Weekend Trivia: Saturday

10 years ago

Good morning everyone! The spouse is away today, so I plan to try to get the house clean. That may or may not happen since the wild one will be leaping out of the car soon for his weekly appearance!

So, for today, we are talking toys. Sir John Schorne was a 12th century cleric who was greatly admired by the people of Norfolk. Many people, although not all (but I am ignoring the naysayers), credit him as the inspiration for an 18th c. children's toy. I wonder if you can come up with the name of the toy today.

I will be back with clues.

Cynthia

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Comments (14)

mnwsgal
10 years ago
Waiting for clues.
midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
10 years ago
Hmmmm...leaping out of the car?

Nancy.
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Okay, four stars for the stalwart TM and Nancy. Yes, catgut comes mostly from sheep and goats, although it is occasionally made from the intestines of other farm animals such as cattle, hogs, horses, mules, or donkeys. The origin of the name could be an abbreviation of cattle gut or (and I like this idea better), it may have come from kitgut or kitstring in which the word kit means fiddle. Here is a little more info from wikipedia: "In order to prepare catgut, the intestines are cleaned, freed from fat, and steeped in water. After that, the external membrane is scraped off with a blunt knife. The intestines are then once again steeped for some time in lye (a caustic alkali, usually potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide), and then smoothed and equalized by drawing out. It is found that lean animals yield the toughest gut. Next the prepared gut strands are twisted together to make the string. The diameter of the string is determined by the thickness of the individual guts and by the number that are used. For example, a very thin string such as a violin E will use only three or four guts, whereas a very heavy string, such as a double bass string, may use twenty or more. After twisting and drying the strings are polished to the requisite diameter. Before the twentieth century the strings were simply rubbed with an abrasive to smooth them, while today they are generally ground down to the desired diameter used a centerless grinder. After drying and polishing the strings are bleached using the antiseptic action of the fumes of burning sulfur (i.e. sulfur dioxide), dyed if necessary, and sorted into sizes. Before 1900 the best strings for musical instruments were reputedly from Italy. The best were considered to be from Naples, though excellent strings were also produced in Rome and other Italian cities. Today high quality gut strings are produced mostly in Italy, Germany, and the United States, though they are also made in developing countries such as India and Morocco for local use." Have a wonderful day. Off to check Nancy's question. :) Cynthia
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Four stars for Nancy and Bobbie. Yes, the link, probably intentional, is that Prof. Trelawney inherited the curse from her great-grandmother Cassandra Trelawney who must have been descended (fiction, remember) from the original Cassandra. She was cursed by Apollo when she did not return his affections-her gift of seeing was not taken away, but he cursed her so that no one would ever believe her predictions. That became a huge problem for the Trojans when they discounted her warnings about that giant horse outside the gates to the city. Hehheh. Anyway, despite being a bit of a fraud, Prof. Trelawney's predictions, like those of Cassandra, are never given any credence. Must have been frustrating. Thanks for playing. Hope you have a fun week. I am already working on clues for next Saturday, so maybe that will be more interesting! Cynthia
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Four stars for Bobbie, TM, and Annette! Yes, TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. Here is a blurb from Wikipedia: TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded in 1984 as a one-off event. The annual conference began in 1990, in Monterey, California. TED's early emphasis was technology and design, consistent with its origins in the Silicon Valley. The TED main conference is held annually in Long Beach, and its companion TEDActive is held in Palm Springs. Both conferences will move from Long Beach and Palm Springs to Vancouver and Whistler, respectively, in 2014. TED events are also held throughout the U.S. and in Europe and Asia, offering live streaming of the talks. They address a wide range of topics within the research and practice of science and culture, often through storytelling. The speakers are given a maximum of 18 minutes to present their ideas in the most innovative and engaging ways they can. Past presenters include Bill Clinton, Jane Goodall, Malcolm Gladwell, Al Gore, Gordon Brown, Richard Dawkins, Bill Gates, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and many Nobel Prize winners. TED's current curator is the British former computer journalist and magazine publisher Chris Anderson. Since June 2006, the talks have been offered for free viewing online, under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons license, through TED.com. As of May 2013, over 1,500 talks are available free online. By January 2009 they had been viewed 50 million times. In June 2011, the viewing figure stood at more than 500 million, and on Tuesday November 13, 2012, TED Talks had been watched one billion times worldwide, reflecting a still growing global audience. I have listened to several of these talks and always found them interesting. Pretty cool concept, I think. I am linking to one talk that is way beyond my feeble brain to understand on a deep level, but it fascinates me nonetheless. Have a good day. Leaving TED behind to focus on Christmas music with Nancy! :) Cynthia Here is a link that might be useful: TED talk
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Four stars for Bobbie and her DH! Absolutely fair in my mind to make it a team effort-I have done the same if you remember! Oh, and the Christmas story that Dr. Faulds used to recite was Luke 2:1-20. I still love to hear it, but no one can match his telling. Also, it HAS to be the King James version for me. Three stars for Tm and Nancy who got one and probably for Annette as well although she never got back to post! #1. Yes, it was St. Francis of Assisi who, in 1223, started his Nativity Plays in Italy. The people in the plays sang songs or 'canticles' that told the story during the plays. Sometimes, the choruses of these new carols were in Latin; but normally they were all in a language that the people watching the play could understand and join in! The new carols spread to France, Spain, Germany and other European countries. (Taken from the website-see carols history link below) #2. The Three Ships in the original version were said to be carrying the skulls of the three Wise Men to the cathedral in Cologne. Also see link (Carols stories) #3. Won't go through each of these, but again, the carols stories link goes through them all. I will add to that to tell you that the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit are: wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord (wonder and awe). The Nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All words to live by no matter what one's religion or whether one follows any religion or not. I wish you all joy, health, and laughter this week and throughout the year. Thanks for playing! Cheers, Cynthia Here is a link that might be useful: Lots of fun and info here!
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cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
Original Author
10 years ago
You are earlier than usual Bobbie!

