FUNDAEZ

Connection To A Theme

2010-11-14T17:02:00.007+05:30

The individual questions connect to a theme (not exhaustive). Also, Which Indian also qualifies to this inexhaustive list?

1. She is the first (having some personal quality or traits you may say) of her kind to do something. You need to tell me about another person who on the saimilar lines, became the first in California, USA.

Ans.: Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, the world's first openly LGBT head of government of the modern era. On this line in California, Harvey Bernard Milk became the first openly gay man to be electedto public office in California, when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

2. This photograph was essentially tampered with and a big change was made in it and published in the Skeptic Magazine which created a furore among the followers of Sathya Sai Baba. Put Fundaez.

Ans.: In the Nov 2007 Volume 20; No.07 (dated 15-11-2007) issue of his Indian Skeptic Magazine, Premanand tries to pass off a fraudulent black and white photo of Sathya Sai Baba with Idi Amin, who was born in 1925 and died in 2003. This tampered photo is eerily similar to one copyrighted and published in the online RadioSai Newsletter in February 2006 with the caption...Dr G Venkataraman (right) and Sri K. Chakravarthi with Swami after the ceremony. It is obvious that Chakravarthi's image was replaced with Idi Amin who would actually be a year older than then 81 year old Sai Baba if Amin were still alive

3. Identify the singer and the movie.

Ans.: Audrey Hepburn singing ‘Moon Rover’ in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

4. Identify the gentleman

Ans.: Ray Charles
This statue is situated at Geenville, Florida.

5. Identify the pianist who came into limelight once again in 1995.

Ans.: David Helfgott

Theme: Real life characters potrayed in movies which won the Academy Awards.

Independence Day Special India Quiz

2010-08-14T14:15:00.016+05:30

1. What is the main source of inspiration behind this logo?

Ans.: The XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 logo is derived from the Chakra which symbolizes the national freedom, integrity and vigor.

2. Identify this HERO.

Ans.: Chandrashekhar Sitaram Tiwari, better known as Chandrasekhar Azad, one of the most important revolutionary, who shot himself, keeping his pledge to never be captured alive by the British

3. The horse stables in this Japanese Shinto shrine have an Indian connection. Give me the connection.

Ans.: The stable of the shrine's sacred horses bears a carving of the three wise monkeys, who hear, speak and see no evil, a traditional symbol in Chinese and Japanese culture, which was hugely popularized by Mahatma Gandhi in India and in some school text books is attributed as a brainchild of the Mahatma.

4.ID the TV serial from this theme music.

Ans.: Bharat Ek Khoj

5. In the early 18th Century, Lahore was famous for its weekend markets. The tradition was such that the first sale on every market day was made to a dwarf. What practice has this resulted in?

Ans.: Boni or Bauni. The hindi / urdu word for a dwarf is Bauna,so Bauni from the word Bauna.

6.Id the chick performing in the opening titles of this movie (ala James Bond flick type opening credits) and also her other claim to fame

Ans.: Katy Mirza. She was the first Indian girl to be Playboy’s bunny girl.

7.The person in this pic (along with Indira Gandhi) was a veteran journolist and played an instrumental role in the episode of India giving asylum to a World figure. Put Fundaez.

Ans.: Naresh Chandra Rajkhowa.
The Dalai Lama’s request letter for asylum had reached Rajkhowa by mistake in Shillong, where he was based as the correspondent of the The Assam Tribune, a local English daily published from Guwahati.
The messenger, who carried the Dalai Lama’s request letter written in English, reached Rajkhowa instead of a government official to whom the letter was addressed and who was residing near the journalist’s residence.
Rajkhowa first copied the whole letter before sealing it once again for handing it over to the messenger for delivery to the official and thus broke the story about the Dalai Lama’s flight in The Assam Tribune.
Rajkhowa was also the first Indian journalist to have interviewed the Tibetan religious leader.

8. Distribution and Collection flowchart of?

Ans.: Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad

9. Id the valiant lady on the stamp and what is her claim to fame.

Ans.: Neerja Bhanot.
She was a flight attendant for Pan Am airlines, based in Bombay, India, who died while fighting terrorism on board the hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 on September 5, 1986, she went on to become the youngest recipient of India’s highest civilian award for bravery, the Ashoka Chakra

10. X (a term depicted in this cartoon) has been happening in India since 1959. The intensity of X has been lowered this year. What and Where?

Ans.: X is Goose-Step.The goose-step is a special marching step usually performed in formal military parades and other ceremonies. While marching in parade formation, troops swing their legs in unison to a nearly horizontally position while keeping their knees locked. It happens at the Wagah Border at the Flag Lowering Ceremony (see video below) every day. In July 2010, as part of a move initiated by India, both countries agreed to tone down the aggressiveness exhibited by soldiers during the gate closing ceremony. This was owing to the fact that the soldiers hurt their feet and knees performing the goose-stepping every day

India Quiz

2010-07-07T14:56:00.014+05:30

1.Connect the two ladies.

Ans.: Indira Gandhi (IGI,Delhi) and Ahilya Bai Holkar (Indore) are the only two airports in India named after females.

2. Put Fundaez.

Ans.: This is a book written by Sir Edmund Hillary which gives account of his Jet Boat expedition from the mouth of the Ganges to the source of the Ganges, i.e. against the flow of the river in 1977.

3. Identify the gent on the TIME Cover.

Ans.: V. K. Krishna Menon

4. Connect

Ans.: Nagin.

Vyjantimala, Reena Roy, Sri Devi, Mallika Sherawat. All have played Nagins in movies

5. Print Ad for?

Ans.: Kleenex Tissues

6.These four ladies are the only ones who have done this. Put Fundaez.

Ans.: Jaddan Bai, Saraswarti Devi, Usha Khanna, Sneha Khanwalkar are the only four females to have composed music in Bollywood.

7. A sponsored an All India Beauty Contest for hunting a new face for Bollywood and was won by B. C is a photograph from the sets of the movie D, where B is seen along with the lead male star and the director.

Solve for A,B,C & D.

Ans.: 'For Talat's film 'DIL E NADAAN' [D], famous producer A.R. Kardar launched an 'All India Beauty Contest' to hunt for a new heroine to act opposite this immensely popular and much sought after Singing Star. The contest was sponsored by "Kolynos" [A] the then leading brand of toothpaste. The winner was beautiful Peace Kanwal [B] and she did the romantic lead opposite Talat. It was a dream come true for her ! Which girl in those days would not have given her right ear to come face to face with this handsome King Of Ghazals !!!

8. Connect

Ans.: Founders of the different State Banks which were later nationalised.

Mir Osman Ali Khan,Nizam of Hyderabad (State Bank of Hyderabad)

Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala (State Bank of Patiala)

M. Visvesvaraya (State Bank of Mysore)

C.P.Ramaswamy Iyer (State Bank of Travancore)

Maharaja Tukoji Rao Holkar III (State Bank of Indore)

9. Look at the painting carefully and weave a story in connection with the stone shown alongside.

Ans.: Katha of Syamantaka Mani and Kohinoor Diamond.

Syamantaka Mani is perhaps the most famous jewel in Indian Mythology. The painting shows Lord Krishna with Jambavanta and the Syamantaka Mani. According to Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna fought with Jambavanta to get the Syamantaka Mani. It is speculated that the Kohinoor is indeed the Syamantakamani passed down through the ages.

10. Lateral Thinking. Specific Connect

Ans.: NDTV

NDTV India

NDTV Imagine (Imagine by John Lenon)

NDTV Profit

NDTV Lumiere (Lumiere Brothers)

NDTV Imagine Showbiz (Showbiz, Mukesh Bhatt movie)

Text Quiz I

2010-06-02T17:29:00.005+05:30

1. It is alternatively called 'Patience'. There is an old tradition in the German or Scandinavian countries to use "patience" as a guide to what the near future has to offer, a kind of "luck" meter. This belief assumes that a person’s "luck" will vary from time to time and important matters should not be initiated or conducted when the cards are not favourable. If there are no winnings in the game for a number of tries it spells caution in what you do. If a win at the first try times are good and “luck” smiles at you, thus the immediate future can be used for important decisions. Timing the game is a further indicator of the strength of the outcome. What am I talking about?

Ans.: Solitaire (Card Game)

2. It has been the most decorated molecule in modern science. Atleast 13 people have received Nobel Prizes for their research on this molecule. Which one?

Ans.: Cholesterol

3. In India, Where would you be posting a letter if the PIN Code started with a 9?

Ans.: Army Post office(APO) and Field Post office(FPO)

4. Who holds the world record for the longest serving Defence Minister of a Country.

Ans.: Raul Castro, Fidel Castro's brother.

5. The Kármán line, named after Theodore von Kármán, is the internationally designated boundary of what?

Ans.: The Kármán line lies at an altitude of 100 km (just over 60 miles) above the Earth's sea level, and is commonly used to define the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space. This definition is accepted by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), which is an international standard setting and record-keeping body for aeronautics and astronautics.

6. Ram Gopal Varma made Company. Who made Company Limited?

Ans.: Satyajit Ray. (Its the English title of his movie Seemabaddha)

7. In 1988, to commemorate the 100th year of the birth Jawaharlal Nehru, what was introduced with the name being a hindi translation of "100th year"?

Ans.: Shatabdi Express

8.Who was the first Indian to receive royalty from the sale of records?

Ans.: Rabindranath Tagore

9. Pre independence, which brand used to run ads with the following lines: “Makes white clothes stay white. Pure swadeshi and free from animal fat”?

Ans.: Tata 501 soap

10. Which Nobel Prize winner spent all his prize money to buy diamonds and study Spectroscopy?

Ans.: C.V.Raman

Quiz 2010 - 4

2010-04-08T12:11:00.010+05:30

1. Who is the deity?

(Hint: Like the Brahma Temple at Pushkar, I think this too is the only temple of this deity)

Ans.: Ravana, this temple is at Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

One sect of Brahmins believe that they are descendants of Ravana, and therefore have constructed a temple there and worship him.

2. Identify this band of brothers.
(Hint: They have scored music for some popular Hindi movie songs)

Ans.: RDB (Rythm, Dhol, Bass), Kuly, Manj and Surj, the guys behind some peppy numbers like the song Singh is Kingg and Rafta Rafta from Namaste London

3. Identify the advertiser.

(Hint: Indian Bank :P)

Ans.: Indian Overseas Bank.

4. Again, Identify the advertiser.

Ans.: History Channel.

5. A served as an inspiration for X and B for Z. Idnetify all

(Hint: Very popular characters)

Ans.: Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (A) served as inspiration for James Bond (X) and Sidney Cotton (B) was inspiration to Q (Z)

6. Identify these dudes

(Hint: They created something, which beacme very famous & is used by all of us, well almost)

Ans.: Rajat Agarwalla & Jayant Agarwalla, creators of the popular online word game Lexulous (formerly Scrabulous)

7. He was the last man to be given a certain kind of treatment. Put fundaez.

Ans.: Hamida Djandoubi, last person to be guillotined

8. Identify the building from its architecture.

(Hint: Though its famous for other reasons.)

