Auntie's Quiz O' the Week

[DickZ]

Thanks for the quiz, Auntie. I got numbers 3, 5, 7, 8, and 10.

[AuntShecky]

Thanks for taking the quiz,DickZ. I had qualms about question #2, and had to go back and edit it -- wrong date!

But early this morning I saw an ad for Sting's new album, and he was singing that very song in the commercial! I guess that's what they used to say in the early days of Saturday Night Live: what a "Coinky-Dinky!"


Hope you --and anyone who happens to pass by this thread-- will get a chance to read that Time magazine article, "Boo,Humbug."

Oh, and what a fabulous poem that Ferlinghetti one is! It's encompasses childhood, sex, adolescence, the passing of time, and death in just a few highly accessible lines! Wow. You could
find the complete poem on line here:

http://www.litkicks.com/FerlinghettiSeeger/

And confidentially, if my question earlier this week hasn't worn you to a "Frazz"le the answer appears in today's comic strip. I can't believe I was actually right for a change, though it took a couple o' days to figure out the answer!

[AuntShecky]

Among the volumes of rich stories about the Immigrant Experience, we have to include one Vladimir Alexandrovich Dukelsky. Although his family was connected to the Russian aristocracy, Vladimir may have been “a dreamer with empty hands who sighed for exotic lands.” He was still a teenager when his family arrived on these shores in 1921. A classical music prodigy since the age of 11, he developed both an interest in popular music and a friendship with none other than George Gershwin, who suggested the Americanized handle “Vernon Duke.” From then on until his death in 1969, Vladimir kept the “Dukelsky” for his classical charts and gigs, but it was “Vernon Duke” who in 1934 composed the classic American song: “Autumn in New York” with its bittersweet melody and words like this: “glittering clouds/and shimmering clouds/in canyons of steel./ They’re making me feel/ I’m home.”

Vernon Duke wrote his own lyrics for “Autumn in New York,” but he often teamed up with other lyricists, notably Yip “The Wizard of Oz” Harburg for “April in Paris.” Needless to say, Vernon got great mileage out of songs about and cities. Fortunately though, he didn’t buy into the “CSI” formula; otherwise we’d have such ditties as “September in Sandusky,” “October in Omaha,” and “Natchitoches in November.”

By now you may have guessed this week’s topic from the Duchess of Cornball : each q and/or a has something to do with the fall season and/or the Big Apple. Even without Vernon Duke’s gem, autumn is the season most associated with New York. For instance, when we watch the yearly telecast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, we can see brightly colored leaves still attached to the trees lining 34th Street. And if we want to see something “fall,” all we have to do is go down to Wall Street and get a gander at the economy.

So before somebody bundles me up and hides me in a haystack of unsecured mortgages, let’s start running this New York City marathon which we like to call

Autumn and New York

1. Among the works of John Keats (1795-1821) are several poems addressed to such diverse items as melancholy, a nightingale, and a Grecian urn, but one begins with the lines “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness/Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun.” What’s the title of the poem? (Hint: It’s NOT “To New York”)

2. Two American writers not only share New York as the setting of their novels--You Can’t Go Home Again and The Bonfire of the Vanities, respectively –but also their names! What is it?

3. Lines from “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus are etched on the base of which iconic New York City landmark?

4. What is the title of a 1925 novel which includes newsreels, stream of consciousness, and other innovative forms by the sadly-neglected John Dos Passos (1896-1970)? ( It also happens to be the name of a current popular jazz vocal quartet.)

5. British folks are still familiar with a 17th century jingle that begins “Please to remember the Fifth of November.” To what does that date refer?

6. Speaking of jingles, a darling of the critics is Mad Men, the current television miniseries set in the early 1960s , because it more-or-less accurately depicts which “commercial” industry concentrated on Madison Avenue in New York City?

7. What is the two-word American idiom describing “a loser, dupe, or victim” which originated in the 19th century with “rigged” wrestling matches?

8. Appearing in his second consecutive Auntie quiz is the name Lawrence Ferlinghetti, whose title for his 1958 poetry collection refers to a specific section in the NYC borough of Brooklyn which once was the site of an amusement park with rides, a boardwalk, and “famous” hot dogs. What is this place called?

9. In a 1608 Shakespearean tragedy, Antony is described by these lines: “For his bounty, / There was no winter in ‘t, an autumn ‘twas/That grew the more by reaping.” What is the name of the character who says this?

