OvB Questions(Jan – Sep ’14)

Aditya Sriram Sankaran

Q.1.

Contuining on his obsession with all things Tesla, The Oatmeal's Matthew Inman wrote a review of the Tesla Model S after having purchased one. This also served as an appeal (particularly to Elon Musk) to help raise money towards a (Nikola) Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe.

In it, he mentions a friend & fellow Model S owner who has installed solar panels in his house thereby charging his car primarily using the sun. Co-incidentally, this friend was the one who convinced Inman to buy a Model S.

Who is this friend that likes to dance a lot?

A.1.

Matt Harding of “Where in the world is Matt?” fame

Q.2.

Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade & Li Ning have released this shoe yesterday, the third in its series - the Way of Wade.

What is it themed on?

A.2.

Dwayne Wade’s fellow Miami resident Dexter

Q.3.

These are a couple of stills from "Shirley: Visions of Reality", an Austrian production that featured in the 'Forum' section of the 2013 Berlin Film Festival.

What is the film visually inspired by?

A.3.

Edward Hopper’s paintings

Q.4.Many studies in the past have been conducted to determine the health benefits of ___________, with a recent one titled X being one of the first to actually introduce ____ into people's lives and track its effects on their bodies, with first results showing health benefits primarily when ____ is combined with regular exercise. (2nd & 3rd blanks are same; contracted versions of the first).

X is a Latin phrase whose Greek translation has also been seen in Pliny the Elder's Naturalis historia, and refers to the apparent effects of __________ (same as first blank) on what a person may say, as opposed to health benefits.

X is also the title of a 17th season Law & Order episode.

Give me X (the Latin phrase) & the first / fourth (long) blank.

A.4.

X – In vino, veritas______ - drinking wine

Q.5.

The following are a selection (non-exhaustive) of poems collated and displayed by a particular organization, who chose a work by Walt Whitman as their first such piece.

Where would one likely see them?What expression that is used in the context of something 'graceful & fluid' is used as a title for this project?

A guy and a girlseated next to each other.They’re not together

but the guy gives heradvice on her sudoku.She does not respond.

It’s a numbers game.

“I love Instagram.”“Shall I take a selfie of you?”“ ‘Twilight’ is, like, the modern ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ ”

There is a manflexinghis chest musclesin repeated joltsfor the entire journey.I guess it’s an effective workout,because his pectorals are enormous.Maybe I’ll try it.

A.5.

These, along with several other works of poetry that are inspired by commuters and travel on the metro can be seen on metro cars in the NYC Metro, as part of a project titled "Poetry in Motion"

The titles of the three poems mentioned above are:1. Sudoku Haiku2. #OverheardOnTheTrain3. Subway Crunching

The first one exhibited in 1992 was an excerpt from Walt Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”

Q.6.

What question that may be posed on 18th September is this a possible solution to?(Question asked on 3rd September)

A.6.

This is one of the several design proposals going around for the flag of the UK post Scottish separation if that were to happen

The three elements represented being:1. St. George's cross for England2. The Red Hand of Ulster for Northern Ireland3. The Red Dragon for Wales

Q.7.

The Sydney Morning Herald recently published a story involving Independent Commission against Corruption witnesses Eric Roozendaal and Chris Hartcher on the front page regarding the leaking of confidential information and illegal donations.

For what unrelated reason did this article in the 183-year old newspaper raise a controversy on social media & the rest of the internet?

A.7.

Comic sans was used for text in the blurbs on the front page, representing Roozendaal and Hartcher's comments, which subsequently kicked up a giant shitstorm on social media.

Q.8.

Which sportsperson goes by the nickname "The God of Thunder"?#kolstylz

A.8.

Norwegian cyclist Thor Hushovd

Q.9.

Kill Me Three Times is a Simon Pegg film in the works with the following description on IMDb:

"In the Australian surfing town of Eagle's Nest, a young woman is the thread that binds three tales of murder, blackmail and revenge."

What specific rather Harry Potter-esque element has been used in its promotional campaign?

A.9.

The film has a gif poster, exactly like the moving photos in Harry Potter.Here's the poster with smoke apparently coming out of it:

Q.10.

Security firm Xipiter have created a device that allows the user to charge smartphone batteries from random USB ports without risking accidental syncing of private data or contracting a computer virus.

