Rambling: LotR Quiz 15

Question 46 – The Ents hold Entmoot to decide to what to do about Saruman’s treachery. What is their decision?
a. They decide to fight and march out to attack Isengard
b. They decide to fight but change their mind on the way
c. They decide not to fight
d. They decide to lobby Peter Jackson for more screen time

Question 47 – Where does Saruman die?
a. At Helms Deep
b. At Bag End
c. At Isengard
d. At Edoras

Question 48 – How does the palantír wind up in the waters around Orthanc?
a. It falls there after the Ents trash Isengard
b. It falls out of Saurman’s sleeve after he falls from Orthanc
c. It is just there
d. It is thrown at Gandalf and company as a parting shot from Wormtongue

Question 49 – When/where does Pippin look in the palantír?
a. At Edoras
b. Immediately
c. On the way back from Isengard to Helm’s Deep
d. At Dunharrow

46. Movie: c; Book: a
47. Movie: c; Book: b
48. Movie: b; Book: d
49. Movie: a; Book: c

Rambling: LotR Quiz 14

Question 43 – Who helps the Riders of Rohan defend the Hornburg at Helm’s Deep? (Pick as many as necessary)
a. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli
b. Sam and Frodo
c. Elves from Lorien
d. The Rangers from the North

Question 44 – What races are in the army of Saruman?
a. Uruk-hai
b. Uruk-hai and Wild Men of the West
c. Uruk-hai and regular Orcs
d. Uruk-hair and the Nazgul

Question 45 – Gandalf arrives near the end of the battle. Who rides with him?
a. More Elves
b. Eomer and his eored
c. No one
d. Erkenbrand and the remnants of his eored

43. Movie: a,c; Book: a (This is one of the more major changes from the book)
44. Movie: a; Book: b
45. Movie: b; Book: d (Eomer is at the battle in the book because he hasn't been exiled)

Rambling: LotR Quiz 13

Question 41 – How does Gandalf free Theoden from the mental atrophy brought on by Grima?
a. He exorcises Saruman
b. He uses athelas to heal him
c. He has Pippin recite a comic song
d. He has the king stand up, head out of his throne room, and grip his sword

Question 42 – Theoden orders all of the women and children in Edoras to flee to what location?
a. Fangorn Forest
b. Minas Tirith
c. Dunharrow
d. Helm’s Deep

41. Movie: a; Book: d
42. Movie: d; Book: c (This is one of those plot changes that I didn't fully understand. Sure, it increased tension, but it is very unrealistic.)

Rambling: After Alpha Comes...

Yet another Tropical Storm has formed in the Carribean. This one is named by the second letter of the Greek alphabet, Beta. Beta appears to be on a track to hit Nicaragua as a category 1 hurricane.
I am even more amazed at this new storm. What an amazing year this has been to me! What an ever-astonishing world!

Rambling: LotR Quiz 12

Question 38 – Eomer meets Aragorn after defeating the Uruk-hai. Why has Eomer ridden to the North?
a. He likes the North
b. He heard of a party of Orcs crossing the northern plains and decided to punish them for trying to cross through Rohan
c. He was exiled under order of Grima/Theoden
d. Gandalf told him to

Question 39 – Where does Eomer head after meeting Aragorn?
a. North, out of Rohan
b. East, towards the Anduin
c. West, towards Fangorn
d. South, to Edoras

Question 40 – Who says to Eowyn, “Who knows what [you speak] to the darkness alone, in the bitter watches of the night, when all [your] life [seems] to shrink…”?
a. Aragorn
b. Grima Wormtongue
c. Gandalf
d. Frodo

38. Movie: c; Book: b
39. Movie: a; Book: d
40. Movie: b; Book: c (Gandalf speaks these lines in Return of the King at the Houses of Healing)

Rambling: LotR Quiz 11

Question 34 – Merry and Pippin flee into Fangorn forest. From whom are they fleeing?
a. The Uruk-hai and the Riders, out of fear of being killed
b. An orc who is trying to eat them
c. Treebeard
d. Peter Jackson

Question 35 – When do the hobbits meet Treebeard?
a. When he joins the Riders in attacking the Orcs
b. When they climb up him in order to escape being eaten
c. After they have climbed up a hill in Fangorn
d. When Entmoot is held

Question 36 – Where does the tree “Old Man Willow” live?
a. In Bree
b. In the Old Forest outside of Buckland
c. In Edoras
d. In Fangorn forest

