Totally Random Trivia: 2022

3. Flanders

Took me a minute and the poem is what I remembered...not Ned.

A little side note to this question. From my short time working part time for Pepsi it should be noted that while Coke is the world's best selling pop in the nation and worldwide...Pepsi and Mountain Dew are #1 and #2 in the upper midwest by a mile.

5. Mexico

Which just goes to prove anyone can be wrong.

Mt. Dew is my favorite but I don't drink it regularly for whatever reason. I'm sure the sugar content isn't much different but it just feels too "sweet' to me.

And while I prefer Coke to Pepsi by a country mile, Diet Pepsi is for me far better than any Diet/Zero or whatever Coke has to offer.

I'll agree with that to a point. The taste of aspartame doesn't jive well with Coke. But when I go into the caffeine free arena, I start to like diet/zero Coke more than the equivalent Pepsi products again.

When I worked at Coke about 20 years ago at that time the Twin Cities had the largest market share in the nation for Mountain Dew. Not sure if it’s still true but wouldn’t surprise me if it was.

For whatever reason that I remember this but one Thanksgiving weekend that I can recall when I worked at Pepsi we put out over 400 cases of Mountain Dew between Friday and Sunday morning at Walmart. By comparison I talked with the Coke vendor and they put out just short of that between Coke, Diet Coke, and Sprite. That is just one store in Mankato, there are still two HyVee stores and two Cub Foods stores.

Mountain Dew rules, but in general, I have given up pop.

And Coke over Pepsi like MN over Wisconsin. It's that much of a gap for me.

Answers to Wednesday, March 16, 2022

1. What one-word state motto comes from the Ancient Greek for "I have found it"?

Eureka (California’s state motto)

2. Hydrated iron oxide is better known by what four-letter name?

Rust

3. The southern half of Belgium speaks French and is known as Wallonia. “Simpsons” fans might know that the northern half speaks Dutch and is known as… what?

Flanders

4. The top three best-selling sodas of 2018 were Coke, Pepsi, and Diet Coke. What impossible-to-categorize beverage was number four—making it the country’s best-selling non-cola?

Dr Pepper

5. Which country gained independence from its European colonizer first: Canada or Mexico?

Mexico

(1821 vs 1867 — Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821 and again from France in 1867, but they still beat Canada by two weeks on their second independence)

Questions for

Theme Thursday, March 17, 2022

Other Saints: It’s Saint Patrick’s Day, but here are five questions about other saints!

Answers in tomorrow’s email.

1. Worldwide, what is the largest city (by population) that is named after a saint?

2. How about just in the U.S. – what is the most populous city in the United States named after a saint?

3. Pope Francis chose his papal name to honor Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. How many other popes have taken on the papal name Francis?

4. Singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie is the only Native American person to win an Oscar, which she did for co-writing what song, performed by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, from the film “An Officer and A Gentleman”?

5. Residents of Basseterre might know that what name is a nickname for Christopher, and not just the fancy cars from “Knight Rider”?

1) Sao Paulo ??

3) Zero, he’s the first.

4. Up where we belong

2. San Francisco?

5. Kitt

2. St Louis?

2. I'll guess San Antonio

4: Up where we belong

For 1 the only other one that came to mind was Saint Petersburg. But I would think São Paulo has a higher population.

1. is Sao Paulo by a lot. Sao Paulo is fourth largest in the world, next closest is Santiago, Chile at 55(St. Petersburg is 74th, about four times smaller than Sao Paulo).

2. is very close. San Antonio edges out San Diego by about 47K people, although the gap more than doubled since the 2010 census. San Jose is not far behind either.

That's for city proper. If you want to include metro areas, San Francisco is the biggest in the US, followed by Riverside-San Bernardino, Minneapolis-St. Paul, San Diego-Chula Vista, and Tampa-St. Petersburg

Answers to Thursday, March 17, 2022

1. Worldwide, what is the largest city (by population) that is named after a saint?

São Paulo

2. How about just in the U.S. – what is the most populous city in the United States named after a saint?

San Antonio

3. Pope Francis chose his papal name to honor Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. How many other popes have taken on the papal name Francis?

0

(That’s why he is called Pope Francis, not Pope Francis I, II, III, etc.)

4. Singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie is the only Native American person to win an Oscar, which she did for co-writing what song, performed by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, from the film “An Officer and A Gentleman”?

“Up Where We Belong”

5. Residents of Basseterre might know that what name is a nickname for Christopher, and not just the fancy cars from “Knight Rider”?

Kitt

(St. Kitts and Nevis, or more formally The Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis)

Questions for

Friday, March 18, 2022

Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in Monday’s email.

1. Quit While You’re Ahead: Setting aside Aurora’s alternate name Briar Rose, three of the official 14 Disney Princesses have names that derive from plants, in English or another language. Name as many of them as you can for one point each. Zero total if you get any wrong.