10. A short novel by the French philosopher Albert Camus features a former lawyer confessing his tale of woe and inertia to a fellow customer at a bar in a place whose name once formed part of the original name for New York City. So – what European city is the setting for The Fall?

11. Speaking of bars, one of the world’s most famous poems about the beginning of World War II begins: “I sit in one of the dives/On Fifty-second Street/Uncertain and afraid/As the clever hopes expire/Of a low dishonest decade. . .” The literary giant (1907-1973) who wrote those lines was born in York, England, became a US citizen in 1946, and spent many years living in Greenwich Village. Who is he?

12. When Thomas Hood (1799-1845) griped: “No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees/No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds–“ what was he complaining about?

13. And finally, Liza and Frank would stop their respective shows at the point when they’d sing “if I can make it here, I can make it anywhere.” And where would that be? (Say it twice, and it’s twice as nice.)



Answers
1. “To Autumn”
2. Wolfe (Thomas and Tom)
3. The Statue of Liberty
4. Manhattan Transfer
5. The Gunpowder Plot (Guy Fawkes Day)
6. Advertising
7. “fall guy”
8. Coney Island (The collection is A Coney Island of the Mind)
9. Cleopatra
10. Amsterdam (Under Dutch rule, NYC was called “New Amsterdam”)
11. W. H. Auden
12. November
13. New York, New York

Sources: Brewer’s, Reader’s Encyclopedia, British Poets of the Nineteenth Century (Page and Thompson, eds.), youtube.com. ,npr.org, and especially http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/

[Virgil]

Well, I had some catching up to do. I had missed the previous two and so I just did three quizes!!

Trees, Shoots, and Leaves - I got six correct: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10.
I'm kicking myself for not getting "shooting stars."

Trick or Treat - I only got four, how pathetic, correct: 3, 5, 6, 12.
Being a blues fan, I should have gotten "I Put A Spell On You."

I have to brag that I aced the Autumn in New York quiz. Of course I have an advantage.

I got a whooping eleven correct, my best effort yet: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13.

[DickZ]

Thanks, Auntie, for another entertaining and challenging quiz. I started out pretty well but then hit some bumps in the road. I got numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, and 13.

[Virgil]

Today, November 11th is Veteran’s Day in the United States, a day of honor to the military who served. Our dear Auntie has given me leave to do the quiz in honor of this day. I tried to place enough questions in here that non-Americans may find engaging, so I hope this satisfies the general community. But I do realize it is a bit American-centric. Give it a shot.


1. Veterans Day began as Armistice Day to commemorate the end of World War I and to honor the veterans of that war. On which moment in time did the War hostilities cease?

2. Which US president actually signed Armistice Day into law?

3. Armistice Day officially became Veteran’s Day, a day to honor all military veterans who served. Which US president, a veteran himself, signed the change over into law?

4. World War I officially ended about six months after Armistice Day hostilities ended with the signing of this treaty in France.

5. Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia is the resting place of several hundred thousand veterans. Which US Civil War general’s wife did the property formerly belong to?

6. On top of the hill at Arlington Cemetery is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Inscribed on the monument is “HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO…” Known but to Who?

7. The United States was not the first country to start a monumental tomb for an unknown soldier. Actually two other countries were ahead of the US in this custom. Name one of them.

8. Complete the last line of the British/American ditty: “Yankee Doodle went to town/A-Riding on a pony;/he stuck a feather in his cap,/…”

9. The most decorated American veteran for a single war is attributed to Audie Murphy, who received 33 American medals, five from France, and one from Belgium. In which war did Audie Murphy serve?

10. The most highly decorated soldier in American history is now considered to be Colonel David Hackworth, with an astounding 90 decorations. Name the three wars that “Hack” served in.

11. Which American general, widely considered one of the great tank battle strategists and served and survived both world wars, died ironically after returning home from WWII in an automobile accident?

12. Which American general, led the Pacific Allied forces during WWII, oversaw the surrender of the Japanese government, but is also famous for his amphibious landing and Battle of Inchon strategy during the Korean War?









1. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918.
2. President Woodrow Wilson
3. President Dwight D. Eisenhower
4. Treaty of Versailles
5. General Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna
6. God
7. United Kingdom (first), France (second)
8. “And called it macaroni.”
9. World War II
10. WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War
11. General George S. Patton
12. General Douglas MacArthur

[AuntShecky]

Thank you so much for volunteering to write the quiz this week, Virgil. This is a nice tribute to our veterans as well as the men and women currently serving in the military.

The quiz is a good one, too. (I missed the question about Col. Hack. by saying he was in WWI, WWII, and Korea.)

Did you know that Audie Murphy was able to parlay his fame as a decorated soldier to a movie career? What's even more interesting is that the majority of the films in which he starred were Westerns rather than war movies:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001559/

Thanks again, Virgil.

[DickZ]

Great quiz, Virgil - nice job. But I have to differ with you on Audie Murphy's war, which was World War II.

I got all of them except for #3.

[Virgil]

Thank you so much for volunteering to write the quiz this week, Virgil. This is a nice tribute to our veterans as well as the men and women currently serving in the military.

The quiz is a good one, too. (I missed the question about Col. Hack. by saying he was in WWI, WWII, and Korea.)

Did you know that Audie Murphy was able to parlay his fame as a decorated soldier to a movie career? What's even more interesting is that the majority of the films in which he starred were Westerns rather than war movies:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001559/

Thanks again, Virgil.

I found that out about Audie Murphy while reseaching this. I have never seen an Audie Murphy movie. Thanks on liking the quiz.

Great quiz, Virgil - nice job. But I have to differ with you on Audie Murphy's war, which was World War II.

I got all of them except for #3.

Oh my gosh, I got a question wrong on my own poll. You are right. For some reason I thought it was WWI, but it's not. I'll have to correct that. Thanks.

[AuntShecky]

Though gifted with an ironic wit, Benjamin Franklin was not entirely facetious when he proposed that the turkey – not the bald eagle – be named the National Bird of the newborn United States. Sadly, conventional wisdom regards Melagris gallopavo as a symbol of congenital ineptitude. The traditional main dish at Thanksgiving is an epithet often heard in a round of “The Dozens,” and many a waitress working the holiday has been spotted wearing a button with a cartoon dialogue balloon stating “You are what you eat.” So one might say that the turkey is the Rodney Dangerfield in the supermarket poultry case– it gets no respect.

It’s no wonder then that the word “turkey” is synonymous with an extravagant production that fails in a spectacular way – monumental bombs like Howard the Duck, Ishtar, Town and Country, and sequels that went to the franchise well one time too often (i.e., the last installments of Jaws, The Exorcist, Indiana Jones, Star Wars and their ilk. And I do mean “ILL-k.”) Another case in point was Moose Murders, a 1983 play which, according to Brendan Gill of The New Yorker, was such a piece of putrid meat that it “would insult the intelligence of an audience consisting entirely of amoebas.”

You’ve undoubted guessed by now the subject of this week’s disaster. Each q. and a. has some connection with a turkey that’s been stuffed with rottenness, and so utterly devoid of any Redeeming Social Value that it stinks. So let’s all throw some shoes and tomatoes at these fabulous flops, in a little quiz we like to call

The Good, The Bad, and The Turkey

1. What is the one-word term starting with “m” which refers to a word or phrase that arose from a mistake or a misconception, yet stubbornly remains in the language: for instance, “Indian” (for a Native American), “blindworm” for a creature that is neither blind nor a worm, and “turkey,” even though the bird never originated in that country?

2. Who (or what) is “Alan Smithee”?

3. This cult hit (1989-1999) featured a guy and two robots stranded on a space satellite by an evil scientist who forces the trio to watch painfully bad movies, upon which the three captives provide a running commentary. The one-liners, parodies, and comedy sketches made this show a post-modern classic. What was the title of the tv series?

4. Every list of the Biggest All-Time Box Office Failures includes Heaven’s Gate, a 1981 movie with a convoluted plot about a cattle war. The production went so far over budget that it nearly “single-handedly put United Artist out of business.” Ironically enough, the disgraced director, Michael Cimino, had previously helmed an epic about the Viet Nam war which brought him and the film itself a shelf full of Academy Awards. What was the title of that earlier, award-winning film of 1978?

5. Critics seldom are unanimous, but on one thing they are 100% in agreement, and that’s on the “Worst Television Sit-Com in History.” It starred Jerry Van Dyke as a guy whose closest female relative had been reincarnated as a 1928 Porter roadster. Despite its nefarious reputation, the show actually ran for 30 episodes in 1965. What was the title of this infamous series?