Question 37 – Who says, “Old Man Willow, you should not be waking…”?
a. Tom Bombadil
b. Gandalf
c. Aragorn
d. Treebeard

34. Movie: b; Book: a
35. Movie: b; Book: c
36. Movie: d; Book: b
37. Movie: d; Book: a

Rambling: LotR Quiz 10

Question 31 – Sam and Frodo reach the far shore. Who sees them cross the River but decides not to follow them?
a. Merry and Pippin
b. Boromir
c. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli
d. No one

Question 32 – As Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas chase after the Uruk-hai, who lags behind?
a. Aragorn
b. Gimli
c. Legolas
d. No one, Legolas is an elf (infinite endurance), Aragorn is a ranger (used to long chases), and Gimli is a dwarf (dwarves do not tire on a chase).

Question 33 – As the Uruk-hai are trapped by the Riders of Rohan, what happens to Merry and Pippin?
a. They manage to crawl away before an orc chases them to try to eat them
b. The Riders find them and take them to Edoras
c. An orc takes them both away from the battle in order to try to get the Ring from them
d. Pippin bores the Uruk-hai to death with bad poetry

31. Movie: c; Book: d
32. Movie: b; Book: d
33. Movie: a; Book: c

Rambling: LotR Quiz 9

Question 27 – During their stay in Lorien, at least one member of the Company looks into the Mirror of Galadriel. Who looks into the Mirror?
a. Frodo and Sam
b. Frodo, Sam, and Aragorn
c. Frodo
d. Frodo, Sam, Gimli, and Legolas

Question 28 – As they row down the River Anduin, the Fellowship is followed by someone. Who follows them?
a. The Uruk-hai
b. Gollum
c. Saruman
d. No one follows them

Question 29 – Who says, “A shadow and a threat has been growing [in my mind.]”?
a. Aragorn
b. Legolas
c. Boromir
d. Frodo

Question 30 –Frodo has just climbed down from the seat of Amon Hen, where he has seen Sauron’s eye searching for him. What happens next?
a. He takes the Ring, throws it into the River, and goes home
b. He puts on the Ring and tries to cross the River alone
c. He meets Aragorn, who breaks out into another long song about Arwen
d. Aragorn meets him, refuses to take the Ring, and sends Frodo on his way

27. Movie: c; Book: a
28. Movie: d; Book: b
29. Movie: b; Book: a
30. Movie: d; Book: b

Rambling: Wow! Alpha...

Something has just happened that I never thought I would see: an Atlantic hurricane season has been so active that the National Hurricane Center has run out of hurricane names for the season. With Hurricane Wilma, the twenty-second named storm of the season, pounding the Yucatan peninsula, Tropical Storm Alpha has formed south of Hispanola.
Why Alpha? Because once the NHC exhausts its typical list for hurricane names (something that has never happened) it starts using Greek letters to designate tropical systems. If another tropical system were to form, it would be Tropical Storm Beta. One beyond that would be Gamma, and so on.
It's been an amazing weather year, and it once again reminds me of how amazing a God I serve. He has made a world that can such unusual and varied weather that is still orderly enough that human beings, who do not create weather, can still predict it.
So, as the crisp, autumn weather settles in here in Kansas, take some time to marvel at the nearly infinite variety that the Lord has put in this world in the form of weather.

Rambling: LotR Quiz 8

Question 24 – Pippin alerts the Orcs living in Moria to the presence of the Fellowship. How does he do this?
a. He shouts down a well
b. He touches a skeleton whose head falls off and down a well
c. He drops a stone down a well
d. He falls down a well

Question 25 – The Fellowship are attacked inside Balin’s tomb. Who stabs Frodo with a spear?
a. A Balrog
b. An orc chieftan
c. A cave troll
d. Gollum

Question 26 – The Fellowship escape Moria and head into the woods of Lothlorien. At what time of day do they enter woods?
a. Morning
b. Day
c. Night
d. At second breakfast, of course

24. Movie: b; Book: c
25. Movie: c; Book: b
26. Movie: b; Book: c

Rambling: LotR Quiz 7

Question 21 – The Council of Elrond is held. Which of the hobbits attend the Council, either invited or not? (Choose as many as necessary)
a. Bilbo
b. Sam
c. Frodo
d. Merry
e. Pippin

Question 22 – The Council selects nine people to be the Fellowship of the Ring. Their mission is assist Frodo in taking the Ring to Mount Doom. The Fellowship set out for the south. They try to cross over Caradhras. What happens as they climb?
a. Frodo slips. The Ring falls off and Boromir picks it up. Then they are snowed in.
b. They are snowed in, forced to retreat, and are attacked by wolves on the way down.
c. Sam breaks out into a comic poem.
d. Pippin falls off a cliff and everyone else rejoices.

