Superpowers Slam Dunk The Rings

 Olympics Photo Quiz 5 

 Background 

The scoreboard at the end of the 1972 Olympic basketball final revealed that the apparently unthinkable had happened - America had been beaten at their own game. The United States had approached that final with an imperious record. They had won all sixty-two matches they had played since basketball first became an Olympic sport at the 1936 Berlin Games. Now, after processing to the final in Munich  thirty-six years later having dispatched eight challengers they fully expected to be once more crowned Olympic champions. The trouble was the Soviet Union side, who now formed their opponents in the gold medal match, had also had an unbeaten run to the final. The Russians stormed to an early seven point lead and a highly physical encountered ensued with players on both sides dismissed from the court. With the United States one point behind and ten seconds remaining on the clock, Doug Collins burst towards the basket only to be halted by a punch. The very obvious foul resulted in the Americans being awarded two free throws at a potential point a piece. With three seconds remaining Collins sank the throws and the USA team erupt in celebration having, as they thought, won 50-49. Yet in a highly controversial twist, the clock was twice reset, and when play resumed for a second time, Aleksander Belov scored to give the Olympic basketball title to the Russians.                

 Olympics Photo Quiz 5 

What form did the USA teams's protest at the result take? 

The Answer will be published along with the next Highly Questionable quiz and associated blog post.

 Olympics Photo Quiz 4 Answer 

Jesse Owens was the black American athlete who won gold medals in the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4 x 100m relay at the 1936 Berlin Olympics much to the discomfort of the racist Nazi organisers of those Games.

The author of the Highly Questionable? quiz and trivia blog, Harry Reid, is a freelance question setter, writer and blogger. He can be contacted at harryreid@btinternet.com

The Third Man

 Olympics Photo Quiz 4 

 Background 
Thirty-six years after this photograph was taken at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, the two athletes with fists raised would travel from the United States to Australia to act as pallbearers at the funeral of the generally overlooked third man caught on camera. American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos had respectively won the gold and bronze medals in the 200 meters. With heads bowed and black gloved hands thrust aloft in silent protest at racial discrimination in the US, each wore the badge of the Olympic Project for Human Rights. So too did silver medalist Peter Norman. While all three found themselves much criticised at the time of the protest, Smith and Carlos would in time come to be honoured in their home country. Not so Norman, who returning to Australia was ostracised by Olympic authorities that refused to select him for the 1972 Games in Munich, despite his having run the qualifying time on thirteen occasions and being ranked fifth in the world. In a pointed and spiteful gesture Norman was the only living Australian Olympic medalist not to be invited to run a lap of honour when the Games were held in Sydney in 2000. He was however invited to the American team's Olympic village accommodation where Michael Johnston, the winner of the 200 meters at the 2000 Sydney Olympics told him simply 'you are my hero'. Six years later Smith and Carlos travelled to Norman's funeral in Melbourne to pay their respects to a man who had dared to show them quiet solidarity in the Olympic stadium in Mexico City four decades previously. Norman's story was finally told in the 2008 documentary 'Salute', directed by his nephew Matt.   

 Olympics Photo Quiz 4 

Which American black athlete won gold medals in the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4 x 100m relay at the 1936 Berlin Olympics to the discomfort of the racist Nazi organisers of those Games?  

The Answer will be published along with the next Highly Questionable quiz and associated blog post.

 Olympics Photo Quiz 3 Answer 

Panamanian athlete Irving Saladino is the current Olympic long jump champion having triumphed in the event at the 2008 Games in Beijing.

The author of the Highly Questionable? quiz and trivia blog, Harry Reid, is a freelance question setter, writer and blogger. He can be contacted at harryreid@btinternet.com. Although

Leap Of Faith

 Olympics Photo Quiz 3 

 Background 

American Bob Beamon launched himself in the long jump final at the 1968 Olympics, then hung in the thin air of Mexico City before landing to notch a distance that not only smashed the world record, but would not be bettered anywhere on the planet for twenty-three years. His leap of 29 feet, two and a half inches (8.9 meters) astounded spectators and watching TV viewers as it surpassed by an incredible 21 inches any previous jump made by a human being. Although in turn eventually beaten by Mike Powell's jump of 8.95m at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, Beamon remains the Olympic record holder. Ironically, despite competing at two Olympics, Powell didn't take gold on either occasion, having to settle for silver at both the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Games.             

