LJ Daily Answers: 16 April 2007

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

"brick /'brik/ n. A ceramic rectangular prism that is slightly smarter than my students." - i_calql8



1. What is the term for a workout in which a triathlete prepares for the transition from cycling to running by practicing them back-to-back?

"I asked a triathlete after he had just finished said exercise, and he said it was called *huff gasp wheeze*. Then he passed out." - cmzero

"My idea of a triathlon is hitting the snooze button, rolling over, and going back to sleep." - i_calql8

"I am an overweight diabetic, does it sound like i would know anything about working out?" - jigawattica

"The transition technique I usually practice is called 'Rest'!" - jojapo

"Hey! I ran marathon D&D sessions, and you always had to limber up beforehand, lest you get dice-rollers cramp. Every bit as exhausting. " - thepikey

"Damn, I broke a sweat just thinking about that. " - photosynthesis

"Screw my sperm count, I think I'll use steroids." - shadowkeeper

"Like I know anything about triathletes, other than they are crazy people, although in a good way. Grumble. A 'workout' and 'back-to-back' doesn't spell crazy to you? OK. Then I vote for 'the beast with two backs'. That's what I'm calling it...and hey! I can prepare for a triathlon too! " - etumukutenyk

"Although I guess I can picture triathletes running back-to-back, that's one weird tandem bicycle... " - mark_laura

"You know, my dad almost died during a triathlon once. Apparently you need a wetsuit if you're going to be swimming a few miles in January...who knew?" - wint3rhart

"For the first time, there is a benefit to having a son who is a professional triathlete! You are referring to a brick. Yes, he made the U.S. national team. Woot!" - antinomic

(Go him! – CV&AL&LL)

"Brick sessions. As the laziest person on earth, I don't really know why I know this." - liseuse

Correct Answer: Brick

"I was always more interested in the swimming to cycling transition. It always worried me that someone might not get dry enough before trying to quickly jump on their bike, sliding off the front of the seat and getting a crotch full of frame." - filmbuff



2. What term, from an old French phrase meaning "at random/at any old way", refers to a collection of curios and ornamental items?

"I have no idea. What I'm more interested in is how many people are going to call you on mistyping "curious"." - stormyskies

(cu•rio - Pronunciation: 'kyur-E-"O - Function: noun - Inflected Form(s): plural cu•ri•os
Etymology: short for curiosity: something (as a decorative object) considered novel, rare, or bizarre – LL)

"Ha, trick question! The French don't HAVE phrases, just that stupid accent!" - cmzero

"'Knick-knacks' come to mind, but there arent enough dropped sounds for the French. Maybe it was originally spelled: 'cannique-cannacquettes.'" - fax_celestis

"we're not talking about people who collect those silver spoons and then don't let us eat pudding with them? Because they're all kinds of crazy..." - killabee886

"I don't know, but it sounds like my grandmother's house. She has some of the weirdest things. " - agirlwithavoice

"tchotchke is Yiddish, so it's not that one, but, like most French words, is impossible to spell/pronounce." - thecolourclear

"Is this the stuff you can buy at 3 a.m. on QVC?" - dorei

"What's the French for 'shit my room is filled with'?" - shino_hoshi

"Le Hulk, il smash." - cygna_hime

"Les Messerables." - drbear

"Who cares when you know 'This little piggy went to the market...' is 'Ce petit cochon est allé au marché.'" - bizzatch

"Voulez-vous couchez avec moi, ce soir?" - thepikey

"The only thing I can think of is bricolage, and that's only because I have spent endless fun hours in Monsieur Bricolage. That sounds a lot more dirty written down than it did in my head. " - liseuse

"It's a bric-a-brac, paddy-whack, give the frog a loan. His old man's a Rolling Stone...wait, wrong joke. " - scifantasy

(Thwap. –LL)

"Bric-a-brac-a, fire-cracka, sis-boom-bah, Bugs Bunny, Bugs Bunny, rah, rah, rah!" - mark_laura, i_calql8

(+1 because you're all old. -CV)

Correct Answer: Bric-à-brac

"AKA 'Mom, I broke it.'" - germankitty



3. What famous trail, first mentioned in a 1900 children's book, is also the subject of an Elton John song?

"Well, I think it's gonna be a long, long time
Till I make my way to Oregon to find
I'm not a man to stay back east at home
Oh no no no... I'm a wagon man!
Wagon man, fording 'cross the river all alone ('cause my family all died of dysentery) " - cmzero

(Number of Quizlings who died of dysentery: 26. -CV)

