Cool Zooms, Part LXV Trivia Quiz

Answer: Superman/Clark Kent

Kal-El is the Kryptonian name of the superhero who was sent to live on Earth as a baby because his home planet, Krypton, was on the verge of being completely destroyed and (in most storylines in the "Superman" universe) his parents Jor-El and Lara die along with the planet. He became Clark Kent after being adopted by a human couple - Jonathan and Martha Kent - and grew up on their farm in Smallville, Kansas. After reaching adulthood Clark began to use his amazing super powers to help humanity with the help of a flashy costume and the alias "Superman".

Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and first appeared in a DC Comics publication in 1938. Since then the character has appeared in numerous radio, TV, film and video games, fighting crime and generally seeking to promote "Truth, Justice and the American Way".

This question was flown into the quiz at super speed by Phoenix Rising's Fifiona81.

Answer: Robin

Though long associated with the Christmas season, the robin is not one of the six birds mentioned in 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'. Besides a partridge, six geese, and seven swans, two turtle-doves, three French hens and four calling birds (originally "colly birds", meaning "blackbirds") are listed among the gifts given to the singer by their "true love" during the 12-day period leading from Christmas Day to the Epiphany (Twelfth Night). The words to the carol were probably published for the first time in the 18th century, while the best-known melody associated with it, based on a traditional folk tune, was arranged by English composer Frederick Austin in the early 1900s.

This question was composed, arranged, and made presentable (pun intended) by LadyNym.

Answer: 102

If you're like me, then you overthought it and recorded 123. By highlighting 'whole' numbers we are excluding fractions or decimal points and, whilst we said no zero at the front, didn't mean that you couldn't include the zero, or that zero couldn't be the second number.

102, in Roman numerals, is CII. It is the emergency number for the police in Ukraine, the atomic number for nobelium and it is the title of a 1991 single by the Judds. Walt Disney Pictures also used the number in the title of their 2000 film "102 Dalmatians", a sequel to their 1996 film "101 Dalmatians".

The question was placed in order by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19.

Answer: Somme River

The Battle of the Somme, which took place over more than four months, is considered to be one of the deadliest in history, leading to the injury or death of more than a million men. It was fought between the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. The River Somme is 245km long and flows through the region of Picardy in Northern France. Its name originates from the word 'Samara' meaning summery, quiet or tranquil river. The Bay of the Somme on the English Channel (La Manche) was also the assembly point for William the Conqueror's fleet before leaving to invade England in 1066.

Phoenix Rising's smpdit has driven through this beautiful area of France and can only be thankful to not witness the horror of war.

Answer: Ullage

Also known as 'headspace', 'ullage' denotes the unfilled space in a container. In winemaking, the word was originally used to refer to the amount by which a barrel was not filled with wine; it later came to denote the air space at the top of a bottle, which allows for the contents to expand with changes in temperature. The word comes from the French "ouillage", which in the Middle Ages meant "filling up to the bunghole". Potage is a thick, creamy soup, while borage is a herb, and nonage refers to the state of being under legal age.

This heady question was brewed by LadyNym.

Answer: sacrilegious

While 'sacrilegious', as it is commonly pronounced, sounds like it contains the word 'religious' (explaining why it is often misspelled), the 'e' and the first 'i' are opposite in relation to each other. 'Sacrilege' (the noun form of the word) is disrespect for sacred things. While it is often used in a religious sense, there are things people consider sacred that are not necessarily religious (like, for example, human life, the environment, and the rule of law).

This question pledged by Phoenix Rising's faithful JCSon.

Answer: Billie Jean King

The way Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote songs was unusual: Mr Taupin wrote the lyrics first and Mr John wrote the music after he read the lyrics. Mr John sometimes suggested titles though and he wanted a song called Philadelphia Freedom to be dedicated to his close friend, former tennis great Billie Jean King. Philadelphia Freedoms was a men's tennis team that Ms King coached. However the song itself was inspired by the Philadelphia soul sound of acts like The O'Jays.

On the single version of the song, it stated the song was dedicated to "B.J.K." (Billie Jean King) and "The Soulful Sounds Of Philadelphia."

