It might be possible that the world itself is without meaning. | Answers

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

THX1138
Image Encyclopædia Britannica
  1. THX 1138 (1971) was the directorial debut of which filmmaker, who was born on 14 May 1944?
    • George Lucas—Warner Brothers–Seven Arts signed Lucas to direct a feature-length version of his student film, Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB, with Francis Ford Coppola executive-producing. The film, a grim fantasy about a robotised society, received respectful reviews but was not widely embraced.
      The ruins at Jamestown, Virginia, USA from: Robert Sears, A pictorial description of the United States (s.n., 1854), pg. 315. Google Books
      Image Wikipedia
  2. On this day in 1607, the first English colony in North America was founded and named after England’s King James I. Who was the mother of the king?
    • Mary, Queen of Scots—James VI and I, the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the first Stuart monarch. He ruled Scotland as James VI from 1567 and England and Ireland as James I from 1603 until his death in 1625. He advocated for a single parliament, sponsored the King James Version of the Bible and saw the start of English colonisation of the Americas.
      Virginia Woolf.
      Image Wikipedia
  3. On 14 May 1925, the novel Mrs Dalloway was published. Who was the author?
    • Virginia WoolfMrs Dalloway, a novel by Virginia Woolf, follows Clarissa Dalloway, an upper-class woman in post-WWI England, on a day as she prepares for a party. The novel explores time and social structure through Clarissa’s life and the party. The title of this post is from Mrs Dalloway.
      Eric Morecambe.
      Image Pinterest
  4. John Eric Bartholomew was born today in 1926. Which comedian/actor is he better known as?
    • Eric Morecambe—Eric Morecambe, born John Eric Bartholomew, was an English comedian known for his double act with Ernie Wise. The partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe’s death in 1984.
  5. May 14, saw the beginning of the last witchcraft trial held in the United States. In what year did this take place?
    • 1878—In 1878, Lucretia Brown accused Daniel Spofford of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. The case, considered the last witchcraft trial in the US, was dismissed by the judge.

It might be possible that the world itself is without meaning.

THX1138
Image Encyclopædia Britannica

Here are a few questions which are related to today’s date, 14 May.

  1. THX 1138 (1971) was the directorial debut of which filmmaker, who was born on 14 May 1944?
    • George Lucas
    • Steven Spielberg
    • Robert Zemeckis
  2. On this day in 1607, the first English colony in North America was founded and named after England’s King James I. Who was the mother of the king?
    • Mary I of England
    • Mary of Guise
    • Mary, Queen of Scots
  3. On 14 May 1925, the novel Mrs Dalloway was published. Who was the author?
    • Virginia Plain
    • Virginia Rogers
    • Virginia Woolf
  4. John Eric Bartholomew was born today in 1926. Which comedian/actor is he better known as?
    • Eric Idle
    • Eric Morecambe
    • Eric Sykes
  5. May 14, saw the beginning of the last witchcraft trial held in the United States. In what year did this take place?
    • 1778
    • 1828
    • 1878

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

It might be possible that the world itself is without meaning.