Ans.: Babri Masjid

9. Very simple, who fills up the blank

Ans.: US Presidents who have won the Nobel Peace Prize:

Theodore Roosevelt (1905)

Woodrow Wilson (1919)

Jimmy Carter, Jr. (2002)

Barack Obama (2009)

10. Hardcore Hollywood question - Complete the series.

(This might turn out to be bad question :P)

Ans.: "Rambo. Terminator. Indiana Jones. Vinny Gambini". This is the tagline of the Joe Pesci movie, My Cousin Vinny

Quiz 2010 -3

2010-02-19T12:38:00.014+05:30

1. Astonished? Put fundaez

Ans.: CNN was caught a bit red-faced on 16 April 2003 when they discovered that a technical glitch had made some obituary templates they had prepared for several famous but not-yet-dead persons like Dick Cheney, Ronald Reagan, Bob Hope, Fidel Castro , Nelson Mendela etc. accessible to the general public via one of their development web sites, because of a tech glitch.

2. What do these markings signify?

Ans.: These are 'Remaindered Books'.

Remaindered books are books that are no longer selling well and whose remaining unsold copies are being liquidated by the publisher at greatly reduced prices. While the publisher takes a loss on the sales of these books, they're able to make some money off the sale and clear out space in the warehouses.

Copies of remaindered books are marked by the publisher, distributor or bookseller, to prevent them from being returned. "Remainder marks" have varied over the years, but today most remainders are marked with a stroke with a felt-tipped marker across the top or bottom of the book's pages, near the spine. This practice is rare in the UK (where the Sale of Goods Act 1979 protects the purchaser's right to return goods that are not "of merchantable quality", "as described" or "fit for intended purpose") compared with the United States.

3. Sitter!! Identify the place from the satellite pic.

Ans.: The English Channel

4. Connect these books.

Ans.: Books which are set within one day or say a 24 hours timeline

5. Connect the Rugby Club with the Tennis star

Ans.: The London New Zealand Rugby Club

Tim Henman

Aorangi Terrace, colloquially known as "Henman Hill", is an area in the grounds of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club where, during the annual Wimbledon tennis championship, crowds of people without showcourt tickets can watch the tennis matches live on a giant television screen at the side of No. 1 Court.The terrace is named after Aorangi Park, the London New Zealand Rugby Club's grounds which were situated on the site until 1981. Since the late 1990s however, the area has been referred to as "Henman Hill", named after the former British player, Tim Henman.

6. This WWII photograph popularized something. What?

Ans.: Ray Ban Aviator sunglasses

The Aviator style was first noticed world-wide during World War ll when worn by Gen. Douglas MacArthur.The Aviator became a well-known style of sunglasses when General Douglas MacArthur landed on the beach in the Philippines in World War II. Photographers snapped several pictures of him wearing them for newspapers, and Americans instantly fell in love with them.

7. What's the mess all about?

Ans.: The photo is 3 September 1967, on which traffic in Sweden switched from driving on the left-hand side of the road to the right.

All non-essential traffic was banned from the roads from 01:00 to 06:00. Any vehicles on the roads during that time had to follow special rules. All vehicles had to come to a complete stop at 04:50, then carefully change to the right-hand side of the road and stop again before being allowed to proceed at 05:00.

8. What is unique about this product?

Ans.: Haathi Chaap is a brand of paper manufactured in Rajasthan, India, out of elephant dung.The water of the dung is used as fertilizers in the field, and the dung is dried up and used to manufacture paper.

First, elephant dung is dried, washed and disinfected, so that only clean fibre remains.

This fibre is sorted to remove all non-dung fibres (which might have stuck to the dung that is often collected from roadsides or reserved forests).

The sorted fibre is boiled for at least four hours in a vat to ensure the fibres are clean and soft.

The manufacturing process thereafter is similar to that of handmade paper. The boiled pulp is then put through pulp beaters. Colours or dyes are added when the pulp is beaten in the beater. Then the pulp is mixed with water, and lifted up on flat sieves, to dry into reams of paper. Once the paper has dried, it is either smoothened by stones or by passing it through a calendering machine to make it smooth and usable. http://www.elephantpoopaper.com/

9.These two paintings were painted together by two famous people (though famous not as painters). Identify the painters.

Ans.: Michael Jackson and Macauley Culkin. They poainted these together at the Neverland Ranch

10. Interesting advertisement for an interesting product. Whats the product?

Ans.: Sanitizes Tape Worms to keep you slim.

Quiz 2010 - 2

2010-01-28T16:07:00.012+05:30

1. Identify the loving father and the great son

Ans.: Ramesh Tendulkar and son Sachin Tendulkar.

2. A question inspired by the Kumbh Mela :

Why do the Sadhus smoke Charas, Hashish etc.?

Ans.: Sadhu smoking charas, a common practice amongst Sadhus(mostly Shaivite) to suppress and eventually destroy their sexual desire and just concentrate on meditation.

3. Identify

Ans.: Goddess Saraswati (Thuyathadi in Burmese) represented in Bamar fashion, seated on a hamsa, and holding scriptures of the Tipitaka, by a river.

4. XKCD Parody of which famous story?

Ans.: The Gift of the Magi

5. Connect the ladies to a fictional character.

Ans.: Sir Harry Paget Flashman

Flashman's stories are dominated by his numerous amorous encounters. Several of them are with prominent historical personages. These women are sometimes window dressing, sometimes pivotal characters in the unpredictable twists and turns of the books. Among the real women Flashman bedded, some were:

Jind Kaur, Dowager Maharani of Punjab (Flashman and the Mountain of Light).

Lakshmibai, Dowager Rani of Jhansi (Flashman in the Great Game) (a dancing girl may have taken the rani's place)

Lillie Langtry, actress and mistress of Edward VII (Flashman and the Tiger)

Lola Montez (Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert James) (Royal Flash).

Yehonala, Imperial Chinese concubine, later the Dowager Empress Ci Xi (Flashman and the Dragon).

6. Connect

Ans.: An antimacassar is a small cloth placed over the backs or arms of chairs, or the head or cushions of a sofa, to prevent soiling of the permanent fabric.The name is attributable to macassar oil, an unguent for the hair commonly used in the early 19th century. The fashion for oiled hair became so widespread in the Victorian and the Edwardian period that housewives began to cover the arms and backs of their chairs with washable cloths to preserve the fabric coverings from being soiled. Around 1850, these started to be known as antimacassars. They were also installed in theatres, from 1865.

The Macassar oil originated from Makassar, a town port in Indonesia.

7. Connect

Ans.: Rupee - the common name for the currencies used in India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Nepal, Pakistan, Mauritius, and Seychelles, Indonesia and Maldives, which are cognate words of Hindi rupiya

8. This is an advertisement for an innovative service. Put Fundaez

Ans.: Fazilka, a small town in Punjab is the first place in India to implement a Call-A-Cab format for calling rickshaws. This was implemented as a part of IIT project and is highly successful.

9. A website displays pictures like this, as a promotion. Put fundaez.

Ans.: www.bhopalwater.com packs water in bottles, which is not suitable for consumption. The water is highly contaminated due to the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. The website write :

The unique qualities of our water come from 25 years of slow-leaching toxins at the site of the world's largest industrial accident.

To this day, Dow Chemical — who bought Union Carbide — has refused to clean up and whole new generations are being poisoned.

10. Where in India could you find this scene?

Ans.: Near the Bhikhiwind village in the Khemkaran area, a strip of land was called

Patton Nagar for a short while in 1965. It was here that more than 60 tanks of the Pakistani army were displayed at the end of the September India-Pakistan conflict. The Pakistan Army tanks were captured at the Battle of Asal Uttar by India's 4 Mountain Division and it became a memorial to the Pakistani tanks being bogged down in the marshes during the 1965 War. The tanks were displayed for some time after which they were shipped to various cantonments and army establishments for display as war trophies.

Quiz 2010-1

2010-01-05T11:07:00.012+05:30

1. Id the Child (prodigy)

(Clue: he has a golden voice too)

Ans.: Bappi Lahiri, he started giving stage performances of his table playing skills at a very early age

2) This real prison camp inspired the creation of a fictional prison camp. Put fundaez.

(Clue: it was really bad there in the original camp, infact it was ugly)

Ans.: This is the Andersonville Prison which inspired Sergio Leone to create Betterville Camp for his movie The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.

3) Connect

(Clue: I think - 'Rum Bhulaye Ghum' started from this)

Ans.: Old Monk (the third largest selling Rum in the world) is a product of Mohun Meakin Brewery (earlier Solan Breweries) which was founded by Edward Dyer, father of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer who commanded the soldiers to open fire at Jallianwala Bagh.

4) Identify

Ans.: Rubik's 360

5) Who? Going Where?

(Clue: The Princess is going to meet her Prince)

Ans.: Grace Kelly on the way to be married in Monaco trying out the captain’s sextant on board the liner SS Constitution.

6.) Bank note of?

(Clue: Seldom used)

Ans.: Antarctica

7) Whose tomb?

(Clue: You have the freedom to search for this on any medium)

Ans.: Martin Luther King's & Coretta Scott King's tomb, located on the grounds of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site

8.Who played the mouth organ in this evergreen song?

Ans.: Rahul Dev Burman

9.Kolkata Biryani is far spicier than its other cousins, and distinguishes itself by its use of potatoes which absorbs the stock and spices during the cooking process. However, robustness rather than delicacy defines this biryani. The arrival of Biryani in Calcutta is attributed to which Historical event?

Ans.: The biryani moved to Calcutta when last ruler of Awadh, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was deposed by the British to Calcutta.

Q10) The Bassist + The Fictional Character = ?

(Clue: The resultant character has become an icon and perhaps will be forever)

Ans.: Heath Ledger based his character of Joker for the Batman film The Dark Knight on the Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and A Clockwork Orange’s Alex as in the Kubrick film.

The Utterly Butterly Amul Ad Quiz

2009-08-19T19:54:00.016+05:30

Q1)

Ans.: On compulsory sterilisation introduced during Indira Gandhi regime

Q2)

Ans.: Amul congratulates the success of the first test-tube baby

Q3)

Ans.: Kramer Vs Kramer

Q4)

Ans.: Margaret Thatcher elected as a first woman Prime Minister of England

Q5)

Ans.: A comment on famous movie `Godfather'.

Q6)

Ans.: CIA accuses Shri Morarji Desai of corruption

Q7)

Ans.: Cloud seeding experiment to get rains.

Q8)

Ans.: Issue on national unity.

Q9)

Ans.: The IPKF efforts to bring peace in Sri Lanka.

Q10)

Ans.: The approval of the Panchayat Raj bill by the government.

Q11)

Ans.: Jumma Chumma de de.... A chartbuster from the Hindi film "HUM"

Q12)

Ans.: Romance casts its spell, as the rich, spoilt brat girl falls for a poor reporter in the box-office hit comedy, DIL HAI KE MAANTA NAHI.

Q13)

Ans.: Tribute to director Satyajit Ray.

Q14)

Ans.: On the gaining popularity of the soap "The Bold and Beautiful" on Star TV.

Q15)

Ans.: During civil riots in Bombay.

Q16)

Ans.: Amitabh Bachchan on doing the Aby Baby song.

Q17)

Ans.: When Yanni played at the Taj

Q18)

Ans.: On Hong Kong becoming a part of China.

Q19)

Ans.: When Arundati Roy won the Booker Prize.

Q20)

Ans.: VDIS Scheme by the Income Tax Department.

Hope it was Utterly Butterly Delicous :)

India Quiz

2009-08-11T15:31:00.015+05:30

Q1) This movie won an Oscar. I need the Indian connection to this movie.

