Fun & Games

Quiztime - The Magic Quiz

Here we go then with the new quiz, and this time around the theme is, as promised a magical one. Well all this Harry Potter talk, what with the new film and book, made me think that there couldn't realy be any other theme.

So without further ado lets get started.

Round 1: Movie Links
Dead easy this week, all you have to do is name the film, you don't even have to give the actors and actresses. But what I do want is the think that links them all together.

1)











2)










3)









4)












5)










Possible total of 10


Round 2: Potty about Potter
All the following actors have appeared in the Harry Potter films,all you have to do is to identify the actor and tell me what character they played. Trouble is they have all been subjected to the Waviosa Imagara spell!

1)











2)









3)









4)










5)













6)












7)









8)









9)













10)













Now for an additional 5 bonus points tell me why picture 5 is the odd one out and the reason why, for a total in this round of 25 points.

Round 3: Musical Magical Mystery

We now have some clips of music that have a magical theme, simply identify the artist and song. But be careful some of the easier ones have had the Chipmunk Magic applied to disguise those voices.

clip1
clip2
clip3
clip4
clip5
clip6
clip7
clip8
clip9
clip10


20 points on offer here


Round 4: Quizzicles of magic

Some fiction some fact, but all Magic.

1) What do the lengths 11”, 14”, and 16” represent?
2) Wizzard were a famous Glam Rock band in the seventies, but who was their lead singer?
3) Paul Daniels a well known British magician, had his wife as his glamorous assistant, but who was she?
4) What code does Arthur Weasley type into the numeric keyboard to gain entry to the Ministry of Magic?
5) In the 11th century Queerditch Marsh was the place a new game was invented, what game?
6) It’s an old fashioned word for bumble bee, but also a character in the Harry Potter books, what is it?
7) Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus is the Hogwarts motto, but what does it mean?
8) Who was credited to be the first TV magician?
9) What is odd about Hermione Granger’s cat?
10) “Just like that” was a catchphrase of a magician turned comedian and sadly no longer with us, who was it?
11) Speaking of catchphrases, what was Paul Daniels’s catchphrase?
12) What must a magician never do?
13) David Copperfield had a famous partner, who was it?
14) Alohomora is a very useful spell, but what does it do?
15) One of the best fantasy novels around written by Raymond E Feist centres on a young boy destined to become the greatest magician of all time, what is the young lad’s name?
16) Born April 4 1973 he is one of the most amazing illusionists there is, who is he?
17) What does the guy in question 16 have tattooed on his left forearm?
18) What team does Seamus Finnigan support?
19) Who is the driver of the Knight Bus?
20) Lacewing flies stewed 21 days, leeches, powdered bicorn horn, knotgrass, fluxweed picked at full moon, shredded boomslang skin, a personal ingredient all form the making of what potion?

20 points available here too.

Harry Potter

Thank's Harry





Well even though I am only on the chapter named after the book, The Daethly Hallows, I can safely say that this is probably going to be one of the best books in the series. I am only managing to read one hours worth a night at the moment, otherwise it would have been finished long ago.


Now when the book was released my home town of Corby had a special Harry Potter day, to celebrate the release. Magicians, owls and competitions abounded. One of those competitions was a Harry Potter trail, where kids (and adults) could win Severus Snape's wand. All they had to do was to go around the town, looking at the shop windows for posters containing objects from the books.


Well, there must have been quite a few people who entered, and the winner was drawn out of a hat (the sorting hat!). The winner??? None other than my son Adam!!! Now as he is only two, I have had to take the wand into my custody until he comes of age and can have it. Do you think 65, is a good enough age???

Now a question for anyone that can answer it. What do the symbols mean on the wand box? An example of this is shown in the top left of the picture above. I know the answer, but do you?

Fun & Games

Quiz Answers

Just two people battled it out this month, and went head to head for the coverted prize of quizmaster of the month.
But each did very well, the results well here you go;

Keith - 43
Mum - 30

So Keith won by a long stretch, although my mum did get Ferry to Hong Kong right, and I didn't expect many to get that at all! So Keith if you would do the honours for me and suggest a theme for a quiz, I will get on it and try to create one on that theme.

As there is so much going on with Harry Potter at the moment, the next quiz to go up is going to have the theme of MAGIC!! Well it seems appropriate really.

Anyway here are the answers

Round 1: Movie Link

1) Speed, 2) Under Siege, 3) Airplane!,4) Taxi Driver, 5)Ferry to Hong Kong

Link: - All films feature different forms of Public transport (1-Bus, 2-train, 3-plane, 4-taxi, 5-Ferry)

Round 2: Roadies!

