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Tuesday, 20 December 2011 |
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1. Tintin is one of the most famous icons in the world, and is practically revered in continental Europe by men and women from all walks of life. So much so that a key European leader in the 20th Century once famously remarked that "deep down, my only international rival is Tintin". Another version of this quote is: "Really my only international rival is Tintin! We're both little fellows who won't be got at by the big fellows.” Whose words are these?
2. Before he died in 1983, Tintin’s creator Hergé had said that Spielberg was the only one who could ever do Tintin justice in the cinema. Strangely enough, Spielberg had never heard of Tintin as a child growing up in the United States; he only discovered Tintin as an adult when, in the 1980s, one of his own movie heroes was being compared to Tintin by French movie critics. Which character? 3. For his new Tintin movie, Steven Spielberg is using a new technique called motion-capture animation, or as Spielberg prefers to call it, "performance capture." Robert Zemeck is pioneered the technique in making The Polar Express (2004), to create a world that’s somewhere between live action and cartoon. For tech support, Spielberg turned to Weta Digital, based in New Zealand, whose co-founded is a well known movie director and a great Tintin fan. Who is he? He gets the credit of producer in the new movie. 4. There are not too many female characters in the adventures of Tintin. Probably the most notable is Bianca Castafiore. The first time Tintin meets the opera singer from Milan is in King Ottokar’s Sceptre, when she manages to save the reporter from an ambush. She then appears in The Calculus Affair, The Castafiore Emerald, Tintin and the Picaros and Tintin and Alph-Art, where she mixes spontaneous arias with the occasional diva tantrum. The character was inspired by which real life opera singer? 5. The only reference to the island of Ceylon in the whole Tintin series is found on a map of Africa and Asia that shows an oceanic journey that Tintin was planning to make. It was to have taken him from Port Said (Suez Canal) past Aden, Bombay, Colombo, Singapore and Hong Kong to Shanghai. But an adventure diverts him in Egypt and he never sails past Ceylon as intended. In the opening page of which Tintin story book is this map with Ceylon displayed?
6. Who was he? Irish-born and Oxford-educated, he served as British Governor of Ceylon from 1872 to 1877 and is considered one of the most liberal and enlightened colonial rulers. He started restoring the ancient irrigation tanks and developed the Colombo Habour. He demarcated the North-Central Province and designated Anuradhapura as its provincial capital. He founded the National Museum and embarked on preserving archaeologically important artifacts, books and manuscripts. 7. Starbucks, the largest international coffee and coffeehouse chain in the world with more than 17,000 outlets in over 50 countries, opens its first outlet in Sri Lanka in December 2011. The first Starbucks was opened in Seattle, Washington, in March 1971 by three partners - English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegl, and writer Gordon Bowker. In 1987, the founder sold their company to another American entrepreneur who started expanding rapidly and listed the company on the stock market in 1992. He remains the Chairman and CEO of Starbucks, and is the global face of this company with a net worth of over 1.1 billion dollars. Who is he?
8. Amnesty International (AI) is an international human rights advocacy organisation which draws attention to human rights abuses and campaigns for compliance with international laws and standards. Backed by over 3 million members and supporters around the world, AI mobilizes public opinion through campaigns. This independent group, which was awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize, was founded in London 50 years ago. It followed the publication of an article titled ‘The Forgotten Prisoners’ in The Observer newspaper of London on May 28, 1961, by a British lawyer who was outraged by the imprisonment of two Portuguese students for their political views. Who is this founder, who also defined the term ‘prisoner of conscience’? 9. World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), an international organization working on conservation, research and restoration of the natural environment, also turned 50 years in 2011. Formerly named the World Wildlife Fund (which still remains the name of its chapters in USA and Canada), WWF was first established in Morges, Switzerland, in September 1961. It is now the world's largest independent conservation organisation with over five million supporters worldwide and working in more than 100 countries. WWF’s founding was triggered by a series of three articles a renowned British biologist wrote in The Observer of London warning that habitat was being destroyed and animals hunted at such a rate that much of the Africa's wildlife could disappear within the next 20 years. Who was this scientist? 10. The panda logo of WWF is one of the world’s best known brand logos. It was inspired by a panda named Chi Chi who was transferred from the Beijing Zoo to the London Zoo in the same year WWF was established, in 1961. Panda was seen as a popular symbol for an organisation mandated to help protect endangered species and their habitats. It also helped the logo was well suited for black and white printing. Name the British ornithologist, conservationist and artist (and a co-founder of WWF) who designed the famous Panda logo using preliminary sketches made by a Scottish naturalist named Gerald Watterson. 11. A plant long held to have anti-diabetic properties, which is also grown and eaten in Sri Lanka, is to be turned into tablets that Egyptian scientists hope will provide an alternative to insulin injections. What is this plant? 12. Actress Angelina Jolie has taken to directing with her maiden film based on the Bosnia war. On December 13, 2011, the Producers Guild of America said the movie, which she also wrote and co-produced, would be given the 2102 Stanley Kramer Award given annually to a movie producer whose work “illuminates provocative social issues in an accessible and elevating fashion.” The Guild called Jolie’s movie “an extraordinary film that portrays a complex love story set against the terrors of the Bosnian War, especially towards women”. What is the movie’s name? 13. A ‘hat-trick’ is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on three. It was first used in cricket in 1858, when a famous English cricketer captured three wickets off three consecutive deliveries. He performed this feat for the All-England Eleven against the twenty-two of Hallam at the Hyde Park ground in Sheffield. As was customary for outstanding feats by professionals, a hat was passed around taking spectator donations, which collection was presented to him in appreciation. The term ‘hat-trick’ was first used in print in 1878, and has since been adapted in other games such as water polo, association football and team handball. Who was the original cricketer for whom the term was first used? 14. Who is the only Sri Lankan bowler to take a hat-trick in Test cricket? He is also the only bowler in history to have taken a hat trick from the first three balls he bowled at a Test match. He accomplished this feat against Zimbabwe in Harare on November 26, 1999, taking in quick succession the wickets of Gripper, Goodwin, and Johnson. 15. He is an accomplished painter in Sri Lanka renowned for his aesthetic vision and original style of work. The main body of his work has been described as a profound cultural response to one salient theme: Nature. His artistic endeavors represent an aesthetic and spiritual exploration of Sri Lanka’s natural environment, mainly its flora and the waterscape. He has held several solo exhibitions and participated in group shows both in Sri Lanka and abroad. Recently he opened an exhibition of paintings called “Vapi” (man-made tanks of Sri Lanka) at Lionel Wendt art gallery in Colombo. Who is this artist? |
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