BH134: A Quiz Nation, Certainly Not A Bloody Sporting One
It was a weird weekend, indeed. A wonderfully fun double birthday celebration back in LA that took a shocking turn late in the boozy evening after much fun with Red Leicester cheese, tin foil and model sheep, seasoned so piquantly with some classic British sporting failures characterised by the usual hype and crushing letdown cycle. There's nothing like reading press previews bristling with optimism, brio, posturing bravado and that sometimes silly thing called hope AFTER the all important events have passed. They seem so pointless and pathetic you wonder why they even bothered putting any words on the page, not to mention fill entire 12-page pull-outs. Tear imprints of grieving fans, vomit and beer spatter, photos of St George cross-painted faces doing their best Munchian Screams and transcribed howls of pain would have been more suitable pre-final reading and picture material. Because that is exactly what the end result was always likely to be for our country. No need for the usual acres of type comprised of fairground-worthy clairvoyant analysis and interviews filled with inane optimism and unalloyed "hunger" about the coming game. Why not just cut to the grisly aftermath and soften the hammer blow to our pride?
Mind you, we didn't even deserve to win the rugby World Cup. HEARTBREAK! scream the headlines of Middle England's press, when in reality, I thought "Oh, that's a slight disappointment but never mind. Beer me." and that we should give ourselves a pat on the back (or the forwards, as was the actual case) for reaching the final and think that yeah, South Africa did deserve to win the thing and maybe they should have topped off their triumph by taking the opportunity to drop Thabo Mbeki on the ground Steve Morrow-style in the midst of their ecstatic and very bouncy celebrations.
As for Lewis, it was never going to happen was it? His Brazilian GP was the very definition of the word "anticlimax". Every time over the past few months a bedazzled hack mentioned his becoming the youngest ever Formula One champion and marvelled at his coolness under pressure in prose both purple and excessively fat was another damning curse upon his title charge. And to top it all off, Everton lose to none other than arch-bastards Liverpool in the last minute thanks to a penalty by their albino striker. It all went so swimmingly did it not? (Let us not speak of the international football. Let us forget about Euro 2008 before the eviscerating pain of our inevitable absence from next summer's football jamboree rips us in two).
So instead of moping about silly distractions like grappling senselessly with our inflated national sporting aspirations, in the meantime let's just stuff ourselves with a different kind of silly distraction, i.e. more quiz questions.
(Anyway, at least Sussex won our President's Cup tie against London this afternoon back at The Castle. We have a 100 per cent record. It's unprecedented! Even if there have only been two matches so far. More on this tomorrow. Or, perhaps, just more quiz questions. I have many BH quizzes to burn off before the week is through; a week that involves a QLL clash with Allsorts on Tuesday. Yes, 'tis time to battle the Ashman-Fuller alliance once again. It has become quite the bristling rivalry over the past few years, of that there is no doubt. Actually, make that a kind of triangular rivalry with the also Ashman-enhanced Milhous Warriors (we always have to take down "The Man" to win nearly every team competition and monumental respect is his due as a result. Though at least the Broken Hearts can lay claim to being "arguably the most formidable non-Kevin Ashman affiliated team in the country". "Arguably" being the adjective officially known as the Dermot Murnaghan Proviso that prevents serious litigation from the likes of us and other very strong quiz league teams. Come to think of it, would any television production company out there like to use us highly talented quizzer personnel for an Eggheads rip-off? I don't think we'd mind too much.)
* since corrected
BH134
1 Which social scientist published Rites of Passage in 1909, thus ensuring his permanent fame in the field, but left the topic to move into other areas of anthropology?
