QUICKIE QUIZ

From the BRI's 16th Edition:

Actor Jack Lemon once told this story: "In the early 1970s I received an award, and I had a chauffeur who told me he wanted to be a comedian. He said, 'Mr. Lemon, if I'm successful, I want to be your neighbor in Beverly Hills.'"

Who was that chauffeur?

a) Rodney Dangerfield

b) Lemon's driver, Bill Papp. "Kid," Lemon said. "You're not funny. But if you work for me, at least you'll pay the rent."

c) Jay Leno

d) Dr. Phil (He decided nagging people was easier than comedy.)

For the answer, click here.

THE ZOMBIE QUIZ

Here's a condensed version of the BRI's quiz on zombies. For the answers to this quiz, click here.

1. What is a zombie?
a) Someone possessed by the devil
b) Someone who's been given the evil eye by gypsy
c) A tropical drink containing lime, pineapple, papaya juice and four kinds of rum
d) A dead person come back to life

2. How does a person become a zombie?
a) Have a few of those rum drinks, and go and play in traffic
b) Flip through all 500 channels on your TV
c) Getting bitten or killed by another zombie

3. What do zombies drink?
a) Zombies
b) water
c) half decaf, half regular nonfat double lattes
d) nothing

4. How smart are zombies?
a) They'd be smarter if they didn't drink rum-based cocktails
b) Some intelligence but not much
c) Totally mindless
d) Dumber than mindless

5. What is the average life span of a zombie?
a) Until the next full moon
b) Two weeks at the most
c) Three to five years
d) With enough flesh, forever

6. How strong are zombies?
a) Weak - like a Zombie cocktail without the rum
b) As strong as they were when they were alive, just slower
c) Double the strength of a human
d) Able to leap buildings in a single bound

7. How do you kill a zombie?
a) Holy water
b) Destroy the brain
c) Feed it vegetarians until it dies from malnutrition
d) Tie it to a tree and wait for the sun to come up

8. What happens when you chop off a zombie head?
a) It dies
b) The body grows a new head, the head grows a new body
c) The body is dead, but the head still lives
d) The body will live on, but the head dies

9. What is the weapon of choice when fighting a zombie?
a) hand grenade
b) hatchet
c) flamethrower
d) rifle

10. How can you protect your pets from zombies?
a) Cats avoid them by instinct, but dogs will "fetch" an body parts fallen from a zombie
b) Bathe them in flea, tick and zombie soap
c) Dress them in little zombie costumes
d) Trick question - zombies only crave human flesh!

For the answers to this quiz, click here.

DOLLY... or DALI?

For my 301st post (yes, it has been three years, at about one hundred posts as year), I've decided to feature a quiz from the BRI. The following twelve quotes are either from Dolly Parton, or Salvador Dali, the famous painter. And just for fun, there's one quote from the Dali Lama. See if you can guess the correct answer. For the correct answers, check here.

1. "The way I see it, if you want a rainbow, you gotta paint up the rain."

2. "I don't do drugs, I am drugs."

3. "Democratic societies are unfit for the publication of such thunderous revelations as I am in the habit of making."

4. "We never actually starved, but sometimes we never had quite enough to eat."

5. "I seated ugliness on my knee, and almost immediately grew tired of it."

6. "When I'm inspired, I get excited because I can't wait to see what I'll come up with next."

7. "When people say less is more, I say more is more. Less is less. I want more."

8. "It is good taste, and good taste along, that possesses the power to sterilize and is always the first handicap to any creative functioning."

9. "There are some days when I think I'm going to die from an overdose of satisfaction."

10. "Even though a bird can fly, it must land on Earth."

11. "I may be an eagle when I fly, but I'm a sparrow when it comes to feelings."

12. "Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings."

For the correct answers, check here.

THE HARRY POTTER QUIZ

Think you know the world's most famous wizard? Here's a simple quiz, from Sunday's Parade Magazine. The cover of the magazine featured Emma Watson, who plays Hermoine Granger in the new installment, out this week.

For the answers to this quiz, click here. For a more advanced version of the quiz, click here. (And I fully expect you to take the quiz and check your answers... this means you, Julie.)

1. What sport do they play at Hogwarts?
a) broom ball
b) rugby
c) cricket
d) quidditch

2. When was the first Harry Potter book released in the U.S.?
a) 1999
b) 1998
c) 1997
d) 1996

3. What does the "J" in "JK Rowling" stand for?
a) Janine
b) Jillian
c) Joanne
d) Jessica

4. True or false: J.K. Rowling is worth more than the Queen of England.

5. What's the highest number of Harry Potter books sold in the U.S. in one 24-hour period?
a) 6.9 million
b) 5 million
c) 2.7 million
d) 7.8 million

6. Which of these is not a name of a Harry Potter book?
a) Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix
b) Harry Potter & The Glass Prophecy
c) Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince
d) Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows

7. Official translations exist in all the following languages except:
a) Ancient Greek
b) Russian
c) Estonian
d) Zulu

8. What is the highest grossing Harry Potter movie to date?
a) Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone
b) Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets
c) Harry Potter & The prisoner of Azkaban
d) Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire

For the answers to this quiz, click here.

