Jan 18, 2015

by Arun K. Simha

SF BAY QUIZ

1. NEWS

An obituary in the Albuquerque Journal, Oct 3, 2013 stated that the person had

died after a long battle with lung cancer and a gunshot wound. It also stated that,

“in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to a drug abuse prevention charity of

your choice. “

Whose obituary?

ANSWER

2. PEOPLE

“In 1951, he visited the anechoic chamber at Harvard University. He wrote

later, "I heard two sounds, one high and one low. When I described them to

the engineer in charge, he informed me that the high one was my nervous

system in operation, the low one my blood in circulation.”

What happened as a result?

ANSWER

John Cage had gone to a place where he expected total silence, and yet heard

sound. "Until I die there will be sounds. And they will continue following my

death. One need not fear about the future of music.” The realization as he saw it

of the impossibility of silence led to the composition of 4′33″ .

3. TECHNOLOGY

Which well known

technological feature

described by this image

in a patent won an

Emmy in 1998?

ANSWER

Title: Method and apparatus for adding a graphic indication of a first down to a

live video of a football game

See http://www.todaysengineer.org/2010/Jun/history.asp

4. HISTORY

In 1906, Lizzie Magie, an artist, writer, feminist and inventor received a patent

for a game. “In a short time, I hope a very short time, men and women will

discover that they are poor because Carnegie and Rockefeller, maybe, have

more than they know what to do with.” Parker Brothers bought it later.

Which game?

ANSWER

Her Landlord’s Game was later sold to the Parker Brothers who called a revised

version ‘Monopoly’.

5. BAY AREA

Last year, Reddit’s CEO resigned over a dispute with his colleagues. He

wanted to move its HQ from San Francisco to this city, but they refused. The

cookie cutter homes in that city inspired Malvina Reynolds to compose this

song which was made popular by Peter Seeger.

Which Bay Area city?

ANSWER

Daly City

6. BUSINESS

Ingram Berg Shavitz and partner Roxanne Quimby began this business by

selling candles and honey. Some years later, Quimby broke up with Shavitz,

gave him $130,000 for his house and moved the company over to Durham,

N.C. She sold 80% of the company in 2004 to investors for $173m. Three

years later, Clorox bought the company from them for $925m. Quimby made

more than $300m from the deal, of which she gave Shavitz $4m.

Which company?

ANSWER

7. CULTURE

She was born Betty Joan Perske in 1924 of

Jewish parents. She died in 2014. Besides

being a legend in her own right, she coined

the term for her husband’s ‘gang’ which this

group later adopted.

By what name do we know her better?

ANSWER

Lauren Bacall.

The ‘den

mother’ of the

original rat pack.

8. BAY AREA

Following a request by Sri Chinmoy, Urmila started a vegetarian restaurant in

San Francisco in 1973 along with her sister Kitsuan and her husband

Devadip. Even though her (now ex) husband owns many restaurants in the

Bay Area, he is more famous in another field.

Which one?

ANSWER

9. HISTORY

What major change took place as a result of this incident?

ANSWER

Ended the system of trial by jury in India

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._M._Nanavati_v._State_of_Maharashtra

10. CULTURE

Donald William Sinclair was the co–

proprietor of this place in Torquay. In

the early 1970s, a group stayed here

for three weeks. Due to Sinclair's

rudeness towards them, which included

criticizing one member's table etiquette

and tossing another's briefcase out of a

window "in case it contained a bomb",

all except two of the group left. What

happened as a result?

ANSWER

The group included cast members of ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’. John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth stayed. This led directly to the creation of ‘Fawlty Towers’.

11. ART

What does this painting by Albert Bettanier depict?

ANSWER

‘The Black Stain’ depicts the

loss of Alscae-Lorraine to

Germany after the war of

1870. Nationalistic furor was

responsible for the

annexation by France in

1918.

12. CULTURE

What did you think of the literary scene in Calcutta?

We poets—Sunil Ganguly, Shakti Chatterjee, and others—met a lot in the coffee houses. Peter

and I were excited by the idea of there being a whole gang of poets like there were in New York

and San Francisco, who were friends, and that we could communicate across the Pacific Ocean,

and that East could meet West, and that they knew our work, and that we could interpret it more

and show them poets like Gregory Corso and others they might not have heard of.. Who?

ANSWER

Allen Ginsberg

See PDF here

http://ariel.ucalgary.ca/ariel/index.php/ariel/article/download/2688/2635

I highly encourage you to listen to the BBC report on the Kolkata Beat Poets

(Jan 2015)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04ws24p

13. CULTURE

Robert Brown the executive director of the Center for World Music in Berkeley

compiled a world music collection for which he asked Ann Druyan to search

for Kesarbai Kerkar’s rendition of 'Jaat Kahaan Ho'. Unable to find it since it

was an old record that was out of print, Druyan asked Brown to ask for an

alternative. Brown refused stating, "There’s nothing close." She managed to

find it in an Indian restaurant in NY and it is now included in this collection.

