Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Last Saturday's Team GP Thingy

A Taster

As the sterling Rob Hannah wrote much of the rest of the Team Quiz, this was the only round I wrote entirely by myself for Saturday's Molesley GP, so I will be putting this up and this alone, as an indicator of why I've been so bloody busy and stressy at the moment.

In this - the Final Round - the top score was Mark Grant's team with 22, followed by Pat's with 21.

Many thanks to the Clockwork quiz guys for their Super-round inspiration; we ought to do more of them here in Blighty. Writing it was a form of masochism since it is the reason why us Broken Hearts have failed to win the Leuven event two years in a row.

I'll leave a little note below the answers to tell you - of the triple pointers - which ones were team solos and which were not answered by anyone.

FINAL ROUND

Pick one of the three questions – a) b) or c) – to answer. One point for question a), two points for question b) and three for question c) – the increased number of points corresponds to increased difficulty. If you get the question wrong you score ZERO points, so please choose wisely.

1. 1980s American TV shows

a) Running from 1984 through 1987, the titular aircraft was a modified Bell 222 twin-engined light helicopter owned by Jetcopters Inc. Which TV series starred Ernest Borgnine as Dominic Santini and Jan-Michael Vincent as Stringfellow Hawke?

b) Which 1985 ABC TV drama centred on police officer and former amateur dirt-bike racer Jesse Mach (played by Rex Smith), who was secretly chosen to test a top-secret all-terrain attack motorcycle capable of speeds in excess of 300 miles per hour?

c) Which 1983 NBC series centred on “wealthy, young, handsome” Professor Jonathan Chase (played by Simon MacCorkindale) - a shape-shifter who possessed the ability to turn himself into any creature that he chose and used this power to help the police solve crimes?

A B or C?

Answer: ________________________________________________________

2. Late 20th Century Symphonies

a) Composed by the Dutch conductor, trombonist and composer, Johan de Meij, what is the nickname of his Symphony No. 1 (1988)? It consists of five movements, including "I. Gandalf (The Wizard)", "III. Gollum (Sméagol)" and "V. Hobbits"?

b) It is the third symphony by the American classical pianist and composer Richard Kastle, who created the piece on Venice Beach where he lived in the late 1980s. Premiered in 1999, which work is a four movement piece for orchestra that starts out with the eponymous ship leaving the dock on her maiden voyage?

c) Based on the namesake David Bowie albums, Symphony No. 1 “Low” (1992) and Symphony No. 4 “Heroes” (1996) are works by which American composer?

A B or C?

Answer: ________________________________________________________

3. All Black rugby hard men

a) “The granddaddy” of all hard men, one Scotland lock once said that it was important to tell this All Black – who played most frequently in the lock forward position - to bugger off early in a match, as long as you didn’t say it very loudly. Nicknamed “Pinetree”, which New Zealand rugby icon was named the country’s Player of the Century at the NZRFU Awards in 1999?

b) A product of the powerful Auckland provincial side, he made his international debut as one of the “Baby Blacks” in the 1986 Test series in France and was awarded the captaincy of the All Blacks in 1992 – a position he held until his retirement from Test rugby. “Hard nosed as a hooker and a leader”, which “devastating sledger” has since done analyst duties for the BBC and Sky Sports?

c) Credited with the improved performance of the “Ka Mate” haka, this No.8 – nicknamed “Buck” – captained the All Blacks in the late 1980s. Though described as “indestructible and apparently impervious to injury or the opposition”, he suffered mightily in the 1986 “Battle of Nantes” when someone ripped his scrotum and left a testicle hanging free. Which New Zealand player also lost four teeth that day?

A B or C?

