Showing posts with label random. Show all posts
Showing posts with label random. Show all posts

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Drug Druthers - Random Trivia Answers

  • A1) Nifedipine. The dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker is approved for treatment of hypertension and angina pectoris.
  • A2) Ibuprofen. The pain killer has been approved for use by the U.S. FDA since 1984.
  • A3) Citalopram. The antidepressant is used to treat depression and social anxiety disorder. Its successor is escitalopram, which is sold as Lexapro.
  • A4) Tadalafil. The 36-hour PDE5 inhibitor was the third ED drug approved by the FDA in December 2003.
  • A5) Meperidine (also called pethidine). The opioid analgesic was created by German Otto Schaumann in 1932 as a safer alternative to morphine.
  • A6) Furosemide (also called frusemide). [name comes from "LAsts SIX" hours] -- used to treat hypertension and other ailments in humans but infamous for being used to keep horses from bleeding during races.
  • A7) Vardenafil. Levitra is Bayer's name in the U.S., and Vivanza is GSK's name in Europe for the same PDE5 inhibitor.
  • A8) Paroxetine. The antidepressant is less frequently used because withdrawal symptoms can be severe.
  • A9) Fluoxetine. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), like paroxetine, was created by Eli Lilly in 1970.
  • A10) Acetaminophen (paracetamol outside of North America). The popular pain reliever and fever reducer was first marketed in the U.S. in 1953 as an aspirin substitute.
  • A11) Sildenafil citrate. The first ED drug was approved by the FDA in March 1998, leading to over a billion dollars in annual sales.
  • A12) Sertraline. The SSRI, the most widely prescribed antidepressant in the U.S. in 2007, was developed at Pfizer beginning in the early 1970s but did not come to market for two decades.

Note: this is the final random trivia quiz that will be posted to the Trivia Why's blog. The Quiz Quilt puzzles will continue to be posted each Friday (questions) and Saturday (answers) night.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Drug Druthers - Random Trivia Questions

Given your druthers, what generic drugs would you rather purchase to save the expense of these higher-priced brand names?

Drug Druthers Questions

  • Q1) Adalat, Nifedical, and Procardia
  • Q2) Advil and Motrin
  • Q3) Celexa
  • Q4) Cialis
  • Q5) Demerol
  • Q6) Lasix
  • Q7) Levitra and Vivanza
  • Q8) Paxil
  • Q9) Prozac
  • Q10) Tylenol
  • Q11) Viagra
  • Q12) Zoloft

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Double Sports - Random Trivia Answers

  • A1) L.C. Greenwood. The 6'6" defensive end, whose initials apparently don't stand for anything (he wrote his full name as L.C. Henderson Greenwood) liked to joke about becoming an actor but ended up running an electrical and plumbing supply company after retiring from football.
  • A2) J.D. Drew. David Jonathan Drew was known by his middle name Jon, so "J.D. Drew" effectively expands to the redundant "Jon Drew Drew".
  • A3) M.L. Carr. Michael Leon Carr guided the Celtics to a 15-67 record in 1996-97 and a franchise-worst .293 (48-116) over two seasons before being kicked upstairs to become Director of Corporate Development.
  • A4) B.J. Ryan. Robert Victor Ryan, Jr. (from "Bobby Junior") had saved 36 games and sported a 2.43 ERA with the Baltimore Orioles in 2005 before the Toronto Blue Jays offered the huge free agent bucks.
  • A5) C.C. Sabathia. Lefty Carsten Charles Sabathia inked the deal with the New York Yankees, after winning the 2007 American League Cy Young Award and helping the Milwaukee Brewers win the 2008 National League Wild Card.
  • A6) O.J. Simpson. Orenthal James Simpson notched a then-record 2,003 yards rushing in 1973, for a 14-game average of 143.1 yards. The four other 2,000-yard rushers each needed a 16-game season to reach the milestone.
  • A7) Y.A. Tittle. Hall-of-Famer Yelberton Abraham Tittle was named MVP in both 1961 and 1963 with the New York Giants but retired after a disappointing 1964 season that included a concussion and a broken sternum.
  • A8) C.J. Hunter. Cottrell James Hunter, III was married to Marion Jones at the time, and she was stripped of her three golds and two bronzes from those Olympics for taking performance-enhancing drugs.
  • A9) A.J. Burnett. Allan James Burnett debuted with the Florida Marlins in 1999 and overcame 2003 Tommy John surgery.
  • A10) A.C. Green. The power forward, whose initials don't stand for anything (he's actually A.C. Green, Jr.), played every regular season game from November 19, 1986 to April 18, 2001, a span of 1,192 consecutive games, and missed only three of 1,281 games in his career, which ended after a three-and-out in the 2000-01 postseason.
  • A11) P.J. Carlesimo. Peter Joseph Carlesimo was head coach of the Golden State Warriors when the temperamental guard and forward lost his cool, eventually getting suspended for 68 games and getting traded to the New York Knicks.
  • A12) A.J. Foyt. Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr. took the checkered flag at the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, 1964, 1967, and 1977, the Daytona 500 in 1972, Le Mans in 1967 (with Dan Gurney), and the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1983 (with Preston Henn, Bob Wollek, and Claude Ballot-Lena) and 1985 (with Wollek, Al Unser Sr., and Thierry Boutsen). The Texan is also the only driver to win Indy and Le Mans in the same year.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Double Sports - Random Trivia Questions

