Cool or pitiful?

[justalurkr]

So, I discovered "Google a Day" on the NY Times site while fiddling with their sudoku puzzles and have done most of them for the month of May. Is it kinda cool or just pitiful that I already knew the answers to five of them without having to search anything? and I've only had to give up searching and reveal the answer twice?

The questions:
Q: A Viking was the first to photograph us, but our existence was foretold in literature by a Swift astronomer. Who are we?
Q: "Four legs good, two legs bad” is a slogan from a story featuring a cast of anthropomorphic characters. What revolution inspired this story?
Q: I was celebrated as the paladin of Uruk, but my legacy is in the realm of ancient literature. Who am I?
Q: The second wife of King Henry VIII is said to haunt the grounds where she was executed. What does she supposedly have tucked under her arm?
Q:The oldest person to sign the Declaration of Independence criticized the national emblem and suggested what as an alternative?



A: Deimos and Phobos, moons of Mars
A: Animal Farm, Bolshevik Revolution
A: Gilgamesh
A: Anne Boleyn, her head
A: Benjamin Franklin, Turkey


So, am I enjoying the benefits of a liberal education or just really white and nerdy?

(edited to add link to today's Google a Day)

Comments

[palmetto.livejournal.com]

And that's how I know #4. :D

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

LOL

That's much more fun that the embarrassing number of times I watched the Masterpiece Theater "The Six Wives of Henry The Eighth." I knew who the second wife was and the end she came to, and made an educated guess as to what her ghost would be carrying.

[palmetto.livejournal.com]

I was also slightly obsessed with the Tudors when I was in HS. I have books and stuff. (And because of it, I cringe when watching the show called the Tudors because boy, historical accuracy wasn't their goal and you can tell.)

Still, good 'ol Stanley Holloway! That's why I got interested in the first place!

[nialla]

I wasn't obsessed with the Tudors, but even I could barely make it through the first disc of season one of the show because the historical mishmash was too much.

[nialla]

I knew four out of five of those. The first one I knew had to be moons because of the Viking probe, I just didn't know which ones.

Nerds!!!

Well, you *are* a librarian

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

and a nerd. So you probably would have done it anyway. ;)

Running back through the May questions, I've discovered a definite gap in my numerical knowledge. Either that, or the sight of a formula or hint of a word problem locks up my brain.

Ditto on the Viking. The Swift astronomer was my hint that it was the moons of Mars. Swift was a while back, and predicting their existence indicated he wasn't actually looking through a scope (or at least not a very good one,) so there had to be chance of them being visible to the naked eye, or that their existence was guessable just by looking.

Re: Well, you *are* a librarian

[nialla]

I was a nerd long before I was a librarian. I think they may be related conditions.

I've said since high school that I'm math dyslexic. I understand the principles, but there's just something about actually doing a math problem that gives me the wiggins.

Re: Well, you *are* a librarian

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

I like "wiggins" better than "math anxiety;" one needs a shrink and the other is kind of funny.

Re: Well, you *are* a librarian

[nialla]

I blame Chiller's airing of Buffy while I'm getting ready for work for my regression to Buffy-speak. Also, being late to work.