest naturally occurring element on Earth? (If you don't count a few stray atoms of berkelium, that is.) There's probably only a single ounce of the element astatine in the Earth's crust at any given time. not sure that I would know that unless I had just spent a year in a class staring at the periodic table each day
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these books? The Bad News Bears, The Children of Men, The City of Ember, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Gangs of New York, The Silver Linings Playbook, The War of the Worlds. Each lost the leading "The" for a later movie adaptation. I'm sure there are other examples of this--can anyone name any? "Life of Pi" was always "Life of Pi," by the way. so obvious and yet I missed it
1. The Onyx River, a seasonal stream just twenty miles long, is the longest river found where? must be located somewhere remote that is usually dry or frozen. The Mojave Desert? Death Valley? Antarctica?
2. Which of the year's four seasons boasts more U.S. federal holidays than any other? I counted 4 in winter - Xmas, New Years, MLK, Presidents Day. I think this is more than fall (3), summer (2) and spring (1)
3. What Canadian is the only member of the Saturday Night Live house band ever to return to host the show? It's hard to imagine Neil Young as either a host or a band member. So trying to think of actors or performers rather than musicians. Was Jim Carrey ever in the house band?
4. The trigeminal, vagus, and hypoglossal are three of the body's twelve cranial what? nerves?
5. Over 50 U.S. kids caught salmonella in a mini-epidemic that resulted from imitating the crucial behavior in which Disney animated film? kissing a frog? From The Princess And the Frog? I don't think eating an apple like Snow White did would be problematic because it is everyday behavior. Kissing a frog is a little out of the ordinary.
6. What word, recently much in the news, come from the Latin for "with a key," because of its association with a locked room? sequester
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these U.S. states (and one district) in this order, and no others? New York, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, Vermont, Texas. Questions like this often relate to the the plot of a specific movie or book. But nothing comes to mind.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. Athol Fugard, Alan Paton, J. M. Coetzee, and Nadine Gordimer are among the most respected writers ever to hail from what country? They all criticized the apartheid-era policies of their homeland, the Union of South Africa. correct
2. What achievement in baseball can be statistically nullified if the scorekeeper rules "defensive indifference"? You can't officially steal a base if the catcher (or another fielder) didn't care enough to try to throw you out. correct
3. What Cree Indian food staple was usually made by combining equal quantities of dried venison and melted fat? That's how you make pemmican. Mmmm. Pemmican. correct
4. What song topped the British pop charts throughout January 1981, despite having been originally released almost a decade earlier? "Imagine" had its greatest chart success not upon initial release, but ten years later after the assassination of John Lennon. correct!
5. The 2013 OfficeMax/Office Depot merger makes the new company the largest in its space. What company is now #2? Take that, Staples. correct
6. Below fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine on the periodic table sits what heaviest halogen, the rarest naturally occurring element on Earth? (If you don't count a few stray atoms of berkelium, that is.) There's probably only a single ounce of the element astatine in the Earth's crust at any given time. not sure that I would know that unless I had just spent a year in a class staring at the periodic table each day
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these books? The Bad News Bears, The Children of Men, The City of Ember, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Gangs of New York, The Silver Linings Playbook, The War of the Worlds. Each lost the leading "The" for a later movie adaptation. I'm sure there are other examples of this--can anyone name any? "Life of Pi" was always "Life of Pi," by the way. so obvious and yet I missed it
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - March 19
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. Athol Fugard, Alan Paton, J. M. Coetzee, and Nadine Gordimer are among the most respected writers ever to hail from what country? South Africa
2. What achievement in baseball can be statistically nullified if the scorekeeper rules "defensive indifference"? stolen base
3. What Cree Indian food staple was usually made by combining equal quantities of dried venison and melted fat? dried meat by itself is jerky. Is pemmican what you call dried venison and melted fat?
4. What song topped the British pop charts throughout January 1981, despite having been originally released almost a decade earlier? January 1981 was shortly after John Lennon's murder. Maybe "Imagine" became popular in Britain and re-entered the charts.