This second followup to the recent mystery quiz focuses just on athletes. Take a bonus point for each initial that you can expand correctly.

Double Sports Questions

  • Q1) What member of the NFL's Steel Curtain was nicknamed "Hollywood Bags"?
  • Q2) What Florida State baseball player was the Golden Spikes Award winner, Collegiate Baseball Player of the Year, and Sporting News Player of the Year in 1997, eleven years before earning the MLB All-Star Game MVP award?
  • Q3) What coach led the Boston Celtics to their worst season record ever?
  • Q4) What Major League Baseball pitcher set a reliever record by signing a five-year, $47-million contract in November 2005?
  • Q5) What Major League Baseball pitcher set a hurler record by signing a seven-year, $161-million contract in December 2008?
  • Q6) What NFL running back rushed for the highest average yards per game in an NFL season?
  • Q7) What NFL quarterback set the standard with 36 passing touchdowns in 1963?
  • Q8) What U.S. shot putter qualified for the 2000 Olympic team but tested positive for Nandrolone before he could compete?
  • Q9) What MLB pitcher was drafted by the New York Mets in 1995, threw a no-hitter in 2001, and led the American League in strikeouts in 2008?
  • Q10) Who holds the NBA record for consecutive games played?
  • Q11) What NBA coach did Latrell Sprewell attempt to choke during a 1997 practice?
  • Q12) Who is the only driver to win the Indy 500, the Daytona 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the 24 Hours of Daytona?

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Double Trouble - Random Trivia Answers

  • A1) B.B. King. Although Riley B. King (the B.B. stands not for his first and middle names but "Beale Street Blues Boy") has gone through several guitars since then, he continues to name them Lucille to remind himself that it wasn't worth risking his life to save his instrument.
  • A2) D.B. Cooper. The thief actually boarded as Dan Cooper, and the name D.B. was simply an error that occurred during reporting. Some of the money was discovered in 1980, but Cooper was never found.
  • A3) T.E. Lawrence. Thomas Edward Lawrence had swerved to avoid two young bicyclists and was tossed over his handlebars, passing away less than a week later at age 46.
  • A4) W.C. Fields. William Claude Dukenfield also played on his hatred of women, children, and animals in his act, but he did marry and have two sons (one with a girlfriend after his wife's death).
  • A5) E.F. Hutton. Edward Francis Hutton also served as chairman of General Foods Corporation. The former E.F. Hutton company is now split between Citigroup and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
  • A6) P.T. Barnum. Phineas Taylor Barnum is famous for claiming, "There's a sucker born every minute", but the true originator was probably David Hannum, a banker who was referring to Barnum's copying the Cardiff Giant and passing it off as the real thing (ironic, since the original was a hoax as well).
  • A7) I.M. Pei. Ieoh Ming Pei also worked on dozens of other buildings, including Boston's John Hancock Tower (although he defers credit to Henry Cobb) and Manhattan's Martha Stewart Center for Living at Mount Sinai Hospital.
  • A8) M.C. Escher. Maurits Cornelis Escher mused, "It is, for example, great fun deliberately to confuse two and three dimensions, the plane and space, or to poke fun at gravity".
  • A9) W.C. Handy. William Christopher Handy (not B.B. King again, of course) learned to play guitar and secretly joined a band against the wishes of his pastor father in Alabama. Handy has a city park named after him on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee.
  • A10) B.F. Skinner. Writer Jon Vitti was President of the Harvard Lampoon, and used the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Burrhus Frederic Skinner, as inspiration for Principal W. Seymour Skinner.
  • A11) D.W. Griffith. Director David [Llewelyn] Wark Griffith is famous for his camera work but almost equally infamous for denigrating blacks and supporting the Ku Klux Klan.
  • A12) L.L. Bean. Leon Leonwood Bean obtained a list of nonresident Maine hunting license holders and mailed sales circulars to all of them.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Double Trouble - Random Trivia Questions