2 Which Wiltshire house was designed by Robert Smythson in 1572?
3 Alison and Peter Smithson designed the London headquarters for which magazine 1962-65?
4 Chopin's "Funeral March" comes from which work he composed at the age of 29?
5 Begun in 1549, Palladio's first building - a basilica - was constructed in which Italian city?
6 The architect James Gandon is perhaps best known for designing which Dublin building in 1781?
7 Who produced the artwork Vertical Planes III (1912-13), considered by some to be the first true abstract painting?
8 In which 1864 work did Herbert Spencer first use the phrase "survival of the fittest"?*
9 The politician Robert Walpole built which gigantic country house, using profits gained from the South Sea Bubble?
10 Which French composer wrote La Fille aux cheveux de lin and La cathedrale engloutie in 1909 at the age of 46, three years after he saw the birth of his only child, Chouchou?
11 Which architect married the 25-year-old Mary Ann Bradley in December 1798, who had five children by an unknown other man, possibly the Prince Regent, at the time?
12 Which Nobel Laureate published the novel, More Pricks Than Kicks, at the age of 28?
13 Which architect received commissions from both IBM and Bell Telephone to design research campuses in 1956, and also started work on the TWA building at Kennedy airport, New York?
14 Which composer died in Vienna in 1910 with his "Ninth Symphony" unperformed and his "Tenth Symphony" not yet finished?
15 Errol Flynn's last film was appropriately about which other famous acting wreck?
16 Which Japanese writer published The Narrow Road to the Deep North in 1694?
17 Which Swiss mathematician (1707-1783) developed the theory of differential equations and the calculus of variations, as well as spherical trigonometry?
18 Which Paris-born Prince of Savoy expelled the Turks from Hungary in 1697 thanks to victory at the Battle of Zenta?
19 Flystrike is an infestation of the flesh of which living animals by blowfly maggots (especially of the blue blowfly)?
20 What element, atomic number nine, is the first member of the halogen group?
21 What was the title of Carlos Fuentes's first novel, published in 1958 and known in Spanish as La region mas transparente, which encompassed the history of Mexico from the Aztecs to the present day?
22 Which Canadian literary critic published the highly influential, Anatomy of Criticism, in 1957?
23 Fuad I, assumed the title of king of which country in 1922 when it was declared independent?
24 The word fruit comes from the Latin word meaning what?
25 JS Bach's fugue, Das musikalische Opfer/The Musical Offering (1747), was composed on a theme of which Prussian ruler?
26 Which Japanese electronics combine then became the world's second biggest computer manufacturer, behind IBM, after its purchase of the British firm ICL in 1990?
27 Discovered in 1985, fullerene is a form of which element?
28 Which French romantic poet was known for the perfection of form and the polished beauty of language and imagery he displayed in such works as Emaux et camees/Enamels and Cameos (1852), and also wrote such novels as Mademoiselle de Maupin (1835)?
29 Which South African province derives its name from the Sotho for "Place of Gold"?
30 Also known as furze or whin, what is the common name for plants of the genus Ulex?
31 Which South African writer's first novel, The Lying Days, appeared in 1953?
32 Which US writer and social critic studied young offenders for his work Growing Up Absurd (1960)?
33 For what reason do we best know the brothers, Edmond and Jules, who published the compendium L'Art du XVIIIeme siecle/18th Century Art (1859-75)?
34 Juan Vicente Gomez was dictator of which country from 1908-35?
35 The French skier Franck Piccard became the first ever Olympic gold medallist in which event in 1988?
36 What Japanese name is given to the first grade in judo?
37 Which Cameroon football club became the first winners of the African Champions Cup in 1964?
38 Which Montevideo team were the first winners of the Copa Libertadores in 1960?
39 Which Premier League team won their first English league title in 1891?
40 In which sport did the Briton, Gillian Sheen, win Olympic gold in 1956?
41 Nicknamed "The Professor", which French cyclist won the 1983 Tour de France by over four minutes and repeated the feat in 1984, beating Bernard Hinault by 10 minutes and 32 seconds?
42 Known as "Homicide Hank", which American boxer was the first and is still the only boxer to hold three world titles - becoming undisputed featherweight champion in 1937 - a feat unlikely to happen again due to the lack of undisputed champions?
