Tag: entertainment

  • Speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing | Answers

    The answers to my earlier post are shown in bold below and an explanation of the title and a song are at the end.

    Portrait of Prince Charles Edward Stuart by Allan Ramsey.
    National Galleries of Scotland. Wikipedia
    1. This battle, the last fought on British soil, took place on 16 April 1746; it was the Battle of… 
      • The Battle of Culloden—fought on 16 April 1746—was the last Jacobite rising and the last full-scale battle on British soil. Led by Bonnie Prince Charlie (Charles Edward Stuart), the Jacobites, outnumbered and exhausted, were defeated by the Hanoverian forces under the Duke of Cumberland. The battle marked the end of the Highland clan culture and the Stuart dynasty’s last attempt to reclaim the British throne.
        Jim Clark, 1967 US Grand Prix
        Watkins Glen, NY. Wikipedia
    2. The Scot who won the Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship for the second time in 1965 was…
      • Jim Clark—a Scottish racing driver, competed in Formula One from 1960 to 1968, winning two World Drivers’ Championship titles with Lotus in 1963 and 1965. He set records for most wins, pole positions and fastest laps. Clark also achieved success in American open-wheel racing, winning the Indianapolis 500 in 1965. He began racing in 1956 and tragically died in a racing accident in 1968.
        Portrait of John Witherspoon, Presbyterian minister and President of Princeton University. Wikipedia
    3. The only clergyman to sign the US Declaration of Independence was a Scottish minister; he was…
      • John Witherspoon—was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister and president of the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University. He was a Founding Father of the United States and the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. After studying theology at the University of Edinburgh, he served as a pastor in Beith, Ayrshire and Paisley; he was known for his involvement in ecclesiastical debates. In 1768, he crossed the Atlantic to become president of the College of New Jersey, revitalising the institution by expanding its curriculum and increasing enrolment. A staunch supporter of American independence, Witherspoon was active in political affairs, serving in the Continental Congress and advocating for independence. He authored numerous works on religious and political subjects, including Ecclesiastical Characteristics and Considerations on the Nature and Extent of the Legislative Authority of the British Parliament.
        The Citie of Edinburgh from the South (detail) by Wenceslas Hollar (1670). Wikipedia
    4. The New Zealand city of Dunedin’s Scottish connection, is that it is named after…
      • Edinburgh—Dunedin’s name comes from the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, Dùn Èideann, which means “fort of Edin”. The name “Edin” derives from the Cumbric word Eidyn, referring to the region and its hillfort, Din Eidyn, located at Castle Rock.
    5. This Scottish-born actor received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Jimmy Malone in a 1987 film; he was…
      • Sean Connery—Sir Sean Connery, a Scottish actor, gained international fame for his role as James Bond. He also starred in films by Hitchcock, Lumet and Huston, winning an Academy Award—Best Supporting Actor as Jimmy Malone in The Untouchables)—and a knighthood.
    Sean Connery as James Bond, Goldfinger, 1964. Wikipedia

    Skye Boat Song

    The post title is a line taken from the beginning of The Skye Boat Song which was composed in the late 19th century and recalled the journey of Bonnie Prince Charlie from Benbecula, an Atlantic island of the Outer Hebrides, to the Isle of Skye.

    Skye Boat Song

    Speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing
    Onward the sailors cry
    Carry the lad that's born to be king
    Over the sea to Skye

    Loud the winds howl loud the waves roar
    Thunderclaps rend the air
    Baffled our foes stand by the shore
    Follow they will not dare

    Speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing
    Onward the sailors cry
    Carry the lad that's born to be king
    Over the sea to Skye

    Many's the lad fought on that day
    Well the claymore could wield
    When the night came silently lay
    Dead in Culloden's field

    Speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing
    Onward the sailors cry
    Carry the lad that's born to be king
    Over the sea to Skye

    Though the waves leap soft shall ye sleep
    Ocean's a royal bed
    Rock'd in the deep Flora will keep
    Watch o'er your weary head

    Speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing
    Onward the sailors cry
    Carry the lad that's born to be king
    Over the sea to Skye

    Burned are our homes exile and death
    Scattered the loyal men
    Yet ere the sword cool in the sheath
    Charlie will come again

    Speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing
    Onward the sailors cry
    Carry the lad that's born to be king
    Over the sea to Skye
  • Speed bonnie boat like a bird on the wing

    See #1. Image Wikipedia
    1. This battle, the last fought on British soil, took place on 16 April 1746; it was the Battle of…
      • Bannockburn
      • Culloden
      • Stirling Bridge

      As question one was about a Scottish event I decided to give a Scottish flavour to the rest of this post.

