Correct answers score 2 points.
If you had to use the clue then 1 point only.
Correct Brucie bonus answers score 2 points.
Question One (The partridge in a pear tree)
What am I dreaming of?
Brucie bonus question:
What was notable about the snow?
Need a clue?
“With every Christmas card I write”
Answer:
A white Christmas.
From the song of the same name written by Irving Berlin and sung by Bing Crosby.
Crosby sang this song in two separate Hollywood films: “Holiday Inn” (1942) and “White Christmas” (1954).
Brucie bonus answer (for Unit B / IB students):
The snow scene in the black and white “Holiday Inn” were shot using fake snow made of pure white asbestos (chrysotile). This was common practice in Hollywood movies of that era. See “The Wizard of Oz” for another example. I’m not aware of any famous people dying of asbestos-related diseases as a consequence of these special effects-related exposures. The most famous Hollywood actor to die of an asbestos-related disease is Steve McQueen. He died of mesothelioma. It is likely that his asbestos exposure happened in his youth when he was a Marine on troop ships.
Two (French hens)
What did John McClane write on the dead “terrorists” sweat shirt?
Brucie bonus question (for physical nerds):
If the fire hose was 30 m long how fast would the reel be travelling when it got to the end of its drop? Ignore the length of hose needed to tie the knot.
Need a clue?
From “Die Hard”, the second best Christmas film ever made.
Answer
“Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho.”
When I included a Die Hard question in the last Christmas quiz I got a string of letters complaining that Die Hard was not a Christmas Movie as it was released as a summer blockbuster in July 1988. In reply I would simply point out that there is a Christmas tree in the party room and the dead “terrorist” is wearing a Santa hat. What more do you need?
Brucie bonus answer:
If a hose reel falls a distance of 30 metres accelerating at 9.8 m.s2 (due to the force of gravity) then it would achieve a velocity of about 24 metre per second at the end of its fall. Or over 53 miles per hour.
If we assume that the weight of the reel and the hose is 15 kg then the force acting on John’s body when the hose real comes to the end of its drop would be equivalent to a 15 kg weight travelling at 50 miles an hour.
I don’t think you are going to be hanging on.
Yippee-ki-yay indeed.
Three (Turtle doves)
Why was George Bailey deaf in one ear?
Brucie bonus question:
What reflex action is triggered when you fall into cold water?
Need a clue?
From “It’s a Wonderful Life”; the best Christmas film ever made.
Answer
He fell into freezing cold water rescuing his kid brother who fell through the ice on a frozen pond.
In an interesting call-back to Question 1, “It’s a Wonderful Life” was the film that saw the end of the use of white asbestos as fake snow. The director, Frank Kapra, used Foamite fire extinguisher foam mixed with sugar, water and soapflakes to shoot all of the snow scenes and this became the industry go-to. Now there’s a bit of fire extinguisher trivia for you!
Brucie bonus answer:
Falling into cold water triggers the gasp reflex which is an involuntary reflex action of taking in short sharp breaths. Unfortunately this often leads to water inhalation (aspiration) and can cause drowning and secondary drowning (where water in the lungs causes inflammation and tissue fluid leakage into the lungs).
Also, interestingly, the human body exhibits the mammalian dive response on immersion in cold water. Heart rate and physiological activity slows down. As a consequence some drowning victims who have been immersed in very cold water have been resuscitated after long periods of immersion. The saturation diver Chris Lemons famously survived in a semiconscious/ unconscious state for over 30 minutes without respirable air after his supply umbilical was severed in an accident in the North Sea. He was successfully resuscitated by his dive supervisor on the second rescue breath (see here). The documentary film, Last Breath, is well worth a watch – not just for the remarkable survival story but also to see the incredible working life of a saturation diver. It really is managing risk at the edge.
Four (Calling birds)
What do we let in and what do we banish at Christmas time?
And for a Brucie Bonus who sang the line?
Need a clue?
From the 1984 Band-Aid hit “Do they know it’s Christmas time?”
Answer:
We let in light and we banish shade.
Brucie bonus answer:
Paul Young.
Five gold rings
How much did Randolph Duke bet Mortimer Duke in their nature –v- nurture argument?
Need a clue?
From the 1983 film “Trading Places”.
“Looking good Billy Ray”
“Feeling good Louis”
Answer
$1
If the call-back in question 3 wasn’t enough for you then you may be interested to learn that the American actor Paul Gleadon died of mesothelioma from inhaling asbestos dust in the construction industry in his early working life. Don’t recognise the name? He played Clarence Beeks in Trading Places and Deputy Police Chief Dwayne Robinson in Die Hard!
Six (Geese a-laying)
Who has got red lights all around?
Brucie bonus question:
From an OHS perspective why does he need to take care?
Need a clue?
He’s probably stuck on the M25/ M3/ M5/ M6/ M1/ M62 (delete as appropriate) in the holiday traffic.
Answer:
Chris Rea
From his 1988 song “Driving home for Christmas”.
Brucie bonus answer:
Driving is arguable the most dangerous activity that most of us routinely engage in for work purposes. Compare the total number of work-related fatalities reported in GB last year by the HSE (147 – see here) with the number of fatalities as a result of road traffic collisions (1,770 for 2018 – see here). And consider that between a quarter and a third of those deaths are estimated to be work-related (see here).
