Bomo

May 11-12, 2012

On-Air Questions and Songs

Unused questions are shown with gray text.

Number 1
Realm A long, long time ago...
Subrealm In a galaxy far far away...
Question ...two Williams freshman gathered in Sage Hall for an evening of simple mind-altering pleasures, typical of their era (and maybe any era). Their names were Peemo and Gunny. Their partakings resulted in the inevitable outcome, a bad case of the munchies. But all they could find at that late hour to satisfy their urges was some turkish taffy. And not just any turkish taffy, but the leading brand. In their condition, they were unable to correctly pronounce all three syllables of this brand name, and ended up chanting a mumbled two-syllable version over and over again. What were they mumbling?
Answer BOMO (short for Bomono Turkish Taffy)
Song She's Not There
Artist Zombies
Number 2
Realm Back before there were computers...
Subrealm ...There were still programmers
Question There is a computer programming language named after a famous poet's daughter, who is often credited as being the first programmer. Name the poet and his daughter.
Answer Lord Byron and Ada Lovelace
Song Ada
Artist The National
Note Lady Lovelace worked with Charles Babbage on his (never completed) Analytical Engine.
Number 3
Realm gestures
Subrealm with meaning!
Question If you hold out your pointer and middle fingers on both hands and rub the right hand fingers back and forth on top of the left hand fingers, what are you saying in American Sign Language?
Answer train
Song Midnight Train to Georgia
Artist Gladys Knight and the Pips
Number 4
Realm Jackie Robinson
Subrealm Was only the first
Question The Brooklyn Dodgers took the first step over the baseball color line by debuting Jackie Robinson in 1947. What major league team was the last to enlist a player of African descent?
Answer Boston Red Sox
Song Going Out in Style
Artist Dropkick Murphys
Note The Red Sox added Pumpsie Green to the lineup on July 21, 1959, twelve years after Robinson joined the Dodgers. Of course, there were expansion teams who joined the majors in later years, and they arguably qualify as answers to the question.
Number 5
Realm Too bad his career never worked out
Subrealm Actually it hasn't been so great recently...
Question Everyone knows Kevin Costner ended up on the cutting room floor for his first significant role in "The Big Chill" - he played Alex, the one who committed suicide, and all his flashback scenes were edited out. But the director Lawrence Kasden made it up to him by featuring him in his breakout starring role in what movie?
Answer Silverado
Song Theme from "The Magnificent Seven"
Artist Elmer Bernstein
Number 6
Realm You Didn't See a White Straw Skimmer, Did You?
Subrealm Who Are Those Guys?
Question In "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", Butch and Sundance are about to make their stand, unbeknownst to them their last charge, not knowing the Bolivian army awaits them. They are terribly injured, and as they wrap their wounds and load their guns, Butch is trying to convince Sundance of the merits of his next idea....Australia. What is his main selling point for Australia?
Answer "They speak English in Australia"
Song I Melt With You
Artist Modern English
Number 7
Realm This is Not Your Grandmother's Book Club Book
Subrealm But It May Be Your Mother's!!!
Question SHE'S a college senior. HE'S a CEO who is going to speak at her college commencement. SHE wants to profile him for the student newspaper. HE has plans for her as well....naughty plans. S&M, that is, and I don't mean the Sox and the Mets. And those plans start percolating, rather explicitely, from Chapter 9 on....this is the plot, as it were, of what steamy bestselling novel?
Answer 50 Shades of Gray
Song The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)
Artist Simon & Garfunkel
Number 8
Realm Blizzard watch out!
Subrealm World of Warcraft isn't what it used to be
Question Which immensely popular game, released in 2009 with 17 available champions, currently logs more than twice the number of minutes played per day than World of Warcraft?
Answer League of Legends
Song Maps and Legends
Artist R.E.M.
Number 9
Realm This song is in memory of BOMO legend Tom Soybel
Subrealm With love to Ginny...
Question The abiguously named Jaye Davidson was the star of a 1992 thriller with a stunning plot twist, in which it was revealed, rather explicitly, that he was a man and not a woman as was presumed. What as the movie?
Answer The Crying Game
Song 96 Tears
Artist Question Mark and the Mysterians
Number 10
Realm Hair
Subrealm Straight or curly?
Question The expression "not turn a hair" means to stay calm and not show emotion in a difficult situation. Where does this phrase originate?
Answer horseracing (after a race, a horse's hair is turned out)
Song The Distance
Artist Cake
Number 11
Realm Percentages
Subrealm Babies!
Question What country has the highest rate of natural multiple births?
Answer Nigeria
Song Someone like you
Artist Adele
Number 12
Realm Battle of the Sexes
Subrealm Sometimes it isn't very close
Question In 1995, Carnegie Mellon defined a new measure of the number of women in their computer science department. What is this measure, and how did it originate?
Answer The Dave-to-Girl ratio, which came about when CMU realized that there were more men named Dave than women in their CS department.
Song The Best of What's Around
Artist Dave Matthews Band
Number 13
Realm It Probably Would Have Gone Gold Anyway
Subrealm Or at least been a terrific McDonald's Commercial
Question When the artist first wrote this song, he had the tune before the lyrics. When he first played the tune for his songwriting partner, he used these dummy lyrics instead: "Scrambled eggs. Have an omelet with some muenster cheese. Put your dished in the washbin please, so I can clean the scrambled eggs." What is the song?
