JAQR - June 11, 2023
East Timor and Montenegro basics, James Whistler's "falling rocket," Indians popular on Twitter, the early films of Bong Joon Ho, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and more...
Thank you for reading another issue of the Jeopardy Answer & Question Recap, or JAQR [“jacker”] for short. This recap includes two clues from each episode of regular Jeopardy! between Monday 6/5 and Friday 6/9. The recap will include Daily Doubles, Final Jeopardy clues, and Triple Stumpers. The first half of the recap will include just the clues so you can quiz yourself if you want. The second half will give you some (hopefully) interesting information about the clues and/or some related info.
DAILY DOUBLE #1
CLASSIC CHILDREN'S BOOKS
A line in this book says, "Take my apples, boy, and sell them in the city. Then you will have money and you will be happy"
DAILY DOUBLE #2
21st CENTURY STUFF
With French-speaking areas generally for & German-speaking areas against, this country voted to become the 190th U.N. member
DAILY DOUBLE #3
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
Chopin was a master of these meditative piano pieces, a French word meaning "of the night"
FINAL JEOAPRDY #1
ACRONYMS
It was originally a code word used by telegraph operators; Barack Obama used it in his Twitter handle
FINAL JEOPARDY #2
BUSINESS HISTORY
What is dubbed "the world's first initial public offering" took place in 1602 in this current European capital
TRIPLE STUMPER #1
STRAIT UP
This strait is just above the Musandam Peninsula, the tip of the Arabian one
TRIPLE STUMPER #2
JOIN THE CLUB
Ry Cooder assembled legendary Cuban musicians into this "Club" that was featured in a documentary of the same name
TRIPLE STUMPER #3
LITERATURE
"The Overstory" by this author is partially set during the Pacific Northwest timber wars
TRIPLE STUMPER #4
PETS ON FILM
Bong Joon Ho's 2017 film "Okja" is about a big one of these who has been genetically engineered by an evil corporation
TRIPLE STUMPER #5
AROUND THE WORLD
The 10th century Caliphate city of Medina Azahara (pictured below) in this European nation was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018
DAILY DOUBLE #1
CLASSIC CHILDREN'S BOOKS
A line in this book says, "Take my apples, boy, and sell them in the city. Then you will have money and you will be happy"
***THE GIVING TREE***
The Giving Tree (1964) is a picture book by children’s author Shel Silverstein (1930-1999). The story begins with the lines "Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy." The tree was happy when the boy would swing from her branches or sleep in her shade. As the boy grew older, he wanted money, so the tree offered her apples for him to sell. Later, the “boy” (now a man) wants a house, so the tree offers her branches for him to cut off. Much later, the boy (now an old man) wants a boat, so the tree tells him to cut down her trunk. Later, the boy (now a very old man) only wants a quiet place to sit and rest, which is all the tree can provide since she is just a stump.
DAILY DOUBLE #2
21st CENTURY STUFF
With French-speaking areas generally for & German-speaking areas against, this country voted to become the 190th U.N. member
***SWITZERLAND***
The most recent countries to join the UN are Switzerland (#190 in 2002), East Timor (#191 in 2002), Montenegro (#192 in 2006), and South Sudan (#193 in 2011). For more about South Sudan, check out the March 5, 2023 issue (Final Jeopardy #1).
East Timor - also known as Timor-Leste in Portuguese (one of its two official languages, along with Tetum), it occupies the eastern half of the island of Timor in Southeast Asia; it gained independence from Indonesia, which controls the western half of the island of Timor; its capital is Dili [DIL-ee]; it is one of the two predominantly Catholic countries in Asia (the other is the Philippines); ironically, the word "timor" means "east"
Montenegro - Balkan country known as Crna Gora to locals; has its capital at Podgorica [pod-gor-EET-sah] (formerly known as Titograd); was part of Yugoslavia (1918–1992) and later part of Serbia and Montenegro (1992-2006); has a name meaning “black mountain,” which refers to Mt. Lovćen
DAILY DOUBLE #3
A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
Chopin was a master of these meditative piano pieces, a French word meaning "of the night"
***NOCTURNES***
Irish composer John Field is considered to be the inventor of the piano nocturne, which is a piece of music inspired by or evocative of the night. Frédéric Chopin [shoh-PAN] composed several nocturnes, including one in E-flat major that is his Opus 9 Number 2 (heard below). Claude Debussy composed three orchestral nocturnes whose English titles are Clouds, Festivals, and Sirens. Debussy used the title Nocturnes in honor of the painter James Whistler, whose works from the 1870s include Nocturne: Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge and Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket (pictured below). In regards to the latter of those paintings, John Ruskin accused Whistler of "flinging a pot of paint in the public's face." As a result, Whistler sued Ruskin for libel. Whistler technically won, but was only awarded one farthing (a quarter of a penny). Due to the expensive court costs, Whistler was forced to declare bankruptcy.