Question 23 – After failing to climb Caradhras, the Fellowship head for Moria. The gates are locked, though. Finally, someone solves the riddle that gives the password for the gates. Who solves the riddle?
a. Aragorn
b. Gimli
c. Gandalf
d. Frodo

21. Movie: b, c, d, e; Book: a, b, c
22. Movie: a; Book: b
23. Movie: d; Book: c

Rambling: LotR Quiz 6

Question 17 – Which of the following are factors in Frodo and company’s decision to let Strider guide them? (Choose as many as fit)
a. A letter from Gandalf
b. The realization that servants of the Enemy would feel fouler and look fairer
c. Strider’s protecting them from the attack of the Black Riders
d. None of the above

Question 18 – Strider leads the Hobbits through the Midgewater Marsh and on to Weathertop, where Frodo is attacked and wounded. They continue traveling and cross the Last Bridge. As Frodo begins to fade from his wound, who meets the company?
a. Gandalf
b. Glorfindel
c. Arwen
d. Eowyn

Question 19 – Frodo rides on a horse after this encounter. Whose horse is it?
a. Strider’s
b. Gandalf’s
c. Glorfindel’s
d. Arwen’s

Question 20 – Who rides with him?
a. Gandalf
b. Glorfindel
c. Arwen
d. No one

17. Movie: b, c; Book: a, b
18. Movie: c; Book: b
19. Movie: d; Book: c
20. Movie: c; Book: d

Rambling: LotR Quiz 5

Question 14 – Frodo and company settle in for supper in the Common Room at the Prancing Pony. However, the Ring decides to betray Frodo. How does it do so?
a. It starts talking in perfect English
b. It falls in a pint of Pippin’s ale
c. It “accidentally” slides onto Frodo’s finger as he’s singing a song to distract the crowd from Pippin, who is revealing Frodo’s identity
d. It “accidentally” slides onto Frodo’s finger as he slips while running towards Pippin to keep Pippin from revealing Frodo's identity.

Question 15 – Strider sees Frodo vanish and then reappear. What does Strider do?
a. He rebukes Frodo and drags him off to his room to get him out of trouble
b. He asks to see the Ring
c. He rebukes Frodo and says that he wishes to speak with him later
d. He breaks out into a long song about Arwen

Question 16 – In what state is Aragorn’s sword?
a. It’s rusty, but whole
b. It’s whole, sharp, and not to be messed with
c. He has no sword
d. It’s broken just past the hilt

14. Movie: d; book: c
15. Movie: a; book: c
16. Movie: b; book: d

Rambling: LotR Quiz 4

Question 11 – Frodo and company flee the Black Riders. How close do they come to being caught at the Ferry?
a. Sort of close. They see Riders in the distance
b. Very close. One Rider nearly catches up to Frodo
c. They are caught initially, but Pippin distracts the Riders by throwing an apple
d. Not close at all. The Riders have lost all track of them.

Question 12 – Frodo and company cross the Brandywine on the Ferry. What happens next?
a. They head to a small cottage near the edge of Buckland and then into the Old Forest
b. They wait two days and then sail down the Brandywine
c. They travel for a few days uneventfully before arriving at Bree
d. Eagles arrive and fly Frodo to Mount Doom

Question 13 – What happens to Frodo and company as they travel to Bree?
a. Nothing.
b. They get lost in the Old Forest, are rescued by Tom Bombadil, get lost in the Barrow Downs, are again rescued by Bombadil, and then finally arrive at Bree
c. They head north along the River, cross the West Road, visit Fornost, meet Aragorn, and then arrive at Bree
d. Peter Jackson meets them and offers to make a movie about their quest if they are successful

11. Movie: b; book: d
12. Movie: c; book: a
13. Movie: a; book: b

Rambling: LotR Quiz 3

The quiz sensation continues! :-)
Question 8 – Who initially accompanies Frodo on his trip out of the Shire?
a. Sam and Gandalf
b. Sam and Pippin
c. Sam, Merry, Pippin, and Fatty Bolger
d. Just Sam