Answer Yesterday (McCartney singing to Lennon)
Song Yesterday's Gone
Artist Chad and Jeremy
Number 14
Realm Everyone Should See This Movie
Subrealm You Must Remember This
Question The opening credits of "Casablanca" are followed by an introduction that describes the "tortuous roundabout refuge trail" by which Europeans tried to escape the coming of World War II by getting to America. The voiceover describes the journey as a line marks the trail, which links four cities... What are the four cities?
Answer Paris, Marseilles, Oran, Casablanca
Song Roam
Artist B-52s
Number 15
Realm Everyone DID See This Movie
Subrealm ...Right?
Question In the movie "Titanic," when the Titanic goes down, what is Jack Dawson wearing on his wrists, and why?
Answer Handcuffs. He's wearing them because he was set up as having stolen the Queen of the Sea diamond. {Rose split the handcuffs with an axe.}
Song I Fought the Law
Artist The Bobby Fuller Four
Number 16
Realm Your first words
Subrealm Mama and Papa
Question In most modern day languages, the words "mama" and "papa" refer to "mother" and "father", respectively. However, in what language does "mama" actually mean "father" and "dada" mean "mother"?
Answer Georgian
Song De do do do de da da da
Artist The Police
Note The words are the easiest syllables to pronounce.
Number 17
Realm Day[9]
Subrealm Funday Monday!
Question In Day[9] daily number 200, what did the Protoss player Uniden fail to protect causing his unexpected defeat?
Answer His last pylon
Song Isla del Sol
Artist Ottmar Liebert
Note day9.tv is a website with daily vidoes on how to be a better gamer.
Number 18
Realm Tough year so far for the Red Sox
Subrealm Their pitchers can't pitch, so why would we expect their hitters to pitch?
Question Just a few weeks ago, major league baseball saw something for the first time in 87 years... a position player took the mound FOR EACH TEAM when both teams ran out of pitchers in extra innings. First basemen Chris Davis of the Orioles outdueled outfielder Darnell McDonald of the Red Sox in the 17th Inning. The last time two hitters pitched in the same game was in 1925, and it was two Hall of Fame hitters that did the honors. Who were they?
Answer Ty Cobb and George Sisler
Song Wild Thing
Artist Troggs
Number 19
Realm No soup for you!
Subrealm And you didn't even make me famous!
Question Everybody's seen the famous "Soup Nazi" episode from the 7th season of "Seinfeld". But that was NOT the first reference to that character in pop culture. A few years before, a very popular movie made reference to the "greatest soup you've ever eaten" that is made by "the meanest man in America". What is that movie?
Answer Sleepless in Seattle
Song Sleepless
Artist Until June
Number 20
Realm Nerds
Subrealm Yes, some are female
Question Now Lady Gaga is known for her flamboyant and, frankly, strange, musical and performance style. When she was in middle school, she attended a summer camp that would have firmly gained her a classification as a nerd. What is this camp?
Answer Johns Hopkins CTY
Song American Pie
Artist Don Mclean
Note CTY is the "Centet for Talented Youth." Its classes are enrichment for high school students.
Number 21
Realm Playing with fire
Subrealm Professionally, that is
Question One German band is known for performing with lots of fire effects. In fact, the lead vocalist is a licensed pyrotechnician. What is the name of that vocalist?
Answer Till Lindemann
Song Feuer Frei
Artist Rammstein
Note Till Lindemann is the lead singer for the band Rammstein. According to Wikipedia, the band has become extrmely famous for its pyrotechnics, and Lindemann "spends entire songs engulfed head-to-toe in flames. He has suffered multiple burns on his ears, hair and arms. ... The heat is so intense that on occasion, people have been carried out of Rammstein concerts suffering from heat exhaustion, and lighting gantries have been seen glowing red-hot from repeated fireball hits."
Number 22
Realm Computers
Subrealm They've come a long way
Question Today, debugging a program consists of changing code and running it again. A few decades ago, it was a mental exercise because it took so long to actually run a program from punch cards. But what was involved with the very first debugging procedure?
Answer Removing a moth from the vacuum tubes of an early computer - literally debugging it.
Song Bug
Artist Phish
Note The term debugging was coined by Admiral Grace Hopper, one of the creators of the FORTRAN language, in response to the moth incident, which occurred while she and a group of programmers were working on the Mark II computer at Harvard in 1947. The remains of the moth can be found in the group's log book at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
Number 23
Realm Ancient Medicine
Subrealm Hippocrates knew his stuff
Question In the United States, this wild flower is named after a British monarch. Back in the day, Hippocrates prescribed it as a means of birth control. Name the flower.
Answer Queens Anne Lace (aka Daucus Carota)
Song A Human Body
Artist Queen
Note People still use Queen Anne's Lace as a contraceptive today.
Number 24
Realm Main characters
Subrealm First names
Question In a recent popular movie, 2 of the 3 main characters had popular names. In fact, they were the top male and female baby names in 2010. What movie is it?
Answer Twilight
Song Dancing in the Moonlight
Artist King Harvest
Note The names were Jacob and Isabella.
Number 25
Realm Death
Subrealm Avian and Human varieties
Question John Megna played Dill Harris in "To Kill A Mockingbird". What did he die of at age 42?
