Cool Zooms, Part XXXII Trivia Quiz

Answer: Genghis Khan

'The Canterbury Tales' is a collection of 24 tales based on stories told by a group of pilgrims during their journey from London to Canterbury. The Squire of 'The Squire's Tale' is the enthusiastic young son of the Knight (of 'The Knight's Tale fame) and his story is a suitably epic romance about the adventures of Genghis Khan and three of his children. In fact, it proved to be too epic as it remained unfinished - although that might have been a deliberate act on the part of Chaucer as the final part of the text includes a presumably fed up or impatient Franklin interrupting the Squire and beginning his own tale instead.

Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great are both featured in 'The Monk's Tale', which is about the tragic fate of 17 figures from history or mythology.

The Tale of Cool Zooms XXXII thus begins with this questionable piece by Fifiona81, who is pretty sure that you'd need the will of a famous conqueror to finish reading Geoffrey Chaucer's epic work (especially if your copy of it is written in Middle English).

Answer: Elder

Formerly classified in the honeysuckle family, the elder (or elderberry) flowering plant is in the Adoxaceae family of the genus Sambucus. Unless cooked, the berries are poisonous causing nausea, vomiting, cramps and diarrhea. The plant grows quickly and is, thus, a favorite as a hedgerow.

In popular culture, Elton John had a song, "Elderberry Wine" on his 1973 album, "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player" and J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series uses elder for an all-important wand.

However, Phoenix Rising's mike32768 would rather reference the 1975 film, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" when the French soldier taunts: "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries".

Answer: The Searchers

The Searchers, who took their name from the title of a 1956 John Wayne film, commenced life as a skiffle band in Liverpool and, along with the Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers, became one of the prime movers of the Merseybeat sound of the early 1960s. Their first single, 'Sweets for my Sweet' (1963), a remake of a Drifters' hit from 1961, stormed the English singles charts and established them as a key band of the era. Further hits followed with the Tony Hatch song 'Sugar and Spice' that same year, but it was their cover of the Jackie DeShannon recording 'Needles and Pins' the following year that saw them establish a market in the United States.

The band continued to be active into the 21st century, announcing their retirement in 2018 and conducting a farewell world tour in 2019.

This question was discovered by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who's happy that the band weren't watching the John Wayne film 'Drop Kick' before deciding on their name.

Answer: The Road to El Dorado

'The Road to El Dorado' is a 2000 Dreamworks animation that follows the adventures of two con men, Miguel (Kenneth Branagh) and Tulio (Kevin Kline) whose scam nets them a map to the fabled lost city of El Dorado. They get caught as stowaways on Hernan Cortes' ship but manage to escape on a row boat and, somehow, find their way to El Dorado, where the locals mistake them for gods.

The story borrows its storyline from Rudyard Kipling's 1888 short story about two British adventurers who con their way into being kings of the fictional land of Kafiristan. This in turn became the basis for the 1975 film starring Connery and Caine. The film also pays homage to the 'Road to...' films that featured Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.

The question was paved with gold by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19.

Answer: Laudanum

Opium, or laudanum as it was known in the 1600s, was also called 'the poor child's nurse'. The name 'laudanum' was a proprietary name for the opium tincture developed in the 1660s by English physician Thomas Sydenham. It was taken as a tincture initially, and later subcutaneously, which meant that relief could be obtained without the extreme bitterness of the liquid. The immediate effects of the new-fangled wonder drug meant that it was in every doctor's armoury, prescribed for pain of any sort and also as a cough suppressant. By the 1800s, the term "laudanum" had come to refer to any combination of opium and alcohol.

Many famous people were users of the drug for medicinal purposes, though often quickly became addicted; Samuel Taylor Coleridge became so addicted he supposedly wrote some of his most renowned works under the drug's influence. Once the dangers of the drug were realised doctors prescribed less frequently. Despite a ban on opium in the late-1800s and early-1900s in America, opium smoking became popular, with Chinese immigrants operating opium dens in most major cities. Often Chinese laundries also provided smoking facilities.

VegemiteKid required no puffing or interesting liquid to imagine this question into the quiz!

Answer: Louis XIII - The Just

Louis XIII ascended to the French throne in 1610, at the age of 9, after the assassination of his father, Henry IV. He reigned until his death from what is now believed to be tuberculosis in 1643. Set within real historical events and political intrigues in Paris of the late 1620s, Alexander Dumas' "The Three Musketeers" tells the story of a young adventurer, D'Artagnan, and his eventual joining of the French Guard (of Louis XIII) where he earns the respect and friendship of the three formidable leaders of the guard - The Three Musketeers - Porthos, Athos and Aramis.

The story was first published as a serial in 1844 and tapped into the extant friction between royalty and the republicans which soon led to the second revolution in 1848. This swashbuckling question was inserted between the ribs of this quiz by MikeMaster99 who loves adventure yarns that are set within authentic events and characters in history.

