Quizzical Expressions

2006-11-14T02:17:00.000-08:00

Today's question:

The name of this company was originally an in-house brand name used by the mail-order company, Sears-Roebuck. They claim to be a company that makes everything and their slogan is "For fifty years, the leader in creative mayhem".

Their products are typically unreliable, leading National Lampoon magazine to run a feature about the company, cataloguing the repeated failure of their products and the frequent resulting physical injuries to its customers (naming one customer in particular). Which company?

Answer to yesterday's question:

All these people have played the role of God in movies.

Alanis Morisette played God in Kevin Smith's Dogma (1999)
Morgan Freeman memorably played God in Bruce Almighty (2003)
And finally, W.G. Grace was the face of God in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Ctrl + Alt + Del (or Alt + SysReq + RSEIUB)

2006-11-13T02:22:00.000-08:00

Here is an attempt to resurrect what seemed to have died a slow and laborious death. Quizzical Expressions is officially back!

I intend to post questions from quizzes that I have done recently. These questions are from a Movies & Entertainment quiz I did at Antaragni 2006, IIT Kanpur's cultural festival [Thanks guys, for inviting me - I had an awesome time!].

Answers will be posted along with the next question on the following day. I will attempt to post a question a day, or close enough.

Let the fun begin!

Connect:

Off To Nihilanth

2006-01-12T12:06:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that I've never visited Kolkata before! Well, there's no better excuse than Nihilanth, the annual inter IIT-IIM quiz fest which is being held this weekend at IIM Kolkata. The contingent of 13 members (we're not really superstitious) is all set to leave on Friday morning to the land of rasogollas, Satyajit Ray and the birthplace of Indian quizzing. Let's hope we come back with a few goodies, in the form of prizes!

The Antaragni General Quiz

2005-10-28T05:50:00.000-07:00

Kiritee and myself conducted a general quiz at this year's Antaragni - IIT Kanpur's cultural festival. Although the quiz started more than an hour late and went on until late in the night, participants were happy with most of the questions and said that the quiz was very enjoyable.

Here is my half of the quiz.

Prelims

1.With which sport would you associate the following teams?

# Appleby Arrows
# Ballycastle Bats
# Caerphilly Catapults
# Chudley Cannons
# Falmouth Falcons
# Holyhead Harpies
# Kenmare Kestrels
# Montrose Magpies
# Pride of Portree
# Puddlemere United
# Tutshill Tornados
# Wigtown Wanderers
# Wimbourne Wasps

2. (starred)The Asiatic Society of Bombay houses
several rare books, but perhaps none rarer than this.
There are only two surviving copies of the first draft
of this book, written in the 14th century AD. One of
them was given to the Society by Mountstuart
Elphinstone, governor of Bombay and President of the
Society from 1819-1827 and bears his signature. In
1930, the Italian government under Mussolini offered
the society one million pounds, calling the book a
national treasure. Mussolini believed that the offer
could not be refused, but to his shock, the Society
turned down his request stating that it was donated by
an ex-member of the Society and hence it was their
property. A visit to the Society by the Italian
Minister of Culture in 2002 confirmed that it was in a
much better condition than its other survivor which is
currently in Milan. Which book?

3. Fill in the blanks:

(All blanks are identical)

The original version of this oath is:

"...and I shall shed my light over dark evil.
For the dark things cannot stand the light,
The light of the _____ _______!"

However, the most popular version of this oath is:
"In brightest day, in blackest night
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil's might
Beware my power, _____ _______'s light! "

Another, more informal version is:
"You who are wicked,evil and mean
I'm the nastiest creep you've ever seen!
Come one, come all, put up a fight
I'll pound your butts with _____ _______'s light!
Yowza. "

4. In 1801, Giuseppe Piazzi who was the director of
the astronomical observatory of Palermo, in Sicily
discovered a new star-like object in the Taurus
constellation. He followed the displacement of this
object during several nights, but subsequently lost
sight of it. Astronomers around the world tried to
rediscover this object in the night sky, but failed. A
relatively unknown mathematician named Karl Freidrich
Gauss then announced that he had calculated the
position at which it could be found again.

Subsequently, the object was rediscovered by Franz
Xaver von Zach on December 31, 1801 in Gotha, and one
day later by Heinrich Olbers in Bremen at the exact
position predicted by Gauss. Zach noted that "without
the intelligent work and calculations of Doctor Gauss
we might not have found ______ again." The discovery
made Gauss an instant celebrity throughout Europe and
inspired him to write his "Theory of Celestial
Movement", considered one of the seminal works in
astronomical computation.

What was the celestial object? (Give a specific
answer)

5. Where would you find the poem “The New Colossus” by
Emma Lazarus?
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

6. Identify A-F

A is considered one of the greatest rock songs ever
written. It was written  by B to declare his love for
C, who was the wife of D, who also happened to  be one
of B's best friends. C soon left D to marry B, but
later divorced B  as well. E was another member of D's
band. When John F. Kennedy was assassinated, E
famously said "That's what happens when you become
famous - you get shot". The rights to the music of E's
band are held by F, who is also a famous singer.

7. _____ ____ (1674–1740) was an English agricultural
pioneer who was born in Basildon, Berkshire.  He is
considered to be one of the early proponents of a
scientific approach to agriculture. He helped
transform agricultural practices by inventing or
improving numerous implements, the most notable being
the seed drill, which he invented in 1708. A
progressive metal band named itself after him. Which
band?

8. Identify this river (name blanked
out) which gives rise to 2 famous phrases - one
historical and the other contemporary.

9. Connect the 3 pics shown to "The Marriage of Figaro" - a piece by Mozart.





10. In Greek myth, what was the curse given by Zeus to mankind for
receiving the knowledge of fire from Prometheus?

Finals

1. Egg PLC is a bank originally established as
Prudential Banking PLC, a division of Prudential PLC,
the UK life assurance company. It has grown steadily
since its inception in 1998, and today has over 3.6
million customers. It won the Best Credit Card
Provider in Personal Finance Magazine's 2005 Awards.
It is now the largest bank of its kind in the world.
What is unique about this bank?

2. Jeffrey Katzenberg was named the head of the
Feature Animation unit at the Walt Disney Company in
1984. Under him, Disney produced several top-rated
animated movies including  Who Framed Roger Rabbit
(1988), The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the
Beast (1991, the first animated feature to be
nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture),
Aladdin (1992), and The Lion King (1994). In 1994,
Michael Eisner, the CEO of Disney refused to promote
him after his superior died. Frustrated, Katzenberg
quit Disney, to start his own company. In this
venture, he had two partners - one of whom was David
Geffen (founder of Geffen Records). Who was his other
partner?

3. The U.S. FBI kept a 1,427 page file on his
activities and recommended that X be barred from
immigrating to the United States under the Alien
Exclusion Act, alleging that X "believes in, advises,
advocates, or teaches a doctrine which, in a legal
sense, as held by the courts in other cases, 'would
allow anarchy to stalk in unmolested' and result in
'government in name only'", among other charges. They
also alleged that X "was a member, sponsor, or
affiliated with thirty-four communist fronts between
1937-1954" and "also served as honorary chairman for
three communist organizations." Identify X.

4.



This panel is an example of a series of Batman
comics in the 1950's  and 60's which suggested
that Batman and Robin might be involved in a homosexual
relationship. In 1954, the book "Seduction of the Innocent"
by psychologist Fredric Wertham used Batman and Robin,
among several examples, as evidence that the comic book
medium corrupted the morals of the young.
There was massive public outcry at these suggestions
and this resulted in two significant developments. One was
the establishment of the Comics Code Authority (CCA) -
an organization founded in 1954 to act as a de facto censor
for American comic books.

What was the other?

5.  A came from a distinguished family of
intellectuals. His grandfather, B was a renowned
biologist, a Fellow of the Royal Society and specially
known for his passionate support for the ideas of C (B
was nicknamed "C's Bulldog" for his spirited public
defense of C. One of A's brothers was the first
director of UNESCO and his half-brother was a Nobel
Laureate in Medicine. A is most widely admired in
critical circles for his book D and in popular culture
for another book, E, which gave H their name. When A
taught French for a short while at Eton, one of his
students there was F, who later became a famous writer
himself and wrote G. D and G are considered to be the
greatest novels of a particular genre. Identify A-H.

6. The following are all taken from Norse mythology:


Yggdrasil is "world tree", thought to connect the nine worlds of Norse mythology.

Valkyries (meaning choosers of the slain) are minor female servants of Odin.


Valhalla is the "warrior heaven". All warriors slain gloriously
in battle are taken to Valhalla where they are welcomed by the
Valkyries.


The Aesir are the principal gods of the Norse pantheon.

Apart from the Norse myth connection, all these names are connected in
a specific manner. What? Clue: Think computer games.

7. What are these 6 pictures examples of?
(There is atleast one more example which is extremely
famous and therefore not shown here :) )









Hexa Connect:

The answers to these 6 questions (all personalities) are connected by a
common theme.

1. These were the contenders:

Katharine Hepburn, Norma Shearer, Bette Davis, Barbara
Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Susan Hayward,
Carole Lombard, Paulette Goddard, Irene Dunne, Merle
Oberon, Ida Lupino, Joan Fontaine, Loretta Young,
Miriam Hopkins, Jean Arthur, Tallulah Bankhead, Joan
Bennett, Frances Dee, and Lucille Ball.

Finally, the selected candidate was an unknown actress
whom producer David O. Selznick had seen in a film
called "A Yank at Oxford". The decision to cast her
was seen as a wild gamble, but it paid off handsomely
in the end. Who was the actress and what was the role?
(No part points)

2. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge where he
became an admirer of Communism. In 1965, he became the
first Englishman to be awarded the Order of the Red
Banner, one of the highest awards of the Soviet Union.
He is featured in many novels and movies, notably in
Frederick Forsyth's book "The Fourth Protocol". He was
also a close friend of author Graham Greene. Identify.

3. He considered such possible pseudonyms as "Kenneth
Miles" and "H. Lewis Allways" before settling on a
name that stressed his lifelong affection for the
English tradition and countryside - a combination of
the patron saint of England and the river _____ in
Suffolk, one of his favourite countryside spots. He
also thought that having a surname starting with the
letter he chose would position his books optimally on
a librarian's bookshelf. Identify.

