Quiz Fiend's 50th Post!

Yes, it's true. Counting one article currently in the works, this is my 50th post since I began this blog in July and still going strong. This post concerns my trial of a new quiz on Wednesday, and there is some good news in that I will soon be able to write up the results of our quiz performance on Thursday (expect that probably tomorrow). This also marks my first solo outing since beginning the blog, and whilst I didn't win, if you had answered ANY of these questions correctly you would have put us in a tiebreak for first place, and any two would have meant a victory for us. This post also marks the return of the best team name contest. Shall we get stuck in then? Don't forget to tell me how you do, comment below or tweet me at @MPRTaylor.

Venue: The Green Man                                                         Team: Me
Score: 37/50 (1st Place - 38)                                                 Prize: None

Best Team Name Competition 

Yes, it's back again, for your pleasure, and you get to decide which of these is the best. Vote below or via Twitter and the results will be revealed this time next week. There were 5 teams and I have disqualified my name (The Lone Ranger) and one which contained names and an address. Here are the contenders:

- Chicken Pot Noodle

- Dukes of Harborne

- Alcoholics Unanimous

 

 

 

Questions

 

It was unfortunate not to win this one, and for a while I thought I was in the tiebreak, but the papers were remarked, putting my rivals one point ahead. So remember then, any of these would have been crucial.

 

1) Two planes clipped each other while taxiing at which airport this week? 

 

Identify these two people.

 

2)                                                                                                            3)

 

 

4) What was the name of the Colonel played by Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now?  
a) Colonel Kilburn         b) Colonel Kilgore        c) Colonel Kurtz

 

5) Who said the following quote - 'Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.'
a) Isaac Asimov              b) [Somebody] Pritchatt         c) Douglas Adams 

 

6) Which of these is the real first name of jazz musician 'Dizzy' Gillespie?
a) Edward                       b) Desmond                    c) John 

 

7) Which Jackson appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2009?  

 

8) Which band's last UK Top 10 (not as a featured artist) was 'Alone' in 1997?

9) Which band's last album was 'Dig Out Your Soul' in 2008?

10) Take your answers to 8) and 9) and combine then with 'The Kinks' and 'Spandau Ballet'. Which of these is the Odd One Out?

I have not included the answers to the 'Fun Fortunes' round, as there is not really a quiz basis to it. Similar to game show Family Fortunes (also known as Family Feud), the questions only asked for the most popular answer, not merely a correct one. 

 

Answers

 

1) Dublin Airport

2) Frank Bruno

3) Melanie Brown (Mel B)

4) c) Colonel Kurtz

5) a) Isaac Asimov 

6) c) John

7) La Toya Jackson

8) The Bee Gees

9) Oasis

10) The Bee Gees - These bands all contain two brothers, except the Bee Gees which was made up of three. 

 

Post Match Analysis

 

I couldn't really be dissatisfied with this performance, but it is a bit gutting to get so close. Here is the standard forensic dissection.

 

1) I had a vague recollection of reading this earlier in the week, but it could have been anywhere. I also had assumed it was in the UK and with little certainty, went for Gatwick.

Fact File: The planes were Boeing 737s, both owned by Ryanair, with one bound for Edinburgh and the other for Charleroi (Belgium). No one was hurt, but one of the planes broke a winglet. 

 

2) I'm not much help in a sports situation, though it did cross my mind that the photo might have been of a boxer. However, the picture came with the clue that he was a 'Saint', and given that I hadn't heard anything about Bruno in the news, I decided to go with Michael Jordan. I was a bit annoyed with myself at this mistake, but it was cancelled out by guessing cricketer Kevin Pietersen correctly in the next picture.

Fact File: Franklin Roy Bruno was born in 1961 in Hammersmith, and grew up across the Thames in Wandsworth. Taking up professional boxing in 1982, Bruno managed an impressive 40 wins out of 45 fights, ending 38 of these with a knockout. Bruno became the WBC Heavyweight World Champion on beating American Oliver McCall in 1995. His final fight was against Mike Tyson in 1996, who took the title from Bruno. Bruno was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the mid 2000s and the reason for his 'Saint' label is that he has been talking about how to improve general mental health for World Mental Health Day which was on Friday 10th October. 

 

3) I knew that I recognised the woman in question, but I couldn't think where from. The photo used at the quiz didn't remind me of Mel B at all, and I was swayed away from the idea that the picture was of anybody to do with the X Factor, since Simon Cowell also appeared on the picture sheet. I usually rely totally on others for this feature of popular culture, it's definitely not my forte.

Fact File: Melanie Janine Brown was born in Leeds in 1975. After performing 'The Greatest Love Of All' at an audition for a new band, Brown became part of the pop phenomenon, The Spice Girls, in 1994, which became the best selling girl group of all time. She has 3 children, Phoenix Chi (with Jimmy Gulzar), Angel Iris (with Eddie Murphy) and Madison with her current husband Stephen Belafonte. Prior to joining the Spice Girls, she appeared as Amy Nelson on Coronation Street, but is now better known for her work on reality TV, especially her role as a judge on the UK version of the X Factor.
  

