Cool Zooms - The Global Tour Trivia Quiz

Answer: Zizkov Television Tower

The Zizkov Television Tower (zizkovsky vysilac) was completed in 1992. The work of Vaclav Aulicky and Jiri Kozak looms over the skyline of Prague. With a triangular footprint, the tower is composed of steel tubes filled with concrete, supporting nine 'pods', and has three decks which give it a rocket-like appearance, which is considered very jarring against the rest of the city. During construction its foundations tore through a historic Jewish cemetery causing damage to ancient tombstones and graves, and many bones were disposed of in landfill causing much controversy.
Considered by many to be one of the ugliest buildings in the world it is also one of Prague's attractions due to the addition of sculptures by David Cerny. 'Miminka', or 'Babies', made of fiberglass were attached temporarily in 2000, and were made a permanent addition in 2001. They can be seen crawling up one of the tower's pillars. Disturbingly, instead of faces the babies' features have been replaced by barcodes.
Visitors can access 6 of the 9 pods to access a panoramic view of the city, as well as a restaurant and café. There is also one luxury hotel room where one can view the city from the freestanding bathtub.

Phoenix Rising's smpdit contemplates the ability to crawl as she awaits knee surgery.

Answer: Dr William Gilbert Grace

Owned by the Marylebone Cricket Club (the "MCC"), the current Lords cricket ground, located in St John's Wood, London, was opened in 1814 and was named after its owner, Thomas Lord. It has hosted numerous classic cricket matches both at the English county level and at international level ever since. It became the home of English cricket.

All of the answer options are prominent cricketers of the late 19th century but only W.G. Grace is English - the other three are Australians. Grace (1845-1915) was the most celebrated cricketer of the 19th century and played first-class cricket for an astounding 44 seasons from 1865 until his retirement in 1908. He scored over 54,000 runs in first-class cricket with 124 centuries at an average of 32 - this included two centuries in his 22 Test Matches. He also took over 2800 wickets at an average of 18. The new entry gates to the ground, installed in 1923, were named the 'Grace Gates' in honour of W.G.

This question was delivered on a good line and length by Phoenix Rising's MikeMaster99, who is actually a relation of W.G. Grace - unfortunately inheriting just the beard, albeit much shorter, and the 'Dr' title but only a minuscule amount of the cricketing ability!

Answer: Madagascar

Info:
MAD + A + GAS + SCAR

Madagascar can be found in the Indian Ocean, approximately 400 kilometres (or 250 miles) off the coast of south-eastern Africa and separated from the main continental landmass by the Mozambique Channel. It is the second-largest island nation in the world, behind Indonesia, while its main island is also the world's fourth-largest.

The country's isolated location is the reason for the incredible biodiversity that can be found there. While its most famous endemic residents are arguably its one hundred or so different lemur species, it is also the only home of other mammals, including fossas; hundreds of bird, reptile and fish species; and thousands of species of exotic plants, from large trees to tiny orchids.

This question was puzzled out by Phoenix Rising's Fifiona81, who can't work out why the beautiful creatures of Madagascar wouldn't be mad about how humans' use of gas and other fossil fuels could be scarring their amazing environment.

Answer: Bachman-Turner Overdrive

Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO) was founded in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1973 by three brothers: Randy Bachman, Robbie Bachman, Tim Bachman; and Fred Turner. Randy and Tim Bachman were in a group with Chad Allen called Brave Belt. Randy Bachman played bass and guitar but because their label asked them to tour, they hired Fred Turner to be their bassist and add vocals. At that stage, they played mainly country but were urged to play rock, which they did, and they were also asked to change their name. Musing over their names (a la Crosby, Stills and Nash), one of the members was reading a trucking magazine called "Overdrive". Bachman Turner Overdrive was born. They created a logo featuring a gear wheel with their initials and a maple leaf in the center. Their fans became known as Gearheads. They were always bigger in Canada than anywhere else but they had worldwide hits with "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet", and "Takin' Care of Business".

This question was shifted into the quiz in overdrive by Phoenix Rising team member JAM6430.

Answer: Jerusalem

There are many reasons why Jerusalem is one of the three most holy cities for the Islamic faith. For one, the strong connection to many of the Islamic prophets from Ibrahim to Isa (Abraham to Jesus).

