Number 3 is indeed my hometown, but number 8 is not Liverpool. You're miles out, quite literally, with that one. The weather in the photo is far too good for Liverpool, anyway.

Number 5 is indeed Reykjavik Cathedral

Ok folks, answers time.

1) The Wankhede Cricket Ground in Mumbai. Stop sniggering at the back. Properly pronounced wan-kee-dee and often mispronounced as wank-a-day. Wank-a-day (or wanker day) is, of course, what we all called Timmy Mallet's breakfast show in the 80s.

2) Flinders Street Station, Melbourne.

3) The Norman "New Castle Upon The Tyne" in erm... . I am always amazed by how many visitors we get who say, "I had no idea there would be a castle here." Idiots.

4) Futuroscope in Poitiers.

5) I know it looks like something from the set of Game of Thrones but it is in fact the Hallgrskirkja, Reykjavik.

6) Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria.

7) The public library in Kansas City.

8) Cathedral of Brasilia.

9) The Federal Chancellery Building in Berlin, dubbed "The Washing Machine" by Berliners. Who says the Germans don't have a sense of humour?

10) Chinese Central Television headquarters in Beijing. Called the "Boxer Shorts Building," again by piss-taking locals.


For today, ten more movie titles that didn't translate well. Can you name the English versions?


I'm Drunk and You're a Prostitute (Japan)

Hey, Where Are The Babies? (Sweden)

Vaseline (Argentina)

Floppy Coppers Don't Bite (Germany)

The Young People Who Traverse Dimensions While Wearing Sunglasses (France)

Zany Son-in-Law, Zippy Grandkids, Sour Father-in-Law (Thailand)

Meetings and Failures in Meetings (Portugal)

Please, Do Not Touch The Old Women (Italy)

Mr. Cat Poop (China)

It's Raining Falafel (Israel)


Answers tomorrow.


Wamadeus.

Hello again, it's answers time.

I'm Drunk and You're a Prostitute (Japan)
Leaving Las Vegas

Hey, Where Are The Babies? (Sweden)
Swingers

Vaseline (Argentina)
Grease

Floppy Coppers Don't Bite (Germany)
Dragnet

The Young People Who Traverse Dimensions While Wearing Sunglasses (France)
The Matrix

Zany Son-in-Law, Zippy Grandkids, Sour Father-in-Law (Thailand)
Meet the Parents - Little Fockers

Meetings and Failures in Meetings (Portugal)
Lost in Translation

Please, Do Not Touch The Old Women (Italy)
The Producers

Mr. Cat Poop (China)
As Good as it Gets

It's Raining Falafel (Israel)
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs.

A variation on spot the connection. This time you need to spot the odd one out from each group and explain why. The whole quiz has a musical theme.

1) Queen, Black Sabbath, Nirvana, Green Day.

2) Yazzoo, The Assembly, Depeche Mode, Heaven 17.

3) Toscanini, Liberace, Pagannini, Prokofiev.

4) JC, CPE, WF, PDQ.

5) Hitch a ride, hop on the bus, don't be coy, make a new plan.

6) Johan Strauss, Josef Strauss, Richard Strauss, Eduard Strauss.

7) Sneeze, Scratch, Spray, Sleep.

8) Live and Let Die, For your Eyes Only, The Spy Who Loved Me, Spectre.

9) Minuet, Sarabande, Pavan, Polonaise.

10) France, Spain, Germany, Italy.

Answers tomorrow.

Wamadeus.

4 are Bach's,
9 are Baroque dances. But I'm an early keyboardist so that's all you can hope me to get

.but remember, you need to identify the odd one out.

Wamadeus

3). Liberace was a pianist, not a composer

5). Hitch a ride is not one of the '50 ways to leave your lover' from the Paul Simon song.

8). Spectre was an organisation in a Bond film, not the title.

My mistake!! PDQ was not a "real" Bach, and a Pavan is the odd one out as it is duple not triple time

Scores on the doors so far:

Nos 4,5 and 9 are correct.

No 8 is correct but not for the reason given. Spectre is the title of the most recent Bond
movie (2015).

No 3 is not correct. Toscanini was not a composer either, he was a conductor.

Full answers in the morning.

Wamadeus

Ok, a little delayed, answers time. Remember, all answers have a musical theme.


