Set Five

Though still not balanced, this set features some interesting information - in fact, for a couple of Qs, the question is probably more interesting than the answer! I have an exam to prepare for, so things will slow down for a few days. Enjoy these in the meanwhile. Don't forget to try the bonus.

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Set Five

5.1
Who held all these posts? The mayor of Palermo, the assistant governor general of Malta, the vice-shah of Oran, the caliph of Baghdad, the imam of Damascus, and the sheik of Araby.

5.2
Hershey (of Hershey's Chocolates) had a partner called William Murrie. His (William's) son Bruce, was briefly the partner of another businessman, and their names (those of Bruce and his business partner) were together immortalised how?

5.3
This band Van Halen pioneered the way for the modern "Rock and Roll Show" with their extensive use of the concert technical contract rider. Although contract riders had existed before, Van Halen's use of them to specify the band's "wish list" (stage, production, transportation, personal requirements, etc.) was new and established a standard practice that is now used routinely throughout the music industry. As one of the first major bands with a full stage show to appear in many smaller cities, Van Halen had an extensive set of technical and logistical requirements including power availability and stage construction details that a venue had to comply with. Many venues in these markets had not previously dealt with such a large-scale show, and were not equipped to handle Van Halen's massive stage and light show, sometimes resulting in damage to the band's equipment and the venue. The band's demands were not limited to technical issues: their now infamous contract rider specified that, among other personal needs, a bowl of M&M candies, with all of the brown ones removed was to be available in the band's dressing room. This requirement was listed with the technical portion of the contract. Why?

5.4
The founder and CEO of this UK company, Stephen Marks, hired Trevor Beattie to make the brand 'front of mind' with customers. Beattie saw an acronym used by the company while sending faxes between their UK and Hong Kong offices, and this inspired one of the most controversial (and famous, and successful) advertising campaigns of the nineties. Which company?

5.5
On July 20 1941 a BBC campaign (around the V for victory and freedom idea) was launched with a message from Churchill for occupied Europe. Douglas Ritchie of the BBC European Service, suggested an audible V using the morse code rhythm - three dots and a dash. What was used? It was used as the call-sign by the BBC in its foreign language programmes to occupied Europe for the rest of the war.

5.6
Extract from a letter in 1861 from Secretary Chase to James Pollock:

"... You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition."

Pollock submitted some designs, and in another letter in 1863, Secretary Chase replied:

"I approve your mottoes, only suggesting that on that with the Washington obverse the motto should begin with the word OUR, so as to read OUR GOD AND OUR COUNTRY. And on that with the shield, it should be changed so as to read: __ ___ __ _____."


Fill in the final famous phrase.

5.7
The original example of this was Honduras, where the United Fruit and Standard Fruit companies dominated the country's key banana export sector and support sectors such as railways. The United Fruit Company was nicknamed 'The Octopus', for its willingness to involve itself in politics, sometimes violently. For example, in 1910 the company hired a gang of armed toughs from New Orleans to install a new president when the incumbent failed to grant the company tax breaks. The newly installed Honduran president waived the company's taxes for the next 25 years. The company's dominance in Honduras, as well as other Central American countries like Guatemala, led Pablo Neruda to write a poem titled La United Fruit Co. in Spanish. This political situation led to a phrase used to describe Honduras, but now used to describe a country with a non-democratic or unstable government, especially where there is widespread political corruption and strong foreign influence. What phrase?

5.8
In Hindu mythology, the devas are the good gods, while the asuras are the evil demons. Where would you find the daevas as demonic, and the ahuras as good?

5.9
The earliest known reference is from the Life of St. Columba; it describes how in 565 Columba saved the life of a Pict who was being attacked by a strange wild animal. In 1975, Sir Peter Scott, one of Britain’s best-known naturalists, announced that the scientific name of the animal would henceforth be Nessiteras rhombopteryx. What am I talking about?

5.10
In a certain mythology, the dwarfs forge the chain Gleipnir ("deceiver" or "entangler"). It appeared to be only a silken ribbon but was made of six wondrous ingredients: the sound of a cat's footfall, the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain, bear's sinews (meaning nerves, sensibility), fish's breath, and bird's spittle (which explains why these things are not found today). This chain is then used to bind the wolf Fenrir (Note: inspiration for Fenrir Greyback in HP6?). However, it is preordained that Fenrir will escape during the battle at the end of the world. Who will Fenrir devour at that time?

5.11
Here's an extra bonus: there are connections between questiosn 5.1 and 5.2, and also between 5.3 and 5.4, and you could say that in fact 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 are connected and that 5.3, 5.4 and 5.5 are vaguely connected. Try and figure out the connections!

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Auf Wiedersehen, Kameraden.