Which collection?

ANSWER

Voyager’s Golden Collection.

See http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/goldenrec_more.html

14. MUSICWhat do these distinctive album covers have in common?

ANSWER

All were painted by Andy Warhol.

15. SCIENCE

This "is the apparent contradiction between high estimates of the probability

of the existence of extraterrestrial civilization and humanity's lack of contact

with, or evidence for, such civilizations."

What is the well known term for this contradiction that arose as a result of a

conversation between a bunch of scientists at Los Alamos?

ANSWER

The Fermi Paradox.

See hhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox

16. HISTORY

What did this event in 1969

lead to?

Translation: Tragic Ball in

Colombey, 1 dead.

ANSWER

Ans. The creation of Charlie Hebdo.

On November 1, 1970, a tragic, disastrous fire at the 5-7 nightclub in Saint-Laurent-du-Pont caused the deaths of 146 people, and shocked the entire nation. Charles De Gaulle died in the same month. The satire magazine Hara Kiri ran this headline which was considered a joke “too soon” leading to a ban of its sale to minors. A week later, Hara Kiri was shut down and Charlie Hebdo was born. The name was a reference to Charles De Gaulle and Charlie Brown.

17. ETYMOLOGY

Created as a name for this character

in 1924, the term came into general

usage in American English indicate

someone of an unusually meek, bland,

soft or submissive nature, who is

easily overlooked, written off, and who

may also appear overly sensitive,

timid, indecisive or cowardly.

What?

ANSWER

Milquetoast from Milk-Toast

18. MUSIC

This is a rhythmical sound consisting of three beats played (usually

repetitively) by a band or orchestra, esp. one accompanying a waltz or polka.

Also, the name of a successful comic series from 1958.

What?

(Music - Blue Danube/Strauss – Herbert Von Karajan/Vienna)

ANSWER

oom-pah-pah

Oumpah-Pah le Peau-Rouge”

(“Oumpah-Pah the Redskin”) –

Rene’ Goscinny and Albert Uderzo.

Source:

OED and Encyclopedia Britannica

19. LITERATURE

“The book addresses themes of

sexual orientation, gender roles,

suicide, dysfunctional family life,

and the role of literature in

understanding oneself and one's

family.”

The author won a MacArthur

genius award in 2014.

Name of author and title of the

graphic novel?

ANSWER

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel.

20. POLITICSHe is a Maltese-American. One of the greatest cartoonists/journalists of our

generation, he has written spectacular works set in Palestine, Serbia/Bosnia,

France and India.

He always draws himself in his novels, but sans his eyes.

Who?

ANSWERJoe Sacco. This is the famous novel/mural of the Great War released last year. Below

that is a panel from ‘Kushinagar ’.

21. WORLD VIEW

An Israeli graphic novelist and writer,

her books ‘Exit Wounds’ and ‘The

Property’ were very popular. The NY

Times has compared her work to

Herge’s Tintin. She has drawn many

cartoon stories for the NYT.

Who?

ANSWER

Rutu Modan

22. WAR

This Israeli animated film won the

Golden Globe for Best Foreign

Language film in 2009 and was also

nominated for the Oscar in that

category. A graphic novel version of

the film was released in 2014.

ANSWER

Waltz With Bashir

23. CULTURE

"I think probably the most important

thing about American Splendor, in all

its incarnations, is that there were very

few people in the earlier days of

comics prepared to put their work

where their mouth was. [He] believed

there was no limit to how good comics

could be. To chronicle his life from

these tiny wonderful moments of magic

and of heartbreak — and the most

important thing was that he did it."

—Neil Gaiman about whom?

ANSWER

Harvey Pekar

24. MUSIC

In which novel that was later made into a film will you find a critical moment

described by the whistling of this tune sung here by Marlene Dietrich?

ANSWER

Where Eagles Dare

25. CULTURE

Kristen Bell's nerdy clever Halloween costume from the film 'Fanboys' depicts

which seminal era ?

ANSWER

Picasso’s Blue Period

26. LITERATURE

All except one of this British writer’s works have been nominated for

awards. Four of them were for the Man Booker prize, which he eventually

won for a novel in 1999. That novel was made into a film and was nominated

for eight Academy awards, but won none.

He has also written/co-written several songs for an album by Stacey Kent

titled ‘Breakfast in the Morning Train’.

Who?

ANSWER

Kazuo Ishiguro.