4. In 1928, aged sixteen, he encountered Albert
Einstein's work; not only did he grasp it, but he
extrapolated Einstein's questioning of Newton's laws
of motion from a text in which this was never made
explicit. He worked in such diverse fields as
computability, cryptanalysis and mathematical biology.
He was also a world-class runner, whose personal best
in the marathon was 2 hours, 46 minutes, 3 seconds,
only 11 minutes slower than the winner in the 1948
Olympic Games. In 1952, be admitted to being a
homosexual at a time when homosexuality was illegal in
Britain. He was arrested and forced to undergo
hornmonal treatment. He died of cyanide poisoning
eating a poisoned apple in 1954, but some believe that
his death was suicide due to this persecution. It is
also (falsely) believed that the logo of Apple
Computers (the half-bitten apple) is a tribute to him.
Identify.

5. This former assistant editor and overseas
corespondent from Allahabad for The Pioneer, has his
wrtings inscribed on the entrance to Centre ourt,
Wimbledon. In 1899, he wrote the following poem:

Take up the _____ ____ ______ —

Send forth the best ye breed —

Go, bind your sons to exile

To serve your captives' need;

To wait, in heavy harness,

On fluttered folk and wild —

Your new-caught sullen peoples,

Half devil and half child.

The phrase coined in this poem became extremely famous
and used in popular culture at the time (For example, in this ad
for Pears soap - the phrase has been blanked out)



Who was the poet and what was the phrase? (Connect clue: poet)

6. This Wisden cricketer of the year for 1928, once
famously and aptly described cricket as:"Cricket is
battle and service and sport and art." Who?

** End of Hexa Connect. So, what's the connection?

Special Topics:

(Olympics)

1. In the 1972 Munich Games, the terrorist group Black
September kidnapped 11 Israeli athletes and held them
hostage for 3 days. As a result, all sporting events
were suspended for 3 days. What significance does this
break have for Indian sport in the 1990s?

2. The Olympic Rings were designed by Baron Pierre De
Coubertin in 1913. However, the symbol did not gain
significant popularity until more than two decades
later. It was discovered that a similar symbol was
carved into a stone altar at the ancient Greek city of
Delphi, spawning the myth that they were a symbol
dating back more than two millennia.

In addition to the the interest caused by this
discovery, the rings became the center of a massive
media campaign and ultimately came to be identified
with the Olympics in public consciousness. What was
the reason for this campaign?

(Trials & Lawsuits)
1. Connect:

"And, so that you will be more cautious in future, and
an example for others to abstain from delinquencies of
this sort, we order that the book Dialogue of _______
be prohibited by public edict. We condemn you to
formal imprisonment in this Holy Office at our
pleasure.

As a salutary penance we impose on you to recite the
seven penitential psalms once a week for the next
three years. And we reserve to ourselves the power of
moderating, commuting, or taking off, the whole or
part of the said penalties and penances.

This we say, pronounce, sentence, declare, order and
reserve by this or any other better manner or form
that we reasonably can or shall think of. So we the
undersigned Cardinals pronounce."

and

"_______ sensed the presence of the Creator who,
stirring in the depths of his spirit, stimulated him,
anticipating and assisting his intuitions. _______, a
sincere believer, showed himself to be more perceptive
in this regard [the relation of scientific and
Biblical truths] than the theologians who opposed
him."


2. K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra was a 1959
Indian court case involving Naval Commander Kawas
Manekshaw Nanavati, who was tried for shooting dead
Prem Ahuja, his wife Sylvia's lover.

The incident both shocked and riveted the entire
country. Such a crime of passion, as it was termed,
was unusual, especially by a highly decorated Naval
officer. The entire Parsi community was up in arms and
several public demonstrations were held in Nanavati's
support.

The trial itself was dramatic. The Greater Bombay
Sessions court found Nanavati guilty of culpable
homicide. The prosecution appealed to the The Bombay
High court which then overruled this judgement and
ordered a fresh trial. This time, he was found guilty
yet again and sentenced to life in prison. The Supreme
Court upheld the judgement in 1961.

The incident was later adopted by Bollywood in 1963's
"Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke" starring Sunil Dutt and
1973's "Achanak", starring Vinod Khanna.

This case is particularly significant to the Indian
Judicial system - a fundamental change was brought in
directly because of this case. What?

(Names Of Rock Bands)

1. This alternative rock band takes its name from the specific
implements used to crucify Jesus Christ. Identify.

2. A and B are both legendary rockers. A was the pioneer of
"Shock Rock" and is cited as an inspiration by many modern rockers,
including KISS, Judas Priest, U2, Guns N' Roses, Michael Jackson,
Megadeth and "B". A took his strange name after he apparently discovered
during a seance that he was the re-incarnation of a 17th-century witch.

B claims to be one of A's biggest fans and modeled his act after A.
B even took a strange name as a tribute to A. B's name is derived from
the names of a Hollywood movie star and an infamous serial killer.

Incidentally, A quipped about B:
"He has a woman's name and wears makeup. How original."

Identify A and B.

Whew! That took me all of 2 months to upload.
I'll put up the answers in another couple!
Happy Quizzing!

Off To Rendezvous!

2005-09-17T23:31:00.000-07:00

The IITK Quiz Club team is going to participate in Rendezvous, the cultural festival of IIT Delhi to be held the following weekend. While our strength seems to have been diminished since last year following the graduation of many senior quizzers (including "Grand Daddy" George :) ), we still have a few experienced people around and some enthusiastic youngsters. Let's hope we can show the Delhi teams a thing or two!

Here are 12 questions (why 12? It's three short of 15 - I overslept and missed making enough questions to meet my target!) from a quiz I did at last night's meeting.

1. Connect:

a) Anchor Pickle and Vinegar Works
b) "57 Varieties"
c) John Kerry

Ans: Urvam Gbzngb Xrgpuhc / Gur U W Urvam Pbzcnal.Bevtvanyyl pnyyrq (n), vgf zbfg snzbhf fybtna vf (o) nybat jvgu "Ornam Zrnam Urvam". Wbua Xreel'f jvsr, Gurerfn Urvam Xreel vf gur jvqbj bs U W Urvam'm terng-tenaqfba, Wbua Urvam naq n gehfgrr bs gur Urvam sbeghar. Xreel'f cerfvqragvny pnzcnvta jnf bsgra qhoorq "Gur Xrgpuhc pnzcnvta" ol pevgvpf.

2. Dr. Andrew Bell was the principal of St George's school, Madras. While in Madras, he concieved of a modification to the current educational system. When he went back to his native Scotland in 1796, he founded a school in St. Andrews (called the Madras College) there and in it, implemented this system. The system (initially called the Madras System) was considered so influential and proved to be so popular that upon his death, he was interred in Westminster Abbey. What system am I talking about?

Ans: Gur flfgrz bs "Cersrpgf", "Urnq Obl" naq "Urnq Tvey" va fpubbyf - gur Zbavgbevny flfgrz. Vg gbbx gur ybnq bss grnpuref naq ranoyrq pbagvahbhf zbavgbevat bs lbhat fghqragf. Vg bevtvanyyl vaibyirq byqre fghqragf grnpuvat lbhatre fghqragf, ohg jnf yngre fvzcyvsvrq gb whfg zbavgbevat bs lbhatre fghqragf.

3. Simple music connect:
Bryan Adams, The Scorpions, Van Morrison, The Band, Tim Curry, Cyndi Lauper, Sinéad O'Connor, Marianne Faithfull, Joni Mitchell, and Thomas Dolby.

Ans: Gurfr jrer gur negvfgf jub cresbezrq ng "Gur Jnyy, yvir ng Oreyva" jvgu Ebtre Jngref ba 21 Whyl 1990.

4. _______-________s (meaning disorganized, leaderless in Turkish) were irregular soldiers / mercenaries of the Ottoman army. They were notorious for being brutal and undisciplined, thus giving the term its second, colloquial meaning of "undisciplined bandit". The phrase has since become extremely famous because of its frequent usage by a fictional character. What is the term?

Ans: Onfuv-Onmbhx (Pncgnva Unqqbpx!)

5. The phrase "Jumping the Shark" refers to a scene in a three-part episode of the American television series Happy Days first broadcast on September 20, 1977. In the "Hollywood" episode, Fonzie — wearing swim trunks and his trademark leather jacket — jumps over a tank containing a shark while on water skis. This term has since become widely used in popular culture in a specific television-related context. What does it mean?

Ans: Gur cuenfr, cbchynevmrq ol Wba Urva ba uvf jro fvgr, whzcgurfunex.pbz, vf hfrq gb qrfpevor gur zbzrag jura n gryrivfvba fubj vf va ergebfcrpg whqtrq gb unir cnffrq vgf "crnx" naq fubjf n abgvprnoyr qrpyvar va dhnyvgl. Znal unir abgrq gur Unccl Qnlf funex rcvfbqr nf gur zbzrag jura gurl ernyvmrq gur fubj jnf ab ybatre jbegu jngpuvat. Zber Rknzcyrf: Xavtug Evqre, XVGG'f zrrgvat uvf onq-zvaqrq oebgure XNEE, Gur Fvzcfbaf univat zber guna bar thrfg fgne cre rcvfbqr rgp. Svpgvbany rknzcyrf: Qe. Qenxr Enzbenl qlvat va "Qnlf bs Bhe Yvirf" ba SEVRAQF.

6. This term was coined by Cold War military strategist Herman Kahn in his 1961 book "On Thermonuclear War" in order to discuss the likely consequences of conducting wars with weapons of mass destruction. The name was adopted by a famous thrash metal band in 1983. What is the term?

Ans: Zrtnqrngu (Zrtnqrgu) - 1 zvyyvba qrnguf

7. Arturo Di Modica, a resident of New York created this in response to the 1987 stock market crash. In December 1989, he trucked it to Lower Manhattan and placed it in a strategic location. He called it his Christmas gift to the people of New York. The police seized his creation and placed it in an impound lot. However, after a massive public outcry, it was removde from the impound lot and re-installed in its present location, where it has come to become a symbol of its locality. What am I talking about?

Ans: Gur Jnyy Fgerrg Ohyy / Gur Punetvat Ohyy / Objyvat Terra Ohyy - n 7000-cbhaq oebamr fphycgher. (uggc://ra.jvxvcrqvn.bet/jvxv/Jnyy_Fgerrg_Ohyy)

Bonus: What is this form of art called? Ans: Threvyyn Neg.

