The Daily Teaser — 14-5-2013

Finally … !

I’ve managed to finish it … !

I’ve got to admit, I has something of a busy weekend, on Saturday and Sunday.

To the point where I feeling a touch frustrated about not finishing the write-up I’d started on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey*.

Well … I’ve finally managed to finish it: and feel vaguely pleased with it.   Although there’s always things you miss, and kick yourself for.

At any rate, let’s get moving on, shall we … ?

Yes, let’s … !

~≈†≈~

Yesterday’s Teaser saw both Debbi† and Terrence‡ putting in their answers: with Debbi letting us know she’ll be checking out some William Gibson, and Terrence offering up a little puzzle of his own, it saw Debbi bagging 5 out of 6 and Terrence bagging 6.

Let’s see how they — and you — do with today’s themed questions, shall we?

Here they are, along with the ‘How To’, License, and video … 

Q1) 14th May, 1955, saw many country’s sign the Warsaw Pact.   In which country is Warsaw … ?

Q2) More to the point, on which river does Warsaw stand … ?

Q3) How may countries signed the Warsaw Pact … ?

Q4) Name one of them.

Q5) In which Warsaw Pact country did English comedian, Norman Wisdom, gain a huge cult following … ?

Q6) And finally … what name was given to the confrontation between the Warsaw Pact countries and the West … ?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 13th May, 1958, saw Velcro registered as a trademark.   Velcro’s inventor had been inspired by the seeds of which plant: burdock, dandelion or daisies … ?

A1) Burdock.

Q2) More to the point, which European country was that inventor from … ?

A2) Switzerland.

Q3) Moving on … 13th May, 1981, saw Mehmet Ali Ağca attempt to shoot whom … ?

A3) Pope John Paul 2nd.

Q4) May 4th, 1994, saw Johnny Carson make his last TV appearance: on which TV programme?

A4) The Tonight Show With David Letterman.

Q5) 13th May, 1787, saw Captain Arthur Phillips leave Portsmouth, with what later became known as the First Fleet.   To which country were they heading … ?

A5) Australia.

Q6) And finally … 13th May, 1880, saw Thomas Edison make his first tests of an electric railway.   What was the name of his New Jersey base … ?

A6) Menlo Park.   (There’s even a couple of OS X fonts named after it.)

I’ll leave you with this thought from Nicolae Ceauşescu …

“There can be no justification to admit, in any way, the use of armed forced to intervene in the internal affairs of a Warsaw Treaty Organization member country.”

Nicolae Ceauşescu, 26 January 1918 – 25 December 1989

And with a version of Blue Monday with some novel video … 

Enjoy your day … 

*        I have to say, I was impressed with Richard Armitage, the chap playing Thorin Oakenshield.

†        Go for it, Debbi!   (I’d suggest either Burning Chrome, his early short story collection, or Neuromancer: that’s the story that kick-started his career, and won him the Hugo, and the Nebula awards for Best Book.   And it has to be said, it’s got some murky characters, including the Finnº: and they’re just the good guys!)

‡        Oh, easy-peasy, Terrence: the coder is Mark Zuckerburg, obviously, and the French King was Louis 13th: who, if I’ve read my sources correctly, assassinated the previous king, in order to bag the job.   Going TOTALLY off topic … ?   You’re right, that was a fantastic pair of sax solos: although I always liked the one in Hazel O’Connor’s Will You.   (Didn’t I read that the Mar-keys eventuaslly became Booker T and the MGs … ?   I’m fairly sure I did)

º        Who’s a fence and techie for hire: he’s mildly agoraphobic, which means he charges a fortune …