Q F I M E E T - 2 0 S E P T 1 5V I S H A L K A TA R I YA

2 8 D R I E S + 1 0 / 0 B O U N C E + 1 0 / - 5 P O U N C E

1 .

• The local Khasi people do not know how this tradition started, although the earliest written record of it dates back to 1844.

• The process takes upto 15 years to complete, and there are specimens that sometimes span 100 feet.

• The useful lifespan of the Xs, once complete, is thought to be 500–600 years. They are naturally self-renewing and self-strengthening as the component _____ grow thicker.

• Once the process is started, sticks, stones and other inclusions are placed within.

• Identify this Indian natural heritage.

• Safety Slide

1 . A N S W E R

• Cherrapunji’s living bridges

2 .

• On the next slide, you will see an image of NASA’s Discovery. Prior to takeoff, workers discovered 195 damaged spots in the insulating foam on Discovery's external tank.

• It was found that Xs were responsible for this vandalism and one ____ was removed. In addition to this, plastic, inflatable Ys were placed, a practice that continues to this day.

• These inflated Ys must be taken off the rocket before takeoff.

• X, Y?

• Safety Slide

2 . A N S W E R

• X - Woodpecker

• Y - Owl

• The blank is ‘nest’

3 .

• A movement/NGO was formed in 1991 called the VHEMT. In order to help the Earth’s biosphere recuperate, it commands its members to abstain from a certain act.

• Many commentators view its platform as unacceptably extreme, though other writers have applauded VHEMT's perspective.

• VHEMT’s mailing list has a pitiful number of subscribers, and its newsletter is aptly called These Exit Times.

• What is VHEMT’s aim, or simply, expand VHEMT.

• Safety Slide

3 . A N S W E R

• Voluntary Human Extinction MovemenT.

4 .• X has just turned 80 and has released his 13th studio album

Popular Problems. He started off his career as an author and poet, but graduated to music, for which he is now most famous.

• He speaks this of a certain word, which also finds a place in one of his more famous songs :

• ‘It seems to call down some kind of beneficial energy that you declare in the face of catastrophe ... it's very invigorating. We're all living with disappointment, with bewilderment, with disillusion. These dark forces in our lives ... the manual to living with defeat is to acknowledge that everyone suffers, everyone has to struggle for self-respect and significance.’

• Who is X, and what’s the good word?

• Safety Slide

4 . A N S W E R

• X - Leonard Cohen

• Hallelujah

5 .

• This poem The Second Coming by WB Yeats was the inspiration for Joan Didion’s Slouching towards Bethlehem. It also served as the inspiration for another work of literature, whose creator passed away two years ago. Which work?

Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand. The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out […]

• Safety Slide

5 . A N S W E R

• Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

6 .

• This phrase is attributed to Andy Warhol; however, new evidence points to the fact that he never said it originally.

• On the subject of this controversy, The Daily Mail titled their article thus : ‘Did Andy Warhol get his ______________ by ripping off someone else’s saying?’

• What phrase?

• Safety Slide

6 . A N S W E R

• 15 minutes of fame

7 .• Quotes by whom?

• The tendency to spiritual feeling and religious belief lies deep in human nature and seems to have its own neurological basis, though it may be very strong in some people and less developed in others. For those who are religiously inclined, [a near-death experience] may seem to offer "proof of heaven," as Eben Alexander puts it.

• And after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis,

• I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and traveled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.

• Safety Slide

7 . A N S W E R

• Oliver Sacks

8 .

• Whale feces are a rich source of information about the animals; among other things, hormones detected in the feces can tell scientists whether a whale is male or female, sexually mature or pregnant, and offer other clues about overall health, including the creature’s stress levels.

• Weather-wise, September is not the best time to collect fecal samples, they write, and the experimental conditions are “non-repeatable.”

• However, in an experiment done some years ago, whales’ stress levels were seen to drastically reduce due to a global reduction in trade by sea. When was this experiment conducted?

S A F E T Y S L I D E

8 . A N S W E R

• 2001, because of the trade restrictions placed in the aftermath of 9/11

9 .

• You will see the Bobtail squid on the next slide. It is involved in a symbiotic relationship with the Vibrio fischeri bacteria.