Question 9 – When does Frodo run into Merry and Pippin?
a. He doesn’t. Merry is driving a wagon to Buckland and Pippin is with him the whole time.
b. As they flee from Farmer Maggot
c. As Frodo hides from a Black Rider
d. When Frodo meets the Elves wandering through the Shire

Question 10 – Speaking of Farmer Maggot, how does he help Frodo and company?
a. He doesn’t. He just chases Merry and Pippin
b. He attacks a Black Rider with a bow and arrow
c. He takes them on a secret road through the Shire
d. He gives them supper and then drives them to the Bucklebury Ferry

8. Movie: d; book: b
9. Movie: b; book: a
10. Movie: a; book: d

Rambling: LotR Quiz 2

Here are the next four questions in the Lord of the Rings quiz. Answers are found in the full post.
Question 4 – Gandalf advises Frodo to keep the Ring safe. What does Frodo do with the Ring?
a. He puts gives it to Michel Delving museum
b. He keeps it sealed in an envelope and buried in the bottom of a trunk
c. He wears it around his neck on a chain
d. He gives it to Sam as a present

Question 5 – After Gandalf discovers that Frodo has the One Ring, he tells Frodo some of the story of its history. When does this conversation take place?
a. In the morning
b. At second breakfast
c. At lunch
d. At night

Question 6 – Gandalf advises Frodo to flee the Shire. When does Frodo flee?
a. After several months, to draw as little attention to his departure as possible
b. Immediately
c. At 10:15 in the morning
d. He doesn’t

Question 7 – As Frodo flees the Shire, where does he plan to head first?
a. To Bree, to meet Gandalf at the Prancing Pony
b. To the Grey Havens, to sail to the West
c. To Buckland, to pretend to set up shop so that his departure is unnoticed
d. To Isengard, to get advice from Saruman the White

Again, give yourself one point for answering according to the movie and three for answering according to the book.
4. Movie: b; book: c
5. Movie: d; book: a
6. Movie: b; book: a
7. Movie: a; book : c

Rambling: LotR Quiz 1

I was thinking a while back about the Lord of the Rings movies and how they are similar to and different from the book. I enjoy both the movies and the books, but have read the books numerous times, it's amusing (and occasionally frustrating) to see the changes that were made. Instead of listing them, though, I thought it would be fun to highlight the differences by making the differences that I see into the form of a quiz. Take it and see if you can answer correctly, either according to the movie (1 point) or according to the book (3 points). To see the answers, click "See the full post". I'll put three questions up today, and try to put one or two up every couple of days. A lot of these questions are trivia questions, but some concern major events.
Question 1 -- When Gandalf first arrives in Hobbiton, the children beg for him to set off fireworks. How many does he set off?
a. Several
b. None
c. Just one, in the shape of a dragon
d. So many that he has to head over to Bree to buy some more

Question 2 -- Who sets off the firework that turns into a dragon?
a. Frodo
b. Merry and Pippin
c. Bilbo
d. Gandalf

Question 3 – Bilbo gives his dinner speech and then slips on the ring. What happens next?
a. Nothing…the ring has lost its power due to a freak bleaching accident
b. Bilbo goes into the nether world and sees the nine black riders
c. He instantly disappears from view
d. He instantly disappears from view in a flash of fire

Answers:
1. According to the movie: a; According to the book: b
2. Movie: b; Book: d
3. Movie: c; Book: d [the flash is added by Gandalf as an effect to help explain Bilbo's disappearance]
Give yourself one point for each correct movie-based answer and three points for each book-based answer. Check back tomorrow, and I'll try to put up a couple of new questions.

Rambling: That's A Whole 0.041%

A recent geological survey conducted by the Chinese government has discovered a shocking result. The story can be read here.