Another reason is that originally the Prophet Muhammad prayed facing Jerusalem before Allah instructed him to face the Kaaba in Mecca. The Islamic faith teaches that the black stone (al-Hajar al-Aswad) on the eastern corner of the Kaaba was handed down to Ibrahim by the angel Gabriel as the guide stone Adam and Eve used to build the original altar to Allah.

A third reason why Jerusalem is holy to Islam is that the 17th surah of the Quran tells of the Prophet Muhammad going on a "Night Journey" to the city of Jerusalem. It tells that he went to Al-Aqsa (the Jewish temple mount) and bowing down in prayer was taken up into heaven (Mi'raj) where he met with the prophets and Allah. Tradition states that the Prophet was able to negotiate with Allah to have the salat prayer requirements reduced from 50 times a day to only five times a day.

There are holy sites throughout Jerusalem for Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Learning to live in peace and respecting each other's traditions and beliefs is vital to harmony in this holy city.

This question was brought to you by BigTriviaDawg of Phoenix Rising who would love to make his own pilgrimage to the Holy Land one day.

Answer: Florida

Cuban immigrants brought this sandwich to Florida. The bread must be Cuban as it's chewy. The bread is then smeared generously with yellow mustard and layered with roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese and sliced dill pickles. The final touch is to hot-press it on a griddle. Best served with an ice-cold Cristal beer.

This question was brushed free of breadcrumbs before it was submitted by Phoenix Rising team member Rizeeve (BURP! - 'scuze me).

Answer: The Black Panther

The gorgeous Iguazu Falls which lies on the border of Argentina's Misiones province and Brazil's state of Parana were the backdrop for the coronation of King T'Challa in 2018's "The Black Panther". That said, only the aerial sequences were shot here and the rest was left up to the magicians at the Marvel studios. This wonderful network of waterfalls was also featured in the spectacular opening to the film's trailer, which features a futuristic plane jetting out of the falls while the voice-over artist declares "I have seen gods fly". Whilst the fictional country of Wakanda is situated in Africa, only aerial footage of the continent was used in the film; the majority of it was filmed in Busan (South Korea) and Atlanta (United States).

"The Black Panther" is the first stand-alone feature for this character, after making his debut in the movie "Captain America: Civil War" (2016). It follows Prince T'Challa returning home to claim his recently deceased father's crown; however, he is about to be challenged for the throne by an old adversary.

(Footnote) All of the other answer options are from the DC Comics universe.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's fall guy, pollucci19.

Answer: China

The Spring Festival travel rush, or "chunyun" in Mandarin Chinese, refers to the mass migration of Chinese people who return to their hometowns to celebrate Chinese New Year in January or February each year. An estimated 350 million people take to the roads during this period, seven times larger than the estimated 50 million people who travel during Thanksgiving in the United States of America. The tremendous increase in traffic load strains the public transportation system as demand far exceeds supply. To help alleviate the situation, additional trains and buses are pulled into service, and this can number in the hundreds to the thousands.

This question was accompanied by Phoenix Rising team member purelyqing as it travelled to its destination in the quiz.

Answer: Le boeuf, le poulet, le porc, le jambon

The groups are meat, vegetables, fruit and starches/carbohydrates. A vegetarian would not want to eat boeuf/beef, poulet/chicken, porc/pork or jambon/ham. The vegetarian would look for vegetables like mais/corn, carotte/carrot, petits pois/peas and concombre/cucumbers and fruits like banane/banana, pomme/apple, orange/orange and poire/pear. On the side one can enjoy starches/carbohydrates like frites/french fries, riz/rice, pâtes/pasta and pomme de terre/potatoes.

You might notice that pomme is apple and pomme de terre is potatoes. In French a potato is considered the apple of the earth (terre).

This question was prepared in the kitchen of Phoenix Rising team member TAKROM who adores French cuisine.

Answer: Pancakes

Very thin stuffed crepes, Palacsinta are a delicious dessert with a ricotta cheesy, lemon zesty filling, sometimes served with apricot or grape jam, or stewed apples, and occasionally with chocolate sauce drizzled over. It is something that Hungarian mothers teach their kids, with their own family stamp on them.