Answer: __________________________________________________________

4. Nobel Prize in Physics-winning discoveries

a) Albert Einstein was awarded the 1921 prize “for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of” which phenomenon whereby electrons are emitted from matter as a consequence of their absorption from electromagnetic radiation of very short wavelength?

b) The American radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson won half of the 1978 prize for which 1964 discovery (Pyotr Kapitsa got the other 50% for his work in low-temperature physics)? Known by the acronym CMBR, it is considered a landmark confirmation of the Big Bang model of the universe.

c) Controversially involved with the Deutsche Physik movement under the Nazi regime, which German physicist had earlier won the 1919 prize for “his discovery of the Doppler effect in canal rays and the splitting of spectral lines in electric fields”? The latter became known as his eponymous “effect”.

A B or C?

Answer: _________________________________________________________

5. Novels with a shared weather theme in their title

a) Adapted into a film starring Julia Ormond in the title role, the story begins in Copenhagen, where a Greenlander child has fallen to his death from an apartment building’s rooftop. Which 1992 novel by Peter Høeg climaxes in a voyage by the investigating half-Dane/half-Inuit title character via an icebreaker to a remote island off the Greenland coast?

b) Published in its full form in 1947, this novel was the first full-length novel by the Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata. It tells of the love affair between a Tokyo dilettante and a provincial geisha named Komako and takes place in an unnamed remote hot spring town. Which novel's English name is a literal translation of the Japanese title Yukiguni?

c) Given the English subtitle A Theatrical Novel, its 2005 Vintage edition comes with an introduction by Terry Gilliam. Satirising the author's ten-year relationship with Method-pioneer Stanislavski and the Moscow Art Theatre, which novel by Mikhail Bulgakov is about the character Maxudov, who dramatises his own failed suicide and sees the play accepted by the legendary Independent Theatre?

A B or C?

Answer: _________________________________________________________

6. Festivals

a) This year's edition - held in Blaenau Gwent and the Head of the Valleys - finishes today (August 7). Which travelling festival calls itself "the home of literature, music, dance, recitation, theatre, visual arts, science and technology and all types of culture in Wales"?

b) It is also known as the "Little New Year" since it is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunar year in the Chinese calendar - officially ending the Chinese New Year celebrations. Also known as Chap Goh Meh ('the fifteenth day') in Malaysia and Singapore, which Chinese festival takes its English name from the objects children traditionally carry to temples?

c) Lasting for three days, this festival of "manly games" or suur-kharbaan, as it is called in Buryatya, is a festival of the three major traditional sports in Mongolia - wrestling, horse racing and archery. Having its origin in annual sacrificial ritual honouring various mountain gods, which Ulaanbaatar-hosted festival is the biggest event in Mongolia's public life?

A B or C?

Answer: _________________________________________________________

7. Comic book teams

Simply, name the team from their members and the comic book writer/creators.

a) Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby: Mister Fantastic (aka Reed Richards), Invisible Woman (Susan Storm), Human Torch (Johnny Storm), The Thing (Ben Grimm)

b) The original incarnation from Volumes 1 & 2 by Alan Moore: Mina Harker, Captain Nemo, Allan Quatermain, Dr. Jekyll, The Invisible Man

c) From the ongoing series written by Garth Ennis: Billy Butcher, "Wee Hughie" Campbell, Mother's Milk, The Frenchman, The Female

A B or C?

Answer: _________________________________________________________

8. Shoes

a) This British retail chain and shoe manufacturer is known for such brands as Bostonian Shoes, K Shoes, Ravel Shoes and Desert Boots. Which company was begun in the Somerset village of Street in 1825 by its eponymous founder, who - at the time - had been working in his brother's tannery?

b) This shoe brand traces its roots to a German who registered it in 1774 as a "subject and shoemaker" in local church archives. The manufacturer that makes it is based in Vettelschloss and its products are noted for their contoured cork and rubber footbeds. Which brand is known for its two-strap sandal, the Arizona and the Boston Clog?

c) Owned by Wolverine Worldwide, it was founded as a company in Waitsfield, Vermont, in 1981 by Clark Matis, Randy _______, and John Schweitzer. Known for its performance outdoor footwear, it started out by creating hiking boots that fit like cowboy boots with a wide toe box and narrow heel to accommodate the North American foot shape. Almost all of its shoes have Vibram-branded rubber outsoles and an unpoppable air cushion in the heel. Which brand’s best-selling shoes include the Jungle Moc and the Moab Ventilator for men, and the Siren Ventilator and Chameleon Arc Mid Waterproof for women?