2. In 1899, a congressman named Willard Vandiver delivered a famous speech in which he said, “Frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I’m from Missouri, and you have got to BLANK.” Fill in that blank.

3. Dry ice is the solid form of what gas?

4. Before getting a sci-fi reboot in 1959, what superhero was originally written as a railroad engineer empowered by a magic lamp whose effects were useless against wooden objects?

5. Today is March 18. A politician named F.W. de Klerk was born on this day in 1936. In 1993, he jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize alongside what man?

1. Jasmine is the only one I've got

3. Carbon dioxide

5. Mandela

4. Green Lantern

2. "Show me."

Mulan and Rapunzel are the other two.

I think one is Tiana, that’s a type of vanilla orchid.

Maybe Rapunzel isn't "official" then. Or Mulan isn't actually a princess. Either way, zero points for me!

Rapunzel and Milan are both official princesses

There’s definitely a Rapunzel plant, it’s a vine. And yes, she was a princess. And of course Jasmine.

Tiana is just a Slavic term for "princess" (short for "Tatiana", a saint from Roman times). They had to call an audible after their original choice of "Madeline/Maddy" was considered to be too much of a slave name. Can't find any relation to plants.

I mixed up my spelling. Tiare is the vanilla scented orchid.

Damn, I was off by two letters.

Answers to Friday, March 18, 2022

1. Quit While You’re Ahead: Setting aside Aurora’s alternate name Briar Rose, three of the official 14 Disney Princesses have names that derive from plants, in English or another language. Name as many of them as you can for one point each. Zero total if you get any wrong.

Jasmine, Rapunzel, Mulan (“magnolia” in Chinese)

2. In 1899, a congressman named Willard Vandiver delivered a famous speech in which he said, “Frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I’m from Missouri, and you have got to BLANK.” Fill in that blank.

“Show me”

(that’s why Missouri is called the “Show Me State”)

3. Dry ice is the solid form of what gas?

Carbon dioxide

4. Before getting a sci-fi reboot in 1959, what superhero was originally written as a railroad engineer empowered by a magic lamp whose effects were useless against wooden objects?

Green Lantern

5. Today is March 18. A politician named F.W. de Klerk was born on this day in 1936. In 1993, he jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize alongside what man?

Nelson Mandela

Questions for

Monday, March 21, 2022

Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow’s email.

1. What profession translates literally from Spanish to English as “killer”?

2. The most-visited tourist attraction in the United States is in New York City. It once prompted the British writer G.K. Chesterton to quip, “How beautiful it would be for someone who could not read.” What is it?

3. Steph Curry’s dad was also an NBA player. What is Steph’s dad’s first name?

4. Albuquerque named its minor league baseball team after a team on “The Simpsons.” What are they called?

5. What southern U.S. state capital is named for the ancestor of a 20th-century poet, author of "Song of the Open Road" and famed for his clever, meter-breaking rhymes?

1. Matador

4. I don't know this for sure but my guess is Isotopes

2. Times Square?

3. Del

2. Statue of Liberty?

5) Austin (?)

5. Nashville

Nash Bridges was Whitman's ancestor?!

I'll show myself out.

Answers to Monday, March 21, 2022

1. What profession translates literally from Spanish to English as “killer”?

Matador

2. The most-visited tourist attraction in the United States is in New York City. It once prompted the British writer G.K. Chesterton to quip, “How beautiful it would be for someone who could not read.” What is it?

Times Square

3. Steph Curry’s dad was also an NBA player. What is Steph’s dad’s first name?

Dell

(or Wardell)

4. Albuquerque named its minor league baseball team after a team on “The Simpsons.” What are they called?

The Isotopes

5. What southern U.S. state capital is named for the ancestor of a 20th-century poet, author of "Song of the Open Road" and famed for his clever, meter-breaking rhymes?

Nashville

(the poet is Ogden Nash)

Questions for

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Five questions to wake up your noodle. Answers in tomorrow’s email.

1. There are two landlocked countries in South America. Name either one.

2. What urban legend was first mentioned in print in a 1995 Fort Wayne Journal Gazette article about “synchronicity,” and has since been dismissed by British audio engineer Alan Parsons as, quote, “a complete load of eyewash”?

3. The 1956 movie “High Society” was set in Newport, Rhode Island. It was a musical remake of what 1940 Katharine Hepburn movie—set 275 miles to the southwest?

4. What confectionery product is manufactured by a company called Just Born, and adopted the marketing slogan “Always in season” when it expanded its previously annual offerings?

5. Two countries claim to have invented the French fry. One is France. What is the other?

1) Paraguay & Bolivia

5. Belgium?

4) Peeps ??

4. Peeps

Edit: and GE snuck in a second post while I was typing

3. The Philadelphia Story

2. "Dark Side of the Rainbow" - That Dark Side of the Moon purposefully syncs up with The Wizard of Oz.

2. I'm guessing Dark Side being synced with The Wizard Of Oz