Prelims + Answers: MELAS Quiz at Interrobang 2016

Interrobang: NALSAR Quiz Festival 2016
MELAS Quiz
(Movies, Entertainment, Literature, Art and Sports)
Prelims
Conducted by Lokesh Kaza

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• Agranee Kapoor
• Amritha Kumar
• Anna Thomas
• Balaji Subramanian
• Debarpan Ghosh
• Pallavi Balakrishnan
• Ribhu Mukherjee
• Siddharth Rajeevan

AND..
• Volunteers
• NALSAR alumni
• Administration

RULES
• 30 questions
• No negative marking
• Top 8 teams in the finals
• Part-points applicable as and when mentioned
• Questions 11-20 are star-marked and will be used to break
ties, if any
• Phones to be switched off/or in silent mode
• Quizmaster’s decision is final

1.
This is a picture of steam locomotive no. 5972 Olton Hall which is a 4-6-0
Hall class locomotive. Built in April 1937 at Swindon railway works for
the Great Western Railway, it last shed allocation was to Cardiff East
Dock, after which it it was withdrawn in December 1963, and sold as
scrap.
More than three decades later, the locomotive was put to use for
something else.
What use?

2.
X represented the U.S.A. at the Pan American Games in Sao Paulo and
his team reached the finals. However, his promising career in soccer was
cut short due to a severe knee injury.
While at the Games, he started for the U.S. team and, as usual,
established himself as the locker room joker. “He created a little bit of
levity,” says David Coonin, one of his teammates, “but everybody was
always a little afraid of messing with him because he was so quick-
witted.”
Identify X.

3.
The ______ family can be traced to the Irish clan Ó Pronntaigh, which
literally means "grandson of Pronntach". They were a family of
hereditary scribes and literary men in Fermanagh.
The name is derived from the word pronntach, which is related to the
word bronnadh, meaning giving or bestowal. It was suggested that it
derives from proinnteach (a refectory of a monastery). The word was
later anglicised to what we know it to be today.
What word?

4.
A popular story is that X has been depicted using sign language with his
hands to represent the initials in his name. The National Park Service has
denied this calling it an urban legend.
However, historian Gerald Prokopowicz writes that the sculptor Daniel
Chester French had intentionally done this because he was familiar with
American Sign Language, and he would have had a reason to do so, i.e.,
paying tribute to X for having signed the federal legislation giving Gallaudet
University, a university for the deaf, the authority to grant college degrees.
The National Geographic Society's publication, "Pinpointing the Past in
Washington, D.C." states that French also had a son who was deaf, which
gives further legitimacy to the story that it was an intentional tribute.
Whose sculpture is being described here?

5.
This is a team sport on horseback where each rider uses a cane or
fibreglass stick to which is attached a racquet head with a loose, thread
net, in which the ball is carried. The ball is made of sponge rubber and is
approximately four inches across. The objective is to score goals by
throwing the ball between the opposing team's goal posts.
What is the exact name of the sport?

6.
“I think in terms of another one, the story of this guy's search for his identity is over, because
he's got all the answers, so there's no way we can trot out the same character, and so much
of what makes him interesting is that internal struggle that was happening for him, am I a
good guy, am I a bad guy, what is the secret behind my identity, what am I blocking out, why
am I remembering these disturbing images? So all of that internal propulsive mechanism
that drives the character is not there, so if there was to be another one then it would have to
be a complete reconfiguration, you know, where do you go from there? For me I kind of feel
like the story that we set out to tell has now been told. We could get the band back together
if there was a great idea behind it, but in terms of now and this story,—the story's been
told...”
This statement made in 2007 seems to be oddly serendipitous considering that the speaker is
in fact getting back to the story nine years after the last instalment featuring him was
released.
Who talking about what?

7.
‘I Will Never Be a Star’ is a song sung by Bjarte _____åker and was uploaded onto
YouTube in 2014. The lyrics of the song go like this:
“They're amazing, don't you think?
So incredibly talented
So many hits on YouTube
So many things to live up to
They've had a wonderful career
But I was never asked to join them
Oh God, how can it be?
Those two did not ask me?”
Looking at these screen grabs from the music video, fill in the blank. (in Bjarte’s
surname).

8.
These are illustrations from the 1976 Soviet edition of which book?

9.
There was initially some confusion as to which of these two works by Gottfried
Helnwein was the source of inspiration for this song, as both works were called by
the same name.
The lead vocalist of the band later confirmed that their inspiration had been the
James Dean poster, and not the painting (a spoof of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks)
which featured Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, James Dean and Humphrey Bogart. However,
it is understandable as to why the painting was given the title. It reflected how all
rose to mega-star status but had their lives and aspirations dashed later. In the
original ‘Nighthawks’ painting, the four figures seem equally isolated and alone.
What song was this, which was also the title of both the poster and the painting?

