These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things Quiz

Answer: Quality Street

The selection of chocolates and toffees known as Quality Street was first produced by Mackintosh's in West Yorkshire, England. I have eaten these candies at Christmastime for years and years but never knew the story of how they were created. Harold Mackintosh inherited a toffee factory from his dad and set out to produce affordable boxed chocolates.

At the time, only the rich could afford such a luxury and so he wanted to use less expensive ingredients to make this affordable for everyone. He also used less expensive materials to present the chocolates in, which made for a more affordable product.

The name was inspired by the play "Quality Street" by "Peter Pan" author J.M. Barrie and this treat was introduced in 1936.

Answer: Ultramarathon

An ultramarathon is any footrace that is longer than a marathon (which is 26.2 miles in length). An ultramarathon can be either a pre-determined length (popular ultramarathon distances include 50 kms, 100 kms, 50 miles or 100 miles). They can also be for a pre-determined amount of time (for example six or twelve hours in length) and racers try to cover as much distance as possible within the allotted time.

The Badwater Ultra markets itself as the 'world's toughest footrace' and is a gruelling 135 mile non-stop jaunt through California, ominously starting at Death Valley.

The Comrades race takes place in South Africa and is approximately 55 miles in length. It is the oldest ultramarathon in the world. The Western States is a 100 mile ultramarathon that takes place on the trails of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California.

It bills itself as the world's oldest ultra that takes place on trails. Runners that finish it in under twenty-four hours get a silver belt buckle - seems worth it doesn't it?

Answer: Enid Blyton

I remember reading these books while in primary school in England and loving them! Three children move into a house and while out exploring come upon a magic tree. As they climb the tree they meet all sorts of magical people and they discover a ladder at the top of the tree that leads to a land.

The land is different every time the children climb the ladder and the children have to make sure that they leave the land before it changes, or they get stuck in that land. Some of the lands they visit are the Land of Birthdays and the Land of Goodies.

Not all the lands are fun places to visit though. The first of these novels was published in 1939. The popular and famous British writer Enid Blyton wrote the series. She also created the Noddy character and wrote the "Famous Five" and "Secret Seven" books.

Answer: Spain

I find the group of fourteen paintings known by the title the "Black Paintings" fascinating. The Spanish painter Francisco Goya created these paintings later in his life, likely between 1819 and 1823. When he was seventy-two years old he moved into a house just outside Madrid and painted murals on the walls of the house.

Some years after his death, these murals were transferred onto canvas and made available to the public. Goya painted bleak, dark, terrifying images that reflected his state of mind at the time.

Some of the paintings in this collection include "The Dog" which is a painting of the head of a dog looking up toward the top of a slope. The body of the dog is not seen and it seems as though the dog is buried in sand, unable to move or escape.

Another of the paintings that is haunting is "Saturn Devouring His Son" which is a hideous painting of the God Saturn eating his son. His son's head and arm are missing and the painting is bloody and violent. There are twelve other dark and grotesque paintings in the collection.

Answer: Toni Collette

Toni Collette is an incredibly talented actress who has been in a number of great movies. I first saw her on screen in the very funny movie "Muriel's Wedding" about a young woman who is obsessed with ABBA and the thought of a fairytale wedding helping her escape her humdrum town. Collette received a Golden Globe nomination for that role.

She was also fantastic in "About a Boy" as a mom suffering from depression and in "Little Miss Sunshine", as a mom of a dysfunctional family. She's also acted in "The Sixth Sense", "Knives Out", "Hereditary" and the mini-series "Unbelievable." She is incredibly versatile and has worked in a number of different genres from comedy to horror.

She's won several awards including AACTA awards and many Film Critic awards.

Answer: In Rainbows

"In Rainbows" is the seventh studio album by British rock band Radiohead. It was self-released in October 2007 as a 'pay what you want' download. Physical copies of the album followed the download format. Although other, smaller acts had offered their music using this approach, Radiohead was the first popular, well known act to do it and it caused a bit of controversy.

Some people thought that fans would simply download without paying and worried about the implications for the music industry as a whole.

In the end, reaction was generally positive and the album was ranked among the best of 2007. The band won a Grammy for Best Alternative Album.

Answer: Orange

The web series is "Annoying Orange", about an orange that tells jokes and annoys other fruits and vegetables. The You Tube video is incredibly popular and led to a TV series, video game and of course merchandise. For the record, I am a fan of the color orange and not the web series.

The English monarch associated with orange is William of Orange who ruled England, Scotland and Ireland from 1689 to 1702. The popular fall vegetable is of course the pumpkin. It is used in food and for decoration, particularly around harvest and Halloween activities.

Answer: New York City

New York City is known for a little bit of everything that a major urban center has to offer. This includes a financial district, fashion district, entertainment district and major tourist attractions. Located in New York State, the city of New York is divided into five boroughs.

Some of the famous landmarks include Times Square, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park and Fifth Avenue. In 2019 over sixty-six million tourists visited New York City. In 2014, tourism generated over $60 billion in economic impact for the city. Regardless of the time of year, there is something to attract tourists.

There is the world famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in November, the large Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center or the St. Patrick's Day parade in March.

Answer: Scully

The sci-fi TV show "The X-Files" made its debut in 1993 and revolves around two special agents with the FBI who investigate paranormal activity. Agent Mulder believes that there are forces outside of our understanding and also believes that the government is aware of if not influencing some of these activities. Agent Scully has a more rational, science-based approach but does find herself questioning much of what she thought she knew.

The chemistry between the two characters is great and the story-lines are fun and intriguing. Two movies were made after the success of the show, the first in 1998 and the second in 2008.

The TV show won a number of awards including several Emmys and Golden Globes.

Answer: Questions

The answers to the preceding nine questions in order are:

Quality Street
Ultramarathon
Enid Blyton
Spain
Toni Collette
In Rainbows
Orange
New York City
Scully

The first letter of each answer spells QUESTIONS.

Questions are one half of the equation that is needed for a good trivia site, the other is answers!