As a follow-up to last week's mystery quiz, can you name the following people who are best known by two initials? Take a bonus point for each initial that you can expand correctly.

Double Trouble Questions

  • Q1) What musician named his guitar Lucille in 1949 after rescuing it from a kerosene fire started by two men fighting over a woman named Lucille?
  • Q2) What criminal hijacked a Boeing 727 on the day before Thanksgiving in 1971 and parachuted out somewhere over southwest Washington with $200,000 in ransom money that he was given after landing once?
  • Q3) What illegitimate son of Thomas Chapman and Sarah Junner survived the Battles of Aqaba and Maysaloun and helped capture Damascus in 1918 but was killed in a motorcycle accident shortly after leaving the service?
  • Q4) What comedian remarked, "A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her", "I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food", and "I drink therefore I am"?
  • Q5) With his brother Franklyn in San Francisco in 1904, what Wall Street trader founded a brokerage firm that would eventually be acquired by Shearson Lehman Brothers 84 years later for a billion dollars?
  • Q6) What showman created the first public aquarium in the U.S. as part of his American Museum three years after the London Zoo opened?
  • Q7) What architect's public projects began with East Garden City, New York's Roosevelt Field Mall in 1951 and include Boston's Christian Science Center, JFK Airport's Sundrome, New York City's Javits Convention Center, Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Charlotte's NASCAR Hall of Fame?
  • Q8) What artist's reality-bending works include Tower of Babel, Metamorphosis I, Reptiles, Ascending and Descending, and Snakes?
  • Q9) What blues musician's songs included "Ole Miss Rag", "Yellow Dog Blues", and "Beale Street Blues"?
  • Q10) What Harvard psychology professor's name was given to a character on the Simpsons television show?
  • Q11) What director helped usher in the era of feature films with "The Birth of a Nation" in 1915 and "Intolerance" in 1916?
  • Q12) Who founded a mail order company in 1912, originally selling waterproof boots to hunters?

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Mystery Authors - Random Trivia Answers

  • A1) E.M. Forster. Edward Morgan Forster's novels were originally published in 1924, 1908, 1971 (posthumously completed), 1905, and 1910.
  • A2) G.K. Chesterton. Gilbert Keith Chesterton eventually featured the priestly prober in 52 short stories, eventually compiled into five books over two and half decades.
  • A3) P.J. O'Rourke. Patrick Jake O'Rourke has used humor to great effect in fifteen books and countless articles. In 1994, he claimed in All the Trouble in the World, "Of course, the humans in Haiti have hope. They hope to leave."
  • A4) P.L. Travers. Pamela Lyndon Travers created Mary Poppins in 1934 and penned seven sequels over the next 54 years.
  • A5) H.G. Wells. Herbert George Wells had diabetes and may have died from it (or maybe from liver cancer).
  • A6) A.A. Milne. Although Alan Alexander Milne was more famous for his children's stories about Winnie-the-Pooh, he was a more prolific playwright, authoring 25 plays between 1917 and 1951.
  • A7) T.H. White. The books, collectively known as The Once and Future King, were published from 1938 to 1958, with the second installment originally titled The Witch in the Wood.
  • A8) J.M. Barrie. James Matthew Barrie introduced Peter Pan in the play Peter Pan: or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up in 1904, seven years before he turned it into the novel Peter and Wendy.
  • A9) C.S. Lewis. Clive Staples Lewis also penned numerous essays and letters about Christianity, to which he converted midway through his life.
  • A10) P.G. Wodehouse. Pelham Grenville Wodehouse introduced Jeeves the valet (responsible for taking care of a person, not a house like a butler) in the 1916 short story "Jeeves Takes Charge". The search engine can now be found at the web site ask.com.
  • A11) W.H. Auden. Wystan Hugh Auden also elegized another thematic author in "In Memory of W.B. Yeats".
  • A12) T.S. Eliot. Thomas Stearns Eliot studied philosophy at Harvard University in the U.S., the University of Paris in France, and Oxford University in England, where he settled down and got married before returning to Harvard in his 40s.