Terrible Twos | Answers

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

Pratchett’s Night Watch at the top and Rembrandt’s The Night Watch below.
Image Pinterest
  1. Willem van Ruytenburch, dressed in yellow, is depicted in a 1642 Rembrandt painting titled similarly to a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. What two words which form the novel’s title are also present in the painting’s title?
    • Night Watch—Rembrandt’s The Night Watch depicts a civic guard company, while Terry Pratchett’s novel follows Sir Samuel Vimes and the Ankh-Morpork City Watch.
  2. One was the Bond girl Solitaire, and the other was Henry VIII’s third wife. What was their shared name, first and last?
    • Jane Seymour—Jane Seymour, Henry VIII’s third wife, died of postnatal complications after giving birth to Edward VI. Jane Seymour, born Joyce Frankenberg, is a British actress known for roles in film and television. A Bond girl, she played psychic Solitaire in Live and Let Die (1973).
  3. What crow is also the name of a Tchaikovsky ballet?
    • Nutcracker—The nutcracker genus, Nucifraga, comprises four species of passerine birds in the Corvidae family. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s 1892 ballet, The Nutcracker, is based on Alexandre Dumas’s short story and features a nutcracker doll. The ballet’s score, particularly its use of the celesta, has become famous and is widely performed.
  4. What name links a London gunmaker, which is over 200-years old, and a character in The New Avengers, a British television series from the 1970s?
    • Purdey—James Purdey & Sons, a British gunmaker based in London, specialises in high-end bespoke sporting shotguns and rifles. The company holds Royal Warrants of appointment as gun and rifle makers to the British and other European royal families. Purdey, played by Joanna Lumley, was a spy working for British Intelligence in The New Avengers, a British television series in the seventies.
  5. The Royal Guardsmen’s song “_ vs. the Red Baron” peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1966. The fictional character missing from the song title became a mascot for aerospace safety in 1969 and has often since been associated with NASA. Can you name the character?
    • Snoopy—The Royal Guardsmen are an American band with several snoopy related hits. Snoopy has been associated with NASA since the Apollo era, inspiring generations to dream big about space exploration. During Artemis I, Snoopy will serve as the zero-gravity indicator, symbolising the journey to the Moon. This partnership continues to promote STEM education and excitement about space exploration. (Snoopy/NASA)

Terrible twos


Today’s trivia features a variety of questions without multiple-choice options, requiring you to come up with the answers yourself.

Mrs Henry VIII, the third.
Image Wikipedia
  1. Willem van Ruytenburch, dressed in yellow, is depicted in a 1642 Rembrandt painting titled similarly to a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. What two words, which form the novel’s title, are also present in the painting’s title?
  2. One was the Bond girl Solitaire, and the other was Henry VIII’s third wife. What was their shared name, first and last?
  3. What crow is also the name of a Tchaikovsky ballet?
  4. What name links a London gunmaker, which is over 200-years old, and a character in The New Avengers, a British television series from the 1970s?
  5. The Royal Guardsmen’s song “_ vs. the Red Baron” peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1966. The fictional character missing from the song title became a mascot for aerospace safety in 1969 and has often since been associated with NASA. Can you name the character?

Miscellany II | Answers

  1. US President Jimmy Carter was a farmer, what type of farming was he involved in?
    • Peanut—Jimmy Carter, the first US president born in a hospital, grew up in Plains, Georgia, and later Archery. He attended the US Naval Academy, graduating in 1946, and served in the Navy until 1953, including a stint in the nuclear submarine programme. After his father’s death, Carter returned to Georgia to take over the family peanut business, facing challenges but eventually becoming successful.
      Amazon, which has the greatest discharge of any river, discharging into the Atlantic Ocean.
      Image NASA/Wikipedia
  2. What the second-largest river on earth by discharge?
    • Ganges—is second at 43,950 m$^3$/s following the Amazon’s 224,000| m$^3$/s. The Yangtze comes fifth with 31,900 m$^3$/s and the Mississippi tenth at 21,300 m$^3$/s.
      Tomb of Merlin, Forest of Paimpont (Brocéliande).
      Image Wikipedia
  3. Brittany’s Brocéliande Forest (aka Paimpont Forest) is the site of the tomb of which legendary magical figure?
    • Merlin—The forest of Brocéliande, first mentioned in Chrétien de Troyes’s Arthurian romance, is associated with Merlin and Morgan le Fay in later works. Its exact location is debated, with theories placing it in Brittany, specifically near Quintin or in Paimpont forest, with the latter being considered most likely.
      Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11, on Lunar Surface wearing an Omega Speedmaster.
      Image Wikipedia
  4. In 1969, the first wrist watch to be worn on the Moon was manufactured by…
    • Omega—Buzz Aldrin became the first person to wear a watch on the Moon, wearing the Omega Speedmaster Professional Chronograph. Although Neil Armstrong was the first to set foot on the Moon, he left his 105.012 Speedmaster inside the Lunar Module Eagle as a backup because the LM’s electronic timer had malfunctioned. Aldrin wore his Speedmaster, making it the first watch ever worn on the Moon.
      Marionette, is a puppet worked by strings.
      Image Pinterest.
  5. A person who’s actions are controlled by another could be described as a …
    • Quockerwodger—which is best described as follows:

