Sunday, March 21, 2010

And lo...

... didst the President's Cup season end on a high

It's one of those phases, you know. I'm just too tired to write like I used to, and even then I can't write about a lot of quizzy stuff anyway. Because. You know.

Spring is icumen in, and so the leagues go pfftttt. The consolation of the old winter routines set aside until ... no, I really am too bloody exhausted to ramble on in shamanistic Beat/Nick Kent-inspired arse-doodles, which hark back to different times. Whenever they were.

So today marked the end of another President's Cup season and Sussex's second title (though that was already in the bag and today was a tres relaxed affair at what Nic called "Castle Johnson". We were repleted with much drink, eats and hospitality from our kind hostess, which makes a change from me being too scared to ask the staff at our usual Castle to please turn off the speakers by the table upstairs, again. Please please please. And don't hate me. I just want us to hear the questions better above the clatter and ring-ring of the kitchen).

Our final match was against last season's champions and, what can I say, the well-balanced (in the view of the winning team) Ormskirk-set set fell nicely in our pop culture strength cubbyholes and we came out 56-28 victors. Though, as Nic said, if he had sat in Robert's* place, he might have scored somewhat less than 15, with five 2-pointers**. Those are the perils of going first when you play away.

But no, I am way to buggerated to explashimtasker ablerd ssmmmeeeee ur. I mean, I want to get myself to bed, before I do a sleeping headbutt on my computer keyboard.

The friendly was 10 rounds - I have a lot of questions to dump, and the friendly was the only place that would take them. Score 53-43 to Sussex, minus me, plus Beth. It was close until the last round when Sussex went 8-1. Ah, the vagaries of the random pick format (see the year's previous post).

However, I have to say that nothing has made me laugh more in the course of a quiz league/cup game that when Brian couldn't quite get Kirst MacColl out, going oww, oooohh, ahh, then punching an inexplicable Kung Fu fist and, in our desperate attempt to cue the memory, he shouted: "SPEEDBOAT!" Oh, how we laughed at what was a very tragic incident and we should all be ashamed of ourselves. And I guess you had to be there. (I almost gave him the points too).

Unanswered Qs bolded up

President's Cup Friendly 21/3/2010

Random Pick format

Round 1
1 A play on the name of a Chinese World Heritage Site, what nickname is given to the security network China's government uses to block internet content?
The Great Firewall of China
2 The daughter of Hyperion and Theia, which Greek goddess drove her chariot across the sky every night, just as her brother Helios did during the day?
Selene
3 The Canadian pianist, Lambert Orkis, is the regular partner of which German violin virtuoso, a former wife of Andre Previn?
Anne-Sophie Mutter
4 Played by Martin Freeman, which painter is the subject of the new Peter Greenaway film Nightwatching?
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
5 Known as the "Pearl of Siberia", what is the oldest lake in the world?
Lake Baikal
6 Born in Côte d'Ivoire, which Toulouse flanker is captain of France's rugby union team?
Thierry Dusautoir
7 On its publication in 1898, which Henry James novella was described by The Times as "the most hopelessly evil story that we have read in any literature, ancient or modern"?
The Turn of the Screw
8 In his 1855 poem 'Andrea del Sarto', who wrote: "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, / Or what's a heaven for?"?
Robert Browning

Round 2
1 What is the fifth and last book of the Torah?
Deuteronomy
2 A member of the Arpad dynasty, Saint Stephen I became the first king of which country in 1000?
Hungary
3 The cricket bat maker Duncan Fearnley made his first-class debut for which county in 1962?
Worcestershire
4 The two-player game Quadrow is better known by what name - a trademark of the company Milton Bradley?
Connect Four
5 Nicknamed "Flash Harry", who was chief conductor of the Proms from 1948 to 1967?
Sir Malcolm Sargent
6 Derived from the Latin word for ‘learned discussion’, which ultimately comes from the Greek for 'to rub away', what term describes an angry speech or a piece of bitter, abusive denunciation?
Diatribe
7 The capital of a country granted independence in 1981, which port served as the HQ of the Royal Navy's Caribbean fleet during the 18th century?
St John's, Antigua / English Dockyard
8 Basil, sage and rosemary belong to which family of plants?
Mint / Lamiaceae / Labiatae

