Another Helping of Trivia Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sid James

Sid James (Sidney Joel Cohen) was born on the 6th May, 1913 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Both of his parents were in showbusiness which helped him to become an accomplished singer and dancer. He moved to London on Christmas Day in 1946. He had worked as a hairdresser, diamond polisher and became an amateur boxer, which along with nature, had given him battered features and a crumpled face.

His television credits included 'Hancock's Half Hour' (1956-59) and 'Bless This House'(1971-75). Sid had heart problems and suffered a fatal second heart attack on the opening night of 'The Mating Season' at the Sunderland Empire.

He died on the 26th April, 1976 in the ambulance on the way to hospital. From the 'Carry On' cast, one would have thought six feet seven inches tall Bernard Bresslaw would have been the boxer.

He was born on the 25th February, 1934 in Stepney, in London's East End.

Answer: Helen Fielding

Helen Fielding was a journalist who worked for the British daily newspaper, 'The Independent'. She had a weekly column called 'Bridget Jones's Diary' which she turned into a book in 1996 and this amazingly sold over four million copies worldwide. She wrote the screenplay herself with the aid of Andrew Davies and the talented Richard Curtis, who had the ability to remove unnecessary footage from her book. Richard had acquired earlier success with 'Four Weddings and a Funeral', 'Notting Hill' and the 'Blackadder' television series.

The novel was inspired by Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice'. Colin Firth, who played Darcy in the BBC's adaptation of this Austen novel, played the character of Mark Darcy in 'Bridget Jones's Diary'.

Answer: Orange

'Cluedo' ('Clue' in North America) was devised by Anthony Ernest Pratt who worked as a solicitor's clerk in Birmingham, England. It was a crime fiction 'whodunnit' game. In 1947, Anthony Pratt had acquired a patent on his idea for this game and went with his friends, Mr and Mrs Bull, to Waddington Games in Leeds, to see if they would merchandise his product. Mr and Mrs Bull were already successful with inventing the game 'Buccaneer'.

The game was approved by Waddington Games in 1949 and Parker Brothers obtained the American rights to rename the game 'Clue'.

In the American version, the spanner is called the wrench. The game is played worldwide as the principles are understood in most languages and the Brazilian version, for instance, is called 'Detective'.

In the UK Cluedo, the white playing piece is Mrs White, the green piece (Reverend Green), purple (Professor Plum), red (Miss Scarlet), yellow (Colonel Mustard) and blue (Mrs Peacock).

Answer: Marilyn Manson

Heather Sweet (Dita Von Teese) is the longtime girlfriend of rocker Marilyn Manson (Brian Warner) and both were married on Saturday 3rd December 2005 in Kilsheelan, County Tipperary, Ireland, at Castle Gurteen. Heather was thirty-three, and Brian, thirty-six years of age, when they wed. Dita has wrote a book called 'Burlesque and the Art of the Teese.' She portrays a glossy Goth image although she is a natural blonde from the American mid-west.

She advocated that women don't have to take their clothes off to look beautiful and is proud of the fact that she could stand in a crowd without her dark hair and make-up, nor her vampish red lipstick, and no-one would notice her.

Answer: Mae West

Mae West (Mary Jane West) was born on August 17th, 1893 in Brooklyn, New York. She wrote her own comedy material which were clever one-liner, double entendres, with the accent on sex. This hilarious American actress was born the first child of a boxer and corset model but died from complications following a stroke on November 22, 1980. I adore great puns and her memory will live on. Here are three examples of her work:
(1) "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful."
(2) "I didn't discover curves; I only uncovered them."
(3) "I don't like all-in wrestling - if its all in, why wrestle?"

Answer: pole vaulting

A pole vaulter uses a planting box to insert his hollow, fibre-glass tubing, to gain height, in order to scale the pole vaulting crossbar. The planting box has a minimum of two inches of foam padding around the box collar which reduces the risk of injury to the pole vaulter. Athletes have died from pole vaulting injuries from head-first landings or, for instance, the body hitting the landing mat whilst the head strikes the surrounding concrete.

It has been said that pole vaulting is maybe sports' most dangerous event because of the lack of experienced people coaching it.

Answer: Open All Hours

'Keeping Up Appearances', 'Last of the Summer Wine' and 'Open All Hours' were all penned by the brilliant Roy Clarke. 'Open All Hours' was a sitcom set in a corner shop in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. Ronnie Barker played the character of Arkwright who was a s-s-s-stammering, scrooge-like shopkeeper who bullied his nephew Granville, beautifully portrayed by David Jason of 'Only Fools and Horses' fame. Lynda Barron played Morris Minor-driving, Nurse Gladys Emmanuel, who was engaged to the lustful Arkwright.

