Cool Zooms, Part XXII Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dick Tracy

Chester Gould created "Dick Tracy" and based him on the deeds of the famed Prohibition agent Eliot Ness. He forwarded his idea to Joseph Medill Patterson of the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate with the name of "Plainclothes Tracy". It was Patterson idea to give him the Christian name "Dick", an informal term for detective, and, in October of 1931, Tracy made his publishing debut.

Tracy would use gadgets, such as his two-way wrist radio, forensic science and his own intelligence to solve crimes. Tracy's lover, and eventual wife, was Tess Trueheart but Tracy certain made their relationship a challenging one. Many times Tess would come into the line of fire and have her life placed in danger by some evil villain looking to get at Tracy.

This question was inspired by one of Alfred Hitchcock's short comedies, 1923's "Always Tell Your Wife" and was brought to you by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who is often terrified to tell his wife.

Answer: Elastic

Elastic is an open search engine and index based on the Apache Lucerne library. Though written in Java, it works across multiple platforms. Its precursor was called 'Compass', created in 2004 by Shay Banon when he was trying to create a recipe app for his wife. 'Elasticsearch' was released in 2010, and since then, it has grown to include commercial services and related software; it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2018, with a public offering with an estimated valuation of between 1.5 and 3 billion dollars.

Elastic credit is established when the bank offers a line of credit, or cash advance, as an alternative to short-term loans. Also known as 'payday' loans, they are a type of line of credit that allows you to use credit when you need it.

Elastic was patented by Thomas Hancock in 1820.

The Hitchcock movie, 'An Elastic Affair', was a short (10-minute) film he directed in 1930 and is considered a 'lost' film. Unusually for Hitchcock, it was a comedy starring Cyril Butcher as The Boy and Aileen Despard as The Girl.

This question was stretched and snapped into place by Phoenix Rising member VegemiteKid.

Answer: Champagne

The word 'Champagne' can only legally be used on sparkling wine produced in the French area of Champagne under the rules set out by the Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne.

Many wine producing areas have sparkling wines made by the same methods such as prosecco (Italy) and cava (Spain), and sekt (Germany), but champagne still maintains its reputation as being the best.

Climate changes are altering the weather patterns and causing problems in the grape growing ability of the Champagne region and vineyards are having to look further afield for their grapes. Kent in the UK has become a place where sparkling wine grapes now grow very successfully, and English sparkling wines are winning awards in taste tests against well known champagne varieties.

This question was linked to Hitchcock's film 'Champagne'.

"I've got the money, I've got the place
You've got the figure, you've got the face
Let's get together, the two of us over a glass of champagne" - Sailor
smpdit likes a musical accompaniment to her glass of fizz.

Answer: Laurence Olivier

In his book "Confessions of an Actor" (1982) Olivier wrote "a superstitious or possibly semireligious fear that some overblown claim to pride in myself would be bound to find the punishment it deserved". His premonition came true in October of 1964, during the opening night of "The Master Builder", anger at two of his fellow actors, whom he felt had not prepared enough, coupled with tiredness led to him forgetting his lines. For the next five and a half years stage fright continued to plague him through various performances for the National Theatre.

This question, which was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's 1950 mystery film "Stage Fright", was played out on cue by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19, who is also happy to report that Sir Laurence Olivier responded as the professional that he was and "Long Day's Journey into Night" was a massive success for the National Theatre.

Answer: Yosemite Sam

'Knighty Knight Bugs' is a Looney Tunes short animation that walked away with the Oscar for the Best Animated Short Film in 1959. In the story we find Bugs as a jester in the court of King Arthur. None of King Arthur's knights are willing to risk their lives to win back the 'Singing Sword' which has been stolen by the Black Knight because the Black Knight's castle is guarded by a fire breathing dragon. Bugs makes the mistake of saying "only a fool would be crazy enough to do that" and is soon sent on his way to retrieve it. He arrives at the castle to find that Yosemite Same is the Black Knight and that the dragon has a cold. Every time the dragon sneezes, flames roar from his mouth and nostrils. Long story short Bugs gets the sword and tricks Sam and the dragon into entering a room full of explosives and then locks them in there. As Bugs leaves the castle, the dragon sneezes and the tower that Sam is in takes off like a rocket and Bugs delivers the above line.

