Mark Brader:
> These questions were written to be asked in Toronto on 2016-10-17,
> and should be interpreted accordingly... For further information
> see my 2016-11-26 companion posting on "Questions from the Canadian
> Inquisition (QFTCI*)".
Game 4 is over and JOSHUA KREITZER has held off a late charge by
Stephen Perry for the win. Hearty congratulations, eh?
> ** Game 4, Round 9 - Canadiana - Canadian Music-Makers
> In each case, name the composer, conductor, or performer.
> 1. Born in Ottawa in 1958, this pianist is associated mainly
> with the music of Bach, but she has also recorded Scarlatti,
> Liszt, Fauré, and Debussy. A Companion of the Order of Canada,
> she currently lives in London, England.
Angela Hewitt. 4 for Stephen.
> 2. Born in 1938 to immigrant Greek parents, this soprano sang
> 41 different roles in a 36-year career at the Metropolitan Opera.
> Among her many film appearances: Violetta in Zeffirelli's
> "La Traviata".
Teresa Stratas. 4 for Stephen.
> 3. Who wrote the *music* for "O Canada"?
Calixa Lavallée. 4 for Stephen.
> 4. Who is music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra?
Peter Oundjian. 4 for Stephen and Pete.
> 5. This American-born violinist has been a Canadian citizen
> since 1988. From 1981 to 2014 she was musical director of the
> Toronto-based Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra.
Jeanne Lamon. 4 for Pete.
> 6. This organist/composer who live 1880-1968 described himself as
> "English by birth; Canadian by adoption; Irish by extraction;
> Scotch by absorption". He wrote more than half a dozen operas
> and hundreds of pieces of choral music for St. Mary Magdalene
> church in Toronto.
Healey Willan. 4 for Stephen.
> 7. This Armenian-Canadian soprano, born in 1974, is the winner of
> four consecutive Juno Awards. She can be heard singing
> "Evenstar" on the soundtrack of "Lord of the Rings: the Two
> Towers". Her numerous opera roles include Cleopatra in the
> Canadian Opera Company's production of Handel's "Julius Caesar".
Isabel Bayrakdarian. 4 for Pete.
> 8. In the same COC production, this Canadian countertenor sang
> the role of Tolomeo. Born in 1969, he has made more than 100
> recordings. The University of Toronto recently appointed him
> to the position of Head of Early Music and Professor of Voice.
Daniel Taylor.
> 9. This tenor made over a dozen recordings between 1992 and 2001,
> most frequently in Wagnerian roles. He has performed at the
> closing ceremonies of two Winter Olympics, and currently works
> as a CBC Radio host.
Ben Heppner. 4 for Stephen.
> 10. At Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, more people ask the way to his grave
> than to any other. A few bars of Bach are engraved on his
> marker.
Glenn Gould. 4 for Dan Blum, Stephen, Joshua, and Pete.
> ** Game 4, Round 10 - Challenge Round - The Long and the Short of It
> Your categories are:
> A. Long & Short Musicians
> B. Long & Short Wars
> C. Long & Short Oscar-Winners
> D. Long & Short Literature
> E. Shortstops
> F. Long Lives
> * A. Long & Short Musicians
> Name them.
> A1. Legendary 6'7" British blues singer. Elton John and Rod
> Stewart both got their starts in 1960s bands led by him.
"Long John" Baldry. 4 for Gareth, Stephen, Marc, and Don.
3 for Joshua (the hard way).
> A2. American sax player, born 1933, member of Miles Davis
> Quintet, founder of Weather Report; collaborator with Joni
> Mitchell, Steely Dan, and many others.
Wayne Shorter. 4 for Gareth, Stephen, Marc, Erland, Joshua, Don,
and Pete.
> * B. Long & Short Wars
> B1. The shortest war in modern history is considered to be the
> Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896, with a duration under 45 minutes.
> The second-shortest was fought by Israel in 1967 against
> Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq. What was the duration of
> that war?
6 days. (The 6-Day War.) 4 for everyone -- Dan Blum, Gareth,
Stephen, Marc, Calvin, Erland, Dan Tilque, Joshua, Peter, Don,
and Pete.
> B2. June 2016 saw a ceasefire that will hopefully end the modern
> world's longest-running civil war, one that originated in
> the 1960s. The treaty was signed in Havana by President
> Juan Manuel Santos and rebel leader Rodrigo Londono,
> a.k.a. "Timochenko". Name the country.
Colombia. 4 for Gareth, Stephen, Marc, Calvin, Erland, Joshua,
Peter, and Don. 3 for Pete.
But in October the ceasefire deal was put to the public in a
referendum -- and defeated by a vote of about 6,400,000 against to
6,350,000 in favor. It remains to be seen what will happen next.
> * C. Long & Short Oscar Winners
> C1. What is the longest film to win the Oscar for Best Picture?
