1. A Super Squishy made entirely of syrup made us go crazy ACF-style.
For 10 points each--identify the following from a certain episode of
~The Simpsons~, or get 5 points if you need another clue.
A. (10) Warren's dad was in prison, so Flanders got this celebrity to
sub in on the Junior Campers Father/Son rafting trip.
(5) He was pretty good at rafting, having played the lead in "McHale's
Navy," but playing Sergeant "Fatso" Judson in "From Here
to
Eternity" didn't help save him from the bear, especially after
Homer stole his Swiss Army knife.
answer: Ernest _Borgnine_
B. (10) While lost at sea with Bart, Flanders and Rod, Homer misquoted
this famous work.
(5) Homer drank seawater, claiming the line was "Water, water
everywhere, so let's all have a drink."
answer: The _Rime of the Ancient Mariner_
C. (10) Bart scoffed at the poor grasp of reality displayed by this
episode of ~The Itchy and Scratchy Show~.
(5) Although humorous, the episode couldn't match the genius of Eugene
O'Neill's only comedic drama, with which it shared its name.
answer: _Ah, Wilderness_ or _Aaaaaaaaaah Wilderness_2. Three of the most influential
scientific books ever were published
in Europe in 1543. For 10 points each:
A. ~De humani corporis fabrica~ was a book of anatomical drawings by
what physician?
answer: Andreas _Vesalius_ or Andries van _Wesel_
B. Which ancient scholar's mathematics and physics, including ~The
Sand-Reckoner~, was published in English translation from the original
Greek?
answer: _Archimedes_
C. Which six-volume treatise on celestial movements was published by
Nicolas Copernicus?
answer: On the _Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres_ or De
_revolutionibus orbium coelestium_ (libri VI)...you can be lenient
with translation!3. Answer these questions about the madness of King George
III for 10
points each:
A. Modern medical knowledge suggests that George III's insanity may
have been due to this inherited metabolic defect causing an excess of
purple-red pigments in his blood.
answer: _porphyria_
B. After becoming almost blind, George was afraid he might be tricked
into agreeing to a bill which he couldn't read. He asked his Whig
ministers never to even bring up this subject, out of fear that he
might betray his duty to the Church of England.
answer: emancipation of Roman _Catholics_
C. Because of George's madness, all productions of this play were
banned from 1788 to 1820.
answer: _King Lear_4. Answer these questions about sartorial spies for 10 points
each:
A. In this John Le Carré novel, "Tailor" is a code name for
a member
of British intelligence who turns out to be a Soviet mole.
answer: _Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy_
B. In this novel, also by John Le Carré;, Harry Pendel is recruited
by British intelligence and starts making up things to report.
answer: _The Tailor of Panama_
C. This Cardassian, who worked as a tailor on board ~Deep Space
Nine~, had previously been a secret agent in the Obsidian Order.
answer: Elim _Garak_5. Identify these Verdi operas from very brief plot descriptions
given by
Sir Denis Forman, for the stated number of points:
A. (5) The one where the call-girl is a social embarrassment to her
lover's family so she gives him up, her golden heart is broken, and
she succumbs to tuberculosis.
answer: La _Traviata_
B. (5) The one where the gypsy woman throws the wrong baby onto the
bonfire and thus causes the grown-up unburnt baby to be killed by his
brother.
answer: Il _Trovatore_ or The _Troubadour_
C. (10) The one with lots of singing crusaders, a hermit in a cave and
a brand of mineral water with supernatural powers.
answer: I _Lombardi_ or The _Lombards_ (on the First Crusade)
D. (10) The one where a duke turned bandit dressed up as a monk hides
in a cupboard and promises to kill himself if he hears his host
blowing a horn.
answer: _Ernani_6. For 5 points each and a bonus 5 for all correct, identify
whether
the following are true of Anaximander, Anaximenes, Anaxagoras, or none
of the above. The moderator will not reveal answers after each part.
A. Was not a pupil of Thales of Miletus.
answer: _Anaxagoras_
B. Postulated an unlimited substance called the apeiron which unified
things like hot and cold and wet and dry.
answer: _Anaximander_
C. Thought the universe was hemispherical and made of air.
answer: _Anaximenes_
D. Was prosecuted for impiety for asserting that the sun was an
incandescent stone somewhat larger than the Peloponnesus.
answer: _Anaxagoras_
E. Posited an infinite number of elements that make up the universe.
answer: _Anaxagoras_7. Name these people who wrote about unusual holiday destinations
for 10
points each:
A. "Holiday in Cambodia" was the second single by this American punk
band.
answer: The _Dead Kennedys_
B. In ~The Trouble with Nigeria~, this Nigerian novelist wrote, "Only
a masochist with an exuberant taste for self-violence will pick
Nigeria for a holiday."
answer: Chinua _Achebe_
C. This humorist described sight-seeing in war-torn Lebanon,
Nicaragua, and El Salvador in his book ~Holidays in Hell.~
answer: P. J. _O'Rourke_8. An Imagist poet saw it "among the rain and lights
on a red firetruck"
from the window of Marsden Hartley's studio on 15th street. For 10
points each--
A. Name this title entity of the poem "The Great Figure."
answer: the _figure 5 in gold_ (prompt on partial answer)
B. What American poet, famous for "The Red Wheelbarrow", wrote "The
Great Figure?"
