Below are six trivia questions. If you’d like to participate, you can either reply to this e-mail or submit your answers via Google Forms by using the button below. You can find our rules and guidelines by following this link.
1) Yeah, uh-huh, you know what it is: the title of a certain 2010 song that is about the singer’s Dodge Challenger, as well as about the city he grew up in, contains two colors. Of those two colors, WHICH ONE is most associated with the river with its source in the Bayan Har Mountains and that flows out to the Bohai Sea?
2) In the 2010 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, a team led by Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo took on Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, and Vince Carter’s team. NAME the team that lost that playoff series.
3) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, originally a radio broadcast created by Douglas Adams, was adapted into several other formats, including six novels. In those works, the titular guide is described as the encyclopedia that many civilizations prefer over competitors for two reasons: First, the Hitchhiker’s Guide is slightly cheaper, and second, it has WHAT TWO WORDS inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover?
4) A 1958 album sometimes cited as “the first British comedy LP created in a recording studio” was produced by WHOM? One of a few people sometimes called the “fifth Beatle,” he produced most of the albums by the Beatles and produced the songs “Goldfinger” and “Live and Let Die” for the same-named James Bond films.
5) “Espero Alegre la Salida – y Espero no Volver jamás” (“I joyfully await the exit – and I hope never to return”) were the last written words of a certain artist, who passed away in 1954. Before writing those words, though, she wrote WHAT three words on her last painting, which words (whether meant earnestly or sardonically) translate to the English phrase “long live life”?
6) Each of the answers in this newsletter can, at least in part, be associated with WHAT specific group?
The recap for Trivia Newsletter CXIX will be delayed until Monday. In lieu of that recap, we’ve looked into a crystal ball and plucked a recap from the future. For this recap, the answers are all in the footnotes at the end of this newsletter. For clarity’s sake: You have not seen the below questions before, and you should not submit answers to them. Think of this as a holdover so that you have something to read in lieu of the normal recap.
Trivia Newsletter MMCCXCIII Recap
1) In 1962, a 27-year-old man with the first name Salvatore met a 16-year-old girl with the last name Sarkisian; shortly thereafter, they were known as “Caesar and Cleo” and then known by WHAT NAME? The song “Baby Don't Go” was one of their first hits.
The answer is in the footnotes of this newsletter.1 We’ve spaced them out, but because Substack has no “spoiler text” feature, we recommend that you scroll slowly if you want to play along.
The name “Caesar and Cleo” was inspired directly by the 1963 film Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor in the eponymous role and Richard Burton as Mark Antony. The film was (at the time) the most expensive film ever made, holding that distinction for fifteen years until the release of Superman.
2) WHAT is the name of Australia’s longest river, also the last name of the author of the landmark eighteenth-century essay “On the Equality of the Sexes”? Five of the next six longest rivers of Australia—the Murrumbidgee, Darling, Lachlan, Warrego and Paroo Rivers—are tributaries of this river.
The answer is in the footnotes of this newsletter.2
“On the Equality of the Sexes” doesn’t enjoy the coverage that works like A Vindication of the Rights of Women receive, despite predating A Vindication and many other feminist works. It’s a pretty brisk read—an excerpt is below:
Yes, ye lordly, ye haughty sex, our souls are by nature equal to yours; the same breath of God animates, enlivens, and invigorates us; and that we are not fallen lower than yourselves, let those witness who have greatly towered above the various discouragements by which they have been so heavily oppressed; and though I am unacquainted with the list of celebrated characters on either side, yet from the observations I have made in the contracted circle in which I have moved, I dare confidently believe that from the commencement of time to the present day, there hath been as many females as males, who, by the mere force of natural powers, have merited the crown of applause; who, thus unassisted, have seized the wreath of fame.
3) NAME the artist's residency program based in Peterborough, New Hampshire that was founded in 1907 and that is named after its founders, a composer and a pianist. The program’s website claims that the attendees of the program have collectively received 868 Guggenheim Fellowships, 122 Rome Prizes, 98 Pulitzer Prizes, 33 National Book Awards, 31 Tony Awards, and many other distinctions.
The answer is in the footnotes of this newsletter.3
The program is responsible for some of the most beloved works in twentieth-century American arts. Our Town, the play by Thornton Wilder, was written while Wilder was a resident in the program, and its fictional setting of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire is modeled after Peterborough. The novel Porgy by DuBose Heyward (later the basis for the play Porgy by Heyward and his wife Dorothy Heyward, which was itself the basis of the opera Porgy and Bess composed by George Gershwin) was written while DuBose was in the program—in fact, DuBose and Dorothy met because of the program. James Baldwin was convinced to publish his seminal essay collection Notes of a Native Son while part of the program. This list keeps going: Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Willa Cather, Alice Walker, and Jonathan Franzen are just some of the many people who produced notable works while in residence at the program.
4) History of a Six Weeks' Tour through a part of France, Switzerland, Germany, and Holland; with Letters Descriptive of a Sail Round the Lake of Geneva and of the Glaciers of Chamouni is the not-so-concise name of a travel narrative published in 1817 and written by WHAT two English romantics? Probably the most notable piece in the narrative is the poem “Mont Blanc.”