This question was bought to you by a little hero from Phoenix Rising called pollucci19 and was inspired by a 1944 Alfred Hitchcock short film called 'Bon Voyage'.

Answer: The Agony of Defeat

Bogataj, a Slovenian, was representing Yugoslavia in 1970, in a ski-fly event in Germany. Light snow started falling at the start of the day and by the time Vinko had gotten to his third jump it was quite heavy, making the run extremely fast. Bogataj tried lowering his centre of gravity in an endeavour to pull out of the jump but only succeeded in losing control and tumbling end over end through a light fence. He was concussed and broke his ankle.

'Wide World of Sport' (WWOS) had filmed the crash and they inserted it into the show's opening segment that included a narration by Jim McKay. Vinko's crash would appear right at the point Jim utters the words "... the agony of defeat". Whilst the montage would change regularly, for many years, Vinko's crash and those words remained. Eventually that crash was shifted away from those words, but it still remained in the montage.

Bogataj became a sporting icon in the US as a result of this but he had no idea. In fact, he was stunned when WWOS appeared at his door one year with an invite to the show's 20th anniversary. On his arrival, it is claimed, he received the greatest cheer amongst a bevy of stars and even received an autograph request from the great Mohammad Ali.

This question was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's 1927 silent drama "Downhill" and was presented to you by Phoenix Rising's very upbeat pollucci19.

Answer: Sister Golden Hair

America hit the top with their 1975 hit, 'Sister Golden Hair', off the album 'Hearts', just one of many that have entered the charts in their 50-plus years on the world stage.

As normal with America's songs, the meaning of the lyrics is a bit fuzzy with interpretations ranging from a song about lost love, to a failed attempt to fly a kite (I think someone is letting their imagination run rife with THAT one!), but it is still a great song, with terrific harmonies. The song and album were produced by George Martin, who achieved a bit of success with a band known as The Beatles. The band was actually formed in England, as the band member's fathers were attached to the US military, on station near London.

'Foreign Correspondent' was a Hitchcock spy movie, released in 1940. It was nominated for several Oscars, including 'Best Picture', which it lost to 'Rebecca', directed by none other than Alfred Hitchcock!

Question submitted by ozzz2002, who quite enjoys listening to soft-rock bands whilst watching Hitchcock thrillers.

Answer: Frenzy

A 'frenzy' describes a person's or group's activities which are chaotic, unplanned and perhaps dangerous to those involved. It implies a state outside a rational mind. The cause might be intense emotion, a stressful situation or perhaps induced by psychotic substances. The word meaning has broadened to include description of situations with very rapid, bustling motion - a 'frenzy of activity', even though that is moving away from the link to psychological state.

'Frenzy' (1972) was Alfred Hitchcock's second last feature film. Set in 1970s London, the plot involves a serial killer Bob Rusk (Barry Foster) implicating his friend Richard Blaney (Jon Finch) for the horrific crimes which had links to both the Christie murders of the 1950s and the infamous Jack the Ripper cases.

This question was rushed into the quiz at the last moment by PR member MikeMaster99, but hopefully not without some thought!

Answer: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie starred as Mr. & Mrs. Smith, a bored married couple who are surprised to learn that they are both assassins hired by competing agencies to kill each other. The director was Doug Liman. Alfred Hitchcock directed another movie in 1941 with the same title about a couple who have been married for three years and are shocked to learn that their marriage is not legally valid. The stars were Carole Lombard and Robert Montgomery.

Phoenix Rising team member lg549 was thrilled to direct this question into the quiz.

Answer: David

Most Bible scholars agree that Psalm 32 was a response to King David's sin with Bathsheba (adultery and murder of her husband Uriah, as described in 2 Samuel 11). It is one of the most important penitential or confessional psalms. The overall theme, expressed succinctly in the first five verses, is the blessedness of forgiveness.

- The relief resulting from forgiveness (verses 1-2):
1) Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
2) Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.
- The impact of unconfessed sin (verses 3-4):
3) When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4) For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
- The simplicity of the remedy (verse 5):
5) Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord." And you forgave the guilt of my sin.