When they are served in a stack they are called rakott palacsinta. The batter usually includes sugar, vanilla essence, and sometimes fruit juice; leave out these sweet things and you can create some of the traditional savoury versions with vegetables, mushrooms, meat or seafood.

Phoenix Rising member VegemiteKid would have given you more information about this dish, but wanted to go and make it instead.

Answer: A collectivity of France

Saint-Pierre and Miquelon consist of three main islands, Miquelon, Langlade, and Saint-Pierre totalling 215 square km (83 square miles). The smallest of the three, St Pierre, is the administrative and commercial centre and where over 90% of the population (5,974 - 2019) resides. These islands are the last foothold of France in North America. The islands were permanently assigned to France under the Treaty of Paris in 1814. In 1946, the islands became a French overseas territory and in 1976, an overseas département, because of a different meaning of "department' in the Eurozone. In May 1985, the islands were given a new status of collectivité.

This question was eased into the quiz by Phoenix Rising Francophile 1nn1. Ah, Bon?

Answer: Arctic fox

It is believed that the Arctic fox migrated to Iceland during the last ice age, and remained there ever since. Polar bears have arrived on the island via floating ice, but are considered to be a vagrant species there. Human beings have introduced reindeer to the island, which no doubt made them very pleased. We're not sure how the reindeer feel about it.

This question was thawed out by Phoenix Rising team member thejazzkickazz.

Answer: Malaysia

Located in Southeast Asia, Malaysia is a multiracial and multicultural nation. The population primarily consists of Malays, Chinese, Indians, and aboriginal (indigenous) people.

In the Malay language, the word "merdeka" means independence.

Merdeka 118 replaced Landmark 81 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, as the tallest building in Southeast Asia upon its completion in November 2023. The exterior architecture of Merdeka 118 resembles the stance of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaya's first Prime Minister, when he proclaimed the independence of the Federation of Malaya in 1957 at Stadium Merdeka (Independence Stadium).

Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) is an iconic landmark in Malaysia's history. On the midnight of August 30, 1957, the Union Jack flag was lowered, and in the early morning of August 31, 1957, it was replaced by the Malayan flag.

This question was patriotically written by Phoenix Rising's Matthew_07, who calls Malaysia home.

Answer: Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany in 1879, moving to Switzerland when 17, to study mathematics and physics at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich. In 1905 he released four groundbreaking papers, including his treatise on the Theory of Relativity. By 1933, just as Hitler was coming to power, Einstein was in the United States. Rather than return to Germany during Hitler's persecution of Jews, he decided to remain in the USA and was subsequently granted citizenship. Throughout his career, Einstein was steadfastly opposed to nuclear weapons, however, after learning of the German nuclear weapons program, he advised US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to research the possibility. 1921 saw Einstein awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

The "Physics World" poll in 1999 named Einstein as the Greatest Physicist of All Time, ahead of Newton (second) Bohr (fourth) and Galilei (sixth). A similar poll by "Physicsweb" in the same year had Newton as the greatest with Einstein in second place.

Of the four physicists listed, only Einstein was born in Germany. Newton was English, Bohr Danish and Galilei Italian.

This question was hypothesised, researched, analysed and written by leith90, Phoenix Rising's "relatively" normal member.

Answer: Vijay Singh

Singh became the world number one for the first time in his career on September 5, 2004, replacing Woods, who had held the position for the previous 264 weeks. Singh held the position for 26 weeks before Woods regained the title. The pair swapped the number one slot five consecutive times from September 2004 to June 12, 2005.

This question was brought to you by Phoenix Rising team member cardsfan_027 who needs to rehydrate himself with Fiji Water.

Answer: Kauri

Kauri snails ("Paryphanta busbyi") are nocturnal, carnivorous and cannibalistic snails found in the northern parts of New Zealand. They can live in kauri forests, although not close to kauri trees where the soil may be too dry or nutrient-poor for the worms that comprise their diet. Large trees, fertile soil and plentiful leaf humus provide damp conditions, hiding places and nutrition. Aside from worms and snails, insects and insect larvae are other good food sources.

These animals have dark green or bronze-coloured shells with a black body; shells are 60-80 millimetres (2-3 inches) in diameter and these invertebrates may live for 20 years or more.

