The World According to FunTrivia Quiz

Answer: LHR - JFK

World

In the UK, red Routemaster double decker buses were introduced into service in 1956 and lasted until 1978. In the 60s a new design was introduced but did not have public support. In 2008 Boris Johnson, made a new Routemaster model an election platform for the Mayor of London position. The new Routemaster was introduced in 2011 much to the Londoners' delight. Similarly the London cabs were designed and manufactured specifically for London cabbies. The ubiquitous Austin FX4 was in operation from 1958-1997 when it was replaced with the FTI TX1 (which looked only slightly more modern). The LTI brand (London Taxis International) are now owned by Geely in China. They are manufactured in Shanghai and Thailand and assembled in Coventry in the UK.

In the US, taxis are yellow, specifically Dupont M6284 yellow by regulation. In 2011 Green cabs (lime green) were introduced and allowed to operate but can not pick up passengers in Manhattan south of East 96th Street or West 110th Street.

London has three major airports: Heathrow (LHR), Gatwick, and London City (LCY) plus four others. Collectively these are termed LON. NYC is the generic airport code for John F. Kennedy(JFK) and LaGuardia (LGA) both in Queens; and Newark (EWR) across the Hudson in New Jersey. LaGuardia does not accept trans-Atlantic flights. Both Heathrow and Gatwick fly to the US.

Answer: Monk's

Television

The diner in "Seinfeld" is referred to as "Monk's". The diner plays a pivotal role in the complicated four-strand plot of the show. In the pilot for the show there was no Elaine character and a diner waitress was going to be the lead female role. NBC insisted on a more prominent role so Elaine, an ex-girlfriend, was cast to offset the three male leads.
While the interior of the diner is constructed on a LA sound-stage, the exterior is of a real diner, in fact a very famous in its own right diner, near Columbia University on the corner of 112th and Broadway.

The other three answer options are all fictional TV diners. See if you can work out which show to which they belong.

Answer: Suzanne Vega

Music

Suzanne Vega is the archetype New York folk singer. She actually wrote her a capella hit, "Tom's Diner" while drinking coffee in the diner itself. The song was a minor hit but it became a huge hit when a duo called DNA added a beat and a rhythm section. Ms Vega's record company decided to embrace the latter song rather than litigate and released the bootleg version through their A&M label. "Luka", a song about child abuse, was Ms Vega's other big hit.
The other three singer songwriters are all connected to New York City. Lisa Loeb was a neighbour of Ethan Hawke in this very neighbourhood. He heard her play "Stay", asked for a copy and passed it into Ben Stiller who was producing the Winona Ryder movie "Reality Bites". The soundtrack took off. Ms Loeb had a number one bestseller and a Grammy nomination.

Answer: Meat pie with tomato sauce

Hobbies

Australians have made rhyming slang an art form. It probably originated around WWI when the Australians wanted to differentiate themselves from other 'colonial' servicemen in close proximity. It has little in common with Cockney rhyming slang. Therefore in Australian rhyming slang, "Dog's Eye" is a meat pie (Australian de facto national dish) and "dead horse" is tomato sauce.
Australians eat meat pies like Americans eat hot dogs. They're everywhere, found particularly at sporting events, or any outdoor activity. They are individual meat pies where the origin of the meat is dubious but it does not matter as it is smothered in a thick gravy (Has to be thick, as a pie must be eaten one-handed, as when you are at the footy, you can hold a can of beer in the other hand). The meal is not complete unless there is a liberal dose of tomato sauce smeared over the top with an index finger. (Tomato sauce is similar to ketchup but runnier and less spicy but when in the States , Australians will substitute ketchup).
"Hooroo" says my Aussie mate as he gets ready to leave and claps me on the back, "Catch ya later". I think he said "Goodbye".

