The Chase USA

You may have seen these all over Facebook/Twitter but in any case, here are some promos from the the American Version of The Chase. 

Buzzer Questions Set #3

A few more I used in the recent buzzer quiz set at York. Couple of these went unanswered but most were answered before the question was finished....

“Calm Down Dear…” was Michael Winners famous catchphrase. The saying originated in adverts he starred in for which insurance company?

The Sunny Coast Skate in Australia began this Internet craze and by March 2013 4000 related videos per day were being posted on Youtube.  The Videos usually last about 30 seconds long and each one contains the same song.  Usually the video begins with one person helmeted or masked dancing alone to the song but then cuts to scenes of everyone in the room dancing wildly. What is the two word name given to this internet dance craze which is based on a song by Baauer?

In which English was Britain’s most famous terrorist, Guy Fawkes, born and educated?

One half of this famous musical duo recently released her autobiography entitled “Bedsit Disco Queen”. The duo got their names from a shop selling furniture and in 1988 released “Idelwild” which proved to be their breakthrough album. After a period of quiet they were given a new lease of life with the release of “Missing” in 1995. Which musical duo consists of Ben Watt and Tracy Thorn?

Born in Kenya in 1985, this man won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games for Great Britain. He was runner up to Bradley Wiggins in the Tour de France last year and this year will lead team sky in the race. Name this cyclist?

Despite KGB efforts to stop him, which famous ballet dancer defected from the Soviet Union in 1961?

Name this island. On average 1.5 million tourists visit this island every year which is a greater amount than the actual population.  The flag of this island country is the only one in the world to contain an outline of the country on it and in 1974 Nikos Sampson led a famous coup here. Popular destinations on the island include Larnaca and Limassol and its capital is Nicosia.

E Sure

Harlem Shake

York

Everything But the Girl

Chris Froome

Nureyev

Cyprus

Book Suggestion

One of my favourite books of the past year is Trevor Royles account of the War of the Roses which is a very well written, informative and interesting book which covers this piece of history. I did a little on this at University and out of all the books I have read this one was by far the most readable. Well worth a look! Comes up often in quizzes too....

Buzzer Questions #2

After receiving a few emails about the first set here are a few more of the buzzer questions I set for a recent quiz event (You may have seen them used in the Lightspeed Quiz Videos by me). Again, they are intended to get easier the longer the question goes and if anyone wants the full set in Word document format feel free to pop me an email to fully234@hotmail.com. Answers below.

What name is shared by one of the leaders of the Peasants' Revolt in 1381 and a Labour politician born in 1946 who served as both Home and Foreign Secretary under Tony Blair?

In April 1974, the radio broadcast of a song by the folk protest singer Zeca Afonso, signalled the start of the Carnation Revolution which took place in which country?

Which long running BBC Radio 4 show was created by Ian Messiter and first broadcast in 1967? The show has had the same host since its inception and guests on the first episode included Derek Nimmo and Clement Freud.  The object of the game is for panellists to talk about a subject without repetition, hesitation or deviation  for an assigned period of time. Name the radio show of which Nicolas Parson has been host from 1967 until the present day?#

What number is the tenth lowest prime number, the number that might lead a bingo caller to announced “In Your Prime”, the atomic number of copper, and the number of days in February in a leap year?

With 7.2 million inhabitants, which Australian state is the most populous?

This Pop Group had their first hit in 1987 and were voted Best British Newcomers at the 1988 Brit Awards. There original name was Vortex Motion and the real name of their lead singer is Mark McLoughlin. In 1994 they spent 15 weeks at No.1 with a song that was featured in Four Weddings and a Funeral. Name this band.

The Ridolfi Plot was plan to assassinate which British Monarch?

The $1 dollar coin in which country is commonly called the “Loonie” due to featuring the common loon bird on one side and an image of Queen Elizabeth II on the other?

This classic 1970’s film  was played in full for the jury at the John Hinckley trial. It is set in New York shortly after the Vietnam War and focuses on an Honorably discharged US Marine who attempts to assassinate a Presidential candidate. Name the film starring a 13 year old Jodie Foster in which Robert De Niro plays Travis Bickle?

