Counting The Stars Trivia Quiz

Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez wrote the 1967 novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude". Well, more accurately, he wrote the novel "Cien años de soledad" in the Spanish language, which was then translated and published in English in 1970.

The novel follows seven generations of the Buendía family living in the fictitious town of Macondo, an isolated utopian outpost in the South American jungle that rises and falls over the decades. It explores themes of repetition of history, subjectivity of reality, fluidity of time, and, of course, solitude. The novel is a prototypical example of "magical realism", where the realistic and mundane real world is blurred with magical and fantastic elements - a sort of halfway point between realism and fantasy that serves to contrast the two.

"One Hundred Years of Solitude" was Márquez's first international success, with multiple novels following it. For his collective work of novels and short stories, he was awarded the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature. Márquez died aged 87 in 2014. He is remembered as one of the most significant Latin American and Spanish language authors of the 20th century.

The "Fast & Furious" franchise began with 2001's "The Fast and the Furious". Following its box office success, plans were soon made to produce a sequel. Though one of the stars Vin Diesel was not available, production of "2 Fast 2 Furious" went ahead with a modified script, and was released in 2003.

Paul Walker reprised his role as Brian O'Conner, an ex-LAPD officer now in hiding after aiding the escape of wanted felon Dominic Toretto in the first film. All the tropes now familiar to the franchise are present - fast cars, beautiful people, a simple plot, and over the top action.

At this point, the "Fast & Furious" franchise has become a behemoth, with over ten movies released and counting. It is one of the highest grossing film series of all time, with over $7 billion earned. It is both lauded and mocked for its increasingly farcical action scenes, plot, and dialogue, and it is a go-to film series for those looking for speedy vehicular action.

"The Three Musketeers" was born as "Les Trois Mousquetaires" in the original French text published in 1844. It was the first of French author Alexandre Dumas' most well-known works, and became part of the "d'Artagnan Romances" trilogy he eventually authored. The first English translations appeared by 1846.

The novel is a historical adventure, following young hero d'Artagnan who travels to Paris with hopes to join the royal military. Befriended by the titular three musketeers Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, he becomes embroiled in state affairs and love affairs alike.

"The Three Musketeers" has spawned a plethora of adaptations in film, television, animation, stage, video game, board game, comic, and web series formats. It is referenced regularly in popular culture, and the phrase "three musketeers" has taken on a life of its own.

Dumas went on to publish his other most notable work "The Count of Monte Cristo" ("Le Comte de Monte-Cristo") as a serial, released from 1844-1846, before being consolidated as a book in 1846. Rounding out the "d'Artagnan Romances", he published "Twenty Years After" ("Vingt ans après") in 1845 and "The Vicomte de Bragelonne: Ten Years Later" ("Le Vicomte de Bragelonne, ou Dix ans plus tard") in 1847. Beyond this, he was a prolific author with dozens more works across novel, drama, opera, and non-fiction genres.

"Kill 'Em All" is legendary American heavy metal band Metallica's debut album, released in 1983. If you would believe it, as aggressive and blunt as the title is, there was an even more graphic title and album cover art planned by the band. Their record label deemed it too explicit for distributors to stock, and I shall not repeat it on this family friendly website.

The second track from the album, "The Four Horsemen", features lyrics referencing the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" described in the Book of Revelation, the last canonical book in the New Testament of the Bible. This story, and the wider Book of Revelation, was attributed to John of Patmos (named after an island in the Aegean Sea), dated to around AD 95. The identities of the horsemen are thought to be personifications of Conquest, War, Famine and Death, though only the latter is explicitly identified in the text.

In Metallica's telling, the horsemen are re-imagined as Time, Famine, Pestilence and Death. The song originated with the title "Mechanix", written by guitarist Dave Mustaine, with completely different lyrics about sex at a gas station. When Mustaine was fired from the band for his drug and alcohol-fuelled violent and erratic behaviour, Metallica drastically reworked the lyrics and riffs to create the song now featured on the album. Not to be outdone, Mustaine famously went on to form the thrash metal band Megadeth. On their 1985 debut album "Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!", Megadeth released "Mechanix", complete with its original title and lyrics. As a result, we now have two alternate versions of a song for which song-writing credit is claimed by both bands, and metal fans divided on which is the superior or true form of the song.

"Five Nights at Freddy's" is a cult classic video game that typifies the indie game phenomenon. It was developed independently by American video game developer Scott Cawthon. As a Christian, he had previously developed numerous religiously motivated games. However, while his work was well-received critically, the unforgiving video game industry had not financially rewarded his efforts. He pivoted to cheaper free-to-play mobile and desktop games. In 2013 he released the family-friendly game "Chipper & Sons Lumber Co.", but faced criticism for its unintentionally creepy and scary uncanny valley animatronics. Sliding into depression, and with a family to financially support, he resolved to lean into the aesthetic with an intentionally scary game.

And so "Five Nights at Freddy's" was born. Players control Mike Schmidt, an overnight security guard at a local pizzeria (if you would believe that such a job even exists). Homicidal animatronic characters roam the restaurant, and Schmidt must survive the shift and prevent the animatronics from reaching his office. Gameplay is simple point-and-click, with players able to use security cameras and lights to track the animatronics, and lock them out using a set of steel doors. However, there is only a limited amount of electricity available, and running out means free reign for the roaming beasts. Once an animatronic breaches the office, they jump-scare the player and the game is over.