8. What phrase was coined in this essay titled "You and the Atomic Bomb" on October 19, 1945 in the Tribune?
"We may be heading not for general breakdown but for an epoch as horribly stable as the slave empires of antiquity. James Burnham's theory has been much discussed, but few people have yet considered its ideological implications - this is, the kind of world-view, the kind of beliefs, and the social structure that would probably prevail in a State which was once unconquerable and in a permanent state of "____ ___" with its neighbours."

Ans: Pbyq Jne (Trbetr Bejryy)

9. In 1927 at the age of 32, bankrupt and jobless, living in inferior housing in Chicago, Illinois, he saw his beloved young daughter Alexandra die of pneumonia in winter. He felt responsible, and this drove him to drink and the verge of suicide. At the last moment he decided instead to embark on "an experiment, to find what a single individual can contribute to changing the world and benefiting all humanity." For the next half-century he contributed a wide range of ideas, designs and inventions to the world. He was ultimately to be awarded 25 US patents and many honorary doctorates.
Identify.

Ans: Ohpxzvafgre Shyyre - gur nepuvgrpg, guvaxre naq vairagbe jub qrfvtarq gur trbqrfvp qbzr naq nsgre jubz Ohpxzvafgreshyyrerar vf anzrq.

10. Indian chief Tecumseh (and sometimes to his brother Tenskwatawa, aka The Prophet, who was defeated in the Battle of Tippecanoe by Harrison), is said to have inflicted this curse upon America. Some versions of the story indicate that Tecumseh's mother pronounced the curse when Tecumseh died.

Called "The Tecumseh Curse", it was supposed to come into play every 20 years and proved to be valid each time from 1840. It finally failed to come true in its 1980 edition, though it almost did in 1981. What was the supposed curse?

Ans: Gung rirel HF Cerfvqrag ryrpgrq va 1840 naq rirel 20 lrnef yngre jbhyq qvr va bssvpr, rvgure ol angheny zrnaf be ol nffnffvangvba.

* 1840 - Jvyyvnz Urael Uneevfba, qvrq bs carhzbavn va 1841
* 1860 - Noenunz Yvapbya, nffnffvangrq va 1865
* 1880 - Wnzrf Tnesvryq, nffnffvangrq va 1881
* 1900 - Jvyyvnz ZpXvayrl, nffnffvangrq va 1901
* 1920 - Jneera T. Uneqvat, qvrq bs urneg nggnpx va 1923.
* 1940 - Senaxyva Q. Ebbfriryg, qvrq bs preroeny urzbeeuntr va 1945
* 1960 - Wbua S. Xraarql, nffnffvangrq va 1963.

Vg snvyrq gb pbzr gehr va gur pnfr bs Ebanyq Erntna, jub fheivirq na nffnffvangvba nggrzcg va 1981 juvyr va bssvpr. Vg erznvaf gb or frra jurgure vg jvyy erfhesnpr va gur pnfr bs Trbetr J. Ohfu!

Nyfb pnyyrq gur mreb-lrne phefr.

11. During the Second Boer War (1899-1902), Baron Kitchener of Britain arrived with Lord Roberts and the massive British reinforcements of December 1899.

In order to remove civilian support for the Boers, Lord Roberts came up with the idea of seizing the farms of alleged supporters, which Kitchener proceeded to implement. In conjunction with this idea, Roberts also came up with another technique as a form of humanitarian aid to the families whose farms he had destroyed. While this started out as a positive step, it began to rapidly degenerate as the large influx of Boers outstripped the minuscule ability of the British to cope. Despite being largely rectified by late 1901, the concept led to widespread opposition both at home and abroad. This strategy was later infamously refined and re-applied by others. What am I talking about?

Ans: Pbapragengvba Pnzcf

12. Lastly, a simple one, but my favourite in this quiz:

Douglas Adams has many connections with Pink Floyd. His official biography is called "Wish You Were Here". Disaster Area in The Hitchhiker books is inspired by Pink Floyd.
He was a close personal friend of David Gilmour's and picked out the name "The Division Bell" for Floyd's 1994 album. On 28th October, Douglas Adams appeared on stage with Pink Floyd "I played the easy lead guitar bit on Brain Damage and then rhythm on Eclipse. I used a left-handed Bahama Green Jerry Jones Neptune (a copy of a Danelectro)." What was the occasion?

Ans: Vg jnf n oryngrq sbegl-frpbaq oveguqnl cerfrag sbe Qbhtynf Nqnzf sebz Qnivq Tvyzbhe (Nqnzf jnf obea ba Znepu 11, 1952, ohg gur pbapreg jnfa'g hagvy Bpgbore 28gu). Jbexnoyr, ohg vagrerfgvat gb xabj!

A Quick 15

2005-08-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are the questions from part of a quiz that I did tonight. Answers are given below, encoded in ROT-13.

1. (Pic) Where is this monument located and what is its geographical significance?

Ans: Mreb-Zvyr Fgbar, Antche. Guvf vf pbafvqrerq gur trbtencuvpny pragre bs Vaqvn naq nyy qvfgnaprf sebz Vaqvn ner zrnfherq sebz urer.

2. This award was designed by Eva Yuonne Linda Maday-de-Maros Mrs who,later married an Indian and became Mrs. Savitri Khanolankar. By sheer coincidence, the first recepient of this award was her son-in-law. The award itself is designed to symbolize Rishi Dadichi who donated his thigh bones to the gods for making Vajra (with which Indra killed the demon, Vritrasura) and contains an image of Shivaji's sword Bhawani on the other side.

Ans: Gur Cnenz Ive Punxen

3. This city was previously known as Bhagyanagar, a name derived from the name of a Hindu danseuse (devadasi), Bhagmati, who married the Muslim Prince of the kingdom despite opposition from the King. After she converted to Islam she took another name and the city was again renamed after her. Which city?

Ans: Ulqrennnq. Fur gbbx gur anzr Ulqre Orthz nsgre pbairefvba.

4. The Yoni massage is a kind of sexual massage described in the Kamasutra and in carvings at Khajuraho. The word Yoni originally meant "Divine Passage" and referred to the arrangement of stars when a person was born (his/her Yoni of birth) but later came to mean the female reproductive organ. In ancient times, a special set of people were trained in the art of giving Yoni massages. Nobody else was allowed to perform these massages. Once trained, these people were hired by kings for a specific purpose. What was special about these people and why were they hired by Kings? (specific answer)

Ans: Bayl rhahpuf (uvwenf) jrer nyybjrq gb yrnea naq cenpgvfr guvf neg. Xvatf uverq gurz orpnhfr gurl bsgra unq unerzf svyyrq jvgu zber jbzra guna gurl pbhyq fngvfsl ba n erthyne onfvf. Va nqqvgvba, xvatf jbhyq bsgra or njnl, svtugvat jnef. Gb cerirag gur vazngrf bs gurve unerzf sebz fhpphzovat gb oberqbz, gurl jrer tvira lbav znffntrf. Shegure, va beqre gb cerirag gurz sebz tvivat vagb grzcgngvba, gur lbav znffrhef jrer arprffnevyl uvwenf engure guna zra.

5. Nehru first got this idea when he visited Russia which was under Stalin's rule, in the late 1920s. The first such Russian endeavour was launched in 1928 and the concept was referred to as "Piatiletka". However Nehru was dissatisfied with the Soviet interpretation of the idea and wrote "The human costs are unpayable". He later modified the concept to suit India and used it after independence. What am I talking about?

Ans: Gur Svir-Lrne Cyna

6. He was born Farrokh Bulsara in Stone Town, Zanzibar to Zoroastrian (Parsee) parents from India. His parents Bomi and Jer Bulsara had immigrated to Zanzibar so his father could continue his job at the British Colonial Office. He also had a sister, Kashmira. He was educated at St. Peter's boarding school in Panchgani near Mumbai, India. At this school, he picked up a nickname that he later started using as his legal name. At the age of 18, he arrived in England where he pursued a Diploma in Art and Graphic Design at Ealing Art College. This training helped him later in his career, particularly when he designed this logo. (Pic)

Extra Hint: He is also mentioned in one of the most famous suicide notes of this century.

"...when we're backstage and the lights go out and the manic roar of the crowds begins, it doesn't affect me the way in which it did for ______ _______, who seemed to love, relish in the the love and adoration from the crowd, which is something I totally admire and envy."

Ans: Serqqvr Zrephel, gur yrnq fvatre bs Dhrra. Gur ybtb fubja vf Dhrra'f bja ybtb, qrfvtarq ol Zrephel. Gur navznyf va gur ybtb ner fnvq gb ercerfrag gur mbqvnp fvtaf bs gur onaq zrzoref. Gur fhvpvqr abgr vf bs pbhefr, ol Xheg Pbonva bs Aveinan.

7. In 1935, Romanian authorities banned X's films from cinemas after they feared that children would be scared to see a ten-foot high version of X in the movie theatre. In 1936, Adolf Hitler declared X to be an enemy of the state in Nazi Germany. On November 14, 2002, an image was discovered during restoration of a church's outside wall in the town of Malta, Austria. It is part of a 14th century fresco depicting Saint Christopher of the Catholic Church, who is often shown accompanied by fabulous creatures. This image prominently features a character who looks remarkably like X. Finally, X has been a regular contender in the U.S. Presidential elections for over half a century, because protest voters often wrote X's name on the ballot. Identify.

Ans: Zvpxrl Zbhfr. Gur vzntr bs gur serfpb pna or frra ng (uggc://ra.jvxvcrqvn.bet/jvxv/Vzntr:Zvpxl.wct)

8. When the milk ocean needed to be churned, the Devas took the help of the asuras, with the agreement that they would share the "Amrit" that would come out. When the amrit did come out, the Devas regretted their offer and prayed to Lord Vishnu to help them (since they did not want the asuras to become immortal). Vishnu took the form of a woman to seduce the Asuras and cleverly avoided giving them the amrit. Now, an Indian dance form which literally means "Dance of the Enchantress" is derived from this incident. Which dance form?

Ans: Zbuvavnggnz (Xrenyn).