I'm accepting "Gone With the Wind" and "Lawrence of Arabia"; see
discussion below. 4 for Stephen, Marc, Dan Tilque, and Joshua.
9 different movies were given as answers, and I decided to look all
of them up in Leonard Maltin's guidebook -- which used to note in its
front matter that this is a subject that it's hard to find reliable
information on, both because movies get edited after release and
also because sources that you would expect to be reliable conflict.
For "Gone with the Wind", the principal number given for the running
time is 222 minutes, though it adds that it runs 233 minutes "with
overture, intermission/entr'acte, exit music". For "Lawrence of
Arabia", the principal number is 216 minutes, but then it says that it
was "originally" 222 minutes, and that the "restored roadshow version
on video" runs 227 minutes "with an overture, intermission/entr'acte,
exit music".
I decided to accept for quiz purposes the longest time mentioned
not including the overture etc., and that means the two movies tie
at 222 minutes. It may be noted, however, that the IMDB gives 238
minutes for GWTW, as well as various shorter lengths for different
releases; for "Lawrence" it gives 216 minutes, but 222 for the
"premiere" version, 227 for the "restored roadshow", and 228 for the
"director's cut". The round's original author apparently accepted
the IMDB number, which converts to 3 hours 58 minutes.
Based on Maltin alone (and showing the versions with overture etc. in
square brackets), the greatest lengths for actual Oscar-winners were:
3:42 [3:53] "Gone with the Wind" (1939)
3:42 [3:47] "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962)
3:32 [3:42] "Ben-Hur" (1959)
3:20 "The Godfather Part II" (1974)
3:14 "Titanic" (1997)
2:41 "Out of Africa" (1985)
And for non-winners:
4:03 [4:11] "Cleopatra" (1963)
4:02 "Greed" (1925)
2:35 [2:44] "How the West Was Won" (1962)
In the case of "Greed", Maltin's principal number for length is 2:20,
but he also says that the movie "originally" ran 8 hours -- however,
the wording implies that this version was never actually released.
The time shown in the table is for a 1999 "restored" rerelease.
> C2. The shortest performance to win an acting Oscar was
> put in by Beatrice Straight, who took home the Best
> Supporting Actress award despite being on screen for
> only 5 minutes 2 seconds. Name the 1976 film.
"Network". 4 for Stephen and Joshua.
> * D. Long & Short Literature
> D1. At 4,024 lines and nearly 30,000 words, what is Shakespeare's
> longest play?
"Hamlet". 4 for Dan Blum, Gareth, Stephen, Dan Tilque, Joshua,
and Peter.
> D2. At two words, it is the shortest verse in the English Bible.
> What are the two words?
"Jesus wept." (John 11:35.) 4 for Dan Blum, Gareth, Stephen,
Calvin, Dan Tilque, Joshua, Peter, Don, and Pete.
> * E. Shortstops
> E1. The starting shortstop for the American League in the 2016
> All-Star game, he was born in Aruba. Name him.
Xander Bogaerts. 4 for Stephen and Pete.
> E2. Five shortstops have been recognized as World Series MVP.
> Name *any* of them.
Bucky Dent, Alan Trammell, Derek Jeter, David Eckstein, Edgar
Renteria. 4 for Gareth, Stephen (the hard way), Marc, and Pete.
> * F. Science: Long Lives
> F1. The oldest recorded fish, Hanako, died in Japan in 1977 at
> the age of 226. What kind of fish was she?
Koi (accepting carp; I scored goldfish, which is a different carp, as
almost correct). 4 for Stephen and Marc. 3 for Don (the hard way).
> F2. Jonathan, born in the Seychelles, is reputed to be the
> longest currently living terrestrial animal at 182.
> He's lived since 1882 at the official residence of the
> Governor of St. Helena. What kind of animal is Jonathan?
Giant tortoise. "Tortoise" or "turtle" was sufficient. 4 for
everyone.
Scores, if there are no errors:
GAME 4 ROUNDS-> 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 BEST
TOPICS-> Spo Lit Ent His Geo Sci Can Cha SIX
Joshua Kreitzer 8 40 40 26 11 20 4 35 172
Stephen Perry -- -- -- -- 40 40 28 48 156
Pete Gayde 32 23 31 8 27 16 16 27 156
Marc Dashevsky 12 32 -- -- 28 24 0 32 128
Dan Blum 4 20 20 22 27 23 4 16 128
Peter Smyth 12 24 16 35 16 16 0 20 127
Don Piven 16 40 -- -- 24 20 0 27 127
"Calvin" -- -- 20 38 20 21 0 16 115
Dan Tilque 4 23 8 12 20 28 0 20 111
Gareth Owen 26 24 -- -- -- -- 0 32 82
Erland Sommarskog 8 4 -- -- 32 8 0 16 68
--
Mark Brader "Sixty years old and still pulling a train!
Toronto That's more than I can say about most
m...@vex.net people I know." -- Frimbo