It is a small chip with male and female ports which connects between your device and the unknown USB port, linking-up the power cables but severing any potential data connection, thus protecting your device against viruses and unexpected data transfer.

What have these devices been dubbed?

A.10.

Digital or USB Condoms

Q.11.

eBay have recently revealed the most popular items / categories per US state.

What specific category of items led the way in Colorado?

A.11.

Hydroponic supplies

Q.12.

François Truffaut directed his only English-language film in 1966.

What film? Why were its opening credits 'spoken' as opposed to shown on screen in words as done usually?

A.12.

Fahrenheit 451 because paper burns at 451 F & only the spoken word is left

Q.13.

This is a picture of a man taken in Paris during pro-Palestinian protests earlier this year.

It inspired several edits & memes, one of which, based on what the man is doing, is a nod to a famous work of an artist which is, ironically found in a location significant to the protests.

A. Name the artist & artwork, which also found itself on the cover of a compilation book (whose title is based on a 1869 work) of the artist.

B. For brownie points, name the compilation book & where this work of art is found.

A.13.

Artwork - Banksy's Flower ThrowerHis compilation book - Banksy: Wall and PieceFitting with the theme of the protests, the work is on a wall in Bethlehem

Q.14.

In which appropriately named Belgian village does the electronic music festival Tomorrowland take place each year?#kolstylz

A.14.

Boom

Q.15.

While Ellen DeGeneres is now a pro host with her own TV show and the Oscars under her hosting honors, she wasn't always this good at it.

She had to undergo a lot of training to appear more graceful and likeable so as to be able to co-host the 46th Emmy Awards in 1994.

This story, as per her own account inspired what?

A.15.

Miss Congeniality

Q.16.

What was this photo posted as a response to?

A.16.

As a response to this gaffe involving a water bottle (seen on the right side of the picture on the mantelpiece) from a promo of Downton Abbey

Q.17.

In an article about Apple's products & their culture of innovation, the simplicity in the design of their products has been compared to a series of lithographs by an artist of a subject that is essentially stripped down to its bare necessities.An example to showcase this simplicity is the Apple mouse through time.

What is the subject of the lithograph series & by which artist?

A.17.

Bull by Pablo Picasso, where the detailed drawing of a bull is simplified through a cubist approach over 11 lithographs into the basic lines that make it up

Q.18.

If it's called musique entêtante in France and canzone tormentone in Italy, what is it called in the English-speaking world?

#kolstylz

A.18.

Earworms, the German word for it is Ohrwurm

Q.19.Comments by X on Y's work (5 versions of around 300) for X's project:

1. "Hand & bike are too irrelevant. Title looks bad small. Looks like ink didn't take on the part that goes light."2. "Looks like Science fiction. Hard to read, even at this size."3. "__A__ and figures place too much emphasis on __A__. I don't think we should use the __A__ in ads"4. __A__ too abstract and too much emphasis on __A__"5. "Don't like art work. __B__ looks peculiar. Also, art work too spread out, too sprawling, not compact enough. I don't like the dots for the logo. It will not look good small, even the size above is difficult to read."

X & Y please (Brownie points for A & B)

A.19.

These are comments by Stanley Kubrick on Saul Bass' efforts for The Shining poster. (A & B are maze & hotel respectively). After about 300 different versions, here's the one Kubrick finally okay-ed:

Q.20.

Here's The Sopranos' opening credits from one of the later seasons.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_2DHLvmfVE

What miniscule change in this opening sequence was introduced from the 4th season of the show onwards & why?

A.20.

For the fourth season & all the others that followed, the shot of the WTC in the rear view mirror that was seen in the first 3 seasons were removed, since this was after 9/11.

Q.21.

The last time an album accomplished this feat, it was 'My Son, The Nut' by Allan Sherman in 1963.

What feat that was accomplished again a few days back?#kolstylz(Question posted on August 8th)

A.21.

Weird Al's Mandatory Fun just hit number one on the billboard a couple of weeks back, making it the first comedy album since 1963 to achieve the feat.Incidentally, it's also the first number one in Weird Al's 30 year career.

Q.22.

Which band was the first to have used the devil's horns symbol on their album cover? Which album?

