Tag: entertainment

D is for…

A few questions where all the answers begin with ‘D’. As you know the starting letter, there are no multiple-choice options.

Devils Tower, Wyoming.
Image US National Parks Service
  1. What is the pictured US National Monument, and in which US state is it located?
  2. The spiritual leader of the Tibetan people is known by what title?
  3. What is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as a ‘country house or cottage in Russia, typically used as a second or holiday home’?
  4. Marvin the Paranoid Android was originally created for a radio series by which science fiction writer?
  5. A Scottish driver won 13 Formula One Grands Prix across his 15-season career, which began in 1994. Despite this, he didn’t secure the World Drivers’ Championship, although he came in second place in 2001. Can you identify him?

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

B is for… | Answers

The answers to my earlier post are shown in bold below. I have included the questions simply for your information.

Bette Davis as Baby Jane Hudson in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
Image Wikipedia
  1. What two words link these: a Bette Davis role from 1962 film, a 1977 single from Dr Feelgood and a 1983 single by Rod Stewart?
    • Baby Jane—Davis was nomininated for an Academy Award for her performance as the title character in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). Baby Jane, by Dr Feelgood first appeared on Be Seeing You, a Dr. Feelgood album released in 1977 and was later a single. A track with the same name was the lead single from Rod Stewart’s twelfth studio album Body Wishes (1983).
      A bearded Jeremy Paxman.
      Image BBC
  2.  Pogonophobia is an extreme dislike of what?
    • Beards—Pogonophobia, derived from Greek words for “beard” and “fear”, is a fear of beards. The term is often used jokingly, but it has been studied in psychological experiments and has been associated with cultural norms, religious beliefs and societal perceptions. Jeremy Paxman accused the BBC of pogonophobia after facing criticism for presenting Newsnight with a beard.
      Charles Dickens.
      Image Wikipedia
  3. Charles Dickens only wrote one book with a female narrator. What was it?
    • Bleak House—Charles Dickens’s Bleak House, published serially from 1852 to 1853, satirises a long-running legal case, Jarndyce and Jarndyce, inspired by real-life precedents. The novel, set in London, is credited with introducing urban fog to Gothic fiction and helped support judicial reform.
      City of Puno, Peru the largest urban area on Lake Titicaca.
      Image Wikipedia
  4. Two countries share shores on Lake Titicaca, but only one fits the theme of today’s questions. Which country is it?
    • Bolivia—Lake Titicaca, located in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru, is the largest lake in South America. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world, with a surface elevation of 3,812 metres. The lake consists of two sub-basins, Lago Grande and Wiñaymarka, connected by the Strait of Tiquina.
      European beech (Fagus sylvatica)
      Image Wikipedia
  5. The following word origin from the Oxford English Dictionary relates to a natural world name. What is the name that has been removed below?
    • Beech—Beech trees, native to Eurasia and North America, are deciduous trees with 14 accepted species. The European beech, Fagus sylvatica, is commonly cultivated for its timber, used in furniture, flooring, engineering, and brewing.

– ORIGIN Old English bēce, of Germanic origin; related to Latin fagus ‘beech’, Greek phagos ‘edible oak’.

– Oxford English Dictionary

B is for…

A few questions where all the answers begin with ‘B’. As you know the starting letter there are no multiple-choice options.

Amantaní viewed from Taquile on Lake Titicaca.
Image Wikipedia
  1. What two words link these: a Bette Davis role from 1962 film, a 1977 single from Dr Feelgood and a 1983 single by Rod Stewart?
  2. Pogonophobia is an extreme dislike of what?
  3. Charles Dickens only wrote one book with a female narrator. What was the title?
  4. Two countries share shores on Lake Titicaca, but only one fits the theme of today’s questions. Which country is it?
  5. The following word origin from the Oxford English Dictionary relates to a natural world name. What is the name that has been removed below?

– ORIGIN Old English bēce, of Germanic origin; related to Latin fagus ‘…’, Greek phagos ‘edible oak’.

– Oxford English Dictionary

Good luck! As usual, I will post the answers later today.

A is for… | Answers

The answers to my earlier post are shown in bold below. I have included the questions simply for your information.

