Mix Me Up No 5 Trivia Quiz

Answer: "There they don't care if you're blind or not."

Peter Falk (1927-2011) made many films, including the 1965 comedy "The Great Race", but it was for his role as Lieutenant Colombo in the long-running television series "Colombo" that he is most identified. After initial success as a stage actor, Falk undertook a screen test at Columbia Pictures to test out his movie acting skills and appeal. Failing the test, he was told by the ever so charming studio boss Harry Cohn that "For the same price I can get an actor with two eyes". Falk, whose right eye had been removed when he was three years old (cancer), refused to let that disgusting remark defeat him and went on to prove his worth as a fine actor in many films on the silver screen before switching to his memorable television role.

He was a Virgo and brought a thoroughness to every role he played, so much so that Lew Wasserman, head of Universal Studios, remarked that Falk was a perfectionist. Falk laconically said of this compliment that he didn't know whether it was said "out of affection or because he felt I was a monumental pain in the ass".

Answer: It eats its own feathers

Nobody knows for certain why the grebe does this, but it feeds feathers to its chicks as well from time to time. The consumed plumage dissolves in the bird's stomach into a large soft blob, and one theory is that this protects its lower digestive tract from any sharp objects that may have been swallowed.

This bird is remarkably clumsy because of the positioning of its legs, which are set very far back towards its rear. Its large feet trail behind its body as well so that it always seems about to overbalance and fall over when it is walking.

These large feet help it when swimming and diving, because, also unfortunately, it has very short tail feathers and small wings which only work with a minimum of efficiency in those areas. Neither can it take off from land because of its build, but has to run along the surface of the water with its big flat feet for quite some distance before it has lift-off. Part of its courting ritual includes giving gifts of weed to its prospective mate. Goodness me, that sort of thing could get it arrested!

Answer: The Infinite Monkey Theorem

Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle. They get paid for coming up with that colossal piece of nonsense? One would expect that any creature hitting keys at random on a keyboard for an infinite amount of time could type up every word that's ever been written, without dragging poor old Shakespeare into it to use as a specific example. (What fools these mortals be, Will). The monkey, they say, is a metaphor for a mechanical typing device selecting letters at random, and there is even a mathematical formula worked out to prove their point.

The history of the Infinite Monkey Theorem can be traced right back to the Greek philosopher Aristotle's "Metaphysics". In it he discusses the work of one Leucippus, who held the opinion that the world was created through random combinations of atoms. This calls for a badly misquoted remark from Albert Einstein in which he said that God does not play dice with the universe. Perhaps we could say now that God isn't a typist either? However, moving back to modern times and the year 2003, scientists partially tested this theory at a zoo in Devon, England. They left a computer keyboard in an enclosure with six monkeys for a month to see if they could produce any random words. The results were that the monkeys produced five pages of nothing but the letter S, and were so unimpressed with their new toy that they attacked it with a stone, and then urinated and defecated on it. So perhaps the theory is true after all. Those monkeys certainly did produce the complete works.

Answer: Australia

Dengue fever has affected 60-100 million people every year with symptoms ranging from moderate to very severe, and even life-threatening. These symptoms can include fever, joint and muscle pain, headaches, rash, bleeding, low levels of platelets, dengue shock syndrome and extremely low blood pressure. Australian scientists have modified a mosquito gene that blocks the transmission of this disease, and have released mosquitoes carrying this gene into the wild, where they are rapidly interbreeding with other mosquitoes there and passing on this modified gene.

Answer: Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell, born 1936, has had a career including that of country rock singer, host of his own television show ("The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour"), and actor. He is perhaps most identified with the hits "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", "Galveston", and "Rhinestone Cowboy".

His awards for a long career spent in delivering music to the world include four Grammys, Male Vocalist of the Year from both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association, and winning the CMA 1968's Entertainer of the Year Award.

His movie roles include that of appearing opposite John Wayne in the 1969 movie "True Grit" which saw him nominated for a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer. The father of eight children (four of whom are part of his band), he has been married four times, and has been with wife Kim since they married in 1982.

She has been by his side constantly and has helped him remember anything he has forgotten.

Answer: A main road dissects it

This airport, jutting out to sea, is located on the northern end of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, and, though classed as a civilian airport, is actually owned by the British Ministry of Defence. Flights only go to and from Britain but this may eventually change in the future.

The main road that dissects this airport is known as the Winston Churchill Avenue and it is the only road that joins Gibraltar to nearby Spain. Consequently, every time a plane has to take off or land, this road has to be closed. I think that's awfully funny.

