UM quiz club

So long

2011-12-12T09:46:00.000-08:00

At the risk of stating the obvious, this blog has been dormant for several months now. Raghu has been swamped with work and I no longer have the enthusiasm to maintain the blog. So, we have decided to shut the blog down. Thanks to all those who have visited us in the past couple of years. It was fun while it lasted.

Question - 699

2011-12-08T19:38:00.001-08:00

An iconic image from a landmark film (in the news lately). Identify the film or its director.

Question - 698

2011-12-07T18:36:00.001-08:00

Thought that a push to Q#700 might be worth a try; although, falling short seems to immortalize better (a la Bradman, Tendulkar, et al.)

This building (and suggestive logo) have contributed a term to business lingo related to radical innovation. What term?

Question - 697

2011-09-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

Identify the long orange line in the image. (question courtesy: Mekhala)

Question - 696

2011-08-29T20:08:00.001-07:00

What English word is derived from this object? (question courtesy: Divya Shankar)

Question - 695

2011-08-27T06:57:00.000-07:00

Identify the building in the picture and connect it with the painting seen on right. (question courtesy: Divya Shankar)

Question - 694

2011-08-25T18:49:00.000-07:00

What got its name from this sketch?

Question - 693

2011-08-24T04:24:00.000-07:00

Identify the building (green arrow in left picture). Question courtesy: Mekhala

Question - 692

2011-08-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

What is common to the owners of these artifacts? (question courtesy Divya Shankar)

Question - 691

2011-08-16T20:33:00.001-07:00

Connect. (question courtesy Divya Shankar)

Question - 690

2011-08-11T19:52:00.001-07:00

Identify the area between the curves.

Question 689

2011-08-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

Today's question is by Matti Tapaninen. Who used this ticket?

Question - 688

2011-08-04T19:14:00.000-07:00

Identify the person on the right of the black-and-white picture and connect her to two objects on the right.

Question - 687

2011-07-22T13:53:00.000-07:00

Identify the guy.

Update: Not many attempts. Note the date of the question and also the tags.

Question - 686

2011-07-21T22:50:00.000-07:00

There is an age-old legend about this English town X. The rhyme in the first visual is one example of this legend. A famous writer used X as a nickname for another city in the magazine shown in the second visual. This nickname came to refer to the city itself in the early 20th century and even now, there are many shops in the city with this name. Shown in the third visual is one such famous one. X is also famous in another context. Identify X.

Aside: Sporadic updates shall be the norm for a while since things are a bit crazy at work.

Question - 685

2011-07-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

Who is he and what is the occasion when this picture was taken?

Question - 684

2011-07-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

Which religious denomination does this man belong to? He holds the head wear of his religion in his hand.

Aside: Updates have been sporadic this month. I will try to be more regular.

Question - 683

2011-07-09T02:48:00.000-07:00

This is a new fad. What are they doing?

Question - 682

2011-07-08T00:12:00.000-07:00

Today's question is courtesy my brother Rajesh. What fiscal connection do these gentlemen share? This is an exhaustive list.

Question - 681

2011-07-01T03:01:00.000-07:00

Nothing special about the car but where (just after a rain) is this shot taken?

PS: I am traveling for the July 4 long weekend. I won't have any updates till after America is 235 years old.

PPS: This reminds me of a very bad cryptic clue I saw once - "235? (5)". Any guesses?

Answer: Utah's Bonneville salt flats - the terrain here is perfectly suited for attempting land speed records. Mekie, Jamie, Arpit, Siddarth Pai and Krithi got it. Well done. The answer to the cryptic clue is usage.

Question - 680

2011-06-28T23:58:00.001-07:00

What are these skeletons?

Answer: An artist's (Hyungkoo Lee) impression of the skeletons of various cartoon characters - Bugs, Roadrunner + Wile E Coyote, Donald Duck and Tom & Jerry. Arpit, Raghu, Rajesh K, Jaggi, Jamie, nice try, giantamoeba, Krithi, Matti, Mekie and Siddarth Pai got it. Well done.

Question - 679

2011-06-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

Who is this?

Hint: Few attempts so far. She is the oldest scuba diver in the world and was diving well past her 90s. However, she is most famous for something she did all the way back in 1934.

Hint2: Still no further attempts :( She is considered one of the greatest in her field (not Scuba diving) despite having a very limited output. Also, tags are your friends.