 Olympics Photo Quiz 3 

What nationality is the current Olympic long jump champion Irving Saladino, who triumphed in the event at the 2008 Beijing Games?

The Answer will be published along with the next Highly Questionable quiz and associated blog post.

 Olympics Photo Quiz 2 Answer 

Becoming the first black African woman to win a gold medal was the notable Olympic first achieved by the brilliant Ethiopian runner Dirartu Tula when she was first over the line of the women's 10,000 metres final at the 1992 Barcelona Games. 

The author of the Highly Questionable? quiz and trivia blog, Harry Reid, is a freelance question setter, writer and blogger. He can be contacted at harryreid@btinternet.com. Although

True Olympic Spirit

 Olympics Photo Quiz 2 

 Background 

Ethiopian Dirartu Tula and South Africa's Elena Meyer run a lap of honour loaded with hopeful symbolism at the end of the women's 10,000 metres final at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. After finishing in the gold and silver medal positions respectively, the pair joined hands to circle the stadium in a celebration of African unity following the end of the poisonous apartheid system in Meyer's country. South Africa's racist policies had seen it banned from the Olympics from 1964, with its athletes only allowed to return to the Games of 1992 in the Catalan capital. Tula, who was twenty at the time of this photo, would go on to have an astonishing running career. She again won Olympic Gold in the 10,000 metres at the Sydney Games of 2000, before turning her attention to a decade of marathon running that was book-ended by triumphs at the London 2001 and New York City 2009 marathons. By a quirk of history the Olympic stadium that witnessed Tula and Meyer's demonstration of racial unity had been built to support Barcelona's unsuccessful bid to host the 1936 Games which were awarded to Berlin and would be presided over by Hitler's Nazis with their own brand of uber racism.     

 Olympics Photo Quiz 2 

What significant Olympic first did Dirartu Tula achieve when she won the gold medal in the 10,000 meters at the 1992 Barcelona Games?

The Answer will be published along with the next Highly Questionable quiz and associated blog post.

 Olympics Photo Quiz 1 Answer 

The invasion of Hungary by 200,000 Soviet troops to forcefully quell political dissent, was the background factor, that less than a month later, incited high octane ill feeling during the water polo match between Hungary and Russia at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

The author of the Highly Questionable? quiz and trivia blog, Harry Reid, is a freelance question setter, writer and blogger. He can be contacted at harryreid@btinternet.com.

Best Of Enemies

Blood On The Tracks

Highly Questionable is taking a different tack over the next three months by temporarily discontinuing our five question themed quizzes and instead posting a series of 100 Olympic Games themed photographic quizzes, the first of which appears today. Why? A reasonable question. Over a period of time the author of the Highly Questionable blog has been working on a book on the Olympics which is due for publication later this year. As the copy deadline looms, energy simply has to be focused on it which means suspending the research that goes into the regular Highly Questionable quiz questions and answers. Be assured that the eclectic mix of quizzes will return once the Olympics book is done, dusted and available. Meanwhile, we'll be publishing a range of images from all of the 26 summer Olympic Games that have taken place between 1896 and 2008 as we head towards the 2012 London Olympics. Each image has a story behind it and the accompanying quiz questions will concern aspects of that.

 Olympics Photo Quiz 1 : 'Blood On The Tracks' 

 Background 

The young Hungarian student Ervin Zador stands bloodied and stunned at the side of the pool at the end of an explosively brutal water polo match at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. He had just been deliberately punched in the face by a Russian opponent in one of the most ill tempered encounters in any sport in the history of the Games. With the Hungarians leading by four goals to nil, two of which Zador had scored, the referee ended the game a minute ahead of time after total uproar engulfed the swimming arena following the assault on Ervin. The result stood and Hungary went on to take the water polo gold medal.

