What is the connection?
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Two bands who took their names from hairstyles. Pictured in the background are Fred Schneider, Cindy Wilson, Kate Pierson and Keith Strickland - the members of the wacky rock band the B52s. "The B-52's took their name from Southern slang for a particular kind of bouffant hairdo". Tracey Byrn and her sister Melissa Belland of Voice of the Beehive may be the people pictured in the inset photo. Their name obviously originates from the 60's 'beehive' hairdo. |
Neil |
He jumped but he couldn't swim, he was a Great barnstormer and he knew a better way. How would you describe his proposal?
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Indecent. References are to Robert Redford characters (Sundance Kid, Waldo Pepper, and U.S.Senate candidate Bill McKay). |
Alan
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Who is this?
The Jim Henson creation Hoggle from the movie "Labrynth" with actress Shari Weiser inside the costume.
Which US government department, allegedly, keeps a watchful eye on this man?
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Dennis Rodman, supposedly from another planet, is under the the watchful eye of the Men in Black. |
Charlie |
Bill has a sock drawer. It has 17 socks in it. (It was his birthday last week.) He has three identical pairs of black socks, four identical pairs of grey socks, a pair of blue socks and a green sock.
In the dark he randomly grabs some socks and dashes downstairs. He grabbed three socks, what are the odds of having a matched pair of any colour? Assume that the Universe is impartial and doesn't care either way that Bill is late for work yet again.
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Ways of picking 3 black socks = 6 x 5 x 4 = 120 Ways of picking 2 black and 1 other = 6 x 5 x 11 x 3 = 990 Ways of picking 3 grey socks = 8 x 7 x 6 = 336 Ways of picking 2 grey and 1 other = 8 x 7 x 9 x 3 = 1512 Ways of picking 2 blue and 1 other = 2 x 1 x 15 x 3 = 90 TOTAL ways of picking a pair = 3048 Ways of picking three socks from 17 = 17 x 16 x 15 = 4080 So the probability is 3048/4080, which reduces to 127/170, or about 0.74706 If you're going to be picky and say that you asked for the ODDS, then I suppose it's 43 to 127 (except that a bookie would probably say it differently). I still can't understand why bookies insist on using that idiotic, incomprehensible system. Why don't they just quote '10%' instead of '9 to 1' etc. It would make everything much easier. |
Alan
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Congratulations to Mike and his wife on their happy news.
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Out of the 680 possible combinations of three socks, 308 will yield a pair or better of grey, 185 a pair or better of black, and 15 the pair of blue. That's 508 chances in 680, or roughly 74.70588%. |
Alan
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Great minds do think alike.
Who or what are these characters?
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The Blue Meanies from the Beatles' Yellow Submarine (1968). Heinz Edelman is given credit for inventing the Blue Meanies. |
Demar |
Which Olympic events no longer rely on rocket science?
The jumping events, especially the long jump. In the ancient Olympic games athletes carried hand-weights which they flug behind them in mid flight, generating some thrust in the opposite direction. This is now regarded as cheating. No matter how sophisticated the rocket thrust basically comes down to flinging stuff away in the opposite direction.
Which ancient Greek mythical tale of human failure was re-enacted as a human triumph in 1988?
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The flight of Daedalus and Icarus from Crete to Santorini. From : Daedalus "To celebrate the Greek myth of Daedalus, the man who constructed wings of wax and feathers to escape King Minos, the Daedalus project began with the goal of designing, building and testing a human-powered aircraft that could fly the mythical distance, 115 km. To achieve this goal, three aircraft were constructed. The Light Eagle was the prototype aircraft, weighing 92 pounds. On January 22, 1987, it set a closed course distance record of 59 km, which still stands. Also in January of 1987, the Light Eagle was powered by Lois McCallin to set the straight distance, the distance around a closed circuit, and the duration world records for the female division in human powered vehicles. Following this success, two more aircraft were built, the Daedalus 87 and Daedalus 88. Each aircraft weighed approximately 69 pounds. The Daedalus 88 aircraft was the ship that flew the 199 km from the Iraklion Air Force Base on Crete in the Mediterranean Sea, to the island of Santorini in 3 hours, 54 minutes. In the process, the aircraft set new records in distance and endurance for a human powered aircraft." |
Neil |
Who painted this?
Beryl Cook
Nude on a Leopard Skin
Which was the only one in the fleet without a Christian name?