43 The French engineer Pierre Trosanquet developed a new method of building what in 1764?
44 What conflict between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire lasted from 1075 to 1122 and centred on the right of lay rulers to appoint prelates?
45 In music, what term describes the pitch difference between two notes, expressed in terms of the diatomic scale, e.g. a fifth, or as a harmonic ratio, 3:2?
46 Which Himalayan mountain on the Nepal-Sikkim border has a name meaning "five treasure houses of the great snows"?
47 In Hinduism, what name describes each of the four "ages" that make up one cycle of creation, the last of which is the "Kali-____"?
48 Kathak, Bharat Natyam, Kathakali an Manipuri are the four main Indian styles of what?
49 Known in Russian as Kavaskoye More, which part of the Arctic Ocean off the north coast of the Russian Federation is bounded to the north-west by the island of Novaya Zemlya and to the north-east by Severnaya Zemlya, and has Novy Port on the Gulf of Ob for its chief port?
50 In which country will you find the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought?
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Answers to BH134
1 CA van Gennep 2 Longleat 3 The Economist 4 Sonata in B-flat Minor 5 Vicenza 6 Customs House 7 Frantisek Kupka 8 Principles of Biology 9 Houghton Hall 10 Debussy 11 John Nash 12 Samuel Beckett 13 Eero Saarinen 14 Mahler 15 John Barrymore 16 Matsuo Basho 17 Leonhard Euler 18 Eugene (full name Francois Eugene de Savoie Carignan) 19 Sheep 20 Fluorine 21 Where the Air is Clear 22 Northrop Frye 23 Egypt 24 To enjoy 25 Frederick II 26 Fujitsu 27 Carbon 28 Theophile Gautier 29 Gauteng 30 Gorse 31 Nadine Gordimer 32 Paul Goodman 33 Prix Goncourt 34 Venezuela 35 Men's Super Giant Slalom 36 Ikkyu 37 Oryx Douala 38 Penarol 39 Everton 40 Fencing (foil) 41 Laurent Fignon 42 Henry Armstrong 43 Roads 44 Investiture contest 45 Interval 46 Kangchenjunga 47 Yuga 48 Dance 49 Kara Sea 50 Jordan
Mind you, we didn't even deserve to win the rugby World Cup. HEARTBREAK! scream the headlines of Middle England's press, when in reality, I thought "Oh, that's a slight disappointment but never mind. Beer me." and that we should give ourselves a pat on the back (or the forwards, as was the actual case) for reaching the final and think that yeah, South Africa did deserve to win the thing and maybe they should have topped off their triumph by taking the opportunity to drop Thabo Mbeki on the ground Steve Morrow-style in the midst of their ecstatic and very bouncy celebrations.
As for Lewis, it was never going to happen was it? His Brazilian GP was the very definition of the word "anticlimax". Every time over the past few months a bedazzled hack mentioned his becoming the youngest ever Formula One champion and marvelled at his coolness under pressure in prose both purple and excessively fat was another damning curse upon his title charge. And to top it all off, Everton lose to none other than arch-bastards Liverpool in the last minute thanks to a penalty by their albino striker. It all went so swimmingly did it not? (Let us not speak of the international football. Let us forget about Euro 2008 before the eviscerating pain of our inevitable absence from next summer's football jamboree rips us in two).
So instead of moping about silly distractions like grappling senselessly with our inflated national sporting aspirations, in the meantime let's just stuff ourselves with a different kind of silly distraction, i.e. more quiz questions.