As you have no doubt realized by now, all of this week's answers are best known by their first and middle initials.

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Mystery Authors - Random Trivia Questions

Although at initial glance this quiz seems to be misnamed, as most of the questions aren't about mystery writers, you will soon realize that the mystery at hand is, "What's the connection?" It won't take much sleuthing to figure the answer out.

Mystery Authors Questions

  • Q1) What author's novels were turned into the movies A Passage to India (1984), A Room with a View (1985), Maurice (1987), Where Angels Fear to Tread (1991), and Howards End (1992)?
  • Q2) What author's fictional detective Father Brown debuted in The Innocence of Father Brown in 1911?
  • Q3) According to the television show 60 Minutes what living person has the most entries in The Penguin Dictionary of Modern Humorous Quotations?
  • Q4) What novelist appeared as Titania in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and wrote I Go By Sea, I Go By Land, Gingerbread Shop, Mr. Wigg's Birthday Party, The Magic Compass, and Friend Monkey in addition to her most famous stories?
  • Q5) What English author cofounded The Diabetic Association charity, now known as Diabetes UK, in 1934?
  • Q6) What author adapted Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows into the play Toad of Toad Hall in 1929 and turned Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice into the play Miss Elizabeth Bennet in 1936?
  • Q7) What author's most famous work was the tetralogy consisting of The Sword in the Stone, The Queen of Air and Darkness, The Ill-Made Knight, and The Candle in the Wind?
  • Q8) What Scottish novelist began his career with Auld Licht Idylls in 1888, and wrote Quality Street, The Admirable Crichton, and The Little White Bird in the years leading up to his most famous play?
  • Q9) What novelist and essayist published poetry using the last name Hamilton, was known to his friends as Jack, and passed away on the same day as John F. Kennedy and Aldous Huxley?
  • Q10) For what author's character was the Internet search engine Ask Jeeves named?
  • Q11) What author's 400 poems include "Stop all the clocks" (a.k.a., "Funeral Blues"), "In Memory of Sigmund Freud", "The Fall of Rome", and "The Shield of Achilles"?
  • Q12) What writer was more famous for his poetry but also created the plays The Rock, Murder in the Cathedral, The Family Reunion, The Cocktail Party, The Confidential Clerk, and The Elder Statesman from 1926 to 1958?

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Horoscope Horror - Random Trivia Answers

  • A1) F. Tyler (1790), Idle (1943), Frazier (1945), Bailey (1918), and McCarthy (1916) were all rams born on March 29.
  • A2) K. Grant (1822), Klugman (1922), Gervin (1952), Frehley (1951), and Kasem (1932) were all bulls born on April 27.
  • A3) E. Kennedy (1917), Hope (1903), Anthony (1984), Etheridge (1961), and Hinckley (1955) were all twins born on May 29.
  • A4) A. Ford (1913), Fox (1966), Hudson (1975), Taboo (1975), and Bergman (1918) were all crabs born on July 14.
  • A5) C. Hoover (1874), Arquette (1959), Bowe (1967), Fisher (1928), and Brunson (1933) were all lions born on August 10.
  • A6) G. Johnson (1908), Herman (1952), Thome (1970), Mario (1986), and Brown (1959) were all virgins born on August 27.
  • A7) D. Carter (1924), Andrews (1935), McGwire (1963), Verlinden (1997), and Margolis (1965) were all scales born on October 1.
  • A8) J. Roosevelt (1858), Cleese (1939), Quinn (1984), Le Bon (1958), and Plath (1932) were all scorpions born on October 27.
  • A9) L. Taylor (1784), Heigl (1978), Robertson (1938), Best (1941), and Bundy (1946) were all archers born on November 24.
  • A10) H. Nixon (1913), Denver (1935), Ocho Cinco (1978), Page (1944), and Enberg (1935) were all goats born on January 9.
  • A11) I. Reagan (1911), Gabor (1917), Ruth (1895), Astley (1966), and Brokaw (1940) were all water carriers born on February 6.
  • A12) B. Cleveland (1837), Graves (1926), Blair (1964), Latifah (1970), and Updike (1932) were all fish born on March 18.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Horoscope Horror - Random Trivia Questions

Who's a ram, and who's a crab? Who's the salt of the earth, and who's on fire? Can you match up each set of five famous people (second column) with their western astrological sign (first column) for one point each?