Question - 678

2011-06-25T01:23:00.000-07:00

Who really won the election?

Question - 677

2011-06-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

Identify the one man common to both pictures.

Answer: Heinrich Harrer, author of Seven years in Tibet. There can't have been too many people photographed with both the Dalai Lama and Hitler. Matti, Krithi, Arpit, Krishna and giantamoeba got it. Well done.

Question - 676

2011-06-21T00:45:00.000-07:00

Two popular traditions associated with a sport. Which sport and what traditions? Update: Forgot to add that this question is courtesy my brother Rajesh.

Answer: NASCAR traditions - kissing the brick and chugging the milk in Indy 500. Arpit, giantamoeba, Jamie, anon and Krithi got it. Well done.

Question - 675

2011-06-17T18:57:00.000-07:00

Today's question is courtesy Matti. Whose POW card is this?

Answer: Gunter Grass,the German Nobel laureate whose membership in the Waffen-SS during WWII was revealed after almost 60 years. Arpit, Karthik, Krithi, Siddarth Pai and Deepanshu got it. Well done.

Question - 674

2011-06-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

Where is the light coming from? The base is surrounded by plaques like the one shown on the right.

Answer: Imagine Peace tower that Ono erected in Lennon's memory in Iceland. The aurora borealis was hopefully a clue. As is the plaque in Tamil :) Raghu, Barry Belmont, Krithi, Ramki, Siddarth Pai, Krishna and Iam got it. Well done.

Question - 673

2011-06-15T00:17:00.000-07:00

What is about to happen?

Answer: The man is about to slit the woman's eye in Luis Bunuel's surrealistic work "Un Chien Andalou" made in collaboration with Salvador Dali. Matti, Krishna, Jamie, Barry Belmont, Ramki, arpit, anon and Siddarth Pai got it. Well done.

Question - 672

2011-06-13T00:45:00.000-07:00

Which company's headquarters? The building is supposed to reflect the company's motto.

Answer: Vodafone HQ in Porto, Portugal reflecting the company's logo "Life in motion". Question inspired by Apple's new proposed HQ. Siddarth Pai, Jamie, Ramki, Matti and Krishna got it. Well done.

Question - 671

2011-06-11T18:45:00.000-07:00

What is this a map of?

Answer: Hogwarts. I blanked out Hogsmeade, Hagrid's house and the Quidditch field. NJ, Iam, Karthik, Siddarth Pai, Jaggi, Jamie and Raghu got it. Well done.

Question - 670

2011-06-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

Identify the duo.

Answer: Cheech and Chong posing with their favorite plant. As a blogger in California, I should have asked this question long ago. vs, nice try, Raghu, arjun, Siddarth Pai, Jamie and Hasan got it. Well done.

Question - 669

2011-06-06T23:44:00.000-07:00

A famous depiction of which practice?

Hint: Few hits so far. There is a famous Greek myth related to the animal in the sculpture.

Answer: Bull leaping. The statue is called the Minoan bull. Matti and Iam (but of course) got it. Raghu answered a lot closer to home. Well done.

Question - 668

2011-06-05T04:05:00.000-07:00

Identify the person caricatured and also the blanked out word.

Answer: This is the cover of God Bless You Dr. Kevorkian by the inimitable Kurt Vonneghut. The good doctor himself passed away last week. Karthik, Raghu, Krishna, Mihir, Rajesh K, Matti, nice try and Krithi got it. Well done.

Question - 667

2011-06-02T22:13:00.000-07:00

What is this?

Answer: The Wow signal - the most promising signature detected by SETI program yet which inspired the remark. I was about to cast aspersions on whether the signal is genuine since it came out of research at Ohio state but then I found out that the researcher (Jerry Ehman) graduated out of the University of Michigan. Oh Well!!! Matti, Karthik, Raghu, Barry Belmont, anon and Mihir got it. Well done.

Question - 666

2011-05-28T17:25:00.000-07:00

What is the controversy around the logo? The place in the first visual can serve as a hint.

Answer: Iran claims that the logo for the 2012 Summer Olympics subliminally reads Zion and hence are threatening to boycott the event. The place of course is Zion national park. Question dedicated to the intrepid souls that hiked Angels landing this memorial day. Raghu, Divya Shankar and Dips got it. Krithi points to another controversy related to the logo. Well done all.