Round 3
1 Derived from the Sanskrit for 'colour' or 'mood', what term describes a sequence of five to seven notes used as a basis for improvised performances in Indian music?
Raga
2 Used in the US, what criminal offence is represented by the acronym DUI?
Driving Under the Influence
3 Which footballer, who joined Manchester United from Nottingham Forest in 1989, was the 1000th player to win an England cap?
Neil Webb
4 Which Oscar-winning actor played "The Dude" in the Coen brothers' film The Big Lebowski?
Jeff Bridges
5 In which country was the brewing company Tuborg founded by Carl Frederik Tietgen in 1873?
Denmark - since 1970, a part of Carlsberg
6 Birthplace of the cricketers Azhar Mahmood and Shoaib Akhtar, which city in Punjab province was the capital of Pakistan from 1959 to 1969?
Rawalpindi
7 Made from solutions of cellulose, what was the first man-made fibre?
Rayon
8 Contrasting with empiricism, which philosophical theory contends that knowledge about the nature of the world can be obtained soley by reason, without recourse to experience? Exponents included Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz.
Rationalism

Round 4
1 Located at the confluence of the Ille and Vilaine rivers, which French city became the seat of the parliament of Brittany in the 16th century?
Rennes
2 The traditional Cornish pasty is made with skirt or chuck steak, seasoning, raw chopped onions, potatoes and which root vegetable?
Swede / Swedish turnip or "turnip" (as it is called in Cornwall) / Rutabaga / Yellow turnip
3 How many miniature cubelets combine to form a Rubik's Cube?
26
4 Variants of the Runic alphabet are also known by what name, derived from its first six letters?
Futhark - f, u, th, a, r, k
5 Derived from a Portuguese word that ultimately comes from the Latin for 'honey', what thick syrup is the byproduct of the processing of sugar cane into sugar?
Molasses
6 Also known for The Tempest and The Allendale Nativity, which Venetian painter's Sleeping Venus was probably completed by Titian in around 1510?
Giorgione / Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco
7 Which upmarket department store began in 1813 as a linen shop on the corner of Knightsbridge and Sloane Street?
Harvey Nichols
8 Sometimes called the ounce, which endangered species of cat is said to be the rarest of all Himalayan animals?
Snow leopard / Uncia uncia

Round 5
1 Which city is the setting for the TV dramas Skins, Being Human and Shoestring?
Bristol
2 What musical one-word title is common to a play by Jean Giraudoux, a Richard Strauss opera, and a 1939 film starring Leslie Howard as a violinist who falls in love with his accompanist, played by Ingrid Bergman?
Intermezzo
3 Glandular fever, aka Infectious Mononucleosis, is caused by which virus? It is known by the acronym EBV.
Epstein-Barr Virus
4 Which female singer-songwriter's cover of the Billy Bragg song 'A New England' reached number seven in the UK charts in 1985?
Kirsty Anna MacColl
5 In physics, what state, in which an abnormally large vibration is produced in response to an external stimulus, occurs when the frequency of the applied force is equal to the vibrational frequency of the system?
Resonance
6 Based on a namesake 1926 play by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, which musical features the songs 'All That Jazz', 'When You're Good to Mama' and 'Hot Honey Rag'?
Chicago
7 Which member of the Ivy League is the only university that is named after the US state it is located in?
University of Pennsylvania / Penn / UPenn
8 What name links a journal founded by Richard Steele in 1709, and the glossy Conde Nast-published magazine which long-time editor Geordie Greig left last year to take charge at the Evening Standard?
Tatler

Round 6
1 Assisted by his valet Kato, the newspaper publisher Britt Reid is also known by the name of which masked crime-fighter?
The Green Hornet
2 Holme Fen, England's lowest land point at nearly three metres below sea level, is in which county?
Cambridgeshire
3 Starring Richard Bradford as former US intelligence agent McGill, which late 1960s TV show's theme tune was later used as the opening theme for the Channel 4 series TFI Friday?
Man in a Suitcase
4 Nicknamed "The Intimidator", which American driver died in a last-lap crash during the 2001 Daytona 500?
Dale Earnhardt / Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr
5 The late, great historian, diplomat and British eccentric Alan Davidson, is best known for editing the Oxford Companion to which subject? The first edition was published by OUP in 1999.
Food
6 Hoping to dislodge the Labour MP Margaret Hodge, BNP leader Nick Griffin will contest which seat at this year's election?
Barking
7 Denoting a large-scale abstract sculpture rooted firmly to the ground, what name did Alexander Calder give to such works as Cheval Rouge; Man; and Flamingo?
Stabile - Calder also "invented" mobiles, which are hung from ceilings, allowing them to float freely in space.
8 Established in 1779, which of the English Classic horse races is named after a house in Carlshalton that was leased to the 12th Earl of Derby?
The Oaks Stakes