Answer AIDS
Song Disease
Artist Matchbox Twenty
Note John Megna also appeared as one of the children in "Miri", an episode of Star Trek. His character in To Kill a Mockingbird was based on Truman Capote. He died in 1995.
Number 26
Realm What?!
Subrealm It was the butler?!
Question When speaking, it is easy to convey a mixture of surprise and confusion using inflection. Writers find this harder to accomplish without using the rather informal alternating question mark and exclamation point. In 1962, Martin Speckter solved this problem. How?
Answer He invented the interrobang, a symbol that combines ? and !
Song I Shot the Sheriff
Artist Eric Clapton
Note The interrobang's Unicode number is U+203D.
Number 27
Realm He sure didn't seem like the type
Subrealm But hey, split happens
Question Everyone knows Ross Geller of "Friends" had three wives, Carol, Emily, and Rachel, and three divorces. We want to know, exactly how did Ross's marriage to Emily end, virtually as soon as it started?
Answer When taking his wedding vows with Emily, he said Rachels name instead of Emily's
Song You Can't Always Get What You Want
Artist Rolling Stones
Number 28
Realm There are many ways to be famous...
Subrealm ...at least this one lasts far longer than 15 minutes
Question Slate magazine came up with a new measure of fame, called the "Shortz Factor" in honor of Will Shortz, the New York Times crossword puzzle editor. Slate counted the number of times a person appeared in the Times crossword puzzle and divided it by the number of times the same person appeared in the regular pages of the New York Times. The higher the ratio, the more "crossword famous" someone was. Among those who did well were singer Etta James, former New York Giants slugger Mel Ott, and former NYPD Blues star Esai Morales. But who was at that top of the list? That is, who is the most "crossword famous" person of them all?
Answer Mystery writer Erle Stanley Gardner
Song Mystery Dance
Artist Elvis Costello
Note Other top scorers were Charolette Rae and Uri Geller. Estes Kefauver didn't make the list.
Number 29
Realm YouTube
Subrealm It's for nerds
Question In 2007, John and Hank Green, better known as the vlogbrothers, did not use any form of text-based communication with each other. Instead, they uploaded daily videos to youtube. Today, their youtube videos have over 220 million views, and they have a huge following who call themselves the Nerdfighters. Where did the name Nerdfighters come from?
Answer John saw an arcade game called "Aerofighters" which he mistakenly read as "Nerdfighters"
Song Mama Kin
Artist Aerosmith
Number 30
Realm A new twist on the "My Sweet Lord"/"He's so Fine" controversy
Subrealm But don't all these songs kinda sound alike anyway?
Question Recently, two major artists were mistakenly given the same soundtrack by a producer, and each released the song with different lyrics and productions. We're going to play half of both songs, and you'll get one point if you name one song and artist, and two points if you name both songs and artists
Answer See: songs
Song #1: Already Gone / #2: Halo
Artist #1: Kelly Clarkson / #2 Beyonce
Note Both songs were co-written by Ryan Tedder of the band OneRepublic. The two divas were none too pleased with him.
Number 31
Realm It wasn't Long Tall Sally
Subrealm Or even Ride Sally Ride
Question In the movie "Coming Home", Luke Martin (played by Jon Voight) remembers Sally Bender's nickname from high school. What was that nickname?
Answer Bender Over
Song It's Over
Artist Roy Orbison
Number 32
Realm $500,000
Subrealm Only to lose
Question Kimbo Slice's first sanctioned mixed martial arts loss is widely accepted as the main cause in the bankruptcy of EliteXC in 2008. Who beat Kimbo Slice in this match and, for a another point, who was Kimbo Slice scheduled to fight?
Answer Seth Petruzelli (winner), Ken Shamrock (initial opponent)
Song Kung Fu Fighting
Artist Carl Douglas
Note 3-point play
Number 33
Realm Critics
Subrealm You can't trust them
Question Which Broadway show had opening night on December 1st, 2011, and closed on December 30th, 2011, ending its expected run prematurely despite positive audience reactions?
Answer Bonnie and Clyde
Song Something to Talk About
Artist Bonnie Raitt
Number 34
Realm A Good Year for Harvard Sports, Part II
Subrealm And for the Newfoundland Newfs
Question Ryan Fitzpatrick of the Buffalo Bills has achieved notoriety as the first Harvard quarterback to start an NFL game, and he is a very good quarterback. But once a Harvard grad famously started an NFL exhibition game at quarterback, was as bad as Fitzpatrick is good, and wrote about it....who was that Harvard grad?
Answer George Plimpton (author of "Paper Lion")
Song Paperback Writer
Artist The Beatles
Number 35
Realm Hmm, That Does Look Good
Subrealm But is it Live, or is it Memorex?
Question We all remember, in the movie, "When Harry Met Sally," Meg Ryan's famous "fake orgasm" scene in Katz' Deli. We also remember the end of the scene, when a middle-aged woman at a nearby table memorably says to the waiter: "I'll have what she's having." Who was the actress who played that woman?
Answer Estelle Reiner, director Rob Reiner's mother
Song Fakin' It
Artist Simon & Garfunkel
Number 36
Realm National Lampoon's Family Vacation
Subrealm Well, it's not from that but sure sounds like it
Question Gail Collins of the New York Times has mentioned one particular lovely story about Mitt Romney and the Romney family vacations in each one of her columns in the 2011-2012 election season. What as the subject of her story?