Answer: Batman comics

Entertainment

Batman's home city is Gotham City and was first identified as Batman's place of residence in "Batman #4" (December 1940). Writer Bill Finger wanted to make the city more generic and found "Gotham Jewelers" in a NYC phone book. He said, "That's it, Gotham City. We didn't call it New York because we wanted anybody in any city to identify with it". However the origin of NYC being called Gotham goes further back. In Edwin Burrows' and Mike Wallace's "Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898", it can be seen that the term 'Gotham' is traced back to the author Washington Irving, ("The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," and "Rip Van Winkle") . Irving was leader of a group known as the Lads of Kilkenny, a group of literary-minded young men. They created the literary magazine called "Salmagundi" which included essays which included references of "the thrice renowned and delectable city of GOTHAM". So the nickname for New York is now over two hundred years old. (Irving also coined the term "Knickerbocker"). The term however is older: The word "Gotham" dates back to medieval England in 1630: "The Merry Tales of the Mad Men of Gottam" English proverbs record a village called Gotham or Gottam, meaning "Goat's Town" in old Anglo-Saxon. Middle Ages folk tales portray Gotham to be a village of simple-minded fools.
New Yorkers have embraced the nickname, Gotham. The context of a foolish village of goat herders has been lost. Most of its citizens identify Gotham as the darkened version a la film noir, as popularised through Batman comics, the TV series and subsequent movies.

Answer: Empire State

Brain Teasers

New York State (not the city) is well known as the Empire State. Perhaps though, the familiarity is due to the popularity of the Empire State Building in New York City (There is an Empire State Plaza in Albany, New York's state capital but this is not a well-known precinct outside Albany). The problem with New York being known as the Empire State is that no-one knows where the name came from. Two theories are associated with George Washington: The first is in a 1785 letter from Washington to New York City Mayor James Duane. Washington called New York "the Seat of the Empire" in this letter. Another theory, well accepted, is when Washington was given a detailed map of New York before the Battle of New York, he commented on the state's natural advantages, declaring New York the "Seat of an Empire". This theory lacks evidence.
In "History of New York State" (2001) by Alexander Flick claims that the title was used in 1819, when New York surpassed Virginia in population. This theory lacks substantiation.
In "The Empire State: A History of New York" Milton M. Klein proposes that the name arose "because of the signal advantage the regularity of shipping gave to New York's merchants over those in other coastal cities." Further, he wrote that by 1820, "Empire State" was used widely, but he was doubtful that a definitive origin of the term will ever be found. A "Guide to the Empire State" (1940) included "It would gratify the people of New York if they could discover who first dared that spacious adjective." Indeed.

Answer: Pakistan, Ethiopia and China

Animals

Donkeys were domesticated in the Middle East over 5000 years ago and have played an important role as pack animals over that entire time period. They are particularly important today in undeveloped countries, particularly in mountainous areas with little access to neither motor transport nor good roads. Main areas of concentration are Africa, south Asia, northern China and Latin America particularly Mexico. The donkey population has remained stable at 40-50 million worldwide between 1960 (when the first census was conducted) and 2005. Up until this date China, Ethiopia and Pakistan were the countries with the biggest donkey populations. China's donkey population decreased 60 percent between 1992 and 2017 while nearby Kyrgyzstan's dropped over 50 percent between 2011 and 2017. This is due to the demand for ejiao, a traditional gelatine-based medicine and foodstuff obtained from donkey hides. As a Chinese medicine it is used to treat anaemia, bleeding, dizziness, insomnia and blood disorders. As a foodstuff, Gu Yuan Gao is a snack bar made up of ejiao, nuts, sesame, dates and cooking wine. The Donkey Sanctuary, a society dedicated to donkey preservation has estimated that 4.8 million donkeys a year are needed a year to meet the eijao demand in China. Some countries have refused to export donkeys to China. As a result of the population of donkeys as dropped so much that by 2017, China had only 4 million donkeys, less than half of Ethiopia with 8.8 million, the country with the most donkeys with Pakistan having the second most with 5.2 million. Neither export donkeys to China.

Answer: Strawberry Fields in the south-west corner was the inspiration for the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever"

General

In 1850, American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted visited to Birkenhead Park along with several other public gardens. Birkenhead was the first publically funded park in the UK. In 1858, he and others won the competition to design a new park, Central Park, for New York City. The park was completed in 1878 but there have been continual revisions and additions since. The main attractions include the Ramble and Lake, a nature sanctuary, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, Sheep Meadow and the Central Park Zoo. Strawberry Fields is a small part of the south-western part of the park near 72nd St which is where John Lennon lived (and was killed). It commemorates Mr Lennon's life. The original Strawberry Field (not plural) was an orphanage in Liverpool near where John Lennon lived with his aunt.

