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