The cast included Stephanie Cole who played Mrs Featherstone aka (The Black Widow) who even Arkwright was often scared of. Kathy Staff (Nora Batty in 'Last of the Summer Wine') played Mrs Blewett. Barbara Flynn was the milk lady, who was often in Granville's thoughts as he daydreamed his time away. Maggie Ollerenshaw played Mavis, a dizzy character who was hopeless at making her mind up at what to buy. Arkwright's assistant, Granville, was often asked to serve her while Arkwright had m-m-more pressing duties to attend to, like seeing what big-bosomed Nurse Gladys Emmanuel was up to.

Answer: Felix

Otto Messmer was born on the 16th August 1892 in Union City, New Jersey, USA. He worked for his Australian-born boss and newspaper cartoonist, Pat Sullivan, who ran a cartoon strip and animation studio. 'Feline Follies' was the first Paramount short which was released on 9th November 1919. Otto did not copyright 'Felix the Cat' so Sullivan was credited for the first one-hundred and fifty or so cartoons that appeared on screen. Messmer was just happy to be lucky enough to work all day on his drawing board and it was only on Sullivan's deathbed in 1933 that Messmer would finally own the 'Felix' copyright. Memorabilia of 'Felix the Cat' can be seen on clocks, watches, mugs etc and in the United Kingdom a cat food called 'Felix' bears his name.

Answer: mail

All the words couple with each other to produce a catchy phrase with the exception of the word 'snail'. A 'Chick Flick' is a movie that would appeal to a young woman such as 'Dirty Dancing' (1987), 'Shirley Valentine' (1989), 'Pretty Woman' (1990) or 'Thelma and Louise' (1991). A 'Culture Vulture' is a person with an excessive interest in, and is enthusiastic about, the arts.

A 'Legal Eagle' is a definition for a lawyer also called a 'Legal Beagle'. 'Stranger Danger' is a term which is aimed at children who must be aware of the dangers of going off with strangers. Nosh is food or a light meal which comes from the Yiddish word, nash. 'Posh Nosh' is expensive food such as truffles or cavier which tends to be eaten by people with a healthy bank balance. Finally, 'Snail Mail' is mail delivered by a postal system as distinct from electronic mail therefore is much slower in reaching its destination.

Answer: boar and sow

The mole is a mammal which is native to Europe, Asia and North America. Its diet consists of mainly earthworms along with insect larvae and slugs which are eaten in its burrows. The mole has a muscular body covered in black, velvety fur and its enlarged forelimbs are ideal for digging. This insectivore will not be found among high moors, mountains nor in acidic soils.

Answer: Chang and Eng Bunker

Chang and Eng Bunker were born on the 11th May 1811 in the Mekong Valley, Siam, which is now known as Thailand. They were joined by the breastbone by a five-inch connecting ligament. P.T. Barnum earned them a good living as entertainers, touring the world. Eventually they settled in North Carolina, USA, married sisters (Sallie and Adelaide Yates) and lived as successful businessmen and ranchers in Wilkes County. Eng and his wife had eleven children whereas Chang fathered ten children. Approximately one in two hundred deliveries of identical twins are that of conjoined twins which are always the same-sex, as they originate from a single fertilised egg. Chang and Eng were never separated and they both died within hours of each other on 17th January, 1874.

Answer: Practical jokes

Anyone who is young and naive may have been asked to fetch a left-handed screwdriver as a practical joke to play on a new starter at their place of work. Of course a screwdriver can be used by either a right-handed or left-handed person. A glass hammer would simply smash on impact therefore is useless.

A benzene ring is a hexagonal ring of bonded carbon atoms in a benzene molecule, formula C6H6, but it is not what it sounds like, as part of a nut and bolt set. If you are asked to go to the stores for a long stand, you probably would be left waiting around until you became aware it was a practical joke.

As for being sent to the kitchen to see if there are any fresh tarts, was always a classic request.

Answer: safety last

This 1923 movie has the classic scene where Harold Lloyd is hanging suspended from a skyscraper whilst clutching the hands of a giant clock. We are all aware that safety always comes first in all the tasks we need to carry out whereas in this film it is featured well down the list. Slapstick is all about the perfect combination of thrills and laughter.

Answer: Dr Magnus Pyke

Dr Magnus Pyke was born in London, England, on 29th December, 1908. He thrived on being portrayed as an eccentric, mad, scientist and waved his arms about whilst talking. 'Weird and Wonderful Science Facts' was one of twelve or so books he wrote. In the seventies he appeared on television on a programme called 'Don't Ask Me' which ran between 1974 and 1979 and he became a popular figure to mimic by impressionists of that era. 'Don't Ask Me' had David Bellamy and Dr Miriam Stoppard on the show and the panel was asked about viewer's queries on scientific matters. Alas, this popular British scientist died on 19th October, 1992.

Answer: Poetry

Paul Celan (1920-70) was a Romanian born, German-Jewish poet. He wrote in German and was regarded as one of the great poets of the twentieth century. Although he had studied medicine in France, he was a tortured soul and was deeply troubled by his parents' death during the Holocaust. Around the Passover of 1970 he drowned himself in the River Seine. One could say there was no poetic justice as he became in Seine (insane - awful pun) Hope you enjoyed the quiz and learnt something new.