John's Common Bond #5 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sapporo

The Olympic Winter games in Sapporo were the first held in Asia, and the city beat out Banff, Salt Lake City and Lahti (in Finland) for the honor of hosting them. Sapporo also hosts the Yuki-matsuri (snow festival) every year, bringing millions of people to town to see the ice sculptures, which are illuminated at night.

Answer: Harp

Harpo Marx (you see why I didn't give you his name?) was born Adolph, and his brothers were Julius (Groucho), Milton (Gummo) and Chico (Chico). He taught himself how to play the harp by looking at a picture of an angel with the instrument he saw in a pawnshop, and by the time he finally sought out professional teachers, they couldn't help him with his technique--but they were fascinated to see him play the thing the way that he did.

In spite of that, he was a competent musician.

Answer: Moose head

Chan's work with that moose head is a joy to behold. Over the course of his career, the Hong Kong actor has used practically everything as a weapon -chairs, ladders, boxes, whatever comes to hand. He does his own stunts as well, and according to his website he's broken "My skull, my eyes, my nose three times, my jaw, my shoulder, my chest, two fingers, a knee, everything from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet..."

Answer: Colt .45s

In 1965, the Colt.45s moved to the new, fancy indoor stadium (billed, somewhat extravagantly, the "Eighth Wonder of the World" by its owner). Since the stadium was called the Astrodome in honor of Houston's contributions to America's space program, the team changed its name to 'Astros'. In 2006 the team appeared in the World Series, losing to the Chicago White Sox.

Answer: Corona

'Corona' comes from the Latin root for 'crown', and the sun's corona is hotter by far than the surface of the actual star (one to three million kelvins, as compared to 5800 kelvins for the surface). However, the photosphere (the surface) is much denser, so produces about a million times as much visible light.

Answer: Das Rheingold

"Das Rheingold" was originally just the introduction to what Wagner thought of as a trilogy, but it's become part of the whole (kind of like "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings"). It introduces the Rhine Maidens, the Nibelungs and the gods. It's also a whole lot shorter than the other works in the cycle, consisting of just four scenes and no breaks.

Answer: Bud

Bud Bundy, played by David Faustino, is the brains of the Bundy clan, which isn't saying all that much, really. He's the victim of an overcharged libido (and, later, tuberculosis), and over the course of eleven seasons he went from fifth grade to college.

Answer: Lone Star

"Lone Star" was nominated for an Oscar for its screenplay, and won Bravo and Independent Spirit awards for its female lead (Elizabeth Pena), and the critical acclaim was near-universal. The movie also featured Frances McDermott (who's made a career out of these type of movies) and Joe Morton.

Answer: Sam Adams

Sam Adams was former mayor Vera Katz's chief of staff for eleven years, then won election to the Portland City Council in 2004. Four years later, he won his mayoral election with 58% of the vote, and pledged to make Portland the most sustainable city in the world. Unfortunately he's been dogged by allegations about his personal life (including an inappropriate relationship with an intern at the Capitol), but was cleared of all criminal charges.

Answer: Foster

After Doctor Foster arrived in Gloucester, "He stepped in a puddle,/ Right up to his middle,/ And never went there again." Suggestions have been made that the nursery rhyme refers to Edward I of England, but there's no corroborative evidence to back such suppositions up.

Answer: Guinness

Sir Alec Guinness was an Oscar-winner (Best Actor for 1957's "The Bridge on the River Kwai") and served in the Royal Navy. His role as the ancient Jedi Master Kenobi was also deemed worthy of an Academy Award nomination, and he received another in 1988 for "Little Dorrit". He also won a Tony Award and received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

Answer: Red stripes

The thirteen stripes on the Star-Spangled Banner represent the original thirteen colonies (seven red stripes and six white ones, the red appearing at the top and bottom), and the fifty white stars on a field of blue representing the current number of states. Should Puerto Rico ever decide to join the Union, there'll be a lot of work for flagmakers...

Answer: Miller

"Barney Miller" (and its distinctive theme music) was very popular, winning a Primetime Emmy Award in 1982, Golden Globes in 1976 and 1977 and a Peabody in 1979. Hal Linden played Captain Barney Miller, in charge of a zany crew of detectives including Phil Fish (Abe Vigoda), Nick Yemana (Jack Soo) and Stan "Wojo" Wojciehowicz (Max Gail). Barney Fife was also a policeman, but his show ("The Andy Griffith Show") appeared in the sixties.

Answer: Busch

Kyle and Kurt Busch are the sons of Tom Busch, himself a race car driver who won several NASCAR-sanctioned events. Their hometown is Las Vegas, Nevada, and they got an early start on their careers at age six, each of them was driving go-karts, and Kyle (the younger) ended up working as a mechanic and crew chief of Kurt's dwarf car team.

Answer: beer

The answer is BEER.

SAPPORO is a Japanese beer, HARP is an Irish one, MOOSEHEAD a Canadian brand, COLT 45 a malt liquor, CORONA a Mexican brew, RHEINGOLD a New York brand, BUD a common shortening of Budweiser, LONE STAR a 'national beer of Texas', SAM ADAMS a Boston brewery, FOSTER'S an Australian beer, GUINNESS an Irish quaff, RED STRIPE a Jamaican brand, MILLER and BUSCH American beers. The reference in the introduction was to a poem by A.E. Housman called "Terence, This is Stupid Stuff", in which he penned the immortal lines "Oh many a peer of England brews/ Livelier liquor than the Muse,/ And malt does more than Milton can/ To justify God's ways to man."