9 X was born on 29 September 1941, Bradeley, Staffordshire and became a British sporting hero when Tony Greig picked him for the English cricket team in 1975. He was close to retirement from county cricket for Northamptonshire where he was a middle-order batsman and appeared much older than his 33 years, with grey hair and spectacles. However in the eight test matches he played he showed great courage against the fastest and most intimidating bowlers in the world; Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson for Australia and Anderson Roberts, Michael Holding, Wayne Daniel, and Vanburn Holder for the West Indies. Having charmed the public he was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1975, and was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1976. Identify.

Ans: Qnivq Fgnayrl Fgrryr

10. On 1 April 2005, the Chief Rabbi of Sephardic Jews in Israel, Shlomo Amar sent a contingent of Rabbis to India to perform formal Orthodox Jewish conversions on people in Mizoram. With the conversions, the Mizo Jews, would be allowed to move to Israel. Why this special treatment for Jews in Mizoram?

Ans: Gur Wrjf bs Zvmbenz unir orra erpbtavmrq ol gur Wrjvfu pbzzhavgl nf nhguragvp qrfpraqnagf bs gur Ybfg Gevorf bs Vfenry. Gurl pynvz naprfgel gb gur Gevor bs Znanffru.

11. Connect:

(pics) - Plane crash (above), Renkoji Temple (below)

with the Shah Nawaz Commission (1956), Khosla Commission (1970), Mukherjee Commission (1999)

Ans: Gur qvfnccrnenapr/qrngu bs Fhonfu Punaqen Obfr. Gur cynar penfu vf fhccbfrq gb or gur bar va juvpu ur qvrq. Gur Eraxbwv grzcyr va Wncna vf fhccbfrq gb pbagnva na hea jvgu gur nfurf bs Obfr (Jura N.O. Inwcnlrr ivfvgrq Wncna nf CZ bs Vaqvn, ur nyfb ivfvgrq guvf grzcyr). Gur pbzzvffvbaf anzrq nobir jrer nyy qvssrerag pbzzvffvbaf frg hc ol gur tbireazrag bs Vaqvn gb cebor gur gehgu nobhg Fhounfu Punaqen Obfr'f nyyrtrq rfpncr sebz gur cynar penfu.

12. When this structure designed by I.M. Pei, was constructed in 1989, it was highly criticized as "[reshaping] the city's profile and [opening] the door for further vulgarism." As critics questioned the taste of the design, as well as the American roots of its architect, the "Battle of the _______" became a philosophical debate over the future of the country's culture. What am I talking about?

Ans: Gur tynff clenzvq (f) va sebag bs gur Ybhier zhfrhz va Cnevf. Guvf vf nyfb zragvbarq va gur Qn Ivapv Pbqr. Frr gur cvpgher bs gur fgehpgherf ng (uggc://ra.jvxvcrqvn.bet/jvxv/Vzntr:Cnevf.ybhier.clenzvq.750cvk.wct)

13. One of the clauses of the Second treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle signed by France and Britain in 1748 was the return of a colony in India from the French to the British. Which colony?

Ans: Znqenf. Ng gur gvzr, guvf vapyhqrq cnegf bs Naquen Cenqrfu naq Xneangnxn nf jryy.

14. This is a banner associated with a certain office/position. Who is the current occupant of this office/position? Note that a portion of the banner has been blanked out.

Ans: NCW Noqhy Xnynz - Guvf vf gur perfg bs gur Cerfvqrag bs Vaqvn. Gur zvffvat cneg bs gur perfg vf gur sbhe yvbaf sebz gur Fneangu vafpevcgvbaf.

15. Connect

Ans: Gur pbaarpgvba vf gur 1857 Frcbl Zhgval. Gur evsyr fubja vf gur Rasvryq C-53, jubfr pnegevqtrf nyyrtrqyl hfrq orrs naq cbex sng nf ternfr naq urapr fcnexrq bss gur eribyg ng Zrrehg. Gur jngpurf ner cneg bs Gvgna'f "Gur Evfvat" pbyyrpgvba, juvpu ner orvat cebzbgrq ol Nnzve Xuna sbe uvf arj zbivr, Gur Evfvat/Znatny Cnaqrl, juvpu vf nobhg gur riragf bs gur Frcbl Zhgval.

Southern Spice

2005-08-06T00:39:00.000-07:00

This is a small quiz I did for a friend who needed some questions with a distinctly Chennai-Tamil-Southern flavour. The answers are given below in ROT13.

1. Ellis R. Dungan, a cinematography graduate of the
University of Southern California, arrived in India in
1935 with Michael Ormalev, a college-mate, at the
invitation of another USC student, Mani Lal Tandon of
Bombay, whose family was planning to enter the film
industry. When those plans did not take off, Tandon
invited them to Calcutta where he was directing the
Tamil film "Nandanar." There, he introduced them to a
Tamil film producer who was making "Sathi Leelavathi"
and suggested that, tied up as he was, Dungan be hired
in his place to direct the film. When the American was
hired, it was to be the beginning of a new era in
Tamil film-making, Dungan - with Ormalev having
vanished along the way - making a major contribution
to it.

Many of the minor actors in this movie later became
big names in the Tamil film industry - including N.S.
Krishnan (Gemini Studios) and T.S. Balaiah.
Who was the other famous debutante in this movie?

Ans: Z T Enznpunaqena cynlrq n zvabe ebyr va guvf zbivr.
Qhatna nyfb qverpgrq "Zrren", juvpu vf perqvgrq jvgu znxvat
Z F Fhoohynxfuzv n angvbany fgne.

2. Before 1947, when India was fighting against
British occupation, companies and individuals often
included "Contribution to Freedom movement" as an item
in accounting statements. Most often accounting
statements would not tally because management funneled
money out. "Contribution to Gandhi's freedom movement"
provided an excellent means to account for the
"missing" money.

Which phrase in Tamil slang originates from this?

Ans: "Tnaquv Xnanxxh".

3. What is this a description of?

1. Take one step with your foot.
2. If you just brought your left foot forward,
point your left fist to the sky and your right fist
directly ahead, otherwise do the opposite.
3. If you bring your left fist skyward, look
straight ahead or slightly upwards, otherwise look
down at your feet.
4. The above three steps must be done
simultaneously.
5. Bob your torso up and down once.
6. Repeat with the other foot and continue doing
so.
7. Maintain a pace of one step every second, with a
bob equidistant between every two steps.
8. Pelvic thrusts between steps can also be
introduced to provide some variation.

Ans: Qnccnnaxhguh
(uggc://ra.jvxvcrqvn.bet/jvxv/Qnccnnaxhguh)
Jneavat: V qba'g xabj ubj zhpu bs guvf vf uhzbhebhfnaq
ubj zhpu vf snpg :)

4. The James Bond film Octopussy features a chase
scene in which Bond (Roger Moore) and a fellow MI6
agent (Vijay Amritraj) elude villains. The sequence
has one liners with Bond going "Vijay, we have
company" and Amritraj (Noted Tennis player of the
'70s) the driver replying "No problem sir, this is a
company car" while villain Kabir Bedi takes pot shots
at them using a shotgun. The chase ends with the
vehicle heading for a brick wall covered by the
handbills of a Hindi movie which turns out to be the
well hidden entrance to the local MI6 office. What is
specially Indian about this chase sequence?

Ans: Obaq naq Nzevgenw ner geniryyvat va nanhgb-evpxfunj!
Zber shaqnrf: Gur nhgb vf pnyyrq n Ghx-Ghx vaGunvynaq, n
Onwnw va Vaqbarfvn naq n Zbgbgnkv vaCreh.

5. Tulu is one of the Dravidian languages of India
with under 2,000,000 speakers. Most of its speakers
are in the district of South Kanara in the west of the
state of Karnataka. Tulu is generally spoken as the
local language by Mangaloreans. The question is, who
is the most famous native speaker of Tulu in the
world? Clue: This person also speaks Hindi, a bit of
Marathi and some broken Tamil.

Ans: Nvfujneln Env. Fur fnvq fb va ure erpragvagreivrj ba
Qnivq Yrggrezna'f fubj.

6. What is special about this carving of a lion's head
at Mahabalipuram?


Ans: Guvf jnf hapbirerq nsgre gur Gfhanzv pneevrq njnlynetr cbegvbaf bs
fnaq sebz gur ornpu.

7. Which Chennai landmark is named after George
Frederick Samuel Robinson, the 7th Viceroy of India,
from 1880-1884?
Ans: Evcba Ohvyqvat (Ur jnf znqr gur Rney bs Evcba va1859)

8. The first mention of it in writings occurs ca. 920
A.D. One description ca. 1025 says the lentils were
first soaked in buttermilk, and after grinding,
seasoned with pepper, coriander, cumin and asafoetida.
The king and scholar Someshwara III, reigning in the
area now called Karnataka, included a recipe in his
encyclopedia, the Manasollasa, written in Sanskrit ca.
1130 A.D. There is no known record of rice being added
until some time in the 17th century. What are we
talking about?

Ans: Gur Vqyv

9. This movie had cinematography by Balu Mahendra,
music by Ilayaraaja and starred Anil Kapoor and
Lakshmi. The movie was divided into two parts - the
first forms the episode of an Estate Manager deserting
his Wife and Kid, after being caught red-handed with
another Woman. The second part narrates the story of a
young Guy who comes to the neighbouring Estate for
work and his relationship with the deserted Woman. The
question is, whom did this film introduce to Tamil
cinema?

Ans: Znav Enganz. Gur zbivr jnf "Cnyyniv Nahcnyyniv",
uvf svefg zbivr - gur 2-cneg fgbel vf gur pnhfr bs gurgvgyr -
gur svefg fgbel vf gur cnyyniv naq gur frpbaqvf gur nahcnyyniv.

Qhoorq nf Cevln B Cevln va Gnzvy.


10. He can be spotted among the dancers behind Karthik
in the song "Raja Rajadhirajan Indha Raja" in Agni
Natchathiram. He has become one of the most famous
people in his field and has won two national awards.
Incidentally, his father is also a legend
in the same field.
Identify.

Ans: Cenouh Qrin (Angvbany Njneqf - Zvafnen Xnanih naqYnxfuln)

A Hiatus

2005-07-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm planning to do a quiz this month at IITK, so I'll need to begin hoarding some questions until then. As a result, I won't be posting any new questions for a few weeks, after which I'll post the entire quiz. In the meantime, we can all enjoy George's blog :)

Here are the answers to the previous set:

1. Since the Harry Potter books were hoarding the main bestseller list, the publishers of the NYT created another bestseller list for children's books.