Round 7
1 Which Lieutenant-General's surrender to the invading Imperial Japanese Army at Singapore in 1942 remains the largest capitulation in British military history?
Arthur Ernest Percival
2 What is the minimum wedding anniversary, or number of years, a couple must celebrate in order to receive a congratulatory message from the Queen?
60th / Diamond - then 65th, 70th, and every year thereafter
3 Recently voted Britain's most picturesque street, The Shambles is in which city?
York
4 In 1994, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty burnt £1 million in cash on the island of Jura. They had earned the money as which chart-topping music duo?
The KLF (Kopyright Liberation Front) / K Foundation / The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu / The Timelords
5 An American comfort food, which deep-fried balls of cornball batter share their name with a US footwear brand known for its brushed-suede shoes and Basset Hound logo?
Hush Puppies / Hushpuppies
6 Premiering in 2007, which BBC One drama is based on a series of novels by Alan Hunter and stars Martin Shaw as the eponymous police inspector?
Inspector George Gently
7 In field hockey's three-tier penalty card system, which colour card represents an official warning, as opposed to the yellow's sin-binning and red's sending off?
Green
8 Which Woking-based vehicle manufacturer will sell its MP4-12C sports car at a price of £150,000 on its release next year?
McLaren Automotive

Round 8
1 Jill and A Girl in Winter are the only two novels to be published by which poet, who declined the post of Poet Laureate after being offered it at John Betjeman's memorial service?
Philip Larkin
2 Who played Detective Sergeant Trotter in the original West End cast of The Mousetrap, opposite his wife Sheila Sim as Mollie Ralston?
Richard Attenborough
3 Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, which company introduced the first mass-produced solid-body electric guitar, the Broadcaster, in 1949? It soon became known as the Telecaster.
Fender
4 Working from a small studio at 18 Albion Mews, near Hyde Park, the Viennese-born British potter Lucie Marie Gomperz was better known by what married name?
Lucie Rie
5 Who was the father of King Richard II?
Edward, the Black Prince
6 Which branch of medicine is concerned with the study, diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle and lower leg?
Podiatry / Chiropody
7 In 1967, what did UNESCO define as "anti-social beliefs and acts which are based on a fallacy that discriminating inter-group relations are justifiable on biological grounds"?
Racism
8 The 1973 film Don't Look Now is based on a short story by which female writer, who was an active member of the Cornish political party Mebyon Kernow?
Daphne du Maurier

Round 9
1 Born in Truro in 1971, which Grandmaster is the top-rated British chess player in the world?
Michael Adams
2 Also known as a babushka doll, what other Russian name is given to a set of dolls of decreasing sizes placed inside the other?
Matryoshka doll (from Russian female first name Matryona)
3 Which intelligence officer, whose address is 9 Bywater Street, Chelsea, was introduced in the 1961 debut novel Call for the Dead?
George Smiley
4 Reading is located at the confluence of the Thames and which tributary? It shares its name with that of a Swedish striker who scored five goals at the 1994 World Cup.
Kennet
5 Mount Elbert is the highest peak in which North American mountain range?
Rocky Mountains / Rockies
6 In which US city are the following sports stadia: Comerica Park, The Palace of Auburn Hills, Ford Field, and the Joe Louis Arena?
Detroit (Detroit Tigers; Detroit Pistons, Detroit Lions; Detroit Red Wings)
7 Originating in a Barcelona yoghurt factory founded by Isaac Carasso, which French multinational owns the mineral water brands Volvic and Evian, and the food brands Actimel and Activia?
Groupe Danone
8 Which group topped the UK album charts in 1978 with Night Flight To Venus and, in 1979, with Oceans of Fantasy?
Boney M

