Totally Random Trivia: 2022

2. Thermodynamics

3. Ben Franklin

2. Thermodynamics

3. Benjamin Franklin?

1. Shirley Chisholm?

Answers to Monday, March 25, 2024

1. Regina King stars in a Netflix biopic about the first Black woman to be elected to the United States Congress. Name her!

Shirley Chisholm  

2. What branch of physics deals with the relationship between heat and other forms of energy, and gets its name from the Greek for “heat” and “power”?

Thermodynamics

3. “A Letter to a Royal Academy about Farting” is the title of an essay written in 1781 while its author was living abroad as the U.S. ambassador to France. Name that author.

Benjamin Franklin

4. The 1998 spin-off album “Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You” features actor Joe Pesci performing as his character from what 1992 movie?

“My Cousin Vinny”

5. The pericardium is a sac in your body that contains what organ?

Heart

Questions for
Tuesday, March 26, 2024

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

1. When psychologist Timothy Leary started his experiments with psychedelic drugs in the early 1960s, one of the first intellectuals to join the tests was a beat poet famous for his poem “Howl.” Name him!

2. François Duvalier, aka “Papa Doc,” was president of what Caribbean nation from 1957 until his death in 1971?

3. What nine-letter word — which most likely means “the place where we gather wood for bows” in Munsee — is the name of an island on the East Coast, a city in Kansas, and a beach in California?

4. The baroque German composition “Canon and Gigue for Three Violins and Basso Continuo” was written sometime around 1690 by what composer, whose first name was Johann?

5. Which of the 12 Olympians was born out of Zeus’ skull, wearing full battle armor?

2. Haiti

5 Athena 

1. Alan Ginsberg?

3. Manhattan

4. Pachelbel

Answers to Tuesday, March 26, 2024

1. When psychologist Timothy Leary started his experiments with psychedelic drugs in the early 1960s, one of the first intellectuals to join the tests was a beat poet famous for his poem “Howl.” Name him!

Allen Ginsberg

2. François Duvalier, aka “Papa Doc,” was president of what Caribbean nation from 1957 until his death in 1971?

Haiti

3. What nine-letter word — which most likely means “the place where we gather wood for bows” in Munsee — is the name of an island on the East Coast, a city in Kansas, and a beach in California?

Manhattan

4. The baroque German composition “Canon and Gigue for Three Violins and Basso Continuo” was written sometime around 1690 by what composer, whose first name was Johann?

Pachelbel
(that’s the full original name of Pachelbel’s “Canon in D”)

5. Which of the 12 Olympians was born out of Zeus’ skull, wearing full battle armor?

Athena

Questions for
Wednesday, March 27, 2024

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

1. What term for any basic food item found in a fridge or a pantry also doubles for something that keeps your papers together?

2. Two of the 25 best-selling albums of all time, according to the RIAA, are movie soundtracks. One was released in 1977, the other in 1992. Name one.

3. Google’s first acquisition was an archive of a networked distribution system that predated the World Wide Web by a decade. They turned it into Google Groups. What was the original service called?

4. In 1898, an American pharmacist named Caleb Bradham renamed a digestive aid he had invented five years earlier. He had been calling it “Brad’s Drink.” What new name did he give it?

5. In what 2024 remake of a 1989 film does Jake Gyllenhaal play Dalton, a former Ultimate Fighting Championship star who's fallen on tough times in Florida?

1.  Staple

2.  Saturday Night Fever & (guess) Dirty Dancing - wrong. 

EDIT - I forgot (blocked?) the movie for the '92 soundtrack, was not a fan.

1. Staple

5. Roadhouse

3 Usenet

2.  I think The Bodyguard is the other one.

Posted by: @zwak

↑

2.  I think The Bodyguard is the other one.

Yep.

Dreadful movie.  

I think #4 is Pepsi

Answers to Wednesday, March 27, 2024

1. What term for any basic food item found in a fridge or a pantry also doubles for something that keeps your papers together?

Staple

2. Two of the 25 best-selling albums of all time, according to the RIAA, are movie soundtracks. One was released in 1977, the other in 1992. Name one.

“Saturday Night Fever,” “The Bodyguard”

3. Google’s first acquisition was an archive of a networked distribution system that predated the World Wide Web by a decade. They turned it into Google Groups. What was the original service called?

Usenet

4. In 1898, an American pharmacist named Caleb Bradham renamed a digestive aid he had invented five years earlier. He had been calling it “Brad’s Drink.” What new name did he give it?

Pepsi

5. In what 2024 remake of a 1989 film does Jake Gyllenhaal play Dalton, a former Ultimate Fighting Championship star who's fallen on tough times in Florida?

“Road House”

Questions for
Theme Thursday, March 28, 2024

Resurrected: Five TV shows that came back after a long hiatus.

Answers in tomorrow’s email. 

1. After seven years off the air, “Arrested Development” came back with a fourth season in 2013 on Netflix. On what network did the show originally appear?