2. Not workable, but interesting to know. The guy's name is Roger Corman.

3. This was the "message in a bottle" sent on board the Pioneer 10 spacecraft. Let's hope somebody does find it!

George got 2 in his inimitable style (eh?).

Until later, then!

An Announcement and Three Little Ones

2005-07-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

The grand daddy of IITK quizzing and soon-to-be grand daddy of Penn State University quizzing, George M. Paily a.k.a. Rare Hand Axe has launched his very own quiz blog, XQZ. You can also find this link in the sidebar.

George is famous for his diverse range and superb quality of questions, so this is a quiz blog not to be missed!

Now onto the questions of the day. Here are three small ones, instead of the usual biggun.

1. In 2001, The New York Times modified its bestseller list, creating a new list featuring only children's books. Why?

2. This B-movie director is less famous for his movies and more famous for the people whose careers he kick-started. He gave Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, James Cameron, Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind) and Jonathan Demme (The Silence Of The Lambs) their earliest directing breaks. He also gave Jack Nicholson his first movie role in 1958's "The Cry-Baby Killers". He is also remembered for shooting on tight budgets and incredibly short schedules (once wrapping up a full-length movie in under two days). Identify.

3. Where would you find the following drawing:

Clue: If someone does find it, many people will be very happy :)

Interesting fact of the day:

Some Aboriginal cultures consider the mentioning of deceased persons, whether in name or in image, to be taboo. In such cases there may be a special word such as 'Kumantjayi' (pronounced KU-MENT-JAY', used by the Warlpiri) which will be used to refer to the deceased instead of their name. It is therefore common for the Australian media to give a warning like this prior to mentioning deceased Aboriginal persons.

Answer to the previous question:

The scientist/inventor was the Father of InformationTheory, Claude Shannon. In his master's thesis, he discussed the possibility of using electrical signals to represent boolean logic, thus giving birth to the concept of digital circuits and hence the modern electronic computer.

@ Rare Hand Axe: John Von Neumann was a very good try, because his contributions were as diverse and far-reaching as Shannon's.

Of Scientists And Rocket-Powered Pogo Sticks

2005-07-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

I just realized that my questions seem to center largely around movies, music and popular culture. I really ought to slip in a question from some other genre from time to time. Here's one then, from science.

He is considered one of the foremost scientific minds of the past century. Born in 1916, he was inspired by Edison and was pleasantly surprised to discover that they were actually distant cousins. He went to MIT in 1936 to pursue graduate studies. While there, he worked with computer pioneer Vannevar Bush on his differential analyzer in his spare time. His master's thesis was published in 1937 and was hailed by Harvard University Professor Howard Gardner as "possibly the most important, and also the most famous, master's thesis of the century." (some inspiration there for me?). He went on to publish groundbreaking results in many fields, and was hailed as the proverbial father of a particular field within the engineering discipline (skipping some details here - would become obvious otherwise). He was also an expert cryptographer and was hired by Bell labs to help develop security systems. His team built an anti-aircraft system that is credited with helping Britain fight the German air invasion during WW II.

He published an early and influential paper discussing a chess-playing algorithm. He also played the then world chess champion, Mikhail Botvinnik and performed creditably, losing in 42 moves.

Despite his monumental academic contributions, he was also a wacky and fun-loving person. He invented a flame-throwing trumpet, rocket-powered Pogo sticks and frisbees, a juggling machine and a wearable computer to predict the result of playing roulette, among other things. He is also remembered at Bell Labs for riding the hallways on a unicycle while juggling three balls when he was thinking about a problem.

Identify.

Interesting fact of the day:

For "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)", Pink Floyd needed a school choir, and approached music teacher Alun Renshaw of Islington Green, around the corner from their recording studio Britannia Row. Renshaw practiced the song with students and then clandestinely brought them. Though the school received a lump sum payment of 1000 GBP, there was no contractual arrangement for royalties. Under 1996 copyright law, they became eligible, and after choir members found each other through the website Friends Reunited, they sued. Music industry professionals estimated that each student would be owed around 500 GBP.

Answer to the previous question:

Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the Star Trek franchise.

Dr. Jean Piccard was the inspiration for Captain Jean-Luc Picard, while "Revenge is a dish best served cold" is a Klingon proverb. Finally, the title roughly means "boldly going where no man/person has gone before".

Cracked by Arjun (yes, Scotty was finally beamed up himself!).

@ Rare Hand Axe: I don't exactly remember whether/how the question was asked in Nihilanth.
Anyway, sorry about the unintentional repetition (first IITK archive quizzes, now this!).

Peregrinating With Great Intrepidity Into Unchartered Territory

2005-07-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

He was an aeronautical engineer by training, served as a pilot in the US Army Air Corps and later as a commercial pilot for Pan American Airways, before moving to the Los Angeles Police Department. He is remembered (or more accurately, revered by millions) for something vastly different, which he created and was closely associated with for over 30 years. His ashes were buried at space along with Timothy Leary (60's counterculture icon and LSD popularizer) and 22 others. There is an asteroid named in his honour as well as a crater on Mars. Identify.

Some lateral clues related to his creation:
1. Dr. Jean Piccard, a Swiss scientist and high-altitude balloonist
2. "Revenge is a dish best served cold" (Kill Bill Vol. 1, if it helps)

Interesting fact of the day:

Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention released an album called "We're Only In It For The Money" in 1968. The inside cover of the album was a parody of the Beatles album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", with a collage of famous people on the cover including Jimi Hendrix and the band members themselves.

Answer to the previous question:

Kurt Cobain / Nirvana

Cobain's suicide note was addressed "To Boddah" and was signed "Peace. Love. Empathy, Kurt Cobain".
Bipolar disorder is commonly treated by various lithium-based drugs, colloquially known as lithium (Nirvana's hit single).
The river Wishkah inspired the name of the Nirvana album "From The Muddy Banks Of The Wishkah" and Aberdeen is primarily famous for being Kurt's birthplace
Dave Grohl, the drummer of Nirvana formed The Foo Fighters after Kurt's death (question 5 in the previous quiz).

Finally, Buddhism officially defines "Nirvana" as the pursuit of liberation - hence the title.

Cracked by Rare Hand Axe with some innovative reasoning :)

In Pursuit Of Liberation

2005-07-19T12:45:00.000-07:00

After that unnecessarily long hiatus, during which I explored the deeper questions in life (like how much food and sleep can a man burden himself with over a week), Quizzical Expressions is back. I'll do my best to stick to the 2-day routine as before, thesis work or not (mostly not).

So, here goes. Connect:

1. "To Boddah" (need more clues?)
2. Bipolar Disorder
3. The river Wishkah, which flows north of Aberdeen, Washington
4. Peace. Love. Empathy.
5. One of the answers from the previous set of questions

Interesting fact of the day:

Mel Blanc was the guy who voiced most of our favourite Looney Tunes characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Elmer Fudd and 1000 more. When he died in 1989, his gravestone bore the inscription "That's all, folks!".

Answer to the previous questions:

1. The Bridge On The River Kwai

2. Sir Ronald Ross, when he discovered the cause of malaria

3. Devil's Advocate

4. Guernica

5. Foo Fighter, The Foo Fighters

6. Gold! This started the California Gold Rush.

7. San Marino and the San Marino Grand Prix

8. Ich Bin Ein Berliner (I am a Berliner) - one of JFK's most momentous statements

9. They all refused the Nobel Prize.

10. Kemmler was the first person to be executed by electric chair - an invention patented by Edison on behalf of his employee, Harold Brown who invented it.

Sridhar scores 4 plus a half point for 8 (btw, the Berlin Wall was DEFINITELY not broken down in 1963 :) ).

Hussain cracked 4 as well.

Rare Hand Axe cracked most of these during the original quiz! Nice work with the reverse clues :)

From The Archives - II

2005-07-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I'm off to that land of curd rice and pickles, heat and dust, Carnatic music and A R Rahman - Chennai. As a result, I'll be unable to post questions for a few days. To compensate, here are a bunch of questions instead of just one. These were taken from various quizzes that I had conducted in the past, at IITK and before.

1. This fictional structure was supposed to have been constructed at a place called Kanchanaburi in Thailand. It was said to have been inspired by the author, Pierre Bouille's experiences as a Japanese POW in the Second World War. However, two similar structures did exist in reality near the Kanchanaburi region, one wooden and the other concrete. Both were destroyed, rebuilt and then finally destroyed agin by Allied bombing raids. A commemmorative strucure exists today at the same place but bears little resemblance to the original. Name this structure, immortalised in literature and film.

2. Who wrote the following poem and what was the occasion?
"This day relenting God
Hath placed within my hand
A wondrous thing;
And God Be praised.
At his command,
Seeking His secret deeds
With tears and toiling breath,
I find thy cunning seeds,
O million-murdering Death."

3. This term is defined by Webster’s Dictionary to be “An official selected to examine critically the facts and raise objections in the case of a dead person named for beatification or canonization”. Essentially, this term is used to refer to a person who argues that someone should not be made a saint because the supposed miracles that he/she performed were not really miracles. Identify the term.

4. This town is best known as the scene of an early instance of aerial bombing by the German Luftwaffe (Condor Legion) on April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War. The Germans were attacking to support the efforts of Francisco Franco to overturn the Spanish Republican government. The bombing resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, mostly old men, women and children. The incident led Pablo Picasso to paint what is considered his masterpiece, depicting the horrors of war against innocents. Identify the town and the painting.

5. This term was coined by Allied aircraft pilots in World War II for mysterious aerial phenomena, such as glowing ball lightning seen in the skies over Germany. Originally used as a semi-derogatory reference to Japanese fighter pilots (known for erratic flying and extreme maneuvering), it became a catch phrase for fast moving, erratically flying objects (such as UFOs). A popular rock band of the 90s takes its name from this term. Identify.

6. James W. Marshall was an employee of Sacramento agriculturist John Sutter. He was building a sawmill for Sutter near Coloma, California on January 24, 1848, when he made a famous discovery. What?

