Low Fundae

Conducted by:
Debasish Bhattacharjee

 On March 4, 1960, the French freighter La Coubre
suspiciously exploded in Havana Harbor, killing up to
100 people and injuring several hundred more.
 The following day, President Fidel Castro blamed the
CIA and called for a memorial service and mass
demonstration at Havana's Colón Cemetery, to honor
the victims.
 Fidel Castro gave a eulogy for the fallen and delivered
a fiery speech, using the words "Patria o Muerte"
("Homeland or Death") for the first time.
 Apart from these, what was arguably the most talked
about result of these events, which involved the rather
good-looking person in the next slide?

The famous pic called Guerrillero Heroico

 This is the larva of the wasp Reclinervellus
Nielseni. It has a rather tyrannical reputation as
a “bad guest”.
 What is it notorious for (depicted in the pic)?

 Reclinervellus Nielseni wasps are known to snatch
orb-weaving spiders, lay eggs on the arachnids
and fly away. The spiders continue with life as
usual—until the eggs hatch and the wasp larvae
emerge.
 A larva injects its host with potent venom that
zombifies the spider by hijacking its nervous
system. The tyrannical young wasp then forces the
eight-legged zombie to get to work building the
perfect nest. Once the project is complete, the larva
eats its complacent seamstress.

 These signatures could
be seen on an object in
the 1940s.
 This object was fairly
short-lived and only
this photograph among
others remain.
 What are we talking
about?

 Tail assembly of the Fat Man bomb, that was
dropped on Nagasaki.
 The signatures are those of the crew members
of the Bocks Car

 X had actually coined the slogan at National Cash
Registers (NCR) in 1911. “The trouble with every
one of us is that we don’t ______ enough!” he
shouted in a sales meeting, scrawling the word
______ across a chalkboard.
 With permission from his boss, John Patterson, he
had _______ signs made and hung in the office.
When Watson left NCR, he took ______ with him,
along with management strategies gleaned from
Patterson, one of the earliest company presidents
to establish sales training and incentives programs.
 Either ID X or fill in the blank (all blanks are the
same)

 Thomas Watson Sr, who coined the THINK
slogan, which was later popularized at IBM

 In 1909, John X was in the midst of expanding his
famed X department store in downtown Philadelphia
and wanted something grandiose to christen his new
150-foot high grand court in the center of the store.
 At the suggestion of his son, Rodman, X sent a
technician to check out an object, still languishing in a
warehouse.
 After the technician’s report, X decided that the object
was exactly what he was looking for, and he purchased
it for a reported “next to nothing.” It was loaded piece-
by-piece onto 13 freight cars and shipped to
Philadelphia.
 In 1911, X opened his new store to the public, with
President William Howard Taft in attendance.
 Either ID X or the object (pics in next slide).

 John Wanamaker and the Wanamaker organ

 X that is “hecho en México” (made in Mexico)
contains cane sugar rather than high-fructose corn
syrup.
 Hipsters and the trendy restaurants they patronize
have known about Mexican X for some time now,
and bodegas in Los Angeles have stocked it to
appeal to their Mexican-American customers.
 Connoisseurs swear there’s a discernible difference
between X made with sugar and X made with
high-fructose corn syrup—a truer, less “chemical-
y” taste; a realer real thing.
 What is X?

 Kate Walker was the first lady of her kind in the USA.
Walker's husband was originally assigned this task, but
came down with pneumonia.
 Before his death, his last reported words to her were “Mind
the lights, Katie.”
 After she temporarily took over the job, Walker ran against
bias: The government thought she was too small to do the
job, and looked for what they thought would be a hardier
man. But after several men turned down the position
because the location was too isolated, Walker was hired.
 She not only performed her job to perfection but also saved
50 lives.
 What was Katie’s job?

 She was the light keeper at New York harbor;
the first female light keeper in the US

 Natura Vive’s Skylodge Adventure Suites, located near the city of
Cuzco, is a hotel dangling above the Sacred Valley and the
Urubamba River. In total, there’s room for up to eight people in
the hotel's three capsules: Two of the capsules are divided into
modules that contain sleeping arrangements for four, a dry toilet
bathroom and a wooden folding table for meals. The third
capsule is the service capsule, where guides prepare breakfast
and dinner for the guests.
 The toilet has the best view, even though people usually draw the
curtains closed.
 What touristy activity does it help fulfil, the answer to which can
be found in a timeless classic composed by Daniel Alomía
Robles?