The Admiral Benbow in Penzance, reportedly an inspiration for Stevenson’s Inn.
Image Wikipedia
  1. An inn featuring in the first chapter of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island is the…
    • Admiral Benbow—The narrator recounts the arrival of a mysterious seaman, the Captain, at the Admiral Benbow inn. The Captain, a silent and brooding figure, pays for a long stay and requests the narrator to keep watch for a one-legged seafarer. The narrator, haunted by dreams of this ominous figure, becomes entangled in the Captain’s web of secrecy and fear.
      The view of destroyed interior of briefing room in Hitler’s headquatter Wolfsschanze near Rastenburg (Ketrzyn) in East Prussia.
      (from left to right Heinz Linge, Martin Bormann, Julius Schaub, Hermann Göring, Bruno Loerzer, unknown.)
      Image Wikipedia
  2. In the film Valkyrie (2008) who do the German army officers plot to assassinate?
    • Adolf Hitler—During World War II, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise), disillusioned with Nazi Germany, joins the German Resistance. He proposes using Operation Valkyrie to seize power after assassinating Hitler, but the plan fails when Hitler survives the bomb attack. The plotters are arrested, and Stauffenberg, along with other leaders, is executed.
      Alain Prost, 1990, US Grand Prix, Phoenix.
      Image Wikipedia
  3. Who is missing from this chronological list of motor racing’s Formula 1 World Drivers’ Champions from the 1990s: Ayrton Senna, Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, …, Michael Schumacher, Michael Schumacher?
    • Alain Prost—nicknamed “the Professor”, is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from 1980 to 1993. He won four Formula One World Drivers’ Championship titles and held records for most wins, fastest laps and podium finishes at the time of his retirement. After retiring from Formula One, Prost competed in various racing series, including the FFSA GT Championship and the Andros Trophy, and was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1999.
      Uluru/Ayers Rock.
      Image Wikipedia
  4. In 1873, William Gosse became the first European to visit Uluru. What did he name it?
    • Ayers Rock—Uluru, a landmark in the Northern Territory, is known as Uluṟu by the local Aṉangu people. It was named Ayers Rock in 1873 after Sir Henry Ayers, but officially became Uluru/Ayers Rock in 1993 and Uluru/Ayers Rock in 2002.
      Theseus slaying the Minotaur by Bayre.
      Image Wikipedia
  5. In Greek myth, which daughter of King Minos helped Theseus escape the Labyrinth?
    • Ariadne—Ariadne, a Cretan princess, helped Theseus escape the Minotaur but was abandoned on Naxos. There, Dionysus fell in love with her, married her, and created the Corona Borealis constellation.

A is for…

Robert Louis Stevenson.
Image Wikipedia

A few questions where all the answers begin with ‘A’. As you know the starting letter there are no multiple-choice options.

  1. An inn featuring in the first chapter of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island is the…
  2. In the film Valkyrie (2008) who do the German army officers plot to assassinate?
  3. Who is missing from this chronological list of motor racing’s Formula 1 World Drivers’ Champions from the 1990s: Ayrton Senna, Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, …, Michael Schumacher, Michael Schumacher?
  4. In 1873, William Gosse became the first European to visit Uluru. What did he name it?
  5. In Greek myth, which daughter of King Minos helped Theseus escape the Labyrinth?

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

Hotchpotch II | Answers

Detail of Zephyrus with Aura
from
Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus.
Image Wikipedia

The answers to my earlier post are shown in bold below. I have included the questions simply for your information.