7. This is one of the smallest countries in the world, and like the Vatican City is completely surrounded by another country. It is claimed to be the world’s oldest republic, having been founded in 301 A.D. It was technically at war with Switzerland for almost 350 years, from 1648 to 1996 when a peace agreement was formally signed. An interesting aspect of its economy is the sale of its postage stamps to collectors, which forms a significant part of its annual income. A famous annual sporting event is named after this country, though it is conducted elsewhere, the country being too small to accommodate the event. Identify.

8. Complete the following sentence, famously spoken in 1963: "Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was civis Romanus sum. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is ________”

9. What is common to Boris Pasternak, Le Duc Tho, Jean-Paul Sartre and Erik Axel Karlfeldt?

10. William Kemmler was a vegetable vendor in Buffalo, New York, who murdered his wife with a hatchet on March 29, 1889. He went to a neighbour’s house and reportedly said “I killed her. I had to do it. I meant to. I killed her and I’ll take the rope for it.” What was the significance of this crime to the US judicial system? Clue: Connect this incident to Thomas Alva Edison and his employee, Harold Brown.

Answer to the previous question:

The lead singer and guitarist of the band was Tony Blair, who was elected PM of Britain in 1997.

Cherie Blair was born Cherie Booth and is known to be John Wilkes Booth's direct descendant. The title of the post was another clue - Tony Blair is the head of the Labour party (and hence toil).

Cracked by Rahul and Einsteinophile.

You Need To Toil To Reach The Top

2005-07-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

This is an old chestnut for quiz aficionados, but an evergreen one.

Ugly Rumours was a band formed by a bunch of students at St. John's College, Oxford in the 1970's. The band was extremely short-lived, performing only four gigs before it broke up. The repertoire of the band was also unremarkable, being limited to covers of a few Rolling Stones and other contemporary rock and roll numbers. The name of the band was incidentally derived from the cover of a Grateful Dead album, "From The Mars Hotel".

(The words can be seen if the cover is held upside down and against a mirror)

On the whole, it was a typical, short-lived student band. However, the band received a tremendous amount of media coverage in 1997, leading one of the members to write to another, "We made it after all!".

Why?

Irrelevant fact disguised as a clue: One of the band members later married the great-great-great niece of John Wilkes Booth, the guy who assassinated Abraham Lincoln.

Answer to the previous question:

The passage is an excerpt from William Blake's "From The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell". This discussion happens when the poet is dining with the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel. The complete line reads:

"If the doors of perception were cleansed, every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite."

William Blake was famous for the unique illustrations he created to accompany his poems (the illustration shown appears in the poem just before the paragraph). Blake's artistic skills also form a central theme in the book and movie "Red Dragon", the first in Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter series.

This phrase inspired the title of Aldous Huxley's book of the same name on his experiments with LSD. The book, in turn inspired a film student and part-time poet named James Douglas Morrison to start a band, which he called The Doors.

Cracked by Rare Hand Axe and Aparna.

Dining with Isaiah and Ezekiel

2005-07-03T04:46:00.000-07:00

A sitter this time. Fill in the blanks.

"The ancient tradition that the world will be consumed in fire at the end of six thousand years is true, as I have heard from Hell.
For the cherub with his flaming sword is hereby commanded to leave his guard at the tree of life, and when he does, the whole creation will be consumed and appear infinite and holy whereas it now appears finite & corrupt.
This will come to pass by an improvement of sensual enjoyment.
But first the notion that man has a body distinct from his soul is to be expunged; this I shall do, by printing in the infernal method, by corrosives, which in Hell are salutary and medicinal, melting apparent surfaces away, and displaying the infinite which was hid.
If _______________________ were cleansed, every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite.
For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narow chinks of his cavern."

The illustration and title might help. Too simple for more clues.

Answer to the previous question:

The big bad wolf was Aleister Crowley.

Incidentally, L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of The Church of Scientology (of the Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman divorce fame) was heavily inspired by Crowley, though Crowley himself regarded Hubbard as a charlatan.

Cracked by Arjun, searchinformrmojorisin and Paddy (yes, Ozzy's Mr. Crowley is written about him). Arjun also provided some extra fundaes: Ozzy's album, Diary of a Madman is named for Crowley's autobiography.

666

2005-07-01T11:26:00.000-07:00

He was famously dubbed "The Wickedest Man in the World".

He combined ideas from Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Freemasonry, Kabbalah (the mystical Jewish cult whose most famous member is Madonna) and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn to create his own philosophical system, which he called "Occult Sciences". On a trip to Cairo in 1904, he claimed to have heard a divine voice called Aiwass, which dictated to him a set of rules, with which he formed the religion Thelema.

He believed that pleasures in life were not sinful and indulgence in them was desirable. He is also noted for his controversial theory of "Sex Magick", which closely links sex and religion. He was also widely regarded as a Satan worshipper, owing to his bizarre ideas and occult practices.

His influence on rock musicians is legendary. He is prominently featured on the cover of the Beatles album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Led Zeppelin was rumoured to have inscribed his quotes on some of their vinyl records and Jimmy Page owned his house at Loch Ness, Scotland for more than two decades. He also appears on the cover of the Michael Jackson album "Dangerous". Marilyn Manson was inspired by him to write several songs in the album "Antichrist Superstar". Other heavy metal bands who referred to him include David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne and Ministry.

Curiously, he is also credited with inventing the V-for-victory sign.

Identify.

Answer to the previous question:

These are the only advertisements done by Pink Floyd.

The title of the post was also a clue - the giant inflatable pig used by Pink Floyd in their performances of The Wall is one of their most enduring symbols.

Due to criticism from fans and their own misgivings, the band members donated all the money they made from these advertisements to charity. Incidentally, the Volkswagen shown was called The 1994 VW Pink Floyd, in line with other VW rock band models like the 1995 VW Rolling Stones and 1996 VW Bon Jovi.

This question was asked as a celebration - Today, after more than 25 years, Roger Waters will join the other members of Pink Floyd to perform at the Live 8 concert at Hyde Park, London. It's only for a day, but the Pink Floyd we know and love is back!

Cracked by Sridhar + Hussain + Google. Good team effort, guys ;)

And plz use ROT-13 so that the others can try too...

Great Flying Pigs!

2005-06-29T06:24:00.000-07:00

A slightly hardcore connect:

1.

2.

3. A painkiller called Nurofen marketed by Crookes Healthcare in the U.K.

4. The Samaritans, a British charity organization

Answer to the previous question:

The Klingon language in the Star Trek series. This is also called the Warrior Tongue, which I didn't mention in the question, for it would have been a big clue.

Cracked by Rare Hand Axe, Arjun and Hussain and conceptually cracked by Sridhar.

qaStaH nuq? (What's Happening?)

2005-06-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

This language was invented by Dr. Marc Okrand, a linguist who graduated from the University of California, Berkeley. The basic character set of the language is shown below.

The language is also remarkable for the importance it places on swear words. Any speaker of the language considers it a great compliment if told that he/she swears well. The most popular swear words are:
* petaQ
* toDsaH
* yIntagh
* taHqeq
* Qu'vatlh
* ghay'cha'
* lo'be'voS
(translations unprintable :) )

A well-documented and carefully created language, it has also formed the subject of a Bachelor's thesis in Sociology in a university in Sweden. There is even a scholarship available for students of the language offered by the language's official foundation. Some famous English works have been translated into this language, including Shakespeare's Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing and the Bible. Though there are said to be only about 30 fluent speakers worldwide, there are a number of rock bands who create music in the language. Finally, Google is also available in this language. Identify.

Answer to the previous question:
This is a famous easter-egg found in the Mozilla series of web browsers. The quote can be read on typing about:mozilla in the address bar.

"And so at last the beast fell and the unbelievers rejoiced. But all was not lost, for from the ash rose a great bird. The bird gazed down upon the unbelievers and cast fire and thunder upon them. For the beast had been reborn with its strength renewed, and the followers of Mammon cowered in horror."
- from The Book of Mozilla, 7:15

The quote tells the story of the fall of Netscape (the beast) and the rise of the Mozilla foundation (the great bird) from its ashes. The "fire" and "thunder" refer to firebird and thunderbird: the browser and email client created by the Mozilla foundation. Thunderbird is still in wide use, while Firebird evolved into Firefox, the browser that is fast conquering the world. Mammon of course, represents Microsoft.

Two different quotes appear in other versions of the browser:

"And the beast shall be made legion. Its numbers shall be increased a thousand thousand fold. The din of a million keyboards like unto a great storm shall cover the earth, and the followers of Mammon shall tremble."
- from The Book of Mozilla, 3:31
(Red Letter Edition)
and
"And the beast shall come forth surrounded by a roiling cloud of vengeance. The house of the unbelievers shall be razed and they shall be scorched to the earth. Their tags shall blink until the end of days."
- from The Book of Mozilla, 12:10

Sridhar and Arjun cracked this, demonstrating their geekiness :) And like Sridhar mentioned, the hostage picture in the Wikipedia question is a modified form of a picture from the Elian Gonzalez crisis. Nice work, tracking that down.

The Phoenix

2005-06-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

Where can you find the following quote?

"And so at last the beast fell and the unbelievers rejoiced. But all was not lost, for from the ash rose a great bird. The bird gazed down upon the unbelievers and cast fire and thunder upon them. For the beast had been reborn with its strength renewed, and the followers of Mammon cowered in horror."

Clue: I am and always will be a geek :-) Also, there are some clues in the quote for the geekily inclined.

Answer to the previous question:

The reference is to Wikipedia's April Fool's day prank on April 1, 2005.

The picture of Queen Elizabeth I and King Eric IV were from a fictitious article entitled "Toilet paper through the ages", which was the featured article for the day. The term Nihilartikel refers to a fictitious article deliberately inserted in an encyclopaedia.

One of the other gags that Wikipedia pulled on that day was the false news story that the Encyclopaedia Britannica had bought the Wikimedia foundation in a hostile takeover. The fake hostage photograph was visual "proof" accompanying the news story - showing the creator of the Wikimedia foundation, Jimmy Wales being threatened by hostile gunmen.

Good debut from Arjun :-)

Enough with the PhDs, already!