Answer: Serendipity

Movies

"Serendipity" (2001) tells the story of two strangers (Mr Cusack and Ms Beckingsale) who fought over a pair of gloves at Bloomingdales in New York City. Both in relationships, but both smitten with each other, they agreed to leave it to fate to see if they would ever get together as a couple. Of course they do, but by having to go through the obligatory hurdles first. Incidentally, the restaurant they had a meal together after Bloomindales is "Serendipity III" a real restaurant at 225 East 60th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues) and the ice skating rink near the end of the movie is Wollman Rink (between East 62nd & 63rd Street) in Central Park. The ice rink appeared in several films such as "Delirious", "Home Alone 2" and "My Sassy Girl".
"You've Got Mail" is set mainly in the Upper West Side as is the Gallaghers' apartment (817 West End Avenue and West 100th Street) in "Fatal Attraction" (1987). However the restaurant shown in the opening scenes of this movie, "Mr Chow" at 324 East 57th Street and 2nd Avenue is close to Bloomingdales.
"Manhattan" showcases many locations within its island boundaries including a scene in Bloomingdales (Alas, no gloves). The famous cover scene overlooking the 59th St Bridge was staged: The production company had to provide their own bench and they had to pay the city government to leave the bridge lights on a bit longer. This occurred but only on one side of the bridge!

Answer: In the book, the boy does not get the girl

Literature

The casting of Audrey Hepburn in the movie version changed the entire character of Holly Golightly from the book. In Capote's novella, Holly is a girl from west Texas who moves to New York City via Hollywood. She shoplifts from Woolworths, and relies on gifts and money from men she befriends to get by. Capote calls her an "American Geisha" but she is a prostitute. She befriends an unnamed neighbour from an apartment upstairs who is a gay writer (Capote himself). The Narrator loves Holly but in a different way to Paul (George Peppard), who is a movie invention. He is still a writer but with a name. Paul gets the girl in the end (This is a movie after all) but in the book Holly just disappears to Rio or possibly Africa. The casting of Audrey Hepburn changed the character immensely. Capote's Holly is rough, Ms Hepburn's Holly is sophisticated. Her way of living is glossed over. Both book and movie are marvellous each in their own way but you can only say the movie was inspired by the book, not based on the same.

Answer: A Roman Catholic church

Religion

St. Patrick's Cathedral was erected in 1879. Whilst it is a parish church, it is also the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. The cathedral can accommodate up to 3,000 people, is built of brick but overlaid in marble. It is one of the finest examples of Neo-Gothic architecture in the western hemisphere. While it is considered a major NYC landmark, the 330 ft. (100m) high spires tend to be overlooked by the surrounding buildings including the Rockefeller Center, directly across the street (which incidentally does have a statue directly opposite the main St Patrick's entrance, but it is of Atlas). The cathedral undertook a $177 million restoration between 2012 and 2015 just in time for a papal visit.

Answer: It has a large floor mounted piano that you can play with your feet

For Children

FAO Schwarz is the oldest toy store in the United States. It started in Baltimore in 1862 before moving to New York City in 1870, where it has had several locations. The Rockefeller Center store opened in November 2018. The store features a dance-on piano, which was made famous by the movie "Big" (1989). In this movie, Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia danced "Heart & Soul" and "Chopsticks" on the piano. It looked like they were dancing. This routine brought much business and prestige to the store. (At that time the store was located at 767 Fifth Avenue at 58th Street). This caused the business to expand to over 40 stores across the US in the 90s but the company had to file for bankruptcy in 2003, before being rescued by a number of consortiums.