• The bacteria does not express light when it is freely roaming in the ocean, but when housed in the squid's light organ (located in its underbelly) it will work with the animal to emit light in a special manner.

• How does the squid use this bacteria to possess the perfect camouflage technique?

9 .

S A F E T Y S L I D E

9 . A N S W E R

• It has an absolutely perfect camouflage technique. The bacteria emits light based on the amount of light incident on it, and thus the squid becomes virtually transparent.

1 0 .

• People have been going crazy in recent days about a certain toy developed by Sphero. The toy has a number of different settings – these include‘drive,' where you control it from your mobile device, ‘message’, which lets you record ‘holographic’ messages and ‘patrol,' where it essentially does its own thing.

• It’s mostly white, with some silver and orange on its body. It was first revealed in November 2014, and its name was announced by Entertainment Weekly in an exclusive trading card. The name was chosen by the director because of its round and bouncy look.

• What is this/What is the toy based on?

S A F E T Y S L I D E

1 0 .

1 1 .

• X reportedly made the trip to Denver (around 1100 miles or 1800km) at midnight just to eat a Y.

• The Y was created by the owners of the Colorado Mining Company restaurant. The name of the sandwich is derived from its exorbitant price (at the time) of $49.99.

• The Y begins with a loaf of French white bread that is covered in two tablespoons of margarine and baked in the oven at 350F/180C until brown. One pound of bacon slices are fried in oil until crispy and then drained. The loaf is sliced lengthwise, hollowed out, and filled with peanut butter, grape jelly and bacon.

1 1 .

S A F E T Y S L I D E

1 1 . A N S W E R

• X - Elvis Presley

• Y - Fools’ Gold Loaf

1 2 .

• Powered armour is this book’s most famous legacy. Over 50 years after publication, the book was on the reading lists of the United States Marine Corps and the US Navy.

• It is the first science fiction novel to have appeared on the reading lists at three of the five United States military branches.

• In 2002, a marine general described the future of Marine Corps clothing and equipment as needing to emulate the Mobile Infantry (an elite infantry group in the book).

• The book also won the Hugo Prize in 1960. Which book, and who wrote it?

S A F E T Y S L I D E

1 2 . A N S W E R

1 3 .

• A/An X is an impoverished area, typically urban, inhabited by the poor, the homeless, and/or others considered disreputable and forgotten by society. In general, though, X refers to areas inhabited or frequented by marginalized individuals.

• The term originally referred to the path along which timber workers skidded logs.

• Cities in which areas with the name X exist include LA, San Fransisco, Portland and Manhattan.

S A F E T Y S L I D E

1 3 . A N S W E R

• Skid Row

1 4 .

• _____ goats are trained goats used in animal herding. They are kept in the same pen with the goats to be slaughtered, but are never slaughtered themselves. This makes them calm all the time, because they are sure of staying alive, which exerts a calming influence on the other goats in the pen.

• FITB, considering that the _____ goats are leading groups of goats to slaughter.

S A F E T Y S L I D E

1 4 . A N S W E R

• Judas Goats

1 5 .

• Through the 19th and 20th centuries, wooden crates were available in large numbers. These Xs made free and easily portable temporary platforms for street corner speakers attempting to be seen and heard at improvised "outdoor meetings," to which passersby would gather to hear often provocative speeches on religious or political themes.

• Helpful (?) image on the next slide. What is X?

S A F E T Y S L I D E

1 5 . A N S W E R

• Soapbox

1 6 .

• Properly speaking, the X corner is only the left-hander at the bottom. The following right-hander that leads steeply uphill, which was introduced in 1939 to shortcut the original hairpin "Ancienne Douane”, is called “Raidillon”.

• A certain driver says of X “From the cockpit, you cannot see the exit and as you come over the crest, you don't know where you will land. It is a crucial corner for the timed lap, and also in the race, because you have a long uphill straight afterwards where you can lose a lot of time if you make a mistake. But it is also an important corner for the driver's feeling. It makes a special impression every lap, because you also have a compression in your body as you go through the bottom of the corner. It is very strange – but good fun as well.”

• Contd.

1 6 .