"See, don't fuck with my head like that. I see 'trail', where's that going to lead me? Oregon Trail, with the cholera and the snakes and stuff! Which of course has to be the wrong answer because it is, in no way, relative to this week's theme! But I can't get that answer out of my head! ... But boy would I blush to death if it turned out to be the right one. Ha... WAIT. It isn't the yellow brick road, is it? :P" - shinga

"For some reason, my mind is stuck on 'treasure trail,' and inappropriate titles for children's books. I think the only one clean enough to post is 'Dick Follows The Treasure Trail.'" - zellieh

"I thought Elton John sang a song about Marilyn Monroe --> Marilyn Monroe has hot legs --> legs are covered by stockings --> stockings have ladders in them --> a ladder is kinda like a trail - you can climb both --> the pick up line is that a ladder in your stocking or a stairway to heaven --> therefore the answer is Stairway to Heaven! " - elaran

"I want to say 'happy trail', but me thinks that's a bit too mature for Elton. " - b_hulsmans

"The Yellow Brick Road. Filmmakers must just not be able to read, because the conversion of The Wizard of Oz from book to screen sucked just about as hard as Reign of Fire." - fax_celestis

"'The Road that Will Clash Terribly With those Trashy Red Shoes You're Wearing, Dorothy'. Except that was a bugger to fit into the song, so they changed it. " - shino_hoshi

"The Yellow Brick Road. (Always wondered what they used to make it yellow... gold? Urine? Dandelions?)" - elbiesee

"The song voted most likely to be misheard:
'Goodbye yellow filled roll
Where the dogs of society drown
You can't pet me in your penthouse
I'm going back to my town
Back to the hollowed out log in the woods
Back to the hardy backed toe
I've found the size of my future lies
Beyond the elephant roads!'" - dorei

Correct Answer: The Yellow Brick Road



4. Easy lyrics time! Give us the song and the artist:
"No dark sarcasm in the classroom"

(In retrospect, the lines "If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?!" might have been more apropos. +1 to all who suggested it. -CV)

"I imagine this must be a real nightmare for the ljdq moderators. Horrors: restrictions on pudding?" - scifantasy

"I always heard it as 'No Dukes of Hazzard in the classroom.'" - agirlwithavoice
"I always thought it was 'No dogs or cats are in the classroom'." - pirho_maniac

"This is old people music again!" - shannon_sue

"'Hey Hey We're the Monkees' by the Monkees! I'd recognize that cheery poppy style anywhere." - jrho

"Sting!" - 6 Sting lovers represent.

"We don't need no education, you don't need no answer. " - antinomic

"" - captain_lice

"I do not know the answer to this question because I hate Pink Floyd. " - potassiumman

(That's just… I mean, it's just… how can you… All the more for me! :P – LL)

"Pink Floyd, 'Another Brick in the Wall.' My brother derives great pleasure from singing this around my mom, who's a principal." - kamalloy

"Appropro of nothing, I've noticed that as I get older I identify less and less with the so-called protagonists in these songs and movies and start feeling sorry for the authority figures. Take for example that sorry principal in the Breakfast Club. Have you ever thought that perhaps the reason he was so pissy was because some smart ass kids who couldn't follow the rules got in trouble and forced him to miss out on HIS day off? I'd be pissed off, too." - dorei

"Pink Floyd, in 'Yet Another Good Song Clear Channel Refuses To Play'." - lots42
"Pink Floyd, with 'the only song anyone knows was by Pink Floyd'" - trishtrash

"The wall, Pink Floyd...I still don't get that movie, probably 'cause I watched it sober" - reliantfc3

"Pink Floyd, The Wall. My CD also informs me that the track in question is subtitled "The Happiest Days of Our Lives". I claim that this isn't cheating since a)I knew the answer anyway, b)I didn't use the Internet, and c)my CD case was six inches from my right hand, what do you expect? " - cygna_hime

"Another Brick In The Wall, ain't it? I wanna say Pink Floyd, I really do, but I'm afraid I'll look like a dumb cunt if I'm wrong. Oh well, looking like a dumb cunt in front of the Internets is what LJDQ is all about. FLOYD!" - lienne

"'Another Brick in the Wall' by Pink Floyd. Which comes in 3 parts, demonstrating the axiom that all construction takes 3 times as long as planned, and cost 3 times as much as estimated." - mark_laura

"Pink Floyd, Another Brick in the Wall PART TWO. Not part one, not part three, part two. Because part one has nothing to do with school, it's about his father dying in WW2. Part three has nothing to do with school, it's about giving in to the sum of the pressure. PART TWO FTW." - woap

