WEEK OF JUNE 23, 2008
Word of the week: the very new "ringback," which is an audio clip that can replace the ringing sound that telephone callers hear while waiting for someone to pick up. Ringbacks, like ringtones, are big business. The Alicia Keys tune "No One" recently became the first gold ringback, with sales exceeding 500,000.
Starring trios update: Thanks to the Trivia Detectives who unearthed these threesomes who starred in two relatively recent films with different roles: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Jason Lee in "Chasing Amy" and "Dogma" (Jeremy Huie, Lafayette, Calif.) and Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito in "Romancing the Stone" and "The War of the Roses" (Steve Anderson of Seattle).
Cheeky campaign? Jazz trumpet legend Dizzy Gillespie mounted a less-than-serious campaign for president of the United States in 1964. While he didn't get on any state's primary ballot, he did promise if elected to appoint Ray Charles as librarian of Congress and Louis Armstrong secretary of agriculture. His would-be running mate came from outside the world of music: Phyllis Diller.
We think the cleverest game show currently on the air is "Cash Cab," seen on the Discovery Channel. The "stage" is a real New York City taxicab. The driver/host is stand-up comic Ben Bailey, whose contestants are people who just happen to flag him down for a ride. We haven't figured out yet how Ben reads the questions while keeping his eyes on the road.
Sophia meets Miss Moneypenny: The two leads in the 1953 Italian film adaptation of the Giuseppe Verdi opera "Aida" were Sophia Loren (in the title role) and Lois Maxwell (as Amneris, daughter of the king of Egypt). Maxwell would portray M's secretary, Miss Moneypenny, in 14 James Bond films. We all remember her in those, but her screen time was brief: Maxwell spoke fewer than 200 words total in all her 007 films.
Cat fanciers will be familiar with the Balinese breed, first developed in the 1950s from the occasional longhaired kittens that appeared in Siamese litters. The name of the breed has nothing to do with its point of origin -- one of the original breeders named it for the dancers of Bali, noted around the world for their beauty and grace.
Eponym of the week: British army general Henry Shrapnel. While a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in the 1780s, he invented (on his own time and at his own expense) a hollow ball filled with shot that exploded in midair. When adopted by the British army some 20 years later, it was given the name "shrapnel shell." The "bombs bursting in air" in "The Star-Spangled Banner" are shrapnel shells.
In 1954, 30 years before the debut of the Tony Danza sitcom "Who's the Boss?" there was another prime-time show with that name. The earlier "Who's the Boss?" was a game show in which a panel questioned secretaries of famous people, trying to identify their bosses. The show was hosted for a time by future "60 Minutes" correspondent Mike Wallace.
Though the words "taut" and "tight" are nearly synonymous and sound very similar, they're not related to each other. "Taut" is from an Old English word meaning "drag," and is kin to "tow" and "tug." "Tight" also comes from Old English, but from a completely different word meaning "dense" or "solid."
Philo Facts: Mentioned in a recent Bit, "Father of Television" Philo Farnsworth had over 300 U.S. and foreign patents. His inventions contributed to the development of radar, the electron microscope and the baby incubator. He appeared on TV only once, in 1957, as a contestant on the game show "I've Got a Secret." The celebrity panel failed to guess his secret -- "I invented electronic television."
TRIVIA
1) All of the 150-or-so species of chameleons are able to change their skin color. This is not, as commonly believed, to adapt to their surroundings, but rather as an expression of their physical condition. About half of all the known chameleon species are found in what specific location?
A) Mexico
B) Montana
C) Madagascar
D) Morocco
2) The common expressions "go berserk" and "tongue in cheek" were coined by what famous writer from the British Isles?
A) Geoffrey Chaucer
B) William Shakespeare
C) Walter Scott
D) Charles Dickens
3) Auto racer and Motorsports Hall of Famer Tom Sneva won the Indianapolis 500 in 1983. Before becoming a professional driver, what was Mr. Sneva's day job?
A) School principal
B) Casino dealer
C) Taxi driver
D) Nurse
4) Three of the 10 largest world cities by population have names that begin with S: Sao Paulo, Seoul and Shanghai. What letter starts the names of three other of the world's 10 most populous cities?
A) B
B) C
C) M
D) T
5) Anthropology buffs will be familiar with the name Lucy, given to the 3.2 million-year-old hominid skeleton discovered in Ethiopia by an international research team in 1974. Lucy was named for a:
A) Comedic actress
B) Beatles song
C) Comic-strip character
D) Wife of a British prime minister
ANSWERS
1) About half of all the known chameleon species are found on the African island of Madagascar.
2) The coining of the expressions "go berserk" and "tongue in cheek" is credited to Sir Walter Scott.
3) Motorsports Hall of Famer Tom Sneva was a junior-high principal before becoming a professional driver.
4) The names of three of the world's 10 most populous cities start with M: Mumbai, Moscow and Mexico City. (Thanks to Sher Garfield of Bellevue, Wash.)
5) The 3.2 million-year-old hominid skeleton discovered in Ethiopia in 1974 was named Lucy for the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds." The tune was being played repeatedly on a tape recorder one evening at the scientists' camp.
STAN'S WEEKLY TRIVIA CHALLENGE CONTEST NO. 91
On April 25, 1999, a monument to New York Yankee great Joe DiMaggio was dedicated at Yankee Stadium. What appropriate song was performed by its composer at the ceremony?
HOW TO WIN: Send your answer, with your full name and address, either by e-mail to TriviaBits@gmail.com, or on a postcard to Stan Newman's Trivia Challenge No. 91, P.O. Box 69, Massapequa Park, NY 11762. Only one submission per person, please. Answers must be received within seven days of publication. One winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries, who will receive a copy of Stan's new book "15,003 Answers: The Ultimate Trivia Encyclopedia," courtesy of Random House. Answer and winner will be announced in a future issue.
ANSWER TO TRIVIA CHALLENGE CONTEST NO. 84
Simon Bolivar was once the president of Columbia, Bolivia and Peru simultaneously. Winner: Kevin McDonald of Jersey City, N.J.