Answer: Summer solstice

The word "solstice" is formed from the Latin words "sol" (sun) and "sistere" (standing still). The Sun appears to stand still about June 21 and December 21 each year when the North or South poles are tilted closest to our nearest star.

In June, the Northern Hemisphere experiences midsummer, or the summer solstice. At the same time in the Southern Hemisphere, it is midwinter, also known as the winter solstice. This corresponds to the longest and shortest days in both hemispheres. The situation is reversed in December.

Throughout history, the summer solstice has been regarded as a major event and many cultures mark the time with rituals, festivals or holidays. In the Southern Hemisphere the summer solstice occurs a few days before Christmas.

An equinox (from Latin for "equal night") also occurs twice per year, about March 20 and September 23. When the sun is directly above the equator, the durations of day and night are approximately equal.

When a second full moon occurs during a calendar month, it is known as a "blue moon". This is a comparatively rare event, occurring just seven times every 19 years, leading to the colloquial phrase, "once in blue moon".

Phoenix Rising's psnz prepared, seasoned and baked this question into the quiz.

Answer: David Bowie

Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones is the son of David Bowie. David Bowie's birth name is David Jones and he began his career in the mid-1960s using the name Davy (or Davie) Jones, which invited confusion with Davy Jones of The Monkees. During much of his childhood Duncan was known as Zowie Bowie and in his teens mostly used Joey and then Joe as his first name. He began to use his birth name around the age of 18.

Duncan Jones graduated from the London Film School in 2001 and is now a successful film director, producer and screenwriter.

In an attempt to keep up with the Joneses, Phoenix Rising member lg549 produced this question.

Answer: Jacob

Genesis 25:19-28 (NIV) tells the story of Jacob and Esau who were the sons of Isaac and Rebekah. "The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them." (Gen 25:25-26, NIV)

Perez and Zerah were the sons of Judah and his daughter-in-law, Tamah. Their account is related in Genesis 38:12-30 (NIV). Tamar had tricked Judah into impregnating her. "When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand; so the midwife took a scarlet thread and tied it on his wrist and said, 'This one came out first.' But when he drew back his hand, his brother came out, and she said, 'So this is how you have broken out!' And he was named Perez. Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out. And he was named Zerah." (Gen 38:27-30, NIV)

This question was researched by Rising Phoenix's psnz who is not a twin but is a Gemini and also has younger twin brothers.

Answer: Sand

Andoni Bastarrika takes sandcastle making to another level. He uses sand to make incredible art with the addition of various materials such as ash and coal, to provide colour. His artwork tends to be found in the Basque area of Spain where they are positioned to look like animals washed up on the beach.

Phoenix Rising's smpdit finds it amazing that a bunch of little rocks can make something so awesome.

Answer: Columbia

The personification of a nation as a woman was especially popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the United States, Columbia (sometimes referred to as Lady Columbia or Miss Columbia) emerged as a national personification in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Her image was never fixed. She was sometimes depicted as a Native American princess, but was later draped in red, white, and blue. Like Uncle Sam, she appeared in Army recruitment posters during World War I. By World War II though, she had largely been replaced by Lady Liberty as the preferred female incarnation of the US.

Columbia is still alive and well in the modern consciousness. The US capital, the District of Columbia, was named after her. The film studio Columbia Pictures adopted Columbia as the company logo in 1924.

Lady of the Mountain is the female incarnation of Iceland and Marianne is the national personification of France.

This question was submitted by Phoenix Rising member, JCSon, who, like Columbia, stands for freedom and the pursuit of liberty.

Answer: Panama hats

Panama hats are a light weight, breathable hat made by weaving together leaves of the toquilla palm. The cottage industry of hat weaving began in Ecuador in the mid-1600s and in 1835, Manuel Alfaro began selling the hats along the trade route on the Isthmus of Panama, but he neglected to add a place of origin mark on them. The hats became very popular with the California gold rush miners, because they were lightweight and cool in the summer. The miners called them the "hats from Panama" and the name was reinforced after US President Theodore Roosevelt was pictured wearing one in 1906 while visiting the construction site of the Panama Canal.

Leith90 wove this question and decided it was a perfect fit for the quiz.

Answer: Kodiak bear

Physiologically similar to the grizzly bear, the Kodiak can, appropriately, be found on the islands of the Kodiak Archipelago in southwest Alaska. When it comes to contest in size, its main rival is the polar bear. To give you an indication about their size, brown bears would, generally, weigh between 115 kg to 360 kg (250 to 800 lbs) but the Kodiak will range from 300 to 600 kg (660 to 1320 lbs). Having said that, their diets, which consists of various vegetation, berries, other animals and salmon, do not vary a great deal.

This question was snapped up by Phoenix Rising's dancing bear, pollucci19, who doesn't mind having his picture taken.