Correct Answer: "Another Brick In The Wall, Part II" by Pink Floyd



5. Who directed the 1956 crime drama "The Killing"?

"Oh, but was it The Killingly???
" - schizospider

"Wouldn't a crime drama be really cool if it filmed a real murder, and the perpetrator was never caught, and the viewers had to use clues in the movie to figure him out in real life befure he kills them in their sleep? Though with a couple million viewers, the killer would have quite a time getting to all of them." - woap

(I think we called that "America's Most Wanted". And they're still out there, waiting for you. -CV)

"Arggggggggggggg! I don't know stop asking me questions I don't know! It's like my senior maths exam again! And I can't seduce the mods! " - b_hulsman

(Out of intense curiosity, did that work for your maths exam? -CV)

"Uwe Boll" - wiredwizard

"bet it wasnt jerry bruckheimer" - jenny_1981

(Nope. But you would have gotten a +1 if you'd said Jerry Brickheimer. -CV)

"Alfred Brickcock" - mark_laura

"O.J. Simpson is still searching for the real director of this movie." - i_calql8

"Harry the Wonder Llama. This is where we get the phrase 'Drama Llama' today." - umbralcorax

"When in doubt, guess Alfred Hitchcock. A lot of names like Smith, Carpenter, Fisher, and... I can't think of any others but I'm sure there are some... came from the names of jobs. I have to wonder what kind of job might have involved hitching and cocks..." - marasca

(Sir Mallory Hytchcocke was the pimpingest pimp of the 14th century, wyrd uppe. -CV)

"" - gruyere

"where'd Ang's punhammer go? This question needs a beatin'. " - jessicamariek

"I thought Kubrick was much younger, let alone much less dead. I didn't know he died, eight frickin years ago." - jigawattica

"I was going to say Brick Hudson, but then I remembered his name was actually Rock, and he wasn't a director. " - kandelschwartz

"One brick, two brick, red brick, Ku-brick!" - dorei

"Well based on the theme I'm inclined to say Stanley Kubrick, but that can't be right. This doesn't sound fucked up enough to be him. Now the Wall.... that could have been him. " - pheltzer

Correct Answer: Stanley Kubrick

"Stanley Ku..BRICK! I GET IT! Oh goodness, that took a while." - captain_lice



6. If you were going to build something, what would you use to build it?

"Moooore witches!" - shinga

"Bricks? no! Wait! It's a trick question isn't it? Erm...Oh i see - you're going to assess my personality by this answer! Ok, well the answer is...er...dreams! I'd build it out of dreams! And clouds! Big fluffy ones! " - jojapo

"So how many 'duct tape' answers did you get? " - filmbuff

(Duct tape: 5.
Legos: 18.
Bones/Bodies of enemies: 12.
Rock & Roll: schizospider and mark_laura)

"The tears of children" - oboe_dude

"An army of buxom, nymphomaniacal wenches. I don't give a shit what they build, or if they'd ever finish, but I'd definitely use them to build it." - etcet

(I am curious as to exactly what kind of structure they would erect. -CV)

"
As a community development major, this is all the house I'm gonna be able to afford." - dragonstar87

"I mentioned this question to the wife, and said I'd probably use my sonic screwdriver. She asked who would look at a screwdriver and say 'this could be more sonic'. To which i said 'What, you've never been bored? Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?' And that was the end of that. " - umbralcorax

(+1 Doctor Who. – LL)

"marshmallows for bricks and pudding for mortar. As long it didn't get too hot it would be perfect! " - marasca
"I would built a house of chocolate-bricks with caramel mortar. And then, I would eat it." - allie_the_neko
"Cheese, because cheese makes everything better." - kokopellinelli

"Depends. Whatever I build, I subscribe to the fundamental tenet: 'If it moves, and it shouldn't, use duct tape. If it doesn't move, and it should, use WD-40.' Covers pretty much any situation. Other than that, a Very Big Hammer is also often useful." - sjl

"Sugar and spice and everything nice. Yes, I want to build a girl. " - feste

"You know the wall the Spartans build in 300? You know? The one? It'd be like that. Only a fort. With turrets. I stand firm that any structure can only be improved by adding turrets. " - angelchicken

"Mind control and minions are great tools for building a new civilization. I highly recommend it." - ecarrotsushi

"I build simple things. Tonight's materials include some gin and some tonic. I do have a vise grip, though. Just in case." - lafourchette



And so, as we pass the ides of April, we say that the theme was bricks, and it was so.

Thanks again for playing; hope everyone enjoyed. Remember to go forth like the internet pimps you are and tell your friends how much fun this is. Share and enjoy! Spread the love! Or hit them with bricks. Whatever works for you.

Thanks again to lovellama for helping out. angledge is enjoying the wonderful nor'easter we're having, up close and personal. She's cold and soggy and wants nothing more than to be inside rocking to Guitar Hero. As do we all.

