Wednesday, December 12, 2007

My favorite book for the holidays



John Lloyd and John Mitchinson have created a fantastic book that greatly appeals to the trivia junkie in me. "The Book of General Ignorance" gives us answers to all the questions we thought we already knew the answers to. I've been obsessed with this book for the last couple of weeks. Relearning things you though you knew will do that to you.

So, I thought I'd share a little taste of this book from time to time. Just a sampling of the questions found within. Feel free to give your best guess. Honor system rules here, so no cheating by using the book itself. However, if you can give a correct answer, we'll work out some sort of prize system (do be determined later).

Here goes:

1. "Which way does the bath water go down the drain?"

a. Clockwise
b. Counterclockwise
c. Straight down
d. It depends

2. "What was Billy the Kid's real name?"

a. William H. Bonney
b. Kid Antrim
c. Henry McCarty
d. Brushy Bill Roberts

Feeling game? Give your best guess (or drop some serious knowledge) and let's see if we really know the stuff we think we know.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

My guesses: clockwise and Henry McCarty. And by the way thanks for picking questions you didn't share with me when you brought the book home. Apparently being fat, pregnant and slightly moody doesn't allow me to intimidate you into giving me an advantage...good thing the garage is heated as you'll be sleeping there tonight.

Grant said...

It depends on which side of the equator you are on...it is different in the southern hemisphere than here. I think it is clockwise here and counter-clockwise south of the equator. William Bonney?

Grant said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Mrs. said...

Counter clockwise and Henry McCarty. Sounds like a fun book!

Did you know a panda isn't a bear, but actually part of the raccoon family?

Swanny said...

Answers: 1. "It depends. The widely held belief that it is the Coriolis force, created by the earth's spin, that drives bathwater into a spiral is untrue. Although it does influence large, long-lasting weather patterns such as hurricanes and ocean currents, it is by orders of magnitude too weak to have an effect on domestic plumbing." TBOGI p91-92

2. "Billy the Kid was born Henry McCarty in New york City. Wiliam H. Bonney was just one of his aliases, the one he was using when he was sentenced to death." TBOGI p106-107