5. The 2013 OfficeMax/Office Depot merger makes the new company the largest in its space. What company is now #2? Staples. that was easy
6. Below fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine on the periodic table sits what heaviest halogen, the rarest naturally occurring element on Earth? (If you don't count a few stray atoms of berkelium, that is.) rubidium? strontium? this question reminds me that I really should read The Disappearing Spoon with stories about the elements of the periodic table
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these books? The Bad News Bears, The Children of Men, The City of Ember, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Gangs of New York, The Silver Linings Playbook, The War of the Worlds all books were adapted into movies (in several cases more than one movie), but that is not unusual
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What does a phlebotomist collect? Blood, if they stuck you right. "Phlebotomy" is the medical procedure of poking a hole in a vein. correct
2. What Rhode Island peninsula had its name immortalized in the semicircular prefab structures that the U.S. Army built there during World War II? Quonset huts, as they're still called, are named for Rhode Island's Quonset Point. correct
3. By what name do reality TV viewers better know Alana Thompson? That's what "Honey Boo Boo" will be called at Yale. correct
4. What type of Javanese cloth is colored using traditional wax-and-dye techniques? Batik. I have no joke about batik. Moving on. correct
5. What magazine credits its production to "The Usual Gang of Idiots"? That credit has been seen for well over half a century in the masthead of Mad magazine. correct
6. The Wright Brothers promised their father, Bishop Milton Wright, that they would never do what, a rule they broke only once in their aviation career, on May 25, 1910? That was the only time they ever flew together--with dad's permission. (They took him up in the next flight.) Bishop Wright didn't want to lose two children at once should a "Wright Flyer" crash, as early planes often did. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these famous folks? Richard Burton, Jefferson Davis, Lyndon Johnson, Carly Simon, Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Stiller. They all married someone named "Taylor." (Jefferson Davis was Zachary Taylor's son-in-law, for example. Cool.) If Taylor Swift would turn some of her ill-advised celebrity relationships into ill-advised celebrity marriages, this list could get a lot more interesting soon. correct - a rare 100% effort!
1. Athol Fugard, Alan Paton, J. M. Coetzee, and Nadine Gordimer are among the most respected writers ever to hail from what country? South Africa
2. What achievement in baseball can be statistically nullified if the scorekeeper rules "defensive indifference"? stolen base
3. What Cree Indian food staple was usually made by combining equal quantities of dried venison and melted fat? dried meat by itself is jerky. Is pemmican what you call dried venison and melted fat?
4. What song topped the British pop charts throughout January 1981, despite having been originally released almost a decade earlier? January 1981 was shortly after John Lennon's murder. Maybe "Imagine" became popular in Britain and re-entered the charts.
5. The 2013 OfficeMax/Office Depot merger makes the new company the largest in its space. What company is now #2? Staples. that was easy
6. Below fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine on the periodic table sits what heaviest halogen, the rarest naturally occurring element on Earth? (If you don't count a few stray atoms of berkelium, that is.) rubidium? strontium? this question reminds me that I really should read The Disappearing Spoon with stories about the elements of the periodic table
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these books? The Bad News Bears, The Children of Men, The City of Ember, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Gangs of New York, The Silver Linings Playbook, The War of the Worlds all books were adapted into movies (in several cases more than one movie), but that is not unusual
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What does a phlebotomist collect? Blood, if they stuck you right. "Phlebotomy" is the medical procedure of poking a hole in a vein. correct
2. What Rhode Island peninsula had its name immortalized in the semicircular prefab structures that the U.S. Army built there during World War II? Quonset huts, as they're still called, are named for Rhode Island's Quonset Point. correct
3. By what name do reality TV viewers better know Alana Thompson? That's what "Honey Boo Boo" will be called at Yale. correct
4. What type of Javanese cloth is colored using traditional wax-and-dye techniques? Batik. I have no joke about batik. Moving on. correct
5. What magazine credits its production to "The Usual Gang of Idiots"? That credit has been seen for well over half a century in the masthead of Mad magazine. correct
6. The Wright Brothers promised their father, Bishop Milton Wright, that they would never do what, a rule they broke only once in their aviation career, on May 25, 1910? That was the only time they ever flew together--with dad's permission. (They took him up in the next flight.) Bishop Wright didn't want to lose two children at once should a "Wright Flyer" crash, as early planes often did. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these famous folks? Richard Burton, Jefferson Davis, Lyndon Johnson, Carly Simon, Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Stiller. They all married someone named "Taylor." (Jefferson Davis was Zachary Taylor's son-in-law, for example. Cool.) If Taylor Swift would turn some of her ill-advised celebrity relationships into ill-advised celebrity marriages, this list could get a lot more interesting soon. correct - a rare 100% effort!
