Scores - Quiz 18 : Motley

Venkatesh - 1 (Cambridge Footlights)

Saravanan - 2 (Bofors, Cambridge Footlights)

Answers - Quiz 18 : Motley

1. Undesirable positions in battle or warfare.

Pic 1 shows the route of King Pyrrhus of Epirus (an ancient Greek state), a strong opponent of early Rome, during the Pyrrhic war (280-275 BC). Inspite of defeating Rome at Heraclea (280 BC) and Asculum (279 BC), the Epirean casualties amounted to vast numbers. This is an extract from Plutarch's report -

"The armies separated; and, it is said, Pyrrhus replied to one that gave him joy of his victory that one more such victory would utterly undo him."

The report is often quoted as "Another such victory and I come back to Epirus alone," or "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.", thus the term Pyrrhic Victory.

Pic 2 shows a Mexican Standoff from Reservoir Dogs. It is used as a popular substitute for a stalemate or a confrontation where neither side can win and is portrayed as two or more opponents with guns drawn and ready, creating a very tense situation.

Pic 3 shows Cadmus of Phoenicia who, according to legend, founded Thebes. The phrase Cadmean Victory is attributed to his decision to send his companions to slay a dragon snake guarding a spring from which he needed water for the city. He lost them all and eventually had to venture the task himself. Although Cadmus eventually proved victorious, the victory was at the cost of lives of those who were to benefit from the new settlement.

2. Bofors

Pic 1 shows Alfred Nobel who while heading Bofors, helped transform it from an iron and steel firm to an international arms manufacturer.

Pic 2 shows Ottavio Quattrocchi who is the middleman associated with the Bofors Scandal of India during Rajiv Gandhi's tenure.

3. Bajaj Discover's The Power of One Litre Ad series

The map points to a. Magnetic Hill or Gravity Hill, Leh, b. Jamboor, Gujarat and c. Mattur, Karnataka. These are the three places (among the many on their website) shown in the '100 kms from here ...' ad series for Bajaj Discover. The person in the picture is Rahul Bajaj.

4. Winning hands down

According to phrases.org.uk, jockeys need to keep a tight rein in order to encourage their horse to run. Anyone who is so far ahead that he can afford to slacken off and still win can drop his hands and loosen the reins - hence winning 'hands down'.

5. Cambridge Footlights

Pic 1 shows John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Eric Idle of Monty Python.

Pic 2 shows Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry.

Pic 3 shows Emma Thompson.

They were all members (at different times) of this theatre group in the early part of their careers.

Quiz 18 : Motley

Here's the next set. 5 questions.

1. The first pic depicts the proceedings of a war. The pic below is a still from Reservoir Dogs. The third pic is a painting depicting a Phoenician prince. Identify the commonality.

2. How are these two figures connected ?

3. Connect

4. What phrase is said to owe its origin to a practice similar to Aamir's pose in Rang De Basanti followed by some jockeys in horse racing ?

5. What institution / group is common to the six people (the three highlighted in the first pic and the other three) ?

Have fun !
Zed

Scores - Quiz 17 : Name The Film

Venkatesh - 4
Gokul- 5

Answers - Quiz 17 : Name The Film

1. Bronyenosyets Potyomkin (The Battleship Potemkin). A 1925 silent film by the Russian Sergei Eisenstein. The still shows the ground-breaking 'Odessa Staircase' sequence where Czarist soldiers massacre Odessans. Many films pay homage to the scene - The Godfather and The Untouchables to name two.

2. Rear Window. A 1954 Alfred Hitchcock film starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly. The still shows the view from Jeffries' (Stewart) window.

3. Who Framed Roger Rabbit. A 1988 animation-cum-live action film by Robert Zemeckis. Bob Hoskins as the private eye and Roger Rabbit can be seen in the still.

4. The Score. This 2001 film featured the first (and only) joint appearance of Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro on screen. Edward Norton co-starred and the trio can be seen in the still.

5. Persona. A 1966 Ingmar Bergman film featuring Liv Ullmann (his perennial favourite) and Bibi Andersson.

6. Yellow Submarine. This 1968 animated film was based on the album of the same name by the Beatles and their animated personae can be seen in the still.

7. North by Northwest. A 1959 Alfred Hitchcock film starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. The film has its climax set on Mount Rushmore (Jefferson and Roosevelt can be seen in the background) .

8. Blade Runner. This 1981 film by Ridley Scott starred Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer. A commerical failure on release, it has since become a cult favourite and is especially noted for the dystopian environs of Los Angeles set in 2019.

9. Bonnie and Clyde. This 1967 film starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the bank robbing, gun touting couple who operated during the Great Depression. Bonnie and Clyde is considered a landmark film in that it broke many of the prevalent taboos and was popular with the younger generation. Among the films it inspired was Natural Born Killers.

10. The Misfits. This 1961 John Huston film is now memorable for having been the last completed film of two icons of cinema - Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. Gable died 10 days after filming (he suffered a heart attack attributed to the harsh conditions while filming). Within a year and a half, Monroe died of a drug overdose. The film features another matinee idol, Montgomery Clift and the trio can be seen in the picture.

Quiz 17 : Name The Film

Hi,

Here's the next set. Identify the movie from the still.

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Have fun !

Zed

Answers : Quiz 16 - Borrowing

1. Murder resulting from notions of superiority

Row 1 - Friedrich Nietzsche postulated his concept of a 'superman' or 'overman' (Übermensch) in his Also Sprach Zarathustra.

Row 2 - Nathan Freudenthal Leopold, Jr. and Richard Albert Loeb, known as Leopold and Loeb, believed themselves to be Nietzschean Supermen who could commit a "perfect crime". They kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Bobby Franks. Before the murder, Leopold had written to Loeb: "A superman ... is, on account of certain superior qualities inherent in him, exempted from the ordinary laws which govern men. He is not liable for anything he may do."

Row 3 - Still from the Alfred Hitchcock film 'Rope' where John Dall and Farley Granger kill a fellow student out of notions of superiority and also, to commit the perfect crime. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky has a principal protagonist, Rodion Raskolnikov plots to kill a pawnbroker believing that murder is permissible in pursuit of a higher purpose.

2. The Periodic Table

Column 1 - Solitaire, Octave on a keyboard and Pāṇini

Column 2 - Dmitri Mendeleev was inspired to create the Periodic Table from the three influences mentioned above. Solitaire provided the visual basis upon which he would construct his Periodic Table. The recurrence of properties for every eight elements (Periods) was an idea he borrowed from the John Newlands' Law of Octaves which in turn was inspired by the musical concept of Octaves. The structuring of elements was a tribute to Pāṇini's (Sanskrit Grammarian from Vedic times) work Ashtadhyayi (Eight Chapters), a treatise on Sanskrit Grammar.

3. Virtual Celebrity

Row 1 - William Gibson, the famous cyberpunk writer and the cover of his novel Idoru where he theorizes the concept of a virtual celebrity or idol. The book's narrative, set in a dystopian future, features a rockstar Rez who expresses interest in marrying a synthetic personality named Rei Toei.

Row 2 - nVidia and model Adrianne Curry have teamed up to create the world's first real-time, virtual celebrity.

Row 3 - Adrianne Curry's likeness used to generate the virtual celebrity.