 Olympics Question 1 

What event had taken place a matter of weeks before this Olympic water polo encounter that fuelled the vitriolic animosity between the two teams? 

The Answer will be published along with the next Highly Questionable quiz and associated blog post.

 Boots Quiz Answers 

The answers to the previous Highly Questionable quiz, which took boots as its theme, are:-

 1  Nancy Sinatra sang the original version of the song 'These Boots Are Made For Walking' which provided her with a number one hit single in both the UK and US. Subsequently, it has been covered in a great many styles by a highly eclectic mix of artists ranging from The Supremes to Megadeath.

 2  A graveyard or cemetery was the type of place referred to as Boot Hill in the parlance of the 'wild west'.

 3  Antonio Banderas is the actor who provided the voice for the Puss in Boots character in the 'Shrek' films?

 4  A thimble, hat, iron, dog, car, ship, horse & rider, wheelbarrow, canon and train all joined the boot as playing pieces in various of the early editions of the 'Monopoly' board game.

 5  The arctic is the region of the world where the type of boots called mukluks were originally worn by the indigenous people living there.

The author of the Highly Questionable? quiz and trivia blog, Harry Reid, is a freelance question setter, writer and blogger. He can be contacted at harryreid@btinternet.com.

Putting The Boot Into A House Divided

Boot Camp

Last week Italy celebrated it's 150th birthday as a unified nation state. Yet Thursday's celebrations up and down the Italian  peninsula were overshadowed by both bitter regional divisions and the latest raft of scandals swirling around the country's controversial Prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. Up until 1861 what became Italy was a patchwork of principalities and city states and a century and a half later, local and regional loyalties remain much stronger for many Italians than any sense of national identity. Consequently, spokespeople for the We South political party complained of the concentration of wealth and economic opportunities in the north of the country, while their Northern League counterparts continued their insinuations that the south was populated by a feckless peasantry whose workshy and criminal tendencies drained the fruits of honest northern labour. As for Berlusconi, he found himself booed and jeered at an event in Rome to mark Italy's 15oth anniversary. The Prime Minister is facing trial on April 6th charged with abusing his office and paying for sex with amongst others an erotic dancer known by her stage name of Ruby the Heartbreaker. Faced with this unedifying spectacle, we decided to postpone our planned Italy quiz until a more auspicious time, and instead take inspiration from Italy's shape by setting a boot themed quiz.          

 Boots Quiz 

 1  Who sang the original version of the song 'These Boots Are Made For Walking'?

 2  In the mythology of the American 'wild west' what type of place was known as Boot Hill?

 3  Which actor provided the voice for the Puss in Boots character in the 'Shrek' films?

 4  A boot was one of one of the original playing pieces available for competitors to use in the early editions of the 'Monopoly' board game, how many of the others can you name?

 5  Mukluks are a type of boot originally worn by indigenous people of which of the world's geographical regions?

Answers will be published along with the next Highly Questionable quiz and associated blog post.

 Newspaper Quiz Answers 

The answers to the previous Highly Questionable quiz, which took newspapers as its theme, are:-

 1  'The Washington Post' was the newspaper that Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward worked at when they broke the Watergate scandal that led to the political demise of President Nixon.

 2  'Pravda' was the name of the Russian newspaper, the title of which translates in English as 'truth', that acted as the official mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party during the country's Soviet era

 3   'The Daily Planet' is the fictional newspaper that Clark Kent (a.k.a. Superman) and Lois Lane write for in the imaginary city of Metropolis. 

 4  'Scoop' is the title of Evelyn Waugh's novel that satirises sensationalist journalism and features the newspaper 'The Beast'.

 5  'The Front Page' was the hit Broadway musical that revolved around the Chicago based newspaper industry which was later adapted into the 1974 Billy Wilder directed movie of the same name starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.    

The author of the Highly Questionable? quiz and trivia blog, Harry Reid, is a freelance question setter, writer and blogger. He can be contacted at harryreid@btinternet.com.