 Watching the endangered Andean condor soar
over Peru’s Sacred Valley along the Inca Road
in southern Peru.

 Legend has it that the diagram of Jorn Utzon’s design
was found in the rejection pile by Eero Saarinen.
 Utzon was likable, but had some habits that made
working with him difficult. He took "long, idyllic
holidays at crucial junctures," was reluctant to ask for
help, didn’t have a plan for how to support the weight
of his design and took on other projects while his main
project dragged on.
 Utzon left in 1966 (actually, he climbed over a back wall
after submitting his resignation to avoid the press). He
was owed $100,000, and the project ended up 1457
percent over budget.
 What was the final product of this project, which was
obviously a “failure in project management terms”?

 The lead-up starts with a meal of steak, eggs and
cake. A last-minute poker game is also part of the
ritual.
 It is standard for the participants to bring along a
stuffed toy for good luck.
 A new poster is designed featuring the participants
modeled after popular sci-fi movies.
 Of late carrying a towel for good luck has also
become an integral activity.
 Who follow these rituals?

 American astronauts embarking on a mission

 Canadian physician
Christopher Charles had
iron lumps molded into the
shape of the “try kantrop”,
a fish considered lucky in
Cambodian culture.
 This resulted in the use of
the “lucky iron fish”
skyrocketing.
 Charles had intended to
address a dietary issue
with the sale of this “fish”.
 How?

 In Cambodia, nearly two-thirds of women and
children are iron deficient.
 Fish-shaped iron ingots are being distributed
to rural Cambodian households with
instructions to place the fish in their cooking
pots while preparing meals.
 The iron from the “fish” leaches into the food
and raises iron levels in the blood.

 In 1787, Congress
authorized the first U.S.
cent, known as the
Fugio cent, made of
copper. It featured an
image of a sundial, and
underneath, stated “___
____ ______.” These
were the wise words of
Benjamin Franklin, who
is credited with
designing the coin.

 The bill was never circulated and was reserved
only for use by the Federal Reserve for large
transactions.
 A total of 42,000 certificates were produced and
later discontinued in 1935. All but a dozen or
so were destroyed.
 It is illegal to possess the bill, which is why
we’ve probably never seen one.
 What are we talking about?

 This event took a hiatus during World War II
as energy and resources were directed toward
the war effort.
 When the event returned in 1946, the pics in the
next slide were taken.
 It was held in Des Moines, Iowa, and the
winner was John McKinney.
 Which event that has undergone a sea change,
but where the expressions remain the same?

 Scripps National Spelling Bee

 X was fatally shot by an army sergeant as the barn he was
hiding in burned to the ground.
 Some conspiracy theorists maintained that X escaped to
Texas, and that the man shot outside that barn had merely
been a look-alike.
 In Finis L. Bates’ 1907 book, the author contends that X
assumed a new identity, John St. Helen, and lived in exile
until taking his own life in 1903.
 Following the success of his book, Bates began to display the
mummified cadaver he claimed was X’s at traveling
carnivals. The mummy, was for some reason “always clad in
khaki shorts,” changed hands several times, “bringing bad
luck to its owners.”
 ID X (Images in the next slide can be slightly disturbing.
Viewer discretion is recommended )

 For three quarters of a century, the supposed feud
between two sisters was the stuff of tabloid
dreams. Only 15 months apart, the sisters pursued
the same career, competed for the same Oscars and
even cozied up to some of the same men.
 One of them even adopted her stepfather’s
surname as “two __ ____’s on the marquee would
be too many”.
 In 1942, they were nominated for Best Actress,
becoming the first pair of siblings to compete for
an Oscar.
 ID both.

 Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine

 After X, he married the photojournalist Inge Morat and they had a
son. The kid was born with Down Syndrome and he hid it.
Despite his wife begging, he never wanted to see him.
 But one day they met by chance. He was giving a conference in
defense of a mentally handicapped person, who had been
sentenced to death after a forced confession. Amidst the public
was his son with Down Syndrome. After the conference, the son
went to the stand and hugged his father effusively.
 The father had no idea how to shake that man off, until the
unknown man released him and told him: "I'm your son Daniel
and I'm very proud of you, dad".
 This is a real life incident that finds a significant mention in the
movie "Los Abrazos Rotos" by Pedro Almodovar.
 Who was the famous father?

 Arthur Miller; X was Marilyn Monroe

 In Paris, Pablo Picasso entertained a distinguished
coterie of friends including André Breton, poet
Guillaume Apollinaire, writer Alfred Jarry, and
Gertrude Stein.
 When Apollinaire was arrested in 1911, he pointed
to his friend Picasso as a likely suspect.
 Picasso was also brought in for questioning, but
both were later exonerated.
 The culprit was found to be Vincenzo Peruggia.
 But what was the crime that Picasso was suspected
of?

 Theft of Mona Lisa from the Louvre

 It was painted in 1872,
depicting a Le Havre
port landscape. The art
critic Louis Leroy, in his
review, "L'Exposition
des __________," which
appeared in Le
Charivari, coined a
related term. It was
intended as
disparagement but the
___________
appropriated the term
for themselves.

 Impressionism; the painting is called
“Impression, Soleil Levant”

 Dear Mr Hill,
 Seeing that ... I have seen your fantastically entertaining and award-winning film The Sting, starring Paul
Newman and Robert Redford, and enjoyed it very much, it is all together fitting and proper that you should
‘discover’ me. Now, right away I know what you are thinking: ‘Who is this kid?’ and I can understand your
apprehensions. I am a nobody. No one outside of Skyline High School has heard of me ... My looks are not
stunning. I am not built like a Greek God, and I can’t even grow a mustache, but I figure if people will pay to
see certain films ... they will pay to see me.
 Let’s work out the details of my discovery. We can do it the way Lana Turner was discovered, me sitting on a
soda shop stool, you walk in and notice me and – BANGO – I am a star.
 Or maybe we can do it this way. I stumble into your office one day and beg for a job. To get rid of me, you give
me a stand-in part in your next film. While shooting the film, the star breaks his leg in the dressing room, and,
because you are behind schedule already, you arbitrarily place me in his part and – BANGO – I am a star.
 All of these plans are fine with me, or we could do it any way you would like, it makes no difference to me! But
let’s get one thing straight. Mr. Hill, I do not want to be some bigtime, Hollywood superstar with girls crawling
all over me, just a hometown American boy who has hit the big-time, owns a Porsche, and calls Robert Redford
‘Bob’.
 Respectfully submitted,
 Your Pal Forever,
 Thomas J Hanks
 Who wrote this letter in 1974?

 Dear Mr Hill,
 Seeing that ... I have seen your fantastically entertaining and award-winning film The Sting, starring Paul Newman and
Robert Redford, and enjoyed it very much, it is all together fitting and proper that you should ‘discover’ me. Now, right
away I know what you are thinking: ‘Who is this kid?’ and I can understand your apprehensions. I am a nobody. No one
outside of Skyline High School has heard of me ... My looks are not stunning. I am not built like a Greek God, and I can’t
even grow a mustache, but I figure if people will pay to see certain films ... they will pay to see me.
 Let’s work out the details of my discovery. We can do it the way Lana Turner was discovered, me sitting on a soda shop
stool, you walk in and notice me and – BANGO – I am a star.
 Or maybe we can do it this way. I stumble into your office one day and beg for a job. To get rid of me, you give me a
stand-in part in your next film. While shooting the film, the star breaks his leg in the dressing room, and, because you are
behind schedule already, you arbitrarily place me in his part and – BANGO – I am a star.
 All of these plans are fine with me, or we could do it any way you would like, it makes no difference to me! But let’s get
one thing straight. Mr. Hill, I do not want to be some bigtime, Hollywood superstar with girls crawling all over me, just a
hometown American boy who has hit the big-time, owns a Porsche, and calls Robert Redford ‘Bob’.
 Respectfully submitted,
 Your Pal Forever,
 Thomas J Hanks

 A four-minute video by the band the Ska
Vengers takes its title, Frank Brazil, from an
alias used by X during an undercover trip
overseas.
 It traces his life from Punjab to London 21
years later.
 Who is the subject of this video?