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - March 12
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. What does a phlebotomist collect? blood
2. What Rhode Island peninsula had its name immortalized in the semicircular prefab structures that the U.S. Army built there during World War II? quonset sounds like a good name for a peninsula in RI
3. By what name do reality TV viewers better know Alana Thompson? Honey Boo Boo. Please do not make me ever type that name again.
4. What type of Javanese cloth is colored using traditional wax-and-dye techniques? batik?
5. What magazine credits its production to "The Usual Gang of Idiots"? Mad?
6. The Wright Brothers promised their father, Bishop Milton Wright, that they would never do what, a rule they broke only once in their aviation career, on May 25, 1910? fly on the same plane
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these famous folks? Richard Burton, Jefferson Davis, Lyndon Johnson, Carly Simon, Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Stiller. They each married someone named "Taylor."
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What color are the helmets typically worn by U.N. peackeeping forces? Blue--the same lightish blue as the United Nations flag, actually that clue would have helped. I don't see too many UN peacekeepers in California. Or on tv or in the paper.
2. Solo Star and Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams are the first two albums from a singer still perhaps best known as the little sister of whom? "Solo Star" and "Sol-Angel" are both nicknames for Solange Knowles, aka Beyonce's little sister. Who? I have never heard of this woman
3. What mammals have the only horns in nature made not from bone but entirely of keratin, the protein that hair and nails are made from? Most horns and antlers in the animal kingdom have a bony core, but a rhino horn is keratin all the way down. correct
4. "Traceurs" are participants in what urban sport founded by David Belle and the Yamakasi group in Lisses, France in the 1980s? David Belle, inspired by his father Raymond, a French military and firefighting veteran, invented parkour. correct
5. Protagoras, Gorgias, and Hippias were members of what school of Greek philosophy renowned for their rhetorical skill? They were sophists, back before that necessarily meant a bad thing. correct
6. A capital-C Corvette is a car, but a small-c corvette is what mode of transportation? A corvette is a small warship. any interesting factoid to know
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these nations, listed in this order? Peru, the United States, (the Philippines), Nepal, (Pakistan, Iraq), Egypt, Greece, China, India, (Canada, Portugal), Italy, Austria, Germany, Turkey, (Cuba, Mexico), Brazil. These are all the different countries visited, in order, by Indiana Jones in his four movies (or three, if you're still in denial about Crystal Skull). The nations in parentheses are only visited as a dot on an airplane map route; there weren't any scenes set there. man, that is tough! I had no idea that first scene in Raiders was set in Peru. I had thought it was some Central American country.
1. What does a phlebotomist collect? blood
2. What Rhode Island peninsula had its name immortalized in the semicircular prefab structures that the U.S. Army built there during World War II? quonset sounds like a good name for a peninsula in RI
3. By what name do reality TV viewers better know Alana Thompson? Honey Boo Boo. Please do not make me ever type that name again.