The airport was built (on a race course) during World War II when Gibraltar was a crucial British naval base. Construction of a new airport was expected to begin in 2007, but has been delayed several times.

Answer: A bird

This bird was originally found in Madagascar, Africa, Malaysia and New Guinea, but eventually found its way to Australia approximately six million years ago, where it has quite comfortably remained ever since. Found mostly in bushland, the bird has plain dark colouring, a long tail and short legs, a description, I might add, that fits me perfectly.

It possesses quite a skill at mimicry and can easily copy the sound of other birds and small animals, is quite fearless in its behaviour and often attacks other larger birds if its fledglings are threatened in any way. Today in Australia calling someone a drongo (minus the obligatory adjective that usually precedes the word) is considered to be insulting, with the inference being that that person is an idiot.

It is believed that the term came to be associated with human behaviour because of the bird's peculiar antics when, for no reason at all, it will suddenly and without any provocation, attack any other creature nearby. Remarkably like an Australian footballer really when one considers the behaviour seen more and more on our football fields today.

Answer: They're descended from Adam but not from Eve

An interesting take on the birds and the bees indeed. The Yazidi, who have been around since the 12th century, explain this physiological miracle away with the following teaching: Before the role of the sexes were determined, Adam and Eve, who were two beings, had a spat over "who would provide the creative element in begetting children". To settle the argument they stored a seed from each in a jar. When Eve's jar was open, surprise surprise, it was full of many unpleasant things, but when Adam's jar was opened, it contained a beautiful boy named Son of Jar. When he grew up, Son of Jar married a spirit from Paradise and all the little jars produced from this marriage became the ancestors of today's Yazidi.

Some of the more unusual taboos of this religion include their refusal to allow converts, to wear the colour blue, to marry outside their clans, or to eat lettuce because of its resemblance to the human ear. Because of their staunch resistance to marriage outside of their clans, it was 200 Yazidi who beat and stoned to death that young Yazidi girl in 2007 when she fell in love with a Muslim boy. They also believe in reincarnation, that the world was originally a pearl, that the rest of the human race is descended from Eve, and in sacrificing an ox once a year.

Answer: The Methodist Rome

The implied suggestion of this name was that just as Rome was central to Catholicism, so was Toronto to Methodism. Though this faith was never the majority of the people in this city, Toronto did have a very large population of people affiliated with the religion.

Some believe that it was indeed the biggest population of gathered Methodists anywhere else in the world at that time. As a result, the puritanical aspects of Methodism played a strong role in the shaping of the city's identity. There were very strict limits on the sale of alcohol, particularly so on Sundays, and discrimination against Jews and Catholics in all levels of society was rife. Canadian journalist Peter C. Newman (born in 1929 and of Jewish descent) described the Toronto of that time in history as a "sort of Calvinist Tehran".

After Canadian Methodists merged with Protestants and Congregationalists in 1925 and became known as the United Church of Canada, and following the arrival of large numbers of immigrants from Europe, this nickname began to fade from use.

However, its memory lingers on even today, as evidenced by the fact that Toronto still has some of the most stringent alcohol retail laws in the North American continent. I'll drink to that...hic!

Answer: Someone who is an expert in many different fields

A polymath is an expert, or someone who is extremely knowledgeable, in many areas. The classic example used when discussing this term is the great Leonardo da Vinci who, just to mention a few of his accomplishments, was a highly skilled painter, sculptor, musician, scientist, engineer, inventor etc. A "Renaissance Man" (Person, if you please) is a common term used for this concept, because it sums up the commonly held belief from that period in history that humans were "limitless in their capacities for development and...people should embrace all knowledge and develop their capacities as fully as possible" intellectually, physically, artistically and socially. Indeed, many of history's polymaths lived during the Renaissance period. Their ideal of education was to be as rounded as possible, and universal, rather than specific and local, and this gave rise to the term "university" when applied to higher learning.

Here is an extract from the day that describes the ideal polymath. It is taken from "The Book of the Courtier" by one Baldassare Castiglione who lived from 1478 to 1529: A polymath should have "a detached, cool, nonchalant attitude, speak well, sing, recite poetry, have proper bearing, be athletic, know the humanities and classics, paint and draw and possess many other skills, always without showy or boastful behaviour... and performed without effort". Some of history's great polymaths include Imhotep, Pythagoras, Aristotle, Roger Bacon, Leonardo, Galileo, Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, Frederick II, Thomas Jefferson, Goethe, Schweitzer, Paul Robeson and Isaac Asimov. All Fun Trivia members will, if they are not already, be polymaths one day of course. Either that, or completely insane.