2. What cult drama, which returned for a third season in 2017, was the subject of a 75-issue fanzine published from 1993 to 2005 titled “Wrapped in Plastic”?

3. The cast of “Fuller House” was noticeably missing Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. The twins haven’t acted together since what 2004 movie, about the hustle-and-bustle of Manhattan?

4. What UPN series was revived in 2014 with a movie that was, at the time, the most successful Kickstarter-funded project in that website’s history?

5. “Gilmore Girls” returned on Netflix 10 years after it was canceled. The show is set in the fictional town of Stars Hollow, located in what New England state?

1 - FOX ?

3. New York Minute

5. Connecticut 

2. Twin Peaks. 

This one was bugging me, given the timeline of the fanzine...finally figured it out. 

4) Of course you GUYS don’t know this one…Veronica Mars 😉

Answers to Thursday, March 28, 2024

Resurrected: Five TV shows that came back after a long hiatus.

1. After seven years off the air, “Arrested Development” came back with a fourth season in 2013 on Netflix. On what network did the show originally appear?

Fox

2. What cult drama, which returned for a third season in 2017, was the subject of a 75-issue fanzine published from 1993 to 2005 titled “Wrapped in Plastic”?

“Twin Peaks”

3. The cast of “Fuller House” was noticeably missing Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. The twins haven’t acted together since what 2004 movie, about the hustle-and-bustle of Manhattan?

“New York Minute”

4. What UPN series was revived in 2014 with a movie that was, at the time, the most successful Kickstarter-funded project in that website’s history?

“Veronica Mars”

5. “Gilmore Girls” returned on Netflix 10 years after it was canceled. The show is set in the fictional town of Stars Hollow, located in what New England state?

Connecticut

Questions for
Friday, March 29, 2024

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

1. Quit While You’re Ahead: The first six digits of pi are 3.14159. Name as many of the next six digits of pi (in order!) as you can for one point each. Zero points total if you get any incorrect.

2. What former governor of Illinois, reality show contestant, and front man of the Elvis-inspired prison band “the Jailhouse Rockers” returned to his Chicago home from prison in early 2020?

3. If your name is Aaron, chances are people started calling you “A-A-ron” back in 2012, all thanks to what TV sketch series?

4. The last two letters of a capital city's name are also the U.S. postal abbreviation for the state of which it is the capital. What is that postal abbreviation?

5. Today is March 29. On this day in 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage for turning over U.S. military secrets to whom?

2. Rod Blagojevich

5. The Soviet Union

4.  AlbaNY 

1:  26535. (I think it's 8 or 9 next)

3) Key and Peele

Answers to Friday, March 29, 2024

1. Quit While You’re Ahead: The first six digits of pi are 3.14159. Name as many of the next six digits of pi (in order!) as you can for one point each. Zero points total if you get any incorrect.

265358

2. What former governor of Illinois, reality show contestant, and front man of the Elvis-inspired prison band “the Jailhouse Rockers” returned to his Chicago home from prison in early 2020?

Rod Blagojevich

3. If your name is Aaron, chances are people started calling you “A-A-ron” back in 2012, all thanks to what TV sketch series?

“Key & Peele”

4. The last two letters of a capital city's name are also the U.S. postal abbreviation for the state of which it is the capital. What is that postal abbreviation?

NY
(Albany)

5. Today is March 29. On this day in 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage for turning over U.S. military secrets to whom?

Soviet Union

Questions for
Monday, April 1, 2024

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

1. In 1971, “Masterpiece Theatre” debuted on PBS. Cookie Monster hosts a parody of this show on “Sesame Street.” What is the parody titled?

2. What baked good is traditionally served on Good Friday in England, and costs either a penny or a halfpenny, depending on where you are in the song?

3. “May I please remind you that it does not say ‘RSVP’ on the Statue of Liberty.” That’s the closing line of a pro-immigration argument from a high school debate in what 1995 movie?

4. The first fossils of Homo erectus were discovered on the island of Java, in what present-day country?

5. The album “Polka Party” earned what parody artist a Grammy nomination in 1988?

2. Hot Cross Buns?

5. Weird Al Yankovic

4 Indonesia 

1.  Monsterpiece Theater 

3. Clueless. 

Answers to Monday, April 1, 2024

1. In 1971, “Masterpiece Theatre” debuted on PBS. Cookie Monster hosts a parody of this show on “Sesame Street.” What is the parody titled?

“Monsterpiece Theatre”

2. What baked good is traditionally served on Good Friday in England, and costs either a penny or a halfpenny, depending on where you are in the song?

Hot cross buns
(“one-a-penny, two-a-penny”)

3. “May I please remind you that it does not say ‘RSVP’ on the Statue of Liberty.” That’s the closing line of a pro-immigration argument from a high school debate in what 1995 movie?

