Trivia Questions o’ the Day

The Questions…

1. Greenland is icy, and Iceland is green. Go figure. Why is Greenland called Greenland?

2. Discovery Channel’s now-canceled TV show Dirty Jobs, featuring the intrepid Mike Rowe, began in November 2003. What was the first dirty job featured on the show?

3. A question related to speed: how fast, in pecks per second, can the average woodpecker peck?

4. Another question related to speed: when a hummingbird hovers, how fast, in flaps per second, can it flap its wings?

5. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell placed the first telephone call: “Mr. Watson. Come here. I want to see you.” A century later, in 1973, who placed the first call on a cell phone?

The Answers…

1. Eric the Red founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland in 985 AD. Some sources say he chose the name Greenland in hopes that an appealing name would attract settlers. Another possibility: the coastal area where he settled is actually, like, green.

2. Mike’s first dirty job was to harvest bat guano from a cave for use as fertilizer.

3. Up to 20 pecks per second. In case you were wondering, air pockets in the bird’s head cushion and protect its brain.

4. Depending on the species, up to 80 flaps per second. Hummingbirds are pretty amazing. They can hover, fly backwards, and haul tail at speeds of up to 35 mph.

5. In 1973, Martin Cooper, chief of research at Motorola, used the world’s first portable wireless phone to call his rival, Joel Engel of AT&T’s Bell Laboratories, no doubt to gleefully rub it in.

 

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Bumper Stickers o’ the Day

 

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This Just In

WICHITA, KANSAS — A Wichita man reported to police that two armed men approached him on the street and demanded his phone and wallet — then apologized and let him go.

According to the police report, the victim and one of the robbers recognized each other as having served time together in prison. The robber then apologized, shook the victim’s hand, and walked away.

In a likely case of honor among thieves, the victim claimed he didn’t know the name of his former prison mate, and he didn’t think he could identify the robbers in a lineup.

ROETTINGEN, GERMANY — A bank robber who sent emails to the police taunting them about their inability to catch him was nabbed when officers traced the emails.

Authorities said the 19-year-old man sent several email messages to local police and newspapers to point out factual errors in reporting about the bank robbery. He mocked police for getting his age, height, and accent wrong and pointed out he escaped in a car, not on foot.

The emails came from a newly-created account: raeuber.von.roettingen@web.de (translation: Robber from Roettingen). Apparently, the robber didn’t know that email accounts are easily traceable. He was arrested in a Hamburg gambling hall.

“His game of cat and mouse went all wrong,” said a police spokesman. When officers arrested him, “he was completely shocked.”

RIVERTON, WYOMING — A local resident called police after arriving at his home, finding signs of forced entry, and noting that multiple items were missing, including a samurai sword.

When police arrived to investigate, they spotted a series of footprints in the snow, leading away from the victim’s house. Officers followed the tracks to a house one block away, where they found three men “digging through” a pile of miscellaneous items — including the samurai sword.

In addition to the stolen property, police found marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the home. The three men were arrested and face various robbery and drug charges.

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Trivia Questions o’ the Day

The Questions…

1. English has been the primary language of every U.S. president except one. Which president spoke English as a second language?

2. Great Britain is the home of seven rivers named River Avon. In addition, eight Avon Rivers are scattered around the globe. What does avon mean?

3. What deceased rock musician has an international airport named after him?

4. What was the name of the heroine in the novel Gone With the Wind before author Margaret Mitchell changed it to Scarlett at her editor’s insistence?

5. The grumpy and miserable Squidward Q. Tentacles in the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon series is an octopus, in spite of having the word squid in his name. In what way did the creators decide to portray Squidward’s anatomy incorrectly?

The Answers…

1. Martin Van Buren, who was president from 1837 until 1841. Although born in New York (the first president born a U.S. citizen), he grew up speaking Dutch.

2. Avon is derived from the Celtic word abona, which means river.

3. John Lennon. In 2002, the airport in Lennon’s hometown was officially renamed Liverpool John Lennon Airport. Imagine that.

4. Pansy.

5. Squidward has six tentacles instead of the usual eight. The animators tried eight, but the character looked too… leggy.

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Quotes o’ the Day

God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved the birds and invented cages.

– Jacques Deval

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What we think, or what we know, or what we believe, is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.

– John Ruskin

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Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.

– Oscar Wilde

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National defense is the sacred duty of the young and all other people.

– Kim Jong-il

Deval

 

Kim

 

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Bumper Stickers o’ the Day

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Trivia Questions o’ the Day

The Questions…

1. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in 1886. What symbolic item lies at Lady Liberty’s feet?

2. Gulliver’s Travels, the acclaimed satire on human nature by Jonathan Swift, has never been out of print since it was published in 1726. Gulliver’s Travels is a shortened form of the actual title. What is the full title?

3. What is the name of Judge Judy’s 148-foot yacht?

4. It’s a fact that the orbit of the Moon is slowly expanding, and the Moon is steadily moving away from the Earth. (It has to do with orbital speed, gravitational pull, tidal bulges, tidal friction, and stuff like that.) How far away from the Earth does the Moon recede each year?

