Badge 9: Golf

A picture of a golfer much better than me teeing off

Golf. A fun game for some, a source of great frustration for others.  Of all the sports I’ve played in my life, golf has definitely caused me the most anger. You’d think that being in the sunshine and fresh air would have a calming effect on a person, but one can only take so many 12 over par scores before they stop having fun.

The first golf-like game emerged way back in the 1297 but golf as we know it came to be in Scotland in the middle of the 15^th century. While golf was initially banned by King James II of Scotland (for distracting men from their archery practice for military purposes) the game quickly caught fire and became ubiquitous in Scotland and later the entire world.

Here is a quick origin of some of golf’s more interesting terms:

Birdie: this term for scoring one stroke under par, came from the early 20^th century slang term, “Bird”, which just meant anything excellent.

The 'Eighteenth Hole' Badge

Bogey: a term for scoring one stroke over par. Came from the 16^th century Scottish terms 'bogle' which meant goblin and a Bogey-man which was a widely used term for a goblin or devil.

Caddie: the term for the person who carries a golfer’s clubs during a round. The word derives from the French word 'le cadet', meaning 'the boy' or the youngest of the family.

The task required to attain this week’s golf related badge was simple: Play 25 Golf themed games. I powered through the quizzes, mostly about the four Major Tournaments, and scored the badge with little incident or fanfare. I hope this week’s post was on par with your expectations.

ALSO                                                                                                                       

Sporcle released new badges this week and I received the ‘When in 2010’ through previous quiz play. So that’s good. Find out more about it here.

The 'When in 2010' Badge

Badge 8: Money, Money, Money!

There are hundreds of active currencies in the world

Money makes the world go round

While that may be one of the more cynical quotes out there, the fact remains that money is the driving factor for most things in today’s society. Wars begin over money. Lives end over money. It is kind of a big deal.

Currency has been around for thousands of years. The first form of currency emerged in 2000 BCE. Metals were stamped to represent the value of stored commodities. This form of currency eventually made way in favour of the coinage system (First made of silver, then a combination of silver and gold, and now bronze and zinc).

Paper money emerged in a gradual process in pre-modern China. It began as a promissory note a vendor would give out in exchange for coins. By the 11^th century, paper money was being mass produced across the country.

Seeing as money makes the world go round, it seems fitting that my Sporcle Quest would feature a badge about money. This badge required me to achieve a 50% score on three quizzes.

1. People on U.S Currency

2. Currencies Replaced by the Euro

3. World Currency Matching

The "Loose Change" Badge

As a native of the Niagara region, I have had my fair share of contact with American money, so quiz #1 was no problem. Additionally, I had little trouble with quiz #2 as I was able to name the few currencies I did know (Franc, Drachma, Lira) to get over the threshold.

Matching the currencies to the countries (#3) was a taller order. I was only able to use my existing knowledge to nab seven or eight answers. The rest of the time I was trying to match the look of the word to the country (For example, I guessed that Yuan was the currency of China). This inefficient approach led to four tries at this quiz before I managed 50%. It was a tough day at the Badge Factory, but a new badge is mine either way.

Cha-Ching!!!

Badge 7: The Ides of March

Julius Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March 

Beware the Ides of March!

Many of you may have heard that phrase at some point in your life. Whether it’s a George Clooney film, or a Simpsons episode, the phrase has become ubiquitous in today’s society. But what exactly are the Ides of March and why do people use the phrase?

The Ides were simply a division in the ancient Roman calendar. The Romans did not label their calendar days sequentially, but instead counted back from three fixed point: the Nones ( 5^th to 7^th), the Ides (13^th or 15^th) and the Kalends (1^st of the next month). Since March has 31 days, the Ides of March would have been on the 15^th. 

So why is this important? Julius Caesar was assassinated on March 15th, or the Ides of March. However, the date was not considered unlucky until William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar. In the play, Caesar is warned to “Beware the Ides of March” by a soothsayer. Since that time, the phrase has been associated with death.

The "Ides of March" badge

What does this have to do with my Sporcle Quest? The answer is simple. This week’s badge required me to play three Roman themed quizzes on March 15. The quizzes were:

1. Historical Murder Match-up

2. In Plain English: Julius Caesar
3. Emperors of Rome 

While quizzes #2 and #3 were standard, I found the murder match-up quiz to be very fun. It provided a wide array of political figures and required the player to match the names with the dates and locations of their deaths. I was surprised to find that I actually knew 2/3 of the answers. I guess I must have been paying attention in high school history class. The completion of this quiz earned me a prize worthy of a Roman Emperor; a new Sporcle badge!

ALSO:
I woke up this morning and Sporcle had created two new badges that I achieved through my previous Sporcle play!  You can find out about the "Shoot for the Stars Badge" here and the "Who Are You?" badge here!