(Anyway, at least Sussex won our President's Cup tie against London this afternoon back at The Castle. We have a 100 per cent record. It's unprecedented! Even if there have only been two matches so far. More on this tomorrow. Or, perhaps, just more quiz questions. I have many BH quizzes to burn off before the week is through; a week that involves a QLL clash with Allsorts on Tuesday. Yes, 'tis time to battle the Ashman-Fuller alliance once again. It has become quite the bristling rivalry over the past few years, of that there is no doubt. Actually, make that a kind of triangular rivalry with the also Ashman-enhanced Milhous Warriors (we always have to take down "The Man" to win nearly every team competition and monumental respect is his due as a result. Though at least the Broken Hearts can lay claim to being "arguably the most formidable non-Kevin Ashman affiliated team in the country". "Arguably" being the adjective officially known as the Dermot Murnaghan Proviso that prevents serious litigation from the likes of us and other very strong quiz league teams. Come to think of it, would any television production company out there like to use us highly talented quizzer personnel for an Eggheads rip-off? I don't think we'd mind too much.)
* since corrected
BH134
1 Which social scientist published Rites of Passage in 1909, thus ensuring his permanent fame in the field, but left the topic to move into other areas of anthropology?
2 Which Wiltshire house was designed by Robert Smythson in 1572?
3 Alison and Peter Smithson designed the London headquarters for which magazine 1962-65?
4 Chopin's "Funeral March" comes from which work he composed at the age of 29?
5 Begun in 1549, Palladio's first building - a basilica - was constructed in which Italian city?
6 The architect James Gandon is perhaps best known for designing which Dublin building in 1781?
7 Who produced the artwork Vertical Planes III (1912-13), considered by some to be the first true abstract painting?
8 In which 1864 work did Herbert Spencer first use the phrase "survival of the fittest"?*
9 The politician Robert Walpole built which gigantic country house, using profits gained from the South Sea Bubble?
10 Which French composer wrote La Fille aux cheveux de lin and La cathedrale engloutie in 1909 at the age of 46, three years after he saw the birth of his only child, Chouchou?
11 Which architect married the 25-year-old Mary Ann Bradley in December 1798, who had five children by an unknown other man, possibly the Prince Regent, at the time?
12 Which Nobel Laureate published the novel, More Pricks Than Kicks, at the age of 28?
13 Which architect received commissions from both IBM and Bell Telephone to design research campuses in 1956, and also started work on the TWA building at Kennedy airport, New York?
14 Which composer died in Vienna in 1910 with his "Ninth Symphony" unperformed and his "Tenth Symphony" not yet finished?
15 Errol Flynn's last film was appropriately about which other famous acting wreck?
16 Which Japanese writer published The Narrow Road to the Deep North in 1694?
17 Which Swiss mathematician (1707-1783) developed the theory of differential equations and the calculus of variations, as well as spherical trigonometry?
18 Which Paris-born Prince of Savoy expelled the Turks from Hungary in 1697 thanks to victory at the Battle of Zenta?
19 Flystrike is an infestation of the flesh of which living animals by blowfly maggots (especially of the blue blowfly)?
20 What element, atomic number nine, is the first member of the halogen group?
21 What was the title of Carlos Fuentes's first novel, published in 1958 and known in Spanish as La region mas transparente, which encompassed the history of Mexico from the Aztecs to the present day?
22 Which Canadian literary critic published the highly influential, Anatomy of Criticism, in 1957?
23 Fuad I, assumed the title of king of which country in 1922 when it was declared independent?
24 The word fruit comes from the Latin word meaning what?
25 JS Bach's fugue, Das musikalische Opfer/The Musical Offering (1747), was composed on a theme of which Prussian ruler?
26 Which Japanese electronics combine then became the world's second biggest computer manufacturer, behind IBM, after its purchase of the British firm ICL in 1990?
27 Discovered in 1985, fullerene is a form of which element?
28 Which French romantic poet was known for the perfection of form and the polished beauty of language and imagery he displayed in such works as Emaux et camees/Enamels and Cameos (1852), and also wrote such novels as Mademoiselle de Maupin (1835)?