Ans.: Best Boy by Ira Wohl, won the 1979 Oscar for Best Documentary.The Oscar Award for this movie was awarded by Persis Khambatta, making her the first Indian citizen to present an Oscar.

Q2) If He is the first male to do something, Who is the first female?

Ans.: Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar was the first speaker of the Lok Sabha. Meira Kumar became the first female speaker of the Lok Sabha on May 30, 2009.

Q3) He was the lucky man, who got the chance to do something first,which is historical.
(hint: He has worked along with Kamal Hasan and Rajnikanth, this hint is only to make it easier to search if you do not know him.)

Ans.: At 5.30 AM, on the morning of August 15, 1947, Poornam Vishwanathan announced to the country that it had attained freedom from the British on the AIR News. "India is a free country," was his first sentence.

Q4) This Indian cricketer was on a car which met an accident. Luckily he survived, but the son of a reknowned singer died in the accident. Identufy this cricketer and the singer.

Ans.: Sairaj Bahutule. Jagjit Singh's son, Vivek Singh died in the fatal accident.

Q5) Connect.

Ans.: Leander Paes and the Munich Massacre. Leander's parents (his father, Vece Paes was a former Indian hockey midfielder, and representing the Indian team in the 1972 Munich Olympics, and his mother Jennifer Paes is a former basketball player from India who captained the Indian national basketball team in 1982 and participated in the 1972 Summer Olympics) were part of the official games squad The games were closed for 4 days because of this incident and his parents having nothing to do ,well conceived him. Leander was born on June 17, 1973 and the Games were held between August 26 to September 11, 1972. This was told by Paes in an interview to prorogram Harsha Online.

Q6) This inspired a super hit Hindi song. Name the song.

Ans.: Yeh Dil Na Hota Bechara, Jewel Thief.

SD Burman and RD Burman were driving home one night after seeing “The Bridge on the River Kwai” when SD Burman started tapping out the tune on the car’s dashboard, improvising on Colonel Bogie’s March, which turned into this song.

Ans.:
Q7) A simple Sporting Connection to end with. Explain.

Ans.: Hilsa vs Prawn aka East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan.

Traditionally East Bengal Fans celebrate their Win by eating Hilsa Fish and Mohun Bagan Fans celebrate win by eating Prawns.

Happy Independence Day & Enjoy

Homi Bhabha Centenary Online Science Quiz

2009-08-05T11:06:00.003+05:30

Quiz will be posted on MARCHAHEAD

The Who What Quiz

2009-07-27T09:26:00.004+05:30

1. We start with a 'naughty' one. Who are this pair? Why are they being shown here?

Ans.: The inspiration for the comic strip Dennis the Menace came from Dennis Ketcham, the real life son of Hank Ketcham, who was only four years old when he refused to take a nap and somehow messed up his whole room. Hank tried many possible names for the character, and translated them into rough pencil sketches. But when his studio door flew open and his then-wife Alice, in utter exasperation exclaimed, "Your son is a menace!", the "Dennis the Menace" name stuck. The character of Henry Mitchell bore a striking resemblance to Ketcham. The Mitchell family of Dennis, Hank/Henry and Alice were all named after the Ketchams.

2. The main people in this photograph are easy to identify. The question is, What is the event?

Ans.: The Channel Tunnel was opened in Calais on 6 May 1994 by British Queen Elizabeth II and French President FranÃ§ois Mitterrand.

3. A mixture of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Who is he, what is his claim to fame / notoriety?

Ans.: Jim Gordon, drummer for Derek and the Dominoes, is the only murderer to win a Grammy. He won it for co-writing Layla and in 1983 was convicted of killing is mother with a hammer and knife.In the late 1970s, Gordon complained of hearing voices in his head, primarily those of his mother. Unfortunately, his physicians did not diagnose his condition as schizophrenia and instead treated him for alcohol abuse.On June 3, 1983, he murdered his mother with a hammer. It was not until his trial in 1984 that he was properly diagnosed. Due to the fact that his attorney was unable to use the insanity defense, he was sentenced to sixteen years to life in prison with a possibility of parole. He has served his sentence at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, Atascadero State Hospital in Atascadero, and the State Medical Corrections Facility in Vacaville. He remains incarcerated. Currently, there is a petition online to assist him in either being released from prison or placed in a facility where he is able to receive more sophisticated treatment.

4. The Sitter of the Quiz. What is being shown here?

Ans.: The Zenith Space Commander 600 remote control. The first wireless remote control invented by Zenith Radio Corporation in 1956. It was nicknamed "Lazy Bones"

5. What were these people collectively called? Explain the title.

Ans.: The Hollywood TenThe first systematic Hollywood blacklist was instituted on November 25, 1947, the day after ten writers and directors were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to give testimony to the House Committee on Un-American Activities. A group of studio executives, acting under the aegis of the Motion Picture Association of America, announced the firing of the artists ”the so-called Hollywood Ten in what has become known as the Waldorf Statement. On June 22, 1950, a pamphlet called Red Channels appeared, naming 151 entertainment industry professionals in the context of "Red Fascists and their sympathizers"; soon most of those named, along with a host of other artists, were barred from employment in much of the entertainment field. The blacklist was effectively broken in 1960 when Dalton Trumbo, an unrepentant member of the Hollywood Ten, was publicly acknowledged as the screenwriter of the films Spartacus and Exodus.

6. This person has a unique distinction in the history of cinema. Who is he? What is the distinction he holds?

Ans.: Barry Fitzgerald. He achieved a feat unmatched in the history of the Academy Awards: he was nominated for both the Best Actor Oscar and the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the same performance, as "Father Fitzgibbon" in Going My Way (1944). (Academy Award rules have since been changed to prevent this.) He won the Best Supporting Actor Award.

7. What are we seeing here? Looong story like the event.

Ans.: Thomas J. Hicks with his supporters at the 1904 St.Louis Olympics. He won the marathon event.The funda behind the question is Conditions were bad, the course being a dirt track, with large clouds of dust produced by the accompanying vehicles. Hicks was not the first to cross the finish line, trailing Fred Lorz. However, Lorz had abandoned the race after 9 miles. After covering most of the course by car, he re-entered the race 5 miles before the finish. This was found out by the officials, who disqualified Lorz, who claimed it had only been a joke.Had the race been run under current rules, Hicks too would have been disqualified, as he had been given a dose of 1/60th of a grain (roughly 1 mg.) of strychnine and some brandy by his assistants as he was flagging badly during the race; the first dose of strychnine did not revive him for long, so he was given another. As a result, he collapsed after crossing the finishing line. Another dose may well have proved fatal. Strychnine is now forbidden for athletes.

8. We have it on record that this person is famous. Who is He? What record does he hold?

Ans.: Regis Philbin.He holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera. His trademarks include his excited manner, his New York Bronx accent, his wit, and irreverent ad-libs. He is most widely known for Live with Regis and Kelly, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Million Dollar Password, and for hosting the first season of America's Got Talent

9. This person ought to be far better known than she is. Who is she and what is her claim to fame?

Ans.: Mangte Chungneijang Merykom (aka Mary Kom or MC Merykom). She is a three time world boxing champion.

Medals won by Marykom:

Turkey 2002 - Gold Medal at the 2nd World women's boxing championships.

Austria 2005 - Gold Medal at the 3rd World women's boxing championships.

Delhi 2006 - Gold Medal at the 4th World women's boxing championships.

10. What exactly is being shown here?

Ans.:Those are frames from the film depicting the electrocution of Topsy the elephant by Edison to prove the dangers of AC current at the peak of his rivalry on that issue with Nikola Tesla.

Topsy was a domesticated elephant with the Forepaugh Circus at Coney Island's Luna Park. Because she had killed three men in as many years (including a severely abusive trainer who attempted to feed her a lit cigarette),Topsy was deemed a threat to people by her owners and killed by electrocution on January 4, 1903. Inventor Thomas Edison captured the event on film. He would release it later that year under the title Electrocuting an Elephant. A means of execution initially discussed was hanging. However, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals protested and other ways were considered. Edison then suggested electrocution with alternating current, which had been used for the execution of humans since 1890.To reinforce the execution, Topsy was fed carrots laced with 460 grams of potassium cyanide before the deadly current from a 6,600-volt AC source was sent coursing through her body. She was dead in seconds. The event was witnessed by an estimated 1,500 people and Edison's film of the event was seen by audiences throughout the United States.

Trivial Fundaez

2009-07-12T11:08:00.019+05:30

1. Put Fundaez

Ans.: Monument erected, October, 1998, commemorating where the Martians "landed" in Van Nest Park, Grover's Mill, NJ.
This monument was erected in memory of the chaos created by the radio play The War of the Worlds by H.G.Wells, which was directed and narrated by Orson Welles. For further reading refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(radio)

2. Identify the advertiser and the concept.

Ans.: Xerox, "Borderless Printing"

3. What is contained in this test tube. Put Fundaez.

Ans.: Thomas Alva Edison’s last breath. This is placed at the Henry Ford Museum.

Supposedly Ford asked Edison's son Charles to hold a test tube next to his father's mouth when he breathed his last in 1931. Ford's motive for this odd request is obscure. He is known to have been interested in reincarnation, and some say he thought the spirit exited the body with one's last breath; ergo, what he was collecting was essence of Edison, no doubt for reconstitution at some later date. Others say he just wanted a souvenir of his departed buddy. Whatever the case, it's likely that any Edisonian vestiges, if in fact there ever were any, have long since leaked out. The tube was discovered in the Ford family home in 1950 after both Henry and his wife had died. It's now on display at the Ford museum.

4. Identify and Connect.

Ans.: Cons described in the movie Ocean’s Eleven.

In the beginning of the film, when they begin to work on the plan for the casino heist, Rusty (Pitt) says to Danny (Clooney)

"Off the top of my head, I'd say you're looking at a Boesky, a Jim Brown, a Miss Daisy, two Jethros and a Leon Spinks, not to mention the biggest Ella Fitzgerald...ever."

This list of cons was created by director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Ted Griffin that described the type of people and cons needed to knock over the three casinos.
Boesky - Saul playing Lyman Zerga. This is a reference to Ivan Boesky, a big-time trader on Wall Street who got caught committing securities fraud. The con is about a wealthy bankroller who has insider information.
Jim Brown - the confrontation between Frank Catton and Linus Caldwell, staged to distract Terry Benedict so that Linus can lift the security codes to the vault. Named for the famous American football player Jim Brown.
Miss Daisy - the SWAT vehicle used as the getaway car. From the film title Driving Miss Daisy.
Two Jethros - the Malloy brothers. "Hillbilly gear-head types" hired to take care of Miss Daisy, distraction purposes, and for general two-man work.
Leon Spinks - the disruption of the boxing match. This refers to the surprise victory of Leon Spinks over Muhammad Ali.
Ella Fitzgerald - the looped tape of the robbery that is played over Benedict's security system. A reference to a 1970s commercial for Memorex, in which a recording of Ella Fitzgerald's voice breaks a glass and the question is posed to the viewer: "Is it live or is it Memorex?"

5.Connect.

