“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy” .
Yes, apparently gray and white matters as you will find out in one of today’s selection of unusual facts.
Hope you enjoy the others as well. .
. During the production of the video game Deus Ex,
one of the artists forgot to add
the Twin Towers to New York City.
His mistake was explained by
way of a terrorist attack.
The year was 2000.
.
.
Switzerland has
208 mountains over 3,000 meters high
and 24 over 4,000 meters.
.
.
The male brain contains more gray matter
whereas the female brain contains more white matter.
White matter basically increases the speed
of transmission of all nerve signals,
which ultimately allows women to process thoughts
more rapidly than their male counterparts.
Don’t fret guys, you’ll get this
in another nano second or two.
.
.
Genghis Kahn wanted the location
of his grave to be unknown
(somewhere in present day Mongolia)
so his funeral escort killed everyone they met
along the way and he even demanded that
a river be diverted to run across his grave
so it could never be disturbed.
.
.
Although their civilization has declined and been conquered,
in many rural parts of Mexico and Guatemala
Mayan language and culture perseveres.
In fact, there are an estimated 7 million Maya
still living in and around the Yucatan Peninsula.
.
.
The modern chainsaw was invented by Scottish
doctors to help with Symphysiotomy.
This is a surgical procedure that widens the
pelvis in order to assist in childbirth.
.
.
China is among the countries with
the highest air pollution in the world.
Breathing air in Beijing, the country´s capital,
increases the risk of lung cancer in the same way
as smoking 21 cigarettes a day.
.
.
In 1883 Sir Hiram Maxim created the Maxim gun.
The world’s first machine gun would go on to
revolutionize warfare and was used in both World Wars.
.
.
Some rich people in Moscow buy
ambulances and use them to drive around
because the traffic is so bad.
.
.
Operation Mockingbird was a secret campaign
begun in the 1950s by the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
to influence media.
.
.
After being frustrated by the service
he was receiving at Bank of America,
Dalton Chiscolm sued them
for $1.7 billion trillion.
During the trial a professor of mathematics
was even called in to testify about
how big the number was.
To give you an idea,
Earth’s total combined GDP was $60 trillion that year.
Another month and another quiz to get it off to a challenging start.
One or two relatively easy ones today, but I think most of them you will find tough enough.
As usual, if you get stuck, you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
.
.
Q. 1: What is the official language of Brazil?
.
.
Q. 2: Which wife of a politician said in 1981, ‘Woman is like a teabag: you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in the hot water’?
.
.
Q. 3: Many expanses of water of varying sizes are designated as ‘seas’ such as the Mediterranean Sea, the Dead Sea, etc. But what is the only such sea in the world that does not have a coastline?
.
.
Q. 4: What book was Denzel Washington protecting in the 2010 movie?
.
.
Q. 5: What is both unusual and famous about the restaurant in Volterra, Italy called “Fortezza Medicea”?
.
.
Q. 6: In which city is the music recording company Motown based?
.
.
Q. 7: The official country retreat of the President of the USA, Camp David, is located in which mountains?
.
.
Q. 8: Where did the Incas originate?
.
.
Q. 9: What was the name of the Cuban President over thrown by Fidel Castro in 1959?
.
.
Q. 10: Although the United States has Roswell and Area 51, and Hollywood has pushed out a unending stream of movies based on them, the government does not officially recognize the existence of UFOs. However three well known countries do formally recognize the existence of UFOs, can you name them? (A point for each and a bonus point if you can name all three.)
.
.
Q. 11: Who was coming to dinner with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn in 1967?
.
.
Q. 12: Who was dubbed “Lenin’s left leg” during the early stages of Russia’s Marxist movement?
.
.
Q. 13: In which US city was the first skyscraper built in 1883?
.
.
Q. 14: A double question with multiple points. The US State Department currently recognizes 194 different countries in the world, but how many take up approximately half of Earth’s land area?
HINT: It is a relatively small number of the 194 total and there is a bonus point for each of them that you can name.
.
.
Q. 15: What phrase is the unlikely link between Barbara Streisand and Bugs Bunny?
.
.
Q. 16: What is the only state in the Middle East in which there is no desert?
.
.
Q. 17: What former Soviet state is currently experiencing massive civil unrest and upheaval?
.
.
Q. 18: Which river has the largest delta?
.
.
Q. 19: Whoopie Goldberg played one in a movie and Patricia Arquette played another in a television series, what were they? (And bonus points if you can name the movie and the tv series.)
.
.
Q. 20: Which movie other than ‘The Bodyguard’ featured the song “I Will Always Love You”?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
ANSWERS
.
Q. 1: What is the official language of Brazil?
A. 1: Portuguese.
.
.
Q. 2: Which wife of a politician said in 1981, ‘Woman is like a teabag: you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in the hot water’?
A. 2: Nancy Reagan.
.
.
Q. 3: Many expanses of water of varying sizes are designated as ‘seas’ such as the Mediterranean Sea, the Dead Sea, etc. But what is the only such sea in the world that does not have a coastline?