• X is easy enough. In the Turkish Grand Prix in 2005, many noted that an uphill kink on the back straight was very similar to X, and jokingly dubbed it the Y, in which the first word of X was replaced to make a pun.

S A F E T Y S L I D E

1 6 . A N S W E R

• Eau Rouge, and

• Faux Rouge

1 7 .

• Which two entities are being represented in the visual?

S A F E T Y S L I D E

1 7 . A N S W E R

• George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World

1 8 .

• The Ignobel Prize this year was awarded to scientists from Australia’s Flinders University for this procedure.

• The things used are urea and a “vortex fluid device”. The process , scientists claim, will have far-reaching beneficial consequences in many industries, ranging from cheese manufacturing to cancer research.

• The idea was to combat the difficulties that arise when proteins misfold which force the use of expensive or time-consuming methods to set the proteins right.

• First a urea substance was added to turn the __________ back into a liquid. This was then put into a vortex fluid device, where the tangled proteins were spun and gently pulled apart until they refolded into their proper structure.

• What is being talked about?

S A F E T Y S L I D E

1 8 . A N S W E R

• They unboiled an egg

1 9 .

• The X, also known as the Oracle of Y, was widely credited for her prophecies inspired by Apollo. The Greeks derived this place name from the verb meaning "to rot", which refers to the decomposition of the body of the monstrous Python after he was slain by Apollo.

• Alexander, when consulting X for his future, was not given an answer. In frustration, he dragged X by her hair whereupon he received a reply, ‘Let go of me; you’re unbeatable.’

S A F E T Y S L I D E

1 9 . A N S W E R

• X - Pythia, taken from a corruption of Python

• Y - Delphi

2 0 .

• X is one of the world’s oldest and largest non-religious, non-political, fraternal and charitable organisations. It teaches self-knowledge through participation in a progression of ceremonies. Members are expected to be of high moral standing and are encouraged to speak openly about X.

• UGLE is the governing body of X in England, Wales and the Channel Islands. UGLE stands for United Great ______ of England.

• What is X, and FITB.

N

S A F E T Y S L I D E

2 0 . A N S W E R

• Freemasonry

• The blank is ‘Lodge’

2 1 .

• It starts off with an introduction by X.

• A great song doesn't attempt to be anything — it just is. When you hear a great song, you can think of where you were when you first heard it, the sounds, the smells. […] Think of "Bohemian Rhapsody," by Queen. That song had everything — different melodies, opera, R&B, rock — and it explored all of those different genres in an authentic way, where it felt natural.

• It was the cover story of issue number 963, published on December 9, 2004, a year after the release of a similar compilation.

• What am I talking about, and X?

S A F E T Y S L I D E

2 1 . A N S W E R

• X - Jay Z

2 2 .

• This service calls itself Boulder’s best cleaning service. It’s service offerings include:

• Gatorade to relieve dehydration

• Breakfast Burrito

• A cleaning up to ensure your house looks cleaner than it ever did during the semester.

• The cost per roommate is $20.

• What do they do/What is the service they offer?

S A F E T Y S L I D E

2 2 .

2 3 .

• 1 : To make this mundane world sublime, take half a gram of phanerothyme

• Phanerothyme is a word coined from the Greek words for “manifest” and “spirit”.

• 2 : To fathom Hell or soar angelic, just take a pinch of _____

• The word blanked out derives from two Greek words, meaning “soul”, and “to reveal or to make visible”. FITB.

S A F E T Y S L I D E

2 3 .

• Psychedelic

2 4 .

• X has an intentional misspelling in his name.

• His Sire is Pioneerof The Nile and his Grandsire is Empire Maker.

• X is the only one to perform this feat since Affirmed, in 1978, and only the twelfth to perform it ever.

• X is expected to retire at the end of 2015, to move to Ashford to stand at ____.

S A F E T Y S L I D E

2 4 . A N S W E R

• American Pharoah, winning the Triple Crown this year.

2 5 .

• X was founded in 1888 with the aim of ‘increasing and diffusing’ knowledge. It was started as a not-for-profit institution.

• It started something in 2001, which generates maximum revenue for X. Due to the digital proliferation, its original flagship is dying in popularity.

