Tuesday 24 April 2012

The Daily Teaser — 24-4-2012

 Yep, THERE we go.
I can now officially tell you the book I was handing out, yesterday, for World Book Night.

There we go … 

The special edition of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens.

The only unfortunate thing … ?

Is I have two copies left.

Hmmm … 

Now what to do with them … ?

Let’s move on, while I think that over … 

⌘⌘⌘

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi putting in her answers: along with admitting she’s bookmarked a few videos from yours truly, for her Life on the Midlistª blog,  also bagging 9 out of 10*.

Let’s see how she — and you — do with today’s questions, shall we?   Here they are, along with the ‘How To’, License and video … 

Q1) 24th April, 1970, saw the launch of the Chinese Dong Fang Hong I satellite.   For how many days did it stay in orbit: 16, 26 or 36 … ?
Q2) 24th April, 1184 BC, is the traditional given date for the end of the Trojan War: which science fiction writer famously — and rather facetiously — defined the milliHelen … ?   (A milliHelen is enough feminine beauty to launch one ship.)
Q3) 24th April, 1975, saw members of the Baader Meinhof gang attack the West German Embassy in Sweden.   How was that gang also known … ?
Q4) 24th April, 2007 which which country announce that Norway would assume portions of its peacetime defenses … ?
Q5) And finally … 24th April, 2005, saw the birth of the world’s first cloned dog: in which country … ?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …
Q1) Saint Georges Day is informally celebrated in which North American country … ?   A1) Canada.
Q2) More to the point, in which of that country’s provinces is it an official holiday … ?   A2) Newfoundland.
Q3) In many Orthodox countries, Saint Georges Day is celebrated on which date: 9th April, 23rd April, or May 6th … ?   A3) May 6th.
Q4) Which famous George was created by John Le Carre?A4) George Smiley.
Q5) Who wrote the play Pygmalion?   A5) George Bernard Shaw.
Q6) Name any of the three famous writers — one English, one Spanish, one Peruvian — who died on 23rd April, 1616.   A6) William Shakespeare, Miguel Cervantes, or Garcilaso de la Vega, known also as El Inca.
Q7) Because of those three men, 23rd April is considered World Book Day: organized by which UN body … ?   A7) UNESCO: the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.   (Or L'Organisation des Nations unies pour l’éducation, la science et la culture, of you prefer it in French.)
Q8) More to the point … Name any of the 25 UK World Book Night Books for this year …    A8) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, IainM.Banks’ The Player of Games, Sleepyhead by Mark Billingham, Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson, The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho, Martina Cole’s The Take, Harlequin by Bernard Cornwell, Some Like You by Roald Dahl, A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Room by Emma Donohue, Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, Misery by Stephen King, The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella, Small Island by Andrea Levy, Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell, The Damned United by David Pearce, How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, Joe Simpson’s Touching the Void, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and FINALLY Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman … !
Q9) Moving on … 23rd April, 1661, saw Charles 2nd crowned as king of England, Ireland and Scotland: in which church … ?   A9) Westminster Abbey.
Q10) And finally … 23rd April, 1993, saw which part of Ethiopia vote for its independence … ?   A10) Eritrea.
Enjoy those, everyone: I’ll leave you to Captain Sensible’s tender mercies, shall I … ?












*        I know, that’s controversial, Debbi: I should have maybe phrase the question better … !     But unfortunately, a lot of places are still on the old Julian calendar

ª        Something I know I’ve permanently bookmarked: and have in my RSS feeds.

3 comments:

carly burns said...

these teasers are the best brain boggling questions to get the day started. though i rarely know the answers x x

carly burns said...

your teaser are the best brain boggling way to start the day!! though i rarely get all questions right xx

Debbi said...

You'll be glad to know the vids are included in the post I wrote today. :)

And this post got a comment from one of my favorite mystery authors, Lawrence Block: http://thebookgrrl.blogspot.com/2012/04/book-lovers-dilemma.html

Oh. My. God.

Really awesome, guy. :)

So is Stephen Leather, who's left comments on a couple of my blogs. I hope to see him while we're in London.

It's really stunning who I've come to know because of the Internet.

1. 26
2. Isaac Asimov
3. Red Army Faction
4. Iceland
5. South Korea