Answer Romney put the family dog, Seamus, in a crate and strapped it to the roof of the car for a 12-hour ride from Boston to a Romney vacation home in Canada. (accept "dog on roof")
Song Up on the Roof
Artist The Drifters
Number 37
Realm I failed my hearing test.
Subrealm What?!?
Question What is the deal with this song?
Answer it is not in English, but is designed to sound linguistically like English
Song Prisencolinensinainciusol
Artist Adriano Celentano
Note According to Wikipedia, "Celentano's rationale for the song was that, after releasing albums about ecology and social issues, 'having just recorded an album of songs that meant something, I wanted to do something that meant nothing'".
Number 38
Realm computers
Subrealm and plumbing
Question In computer software, a particular kind of test is done to do some quick spot checks rather than trying every function. The name of this test comes from a plumbing term for a similar function. What is this kind of test called?
Answer Smoke test
Song This is only a test
Artist The Smoking Popes
Number 39
Realm Saving the world
Subrealm by curing disease
Question What is the name of the high school student who was recently in the news for discovering a possible cure for cancer?
Answer Angela Zhang
Song Save the world
Artist Swedish House Mafia
Note Zhang won the national Siemens science contest for her work. "I created a nanoparticle that's kind of like the Swiss Army knife of cancer treatment in that it can detect cancer cells, eradicate the cancer cells and then monitor the treatment response. So the major aim of the project was to personalize cancer medicine," she told ABC News.
Number 40
Realm Blasphemy laws
Subrealm Should be burned at the stake
Question In which repressive regime would you still find the following law on the books: "Whoever willfully blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, His creation, government or final scriptures shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars, and may also be bound to good behavior"?
Answer The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Song More than Words
Artist Extreme
Number 41
Realm Knitting
Subrealm It's not just for old women
Question On June 11, 2011, many ordinary outdoor sights such as trees, fences, and parking meters were a lot more colorful than usual. Why?
Answer It was the first International Yarnbombing Day
Song Doozer Knitting Song
Artist Fraggle Rock/The Muppets
Number 42
Realm Passengers and Cargo
Subrealm Takeoffs and landings
Question The Airports Council International defines three measures of the world's busiest airport. In 2010, which airport was the only one to rank in the top 10 busiest airports in all three categories?
Answer Charles de Gaulle, Paris, France
Song Leaving on a Jet Plane
Artist Peter, Paul, and Mary
Number 43
Realm Error 404
Subrealm Realm Not Found
Question We all know that Error 404 stands for "Not Found". But what about Error 418?
Answer I'm a teapot.
Song Tom's Diner
Artist Susanne Vega
Note According to Wikipedia, "This code was defined in 1998 as one of the traditional IETF April Fools' jokes, in RFC 2324, Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol, and is not expected to be implemented by actual HTTP servers. However, known implementations do exist."
Number 44
Realm Really really big
Subrealm That's what she said
Question There are approximately 8x10^67 permutations for a standard deck of playing cards. How many permutations are there for a deck of Tichu cards?
Answer 56! or approximately 7.1x10^74
Song That's Mathematics
Artist Tom Lehrer
Note The number of orderings of an ordinary deck of cards is approximately the same as the number of atoms in the Milky Way. So if you truly randomize the deck, the probability is good that that ordering has never ever appeared in any deck in the history of card playing.
Number 45
Realm The hills are alive
Subrealm But the lyricist is not
Question Although commonly believed to be an Austrian folk song, this tune was actually written specifically for a musical, and was the last song its lyricist ever wrote. Name the song and the writer.
Answer Edelweiss, Oscar Hammerstein II
Song The Last Song
Artist Edward Bear
Number 46
Realm comma Mike
Subrealm I don't know, does he have kids or something?
Question When Mike Relm made a mashup of this movie, the studio immediately asked if they could use it for an ad. What was the movie?
Answer Iron Man 2
Song Highway to Hell
Artist AC/DC
Number 47
Realm D&D
Subrealm When you die in the game you die in real life
Question If real life was 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons and you jumped off the roof of the Empire State Building, how much damage would you take (assuming you don't do anything to stop it)?
Answer 125d10
Song Free falling
Artist Tom Petty
Number 48
Realm I am not a number
Subrealm I am a free man!
Question What do Mitt Romney, Paul McCartney, and Dale Earnhardt have in common?
Answer Their popular "first" names are actually their given middle names.
Song Stuck in the Middle With You
Artist Stealers Wheel
Note Their real first names are Willard, James, amd Ralph, respectively.
Number 49
Realm Fox News
Subrealm Ah, who cares about news?
Question This woman is a Fox News Anchor, and comes from a famous family: her step sister is an actress who has been on multiple prime time tv shows in the past five years, her step-grandfather was a comedy writer for MGM and worked with Laurel and Hardy, Bing Crosby, Frank SInatra, and Robert F Kennedy, and her mother was a well-known actress beginning in the 1950's and as recently as several episodes of 7th heaven. What is her name?
Answer Claudia Cowan
Song C is for cookie?
Artist Cookie Monster?
Note Claudia Cowan's stepsisters are Melissa Gilbert and Sara Gilbert. Her stepmother is Barbara Cowan, the daughter of comedy writer Harry Crane. Her mother is Barbara Rush.