Question - 665

2011-05-26T02:20:00.000-07:00

Identify the women in the painting. Connect one of them to the second visual. The connect is slightly tangential.

Answer: The painting is that of Orpha, Ruth and Naomi from the Book of Ruth. Orpha is the given name of Oprah Winfrey whose friends found it too hard to pronounce it and changed it to Oprah. Orpah literally means turning back in Hebrew and Oprah turned her name backwards to name her production company Harpo. The picture is of course Harpo Marx. Question marks the conclusion of the wildly successful Oprah show and I was hoping the tags would help with the tough visuals. Krishna is the only one to get it. Bravo.

Question - 664

2011-05-24T22:39:00.000-07:00

What happened here?

Answer: The Boston Molasses disaster - In 1919, a gigantic molasses tank burst open creating a molasses wave over 10 ft tall that was strong enough to hurl trains off their tracks. There is an urban legend that the area still smells of molasses in hot summer days. Ameya, Divya Shankar and apoorv got it. Well done.

Question - 663

2011-05-24T02:24:00.000-07:00

Seriously inspiring stuff. Identify them.

Answer: Team Hoyt - a father-son team which has competed in several endurance events despite the son suffering from cerebral palsy. Karthik is the only one to get it. Bravo.

Question - 662

2011-05-23T00:24:00.000-07:00

Identify him.

Answer: Robert Stroud aka the birdman of Alcatraz. Raghu, Matti, Ameya, Iam and Krishna got it. Well done.

Question - 661

2011-05-21T13:16:00.001-07:00

What controversy (shown in the first pic) is referenced in the second pic?

Answer: The controversy is that a decidedly unheroic Han Solo shoots the alien first in the bar scene in StarWars I. This was edited out or modified in later releases. Raghu, Harshit, anon, Jamie, allornothing and Firebringer got it. Well done.

Question - 660

2011-05-17T00:38:00.000-07:00

Identify these people and a common position they have all held. (Not an exhaustive list)

Update: No hits so far. Maybe I should word the question better. I am looking for a common title that they all hold. A variant of this title is used in politics and is almost always dubious and unjustified. The 2nd and 4th guys should be recognizable - the second one is named for a Nobel winning chemist/a cartoon character. Note the attire of the fourth one.

Answer: Guido Van Rossum (python), Linus Torvalds (linux), Larry Wall (perl) and Mark Shuttleworth (Ubuntu)- they all hold the post of "Benevolent dictator for life" for their respective open source projects. Krishna, Paddy, Shrey Banga, Iam, Raghu and Avi got it. Well done.

Question - 659

2011-05-16T01:35:00.001-07:00

Easy one for today. Identify the blanked out portion.

Answer: "The buck stops here" - a phrase made famous by Harry Truman. Tee, Anand, Raghu, Matti, Rajesh K, Jamie, Krishna, Manu, Karthik, Hari, Iam, Firebringer, nice try and Paddy got it. Well done.

Question - 658

2011-05-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

Identify the man and the location.

Answer: The famously eccentric Werner Herzog in the sets of his movie Fitzcarraldo for which he attempted to transport a 300 ton ship across a mountain. Divya Shankar, Raghu, Karthik, Tee and Matti got it. Well done.

Question - 657

2011-05-09T00:55:00.001-07:00

The man on the left saw the movie on the right and said something very famous. What?

Answer: Justice Potter Stewart defined pornography as "I know it when I see it" while discussing the French movie "The Lovers". Matti, Krishna, Jaggi, Siddarth Pai and nice try got it. Well done.

Question - 656

2011-05-08T00:23:00.000-07:00

A lazy cop out of a question today. Identify the ladies and the two phrases that one of them trademarked.

Answer: Ann and Anna Jarvis - the women behind Mother's day. Siddarth Pai, Mekie, Krithi and Jaggi got it. Well done.

Question - 655

2011-05-06T00:05:00.000-07:00

Identify the person and the reason behind the title.

Answer: George Best who was at least as famous for his off the field exploits as he was for his incredible football talent. He was once asked how close to a match he has had sex and he replied Half-time and thus the title. Divya Shankar, Krithi, Raghu, Kapinjal, Krishna, Matti and Siddarth Pai got it. Well done.