 Udham Singh, who killed General O’Dwyer in
London

 In a surprise blog post, Larry Page and Sergey
Brin, announced a radical shake-up of the
company’s corporate structure and
management, handing control of its core search
engine business to rising star Sundar Pichai.
 Not above poking a little fun at itself:
embedded in the script on the blog post was a
link to another company’s website.
 Which one?

 Hooli, the fictional version of Google from the
HBO comedy Silicon Valley

 Kiran Gandhi is a touring
drummer with musician M.I.A.
 Earlier this year, she ran the
London Marathon clocking a
finish time of 4:49:11.
 Lauded in many circles, she has
been vilified as well for an
“excessive feministic stance”.
 What exactly did she do (or not
do) while running the
marathon?

 Deliberately ran a “free flowing” race without
tampons

 Hisao Horiyama confided “We finished our
training and were given a slip of white paper
giving us three options: to volunteer out of a
strong desire, to simply volunteer, or to decline”.
 Horiyama was part of a dedicated unit of
ideologically conditioned warriors.
 The choice never had to be exercised by Horiyama,
owing to prevailing circumstances, which is why
he could recount this incident.
 Who were these “conditioned warriors”?

 Two countries’ designs look similar, with just a
scattering of stars to differentiate them.
 This has led to some new designs being
submitted, which will be put to a referendum
later this year.
 Some of the more grotesque ones are shown in
the next slide.
 What will the chosen design be used for?

 X asked his Twitter followers
to send him ____s in which
they gave the Vulcan salute,
the famous greeting associated
with Leonard Nimoy’s pointy-
eared alien character in Star
Trek.
 He did not say what it was for.
The images have all been put
together in a huge mosaic to
create a picture of Nimoy
himself, as Spock, making the
Vulcan salute.
 ID X and fill in the blank.

 William Shatner asked his followers to send in
selfies with the Vulcan salute

 "After a fortnight's work he will swagger about for
a month or two with a sword at his side and a
servant following him, from one ball-court to the
next, ever ready to engage in a fight or an
argument," wrote one observer about the painter
Caravaggio.
 An analysis of Caravaggio’s suspected bones have
recently revealed a probable cause of his death,
which could also explain the eccentricities of Goya
and Van Gogh.
 What was revealed, which has a significant recent
Indian connect?

 Caravaggio suffered from lead poisoning, from
his paints

 There was some early talk of this city – which
means “capital” in the local language – being
named after the president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.
 Since independence, he has been the only
president of the country, with an electoral victory
earlier this year in which he received a whopping
97.7% of votes.
 With an emphasis on “infrastructure”, very few of
the buildings in the capital city seem to have been
designed with practicality in mind. (Pics in next
slide)
 ID this capital city.

 Askan, the capital of Kazakhastan

 It is an assignment that Kate Moss, who has
appeared on the cover of British Vogue 36 times,
described as “the best job ever”. Clive Arrowsmith,
who has taken portraits of everyone from Michael
Caine to the Dalai Lama, likened it to “a
knighthood of photography”.
 A key part of the legend is that it is not available to
purchase, but sent to a secret list of high-rollers
and international public figures. This exclusivity is
now entirely academic – the images are widely
published on the internet – but it sets a context no
less powerful for being imaginary.
 What are we referring to?

 After X died in 1991, his widow,
Audrey Geisel, gathered a
collection of sketches and drafts
into a box and forgot about them.
A couple of years ago, the now 93-
year-old Geisel, her longtime
assistant and Cathy Goldsmith, the
designer who worked on the last
six books, rediscovered them.
 It turns out they were the skeleton
of a complete story. Out of a
collection of black-and-white
drawings and the faded, typed
rhymes taped to the pictures, the
team has recreated a story entitled
“What Pet Should I Get?”
 Who is X?

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