Cool Zooms, Part LVI Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mobbing

As a method of protecting their offspring from predators, mobbing is an effective collaboration of birds and some mammals. When attacked, the adults in the group react together to drive off the aggressor. It is more common as a behaviour with birds such as crows, gulls and chickadees, and takes the form of flying around the subject, dive bombing and defecation. It is often accompanied by loud calls and squawking which helps to call for aid from other members of the group.
Some mammals such as meerkats and buffalo also 'mob' in order to protect their young, obviously without the flying and squawking!

The term 'mobbing' is interestingly also used to describe human behaviour such as reporters surrounding a juicy story subject.

smpdit often sees mobbing displayed in her garden when the resident crows take on the local hungry buzzard.

Answer: Ducks in a row

Ducks are broadly divided into three groups based on their common characteristics: dabbling, diving, and perching. Dabbling ducks (like pintails, teals, and mallards) feed at the surface or in shallow water while diving ducks (like eiders and other sea ducks) feed by diving beneath the surface. Perching ducks (e.g. muscovy and mandarins) are so classified because of their tendency to perch high up in trees.

Phoenix Rising team member JCSon woke up at the quack of dawn to submit this question.

Answer: Dean Martin

Dean Martin was born in Steubenville, Ohio in 1917 and made a name for himself as a singer and a comedian; he was a star on both the silver screen and television. With Jerry Lewis he formed a formidable partnership that resulted in a string of movies between 1946 and 1956, at which point the pair went their separate ways thanks to a major difference in opinions. They would reconcile years later. Some of his most memorable movies (without Lewis) include "Rio Bravo" (1959) alongside John Wayne, "Oceans 11" (1960) with Frank Sinatra, and he teamed up again with Wayne in "The Sons of Katie Elder" in 1965. As a singer, his best known songs included "That's Amore" (1953) and "Everybody Loves Somebody" in 1964. That latter song managed to raise itself to the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 at the height of the success by the Beatles.

Martin was a heavy smoker throughout his career and it would lead to his passing with respiratory failure on Christmas Day in 1995. He was laid to rest at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who took the following advice from Dean Martin..."If you drink, don't drive. Don't even putt".

Answer: Woodstock

In the comical October 1980 issue in which Snoopy tries to have Woodstock imitate numerous bird sounds Snoopy is unable to determine what type of bird Woodstock is. In frustration Snoopy declares: "For all I know, you're a duck!" The creator of "Peanuts", Charles M. Schulz, never declared what type of bird Woodstock is but by appearances he looks similar to a canary.

This question was tweeted, chirped, hooted and cawed into the quiz by Phoenix Rising team member Triviaballer who likes the "Peanuts" comics but likes honey-roasted peanuts even more.

Answer: Weasley

Errol, the Weasley family owl, is a great grey owl (Strix nebulosa). We first hear of Errol during the second book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", when Ron calls him 'ancient' and blames him for not delivering Harry's letters. Harry then sees Errol at the Burrow when Percy almost sits on a 'moulting, grey feather duster', which turns out to be the owl. Being old and not in the best of health, Errol is prone to passing out during deliveries and requiring assistance from Hedwig, Harry's owl, or the school owls. The last mention of Errol is in Book Four, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", when, after delivering food to Harry from Molly Weasley, he needed days to recover. It is assumed, since nothing was ever said and Errol was only heard of once since, that he had died soon after.

With only a short detour on the way, this question was delivered safely into the quiz by leith90, who is a closet (cupboard under the stairs) fan of Harry Potter.

Answer: Emu

Englishman Rod Hull moved to Australia in 1956, when he was 21 years old and scored a role in a children's show on the local television station, Channel 9. It is here that he first used Emu. He would return to Britain in 1971, where he returned to cabaret and retained Emu as a part of his act. The Emu was used as an opportunity to create havoc and attack anyone who had gotten close without any blame being delivered upon Hull. Hull died in 1995 after suffering a fall from a roof.

James Stokes built the Albion Brewery at the foot of Mt Eliza in Perth in 1848, which is where the Emu beer was originally brewed. The beer was so popular that the brewery's name was changed to this in 1908. The establishment was then acquired by the Swan Brewery in 1927 and later by New Zealand's Lion Nathan. It produces three notable beers: its flagship, the Emu Bitter, the popular Emu Export (popularly known as the "Bush Chook") and a mid-strength beer called Emu Draft.

Known as the Emus, the Penrith Rugby (Union) Club is based out of the Western Suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in 1965 as the Nepean Ruby Club, they were re-named Penrith in 1981. In 2018 they were removed from the NSW Shute Shield competition because they "were not up to standard", but were re-admitted in 2020.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who hopes he is not ostrich-sized as a result of it.

