Cool Zooms, Part L Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sailfish

The sail fish (genus Istiophorus) is a large fish whose dorsal fin runs the length of its back and forms into a sail. They also resemble the sword fish and marlin by having an elongated bill.

According to many sites, including the US Department of Commerce: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the sailfish is the fastest marine swimmer, clocking speeds of up to 68mph (109kph). This does include their leaps into the air which are slightly faster. Other websites list the marlin or the mako shark as the fastest, but there is no agreement on the actual speeds of the creatures.

Linking the speedy sailfish to Tom Hanks is the 2002 movie "Catch Me if You Can" which also starred Leonardo DiCaprio.

Phoenix Rising's leith90 always thought milk was the fastest thing in the world- because it's pasteurised before you see it.

Answer: Ithaca

Can you travel to the home of Odysseus w(ITH A CA)noe or a camel?

Odysseus was the legendary king of Ithaca who fought with the Greeks in the Trojan War. He is the hero of Homer's "Odyssey", which recounts his decade-long journey home after the fall of Troy. The precise location of Odysseus's Ithaca is a matter of scholarly debate. The current Greek Island of ithaca is in the Ionian Sea, west of mainland Greece.

Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan teamed up for a fourth time in Ryan's 2015 directorial debut "Ithaca". The film is set in the small fictional town of Ithaca, California and follows a family affected by World War II. One of the main characters is, coincidentally, named Homer.

This question contributed by Phoenix Rising's JCSon, who suspects that since Ithaca is an island, a camel is probably not the best mode of transport.

Answer: Meg Ryan

This is an award that is handed out annually by the Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals Society. Despite it being a theatrical society the award is not restricted to theatre performers or performances, instead it celebrates the contribution that these women have made to the entertainment industry as a whole. It was first set up in 1951, with the initial recipient being the renowned British stage performer Gertrude Lawrence.

Meg Ryan is a successful actress who made a name for herself in a series of romantic comedies during the 1990s and the early 2000s. Her most famous pairings in film have been alongside Tom Hanks, initially in "Joe Versus the Volcano" (1990) and then, more prominently, in "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993) and "You've Got Mail" in 1998. Meg made her directorial debut in 2016 with the movie "Ithaca", which also features, you guessed it, Tom Hanks.

Like any great pudding, this question was allowed to rise to the occasion by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19.

Answer: Inferno

As her name implies, Inferno has the power to both generate and manipulate fire. She was initially affiliated with the Legion of Super Heroes though she was a part of the arc's original storyline. Her character was re-booted in the "Earth-247" arc where she works alongside Livewire, however, her bloodthirsty approach does not endear her to the Legion. She re-appears in the "Earth Prime" series where she works for a black-ops group called the Wanderers.

Whilst she runs with the Earth name of Sandy Anderson, there is doubt as to whether or not that is her real name. She was placed, at the start, in an illusory world that was supposed to be representative of rural America in the 1950s. Here the protagonists names were Anglicised, for example, Querl Dox became Earl Docks. We are not made privy to whether or Sandy really is Sandy.

Who in the blue blazes allowed Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 to write this question? Didn't anyone tell him that he was supposed to link it to the 2016 Tom Hanks film "Inferno"?

Answer: Monsters Inc

"Monster's Inc." is a 2001 animated feature film that centres on Sulley and Mike, two monsters, who are employed by the titular company. The company makes its money by generating power and it does this by scaring the living daylights out of little children. The employee's minds are put at ease by being informed that children must be scared because they are toxic. Sulley and Mike find out otherwise when one sneaks into the factory and they must get her back home as soon as possible.

The film was a great success both in the eyes of the public and with the critics. Billy Crystal stars as Mike and his good buddy, Sulley, is played by John Goodman. So what does this have to do with Tom Hanks? Well, you see, Tom Hanks was also a Sully (different spelling), when he starred in the movie with the same name in 2016.

Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 hopes that he doesn't sully this quiz by putting his name to this question.

Answer: Philadelphia

Eastern State Penitentiary (ESP) was formerly a prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, having been in the corrections business between 1829 and 1971. The facility had a wagon wheel design, later used as a model for other prisons throughout the world. Now, it is a US National Historic Landmark (designated in 1965), open daily to the public, attracting more than 200,000 visitors annually.

The Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, Inc. runs an annual Haunted House Halloween fundraising event, now known as "Terror Behind the Walls". The prison is also used as a location for films and television programs, including "Ghost Hunters" and "MTV's Fear". It also played a role in the PS2 game "The Suffering" (2004).

"Philadelphia" (1993) was a legal drama starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, directed by Jonathan Demme. It was also one of the first major Hollywood films to tackle themes of homosexuality, homophobia and HIV/AIDS. Hanks picked up his first Best Actor Academy Award for his role as Andrew Beckett, while Bruce Springsteen won the Oscar for Best Original Song with "Streets of Philadelphia".

Phoenix Rising's psnz considered the pros and cons before locking this ex-cell-ent question into the quiz.

Answer: Krakatoa

Over the course of several months in 1883, starting in May, peaking in August and ending in October, the volcano, Krakatoa, erupted several times. It eventually collapsed into a caldera, taking with it nearly 70% of the surrounding island. It was heard over 4,000 km away and was responsible for over 36,000 deaths.

The somewhat dark and quirky Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie, "Joe Versus the Volcano" was released in 1990 to mixed reviews. Joe Banks (Hanks) has been (mis)informed that he has a terminal disease called "brain cloud" and (long story) decides to end it all in a volcano. Meg Ryan plays three roles in the film with one getting Joe to fall in love with her. I said it was dark. And quirky.

By the way, Phoenix Rising's mike32768 learned soon after seeing the 1968 film that Krakatoa is most definitely WEST of Java.

Answer: Glienicke Bridge

The Glienicke Bridge is a bridge across the Havel River in Germany, linking the south west districts of Berlin with the Brandenburg capital Potsdam. It is named after nearby Glienicke Palace on the Potsdam side. The bridge is a steel cantilever bridge completed in 1907, although it needed major reconstruction after World War II damage. After reconstruction, the now government of East Germany called it the Bridge of Unity as it was a border point between East and West Germany. Later when the bridge needed repairs the West German government agreed to fund repairs if the East Germans dropped the Bridge of Unity name and replace it with Glienicke name. The bridge was closed to vehicular traffic in 1961 when the Berlin Wall was built. The bridge was used in the Cold War times for the exchange of captured spies and became known as the Bridge of Spies (a play on the Venice bridge with the real name of Bridge of Sighs), as the halfway point was the actual border.

The Glienicke Bridge was used as the actual setting for the 2015 movie "Bridge of Spies" starring Tom Hanks.

This question was submitted by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1 who walked across this bridge as part of his bucket list in 2009 on a visit to Berlin.

Answer: Cake

Angel's food cake is vanilla flavoured and Devil's food cake is chocolate flavoured. Everyone knows that there is no such thing as bad cake, unless you are trying to either lose weight or control your blood sugars, and neither version will help in those scenarios.

Angel's food cake is a fat free fluffy sponge made with whipped egg whites to add airiness. Devil's food cake is a full-on dense rich chocolate cake.


Tom Hanks played Robert Langdon in the 2009 film "Angels and Demons" based on the book by Dan Brown.

smpdit is known to have a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. She is however deaf in one ear. Feel free to guess which one.

Answer: Leonardo da Vinci

The Castello Sforzesco (Sforza Castle) is a 15th century citadel in Milan, Italy. The "Sala delle Asse" is a room with walls and ceiling painted in tempera by Leonardo da Vinci in 1498. da Vinci used a technique known as "trompe l'oeil" to lend a realistic three-dimensional quality to the natural imagery (including trunks, roots, fruiting plants, and rocks). The painting was rediscovered during a restoration of the castle in 1893. It had been painted over in white and lost to history during a period of successive military occupations. Architect Luca Beltrami began restoring the castle in the latter years of the 19th century and he found traces of the original artwork behind the white paint. He commissioned Ernesto Rusca to restore the original, work on which began in 1902.

Critics panned the 2006 film adaptation of Dan Brown's best-selling novel, "The da Vinci Code". Even so, the film was a commercial success and earned a career-high domestic opening for both director Ron Howard and the film's leading man, Tom Hanks.

This question artfully crafted by Phoenix Rising's JCSon.