5. What was Tim Burton’s 1996 film Mars Attacks! based upon?

The Answers…

1. A broken chain, representing freedom from oppression and bondage. The designer, French sculptor Frédéric Bartholdi, wanted the chain to be in Lady Liberty’s hand, but decided the symbolism would be too divisive so soon after the Civil War.

2. The full title is Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships.

3. Her Honor.

4. About 1.5 inches.

5. The movie was based on a series of Topps trading cards released in 1962. Drawn by Mad Magazine artist Wally Wood, the set of 55 trading cards told the story of an invasion of Earth by cruel, hideous Martians. Eventually, legal action over graphic violence, gore, and sexual content forced Topps to halt production of the cards… which, of course, are valuable collectors’ items today.

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Quotes o’ the Day

Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.

– Eric Hoffer

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You cannot live at all if you do not learn to adapt yourself to your life as it happens to be.

– Eleanor Roosevelt

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When we remember that we are all mad, the mysteries disappear, and life stands explained.

– Mark Twain

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The longing to assassinate wild animals is a barbarous and childish method of asserting the superiority of the human race, and considerably less civilized than dueling.

– Robert Littell

Hoffer

Littell

 

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Tune o’ the Day

Raspy-voiced rocker Bob Seger has been belting out rock anthems for 50 years — “Night Moves,” “Against the Wind,” “Like a Rock,” “Turn the Page,” “We’ve Got Tonight,” “Old Time Rock and Roll.” Seger also co-wrote The Eagles’ hit “Heartache Tonight.”

Another Seger tune, a bit less known than the above, is “Still the Same” from 1978. It always intrigued me because the lyrics are so vague. Is it about gambling? Lost love? Staying one step ahead of commitment?

A few weeks ago, I ran across a quote from Seger that, assuming it is genuine, explains the meaning.

“People have asked me for years who this is about,” Seger said. “It’s an amalgam of characters I met when I first went to Hollywood. All ‘Type A’ personalities, over-achieving, driven.”

That’s good to know. But I’ll always hear the story of a hard-hearted woman — still the same, moving game to game.

Bob Seger and Bruce Springstein, 1980.

Still the Same

By Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, 1978
Written by Bob Seger

You always won,
Every time you placed a bet.
You’re still damn good.
No one’s gotten to you yet.

Every time
They were sure they had you caught,
You were quicker than they thought.
You’d just turn your back and walk.

You always said
The cards would never do you wrong.
The trick, you said,
Was never play the game too long.

A gambler’s share –
The only risk that you would take.
The only loss you could forsake.
The only bluff you couldn’t fake.

And you’re still the same.
I caught up with you yesterday,
Moving game to game,
No one standing in your way.

Turning on the charm
Long enough to get you by.
You’re still the same.
You still aim high.

There you stood.
Everybody watched you play.
I just turned and walked away.
I had nothing left to say.

‘Cause you’re still the same.
You’re still the same.
Moving game to game.
Some things never change.
You’re still the same.

 

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This Just In

JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY — A Jersey City man faces multiple drug charges after showing up in court with marijuana in his possession.

Marquis Diggs, 29, went to Family Court with his mother, who was prepared to drop a restraining order against him.

When a routine check determined that a warrant for Diggs’ arrest had been issued by another court, he was taken into custody and searched. 32 bags of suspected marijuana were found in his jacket pockets.

Because of the location of the Hudson County Administration Building, Diggs faces an additional charge of possession of drugs within 1,000 feet of a school.

No word about the disposition of the restraining order.

WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — While walking past a local school, Hartford resident Keith Hinds came across an unoccupied car with the motor running. The driver was inside the school delivering an order from a Chinese restaurant. Hinds seized the moment and drove away in the car.

Seeing several other take-out orders in the car, Hinds decided to make a few extra bucks by delivering the orders himself.

Meanwhile, the driver of the car emerged from the school and called the police to report the stolen car. He also called the restaurant manager and advised him to tell the waiting customers not to expect delivery.

When the manager called the first customer, he was informed that the order had been delivered moments earlier. Realizing that the car thief was making the deliveries in order to pocket the money, the manager quickly informed police.

Using the delivery list, police officers located and arrested Hinds. He was charged with grand larceny, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN — A Swedish woman was refunded half the cost of her $1,400 air fare after being forced to fly from Europe to Tanzania next to the body of a man who died during the flight.

Lena Pettersson, a radio reporter, said the man appeared ill before the Kenya Airways flight departed from Amsterdam.

During the flight, the man suffered convulsions and died. Flight attendants wrapped his corpse in a blanket and laid it out on three seats located directly across the aisle from Pettersson.

Pettersson said the man was tall, and his legs were sticking out into the narrow aisle, mere inches from her. She asked to be moved, but no other seats were available.

After the 10-hour flight, Pettersson wrote to the airline and complained. She was granted a 50 percent refund of the ticket price.

 

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