Question - 654

2011-05-05T00:05:00.000-07:00

Someone was accused of using this product. What resulted?

Answer: This is a deodorant called "Teen spirit". Kurt Cobain 's friend spray painted "Kurt Cobain smells like teen spirit" on his wall as a joke. He liked the sound of the phrase and the song resulted. Matti, Rajeev and Mekie got it. Well done.

Question - 653

2011-05-02T15:33:00.000-07:00

Identify the man. To the right is a poem he wrote.

Answer: This is Major James Abbott, a British colonial officer stationed in India after whom the city and district of Abbottabad are named. You might have heard about this town in the news recently. Deepanshu, nice try, Kapinjal Chowdhury, Divya Shankar, Siddarth Pai, Matti, Raghu, Hari, arpit, anon, Divya, Krishna and Mekie got it. Well done.

Question - 652

2011-05-02T00:47:00.000-07:00

What incident is being portrayed?

Answer: Xerxes having the sea whipped as a punishment for destroying his bridges at Hellespont during his famous invasion of Greece. Karthik, Siddarth Pai, Raghu, Matti, Jaggi and Divya got it. Well done.

Question - 651

2011-04-30T13:55:00.001-07:00

What's the lady's name?

Hint: No attempts on this one so far. The thing to her left is named after her and is reasonably famous.

Hint2: No love still for this question. The thing to her left is a dinosaur fossil.

Answer: Sue Hendrickson, an amateur fossil hunter who discovered the most complete T-Rex skeleton to date - the Sue skeleton in Chicago. Matti, Divya and Karthik took pity on the QM and answered it. Well done.

Question - 650

2011-04-29T03:21:00.000-07:00

What is happening here?

Answer: Obama retaking his Presidential oath for the second time because he spoke a word out of sequence the first time around. Krithi, Rajesh K, Jamie, Matti, Divya, Divya Shankar, Krishna, Karthik and giantamoeba got it. Well done.

Question - 649

2011-04-27T00:02:00.000-07:00

Where would you find this?

Answer: The town of Riverside, Iowa which declared itself the birthplace of James T. Kirk. Siddarth Pai, Krithi, Matti, Jamie, Divya, Deepanshu, Saket, Sharmistha Dutta and Divya Shankar got it. Well done.

Question - 648

2011-04-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

Identify the painter.

Answer: Abbott Handerson Thayer - the man who studied and wrote about protective coloration in the animal kingdom which eventually led to the concept of military camouflage being used in WWI. Siddarth Pai, Krithi, Jamie, Divya and Divya Shankar got it. Iam did not. Well done.

Question - 647

2011-04-24T03:22:00.001-07:00

Who wrote this to whom?

Answer: A young Fidel Castro writing to FDR. If only FDR had given him the twenty dollars....Divya, Iam, Krithi, Divya Shankar, Matti, Trooper, Siddarth Pai, Saket, Jamie, Rajesh K, Deepanshu, Hari, Krishna and Kani got it. Well done.

Question - 646

2011-04-21T22:14:00.001-07:00

Identify the instrument and the player.

Answer: Lydia Kavina playing the theremin, an instrument known for its eerie sound. Divya Shankar, Matti, giantamoeba, Siddarth Pai and Krithi got it. Well done.

Question - 645

2011-04-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

Who was fined and why? When and how was the fine repaid?

Answer: To quote giant amoeba, The US was fined for littering when parts of the skylab fell over Esperance, western Australia. The fine was paid in April 2009, when radio show host Scott Barley of Highway Radio raised the funds from his morning show listeners, and paid the fine on behalf of NASA. Iam, Saket, Swapnaa, Jamie, Raghu, giantamoeba, Divya, Matti and Krithi got it. Well done.

Question - 644

2011-04-19T01:35:00.000-07:00

What famous location?

Answer: The real "field of dreams". I thought if I ask the question, you will answer. Rajesh K, Krithi, Swapnaa, Matti, Jamie and Divya got it. Well done.

Question - 643

2011-04-14T17:50:00.000-07:00

What game is this? The game isn't well known or even particularly famous but I like how this game has not featured any "goals" since 1909.

Answer: The Eton wall game - spoofed memorably by Terry Pratchett. Swapnaa, giantamoeba, nitinsunny and Matti got it. Well done.