This threw up several controversies & conspiracy theories alike.#kolstylz

A.22.

The Beatles on the cover of Yellow Submarine

Q.23.

- Toni Kroos & Franck Ribery in a 6-0 Bayern Munich victory over Hertha Berlin

- Marco Reus & Mike Hanke in a 3-0 Borussia Monchengladbach victory over FC Koln

What specific occurrences involving these players in the two games above happened in the 2011-12 Bundesliga season?

A.23.

They played Rock-Paper-Scissors to decide who would take the free kick

Q.24.

In French, there is a type of slang called 'verlan', where the syllables of a word are interchanged to get a new one. Verlan itself comes from "l'envers" (pronounced lan-ver) which refers to the inversion.

Whose current stage name comes from a verlan-ification of his previous stage name?What word from the old name was modified?

A.24.

Stromae from The ‘Maestro’

Q.25.

2010 print of who by whom?The color tone & background should help identify the whom & who respectively.

A.25.

Keith Haring by Shepard Fairey

Q.26.

Picasso, observing a bull fight in a famous arena in a city of Southern France, where he spent a lot of time apparently "watching the blood saturate the sand".This city still celebrates bull-fighting in the week leading up to the Pentecost called the Feria de 'name of the city'.

Which city, encountered in an oft-repeated biz quiz funda?

A.26.

Nimes of Denim (de Nimes) fame

Q.27.

This is a series of 13 prints by Damien Hirst representing food items like Salad, Chicken, Omlette, Mushrooms, etc. as tablets ready for consumption.Like several of his other works, it is a statement against something.

What title does this series bear, borrowing from a far more famous work?

A.27.

The Last Supper

Q.28.

"And now the story of a wealthy girl who lost everything, and the one family who had no choice but to help her keep it together.“

Description of one show in the style of another as the subtitle to a mash-up teaser video.

1. Which show is being described?2. In the style of which?3. What aspect that ties the two shows together made producers come up with this crossover?#mutualmetastylz

A.28.

1. Orange is the New Black2. Arrested Development3. Netflix

Q.29.

Lego Recreation of what? (Two-word answer)

A.29.

Fawlty Towers

Q.30.Traditionally, you would find that in Beijing, and pretty much all surrounding areas in the north of China, winters are passable because all buildings would be centrally heated.

However, when you look at Shanghai (an equally large and important city) and its surrounding areas in the South, there is generally no central heating at all (there are a few exceptions) to this date despite the fact that the city hits sub-zero temperatures.

Back in the 50s, that was a money-saving move because the state provided heat as part of the iron rice bowl welfare of communism.

However, another reason involving a certain man in power is cited as being the principal explanation of this heating parity.What?

A.30.

Mao Zedong is said to have proclaimed that winter only had an effect on the part of the country north of the Yangtze river, as a result of which the government policy involved setting up central heating in buildings of Beijing and others north of the Yangtze, while cities such as Shanghai that were south of it were left to fend for themselves in the winter.

Q.31.

X self-published a book titled ___________________, which is primarily about shoes. It featured many of this artist's 'shoe' drawings and was a collective effort where X did the drawings, his mother did the calligraphy and Ralph Pomeroy, a poet, did the text consisting of 'shoe poems'.

X named the book by changing one word in the original name of a famous novel by Y, which is considered Y's most prominent work, known both for its length and its theme of involuntary memory.

ID X, Y and the name of the book by X (same as the name of the novel by Y except for one word)

Couple images of the shoe drawings

A.31.

X – Andy WarholY – Marcel ProustThe book is titled 'A la recherche du shoe perdu' or 'In search of lost shoe'

Q.32.

3 out of 9 works created by X with the blonde, Y, as model for the 160th anniversary of LeBonMarché, a famous retail store on the Left-bank (Rive Gauche) of the Seine in Paris.

Incidentally, this isn't the first time X and Y have worked together, with Y having worked in the adaptation of one of X's earlier works.

Identify X (the artist) and Y (the model)

A.32.

X - Marjane Satrapi,Y - Catherine Denueve

Catherine Denueve voiced Mrs. Satrapi in the film adaptation of the autobiographical Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.

Q.33.

Donald Glover raps under the stage name Childish Gambino.