Jack Straw

Portugal

Just a Minute

29

New South Wales

Wet Wet Wet

Elizabeth I

Canada

Taxi Driver

Pod Quiz

I have been meaning to re-mention Pod Quiz for some time on the blog. It is still going strong!

Pod Quiz is a weekly podcast of quiz questions from the mind of James Carter. The website can be found Here. It is of course free and lasts about 15 minutes.The format is very simple....an opening music round followed by themed rounds on various subjects with questions ranging from the very simple to the very difficult.

I recommend any readers to give Pod Quiz a try. It is of course free, well produced and a very entertaining 15 minutes each week!

Buzzer Questions #1

I meant to post these up some time ago but it slipped my mind. These are some of the questions I set for the buzzer quiz, as seen in below videos, for the Lightspeed event in York a few weeks back. They work better in that format as most are designed to get progressively easier to encourage a buzz but here are a selection. If anyone particularly wants the full set just pop me an email to fully234@hotmail.com...Answers in the comment box.

In terms of size this is island is the seventh largest in Scotland. It is often referred to as “Scotland in miniature”  and is separated from the mainland by the Kilbrannan Sound. Name the Scottish Island that has Brodick as its capital and Goatfell as its highest point?

This author was born in 1958 and has since wrote 10 adult novels many of which have been turned into films. He won the Man Booker Prize in 1993 for a novel about a 10 year old boy living in Barrytown although perhaps his most famous novel tells the story of a group of unemployed Irishmen who form a Soul Band. Who is the author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha HA and The Commitments?

Which American Physicist, born in 1904, and often referred to as “the father of the atomic bomb”, was appointed as director of Eisenhower’s Manhattan Plan in 1941 that sought to create American Nuclear weapons?

Which British Formula 1 Driver who drove for Mclaren, Ferrari and Williams won the World Championship in 1992?

Which Actress, born in 1944, took her name from a character in the The Great Gatsby and made her film debut in the 1977 Woody Allen film “Annie Hall” although her most famous role was as Reipley in the Alien series?

Name the country. This country became a constitutional monarchy in 1952 and its national day falls on December 5^th. Over 90% of the population are Buddhists and chief exports include rice, rubber and precious stones. It has borders with Laos and Cambodia amongst others and has the Baht as currency. Its capital city is Bangkok.

Name the year. Geoffrey Fisher retired as the archbishop of Canterbury, the World Wildlife Fund was founded, Private Eye was published for the first time, Elvis Presley had 4 UK Number 1’s and Yuri Gargarin became the first man in space?

At 3,776m tall, this mountain is the tallest in its country and was last week announced as a World Heritage Site by Unesco. Its name translates as “wealth” or “abundant” in English and along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku it is considered as one of the “Three Holly Mountains” in its country. Located on Honshu Island, what is the largest mountain in Japan?

Arran

Roddy Doyle

Robert Oppenheimer

Nigel Mansell

Sigourney Weaver

Thailand

1961

Mt. Fuji

Lightspeed Quiz 2013 - Sunday 28th July - Bury

A quick copy and paste job from the Lightspeed Quiz site regarding this weekends quiz. I have been to two of these events and you may have seen the videos which I posted up. Unfortunately, I am not able to attend this event as I would have needed the Monday off work and couldn't get it but for anyone else interested here are the details taken from the site...

Light Speed Individual Open Buzzer Quiz 2013

Round Five

Sunday July 28th Wyldes, Bury

This is the correct address, some web sites have it wrong:

4, Bolton Street,
Bury,
BL9 OLQ
Telephone (0161) 7972000 (The landlord's called Mike)
My telephone is 07859 403 790

Usual start time of 1 PM and unusual end time of sometime late Sunday afternoon (Say 5 or 6 o'clock).

Entry is £5 plus a set of questions, or a straight tenner. All fivers go to prize money

I don't think I've ever been to Bury, so this'll be a first.

We have an upstairs room and beer is well reasonable at just over sixteen quid a gallon! They don't do food so you may want to grab a burger or bring a banana.

