Dark Bilious Vapors

But how could I deny that I possess these hands and this body, and withal escape being classed with persons in a state of insanity, whose brains are so disordered and clouded by dark bilious vapors....
--Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy: Meditation I

Home » Archives » January 2005 » Trivia, after a hiatus...

[« We come crashing back to earth....] [Thought for the Day: »]

01/02/2005: Trivia, after a hiatus...


One of the things that I earlier said we were going to do more of was provide more regular, recurring content. I'll let the schedule unfold itself naturally, but early in the week seems to me a good time to get trivial. I'll probably scale back on the number of the questions in future editions, but I've gone with ten tonight since I've not done this in a while (regular editions will probably be 5 questions, maybe with a bonus question if I'm feeling playful).

Answers either late Monday night, or "sometime Tuesday". I am vague about the timing because I'm composing the quiz on my home machine, and if I forget to FTP the answer file somewhere I can get it from my work machine I'll have to wait til I get home in order to post the answers.

1) The members of the neo-classical group the Planets were the parties defendant in (IMHO) one of the best lawsuits in musico-legal history. They entered into an out of court settlement in a suit involving one of their works, called "A One Minute Silence." Who was the plaintiff who sued them, and what was the nature of the lawsuit?

2) Over the recent holiday season, did anyone watch the Cartoon Network when they ran that classic animated Christmas special, A Mr. Magoo Christmas Carol? Nope, me neither (though I did see it the year before). So this one may be a bit difficult for you (unless you caught it when it aired the week before Christmas): in that show, what was Tiny Tim Cratchett's most favorite part of the Christmas feast?

3) In 1996, Sony produced a digital camera that worked superbly. Unfortunately, even though the Nightshot Handycam worked just about perfectly, Sony wound up taking it off the market. Why?

4) Ever had the urge to climb to the top of Mount Izaru in Costa Rica? You might consider it, because it's the only place in the Americas that you can do a particular thing. What is that?

5) What distinction did Russell B. Long of Louisiana achieve immediately upon election to the United States Senate in 1948?

6) How many men have won the Congressional Medal of Honor twice? Can you name them? (If you're really anal, like me, you can tell me their branch of service and the war(s) or action(s) they won them.)

7) Civil War General John Sedgwick spoke what I think are the best last words ever uttered by a human being. What were they?

8) On April 12, 1961, Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin made history by becoming the first human being to fly into space (in Vostok 1). He also started a tradition in the Russian space program, one which has been followed by every cosmonaut or astronaut, of any nationality (including Americans) and of both sexes, who have gone into space in a Russian spacecraft. What is that tradition?

9) In the sitcom, Welcome Back, Kotter, there was a somewhat annoying character named Arnold Horshack, played by Ron Palillo. In one episode, what did Horshack claim that "Horshack" meant in his ancestors' native tongue?

10) My absolute, all-time favorite movie is Citizen Kane. I'm probably not spoiling the movie to note here that "Rosebud" is the name of Kane's boyhood sled (before he is turned over to the guardianship of Walter Parks Thatcher). But Rosebud isn't the only sled that Kane owns in the movie. What is the name of the sled that Kane receives from Thatcher as a Christmas present later in the movie? (If you don't remember that, don't worry; it's a brief scene, and if you blinked you may have missed it.)

Len on 01.02.05 @ 09:59 PM CST



[TrackBack]

Replies: 6 comments

on Monday, January 3rd, 2005 at 5:51 AM CST, Brock said

1. I'm guessing they were sued by John Cage, author of 1'33", for copyright violation.

2. Razzleberry dressing.

3. You could see through clothing with it.

I'm stumped on the others.

on Monday, January 3rd, 2005 at 6:22 AM CST, eush said

7) They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist... (Or something like that, right before being shot)

on Monday, January 3rd, 2005 at 6:33 AM CST, Len Cleavelin said

1) Close enough to give you the credit for this. The plaintiff was Cage's estate (Cage having died in the interim), and according to my source (a Cage "bibliography" on the web) the piece is titled "4' 33"".

2) Correct! Nice to know that I'm not the only one who remembers the timeless classics. :-)

3) My understanding is some clothes (not all fabrics are IR transparent, I think), but that's the correct concept.

7) That's right. And as one friend of mine pointed out, Sedgwick's problem is that the Rebels weren't shooting at elephants. :-)

on Monday, January 3rd, 2005 at 6:52 AM CST, eush said

4) Mount Izaru is the only place in the Americas you can see both the Pacific & Atlantic Oceans.

on Monday, January 3rd, 2005 at 7:50 AM CST, Len Cleavelin said

4) That's right. Another one bites the dust.

on Monday, January 3rd, 2005 at 8:06 PM CST, eush said

Dum, dum, dum, another one bites the dust. (Hums endlessly to herself) Now I'm going to be singing that all day.

New Comment
Name:
E-Mail:
Homepage:
 
 

January 2005
SMTWTFS
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     



Home
Archives
Archives of Blogger site



RSS 1.0 FEED
Powered by gm-rss

Len's sidebar:
About Len (The uncondensed version)
Memorial to a dear friend
Frederick W. Benteen
The Web of Leonards
The St. Louis Cardinals
The Memphis Redbirds
The St. Louis Browns
The Birdwatch
Hey! Spring of Trivia Blog
BlogMemphis (The Commercial Appeal's listing of Memphis blogs)
The Guide to Life, the Universe, and Everything

Len's extended blogroll:

Brock's Sidebar:
About Brock
Boing Boing
Crooked Timber
Dispatches from the Culture Wars
Fafblog
Heretical Ideas
John and Belle Have a Blog
Jon Rowe
Letters of Marque
Literal Minded
Majikthise
Marginal Revolution
Matthew Yglesias
Oliver Willis
Pandagon
Political Animal
Positive Liberty
Signifying Nothing
Unqualified Offerings

Karen's Sidebar
About Karen
The Ig-Nobel Prizes
The Annals of Improbable Research
The Darwin Awards
EBaums World
Real Clear Politics
U.S. News Wire
Foreign Affairs
The Capitol Steps
Overlawyered
Engrish
Legal Affairs
Nobel Laureates for Change
Program On International Policy
Law of War
Sunday Times
Media Matters
Fafblog
Is That Legal?
Discourse
Andrew Sullivan
Evolutionblog
Literal Minded
Jon Rowe
Dysblog
Freespace Blog
Thought Not
Publius Pundit
Maddox
Blog Maverick
Rosenberg Blog
Crooked Timber
GreeneSpace
EdCone.com
Conglomerate
McSweeney's

The Rocky Top Brigade:


Rocky Top Brigade Sampler


A New Memphis Mafia


The liberal alternative to Drudge.

Get Firefox!



Cardinals Countdowns:
Days until pitchers and catchers report:
Your browser doesn't support Java applets.

Days until first Grapefruit League game (3/3/05; @ NYM):
Your browser doesn't support Java applets.

Days until Opening Day (4/5/05; @ HOU):
Your browser doesn't support Java applets.

Days until Home Opener (4/8/05; vs. PHI):
Your browser doesn't support Java applets.


How many visitors are here:


Blogrings/Blog indexes/Blog search:
« ? Verbosity # »




Listed on Blogwise
Popdex
Popdex Citations
Technorati
Blog Search Engine



Greymatter Forums
template by linear