“Clueless”

4. The first fossils of Homo erectus were discovered on the island of Java, in what present-day country?

Indonesia

5. The album “Polka Party” earned what parody artist a Grammy nomination in 1988?

“Weird Al” Yankovic

Questions for
Tuesday, April 2, 2024

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

1. “What we've got here is failure to communicate” is a quote from a movie that made the American Film Institute’s list of 100 Greatest Film Quotes. From what Paul Newman movie did this quote originate?

2. In 1947, the Chicago Times described what performer as making like “Chopin one minute” and “Chico Marx the next”?

3. What Indian-inspired dish’s name roughly translates to “bits of chicken in a spicy sauce,” and is so popular in the U.K. that the country’s foreign secretary claimed it is the nation’s “true national dish” in 2001?

4. What Canadian actor got his first “Best Actor” Oscar nomination for the 2006 film “Half Nelson,” and got his most recent “Best Supporting Actor” nomination in 2024?

5. What religion contains a concept known as the “Four Noble Truths”?

1.  Cool Hand Luke

5.  Buddhism  

3 Tikka Masala

2) Liberace
4) Ryan Gosling

Answers to Tuesday, April 2, 2024

1. “What we've got here is failure to communicate” is a quote from a movie that made the American Film Institute’s list of 100 Greatest Film Quotes. From what Paul Newman movie did this quote originate?

“Cool Hand Luke”

2. In 1947, the Chicago Times described what performer as making like “Chopin one minute” and “Chico Marx the next”?

Liberace

3. What Indian-inspired dish’s name roughly translates to “bits of chicken in a spicy sauce,” and is so popular in the U.K. that the country’s foreign secretary claimed it is the nation’s “true national dish” in 2001?

Chicken Tikka Masala

4. What Canadian actor got his first “Best Actor” Oscar nomination for the 2006 film “Half Nelson,” and got his most recent “Best Supporting Actor” nomination in 2024?

Ryan Gosling

5. What religion contains a concept known as the “Four Noble Truths”?

Buddhism

Questions for
Wednesday, April 3, 2024

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

1. A Belgian chemist named Leo Hendrik Baekeland invented the world's first fully synthetic plastic. What did he call it?

2. In 1989, Tom Brokaw told NBC News viewers, “We're embarking on a campaign of public service messages designed to make you familiar with the deepening crisis in our public school system.” This was the first in a series of Peabody Award-winning PSAs known by what four-word name?

3. North America isn’t the only continent with a group of lakes known as the “Great Lakes.” What other continent has Great Lakes, which include three of the world’s top ten largest freshwater lakes (by area)?

4. Ringo Starr, George Carlin, and Alec Baldwin have all narrated versions of what British TV show, based on a series of children’s books by Rev. Wilbert Awdry?

5. In April of 2019, a one minute, 53 second song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the shortest No. 1 song in more than 50 years. Name that song!

1. Baekelite

2. The More You Know.

3. Africa

4. Thomas & Friends

5) Lil Naz X with Old Town Road

Answers to Wednesday, April 3, 2024

1. A Belgian chemist named Leo Hendrik Baekeland invented the world's first fully synthetic plastic. What did he call it?

Bakelite

2. In 1989, Tom Brokaw told NBC News viewers, “We're embarking on a campaign of public service messages designed to make you familiar with the deepening crisis in our public school system.” This was the first in a series of Peabody Award-winning PSAs known by what four-word name?

“The More You Know”

3. North America isn’t the only continent with a group of lakes known as the “Great Lakes.” What other continent has Great Lakes, which include three of the world’s top ten largest freshwater lakes (by area)?

Africa
(Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika, and Lake Malawi)

4. Ringo Starr, George Carlin, and Alec Baldwin have all narrated versions of what British TV show, based on a series of children’s books by Rev. Wilbert Awdry?

“Thomas and Friends” (or “Thomas the Tank Engine”)

5. In April of 2019, a one minute, 53 second song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the shortest No. 1 song in more than 50 years. Name that song!

“Old Town Road”
(by Lil Nas X)

Questions for
Theme Thursday, April 4, 2024

For Your Health: It's Public Health Week, and we appreciate our public health workers more than ever! Here are some questions about important people in the public health profession.

Answers in tomorrow’s email. 

1. The English doctor who is sometimes called “the founder of modern epidemiology” was a pioneer in anesthesia and cholera prevention, but nowadays his name is more likely to bring to mind someone who knows nothing. Name him!

2. Before Dr. Lee Jong-wook served as director-general of the World Health Organization, he was part of a South Pacific task force combating what bacterial infection, also known as Hansen's disease?

3. In 2003, epidemiologist Dr. Mirta Roses Periago became the first woman to lead the PAHO, a regional office of the World Health Organization. What does the "PA" stand for in "PAHO"?

4. Dr. Sara Josephine Baker pioneered techniques that greatly decreased infant mortality in the U.S. while working in what infamous neighborhood on Manhattan's west side?

5. In 2014, former World Health Organization director Dr. Margaret Chan was ranked as one of the world's 30 most powerful women by what American business magazine, which formerly referred to itself as "The Capitalist Tool"?

2: Leprosy