A. 3: The Sargasso Sea in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean is surrounded by ocean currents and no land and therefore has no coast.
.
.
Q. 4: What book was Denzel Washington protecting in the 2010 movie?
A. 4: The Book Of Eli. You also get a point if you said The Bible.
.
.
Q. 5: What is both unusual and famous about the restaurant in Volterra, Italy called “Fortezza Medicea”?
A. 5: “Fortezza Medicea” is a maximum security prison – the cooks and waiters are all doing sentences of at least seven years.
.
.
Q. 6: In which city is the music recording company Motown based?
A. 6: Detroit.
.
.
Q. 7: The official country retreat of the President of the USA, Camp David is in which mountains?
A. 7: Appalachians.
.
.
Q. 8: Where did the Incas originate?
A. 8: Peru.
.
.
Q. 9: What was the name of the Cuban President over thrown by Fidel Castro in 1959?
A. 9: General Batista.
.
.
Q. 10: Although the United States has Roswell and Area 51, and Hollywood has pushed out a unending stream of movies based on them, the government does not officially recognize the existence of UFOs. However three well known countries do formally recognize the existence of UFOs, can you name them? (A point for each and a bonus point if you can name all three.)
A. 10: France, Italy and Chile have all formally recognized the existence of UFOs.
.
.
Q. 11: Who was coming to dinner with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn in 1967?
A. 11: Sidney Poitier.
.
.
Q. 12: Who was dubbed “Lenin’s left leg” during the early stages of Russia’s Marxist movement?
A. 12: Joseph Stalin.
.
.
Q. 13: In which US city was the first skyscraper built in 1883?
A. 13: Chicago.
.
.
Q. 14: A double question with multiple points. The US State Department currently recognizes 194 different countries in the world, but how many take up approximately half of Earth’s land area?
HINT: It is a relatively small number of the 194 total and there is a bonus point for each of them that you can name.
A. 14: Seven countries take half of the Earth’s land area and they are Russia, Canada, USA, China, Australia, Brazil and Argentina.
.
.
Q. 15: What phrase is the unlikely link between Barbara Streisand and Bugs Bunny?
A. 15: “What’s up, Doc?” is Bugs’ catchphrase and the name of a 1972 comedy/romance movie starring Barbara Streisand and Ryan O’Neill.
.
.
Q. 16: What is the only state in the Middle East in which there is no desert?
A. 16: Lebanon.
.
.
Q. 17: What former Soviet state is currently experiencing massive civil unrest and upheaval?
A. 17: The Ukraine.
.
.
Q. 18: Which river has the largest delta?
A. 18: The River Ganges.
.
.
Q. 19: Whoopie Goldberg played one in a movie and Patricia Arquette played another in a television series, what were they? (And bonus points if you can name the movie and the tv series.)
A. 19: They played ‘mediums’, Whoopie Goldberg in the movie ‘Ghost’ and Patricia Arquette in the hit tv series ‘Medium’.
.
.
Q. 20: Which movie other than ‘The Bodyguard’ featured the song “I Will Always Love You”?
A. 20: ‘The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas’, a movie starring Dolly Parton who wrote the song.
Get your thinking caps on for another random mixture of questions.
As usual the answers can be found waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!
Enjoy and good luck.
.
.
Q. 1: Which capital city is also a TV detective?
.
.
Q. 2: Who created havoc in 1938, when his radio broadcast of “The War Of The Worlds” was believed to be true?
.
.
Q. 3: What were ‘Benjy’ and ‘Laska’, sent into space in 1958?
.
.
Q. 4: Name the composer of the famous musicals ‘Top Hat’ and ‘Annie Get Your Gun’.
.
.
Q. 5: Which mountains form the backbone of South America?
.
.
Q. 6: In which river was Jesus Baptised?
.
.
Q. 7: Which South American country provides the setting for the climax of the 1969 movie ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’?
.
.
Q. 8: Into which ocean does the River Amazon flow?
.
.
Q. 9: Which South American city was shaped by architect Oscar Niemeyer?
.
.
Q. 10: The Rio Grande forms part of the boundary between which countries? (A point for each if you like.)
.
.
Q. 11: What name is given to the large, treeless plains south of the Amazon?
.
.
Q. 12: Which island in the east pacific is renowned for its stone heads?
.
.
Q. 13: Which General overthrew Salvador Allende in 1973? (A bonus point if you can name the country.)
.
.
Q. 14: Who was in office as President of the United States when the decision was taken to declare war on Germany during World War I?
.
.
Q. 15: He was the son of a Siberian peasant and became the most influential person at the court of Tsar Nicholas II. He was widely thought to have magical powers and was assassinated in 1916. What was his name?
.
.
Q. 16: The Winter Olympics have just started in Russia, but in what year was London due to host the Summer Olympic Games, but couldn’t because of the Second World War?
.
.
Q. 17: Which American President saw active service in both the first and second World Wars?
.
.
Q. 18: Which three movies did Steven Spielberg direct that were among the top ten highest grossing films of the 20th century? (Yes, a point for each and a bonus point if you get all three.)