Number 50
Realm Are you pondering what I'm pondering?
Subrealm I think so, Brain, but...
Question On the show Pinky and the Brain, with whom does Pinky ponder procreating?
Answer Pippi Longstocking
Song Everybody wants to Rule the World
Artist Tears for Fears
Note Brain: Pinky, Are you pondering what I'm pondering? Pinky: I think so, Brain, but me and Pippi Longstocking... I mean, what would the children look like?
Number 51
Realm Friggatriskaidekaphobia
Subrealm Relatively Speaking...
Question On Friday, September 13th, 1963, in the bottom of the 13th inning, Dick Schofield scored the winning run for the Pirates, a rare Friday the 13th, 13th inning win...so rare, in fact, that it did not happen again until 2012, when a Washington Nationals slugger drove in the gamewinner on April 13th in the 13th inning. Who was that slugger, and what was his incredible connection with Dick Schofield?
Answer Jayson Werth...Dick Schofield's grandson! (need both parts for the point)
Song For What It's Worth
Artist Buffalo Springfield
Note "It's freaky, a little. It's cool," Werth said the next day. "I like stuff like that - the unexplainable."
Number 52
Realm That's a lot of wine!
Subrealm Please drink responsibly
Question Many of the larger sized wine bottles are named after biblical figures. For example, there are 20 liters or 26.66 standard bottles in a Solomon. Measured in standard bottles, how much wine would you have if you had a Methuselah, a Mordechai, a Balthazar, and a Nebuchadnezzar?
Answer 8+12+16+20=56 standard bottles
Song God of Wine
Artist Third Eye Blind
Number 53
Realm Sports
Subrealm 363 Days a year?!
Question Apart from years with the Winter Olympics, there are only two days without an NFL, NHL, MLB, or NBA game. When are these two days?
Answer The day before and day after the MLB All Star Game
Song All Star
Artist Smash Mouth
Note Of course, the Home Run Derby happens the night before the All Star Game. So you really only have to do something else once a year.
Number 54
Realm This is not about sheep
Subrealm Or necrophilia
Question Simon De Bruxelles described seahorses as "promiscuous, flighty, and more than a little bit gay". Of his 3168 observed sexual encounters, what percentage were homosexual?
Answer 37%
Song Seahorse
Artist Jonathan Coulton
Note Simon De Bruxelles writes for The Times of London.
Number 55
Realm Skiing
Subrealm But not snowboarding
Question There are currently three ski resorts in the United States that do not allow snowboarding: Mad River Glen in Vermont, Deer Valley and Alta (both in Utah). Four years ago, a ski resort in New Mexico decided to lift their ban on snowboarding when the other three held theirs. Name that resort.
Answer Taos [Ski Valley]
Song A Hazy Shade of Winter
Artist Simon & Garfunkel
Number 56
Realm Subjective
Subrealm Truthiness
Question In 2006, Stephen Colbert advised his viewers to go on Wikipedia and "create" the "fact" that a particular animal had tripled in population in the past six months. What animal was it?
Answer African Elephant
Song Africa
Artist Toto
Note Colbert was making the point that you can't trust Wikipedia. Jon Stewart later suggested that people change his Wikipedia page to say that he is Batman.
Number 57
Realm Darwin Awards
Subrealm I'll be what I am... angry wheelchair man
Question The 2011 Darwin Awards, an annual award given, posthumously of course, to the person who made the world a safer place by not reproducing. That is, basically, for dying in the supidest way. So, how exactly did Angry Wheelchair Man meet his demise simply by missing an elevator?
Answer Enraged, he rammed his chair three times against the lift doors, angrily breaking through and falling down the rabbit hole of the elevator shaft to his death.
Song We Will not Grow Old
Artist Lenka
Number 58
Realm If I had a hammer
Subrealm ...I'd use it on some legends
Question Henry Aaron is, of course, the all-time leading home run hitter. (Oh yeah, the Bonds guy. Juiced beyond belief. Forget about him.) Anyway, who were the last two players Aaron passed to become third and then second on the all-time list before passing Babe Ruth?
Answer He passed Mickey Mantle with his 537th homer in 1969 to become 3rd on the list, and then hit homer 649 to pass the still active Willie Mays in 1972 to become 2nd.
Song People Have the Power
Artist Patti Smith
Number 59
Realm Red means stop
Subrealm Green means go
Question The British get the credit for the first red/green traffic light, which was installed in 1868 in London. A month later, however, the still-successful traffic light project was abandoned. Why?
Answer Because one of the gas-powered lights blew up in the face of the policeman who was operating it.
Song Traffic Lights
Artist Monty Python
Number 60
Realm He's the greatest wizard of the age
Subrealm But, yes he's a little bit mad
Question You might remember Dumbledore's start-of-term speech in Sorcerer's Stone to be short and a bit boring. He mentions that the Forbidden Forest is forbidden, as is the third-floor corridor on the right hand side. But this is the movie version of Dumbledore's speech. In the book, what more interesting words does he deliver?
Answer Nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak!
Song Dumbledore
Artist Harry and the Potters
Number 61
Realm Gliding the resume Lily?
Subrealm Yes but don't call me Lily....