See

http://www.independent.co.uk/ne

ws/people/profiles/how-we-met-

stacey-kent--kazuo-ishiguro-

8826373.html

27. SCULPTURE

“X (male nature spirits) are personifications of the natural world. Over time they were worshipped as minor gods in both the Buddhist and Hindu pantheons, often functioning as protectors of the earth’s riches, and they became associated with wealth. This potbellied dwarf once raised his arms to support a bowl on his head, which identifies him as a “carrier,” or bharavahaka X.”

What is X?

Period: Shunga period

Date: ca. 50 B.C.

Culture: India (Madhya Pradesh)

Medium: Sandstone

ANSWER

Yaksha

27. DRAMA

It is a classical character that

originated in the commedia dell'arte

of the 17th century and became a

stock character in Neapolitan

puppetry. The English variant is

shown below

Name the character?

ANSWER

Pulcinella, often called Punch or Punchinello in English & Polichinelle in French.

The English characters in the image are Punch and Judy.

28. FOOD

Part of an abstract in the New Yorker - The Talk of the Town DECEMBER 19, 1942 ISSUE.

“ABSTRACT: Talk. Forty-eight years ago Lemuel X came into the dining room of the old Waldorf for a late breakfast. He had a hangover & ordered buttered toast, crisp bacon, 2 poached eggs, & a hooker of hollandaise sauce, & then & there put together the dish that has, ever since, borne his name.”

Identify X.

ANSWER

Benedict. Eggs Benedict was the dish.

See http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1942/12/19/benedict-2

And

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/nyregion/thecity/08eggs.html?pagewanted=

all&_r=1&

29. GEOGRAPHY

Which country is named after Jesus Christ?

ANSWER

El Salvador (The Savior)

30. ..AND DRINK

It is an informal social and running club that began in 1938 in Malaysia when a group of expats and Brit officers met on Monday evenings to run. the club got its name from the nickname of the Selangor Club Annex that was infamous for its terrible food. The club is located in every major city of the world and describes itself as a "drinking club with a running problem". Its rules are;

* To promote physical fitness among our members

* To get rid of weekend hangovers

* To acquire a good thirst and to satisfy it in beer

* To persuade the older members that they are not as old as they feel.

Name the club.

ANSWER

Hash House Harriers

CULTURE

Um, drunk at a mates 21st, I tripped ofer [sic] and landed lip first (with front

teeth coming a very close second) on a set of steps. I had a hole about 1cm

long right through my bottom lip. And sorry about the focus, it was a _____.

Who?

ANSWER

Selfie. First mention of the term.

See http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/19/selfie-australian-slang-term-

named-international-word-of-the-year

ETYMOLOGY

The English word for this perhaps comes from the Sinhalese for i.e. he that

crushes the limbs of buffaloes and yoke beasts, or from the Tamil for ‘having

killed an elephant’ (OED)

What?

ANSWER

Anaconda.

Etymology: Occurs in Ray, in a List of Indian Serpents from the Leyden Museum, as ‘anacandaia of the Ceylonese, i.e. he that crushes the limbs of buffaloes and yoke beasts,’ but not now a local name in Sri Lanka, and not satisfactorily explained either in Sinhalese or Tamil. (Compare however Tamil āṇaik′k′onḍa ‘having killed an elephant,’ Col. Yule.)

A name (a) originally applied (by English writers) to a ‘very large and terrible snake’ of Sri Lanka (? Python reticulatus, or P. molurus Gray); but (b) made by Daudin (? through erroneous identification, or mistake as to the source of a specimen) the specific name of a large South American Boa ( Boa murina Linn., B. aquaticaNeuwied., B. anacondo Daud., Eunectes murinus Wagler, Gray), called in Brazil sucuriù, or sucuriuba, to which it is now attached in the British Museum Catalogue, and London Zoological Gardens. (c) loosely applied to any large snake which crushes its prey

GOVERNMENT

This list goes back many years and is quite long. Therefore, here are the most recent nominees.

2008 State of the Union: Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior2009 presidential inauguration: Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense2009 presidential address to joint session of Congress: Eric Holder, AG

2009 health care speech to Congress: Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy2010 State of the Union: Shaun Donovan, Secretary of HUD

2011 State of the Union: Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior2012 State of the Union: Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture2013 presidential inauguration: Eric Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs2013 State of the Union: Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy2014 State of the Union: Ernest Moniz, Secretary of Energy

Which list? (need a specific term)

ANSWER

Designated Survivor

“A designated survivor (or designated successor) is a member of the United

States Cabinet who is appointed to be at a physically distant, secure, and

undisclosed location when the President and the country's other top leaders

(e.g., Vice President and Cabinet members) are gathered at a single location,

such as during State of the Union addresses and presidential inaugurations.

This is intended to maintain continuity of government in the event of a

catastrophic occurrence which kills many officials in the presidential line of

succession. “

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Designated_survivor