Things to think this Thursday

4-6 6-3 7-6 6-7

After four sets, it’s 2 sets all. A 25 year old American ranked 19th and a 28 year old Frenchman ranked 149 started playing their first round match at 6.18 pm (BST) on Tuesday 22nd June 2010 on Court 18. As the whole world knows by now, it’s Thursday and they are still playing. Obviously the other players around are talking about it.

“It’s unfortunate these guys are going to be a little bit tired tomorrow and the next day… and the next week… and the next month…” grinned Federer

Mahut incidentally is a qualifier having played three matches prior to this one including two five setters. His second match went the distance with the final set going to 24-22.

The match will start again around 3.30 pm (BST) depending on the other matches. In the mean time, Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker is waiting for the winner to play his second round match. The chances that the match is going to be short due to tired players is high – de Bakker himself had a five setter first round match against Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo with the final set going up to 16-14.

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Meanwhile, the first groups of the World Cup are done and we have

1. Uruguay v Korea
2. USA v Ghana
3. Germany v England
4. Argentina v Mexico

The first two matches will ensure that at least one dark horse makes it to the semi finals. Uruguay, inspite of being two-time champions shall be deemed a dark horse in contemporary football. The second pair of matches involves three former champions – potential mouth watering contests like Germany v Argentina or England v Argentina (with due respect to Mexico).

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Finally on a personal note, Sports Ka Superstar has opened on DD National, every Monday and Wednesday 10 pm. Looking at it now as a viewer, it’s quite boring.

More Passing Showers

7 days down, here are the answers and scores. Hope you had fun

10 – Deepak Shenoy
9 – Anindya Ray
7.5 – Arvind Krishnan (Q10 – incomplete), Rekha (or is it Sunita?) Kakde
7 – Shriram Shankar
6.5 – Shafeek M, Vamsi Yadavalli
6 – Pranav, J Alfred Prufock (AB), Anant Singhania (who is Bahadur Shah the Second?)
5.5 – Ratnakar, Suresh Ramasubramaniam
5 – Rajesh Mohan, Pranav Shetty
4.5 – Husain Poonawala, Varun Reddy
4 – Vinesh Kumar ( 0.5 for Q4 and 0.5 for Q10 – both incomplete), MonsKunFrank (whatever that means), Sadashiv
3 – Jaykumar Babu, Priya Kamala, Prateek V,
2.5 – Rajiv Chowdhury (0.5 for Q10)
2 – Ankur Jain, Saurabh Jaiswal,
1 – Abhirup Ganguly
0.5 – Shrikant Madani, for at least venturing into the “gray areas” and coming as close as Geo… for Q1
0 – Shridar Sriram (There were many emperors after Aurangzeb)

As the Monsoon trickles in, some more passing showers of questions for the week ahead

1. Who was the last Emperor of India?

The thing about trick questions is that there is no trick – the trick is always with the listener (or reader).

After the fall of Bahadur Shah Zafar (who was indeed the last Mughal Emperor) in 1857, the territory of India presently under the control of the East India Company was brought under the realm of the ruling monarch (Queen Victoria) who took on the title Kaiser-i-hind or Empress of India (Emperor for male monarchs).

As of 1947, the King of Great Britain and the Emperor of India was King George VI. After 15th August 1947, he became just sovereign monarch of the British Commonwealth and nothing after 26th Jan 1950.

Interestingly (for the trivia lovers) while Bahadur Shah Zafar was exiled by the British to Rangoon in Burma, the last King of Burma, Thebaw, was exiled by the British in Ratnagiri in India in a building called Outram House (The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh is recommended reading)

2. What has three varieties – Broad, Central and Cultivated?

Probably the worst form of English, closely followed by American English and probably competing with Bengali English for the honours – Australian English

Cultivated Australian English sounds like an oxymoron

3. This fish has a peculiar trait where the father fish can take on the female form to breed his babies in case of death of the mother. Easily recognised by its bright orange colour with three white and black markings, the demand for this fish as pet suddenly trebled in 2003. Name the fish?

Clownfish of course, the Finding Nemo effect

4. Son of grocery store father and school teacher mother, worked as futures and options trader for six years “making enough money to support himself and his wife for the rest of their lives “. He then started a soft-porn website. In 2005-6, Time magazine listed him as one of 100 most influential people for something he started in 2001. His philosophy was “Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That’s what we’re doing “. Who?

James “Jimbo” Wales of wikipedia (0.5 for those who just said wikipedia founder)

5. The First woman to graduate out of medical school in Italy, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1949, 1950 and 1951. Her face replaced Marco Polo on the 1000 lire bank note and stayed there till Italy adopted the Euro. Who?

Dr. Maria Montessori, amazing story to read about

6. Named after the German for Team Spirit, it is made using something called Thermal Bonding technology. Who is using this?