In an interview where he denied being related to Danny Glover in any which way, he also explained how he chose his stage name.

How?

A.33.

He used a Wu-Tang Clan Name Generator

Q.34.

A company named XandY was started when two guys (a third joined later), decided to make the most of some Xs at their disposal & Y they could offer easily to help make ends meet.

Today, they are valued at over over $10 billion & have many investors, incl. Ashton Kutcher in their venture.

What concept did they pioneer to help pay their rent? X Y?

A.34.

Started when Joe Gebbia & Brian Chesky decided to rent out 3 air mattresses they possessed and make breakfast the next day to help pay their own rent, airbed(X)andbreakfast(Y).com, now airbnb.com has become a first point of call for most travelers.

Q.35.The giant moa is an extinct genus of ratite birds endemic to New Zealand.

Before 2003, there were three species of the giant moa (Diornis) that were recognized:- South island giant moa (D. robustus),- North Island giant moa (D. novaezealandiae) and - Slender moa (D. struthioides)

However, after some research, they were re-classified into only 2 species – robustus & novaezealandiae.

What original error in identification prompted scientists to re-classify the giant moa?

A.35.

Sexual dimorphism – the males and females were so different in size that scientists thought them to be completely different species. Later, they discovered that all D. sthruioides were males and all D. robustus were females – then classifying them under robustus

Q.36.

This is a painting of the ‘Bridge of Sighs, Ducal Palace and Custom House, Venice: ________ painting’ by Turner.In the bottom left is an artist shown by his easel and canvas.

Who is this artist, whose mononym is symbolic of the city he has been depicted in, although it was merely a reworking of his surname to represent something of a family legacy?

A.36.

CanalettoHe was the son of Bernardo Canal, and was hence given the name 'Canaletto' (little canal)

Q.37.

This is a Portrait of Père Tanguy.

1. Name the artist, in whose later works Japanese art was a strong influence.2. After Tanguy's death, this painting was sold by his daughter to another 'artist', in whose personal collection it lay until a while back when it became an exhibit in his museum. Identify him.

A.37.

1. Vincent van Gogh2. Auguste Rodin, and the painting is part of the permanent collection at the Musée Rodin.

Q.38.

Whose twitter handle is @dafastestbowler?#kolstylz

A.38.

Shoaib Akhtar

Q.39.

Part of a series of documents recently revealed to the public (scanned copies of the entire set are also available to download)

Who compiled this recipe for a hamburger?(Question posted February 19th)

A.39.

Ernest Hemingway

Q.40.

During the forthcoming Winter olympics at Sochi, finals of 7 events will take place on February 15th, incl. events in Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Short-Track, Ski Jumping, Skeleton & Speed Skating.

What is unique about what will be awarded to the top 3 in each of these events?Why these events?(Question posted January 7th)

A.40.

The top 3 in all events that will take place on Feb 15th will receive medals with meteorite fragments embedded from the Chelyabinsk meteorite fall.

Feb 15th was specifically chosen to mark one year from the event.

Q.41.Netflix and other on-line streaming / DVD-by-mail providers use algorithms to predict user ratings on certain movies, in order to better recommend movies to their users. Often, this prediction is only a little bit off the mark (margin of error ~ 1/8th of a star on a 5-star rating system). However, there has been one movie that because of its 'quirkiness' has been uniformly difficult to rate accurately. Solving it has been a problem that was part of a $1 Million prize that Netflix had announced to find the best rating / recommendation algorithm.A lot of analysts believe that it is only one of several movies that face this problem. However, this is arguably the most famous one - giving its name to this conundrum.

Which film?

The red dot in the picture represents the movie showing it's not just the difficulty in rating it, but the huge number of ratings it has got that weren't uniform with any trends that made the job even more difficult.

A.41.

Napoleon Dynamite

Q.42.

What is this? Explain the color coded-blanking out.

A.42.

This is a tweeting / retweeting of the entire Reservoir Dogs script by an Argentinian advertising exec. incl. tweets from accounts for all characters & a master account for narration.

Coolest part is these were tweeted in reverse order so that they could be read top-down on Twitter to tell the whole story.

The color code refers to the characters’ names – Mr. Brown, Mr. Blonde, etc.

Fin