By Randy Cohen
“Bambang and Tutut, their father is a dog!”
“Bambang and Tutut, their father is scary!”
So chanted thousands of college students yesterday. Who are Bambang, Tutut, and their father?
by noon ET Wednesday to e-mail your answer (NewsQuiz@slate.com).
Responses to Monday’s question (No. 51)–“One Shot.”
The Sierra Club’s Neil Carman says: “Is it some kind of isolated event? I don’t think so. It seems to be part of something much, much bigger.” What is it?
“Arctic penguins wearing sunscreen.”–Patty Marx
“Apparently, some apples growing in Yosemite National Park became detached from their branches and propelled directly toward the earth, AS IF PULLED BY SOME STRANGE MAGNETIC FORCE! Concerned environmentalists are investigating.”–David Rakoff
“Extra-legged frogs. The environment’s plight is a frog-leg lover’s delight!”–Tim Wilson (Kate Wing had a similar answer, with a beer back.)
“First Sammy, then Dean, now Frank. You still think there’s nothing suspicious going on here?”–Daniel Radosh
“The proliferation of paranoid schizophrenics with an interest in the environment?”–Beth Sherman
“My flight this evening to Rome. (See you in June.)”–Jon Delfin
“The Year of the Panda!!! Pandas are the best, most furriest, MOST ENDANGERED animals around! They are so cute, black, white, and look so sad ‘cause of the round marks around their eyes, which make them even MORE lovable and worth saving, PLUS they chomp on bamboo so cutely. If they disappeared it would be the WORST! So what are you waiting for? Make your check payable to the Panda Fund c/o the Sierra Club today!”–Colleen Werthmann
Click for more responses.
Randy’s Wrap-Up
I always dreamed of being part of something much, much smaller than myself that would give my life meaning and provide an unearned sense of superiority. Nothing as crushing as the Nuremberg rallies; I wanted something as slight and charming as a Noel Coward song. Hence my desire, like many a staff writer, to move to a small town someday and edit my own bulletin board on the wall of a supermarket, right up front near the cases of generic cola. You, the quiz participants, have given me something like that. By using the “News Quiz” to announce your book publications, your travel plans, and your fondness for pandas–which are indeed very cute–you make me feel that I’m in that supermarket tidying up that bulletin board. What can I say but thank you and that I’ve got a Yamaha stereo receiver for sale, as is, best offer.
Note to Viagranistas: Don’t make me revive the hack reference box score. Because I’ll do it. I will.
Augmented Quotations (final sentence added by News Quiz)
“Today is a very bad day for drug dealers in this hemisphere. The Cali cartel had its faults; it was a little dull–but, Jeez, Tina Brown?!”–Janet Reno
“We want a more cooperative approach, in which the FDA works with industry to see that patients gain timely access to new treatments and technology. Like this laser hat: Get ready to kiss baldness goodbye.”–Stephen Northrup, executive director, Medical Devices Manufacturers Association
Part of a Much Larger Answer
Mexican fires. Scores have died from the smoke of 10,000 blazes, whose haze extends from Central America through Texas, where state officials ordered a weeklong health alert. Neil Carman, the Sierra Club’s clean-air director, believes that the fires, exacerbated by a drought caused by El Niño, are symptomatic of global warming.
Box Score
forms of entertainment referred to over the last five quizzes
Movies —————————- 19
Television ————————— 9
Popular Music———————– 7
The Broadway Stage —————- 2
Capering Costumed Animals ——— 1
Disclaimer: All submissions will become the property of Slate and will be published at Slate’s discretion. Slate may publish your name on its site in connection with your submission.
