The Life of Brian Trivia Quiz

Answer: an Irish or Breton mother in the Celtic times

Brian is a name of good Celtic heritage, used by Irish and Bretons. Due to the mingling of people in the following centuries, it spread further on the British isles and much later to the USA and Canada.

As it is with many old names, the real meaning is somehow lost in the mist of time. "Bre" means hill, so the name is most likely something like "exalted one" or alternatively "eminent", "noble" or "high".

Prominent bearers of this name include an Irish King of the 10th century called Brian Boru, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones and Brian Duncan Schneider, a former professional baseball player who played amongst other teams for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Answer: Whitney (American singer and actress)

The name "Huston" (as well as the "Houston" variant) are of Scottish origin, derived from the genitive form of Hugh or Hugo. Brian shared this last name with director John Huston, best known for his 1941 adaptation of "The Maltese Falcon" as well as for his double Oscar winner "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948).

His daughter Anjelica Huston also won an Oscar, as best supporting actress, under his direction, for her performance in "Prizzi's Honor" (1985). Author Nancy Huston usually writes in the French language, but has also published her own English translations of her works.

Her most famous work is her debut novel "Les Variations Goldberg" (1981).

Answer: Playing poker

While all of these hobbies can involve actions you'd associate with burning, the specific action of "burning one" occurs during the deal of many card games that involve betting. Before dealing a round of cards, the dealer discards the top card of the deck without looking at it in order to negate the chance that anyone might accidentally have glimpsed the card during the shuffle.

Answer: General Hospital

With over 13,000 episodes, "General Hospital" was the longest-running soap opera in production in 2015, and was only behind the discontinued "Guiding Light" (57 years) and "As the World Turns" (54 years) at the time. Originally aired in 30-minute segments, the show has been produced in hour-long episodes ever since 1978.

It has won the Emmy as the outstanding daytime drama series several times during its run, first winning in 1981.

Answer: Dunfermline, Scotland

Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland in 1835 to a family that had fallen on hard times. His family left Scotland in 1848 and immigrated to the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in hopes of a better life.

Answer: You guys stop shooting those rubber bands!

Both yinz and gumband are part of an American regional dialect known as Pittsburghese, a dialect of English spoken in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area.

Yinz is the plural you and derived from Scots-Irish English. You'uns and the more familiar y'all from the Southern United States are other forms with the same meaning. A gumband is a rubber band. Gum shoes and gumboots are two other examples where gum is substituted for the word rubber.

Brian used the word yinz in a post to the team message board. He then had to write another post explaining what yinz meant since most of the Cat People did not grow up speaking Pittsburghese.

Answer: Everly Brothers

Written by Terry Slater and Jacqueline Ertel, this was the last billboard top 40 song until 1984 for the Everly Brothers. Phil was born in Chicago, Don in Brownie (Kentucky), which is just about 60 miles from Bowling Green.

"Kentucky sunshine makes the heart unfold
It warms the body
And I know it touches the soul
Bluegrass is fine
Kentucky owns my mind

Bowling Green, Bowling Green"

Let's hope Brian did enjoy a bit of the Kentucky sunshine. His cats certainly did; they love sun. After his death, they were brought to an animal shelter there.

Answer: Felix and Alex

The name "Felix" is of Latin origin and can mean both "happy" and "lucky". Not only since the advent of the cat food of the same name has this been a popular name for cats. "Alex", of course, is short for Alexander, evoking the eponymous Macedon conqueror of antiquity. Alex certainly knew how to conquer a feline life, having lived to the ripe age of 24 years.

Answer: London, England

The Rolex watch company was founded in 1905 in London, England as Wilsdorf and Davis by brothers-in-law Alfred Davis and Hans Wilsdorf. The company opened an office La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland in 1908. Hans Wilsdorf left England in 1919 and moved the company to Geneva, Switzerland at that time.

Brian liked to give his cats names that had the letter X in the name. It was the death of his cat Rolex that made him feel the need to be near other Cat People.

Answer: White

Borax was first discovered in dry lake beds in Tibet and came to Arabia via the Silk Road. In the 19th century, it started being marketed as an ingredient in a large variety of products, such as pesticides, fungicides, house cleaners, toothpastes, glass enamels, pottery and flame retards. Borax is white in color and its crystals dissolve easily in water.