  1. In which of these national parks are zebra a native breed?
    • Kruger National Park—in South Africa spans 19,623 km2 across Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces. Established in 1926, it is South Africa’s first national park and part of the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere. It is home to 25,000 to 35,000 plains zebra (Equus quagga). Cairngorms National Park, Scotland, UK was established in 2003. It is the largest national park in the UK and covers the Cairngorms mountain range and surrounding hills. Goonengerry NP, New South Wales, Australia is within the Nightcap Range Important Bird Area, home to the largest population of Albert’s lyrebirds.
  2. A light or westerly wind which was also a large car (Ford of Britain) replaced by the Granada in 1972 is a…
    • Zephyr—In ancient Greek mythology and religion, the god Zephyrus was the personification of the west wind and the bringer of light spring and early summer breezes.
      Googol.
      Image
  3. How many zeroes follow the digit ‘1’ (one) when writing the number known as a googol?
    • 100—10100 or ten to the power of one hundred or ten duotrigintillion. The largest ‘named’ number, the term ‘Googol’ was coined in 1920 by 9-year-old Milton Sirotta, the nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner. It’s possible that Sirotta was inspired by the contemporary comic strip character Barney Google.
      Romeo and Juliet.
      Image Wikipedia
  4. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet how old is Juliet?
    • Thirteren—her mother indicates that she is not fourteen until Lammastide, which is two weeks away.
      1931 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Barker Sedanca de Ville
      Image Wikipedia
  5. A 1964 film staring Rex Harrison and Jeanne Moreau was…
    • The Yellow Rolls-Royce—the film follows the story of three very different owners of a yellow 1931 Rolls-Royce Phantom II. The owners include an English aristocrat, a Miami gangster and a wealthy American widow. The film is set in the years leading up to and including the start of World War II.

Hotchpotch II

A mixture of questions for you to peruse.

Plains zebra (Equus quagga).
Image Wikipedia
  1. In which of these national parks are zebra a native breed?
    • Cairngorm National Park
    • Goonengerry National Park
    • Kruger National Park
  2. A light or westerly wind which was also a large car (Ford of Britain) replaced by the Granada in 1972, is a…
    • Chinook
    • Sirocco
    • Zephyr
  3. How many zeroes follow the digit ‘1’ (one) when writing the number known as a googol?
    • 10
    • 100
    • 1,000
  4. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet how old is Juliet?
    • Thirteen
    • Sixteen
    • Nineteen
  5. A 1964 film staring Rex Harrison and Jeanne Moreau was…
    • My Little Red Corvette
    • Ozzy, the Orange VW Camper
    • The Yellow Rolls-Royce

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! | Answers

The answers to my earlier post are shown in bold below. I have included the questions simply for your information.

Ronald Reagan speaking at the Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987. (Ronald Reagan Library).
US National Archives
  1. In a speech made on 12 June 1987, US President Ronald Reagan publicly challenged Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, with the words quoted above. Where was the speech made?
    • Brandenburg Gate—On 12 June 1987, US President Ronald Reagan delivered a speech at the Brandenburg Gate, famously calling for Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall”. The speech, written by Peter Robinson, became a defining moment of the Cold War.
      Photo of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra.
      Image Wikipedia
  2. On this day in 1963, a film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton was released in the US. It was the most expensive film made at the time. What was it?
    • Cleopatra—is a 1963 American epic historical drama film about the struggles of Cleopatra VII of Egypt against Roman ambitions. The film, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, faced production delays, budget overruns, as well as an affair between the leads. Despite mixed reviews and initial financial losses, it became the highest-grossing film of 1963 and won four Academy Awards.
      Last known photo of Anne Frank, May 1942.
      Image Wikipedia
  3. On 12 June 1942, a now-famous diarist received a diary for their thirteenth birthday. Where did they live?
    • Amsterdam—Anne Frank, a German-born Jewish girl, documented her life in hiding during the German occupation of the Netherlands in a diary. The diary detailed her family’s life in an Amsterdam attic from 1942 until their arrest in 1944. Anne and her sister, Margot, were transferred from Auschwitz to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in November 1944, where they died of typhus a few months later.
      John Rhys-Davies as Sallah in the Indiana Jones franchise.
      Image
  4. Today in 1981, the first Indiana Jones film was released. Who played Sallah in Raiders of the Lost Ark and was also a main character in The Lord of the Rings trilogy?
    • John Rhys-Davies—Rhys-Davies, standing at 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), played the dwarf Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
      John Rhys-Davies as Gimli in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
      Image Pinterest
  5. The Chaco War, which ended on 12 June 1935 with the signing of a ceasefire, involved which two nations? Bolivia and Paraguay—The Gran Chaco region, known in Spanish as Chaco Boreal, was the site of this conflict between Bolivia and Paraguay from 1932 to 1935. The dispute centred on control of the northern part of the region, which was believed to be rich in oil.