1) Queen, Black Sabbath, Nirvana, Green Day.
Black Sabbath - All the others have been parodied by Weird Al

2) Yazzoo, The Assembly, Depeche Mode, Heaven 17.
Heaven 17 - All the others have had Vince Clark as a member.

3) Toscanini, Liberace, Pagannini, Prokofiev.
Pagannini - All the others are namechecked in "We Didn't Start the Fire."

4) JC, CPE, WF, PDQ.
PDQ - PDQ Bach is a fictional composer, invented by musical satirist Peter Schickele. The others (JC Bach, CPE Bach and WF Bach) are genuine members of the Bach family.

5) Hitch a ride, hop on the bus, don't be coy, make a new plan.
Hitch a ride - All the others are one of the fifty ways to leave your lover.

6) Johan Strauss, Josef Strauss, Richard Strauss, Eduard Strauss.
Richard Strauss - He is not a member of the Strauss Waltz family.

7) Sneeze, Scratch, Spray, Sleep.
Scratch - The rest are actions in the Black Lace song "Superman"

8) Live and Let Die, For your Eyes Only, The Spy Who Loved Me, Spectre.
Spectre - Whilst the themes for all four films were noinated for "Best Original Song" at the oscars, only the theme to Spectre (The Writing's On The Wall) won.
The only other Bond theme ever to win was 2012's Skyfall

9) Minuet, Sarabande, Pavan, Polonaise.
Pavan - It is in duple time whilst the rest are in triple time.

10) France, Spain, Germany, Italy.
Spain - Unlike the others (and indeed any other country in the world) their national anthem has no words.


Today you need to find the world's oldest, currently running

1) Sunday Newspaper
2) University
3) Commercial passenger airline
4) Football club, as recognised by FIFA
5) Parliament of a country. ("And by country, I mean a sovereign state that is a member of the United Nations in its own right." Richard Osman)
6) Continuous, hereditary monarchy
7) Soap opera
8) Continuously Operating Brewery
9) Film festival
10) Tram line

Answers tomorrow

Wamadeus

I'm sorry, but I must take issue with your answer to no. 10 yesterday.
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and San Marino also have no words to
their national anthems.

1). Observer, UK
2). Fez, Morocco
3). KLM, Holland
4). Sheffield FC, England
5). Althing, Iceland
6). Japan
7). General Hospital
8). Kloster Weihenstephan, Bavaria
9). Venice, Italy
10). New Orleans, USA

Hi All

Firstly, Mike is quite right about the national anthems. Sorry about that.

Answers, (double checked) from yesterday.

1) Sunday Newspaper
The Observer (UK)

2) University
Bologna, on whose foundation the term was coined. (The University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez is the oldest, currently operating institue of higher education. It opened as a madrasa in 859 but only became a university in 1960s).

3) Commercial passenger airline
KLM

4) Football club, as recognised by FIFA
Sheffield FC of the Northern Premier League Division One South East, the eighth tier of English football.

5) Parliament of a country. ("And by country, I mean a sovereign state that is a member of the United Nations in its own right." Richard Osman)
Iceland. There are unverified claims that the Isle of Man's Tynwald is older but it is not an independent country.

6) Continuous, hereditary monarchy
Japan.

7) Soap opera
The Archers. Coronation Street which began in 1960 is the oldest TV soap but radio soap The Archers started 9 years earlier in 1951. General Hospital ( the longest running US soap opera did not start until 1963).

8) Continuously Operating Brewery
Weihenstephan Abbey, Bavaria

9) Film festival
Venice film festival.

10) Tram line.
New Orleans. The St Charles line began operating in 1835.

Today, ten questions to think carefully about.

1) When was the United Kingdom founded?
2) When was the US declaration of independence signed?
3) When was Russia's October revolution?
4) Who was the first Disney princess?
5) In which movie did the song "White Christmas" make its debut?
6) Which company is the largest producer of tyres by volume?
7) What colour is the "black box" on a commercial plane?
8) What are the bristles in a camel hair brush made from?
9) Which mountain peak is furthest from the centre of the earth?
10) In which country was the Bugatti car factory founded?

