Trivia

[kristina]

I enjoy looking & thinking for answers because I read about something which I know little or nothing about, like the "parapet" & "parados" Kitkatz explained etc...
So, for me, it isn’t about knowing an answer or googling an answer, it is about learning and keeping the grey cells active, and in my experience this often leads to other subjects which interest me.
My questions on music, iron-work and literature, all came about because I just followed a path of interest and I am still learning. Whether the questions seem difficult or not, the interest lies with the research and reading and also learning something perhaps new from the person who put the question.
Also, when I feel I am weighed down with my situation it helps me to divert my attention and take a break by jumping into a new subject. Therefore I am very appreciative of this thread and similar threads.

[dwcrawford]

before another battle starts let me just say that I'd like a Trivia thread.   its a game.  not an exercise in brain power, knowlege of war or music or iron.  It is called trivia.  All  I iindicated was that we shouold start one that all can play.  Keep on with yours.  It is fine.  I just  hope we can start another because it is a thread I used to enjoy.  just for fun.

[galvo]

If you've finished pontificating, Dan, would you care to ask a trivia question?

[dwcrawford]

I'd like  to reply by saying that I don't consider callilng for a 2nd Trivia thread pontificating.  If I didn't know better  what a gentleman you are I'd consider that very rude.

And no, I didn't answer any of your questions  thus I'd not care to venture a quesion here.  Thanks anyway for your graciouness and generosity.

[galvo]

Well, I guess it's back to you, kitkatz.

[kitkatz]

Okay...here goes....

What Roman Emperor was once captured by pirates and held for a 12,000 gold-piece ransom?


What he do to the pirates after he got back home?

[galvo]

Well, strictly speaking, none of them. But, Julius Caesar would be the man you're thinking about. He was captured by pirates before he became Emperor. I reckion the ransom comes to about $1,250,000 in to-day' s money.

He had all the pirates crucified, but, being a kind-hearted bloke, he had their throats slit before they suffered too much.

[okarol]

I'm starting a new thread called trivia for dummies.  Shoot, I think you guys sometimes googles those questions and answers.....

Well of course I google... (I didn't even go to college Dan!) 

[dwcrawford]

I went to college a lot of years and yet I can barely read some of the questions -  much less answer them.  I'm not complaining about the questions, however.  I'm seriouslyl asking someone to start a thread with real "trivia".  Maybe I need to look  up the definition of trivia.  I'm  serious!!! Somebody start a thread that we all can play  in.  This isn't a joke or a complaint.

I knew people googled.  That was just me being passive agressive.

[fc2821]

If I may, I like this thread and ant to keep it going.  So.....



What was the name of the German military attache in Paris involved in the Dreyfus "afair"? 

[galvo]

I asked Mr Google and he reckons it was a Colonel Von Scharzkoppen.

Was Julius Caesar right, kitkatz?

[kitkatz]

Caesar was correct.

[fc2821]

I asked Mr Google and he reckons it was a Colonel Von Scharzkoppen.

Was Julius Caesar right, kitkatz?

It's ok if you goole, to me, it was not an easy question.  Didn't mean to step on kitkatz either just wanted to keep things going. 

Well, Galvo, my man you answered both mine and kitkatz questions correctly. 

[galvo]

Thanks fc2821. Have a lash at this;

There are only two egg-laying mammals in the world, both of which come from Australia. What are they?

[cariad]

Oh my God I think I know this one! I think I know this one! 

The echidna and the platypus? No google required, just a kids show called The Koala Brothers that my son used to watch with Sammy The Echidna! 

[galvo]

Well done. Who says that TV isn't educational?
Over to you.

[cariad]

Thanks, galvo.

Away we go: "Bite the wax tadpole" is one way to translate the name of this famous American product in Chinese (there are apparently over 200 Chinese characters that could have been used, in combination, to make the sounds for the English syllables). Name the product.

Bonus question, what is the English translation of the name that this product uses in China today?

[dwcrawford]

Coke

[kristina]

Snopes.com informs that
Bite the Wax Tadpole = ko-ka-ko-la

Coca Cola  was registered in China in 1928 as

= K'o  = to permit, be able, may, can,
= k'ou = mouth,
= k'o   = (as above)
= Le   = Joy, to recoyce, to be happy,

literally meaning: "to allow the mouth to be able to recoice"...