4. What type of Javanese cloth is colored using traditional wax-and-dye techniques? batik?
5. What magazine credits its production to "The Usual Gang of Idiots"? Mad?
6. The Wright Brothers promised their father, Bishop Milton Wright, that they would never do what, a rule they broke only once in their aviation career, on May 25, 1910? fly on the same plane
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these famous folks? Richard Burton, Jefferson Davis, Lyndon Johnson, Carly Simon, Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Stiller. They each married someone named "Taylor."
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What color are the helmets typically worn by U.N. peackeeping forces? Blue--the same lightish blue as the United Nations flag, actually that clue would have helped. I don't see too many UN peacekeepers in California. Or on tv or in the paper.
2. Solo Star and Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams are the first two albums from a singer still perhaps best known as the little sister of whom? "Solo Star" and "Sol-Angel" are both nicknames for Solange Knowles, aka Beyonce's little sister. Who? I have never heard of this woman
3. What mammals have the only horns in nature made not from bone but entirely of keratin, the protein that hair and nails are made from? Most horns and antlers in the animal kingdom have a bony core, but a rhino horn is keratin all the way down. correct
4. "Traceurs" are participants in what urban sport founded by David Belle and the Yamakasi group in Lisses, France in the 1980s? David Belle, inspired by his father Raymond, a French military and firefighting veteran, invented parkour. correct
5. Protagoras, Gorgias, and Hippias were members of what school of Greek philosophy renowned for their rhetorical skill? They were sophists, back before that necessarily meant a bad thing. correct
6. A capital-C Corvette is a car, but a small-c corvette is what mode of transportation? A corvette is a small warship. any interesting factoid to know
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these nations, listed in this order? Peru, the United States, (the Philippines), Nepal, (Pakistan, Iraq), Egypt, Greece, China, India, (Canada, Portugal), Italy, Austria, Germany, Turkey, (Cuba, Mexico), Brazil. These are all the different countries visited, in order, by Indiana Jones in his four movies (or three, if you're still in denial about Crystal Skull). The nations in parentheses are only visited as a dot on an airplane map route; there weren't any scenes set there. man, that is tough! I had no idea that first scene in Raiders was set in Peru. I had thought it was some Central American country.
Friday, March 08, 2013
Ken Jennings Tuesday Trivia - March 5
THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. What color are the helmets typically worn by U.N. peackeeping forces? white?
2. Solo Star and Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams are the first two albums from a singer still perhaps best known as the little sister of whom? is that performer Janet Jackson, Michael's little sis?
3. What mammals have the only horns in nature made not from bone but entirely of keratin, the protein that hair and nails are made from? rhino
4. "Traceurs" are participants in what urban sport founded by David Belle and the Yamakasi group in Lisses, France in the 1980s? parkour? only thing that comes to mind in the category of urban sport. other than street football
5. Protagoras, Gorgias, and Hippias were members of what school of Greek philosophy renowned for their rhetorical skill? sophists?