The 'Shoot for the Stars' badge

The 'Who are you?' badge

Badge 6: The Rolling Stones Albums

The Rolling Stones Members. 
Left to Right: Watts, Richards, Jagger, Wood
(therollingstones.com)

When listing off famous rock bands, one band is almost always featured on that list. The Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones were founded in 1962, and have had the same consistent lineup of Mick Jagger (lead vocals), Keith Richards (guitar), Ronnie Wood (guitar) and Charlie Watts (drums) since 1975. Since creation, the band has released 22 albums and has had eight of their songs reach #1 on the Billboard top 100 charts. The Sporcle Badge Challenge for this week was straight forward. Name all 22 albums released by the Rolling Stones.

The 'Gimme Shelter' Badge

Let me preface this by saying I had no idea what I was doing going into this quiz. For some reason, I do not remember very many album names. In addition, I am familiar with maybe 12 or so Rolling Stones songs (Check out the video below for some song recommendations). Given these two factors, I had my mother Fran (an avid Sporcler in her own right) aiding me for this whole badge attempt.

I started off by simply naming the band’s name, which led me to two albums (The Rolling Stones and The Rolling Stones No.2).  The rest of the quiz was my mother entirely going to work. Of the other 20 answers in the quiz, I had only heard of one of the albums. The rest were a mix of amusing alliterations (Beggar’s Banquet, Between the Buttons), simple rhymes (Tattoo You, Steel Wheels) and fascinating imagery (Goats Head Soup, Let it Bleed). In the end, my mom pumped all the answers in two and a half minutes. 

This badge is not just a victory for me, but for the whole Lyons’ pride!   

Badge 5: Leap Day

February 29th, or Leap Day, occurs every four years

A view of NYC from
 atop the Rockefeller Centre.
The tall structure
 is the Empire State Building

Every four years, our calendars get one day longer, and people just don't think anything of it. There is actually a very good reason for February 29^th. While the usual year is 365 days, in reality, takes 365.2422 days for the Earth to rotate the Sun. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the leap day as a way to account for the .2422 of a day we`d be losing every year (The leap day actually does not deal with the difference perfectly. You can check out this New York Times article if you`d like to find out why). This week`s badge had a simple task: Play 29 quizzes on Leap Day.

On Leap Day this year, I was on vacation in New York City. However, I made a special effort to find WiFi so I could play the quizzes. I didn't want to wait four years for the next Leap Day to come around!

This badge was different than any other I've achieved during this Quest. It did not require that I play a specific quiz, but simply 29 quizzes during the time frame. As such, the first 28 quizzes I played were one minute quizzes to speed up the process. I decided my 29^th quiz would be about some of the New York City landmarks I had visited during my first trip to the city. I was only able to name 10/20 of the landmarks on the quiz, but that was immaterial, as I had played my 29^th quiz and earned a badge!

This is one small step for man, one giant Leap Day Badge for mankind

The 'Hey, it's Leap Day!' 
Badge

Badge 4: James Bond

Daniel Craig as James Bond in Casino Royale (Eon)

James Bond. Secret Agent with a license to kill. One would be hard-pressed in the English speaking world to find someone who has never seen a James Bond film, or at the minimum, not be aware of the films’ existence. James Bond, or 007 to use his code name, has been played by six different actors. The character has appeared in 24 films, and most recently has been played by British actor Daniel Craig. This week’s badge had a straightforward task; name all the James Bond Films.

George Lazeby as
James Bond in On
Her Majesty's
Secret Service (Eon)

The 007 Badge

I am definitely not a James Bond connoisseur (Check out my colleague and friend's recent blog post for an expert opinion), but I do have a certain degree of knowledge on the subject simply from existing and taking in information (Also from this fun BuzzFeed quiz). Additionally, I’ve only ever seen one James Bond film (Skyfall). 

The actually quiz taking for this badge was relatively painless. I started with the recent Bond movies that I knew from the last decade or so (Spectre, Casino Royale etc.) and pretty much gave the answers from newest to oldest. With two minutes left, I was missing only one film. I knew the film had something to do with majesties and the secret service, so I played around with the wording for a little while and finally got the answer of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. (Interestingly, that was the only film where Bond was played by Australian actor George Lazenby). I heard the notification on my phone, which meant I had achieved my goal!

The name’s Badge. James Badge.

Badge 3: Saturday Night Live

The Original SNL Cast (NBC)

The badge I chose this week focused on quizzes related to Saturday Night Live (SNL). For those of you who are unaware, SNL is a sketch comedy show that has been on the air for over 40 years. The show began in 1975 with seven cast members, and has been the starting point for many famous comedians including: Chevy Chase, Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tina Fey.

Tina Fey impersonates
 Sarah Palin (NBC)

To achieve the badge, I had to get 50% or better on four different quizzes. They were:

1. Name the Celebrities Being Impersonated  in these Photos

2. Name the Longest Tenured Cast Members

3. Name the Most Common SNL Hosts

4. Name the Original SNL Cast Members

Of these four quizzes, the only quiz I found easy was the celebrity impersonation quiz (#1), as it had little to do with SNL itself, and more to do with recognizing the photos.The other three quizzes were much harder. I had to play both quiz #2 and #3 twice before I was able to get 50%. I apparently had less knowledge of Saturday Night Live than I thought I did!  Because of the trouble I was having, I went into the final quiz (#4) a bit discouraged. I will now give you a brief play-by-play of how that quiz went:

The Live From
New York Badge

1. I started off fine as I knew Chevy Chase from NBC’s Community.

2. I knew of the SNL sketch The Blues Brothers, so I next got Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. This left me one answer short of 50%.