The answer is in the footnotes to this newsletter.4
The poem “Mont Blanc” is generally understood to be a response to poems such as “Lines Written (or Composed) a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour, July 13, 1798” by William Wordsworth. People just call that second poem “Tintern Abbey,” which is odd because Tintern Abbey doesn’t actually appear in the poem. Now that I write that out, a Question #6 where the answers were all “titles of works where the title thing does not actually appear in the work” could have been fun.
I didn’t feel like writing something to expand on the above, so I asked ChatGPT, the OpenAI chatbot that has been in the news lately (“GPT” stands for Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, by the way), to weigh in. I’ve redacted the name that is an answer to Question #4 of this recap:
Me: Hi, could you write a comparison between Wordsworth's poem "Tintern Abbey" and [REDACTED]’s poem "Mont Blanc"?
ChatGPT: Certainly, here's a comparison between Wordsworth's poem "Tintern Abbey" and [REDACTED]’s poem "Mont Blanc":
1) Nature: Both poems are about nature, but "Tintern Abbey" focuses on the beauty and power of nature and how it can affect human emotion, whereas "Mont Blanc" focuses on the majesty and sublimity of nature and the role of the poet in transcribing its magnificence.
2) Tone: "Tintern Abbey" is a contemplative and introspective poem, while "Mont Blanc" is more grandiose and imaginative.
3) Poetic Style: Wordsworth is known for his use of the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" in his poetry, while [REDACTED] is known for his use of highly imaginative and philosophical language.
4) Theme: "Tintern Abbey" is about the connection between human beings and nature, and how this connection provides a source of comfort and renewal. "Mont Blanc" is about the power of nature and the role of the poet in transcribing its magnificence.
Me: Okay, but can you talk a little about how "Mont Blanc" was written after "Tintern Abbey" and how it directly responds to Wordsworth's views on nature?
ChatGPT: Yes, of course! "Mont Blanc" by [REDACTED] was written after "Tintern Abbey" by William Wordsworth and is seen as a direct response to Wordsworth's views on nature.
Wordsworth believed in the power of nature to inspire the individual and bring them closer to the divine, and his poetry reflects this idea, often focusing on the emotional impact of nature on the human psyche. In "Tintern Abbey," for example, Wordsworth speaks of the way in which his memories of the landscape at Tintern Abbey provide comfort and renewal.
[REDACTED], on the other hand, was more skeptical of Wordsworth's views, feeling that they were too limited in scope. In "Mont Blanc," [REDACTED] directly challenges Wordsworth's views by focusing on the grandeur and sublimity of nature, and arguing that the true role of the poet is to transcribe these magnificent aspects of the natural world.
[REDACTED]’s emphasis on the sublime aspects of nature, and his rejection of Wordsworth's focus on the emotional impact of nature, can be seen as a direct response to Wordsworth's views. By doing so, [REDACTED] was pushing the boundaries of Romanticism and challenging traditional views of the role of nature in poetry.
In conclusion, both poems are about nature and its impact on human experience, but they differ in tone, style, and theme, with "Tintern Abbey" emphasizing the emotional impact of nature and "Mont Blanc" focusing on its grandeur and sublimity.
5) Though her most notable songs are “Pieces of Me” and “La La,” Ashlee Simpson’s second single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 has WHAT one-word name? The song is about how Ashlee viewed herself and her ambitions in relation to her more famous sister, Jessica Simpson.
The answer is in the footnotes to this newsletter.5
Though Ashlee Simpson has appeared in many television shows (mostly in the capacity of “herself” and/or “judge”), such as America’s Next Top Model, Punk’d, and (somewhat infamously) Saturday Night Live, her most notable role (in addition to the Melrose Place revival) was as Simon Camden’s one-time girlfriend in seasons 7 and 8 of WHAT television show? That answer is also in the footnotes of this newsletter.6
6) WHAT film is the theme of this newsletter?
The answer, and explanation, are at the bottom of the footnotes of this newsletter.7
Question #6 Leaderboard
The Question #6 leaderboard can be viewed at this link.
SONNY & CHER
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MURRAY RIVER (the author is Judith Sargent Murray)
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MACDOWELL (until 2020, it was the “MacDowell Colony,” but the word “colony” was dropped due to its connotations)
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MARY SHELLEY AND PERCY SHELLEY (Percy is the author of “Mont Blanc”)
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“SHADOW”
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7th Heaven
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Each of the sets of questions and answers related to the 1993 film Groundhog Day:
Question #1: Sonny & Cher - The Sonny & Cher song “I Got You Babe” is the song that the film’s protagonist repeatedly hears as his day repeats.
Question #2: Murray River - Bill Murray plays the protagonist of Groundhog Day.
Question #3: MacDowell - Andie MacDowell plays the protagonist’s love interest in Groundhog Day.
Question #4: The name of the work in the question includes the phrase “six weeks,” which is the length of time relevant to the prediction ostensibly made by a groundhog on Groundhog Day.
Question #5: “Shadow” - The groundhog seeing, or not seeing, its shadow is at the crux of the Groundhog Day prediction.
Newsletter Number: You didn’t have a title this time! It probably would have been “What Is This, Miami Beach?”, the line that Murray’s character repeatedly hears on the radio, or perhaps “Then Put Your Little Hand in Mine,” the line of “I Got You Babe” that starts Murray’s character’s mornings. Your clue, though, was that this hypothetical newsletter was Newsletter MMCCXCIII, which is #2293, a reference to February 2, 1993: Groundhog Day in the year that the film was released.