Monday, February 28, 2011

QUESTION: Medical

What medical procedure to Germans call the kaiserschnitt (emperor's cut)?

ANSWER: Famous Speeches

Dwight D. Eisenhower



Matt: WRONG
Record: 329-289

Sunday, February 27, 2011

QUESTION: Famous Speeches

Who warned against military-industrial complex in his famous farewell address?

Friday, February 25, 2011

ANSWER: Population

Los Angeles County

Los Angeles County (incorporated as the County of Los Angeles) is a county in California and is the most populous county in the United States. Figures from the U.S. Census Bureau give an estimated 2009 population of 9,848,011 residents, while the California Department of Finance lists a July 1, 2010, estimate of 10,473,535. The county seat is the city of Los Angeles, the largest city in California and the second-largest city in the United States (after New York City).

Matt: CORRECT
Record: 329-288

Thursday, February 24, 2011

QUESTION: Population

What's the most populous county in the U.S.?

ANSWER: Music

Piano

William "Count" Basie (August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years. Many notable musicians came to prominence under his direction, including tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison and singers Jimmy Rushing and Joe Williams. Basie's theme songs were "One O'Clock Jump" and "April In Paris".

Matt: WRONG
Record: 328-288

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

QUESTION: Music

What instrument did jazz bandleader Count Basie play?

ANSWER: Literature

Room 101

Room 101 is a place introduced in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. It is a torture chamber in the Ministry of Love in which the Party attempts to subject a prisoner to his or her own worst nightmare, fear or phobia.

Such is the purported omniscience of the state in the society of Nineteen Eighty-Four that even a citizen's nightmares are known to the Party. The nightmare—and therefore the threatened punishment—of the protagonist Winston Smith is to be attacked by rats. Smith saves himself by begging the authorities to let his lover, Julia, have her face gnawed by the ferocious rodents instead. The torture—and what Winston does to escape it—breaks his last promise to himself and to Julia: never to betray her emotionally. The book suggests that Julia is likewise subjected to her own worst fear, and when she and Winston later meet in a park, he notices a scar on her forehead. The original intent of threatening Winston with the rats was not necessarily to go through with the act, but to force him into betraying the only person he loved and therefore break his spirit.

Matt: WRONG
Record: 328-287

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

QUESTION: Literature

What numbered room is Winston Smith strapped to a chair in at the end of 1984?

ANSWER: Movies

Emerald

After harrowing situations and an encounter with a local smuggler who is a fan of Joan's novels named Juan (who helps them escape from Zolo), they eventually find the treasure, which turns out to be an enormous emerald called El Corazon ("The Heart").

Matt: CORRECT
Record: 328-286

Monday, February 21, 2011

QUESTION: Movies

What kind of gem is El Corazon, which is "romanced" in Romancing the Stone?

ANSWER: Nature

Mushrooms

A fairy ring, also known as fairy circle, elf circle, elf ring or pixie ring, is a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms. The rings may grow to over 10 metres (33 ft) in diameter, and they become stable over time as the fungus grows and seeks food underground. They are found mainly in forested areas, but also appear in grasslands or rangelands. Fairy rings are detectable by sporocarps in rings or arcs, as well as by a necrotic zone (dead grass), or a ring of dark green grass. If these manifestations are visible a fairy fungus mycelium is likely present in the ring or arc underneath.

Fairy rings also occupy a prominent place in European folklore as the location of gateways into elfin kingdoms, or places where elves gather and dance. According to the folklore, a fairy ring appears when a fairy, pixie, or elf appears. It will disappear without trace in less than five days, but if an observer waits for the elf to return to the ring, they may be able to capture it.

Matt: WRONG
Record: 327-286

Sunday, February 20, 2011

QUESTION: Nature

What is a fairy ring made of?

ANSWER: Miscellaneous

Dale Evans

Buttermilk (1941-1972) was a light buckskin Quarter Horse with dark points. He appeared in numerous American Western films with his owner/rider, cowgirl star Dale Evans.

Buttermilk was ridden by Ms. Evans in a 1950s television series The Roy Rogers Show with her husband Roy Rogers who rode his Golden Palomino, Trigger. Both horses were extremely popular and became a marketing success with cast iron and plastic replicas, lamps, and dozens of other products purchased by adults and children.

After Buttermilk died in 1972, his hide was stretched over a plaster likeness and put on display at the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in Victorville, California (the museum has since been relocated to Branson, Missouri).

Matt: WRONG
Record: 327-285

Thursday, February 17, 2011

QUESTION: Miscellaneous

Whose famous horse was named Buttermilk?