Answer: Marmara

The Sea of Marmara has the Black Sea to the north, connected by the Bosphorus Strait. Turkey's largest city, Istanbul, is on the north of the Marmara, and at the southern end of the Bosphorus. The Dardanelles connects the Aegean Sea to the Marmara Sea and is where the WWI Battle of Gallipoli was fought.

This question was gobbled up by Phoenix Rising member, ozzz2002.

Answer: Meuse-Argonne Offensive

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive was the largest operation and victory of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I with over 1.2 million American soldiers engaged. It was also one of the final campaigns of the Great War, lasting 47 days and concluding on November 11, 1918 with the signing of the Armistice.

On October 3, 1918, a force of about 554 men led by Major Charles W. Whittlesey were stranded when they advanced into German territory without their supporting flanks. The "Lost Battalion", as they came to be known, suffered heavy losses, food scarcity, ammunition shortages, and communications challenges. One hundred ninety-four men were saved when Cher Ami finally broke through to deliver a message. Several other communications attempts had failed when Cher Ami attempted the flight. The bird was shot down by German forces but recovered and flew on despite sustaining heavy injuries (a bullet through the breast and the loss of an eye and a leg).

This question written by Phoenix Rising's JCSon in tribute to Cher Ami's unflappable courage.

Answer: Susan B. Anthony dollar

The gold-colored, 11-sided Canadian one-dollar coin is nicknamed the loonie due its having a depiction of the common loon (an aquatic bird) on its reverse. The loonie is very similar to the silver-colored Susan B. Anthony dollar of the United States - a coin that had poor public acceptance and was only produced briefly.

mike32768 of Team Phoenix Rising handled many Susan B. Anthony dollars "back in the day" as he was in retail at the time they were in circulation from 1979 to 1981. He has seen almost none of those coins since, and has never actually held a loonie. Being a nearby southern neighbor to the Great White North, Mike5 is proud his northerly friends can poke fun at their money.

Answer: Vincent Van Gogh

"Wheatfield with Crows" was painted in July 1890 and was one of Vincent Van Gogh's last works but there are no records to definitively state it was his last. The bottom two thirds of the painting is filled with the windswept wheat field bisected by a desolate road under a turbulent, cloudy sky. There are many airborne crows flying in many directions. Art critic Kathleen Erickson described the painting as "expressing both sorrow and a sense of his life coming to an end". Robert Rosemblum, art historian wrote "The crows are used by van Gogh as a symbol of death and rebirth, or of resurrection". The painting is on display in the collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

This question was submitted by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1 who one day will make it to Amsterdam to see this painting as well as "Wheatfield under Clouded Sky" by the same artist.

Answer: Love's Labour's Lost

The 1595 play, "Love's Labour's Lost" by Shakespeare contains the word, 'honorificabilitudinitatibus', which, according to the internet is the dative and ablative plural of the medieval Latin word meaning 'the state of being able to achieve honours'. You might also notice the word alternates consonants and vowels!

While Phoenix Rising member mike32768 was honored to have been allowed to create this question, he vows to never again use the word in a sentence - "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious", however...

Answer: Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe was born in 1964 in Wellington, New Zealand and for much of his childhood and adult life he lived in Australia. Crowe's first credited, acting film role was in the 1990 Australian movie "Prisoners of the Sun" and later in the 1990s he also appeared in "The Quick and the Dead" (1995) and "L.A. Confidential" (1997).

In the 1999 film "The Insider" Crowe starred as Jeffrey Wigand who was a prominent whistleblower against his former employer in the tobacco industry. In 2000 Russell Crowe portrayed the titular "Gladiator" Maximus Decimus Meridius who sought vengeance against those that caused the death of his family. Crowe's third straight year with an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination came for the 2001 film "A Beautiful Mind" in which he starred as John Nash who was a brilliant mathematician and economist that struggled with schizophrenia. Although these three roles were all superb and garnered an Academy Award nomination Crowe only won for the film "Gladiator".

This question was phalanxed into the quiz by Phoenix Rising team member Triviaballer who admires all those beautiful minds and insiders that make our world a better place.

Answer: When Doves Cry

"When Doves Cry" was the lead single from Prince's sixth studio album and was built around his relationship with Susan Moonsie from the band Vanity 6. Not only did the song rise to number one on Billboard's Hot 100, it remained there for five weeks, achieved platinum level sales and was ranked at number one on Billboard's End of the Year chart.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who is more comfortable with a purple haze than he is with purple rain.

Answer: University of Oxford

There are more than thirty colleges that make up the University of Oxford. Wadham is one of the oldest, offering a broad range of undergraduate courses in subjects such as law, the classics, biochemistry, and the history of art, amongst others. Wadham's 24-hour library has a collection of rare books that includes a 1543 publication by Nicolaus Copernicus and a Shakespeare first folio and the circa 1602 letters to Richard Bird from Sir Thomas Conway.

