This week presents a mishmash of stuff you really don’t need to know – but it is fun finding it out! See how many you can guess correctly. Or maybe you even know some of this?
1. According to Aristotle, what determined whether a baby would be born a boy or a girl? The heads or tails of a coin when tossed; the belief that if it was sunny the day of conception, it will be a girl, if it was raining, it will be a boy; which way the wind was blowing at the time of conception; the belief that, if your husband puts on weight during your pregnancy, you’ll have a girl, if he doesn’t gain any, then you’ll have a boy.
2. What president was ticketed for speeding in Washington, D.C., while he was in office? James Buchanan; Ulysses S. Grant; Franklin D. Eisenhower; Jimmy Carter.
3. In the world of food, what is known as pluck? An animal’s heart, liver and lungs; the freshness of herbs just picked; cleaning a fish for cooking; removing the Bouquet Garni from soups and stocks.
4. What is the Internal Revenue Service’s “Dinah Shore Ruling”? A dress can be deducted as a professional expense if it is too tight to sit down in; the medical deduction of breast implants for prop essentials; taping a show in Bermuda as a business trip; the claim that a mink coat was a necessary business expense and the IRS allowed it.
5. Where in the world are there geological features known as ergs, regs and hamadas? In the Sahara; in the Rocky Mountain range; in the Great Salt Lake; in the Caspian Sea.
6. What famous woman, using her diamond, scratched the following message on her prison window: “Much suspected of me, nothing proved can be.” Alice Nutter, a witch from Lancaster, England; Calamity Jane; Susan “Sadie May Glutz” Atkins (of the Manson murders); Queen Elizabeth I.
7. The average shower for Americans lasts 10.4 minutes. (I don’t know who figured this factoid). How many gallons of water does that use? 10.8 gallons; 15.5 gallons; 12.4 gallons; 21.7 gallons.
8. In Fahrenheit, what is the most popular temperature for the above shower? 105 degrees; 101 degrees; 102 degrees; 100.6 degrees.
9. What fast food chain founded in 1964 was named for brothers Forrest and LeRoy Raffel? What-a-burger; Arby’s; Frosty-Top; Dairy Queen.
10. What was the name of the horse-ghost buddy of cartoon character Casper the Friendly Ghost? Aladdin; Des; Nightmare; Wizard.
ANSWERS
1. Wind direction. 2. Ulysses S. Grant, in his horse and buggy. He was fined $5. 3. An animal’s heart, liver and lungs. 4. A dress can be deducted as a professional expense if it is too tight to sit down in. The ruling was issued after Mrs. Shore deducted gowns worn in public appearances as business expenses and insisted, when challenged by the IRS, that they were only worn onstage while performing. 5. In the Sahara, where ergs are sandy expansions, regs are gravelly plains, and hamadas are stony upland plateaus. 6. England’s Queen Elizabeth I, while she was confined at Woodstock in the mid-16th century before she attained the throne. 7. 12.4 gallons. 8. 105 degrees Fahrenheit. 9. Arby’s. The name stands for RB – Raffel Brothers. 10. Nightmare.