Answer: Phantom of the Opera

Humanities

"The Phantom of the Opera" opened on the 26th January 1988 and was still running over 30 years later when COVID-19 temporally interrupted its run in 2020. At that time it had played over 13350 shows on Broadway. It has grossed over $US1.2 billion and has been seen by over 19 million people.
COVID-19 also interrupted the run of "The Lion King". It debuted on Broadway on November 13 1997 at the New Amsterdam and had been shown 9291 times before its 2020 hiatus.
"Cats" opened on October 7, 1982 and ran for 7485 shows until it closed on September 10, 2000. Until 2006 when it was overtaken by the "Phantom", it held the title of the longest-running show in Broadway history.
"Les Miserables" ran for 16 years at the Broadway Theater being shown 6680 times. While it was the second most watched show of its time, the West End (London) production held the distinction of being the longest-running West End show of all time during its run.

Answer: The United Nations Building

People

The secretary-general of the United Nations serves as the chief administrative officer of the United Nations. Ban Ki-Moon from Korea was the eighth Secretary-General from 2007-2016 and António Guterres from Portugal was his successor. The role is difficult; it combines advocacy and diplomacy roles whilst being both a CEO and a public servant.
The Secretariat Building is a 154 m (505 ft) tall glass and steel skyscraper on United Nations Plaza at the ends of 42-45th Streets. It is the centrepiece of the headquarters of the United Nations surrounded by a bevy of smaller administrative buildings.

Columbia University is on the upper west Side, the Lincoln Medical Center is uptown on 149th St and Coney Island is in south western Brooklyn.

Answer: New York Knicks

Sports

Most of New York's sporting teams have been successful especially the New York Knicks basketball team. Blue, orange and white are their traditional colours. They play at Madison Square Gardens which is on top of Pennsylvania Railway Station situated between 7th and 8th Avenue and 31st to 33rd St (The Empire State Building is on 34th Street and 5th Ave). They share the 'Garden' with the New York Rangers, a NHL Hockey club. These are the only two men's major sporting clubs based in Manhattan. New York City's other NBA and NHL clubs, the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Islanders, play at Brooklyn and Belmont Park, Long Island, respectively. Some consider the New Jersey Devils a third NY NHL club and they play in Prudential Center over the Hudson in nearby Newark. The two NFL teams, the Giants and the Jets, both share Shea Stadium but it is also in New Jersey in Rutherford. NYC's Major League Baseball clubs, the Yankees and the Mets are based in the Bronx and Citi Field, Queens respectively. One of New York City's two Major League Soccer clubs, New York City FC, shares Yankee Stadium and the other, New York City Red Bulls, play at Harrison, New Jersey.

Answer: Flatiron Building

History

The Flatiron Building, originally called the Fuller Building, is a distinctive triangular building located at 175 Fifth Avenue. It is steel-framed, 22 stories and 285-foot (86.9 m) tall. It was one of the tallest buildings in the city when built in 1902. The name is a reference to its shape resembling the shape of a triangular clothes iron. In 1892, changes to NYC's building codes eliminated the required use of masonry for fireproofing considerations. This meant the Flatiron Building was one of the first built with a steel skeleton, and hence a height of 285 feet was easily obtained. The nearby (120 Broadway) Equitable Life Building was completed in 1870 and is believed to be the first office building to have workable passenger elevators. This meant buildings could be taller as people did not have to walk up numerous flights of stairs. Elevators were included in the initial plans of the Flatiron Building. It is one of the most recognisable buildings in the city and features in many popular culture references. In 1966, the Flatiron Building was designated a New York City landmark. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. It became a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

Answer: Green

Video Games

Mario is a fictional video game character in the Nintendo "Mario" game franchise where he has been the eponymous protagonist. He first appeared as Jumpman in the "Donkey Kong" series of games in the early 80s where he was a carpenter but as future games were set underground he became a plumber so he had a reason for being in the sewers of New York. He was named Mario after Nintendo of America's warehouse landlord Mario Segale. Because of animation limitations in the 80s he was given a red cap to avoid drawing the any hairstyle, forehead, and eyebrows. This also avoided the problem of animating his hair when he jumped. To give him human facial features he was given a big nose and a moustache, which circumvented the need to draw any mouth or facial expressions.
Luigi was first developed in 1983 as a sidekick to Mario. He was drawn taller and thinner with a distinctly green shirt to contrast with his brother's red shirt. The green shirt is a key identifier as is his cap with a large green "L". His name is reputed to have come from the name of a pizza restaurant near Nintendo headquarters in Redmond WA, but several fans have failed to identify it. Portrayed as a perennial sidekick, Luigi has managed to star in a few Nintendo video games himself including the 1990 LCD wrist watch game "Luigi's Hammer Toss", "Mario is Missing", in "Luigi's Mansion" in 2001, and in "Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon" in 2013 for the Nintendo 3DS.

