The Joy Of Knowledge 6 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Eleanor Rigby

The song 'Eleanor Rigby' appeared on the Beatles album, 'Revolver'. Paul McCartney stated that he took the name of Rigby, from the name of a store. The actress Eleanor Bron provided the inspiration for the name of Eleanor. Bron did actually appear in the 1965 Beatles movie 'Help' playing the part of Ahme alongside Victor Spinetti who played Professor Foot. Cynics amongst us would argue that the name came from a gravestone in St Peter's Churchyard in Woolton, England. Woolton is a local place where Lennon and McCartney first met. Apparently the Beatles didn't play a single note on the track, Eleanor Rigby, as they hired string players for the song.

Answer: Oscar Deutsch

Oscar Deutsch (1893-1941) was the son of a successful Hungarian-Jewish scrap metal merchant. During the 1920s, the name "Odeons" were given to cinemas in both France and Italy. Oscar Deutsch's publicity team promoted the word 'ODEON' to mean 'Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation.' In 1941, Oscar Deutsch died of cancer and his Odeon chain was sold to J Arthur Rank which became known as the Rank Organisation.

Answer: Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt left during the production of the movie 'The Fountain' as it was taking too long to film. Hugh Jackman took over his character role in that movie. Filming 'Troy' initially began in Morocco but the production moved to Baja California Sud, in Mexico because of the imminent threat of war in Iraq. For his character role of 'Achilles', Brad Pitt had to train for six solid months and pack in smoking cigarettes in order to acquire the desired look of a classical Greek hero.

Answer: The Celtic Sea

The Celtic Sea is generally located between Wales, Ireland and southwestern England. It is part of the Atlantic Ocean and is separated from the Irish Sea by St George's Channel. Workers in the oil industry used this sea during the 1970s. Scottish, Irish and Welsh-speaking workers referred to this sea area as the Celtic Sea because Celtic is a language spoken in parts of Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

The Celtic language includes both Gaelic and Welsh.

Answer: 170

Treble twenty (60), treble twenty (60) and bull (50), which is double twenty-five. (60 + 60 + 50 = 170).
I kindly omitted the obvious answer of finishing on double top,
(60 +60 + 40 = 160).

Answer: United States of America

Christina Maria Aguilera was born on Staten Island, New York, on 18 December, 1980. She is an international successful pop vocalist. Her British No1 hit singles include 'Genie in a bottle' (Oct 1999), 'Lady Marmalade' (Jun 2001), 'Dirrty' (Nov 2002) and 'Beautiful' (Mar 2003) for which she won a Grammy Award in 2004.

Answer: Remembered

American comedian Phyllis Diller was born on 17 July, 1917. She is well noted for both her outrageous appearance and infamous stories. I do admire her style. Here are a couple of her famous quotations.
1) Whatever you may look like, marry a man your own age. As your beauty fades, so will his eyesight.
2) We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk, and the next twelve telling them to sit down and shut up.

Answer: Jesus Christ lizard

The basilisk, or, Jesus Christ lizard has large hind feet which are webbed. It can run quickly, from a predator, on the top of water. The flaps of skin between its toes enables it to appear to walk on the water. The basilisks are active during the day and can be seen near rivers and streams of Central and South American rain forests.

Answer: Diana Coupland

Diana Coupland was born on 5 March, 1932 in Leeds, England. She was well known for playing Jean Abbott, the wife of Sid, at their fictional address of Birch Avenue, Putney, England. They had two troublesome teenage children called Mike and Sally. Mike played by Robin Stewart, was an unemployed ex-art college student and Sally was a grammar schoolgirl played by Sally Geeson. Diana Coupland was married to Monty Norman who was actually the composer for the film score of 'Dr No'.

The jury is still out on whether Monty Norman or John Barry actually wrote the famous 'James Bond' theme tune. Alas Diana Coupland died on 10 November, 2006 due to complications following heart surgery.

Answer: Fred Allen

Fred Allen (1894-1956) was an American radio comedian who was born as John Florence Sullivan. I can quite understand why he adopted the name Fred Allen. His great sense of humour appeals to me. Here are a couple of his humorous quotations.
1) "I like long walks especially when they are taken by people who annoy me".
2) "I can't understand why a person will take a year to write a novel when he can easily buy one for a few dollars".

Answer: Flower power

Allen Ginsberg (1926-97) was born in Newark, New Jersey, USA. He raged against materialistic values and was part of the hippy movement. Whilst studying at Columbia university he became friends with authors Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs. His epic poem 'Howl' (1956) launched a high profile attack against authority.

His career as a public speaker moulded the San Francisco generation into one of a hippy culture. He was interested in Zen Buddhism, meditation and the use of drugs. He became a major writer for the beat generation who rejected social and political systems of the West, resulting in contempt for regular work, traditional dress and possessions.

His alternative lifestyle was one of communal living and rejection of conventional values.

Answer: Victoria Wood

Victoria Wood was born 19 May, 1953 in Prestwich, Lancashire. This comedian/writer had an unhappy childhood as her family didn't really communicate with one another. Her father was an aspiring writer and spent most of his time on his typewriter. Her mother would be in another room reading while Victoria was left to watch television alone.

They even ate their meals separately. She found fame when appearing on the television programme, 'New Faces', back in 1974. Her popularity took off when she teamed up with actress Julie Walters.

She became a BAFTA winner for her television show, 'An Audience With Victoria Wood'.

Answer: The Naked Gun

Leslie Nielsen plays Lieutenant Frank Drebin who equals Inspector Clouseau as a stupid law officer. Other members of the cast include Priscilla Presley and O. J. Simpson.

Answer: Greenpeace

Greenpeace was a new Canadian environmental pressure group, back in the 1970s. Phyllis Cormack was a former fishing boat which was renamed 'Greenpeace' for an important voyage. It set sail from Vancouver, Canada, with eight campaigners, a small crew and two reporters, to reach the island of Amchitka, which was the sight of an imminent American nuclear test. Amchitka is a tiny island off the west coast of Alaska.

It is home to bald eagles, peregrine falcons and about 3000 endangered sea otters. As Amchitka is prone to earthquakes, it was thought that a massive underground blast could disturb the region's ecological balance.

Although American coastguards thwarted the mission, world attention was drawn to the consequence of the test.

Answer: Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) was a controversial public figure who was passionately interested in philosophy, mathematics and was a prolific writer. In 1949 he became a leading figure in nuclear disarmament and was imprisoned after a demonstration in Whitehall, London.

In 1950 he was awarded the Nobel prize for literature. He was very passionate about his beliefs and was imprisoned both in 1918 and 1961 for his activities on behalf of peace. I hope you learned something new from this quiz.