{"id":1542,"date":"2008-12-25T07:59:57","date_gmt":"2008-12-25T11:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/other-worlds-cafe.com\/news\/blog\/?p=1542"},"modified":"2008-12-22T10:57:23","modified_gmt":"2008-12-22T14:57:23","slug":"happy-holidays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/other-worlds-cafe.com\/news\/blog\/?p=1542","title":{"rendered":"Happy Holidays!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/other-worlds-cafe.com\/news\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/aliensanta-127x150.jpg\" alt=\"Alien Santa\" title=\"Alien Santa\" width=\"127\" height=\"150\" class=\"contentimg\" \/>We have come to visit you in peace and with goodwill.<br \/>\n&#8212; Klaatu<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s wishing you a bright and joyous holiday from the whole O*W*C gang!<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re feeling ambitious, send answers to these Christmas-themed SF trivia questions to <A HREF=\"mailto:chip@other-worlds-cafe.com\">chip@other-worlds-cafe.com<\/A>.  The first one to get &#8217;em all right wins a prize!  Answers will be posted next Monday.<\/p>\n<p>(p.s. &#8211; The O*W*C hosts regular SF trivia chats.  If you&#8217;d like to participate, keep an eye on our <A HREF=\"http:\/\/www.other-worlds-cafe.com\/chats\/schedule.php\">schedule<\/A>!)<\/p>\n<p>Question 1: In this classic short story by Arthur C. Clarke, the remnants of a now-destroyed civilization are found within the Phoenix Nebula, the leftovers of a supernova that was once visible from Earth.  Name it!<\/p>\n<p>Question 2: The play &#8220;A Dixie Christmas Carol,&#8221; an adaptation of Dickens&#8217; classic tale, was written by what well-known SF author?<br \/>\nA) Isaac Asimov<br \/>\nB) Allen Steele<br \/>\nC) Ursula Le Guin<br \/>\nD) Andre Norton<br \/>\nE) Orson Scott Card<\/p>\n<p>Question 3: In Allen Steele&#8217;s Hugo-nominated &#8220;Zwarte Piet&#8217;s Tale,&#8221; Santa Claus comes to the colonies on what planet?<\/p>\n<p>Question 4: &#8220;Santa Physics&#8221; has calculated that in order to make all of his deliveries, Santa&#8217;s sleigh must move at 650 miles per second.  Flying at this speed, how many G&#8217;s of centrifugal force would the jolly old elf have to endure?<br \/>\nA) 175<br \/>\nB) 1,750<br \/>\nC) 17,500<br \/>\nD) 175,000<br \/>\nE) 1,750,000<\/p>\n<p>Question 5: Jack McDevitt&#8217;s &#8220;Promises to Keep&#8221; is the story of a mission to save a woman stranded on Callisto five Christmases previously.  Callisto is one of which planet&#8217;s moons?<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->Question 6: True or False?  The U.S. Government tracks Santa Claus&#8217; whereabouts every Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n<p>Question 7: This author&#8217;s &#8220;The Pony&#8221; is a cautionary tale about getting just what you want for Christmas.  Name the author, who writes of Impossible Things!<\/p>\n<p>Question 8: This Catharine Asaro story of a ballerina and her future stepson&#8217;s trials in a virtual reality mansion appeared in the SF collection CHRISTMAS FOREVER.  What is its colorful title?<br \/>\nA) THE RED SHOES<br \/>\nB) DANCE IN BLUE<br \/>\nC) GREEN CHRISTMAS<br \/>\nD) YELLOW WALTZ<br \/>\nE) STUDY IN SCARLET<\/p>\n<p>Question 9: In this 1964 movie &#8220;classic,&#8221; the Martians kidnap Santa because there is nobody on Mars to give their children presents.  Name this Christmas turkey!<\/p>\n<p>Question 10: In Futurama&#8217;s only Christmas episode, what does the 8-foot-tall Santa robot do if he finds you on Christmas Eve?<br \/>\nA) He spanks you.<br \/>\nB) He impales you on a candy cane.<br \/>\nC) He rips your head off and stuffs you full of toys.<br \/>\nD) He hitches you to his sleigh.<br \/>\nE) He buries you under a metric ton of coal.<\/p>\n<p>Question 11: In Michael Moorcock&#8217;s &#8220;Behold the Man,&#8221; time-traveller Karl Glogauer takes the place of what legendary character?<\/p>\n<p>Question 12: In &#8220;The War Beneath the Tree,&#8221; sentient toys overthrow their new replacements on Christmas Eve.  This short work with a rather chilling ending was written by:<br \/>\nA) Gene Wolfe<br \/>\nB) Dan Simmons<br \/>\nC) Neal Stephenson<br \/>\nD) William Gibson<br \/>\nE) Connie Willis<\/p>\n<p>Question 13: These authors, proteges of Philip K. Dick, collaborated on &#8220;We Traverse Afar,&#8221; a bittersweet story of love and loss at Christmastime.  They sometimes write as &#8220;William Ashbless.&#8221;  Name them!<\/p>\n<p>Question 14: True or False?  There is a &#8220;Star Wars Holiday Special,&#8221; starring the original movie&#8217;s cast.