Such a game is reminiscent of flash games from a bygone era, and might not have been expected to create much of a stir. Yet, somehow, it was picked up by prominent YouTube creators such as PewDiePie, Markiplier and Jacksepticeye who exposed the game to millions of viewers. This was part of a larger wave of "Let's Play" content, where online personalities would film themselves playing through video games, attracting very large audiences. Thus "Five Nights at Freddy's" became a cult classic, spawning several sequels and spinoffs, scores of fan-made games, and even films and novels.

"Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2" is a direct sequel to the 2006 video game "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas", and the 6th main installment in the broader "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six" series. In the single-player campaign mode, players create their own character who forms part of the fictional international "Rainbow" counterterrorist organisation. The plot centres around the Rainbow team attempting to avert a plot to smuggle chemical weapons from Mexico to Las Vegas. The game also features multiplayer modes, including player vs player modes, and the popular "terrorist hunt" mode where players team up to clear a map of enemies, with limited lives.

A distinctly memorable feature of the game is the ability to use a real-world camera to add one's face onto their character model. One can imagine the monstrosities this could result in, particularly with the unsophisticated face detection technology of the time, and players pulling silly faces or otherwise intentionally ruining their photos.

Sharp-eyed literature buffs will recognise American techno-thriller author Tom Clancy of "The Hunt for Red October" fame. He is indeed behind the video game series, which was initially developed in 1996 by Red Storm Entertainment, a company co-founded by Clancy. There have also been "Ghost Recon", "Splinter Cell", "The Division" and other video game series under the "Tom Clancy's" umbrella. However, following Red Storm Entertainment's acquisition by Ubisoft in 2000, it is not clear how much involvement Clancy personally had in the more recently released video games before his death in 2013.

"7th Heaven" was created and produced by American screenwriter Brenda Hampton, who was also behind the notable series "The Secret Life of the American Teenager". The show focuses on the trials and tribulations of the Camden family, comprised of Reverend Eric Camden (a protestant minister), his wife Annie, and their seven children ranging from infants to teenagers. It is a classic family-friendly comedy-drama.

The series debuted in 1996, soon after the launch of The WB Television Network, and it became the network's longest-running series. Ten seasons aired on the short-lived network, which itself only operated for eleven years from 1995 to 2006 before merging with CBS competitor UPN to become The CW. It was here that the eleventh and final season was released.

Viewership averaged a steady 3-8 million across each of the eleven seasons. It is praised in religious and conservative circles for its promotion of honesty, respect for parental authority, importance of family strength, and its approach to moral situations involving teenagers. Broader critical reception was not so kind to the show, however, deriding its heavy-handed moralising, not-so-subtle Christian propaganda, formulaic and predictable story-telling, and its surreal caricature of a perfect family that cannot possibly exist. It seems to be the type of show that splits the room based on the preconceived world view each person brings into it.

"8 Out of 10 Cats" was a classic British comedy panel show that aired for 22 seasons from 2005-2021. It was hosted by British comedian Jimmy Carr, noted for his deadpan dark humour and loud distinctive laugh. Two teams, each featuring a regular team captain and two rotating celebrity guests, competed in various games relating to statistics and opinion polls. The show was focused on comedy and entertainment, rather than any serious competition.

The show's name derives from an infamous Whiskas cat food advertising campaign stating that "8 out of 10 cats prefer Whiskas". Though it was quickly replaced with "8 out of 10 owners said their cat prefers it", and later expanded further to "8 out of 10 owners who expressed a preference said their cat prefers it", the clumsy original wording remains a source of ridicule in British humour.

Since 2012, the "8 out of 10 Cats" crew has hosted a crossover series with the British game show "Countdown", where contestants compete in timed word anagram and arithmetic tasks. Titled "8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown", it is essentially a mixture of the comedy and panel aspects of "8 Out of 10 Cats" and the games of "Countdown". There was also a special crossover episode with British game show "Deal or no Deal".

"9 to 5" was written and performed by Dolly Parton for the 1980 film also titled "9 to 5". The film stars Parton herself, alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. They play three working women who connive to overthrow the "sexist, egotistical lying and hypocritical bigot" vice president of their company. It was Parton's first film credit after over a decade of fame in the music industry, and she went on to appear in several more feature films.

The song itself went on to feature as a central part of Parton's 1980 studio album "9 to 5 and Odd Jobs". This was a concept album about working, and it was well received for its return to Parton's country roots after her previous more polished pop albums.

Parton is a prolific force in the music industry, with over four dozen studio albums released across seven decades. She has also released several collaborative studio albums with American country singer Porter Wagoner, featured in dozens of television programs as a guest or special performer, published several books, and done a lot of philanthropic work.

"10 Things I Hate About You" stars Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger in their early breakthrough performances, amongst a young cast portraying teenagers attending the fictional Padua High School in the Seattle area. It is a retelling of the Shakespeare comedy "The Taming of the Shrew".

The film is widely acclaimed for its feminist lead character and subversion of the usual romantic comedy tropes. While the feminist themes were seen as extreme at the time of its release in 1999, it has aged like fine wine when viewed through a more modern lens of feminism. It has become a cult classic, and is considered by many to be one of the best romcoms of all time.

A television adaptation of the same title ran for a single season of 20 episodes from 2009-2010 before being cancelled. Filming of a sequel film titled "10 Things I Hate About Life" began in 2012, however it has been indefinitely suspended due to a pay dispute and ongoing legal battle. Another attempt at a sequel was announced in 2025, titled "10 Things I Hate About Dating". It is intended as part of a planned trilogy of sequels, to be followed by "10 Things I Hate About Marriage", and "10 Things I Hate About Kids". Rather predictable titles if you ask me!