( I admire Chinese writing, it looks so artistic...)

[cariad]

Coca Cola is correct. ("To allow the mouth to rejoice" is also correct!) 

[dwcrawford]

You go Kristina.  You got the hard part.

Everyone seemed to think I was being rude when asking about googlling.  I  was serious.  Surely you realize that many of your questions and "answers" are far above an "average" person.  I realy did like to read the old questions and occassionally (rarely)  I could answer one (as in this example of "coke") but I'd never, ever know the translation of the symbols for coke. 

I used to pay that old "trivia pursuit" game with friends.  I know zip about sports.  Everytime a sports question came up I'd answer Babe Ruth.  Once a friend drew his card and the real answer was Babe Ruth.  Off topic but it was fun then.

I understand you learn a lot when you google.  But I wanted you all to know that I meant nothing by my comment other than "how do you know all this stuff".  Hell, I just saw the "coke" question in a documentary.  I can't even spell coca cola.

Go go  Kristina.  I couldn't come  up with a question to challenge you guys anyway.

[kristina]

Thanks cariad and Dan.
Here is my question:

He was born in New Orleans, his father was a wealthy stockbroker and
his French mother was of aristocratic lineage.
He was brought up & very much influenced by his slave nurse Sally,
who introduced him to the negro-folk-music & ballads & stories.
At the age of 12 (as a child-prodigy) he was sent to Paris to study music,
& initially his entrance to the Conservatoire was rejected because he was American...
(I suspect the true reason for the initial  rejection was his French mother’s aristocratic lineage,
...the French Revolution was still on everyone’s mind...)
He nevertheless succeeded eventually & achieved great success as a pianist & played his own compositions
which, although being Romantic , incorporate successfully the influence of the negro-melodies of his childhood
in a very individual , harmonious & unmistakable way.
(My absolute favourite is “La Savane” ballade creole).
He was a real artist and poet of the pianoforte, Chopin attended his first public recital and commented “you are the king of the pianists".
His concerts and recitals in France, Switzerland and Spain were very successful.
He eventually returned back to America, but when his parents went bankrupt and died, he restlessly travelled again,
composing, giving concerts & recitals. When he suddenly died, he was mourned by thousands as a culture hero and universal celebrity.
He remains the first American composer, who provides a musically harmonious link between 19th century Romanticism of the “Old World” and the music and influences of the “New World”.

Who is he?

[dwcrawford]

 Louis Moreau Gottschalk
 Romantic (1820-1869)
Although Louis Moreau Gottschalk left his native New Orleans behind for a sojourn in Europe beginning in his early teens, his Creole childhood left an indelible impression on him. In fact, a number of the works Gottschalk composed in Europe during his emergence as a gifted composer and performer are pianistic elaborations on Creole folk songs; these include the appearance in Gottschalk's Le Mancenillier (Op. 11) of the tune "Chanson de Lizette," his use of "Quan' patate la cuite" in Bamboula (Op. 2), and in the work under consideration here -- La Savane (Op. 3) -- the use of the song "Le belle Lolotte" (a tune similar to, and probably an ancestor of, "Skip to My Lou"). La Savane was written for and dedicated to Queen Doña Maria of Portugal in 1845, when the composer was only about 16 years old (suggesting the speed with which his work became known in important circles). As in Gottschalk's other "Creole Fantasies" from around the same period, the source tune is readily recognizable. It is presented in a plaintive fashion, with little adornment at the beginning of the piece, but its shape is altered and its harmonic trajectory skewed as it is subjected to increasingly complex variations. By the end of the piece (which runs just under nine minutes in an average performance), the character of the tune has drastically changed from the lighthearted and lively mood of its folk form to the sullen, conflicted feel of the final variations. The increasing complexity of the variations also hints at the virtuosic flair and aplomb that would come to characterize Gottschalk in his maturity. In fact, in response to hearing Gottschalk perform La Savane and other works from this time, one critic observed the emergence of a "purely American" musical trend. "We believe his compositions and playing -- pure, national, and classical -- will have a happy effect on the rising generation, and be the foundation of a school, at once legitimate, and characteristic.

[kristina]

Thanks Dan, yes it is Louis Moreau Gottschalk.

Listening to his music makes all the description much more understandable
because he was unique in his way.

[galvo]

Ahem! Mr Crawford, up to you, methinks.