Question - 642

2011-04-13T23:51:00.000-07:00

What does this illustrate?

Answer: The American flag as would be perceived by people with different degrees of color blindness (Daltonism). Raghu, Siddarth Pai, Krithi, Iam and Divya Shankar got it. Well done.

Question - 641

2011-04-11T22:22:00.000-07:00

Identify.

Answer: Vostok 3KA-2, a spacecraft similar to the one Yuri Gagarin went to space in. It recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. Siddarth Pai, Matti, Iam, Akhilesh, Siddharth, Divya, Rajesh K, Krithi and Raghu got it. Well done.

Question - 640

2011-04-10T00:35:00.001-07:00

What are the squiggly white characters on the cover?

Answer: The Shavian alphabet - a simple, phonetic alphabet for the English language that would avoid the complications of the current spelling system. It was posthumously funded and supported by G.B.Shaw but eventually there was only enough money to publish one book in this alphabet. Krithi, Divya, giantamoeba, Saket and Matti got it. Well done. Trooper has link to a very nice quiz blog in the comments.

Question - 639

2011-04-06T22:36:00.000-07:00

Identify the guy.

Answer: Frank Zamboni, the guy who invented the eponymous ice resurfacer. Siddarth Pai, Iam, giantamoeba and Matti got it. Well done.

Question - 638

2011-04-06T22:35:00.001-07:00

Identify the blanked out portions. The blanks are different but related.

Answer: The comic is about Maxwell's demon - a thought experiment about a possible violation of the second law of thermodynamics. Anon, Krithi and Divya got it. Well done.

Question - 637

2011-04-03T22:58:00.000-07:00

Connect.

Answer: Surtsey - a newly formed volcanic island off the coast of Iceland was named for Surtur, a fire giant of Norse mythology. Matti, giantamoeba, Siddarth Pai, Krithi and Divya got it. Well done.

Question - 636

2011-04-02T00:09:00.000-07:00

This is a 3-D false colour rendering of a small extra-terrestrial mountain. What is its claim to fame?

Answer: This is a high resolution image of the "face on mars" - a pareidolia captured by Viking 1. Siddharth ravi, Matti, Siddarth Pai, Kaushik, anon, Divya Shankar, giantamoeba, Krithi and Iam got it. Well done.

Question - 635

2011-04-01T00:21:00.001-07:00

Identify the man. Something named for him has been in the news for the past 3 weeks.

Answer: Rolf Sievert, the man after whom the unit of dose equivalent ionizing radiation is named. In the news after the Japan nuclear accidents. This was a toughie and only Matti and Raghu got it. Great job guys.

Question - 634

2011-03-30T01:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the late update. A question symbolic of how my week has been. Identify.

Answer: This is the wreckage of Gary Powers's U-2 spy plane - the one that the Soviet shot down and the US denied ever existed. Matti, Jamie, Krithi, Siddarth Pai, Kaushik and Divya Shankar got it. Well done.

Question - 633

2011-03-27T02:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the late update. Connect the visuals. Some visuals are more directly related to the connect than others.

Answer: The connect I was looking for was the "Unseen character". The visuals are Charlie Brown referring to the "red-haired girl" who is never seen in peanuts, the characters waiting for Godot who never shows up, Beatrice Baudelaire - a character from Lemony Snicket's A series of unfortunate events who never appears in the books but is shown for a brief second in the movie (played by Helena Bonham Carter), Dulcinea from Don Quixote, Niles' wife Maris Crane from Frasier and Harvey, Jimmy Stewart's 6 foot tall rabbit friend from the movie Harvey (which I strongly recommend). I got the idea from the character of Howard Wolowitz's mother in Big Bang Theory but forgot to include him in the connect. Divya and Matti got it. Well done.

Question - 632

2011-03-24T03:55:00.000-07:00

Question courtesy Iam. You all know what that means. I am not responsible for its awesomeness/arbitness.