FINAL JEOAPRDY #1
ACRONYMS
It was originally a code word used by telegraph operators; Barack Obama used it in his Twitter handle
***POTUS*** (stands for President of the United States)
Here are some people from India who are in the top-50 for most-followed Twitter accounts (roughly 50 million followers each):
Virat Kohli [KOH-lee] - @imVkohli on Twitter - formerly the captain of India's men's national cricket team (nicknamed the "Men in Blue") who is currently a batsman in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (named for an Indian whisky company)
Amitabh Bachchan [BUH-chun] (pictured below) - @SrBachchan on Twitter - India’s biggest film star (if not the world’s, especially in the 1970’s and 1980’s), he played an “angry young man” in several films, including 1973’s Zanjeer (meaning “shackles” in Hindi), in which he plays a police inspector who clashes with a crime boss, and 1975’s Sholay (meaning “embers” in Hindi), in which he plays a convict hired by a cop to capture a bandit; he had a career renaissance in 2000 after hosting India’s version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?; the character Jamal jumps into a cesspit to obtain his autograph in 2008’s Slumdog Millionaire; Bachchan played the Jewish gangster Meyer Wolfsheim in 2013's The Great Gatsby
FINAL JEOPARDY #2
BUSINESS HISTORY
What is dubbed "the world's first initial public offering" took place in 1602 in this current European capital
***AMSTERDAM***
The world's first IPO (initial public offering) occurred in 1602 when the Dutch East India Company (or Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) issued shares to the public, who would bankroll its voyages. The company was a commercial shipping enterprise that was given a trade monopoly in the Indian Ocean. Leaders of the company included Jan Pieterszoon Coen (1618–23), who helped establish Dutch rule in Indonesia by building a base in present-day Jakarta (then known as Batavia). Another leader was Anthony van Diemen (1636–45), who led the Dutch in conquering Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon). Van Diemen also initiated the expeditions of Abel Tasman, who was the first European to see Tasmania. The similarly named Dutch West India Company was given a trade monopoly in the Americas. It established some colonies in the Caribbean (e.g. Aruba, Curaçao, and Saint Martin), and founded New Netherland (later known as New York).
TRIPLE STUMPER #1
STRAIT UP
This strait is just above the Musandam Peninsula, the tip of the Arabian one
***HORMUZ***
Many oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. The Musandam [moo-SAHN-dam] Peninsula, which juts into the strait, belongs to Oman, but is separated from the rest of Oman by the UAE (United Arab Emirates). In 1988, during the Iran–Iraq War, the USS Vincennes was in the Strait of Hormuz when it shot down Iran Air Flight 655, which was mistaken for an Iranian fighter jet.
TRIPLE STUMPER #2
JOIN THE CLUB
Ry Cooder assembled legendary Cuban musicians into this "Club" that was featured in a documentary of the same name
***BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB***
In 1996, legendary (and elderly) Cuban musicians were brought together to record an old-fashioned album that was produced by American guitarist Ry Cooder. In 1999, Wim Wenders directed a documentary titled for the ensemble. Members of the ensemble included vocalist Ibrahim Ferrer, who was known for his ballads called boleros, pianist Rubén González, and guitarist Compay Segundo. The group was named for a members-only venue that was popular in the 1940s. The group’s most famous song “Chan Chan,” can be heard below:
TRIPLE STUMPER #3
LITERATURE
"The Overstory" by this author is partially set during the Pacific Northwest timber wars
***RICHARD POWERS***
American novelist Richard Powers was previously mentioned in the 2/10/23 issue when discussing recent Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners. His “cli-fi” (climate-fiction) work The Overstory, which won in 2019, is divided into four sections (Roots, Trunk, Crown, and Seeds), and centers on nine people whose experiences with trees bring them together to address the destruction of forests. Other works by Powers include:
The Echo Maker (2006) - Mark Schluter has a near-fatal accident; after emerging from a coma, he believes his sister Karin (who is nursing him back to health) is an imposter
Orfeo (2014) - Peter Els is a composer who is trying to write music by biohacking a bacteria; he is nicknamed the "Bioterrorist Bach" after he flees from Homeland Security after his home microbiology lab is raided
TRIPLE STUMPER #4
PETS ON FILM
Bong Joon Ho's 2017 film "Okja" is about a big one of these who has been genetically engineered by an evil corporation
***PIG***
The first two movies directed by the South Korean filmmaker were:
Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000) - dark comedy that begins with a low-ranking university lecturer being driven mad by the barking of a neighbor’s dog
Memories of Murder (2003) - based on the play Come to See Me, it is a crime thriller about two detectives investigating a series of unsolved murders in a rural town in the mid-1980s; it was Bong’s first movie with the actor Song Kang-ho, who later appeared in Snowpiercer and Parasite
TRIPLE STUMPER #5
AROUND THE WORLD
The 10th century Caliphate city of Medina Azahara in this European nation was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018
***SPAIN***
Other UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Spain include:
Burgos Cathedral - Gothic structure in northern Spain that is home to the tomb of El Cid; construction began in 1221 and was completed in 1567 (with a ~200 year hiatus in between)
Cave of Altamira [al-tah-MEER-ah] - large underground chamber in the province of Cantabria in northern Spain that contains Paleolithic art (from ~36,000 years ago), especially images of bison
Tower of Hercules (or Torre de Hércules) - pictured below, it is a lighthouse in northwest Spain (specifically, the city of A Coruña [ah kor-OON-yah] in the autonomous community of Galicia [gah-LIH-shee-ah]) dating back to the 1st century A.D.; the only ancient Roman lighthouse still in use