The Daily Teaser — 19-2-2016: The Phonograph

Phew … but I’m up … 

Which sounds a little obvious, now I see it written down.

But I’m up … posting … and, in between words, getting — mentally, at least — ready to head to work on what is one of the longer shifts I’ve done at my job.

Frankly … ?   I’m doing a 12:30 to 21:00.   And won’t be getting home until about nine-thirty.

Wish me well, folks: it’s going to be a long day … !

~≈∑≈~

But let’s move on, shall we?

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Olga* leaving us a comment, and Debbi† putting in her answers: scoring nine out of ten in the process.

Let’s see how everyone does with today’s questions, shall we?   Here they are, along with the How To, License and video …

Q1) 19th February saw the patenting of the phonograph: by which American inventor?

Q2) In which year of the 1870s?

Q3) What shape were those early phonographs: cylindrical, spherical or ovoid?

Q4) The original test phonograms were covered in what: wax, tinfoil or Bakelite?

Q5) By 1925, disc shaped records — or gramophones — were gaining popularity.   Those gramophones went at how many revolutions per minute: 78, 45 or 33⅓?

Q6) What was the diameter — in inches — of those records: 7”, 10” or 12”?

Q7) Early records were made from shellac.   Later ones, from roughly the 1960s onwards, were made from PVC: which stood for poly-vinyl … what?

Q8) All these records were analogue, of course.   These days, modern musical recordings are what: digital, analogue or composite?

Q9) Which Dire Straits album was the first — on a major label — to sell extremely well, on CD?

Q10) Most modern songs are in the digital format known as ‘MP3’: what does the ‘MP’ stand for?

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 18th February saw the first publication of ‘The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn’: in which country?
A1) The USA.

Q2) In which year of the 1880s?
A2) 1885.

Q3) Who wrote it?
A3) Mark Twain.

Q4) What was the author’s real name?
A4) Samuel Langhorn Clemens.

Q5) The story is set on the banks of which US river: the Missouri, the Little Missouri or the Mississippi?
A5) The Mississippi.

Q6) ‘The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn’ was a direct sequel to which other book?
A6) The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer.

Q7) Huck befriends an escaped slave on his adventures.   What was the slave’s name?
A7) Jim.   (The character’s supposed to be based on George Griffith, a freed slave who was Twain’s butler for years.)

Q8) Edward Winsor Kemble did what for the book: the typesetting, the illustrations or the printing?
A8) The illustrations.

Q9) Who played Huck in the 1993, Disney version of the book?
A9) Elijah Wood.

Q10) Finally … the 2010 EP, ‘Huckleberry Finn,’ was performed by Duke Special.   It featured music originally composed by whom: Karlheinz Stockhausen, Kurt Weill or Carl Orff?
A10) Kurt Weill.   (He also wrote the song we now know as ‘Mack The Knife’.)

I’ll leave you with an observation from Ambrose Bierce …

“PHONOGRAPH, n. An irritating toy that restores life to dead noises.”
Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary.

And this video …

Have a good Friday …







*        Glad I could help with the Friday Question Set link, Olga: if there’s anything else, please ask!   (You might want to look at the Weekly Teasers, as well: the ones I do for the Gazette.   On top of THAT … ?   Anything tagged with ‘themed’ may be useful^.)

†        I don’t know if it’s that shocking, Debbi: I’ve heard of it being done with other books, but couldn’t swear to it.   (Oh, sorry about the score, by the way.   But 18th Feb was the US publication date: the book got published in the UK, on 10th December, 1884 … !)

^        They’re all published under the Creative Commons License, Olga: to quote my usual blurb “… you’re free to copy, use, alter and build on each of my quizzes: including the Teasers, Gazette Teasers and the Friday Question Sets.   All I ask in return is that you give me an original authors credit on your event’s flyers or posters, or on the night: and, if you republish them, give me an original authors credit AND republish under the same license.   A link back to the site — and to the Gazette’s, if that’s where you’ve found these — would be appreciated: as would pressing my donate button, here.   Every penny is gratefully received.”   Basically, telling people where you got them is fine!