Question She's a Stanford graduate who has earned master's degrees at Columbia and Oxford, and is pursuing a doctorate at Oxford. She's worked for McKinsey & Company and NBC News, and sits on the boards of School of American Ballet, Common Sense Media and InterActive Corp, among others... all by the tender age of 32. Who is she?
Answer Chelsea Clinton
Song Chelsea Morning
Artist Joni Mitchell
Number 62
Realm Real time strategy
Subrealm In space!
Question This Starcraft: Brood War professional gamer was one of the best zerg players. He is known as the "Storm Zerg" for his aggressive style and as the unofficial "King of Silver" due to the lack of major league victories despite advancing to the finals repeatedly.
Answer Hong Jin-Ho (or YellOw)
Song Honey and the Bee
Artist Owl City
Number 63
Realm Drink the rainbow!
Subrealm No wait, that's not it
Question What popular sports beverage was developed at and then named for the football team at the University of Florida?
Answer Gatorade
Song Crocodile Rock
Artist Elton John
Number 64
Realm Farming
Subrealm Organic Farming
Question In 1924, this man gave a lecture series on farming techniques that are known today as Biodynamic Farming. Name Him.
Answer Rudolf Steiner
Song Let it Rock
Artist Kevin Rudolf featuring Lil Wayne
Number 65
Realm The Time of My Life
Subrealm Catskill Style
Question In "Dirty Dancing," when Johnny returns to the resort for his final dance with Baby, what does he shout to the Housemans as he pulls her up from their table for the dance?
Answer "Nobody puts Baby in the corner!"
Song Down on the Corner
Artist Credence Clearwater Revival
Number 66
Realm You Actually Find Out Some Things in Those Debates, Thank God
Subrealm "Oops!"
Question Rick Perry had an agonizing 53-second brain freeze when he tried to identify the three cabinet departments he would eliminate if he were President. He got two....but what was the one department he could not come up with?
Answer The Department of Energy
Song Laugh Laugh
Artist Beau Brummels
Number 67
Realm How about some Williamsiana
Subrealm Related to trivia lore
Question In December, 1973, when BOMO won its first contest, the highlight of the night was a trek to Stetson Library, then the main library on campus, by four BOMOs, on a successful mission to break into the library and look up on New York Times microfilm - yes, microfilm - a few facts about Hammerin' Henry Aaron. In the cold air that night, the four BOMO's passed by the ghostly remains of a building that had just been razed to make room for the soon-to-be-constructed Sawyer Library. So, what was the name of that building that preceded Sawyer Library, a building remembered today in a large portrait on the main floor of Sawyer?
Answer Van Rensselaer House
Song Moondance
Artist Van Morrison
Note The trek to Stetson is immortalized in Stephen Gardner's essay <a href="http://wso.williams.edu/orgs/trivia/awareness.html">Cosmic Trivia Awareness</a>
Number 68
Realm It Had to be Someone
Subrealm But him?
Question The New York Mets are now 50 years old....and who is their all-time leader in base hits?
Answer Ed Kranepool
Song Original Fire
Artist Audioslave
Note Ed Kranepool played 1853 games for the Mets between 1962 and 1979. He amassed 1418 hits.
Number 69
Realm Obviously he wasn't a strict constructionist
Subrealm And perhaps he played without a helmet one too many times...
Question The first space shuttle was originally to be named "Constitution". But someone - obviously partial to a certain famous science TV show - decided to change the name to "Enterprise" after a fierce write-in campaign by Trekkies. Who was that person?
Answer President Gerald Ford
Song Peaches
Artist Presidents of the United States
Note The shuttle Enterprise appeared in the movie Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979, thus providing an instance of art imitating life imitating art.
Number 70
Realm You've come a long way baby
Subrealm But apparently he hasn't
Question Back in 1973 there was a famously sexist ad for Geritol, the iron poor blood medication that had a tagline that enraged feminists everywhere. What was that tagline, spoken by a presumably proud husband?
Answer My wife. I think I'll keep her.
Song He Thinks He'll Keep Her
Artist Mary Chapin Carpenter
Note The commercial was the inspiration for the song.
Number 71
Realm Not exactly "Cheers"
Subrealm And they don't serve Droids
Question Everyone knows the famous bar scene in "Star Wars: Episode IV", where all sorts of bad dude creatures were hanging out looking for trouble. But what we want to know is, Luke and Obi Won go to the cantina for a very specific purpose. What is it?
Answer To find a pilot who can take them to Alderaan (accept: meet Han Solo but Alderaan MUST be mentioned)
Song Two Tickets to Paradise
Artist Eddie Money
Number 72
Realm Pixar
Subrealm Wasn't the first
Question As you might know, Toy Story was the first full-length computer animated movie. But the first computer animated lead character in a feature film beat Woody by six months. Who was this character?
Answer Casper
Song Ghost on the Dance Floor
Artist Blink-182
Number 73
Realm Please, just name one
Subrealm This was supposed to be the "softball" question!
Question A three-point play...you get a point for each answer and, of course, one for the song and artist. Okay, THIS was HER answer to the question: "Um, all of 'em, any of 'em that, um, have, have been in front of me over all these years. Um, I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news too. Alaska isn't a foreign country...". What was the question and who gave the answer?
Answer Question: (accept anything close to) "What newspapers do you read to stay informed?" Person: Sarah Palin
Song It's the End of the World as We Know It
Artist R.E.M.
Note 3-point play
Number 74
Realm "Roadtrip!"