Answer: Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal

Celebrities

Meg Ryan (real name Margaret Mary Emily Hyra; born November 19, 1961) got a start in acting in 1982 in the CBS soap opera "As the World Turns". She had subsequent mall roles in movies such as "Top Gun" in 1986 before her breakout role as one of the protagonists in "When Harry Met Sally..." in 1989. Known unfairly for one particular scene in that movie, nevertheless it garnered world-wide attention which meant many more roles were offered to her. Ms Ryan went on to make many notable films, mainly rom-coms, "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993), "French Kiss" (1995), "You've Got Mail" (1998), and "Kate & Leopold" (2001). She proved she had acting credentials with more serious movies such as "The Doors" (1991), "When a Man Loves a Woman" (1994), "Courage Under Fire" (1996), "City of Angels" (1998), "Proof of Life" (2000), and "The Women" (2008).
William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948, New York City) is an actor, comedian, writer, and television host. He first gained media attention in the late 1970s and 80s for TV role as Jodie Dallas on the sitcom "Soap". He also hosted "Saturday Night Live" frequently. By the late 80s he had become a Hollywood movie star with movies such as "The Princess Bride" (1987), "Throw Momma from the Train" (1987), "When Harry Met Sally..." (1989), "City Slickers" (1991), "Mr. Saturday Night" (1992) and "Analyze This" (1999). He had a star placed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991. When he hosted the Academy Awards in 2012, it was his ninth time; his first was in 1990.

Answer: Toilet paper

Science / Technology

Joseph C. Gayetty sold flat sheets of "Gayetty's medicated paper for the water closet" out of his shop at 41 Ann Street in 1867. The price was expensive at 1,000 sheets per dollar. The name of J. C. Gayetty was water-marked in every sheet which consisted of "pure Manila hemp paper" and contained aloe as a lubricant. It was marketed as an anti-haemorrhoid medical product. In 1867, Thomas, Edward and Clarence Scott of Philadelphia marketed successfully small rolls of perforated paper as toilet paper. This was the beginning of the Scott Paper Company and ultimately caused the demise of ''Gayetty's medicated paper".
All the other answer options were also invented in New York City. Other notable products invented in NYC include Jell-O, the Tuxedo, the Kodak camera, the Yale lock and the club sandwich.

Answer: Its official name is the Freedom Tower

Geography

One World Trade Center is main building of the re-constructed World Trade Center complex in Downtown Manhattan. It has same name as the North Tower of the original World Trade Center, which along with its South Tower counterpart was destroyed on September 11, 2001. The new skyscraper is on the site of the original 6 World Trade Center, whereas there is a memorial museum on the sites of the two original towers.
The main building's plan were finalised in 2005 and construction started in 2006 but took two years to get out of the ground. In 2009, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey changed the official name of the building from "Freedom Tower" to "One World Trade Center". In 2012 the building passed the 1,250-foot (380 m) roof height of the Empire State Building therefore becoming the city's tallest building. In August 2012 104th floor, the total height reached 1,368 feet (417 m), which was the same height of the original North Tower. Addition of a permanent spire gave the building a height of 1776 feet (541m).
This was my destination where I would give my presentation. I found the auditorium and the subsequent reception desk where a conference organiser greeted me, "Welcome back to the World Congress of Trivia, Sir. I can see you are giving the keynote presentation: 'Use of a Narrative to Link a Quiz's Apparently Unrelated Questions to Make a Cohesive Whole'. We are very much looking forward to your presentation". I thanked her and went to find the audio-visual technician. I looked down at my topic listed on the program. If only my Commission quiz was as easy as the title the conference organisers had asked me to present. I had spent a whole half day walking from the upper West Side of New York City to Downtown with absolutely no inspiration for my quiz. The auditorium was full. I was about to be introduced to speak and I still had no idea how I was going to write about "The World According to FunTrivia".