4) Another classic to add to the must see bucket. It really is sheer laziness on my part because this film comes up time and time again in quizzes, so I have no one to blame but myself. I was relatively certain that the answer was Kilgore, but this is the name of the Air Cavalry Regiment commander played by Robert Duvall.
Fact File: Apocalypse Now was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and stars Martin Sheen as Captain Benjamin Willard, Robert Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel William Kilgore and (you guessed it) Marlon Brando as Colonel Walter Kurtz. The film is set during the Vietnam War and is based in part on 'Heart of Darkness' by Joseph Conrad (with a significant change of setting). Willard and Kilgore are tasked with the assassination of the dangerous (and presumed mentally ill) defector Kurtz. The film was nominated for Best Picture in 1980, but lost out to Kramer vs Kramer, winning Best Cinematography and Best Sound. Sheen notably suffered a heart attack during the making of the film, which was most likely due to his heavy drinking.    

 

 5) I hadn't heard the quote ascribed to Adams, it just seemed to me the sort of thing he might have said, though a friend of mine who is also a fan begs to differ. I didn't know much about Asimov, so I decided not to risk it.
Fact File: Isaak Yudovich Osimov was born in Petrovichi, in the Russian Socialist Federalist Soviet Republic, probably in 1919. Asimov attained recognition as a professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He is much better known for being one of the 'Big Three' authors of the 'Golden Age of Science Fiction' (along with Arthur C Clarke and Robert A Heinlein), and his works or particular significance are the Foundation, Galactic Empire and Robot series (the latter of which includes I, Robot). As well as being vice president of Mensa International, Asimov notably has written published works spanning 9 out of the 10 categories of the Dewey Decimal System. He died in New York in 1992.  

 

6) This was probably the most irritating question of the night as I kept zigzagging between Edward and John. I ignored my instinct to change my answer and the rest is history.
Fact File: Born in 1917 in Cheraw, South Carolina, John Birks Gillespie is widely regarded as one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time. Primarily known for playing the trumpet, he was also a scat singer, and is regarded as a pioneer of the Bebop style. Gillespie died in Englewood, New Jersey in 1993. You can see a clip of him performing here.  

 

 7) I was certain that the answer to this was Jermaine Jackson, but to be honest, I'm glad that my knowledge of Big Brother is not particularly extensive.
Fact File: La Toya appeared on the sixth celebrity series of the show and was voted out fourth, The eventual winner of the series was Ulrika Jonsson. Her older brother Jermaine appeared 2 years previously on series 5. He fared rather better, becoming the runner up to Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty. 

 

8) The Bee Gees didn't even cross my mind. I thought I knew quite a lot about them, but I'd never heard of 'Alone', and to be frank I was a little surprised that the band were still charting so well in the late 90s. Their last ever UK Top 10 was 'Immortality' in 1998 where they accompanied Celine Dion. My total stab in the dark here was 'Boyzone' but I suspected that they were still popular past that date.
Fact File: The Bee Gees were composed of brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb. They were originally active from 1958 to 2003 (after the death of Maurice), though Barry and Robin did reform from 2009 to 2012, until Robin's death. The brothers were born on the Isle of Man and spent time growing up in Manchester and in Queensland, Australia where they first found success. They later returned to the UK and first hit the charts with 'New York Mining Disaster 1941' reaching #12. Over their career, the brothers scored 5 UK No 1 singles and 9 in the US, as well as many more worldwide and for many they are synonymous with the disco era. They are thought to have sold over 120 million records in total. They are also one of the most prolific song writing teams in the world. Andy Gibb, the fourth brother, was also a successful musician in his own right.

9) I did consider Oasis, but I made the fatal mistake of thinking that Boyzone contained a pair of brothers. For this reason, I opted for the Chemical Brothers (made up of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons), which I considered could be the Odd One Out for reasons of irony.
Fact File: Formed in Manchester in 1991, Noel Gallagher would later join his brother Liam in the band and would become major players in the Britpop era of the 1990s. Bursting onto the scene with their album Definitely Maybe in 1994, the band would go on to achieve 8 UK No 1 singles and to see all 7 of their studio albums reach the top of the charts. After experiencing irreconcilable differences following their final album, Noel left to form Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and Liam to form Beady Eye. The band's 1995 album '(What's the Story) Morning Glory?' is the fifth best selling album in UK chart history.
 
10) I did spot the connection, (sort of) but I picked the wrong option. I'm not too unhappy with this, as the only one of these I knew for certain was the Kinks.

So there you have it. Let me know how you did, and hopefully I will be updating with a spectacular story of struggle and triumph very soon. Until then everyone...