Subrealm Shortly after "Food Fight!"
Question In "Animal House," when the boys from Delta Tau are on their road trip, Otter poses as Frank Lymon to pick up Fawn Liebowitz on a date. What college does "Frank" say he is from?
Answer Amherst
Song Shout
Artist Otis Day and the Nights - OR - The Isley Brothers
Number 75
Realm And here's to you, Jackie Robinson
Subrealm And to the great Mariano
Question Everyone knows that Mariano "Mo" Rivera continues to be the only player in baseball to wear #42, by virtue of a "grandfather" clause at the time Major League Baseball retired #42 for all teams in honor of Jackie Robinson that said that anyone wearing #42 was allowed to continue wearing it until they retired. For nine years, Mo has been the sole #42 in baseball....we want to know, who was the second to last player to wear that number?
Answer Another "Mo," Mo Vaughan of the Mets
Song Mo' Money Mo' Problems
Artist The Notorious B.I.G. (and Mase and Puff Daddy)
Number 76
Realm A Good Year for Harvard Sports, Part I....
Subrealm LINSANITY!
Question Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks became a global brand in the space of about a week...among other amazing feats, he scored 101 points in his first four starts, the most since 1976. What former Georgetown player had previously held that distinction?
Answer Allen Iverson
Song Overnight Sensation
Artist Raspberries
Number 77
Realm Life is Like a Box of Chocolates
Subrealm Or a Bucket of Shrimp
Question This is a three-point play. Forrest Gump's friend Bubba knew everything there was to know about shrimp. Bubba names 10 ways you can cook or prepare shrimp, and 10 types of shrimp. We want you to name 3 of each, that is, according to Bubba, for 1 point name 3 ways to cook or prepare shrimp, and for another point name 3 types of shrimp.
Answer "Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it."
Song Beyond the Sea
Artist Bobby Darin
Note 3-point play
Number 78
Realm Idioms
Subrealm about letters
Question In the expression "Mind your P's and Q's," what do the P and Q stand for?
Answer Pints and Quarts (of alcohol)
Song Crazy ABCs
Artist Barenaked Ladies
Note Other origin stories include French dance instructions, (pieds and queues) and advice to sailors (peas and queues).
Number 79
Realm Des Devlin, Do You Know What Time It Is?
Subrealm It's Time for My Favorite Trivia Song
Question In a famous episode in the second season of M*A*S*H*, an inept North Korean pilot attempts to bomb an ammo dump next to the 4077th every day at the exact same time, failing miserably each time. What do Hawkeye and Trapper nickname the pilot?
Answer Five O'Clock Charlie
Song Five O'Clock World
Artist Vogues
Note 5:00am question
Number 80
Realm RTFM
Subrealm Did he even write one?
Question The inventor of this early combat-ready submarine was on-board and drowned when it sank for the second time. After being recovered again, it became the first submarine to successfully torpedo an opposing warship before sinking for a third and final time.
Answer H.L. Hunley
Song Life'll Kill Ya
Artist Warren Zevon
Note The Hunley was a Confederate States of America submarine, and it sank in Charleston harbor. It was rediscovered in 1995 and raised in 2000.
Number 81
Realm Pacific Island Nations
Subrealm For 1200 Alex
Question What island nation put out a commemorative dollar coin featuring Pikachu?
Answer Niue
Song Pokemon Theme Song
Artist N/A
Number 82
Realm Hold on a sec
Subrealm Where's the Tonga Question?
Question What was the codename used by the Allies in WWII for decrypting enemy transmissions, especially messages encoded by the enigma?
Answer Ultra
Song MK Ultra
Artist Muse
Number 83
Realm Snail Mail
Subrealm It still exists
Question This country's postal innovations make it popular with stamp collectors around the world. Here, in addition to the world's first self-adhesive stamps, you can also find heart, bird, and banana-shaped stamps. What is this country?
Answer Tonga
Song Caffeine
Artist Alice Cooper
Number 84
Realm Not exactly the light bulb...
Subrealm Or the laptop computer
Question One of the top new inventions is the "Defendius Door Chain", a new security gadget. Exactly how does it work?
Answer The door chain is attached to a metal maze puzzle, and you can only open the door once you work the chain through the maze.
Song Maybe I'm Amazed
Artist Paul McCartney
Note The Door Chain was invented by Art. Lebedev Studios, and was released on April First, 2008.
Number 85
Realm Let the wild rumpus begin!
Subrealm Time to detonate a few megatons of nostalgia...
Question Maurice Sendak died last week, and what better way to honor him than with a question. What are the last five words of "Where the Wild Things Are"?
Answer ...and it was still hot.
Song Hot Hot Hot
Artist Buster Poindexter
Number 86
Realm Feel Good Story of the Decade
Subrealm Even With That Torn ACL
Question Western Oregon senior softball player Sara Tucholsky, with a batting average of .088, hit her first home run ever at the perfect time, to give her team a 3-0 lead against rival Central Washington in a game that had playoff implications. But Sara tore her ACL rounding first and crumpled in an agonized heap. Rules prevented any help from her teammates, and she could not even crawl to second, much less home. But ultimately, she did touch home plate. How?
Answer Her opponents carried her around the bases. One of her opponents, Mallory Holtman, suggested it, and there was no rule prohibiting it.