      The term quockerwodger, although referring to a wooden toy figure which jerks its limbs about when pulled by a string, has been supplemented with a political meaning. A pseudo-politician, one whose strings of action are pulled by somebody else, is now often termed a quockerwodger.
      — John Camden Hotten. A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words (1859)

Miscellany II

Full Moon
Image Wikipedia

Here are a few questions which have no connections they are simply miscellany.

  1. US President Jimmy Carter was a farmer, what type of farming was he involved in?
    • Avocado
    • Peanut
    • Zucchini
  2. What the second-largest river on earth by discharge?
    • Ganges
    • Mississippi
    • Yangtze
  3. Brittany’s Brocéliande Forest (aka Paimpont Forest) is the site of the tomb of which legendary magical figure?
    • Circe
    • Merlin
    • Witch of Endor
  4. In 1969, the first wrist watch to be worn on the Moon was manufactured by…
    • Bulova
    • Omega
    • Rolex
  5. A person who’s actions are controlled by another could be described as a …
    • Quaalude
    • Quillaja
    • Quockerwodger
Ancient Greek Terracotta dolls.
National Archaeological Museum in Athens/Wikipedia

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

A year in the day | Answers

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

Let It Be
Image Pinterest
  1. Almost a month after Paul McCartney’s announcement that he had left the band, The Beatles released their last original studio album, Let It Be on 8 May…
    • 1970—the Beatles’ final studio album, Let It Be, was released in 1970 after the band’s disbandment. The album, originally titled Get Back, was recorded in 1969 and included the iconic title track and popular songs like Across the Universe and I’ve Got a Feeling.
      Alex Van Halen.
      Image Wikipedia
  2. Drummer Alex Van Halen was born today in…
    • 1953—Alex Van Halen, drummer and co-founder of Van Halen, is known for his technical prowess and speed And widely regarded as one of the greatest drummers of all time. Van Halen, the band, formed in 1972 andsigned with Warner Brothers Records in 1977.
      Smallpox Immunization, Niger, Africa.
      Image: CDC/ Dr. J. D. Millar/Wikipedia
  3. The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared it had eradicated smallpox, the announcement was made on 8 May…
    • 1980—The global eradication of smallpox was certified, based on intense verification activities, by a commission of eminent scientists on 9 December 1979 and subsequently endorsed by the World Health Assembly on 8 May 1980. The first two sentences of their resolution read:

      “Having considered the development and results of the global program on smallpox eradication initiated by WHO in 1958 and intensified since 1967 … Declares solemnly that the world and its peoples have won freedom from smallpox, which was a most devastating disease sweeping in epidemic form through many countries since earliest time, leaving death, blindness and disfigurement in its wake and which only a decade ago was rampant in Africa, Asia and South America.”


      Jaws, first edition cover.
      Image Wikipedia
  4. Peter Benchley, American author and screenwriter, was born on 8 May…
    • 1940—Peter Bradford Benchley was an American author best known for his novel Jaws. Later in life, he became an advocate for marine conservation, expressing regret for his writing about sharks.
      John S. Pemberton.
      Image Wikipedia
  5. Pharmacist John S. Pemberton sold a carbonated beverage for the first time as a patent medicine, naming it Coca-Cola, on 8 May…
    • 1886—Confederate Colonel John Pemberton, wounded in the Civil War and addicted to morphine, created Pemberton’s French Wine Coca nerve tonic in 1885. After prohibition legislation in Atlanta, he developed Coca-Cola, a non-alcoholic version, in 1886, marketing it as a cure for various ailments including morphine addiction.
Drink Coca-Cola 5¢“, an 1890s advertising poster.
Image Wikipedia

A year in the day

Coca-cola.
Image Wikipedia

Here are a few questions which are related to today’s date, 8 May. All the answers are a year.