Screening Out The Press

Newspapers are in trouble. It's not that people don't want to read about what's going on, it's just that more and more choose to do so on screens via the internet. In fact according to a new report from the Pew Research Centre called 'The State Of The News Media', last year saw for the first time more Americans getting their news from the web than printed papers. Setting aside critically important issues about the quality, degree of impartiality and depth of what people are reading on the internet, shifting patterns in how readers consume the news threatens the future of newspapers. Of course many newspapers have for several years been busy developing a multimedia presence on the internet offering podcasts, video footage and other web content that augments their print offerings. Making all of this an economic proposition however is somewhat more challenging. 

One attempt at an answer has been Rupert Murdoch's new type of newspaper specifically designed for viewing on an iPad. 'The Daily' provides news, but onlike it's print rivals video and ongoing updates on stories as well. Launched last month on a free trial basis to owners of the Apple devise in the US, it will be moved to a subscription basis with readers paying 99 cents a week, while the newspaper-website hybrid will become available to European readers in June. Many questions are of course begged by all this, not the least of which concerns what sort of world are we heading into when you read content delivered by Murdoch's massive News Corporation on a device produced by Steve Jobs's huge Apple? While pondering this, we at Highly Questionable have adopted newspapers as the theme of today's quiz as we take a nostalgic look at the good old days when honest to god megalomaniac press barons helped shape our world view             

 Subject Quiz 

 1  Which American newspaper did the journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward work for when they broke the story of the Watergate scandal that led to the downfall of President Nixon?

 2  What was the name of the Russian newspaper, whose title translated as 'truth' in English, that carried the official views of the communist government during the Soviet era?

 3  What is the title of the newspaper based in the fictional city of Metropolis that Clark Kent and Lois Lane write for?

 4  What is the title of Evelyn Waugh's classic novel which brilliantly satirises the world of sensationalist journalism and features the fictional newspaper 'The Daily Beast'?

 5  Later adapted into a Billy Wilder directed film starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, what was the title of the hit Broadway musical that was set in and around the newspaper industry in Chicago?

Answers will be published along with the next Highly Questionable quiz and associated blog post.

 Ireland Quiz Answers 

The answers to the previous Highly Questionable quiz, which took Ireland as its theme, are:-

 1  Snakes were the creatures which according to legend St Patrick banished from Ireland.

 2  The Giant's Causeway is the name by which the unusual hexagonal volcanic structures on the north coast of Ireland are known.

 3  The Book of Kells is the name of the manuscript which relates the Christian gospels through a blend of exquisit calligraphy and Celtic illuminated design.  

 4  James Joyce wrote the short story collection 'Dubliners'.

 5  Ulster, Munster, Connacht & Leinster are the names of the Ireland's four provinces. 

The author of the Highly Questionable? quiz and trivia blog, Harry Reid, is a freelance question setter, writer and blogger. He can be contacted at harryreid@btinternet.com.

Global Jukebox Green Beer Boogie

'Green Eyes II' by Irish
contemporary artist John Nolan*

As Highly Questionable emanates from lovely County Down in Ireland, we couldn't really let the fact that today is Saint Patricks Day go by without a mention. We elected to eschew the temptation to go down the shamrock and shillelagh route and instead pondered the whole question of national patron saints. A little research enlightened us that the USA has no patron saint as this would be unconstitutional. We were equally surprised at the promiscuity of some other saints such as St George who manages to be the national patron of England, Portugal, Malta and of course Georgia, amongst other countries, as well as having the time to be the guiding spiritual force for the Lebanese capital Beirut and the Brazilian football club Corinthiams of Sao Paulo. Yet none has pulled off the trick of becoming a near global party animal whilst retaining their identification with a single national identity better than St Patrick. Ignoring the fact that St Patrick was himself Welsh, we have taken Ireland as the theme of today's quiz.    
 Ireland Quiz 

 1  According to legend, what type of creature did St Patrick banish from Ireland?

 2  By what name are the unusual hexagonal volcanic structures with World Heritage status on Ireland's north coast known?

 3   What is the name of the set of manuscripts held in the library of Trinity College Dublin which relate the Christian gospels through a blend of masterful calligraphy and exquisite Celtic illuminated design?