<\/p>\n<p>Question 15: What star of DUNE (the original mini-series) starred in a remake of the famous Dickens story A CHRISTMAS CAROL?<\/p>\n<p>Question 16: According to &#8220;Christmas In The Stars&#8221; (The Star Wars Christmas Album), What Can You Get a Wookiee For Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb)?<br \/>\nA) Flea powder<br \/>\nB) Peace on Earth&#8230;or, wherever<br \/>\nC) A brush<br \/>\nD) Love, understanding, and good will to men<br \/>\nE) Extra-large socks<\/p>\n<p>Question 17: In this author&#8217;s &#8220;The Gifts of the Magistrate,&#8221; a humorist obsessed with Mark Twain intends to die when Halley&#8217;s Comet appears, just as Twain did. His former lover saves him by knocking the comet out of the Solar system.  Name the author, better known for his pun-filled stories about a certain bar!<\/p>\n<p>Question 18: In the X-Files episode &#8220;Christmas Carol,&#8221; who does Scully originally suspect is the mother of Emily Sim?<br \/>\nA) Scully&#8217;s sister<br \/>\nB) Scully&#8217;s mother<br \/>\nC) Mulder&#8217;s ex-girlfriend<br \/>\nD) Mulder&#8217;s sister<br \/>\nE) Sasquatch<\/p>\n<p>Question 19: In the short story &#8220;Happy Birthday, Dear Jesus&#8221; (1956), Frederik Pohl describes a society where consumerism totally rules the Christmas season.  Its themes are echoed in this 1953 collaboration with CM Kornbluth, in which corporations&#8217; advertising departments have come to dominate daily life.  Name it!<\/p>\n<p>Question 20: In Isaac Asimov&#8217;s &#8220;The Heavenly Host&#8221; (1975), a young colonist and an alien help an entire planet find The True Meaning of Christmas(tm).  What do the colonists call the aliens?<br \/>\nA) Varmints<br \/>\nB) Bugs<br \/>\nC) Angels<br \/>\nD) Wheels<br \/>\nE) Devils<\/p>\n<p>Question 21: In this author&#8217;s &#8220;Not a Creature,&#8221; a man takes his gun outside on Christmas Eve to find out what is making mysterious sounds near his house.  One of his best-known short stories is &#8220;To Serve Man.&#8221;  He was married to a fellow SF writer.  Name him!<\/p>\n<p>Question 22: In this classic Christmas episode of &#8220;The Twilight Zone,&#8221; Art Carney is a drunken department-store Santa who finds a magic bag.  What was its title?<br \/>\nA) Eventide<br \/>\nB) Night of the Meek<br \/>\nC) Henry Corwin&#8217;s Last Ride<br \/>\nD) Sanity Claus<br \/>\nE) Nothing in the Dark<\/p>\n<p>Question 23: &#8220;Cyber-Claus&#8221; is this cyberpunk author&#8217;s contribution to Christmas SF.  Name this author, perhaps best known for the Sprawl series!<\/p>\n<p>Question 24: In this 1962 novelette by James White, six children from all over the 1960&#8217;s Cold War world use their combined powers to look for Santa Claus and end up by averting World War Three&#8211;permanently.  Name it!<br \/>\nA) CHRISTMAS TREASON<br \/>\nB) WE THREE KINGS<br \/>\nC) SEASON&#8217;S GREETINGS<br \/>\nD) STAR OF THE EAST<br \/>\nE) CAROLING<\/p>\n<p>Question 25: True or False: STAR TREK has done Halloween-themed episodes, such as CATSPAW, but there has never been a Christmas episode.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We have come to visit you in peace and with goodwill. &#8212; Klaatu Here&#8217;s wishing you a bright and joyous holiday from the whole O*W*C gang! If you&#8217;re feeling ambitious, send answers to these Christmas-themed SF trivia questions to chip@other-worlds-cafe.com. The first one to get &#8217;em all right wins a prize! Answers will be posted [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/other-worlds-cafe.com\/news\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1542"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/other-worlds-cafe.com\/news\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/other-worlds-cafe.com\/news\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/other-worlds-cafe.com\/news\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/other-worlds-cafe.com\/news\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1542"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"http:\/\/other-worlds-cafe.com\/news\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1582,"href":"http:\/\/other-worlds-cafe.com\/news\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1542\/revisions\/1582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/other-worlds-cafe.com\/news\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/other-worlds-cafe.com\/news\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/other-worlds-cafe.com\/news\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}