Answer: Quoting Shiva verbatim - Dude is Joseph Priestley, the gas-man credited for Oxygen and Ammonia (NH3). Experiment is 'Ammonia Fountain', a fun demonstration to teach chemistry or gas laws to kids. Country is Jordan whose capital is Amman (From Ammonites / Children of Ammon). Red thingy is the Hippocampus (Ammon's horn. Hippocampus itself means seahorse) a vital organ for memory making and retention (Think Memento). Both names are due to visual resemblance. The spirals are Ammonites a species fortunate enough to be extinct and fossilized so as to adorn the earrings of pretty girls. The character is "Anck Su Namun", no big connection other than to point out (bleeped by moderator :)). The connect is Amun or Ammon (Also Amun-Ra), the bigdaddy of Egyptian gods. He wears ram's horns, which give rise to the terms Ammon's Horns and Ammonites. Ammonia comes from sal ammoniac (NH4Cl 'Salt of Ammon' possibly due to the fact that it was manufactured from horns and hooves) used by the Egyptian civilization.

Saket, Divya and Matti got it. Well done.

Question - 631

2011-03-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

Today's question is courtesy Divya. Stamp in honor of whom and what particular achievement of this person does the stamp honor?

Answer: Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss aka GOD. At the ripe age of 19, Gauss showed that the 17-agon aka heptadecagon is constuctible with a compass and straight edge. This proved fortuitous for mathematics as a whole since it convinced Gauss to become a mathematician at a time when he was wavering between philology and math. He liked this result so much that he asked that a heptadecagon be inscribed in his tombstone. The mason declined since it would essentially look like a circle. Raghu, Siddarth Pai, giantamoeba, Saket, Iam, Kapinjal Chowdhury, Matti, Krithi, RJD and Rajeev got it. Well done.

Question - 630

2011-03-18T17:26:00.000-07:00

Rightly phrased, this question will be a bit too easy. So, I will just say: Identify.

Answer: This is the famous deleted scene that was supposed to be the climax of Dr. Strangelove. Kubrick had originally planned the movie to end with a pie fight between the Russian ambassador and George C. Scott. You can actually see the food lined up in trays in many of the scenes in the war room. Of course, this didn't make the final cut and the movie ends instead with the iconic images of several nuclear explosions accompanied by Vera Lynn's "We will meet again". Matti, Divya Shankar, Siddarth Pai, anon and Jamie got it. Well done.

Question - 629

2011-03-17T22:35:00.000-07:00

Identify the man responsible for the artifacts on the top row. The two visuals at the bottom are more oblique clues that the same man was responsible for.

Answer: Claude "The GOD" Shannon. I maybe biased but this man deserves to be known in the same league of scientists as Einstein and Feynman for his contributions. His master's thesis paved the way for digital computers by proving the sufficiency of Boolean logic. He single-handedly created information theory, the theoretical framework of our generation's information revolution. He also was the first to initiate a theoretical study of cryptography. His PhD thesis on an algebra for biology is a little known gem. As if all this isn't awesome enough, he was an expert at juggling, machine learning, uni-cycling and card counting.

The pictures show some of his less famous inventions: He built a mouse called Theseus that could figure out a way out of a maze. He built a machine that could juggle 3 balls at a time (he also proved a theorem about juggling) and he built the "Ultimate machine" upon a suggestion from Marvin Minsky. He wrote the first paper on how one might program a computer to play chess and developed many card counting tricks that he personally used to great effect in Las Vegas.

Saket, Siddarth Pai, Iam, Divya Shankar, anon and Divya got it. Well done.

Question - 628

2011-03-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

Connect an aspect of the central figure of the painting in the bottom left to the other three images. In the top left, the circled portion is relevant to the connect.

Answer: The painting is Liberty leading the people by Eugene Delacroix. Lady liberty is wearing the Phrygian cap, a cap that is similar to the one that freed slaves wore in ancient Rome. Especially after the french revolution, that cap has come to signify freedom and is also called the Liberty cap. The other 3 pictures show formations called liberty caps due to their structural similarity to the Phryigian cap. The visuals are liberty cap peak of Mt. Rainier, liberty cap mushroom and the Liberty cap dome next to Nevada falls in Yosemite (this is the reason I posted this question). Raghu, Siddharth Pai, Saket, Divya, giantamoeba, Krithi and Iam got it in varying degrees. Well done.

PS: One of the people who answered surprised me considering how that person has never been to Yosemite and how that person ditched a group of people who had all planned a trip to Yosemite solely for that person's sake.

Question - 627

2011-03-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

Identify the photograph, the photographer and a particularly famous homage to this picture.