10.
X (in the centre) was very close to his cousin Y (on his left) and the two kept in
regular contact despite the geographical distance between them.
When X’s team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, won their first National Rugby League
premiership in 43 years in 2014, Y was one of the first to tweet his congratulations.
And before last year's Cricket World Cup, Y warmly recounted how he celebrated
New Year's Day 2015 with his cousin in Australia.
X and Y?

Starred questions follow
Questions 11-20

11*.
Dorian Leigh Parker started modelling in the 1940s at the late age of 27 but, with a
face that was classically-boned, eyes of hypnotic blue and an air of feminine mystery,
she quickly became one of the most famous models in the world.
During her long life , Dorian Leigh (who dropped her surname when she first started
modelling) had several husbands and a legion of A-list affairs. X became fascinated
with her, and was a frequent visitor to her New York apartment. He learned to gain
entry through the fire escape, and she would come home to find him playing with her
cats. X coined a nickname for her, "Happy-go- lucky", and inside his head a character
began to form – a woman with a more than liberal take on the rules of life, who later
become one of the most memorable characters of 20th century fiction.
Identify X and the character based on her.

TRUMAN CAPOTE, HOLLY GOLIGHTLY,

12*.
'American Pie' is a song by American folk rock singer Don McLean. Recorded and released in
1971, the single was a number-one US hit for four weeks. Except to acknowledge that he
first learned about it more than a decade ago when he was folding newspapers for his paper
route, McLean has generally avoided responding to direct questions about the song lyrics.
But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
___ ____ ___ _____ ____.
Fill in the blanks.

13*.
The X Foundation, known in French as Moulinsart is the official organization
that looks after the world of X and his creations. The name Moulinsart (better
known to us through its English translation) was chosen as the name for the
foundation's commercial and copyright wing, set up to actively work to protect
and promote the work of X.
In 2006, the Dalai Lama bestowed the International Campaign for Tibet's
Light of Truth Award upon the X Foundation. The award was the Dalai
Lama's recognition of Y, X's most personal adventure, which was based on his
recurring dreams of whiteness and his desire to create an adventure based
around it. Accepting on behalf of the Foundation, X's widow Fanny Rodwell
stated, "We never thought that this story of friendship would have a resonance
more than 40 years later."
X and Y?

14*.
This painting was the subject of a book written in 1999 by Tracy Chevalier, an
American historical novelist. Named after the painting, the book presents a fictional
account of X (the painter), the model, and the painting. In the novel, X becomes close
with a fictional servant named Griet (based on Chevalier's close friend Georgia
Kendall), whom he hires as an assistant to sit for him as a painting model while
wearing something belonging to his wife.
The novel inspired a 2003 film starring Scarlett Johansson as Griet, and
subsequently got nominated for several awards. Johansson dyed her eyebrows to
better resemble the subject of the painting and cinematographer Eduardo Serra
employed diffused lighting and different film stock when filming scenes to reflect the
"magical luminosity" of X's artwork.
a) What is the name of the painting/book/film?
b) Name the artist.

GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING, JOHANNES
VERMEER

15*.
In this 2005 commercial, X returns from practise to see a policeman issuing a ticket to him.
The conversation between the two of them is as follows:
X: Is there a problem, officer?
Cop: It‘s (X’s car) is parked outside the space.
X: It’s on the line.
Cop: I’m sorry, sir. It’s out.
X: It’s IN!
Cop: Calm down, sir. It’s out.
X: IT’S IN! HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY CALL THAT? I MEAN, IT’S CLEARLY IN.
Cop: It’s out.
(goes on a few more times)
X: YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS.
Who is X?

16*.
Arthur Everett Scholl was an American aerobatic pilot, flight instructor and
educator based in Southern California. He died nearly three decades ago when
his Pitts S-2 plane failed to recover from an intentional flat spin and plunged
into the Pacific Ocean. Observers watched the plane continue to spin as it
descended past the planned recovery altitude.
Scholl's last words over the radio were "I have a problem — I have a real
problem", after which the plane impacted the ocean. The exact cause of
the crash was never determined. Neither the aircraft nor Scholl's body were
ever recovered.
Why was Scholl attempting these intentional flat spins?

17*.
"In the last couple of years the media has kind of had been really fixated on kind of
painting me as this psycho-serial dater girl. It's been awesome. I loved it. And you
know, it got pretty out of control there for a couple of years, because every article
would be like '______ _____ standing near some guy. Watch out guy!' Every single
article had these desriptions of my personality, which was very different from my
actual personality.... My first reaction was like, 'Man, that's a bummer. This isn't fun
for me.
But my second reaction was 'Hey, that's actually kind of a really interesting
character you're writing about....like she jetsets around the world collecting men, and
she can get any of them but she's so clingy that they leave, and then she cries, and
then she gets another one in her web and she traps them, locks them in her mansion,
and she's crying in a marble bath tub surrounded by pearls'. So I figured, I could use
this."