Wadham College was established in 1610 and was named for Dorothy and Nicholas Wadham. Nicholas Wadham was Sheriff of Somerset in 1585; a monumental brass of him may be viewed in St Mary's Church, Ilminster. Wadham attended Corpus Christi College, Oxford, founded in 1517. He died at the age of 77, a year before the college built in his honour was founded, using funds he had set aside for the purpose. He was a noted philanthropist, too, providing in his will alms to be spread throughout the county, and the establishment of an alms-house in the local area. Some notable alumni include Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury; Feroz Khan Noon, former Prime Minister of Pakistan; Daryl Williams, former Attorney-General for Australia; actor and comedian, Tim McInnerny; and Reginald Owen, Primate of New Zealand from 1952 - 1960.

This question was studied carefully and passed with flying colours by Phoenix Rising's VegemiteKid.

Answer: Leviticus

The dietary restrictions God laid out for the nation of Israel served several purposes. First and foremost, they were meant as a test of obedience. Second, there were sanitary and hygienic benefits. Finally, many of these animals were part of the idolatrous practices of the people living around the Israelites and by not partaking in these foods it was easier for them to be separate from them. These same laws are also spelled out in Deuteronomy chapter 14.

Both Leviticus and Deuteronomy deal with the animals of the land, sea, and air. They list which is clean and unclean and how to differentiate between the two. Further, they describe the correct means of killing animals for food and for ceremonial purposes.

Matthew and Revelation are New Testament books. Although Exodus contains the first mention of the Ten Commandments it does not expound upon the law as Leviticus and Deuteronomy do.

This question was entrusted to Phoenix Rising member and scribe tazman6619 who dutifully conveyed that which was told to him.

Answer: Apus

The name of this constellation arose from a misconception. There are around 40 species of the brilliantly-plumed Bird-of-Paradise, predominantly living in the tropical lowland forests of New Guinea and surrounding islands. When trophy hunters first brought specimens to Europe, they had removed the legs simply to highlight the plumage but there was a belief circulated at that time that these birds were legless. The constellation was documented at the end of the sixteenth century and named after this bird and hence 'Apus' (derived from 'apous', Greek for "without feet"). This small constellation is in the southern sky. Its brightest star, Alpha Apodis, is about 430 light years from earth and is about 50 times larger than our sun and is around 1000 times more luminous.

This question was positioned in this stellar quiz by Mike Master 99, who as a resident of the southern hemisphere now feels duty bound to find this constellation in the night sky!

Answer: Field Hockey

The Kookaburras have represented Australia in competitive international fixtures in field hockey since 1922, and first competed in the Summer Olympics in the Games held in Melbourne in 1956. From the 1956 Melbourne Olympics to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Kookaburras accumulated ten Olympic medals.

Some elite Kookaburra players include Ric Charlesworth who was a member of the team from 1972-1988, and Jamie Dwyer who had a highly decorated career that included three Olympic medals, four World Cup medals, three Commonwealth Games medals and nine Championships Trophy medals. In all, more than 400 players have represented Australia in the men's field hockey team.

This question was shepherded up the right wing and into the goal circle by Phoenix Rising teammate VegemiteKid.

Answer: Birds of a Feather

Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph were the stars of this highly successful British sitcom that, originally, aired from 1989 to 1998 on BBC One. It was revived in 2014 where it enjoyed another run until the end of 2020.

The series revolves around the trials and tribulations of two sisters, Tracey (Robson) and Sharon (Quirke) who join forces once their husbands are sent to prison for armed robbery.

This question was smuggled out of prison in a fruit cake by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19.

Answer: Angry Birds

The precept of the game is that the pigs are trying to steal the bird's eggs, and the birds are trying to retrieve them. The game is played by launching birds at the pigs, trying to squash them with collapsing structures, and various weapons. The game was launched by the Finnish company, Rovio, in 2009.

"Angry Birds" is one of the most popular video games of all time, with over 3 BILLION downloads. It has about 20 different versions, including tie-ins with "Star Wars", "Rio" and "Transformers". There are two movies and tons of merchandise. There is even an "Angry Birds" cookbook, named "Bad Piggies: Egg Recipes".

This question was hatched by ozzz2002, who wasted many a pleasant hour playing several of the early editions of the game.

Answer: Dominica

The flag of Domenica is one of the world's newest given the country achieved independence from Great Britain as late as 1978. The flag is quite complex with a field of dark green representing its lush vegetation. On the field is a Christian cross which is a tri-colour of yellow, black and white representing natives, the fertile soil, and the pure water respectively. In the centre is a red disc representing justice ringed by ten green stars (representing the parishes) and a Sisserou parrot which is endemic. The parrot is principally purple making Domenica only one of two countries with purple in its flag (the other being Nicaragua).

This question was hoisted into the quiz by Phoenix Rising team member 1nn1 who is the team vexillologist.