Rock on!

AL&CV&LL

Comments

[etcet.livejournal.com]

Thank god for my army of buxom, nymphomaniacal wenches. They keep my streak of tenuous wit alive.

And not a single Indy 500 reference, despite the theme. I'm surprised.

[b-hulsmans.livejournal.com]

Out of intense curiosity, did that work for your maths exam? -CV
I looked her longingly in her eyes during my oral exam (really, oral exams for Maths are so not logical) and I passed, so either I seduced her or I made her feel pity for my feeble attempt at seduction, either way: I passed.

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

I linked you to the syphilis brick research FOR NOTHING?

Or did I just not comment?

Still, as a warning to everyone who is considering being intimate with a brick: they might have syphilis (http://www.improb.com/airchives/classical/jstuff/v36/bricks-36-6.html).

[pheltzer.livejournal.com]

Rock & Roll: schizospider and mark_laura

Only if you're going to build a city though...

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Ah! Shaggy-dog puns and classic rock lyrics herald my triumphant return to the ljdq quotations board!

[ryttu3k.livejournal.com]

"I mentioned this question to the wife, and said I'd probably use my sonic screwdriver. She asked who would look at a screwdriver and say 'this could be more sonic'. To which i said 'What, you've never been bored? Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?' And that was the end of that. " - umbralcorax

(+1 Doctor Who. – LL)

*sneakily adds another +100*

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

My CD also informs me that the track in question is subtitled "The Happiest Days of Our Lives". I claim that this isn't cheating..

It may or may not be cheating, but it is wrong. "The Happiest Days Of Our Lives" is technically the previous track, which is the protagonist soloing: "When we grew up and went to school, there were certain teachers..."

"Another Brick In The Wall Part 2" really starts at "We don't need no education..."

Like "Brain Damage/Eclipse" and Jackson Browne's "The Load-Out/Stay" and others, of course, whenever the song is on the radio the two are combined into a single track, so...

[lyme.livejournal.com]

"Alfred Brickcock"

Dirty thoughts dirty thoughts dirty thoughts dirty thoughts.

[sestree.livejournal.com]

I skipped this week because that was my 'just say no to drugs' week (as opposed to this week) and that Dorothy chick was on CRACK because NOBODY wants to go back to Kansas - red hooker shoes to the contrary.

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

No NASCAR-related shenanigans here this round. We only deal in wholesome sports.

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

Hey, whatever works.

Also, Oral Exam for math is a bit odd. And intimidating. Although I do remember doing a competition where I had ten minutes to solve a bunch of tricksy math problems on the spot in front of people explaining my work the whole time... man, that was a long time ago.

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

I find that if you are going to sex up a brick, you deserve everything you get.

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

It's the best thing to build!

[b-hulsmans.livejournal.com]

we had oral exams for everything. Whoever thought explaining Chemical reactions between a shitload of Carbonhydrogen bonds was seriously in need of a swift kick in the butt

[pheltzer.livejournal.com]

Is it too soon still to ask whether New Orleans would be built out of Rock and Roll... or can they get a building variance and build the city out of Jazz?

Guess it doesn't matter if it's too soon or not now.....

[baader-meinhof.livejournal.com]

No, Jazz is too free form. Have you ever tried to walk down an improvised staircase? You're lucky to make it to the ground floor with your life!

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

I said people should use a condom! The unsuspecting public needs to know things like bricks having syphilis and how to have sex with a car!

Provided you're male, there's an FAQ for that.

[pheltzer.livejournal.com]

So what you're saying is... New Orleans would look like an M.C. Esher print if it were built on Jazz?

[baader-meinhof.livejournal.com]

No, more like a Dali. Only instead of melted clocks it'd be melted...well, everything.

[liseuse.livejournal.com]

Yay! Quoted! Twice!

Ah, that's cheering as I sit here in the computer lab footnoting a 25 page document. Kill me now. Or send gin. One of the two.

[chezmax]

Oh gods.

Comedy goldmine!
(wyrd uppe. -CV)
Ow, my cheeks hurt from laughing. I'm glad I'm not at work. My cow orkers would be awfully curious as to why I'd be sounding like a wounded gazelle trying not to burst out laughing.

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

Caution: Doing a Ford Pinto doggie-style may result in unforseen explosive trauma.

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

who would look at a screwdriver and say 'this could be more sonic'?

The same person who looked at a hedgehog and decided, 'this could be more sonic. And more blue.'

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

red hooker shoes to the contrary.

Do they even have hookers in Kansas? Are there some cows that aren't getting enough action? Do they pole-dance on cornstalks?

[chaosvizier.livejournal.com]

Gin is better than death. Take the gin.