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

Here are a few questions which are related to today’s date, 12 June.

Berlin Wall in Bethaniendamm. The West Berlin side brightly painted, 1986.
Image Wikipedia

Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate!

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

  1. In a speech made on 12 June 1987, US President Ronald Reagan publicly challenged Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, with the words quoted above. Where in Berlin was the speech made?
    • Brandenburg Gate
    • Reichstag
    • Schloss Charlottenburg
  2. On this day in 1963, a film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton was released in the US. It was the most expensive film made at the time. What was it?
    • America America
    • Ben Hur
    • Cleopatra
  3. On 12 June 1942, a now-famous diarist received a diary for their thirteenth birthday. Where did they live?
    • Amsterdam
    • Berlin
    • Cologne
  4. Today in 1981, the first Indiana Jones film was released. Who played Sallah in Raiders of the Lost Ark and was also a main character in The Lord of the Rings trilogy?
    • John Rhys-Davies
    • Denholm Elliott
    • Wolf Kahler
  5. The Chaco War, which ended on 12 June 1935 with the signing of a ceasefire, involved which two nations?
    • Angola and South Africa
    • Bolivia and Paraguay
    • China and Burma

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

Six of one half a dozen of the other | Answers

The answers to my earlier post are shown in bold below. I have included the questions simply for your information.

Portrait of Henry VIII, c1540-1547.
Catherine of Aragon c. 1525.
  1. Henry VIII of England married for the first time on 11 June 1509, his bride, Catherine of Aragon, was his…
    • Sister-in-law—Catherine of Aragon, who was married to Arthur, Prince of Wales, became a widow at 16 when Arthur died of sweating sickness. After her father-in-law, Henry VII’s, death, Catherine married his second son, now King Henry VIII, in a private ceremony in 1509, becoming Queen of England.
      Memorial at Le Mans.
      Image Wikipedia
  2. The deadliest ever accident in motor sport occurred on this day in 1955. It happened during…
    • 24 Hours of Le Mans—The 1955 Le Mans disaster, the most catastrophic event in motorsport history, occurred when a Mercedes-Benz crashed into the spectator area, killing at least 82 people. The official inquiry blamed the track layout rather than the drivers.
  3. In 173, the Roman army was encircled by the Quadi, who had broken a peace treaty. Emperor Marcus Aurelius defeated them in a thunderstorm. This ‘miracle in the rain’ is depicted at the start of the film Gladiator (2000). During what war or wars had the actual battle taken place?
    • Marcomannic Wars—Gladiator (2000) depicts Marcus Aurelius seizing victory in the Marcomannic Wars. In reality, the war was ongoing when he died. Commodus secured peace with the two Germanic tribes allied against Rome, the Marcomanni and the Quadi, immediately after his father’s death.
      Hugh Laurie and House executive producers Katie Jacobs and David Shore, 2009.
      Image Wikipedia
  4. Which actor born 11 June 1959, links these: Prince Regent to House to Roper. Who is he?
    • Hugh Laurie—An English actor, comedian, singer, musician, and writer. He gained recognition as part of the comedy duo Fry and Laurie, and later starred as Dr. Gregory House in the medical drama series House (2004-2012).  He has also appeared in films, released blues albums and written a novel.  Pertinent to the question, as well as House his roles include George, Prince Regent in Blackadder III (1987) and Richard Onslow Roper in The Night Manager (2016).
      Millicent Fawcett.
      Image Wikipedia
  5. Born this day in 1847, who became the first woman honoured by a statue in Parliament Square, London, UK?
    • Millicent Fawcett—The statue of Dame Millicent Fawcett, a prominent leader in the women’s suffrage movement, was erected in Parliament Square to commemorate the centenary of women’s suffrage in the UK. The statue, created by Gillian Wearing, depicts Dame Millicent at age 50, holding a banner with a quote from a speech she made after Emily Davison’s death. The statue creates another first: the sculptor, Gillian Wearing, being the first woman to create a statue that stands in Parliament Square.