    2. The Scot who won the Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship for the second time in 1965 was…
      • Jackie Stewart
      • Jim Clark
      • Johnny Dumfries
    3. The only clergyman to sign the US Declaration of Independence was a Scottish minister; he was…
      • William Whipple
      • James Wilson
      • John Witherspoon.
    4. The New Zealand city of Dunedin’s Scottish connection, is that it is named after…
      • Dunfermline
      • Edinburgh
      • Stirling
    5. This Scottish-born actor received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Jimmy Malone in a 1987 film; he was…
      • Ewan McGregor
      • Sean Connery
      • Ken Stott

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

  • An A to Z Cornucopia of Trivia. Part III | Answers

    Flag of Kazakhstan. Wikipedia
    1. (K) Kazakhstan—The flag of Kazakhstan was adopted on 4 June 1992, replacing the Soviet-era flag. The flag was designed by Shaken Niyazbekov.
    2. (L) Lake Huron—Manitoulin Island, the largest lake island in the world, is located in Lake Huron, Ontario. With an area of 2,766 sq km, it contains over 100 lakes, including Lake Manitou, Lake Kagawong and Lake Mindemoya.
      Lady Macbeth, Sleepwalking scene, Macbeth. Wikipedia
    3. (M) Macbeth—In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth sleepwalks, rubbing her hands and recalling the deaths of King Duncan, Lady Macduff and Banquo. The Doctor, observing her guilt-ridden state, believes she needs divine help rather than medical treatment.
    4. (N) Naughtiest—Enid Blyton’s Naughtiest Girl series, set at a progressive boarding school, was written in the 1940s and 1950s. Anne Digby later added to the series.
      Poster for Hyde Park of Hudson Wikipedia
    5. (O) Olivia Colman—is an English actress, is known for her roles in television series like Peep Show, Broadchurch and The Crown, as well as films like The Favourite, The Father and The Lost Daughter. She has received numerous awards, including an Academy Award, four BAFTAs, two Emmys and three Golden Globes. As well as playing Elizabeth II in The Crown she played her mother, Queen Elizabeth, who was King George VI’s consort and the future Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, in Hyde Park on Hudson.
    6. (P) Putney Bridge—The Boat Race is an annual rowing competition between Cambridge and Oxford universities, held on the River Thames in London. The men’s race began in 1829 and the women’s race in 1927. Cambridge leads in both the men’s and women’s races, with 87 and 47 wins respectively.
    Putney Bridge at Dusk as viewed from the south-west at the boat sheds along the Thames. Wikipedia
  • An A to Z Cornucopia of Trivia. Part III

    Some trivia related to the letters K to P.

    See question 1. Image Wikipedia
    1. (K) The flag pictured above is the flag of…
      • Kazakhstan
      • Kuwait
      • Kyrgyzstan
    2. (L) Manitoulin Island, the world’s largest island within a freshwater lake, is in…
      • Lake Huron
      • Lake Superior
      • Lake Winnipeg
    3. (M) The quote, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” is from Shakespeare’s…
      • Hamlet
      • Macbeth
      • Othello
    4. (N) The _ Girl in the School was the first in a series by Enid Blyton, the word missing from this title is …
      • Nastiest
      • Naughtiest
      • Nicest
    5. (O) This actress has played both Queen Elizabeth II and her mother, Queen Elizabeth. She is…
      • Olivia Colman
      • Olivia de Havilland
      • Olivia Hussey
    6. (P) The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, which is held in London annually, starts on the River Thames just downstream of…
      • Ponders End
      • Pratt’s Bottom
      • Putney Bridge
  • An A to Z Cornucopia of Trivia. Part II | Answers