ANSWER: Games

50 by each side

The fifty-move rule - if in the previous fifty moves by each side, no pawn has moved and no capture has been made, a draw may be claimed by either player. Here again, the draw is not automatic and must be claimed if the player wants the draw. If the player whose turn it is to move has made only 49 such moves, he may write his next move on the scoresheet and claim a draw. As with the threefold repetition, the right to claim the draw is forfeited if it is not used on that move, but the opportunity may occur again.

Matt: WRONG
Record: 327-284

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

QUESTION: Games

A chess game can end in a draw if no piece has been captured or pawn moved in how many moves by each side?

ANSWER: State Capitals

Raleigh and St. Paul

Sir Walter Raleigh: Raleigh was beheaded at Whitehall on 29 October 1618. "Let us dispatch", he said to his executioner. "At this hour my ague comes upon me. I would not have my enemies think I quaked from fear." After he was allowed to see the axe that would behead him, he mused: "This is a sharp Medicine, but it is a Physician for all diseases and miseries." According to many biographers – Raleigh Trevelyan in his book Sir Walter Raleigh (2003) for instance – Sir Walter's final words (as he lay ready for the axe to fall) were: "Strike, man, strike!"

St. Paul: The settlement originally began at present-day Lambert's Landing, but was referred to as Pig's Eye when Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant established a popular tavern there. When Fr. Lucien Galtier, the first Catholic pastor of the region, established the Log Chapel of Saint Paul (shortly thereafter to become the first location of the Cathedral of Saint Paul), he made it known that the settlement was now to be called by that name, as "Saint Paul as applied to a town or city was well appropriated, this monosyllable is short, sounds good, it is understood by all Christian denominations..."

Matt: WRONG
Record: 327-283

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

QUESTION: State Capitals

What two US state capitals are named for people who were executed?

ANSWER: Internet

PayPal

YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, who were all early employees of PayPal. Hurley had studied design at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, while Chen and Karim studied computer science together at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

According to a story that has often been repeated in the media, Hurley and Chen developed the idea for YouTube during the early months of 2005, after they had experienced difficulty sharing videos that had been shot at a dinner party at Chen's apartment in San Francisco. Karim did not attend the party and denied that it had occurred, while Hurley commented that the idea that YouTube was founded after a dinner party "was probably very strengthened by marketing ideas around creating a story that was very digestible.

Matt: WRONG
Record: 327-282

Monday, February 14, 2011

QUESTION: Internet

The founders of YouTube are former employees of what e-business?

ANSWER: Definitions

Butt


Matt: CORRECT
Record: 327-281

Sunday, February 13, 2011

QUESTION: Definitions

The adjective callipygian refers to someone who has a beautiful what?

ANSWER: Toys

Light Bulb

The Easy-Bake Oven is a working toy oven manufactured by Hasbro that originally used an ordinary incandescent light bulb as a heat source, but later began using a true heating element. By 1997, more than 16 million Easy-Bake Ovens (in 11 models) had been sold.

The oven comes with packets of cake mix and small round pans. (Additional mixes can be purchased separately.) After water is added to the mix in the pan, it is pushed into the oven through a slot. After cooking, the cake is pushed out through a slot in the other end.

Matt: CORRECT
Record: 326-281

Friday, February 11, 2011

QUESTION: Toys

What was the heating element originally used in Hasbro's Easy-Bake Oven?

Thursday, February 10, 2011

ANSWER: Laws

Sundays

A blue law is a type of law, typically found in the United States and Canada, designed to enforce religious standards, particularly the observance of Sunday as a day of worship or rest, and a restriction on Sunday shopping. Most have been repealed, have been declared unconstitutional, or are simply unenforced, although prohibitions on the sale of alcoholic beverages, and occasionally almost all commerce, on Sundays are still enforced in many areas. Blue laws often prohibit an activity only during certain hours and there are usually exceptions to the prohibition of commerce, like grocery and drug stores. In some places blue laws may be enforced due to religious principles, but others are retained as a matter of tradition or out of convenience.

Matt: CORRECT
Record: 325-281

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

QUESTION: Laws

When do "blue laws" prohibit certain activities?

ANSWER: Literature

Harper Lee

Nelle Harper Lee (born April 28, 1926) is an American author best known for her 1960 Pulitzer Prize winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which deals with the issues of racism that were observed by the author as a child in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama. Despite being Lee's only published book, it led to Lee being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom of the United States for her contribution to literature in 2007. Lee has also been the recipient of numerous honorary degrees, but has always declined to make a speech.

Other significant contributions of Lee include assisting her close friend, Truman Capote, in his research for the book In Cold Blood.