2005-06-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

After that disappointing response, I decided to do away with the PhD questions for a while. Here is a good old-fashioned picture connect:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Answer to the previous question:

The spoof article was written by Isaac Asimov, as preparation in formal writing for his PhD dissertation. When it was published by Asimov's friend against his own wishes, he was afraid his PhD examiners would take the matter seriously during his oral examination. He was relieved when all they asked him was a humourous question about it ("Mr. Asimov, tell us something about the thermodynamic properties of the compound thiotimoline"). He subsequently wrote three sequels, "The Micropsychiatric Applications of Thiotimoline", "Thiotimoline and the Space Age" and "Thiotimoline to the Stars".

Another PhD Question

2005-06-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

What can I say? I'm developing a healthy respect for research, being a grad student who's getting away with doing none at all :P

"The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline" was a paper written by a PhD student in the Chemistry department of Columbia University in 1948. It described a chemical compund named Thiotimoline, which had the remarkable property of dissolving in water upto 1.3 seconds BEFORE the water was added. The author is famous for things other than Chemistry, however and is said to be the only person to have authored atleast one book under each category in the Dewey Decimal Classification system of library books. Identify the author, and resist the temptation to google!

Answer to the previous question:

The dissertation was authored by Theodore Kaczynski, who became a professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley and who was later to become famous as the serial killer nicknamed The Unabomber. He killed 3 people and injured numerous others through letter bombs, prompting one of the FBI's most high-profile manhunts in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1995, he threatened to kill more people unless an article written by him was published in a leading newspaper. In this article, he vented his anger against industrialization and claimed that the Industrial Revolution was the greatest ill to have befallen humans (Such beliefs are characteristic of Luddites. Kaczynski was a neo-luddite.) He was finally arrested and sentenced in 1996.

Bill Joy wrote an article in 2000 entitled "Why the future doesn't need us", in which he endorsed some of Kaczynski's views, leading to widespread criticism despite the fact that he also deplored Kaczynski's actions in the same article.

There are two connections to the movie Good Will Hunting. The first is that the main character in the movie (Will) and Kaczynski both suffer from Asperger's Syndrome - in which a person has normal or exceptional intelligence and language development, but exhibit autistic-like behaviors and marked deficiencies in social and communication skills. The other is that the Unabomber is actually mentioned in the movie as an example of what Will could become if not guided properly.

Half points to Sridhar for cracking the Asperger's Syndrome connection.

Who said PhD research is boring?

2005-06-19T04:42:00.000-07:00

In 1967, the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, selected a 75-page PhD dissertation, written in less than a year and entitled "On Boundary Functions" as the best dissertation in the Math department for the year. People on the dissertation evaluation committee called it "remarkable" and one member estimated that fewer than 12 people in the country were capable of understanding it. The dissertation basically answered the question (I don't know who was asking it, though :-) ) "If a function is continuous inside a circle, what is the possible structure of the set of points on the boundary circle where the function has limits along arcs?".

This dissertation has since become well known (but not widely understood) outside the mathematical world, and drew the FBI's interest in 1995-96. Why?

Ok, a clue: Luddites (you can look that up if you want to)

Ok, some really arbitrary clues: Good Will Hunting (the movie), Bill Joy (co-founder of Sun Microsystems). I mean it, these are really arbit clues!

Answer to the previous question:

All the people mentioned belong to the secret society Skull and Bones, which exists at Yale university.

The society is supposed to have connections with the Illuminati and other famous secret societies. Almost the entire Bush family, from the time of George W. Bush's grandfather and including George Bush Sr., have been members of this society. This has reportedly helped G.W. Bush's political career in many ways, including funding for his presidential and gubernatorial campaigns and assistance for his attempts at entrepreneurship. Other famous members include William Howard Taft (the 27th US President), Harold Stanley (founder of Morgan Stanley), and a number of prominent industrialists, bankers and senators.

Shhhhhhh!

2005-06-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

George W. Bush and John Kerry may not agree on many things, but this is one thing they have in common. When asked about it by an interviewer, Bush responded "It's so secret, I can't talk about it". Kerry too, parried the question when put to him, saying "Well not much, because it's a secret... Sorry, I wish there was something I could manifest..." before changing the subject. It also appears that more than 10 members of Bush's first cabinet could have (but probably wouldn't have) thrown some light on the subject, as could have George Bush Senior, all having been intimately involved with the same thing. Exactly what am I talking about?

Answer to the previous question:

Matchanu's father is the guy all Indian bachelors look up to: Hanuman.

The story goes like this: When Rama's monkey army started building the stone causeway across the sea to reach Longka (Lanka), they found that the structure were being dismantled from within the sea. Rama asked Hanuman to solve this problem. Hanuman found out that it was Suwan Matcha (called Suphanna Matcha in some versions), the sea maiden who was removing the stones and preventing the construction from proceeding. Possibly as a means to another end, Hanuman courted the sea maiden and consequently, won her over to his side. The construction of the bridge resumed and Suwan Matcha subsequently gave birth to Hanuman's son, Matchanu.

Another point: A website mentioned that Ravana was Suwan Matcha's father, which would ironically make him Hanuman's father-in-law. I haven't found any other sources that corroborate this fact, though.

Sridhar was almost there, and Kierthi's matsya connection was actually on the right track - matsya meaning fish, but you didn't fit in the Ramayan clue.

BTW, I believe the word "google" has entered common usage as a verb for "to search". Everyone except Google Inc. is happy with the usage (they are obviously unhappy, because it would cease to be a trademark if it actually entered the OED or something).

Game, set and Matcha!

2005-06-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

The Ramakian (Glory of Rama) is the national epic of Thailand, and is basically another version of the Ramayan. There is this interesting character in the Ramakian called Matchanu, whose mother is a fish-maiden named Suwan-matcha. She is the daughter of Totsakan, one of the ministers in Lanka and the goddess of the sea. The question is, who is Matchanu's father and how was Matchanu conceived?

Answers to the previous quiz:

1. The Simpsons

2. The first couple of guests on the show, Persis Khambatta (who played Lt. Aliea in the first Star Trek movie) and the dancer Protima Bedi, both died within days of shooting their episodes! Later guests like Sharmila Tagore were understandably reluctant to follow :-) and the show had to be cancelled.

3. Alfred E. Neumann of Mad magazine, of course.

4. A couple of clues in the question. The island was called Lesbos, and the word is lesbian.

5. Ronin. Also the title of a John Frankenheimer movie starring Robert De Niro. Incidentally, many characters in Akira Kurosawa movies including some in the Seven Samurai and the main character in Yojimbo are Ronin.

Four out of five to Sridhar. Good show!

And regd. Arjun's comment, I can't think of anything else other than mailing the answers to me personally. But that seems like a lot of work, so maybe ROT13 will be easier. I leave it to the readers of this blog.

From the archives

2005-06-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

Feeling too lazy to make up a question today, so just picked up a few from a quiz I did at IITK earlier this year:

1. The Tracey Ullman Show was premiered on the newly launched Fox Television Network in 1987. It was a madcap song-and-dance comedy, featuring a British comedienne named Tracey Ullman as the central character. Guest stars included Keanu Reeves, Kelsey Grammer, Glenn Close and Martin Short. It became the first Fox show to be nominated for five Emmy awards and it won a total of eight, including two for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program. It was the show that launched Fox network in a big way among the American viewers. On April 17, 1987, it ran a 5-minute short entitled “Good Night”, which received favourable reviews. The director of the Tracey Ullman Show decided that the short was good enough to become a show on its own. What did this result in?

2. "Not a Nice Man to Know" was a talk show anchored by Khuswant Singh on Star plus 2 years ago. It seemed to go well, but was pulled off the air after a few episodes for a strange reason - guests were unwilling to appear on the show. Why?

3. Long before he appeared on a famous magazine's cover in January 1955, he appeared in several ads for dentists in the 1800's. People who have appeared with him on the cover range from Batman to Jerry Seinfeld. He has jug ears, a missing front tooth and one eye higher than the other. He has a girlfriend named Moxie Cowznofwski, and even ran for President in 1960! Identify this famous fictional character.

4. This was a Greek island in the Aegean, off the coast of Asia Minor. Its inhabitants were primarily female, with its most famous inhabitant being a (female) poet called Sappho. Today, a Sapphic poem is a poem with a stanza of three lines, of five or six stresses each, followed by a short line. Apart from this, a word has originated from the name of the island, which is quite common in today's liberal world. This word is also synonymous with a secondary meaning of "sapphic" in some (completely different) context. Identify the island & hence the word.

5. This term referred to (literally, wave man - one who is tossed about, like a wave in the sea) a master-less samurai during the feudal period of Japan that lasted from 1185 to 1868. A samurai became master-less from the ruin or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favour or privilege. Identify this term which is also the nickname of a famous software cracker, who published the cheats for Quake III Arena.

Answer to the previous question:

The reference is to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, of course. The perpetrators were a certain Caleb Schaber and his associates, who innovatively called themselves "Some People".

The clues: Pink Floyd's "Echoes" is supposed to synchronize perfectly with the stargate sequence at the end of the movie and HAL is supposedly named for the preceding letters of IBM (though Arthur C. Clarke denied this).

Incidentally, I agree with Hussain that this is a movie to be watched with lots of patience (it's slow even by Kubrick's standards). Possibly the abstract ending put Sridhar off (as it did me), but that doesn't take away from the greatness of the movie.

Eyes Wide Shut is something entirely different, though. There is this interesting theory that Kubrick wrote a script for a movie about a director who is so revered that even when he makes a pornographic movie, his audiences lap it up. The movie was never made and apparently, Kubrick made EWS as a personal joke. It may not be a true story, but it fits what I think about the movie!

The mystery of the missing massive Monolith

2005-06-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

On the morning of January 1, 2001, visitors to Magnuson Park in Seattle, Washington discovered a metallic monolith on the top of Kite Hill. The object measured approximately three feet wide by nine feet tall and appeared to be hollow. Sometime during the early hours of January 3, the monolith disappeared as mysteriously as it had arrived. What was this supposed to signify?

Clues: Pink Floyd, IBM...

Answer to the previous question:

The 1975 Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi when the Allahabad High Court found her guilty of election fraud. Mother Teresa was one of its unlikely supporters.

Ramesh Sippy was forced to change the ending of Sholay by the censor board acting under rules imposed by the Emergency. In the original ending, Thakur Baldev Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) kills Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) a la the Matrix with flying kicks and a push onto a Trishul. The relatively tame ending we know was forced because the government did not want people taking the law into their own hands. Note that the Thakur was no more a policeman when he killed Gabbar (he retired even as Gabbar escaped from prison).