.
.
Q. 19: In what country did the soup known as ‘Cullen Skink’ originate?
.
.
Q. 20: Which literary detective had a servant called ‘Bunter’?
a) Hercule Poirot b) Lord Peter Wimsey c) Sherlock Holmes
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
ANSWERS
.
Q. 1: Which capital city is also a TV detective?
A. 1: Columbo.
.
.
Q. 2: Who created havoc in 1938, when his radio broadcast of “The War Of The Worlds” was believed to be true?
A. 2: Orson Welles.
.
.
Q. 3: What were ‘Benjy’ and ‘Laska’, sent into space in 1958?
A. 3: They were Mice.
.
.
Q. 4: Name the composer of the famous musicals ‘Top Hat’ and ‘Annie Get Your Gun’.
A. 4: Irving Berlin.
.
.
Q. 5: Which mountains form the backbone of South America?
A. 5: The Andes.
.
.
Q. 6: In which river was Jesus Baptised?
A. 6: In the River Jordan.
.
.
Q. 7: Which South American country provides the setting for the climax of the 1969 movie ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’?
A. 7: Bolivia.
.
.
Q. 8: Into which ocean does the River Amazon flow?
A. 8: The Atlantic Ocean.
.
.
Q. 9: Which South American city was shaped by architect Oscar Niemeyer?
A. 9: Brasilia.
.
.
Q. 10: The Rio Grande forms part of the boundary between which countries? (A point for each if you like.)
A. 10: The United States of America and Mexico.
.
.
Q. 11: What name is given to the large, treeless plains south of the Amazon?
A. 11: The Pampas.
.
.
Q. 12: Which island in the east pacific is renowned for its stone heads?
A. 12: Easter Island.
.
.
Q. 13: Which General overthrew Salvador Allende in 1973? (A bonus point if you can name the country.)
A. 13: General Pinochet in Chile.
.
.
Q. 14: Who was in office as President of the United States when the decision was taken to declare war on Germany during World War I?
A. 14: Woodrow Wilson.
.
.
Q. 15: He was the son of a Siberian peasant and became the most influential person at the court of Tsar Nicholas II. He was widely thought to have magical powers and was assassinated in 1916. What was his name?
A. 15: Rasputin.
.
.
Q. 16: The Winter Olympics have just started in Russia, but in what year was London due to host the Summer Olympic Games, but couldn’t because of the Second World War?
A. 16: 1944.
.
.
Q. 17: Which American President saw active service in both the first and second World Wars?
A. 17: President Dwight D Eisenhower.
.
.
Q. 18: Which three movies did Steven Spielberg direct that were among the top ten highest grossing films of the 20th century? (Yes, a point for each and a bonus point if you get all three.)
A. 18: “Jurassic Park”, “E.T.” and “The Lost World”.
.
.
Q. 19: In what country did the soup known as ‘Cullen Skink’ originate?
A. 19: Scotland. (It is a thick Scottish soup made of smoked haddock, potatoes and onions.)
.
.
Q. 20: Which literary detective had a servant called ‘Bunter’?
a) Hercule Poirot b) Lord Peter Wimsey c) Sherlock Holmes
Occasionally you get something really stupid that you just have to admire. The guy doing the video linked below is one of them.
First, here’s what it’s all about….
El Caminito del Rey (English: The King’s little pathway) is a walkway, now fallen into disrepair, pinned along the steep walls of a narrow gorge in El Chorro, near Álora in the province of Málaga, Spain. The name is often shortened to Camino del Rey (English: King’s pathway).
In was originally constructed in 1901 for workers who needed to cross between the hydroelectric power plants at Chorro Falls and Gaitanejo Falls, to transport materials, and for inspection and maintenance. Construction of the walkway took four years and it was finished in 1905.
In 1921 King Alfonso XIII crossed the walkway for the inauguration of the dam Conde del Guadalhorce and it became known by its present name.
The walkway is one metre (3 feet and 3 inches) in width, and rises over 100 metres (350 feet) above the river below. Constructed of concrete resting on steel rails supported by stanchions at around 45 degrees into the rock face.
It is currently in a highly deteriorated state and there are numerous sections where part or all of the concrete top has collapsed. The result is large open air gaps that are bridged only by narrow steel beams or other support fixtures.
Very few of the original handrails exist but a safety-wire runs the length of the path. Several people have lost their lives on the walkway in recent years and after two fatal accidents in 1999 and 2000, the local government closed both entrances, but not the gift shop.
In June 2011, the regional government of Andalusia and the local government of Málaga agreed to share costs of restoration (including car parking and a museum) of €9 million. The project will take approximately three years to complete. Many of the original features will remain in place and the new materials that are used will be in keeping with the old design
I think I’ll wait until it’s fixed before I start thinking about having a go. In the meantime if you want to see something daringly stupid watch the video. They guy who took it is a lot surer footed (and braver) than I am, I can tell you that!
![Deus_Ex_charity[1]](https://fasab.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/deus_ex_charity1.jpg)
fasab 