  1. Almost a month after Paul McCartney’s announcement that he had left the band, The Beatles released their last original studio album, Let It Be on 8 May…
    • 1969
    • 1970
    • 1971
  2. Drummer Alex Van Halen was born on 8 May…
    • 1949
    • 1951
    • 1953
  3. The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared it had eradicated smallpox, the announcement was made on 8 May…
    • 1960
    • 1970—
    • 1980
  4. American author and screenwriter Peter Benchley was born on 8 May…
    • 1940—
    • 1950
    • 1960
  5. Pharmacist John S. Pemberton sold a carbonated beverage for the first time as a patent medicine, naming it Coca-Cola, on 8 May…
    • 1886
    • 1899
    • 1912

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

Mysteries and Meanings: A Trivial Journey Through Mike—Quebec | Answers

Below are the questions from earlier today with the answers in bold.

  1. M is for Mike. This nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion went on to race cars in the Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship?
    • Mike Hailwood—Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, nicknamed “the Bike”, was a British racing driver and motorcycle road racer. He won nine Grand Prix motorcycle World Championships and 14 Isle of Man TT victories before transitioning to Formula One and other car racing classes.
      Natalie Wood.
      Image Wikipedia
  1. N is for Natalie. She married actor Robert Wagner in 1957 and again in 1972?
    • Wood—Natalie Wood, an American actress, began acting at four and starred in films like Rebel Without a Cause and West Side Story. She drowned in 1981 at age 43 during a break from filming Brainstorm, with her husband Robert Wagner and co-star Christopher Walken. An ongoing investigation into her death named Wagner as a person of interest in 2018.
      Operation Overlord.
      Image Wikipedia
  2. O is for Operation. That was launched on 6 June 1944?
    • Overlord—Operation Overlord, the codename for the Battle of Normandy, was the Allied operation that liberated German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation, launched on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings, involved nearly 160,000 troops crossing the English Channel. German forces retreated east across the Seine on 30 August 1944, marking the close of Operation Overlord.
      MY Fair Lady, Playbill magazine cover, Broadway, 1952.
      Image Wikipedia
  3. P is for Pygmalion. This musical and a 1960s film were based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion?
    • My Fair Lady—George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion is a comedy about a phonetician who bets he can transform a Cockney flower seller into a duchess. The play, later adapted into My Fair Lady, starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn, explores love and the English class system.
      Dana Scully and Queequeg
      Image Pinterest
  4. Q if for Queequeg. Queequeg is a character in the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, but who had a dog named Queequeg?
    • Dana Scully—In Moby-Dick, Queequeg is a skilled harpooneer from the cannibal tribe of Rokovoko. Scully, in The X-Files, named Queequeg (the dog) because of his cannabalistic behaviour in eating the dead body of his former owner.

Natalie Wood.
Image Wikipedia

Mysteries and Meanings: A Trivial Journey Through Mike—Quebec

Queequeg and his harpoon.
Image: Illustration from 1902 edition of Moby Dick/Wikipedia
  1. M is for Mike. This nine-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion went on to race cars in the Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship?
    • Haggar
    • Hailwood
    • Hawthorn
  1. N is for Natalie. She married actor Robert Wagner in 1957 and again in 1972?
    • Walnut
    • Willow
    • Wood
  2. O is for Operation. That was launched on 6 June 1944?
    • Overarch
    • Overlord
    • Overtake
  3. P is for Pygmalion. This musical and a 1960s film were based on George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion?
    • Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
    • Half a Sixpence
    • My Fair Lady
  4. Q if for Queequeg. Queequeg is a character in the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, but who had a dog named Queequeg?
    • Dana Scully
    • Dr Doug Ross
    • Ross Geller

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.