answer: William Carlos _Williams_
C. What modern painter, a friend of Williams', painted the 1928
precisionist masterpiece ~The Figure 5 in Gold~ based on the poem?
answer: Charles _Demuth_9. Identify these mathematicians who made things by
taking something
away, for 10 points each:
A. Starting with the interval [0,1], he took away the middle third,
then took the middle third away from each of the remaining intervals,
ad infinitum, to form his namesake set.
answer: Georg _Cantor_
B. Starting with an equilateral triangle, he removed the equilateral
triangle formed by connecting the points at the center of each side,
then did the same with the smaller triangles ad infinitum to form his
namesake "gasket."
answer: Waclaw _Sierpinski_
C. Starting with a cube, he divided it into 27 smaller cubes and
removed the center cube and the cube at the center of each face,
repeating for all the smaller cubes and forming his namesake "sponge."
answer: Karl _Menger_10. Identify these U.S. presidents from unusual details
of their
inaugurations, for 10 points each:
A. He was the only president who chose "to affirm" rather than "to
swear" the Executive Oath of Office.
answer: Franklin _Pierce_
B. Thomas Edison's new motion picture camera and gramophone were used
to record this president's inaugural address.
answer: William _McKinley_
C. Rather than the Chief Justice, this president's father, a justice
of the peace and a notary, administered the oath of office.
answer: Calvin _Coolidge_11. Name these regions in Norse mythology for 10 points
each:
A. With a name meaning "the home of mists," it is the far northern
region of icy fogs, darkness, and cold.
answer: _Niflheim_
B. With a name meaning "the home of desolation," it is the land of
fire in the far south.
answer: _Muspell_ or _Muspellheim_
C. With a name meaning "seeming emptiness," this was the primordial
void that existed between Niflheim and Muspellheim. Eventually icy
water from Niflheim and hot air from Muspellheim filled this void and
created some kind of livable zone.
answer: _Ginnungagap_12. Name these places of religious significance in Japan
for 10 points
each:
A. Japanese prime ministers can show they're patriotic, and annoy
other Asian countries, by visiting this principal shrine of state
Shinto, which now commemorates the Japanese war dead including General
Tojo and other convicted war criminals.
answer: _Yasukuni_
B. This Buddhist temple, the largest wooden building in the world,
houses the Daibutsu, a large bronze Buddha.
answer: _Todaiji_
C. Todaiji is located in this city of many Buddhist temples, which was
the capital of Japan before Kyoto.
answer: _Nara_13. Answer these questions about concocted currency-crisis conspiracies
for 10 points each:
A. In the mid-1960s British Secretary of Economic Affairs George Brown
claimed the British economy was under attack from what shadowy
financial figures? (Hint: They were one of the secret societies in
the original Illuminati card game.)
answer: the _gnomes of Zurich_
B. In the late 1990s, what prime minister of Malaysia claimed that
what Hungarian-born financier was trying to undermine the economies of
Asia by creating a run on currencies?
answer: _Mahathir_ Mohamad, George _Soros_14. Name these historical novels by
Robert Graves, none of which is ~I,
Claudius~, for 10 points each:
A. This book was inspired by Samuel Butler's theory that the
~Odyssey~ was written by a Sicilian princess.
answer: _Homer's Daughter_
B. This book supposes that Jesus was the illegitimate grandson of
Herod the Great, thus having a literal claim to be "King of the Jews."
answer: _King Jesus_
C. This book argues that the English serial killer William Palmer was
really innocent of murder.
answer: _They Hanged My Saintly Billy_15. Identify these autobiographical artists
on a 15-10 basis.
A. (15) The autobiography of this humanist scholar is found in the
second book of his ~Comentarii~, along with admiring words about other
14th-century artists.
(10) His scene of the sacrifice of Isaac won him a 1401 commission to
construct the bronze doors of the baptistery of the cathedral of
Florence.
answer: Lorenzo _Ghiberti_
B. (15) His 1562 autobiography contains details of his participation
in the 1527 defence of Rome, during which he shot the constable of
Bourbon and the Prince of Orange, and his pardon by Pope Paul III for
the murder of a fellow goldsmith.
(10) His only authenticated work in precious metals is a golden
saltcellar constructed for Francis I of France.
answer: Benvenuto _Cellini_16. Identify these celebrities who contributed to
the best-selling
cookbook, ~NASCAR Cooks with Tabasco Brand Pepper Sauce~, for 10
points each:
A. This "Million Dollar" driver from Dawsonville was voted most
popular a record 12 times by fans of his Snappy Pea and Chicken Pot
Pie.
answer: _B_ill _Elliot_
B. This youngest two-time Winston Cup champion, who won in 1995 and
1997, makes a mean Mediterranean Chicken Salad.
answer: Jeff _Gordon_
C. This man, a fan of Grilled Rosemary Flank Steak, won the final race
of 1996's Winston Cup championship. His brother, who prefers Catfish
with Tomato-Jalapeno Chutney, was crowned NASCAR Winston Cup champion
the same day.
answer: _B_obby _Labonte_17. 30-20-10. Give the common name.
