Block A Questions

1. What is the name of Gianni Versace’s sister, who succeeded her late brother as head of the fashion house in 1997?
2. A Greek-born student of sculpture at St. Martin’s College features in which song by the group ‘Pulp’?
3. Which single reached number one in Britain in July 1979, and took as its title the reply Brenda Spencer gave when asked why she had run amok with a gun in San Diego?
4. Which 2-word logo, evoking the extreme sports ethos, was introduced in 1990 by the brothers who had created the “Life’s A Beach” surf clothes of the previous decade?
5. Named after a district in south-east Norway, what name is given to the position in ski-ing often adopted by ski jumpers in which, during the jump, one ski is held further forward with arms stretching out down the side of the body?
6. Which word entered the English language from the Greenland Inuit and means a hooded weatherproof jacket, the word having also become a derogatory slang expression for a socially inept person obsessed with trivia?
7. Which word derives from the Middle Dutch for ‘to groan’, and originally meant to sing softly to a baby, but since the 1930’s has come to mean to sing in a soft and sentimental style, often with a dance band?
8. “Already hundreds of our young men are queuing up to become ballet dancers, while others are doing things in oil.” This was Ken Dodd’s appraisal of developments in his home city following which announcement in June 2003?
9. Noted for its concise headlines, the showbusiness publication ‘Variety’s headline in 1956,’ Egghead marries hourglass’, was a reference to which writer’s marriage to which actress?
10. Which musical, set in “No Name City”, starred Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood in the 1969 film version?
11. Which comic strip celebrated its fiftieth birthday in February 2004? The cast of characters include Cuthbert Cringeworthy and Olive the Cook, the latter apparently based on the Beano’s tea lady?
12. Sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health are all cited as answers to which question, posed by the character Reg, played by John Cleese in the 1979 film ‘The Life of Brian’?
13. Which iconic science fiction film of 1982 was based on the 1968 Philip K. Dick story ‘Do Android’s Dream of Electric Sheep’?
14. Which line was the single but notable contribution made by Estelle Reiner, mother of the diretor Rob Reiner, to the 1989 film comedy ‘When Harry met Sally’?
15. Which musical by Alain Boubil and Claude-Michel Schönberg is a modern update of Puccini’s opera ‘Madame Butterfly’?
16. His first novel was ‘The Wasp Factory’, concerning the extraordinary world of Frank. His other books include amongst others ‘Walking on Glass’, Espedair Street’ and ‘Complicity’. He also writes science fiction about an advanced civilisation called the culture. Who is this contemporary author?
17. With Alexei Sayle as its first MC, what was founded in May 1979 by Don Ward above a Soho strip club?
18. In the world of popular music, Jim and Vic have topped the charts, and Martha reached no. 4; what surname do they share?
19. “Like other celebrity couples, their Hollywood romance has come to an end,” announced the business manager to which female icon and her partner in February 2004? She now has a new admirer in Blaine, an Australian surfer, and remains ‘good friends’ with her former partner Ken?
20. Garrison Keillor first came to popular attention with a collection of stories all beginning with the line, “It has been a quiet week in …” which fictional Midwestern US town?

Answers

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