Kauri snails are regarded as being highly mobile. For snails, this could be movements of 10 metres (33 feet) a night.

The conservation status of giant kauri snails is endangered. The usual culprits threatening these animals are habitat loss and modification, and predation by introduced animals such as rats and pigs.

Kauri trees ("Agathis australis") are giant conifers also found in the northern parts of New Zealand. It is the country's largest tree by volume (though not height: that honour goes to the kahikatea.) Kauri trees may grow up to 50 metres (164 feet) in height.

European settlement of New Zealand (1840-) saw heavy logging of kauri forests. The tall, straight trunks were valuable for ship's masts and spars. The timber was also prized for building purposes. Kauri gum (semi-fossilised kauri resin) was also harvested from swamps and soil and used in the production of varnish.

Fortunately today, kauri trees are regarded as long-term carbon sinks. Total carbon content of above-ground biomass is among the highest of all world forests. Surely the pupurangi/kauri snails would be happy with that!

Phoenix Rising's resident Kiwi, psnz, quickly slid this question into the quiz.

Answer: Cedar

The Cedars of Lebanon were first mentioned in the "Epic of Gilgamesh", one of the earliest great works of literature. They are also mentioned numerous times in the Bible and were used to build King David's palace and Solomon's Temple. The Phoenicians used the cedar to build their merchant fleets, becoming one of the first maritime powers in the Mediterranean. Roman Emperor Hadrian declared the cedar forests an imperial domain and protected the forests from deforestation.

The cedar is part of the pine family and is native to the Eastern Mediterranean in Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey. It can reach a height of 40 m (130 ft). Its natural habitat is 1,300 to 3,000 m (4,300 to 9,800 ft) in elevation and is usually found in mixed forests with Cilician fir, European black pine, Turkish pine, and other juniper species.

This question was planted into this quiz by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.

Answer: Muriel's Wedding

The full title is "Muriel's Wedding the Musical" to distinguish it from the 1994 film that provided the inspiration and the eventual impetus for the stage musical. To accompany the musical a book was written by P.J. Hogan, who (both) wrote the script for the movie and was the film's director. Music and lyrics for the stage show were created by Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall. In addition, as the question indicates, five songs created by the Swedish group ABBA were incorporated into the musical; "Dancing Queen" and "Money, Money, Money" (both 1976), "Waterloo" (1974), "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" (1975) and "SOS" (1976).

The musical centres around Muriel (played by Max McKenna in the original Sydney cast) who lives in the fictional dead-end town of Porpoise Spit. All she dreams about is having the perfect wedding and moving to Sydney. Both, she feels, will improve her personal life.

Phoenix Rising's "Super Trouper", lg549, was responsible for the "Arrival" of this question.

Answer: Civitavecchia

Civitavecchia (literally "ancient town") is a city and Rome's sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea 60 kilometres (37 miles) northwest of Rome. The municipality itself is covered with the remnants of Etruscan tombs. The current city center is probably the site of a small Etruscan settlement that dates back to the 7th - 6th century BC. Its harbour is framed by two piers and a breakwater, the latter on which stands a notable lighthouse.

The Port of Civitavecchia, also known as "Port of Rome" is an important hub for maritime transport in Italy, for both goods and passengers. The port, with approximately 3.3 million passengers per year, is the busiest Italian port for cruise traffic, and the second in Europe after the port of Barcelona. Its commercial activity includes approximately 1,900,000 m² of docks, 27 operational over 100m in length, and approximately 13 km of berths within its confines.

This question sailed into the quiz from the flowing pen of Phoenix Rising's jaknginger.

Answer: Road events (marathons and racewalks)

Most of the 2020 Summer Games were held in Tokyo or nearby cities. The events were held in late July, and early August 2021. Tokyo experiences a hot summer. Because of the very real risk of a heat wave during this period, the Organizing Committee decided, in October 2019, that the race walking and marathon events would be moved to Sapporo, 800 km to the north of Tokyo on the island and prefecture of Hokkaido. (Sapporo also hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics). The chosen route started and arrived at Odori Park in Central Sapporo, a major landmark in the city that divides the city into north and south districts. It is also the traditional venue of the Hokkaido Marathon.

This question was contributed by pusdoc, Phoenix Rising's resident "Shinnichi" (Japanophile).