3. I was vaguely aware of a famous female comedian who died of cancer but for the life of me I couldn’t come up with the name. I literally spent three minutes trying to come up with it. Finally I caved and yelled for help. My sister gave me the answer, Gilda Radner, immediately.

This gave me 4/7 of the answers and pushed me past the 50% threshold. This met my requirements for the badge. 

LIVE FROM NEW YORK, it's a new Sporcle Badge!

Badge 2: Super Bowl

Katy Perry performing with the Left Shark at Super Bowl XLIX (Getty Images)

This week’s post was initially going to be about a different badge, but I noticed I had an unearned Super Bowl Badge. Given that the Super Bowl was a few days ago (and what a BORING game that was), I decided to go after the Super Bowl badge this week. The badge required me to receive 50% or better on three quizzes:

1. Name the Super Bowl Winners

2. Name the Super Bowl MVPs

3. Name the Super Bowl Halftime Shows

2016 Halftime Show
(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

When it comes to my knowledge of sports, football ranks somewhere in the middle of the hierarchy. That being said, I had little trouble with the Winners and MVPs quizzes. I've watched enough games and have seen enough highlights that I cleared 50% on both quizzes fairly easily.

Carol Channing 
at Super Bowl V 
(AP Photo)

The Super Bowl Halftime quiz was an entirely different animal! For the most part, I don’t watch the halftime shows. I use the time between halves for conversation and refilling my snacks. As a result, I STRUGGLED recalling any performers past the last few years. The only performer from an early Super Bowl that I knew was Carol Channing (Who interestingly was the first big name to appear at a Super Bowl, find out more here).

The Vince Lombadgi Badge

I found myself ten answers short of the 50% mark with two minutes left in the quiz, so I had to take a drastic measure. I asked my dad (Colin) for some help. My dad came through in the clutch and helped me get to the halfway point before the time expired. I ended up with 25/50 on that quiz, but that was good enough to get a new badge! 

It’s an Immaculate Badge-ception!

Badge 1: Disney Animated Movies

Me with my favourite Disney Character, Donald Duck

I wanted my first badge to be something interesting and popular to get the blog rolling. After some deliberation, I ended up choosing the “From the Vault” badge, which requires the user to get 100% on the Disney Animated Movies quiz. I felt confident going into the quiz for two reasons:

Beauty and the Beast,  
Walt Disney Animation Studios

1. Most of my childhood was spent watching Disney VHS tapes with my sister Karly.

2. I had recently read a great article on Buzzfeed that ranked all the Disney films. 

I opened the quiz and was immediately taken aback by the fact that there were 54 Disney films I needed to name.  I started easy with all the films from my wheelhouse. As a millennial, films like Aladdin, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast came to mind immediately.(Did you know that Beauty and the Beast was the first Animatedfilm nominated for Best Picture?)

Home on the Range, 
Walt Disney Animation Studios

Surprisingly, I knew all the obscure package films from the 1940s, like Make Mine Music and Fun and Fancy Free, but I struggled recalling the films from 2002-2008 (Essentially the films that came out during my teen years, when I was too “cool” to care about Disney movies). With much effort, I narrowed my remaining answers down to one and as the clock wound down, my mind locked in on the final answer (Home on the Range —arguably one of the worst films Disney ever made). I immediately heard the notification sound on my phone, signaling that I had received my email confirming my new badge.

I love the smell of Sporcle Badge in the morning! Smells like….Victory!

From the Vault Badge

What is Sporcle?

A blog picture of me blogging

Upon first glance of my blog, many of you may ask:

"What does Sporcle mean? Is that a spork for barnacles?”  

Mean Girls, 
Paramount/Netflix

In actuality, Sporcle doesn't mean anything. Sporcle is an online quiz website founded in 2007. New quizzes on a variety of topics are published on the main page by the Sporcle staff each day. Published quizzes can vary greatly in their difficulty. There are easy quizzes like, "Name thethings Meat Loaf won't do for love?”, and there are difficult quizzes like, "Name all of countries of the world."

Sporcle members can gain achievement badges when they play certain quizzes at certain times. Some badges are day-dependent (playing 10 Mean Girls quizzes on October 3rd gains you a badge) and some badges are time-dependent (15 games between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. to gain another badge). For example, here is the badge you attain when you join Sporcle.

The Newbie Badge given to all new members 

I spend a lot of my free time playing quizzes as a way to relax. Since I started playing at university, I have attained many badges but there are still over 100 that I haven`t unlocked! I am starting this blog to chronicle my attempts to gain every badge the site has to offer.

Each week I will set a target badge and give a play-by-play of all the quizzes I played to reach my target. I will do my best to spread out the genre of my quizzes, so you aren't reading exclusively about my favourite types of quizzes (Sports and Geography FYI).Hopefully you`ll have as much fun reading my blog as I know I will have writing it. Time to start our adventure!