These questions were written to be asked in Toronto on 2025-03-31,
and should be interpreted accordingly... For further information
please see my 2024-08-30 companion posting on "Questions from the
Canadian Inquisition (QFTCI*)".
* Game 10, Round 7 - Canadiana Entertainment - Movies
Oh, Canada -- the home of some really good movies, eh? In each
case, give the title.
1. 1970, directed by Donald Shebib, starring Doug McGrath, Paul
Bradley, and Jayne Eastwood. The story of two young men who
decide to leave the Maritimes, where jobs and fulfilling lives
are hard to find, for the excitement and perceived riches
of Toronto.
2. 1974, directed by Ted Kotcheff, starring Richard Dreyfuss.
A brash young Jewish Montrealer embarks on a string of
get-rich-quick schemes in a bid to gain respect.
3. 1983, directed by David Cronenberg, starring James Woods,
Sonja Smits, and Debbie Harry. Set in Toronto in the early
1980s, it follows the CEO of a small UHF television station
who stumbles upon a broadcast signal of snuff movies. As he
attempts to uncover its source, he has increasingly intense
hallucinations that cause him to lose his grasp on reality.
4. 1987, directed by Patricia Rozema, starring Sheila McCarthy.
Polly serves as the narrator for the movie. There are several
sequences that portray her whimsical fantasies. She lives alone,
and goes on solitary bicycle rides as she pursues her hobby of
photography. Polly finds work as a secretary in a private art
gallery, where she gets involved with its owner and his protege.
5. 1997, directed by Atom Egoyan, starring Ian Holm, Sarah Polley,
Maury Chaykin, and Bruce Greenwood. The story of a school
bus accident in a small town that kills 14 children, and the
ensuing class-action lawsuit.
6. 1998, directed by Don McKellar, starring Don McKellar, Sandra
Oh, and Callum Keith Rennie. A Canadian apocalyptic black
comedy-drama movie about how ordinary people would react to an
unstated imminent global catastrophe.
7. 2002, directed by Paul Gross, starring Paul Gross, Leslie
Nielsen, Peter Outerbridge, Kari Matchett, and Molly Parker.
The offbeat comedy tells the story of a reunited curling team
from a small Canadian town as they work through their respective
life issues and struggle to win the championship for the sake
of their late coach.
8. 2006, directed by Erik Canuel, starring Patrick Huard and
Colm Feore. A Canadian black comedy-thriller buddy-cop movie
about two police officers -- one Ontarian and one Quebecois --
who reluctantly join forces to solve a murder.
9. 2008, directed by Michael McGowan, starring Joshua Jackson.
A young man has been diagnosed with cancer. Although he
requires immediate treatment, he instead decides to take a
motorcycle trip from Toronto across Canada to Vancouver Island.
Along the way, he meets several people who help him reevaluate
his life and his dream of becoming a writer.
10. 2010, directed by Edgar Wright, starring Michael Cera.
A romantic action-comedy movie about a slacker musician who
is trying to win a competition to get a record deal, while
also battling the seven evil exes of his new girlfriend Ramona
Flowers.
* Game 10, Round 8 = Science - Serendipity in Science
In each case name the invention, new product, or scientific discovery.
1. In 1945 Percy Spencer, an engineer at Raytheon, was standing
in front of an active radar set when he noticed the candy bar
he had in his pocket had melted. Name the device that was
developed after this serendipitous event.
2. In 1839 while working in his makeshift lab, Charles Goodyear
accidently spilled a vial of raw rubber, sulfur, and lead on
a hot stove. What did he discover?
3. In the 1950s, an encounter with cockleburs led the Swiss engineer
George de Mestral to invent this fastener. Name it.
4. In the late 1980s, scientists at the Pfizer European Research
Centre were working with a new drug they thought might be
a treatment for high blood pressure and angina. The drug,
code-named UK-92480, was found to be ineffective and Pfizer was
on the verge of abandoning it. It was only when the researchers
started reading the trial volunteer comments when they found many
of them reported experiencing an unusual, but not unwelcome,
side-effect. UK-92480 went on to become one of Pfizer's most
profitable drugs of all time -- know as what?
5. Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman was working with a compound derived
from ergot (a mold found on rye) when he unknowingly absorbed
some through his fingertips and discovered its powerful effects.
What had he discovered?
6. Talk about boring dreams! Chemist Friedrich Kekulo dreamt
about the ring structure of this petroleum distillate chemical
with formula C6H6. What is it?
7. DuPont chemist Roy Plunkett was working on a new refrigerant
in 1938. Testing different chemical reactions, he accidentally
discovered a new polymer called polytetrafluoroethylene.
What is this polymer better known as today?
8. The invention of this product was partially inspired by an
accident while transporting nitroglycerin. A can broke open and
leaked, but the liquid was absorbed by a rock mixture called
kieselguhr (no, that's not something from Ikea). What is the
resulting product more commonly known as?
9. In the 1870's, Ira Remsen and C. Fahlberg were experimenting
with coal-tar derivatives. One night, Fahlberg returned
home and found that the dinner rolls were curiously sweet.
Earlier that day he'd spilled an experimental compound on his
hands and they were covered in with a mystery chemical that
made everything taste sweet. Name the substance.
10. Sir Alexander Fleming was experimenting with staphylococcus
bacteria in 1928 when he left for a 2-week vacation. He returned
to find that a mold had contaminated his cultures. But more
importantly, he found that the bacteria was unable to grow
anywhere near where the blob of mold was growing. What had
he discovered?
7. DuPont chemist Roy Plunkett was working on a new refrigerant
in 1938. Testing different chemical reactions, he accidentally
discovered a new polymer called polytetrafluoroethylene.
What is this polymer better known as today?
Teflon. 4 for Dan Tilque.
Bonus Fact: While Plunkett invented Teflon, he didn't come up with
the idea of using it for cooking. That happened about 10 years
later when a French engineer named Marc Gr|-goire introduced "Tefal"
pans, the first to be lined in Teflon.
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