29 Which South African province derives its name from the Sotho for "Place of Gold"?
30 Also known as furze or whin, what is the common name for plants of the genus Ulex?
31 Which South African writer's first novel, The Lying Days, appeared in 1953?
32 Which US writer and social critic studied young offenders for his work Growing Up Absurd (1960)?
33 For what reason do we best know the brothers, Edmond and Jules, who published the compendium L'Art du XVIIIeme siecle/18th Century Art (1859-75)?
34 Juan Vicente Gomez was dictator of which country from 1908-35?
35 The French skier Franck Piccard became the first ever Olympic gold medallist in which event in 1988?
36 What Japanese name is given to the first grade in judo?
37 Which Cameroon football club became the first winners of the African Champions Cup in 1964?
38 Which Montevideo team were the first winners of the Copa Libertadores in 1960?
39 Which Premier League team won their first English league title in 1891?
40 In which sport did the Briton, Gillian Sheen, win Olympic gold in 1956?
41 Nicknamed "The Professor", which French cyclist won the 1983 Tour de France by over four minutes and repeated the feat in 1984, beating Bernard Hinault by 10 minutes and 32 seconds?
42 Known as "Homicide Hank", which American boxer was the first and is still the only boxer to hold three world titles - becoming undisputed featherweight champion in 1937 - a feat unlikely to happen again due to the lack of undisputed champions?
43 The French engineer Pierre Trosanquet developed a new method of building what in 1764?
44 What conflict between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire lasted from 1075 to 1122 and centred on the right of lay rulers to appoint prelates?
45 In music, what term describes the pitch difference between two notes, expressed in terms of the diatomic scale, e.g. a fifth, or as a harmonic ratio, 3:2?
46 Which Himalayan mountain on the Nepal-Sikkim border has a name meaning "five treasure houses of the great snows"?
47 In Hinduism, what name describes each of the four "ages" that make up one cycle of creation, the last of which is the "Kali-____"?
48 Kathak, Bharat Natyam, Kathakali an Manipuri are the four main Indian styles of what?
49 Known in Russian as Kavaskoye More, which part of the Arctic Ocean off the north coast of the Russian Federation is bounded to the north-west by the island of Novaya Zemlya and to the north-east by Severnaya Zemlya, and has Novy Port on the Gulf of Ob for its chief port?
50 In which country will you find the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought?
I
N
N
E
E
D
O
F
S
L
E
E
P
Answers to BH134
1 CA van Gennep 2 Longleat 3 The Economist 4 Sonata in B-flat Minor 5 Vicenza 6 Customs House 7 Frantisek Kupka 8 Principles of Biology 9 Houghton Hall 10 Debussy 11 John Nash 12 Samuel Beckett 13 Eero Saarinen 14 Mahler 15 John Barrymore 16 Matsuo Basho 17 Leonhard Euler 18 Eugene (full name Francois Eugene de Savoie Carignan) 19 Sheep 20 Fluorine 21 Where the Air is Clear 22 Northrop Frye 23 Egypt 24 To enjoy 25 Frederick II 26 Fujitsu 27 Carbon 28 Theophile Gautier 29 Gauteng 30 Gorse 31 Nadine Gordimer 32 Paul Goodman 33 Prix Goncourt 34 Venezuela 35 Men's Super Giant Slalom 36 Ikkyu 37 Oryx Douala 38 Penarol 39 Everton 40 Fencing (foil) 41 Laurent Fignon 42 Henry Armstrong 43 Roads 44 Investiture contest 45 Interval 46 Kangchenjunga 47 Yuga 48 Dance 49 Kara Sea 50 Jordan
posted by That Quiz Guy at 1:55 PM
1 Comments:
I don't mean to be pedantic (I mean this seriously) but for quality control reasons I thought I should point out that Hubert Spencer was a Pentecostal preacher - I think you meant Herbert Spencer - I'm sure you knew this and it was just a typo.
Regards,
Rob.
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