A B or C?

Answer: ________________________________________________________

9. Whales

a) The only member of the genus Physeter, this species of toothed whale has the largest brain of any animal and is the largest living toothed animal. Historically, which marine mammal was also known as the common cachalot - derived from an archaic French word for 'tooth'?

b) Living entirely in the fertile Arctic and sub-Arctic waters, this species stays so far north that Orcas cannot reach them; they can therefore live for more than a hundred years. Estimated weight of this thick-bodied species is 136 tonnes, making it second only to the blue whale. Also known as the Greenland right whale and Arctic whale, which baleen species is known by the binomial name Balaena mysticetus?

c) Deriving its name from the Norwegian word for the pollock fish, which baleen whale (Balaenoptera borealis) is the third largest rorqual after the Blue Whale and the Fin Whale? Its other names include the Lesser Fin - due to its resemblance to the Fin Whale, as well as Pollack Whale, Coalfish Whale, Sardine Whale, or Japan Finner.

A B or C?

Answer: ________________________________________________________

10. Lake Battles

a) Formerly in East Prussia, which lakes in modern day Poland gave their name to two World War One battles? Taking place a week after Tannenberg, the first began on September 9, 1914 and ended on the 14th, with Paul von Hindenburg leading German forces to victory over the Russian Empire's First Army.

b) One of the largest and most successful ambushes in military history, which battle of June 24, 217 BC is named after the largest lake on the Italian peninsula south of the Po with a surface area of 128 km2 (slightly less than Lake Como)? Hannibal crushed the 40,000-strong army of the Roman consul Gaius Flaminius, leaving only around 25,000 of his imperial foes alive.

c) In 1363, it was the site of what has been called the largest naval battle in history in terms of personnel, which resulted in a decisive Ming victory over the navy of their fellow rebels, the Han. It has also been called "China's Bermuda" due to the disappearance of many ships sailing in it. Which body of water, with a maximum length of 170km and max. width of 17km, is the largest freshwater lake in China?

A B or C?

Answer: ______________________________________________________

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Answers:
1a) Airwolf b) Street Hawk c) Manimal 2a) "The Lord of the Rings" Symphony b) Titanic Symphony c) Philip Glass 3a) Colin Meads b) Sean Fitzpatrick c) Wayne Shelford 4a) Photoelectric effect b) Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation c) Johannes Stark 5a) Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow b) Snow Country c) Black Snow / Театральный роман / A Dead Man’s Memoir 6a) National Eisteddfod of Wales b) Lantern Festival or Yuan Xiao Festival / Shang Yuan Festival c) Nadaam 7a) Fantastic Four b) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen c) The Boys 8a) Clarks b) Birkenstock c) Merrell 9a) Sperm whale b) Bowhead whale c) Sei whale 10a) Masurian Lakes b) Battle of Lake Trasimene / Lake Trasimeno c) Poyang Lake

Solos: Black Snow (Chris Quinn's team? Not sure), Nadaam (Pat's team), Merrell (Mark G's team)

Unanswered: The Boys, Poyang Lake

2 Comments:

Anonymous cilliano said...

Good to see these longer format questions , I haven't seen many like this before. I suppose it allows you to give a couple of pointers towards the answer which is definitely needed because they're bloody tough ;-)

6:41 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I thought it was an excellent quiz, and really liked the format. As you guessed, Black Snow was answered by Chris's team, of which I was a member. Bulgakov is one of my favourite authors, so it was a bit of a gift for me.

Paul

3:36 AM  

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