Answers tomorrow

Wamadeus

Hello All. Sorry for the delay, been chasing up self isolation food parcels. One seems to have been put together by the Monty Python Team as it contained 3 tins of processed meat, a tin of legumes in tomato sauce and a further tin of processed meat.

Anyway, here are the answers from last time.


1) When was the United Kingdom founded?
1801. The country established by the Act of Union between England and Scotland in 1707 was called the Kingdom of Great Britain. It was only when the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland came into effect that the term United Kingdom was used.

2) When was the US declaration of independence signed?
Over a period of time. The document was ratified by congress on 4th July 1776 but not all of the 56 signatories were present that day. New York's delegates abstained from the 4th July vote, not getting permission to agree to it until 15th July. Some historians argue that up to 34 signed on July 4th with others adding signatures later. Others argue that no-one signed until 2nd August and one may not even have added his signature until November.

3) When was Russia's October revolution?
By our current calendar (Gregorian calendar) , 7th November 1917. At the time Russians were still using the Julian calendar which gave them a date of 25th October 1917.

4) Who was the first Disney princess?
Either Cinderella or Persephone but definitely not Snow White. In 1922 the Laugh-O-Gram studios (the precursor to the Walt Disney Company) made a animation of Cinderella, drawing directly onto paper rather than using animation cells. When the studio went bankrupt in 1923, Disney founded the Walt Disney Company which produced a 1934 animation "The Goddess of Spring," telling the story of Persephone in Greek mythology. Snow White was not made until 1937.

5) In which movie did the song "White Christmas" make its debut?
Holiday Inn in 1942. The 1954 movie of the same name was made later, in part to cash in on the already great popularity of the song.

6) Which company is the largest producer of tyres by volume?
Lego

7) What colour is the "black box" on a commercial plane?
A bright colour, usually orange or red, but never black.

8) What are the bristles in a camel hair brush made from?
Usually squirrel hair but never camel hair.

9) Which mountain peak is furthest from the centre of the earth?
Chimborazo, not Everest. Despite Everest being taller, Chimborazo's location on the equatorial bulge gives it the edge here.

10) Where was the Bugatti car factory founded?
Molsheim, Alsace. Part of Germany at the time (1909) but ceded to France in the Treaty of Versailles after the First World War.


For today, more pieces of architechture. Name the cities they are in. Answers tomorrow.

Today, I will be mostly eating spam, spam, spam, baked beans and spam.

Wamadeus

Hi Everyone. Answers Time.

1) Lotus Temple - Delhi

2) Rotating Tower - Dubai

3) Habitat 67 - Montreal

4) Nautilus House - Mexico City

5) National Library - Minsk

6) Museum of Modern Art - Vienna
The eagle-eyed among you may have spotted "Museum Moderne Kunst, Wien" written on the side of the building which rather gives it away.

7) Cubic Houses - Rotterdam

8) Wonderworks - Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

9) Wooden Gagster House - Archangelsk

10) Dr Chau Chak Wing Building - University of Technology, Sydney.

More dodgy lyrics today, can you identify the song and the artist please?

1) You were in a car crash and you lost your hair.
(One for "Injury Lawyers 4u" ?)

2) You're about as easy as a nuclear war.
(Bit of an overstatement, don't you think?)

3) Now you're amazed by the VIP posse, Steppin' so hard like a German Nazi.
(What utter douchebag writes a lyric like this?)

4) What's she gonna look like with a chimney on her?
(It was the latest style at the Paris fashion show)

5)Teach me to harvest, I want you to grow in my hand.
(Oo-er Missus)

6) So many lyrics we're frightened to use 'em.
(So shut up then.)

7) Every night we smash their Mercedes-Benz.
(Youngsters nowadays, no respect)

8) We can do it 'till we both wake up.
(I've heard of sleepwalking, but this....?)

9) The turning point of a career, in Korea, being insincere.
(Winner of the "Oh shit I'm running out of things to rhyme" award.)

10) Take my thong off and my ass go boom.
(Well, I warned you not to eat too many beans!)

The roll call of shame will be revealed tomorrow.

Wamadeus

I know the band for that one, but can't remember the song.


I remember when that was on constant rotation on the radio.
I always assumed it was a death threat from Fred Dibnah. [1]


Classic track though!