Horoscope Horror Questions

SignPeople
Q1) Aries (March 21-April 19)A) President: Gerald Ford, Actor: Matthew Fox, Athlete: Tim Hudson, Musician: Taboo, Other: Ingmar Bergman
Q2) Taurus (April 20-May 20)B) President: Grover Cleveland, Actor: Peter Graves, Athlete: Bonnie Blair, Musician: Queen Latifah, Other: John Updike
Q3) Gemini (May 21-June 20)C) President: Herbert Hoover, Actor: Rosanna Arquette, Athlete: Riddick Bowe, Musician: Eddie Fisher, Other: Doyle Brunson
Q4) Cancer (June 21-July 22)D) President: Jimmy Carter, Actor: Julie Andrews, Athlete: Mark McGwire, Musician: Sam Verlinden, Other: Cindy Margolis
Q5) Leo (July 23-August 22)E) President: John F. Kennedy, Actor: Bob Hope, Athlete: Carmelo Anthony, Musician: Melissa Etheridge, Other: John Hinckley, Jr.
Q6) Virgo (August 23-September 22)F) President: John Tyler, Actor: Eric Idle, Athlete: Walt Frazier, Musician: Pearl Bailey, Other: Eugene McCarthy
Q7) Libra (September 23-October 22)G) President: Lyndon Johnson, Actor: Pee-wee Herman, Athlete: Jim Thome, Musician: Mario [Dewar Barrett], Other: Downtown Julie Brown
Q8) Scorpio (October 23-November 21)H) President: Richard Nixon, Actor: Bob Denver, Athlete: Chad Ocho Cinco, Musician: Jimmy Page, Other: Dick Enberg
Q9) Sagittarius (November 22-December 21)I) President: Ronald Reagan, Actor: Zsa Zsa Gabor, Athlete: Babe Ruth, Musician: Rick Astley, Other: Tom Brokaw
Q10) Capricorn (December 22-January 19)J) President: Theodore Roosevelt, Actor: John Cleese, Athlete: Brady Quinn, Musician: Simon Le Bon, Other: Sylvia Plath
Q11) Aquarius (January 20-February 19)K) President: Ulysses Grant, Actor: Jack Klugman, Athlete: George Gervin, Musician: Ace Frehley, Other: Casey Kasem
Q12) Pisces (February 20-March 20)L) President: Zachary Taylor, Actor: Katherine Heigl, Athlete: Oscar Robertson, Musician: Pete Best, Other: Ted Bundy

Sunday, March 28, 2010

007 Songs - Random Trivia Answers

  • A1) Carly Simon. "Nobody Does It Better" peaked at #2, blocked from the top spot by Debby Boone's megahit "You Light Up My Life".
  • A2) Sheena Easton. The song, which peaked at #4, was nominated for a Best Song Oscar but lost to "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" by Christopher Cross.
  • A3) Rita Coolidge. "All Time High" was the disco queen's final appearance in the Hot 100, reaching #36.
  • A4) Duran Duran. The English band became the only artist to reach the top spot with a Bond theme, for two weeks in July 1985.
  • A5) a-ha. Not surprisingly, the song topped the charts in the band's native Norway, but it failed to make the Hot 100 in the U.S.
  • A6) Gladys Knight. Knight was asked to sing only after Eric Clapton turned down the opportunity to compose and perform the theme song.
  • A7) Tina Turner. Bono and The Edge composed the song, but it still failed to chart in the U.S.
  • A8) Sheryl Crow. The song was nominated for a Best Original Song Golden Globe Award and a Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television Grammy, losing to Titanic's "My Heart Will Go On" both times.
  • A9) Garbage. The band beat out Jamiroquai, Robbie Williams, Sharleen Spiteri, Bjork, and Melanie C for the honor but failed to chart in the U.S.
  • A10) Madonna. The song reached #8 on the Hot 100 and topped various Hot Dance Music charts.
  • A11) Chris Cornell. "You Know My Name" only reached #79 for the Soundgarden lead singer.
  • A12) Alicia Keys and Jack White. "Another Way to Die", the first duet for a Bond theme song, could only get to #81 on the Hot 100.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

007 Songs - Random Trivia Questions

Of the thirty-something (depending on how you're counting) James Bond movies, some have climbed high on the Billboard Hot 100, while others didn't even make it. Can you identify the artists who sang each song given the names of the last twelve Bond films? Take an additional bonus point for naming each of the four songs whose titles don't match the movie names.