6. Who wrote the novel upon which Carrie, the abysmally wretched Broadway musical of 1988, was based?

7. In 1968, comedy writer and “2000-year-old man” Mel Brooks won numerous awards for his screenplay about a shady Broadway character and an initially-reluctant accountant who scheme to mount a deliberately-awful show, “Springtime for Hitler” in order to keep the investments when it most assuredly fails – or does it? Name the title of the original movie and later highly-successful Broadway version of this Mel Brooks classic.

8. Name the modern composer (1882- 1971) whose 1913 world premiere of his ballet, The Rite of Spring, in Paris so enraged the audience that they waged a full-scale riot.

9. He was an earnest director of science fiction “movies” such as Plan 9 from Outer Space, a production riddled with laughably inept special effects, such as using paper plates to stand in as flying saucers. Yet his legendary incompetence was matched by a preternatural optimism. What was his name, the subject title of a well-received 1994 biographical film starring Johnny Depp?

10. The flip side to numerous award shows in which movies are honored for their excellence, what is the name for the annual “award” which singles out “turkeys”? The name of the statuette is a shortened synonym for a “Bronx cheer.”

11. Who was the American playwright, Algonquin wit, and critic (1889-1961) who once opened a play review with the line, “There was laughter in the back of the theatre, leading to the belief that someone was telling jokes back there.”

12. A lavish 1963 movie was over-budget, over-schedule, and marked with such scandals as a “real-life” (by Hollywood standards) love affair between the leading lady and the leading man. The reviews dripped with venom. It was enough to make Shakespeare and the other authors of the source material to spin in their graves. The price tag for the 4-hour-long epic was $44 million ($259 million in 2009 dollars) while it grossed only $26 million. Some experts still rank this disaster as one of the worst box office turkeys of all time. What was it?

13. And finally, rolled out by the Ford Motor Company in 1958, this turkey with four wheels tanked when its sales fell flatter than a tire on a road riddled with potholes. What was it?


Answers

1. Misnomer
2. Official pseudonym in Hollywood used by a director who no longer wants his real name associated with a project. Thus, whenever you see the name “Alan Smithee” roll by in the credits, you know that the picture is a real dog, and you should demand your money back.
3. Mystery Science Theatre 3000
4. The Deer Hunter
5. My Mother, The Car
6. Stephen King
7. The Producers
8. Igor Stravinsky (By 1941, the formerly-offensive music was deemed family-friendly enough to be included in a segment of Disney’s Fantasia.)
9. Ed Wood
10. The “Razzie” (from “raspberry”)
11. George S. Kaufman
12. Cleopatra
13. The Edsel

Sources:
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, The Video Hound's Golden Movie Retriever, International Movie Database, The Portable Curmudeon (ed. by Jon Winkour), npr.org and "Blaze of Glory by
Lesley Gibson:
http://www.act-sf.org/site/DocServer...ous_wop_31.pdf

[Niamh]

I got 6,7,8,9,10 and 12. I kicked myself for not getting 1 and 4. been a while since i did this!

[PabloQ]

All caught up again. Whew!!
Yankees - 9
Trees - 10
New York - 10
Boo Hiss - 8 (boo, hiss)
Turkeys - 8

[AuntShecky]

Thanks Niamh and Pablo for catching up on these. By the bye, I won't be posting a quiz during Thanksgiving week, but I do plan to post a couple of more quizzes in December, the good Lord
willing and the creek don't rise, and if Pong II (my PC) reboots when I need it to. Big changes will be coming to the quiz -- perhaps starting a new thread --with a substantial difference -- in January 2010. When that time approaches, I'll post the changes in me blog.

[DickZ]

Thanks, Auntie. I'm wondering if it would be better to post a low score, considering the nature of the quiz. Wouldn't a high score correlate with a high personal index of turkeyism? I think I would prefer a low score on this one.

Anyway, I won't fudge my answers just for that reason. I got numbers 1, 6, 7, 8, 12, and 13, and I await the judgement of whoever is in charge of assessing who is a big fat turkey, and who isn't.

[AuntShecky]

I await the judgement of whoever is in charge of assessing who is a big fat turkey, and who isn't.

Dick, on no plane of existence in the universe, parallel or otherwise, would you ever qualify to be "a big fat turkey."