[1] For those who've not heard of him, he was famous for doing things like this (video). He also owned a steam traction engine and built a working coal mine, complete with windng wheel and engine house, in his back garden. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CV2GuK6CmY

Hello Everyone.

Instead of writing out the answers, I have again provided links to the songs.

1) You were in a car crash and you lost your hair.
(One for "Injury Lawyers 4u" ?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTKEiQHHsuk
(Well, if you will let Ringo write songs.....)

2) You're about as easy as a nuclear war.
(Bit of an overstatement, don't you think?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M0hogZyRyU

3) Now you're amazed by the VIP posse, Steppin' so hard like a German Nazi.
(What utter douchebag writes a lyric like this?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTO_3Vjoigo
(There was only ever one candidate here.)

4) What's she gonna look like with a chimney on her?
(It was the latest style at the Paris fashion show)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkisiwa-97c

5)Teach me to harvest, I want you to grow in my hand.
(Oo-er Missus)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2n-blwYJ4s

6) So many lyrics we're frightened to use 'em.
(So shut up then.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY5zwufNYk8
(On behalf of the Geordie Nation, I can only apologise.)

7) Every night we smash their Mercedes-Benz.
(Youngsters nowadays, no respect)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL7-CKirWZE

8) We can do it 'till we both wake up.
(I've heard of sleepwalking, but this....?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxu3pq319r0

9) The turning point of a career, in Korea, being insincere.
(Winner of the "Oh shit I'm running out of things to rhyme" award.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t-gK-9EIq4

10) Take my thong off and my ass go boom.
(Well, I warned you not to eat too many beans!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjIvu7e6Wq8

Today, here are extreme close ups of everyday items. Can you identify them.


Answers tomorrow, if life does not get in the way.

Wamadeus

Hi Folks, answers time.

1) Book pages
2) Apple stalk
3) Grain of white sugar
4) Cornflake
5) Sponge
6) Soap lather
7) Teabag
8) Lipstick
9) Brass Key
10 Spaghetti


Today is all about the unique. So what is the only:

former nuclear power. (i.e. A once acknowledged nuclear power that gave up its entire arsenal unilaterally.)

bird that can fly backwards without wind assistance.

number in English whose letters are in alphabetical order.

UK number one to contain lyrics in two different foreign languages

animal born with horns

national flag that is not a quadrilateral

English pope

part of the human body which cannot repair itself

US president to be awarded a PhD

rock that floats in water

Answers tomorrow

Wamadeus

Hi Folks, answers time.

former nuclear power. (i.e. A once acknowledged nuclear power that gave up its entire arsenal unilaterally.) - South Africa

bird that can fly backwards without wind assistance. - Hummingbird

number in English whose letters are in alphabetical order. - Forty

UK number one to contain lyrics in two different foreign languages - Sadness Part 1, Enigma

animal born with horns - Giraffe

national flag that is not a quadrilateral - Nepal

English pope - Adrian IV

part of the human body which cannot repair itself - Teeth

US president to be awarded a PhD - Woodrow Wilson

rock that floats in water - Pummice

A return to where this all started today, so more British Rail station anagrams to work out:

1) Photon Rollback

2) Hellish Twat

3) Patronised Tarts

4) Lofty Wide Baboon

5) Our Broken Shag

6) No Bum Abhorrent

7) Snog Ravages Nerd

8) Paid By Workmen

9) Splattered Embolism

10) Chemically Discrepant

Answers tomorrow

Choo Choo.

Wamadeus

Hi Folks,

This will be the last post here for a bit. Again I am having to wade through the beaurocracy connected with coronavirus shielding and this is taking all my time and energy. Getting food and medication delivered shouldn't be this difficult and time consuming.

Anyway, answers from last time are :

1) Photon Rollback- Blackpool North

2) Hellish Twat - Haltwhistle

3) Patronised Tarts - Stanstead Airport

4) Lofty Wide Baboon - Filton Abbey Wood

5) Our Broken Shag - Knaresborough

6) No Bum Abhorrent - Barton on Humber

7) Snog Ravages Nerd - Grange Over Sands

8) Paid By Workmen - Bodmin Parkway

9) Splattered Embolism - Bristol Temple Meads

10) Chemically Discrepant - Manchester Piccadilly

Take care of yourselves and each other.

Wamadeus.