So long

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

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

Question - 698

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

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

Question - 696

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

Question - 695

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

Question - 694

What got its name from this sketch?

Question - 693

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

Question - 692

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

Question - 691

Connect. (question courtesy Divya Shankar)

Question - 690

Identify the area between the curves.

Question 689

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

Question - 688

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

Question - 687

Identify the guy.

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

Question - 686

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

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

Question - 684

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

This is a new fad. What are they doing?

Question - 682

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

Question - 681

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

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

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

Who really won the election?

Question - 677

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.