Akademik Ioffe The former USSR had a fleet of oceanographic research vessels. The were all named in the same style, viz. Akademik Name Name, except Akademik Ioffe. The reason? Academician Ioffe's full name was Abraham Ioffe and the Soviets could not admit that a Jew could reach the rank of Academician.
A few people gave the answer the Pinta, the only one of Columbus's fleet not to have a Christian name, which fits as well.
Alan Walker
An old school dictionary falls open. Between an Iberian nobleman and a fantastic style of decorative art I find a hole for a corpse, a novice, solemnity, violent sorrow, a young salmon and a grey haired bear. What are the two deadly kinds of fruit to be avoided on the battlefield?
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An Iberian nobleman - grandee A fantastic style of decorative art - grotesque A hole for a corpse - grave A novice - greenhorn Solemnity - gravity Violent sorrow - grief A young salmon - grilse Grey haired bear - grizzly The two deadly kinds of fruit to be avoided on the battlefield - grape & grenade (word derived from the name of a fruit) |
Venky |
Grapeshot is grape sized shot fired from a cannon rather than a single large ball. Using a cannon like a large shotgun rather than a large musket. A single piece of grape-shot is capable of inflicting a mortal wound, dozens are loaded and fired at once in a single shot. The collection of balls resembles a bunch of grapes. Fired at a riotous crowd or battle formation from a relatively short range it can kill a dozen or so instantly, as such it is a very effective weapon for destroying morale. It could be argued that it saves lives, in that it causes the enemy to flee or surrender rather than fight. A whiff of grapeshot can be a more humane alternative to hand to hand fighting, especially for those who are still alive to take the hint.
The word grenade is derived (via French) from granada, the Spanish for pomegranate, although later grenades came to resemble pineapples.
Who is this poet?
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Robert Burns - Detail from an unsigned, undated oil painting owned by Ancient Light Lodge No.88 in Delta, British Columbia. |
Venky |
Who took inspiration for the title of a song from a menu describing a Chinese meal of chicken and egg?
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Paul Simon "Mother and Child Reunion," (1972) 1972 Rolling Stone interview with Paul Simon. 'Know where the words came from on that? You would never have guessed. I was eating in a Chinese restaurant downtown. There was a dish called "Mother and Child Reunion." It's chicken and eggs. And I said, "Oh, I love that title. I gotta use that one."' |
Demar |
Who is Robert James afraid of?
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Robert James is the pseudonym (and forenames) of Bobby Fischer. Fischer, who now lives reportedly in Budapest and seems to have gone entirely round the twist, apparently believes that (i) he is being persecuted by "the Jewish World Government", and (ii) the CIA wants to kill him. Sources: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/fischer.htm, |
Alan
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Would you rather be Bobby Fisher, genius but crazy, or a safe mediocre mind? Interesting thought to ponder, any views? Put them on the forum. Mr James is welcome to post too, you can be anonymous if you want.
Russ
Why is it so fortunate that her breasts are small and humble?
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So you don't confuse them with mountains. Taken from the lyrics of the Shakira song "Whenever, Wherever" from her album "Laundry Service"
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Venky |
She can shake those hips this way if she wants.
What is this aircraft?
Junkers Ju 87 Stuka. When it had the benefit of fighter cover it was an extremly effective aircraft, a deadly accurate divebomber (Sturzkampfflugzeug). A vital contributor to the success of Hitler's blitzkrieg, very effective in the Polish and French campaigns.
In its primary role as a divebomber it was world-class, capable of dropping substantial bombs with extreme accuracy. The entire aircraft would fly at the target at a dive angle of approximately 80 degrees, the bomb would be released on a very predictable path, as accurate as modern day smart-bombs.
To increase its value as a terror weapon, to scare the fight out of the enemy, sirens were added to the aircraft and whistles to the bombs.
It was a bully's weapon.
It was too slow to get away from any allied fighter aircraft. Without effective fighter support it was a manned clay-pigeon.
Dive bombing achieves great bombing accuracy at a price, high G forces on the pilot and aircraft. The Stuka was a very sturdy aircraft with an automatic system that pulled it out of a dive even if the pilot had blacked out. Ironically its poor aerodynamics probably helped its overall performance, preventing it going too fast. Some faster allied ground attack aircraft were lost as trans-sonic effects in steep dives pulled chunks off the aircraft.
Arthur looked up at his watch, it told him it was 09:57. His train was due at 10:12.