Song Walk Away Renee
Artist Left Banke
Number 87
Realm Do you got it?
Subrealm If you don't got it, I can't help you.
Question Gene Barry starred in the movie "War of the Worlds". What was his real last name?
Answer Klass
Song Ain't no other man
Artist Christina Aguilera
Note Klass chose his professional name in honor of John Barrymore.
Number 88
Realm Everythings made up
Subrealm And the points don't matter
Question About a month ago, Groupon had an ad campaign featuring Edward Norton to celebrate Earth Day. How old did they claim the earth was?
Answer 400 years
Song Galaxy Song
Artist Monty Python
Number 89
Realm Getting Dressed
Subrealm For babies
Question Children's clothes comes in sizes like "6 month", "9 month", "12 month" and "18 month". What is the next size after that?
Answer 2T
Song Dressed to Kill
Artist New Found Glory
Number 90
Realm Hot like the sun?
Subrealm Nope
Question In 2003, Peter Hagelstein chaired the 10th international conference on what type of nuclear reaction?
Answer Cold Fusion
Song Walkin' on the Sun
Artist Smash Mouth
Number 91
Realm Culinary Creativity
Subrealm Necessity is the Mother of Invention
Question Very simply, who invented the "wrap" sandwich?
Answer Current Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine, in his Stamford, Ct. restaurant, Bobby V's
Song My Valentine
Artist Paul McCartney
Note There are of course many precedents for the wrap sandwich, including burritos and gyros. Valentine himself is not adamant about the claim that his restaurant invented it. He says, "Well, that's legend and folklore, but until somebody disputes me or comes up with a better story, I'll say I invented the wrap."
Number 92
Realm British
Subrealm Expressions
Question What does the expression "not cricket" mean?
Answer Unfair or unsportsmanlike
Song When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease
Artist Roy Harper
Note Not used
Number 93
Realm Star Fox
Subrealm Do a barrel roll!
Question A puzzle designer in the UK created a series of puzzles based on the use of dexterity, memory, endurance and self-control. What are these "mind-maze" puzzles called?
Answer Revomaze
Song Revolution Deathsquad
Artist DragonForce
Note Not used
Number 94
Realm Alcoholics
Subrealm Not so anonymous
Question In Malaysia, if you are caught drunk driving, you are put in jail. But something else happens, too. What is it?
Answer Your spouse is put in jail.
Song Royal Oil
Artist Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Number 95
Realm That's my motto
Subrealm That's my blood type
Question What is Jack Gallo's blood type?
Answer B-positive
Song Positive
Artist Taio Cruz
Note Not used
Number 96
Realm Television
Subrealm Children's programming
Question In the Teletubbies intro, the sun comes up. What appears inside the sun?
Answer a baby face
Song Simple Days
Artist Babyface
Note Not used
Number 97
Realm Vocabulary
Subrealm How big is yours?
Question What is glossophobia?
Answer Fear of public speaking
Song Lose Yourself
Artist Eminem
Note Not used
Number 98
Realm It's not a bird!
Subrealm It's not a plane!
Question Growler can refer to a device used to test electric motors or to a specific class of jet fighters. What beverage can you buy in a growler?
Answer Beer
Song One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
Artist George Thorogood
Note Not used
Number 99
Realm Eating
Subrealm Babies!
Question Why don't they let you eat during labor?
Answer in case you need a c-section (you must have an empty stomach for the level of anesthesia)
Song Yippiyo-Ay
Artist The Presets
Note Not used
Number 100
Realm Mia Farrow
Subrealm 1968
Question Who should you pray for?
Answer Rosemary's Baby
Song Devil Inside
Artist INXS
Note Not used
Number 101
Realm Cultural
Subrealm Gardening
Question The Mayan sacred calendar has fewer than 365 days. How did they know when to plant the crops?
Answer They had a separate agricultural calendar.
Song It takes two
Artist Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock
Note Not used
Number 102
Realm Free online games
Subrealm Not to win
Question There's a website online where you can play the boardgame Carcassonne, but they use a different city in Southern France as its title. What do they call it?
Answer Toulouse
Song Play the Game
Artist Queen
Note Not used
Number 103
Realm Young life
Subrealm Of plants
Question Which of the following does NOT start with exactly 2 leaves? eggplant, spinach, sugar snap peas, zucchini.
Answer Sugar snap peas
Song Garden Song
Artist John Denver
Note Not used
Number 104
Realm Wildlife
Subrealm Eyeballs
Question Name all four animals with rectangular pupils.
Answer Sheep, Goats, Octopuses, and Toads
Song Hungry Eyes
Artist Eric Carmen
Note Not used
Number 105
Realm What else is there besides real estate?
Subrealm In Monopoly
Question How many Chance and Community Chest spaces are there on a Monopoly board?
Answer 6
Song Gambling Man
Artist The Overtones
Note Not used
Number 106
Realm Childhood stars
Subrealm Movies with strange titles
Question In 1958, a very young Jack Lord and Tina Louise starred in what movie?
Answer God's Little Acre
Song God's Law in the Devil's Land
Artist Kingdom of Sorrow
Note Not used
Number 107
Realm Manawa
Subrealm Wa
Question If it's 4pm on Tuesday in Hawaii, what day and time is it in New Zealand?
Answer 2PM on Wednesday
Song World Destruction
Artist Time Zone
Note Not used

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