    Freesia. Wikipedia
    1. (F) Freesia—Freesia is a genus of herbaceous perennial flowering plants native to eastern southern Africa. Cultivated hybrids of Freesia species are commonly known as “freesias” and grown as ornamental plants.
    2. (G) Golden Cap—Golden Cap, a hill and cliff in Dorset, England, is the highest point near the south coast of Great Britain. It is owned by the National Trust and part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site.
      H.G. Wells by George Charles Beresford, 1920. Wikipedia
    3. (H) H.G. WellsHalf a Sixpence is a 1963 musical comedy based on H.G. Wells’s novel Kipps. The show, tailored for Tommy Steele, follows Arthur Kipps, an orphan who inherits a fortune and learns that money can’t buy happiness.
    4. (I) Ireland—In May 1915, the RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner, was sunk by the German submarine U-20, 11 miles (18 km) off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland. This tragic event resulted in the loss of 1,197 lives, including passengers, crew, and stowaways. The sinking significantly boosted American support for entering World War I.
    5. (J) J. Alfred PrufrockThe Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is T. S. Eliot’s first published poem, reflecting the title character’s thoughts in stream-of-consciousness style. Initially considered outlandish, it is now seen as a landmark in the shift from Romanticism to Modernism in poetry.
      Regarding the wrong alternative answers: J. Bruce Ismay was the chairman of the White Star Line, the owners of the Titanic. He faced criticism and was branded a coward after surviving the sinking. J. Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the FBI. He served in that role in the predecessor organisation, the BOI, and the FBI for a total of 48 years.
    RMS Lusitania. See #4 above. Wikipedia

  • An A to Z Cornucopia of Trivia. Part II

    Some trivia related to the letters F to J.

    See question 2. Image Wikipedia
    1. (F) Named after a German botanist, what is a flowering plant of the iris family?
      • Foxglove
      • Freesia
      • Fuchsia
    2. (G) Which hill, on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, is the highest point on England’s south coast?
      • Golden Cap
      • Golden Law
      • Golden Tor
    3. (H) Half a Sixpence, the musical, was adapted from the 1905 novel Kipps. Who wrote this novel?(I)
      • H.E. Bates
      • H. Rider Haggard
      • H.G. Wells
    4. (I) In 1915, the RMS Lusitania was torpedoed 11 miles (18 km) off the coast of which country?
      • Iceland
      • Ireland
      • Ivory Coast
    5. (J) What T.S. Eliot character says, “I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;”?
      • J. Alfred Prufrock
      • J. Bruce Ismay
      • J. Edgar Hoover
    T.S. Eliot. Wikipedia

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

  • An A to Z Cornucopia of Trivia. Part I | Answers

    Some trivia related to the letters A to E.

    Melvyn Bragg (Official photo of Lord Bragg), 2018. Winner of the Bad Sex in Fiction Award 1993 for A Time to Dance. See question 2. Wikipedia
    1. (A) AardvarkThe Raccoons is a Canadian animated series about Bert, Ralph and Melissa Raccoon, who thwart the schemes of Cyril Sneer, an industrialist aardvark, to destroy their forest home. The series ran from 1985 to 1992 and was created by Kevin Gillis.
    2. (B) Bad Sex in Fiction awardThe Literary Review has presented the Bad Sex in Fiction Award annually since 1993 to the author of the worst sex scene description in a novel. The award, established by Rhoda Koenig and Auberon Waugh, aims to discourage crude and tasteless sexual descriptions in modern novels.
      Colossus of Rhodes. Wikipedia
    3. (C) Colossus—One of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Colossus of Rhodes, a statue of the Greek sun god Helios, was erected in 280 BCE to celebrate Rhodes’ successful defence against Demetrius I of Macedon. Standing at 33 metres tall, it was the tallest statue in the ancient world until it collapsed in an earthquake in 226 BCE.
      Dylan Thomas, 1952. Wikipedia
    4. (D) Dylan ThomasDo not go gentle into that good night is a villanelle* by Dylan Thomas, written in 1947 and published in 1951. The poem, about resisting death, entered the public domain in 2024.
      *Villanelle is a pastoral or lyrical poem of nineteen lines, with only two rhymes throughout, and some lines repeated (Oxford English Dictionary).
    5. (E) Europa—The Galilean moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, are Jupiter’s four largest moons. Discovered by Galileo in 1610, they were the first objects found to orbit a planet other than Earth, challenging the geocentric Ptolemaic world system. Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system, surpassing Mercury in size. Europa is the smallest of the four Galilean moons.
    Europa. Wikipedia
  • An A to Z Cornucopia of Trivia. Part I

    Some trivia related to the letters A to E.