Question written by 1nn1 from team Phoenix Rising who was "hopping and bopping" to this song in 1976.

Answer: Cat Dancing

'The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing' is a 1973 western that was based on Marilyn Durham's debut novel. Burt Reynolds is Jay Grobart, an outlaw married to Cat Dancing, a Native American woman. When Cat is raped and murdered Grobart hunts down and kills the man responsible. He winds up in jail, is eventually released and proceeds to rob a train. On the run he and the gang abduct a woman (Catherine) and now being pursued by the detectives and Catherine's husband. Catherine falls for Grobart and the rest becomes predictable.

Despite boasting a cast that included other prominent stars such as Sarah Miles, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Warden, George Hamilton, Bo Hoskins and Jay Silverheels, the film failed to raise a temperature. Roger Greenspun of The New York Times called it a "festival of incompetence" and Burt Reynolds was quoted as saying "There's nothing to talk about in Cat Dancing except that it brings me pain, so I'd rather not talk about it."

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who is not a fan of cats or dancing.

Answer: New Mexico (fourth-last)

Preantepenultimate is a term referring to the item that is "three before the end" aka the "fourth-from-last" in a list or collection. Of the fifty states that make up the United States of America it is New Mexico - which gained statehood on January 6th, 1912 - that can claim to be the country's preantepenultimate state. Arizona, which joined 39 days later on February 14th, 1912, has to make do with just being the antepenultimate state. The term for something being "fifth-last" or "four before the end" is propreantepenultimate, which might be a bit of a mouthful to say for any Oklahomans, but at least their state has a term to describe its position - there is no equivalent official term for something that is sixth-last.

This question was slotted into line by Phoenix Rising's Fifiona81 who was the team's propreantepenultimate member when this quiz was first zoomed.

Answer: Wives of Henry VIII

A musical comedy from British authors Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, 'Six' brings a new modern take on the lives of Henry VIII six wives, who compete against each other to say who had the worst experience as a royal wife. They present themselves at a pop concert and whoever 'wins' becomes the lead singer of the band.

The show premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017, and subsequently moved to the West End and other international tours.

smpdit is not a musical fan, but is slightly intrigued by the concept.

Answer: Snorkasaurus

Dino was featured in the pilot episode of 'The Flintstones' in 1960 but his name was not mentioned until the fourth season. Mel Blanc provided the voice for Dino from 1960 to 1989 as well as in two films in 1994 and 2000. While the Snorkasaurus is not a real dinosaur species, Dino is modeled after the sauropods which had long necks, tails and heads and four column-like legs.

This question was prehistorically fossiled into the quiz by Phoenix Rising teammate Triviaballer who loved animated cartoons and movies as a kid and an adult.

Answer: Night at the Museum

'Night at the Museum' was produced and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was a box office success grossing nearly $575 million on a budget of $110 million. The film starred Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, a nighttime security guard at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Much to his surprise, Larry finds out that the wax exhibits like Theodore Roosevelt, Attila the Hun, the pharaoh Ahkmenrah, Sacajawea and others talk and move as if they are alive. Eventually, Larry and the wax exhibits help catch thieves trying to steal a tablet from the museum.

This question was lit into the quiz by Phoenix Rising teammate Triviaballer who finds wax exhibits both creepy and awesome.

Answer: Diurnal

Plants can be diurnal, with most flowering during the day, because that is when pollinators, such as bees, are awake.

Matutinal animals are most active around dawn, and photoperiodism is the innate responses by plants to light and darkness.

Crepuscular animals are most active at dusk and cathemerality refers to organisms that are active in irregular periods of day AND night.

This question written by ozzz2002, who is certainly not matutinal.

Answer: Ice dancing

A twizzle (which makes me think of my favourite cocktail) is a manoeuvre in which a skater makes a continuous turning movement on one foot. The skater must move across the ice during the execution of the manoeuvre.

As the movement is part of a dance routine, it can be executed either clockwise or anti-clockwise, on either foot or skate edge, and can move the skater forward or backwards. The twizzle move is judged on style, complexity and proximity of the partner, while the entire routine is also judged on incorporated technical dance moves (jumps and spins), choreography, transitions and interpretation. The music must come from a specified pool of dance rhythms (samba, mambo, meringue, etc), and lasts between 300 and 360 seconds.