It turns out that Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, is only 29,017 feet. The previous measurement of its height was 29,029 feet, meaning that the last measurement of the mountain done 30 years ago was in error by 12 feet. To put the error in perspective, that would be like the doctor's office measuring me to be 5'7.97" instead of the 5'8" that I really am. Not a big deal.
Still, suppose that it wasn't an error. What if the mountain were really shrinking? What would cause it shrink? Here are some options.
Option 1: Wind erosion. The peak of the mountain is at about the same altitude as the jet stream. Perhaps the intense winds of the jet stream are actually blowing the dirt, snow, and rocks off of the mountain. This effect, over time, could cause the mountain to lose about twelve feet of height.
Option 2: Global warming? Nope, global warming doesn't affect that part of the atmosphere. Only the lowest part of the atmosphere (very close to the surface) is seeing an increase in average temperature. Upper air temperatures have not been affected. So, no melting of glaciers up there, I'm sorry to say. And that allows me to side-step the whole issue of whether global warming is man-made or something natural, something that is not as settled as most atmospheric scientists would have you belive...
Option 3: Tourists. Yes, that's right, tourists taking the mountain back down with them could have resulted in the shrinking of the mountain. After all, if I ever made it to the top of such an insanely tall mountain, I'd want a souvenir. And nothing says, "I made it" more than a few feet of dirt from the mountain I just climbed.
Option 4: The mountain is moving faster. (Or the men who measured it were moving faster than 30 years ago.) According to Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity, objects in motion are perceived as being shorter than objects at rest (to put it simply). Thus, perhaps the mountain is really moving faster than it was 30 years ago, or the scientists who measured it were moving faster than the scientists who were moving 30 years ago. So, how fast would the mountain (or the scientists--it doesn't really matter) have needed to move to produce the necessary shrinking of the mountain? They would have had to move at 99.9999916% if the speed of light to have the mountain appear to shrink by 12 feet.
Option 5: The yedi. The yedi is the abominable snowman who supposedly lives somewhere in the Himalayas, the mountain range in which Everest lies. The team from 30 years ago measured the peak with the yedi (more than likely 2 yedis, in order to get twelve feet of height) standing on top of it. The yedis were not there this time because they decided to hang glide in the jet stream, and wound up in San Francisco, where they were mistaken for common, ordinary citizens.
Those are only some of the possibilities. I'm sure that those of you who are creative can come up with some other reasons why Mount Everest might actually be twelve feet shorter. If you have one, I'd love to hear it.

Commentary: It's Science Because I Said So!

Ever since the Kansas Board of Education began considering proposals to include the teaching of Intelligent Design (hereafter ID) in the Science Curriculum, the debate about whether Intelligent Design is even science has gone on, mostly unnoticed by the media. In light of all of this, Philip Johnson, author of the book Darwin on Trial is coming to Topeka in three weeks. The responses from the pro-evolution camp so far have been typical and hardly surprising.

Argument number one centers on whether debate is valid. "Evolutionary theory is science, and you don't debate science," these people argue, "because science is the observation of facts and therefore not open to debate."
The problem with this statement is the idea that one does not debate science. Not only is it incorrect, it is absurd. While it is true that one does not debate about the existence of facts, one can -- and should -- debate the interpretation of these facts. Evolutionary theory is not a fact; it is is merely an interpretation of the facts. Not all of the facts we currently know support the evolutionary theory that Darwin proposed. There has been debate for years among the science community about how to handle these anomolies. The theory of evolution is constantly being revised, and this revision results from a constant debate within the scientific community. Thus, the argument that one does not debate science is false. The scientific community is always debating, and this is healthy. If the scientific community ever ceased to debate, then science would cease to grow.
A second common response to the suggestion of teaching ID is that ID is not science. The arguers then proceed to suggest several criteria that science has to meet. The problem with their criteria is that their criteria also exclude evolution from being scientific. Space prohibits a full discussion, but I recommend the book The Creation Hypothesis by JP Moreland for a full discussion of this. One example, however, of the common criteria used to dismiss ID is that ID does not make any verifiable predictions. Scientific theories, ID detractors argue, should make verifiable predictions. However, the problem with this criterion is that evolutionary theory also fails to make any verifiable predictions. No predictions made by evolutionary theory can be verified in the typical scientific manner. It is hard to run lab tests that last for the millions of years required by evolution.
So, if evolution does not meet the criteria of science held up by its proponents, why is it science? Because it is easier simply say, "Evolution is science because I said so," than to seriously consider that a theory that one has held for years might be wrong. Fear drives a demarcationist argument such as this.
Sadly, this debate does not appear to be going away any time soon. Evolution has become a part of the American worldview, and the mainstream media and scientific community have so accepted it as indisputible fact that nothing short of educating a new generation in potential alternatives will allow science in the area of origins to return to a healthy state.