Round 10
1 The retired rugby league footballer Hazem El Masri is the top scorer in the history of Australia’s NRL. He was born in which country in 1976?
Lebanon
2 According to Suetonius, Julius Caesar said "alea iacta est" when he crossed the Rubicon with his army in 49BC. What does the phrase mean?
"the die is cast" / “the die has been cast”
3 Named for the British scientist who performed it in 1797-98, which experiment was the first to yield accurate values for the gravitational constant and the mass of the Earth?
[Henry] Cavendish experiment
4 In gardening, a dibble or dibber is a wooden stick used for purpose?
Making a hole in the ground for seeds etc
5 Which London railway terminus shares its name with the so-called "mother of all It Bags", launched by the French fashion house Chloe in 2002?
Paddington
6 Which German wine region includes vineyards situated on Saar and Ruwer rivers and is known for the varieties Reisling, Muller-Thurgau and Kerner?
Moselle
7 Based in Augusta, Georgia, the company Club Car manufactures which sporting-related vehicles? Models include the Caroche and the Precedent.
Golf buggy / golf cart / golf car
8 Which TV presenter and newspaper columnist is the son-in-law of the late Major Robert Cain, whose courage at the Battle of Arnhem led to his becoming the first and so far only Manx recipient of a Victoria Cross?
Jeremy Clarkson

Spares that I didn't actually ask afterwards because they're all rejects from the main one and there were already far too many sports questions in it already
Which Midlands university is home to the Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and the Arts?
University of Leicester
Which scrum-half formed Australia’s “holy trinity” with David Campese and Michael Lynagh and captained his country to the 1991 Rugby World Cup?
Nick Farr-Jones
Debuting as a utility forward for Eastern Suburbs in 1908, George Green is reputed to have been the first indigenous Australian to play which sport at first-grade level in Australia?
Rugby league
Coached by Neil Back, which rugby union club have been promoted to the Zurich Premiership having won the National Division One title?
Leeds Carnegie - formerly Leeds Tykes
In 2008, Sheffield United chairman Kevin McCabe bought which Budapest football club via Esplanade Real Estate, his firm in Hungary?
Ferencvaros
Codenamed Operation Watchtower, it began on August 7, 1942. The campaign on which of the Solomon Islands was the first major offensive launched by Allied Forces against the Empire of Japan?
Guadalcanal
What word for insincere political talk comes from a county in North Carolina, whose representative, Felix Walker, made a long and pointless speech in Congress in 1820, simply to please his constituents?
Bunkum - from Buncombe County
Thought to come from the East Anglian dialect word for a lump or swelling, what term describes a localised painful swelling at the base of the big toe, with enlargement of the joint?
Bunion - from bunny
Taking place every July, the Deutsches Derby is run at Horner Rennbahn in which German city?
Hamburg
The first million dollar Millennium prize has been awarded to the Russian mathematician Grigori Perelman for his proof of which conjecture about the characterisation of the three-dimensional sphere among three-dimensional manifolds?
Poincaré conjecture
What was the two-letter pen-name of George William Russell, the Irish poet and painter, who published the verse collection Midsummer Eve in 1928?
A.E.
Spoken by at least 22 million people, which Asian language derives its name from the words for 'native of' and 'river', thus, it means 'river dweller'?
Tagalog
Which English writer's plays include A Day in the Death of Joe Egg; Privates on Parade and Poppy?
Peter Nichols
Developed by the US chemist FH Spedding in 1942, the Ames process is used to produce the pure metal form of which silvery-white element in the actinide series?
Uranium
Which 1765 Act introduced the first direct tax to be levied on the American colonies by the British government and required a tax to be paid on the transfer of all legal documents, wills, newspapers, and even playing cards?
Stamp Act
Producing 60% of country’s output, six of the Germany’s 13 quality wine regions are located in which federal state? Its capital is Mainz.
Rhineland-Palatinate
The banking dynasty founder, Meyer Amschel Rothschild, made his fortune during the Napoleonic Wars in which German city?
Frankfurt am Main
What sport is played by "The Machine", "The Bull", "The Rocket", and "Jackpot"?
Darts - nicknames of top ten PDC Order of Merit players: James Wade, Terry Jenkins, Ronnie Baxter, Adrian Lewis




*Who says I assume certain degrees of familiarity with QLL/President's Cup players? Oh, I do.

** Or the rules come to think of it.