Matt: CORRECT
Record: 324-281

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

QUESTION: Literature

What author based her only novel on her father, a lawyer named Amasa?

ANSWER: Sports

Butterfly

Individual medley consists of four strokes. Usually each stroke has an equal part of the overall distance, i.e. 1/4 of the overall distance is swum in one stroke. The strokes are swum in this order:

1.Butterfly
2.Backstroke
3.Breaststroke
4.Freestyle, with the limitation that freestyle does not include backstroke, breaststroke, or the butterfly. Most swimmers use the front crawl.

Matt: WRONG
Record: 323-281

Monday, February 7, 2011

QUESTION: Sports

Which stroke is swum first in the "medley" swimming event?


ANSWER: Product Manufacturers

Swiss Army Knives

Victorinox, managed to corner the market until 1893, when the second industrial cutler of Switzerland, Paul Boéchat & Cie, headquartered in Delémont in the French-speaking region of Jura, started selling a similar product. This company was later acquired by its then General Manager, Theodore Wenger, and renamed the Wenger Company. In 1908 the Swiss government, wanting to prevent an issue over regional favouritism, but perhaps wanting a bit of competition in hopes of lowering prices, split the contract with Victorinox and Wenger, each getting half of the orders placed. By mutual agreement, Wenger advertises as the Genuine Swiss Army Knife and Victorinox uses the slogan the Original Swiss Army Knife.

On April 26, 2005 Victorinox acquired Wenger, becoming once again the sole supplier of knives to the Swiss Army. Victorinox has stated that it intends to keep both consumer brands intact.

Matt: CORRECT
Record: 323-280

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Product Manufacturers

What must be manufactured by Victorinox or Wenger to be official?

ANSWER: Miscellaneous

Tobacco

Following a resolution of the 87th session of the National Assembly on 17 December 2004, a national ban on the sale of tobacco and tobacco products went into effect, but importing limited tobacco would still be permitted with very heavy taxes. Smoking in all public places in Bhutan became illegal on 22 February 2005. It thus became the first nation in the world to outlaw this practice outright. However, there is little enforcement. Cigarettes are widely smuggled, and bars in the Bhutanese capital Thimphu are usually smoky.

The National Council decided on 10 July 2009 to lift the ban on the sale of tobacco and tobacco products while discussing the tobacco control bill.

Matt: --
Record: 322-280

Thursday, February 3, 2011

QUESTION: Miscellaneous

In 2005, Bhutan became the first city to entirely ban what?

ANSWER: Sporting Goods

Chuck Taylor

The Converse All-Star shoe, one of the first especially designed for when playing basketball, was introduced in the 1910s. Taylor started wearing them in 1917 as a high school basketball player. A.G. Spalding had already been making a basketball-model shoe for nearly two decades.) In 1921, Taylor went to the Converse Shoes Chicago sales offices in search of a job, where S.R. "Bob" Pletz, an avid sportsman, then hired him.

Within a year, Taylor's suggestions of changing the design of the shoe to provide enhanced flexibility and support, and also including patch to protect the ankle, were adopted. The All-Star star logo was then immediately included on the patch. By 1923 Chuck Taylor's name was added to the patch, and the shoe became the Chuck Taylor All-Stars.

Matt: WRONG
Record: 322-280

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

QUESTION: Sporting Goods

What Converse salesman is the only person in both the Basketball Hall of Fame and Sporting Goods Hall of Fame?

ANSWER: Music

Let it Be

"Let It Be" is a song by The Beatles, released in March 1970 as a single, and (in an alternative mix) as the title track of their album Let It Be. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon/McCartney. It was the final single released by The Beatles before McCartney announced his departure from the band. Both the Let It Be album and the US single "The Long and Winding Road" were released after McCartney's announced departure from and subsequent break-up of the group.

"Let It Be" holds the number-one spot on "The Fans' Top 10" poll included in The 100 Best Beatles Songs: An Informed Fan's Guide by Stephen J. Spignesi and Michael Lewis. The song is number three in the 100 Best Beatles Songs list, only behind "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "A Day In The Life", which is number one.

Matt: WRONG
Record: 322-279

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

QUESTION: Music

What Beatles hit repeats the title in the lyrics 41 times?

ANSWER: Metals

Tin

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other elements such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminum, or silicon. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal. However, since "bronze" is a somewhat imprecise term, and historical pieces have variable compositions, in particular with an unclear boundary with brass, modern museum and scholarly descriptions of older objects increasingly use the more cautious term "copper alloy" instead.

Matt: WRONG
Record: 322-278