Trams run to and from near the pub to Droylesden, Manchester Picadilly, Eccles and Rochdale every 12 minutes - even on Sundays

Take road junctions 17 or 18 off the M60 and follow the signs to Bury

University Challenge Quiz Book

University Challenge returned this week and I cannot seem to recall whether I have recommended this book on here or not (I have indeed recommended a fair few!).

Anyway, if you haven't tried the official University Quiz Book yet then it is certainly worth a look. Its rather cheap in the Amazon Market Place too :) Packed full of great questions and not much filler either!

Here is a link....

University Challenge is back!

Funnily enough I was just about to post up here asking if anyone had heard when the new series was beginning and low and behold I check my Sky guide and there it is! In case, like me, you may have missed it University Challenge returns to our screens tonight! 8pm BBC 2

LightSpeed Quiz - York - Round 4

Not quite sure what is going on in the still there....

Anyway this is the fourth and final round of the Lightpseed Quiz event from York which I was at last weekend. A very good, and testing, set of questions from Martin produced a very close game. Some good answers all round and a great way to end the event!

LightSpeed Quiz - York - Round 3

Well here is the third game of the York event in this years Lightspeed Quiz and it was my turn to write the questions. I have really enjoyed putting Buzzer sets together and am quite proud of the set I produced for this and even more happy that it produced a really tight game!

LightSpeed 2013 - York - Round 2

Here is the video from the second round of the Lightspeed Event in York. Some good questions again and I was not too disappointed with the way it panned out. Steve is very quick on the buzzer so again on a lot of occasions it was simply a matter of me just missing out by not being quick enough.

A very good game indeed!

Book Suggestion - Adventures in Architecture

I picked this up a few weeks ago and having just finished it I thought I would mention it on here as I found it very very enjoyable. Not only that but in terms of quiz revision it was very useful indeed!

I don't think I actually saw the TV series this book is based on but from what I gather this book goes into a greater depth about various buildings around the world with full glossy pictures, facts and figures, information on the history of the building. All in a very readable style and format!

Architecture comes up often in the range of quizzes I do so I have been trying to swot up for a while and although the usual list learning has helped a lot I still learned a great deal in this book. I am not usually a fan of BBC tie-ins but I have found this to superb!


Link to it on Amazon...

LightSpeed Quiz - York - Round 1

Well, here is little old me again on a buzzer quiz. The venue is The Graduate Pub in York.

If you watched the previous round you will have noticed I pretty much bombed but this, being my second buzzing event, went much better. Really pleased with some of the answers I came up with here particularly the run run of three solid buzzes in the middle and seeing it back I was very close on a number of questions so I am definitely getting the knack of buzzer quizzers!

A good round with a good set of questions and some cracking answers from us all!

All About History Magazine

I thought fellow quizzers (and not doubt history-buffs) would be interested to know there has been a new magazine launched in the UK entitled All About History and issue 1 is out now. I think it only came out on Friday so should be widely available and it is well worth a look. It is from the makers of the How it Works Magazine and presents bags of useful information that I intend to use (for both learning and setting questions) and above all else, it makes an interesting read.

I do enjoy the BBC History magazine too which is well worth reading but the styles are very different so it is hard to say which is better than the other.

LightSpeed Quiz - Round 4 - York

Yesterday was the second day of LightSpeed 2013 and this time it was a trip down to York for some buzzer action. I actually made a weekend of it and squeezed in time for a first visit to the National Railway Museum which was very enjoyable indeed.

In case you missed my earlier posts, LightSpeed is a buzzer quiz event which pits players against each other in a race to 25 with 2 points for a correct answer and 1 taken away for an incorrect early buzz.

I struggled last time as it was my first time on the buzzer and I quickly learned this is a completely different playing field and skill set than normal quizzing. I was much more comfortable this time, have a better idea of how and when to buzz and thus have a bit more confidence at buzzing. I will post my thoughts on the matches more when the videos go up as they will make more sense in that respect but overall it was very enjoyable!

I also had taken plenty of time to set buzzer-style questions and seem to have nailed it now! I enjoyed asking and setting nearly as much as I did playing which makes these events unique in that way.

The next event is in Bury, Manchester and I will put some more details up soon regarding that one!