1) Abigail Breslin/Little Miss Sunshine, 2) Susan Sarandon & Geena Davis/Thelma and Louise
3) Duel, 4) Mel Gibson/Mad Max, 5) Tom Green/Road Trip, 6)Woody Harrelson & Juliette Lewis/Natural Born Killers, 7) Paul Giamatti & Thomas Haden Church/Sideways, 8) Sean Bean/The Hitcher, 9) Dustin Hoffman & Tom Cruise/Rain Man, 10) Peter Fonda/Easy Rider


Round 3: Anthems

1) France, 2) Serbia, 3) Canada, 4) Costa Rica, 5) Ecuador, 6) Mexico, 7) USA, 8) India, 9) China, 10) Saudi Arabia

All places I have been to with work!!

Round 4: Quizzicles

1) New York, 2) Goathland, 3) HeartBeat, 4) Angola, 5) Hawaii, 6) December 28th 1978, 7) Mark Thatcher, 8) Rob and Brennan, 9) Lawyers, 10) UK

Weekly Question

Is this REALLY the last Potter Book?

There are now less than 12 hours to wait as I write this, for the most eagerly waited book in history. Well according to pre-realease sales figures it is.

Yes "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will be released at midnight tonight (20th July) and we will all finally find out who bites the bullet, if Harry, Hermoine, and Ron all live. And if Snape really is a goody or a baddie.

A lot of people aren't really bothered about the book, and will be just as eager to ruin it for the rest of us 'fans' by giving away plot lines and the ending. Which is why I am glad to be going away again soon, once more to Saudi, so little chance of my enjoyment being ruined.

But is this REALLY the end of the Potter books?? J.K. Rowling has always said she was only going to do 7 novels, all following Harry through 'senior' school. But is she really going to call time on such a hugely popular series? IF Harry has survived the encounter in the last of the books, surely we are gong to want to know what happens to Harry after leaving school? As well as all his school friends and enemies.

I think there is some truth in the fact J.K. has written her last children's book on Harry, as this is what it always started as. But remember how much the books have become a lot darker, and have grown as Harry has. May be there is a good reason for writing an adult book on Harry, we shall see.

Whatever happens, the gulf that is going to be left when the last of the books has been made into a film is going to be Vacuumous. What will there be to fill the void? Who knows what series of books will take the place of Mr. Potter, but I for one believe in all honesty that we really aven't seen the last of J.K. foray into the world of Hogworts.

Travel

Stranded!

Just a quick post, to try and gain some sympathy. I arrived here at Heathrow airport at 8:30am in good time for my flight to Saudi at 11:45. Got on the plane, nice and comfy, when it got to around 12:15 we still hadn't moved. Captain came on saying the aircraft had a hydraulic problem, and they didn't know how long it would be. At 2pm he told us we had to get off as the plane needed a spare part that was to come from another airport.

Result : - Plane now due to leave at 6PM!!!, I am due to get to Saudi now, not at 8:40 pm which would have been lovely, but rather at 2am!!!!!! AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!

Will probably not be able to post for next 12 days so ADIOS AMIGOS

Rant time

Wasteful Plastic Packaging

OK I am going to have a rant, and this just may be the start of something regular on the blog. After all there are so many things that you can rant about aren't there? So many things that get right up your nose, and have you swearing and cursing every living thing, and inanimate object around.

So what has got my goat up??

This has:-

No it's not the product itself, that is not a problem, the problem was getting into it, a totally sealed plastic package! You need a knife or pair of scissors at the very least to open it. Then you look a little closer and find that instructions are normally placed just where you cut the plastic. Result, the VITAL piece of instruction has been cut through and is now un-bloody readable!

But what if you don't have a pair of scissors or knife to hand? Worse still, what if the scissors aren't sharp enough, what then?? Then once you have got inside, or rather you have split the plastic to gain access, you run the risk of splitting your fingers open on the razor sharp plastic edges!

I have seen at airports people buy things like memory sticks and flash cards, then struggle and curse when they discover these aesthetically beautiful bits of packaging that so neatly hold their prized possessions. Are in fact evil mechanisms designed to invoke sheer rage on the consumer. Unless they have the type that you can pull open, but even then chances are you pull too hard and the contents go flyng.

What I do is to cut around the product with a sharp knife and then lift the cut plastic away, that way you don't destroy anything.

Then there is the things that the kids toys are packaged in. Toys wired to the box, so you have to try, and I mean try and get the things out for the little angels without damaging the box. You manage to do that and then discover to your horror that the bloody ties are threaded that tight on the toy you can't get the sodding things off! AAAAAARRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!

I don't know what sadist thought up this style of packaging, but whoever it was needs to be locked up with a roomful of products in it, and told to open them all, without the aid of a knife, or scissors, and with the proviso that for every set of instructions damaged he will receive another 10 packages to open. Let's see just how much the bugger likes that!