The Wombat File Is Yours to Keep

In lieu of a warm-up rant, please see the post below for non-Quizly nattering.

Let's begin:

This substance is produced by a plants from the family Lamiaceae; its scientific name is Marrubium vulgare, although some other plants within the Lamiacaea are referred to by the same common name (also applied to the substance derived from it). Egyptian priests called it 'The Eye of Horus,' some believed it has a historic link to the celebration of Passover. It has been used to treat a variety of ailments in humans and animals; the botanist and astrologer Nicholas Culpeper said, of it, 'It helpeth to expectorate tough phlegm from the chest, being taken with the roots of Irris or Orris.... There is a syrup made of this plant which I would recommend as an excellent help to evacuate tough phlegm and cold rheum from the lungs of aged persons, especially those who are asthmatic and short winded.' You, however, probably encountered this substance in a different form.

What substance is derived from the Marrubium vulgare plant?

First correct answer posted to comments wins an interjection, set off by an exclamation point. No Googling or picking up words and phrases and clauses. Put those down. One guess per comment but oh the comments you'll comment!

Posted by BT at 12:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)

The unquestionably correct list, in ascending order of excellence:

10. Elbow Room. The fact that the ideological-historical lesson imparted is now so shame-making that one can't believe this one was made in does not, completely, detract from the sheer goofy catchiness of the song.
9. Conjunction Junction. This would rank, I think, higher if anyone could remember any part of this other than the chorus. But it's a hell of a chorus, and it will get you there, if you're very careful.
8. Ready or Not. Invaluable, right up there with that song that teaches you to spell "Mississippi."
7. I'm Just a Bill. A counterexample to most of these -- better as a memorable peice of filmic pedagogy than as a song, actually. Not that it's terrible work as a song.
6. I Got Six. Not only possessed of a powerful groove, but it ups the math-educative ante over many of the other songs with its elegant lesson concerning the hungry men in the restaurant.
5. Rufus Xavier Sasparilla. An unsatisfying cartoon, but a great and surprisingly moving piece of comic songwriting.
4. Figure Eight. Blossom Dearie and that haunting cello. Also: "Now it's time to get off on your new math tricks."
3. Lucky Seven Sampson. Although "Figure Eight" is almost certainly more memorable as a film, this one is just so delightful as a song that I think it edges the other out.
2. The Preamble. In the alternate America of my dreams, this is what we stand and sing before baseball games.
1. Lolly, Lolly, Lolly. Has it all, punctuated by that gleefully soulful piano-driven workout at the end: "CONDITION! REASON!"

You may post your alternate rankings in the comments, although they are wrong.

Posted by BT at 11:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Let's get to questions as quickly as possible.

1. What bestselling novel of 1974 resurrected a literary character created by an author who had been dead since 1930? What was the character, and what was the substance alluded to in the novel's title?

2. After starring in such memorable films as Eight on the Lam, The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell, this author had nonfiction bestsellers in her 49th and 50th year (the first with "Housekeeping" in the title, the second with "Marriage"). What is her name?

3. His first, and perhaps most famous book was published in 1968. The last of his books to make the Publishers Weekly list of annual bestsellers was The Eagle's Gift, although he continued to publish into the nineties, until his death in 1998. Who was he?

First correct answer posted to comments wins a fulsome apology from yours truly on the subject of your choice. No Googling,and no choogling on down to New Orleans, either, not even if you were born the bayou. One guess at each part per comment but bethink ye, in the bowels of Christ, that maybe you ought to go ahead and comment a-plenty.

Posted by BT at 09:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)

The Quiz had been more than sporadic of late, I know. I'm tempted to blame this on a more than usual confluence of blog-interrupting factors, not the least of which might be the Wombat's first taste of general anaesthesia last week.

But that would be an essentially cowardly avoidance of the hard-to-face fact that I'm essentially a poor candidate for this whole "blogging" thing. For those of you seeking a dependable Friday distraction in this space, I'd like to extend my sympathy and my hopes that you'll learn to live with the less.

Now, on to today's stale brain-snacks. Two completely unrelated queries, because I wanted to make up for the lack of anything to chew on last week.

Our first question references Rolling Stone's 2003 list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and is simplicity itself:

How many female guitarists made this list? And what are their names?

(Note: at least one of our regular players has a long-standing association with the aforementioned publication. However, since I don't know if Gavin contributed to or remembers this list well, he can decide whether or not to recuse himself.)

Question No. 2

In the process of seeking a pedestal for a planned statue of national importance, an enormous granite boulder was discovered in a forest. After the sculptor chose it, the reigning monarch decreed that it should be moved intact to the site of the statue, and cut there, supposedly as a demonstration of national might. It was dragged by human power alone over the course of 9 months to the site; it is said to be the largest boulder moved by unassisted human effort. In what city does it now remain, who is represented by the statue, and who was the ruler who dictated the method of its moving?

First correct answer to each wins an advance DVD screener of Tim Burton's feature film remake of Gilligan's Island, with Johnny Depp as Gilligan, Ray Winstone as the Skipper, and Guy Pearce as the "The Mad Professor" who holds the island in his sway. No Googling or trying to see how big a boulder you can move unassisted; the Wombat is tired of hearing about people throwing their backs out doing the Quiz. One guess at each part of each question per comment, please, but if you'd like to comment a whole bunch, how the hell are we gonna say anything but thank you very much?

Posted by BT at 08:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)

I'll be out of commission all day tomorrow...so please feel free to make whatever (doubtless vastly superior to the usual offering) Quiz-substitutes you'd like the subject of this comment thread.

Posted by BT at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)