• X has entered into a new partnership with Y recently, increasing the endowment X receives to $1bn. This investment will enable X to double its investment in science. X and Y?

S A F E T Y S L I D E

2 5 . A N S W E R

• X - National Geographic Society

• Y - Fox News Corp

2 6 .

• During World War I, President of the USA Woodrow Wilson took it upon himself and his family to set an example of home effort supporting the war overseas. Edith (his wife) instituted measures like wheatless Wednesdays, meatless Mondays etc.

• In addition, Edith also set _____ on the grounds of the White House in the name of saving manpower by reducing the number of people required for housekeeping. In addition, to save money, their produce was auctioned off to raise money for the Red Cross, the sum totalling $52,283 by the end of the war.

• At their peak, there were 48 _____ within the confines of the White House.

• FITB

S A F E T Y S L I D E

2 6 . A N S W E R

• Sheep on the lawns of the White House

2 7 .

• Pauline Levinsons was an aspiring musician in Germany, and in 1935, she took her six-month old daughter Hessy to have her baby photograph taken.

• A few months later, she was horrified to find her daughter’s photo on the front cover of a certain magazine and went to the photographer, both livid and terrified.

• “I wanted to make the Nazis ridiculous,” the photographer told her.

• Frightened she would be recognised on the streets and questions asked about her identity, she (the baby) was kept at home.

• What is this baby’s claim to fame? And how were the Nazis made ridiculous?

S A F E T Y S L I D E

2 7 . A N S W E R

• The baby is Hessy Taft, whose photo was chosen as the one of the perfect Aryan child.

The irony is that she was Jewish, and still chosen

as the perfect Aryan child.

2 8 .

• The next slide shows a work by Ai Weiwei called ‘Straight’. It consists of 90 tons of reinforced steel bars (rebars) that have been straightened by manual labor.

• The work/piece was inspired by an event in 2008, where information regarding the event was greatly stifled by the Chinese government. On the walls surrounding the sculpture is a list of the specific victims of this 2008 event.

• Which event does this commemorate?

S A F E T Y S L I D E

2 8 . A N S W E R

• The 2008 Sichuan earthquake. The bars are shaped in the form of a seismic wave.

• The victims being honored/commemorated are the schoolchildren who died, whose details were not released by the government.

3 0 .

• Radiohead’s song 2 + 2 = 5, with the alternate title The Lukewarm is inspired by a certain work of the 20th century.

• Which work?

• Safety Slide

3 0 . A N S W E R

• George Orwell’s 1984

Anniversaries in 2015 6 questions

+5/0

1. 20th

2. 30th

• It’s been thirty years since we’ve heard of the story of a ‘princess in another castle’.

3. 30th

• Organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, and started off as a song called ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’, which generated 8mn pounds rather than the 70k that was hoped for.

• This led to Geldof setting his sights on something much more grand.

4. 40th

• The last annexation, making it the 22nd of this list.

• The position of Chogyal was thus abolished, ending the monarchy.

5. 50th

• Supposedly written as an allegory to one of Andy Warhol’s crowd, Edie Sedgwick.

• It was inspired by Hank Williams’ Lost Highway.

6. 70th

• Life says that by 1980, eleven men and three women came forward claiming to be the subjects.

Answers

Special Round

Anniversaries in 2015

1. 20th

• OJ Simpson Trials

2. 30th

• It’s been thirty years since we’ve heard of the story of a ‘princess in another castle’.

• Super Mario Bros.

3. 30th

• Organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, and started off as a song called ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’, which generated 8mn pounds rather than the 70k that was hoped for.

• This led to Geldof setting his sights on something much more grand.

4. 40th

• The last annexation, making it the 22nd of this list.

• The position of Chogyal was thus abolished, ending the monarchy.

• Sikkim

5. 50th

• Supposedly written as an allegory to one of Andy Warhol’s crowd, Edie Sedgwick.

• It was inspired by Hank Williams’ Lost Highway.

• Like a Rolling Stone, by Bob Dylan

6. 70th

• Life says that by 1980, eleven men and three women came forward claiming to be the subjects.

T H A N K Y O U

Fin