These passages teach that God is merciful and forgives those who acknowledge and repent of their sin, removing the weight of it, but not necessarily the consequences (David still received punishment).

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's JCSon (who needs plenty of forgiveness) and inspired by the Hitchcock film "I Confess".

Answer: South Korea

Seventeen is a K-Pop (Korean Pop) band formed in 2015 in Seoul, South Korea. The 13-strong group is divided into three sub-units: Hip-Hop, Vocal and Performance. The "Seventeen" name is the sum of the members, sub-units plus the entire group: 13 + 3 + 1.

Seventeen is seen as a self-producing group with its members being actively involved in production of their works, rather than depending upon outside sources for material. The group has enjoyed success domestically and internationally.

"Number Seventeen" was directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1932 and starred John Stuart, Anne Grey and Leon M. Lion. The "comedy-drama" film was based on a play by Joseph Jefferson Farjeon and deals with a gang of thieves gathering at a safe-house (Number 17) while being pursued by a detective.

Phoenix Rising's psnz summed up his approach to this question with a lyric from the K-Pop band: "I want it to be simple... [but] Nothing is easy in this exit-less, maze-like world."

Answer: Jamaica

Courtney Walsh was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1962 and represented the West Indies Cricket Team from 1984 until 2001. He played 132 test matches, 22 as captain. Walsh was a fast bowler, taking 519 test wickets and he was the first bowler in test cricket to reach the 500 mark.

Michael Holding was also born in Kingston, Jamaica, but in 1954. Like Courtney Walsh, he was also a fast bowler. Nicknamed "Whispering Death", between 1975 and 1987 Holding played 60 test matches for the West Indies, finishing with 249 wickets.

Alfred Hitchcock directed "Jamaica Inn" in 1939, an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel. Starring Charles Laughton and Maureen O'Hara, it was Hitchcock's final British film before his move to the United States. The story is set in Cornwall in the early 19th century where the Jamaica Inn was the base of a gang who wrecked ships for profit.

"Good clean shot, wasn't it?" Phoenix Rising's psnz reflected on a quotation that could equally apply to test cricket or to an 1819 murder.

Answer: Juno

The solar-powered Juno space probe was launched in August 2011 and took almost five years to reach Jupiter. Once inserted into Jupiter's orbit, the probe began to analyse Jupiter's composition, gravity, magnetic field, winds and try to gain information about the planet's formation. A series of polar orbits were cancelled due to a problem with one of the engines, however the mission was also extended for three years past its 2018 completion date.

The name Juno is not an acronym of Jupiter Near-polar Orbit as many think, but from mythology. According to NASA's 2011 post following the launch, "Juno's name comes from Greek and Roman mythology. The god Jupiter drew a veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief, and his wife, the goddess Juno, was able to peer through the clouds and reveal Jupiter's true nature."

This question was based on the Hitchcock movie "Juno and the Paycock" and was launched into the quiz by leith90 who thought that Juno's solar panel arrays resembled a peacock's tail. Kind of.

Answer: Northwest Passage

In 1903, Amundsen started his journey on the small, 47-ton, sloop, "Gjoa", through the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, successfully ending up in Nome, Alaska in 1906. Later, in 1911, perhaps more famously, Amundsen and his team were the first to reach the South Pole, beating the doomed party of Robert F. Scott.

Taking a different direction than his peers, Phoenix Rising's mike32768 couldn't pass on writing this question related to the 1959 Hitchcock mistaken-identity thriller, "North by Northwest", starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint.

Answer: Richie Cunningham

Richie Cunningham, played by Ron Howard in the 70's sitcom "Happy Days". He was friends to Ralph, Potsie and Fonzie and brother to Joanie and Chuck. While Chuck was rarely seen in the show, Joanie was a regular who had a brief crush on Potsie, was looked after by Richie and Fonzie, and had a relationship with Chachi Arcola. Richie Cunningham was originally the lead male character on the show, but was reduced to equal billing by the Fonz, when his popularity took even the writers and producers by surprise. Richie was the quintessential American boy-next-door who was extremely loyal to his family and friends.

This question was influenced by Hitchcock's 1931 film "Rich and Strange", which featured Hitchcock as director and co-screenwriter. The movie was a resounding flop at both the British and US box offices.