Cracked by Sridhar and Hussain. Thanks for the appreciation, guys :)

Another short one

2005-06-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

About what did Mother Teresa controversially say "People are happier. There are more jobs. There are no strikes."?

Ok, a clue: Ramesh Sippy changed something famous as a result of what I'm talking about.

Answer to the previous question:

The answer is the Bikini

The "Atome" was touted as the smallest one-piece bathing suit in the world and was considered daring in itself. Louis Reard split the Atome, creating the first world's first bikini. The lateral science connect is also the source of the garment's name - the shock created by it was compared to the shock caused around the world by U.S. nuclear testing on the Bikini atoll in the Pacific.

I'm surprised nobody got this, but I guess the question contained too few clues. Sorry about that.

A Small One

2005-06-07T12:10:00.000-07:00

A short, but interesting question. Avoid googling this one & try to work it out. Jacques Heim introduced the "Atome" in May 1965. Louis Reard was a French Engineer who famously "split" the "Atome" two months later, sending shock waves across the world. What am I talking about?

Clue: The answer has nothing to do with science. Well, there is a lateral connection to science, maybe you could give me that as well...

Answer to the previous question:
The connection is Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation.
1. He plays the rythm guitar for "Grown Men"
2. He was one of the principal investors in the SpaceshipOne project
3,4. He owns both the Portland Trailbazers and the Seattle Seahawks
5. He resurrected the SETI program by donating more than 12 million dollars to buy a new Radio Telescope Array.
6. He resigned from Microsoft in 1983 to battle Hodgkin's disease.

The bonus connect: Paul Allen is a great fan of Jimi Hendrix and is the founder of the Experience Music Project, which attempts to collect Jimi Hendrix's recordings and memorabilia.

Both Kierthi and Sridhar got the entire connect, including the title. Good one.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

2005-06-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

Connect:
1. A rock band called Grown Men
2. SpaceshipOne (the first civilian space shuttle; for which it won the $10 million Ansari X-Prize)
3.

4.

5. SETI (The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence)
6. Hodgkin's disease

Clue: Think technology. Also, the title of the post is another clue.

Answer to the previous question:

These were all early instances of bio-warfare. In each case, the articles given to the enemy were infected with the smallpox virus. Incidentally, there is renewed fear about the possible use of the smallpox virus as a weapon for bio-terrorism, though it has been extinct for more than 25 years.
Cracked by Hussain and by Kierthi on the 2nd try.

Generosity?

2005-06-03T11:00:00.001-07:00

A dry question this time, for a change.
In the medieval ages, the Spanish conqueror Francisco Pizarro distributed clothing to the natives of South America. Lord Jeffrey Amherst, the commander-in-chief of British forces during the French and Indian war in America, distributed blankets and handkerchiefs to some Native American-Indians sympathetic to the French cause. Captain Ecuyer of the Royal Americans did the same in 1763. What was the reason behind these acts and what were these early instances of?

Answer to the previous question:

The symbol shown is the official emblem of Singapore. The blanked-out portion read "Majulah Singapura", which translates to "Onward, Singapore!" and is Singapore's motto.

The man in the picture is Sir Stamford Raffles, the explorer and botanist who founded the city of Singapore.

The flower is of course, the Rafflesia, the largest flower in the world, which was discovered by Sir Stamford Raffles.

The bonus connect, which nobody got :( was that in the Sherlock Holmes stories, Watson was introduced to Sherlock Holmes by a certain induvidual named Stamford (hence the connect to pic 2). Toughie, but expected someone to crack it!

Hussain got the main connect.

Hey, Watson... Meet Sherlock Holmes

2005-06-01T11:49:00.000-07:00

Connect 1 to 2 and 2 to 3. Note that some portion of 1 has been blanked out. As a bonus, connect the title of this post to one of the pictures.

1.

2.

3.

Answer to the previous question:

The connection is Eunuchs (or hijras)

Arjun was cursed by the nymph Urvasi to become a eunuch when he resisted her sensual advances and instead, addressed her as his mother. Indra commuted his sentence to a year and gave him the choice of when to undergo the transformation. Arjun transformed himself into the eunuch Brihannala during the Pandavas' year of hiding (Agyatavas) and joined King Virata's court as a singing/dancing teacher to Virata's daughter, Uttara.

Indra was cursed by the rishi Gautama to become a eunuch after he assumed Gautama's form and copulated with Gautama's wife, Ahalya. Incidentally, Gautama cursed Ahalya to become a stone, from which curse she was freed when Rama visited the ashram and laid his foot on her. (I don't know how Indra freed himself from this curse. Any info on this?)

Uranus, the son and husband of Gaia (the Earth) was castrated by his son, Cronos. Uranus had hidden away his first 150 children, the Hecatoncheires from their mother. Gaia never forgave him for this, and she asked her other children, the Titans to attack Uranus, with the unfortunate consequences described above.

Finally, Ashutosh Rana plays Shabnam Mausi in the movie of the same name, based on the life of India's (and possibly the world's) first elected eunuch member of a legislative assembly.

Cracked by Hussain.

Full Toss

2005-05-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

A really simple one this time:

Connect Arjuna (the Pandava), Indra (his father), Uranus (the Greek god) and the Bollywood actor Ashutosh Rana.

Answer to the previous question:

Satyajit Ray

Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a character in "The Simpsons", named after the lead character in Satyajit Ray's Apu trilogy. The creator of "The Simpsons", Matt Groening is apparently a great fan of Ray's movies.

Vittorio De Sica's "The Bicycle Thief" was the movie that inspired Ray to develop his plans and sketches for a movie into the phenomenon called Pather Panchali.

Ray created a storyboard for a movie he called "The Alien" in 1967. Ater numerous attempts to make the movie, he gave up and abandoned the script, though the script itself was available all over Hollywood. Whe Steven Spielberg made E.T. with pretty much the same storyline in 1982, Ray remarked "E.T. would not have been possible without my script of The Alien being available throughout America in mimeographed copies" (though Spielberg claimed that the idea was his own).

This one was cracked by Sridhar.
Kierthi: Good try; the Raiders... connect was a nice one.

Purely Visual

2005-05-28T09:42:00.000-07:00

Connect:

1.

2.

3.

Answer to the previous question:
J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye"
The main character's name, Holden Caulfield was created from the names of the lead actors in the movie "Dear Ruth"
John Lennon was asssassinated by Mark Chapman, who was inspired by the book (and was actually reading it when he was arrested)
The Who's "My Generation" is a tribute to Holden Caulfield and contains the extremely famous line "I hope I die before I get old"
Cracked by Hussain and Kierthi.. Good show, guys!

Two Pictures and a Song

2005-05-26T22:11:00.000-07:00

Connect:

1.

2.

3. The song "My Generation" by The Who

Answer to the previous question:

The connection is Andy Warhol.

painted the Rolling Stones' "licks" logo for their album "Brown Sugar"
painted "Campbell's condensed Tomato Soup" - his most famous work
Had a studio called "The Factory" - RGV's production company is named after it.
Directed the movies Eat, Sleep etc. These are extremely weird movies, which have been praised and trashed alike. For example, "Sleep" is a 5-hour video of a guy just sleeping.

Loose Connection

2005-05-24T06:42:00.000-07:00

The questions are not meant to be google-proof, because ensuring that means a lot of extra effort for me, and more importantly, restricts the kind of questions I can ask. But since you mentioned it, try googling this....

Connect...

1.

2.

3. Ram Gopal Varma

4. Eat, Sleep, Shower, Kiss, Drunk, Lips and Blow Job (not in any particular order :P)

Answer to the previous question:
Well, both of you were right. Quoting Kierthi, "The topic of the debate was Darwin's theory. Huxley, often calling himself as Darwin's bulldog, believed in Darwins theory and obiviously was defending Darwin in the debate. In think the name of Darwins book was "Origin of species" which created so much controversy leading to the much talked about debate..."

Incidentally, Robert Fitzroy (not Fitzpatrick, sorry for the error) was the captain of the HMS Beagle on its second expedition to South America and one of the passengers on board was Charles R. Darwin, who used the voyage to make detailed notes on natural history and later used these to publish his "The Origin of Species".

A Debatable Question

2005-05-23T11:08:00.000-07:00

After that mind-blowing response to my first question (0 replies, nothing less), here is a question that promises to catapult me to superstardom:

Sir Thomas Henry Huxley (grandfather of Aldous Huxley) was a biologist, philosopher and man of letters. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for his work on Hydrozoa and later became its president. In June 1860, he participated in a debate at the Oxford University Museum, with his friend and colleague Joseph Dalton Hooker at his side. His opponents included Samuel Wilberforce (the Bishop of Oxford), and Robert Fitzpatrick, a ship's captain. What was the subject of the debate?

Answer to the previous question:
The "Bad" video was directed by a certain Martin Scorsese. Scorsese was also directing the film version of Nicholas Kazantzakis' controversial book, "The Last Temptation of Christ", which portrayed Christ as having had sexual fantasies about Mary Magdalene before his crucifixion. The entire Christian world was up in arms against Scorsese and created a lot of unpleasantness for him, prompting Scorsese to take a jibe at them in the video. The photograph on the "Wanted for Sacrilege" poster was his own.

A Poster Poser

2005-05-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

In Michael Jackson's 1987 video "Bad", there is a poster visible on a wall, which a dancer proceeds to rip off. Apart from the word "Bad" in large bold letters at the bottom, the poster has the caption "Wanted For Sacrilege" along with a photograph in a criminal profile (number T3426, not that it helps). What is the significance of this poster?
Clues: Hollywood, controversy, Greek guy

Intro

2005-05-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

This is a Quiz blog - attempted for two reasons:

1. To spread knowledge and learn something myself (yeah, right)
2. To demonstrate that I am capable of having a purpose in life (ok... that's too far-fetched even for me)

Oh, hang it... I'm gonna post a question every couple of days, and the answer in the next post. Answering correctly won't fetch you any prizes, so go right ahead. Or you could use ROT13 to scramble your answers, so that you don't kill the fun for others. Comments and info are welcome, as long as they are favourable, flattering, sycophantic or on similar lines :-)