Ans.: Clockwise: Douglas Adams, John Lloyd, Isle of Sheppey in UK

Connect: Sheppey, the unit of measurement.
A measure of distance equal to about 7⁄8 of a mile (12⁄5 km), defined as the closest distance at which sheep remain picturesque. The Sheppey is the creation of Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, included in The Meaning of Liff, their dictionary of putative meanings for words that are actually just place names. It is named after the Isle of Sheppey in the UK.

6. Put Fundaez.

(Hint: "Miles and Miles and Miles")

Ans.: While on the Moon, Alan Shepard played golf with this Wilson six-iron head attached to a lunar sample scoop handle (this is housed at the USGA Museum). Despite thick gloves and a stiff spacesuit which forced him to swing the club with one hand only, Shepard struck two golf balls with a six iron, driving the second, as he jokingly put it, “miles and miles and miles”.

7. Fundaez Please.

Ans.: “The Wall” by Atul Dodiya.
A rare work by the artist - dedicated to cricket and Bollywood. It’s a triple treat for art lovers — a work by Atul Dodiya that has signatures of cricketers Rahul Dravid, Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar and all the others cricketers who represented India in the last World Cup. And a portrait of Aamir Khan.

8. Identify.

Ans.: Masaba and Mali Richards. Born to Sir Vivian Richards, Masaba is born to Neena Gupta and Mali to Miriam Richards.

9.Id the movie from the LEGO spoof.

Ans.: The Bourne Ultimatum.

10. What did he found?

Ans.: Rotary International. He is Paul P. Harris, founder of the Club.

Please post your views and reviews in the comments.

Connection Fundaez

2009-06-11T13:52:00.013+05:30

1. Connect. Put Fundaez.

Ans.: Oscar Awards.

Levis 501 is the reference to the numbering of Oscar statuettes. They were first numbered in 1949 with Serial No. 501. Second pic features Matilda Rose Ledger, daughter of Heath Ledger who is the legal heir to the Oscar presented to the deceased for the role of the Joker. Because she is only 3, Matilda is legally unable to crayon an X on the winner's agreement not to resell his or her Oscar without first offering it back to the academy for $1, or a handful of Gummi Bears. The agreement is the academy's way of limiting what might otherwise be a lively secondary market in Oscars.

2. Connect. Put Fundaez.

Ans.: Clockwise: Marcelo Rios, Dinara Safina, Jelena Jankovic.

They are the only players who were ranked No.1 but have remained ‘Slam-less’ (not won a Grand Slam in their careers.)

3. Put Fundaez.

Ans.: Clockwise: Kim Stanley Robinson, Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) on Devon Island,

Canada

, Flag of Planet Mars.

Kim Stanley Robinson's popular trilogy Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars provided the concept for the flag.

4.The three guys on the first pic came up with the idea introducing beer in a new package. The beer they launched (close up in the second pic) is now the most popular in their country. I don’t need the IDs of the guys, just give the reason for the popularity of this beer.

Ans.: Skinny Blonde Beer.
The Skinny Blonde bottle features a 1950s-style pin-up called Daisy whose red bikini disappears as the beer level drops and the bottle warms up, thanks to the modern ink technology used on the labels

5. Simple, Connect

Ans.: Clockwise: Mahatma Gandhi, Apur Sansar, Anuradha, Alice in Wonderland.

Connect: Pandit Ravi Shankar Composed music for these movies. Gandhi, Apu Triology, Anuradha and "Alice in Wonderland" (1966, directed by Jonathan Miller)

6. Identify and connect these cricketing personalities to another cricketing personality.

Ans.: From Left to Right: Rohan Kanhai, M.L.Jaisimha, Gundappa Vishwanath.

Rohan Gavaskar was named Rohan Jaivishwa by his father as a tribute to his 3 favourite cricketers - Rohan Kanhai, ML Jaisimha and Rohan's uncle, Gundappa Vishwanath

7. Identify, Connect, Put Fundaez

Ans.: Clockwise: Prof. Sugata Mitra (Chief Scientist, Emeritus, at NIIT), The opening day of the Learning Station at Shivpuri, The very first Learning Station at Kalkaji - rear view, Danny Boyle.

Funda: Prof. Sugata Mitra is credited with the discovery of Hole-in-the-Wall. Mitra's team carved a "hole in the wall" that separated the NIIT premises from the adjoining slum in Kalkaji, New Delhi. Through this hole, a freely accessible computer was put up for use. This computer proved to be an instant hit among the slum dwellers, especially the children. With no prior experience, the children learnt to use the computer on their own. Encouraged by the success of the Kalkaji experiment, freely accessible computers were set up in Shivpuri (a town in Madhya Pradesh) and in Madantusi (a village in Uttar Pradesh). These experiments came to be known as Hole-in-the-Wall experiments.

The Hole in the Wall experiment has left a mark on popular culture. Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup read about Mitra's experiment and was inspired to write his debut novel Q and A - this subsequently went on to become the movie Slumdog Millionaire.

Election Fundaez Phase 2

2009-05-10T20:13:00.001+05:30

1. Which Indian politician has a son named Osama?

Ans.: Mohammed Sahabbudin

2.Connnect them to an Indian Politician.

Ans.:

A - Bangaru Adigalar

B - Mata Amritanandamayi

C - Sri Karunamayi

Connect - J.Jayalalitha. All of them are affectionately called Amma.

3. What is inspired by this temple in politics in India?

Ans.: The people of Emur Bhagavathy temple in Palakkad say the Congress symbol, the hand, was inspired by their deity. The idols have only the goddess's hands. Apparently, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited the temple and the Congress selected the symbol in the next Lok Sabha election.

4. Connect the two logos

Ans.: Electronic Corporation of India Ltd., Hyderabad and Bharat Electronics, Bangalore. These companies make the EVMs for Indian elections

5. Connect these movies and the individual to an Indian politician.

Ans.: These movies are produced by POoja Shetty (the individual), daughter of Manmohan Shetty. She is married to Milind Deora.

6. ID the guy and the political connection

Ans.: Chirag Paswan, son of LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan. He is being launched into Bollywood with Anuj Saxena's 50-50.

7. He was the man behind?

Ans.: Prathap Suthan of Grey Worldwide (India) advertising agency, the man behind the India Shining Campaign.

Election Fundaez Phase 1

2009-04-13T21:11:00.012+05:30

1. Logo of Which Organization?

Ans.:Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited, they are the only company authorised to make the indelible ink used in the elections in India.

++ The ink is also exported to over 35 countries like Thailand, Singapore, Nigeria, Malaysia, South Africa etc.

2. Again, Identify the Organization by its Logo.

Ans.: Bahujan Samaj Party.

3. Identify the person in the first pic (the second pic may serve as a clue)

Ans.: Brahmeshwar Singh, chief of the Ranbir Sena, private militia of the upper caste landlords in North-Central Bihar

4. Identify and Connect. Also tell who else from India can be added to this list.

Ans.: Prafulla Mahanta (Asom Gana Parishad), Nar Bahadur Bhandari (Sikkim Sangram Parishad Party) and Abraham Lincoln (First Republican President of the USA.

All the three use the Elephant as their election symbol. Mayawati can be added to the list.

5. Identify the lady and her achievement.

Ans.: Agatha Sangma, daughter of P.A.Sangma, she is the youngest MP at the age of 27 from the Tura Lok Sabha seat

6. Who is the author of these books.

Ans.: Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Orissa.

7. Identify the lady in the pic, and also the (airbrushed) man in the centre. If you identify the lady, the man is easy to guess.

Ans.: Mayawati and ofcourse Kanshi Ram.

Holi Special :)

2009-03-07T20:25:00.014+05:30

1. A lost a game of Chess to B in a prestigious tournament. He lost the game because of a norm of FIDE, which is a rare thing to see. Put Fundaez.

Ans.: During the 2008 Corus chess tournament, Cheparinov's game in the eighth round of Group B against Nigel Short was declared a forfeit after the first move because he had twice refused to shake Short's hand at the start. FIDE's behavioural norms state that, "[a]ny player who does not shake hands with the opponent (...) before the game starts in a FIDE tournament or during a FIDE match (and does not do it after being asked to do so by the arbiter) (...) will immediately and finally lose the relevant game". The reason for Cheparinov's refusal was, according to the appeal made by him and his manager Silvio Danailov, that "some time ago in one of his interviews Mr. Short insulted him and our team gravely". They also claimed the arbiter had not given Cheparinov another opportunity to shake hands, but had immediately declared the game a loss. After their protest, the Appeals Committee of the tournament—consisting of Vladimir Kramnik, Michał Krasenkow and Judit Polgár—overturned the decision to forfeit the game. The Committee also decided that Cheparinov should apologize to Short, that the game was to be replayed the next day and that it should start with a handshake. Short won.

2. Identify the advertiser.

Ans.: Sony VIAO

3. Identify the people circled in the photograph.

Ans.: Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Lakshmi Menon.

4. Put Fundaez

Ans.: Remington Rand typewriter advertisement featuring Mark Twain and his daughter, Collier's Magazine, February 24, 1945

5. Identify the group.

Ans.: An Indian cricket team toured England in the 1932 season under the title of the "All-India" team. This was the second tour of England by an Indian team, following the first in 1911. One Test match was played at Lord's Cricket Ground. This was the first Test match ever played by India. England won by 158 runs after scoring 259 and 275-8 declared while India was bowled out for 189 and 187.
The Indians played 36 matches in all, including 26 first-class fixtures. The team won 9 first-class matches, drew 9 and lost 8. Captained by the Maharaja of Porbandar, the team's outstanding batsman was the right-handed CK Nayudu, who played in all the first-class matches, scoring 1,618 runs at an average of 40.45. In the 1933 Wisden, he was selected as one of the five Cricketers of the Year

6.What’s happening here? Put Fundaez.
(Don’t bother about the identities of the people in the picture)

Ans.: A Sumo wrestler is announcing his retirement. They have to cut their top knot in public to announce their retirement.

7. The man in the picture invented something of military importance (which is now being used by other people too). His invention was perfected in the 17th century and was a Godsend to troops defending against cavalry. His invention was a part of something which shook the world last week. Identify the man and his invention.

Ans.: Henry Shrapnel. Most of the Sri Lankan players had sustained Shrapnel injuries in the bloody attack.

8. Connect

Ans.: In StarTrek, the Shuttlecrafts are named after famous scientists. The list is not exhaustive.
Galileo (Galilei), (Christopher) Columbus, (Nicolaus) Copernicus, (Farouk) El-Baz, (Marie) Curie, (Ellison) Onizuka, (Robert H.) Goddard, (Stephen) Hawking

9. Identify this man and his claim to fame.

Ans.: .: Edwin H. Land, inventor of Instant Photography and founder of Polaroid Corporation

10. The flag is horizontally divided into two fundamental colors, royal blue and scarlet red, with a white equilateral triangle based at the hoist side. At the center of the triangle is a golden yellow sun with eight primary rays, each containing three individual rays, and at each corner of the triangle is a five-pointed golden yellow star. The flag is displayed with the blue field on top in time of peace, and with the red field on top in time of war. Which country?

Ans.: Philippines.

Long Island Iced Tea

2009-01-17T13:59:00.019+05:30

1. Identify the Painter and the trivia related to this particular painting.

Ans.: Vincent Van Gogh’s Self-portrait with bandaged ear, January 1889. He cut off part of his left ear following a breakdown in his friendship with Paul Gauguin. He painted this self potrait looking into a mirror, therefore this painting shows his right ear bandaged.