Phoenix Rising's leith90, a closet Fonzie fan who remembers watching "Happy Days" in her younger years, was very happy to pen this question.

Answer: Duran Duran

"Notorious" was Duran Duran's fourth studio album. Its title track, "Notorious", reached number two in the US. The band credited Hitchcock for inspiring several of the songs including "Vertigo" and "Hold Me" (which was originally called "Rope").

The 1946 Hitchcock film, "Notorious", starred Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman. Bergman plays the daughter of a convicted Nazi spy recruited by Grant to infiltrate a group of Nazis living in Brazil.

The somewhat notorious Phoenix Rising member, mike32768, is a fan of both Duran Duran and Hitchcock, a sufferer of mild vertigo (who isn't?!), and often at the end of his rope.

Answer: The Farmer's Wife

The earliest known version of "Three Blind Mice" was published in "Deuteromelia or The Seconde part of Musicks melodie" in 1609 (in which the mice are notably NOT parted from their tails):

Three Blinde Mice,
Three Blinde Mice,
Dame Iulian,
Dame Iulian,
the Miller and his merry olde Wife,
she scrapte her tripe licke thou the knife.

James Orchard Halliwell, a collector of English nursery rhymes and fairy tales, introduced "Three Blind Mice" to children's literature in 1842. The modern version reads as follows:

Three blind mice. Three blind mice.
See how they run. See how they run.
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a sight in your life,
As three blind mice?

This question, inspired by Hitchcock's "The Farmer's Wife", was carved up by Phoenix Rising's JCSon.

Answer: Tivoli Gardens

Tivoli's founder, Georg Carstensen was granted a five-year charter to construction Tivoli by informing King Christian VIII that "when the people are amusing themselves, they do not think about politics."

The park was opened in 1843 near the southern ramparts of the old city. A portion of the former moat became a boating lake. The amusement park was first called "Tivoli & Vauxhall" after the Jardin de Tivoli in Paris (which itself had been named after Tivoli near Rome, Italy), and "Vauxhall", a reference to Vauxhall Gardens in London. Tivoli is the second-oldest operating amusement park in the world after Dyrehavsbakken located a few kilometres north of Copenhagen.

Tivoli Gardens appear in the Hitchcock film "Torn Curtain".

Question by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1 who has had the distinct pleasure of visiting Tivoli Gardens.

Answer: Oslo, Norway

Henrik Ibsen was a 19th century Norwegian playwright, who was responsible for works such as 'A Doll's House', 'Hedda Gabler' and 'Peer Gynt'. Many of Ibsen's plays addressed themes that were controversial for the time, such as women's roles in society outside of being a wife and mother, as well as issues around morality and adultery. Although he lived and worked in Norway and his major works were set in his home country, Ibsen primarily wrote in Danish - both because he had a Danish publisher and because Danish was widely used as a written language in Norway at the time.

Ibsen died in Oslo (then known as Kristiana) in 1906, at the age of 78. He was buried in the prestigious Cemetery of Our Saviour, which is particularly noted for its many grand tombstones and memorials. His family plot also commemorates his wife Suzannah, his only son Sigurd (who served as Norwegian prime minister from 1903-05) and various grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

'Family Plot' was the final film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It had a convoluted plot about a rich woman's attempt to find a long-lost family member and the danger she ended up in when he turned out to be both a kidnapper and a murderer.

Phoenix Rising's Fifiona81 was responsible for burying this question at the end of this quiz.

Answer: Blackmail

Generally speaking blackmail is the act of coercing someone into meeting one's demands under the threat of revealing compromising information (whether true or not) if the demands are not met. Blackmail can be utilized to obtain monetary payments or positions of influence. In many jurisdictions blackmail is considered to be a form of extortion and if convicted includes some jail time.

Interestingly, the self-proclaimed "First Full Length All Talkie Film Made in Great Britain" was called "Blackmail". Released in 1929, "Blackmail" was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and it starred Anny Ondra, John Longden, and Cyril Ritchard. The film is set in London and it involves a woman who is blackmailed after she kills someone in self-defense.

This question was blackmailed into the quiz by Phoenix Rising team member Triviaballer who was threatened to be placed into the 'Naughty Corner' if he didn't get his question done posthaste.