 4  Who wrote the short story collection 'Dubliners'?

 5  What are the names of the four provinces into which Ireland's counties are grouped?
* See more of John Nolan's work at:- http://www.nolanart.com
Answers will be published along with the next Highly Questionable quiz and associated blog post.

 Submarines Quiz Answers 

The answers to the previous Highly Questionable quiz, which took submarines as its theme, are:-

 1  The Kursk was the name of the Russian nuclear powered submarine that sank in the year 2000.

 2  'Das Boot' was the name of the acclaimed 1981 German language film set on a WWII submarine.

 3  Leonardo da Vince is often credited as the inventor of submarines because of the drawings of underwater craft he made in his notebooks.

 4  The first submerged circumnavigation of the globe was the history making feat achieved in 1960 by the US submarine The Tritin.

 5  The Blue Meanies were the music-hating creatures that featured in the Beatles' animated film 'Yellow Submarine'.

The author of the Highly Questionable? quiz and trivia blog, Harry Reid, is a freelance question setter, writer and blogger. He can be contacted at harryreid@btinternet.com.

That Sinking Feeling

It is somehow reassuring to know that large corporations don't always get things right. Take computer giant Microsoft for example. This week we learnt that after five years of marketing, they are to discontinue production of their less that market dominating mobile Mp3 player called the Zune. Billed at it's 2006 launch as a rival to the iPod, five years later the Zune has never appeared outside North America while Apple have 77% of world wide sales of mobile digital music devices. Then it emerged yesterday that Disney too are all too capable of miscalculation. Having brought in Oscar winning director Robert Zemeckis to helm their projected remake of The Beatles 1968 animated film 'Yellow Submarine', Disney pulled the plug on the movie which had a slated release date of next year. The usual spiralling budget went some way to unnerving the movie giant, but what caused a real difficulty was that they hadn't managed to secure the agreement of the surviving Beatles about the use of the band's music in the 3D remake. While nobody can get it right all the time, getting on board Paul and Ringo as the surviving Beatles, and John and George's heirs, seemed like a common sense first port of call. Anyway, such tales have prompted the Highly Questionable team to take submarines as the theme of today's quiz.                 

 Submarine Quiz 

 1  What was the name of the Russian nuclear powered submarine which sank in the year 2000 and was the subject of ultimately unsuccessful attempts to rescue its crew? 

 2  What was the name of the 1981 critically acclaimed German language film set in a WWII submarine and widely regarded as one of the best European movies ever made?

 3  Which Italian painter and all round Renaissance man, whose life spanned the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, is often credited as the inventor of the submarine because of drawings of underwater craft discovered in his note books? 

 4  What was the history making journey made in 1960 by the US submarine The Tritin?

 5  What was the name of the music-hating creatures in the Beatles' 'Yellow Submarine' film?

Answers will be published along with the next Highly Questionable quiz and associated blog post.

 Nuns Quiz Answers 

The answers to the previous Highly Questionable quiz which took nuns as its theme are:-

 1  Debbie Reynolds was the American actress who starred in the Hollywood film 'The Singing Nun'.

 2  Ophelia is the Shakespearean character Hamlet addresses with the line 'get thee to a nunnery'.

 3  Macedonia* is the modern day country whose capital Skopje was the birthplace of Mother Teresa, the nun who was awarded the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.

 4  'The Canterbury Tales' is the name of the medieval collection of stories that 'The Nun's Priest's Tale' appears in.

 5  A wimple is the name of the form of traditional headgear associated with nuns' outfits? 

* (At the time of her birth Macedonia was part of a province of the Ottoman Empire, becoming in turn part of Serbia and then Yugoslavia before emerging as the Republic of Macedonia in the 1990s).

The author of the Highly Questionable? quiz and trivia blog, Harry Reid, is a freelance question setter, writer and blogger. He can be contacted at harryreid@btinternet.com.