2. Identify this young boy who went on to become a legend.

Ans.: Satyajit Ray

3. What is this guy shooting?

Ans.: .: Abraham Zapruder was an American manufacturer of women's clothing who filmed U.S. President John F. Kennedy's 1963 motorcade traveling through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, and unexpectedly recorded the assassination of the President. The Zapruder film is famous for being the most complete visual record of the assassination.

4. Identify the advertiser and put fundaez about the idea behind the Campaign.

Ans.: .: The Volkswagen Truck campaign - “For every kind of load”. Done brilliantly by the Brazilian Ad Agency BBDO.

5. What did this poster inspire?

Ans.: Black Sabbath, the name of the band.

The band was initially named The Polka Tulk Blues Company, after shortening the name to Polka Tulk, the band changed their name to Earth. While playing shows in England in 1969, the band discovered they were being mistaken for another English group named Earth, and decided to change their name again. A movie theatre across the street from the band's rehearsal room was showing the 1963 Boris Karloff horror film Black Sabbath. While watching people line up to see the film, Butler noted that it was "strange that people spend so much money to see scary movies". Butler wrote a song called "Black Sabbath" after reading a book by occult writer Dennis Wheatley, and seeing a black-hooded figure standing at the foot of his bed. Making use of the musical tritone, also known as "The Devil's Interval", the song's ominous sound and dark lyrics pushed the band in a darker direction, a stark contrast to the popular music of the late 1960s, which was dominated by flower power, folk music, and hippie culture. Inspired by the new sound, the band changed their name to Black Sabbath in August 1969, and made the decision to focus on writing similar material, in an attempt to create the musical equivalent of horror films.

6. Identify the movie from the (photoshopped) poster.

Ans.: Disney’s Return to Neverland.

7. Identify and Connect the man to the building.

Ans.: Robert Frost and Anand Bhawan, Allahabad (The Nehru Residence)
Jawahar Lal Nehru had a penchant for poetry, and in the latter years of his life took to carrying with him four lines of a poem by Robert Frost:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep.

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

8. Put fundaez about the three dots in the logo of Domino's Pizza.

Ans.: .: Domino’s Pizza was founded in 1960 by a man called Tom Monaghan whose original goal was to open three pizza delivery stores. That’s why there are three dots on the logo.

9. Simple, Identify.

Ans.: Zakumi, Mascot of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™.

10. These three players raced for a unique record. Put Fundaez.

Ans.: (Clockwise) Doug Walters, Rod Marsh and David Boon.

Boon set the record for consuming the highest number of beer cans on flight from Sydney to London. He consumed 52 cans of beer (totaling around 19.5 litres of beverages @ 5% alcohol (per 375ml serve), the majority of which consumed at such an altitude that the effects of the alcohol were doubled) during the 1989 Ashes Tour, thus breaking records of Rod Marsh (of 45 cans) and Doug Walters (44 cans). Phew!!!

Trivial Fundaez

2008-10-23T17:17:00.025+05:30

e Click on the pics for a larger view)
1. Who is the Wicketkeeper on the Cover of this Book?

Ans.: R.K.Narayan

2. He paints in a style is known as Abstract Impressionism. When the first time his paintings were put on auction, it had to compete with the likes of Renoir and Warhol. His paintings drew so much interest that Renoir and Warhol paintings had to be withdrawn. Who is the Painter.

Ans.: Congo the Chimpanzee. Congo was the name of a chimpanzee who learned to paint on paper and canvas, under the aegis of zoologist, ethologist, and surrealist painter Desmond Morris. He was most productive in the late 1950s. American collector Howard Hong purchased three of Congo's works for US$26,000.

3. Identify both the ladies.

Ans.: Usha Uthup & Runa Laila

4. Who is He?
(Hint: A former tennis star)

Ans.: Yannich Noah.
He has won the 1983 French Open Men's Single and was a captain of the French Davis Cup Team.

Since retiring from playing tennis, Noah has developed a career as a popular singer, performing throughout Europe. He began his music career in 1991 with the album Black or What, featuring the popular track "Saga Africa" which he made the stadium sing with his players after the famous Davis Cup final win.

Noah made music news in the summer of 1997 with a new single entitled "Aux Rêves". His adaptation of "La Marseillaise" – originally written by Rouget de Lisle in 1792 and adopted as the French national anthem – succeeded in stirring controversy. The pacifist reworking of the strongly patriotic message of "La Marseillaise" led to protests from several war veterans' associations. However, it is now largely accepted, if not loved, as is Serge Gainsbourg's own take on the anthem

5. Who said "I have been in the Who's Who and I know what's what, but this is the first time I have made it to the dictionary?

Ans.: Mae West. *Miss West exaggerated slightly: the dictionary was "A Dictionary of Army and Navy Slang."

Perhaps her most famous quote is: "Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?"

6. Name the street.

Ans.: Lombard Street, San Fransisco.

7. This caricature condemns a judgement by a Judge, which said that a man may legally beat his wife, provided that he used a stick no thicker than his thumb. According to him, this was necessary for Family Correction. What phrase did this give rise to?

Ans.: Rule of Thumb.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thumb

8. Who is He and what is his most famous contribution?

Ans.: He is Francisco Tárrega who composed Gran Vals which in turn became famous as the Nokia Tune.

9. Identify the flag

Ans.: Republic of Niger

10. Connect

Ans.:
Pic 1 is The San Francisco cable cars
Pic 2 is Mystic Seaport Museum's steamship Sabino

The San Francisco cable cars, along with Mystic Seaport Museum's steamship Sabino are the only two MOVING National Historic Landmarks of the US.

Hope you liked the questions, post your bouquets and brickbats in the comments section :)

High School Musical

2008-09-19T01:59:00.015+05:30

(Click on the pic for a bigger view)

1) No need to give me the identification of all these great people, just give me the musical connection.

Ans.: All mentioned/referred to in Madonna's song Vogue.

(Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, Joe DiMaggio, MarlonBrando, James Dean, Grace Kelly, Jean Harlow, Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire,Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth, Lauren Bacall, Katharine Hepburn, LanaTurner, and Bette Davis)

2) Put Fundaez.

Ans.: "God Save the Queen" was the second single released by the punk rock band Sex Pistols. It was released during Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in 1977 and reached number two in the British charts. Its lyrics, as well as the cover, were controversial at the time, and the BBC refused to play the song.

3) Whats is the unique Claim to Fame of this album?

Ans.: It is the only Billboard Top 10 hit where both the name of the groupand the song were palindromes.

4) Simple...Connect

Ans.: In the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Three songs from old Hindi movies can be heard played in the back ground. "Mera Man Tera Pyaasa" from the movie "Gambler" performed by Mohammed Rafi, "Tera Sang Pyaar Mein" performed by Lata Mangeshkar, "Wada Na Tod" by Lata Mangeshkar from the movie "Dil Tujhko Diya" (when Clementine invites Joel to her apartment for a drink). All the three songs are listed in the original soundtrack credits.

5) Connect

Ans.: Inside Man and Sapna Awasthi. The song Chaiyya Chaiyya was used in the opening and end credits of the movie, which was sung by Sukhwinder Singh and Sapna Awasthi.

6) Fill in the blanks.

"Some live and die in debt
Others making millions on the internet
Contradictions, city of extremes
Everthing is possible in_____________"

Ans.: Bombay Dream!!

7) Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, the famed classical singer is supposed to have sung for only
one film in his entire career. Which one?

Ans.: Mughal-E-Azam. He sang "Prem Jogan Ban Jaye" in Raga Sohoni and "Shubh Din Aayo".

Ad Mad Quiz II

2008-09-11T14:19:00.013+05:30

(Click on the pictures for a BIGGER VIEW)

Q1)

Ans.:

Q2)

Ans.:

Q3)

Ans.:

Q4)

Ans.:

Q5)

Ans.:

Q6)

Ans.:

Q7)

Ans.:

Q8)

Ans.:

Q9)

Ans.:

Q10)

Ans.:

Ad Mad Quiz

2008-08-31T13:57:00.036+05:30

Click on the Pictures for a Bigger View

Q1)

Ans.:

Q2)

Ans.:

Q3)

Ans.:

Q4)

Ans.:

Q5)

Ans.:

Q6)

Ans:

Q7)

Ans.:

Q8)

Ans.:

Q9)

(Issued in Public Interest By.......)

Ans.:

Q10)

Ans.:

Q11)

Ans.:

Q12)

Ans.:

Q13)

Ans.:

Q14)

Ans.:

Q15)

Ans.:

Independence Day Quiz

2008-08-13T16:56:00.012+05:30

1)Who has written this great poem?

Ans.: Bismil Azimabadi and popularised by Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil, the mastermind in the Kakori Train Robbery

2) In the Independence Struggle of India, what has been described as "Operation Trojan Horse"?

Ans.: According to a book released on October 28th, 2007 named "Some Hidden Facts: Martyrdom of Shaheed Bhagat Singh", it carries the subtitle “Secrets unfurled by an Intelligence Bureau Agent of British-India”, written by K.S.Kooner, the ‘execution’ of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev marked the execution of a conspiracy code-named “Operation Trojan Horse”, which, in effect, facilitated the pacification of the British officers in general and the prospective in-laws of the late J P Saunders in particular. Accordingly, Bhagat Singh and his associates did go through the formality of ‘hanging’ but only to the extent of breaking their necks; semi-conscious, they were taken to the Lahore Cantonment where the ‘Death Squad’, comprising Saunder’s family, shot them to quench their thirst for revenge.Since doing all this during day time could have invited a violent reaction from the people, the ‘execution’ was performed at night; for the same reason, the bullet-ridden bodies were neither sent for postmortem nor handed over to the relatives. Instead, most surreptitiously, these were taken in a lorry to a pre-fixed isolated place on a kutcha-road (6 miles away from Lahore, on the right bank of the Beas where it meets the Sutlej) and burnt to ashes. And, to put the people on the wrong track, some flesh and bones were half burnt and buried on the western bank of the Sutlej, near Hussainiwala. Two Indian agents were sent to Lahore to pose as volunteers and tell the Congress people that they had seen at Ganda Singh Wala a big burning pyre from a distance.
Believing the story, some people (including Bhagat’s sister Bibi Amar Kaur) reached the ‘hot’ spot, dug up the flesh and half-burnt bones (plus one big broken but uncharred bone which they surmised must have been the arm of Bhagat Singh, the tallest of the three) that lay buried there, and took these back to Lahore where the half-burnt stuff was ‘properly’ cremated on the bank of the Ravi in the midst of sloganeering crowds, all in tears.
This was precisely what the ‘Operation Trojan Horse’ meant to achieve — the British way of denying the martyrs the honour of a glorious farewell by the people.

3) Identify, Connect and Put Fundaez.

Ans.: Pic one is Pingali Venkaiyyah.
Pic two is Sachin Tendulkar.
Pic three is Naveen Jindal.
Pingali Venkaiyyah designed the National Flag of India. Sachin Tendulkar was in controversies for sporting the Indian Flag on his helmet. Naveen Jindal filed a writ petition in the High Court and then the Supreme Court to seek permission for the Indian citizens to fly and use the Indian Flag (decorum to be maintained) all the year round.

4) The incident is famous in Indian history as the "Key Affair". Mahatma Gandhi sent this telegram after the settlement of the affair : " First battle of India's freedom won. Congratulations". Put Fundaez about the incident.