6. A capital-C Corvette is a car, but a small-c corvette is what mode of transportation? a small sled of some kind?
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these nations, listed in this order? Peru, the United States, (the Philippines), Nepal, (Pakistan, Iraq), Egypt, Greece, China, India, (Canada, Portugal), Italy, Austria, Germany, Turkey, (Cuba, Mexico), Brazil. what do the countries in parentheses mean? very cryptic. Why is Peru first? I always struggle with Q7s about countries.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What current TV hit was created by Robert and Michelle King after they watched news footage of Silda Spitzer at a press conference in 2008? Silda was the apparently supportive political spouse of embattled, escort-hiring New York governor Eliot Spitzer, and the TV show his troubles inspired was The Good Wife. correct
2. Because it's famously difficult to hunt, what close relative of the sandpiper and curlew lent its name to a word for "sharpshooter"? Originally, a "sniper" was very good at hunting snipe. Which is not an easy task, as you know if you've ever been on a snipe hunt. correct
3. Who was the most recent U.S. president to make do without a Chief of Staff, only appointing Hamilton Jordan to the post for the last year of his presidency? Jimmy Carter served as his own Chief of Staff for most of his term, like Truman and JFK before him. correct
4. The score of what Broadway musical includes the songs "Something Bad," "For Good," and "The Wizard and I"? Wicked. "The Wizard" is, obviously, the "of Oz" one. You know. James Franco. correct
5. The dodecathlon is the most famous achievement of what mythological character? A dodecathlon, as its name suggests, includes twelve events. In this case, they're the Twelve Labors of Heracles. correct
6. What American inventor also wrote the slogan--"You press the button, we do the rest"--that made his 1888 invention such a great success? This slogan was a huge part of the early success of Kodak, and its founder-inventor George Eastman. doh! this is a good question. I just don't think of Eastman as being of the same era as Edison and Alexander Graham Bell.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these athletes? George Gervin, Ahman Green, Dwight Howard, Claudio Reyna, Cal Ripken Jr., Camilo Villegas, Dwyane Wade. All were given (or game themselves!) nicknames that are also comic book super-heroes: respectively, the Iceman, Batman, Superman, Captain America, the Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Flash. correct
1. What color are the helmets typically worn by U.N. peackeeping forces? white?
2. Solo Star and Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams are the first two albums from a singer still perhaps best known as the little sister of whom? is that performer Janet Jackson, Michael's little sis?
3. What mammals have the only horns in nature made not from bone but entirely of keratin, the protein that hair and nails are made from? rhino
4. "Traceurs" are participants in what urban sport founded by David Belle and the Yamakasi group in Lisses, France in the 1980s? parkour? only thing that comes to mind in the category of urban sport. other than street football
5. Protagoras, Gorgias, and Hippias were members of what school of Greek philosophy renowned for their rhetorical skill? sophists?
6. A capital-C Corvette is a car, but a small-c corvette is what mode of transportation? a small sled of some kind?
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these nations, listed in this order? Peru, the United States, (the Philippines), Nepal, (Pakistan, Iraq), Egypt, Greece, China, India, (Canada, Portugal), Italy, Austria, Germany, Turkey, (Cuba, Mexico), Brazil. what do the countries in parentheses mean? very cryptic. Why is Peru first? I always struggle with Q7s about countries.
LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What current TV hit was created by Robert and Michelle King after they watched news footage of Silda Spitzer at a press conference in 2008? Silda was the apparently supportive political spouse of embattled, escort-hiring New York governor Eliot Spitzer, and the TV show his troubles inspired was The Good Wife. correct
2. Because it's famously difficult to hunt, what close relative of the sandpiper and curlew lent its name to a word for "sharpshooter"? Originally, a "sniper" was very good at hunting snipe. Which is not an easy task, as you know if you've ever been on a snipe hunt. correct
3. Who was the most recent U.S. president to make do without a Chief of Staff, only appointing Hamilton Jordan to the post for the last year of his presidency? Jimmy Carter served as his own Chief of Staff for most of his term, like Truman and JFK before him. correct
4. The score of what Broadway musical includes the songs "Something Bad," "For Good," and "The Wizard and I"? Wicked. "The Wizard" is, obviously, the "of Oz" one. You know. James Franco. correct
5. The dodecathlon is the most famous achievement of what mythological character? A dodecathlon, as its name suggests, includes twelve events. In this case, they're the Twelve Labors of Heracles. correct
6. What American inventor also wrote the slogan--"You press the button, we do the rest"--that made his 1888 invention such a great success? This slogan was a huge part of the early success of Kodak, and its founder-inventor George Eastman. doh! this is a good question. I just don't think of Eastman as being of the same era as Edison and Alexander Graham Bell.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these athletes? George Gervin, Ahman Green, Dwight Howard, Claudio Reyna, Cal Ripken Jr., Camilo Villegas, Dwyane Wade. All were given (or game themselves!) nicknames that are also comic book super-heroes: respectively, the Iceman, Batman, Superman, Captain America, the Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Flash. correct