He went and bought a cup of something that tasted almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea from the vending machine on the platform. He checked his digital watch, it read 10:00. He glanced up at the station clock, it read 09:59. This was not unusual for Arthur. After a few more sips he looked up at the clock again, it read 10:00, he checked his watch and found that it said 10:01.
As Arthur had almost finished his cup he checked his watch and found that it told exactly the same time as the station clock. He was just beginning to think he had got his lifestyle together when the station announcement declared that the train he was due to catch had been cancelled. He cursed his bad luck and went off to enquire about alternative services. The service to his stop ran every hour. He decided to go to the tea shop on the High Street and have a fairy cake. The tea shop was five minute's walk away from the station. Arthur bought a newspaper and tried to solve the crossword while he waited. He got involved with the crossword and had quite forgotten about the time. He checked his watch and saw that it was 10:47, no panic, so he ordered another cup. When he finished the tea he checked his watch and found it was 11:00, so he set off back for the station. When he arrived he found the train had just left.
The station clock kept perfect time, so did the second train. Arthur has taken five minutes to walk back from the tea shop. When he checked his watch again the mystery was easily solved.
What time did Arthur's watch say when he saw it told the same time as the station clock, as the first train was cancelled?
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Arthurs digital watch has two problems ; it is a few seconds fast and the middle bar of the last digit is not functioning. This means that the only times between 10:00 and 10:12 that Arthurs watch will agree with the station clock are: 10:00, 10:01 and 10:07. Since he was still drinking tea(?) at 10:01, then his watch and the station clock agreed at 10:07. This is when the train was cancelled. When he checked his watch as he left the High Street, it was actually 11:08 but the missing middle bar made his watch show 11:00. The five minute walk got him back to the station at 11:13 and the train had left at 11:12 |
Demar |
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My method for solving this includes use of geometry (a very under-rated tool) and therefore diagrams, but I will do my best to describe what I did in words! Firstly, I have assumed that when you say
"Arthur glanced at Arthur's Watch is running very slow, although at the start of the story it is set a little fast (ahead). There are two points in the story where there is an obvious way of getting some information about the exact equation for the discrepancy, although, as we shall see, nothing in the story actually gives away the precise figures. The two points are: (A) "He checked his digital watch, it read 10:00. He glanced up at the station clock, it read 09:59" This means that when the time was 09:59:[s1], Arthur's watch showed "10:00:[s2]", where [s1] and [s2] are two unknown seconds figures. (B) "he looked up at the clock again, it read 10:00, he checked his watch and found that it said 10:01" This means that when the time was 10:00:[s3], Arthur's watch showed "10:01:[s4]", where [s3] and [s4] are two further unknown seconds figures. However, there is a third point in the story where you know something about the equation: (C) "When he arrived he found the train had just left" -- this implies that it was exactly 11:12:00 when he arrived (the train kept perfect time - HAH! A likely story). So as he took five minutes to walk there, we know that it was actually 11:07:00 when he left the tea shop. But the story says "When he finished the tea he checked his watch and found it was 11:00, so he set off back for the station" -- so it was actually 11:07:00 and his watch read 11:00:[s5], where [s5] is another unknown quantity of seconds. We cannot know the values of [s1] - [s5], but we can use geometry to define the possible regions in which they might lie. This is where my explanation falls short of articulate, because words are not an ideal tool for explaining the method - so I'm going to try to describe the picture I drew (sorry, I can't be bothered to make a digital one at the moment). Draw a grid, with "Real (Clock) time" on the horizontal axis, ranging from 09:59:00 to 11:07:00, and "Arthur's Watch" on the vertical axis, ranging from 10:00:00 to 11:01:00. The idea is to draw a line that represents the "Arthur's Watch" function, i.e. maps real time to that showing on the watch. Fact (A) means that the line must pass through at least one point in the square defined by (real time between 09:59:00 and 10:00:00) x (watch time between 10:00:00 and 10:01:00) Fact (B) means that the line must pass through at least one point in the square defined by (real time between 10:00:00 and 10:01:00) x (watch time between 10:01:00 and 10:02:00) Fact (C) means that the line must pass through at least one point on the line segment defined by (real time = 11:07:00) x (watch time between 11:00:00 and 11:01:00) All three of these regions should be shaded on your diagram - although you will not be able to draw it to scale because 11:07 is so far off to the top-right!! Each range given above is inclusive at