The Wombat File Is Yours to Keep

Coming to you live from scenic Putnam County, specifically the shore of Seven Hills Lake. If I squint across the water from where I'm sitting I can just make out one of a pair of herons that not long ago alighted on the opposite shoreline, about five hundred yards away. On second thought, that might be a branch -- but I *did* see the herons arrive.

Apologies for last week's quiz blackout. The run-up to Harrypalooza was almost as exhausting as the weekend itself, and afterwards I felt pretty much a Deathly Hollow (and not very Hallowed) myself. I didn't even remember that there was a "Friday" with something called a "Quiz."

But even though this week has been similarly crowded by the mundane struggles of the 21st-century salaryman, I hereby -- with the kind help of our frequent Guest Wombat Gavin "Europe is My Playground" Edwards -- re-inaugurate our weekly excursion into pointless info-mongering. So, via Gavin:

What do the following products have in common?

Hosmer's Sugar
Chase-O
Cole's Orange Flower Water
Kneitel's Fandango

First correct answer posted to comments wins a bucket of lakewater, replete with pollywogs. Or at least an assortment of dead leaves and waterbugs. No Googling or rifling through Great-Aunt Maribel's pantry. One guess per comment, but comment as often as you like.

Posted by BT at 10:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (35)

10. Harry misses opportunity for great bilingual action-hero repartee: "Voldy -- morte."
9. Shockingly small number of dead Weasleys.
8. Fails to enact return of Christ Jesus to Hogwarts, attended by an army of righteously wrathful saints, who purge the demonic academy of all traces of sorcery.
7. No product placement, which otherwise could have propped up global consumer economy for years to come.
6. Loud orange color of cover makes final volume even more embarrassing to carry around than previous six.
5. Gratuitously hip soundtrack of angular 1980s post-punk distracts from narrative.
4. Logical flaw: Death Eaters eat death numerous times, yet are never shown to be satisfied.
3. Long-promised Pansy Parkinson-Luna Lovegood catfight cut from final version.
2. Annoying sport of Quidditch still conceivably legal even after the Dark Lord's defeat.
1. Contains no viable plan for ending the War in Iraq.

Posted by BT at 04:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Again, no time for anything but the question itself. Enjoy.

The son of a machine shop owner, this young man named George's first invention was a rotary steam engine; he followed with a device to enable the re-tracking of derailed train cars. In 1869, at age 22, he invented a feature for railroad trains that galvanized the industry, put hundreds of men out of work and deposited more control in the hands of the train engineer. He patented his invention 3 years later, and founded the first company to bear his name. Another decade later, he partnered with a Serbian-American genius in an enterprise that led to an even more revolutionary change affecting the lives of virtually every American -- and triumphing over an other famous inventor in the process.

What was his still-famous last name -- and what was his first groundbreaking invention? Bonus: who's the Serbian-American?

First correct answer posted to comments wins a fiddlehead-fern bagel. No Googling or drinking so much of that antioxidant-rich pomegranate juice that you get an antioxidant high and visualize the answer through a haze of antioxidance. One guess per comment, but comment, comment, comment.

Posted by BT at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Once again, no time for the chit-chat. We hope you all enjoyed your apple pie and commutations this week. That's my country -- Proud and Free Like Scooter!

James Reese Europe, born in 1881, served as a Lieutenant in the 369th Infantry during World War I in France. His exploits there made him famous in that country and one notable "craze" there was attributed to him. He returned to the U.S., building upon his pre-war professional success as well as his additional high profile during the war. When he was only thirty-nine he was tragically stabbed by an employee. His public funeral in New York, attended by thousands, was notable for what reason?

First correct answer posted to comments wins a fairy fay. You know, that thing the guy in "Polly Wolly Doodle" sings about? "Fare thee well, my fairy fay." It's kind of hard to describe, really...sort of like an iPhone, but made of sorghum and goober peas, but really handy. No Googling, Doodling, Polly-Wollying or hopping up, my ladies, three in a row. One guess per comment, but comment as often as golly gee.

Posted by BT at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)