    Seven Wonders of the World. Wikipedia
    1. (A) An animated television series which began in the 1980s featured Cyril Sneer. Which of these best describes Cyril?
      • Aardvark
      • Ass
      • Anaconda
    2. (B) The following works of literature won what award in the year indicated. 1993: Melvyn Bragg, A Time to Dance; 2007: Norman Mailer, The Castle in the Forest and 2019: Didier Decoin, The Office of Gardens and Ponds and John Harvey, Pax?
      • Bad Sex in Fiction award
      • Balint Balassi Memorial Sword Award
      • Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year
    3. (C) Complete this: the ___ of Rhodes was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World?
      • Colosseum
      • Colossus
      • Colostrum
    4. (D) Which poet wrote the line: “Do not go gentle into that good night”?
      • DH Lawrence
      • Dorothy Parker
      • Dylan Thomas
    5. (E) The smallest of the four Galilean moons of Jupiter is named what?
      • Eirene
      • Epimetheus
      • Europa
    Jupiter. Wikipedia

    Good luck! The answers will be posted later

  • Silence is Golden | Answers

    The answers to my earlier post are shown in bold below.

    SS Great Western. Wikipedia
    1. Mary Pickford—Mary Pickford, born Gladys Louise Smith, was a Canadian-American actress and producer who became a pioneer in the American film industry. Known as “America’s Sweetheart” and “The Queen of the Movies,” she gained fame through silent films such as The Poor Little Rich Girl and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. Pickford co-founded United Artists alongside D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks. After retiring from acting in 1933, she focused on her work with United Artists and engaged in various charitable activities.
      Venus de Milo. Wikipedia
    2. Aphrodite—The Venus de Milo, a larger-than-life marble statue of Aphrodite carved by Alexandros around 150 BCE, was discovered on Melos in 1820. Inspired by a 4th-century Corinthian statue, it exemplifies Hellenistic sculptural tradition. Missing both arms and with an uncertain original position, the Parian marble sculpture has been displayed at the Louvre since 1821 and has inspired many artistic works and cultural references.
    3. Between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE— Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, established Buddhism in South Asia during the 6th or 4th century BCE. He advocated for a Middle Way between excessive indulgence and strict asceticism to achieve liberation from suffering. Buddhism developed into Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, expanding from India to Southeast and East Asia. Born in Lumbini, Nepal, and passing away in Kusinara, India, the Buddha’s teachings were spread by his followers, who commemorate significant events in his life, such as his birth, enlightenment and nirvana.
      Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who designed the SS Great Western, pictured with launching chains of the SS Great Eastern. Wikipedia
    4. SS Great Western—The SS Great Western, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was the first steamship built for transatlantic crossings. Wooden-hulled, it was the largest passenger ship from 1837 to 1839 and served as a model for future paddle-steamers.
    5. P. RuizEncyclopædia Britannica states that Picasso’s baptismal names are “Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Crispín Crispiniano María de los Remedios de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz Picasso”; Ruiz and Picasso being respectively his father’s and mother’s surnames. It further states in regard to his signing his works, “As a youth, Picasso was known as Pablo Ruiz, and he signed his earliest paintings P. Ruiz. By the turn of the 20th century he was using P.R. Picasso for paintings and drawings, but in late 1901 he finally settled on simply Picasso as his signature.”
    Picasso’s later signature. Wikipedia
  • Silence is Golden

    Gladys Louise Smith, aka ? (See question 1)
    1. Gladys Louise Smith was born on 8 April 1892 in Toronto, Canada, and later, as an actress in the silent era, became known as “Queen of the Movies” and “America’s Sweetheart“. What name did she use professionally?
      • Marion Davies
      • Lillian Gish
      • Mary Pickford
    2. Fragments of the ancient statue Venus de Milo were found in pieces on the island of Melos in the Aegean Sea on 8 April 1920. Who is the statue believed to represent?
      • Aphrodite
      • Artemis
      • Athena.
    3. A majority of Japanese Buddhists celebrate the birth of Buddha on 8 April, when is he believed to have lived?
      • Between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE
      • Between the 2nd century BCE and 2nd century CE
      • Between the 4th and 6th centuries CE
      SS Great ? (See question 4)
    4. On 8 April 1838, the first purpose-built and regular transatlantic steamer embarked on its maiden voyage. The ship, a wooden-hulled paddle steamer, was named what?
      • SS Great Britain
      • SS Great Eastern
      • SS Great Western
    5. The artist Pablo Picasso died on 8 April 1973. Which of these was how he signed his earliest works?
      • P.R.P.
      • P. Ruiz
      • P. Picasso
    Pablo Picasso, 1904. Wikipedia

    Good luck! I will post the answers later today.