the minimum and exclusive at the maximum (i.e. "09:59:00 to 10:00:00" includes 09:59:00 but does not include 10:00:00 -- but this is a little picky, so let's ignore it). There are two obvious bounding lines that pass through the extremities of the two squares and through the 11:07 line segment. These have to be chosen carefully so that all lines passing somewhere between them intersect both squares, but this is not difficult once you realise that Arthur's watch is running slow, so the gradient is less than 45 degrees. You have to draw the diagram to understand that comment, I think!! One line passes through (09:59:00,10:01:00) and (11:07:00,11:01:00) and has a gradient of 60/68. The other passes through (10:01:00,10:01:00) and (11:07:00,11:00:00) and has a gradient of 59/66 (which is steeper than the other line, so the whole thing is a fan shape with the apex somewhere off to the right). On the diagram, draw the line of a "perfect watch", i.e. y=x. The story tells us that there is a particular moment at which Arthur's watch is correct, so at that moment the line should intersect the "Arthur's Watch" line, and the task is to discover where this happens. The intersection cannot happen before 10:01:00 (real time), because then y=x would lie outside our fan-shaped region.So we have a minimum time for the event. It also cannot happen after the intersection of y=x and the top line, because, again, y=x would lie outside the fan region. A little linear algebra yields the intersection of the top line with y=x as a point with a real time co-ordinate of 10:07:37.5. There are "Arthur's Watch" solutions at both 10:01:00 and 10:07:37.5 - in the first case, it follows the bottom line, and in the second case, it follows the top line. So it is clear that any value in between the two will also have a solution. THEREFORE: The time at which Arthur's watch agreed with the station clock could have been anywhere between 10:01:00 and 10:07:37.5 - a possible range of six minutes and thirty-seven and a half seconds. Do I get the prize for the most verbose answer? |
Mike
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When I told Mike the explanation was that a blob of marmalade from breakfast had stuck to the face of Arthur's watch partially obscuring the last digit of the minute display he was a little annoyed. But as I have said before, any answer that isn't wrong stands a chance of being marked right. Besides by some random fluke 10:07 is exactly the correct answer as I see it, although it could have been 10:10 or 10:11, as there was no other evidence to suggest that the railway in question was being run by a species as mean as the Vogons I think five minutes' notice of a cancellation is the minimum a traveller could expect. |
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There are (at least) two possible explanations. One is that Arthur's watch is set about 30 seconds fast, so that sometimes it shows perfect time and sometimes shows one minute ahead. Also, the centre horizontal line of the final digit doesn't display. Therefore, when he looks at his watch in the teashop and sees 11:00 it's really 11:08, and he's doomed to miss his train. In this case, the watch can show the same time as the station clock both at 10:07 and 10:10. An alternative explanation is that the watch is set a little fast, but running slow; let's say that the minute display advances every 67 seconds (it will also work with 68 or 69, mutatis mutandis). Assume that at 9:59:50 the watch changes to 10:00, and Arthur checks. He sips for 67 seconds and checks again; watch 10:01, true time 10:00:57. At 10:03:11 the watch changes to 10:03, and the train is cancelled. In the teashop at 11:07:05 the watch reads 11:00. Five minutes later, Arthur has missed the train by five seconds. His watch reads only 11:04 even though he has taken a 5-minute walk since last check, and so he easily realizes he needs a new quartz crystal. |
Alan
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What is happening here?
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin at Massada (Hebrew for fortress) overlooking the Dead Sea. |
Demar |
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin Jiang: "Bush say he going to invade a rock; you think he mean this place?" Putin: "Possibly, but I wouldn't take it for granite. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!" |
Alan
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A Hungarian requested equines without equestrians, to the amusement of an Englishman and an Australian. What did the Hungarian know?
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"Fuck all". Hungarian: Director Michael Curtiz. Englishman: David Niven. Australian: Errol Flynn. 'On the set of 'The Charge of the Light Brigade', when, wanting to see stray horses wandering through the battle, Curtiz directed the wranglers to "Bring on the empty horses". When Niven and Flynn cracked up laughing, he responded with:'You people, you think I know fuck nothing; I tell you: I know fuck all"' |
Demar |
Final Problem: if the boil was blue, the front was yellow, and the ring was red, what colour was the fire?
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Silver Short Stories of Sherlock Holmes. The Final Problem The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle The Yellow Face The Adventure of the Red Circle Silver Blaze |
Demar |