A. Ida, the first female Ph.D. in biochemistry from Columbia
University, developed a system of deep bodywork based on yoga,
osteopathy and chiropractic which she called "structural integration"
and which is now named for her.
B. Played by Daniel Truhitte in the 1965 movie, this is the first name
of Liesl's love interest in ~The Sound of Music.~
C. It's also the name of the piano-playing dog Muppet.
answer: _Rolf_18. Identify these principles applicable to statistical mechanics,
for 10
points each:
A. This hypothesis states that any system starting out in any
energetically allowed state will, if we wait long enough, eventually
reach any other allowed state.
answer: _ergodic_ hypothesis
B. This theorem, named for the Frenchman who discovered transcendental
numbers, states that the density of states of the system in phase
space is conserved in time.
answer: _Liouville_'s theorem
C. This quantum mechanical analog to Liouville's theorem tells us
that, if states a and b or a system have the same energy, the
probability per unit time of a transition from a to b is the same as
that of a transition from b to a.
answer: principle of _detailed balance_19. He was Bill Clinton's secretary of
commerce and Al Gore's campaign
chairman. For 10 points each:
A. Name him.
answer: _W_illiam (Bill) _Daley_
B. Daley plans to run for governor of what state, of whose largest
city his brother is mayor?
answer: _Illinois_
C. If elected, Daley would replace what current Illinois governor?
answer: George _Ryan_20. Given some one-word song titles from an album, name
the album for 10
points. You'll get 5 points if you need the artist.
A. (10) Crucify, Winter, China, Leather
(5) Tori Amos
answer: _Little Earthquakes_
B. (10) Drive, Ignoreland
(5) R.E.M.
answer: _Automatic for the People_
C. (10) Possession, Wait, Circle, Ice, Fear
(5) Sarah McLachlan
answer: _Fumbling Towards Ecstasy_21. Answer the following for 10 points each:
A. In 1951 this woman died of cervical cancer, but cells from her
tumor became the "HeLa" cells, the first human cell culture to divide
and survive indefinitely outside the body.
answer: Henrietta _Lacks_
B. The first of many medical applications of Henrietta Lacks' cells
was to grow this virus, distinguish between its strains, and test a
vaccine to fight it.
answer: _polio_ virus
C. On the other hand, the HeLa cells also ruined years and millions
of dollars of medical research---for what reason?
answer: they replicated so well they _contaminated_ other cell cultures22. Name
these hunchbacked authors, for 10 points each:
A. Born in Mexico, this Spanish dramatist wrote plays about morality
in Madrid, like ~The Suspicious Truth~ and ~The Walls Have Ears.~
Teasing him and tossing sticks at him was a favorite pastime of rival
playwright Lope de Vega.
answer: Juan _Ruiz de Alarcon_ (y Mendoza)
B. This Englishman got back at the meanies who made fun of him, like
Lewis Theobald and Joseph Addison, by openly satirizing them in works
like ~An Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot~ and ~The Dunciad.~
answer: Alexander _Pope_
C. As his name suggests, this medieval writer did lots of things
first, like inventing the French secular theatre and foreshadowing the
modern comic opera with musical dramas like ~Play of the Greensward~
and ~Play of the Pilgrim~, in which he blasts his friends for teasing
him about his deformity.
answer: _Adam_ de la Halle or _Adam_ le bossu (the hunchback)23. Answer the
following about Robert the Bruce for 10 points each:
A. Robert Bruce's grandfather of the same name was a claimant for the
Scottish throne in 1292, but was passed over for what man?
answer: John _Balliol_ (prompt on "John")
B. In what 1314 battle did "the Bruce" decisively defeat the larger
army of Edward II?
answer: _Bannockburn_
C. What letter to the Pope by thirty-eight Scots lords in 1320
officially declared independence and asked the Pope to recognize
Scotland as a separate nation with Robert as king?
answer: the _Declaration of Arbroath_24. Answer these questions about superlatively
bad poets for 10 points
each:
A. Probably the best candidate for "worst poet of all time" is this
Scotsman born in 1830, also remembered as "Dundee's most famous
nobody." His best-known poem, ~The Tay Bridge Disaster~, begins:
"Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay! Alas! I am very sorry
to say That ninety lives have been taken away On the last Sabbath day
of 1879, Which will be remember'd for a very long time."
answer: William Topaz _McGonagall_
B. According to Douglas Adams, the worst poetry in the universe is by
Paula Nancy Millstone Jennings of Greenbridge, Essex, England. The
second worst is by the Azagoths of Kria. What species produces the
third worst poetry?
answer: _Vogons_
C. In March 1998, the British publisher Anchor Books released an
anthology which the Observer newspaper described as "possibly the
worst book of poetry ever published." The $30 paperback contained
poems by amateurs paying tribute to what deceased person?
answer: _Diana_ Frances Spencer, Princess of Wales