18*.
The story X, by Y has a somewhat autobiographical element to it by virtue of the fact
that Y, like the character in the book had also crashed his plane in the Sahara desert
in 1935. In Y's autobiography ‘Wind, Sand and Stars’, he recalls how he had survived
the crash, only to face extreme dehydration, mirages and vivid hallucinations.
It has also been suggested that the eponymous hero's home Asteroid B-612 was
derived from a progression of one of the planes Y flew as an airmail pilot, which bore
the serial number A-612.
a) What is the title of this story, which also had an animated fantasy film adaptation
last year?
b) Who is Y?

THE LITTLE PRINCE, ANTOINE DE SAINT-
EXUPÉRY

19.*
This is a clip from Shalimar, a 1978 Bollywood film starring Dharmendra and Zeenat
Aman. X, an English actor appeared in a supporting role in this film and is seen here
playing the role of Sir John Locksley.
However, X is known most famously to us for having won an Academy Award for the
movie Y.
a) Identify X (or) give me the name of the character he played in Y.
b) Which film is Y?

REX HARRISON/HENRY HIGGINS, MY FAIR
LADY

20*.
He was the main character in the 16-bit video game released for the Commodore
Amiga and Atari ST in 1992. The only game ever made by Kaitsu Software, the game
is a beat-em-up similar to Battletoads or Streets of Rage.
a) Who are you playing this game as?
b) What is the game called?

21.
The title of this British sitcom is a play on the title of a 1941 Orson Welles
film. The sitcom is centered around a Pakistani Muslim, played by Adil Ray
and it follows the trials and tribulations of his character, a loud-mouthed,
patriarchal, cricket-loving community leader. The character's first name is
never revealed.
What is the title of the sitcom?

22.
Who is Harley Quinn’s ‘spirit animal’?

23.
While the stories themselves are quite depressing, and the author has, on multiple
occasions discouraged the reader from pursuing his books, what adds to the general
bleak feel of the story might be a few of the literary allusions that are made. Some of
them are:
The protagonists are named after a 19th century poet who is most famous for his
morbid poetry collection ‘The flowers of evil’. Other characters in the story include
Mr. Poe, with his two sons called Edgar and Allan, obviously named after our beloved
writer of the macabre.
The story also features Virginia Woolfsnake, a slithery creature that "should never
be allowed near a typewriter". The books also introduce briefly an Esme Squalor,
who draws her name from J.D. Salinger's short story , "For Esme-With Love and
Squalor".
Which hapless set of books seem to be revelling in such despair, which also had a

LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF
UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

24.
This is an artist's imagination of how Disney classics would look like if they were
directed by whom?

25.
Whose stage presence is this?

26.
In 1980, the brothers X founded Percy Main Productions, named after the English
village where their father grew up. In 1995, the duo renamed the company, with the
new name X Y Productions, a wordplay on their surname.
Together, they've given us Thelma and Louise, Enemy of the State, Gladiator, Black
Hawk Down, and The A-Team, among other films. The most recent X Y movie was
released in November last year and was a contender for Best Picture at the Oscars
last week.
Give me X Y, the wordplay on the X brothers' surname.

27.
X was the title of the fifth episode of the fifth season of the American television
drama series Y. It premiered on Showtime on November 1, 2015.
The episode title refers to the necessity of the lead character in Y (played by Claire
Danes) getting in touch with her mentor, a character essayed by Mandy Patinkin. X
is also a reference to another television series of the same name, whose second
season premiered on February 15, 2016. The lead role in this series is played by Bob
Odenkirk.
X and Y?

28.
On Pretty Little Liars Season 2, Episode 18: “A Kiss Before Lying”, the girls
discovered one of Alison’s (the protagonist) biggest secrets: she had an alternate
identity named Vivian Darkbloom. Vivian was a bit older and was friends with quite
a few people in the town of Rosewood, the place that the show centers around.
This revelation, as per TV audiences cast a very different light on relationships in
the show, from how they had viewed them before. Spencer, the antagonist quickly
realized that this alternate identity was a character often used by X to make cameo
appearances in his novels.
Who was X or what is unique about the alternate identity?

VLADIMIR NABOKOV (VIVIAN DARKBLOOM
IS AN ANAGRAM)

29.
This is a track from the 2004 Telugu romantic comedy film Malliswari starring
Katrina Kaif and Venkatesh. What has the song been inspired by?

30.
In 2013, more than 5,600 official entrants were stopped and sent back and were
therefore, unable to finish. Therefore, they were all invited to do so the next year and
were issued with a non-transferable, unique code.
"The opportunity to do so amid thousands of spectators is a significant part of the
entire experience," said Tom Grilk, the executive director, in a press release when
asked about this.
Where was this happening and why were they sent back?

BOSTON MARATHON, DUE TO THE 2013
BOMBINGS

Prelims + Answers: MELAS Quiz at Interrobang 2016

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Prelims + Answers: MELAS Quiz at Interrobang 2016

Similar to Prelims + Answers: MELAS Quiz at Interrobang 2016 (20)

More from Lokesh Kaza

More from Lokesh Kaza (17)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Prelims + Answers: MELAS Quiz at Interrobang 2016