Answer: Identical twins by Diane Arbus. The homage I had in mind is the eerie scene from Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" where the twins stand in an identical pose and invite Danny to play with them. Kamanasish, Saket, Krithi, Matti, Siddarth Pai, Raghu, Mekie, Divya, Jamie and Iam got it. Well done.

Question - 626

2011-03-12T13:15:00.000-08:00

This building complex, a monument historique, looked like the image on the left in its heyday. After closing down in the late 1980s and falling into disuse, it is a common target of graffiti artists today. Identify the complex.

Answer: Piscine Moliter in France after which the protagonist is named in The Life of Pi. Divya, giantamoeba, Saket, Siddarth Pai and Krithi got it. Well done.

Question - 625

2011-03-11T03:13:00.000-08:00

This phrase can be used to describe a feature of the image on the right and many more images just like this one. However, the only known historical usage of this phrase (in its exact form) occurs in the first image. Identify the first object and the phrase.

Answer: The phrase is "Here be Dragons" used to denote uncharted areas on ancient maps. Though this phrase is now rather popular, it has only appeared in this exact form (in Latin) in one historical map namely the Hurt-Lenox globe. Siddarth Pai, Iam, Raghu, Krithi, anon, Giantamoeba, Divya and Saket got it. Well done.

Question - 624

2011-03-10T01:27:00.000-08:00

This was recently auctioned off for more than $3 million dollars. What is it?

Answer: This is a panel from the window from behind which Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK. Siddarth Pai, Ameya, Matti Tapaninen, AJ, Raghu and Giantamoeba got it. Well done.

Question - 623

2011-03-07T21:42:00.000-08:00

Today's question is courtesy Matti Tapaninen. Shown here is the start of what major event of the late 20th century?

Answer: The visual shows the British garrison in Falklands surrendering to the Argentinian forces thus starting the Falklands war. Ameya, Jaggi, Karthik and Siddarth Pai got it. Well done.

Question - 622

2011-03-06T03:30:00.000-08:00

Hi all!!! This is Dinesh taking over for Raghu in his absence. Irregular updates and obscure trivia shall be the norm as always. Identify the blanked out portion in this airport shuttle.

Answer: This is the wiki-wiki shuttle bus that operates at the Honolulu airport in Hawaii. Wiki means quick in Hawaiian. The author of the first wiki, Ward Cunningham, was amused enough by the name to name his project after it. Wikipedia came much latter. Matti Tapaninen, Kapinjal Chowdhury, Kani, Jaggi, Krithi and Ajit got it. Well done.

Question - 621

2011-03-03T20:36:00.000-08:00

A recreation (left) and a photograph (right) of the first few what of their kind?

Answer: These are the first few images transmitted on the television by John Logie Baird. Ameya, Iam, Divya Shankar, and Dinesh got it. Nicely done.

Question - 620

2011-03-01T22:09:00.000-08:00

These plaster casts of the original discovery are a ghastly reminder of what natural disaster?

Answer: The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius leading to the destruction of Pompeii. Dniesh, matti tapaninen, Krithi, Iam, Sribharath, and rajeev got it. Nicely done.

Question - 619

2011-02-28T20:48:00.001-08:00

The map on the left depicts an rating scale named after the person on the right. Identify.

Answer: The Sudanese telecom billionaire Mo Ibrahim (right)after whom the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (left) is named. Saket, Krithi, Divya Shankar, mekie, and Sribharath got it. Well done.

Question - 618

2011-02-24T19:32:00.000-08:00

Connect. (Hint: The white arrows in the left image)

Answer: I was looking for Ghibli - the local name for the Sirocco wind in Libya (left picture), famously mentioned in the Oscar-winning English Patient (top right). It lends its name to the wonderful Studio Ghibli (Hayao Miyazaki et al.) which is famous for producing many animated features including Miyazaki's Totoro (featured on Studio Ghibli's logo). Only Anonymous got it.

Question - 617

2011-02-23T17:18:00.000-08:00

This year's winner at what famous event?

Answer: The Sapporo snow festival. Jaggi and Krithi got it. Nicely done!

Question - 616

2011-02-22T18:32:00.000-08:00

What is inscribed on this object?

Answer: The Code of Hammurabi. Saket, Iam, Manix, Royan, matti tapaninen, and Dinesh got it. Nicely done.

Question - 615

2011-02-21T16:56:00.001-08:00

Connect through a term. The left-most person in the black-and-white picture is important.