007 Songs Questions

  • Q1) The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977
  • Q2) For Your Eyes Only, 1981
  • Q3) Octopussy, 1983
  • Q4) A View to a Kill, 1985
  • Q5) The Living Daylights, 1987
  • Q6) Licence to Kill, 1989
  • Q7) GoldenEye, 1995
  • Q8) Tomorrow Never Dies, 1997
  • Q9) The World Is Not Enough, 1999
  • Q10) Die Another Day, 2002
  • Q11) Casino Royale, 2006
  • Q12) Quantum of Solace, 2008

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Purloined Poetry - Random Trivia Answers

  • A1) "Comin' Through the Rye", Robert Burns (1788). "O, JENNY'S a' weet, poor body, / Jenny's seldom dry; / She draigl't a' her petticoattie / Comin thro' the rye." [Holden Caulfield added the "catcher" part.]
  • A2) "The Doors of Perception", William Blake (from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, 1793). "If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. / For man has closed himself up, til he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern." [The band's name may have come third hand via Aldous Huxley's 1954 book by the same name, The Doors of Perception, about hallucinogenic drugs.]
  • A3) "Eloisa to Abelard", Alexander Pope (1717). "How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! / The world forgetting, by the world forgot. / Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! / Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd."
  • A4) "Meditation XVII", John Donne (from Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, 1624). "No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee."
  • A5) "The Lonely Hunter", Fiona Macleod (pseudonym of William Sharp, 1896). "Here in the heart of Summer, sweet is life to me still, / But my heart is a lonely hunter that hunts on a lonely hill."
  • A6) "Sympathy", Paul Lawrence Dunbar (from Lyrics of the Hearthside, 1899). "I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, / When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,- / When he beats his bars and he would be free; / It is not a carol of joy or glee, / But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core, / But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings - / I know why the caged bird sings!"
  • A7) "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", T.S. Eliot (1915). "Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach? / I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. / I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each." and "We have lingered in the chambers of the sea / By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown / Till human voices wake us, and we drown."
  • A8) "Little Orphant Annie", James Whitcomb Riley (1885). "Little Orphant Annie's come to our house to stay, / An' wash the cups an' saucers up, an' brush the crumbs away."
  • A9) "The Lady of Shalott", Lord Tennyson (1833). "Out flew the web and floated wide; / The mirror crack'd from side to side; / 'The curse is come upon me,' cried / The Lady of Shalott."
  • A10) "Sailing to Byzantium", William Butler Yeats (from The Tower, 1928). "That is no country for old men. The young / In one another's arms, birds in the trees."
  • A11) "To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest, with the Plough", Robert Burns (from Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, a.k.a., the Kilmarnock volume, 1785). "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley, / An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, / For promis'd joy!" ["Gang aft agley" translates to "Go oft awry".]
  • A12) "Rainbow in the Sky", Louis Untermeyer (1935). "Wire, briar, linder-lock / Three geese in a flock / One flew east, one flew west / And one flew over the cuckoo's nest." [It may be "limber-lock" instead of "linder-lock".]

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Purloined Poetry - Random Trivia Questions

Each of this week's titles was borrowed from a piece of poetry. Can you name the original poems and their authors for one point each?

Purloined Poetry Questions

  • Q1) The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger (1951 novel) [source for just the "Rye" part]
  • Q2) The Doors (1965 band) [original source]
  • Q3) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004 movie)
  • Q4) For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway (1940 novel)
  • Q5) The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Carson McCullers (1940 novel and 1968 movie)
  • Q6) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou (1969 autobiography)
  • Q7) I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987 movie) and Till Human Voices Wake Us (2002 movie)
  • Q8) Little Orphan Annie, Harold Gray (1924 comic strip)
  • Q9) The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, Agatha Christie (1962 novel)
  • Q10) No Country for Old Men, Cormac McCarthy (2005 novel and 2007 movie)
  • Q11) Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck (1937 novella)
  • Q12) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey (1962 book and 1975 movie) [disputed source]