Christmas time sees a significant increase in the number of vehicles on the road as people travel for the holidays (I will be doing the usual 600+ mile journey with my family to visit relatives). Plus the festive season sees an uplift in the prevalence of drink- and drug- driving. And weather conditions and short day-length contribute to the risk.
So take care when you are out and about on the roads this Christmas. Have a safe one.
Seven (Swans a-swimming)
Where does Mary wait?
For a Brucie bonus:
Why might she want some iodine tablets?
Need a clue?
Mary who?
Mary Bradley.
Answer:
“Mary Bradley waits at home; in the nuclear fallout zone”
From the Jona Lewie song “Stop the Cavalry” from 1978
His real name was John Lewis. You can see why he changed it (but I think John Lewis are missing a marketing trick)!
Brucie bonus answer:
If you do happen to find yourself in a nuclear fallout zone you might want an iodine tablet or two. Iodine is an essential mineral and the human body (specifically, the thyroid gland) requires it in small amounts. One of the constituents of fallout is radioactive iodine. This is absorbed from food and drink and concentrated in the thyroid gland leading to an increased risk of thyroid cancer. Taking non-radioactive iodine in tablet form saturates the thyroid gland so it stops absorbing the radioactive iodine in food and drink. Chernobyl (where iodine tablets were not quickly deployed and used) and Fukushima (where they were) illustrate this in action (see here).
Unfortunately iodine tablets will not protect you from all of the other radioactive isotopes in nuclear fallout, nor the nuclear winter that would follow on from all-out nuclear war, nor the concurrent zombie apocalypse.
Merry Christmas!
Eight (Maids a-milking)
What links those 8 milk maids to smallpox?
Need a clue?
Moo!
Answer:
Milk maids give us a surprising link back to the birth of modern vaccination in the 1790s.
Edward Jenner realised that there was a truth lurking in the old wives tale that milk maids who suffered from an unsightly but non-lethal viral infection called cowpox would not contract small pox (which was a terrible disfiguring disease that killed and maimed millions worldwide). Jenner inoculated a small boy with cowpox virus taken directly from the hand of an infected milk maid. He then waited for the child to show signs of cowpox and recover. He then inoculated the same small boy with smallpox*. Hey presto. The disease did not take hold. The child had become immune because of his previous exposure to the cowpox virus. The word vaccination is derived for the Latin for cow: vacca.
*Do not try this at home. I am not sure that you would be able to get this past an ethics committee in the modern era.
Nine (Ladies waiting)
What did I do with your dreams and where did I put them?
Need a clue?
”The wind blows right through you; it’s no place for the old”
Answer:
“I took them with me Babe; I put them with my own.”
From “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl.
Kirsty MacColl was killed in a tragic accident whilst diving off a reef on the coast of Mexico in 2000 when she was struck by the propeller of a powerboat (speeding in a restricted dive area). She likely saved the life of one of her sons during the accident but was killed instantly herself. The exact circumstances of her death have been the subject of intense scrutiny over the years. If you want an example of the best, and possible the worst, of human nature then look no further. It’s a case study in the awful long-term repercussions of an accidental death.
Ten (Lords a leaping)
What did Thurman Murman give “Santa” as a Christmas present?
For a Brucie bonus:
If Thurman got his hand injury at school which sections of HSWA might the school have breached?
Need a clue?
The foulest-mouthed elf you will ever see on the silver screen.
Answer:
A wooden pickle that he made himself.
From the film “Bad Santa”. Not a film for the easily offended.
Brucie bonus answer:
Thurman cut his hand making the wooden pickle. So if this happened in a British school then possibly a breach of Section 3 of HSWA (the duties of the employer to persons other than their own employees).
But then again, as some of you will be thinking, the film is set in the US; so the correct answer is none of them as HSWA does not apply.
Eleven (Pipers piping)
When did we start to use fir trees as a form of Christmas decoration in the UK?
For a Brucie bonus
Why, from an OHS perspective, is it a very good idea to water a cut natural Christmas tree?
Need a clue?
“We are not amused”
Answer:
In the Victorian era. It is likely that the practice caught on as people started to copy the habit from Prince Albert (Victoria’s husband) in the 1840s and 50s.
Brucie bonus answer:
A dried out Christmas tree is a fire waiting to happen. Not only will the needles and thin branches catch alight readily. But the tree is jam packed full of volatiles that have low flash points (these are produced by the tree as a part of its defence mechanism). For example, turpentine, made from resin tapped from pine trees, has a flash point of 35oC.
If you want a see this in action check out this video posted by the NFPA (see here).
Remember to water your tree!
Twelve (Drummers drumming)
What did we both forget?
Need a clue?
”Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas;
Couldn’t’ miss this one this year.”
Answer:
Cranberries
From the 1982 song “Christmas Wrapping” by the Waitresses
Bah Humbug!
If you got them all right and didn’t need to use any of the clues then congratulations. You are a pop-culture maestro and a health and safety supremo.
Wishing you all a very happy and safe festive season. Have a good one and I’ll see you on the other side.
–
Dr Jim Phelpstead BSc, PhD, CMIOSH
RRC Consultant Tutor