19 th General Quiz

1. Czuee Morey 17th Jan 2010 19th General Quiz

2. The band's singers quote the following about their famous grammy award winning 1970's song that has abstract lyrics: "I know, it's so boring...It's a song about the dark underbelly of the American Dream, and about excess in America, which was something we knew about." “...our interpretation of the high life in Los Angeles.” “All of us kind of drove into LA at night. Nobody was from California, and if you drive into LA at night... you can just see this glow on the horizon of lights, and the images that start running through your head of Hollywood and all the dreams that you have, and so it was kind of about that... what we started writing the song about. Name the song and the band.

3. Hotel California by Eagles

4. What is the word? An English word was coined based on this festival/ event. What is the word?

5. “Juggernaut” The Rath Yatra of the Jagannath of Puri in Orissa inspired the word juggernaut. In rare instances in the festival's past, people were crushed accidentally as the massive 45-foot-tall, multi-ton chariot slipped out of control or suffer injury due to stampedes. This sight led the Britons of the time to contrive the word "juggernaut" to refer to examples of unstoppable, crushing forces. Certain Englishmen promulgated a falsehood that Hindu devotees of Krishna were lunatic fanatics who threw themselves under the wheels of these chariots in order to attain salvation The “Car of Juggernaut” as depicted in the 1851 Illustrated London Reading Book

6. Connect... to give a catchphrase...

7. “Thinking outside the box” Walt Disney Organization used the Nine dot puzzle in training sessions to illustrate how to Think Outside of the Box to solve it. Mike Vance, once a Dean of Disney University, popularized the phrase worldwide stating how Walt Disney's thought process always worked.

8. An Indian Tale... Before the launch of product X, the pre-launch consumer survey indicated that X would not be able to stand any ground against its competitors. Most consumers surveyed had answered that they wouldn't like to buy X and preferred the competitors' products. Yet, X was launched in 1985 by company Y and surprisingly became a phenomenal success in no time. Post-launch extensive surveys were carried out to find out who was buying the product! These revealed a target audience which had not been considered in X's marketing strategy: pre-teens. The advertising and marketing strategies were soon modified to cater to this audience. Today, X is a successful brand in India catering to all age-groups. Name brand X and company Y.

10. Smelly Cat! Geosmin The human nose is extremely sensitive to geosmin and is able to detect it at concentrations as low as 5 parts per trillion. What does it smell like??

11. First Rains! Geosmin, which literally translates to "earth smell", has a distinct earthy flavour and aroma. It is produced by soil bacteria Streptomyces and is responsible for the strong scent that occurs in the air when rain falls after a dry spell of weather.

12. A multi-platform open source instant messaging service where users can log in to multiple accounts on multiple IM networks simultaneously, the name of which literally means “a means of communication between people who do not share a common language”. A “psychic” feature of this service is that it allows a user to know when another user starts to type out a message for him/her before he actually sends it. This means, you can know when someone is typing out something for you before they send it across. How does this service notify the user that someone is typing a message for them? (Nothing to do with the technology involved) Anybody wants a hint?

13. A multi-platform open source instant messaging service where users can log in to multiple accounts on multiple IM networks simultaneously, the name of which literally means “a means of communication between people who do not share a common language”. A “psychic” feature of this service is that it allows a user to know when another user starts to type out a message for him/her before he actually sends it. This means, you can know when someone is typing out something for you before they send it across. How does this service notify the user that someone is typing a message for them? (Nothing to do with the technology involved) Hint: The name of the service is an allusion to a bird.

14. “I feel a disturbance in the force” In Pidgin, a chat window of the sender will pop out with this message. This phrase has been used by many characters in Star Wars whenever something bad is about to happen.