Sunday, March 14, 2010

More March Madness - Random Trivia Answers

  • A1) Duke and North Carolina. The Blue Devils won finals over Kansas in 1991, Michigan in 1992, and Arizona in 2001 [Update: and over Butler in 2010], while the Tar Heels won finals over Michigan in 1993, Illinois in 2005, and Michigan State in 2009. Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, and Kentucky have each won twice.
  • A2) Duke. The Blue Devils lost finals to Louisville in 1986, UNLV in 1990, Arkansas in 1994, and Connecticut in 1999. Kansas, Michigan, and Syracuse have all finished second twice. Duke has reached the finals seven times [Update: eight times through 2010], well ahead of Kansas (4), Florida (3), Kentucky (3), Michigan (3), North Carolina (3), and Syracuse (3).
  • A3) Duke. Not surprisingly, the Blue Devils lead this category as well, with 10 appearances [Update: 11 through 2010].
  • A4) North Carolina. And the Tar Heels are second with 9. Kansas is third at 7.
  • A5) Nevada-Las Vegas. The UNLV Running Rebels ran the Duke Blue Devils off the court in 1990, amassing a record 103 points in a record thirty-point victory.
  • A6) Maryland. With a 64-52 victory over Indiana in 2002, the Terrapins undercut Villanova's 66-point effort in 1985 in the last tournament played without a shot clock. [Update: Duke undercut Maryland with a 61-59 win over Butler in 2010.]
  • A7) Oklahoma. The Sooners fell to the Kansas Jayhawks 83-79 in 1988, one year before Seton Hall and nine years before Kentucky matched their mark in OT losses.
  • A8) Michigan. The Wolverines could only muster 51 points in losing to Duke in 1992, one fewer point than Indiana in 2002.
  • A9) Villanova. The Wildcats were a lowly #8-seed when they upset the Georgetown Hoyas for the 1985 title.
  • A10) Kansas. The Jayhawks benefitted from a couple of upsets to get by three lower-seeded teams, #11 Xavier, #14 Murray State, and #7 Vanderbilt, before upsetting #4 Kansas State, #2 Duke, and #1 Oklahoma to capture the 1988 title.
  • A11) Michigan. The #6-seed Wolverines handled #11 Temple in the first round and #14 East Tennessee State in the second before upsetting #2 Oklahoma State, #1 Ohio State, and #4 Cincinnati to reach the 1992 final.
  • A12) Louisiana State University and George Mason. LSU was a #11-seed when they upset #6 Purdue, #3 Memphis State, #2 Georgia Tech, and #1 Kentucky to advance out of the Southeast region in 1986. The Patriots upended #6 Michigan State, #3 North Carolina, #7 Wichita State, and #1 Connecticut to claim the East Regional in 2006.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

More March Madness - Random Trivia Questions

The modern era of the Final Four was born when the NCAA enlarged the Men's Division I Basketball Tournament field to 64 teams in 1985. In the twenty-five Final Fours that have taken place since then, what schools hold the following records?

More March Madness Questions

  • Q1) What two teams have won the most times [since 1985, for all twelve questions]?
  • Q2) What team has been runner-up the most times?
  • Q3) What team has reached the Final Four the most times?
  • Q4) What team has reached the Final Four the second most times?
  • Q5) What team had the highest winning score in a final?
  • Q6) What team had the lowest winning score in a final?
  • Q7) What team had the highest losing score in a final that didn't go to overtime?
  • Q8) What team had the lowest losing score in a final?
  • Q9) What was the lowest-seeded team to win the Final Four?
  • Q10) What was the second lowest-seeded team to win the Final Four?
  • Q11) What was the lowest-seeded team to reach the final but lose?
  • Q12) What were the two lowest-seeded teams to reach the Final Four (semifinals)?

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Animal Adjectives - Random Trivia Answers