Answer: One Red Shoe

The book by Karin Gruss was illustrated by Tobias Krejtschi and released in 2013. It tells the story of a photojournalist reporter in the Gaza strip who is called on to report on the bombing of a bus containing young children. He comes across a young, injured boy who reminds the reporter of his own nephew. The imagery in the book is presented in black and white, the only colour being a red shoe belonging to the injured boy. The book discusses the innocent victims of war and the quest for peace in the Middle East.

The 1985 film (not a great success) "The Man with One Red Shoe" starring Tom Hanks and Dabney Coleman was a remake of the 1972 French film "Le Grand Blond Avec Une Chaussure Noire" and tells the story of a CIA agent arrested for drug-smuggling, in Morocco.

This questions was snapped into the quiz by Phoenix Rising's VegemiteKid.

Answer: Leslie Phillips

Leslie Phillips began his film acting career as a teenager in the late 1930s but didn't gain larger, credited roles until the mid-1950s. Phillips is best known for his comedic roles. His first major success was the 1957 musical "Les Girls" and he went on to make several appearances in both the "Carry On" and "Doctor" film series (although ironically he didn't feature in "Carry On Doctor"). However, his later work included roles in films such as "Out of Africa" (1985), "Empire of the Sun" (1987), "The Jackal" (1997) and "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" (2001). He also became the voice of the Hogwarts Sorting Hat, whose main responsibilities consisted of deciding whether new pupils should join Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin and composing songs to perform at each school year's first night feast. While the hat got a mention in all of JK Rowling's novels, Phillips was only required to provide its voice for the first two films and the final one.

The 2013 film "Captain Phillips", which told the real-life story of a sailor whose ship was hijacked by Somali pirates, starred Tom Hanks in the title role.

This question was composed by Phoenix Rising's Fifiona81 who seriously considered presenting it in the style of the Sorting Hat's song.

Answer: Ike Turner

In the late 1940s in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Ike Turner formed The Kings of Rhythm, a rhythm and blues and soul group. The group was still making music until 2007 when Ike Turner died. Probably best known for their 1951 hit "Rocket 88" which was credited to Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats (Mr Brenston was a sax player in the band). When Cecil Moore used the Kings of Rhythm for his backing band when he recorded "Moonshine" in 1959, the band was uncredited. The Kings of Rhythm became the band for the Ike & Tina Turner Review but subsequently disbanded at the time "Nutbush City Limits" became a hit in 1976. They reformed in 2001. Thier last album was "Live In Concert" in 2006.

This question links back to Tom Hanks with Mr Hanks' starring role in "Turner and Hooch" (1985). Mr Hanks played Turner, the one who didn't drool.

This question was boogied into the quiz by Phoenix Rising team member and Delta Blues fan 1nn1.

Answer: Serial killers

Gennady Mikhasevich was a Soviet serial killer, convicted of murdering 33 women between 1971 and 1985. He claims it was the trauma of being dumped by his then girlfriend that triggered his spree. He originally planned to hang himself, but by chance came across a young woman and vented his anger by killing her. Mikhasevich was a member of the Voluntary People's Guard and was part of the group of people searching for himself. He was also able to keep ahead of the investigation and plan his killings. Mikhasevich was finally arrested in 1985 and after confessing to the crimes, was shot by firing squad in 1987.

Serhiy Tkach was also a Soviet (later Ukrainian) serial killer who murdered 37 women and girls from the ages of 8 to 18, in the Soviet Union and Ukraine between 1980 and 2005. Tkach worked as a police criminal investigator and so, like Mikhasevich, was able to keep ahead of the official man-hunt. He was finally caught in 2005 when he attended the funeral of one of his victims and was recognised by some children there. Tkach died in prison in 2018 from heart failure.

In both cases, innocent men were charged and falsely convicted of the crimes and some were sentenced to death.

Mikhasevich and Tkach were guilty of murdering females, and thus deemed lady killers. This is the rather unfortunate link to Tom Hanks who starred in the 2005 comedy remake of "The Ladykillers".

Phoenix Rising's leith90 nabbed the corn flakes and muesli to add to the line-up for this question, but after realising it was the wrong cereal, was forced to eat the evidence.