15. Sep 9, 2010 March 22, 2010 Feb 10, 2010 Dec 7, 2010 Jan 14, 2010 March 14, 2010 CONNECT

16. Gregarion calendar date on which New Year's day for various calendars falls in 2010 Jewish calendar Sep 9 Saka calendar March 22 Chinese calendar Feb 10 Islamic calendar Dec 7 Julian Calendar Jan 14 Nanakshahi calendar March 14

17. Connect

19. Watziznehm? Birthdays of fictional characters such as those appearing in comic books and movies are generally determined as the day they first appeared before the public, such as the publication or release dates. Two famous fictional characters share their birthdays... The first one, an animal, was inspired by Charlie Chaplin. It made a debut in an animated movie in 1928. Since then, it has appeared in animated cartoons, movies, comic strips, TV and even video games. It first appeared in color in 1935. A highly successful character, it also has a star dedicated to it on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The other, a comic strip character, made its first appearance in 1985. It is named after a theologian who believed in predestination. The character has appeared on merchandise but never in animation. The comic strip has been featured in over 2,400 newspapers worldwide and 30 million copies of its books have been sold. Name the two characters.

20. Calvin 18th November 1985 Mickey Mouse 18th November 1928

21. A group of female factory workers sued their company in New Jersey, United States for contracting heavy radiation poisoning through a radioluminescent paint called 'UnDark'. They used camel hair brushes to apply the paint to watch dials. The brushes would lose shape after a few strokes, so the company supervisors encouraged their workers to point the brushes with their lips, or use their tongues to keep them sharp which resulted in them having “radium jaw”. Five of the women challenged their employer in a court case that established the right of individual workers who contract occupational diseases to sue their employers. What are the affected females and this case popularly known as?

22. “Radium Girls”

23. The following are examples of ________ avoidable: What a bullfighter tries to do. (avoid-a-bull) eureka: Euphemism for “You smell bad.” decadent: Possessing only ten teeth. (deca-dent) protein: In favour of youth. (pro-teen) propaganda: A gentlemanly goose. (proper gander) dilate: live long (die late) isolate: Me not on time. (I-(am)-so-late) abdicate: To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach adage: To become older (add-age) adamant: The very first insect (adam-ant)

24. Daffynitions A daffynition (portmanteau of daffy and definition) is a pun format involving the reinterpretation of an existing word, on the basis that it sounds like another word (or group of words).

25. A picture speaks a million words

26. Maha Kumbh Mela, 2001 Maha Kumbh Mela, which comes after every 144 years was held at Allahabad in 2001. It was attended by around 60 million people, making it the largest gathering anywhere in the world. The mass of people was photographed from space by a satellite IKONOS.

27. GRAND CONNECT Only one guess per frame No negative marks Not an exhaustive list

28. +35

29. +30

30. +25

31. +20

32. +15

33. +10, multiple guesses allowed

34. And the answer is...

35. How Kaavya Vishwanathan plagiarized, got caught and got negative publicity... Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie Can You Keep a Secret? By Sophie Kinsella Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier Plagiarism

36. An artist X was dubbed as “Jack the Dripper” by Time Magazine for his unique painting style. Who is X and what was the unique painting style? Anybody wants a hint?

37. An artist X was dubbed as “Jack the Dripper” by Time Magazine for his unique painting style. Who is X ? Hint: The painting style A photographer said the following about X: “A dripping wet canvas covered the entire floor. . . There was complete silence. . . X looked at the painting. Then, unexpectedly, he picked up can and paint brush and started to move around the canvas. It was as if he suddenly realized the painting was not finished. His movements, slow at first, gradually became faster and more dance like as he flung black, white, and rust colored paint onto the canvas. He completely forgot that Lee and I were there; he did not seem to hear the click of the camera shutter. . . My photography session lasted as long as he kept painting, perhaps half an hour. In all that time, X did not stop. How could one keep up this level of activity? Finally, he said 'This is it.'”

38. Jackson Pollock

40. “Mozart wrote his first symphony at this age” (about 8 years). Comic strip from www.abstrusegoose.com

41. CONNECT

42. Trade Secrets The Coca-Cola formula and KFC's "11 herbs and spices" recipe written by Colonel Sanders are trade secrets

43. CONNECT

44. Number of the beast 666 The numbers on a Roulette table add up to 666 Snake coils form 666 A man being possessed by demons. Notice the "666" above the bed. Rage Against the Machine, bassist with "666" on each shoulder. Iron Maiden song – Number of the beast