THE SOPRANOS QUIZ

Think you know HBO's most famous family? Take this quiz, from the BRI. (Answers to the quiz are available here.)

1. Creator David Chase wanted to call the show The Sopranos, but HBO originally said no. Why?
a) Executives from HBO thought Soprano sounded Greek, not Italian. Who would want to watch a show about Greek mobsters?
b) It wasn't "authentic enough." They suggested The Fratiannos, but backed away when Jimmy "The Weasel" Fratianno's family threatened to sue.
c) They were afraid the viewers would think the show was about opera singers. They suggested Family Guy, but backed away when Fox debuted a show with that name.

2. Which of the following other titles were also considered before HBO finally gave in?
a) Red Sauce
b) Made In New Jersey
c) The Tony Files
d) All of the above

3. How did James Gandolfini (a.k.a. Tony Soprano) take up acting?
a) "I was shy in high school. I thought acting would be a great way to meet girls. It was."
b) "I didn't want a job where I had to work in an office all day."
c) "I got tired of working for the phone company. It was either acting or singing, so I flipped a coin. It came up heads—acting."
d) "A friend took me to an acting class, and I was scared to death. That made me really mad, so I stayed. I don't know why."

4. Who said, "Hit them over the head with a baseball bat, and they come around," and, "I'm come come back here and carve my initials in your forehead. You better show me the respect I deserve!"
a) Jamie-Lyn Sigler (Meadow Soprano) said it to David Chase, when he refused to give her a raise.
b) Tony Sirico, the actor who plays Paulie Wlanuts, who really was a gangster in the 1970s. He made the threats during a confrontation with a discotheque owner.
c) Dominic Chianese, who plays Uncle Junior, told stories to David Chase about his uncle, who though the only way to get respect from restaurant workers was to threaten them.
d) Chase heard Nancy Marchand (Livia Soprano) say it to her husband on the phone, so he used it in episode 6, when Tony threatens Anthony Jr.'s football coach.

5. What is a goomah?
a) The same as a borgata—a crime family
b) The same as a jamook—an idiot or a loser
c) The same as a comare—a mobster's mistress
d) The same as a mannagge—a war with another clan or family.

6. What was one of the challeneges Michael Imperioli had to overcome to play Tony Soprano's nephew, Christopher Moltisanti?
a) Learning how to drive.
b) Learning how to act. He'd done a few small rolls before, but never studied the craft.
c) Overcoming his stutter.
d) The Jersey accent. He was raised in North Dakota.

7. What is an "executive game"?
a) A financial scam that cheats wealthy investors by selling them stock in fake companies.
b) An exclusive, high-stakes poker game for celebrities and rich people.
c) A code name for a sporting event that has been fixed in advance by paying key players to lose.
d) The title of episode 12, where Tony wants to join a private country club but can't because golf is an, "executive game" and he's the "wrong kind of executive."

For the answers to this quiz, click here.

TAKE THE PAULA DEEN QUIZ

Think you know the Queen of Southern Cuisine, Paula Deen? Take this Food Network Quiz, and find out just how much you know. For the answers, click here.

1. Paula was discovered at the age of:
31
41
45
55
61

2. Paula opened her first restaurant in:
Austin
Atlanta
Savannah
Dallas

3. In 1989, Paula launched a sandwich delivery business called:
The Bag Lady
Picnic Lunch
The Brown-Bagger
The Country Kitchen

4. Paula made her Hollywood debut in the 2005 film:
Walk The Line
Crash
Elizabethtown
Cinderella Man

5. Paula learned her southern cookin’ techniques from:
Her daddy
Her mother
Her grandmother
The Culinary Institute of America

6. Paula has two sons named:
Jamie and Michael
Bobby and Jamie
Jamie and Hunter
Michael and William

7. Paula announced to the world she would start filming her own Food Network show on:
The View
Oprah
LIVE With Regis & Kelly
Ellen

8. Paula considers this former U.S. President one of her favorite guests on her show:
Ronald Reagan
Jimmy Carter
George Bush, Sr.
Bill Clinton

9. Paula often uses this word to describe her style of cooking:
Sophisticated
Unpretentious
Trendy
Fat-free

10. Paula was introduced to her husband, Michael, by:
Her son
A waitress at her restaurant
Her dogs
An executive at Random House


I got 8 out of 10 correct, making me a “Paula Pro.” For the answers click here.