  • A1) Bee. The Latin apis means bee. Have you had the avian and apian allocution with your kids yet?
  • A2) Whale. The adjective "cetaceous" is also used, not to be confused with the Cretaceous ("chalky") geologic period during which the dinosaurs roamed.
  • A3) Dove (or pigeon). The name of Columbine High School in Colorado refers to a purple flower that looks like the bird.
  • A4) Rabbit (or hare). The term "leverine" can also be used to specifically refer to a young hare ("leveret").
  • A5) Wolf. The modifier can also refer to a genus of plants of the pea family, but the context should usually give away which meaning is intended.
  • A6) Rat (or mouse). The makers of Murine eye drops clearly hope that nobody associates their product with rodents (Prestige Brands does not publicly state whether they test their products on animals or not).
  • A7) Sheep. The Latin ovis means sheep. When food is being discussed, the "ov-" prefix is more likely to refer to eggs (Latin ovum or ova).
  • A8) Pig. The word "pork" also derives from the Latin porcus.
  • A9) Bat. The Greek pteron means "wing" (e.g., "pterodactyl" means "wing fingers").
  • A10) Toad (or frog). The adjective is also used medically to refer to the underside of the tongue.
  • A11) Bear. The constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are supposed to resemble big and small bears.
  • A12) Fox. The adjective was taken almost directly from the Latin (vulpinus, with vulpis being the noun) in the early 17th century.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Animal Adjectives - Random Trivia Questions

You're familiar with the adjectives "canine" for "dog-like", "feline" for "cat-like", "equine" for "horse-like", and "bovine" for "cow-like", but do you know what animals the following words are associated with?

Animal Adjectives Questions

  • Q1) Apian
  • Q2) Cetacean
  • Q3) Columbine
  • Q4) Leporine
  • Q5) Lupine
  • Q6) Murine
  • Q7) Ovine
  • Q8) Porcine
  • Q9) Pteropine
  • Q10) Ranine
  • Q11) Ursine
  • Q12) Vulpine

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Pronoun Problems - Random Trivia Answers

  • A1) Yes. The ten-minute song from the band's Close to the Edge classic album is split into four sections: "Cord of Life", "Eclipse", "The Preacher, the Teacher", and "Apocalypse".
  • A2) Yaz (known by their original name Yazoo in the U.K.). The album's name, You and Me Both, as well as the band's debut single, "Only You" from the previous year, almost fit the quiz's theme.
  • A3) Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine. The Cuban-American crossovers had at least four other songs that fit, or nearly fit, this week's theme: "Ay, Ay, I", "Here We Are", "Into You", and "You".
  • A4) Madonna. The Material Girl's first single was released on October 6, 1982, seven years before Black Box's "Everybody Everybody" (Billboard 100 #8) and fifteen years before the Backstreet Boys' "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" (Billboard 100 #4).
  • A5) The Beatles. The Fab Four's first charting U.S. single only peaked at #41 despite topping the British charts.
  • A6) Alexia and Double You. The solo singer Alessia Aquilani and the group composed of William Naraine, Franco Amato, and Andrea de Antoni teamed up for this Eurodance hit, Alexia's first single.
  • A7) Abba. Although the song from the group's final studio album, The Visitors, failed to crack the top 100 in the U.S., it reached #1 in Belgium, Germany, and Holland, and Ireland.
  • A8) Bryan Adams. The single from his Reckless album topped the Billboard Rock chart and reached #11 on the Hot 100. Depeche Mode had a minor hit by the same name only a few month earlier (in 1984).
  • A9) Paula Abdul. Neither song was a big hit from her Spellbound album although the latter was composed by Prince.
  • A10) Pink Floyd. Richard Wright wrote the longest song on their Dark Side of the Moon album for the 1969 movie Zabriskie Point as "The Violent Sequence", but director Michelangelo Antonioni chose not to use it.
  • A11) U2. The third track from The Joshua Tree was selected as one of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone magazine in 2004.
  • A12) Michel Buble. Stevie Wonder composed the final, non-bonus track of the It's Time album. Fleetwood Mac's 1987 Tango in the Night album ends with a song called "You and I, Part II", but there's no "You and I".

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Pronoun Problems - Random Trivia Questions

If you were dreading a grammar quiz, you'll be pleasantly surprised to learn that this week's theme is actually music. Each of the following song names feature pronouns, sometimes adorned by conjunctions and prepositions, but with nary a verb, noun, adjective, or adverb anywhere. Given just the titles and the years, can you identify the artists?

Pronoun Problems Questions

  • Q1) "And You and I", 1972
  • Q2) "Anyone", 1983
  • Q3) "Anything for You", 1987
  • Q4) "Everybody", 1982
  • Q5) "From Me to You", 1963
  • Q6) "Me & You", 1995
  • Q7) "One of Us", 1981
  • Q8) "Somebody", 1985
  • Q9) "To You" and "U", 1991
  • Q10) "Us and Them", 1973
  • Q11) "With or Without You", 1987
  • Q12) "You and I", 2005