Teamgeist is German for Team Spirit. it is the brand of football that is being used at the World Cup
(Obligatory current affairs question)

7. Which is “The great city of angels, the supreme unconquerable land of the great immortal divinity, the royal capital of nine noble gems, the pleasant city, with plenty of grand royal palaces, and divine paradises for the reincarnated deity Vishnu, given by Indra and created by the god of crafting Visnukarma “?

Bangkok (krung thep da da doo doo blah blah…)

8. It’s Greek for smell. Sax’s Dangerous Properties of Industrial materials describes it as a colourless (sometimes pale blue) gas (dark blue in liquid form) and it’s quantity in the atmosphere is measured using Dobson units. What is it?

Ozone (O3)

9. “He claims he’s a Robin Hood but to me he’s just a robbing hood“, one of his victims once said. He frequently leaves a “calling card” at the scenes of his “crimes,” consisting of a stick drawing of a man with a halo. Louis Hayward was the first actor play the character in films. Who?

Simon Templar (The Saint)

10. The company has two models in the market today. One costs $275,000, the other $165,000. Both are named after fighting bulls. If it helps you, the first one was the name of a bull that survived sword strokes in Cordoba driving the matador to spare him. The second is named after a famous breed of fighting bulls and means “gallant” in Spanish. What are we talking of?

Okay, Lamborghini gets only 0.5 points. Need to see the two model names – Murcielago and Gallardo

Some trivia, the bull Murcielago after surviving the bull fight was sold to a breeder called Miura which was also the name of the first Lamborghini launched in the 60′s

Cheers

The Ides of June

Answers

Only Suresh got 10/10

1. Who is the “world’s most desperate venture capitalist”?

Vijay (Apparently a new character in Dilbert, or maybe I have been out of touch with the comic strip)

2. Written and composed by a relatively unknown Claude de Lisle and called “The Marching song of the Rhine Army”, it makes a famous scene at Rick’s Cafe Americaine in the film Casablanca. Name the song whose intro piece is used in the Beatles sing “All you need is love”?

La Marseillas (French National Anthem) – Banned by both Napoleon and the Nazis (in occupied France)

3. Named after the Greek for “power motion”, name the sports and training society formed in the Soviet Union by the State Political Directorate and administered by various arms of the NKVD and later the MVD (members of this society were given police officer ranks)?

Dinamo (now Dynamo in most non-Russian states) – The greatest of all teams was the Dynomo Kyiev team whose exploits during the WW2 inspired the movie “Escape to Victory”

4. What did Hans Fritzsche, Franz von Papen and Hjalmar Stachan get that 21 others along with them did not get?

Acquitted of war crimes during the Nurember Trials

5. Nine days after the premier of Sympnoy No. 6 in B Minor, the composer died. The cause of death is still debated. Because of this, this symphony is also called “_______”s Suicide Note”

Pyotr Tchaikovskiy, the symphony is popularly called Pathetique Symphony because of its mournful touch

6. Which term coined by Desmond Tutu was first officially used by Nelson Mandela in his first month of office as president of South Africa… “Each of us is as intimately attached to the soil of this beautiful country as are the famous jacaranda trees of Pretoria and the mimosa trees of the bushveld – a _____ ______ at peace with itself and
the world”

Rainbow Nation

7. When his obituary erroneously appeared in a magazine, this India born Nobel laureate wrote back saying “”I’ve just read that I am dead. Don’t forget to delete me from your list of subscribers.” Who?

Rudyard Kipling

8. _______ Kindred _________ (Dec 16 1928 – Mar 12 1982) – At least seven of his works have been made into notable movies. His surname gives the term for the atmosphere of paranoia where a person wakes up to realise that his sense of reality has changed suddenly. Who?

Philip K Dick (“Dickian” or “Phildickian” is used to describe the sense of paranoia that a person feels – Arnie in Total Recall for example)

9. America first saw him in Oscar-winning movies (foreign language) from his home country, Sweden. He was the first choice to play Dr No in Dr. No. But his first Hollywood role was as Jesus. He has played other notable roles including Ming the Merciless (Flash Gordon). Who?

Max Von Sydow (played Lamar Burgess in Minority Report)

10. I am going to close with one of my favourite rock songs:
“To find the queen without a king
They say she plays guitar
and cries and sings”
Who is the queen?

The song is “Going to California” from Led Zep Vol 4 and is a tribute to Joni Mitchell

10Q7D – Just to keep it going

1. What does Bill Murray want you to do with your relaxing times?

“For your relaxing times, make it Suntory time”

Bob Harris (Bill Murray) comes to Tokyo to do a commercial for Suntory whiskey and gets Lost in Translation

Interstingly, according to IMDB, Francis Ford Coppla (Sofia Coppola’s pa) did a commercial for Suntory whiskey as well along with Akiro Kurasawa

2. Situated at the western end of the Palisadoes sand spit that protects Kingston Harbour in Jamaica, which city had gained a reputation in the 17th century as both the “richest and wickedest city in the world”?