Answer: The term is "bunga bunga" now popularized by the parties hosted by Silvio Berlusconi (top right). One of the earliest references to this term was in the Dreadnought hoax perpetuated on the British Admiralty by a team consisting of Virginia Woolf (left-most in the B/W pic and top left played by Nicole Kidman in The Hours). Sribharath, matti tapaninen, Abhishek, mekie, and Dinesh got it.

Question - 614

2011-02-17T19:50:00.001-08:00

Identify and connect.

Answer: The character Bane (left) in the upcoming Christopher Nolan movie Dark Knight Rises will be portrayed by Tom Hardy (right). Ameya, Hari, matti tapaninen, cobra 2020 fan, Kate Spartan, and Iam.

Question - 613

2011-02-16T18:41:00.000-08:00

What started this way?

Answer: The modern Miss Universe contest started out as the International Pageant of Pulchritude in Galveston, Texas in 1926. Ameya, matti tapaninen, Krithi, Dinesh, Saket, and Iam got it.

Question - 612

2011-02-15T18:24:00.000-08:00

What does this map depict? (Note: "It" is measured on a 10-point scale)

Answer: The Democracy index, which measures the state of democracy in 167 countries. Deepanshu, mekie, and Saket got it. Well done!

Question - 611

2011-02-14T19:47:00.001-08:00

Identify this historic structure.

Answer: Hadrian's wall, the Roman-era defense fortification in northern England. Ameya, Saket, mekie, Krithi, and Dinesh got it. Good job.

Question - 610

2011-02-10T19:15:00.000-08:00

The world championships of which school-yard game?

Hint:

Answer: Conkers, "a game traditionally played by children in Britain, Ireland, and some former British colonies using the seeds of horse-chestnut trees." Only Anand got. Awesome!

Question - 609

2011-02-09T20:51:00.000-08:00

Two different art forms dramatically depict what historical event?

Answer: The surrender of Vercingetorix, who tried to unite the Gauls against the Romans, to Julius Caesar. It is a central element in the Asterix comics plotline. Saket, Sameer Gauria, Mohan Phadnis, Dinesh, matti tapaninen, and Manix got it.

Question - 608

2011-02-08T20:06:00.001-08:00

This is an illustration of which prevalent theory?

Answer: Hubbert peak theory or peak oil theory. Ameya, Sameer Gauria, KAMANASISH, Jamie, Sribharath, Saket, and Manix got it.

Question - 607

2011-02-07T20:13:00.000-08:00

Identify and connect.

Answer: The connect is the Fountain of Youth. The map shows the 1513 voyage of the Ponce de Leon, who was famous for his quest for the fountain. The next installment of Pirates of the Caribbean (based on the book "On Stranger Tides" by Tim Powers) deals with a similar quest. Saket, Sribharath, matti tapaninen, Krithi, mekie, and Jamie got it. Good job.

Question - 606

2011-02-03T19:35:00.001-08:00

Identify the non-uniformed participants in this infamous 1937 meeting.

Answer: Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson (in the news through the movie "The King's Speech") meeting Hitler in 1937. Saket, matti tapaninen, mekie, Krithi, Dinesh, and Kaushik got it. Well done.

Question - 605

2011-02-02T23:14:00.000-08:00

What was this curious event?

Answer: Tulip mania. The figure charts the price of tulip bulb contracts showing the tulip bubble burst dramatically in February 1637 (as Dinesh pointed out, a history-of-the-day question courtesy Wikipedia). Ameya, Dinesh, and Kaushik got it. Great job.

Question - 604

2011-02-01T18:14:00.001-08:00

What is this? (via: Manix)

Answer: Internet traffic from Egypt during the January revolution. Sameer Gauria, Shyaps, Saket, arvind, and Jaggi got it. Well done.

Question - 603

2011-01-31T17:27:00.000-08:00

Connect (non-exhaustive).

Question - 602

2011-01-27T19:17:00.001-08:00

Connect the woman (in B/W) to the two images on the left.

Question - 601

2011-01-26T19:39:00.000-08:00

Identify this famous building.

Answer: The United States Bullion Depository, commonly called Fort Knox -- Google Maps link. Dinesh, Ameya, matti tapaninen, Divya Shankar, and Rajesh K got it. Nicely done.