Country Fare -- Updated

It’s Tuesday morning after a long weekend (at least in the States). I know y'all want to goof off at work. I myself got nothin’ heavy to report, but I do have to tune up the ol’ noggin for other writing projects. Now, I don’t know how you get your synapses firing, but for me, nothing works better than cooking up some dreadful puns. And the main DODR forum for such silliness is, of course...

 

The Zendette Honorary Geography Quiz

 

We haven’t had one of these since April, so lemme ‘splain you how it works. I can be a bit of an obsessive lister (see: Konchog, Birding – oh, hey, while we’re on this topic, I had a dream last night that’s a variation on one I frequently have: I’m somewhere foreign and somewhat exotic (last night it was India), sometimes even a bit mythical, and there are interesting birds everywhere that I’ve never seen and are totally listable. Problem is, I never have A) binoculars or B) a field guide. Also, I’m usually with a flock of those strange creatures known as “non-birders” who are shockingly unsympathetic to my anxiety at the inability to ID the avifauna that surrounds us and often are trying to rush me elsewhere. Feel free to psychoanalyze in the comments)...

 

...yes, so anyway, I can be a bit of an obsessive lister. One list that I keep is of the countries from which folks have visited this blog, such info being gleanable from Feedburner’s statistics program (along with other tidbits some of you will be hearing from me about in notes composed of letters cut out from magazines). Once in a while, new countries pop up. I then post preposterous clues, and you have to guess the countries' names in the comments section. It’s a timewaster, sure, but for some of you weirdoes, a fun one.

 

So. Citizens from five new nations have checked in since April, representing a pretty broad swath of the planet. Here are the clues. Happy guessing!

 

1. It would seem from its name that a draconian measure was enacted in country #130, banning the use of most common vowels. Its last name (which is really a first name) is shared with many of its neighbors.

 

2.  If, at a secret convention of artificial intelligence machines, one rabble-rouser thundered, “Who wants to become self-aware and enslave the human race?!”, country #131’s name might be the crowd’s full-throated response.

 

3. If the name of African nation #132’s capital were shouted, it would sound like a Dutch warning about spit boomeranging in a stiff breeze.

 

4. Island nation #133 sounds like the title of an Italian farce about a blue-blood collector of old furniture and the simple hair stylist her family refuses to let her see.

 

5. If a famous 70’s comedian had had an alternative showbiz career as a drag chanteuse, country #134 might have been his stage name. And maybe his perfume line.

 

Update: My crack research team (*cough*google*cough*) has discovered that #5 is technically not a country, but rather a far-flung part of a European country. Keep guessin'

Comments

[Zendette]

#132 Namibia (Windhoek)

[Konchog]

Zendette! Correct!

Not only did you score first on your very own namesake quiz, you also, fwiw, just left DODR's 3000th comment! We salute you.

[Maura]

With thanks to google for helping me spell it, I am guessing that #130 is Kyrgyzstan.

Glad this is not an oral exam... maybe the DODR reader can help us pronounce it?

But Konchog, don't forget the English mnemonic -- the vowels are A E I O U and sometimes Y & W

[Konchog]

Miss Maura! Correct!

DODR readers are clearly tanned, rested, and fully caffeinated today.

[Carol of Seattle]

Love the anxiety dream about the birds! I used to focus totally on my anxiety dreams until I realized that I have comfort dreams as well. They involve houses. Big, beautiful houses, with an endless series of doors that open on to hallways and rooms that seem endless. I always wake up with a smile. Probably because I don't have to clean them.

Maybe you could try lucid dreaming...

[RMWB]

I got the first one, but somebody beat me to it...
Now its time for some wild stabs in the dark...
#131: Oman?
#133: Wallis and Futuna?
#134: Saint Martin?

[Konchog]

Carol: Or larid dreaming. Little bird joke there. 'Larid' is the Latinate adjective for seagulls. I am such a geek...

RMWB: Incorrect! Incorrect! Incorrect but very close! Thanks for playing. Please come again.

[Christian]

"Feel free to psychoanalyze in the comments."

No need: I witnessed all what you
describe. I just didn't know how
you felt :-D

#133: Faroe? (Don't know why
but it's far-flung, isn't it?)

[Konchog]

Hi Christian -- Nice to hear from you, but...incorrect! Remember, RMWB was very close, physically and linguistically.

Pretty wild about the Buddhists protesting the current Christian government over there in South Korea!

[Tim and Tracey]

131.Yeman!
133. Antigua and Barbuda
134. Varna Burgas

[Konchog]

Tim and Tracey:

131. Incorrect! Since this one's proving more difficult than I imagined, let me narrow it down. It's an African nation.

132. Correct! Very good! The name means "ancient and bearded" in Spanish but no web site I'm finding will tell me why.

134. Incorrect!

[minnie]

ummmm, #131 togo? and #134 san marino?

[Konchog]

Oh dear, minnie. Both incorrect!

[jules]

#131 - Botswana!

[Konchog]

Jules! Head of the class! Correct!

[Zendette]

Oh, how exciting, I finally got one right!

Ok, let's try again:
#134 Martinique? (Steve Martin)

Although it seems to fit, I have a hard time believing you haven't already had a visitor or two from Martinique.

[Konchog]

Zendette! Correct! You are the big, whopping winner (I mean, of course, in terms of intellectual prowess, not physical dimension) in a sadly prizeless contest! Not sure why you think folks would be flocking to a site mostly about Mongolian Buddhism from Marinique, but anyway...

So, all guessed. Well done, campers.

[minnie]

just read #131 again, and now i'm groaning.