Port Royal

As the movie promo goes, Captain Jack is Back

3. What word originates from the Greek for “place to be naked”?

Gymnasium (hence Gymnast, Gym, etc.) from gymnos meaning “naked”. Essentially such places were meant for bathing as well as doing up the body with exercises and stuff.

4. Question for Historians, connect a brand of whiskey, 15th Century Italian humanist Flavio Bondo and Sir Charles Chaplin? (Note: Maintain the sequence when cracking the connect, it would help)

European history is divided into three ages -

The period before first millenium (corresponding to the end of the Roman Empire),

900 AD till about 1600 AD (approx Renaissance)

1600 AD leading on to the Industrial Revolution till date

The terms used to describe these three ages are Antiquity, Middle Ages and Modern Times

I guess brand of whiskey and Charles Chaplin explain themselves. Flavio Bondo coined the term “Middle Ages”

5. Born Peter ______ William Huggins. Educated at Eton. Military Father didn’t like the acting profession so he changed his surname. Played Audrey Hepburn’s brother in one film and her suitor in another. Played Dr Watson in a play in 1980 called “The Crucifer of Blood” (based on The Sign of Four). He is to the character ______ ________ what Sean Connery is to James Bond. Who?

Peter JEREMY William Huggins took on the surname BRETT

6. Current Affairs, Germany 2006 would showcase two of the best footballers over the last decade or so. Identify them.

a: The first one: Winner of the EPL and the Champions League, used to cry when he saw his English club mates prepare for the previous World Cups. Semi-retired, he plays semi-professional football in Australia but was available for one last hurrah for his national team helping them make their debut at the World Cup.

Dwight Yorke, Trinidad & Tobago

b: European footballer of year, top scorer in the Italian Serie A, easily the most recognised footballer from his country which makes its first appearance in the World Cup this year. Niggling injuries may pose some problems but if he plays, his team is most likely to make it into the second round along with Spain from Group H. Who.

Andrei Shevchenko, Ukraine

Other great footballers of the last decade who have not yet played in the world Cup (and looks unlikely given the ages of some of them)

George Weah (Liberia) – Only African to be World Footballer of the Year

Ryan Giggs (Wales) – Looks unlikely, 2010 will see him at the age of nearly 40

Roy Keane (Ireland) – Walked out of the 2002 squad after fight with coach

Sami Hyppia (Finland)

7. In 1970, what did Jochen Rindt win posthumously?

The Formula 1 World Championships. After winning the first 5 races, during the sixth race at the Italian GP, Jochen Rindt lost control of his car at the Parabolica curve at Imola. His lead in the points tally was however unassailable.

8. “Buzzing Hornets”, “Bitten Heroes”, “________” What next?

In countries where Tobacco advertising is banned, Benson & Hedges, sponsor of the former Jordan team, used to replace the brand name with the above messages in the same font. Last Year, the message was “Be On Edge”

Incidentally, “Bitten Heroes” was displayed during the 2001 USA GP at Indianopolis as a tribute to 911

9. What concept popular with heavy metal bands and pop culture originates from Revelation 13:18 in the Bible?

This passage reveals the Number of the Beast, 666

For those unaware of the relevance with heavy metal bands, one suggests sampling some Iron Maiden

10. Six minutes long, this rock song (no.1 in UK with million plus sales) has six sections – Introduction, ballad, guitar solo, opera, rock, outro. A mention of a certain Arabic word in the opera section was reason enough for the Iranian government to allow it to be released in Iran. Which song?

Very simple, Bohemian Rhapsody

Wikipedia has a treatise on this song which I strongly recommend everyone to read

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Rhapsody

U2 – Fiver

After a long hiatus, the blogging habit is back.

U2 has just won a Grammy for its album “How to Dismantle an Atom Bomb”. Here’s a fiver on U2

1. Complete the following

_______, Feedback, ________, U2

2. This song reflects the Christian beliefs of all the U2 band members and is a rallying call to all Christians to stop fighting each other (with specific reference to Northern Ireland of course). When it was released, critics called it a song in support of the Provisional IRA. In response, Bono at a concert said, “This song is not a rebel song, this song is ____ ____ _____ (3 words)

3. Which experimental album (their fourth) gets its name from a collection of paintings made by survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atom bombings?

4. Who wrote the lyrics for the opening song recorded by U2 featured in the film “The Million Dollar Hotel”, a film based on a story written by Bono?

5. Connect James Bond with U2

Answers tomorrow