VegemiteKid, Phoenix Rising's resident owner of two left-feet, twirled this question into the quiz and then fell flat on her face.

Answer: False

Esto Es Una Tonteria literally means 'this is bull manure' or more politely 'this is nonsense'. Horse racing has been around since ancient times with archeological records finding evidence in the civilizations of ancient Greece, ancient Rome, Babylon, ancient Syria, and ancient Egypt. Today thoroughbred racing dominates the high stakes realm but there are many other forms of horse racing including, jump racing, steeplechasing, and hunt racing. No matter which type of racing, there is much money involved in the breeding, upkeep, training and racing of these animals with thoroughbred racing being the most expensive.

This question was entered into the quiz by Phoenix Rising member tamzan6619 and in the words of a local car dealer Tex Earnhardt, "That ain't no bull."

Answer: 3

Ben Folds Five is a trio of musicians that formed in Capel Hill, NC in 1993. Noted for their humour in songs they decided that "Ben Folds Five" sounded better than "Ben Folds Three". Unusual for a rock band, they had no guitar player, just a keyboardist (Folds), bass player and drums. Popular as an indie act they had mainstream success with a top ten hit in some markets with "Brick" from their 1997 album, "Whatever and Ever Amen".

Question written by 1nn1 from team Phoenix Rising who thought that "Brick" was one of the saddest songs ever written.

Answer: It gets rubbery

Now you know how to go about making your own rubber chicken. Seriously though, what really takes place is that the acetic acid in the vinegar reacts with the calcium in the bone, causing it to weaken, go soft and become rubbery.

The key observation from this is that it is the calcium that makes our bones hard and strong. As you age there is a chance that the calcium depletes at a faster rate than your body can produce it. If this trend is maintained, the bones will eventually become weak and brittle and prone to breaking on you, hence the need to continue to include high calcium foods as a vital part of your diet.

Your bones are not just calcium, they also contain a protein called collagen which provides the bones protection against wear and tear and a level of flexibility. Whilst the vinegar may have dissolved the calcium in the chicken bone, it doesn't remove the collagen, which is why the bone doesn't totally disappear.

Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 did not even have to cross the road to deliver this question.

Answer: Star

The right side of a ship or aircraft as viewed from a forward-facing position is called the "starboard" side. 'Starlight' is the light that emanates from stars. 'Stardust' may refer to cosmic dust (particles floating in space between the stars), or more figuratively to an imaginary magical dust conferring charisma or glamour (or the appearance thereof when it lands upon the eyes of a beholder, thus turning said beholder starry-eyed). 'Starlet' refers to a young actress on her way to stardom. A stargazer is a colloquial term for an astrologer.

This stellar question was contributed by Phoenix Rising's JCSon.

Answer: Henry Blake

Edgar McLean Stevenson Jr. (better known by his middle name) joined the U.S. Navy, serving from 1946 - 1947. He then had a chequered career; insurance salesman, assistant athletics director, medical supplies salesman, and press secretary, amongst others. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in theatre arts from Northwestern University Illinois, where he was born. Stevenson starred in 71 episodes of "M*A*S*H", making the role of Lt. Colonel Henry Blake his own from 1973 - 1975.

His exit from the series, in the last episode of the 1974-1975 season called "Abyssinia, Henry", had him heading back to the States to pick up the threads of civilian life; however the plane taking him home was shot down over the Sea of Japan, with the loss of all lives.

This question was surgically inserted into the quiz by Phoenix Rising member VegemiteKid who is better at slicing and dicing veggies than people.

Answer: Sean Connery

Liddell was a Scottish athlete who competed in the 1924 Olympics. His story was portrayed in the movie 'Chariots of Fire'. Tennis player, Andy Murray was born in Glasgow in 1977, and has never competed in the Mr Universe show.

Jackie Stewart was a Formula One champion in 1969, 1971 and 1973, and also a champion shooter, narrowly missing a place in the Great British Olympic trap shooting team, in 1960.

This questioned was muscled into the quiz by ozzz2002.