the annual geography quiz

[mcgato]

Oh, come on, it is Hawaii Five-O for a reason.

[Daisy]

Oh, come on, it is Hawaii Five-O for a reason.

Cool, I never knew that.

[tandfman]

I never knew, until I went to Hawai'i for the first time, that Hawaii Five-0 is not what the local police call themselves. It is strictly the name of a tv show.

[gh]

<<15. Hawaii, on Aug. 21, 1959.>>

[gh]

16. Sixty percent of the world's active geysers are located in one place. Where?

[lonewolf]

Yellowstone?

[gm]

I was gonna say Palm Beach...but then I realized it said "geysers"

[pakillo]

Iceland

[gh]

<<16. Yellowstone National Park.>>


(I would have guessed near Rotorua in New Zealand)

[gh]

17. What's the largest country (in terms of land mass) entirely south of the equator?

[mcgato]

Australia?

Just thinking about this, I wonder how many countries are entirely south of the equator...

[Daisy]

I was gonna say Palm Beach...but then I realized it said "geysers"

good one.

[Conor Dary]

Australia?

Just thinking about this, I wonder how many countries are entirely south of the equator...

That seems too obvious. I will go with something like Chile.

[highjumpfan]

Argentina. Why not, It certainly is bigger then chile and all in the Southern Hemisphere.

[Conor Dary]

Argentina. Why not, It certainly is bigger then chile and all in the Southern Hemisphere.

Yea, I would go with that. Chile is pretty skinny.

[mcgato]

I think that they are trying to trip up people who think that Brazil is entirely south of the equator. Which it isn't.

[Conor Dary]

I think that they are trying to trip up people who think that Brazil is entirely south of the equator. Which it isn't.

That could be, but doesn't everyone know that already?

But yes, that does make sense. Back to Australia! What is on the barby mate???

Where is gh in all this? Drinking eggnog I would bet.

[gh]

<<17. Australia.>>

[gh]

18. In Kenya, the "Lunatic Express" train connects Nairobi to what port city?

[ed gee]

Mombassa

[tandfman]

I assume that's correct. But I've no idea why it's called the Lunatic Express. I guess I'll consult my Friend Mr. G.

[gh]

<<18. Mombassa.>>

Sorry, if one cried out for some elucidation, this one was it, but it wasn't forthcoming in the answer.

[gh]

19. The aid organization known as the Red Cross goes by a different name in Islamic countries. What is it?

[Conor Dary]

The Red Crescent.

[mcgato]

Is it just me, or do these seem easier than in years past.

[tandfman]

So far, it's seemed pretty easy, although I can't say I've nailed them all.

[tandfman]

I assume that's correct. But I've no idea why it's called the Lunatic Express. I guess I'll consult my Friend Mr. G.

In case anyone wants to know more about the Lunatic Express, here's the wiki article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda_Railway

[Conor Dary]

The Tsavo lions are part of the story. A couple of maneating lions that caused all sorts of havoc in 1898, and are now in the Field Museum in Chicago. Interesting movie about it too.

All in all, Lunatic Express seems rather apt.

[Flumpy]

South Sudan?

My friends dad is a minister in the govt of South Sudan and she invited me to the independence celebrations. For some reason which is unfathomable to me now, i didn't go but i'm certainly going for a visit one day

I think we were both filming (Plus that Obama/Clooney promise wasn't exactly true )

[tandfman]

The Tsavo lions are part of the story. A couple of maneating lions that caused all sorts of havoc in 1898, and are now in the Field Museum in Chicago. Interesting movie about it too.

All in all, Lunatic Express seems rather apt.

Is "maneating lions" redundant? Are there any lions that are not maneating, given the opportunity?

[gh]

Is it just me, or do these seem easier than in years past.

You're confusing it with a different all-subjects quiz from the same paper that I serialize. It just appeared in the paper today. And looks like another ball-buster.

[mcgato]

I'll wait, but I remember the geography quiz questions of years past to be really interesting. The questions would fall into a few categories of "obscure question, but really interesting answer," "probing to see who understands the world that we are in," and goofy little things about the world that people should know.

I remember last year's really hard quiz that just went off the rails early. The first question was a Simon and Garfunkel song, then it went into totally obscure questions. Good trivia questions are hard to do. The really hard one from last year did not do it well.

That said, keep the questions coming.

[gh]

The Tsavo lions are part of the story. A couple of maneating lions that caused all sorts of havoc in 1898, and are now in the Field Museum in Chicago. Interesting movie about it too.

All in all, Lunatic Express seems rather apt.

Is "maneating lions" redundant? Are there any lions that are not maneating, given the opportunity?

As i understand the phenomenon (as w/ tigers), the big cats by nature aren't predisposed to go after human flesh, but once they do, it triggers a behavior change once they discover how easy old Mr. Sapiens is to run down and snack upon. (Hell, maybe we taste extra good too!)

[gh]

<<19. The Red Crescent.>>

[gh]

20. If you wanted to pull a heist with the Crown Jewels, where specifically in London would you go to find them?