Here it is once more… a chance to take on Supersam’s Challenge!!

Send in your answers to me at webmaster at opti-mystic dot net. Please do not post answers in the comments.

So here are 10 questions for you…

1. Why was Wg. Cdr. (retd.) S P Pendharkar in the news recently?

2. In children’s fiction, which character was created by Geppetto?

3. Which is the first Indian courier company to have its own aviation facility?

4. Which modern day country in the Middle East is the site of the world’s earliest known civilization, the Sumerian civilization?

5. In cricket, a score of 111 is often referred to as ‘Nelson’. Why so?

6. Which song by the Rolling Stones was used as the theme song for the launch of Windows 95?

7. If you are a misocapnist, then what would you be allergic to?

8. Which promotional character has Pepsi planned to revive in India during this summer?

9. In the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, an Indian game was demonstrated for the first time. Which game was it?

10. Complete this line, taken from a 20th Century Classic. “You can shoot all the blue jays you want if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin __ ____ _ ___________.“

I know I did not send the answers to the last Supersam’s Challenge, but I promise I’ll be a good boy this time and post the answers and the scores this time around! :-)

So, go ahead and take up the challenge!

Speed of sound is silenced

Concorde, the world’s first supersonic passenger jet, will be grounded in the autumn after a plunge in passenger numbers and a string of high-profile technical problems.
British Airways and Air France will announce the decision today, following months of deliberation with technical advisers from Airbus.[link via Metafilter]

Well, I’ve never travelled in a Concorde, but I’m a wee bit sad to note that it’ll no more take to the skies!

By the way, a trivia question. Do you know why the Concorde’s nose is crooked (or bent, pointing towards the ground)?

Iraq’s UN ambassador says ‘game is over’

In the first admission by an Iraqi official that US-led forces have seized control of Baghdad, the country’s ambassador to the United Nations said, “The game is over” and hoped Iraqis would have a peaceful life.

Amen to that! Lets hope that we have seen/heard the last of Saddam Hussein.

Though that may just be wishful thinking. If the question that haunted people all over the world in the past few weeks was “Where is Raed?” then the one that’ll certainly haunt the people in the coming weeks would be “Where is Saddam?“

Appearing on 60 Minutes on CBS, Said Aburish, one of Saddam Hussein’s biographers said (when asked if Saddam could have escaped before Baghdad fell),

“I don’t think that’s ever a consideration for Saddam Hussein,” says Aburish. “That would have given away everything he ever stood for. He had this preoccupation from the time he was in his 20s: ‘I belong in this page of Arab history.’ Going down with Baghdad, going down with the ship completes him.”

According to Aburish, who has studied Saddam for decades, the most important thing in life for this Iraqi leader is to be remembered by the Arabs as another Saladin, the Muslim warrior who triumphed over the Crusaders 800 years ago.[Read more]

Sources in the British intelligence have been quoted saying that though Saddam was almost certainly in the targeted building at some point, he was “probably” not there when the bombs were dropped.

So that means, just like Elvis, Saddam has left the building!