Ans.: The British Government kept possession of the keys of the "Toshakhana" (treasury) of the Golden Temple. The Akalis protested and a mass movement started immediately in the remotest part of the state and army. Finally in on 5th January 1922, the British Governement surrendered the keys to Baba Kharak Singh, then President of the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SPGC)

5) Two leaders of the Freedom Movement, Dr.Saifuddin Kitchlu and Dr.Satyapal, have an important, though tragic claim to fame. What?

Ans.: Their arrest by the British Government in India led to the protest congregation at Jallianwallah Bagh, Amritsar. The rest is a sordid history.

6) Who or What were in the Days of the Raj, reffered to as

a) 'Country Trade'

b) 'The Inster'

c) 'The Fishing Fleet'

d) 'Returned Empties'

(One point for each correct answer)

Ans.:
a)'Country Trade': Permission given to John Company servants to trade on their own, as a motivation.

b)'The Inster' : The Railwat Institue, the hub of Anglo-Indian social and sporting activity.

c)'The Fishing Fleet': The hoardes of English girls who periodically sailed to India in search of husbands from amongst their kinds in Indiad)

d)'Returned Empties': Obviously, those who failed to find them and reurtned to BlightyExtra Funda: Blighty is an English slang term for Britain, deriving from the Hindustani word Vilayati.

7) One of the most capable of the rebel leaders, his pseudonym meant, in part, 'Commanding Officer'. He was betrayed by Man Singh, the Raja of Marwar, to the British and was executed by them at Sipri (now Shivpuri in M.P.) on 18, April, 1859. Who was He?

Ans.: Tantya Tope

8) 'Na Iran ne Kiya, Na Shah Russ Nei, Angrez ko tabah kiya Kartoosh Ne'. What does this refer to?

Ans.: The greased catridge for the new Enfiled rifle issued to sepoys in 1857 had to be bitten before firing. The story goes that one day a Brahmin sepoy refused a low caste labourer a drink of water from his 'lota'. "You will soon lose your caste altogether, for the Europeans are going to make you bit catridge soaked in pork and cow fat. And then where will your caste be?" said the labourer.

9) Identify, Connect and Put Fundaez.

(Click on the image for a bigger view)

Ans.: Ans.: Sir Cyril John Radcliffe.Britain appointed Sir Cyril Radcliffe to chair two Boundary Commissions -- one for Bengal and one for Punjab. These pictures are his drawings showing the data collected by him about the population and percentage of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs based on which the Radcliffe Line was drawn between India and Pakistan.

10) Gandhiji's assasination was reported on the front page of all the newspapers in India except one. Which newspaper, Put Fundaez.

Ans.: The Hindu because the front page was dedicated to advertisements.They stopped this practice in 1958

A Small Message for All

Jai Hind

Abhinav Bindra Has Done India Proud

2008-08-11T10:22:00.010+05:30

Abhinav Bindra clinched the World Champioship gold, the first ever for the country in shooting, with a spectacular performance in the air rifle final on Monday.
The 23-year-old Delhi lad, a two-time Olympian, went into the final a joint leader with two others at 597, and shot a 102.1 in a nerve-wracking climax to emerge top from a strong field of 122 shooters from nearly 100 countries.
"He needed a 10.4 with his last shot to ensure the gold and he shot a 10.7. It was simply wonderful. To win the Olympic quota place with a World championship gold is fantastic. He has worked hard for it, and fought brilliantly today,'' said National coach Prof. Sunny Thomas.
"I have worked hard for this. It was my day. I have always believed that I could do this and am happy to have done it. I have been in the sport for ten years, and I know that the difference between winning and losing is not much. I didn't do anything very different today,'' said Abhinav, who has been battling with a career-threatening back problem in recent months.
"He was the World junior record holder and now he is the World champion. He is not competing in prone or the 3-position events. He will be consulting doctors in Germany on 27th to decide whether he would need a surgery to solve the back problem. It has been a courageous performance from him considering his physical condition,'' said Prof. Thomas.
Precious talent
For all his precious talent and phenomenal focus on the sport, Abhinav had nothing much to show except for two bronze medals in the World Cups in Germany that he captured in 2001 and 2003. He looked ready to set the record straight in the Athens Olympics when he made the final with a similar 597, but was unlucky not to finish among the medals then, despite shooting close to his best.
Abhinav had shot a miserably 97.6 in the final then. If anything, the bad memories did not dare plague him this time as he shot a spectacular series of 10.3, 10.3, 10.3, 10.0, 10.6, 9.3, 10.9, 9.2, 10.5 and 10.7 to win the gold with a 0.8 point margin.
There have only been two other instances of Indian shooters winning a World championship medal. Dr. Karni Singh had won the trap silver in a World championship in 1962 in Cairo and Lt. Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore had bagged the bronze in the shotgun World Championship in Cyprus in 2003.

ABOUT ABHINAV BINDRA

Abhinav Bindra (born September 28, 1982) is an Indian shooting sports person and businessman. He is the CEO of Abhinav Futuristics. As a shooter, he specialises in the field of Air rifle. In August 2008, he became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games.
Abhinav Bindra was the youngest Indian participant at the 2000 Olympic Games. He won six gold medals at various international meets in 2001. In the Air rifle event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Manchester, he won Gold in the Pairs event and Silver in the individual event. At the 2004 Olympic Games, he broke the Olympic record but failed to win a medal. He is a recipient of the Arjuna award in 2001 and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award for the year 2001-2002. Abhinav Bindra's potential talent was first spotted by Lt. Col. J.S. Dhillon. He was Bindra's first coach. Apart from being a shooter, Abhinav Bindra holds an M.B.A. (Masters in Business Administration). He is also the CEO of Abhinav Futuristics.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra won the gold for the Men's 10m Air Rifle final after shooting a total of 700.5, thus becoming the first Indian individual gold medallist at the Olympics. He scored 596 (fourth) in the qualifying round and out-scored all other shooters in the finals with a round of 104.5.

Here's the link to Abhinav Bindra's BLOG

http://abhinavbindra.blogspot.com/

The Really Tough Olympics Quiz

2008-07-30T17:45:00.016+05:30

Q1)

The man in the first picture (small, B&W) has some kind of firsts to his credit. He has worked in a number of movies. Identify him and Put Fundaez.

Ans.: Norman Pritchard. He was the first Indian athlete to participate in the Olympic Games. He was also the first Indian and first Asian to win an Olympic medal. He won two silver medals in the 1900 Summer Olympic Games at Paris. He studied at Saint Xaviers College, Kolkata and is credited with the first hat-trick in an open football tournament in India, for Saint Xavier’s against Sova Bazar in July, 1897. He acted in a number of Hollywood movies and Broadway plays. For more information on him, please refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Pritchard

Q2) Of late, this photograph has been doing rounds on the internet. What subject does it spoof.

Ans.: How China came up with the The Beijing Olympics Logo. It’s a spoof.

(Click on the pic for a bigger view, its hilarious)

Q3) Connect and Put Fundaez

Ans.: These are the flags of Australia, Sweden, China and Hong Kong. The funda is Equestrian Events held at different countries (or two different continents) than the host country. During the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, the Equestrian Events were held at Stockholm, Sweden because of strict quarantine requirements of China. Again in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Equestrian Events are being held at Hong Kong, due to high levels of equine disease in Beijing. Hong Kong was chosen the site, because it has high standards of quarantine for horses (due to the horse racing industry)

Q4) Put Fundaez

Ans.: The International Olympic Committee had a great political success (in the 1956 Melbourne Games) in managing to bring together the two Germanys (East and West) within a combined team (EUA) competing under a black, red and yellow flag with the Olympic rings and with "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's IX Symphony as their anthem.

Q5) What is happening here. Put Fundaez.

Ans.: The first full marathon (distance of 42.195 km) was held in the 1908 London Olympics. This is the photo of Italian runner Dorando Pietri. He was the first to enter the stadium, but he was clearly in distress, and collapsed of exhaustion before he could complete the event. He was helped over the finish line by concerned race officials, but was later disqualified and the gold medal was awarded to John Hayes who trailed him by 30 seconds.

Extra Funda: This was the first time that the marathon was run over its now-standard distance of 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards). This distance was chosen to ensure that the race finished in front of the box occupied by the British royal family. The marathon had been 40 km for the first games in 1896, but was subsequently varied by up to 2 km due to local conditions such as street and stadium layout. At the six Olympic games between 1900 and 1920, the marathon was raced over six different distances.

The Sound of Music

2008-07-19T18:14:00.012+05:30

1.The song tells the story of a pimp-like "afro-gipsy, rastafari" character named Diego who walks into a crowded nightclub at midnight, and the DJ, as he sees Diego walk in, plays the "twelve-o'clock anthem", "the song he desires most", which happens to be the 1979 rap hit "Rapper's Delight" by Sugarhill Gang. Its first verse: "I say the hip hop, the hippie...", pronounced phonetically in Spanish, the way it would sound to someone who does not understand English, becomes the song's chorus. Although technically meaningless and sometimes referred to as gibberish, the chorus is a more-or-less phonetic pronunciation of the first verse almost in its entirety.Which Chartbuster?

Ans.: The Las Ketchup Song

2.They specialized in Andalusian folk music, especially "sevillanas", the most typical and light music of Andalusia. For a number of years, They were known for attending private "jet-set" parties at Marbella.Their name is Spanish for Those from the River, referring to the Guadalquivir or the Guadaira. Which duo am I talking about?

Ans.: Los Del Rio

3. Whose Logo

Ans.: Dr.Alban

4.This is the cover of a smash hit album. Identify and Put Fundaez.

Ans.: Metallica's Load. The cover of the album is original artwork entitled "Semen and Blood III." It is one of three photographic studies by Andres Serrano created in 1990 by mingling the artist's own semen and bovine blood between two sheets of Plexiglas.

5.Homage is played to the iconic dog (Nipper) and gramophone image in the 1999 feature film Wild Wild West where in the 43rd minute a dog resembling Nipper runs to the side of a recently departed character and looks into an ear horn. What is logically wrong with the scene?

Ans.: The film is set in 1869, 30 years before Francis Barraud created Nipper.

6. He earned a Ph.D. from the Columbia University, New York in 1954, submitting a dissertation titled 'Proposals for preparing India's basic education to use audio-visual techniques in adult education'.Who is he?

Ans.: Dr.Bhupen Hazarika

7.Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty, Kamal Hasan, Jeetendra, Waheeda Rehman, Hema Malini,Tanuja, Sharmila Tagore, Shabana Azmi, Deepa Sahi, Om Puri, Dina Pathak, Mallika Sarabhai Mario Miranda, Mrinal Sen, Bhimsen Joshi, M Balamuralikrishna, Lata Mangeshkar, Narendra Hirwani, S Venkataraghavan, Prakash Padukone, Arun Lal, PK Banerjee, Syed Kirmani, Meenakshi Sheshadri appeared in it. What am I talking about?