Interestingly, Brian named his beloved black cat Borax, a contradiction in itself. We may not know what made him choose that name but we do know how much he loved Borax and his other cats.

Answer: Ajax

Ajax was the last surviving of Brian's cats, all of whom he loved dearly. He was a shorthair tabby of between fifteen and sixteen years old when Brian died. I'm sure, like the Greek Ajax was known, Brian called his Ajax, "Ajax the Great" also. Ajax, as well as all of his other kitties, loved paper, and would play with it anytime they got a chance. We all know that Ajax misses Brian, as do we all, very much.

Answer: Revival

In "Sleepwalkers", the main weakness of the vampire-like sleepwalkers is cats. Only cats see through their disguise and they can inflict severe wounds on them with their claws. In "Cat's Eye", a cat serves as the common linking element between the three otherwise independent novellas the book and movie were compose of. In "Pet Sematary", the cat's role is rather bestial - the family's dead cat, buried in a magical graveyard, returns as an undead, feral creature.

The last Stephen King book we know Brian to have read is the aptly fitting title "Revival" although - without spoiling too much - I sincerely hope and believe that Brian will have a much better afterlife than the one depicted in that story.

Answer: Team colours

Pittsburgh only regained its moniker 'City of Champions' because of the Steelers' and Penguins' spate of respective championships in 2009, and was named as the Best Sports City the same year. The colours of black and gold were adapted from William Pitt by the city itself, and the Steelers were the first team who adapted them as team colours, followed by the Pirates and later the Penguins.

Answer: Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Mario Lemieux led the Pittsburgh Penguins to two Stanley Cups as a player, and one as an owner, a distinction that he first held. Numerous awards he won in his career include being a three-time Hart Trophy winner, a six-time winner of the Art Ross trophy, and twice the winner of the Conn Smythe award.

It can be argued that if not for the numerous health obstacles that he encountered in his career, he could have conceivably achieved and surpassed the Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky!

Like Brian himself, Mario Lemieux also always kept on the positive side of things and bounced back time after time.

Answer: Gale Sayers

Brian Piccolo was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 1943 and was active in sports from an early age. He also played baseball. He played college football at Wake Forest in North Carolina. He led the US in scoring and rushing in 1964 and was the ACC Player of the Year. He started as a free agent with the Bears moving up from the practice squad, becoming the backup for Gale Sayers, the super starting tailback. By 1969 Brian was elevated to starting fullback, after Sayers returned as tailback after recuperating from a knee injury.

At that point in football history, players shared hotel rooms but were segregated by color. Their partnership was determined at this point by the position they played, so Sayers and Piccolo broke that color barrier very successfully and became fast friends.

In 1969, with the Bears in the middle of a very rough season, Brian removed himself from the ninth game in Atlanta, a cause of great concern to his team and others. He was then diagnosed with embryonic cell carcinoma, a very aggressive form of cancer. After several surgeries, doctors realised the cancer had spread too far and too quickly. Brian Piccolo died on June 16, 1970, at the age of 26. He left many legacies: schools, parks, awards and other symbols of courage named after him.

When Gale Sayers was accepting the George S. Halas Award for most courageous player he told the audience they had selected the wrong player; it should have been Brian Piccolo. Sayers said, "I love Brian Piccolo, and I'd like all of you to love him, too. Tonight, when you hit your knees to pray, please ask God to love him, too".

Regarding Darryl Hill (University of Maryland) in 1963, he was the one and only black player on the team: there was a palpable aura of racism in the stadium and many other places. Brian walked over to the Maryland bench and walked with Darryl over to the area in front of the students, put his arm around Darryl's shoulders and silenced the booing crowd.

The other two players mentioned were among the first black professional football players in what became the NFL.

The made-for-TV film "Brian's Song" is based on the autobiography written by Gale Sayers. The ending scene shows them running together and the voice-over commenting on how young he was, emphasises that Piccolo is remembered not for his untimely death but for how he lived his life, a good and steadfast friend.

We have experienced that our Brian (burnone) was courageous, kind and fair as well, and though none of us ever met him personally, we chatted on the boards, and we always felt comfortable with him. He is greatly missed by all of us.