Answer: Judas

The Greek phrase translated as the "son of perdition" appears twice in the New Testament, once in John 17:12 where it refers to Judas Iscariot and once in II Thessalonians 2:3 where it refers to the Anti-Christ. In both cases the person referred is an individual who has chosen to give in to Satan and to be controlled by him to oppose Jesus. Because of this choice they are both doomed to destruction as is the Devil himself.

The 2002 Tom Hanks' movie "Road to Perdition" tells the story of a mob enforcer and his son as they hunt down a mobster who killed their family. The movie also stars Paul Newman, Jude Law, and Daniel Craig. The film's title has a dual meaning in that it is the town Tom's character is headed to and also the road his life has led him down because of the violence he has perpetrated.

In researching this information, Phoenix Rising member tazman6619 chose to travel the road of discovery and not the road of destruction.

Answer: Terminal velocity

Terminal velocity is the maximum velocity an object can reach as it falls through a medium. The forces acting on the object are gravity in a downward direction and drag in an upward direction. When these forces are equal, there is zero acceleration and the object falls at a constant speed, known as terminal velocity.

"The Terminal" (2004) was a comedy-drama starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones, produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. Viktor Navorski (Hanks) finds himself stateless when he is denied entry to the United States and unable to return to his own country because of civil war. His solution is to take up residence in an airport gate under renovation.

With appropriate gravity, Phoenix Rising's psnz dragged and dropped this question into the quiz.

Answer: 50m freestyle

The 50m freestyle race is the fastest in the pool, and most swimmers do not even take a breath for the duration of the race. It is a hectic sight with arms, legs and water flying everywhere and the races are often decided by hundredths of a second. The men's world record is floating around the 20-second mark.

Tom Hanks starred with Daryl Hannah in the cute comedy, "Splash", in 1984.

Phoenix Rising member, ozzz2002, took considerably more than 20.16 seconds to write this question.

Answer: Elizabeth II

"The Crown" is a historical drama centered on the reign of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. The show's first season was released on Netflix in 2016 and it depicted Elizabeth's marriage to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, her coronation and some royal family strife. The first two seasons of "The Crown" featured Claire Foy as Elizabeth while Olivia Colman portrayed her in seasons three and four. Other prominent individuals that have appeared on the show include John Lithgow as Winston Churchill, Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher, and Emma Corrin as Diana, Princess of Wales.

Although Tom Hanks didn't appear in "The Crown", he did star as the title character, director and producer of the 2011 romantic comedy "Larry Crowne". The film centers around a Navy veteran who is fired from his job due to not having reached a certain level of education, which prompts him to go to college. At college he takes an interest in economics and meets a woman named Mercedes who is played by Julia Roberts.

This question was crowned into the quiz by Phoenix Rising team member Triviaballer who thinks that Tier 7 challenges on FunTrivia being imaged as crowns are a great touch.

Answer: Minecraft

Written in Java script, "Minecraft" was created by Swedish videogame creator, Markus Persson in 2009. The general public release came two years later. The premise of the game is quite simple. The player achieves targets by manipulating 3D blocks in an almost infinite game world. These blocks may be water, valuable ores, stone, lava or tree trunks. The blocks can be mined and moved to create objects - often very elaborate! There are several different game modes ranging in difficulty and there is also an option for multiplayer games. The game has won many significant international awards and has attracted "modders" who create extra content that is distributed.

In a 1986 movie release, Tom Hanks and Shelley Long starred in "The Money Pit" - a dilapidated house that required extensive renovations.

This question was dug up, examined and passed on for further perusal by MikeMaster99 who must be one of the few videogamers who never really became interested in "Minecraft"!

Answer: Global Finance

"Global Finance" magazine annually ranks the world's top 50 safest banks. The magazine is an English-language monthly, founded in 1987. With a purview of the international finance sector, "Global Finance" also publishes an annual list of the World's Best Banks.

The rankings apply to the world's 500 largest banks and rely upon long-term foreign currency ratings from organisations such as Standard & Poor's, Fitch and Moody's. The latest rankings can be seen on the magazine's website.

"Saving Mr Banks" (2013) is a biographical drama based on Disney's "Mary Poppins" (1964). Starring Emma Thompson as author P. L. Travers and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney, the film was directed by John Lee Hancock and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. It received one Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score (Thomas Newman).

Phoenix Rising's psnz was interested by this question and deposited it into the quiz, hoping it would rank highly.