The Misplaced General Knowledge Quiz Vol.3

Answer: An Australian

The origin of the word Pom, Pommy or Pommie has been lost in the mists of time. During immigration to Australia from England in the '50s they were known as £10 Poms in reference to the fare to Australia by sea. After arriving some were known as whinging Poms, a derogatory term for an English person who was continually moaning about the conditions they found on arriving in and working in Australia.

Today it is more of a friendly put down similar to if I called an Australian, an American or a Canadian a colonial in reference to them once being ruled from England.

Best Pom joke:

A Brit had almost saved his fare back to the UK but needed another quid (£1) to buy a ticket. He asked an Aussie "Can you give me a quid to get back to the UK?" The Aussie said "Sure, here's a fiver (£5), take four other whinging Poms back with you."

Question submitted by shipyardbernie

Answer: Alice ("Alice's Adventures in Wonderland")

Alice has a pet cat called Dinah, it features in both the 1865 novel by Lewis Carrol "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and the 1951 Disney movie "Alice in Wonderland". Dinah had two kittens: Kitty and Snowdrop. In the Disney movie, Dinah's voice was provided by voice artist, the late Mel Blanc.

Question submitted by Waitakere

Answer: April, May, June

April, May and June's mother is Daisy Duck's sister. They made their first appearance in 1953 in the cartoon "Flip Decision". They live in Duckburg with their mother and father but are usually seen with their aunt, Daisy Duck.

Daisy Duck was created in 1940 and made her first appearance in the cartoon "Mr Duck Steps Out". Her best friend is Minnie Mouse.

Question submitted by wenray

Answer: Slobodan Milosevic

Handke had first caused more than a few raised eyebrows when he published "A Journey to the Rivers: Justice for Serbia" in 1996. He'd attended the Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic's trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and published his ruminations as "The Tablas of Daimiel".

The jury awarded the prize and apparently the mayor of Düsseldorf (Heinrich Heine University is in Düsseldorf) presented it to Handke, but several members of the city council voiced their objections. Handke relinquished the award and justified the act by saying he resented his work being "exposed again and again to the scorn of party politicians." The city councilors who had led the protest said awarding the prize to Handke went against the spirit of the prize. Interestingly, one of Heinrich Heine's best-known quotes is "Where they burn books, so too will they in the end burn human beings."

The Heinrich Heine Prize is awarded to personalities who through their work show the spirit of Heine's emphasis on the basic rights of man, advance social and political progress, mutual understanding of the peoples, or spread the idea that all people belong to the same group: mankind. Personally, I think if an award is for literature then that's all that should be taken into account, and Handke certainly deserves the highest acclaim. If we applaud artists only if they are of the correct political slant, art is dead.

Question submitted by the ex & future member of The Misplaced thula2.

Answer: Mushroom

Edible mushrooms are healthy because they often contain protein and vitamins, while being low in calories. There are mushrooms consumed for their supposed medicinal value but care is advised when taking hallucinogenic mushrooms which can produce severe physical effects.

Cremini mushrooms are shaped like white button mushrooms but they are darker and drier. When criminis grow to full size, they're called portobellos. Morel mushrooms have a honeycomb cap and a light fawn-coloured stem. Oyster mushrooms are fan shaped and grow in a shelf-like formation. They are white to light brown with firm white flesh. Wood Ear mushrooms have an ear-like shape and a brown colouration. The mushroom grows on wood, especially elder.

Question submitted by Warrior100

Answer: The Three Graces

The Pier Head is the location on which The Three Graces stand. The Royal Liver Building was built between 1908 and 1911. It was designed by Walter Aubrey Thomas. It consists of two clock towers crowned by the mythical Liver Birds. It is a grade I listed building and is now the headquarters of the Royal Liver Friendly Society insurance company.

Next to the Liver Building is the Cunard Building, it was built between 1914 and 1917. It was designed by William Edward Willink and Philip Coldwell Thicknesse. It is a grade II listed building and is the former headquarters of the Cunard Line shipping company.

Next to the Cunard Building is the Port of Liverpool Building, it was built between 1904 to 1907. It was designed by Sir Arnold Thornely and F.B. Hobbs. It is a grade II listed building and is the former home of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board.

Question submitted by shipyardbernie

Answer: Binary Digit

A 'bit' is the smallest unit of storage, representing 0 or 1 in computer language. That language is made up of billions of different configurations of 0 and 1. Eight of these sequences (eight bits), make up one byte. Never byte off more than you can compute.

Question submitted by Waitakere

Answer: Body of water

A billabong is formed when a river changes course and a pool is left behind. Although not proven, the word "billabong" comes from Aboriginal words meaning "a watercourse that only runs after rain". Another theory is that it's from Scottish Gaelic.

In an arid country like Australia, billabongs are an important source of water in the Outback. In the famous Australian song "Waltzing Matilda" the "Jolly Swagman" camps by a billabong.

Question submitted by wenray

Answer: "I should never have switched from scotch to martinis".

Humphrey Bogart has been accredited with uttering these final words on his death bed "I should never have switched from scotch to martinis".

Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) said "The er, stuff that dreams are made of" to Det. Tom Polhaus (Ward Bond) in the 1941 movie "The Maltese Falcon".

Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) said "Here's looking at you, kid" to Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) in the 1942 movie "Casablanca".

Eddie Willis ((Humphrey Bogart) said "I didn't come here to work out" to Nick Benko (Rod Steiger) in the 1956 movie "The Harder They Fall"

As most of you will know, Humphrey Bogart usually played tough, smart, courageous, playful and sometimes reckless characters. He typically portrayed hard-boiled cynics, who eventually revealed a noble side. He died in 1957 of cancer, aged 57.

Question submitted by euphonious

Answer: 25

As a result of accusations of being witches at the Salem witch trials in 1692/93, 20 people were executed, (which included 14 women). Nineteen people were hanged, one was crushed and five (which included two infants) died while in prison. Although referred to as the Salem witch trials they actually took place in four villages which included Salem Town which is now the city of Salem, Andover, Ipswich and the area known as Salem Village which is now Danvers.

In 1992, on the 300th anniversary of the witch trials, the city of Salem dedicated a park to commemorate those that died as a result of the accusations and the city of Danvers dedicated a memorial to them. In 2001 the Massachusetts legislature passed a bill exonerating all those who were convicted.

Question submitted by dekeaunt