Things I Will Never Do! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hauntings

These houses are all purported to be haunted and worse than that, are open to the public for tours and in some cases, nightly stays! The Lizzie Borden house is the place where Andrew and Abbie Borden were bludgeoned to death with a hatchet. The house, now said to be haunted by the victims and a screaming maid, is a tourist attraction.

The Villisca house is another house where a family of six were killed with an ax and the murderer never found. Guests at this house, which is also a tourist attraction, have reportedly had encounters and interactions with ghosts there.

The Bell Witch Farm is a place where a dying woman vowed to haunt her neighbour because she believed he was a cheat. The Bell Witch claimed to be the spirit of the woman who had died.

The house was torn down but a cave with artefacts from the house and a Bell Witch Festival remains. That's a hard pass for me!

Answer: England

So apparently the fun and thrill associated with this activity comes from the feeling of free falling....whether jumping from a tall building, bridge, or aircraft. The jumper free falls and then rebounds by virtue of being attached to an elastic cord. Land jumping was an ancient ritual for young men in Vanuatu. On the rather fitting date of April first, 1979, university students in England were discussing this and decided to try their own jump.

These members of the 'Dangerous Sports Club' jumped from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, with ropes tied around their ankles.

They were arrested for their antics, which makes perfect sense to me. Bungee jumping is now a worldwide and exciting endeavour for brave thrill seekers.

Answer: Parachute

Skydiving is also called parachuting. Skydivers usually jump out of planes, aided by gravity and then controlling the speed of the jump with the use of a parachute. There were approximately twenty-two fatalities in the United States between the years 2000 and 2009 from skydiving.

There are thousands of injuries, including fractures. There is lots of instruction for jumpers, particularly first-time jumpers. Between four and eight hours of ground instruction are given before recreational daredevils get up in the air.

There's also lots of variety associated with skydiving such as night jumping and formation skydiving. Some people really show off and play catch in the air with a space ball.

Answer: Les Miserables

The 1862 novel by Victor Hugo is the inspiration for the sung-through musical that is incredibly popular and long-running. The musical about the French peasant Jean Valjean opened on Broadway in 1987 and ran until 2003. It was nominated for twelve Tony Awards and won eight.

In London the show ran from 1985 to 2019. It was also turned into a 2012 movie that won numerous Academy and Golden Globe awards. I realize this is an incredibly popular musical that has been called by some the greatest musical of all time. I will say in my defense that there were some not so great reviews when it first opened including one that described it as "witless." I stand by my disdain for this one and the thing I will never do is watch the movie.

Answer: Nickelback

Nickelback....I will never go to one of their shows. Many people would though since they've sold more than fifty million albums worldwide. Billboard named them number seven on their top artist of the decade list in 2009. They had four albums that made it on Billboards top albums of the decade list.

Their single "This Is How You Remind Me", a truly awful number, reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the top song of 2002, according to "Billboard Magazine." I'm not alone in my assessment of Nickelback as they were named the second worst band of the 1990s (they were beat out by Creed for the number one spot) by "Rolling Stone" magazine readers.

They also achieved the status of number one musical turn-off by Tastebuds.fm users, a dating site for music-lovers.

Answer: Susan Boyle

To get up in front of people and sing takes a ton of courage that I don't have. It helps that Susan Boyle has an amazing voice. She auditioned for "Britain's Got Talent" despite being very hesitant because of the worry that performers are predominantly chosen because of their attractive looks. Boyle shocked everyone when she opened her mouth and sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from "Les Misérables." She came in second place on the show and went on to have a successful career in music, performing with her musical idols, Donny Osmond and Elaine Page.

Answer: Sahara Desert

The Marathon des Sables (also known as the Marathon of the Sands and the Sahara Marathon) is a six-day, one hundred and fifty six mile ultramarathon. That is the equivalent of six marathons. Established in 1986, it has been called the hardest race on Earth. Participants must be self-sufficient, meaning they are to carry their own supplies including food, sleeping gear and anything else they might need.

Despite the gruelling heat and harsh conditions, over twenty-two thousand people have signed up for this race between 1986 and 2021.

In 2002 racers were hit with a sand and windstorm and doctors had to put together a machine to wash out the runners eyes. Despite this, the winds gave a bit of relief from the heat so there weren't too many dropouts. Masochists!

Answer: Venipuncture

Venipuncture (also spelled as venepuncture) involves sticking a needle in the vein to draw blood. This procedure, also called phlebotomy, is completed by medical professionals. It is carried out for a number of reasons - to get blood in order to diagnose any issues, to monitor levels of components in the blood or to collect blood for the purposes of transfusion.

Another reason is intravenous therapy where a needle is inserted into the vein and fluids are provided, usually for rehydration or to provide nutrition.

It is a very routine and common procedure that absolutely terrifies me!

Answer: Vikings

"Vikings" premiered in 2013 and is inspired by the life of the Viking Ragnar Lothbrok. In the series Ragnar is a farmer who becomes a king. Apparently for American audiences the sex and nudity is edited out but there is no problem with the violence and torture in the show.

The show has received a number of award nominations and has won quite a few. These include several Canadian Screen Awards, Directors Guild of Canada Awards and Irish Film and Television Awards. I might be missing out on a great show but will never know...

Answer: Hypatia

Mathematics just isn't my thing....I'd rather curl up with a good book than sort through numbers. Not the case for Hypatia who was one of the first female mathematicians whose life was recorded. She was born around 350-370 AD, the daughter of a mathematician.

She was said to have excelled her father in this field. She was also a philosopher. Although she was not an innovator or inventor, she was a great commentator and teacher. She was also counsel to Orestes, the Roman prefect for Alexandria who was in a feud with Cyril, the bishop of Alexandria.

It was believed that she stopped the two from reconciling and so she was brutally murdered by a mob. Her death made her a martyr.