Mrs Cuprum and I went to a breast cancer charity evening in a nearby village hall on Friday evening, 100 people in teams of four all having fun raising money.
Now I’m a quiz fan, and have even made it onto TV in NZ 6 years ago with my pub team from Papanui’s Rose and Thistle. I know quizzes aren’t many people’s cup of tea, but you do learn some little gems, some of which I shall share in a mo.
This evening was well organised with a bar and an auction at the end, Mrs C bid and won a full car valet which will be useful having seen the dog and horse debris in her Skoda! There was a fish and chip supper at half time, and the rounds were themed, most noticeably the Food and Drink round.
A first for me I have to say – all teams were given a tray with a plate of 5 meats, all breast of course, from various poultry including guinea fowl, pigeon, turkey, partridge and chicken. On the tray was also 5 shot glasses of milk, and we were told of 6 options that we had to work out which 5 were of those 6. Soya, Llama, oat, goat, rice, and, wait for it…human!
I in my infinite wisdom said, well there’s no way that they’d do the human so let’s taste and work out the 5 in correct order. Happily we all tasted and discussed and came to some sort of choice…….
How wrong was I??!! Well, there you go. For the first time in nearly 40 years, I had a taste of human milk. I’ll stick to cow juice in the future!!
Back to the quiz – a brilliant question or two for your delectation:
What was the first book written on a typewriter?
Name the four kings that were used for the kings in a pack of cards.
I have more if anyone wishes, or if this really isn’t your thing I shall go quietly put on my anorak! (For those interested, I got the first one correct but was very wrong on the second!)
Boadicea's Chariot 
I would have failed both questions.
Hmmm, when were type writers invented….? That may help.
The human milk maked me laugh. I has a distinctive blueish transparent colour which makes it look different from cow’s milk, but I’m not sure I’d recognise it. It is also quite sweet.
Nice one
SoutieCuprum,I don’t know either of those answers. I remember Charlemagne was one of the Kings, but not which suit.
I was at a fundraiser last week where there was a goodun’
Q. Which was the first man made invention to break the sound barrier?
I got it wrong. 😦
Ferret, a whip?
First typewriter 1874….
Well done Nym,
I went with bullet. 😦
First novel written on a typewriter: does that mean the first one written (composed) straigth onto a typrwriter, or the first one submitted on a typewriter?
Pseu and a whip. The mind boggles!
OZ
Smiles sagely.
You haven’t been reading your UK papers, Cuprum. An ice cream parlour in Covent Garden is advertising ice cream made from human milk…
And I haven’t been reading my post headers.
It must be the gravatar pic top right, but I thought this was a post from Soutie.
Muchos apologees Cuprum and Soutie. I shall now take myself outside and have words. Stoopid mustelid.
It sounds like a round of Masterchef, with a bit of Heston Blumenthal thrown in. I could do with a full valeting on my car as it is looking a bit tatty at the moment! 🙂
I think there is a rumour that the four kings are supposed to represent Charlemange, David, Julius Caesar and Alexander, but it turns out this is probably an urban myth.
It appears that Life on the Mississippi was the first manuscript to be submitted in typewritten form, although it was handwritten by Mark Twain before it was typed. Others claim that it was the earlier The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but this is said to be incorrect. Whichever, it was authored by Twain.
What about the first book composed directly onto a typewriter?
William S. Burroughs wrote in some of his novels — and possibly believed — that “a machine he called the ‘Soft Typewriter’ was writing our lives, and our books, into existence,” according to a book review in The New Yorker. And, in the film adaptation of his novel, “Naked Lunch,” his typewriter is a living, insect-like entity (voiced by Burroughs himself) and actually dictates the book to him.
Ernest Hemingway used to write his books standing up in front of a Royal typewriter suitably placed on a tall bookshelf. This typewriter, still on its bookshelf, is kept in Finca Vigia, Hemingway’s Havana house (now a museum) where he lived until 1960–the year before his death.
Jack Kerouac, a fast typist at 100 words per minute, typed On the Road on a roll of paper so he wouldn’t be interrupted by having to change the paper, pushing him back into the world’s inauthenticity.”
from: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071028181024AAtE1Ws
I had no idea of the answers to either, but I am not ahem, that great at pub quizzes to be honest 😉 Interesting about Mark Twain though. I loved those books when I was little, particularly the bit where Tom Sawyer has to whitewash a long fence for some misdemeanor or other and ends up bribing half the kids in his street with apples to do the dirty work instead.
Well, Bearsy, I shall bow down to your greater knowledge on Twain, but the answer that
onewon the point was Tom Sawyer! I must have heard it in Papanui and it stuck. The joys of quizzes I guess!And FEEG, you are a true genius! That was the answer tht won the points, although I did challenge it as JC wasn’t even a king, but there you go!
Ferret, no offence taken, I’m delighted to be confused with one of the three wise fore fathers (sorry, persons!)
Boadicea – I was aware of the Covent Garden Ice cream story and that was what made me so sure that we didn’t have breast milk on Friday as the parlour had been banned from selling it as it hadn’t passed various H&S tests! Serves me right for having such faith in rules and regulations!
And Pseu – Hemmingway was most people’s answer!