Ans.: The video of the song Mile Sur Mera Tumhara, created by Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad and promoted by Doordarshan. It gained a near national-anthem status. (Everyone knows about this thing, why am i blabbering!! ;) )

Bollywood Paradiso

2008-06-28T10:53:00.014+05:30

1. I am quoting this from a movie's music review I read recently
" Mr.A’s fetish for spending peanuts on his film’s music continues in B with
C & D playing willing monkeys. There’s a clear E overdose in this soundtrack
that is marred by a moody, haphazard and bizarre sound. Jhini Jhini is the only track that was remotely listenable – the rest is a so-called thematic hodge podge with every track trying to paint, with its musical strokes, the image of F – quite desperately. Mr.A perhaps thinks way too much about his own skills that he doesn’t consider it important to get a better composer for his films anymore!" Here is a pic of C & D to make things simpler.
Identify A,B,C,D,E,F.

Ans.:

A - Ram Gopal Varma
B - Sarkar Raj
C - Bapi, D - Tutul
E - Govinda Govinda
F - Sarkar (Amitabh Bachchan)

2. This scene was shot on 31st January 1981, 11 crews shot over 20,000 feet of film, which was cut down to 125 seconds in the final release. This is perhaps the biggest wastage of film (technically) in film history, where a single scene of about two minutes length (in final cut) was shot on such mammoth scale.Put Fundaez.

Ans.: This is the Funeral Scene from the movie Gandhi. It was shot on 31st January 1981, the 33rd anniversary of Gandhiji's funeral. 300,000 extras appeared in the sequence. About 200,000 were volunteers and 94,560 people were paid a small fee (under contract).For the funeral scene, advertisements calling for 400,000 extras were either distributed in pamphlets and by newspapers in Delhi. Extras were not allowed to wear anything other than white and as part of security measures, turnstiles were built at selected entry points for crowd control. The crew bought any clothing that was not white.

3.The opening sequence showed a Hammer and Sickle symbol reflecting the producers company. However, since this movie was nominated for the Oscars during the cold war anti-communist period, the sequence had to be edited out. Which movie?

Ans.: Mother India

4. What did this female inspire? Put Fundaez

Ans.: This is RJ Malishka, of Red FM, whose signature (read Takiya Kalaam) 'Good Morrrnniiiinggg Mumbaiiiii' was used in Lage Raho Munna Bhai by RJ Jhanvi (Vidya Balan). She trained Vidya Balan for the role of the RJ.

5. The basic plot of this movie X was lifted from the 1972 Hindi movie Bindiya Aur Bandook (a Chambal ka Dakoo kinda movie), produced by Joginder. Later Joginder filed a lawsuit against X's producer. The Dakoo in X prepared for his role by reading the book Abhishapth Chambal, written by Taroon Bhaduri (Father of Jaya Bhaduri).The most famous song of the movie was a copy of the song "Say You Love Me" by Demis Roussos. Name the movie.

Ans.: Sholay. Mehbooba Mehbooba was lifted from "Say You Love Me"

6. In the movie, Bombay to Goa (directed by Mehmood), there was one character who slept all through the movie (despite of all the chaos happening). Which character?

Ans.: Keshto Mukherjee

7. Simple. Identify

Ans.: Dada Saheb Phalke, Father of Indian Cinema

8. He owes a lot to this list
"Hasta Mañana" by ABBA
Billy Jean
Karma Chameleon by Culture Club
Video Killed The Radio Star by The Buggles
One Way Ticket by Eruption
T'es OK, T'es Bath by OttawanBrother
Louie by Modern Talking
When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman" by Dr. Hook
Kilele by Osibisa
Etc., Etc., Etc.

Put Fundaez.

Ans.: Bappi Lahiri.
Lahiri is known to have plagiarized popular western numbers, and many of his songs are copies of popular western hits, including Dil Tha Akela from Suraksha ("Hasta Mañana" by ABBA), Jeena Bhi Kya Hai Jeena from Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki (Billy Jean), Tera Mera Pehla Yaarana from Shart (Karma Chameleon by Culture Club), Koi Yahan Nache Nache (Video Killed The Radio Star by The Buggles) and Jimmy Jimmy (T'es OK, T'es Bath by Ottawan) from Disco Dancer, Hari Om Hari from Pyara Dushman (One Way Ticket by Eruption),Zubi Zubi from the movie "Dance Dance" (Brother Louie by Modern Talking), Haan Meri Jaisi Haseena from "Armaan" ("When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman" by Dr. Hook), and Jee Le Le from Tarzan (Kilele by Osibisa) etc., etc., etc.

9.I became the first-ever actor to play a negative role in a Bollywood movie in the 1943 movie. I never celebrated my birthday after my brother died on my birthday.I was a lab assistant before joining films. Besides acting I was a fine painter and also an active pratitioner of homeopathy, often solving cases even regular doctor's couldn't solve. Who am I?

Ans.: Ashok Kumar

10. The film begins with a disclaimer, stating that RETURN OF ______ is not a sequel to any film made before. But is it really possible to watch the new experience forgetting all about the first part?. Well, the producer and director thought that you should forget the past and see this movie with a new perspective.It has been rated as an Educational Film by the CBFC because it deals with the issue of Global Warming. Name the Film.

Ans.: Return of Hanuman, or Hanuman Returns

Quote'em Part Deux

2008-06-04T20:17:00.009+05:30

1. If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.

Hint: He found most of his success in this Hut.

Ans.: George Bernard Shaw

2. A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.

Hint: One of the greatest stand up comedians, he has been included in E4’s 100 greatest comedians. He has acted in television series such as Miami Vice and The Weird Al Show.

Ans.: Emo Phillips

3. There are two types of people in this world, good and bad. The good sleep better, but the bad seem to enjoy the waking hours much more!!

Hint: He draws inspiration heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, European cinema and New York City where he was born. (Quotes like this can be easily be attributed to him ;) )

Ans.: Woody Allen

4. You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.

Hint: He was on the TIME magazine once and lived in this (kinda palatial, isn't it) cell for ten months

Ans.: Al Capone

5. Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place.

Hint: Appeared in When Harry Met Sally, City Slickers. He is an Emmy award winning actor

Ans.: Billy Crystal

6. A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.

Hint: His name means Steel in his native language. At the age of 7, he fell ill with small pox, and his face was badly scarred by the disease. He later had photographs retouched to make his pockmarks less apparent.

Ans.: Josef Stalin

7. It's a recession when your neighbour loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours.

Hint: His middle name initial ‘S’, did not actually stand for anything, it was given by his parents just to please his grandparents. He was into business at the time of Recession of 1921 and his store went bankrupt during that period.

Ans.: Harry S Truman

8. If you owe the bank $100 that's your problem. If you owe the bank $100 million, that's the bank's problem.

Hint: An Oil baron, He was one of the first people in the world with a fortune of over US $1 billion. He was an avid art and antiques collector and his collections are the basis of a museum (named after him) in Los Angeles.

Ans.: Jean Paul Getty

9. Life is what happens when you are making other plans.

Hint: Strawberry Fields

Ans.: John Lennon

10. They say marriages are made in Heaven. But so is thunder and lightning.

Hint: Sergio Leone once said about him “I like _____ because he has only two facial expressions: one with the hat and the other without it”

Ans.: Clint Eastwood

11. Time is God's way of keeping everything from happening at once.

Hint:

Ans:. Anonymous

Pulp Fiction - The Movie Quiz

2008-05-25T14:26:00.025+05:30

1. Put Fundaez

Ans.: This is the Family Tree of Don Vito Corleone, The Godfather

2. Connect and Put Fundaez

Ans.: The connect is Johnny Gaddar. References to these movies (and more movies) have been made in the movie.
Pulp Fiction - The movie 'Pulp Fiction' is full of homages to other movies (the story comes full circle as well). Same for Johnny G.
Parwana – The movie Parwana is source to Johnny G’s plan.
Johnny Mera Naam – The name Johnny G is taken from this movie, in the hotel reception, the receptionist is watching the movie Johnny Mera Naam and the character uses the name.
Citizen Kane – Shardul’s marriage is not working, wife doing jigsaws.
Eyes Wide Shut – Daya Shetty is watching this movie on TV in his opening scene.
During the fateful train journey, Johnny G is reading the novel ‘The Whiff of Money’ by James Hadley Chase. (Crime never pays is a common moral in Chase novels)

3. He suffered from a rare muscular disorder known as Myasthenia Gravis. He also suffers from Asthma. He has been a leading campaigner for Blood Donation programs among other things. Here is a list of movies, which were signed by him, but they did not make it to the box office for some reason or the other : Rakesh Kumar’s Charlie, Manoj Kumar’s Naya Bharat, Romu Sippy’s Tala Chabi, Praksh Mehra’s Chanakya Chandragupta, Kader Khan’s Jaahil & Asmaan, among others. He had received Rs.5000 as salary for his first movie. Who am I talking about?
(The question looks very arbit, but if I reveal anything else, it would be a give away)

Ans.: Amitabh Bachchan

4.He is banned from entering China. In an interview to TIME Magazine, he said “You shouldn't speak until you know what you're talking about. That's why I get uncomfortable with interviews. Reporters ask me what I feel China should do about Tibet. Who cares what I think China should do? I'm a f***ing actor! They hand me a script. I act. I'm here for entertainment. Basically, when you whittle everything away, I'm a grown man who puts on makeup”. Who is He?

Ans.: Brad Pitt

5.It is defined as a small degree of comfort that can exist between two people emotionally in a relationship. Some people define it as ‘a precise figure defining the comfort, humanity and fellow feeling required between two people for love to survive. If _____________ is nil, Love is dead’. What is defined in the given two definitions?
(Hint: It’s the name of a movie)

Ans.: Quantum of Solace

6.In the opening scene of The Godfather, it shows that the Don is listening to requests for favors from friends and acquaintances. Logically, the ‘Father of the Bride’ should be busy with attending his guests and enjoying the marriage rather than doing this. The question is, despite my (and infact anyone’s) logic, Why was the Don listening to them on that day?

Ans.: It is a Sicilian custom that “No Sicilian can refuse a request on his daughter’s wedding day”.

7. What is this Poster for? Put Fundaez.

Ans.: The Concert for Bangladesh. It was the event title for two concerts held by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar on August 1, 1971, playing to a total 40,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York. It was organized for the relief of refugees from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) after the 1970 Bhola Cyclone and during the 1970 Bangladesh Liberation War. The event was first benefit concert of this magnitude in world history.

8. Connect

Ans.: A Clockwork Orange. Anthony Burgess (in the middle) wrote the novel, which was adapted into movie by Stanley Kubrick (on the right). Andy Warhol (on the left) adapted it into another movie called Vinyl.

9. What is unique about the Malayalam movie Harikrishnans?

Ans.: It is the first Indian movie (and perhaps the only one till date) to have multiple climaxes.The neccessity of multiple climaxes came because of the popularity lead stars, Mammootty and Mohanlal. Both of them have their own huge fanbase and the concentration of the fanbase varies in different regions. However, the mutiple climaxes were only different from each other by a single shot. The scene was Mira(Juhi Chawla) choosing the one to be her friend among both the Harikrishnans. She admires both equally and goes for a selection method which her grandmother tought her to take tough decisions. She sets the method so as to choose her friend; the loser of the toss presumably becoming Mira's lover. Diffrerent climax shots shows Hari(Mammootty) winning the toss and the second one shows Krishnan(Mohanlal) winning it; in other words Krishnan and Hari getting the hands of Mira, respectively. The first climax was used in regions of higher fanbase to Mohanlal like Thiruvananthapuram and the second in regions in which Mammootty has upper hand like Kozhikode. A third climax was also planned for releasing in areas with neutral fanbase share, featuring Shah Rukh Khan. Even promotional stills of the third climax were taken, but the plan was abandoned due to difficulty in introducing a subplot, and the third climax never saw light. After a few weeks, Fazil decided to remove a climax and settle with the same climax in all prints. He chose the one which shows Hari winning the toss. The CD, DVD and TV releases of the film also followed the suit.