Ha-started to answer this half an hour ago, but had to jump up when the dogs began to bark. Our new neighbors were out in their yard and, of course, our idiots were barking. Anyway, they are delightful-two kids who are also delightful and a yellow lab who wasn't with them. They aren't actually moving in until the end of the school year. I am so glad they are nice. We chatted for almost an hour. The best thing is that they are not gardeners and want to take out almost all the plantings in the back. Naturally, I volunteered to take anything they don't want!

John Schorne was well-loved by people in his area. They say he captured the devil in his boot and kept him there. There are paintings of him carrying the boot with the devil's head peeking out.

Cynthia
thinman
10 years ago
Good hint, I think. Did John have a common 4 letter nickname?

TM
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
Original Author
10 years ago
Just popped in (out?) to see if anyone had any ideas. You are all too smart or I am too easy!

Cynthia
midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
10 years ago
OK, I was thinking I knew this - these scared me as a child!!

Nancy.
mnwsgal
10 years ago
Sorry, the clues aren't helping me unless the answer is jacks.
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
Original Author
10 years ago
Nancy, do you know there is a term for fear of clowns? Coulrophobia!

This toy also shares its name with the 16th century term for a swindler who would cheat other tradesmen by delivering empty boxes rather than the expected ones filled with goods.

Bobbie, although you aren't there yet, you have made a connection, but not the right one.

Cynthia
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
Original Author
10 years ago
Do any of you watch Stephen Colbert? Apparently he was the keynote speaker at the Al Smith dinner. I saw a clip where he me ntioned all our Catholic presidents: John Kennedy, and JFK, and of course, Jack Kennedy. In the context, it was funny.

Cynthia
mnwsgal
10 years ago
Think I have got it now, thanks to all the clues. As I was going to bed for a quick nap the image of a (an doesn't sound right) ouija board came to mind. We had one in the early 1960s but found it boring and put it back in the box and don't know what happened to it afterwards. As a wee lass I found the other quite amusing and even enjoyed winding it for the little kids when I was a teenager.
thinman
10 years ago
I wonder, do they all play Pop Goes The Weasel?

TM
cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
Original Author
10 years ago
Four stars for TM, Nancy, and Bobbie.

Yes, the jack in the box toy is believed by some to have been inspired by the story of John Schorne. The link has a picture of him with the devil's head popping out of his boot. TM, I wondered the same about the song! I have never heard one play anything else. Nancy, I think lots of wee one find them scary at first. I think they can be a tad creepy myself. Bobbie, I rather wish I had rescued and kept our Ouija board when we cleaned out my parents' house. We loved it when we were in our pre-teen and early teen years!

Thanks for playing. Have a fun Sunday you three. It is pretty chilly here, but I have things to plant, so I guess I will have to bundle up and head outside later. Maybe it will warm up around noon.

Cynthia

Here is a link that might be useful: John Schorne
thinman
10 years ago
Great question, Cynthia. The boot with the devil's head peeking out was the tip-off for me. Thank you once again for the Saturday fun.

TM
mnwsgal
10 years ago
Thank you all for the clues which helped me earn the stars. Fun question that had me thinking all day.

Weekend Trivia: Saturday

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mnwsgal

midnightsmum (Z4, ON)

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