Answer: Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley was in the casting directors' sights for the role of La Boeuf. However, his manager "Colonel" Tom Parker insisted that Presley receive top billing. The part was given to Glen Campbell instead. Elvis may have been the King, but no one is as big as the Duke.
According to IMDB.com, director Henry Hathaway post-release said "he hated Glen Campbell's performance, which he described as wooden, and claimed the singer was only cast so he could have a hit with the theme song which would help promote the film"

This question was written by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1 who owns neither rhinestones nor blue suede shoes.

Answer: Germany

The Krämerbrücke (which translates into English as the 'Merchants' Bridge') can be found in the German city of Erfurt - the capital of the state of Thuringia. The bridge dates back to the early 14th century and was originally constructed with wooden market stalls across the length of its span, which were replaced with timber-framed houses and shops in the late 15th century. While inhabited bridges are unusual in the 21st century, they were a common sight in medieval towns and cities across Europe and the Krämerbrücke is a rare surviving example.

The Ponte Vecchio in Florence also dates back to the 14th century, while Venice's Ponte Rialto was constructed in the late 16th century to replace an earlier wooden version. The shops and stalls on both these bridges have since become major tourist attractions. Pulteney Bridge in Bath, England is a later copy of this medieval style, having been built in the late 18th century as part of the work to develop the city as a fashionable spa destination. Other examples of shop-lined bridges in England include High Bridge in Lincoln and Frome Bridge, Somerset (although both of these only have buildings lining one side of them) and a French example - the Pont de Marchands - can be found in the southern town of Narbonne.

The reams of information available about these structures were abridged into this short question by Phoenix Rising's Fifiona81.

Answer: Shaped like a QR code

Xilinshui is in the northern province of Hebei. 130.000 Chinese junipers were planted strategically to create a QR code. A QR code is a matrix barcode pattern that can be read by a mobile phone's camera. If you can scan the code with your phone, it will take you to the village's website.

There are many villages around the world that have been built as a definite shape such as stars or pentagons.

smpdit wonders how much time is spent making sure the trees don't grow out of shape! She may have control issues.

Answer: Fugu

Fugu is the Japanese word for the pufferfish. Much of the flesh of the fish is extremely poisonous, containing the chemical tetrodotoxin. The toxin can kill an unlucky eater within minutes. Chefs train for more than two years to cook the fish, and must hold a licence issued by the Tokyo City government.

A Croquembouche is a French dessert consisting of a large pile of profiteroles, covered with chocolate and caramel, and loaded with calories; however, a license is not required to make one. Escargot are French snails, which are actually tastier than they sound.

This question prepared by ozzz2002, who is a hopeless chef, but can cook up a mean, but unlicensed, slice of toast.

Answer: Mahatma Gandhi

"Civilization" is a turn-based strategy 4X video game that was created by Sid Meier and first published in 1991. 4X, which is an abbreviation for Explore, Expand, Exploit and Exterminate, indicates that the game involves building an empire with a focus on developing the economy and new technologies. Meier's creation came in the formative years of the 4X genre and his games have gone on to claim both commercial and critical success.

Now for the Gandhi anomaly; Gandhi is well known for his peaceful approach to solutions and, as such, he receives the lowest aggression rating in the game. That rating is at one point. The highest aggression ration is 256. However, as the empire grows and the civilization achieves democracy and forms a government, the leader's aggression score is reduced by two points. This would mean that Gandhi's is reduced to minus one, but the system cannot go into negative territory and it corrects itself by returning to the back of the line i.e. 256, turning Gandhi into a warmonger with the highest aggression rating.

This question was defused by Phoenix Rising's own UXB (Unexploded Bomb) pollucci19.

Answer: Black

The first baseball uniforms were worn in 1849 by the Knickerbockers. These uniforms included straw hats. Umpires had to wear uniforms that contrasted with every team's colours.
By rule, MLB umpires are required wear only black underwear in the event that they split their pants. May be this is why Australian National Rugby League referees no longer wear pink shirts?

This question was stitched into the quiz by Phoenix Rising's 1nn1 who prefers to exercise his right to choose his own underwear colour.

Answer: It derives from the word for a ball of thread or yarn

The word 'clue' is derived from the Middle English word 'clew', meaning a ball of yarn or thread. In fact, many of the words formerly spelled "ew" were modified around the time to "ue" (e.g. 'blew', 'glew', 'imbew', and 'trew' became 'blue', 'glue', 'imbue', and 'true'). In modern English, the meanings of the words have diverged such that 'clew' is still used to refer to a ball of yarn, while 'clue' has come to mean something used to guide or direct through a maze or difficulty. The origin of this latter sense is actually a famous yarn involving yarn, wherein the Greek hero Theseus navigated his way out of the Minotaur's labyrinth with the aid of a ball of twine after defeating the monster.

The two fundamental knitting stitches are knit and purl. The fuzz and fluff of loose fibers around a strand of yarn is called its halo. And the written instructions for knitting are simply called a pattern.

This poser was stitched together by Phoenix Rising's JCSon.