10. What is this exhaustive list of events depicting :
1926 - At a desk in a newsroom
1927 - Walking past a tennis court, carrying a walking stick
1929 – Being bothered by a small boy as he reads a book in the subway
1930 – Walking past the house where the murder was committed
1935 – Tossing some litter while Robert Donat and Lucie Mannheim run from the theater
1938 – Outside the court house, holding a camera
1938 – In Victoria Station, wearing a black coat and smoking a cigarette
1940 – Walking near the phone booth
1940 – Leaves the hotel, wearing a coat and hat and reading a newspaper
1941 – Midway through, passing Robert Montgomery in front of his building
1941 – Mailing a letter at the Village Post Office
1942 – Standing in front of the Cut Rate Drugs in New York
1943 – On the train to Santa Rosa, playing cards
1944 – In picture ad in the newspaper for Reduco Obesity Slayer
1945 – Coming out of an elevator at the Empire Hotel, carrying a violin case and smoking a cigarette
1946 – At a big party , drinking champagne and then quickly departing
1947 – Leaving the train and Cumberland station, carrying a cello
1948 – Trademark can be seen on a neon sign board
1950 – Looking at the maid
1951 – Boarding a train carrying a double bass fiddle
1953 – Crossing the top of a staircase
1954 – On the left side of the class reunion photo
1954 – Winding the clock in the song writer’s apartment
1955 – Travelling by bus
1955 – Walking past the parked Limousine of an old man who is looking at paintings
1956 – Watching acrobats in the Moroccan marketplace
1958 – Walking on the street in a gray suit
1959 – Missing a bus
1960 – Wearing a cowboy hat, passing by the office window
1963 – Leaving the pet shop with two white terriers
1964 – Entering the hotel corridor from the left
1966 – Sitting in the Hotel d’Angleterre lobby with a blond baby
1969 – Is being carried on a wheel chair in airport
1972 – In the centre of the crowd wearing a bowler hat, he is the only one not applauding the speaker
1976 – In silhouette through the door of the Registrar of Births and Deaths.

Ans.: Cameo appearances of Alfred Hitchcock.

Sports Quiz Group Anniversary Quiz

2008-05-01T10:26:00.018+05:30

1. I was completely made of leather; unlike any other one I featured 32 hand stitched panels (12 black pentagons and 20 white hexagons), creating the best shape of my times. My name was derived from “Star of the Television”. I was the first of my kind. I was so made so that I would be visible to the entire world. Who am I?

Ans.: Adidas Telstar. It was the first Official Football of FIFA. It was developed by Adidas for the 1970 FIFA World Cup, Mexico. It was specially made in Black and White colour combination so that it would be clearly visible on the B&W Television sets. Earlier, the balls were usually brown in colour.

2. Connect

Ans.: Force India F1 Team. First Logo belongs to Spyker Cars and the Second logo belongs to the UB Group.

3. What has just happened here? And What follows. Put Fundaez

Ans.: Brazil Vs Chile, World Cup Qualifier, 1989. That’s Roberto Rojas in the picture. Chile were 1-0 down in the match.
Plan: The Chileans had planned to force an abandonment of the match and replay it on a neutral venue.
Execution: On 69th minute, goalkeeper Roberto Rojas threw himself into the smoke of a firecracker (thrown in by a lady in the crowd), which had landed nearby, pulled a razor blade from his gloves and stabbed himself in the head.
The Result: Lots of blood, a mass brawl, a walkout, an abandonment. After investigation of video footage, the match was awarded to Brazil, with no replay. Rojas was banned for life (ban was lifted by FIFA in 2001) and the girl who threw the firecracker was signed by Playboy Brazil ( ;) , now that’s something).

4. Whose epitaph reads- "In memory of a once fluid man, crammed and distorted by a classical mess”?

Ans.: Bruce Lee

5. If a batsman hits the ball and it breaks into two (or three or as many as you like parts) and suppose one piece of the broken ball (or as many pieces as you wish) get caught by the fielder/s, What decision will be given by the umpire? Will he be given out?

Ans.: Not out. The ball will be declared dead.

6. Who said "When I came back to my native country, after all the stories about Hitler, I couldn't ride in the front of the bus. I had to go to the back door. I couldn't live where I wanted. I wasn't invited to shake hands with Hitler, but I wasn't invited to the White House to shake hands with the President, either."

Ans.: Jesse Owens

7.Who gave Kapil Dev, the nickname “Haryana Hurricane”?

Ans.: The Guinness Book of World Records

8.This game derives from an old children’s game ‘Batttledore’. It’s named after the country estate of the dukes of Beaufort in Gloucestershire, England, where it was first played in about 1873. Name the game.

Ans.: Badminton

9.'DB-07’ is an in-house brand of children’s clothing from Marks & Spencer. What is DB in DB-O7?

Ans.: David Beckham, brand ambassador of Marks & Spencer. He uses Jersey No.7, when he represents England

10. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has a unique Post Box Number in every state of Australia. This number is in honour of a Sporting great. Name the Sportsman, the number and the significance of the number.

Ans.: In honour of Sir Donald Bradman, the post boxes of ABC are numbered 9994, to honour his test career average of 99.94.

11.And Finally, a Bonus Question – A Tribute to the Golden Period of Indian Hockey. India beat USA 24-1 in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, one of the biggest wins of all times. Put Fundaez – How did the USA team score their lone goal?

Ans.: The Indian goalkeeper Richard Allen was signing autographs behind the goal post!!

A Sporty Affair II

2008-04-26T11:01:00.017+05:30

1.Put Fundaez

Ans.: The Hand Of God Goal. It was scored as a result of an illegal (but unpenalized) handball by Diego Maradona in the quarter final match of the 1986 FIFA World Cup between Argentina and England. Here's the illustration and original photo.

2. "He paused to calculate the optimal turbulent laminar transition trajectory before it. The man can carry out a multi-variable physics calculation in his head to compute the exact trajectory required. Almost certainly the flow around the ball must have changed from turbulent to laminar several meters from the target. Mr._______ was applying some very sophisticated physics.", thus concluded a team of scientists analyzing a scene in 2002. Which movie owes its name due to this?

Ans.: Bend It Like Beckham

3. Connect and Put Fundaez

Ans.: Tattoos on David Beckham's Body.
That's Queen Victoria (name reference to his wife Victoria), Brooklyn Bridge (reference to his son Brooklyn), Picture from Romeo & Juliet (reference to his son Romeo) and the Winged Cross. He has got all these tatooed on his body.. Victoria is written in Hindi.

4. Connect & Put Fundaez

Ans.: Sportsmen having sporting terms named after them. Dick Fosbury gave his name to the Fosbury Flop, that's the was most high jumpers cross the bar and the second picture is of Vinoo Mankad, known for Mankading.

5.Connect

Ans.: The first No.1 Rank holders in Men and Women ATP Ranking. That;s Illie Nastase and Billie Jean King.

A Sporty Affair

2008-04-09T15:25:00.019+05:30

1. A basic form of this sport can be traced back to the 13th century, but it may have existed even earlier than that. It seems to have originated among the children of the farming and metalworking communities in the weald between Kent and Sussex. In 1598, a court case referred to this sport being played at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford. The Oxford English Dictionary gives this as the first recorded instance of this sport in the English language. The first ever international contest of this game took place between USA and Canada. Which sport?
Ans.: Cricket

2. Who are they? Put fundaez. (Think Cricket)

Ans.: “The Invincnibles”. The Australian cricket team in England in 1948 was captained by Don Bradman, who was making his fourth and final tour of England. The team is famous for being the first Test match side to play an entire tour without losing a match. This feat earned them the nickname of The Invincibles.

3.Appleby Arrows
Ballycastle Bats
Bigonville Bombers
Braga Broomfleet
Caerphilly Catapults
Chudley Cannons
Falmouth Falcons
Fitchburg Finches
Gimbi Giant-Slayers
Grodzisk Goblins
Gorodock Gargoyles
Haileybury Hammers
Heidelberg Harriers
Holyhead Harpies
Karasjok Kites
Kenmare Kestrels
Montrose Magpies
Moose Jaw Meteorites
Moutohora Macaws
Patonga Proudsticks
Pride of Portree
Puddlemere United
Quiberon Quafflepunchers
Regina Riders
Stonewall Stormers
Sunmbawanga Sunrays
Sweetwater All-Stars
Tarapoto Tree-Skimmers
Tchamba Charmers
Thundelarra Thunderers
Toyohashi Tengu
Tutshill Tornados
Vrasta Vultures
Wington Wanderers
Wimbourne Wasps
Wollongong Warriors

Which sport do these teams play?

Ans.: Quidditch

4. This game is called Syatong in Philippines and Lippa, Lipe, Tirolo or S-cianco in Italy. This game is also shown in the movie “Watch Out We Are Mad”. Which sport?

Ans.: Gilli Danda

5. About whom did Sir Don Bradman say “He scores goals like runs in cricket”?

Ans.: Major Dhyan Chand, the Hockey Wizard

6. Identify and put Fundaes

Ans.: The Australian Aboriginal cricket team in England in 1868 was a cricket team made up of Australian Aborigines that toured England between May and October 1848, the first Australian cricket team to travel overseas.

7. Connect. Put Fundaes. (Its a sports quiz, so think accordingly)

Ans.: Munich Massacre. The dog in the photo is Waldi, the mascot of Munich Olympics, the first time a mascot was introduced. The guy in the pic is Eric Bana, who starred in the movie made on the Munich Massacre. The map shows Fürstenfeldbruck Air Force Base in Germany. This was the site of the denouement of the Munich Massacre. The nine Israeli hostages and eight Black September terrorists who held them were flown to the base from the Olympic Village on a helicopter, where the terrorists believed they would be flown to a friendly Arab nation. After a rescue operation attempted by the Government, the terrorists shot their bound captives and blew up the helicopter. Bloody Terrorism.

8. After What did the French President Jacques Chirac say “You are a virtuoso, a genius of world football, and that’s why France admires and loves you”

Ans.:After Zizou head butted Marco Materazzi. The French President said this after France forgave its favourite icon.

9. He was the Junior National champion in Diving for 6 years in a row from the age of 11.He also got a bronze medal at the lone National Games, in which, he participated. He rightfully claims to have been among the top 3 divers in the country until he retired at the ripe age of 19. His sporting excellence got him an admission to St. Stephen’s college and he later went on a year long scholarship to Davidson college, North Carolina. He played lot of first division club cricket for the Calcutta Cricket and Football Club and when he was in Hyderabad, he played for the Vazir Sultan Tobacco which was in the A-division of Hyderabad Cricket Leagues. He embarked on a new career altogether during the 9th Asian games in 1982. His career took off from the Commonwealth Games in ’82. Today he is one of the most recognized personalities in his field.

Ans.: Charu Sharma

10. "The bugger served so slow that I went off to sleep waiting for the ball to come." Who said this about whom?
Ans.: John McEnroe about Ramesh Krishnan