'Blue Monday' is the name given to a day in January (typically the third Monday of the month) said by a UK travel company, 'Sky Travel', to be the most depressing day of the year. The concept was first published in a 2005 press release from the company, which claimed to have calculated the date using an "equation". It takes into account weather conditions and thus only applies to the Northern Hemisphere. However, scientists have dismissed the idea as baseless pseudoscience. What do you think?
Here is a quick CST quiz to use as an antidote to the occasion ...
Perhaps before starting proper, ask members what their favourite colours are and why.
Then list as many shades of blue as the group can come up with.
ROUND 1. The Colour Blue
1. What two colours do you get if you mix blue with yellow & blue with red?
2. Which valuable gemstone is blue? What number is a ******** Jubilee?
3. Name these two social media platforms with blue logos?
4. Which football team is nicknamed 'The Bluebirds'?
5. Which UK political party's colour is blue?
6. Name these sweets?
7. What are the two most expensive navy blue properties in a game of 'Monopoly'?
8. At a wedding, what other things should a bride wear in addition to 'something blue'?
9. If blue is the colour for a baby boy's clothes, what colours are given a. for a girl and b. if you don't know the gender?
SONG. 'I Can Sing A Rainbow' 🌈 , Cilla Black - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXds_mkyuXY
10. Which two shades of blue are in a rainbow?
ROUND 2. Blue In Nature
11. What is the biggest animal in the world?
12. Which planet (other than earth) is blue?
13. Name this blue and orange bird?
14. At the beach, what does a 'Blue Flag' signify?
15. Which type of soil makes a Hydrangea blue - acid or alkaline?
16. Name this UK butterfly?
17. Name ththese blue flowers?
18. Name this English blue cheese?
19. What percentage of people in the UK have blue eyes?
SONG. ‘My Way’, Frank Sinatra - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t8kAbUg4t4
20. What was his nickname?
ROUND 3. Blue In Art & Literature
21. Which artist had a 'Blue Period'?
22. Which artist painted 'The Blue Boy'?
23. Which mountain can be seen in the 1829 painting ( or print) 'The Great Wave Off Kanagawa' by Katsushika Hokusai?
24. Who composed 'The Beautiful Blue Danube'?
25. Who composed 'Rhapsody In Blue'?
26. Which country does 'Delftware' pottery come from?
27. Which (usually blue and white) porcelain is the most valuable in the world (this 'chicken cup' sold at auction in 2014 for $36m)?
28. Which artist painted more than 250 water lily paintings?
29. Which religious icon is always depicted wearing blue robes?
SONG. 'Vincent', Don McClean - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxHnRfhDmrk
30. Who painted 'A Starry Night'?
ROUND 4. TV & Movies
31. Name this children's TV show & the presenters?
'Lulu The Elephant' clip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X2PLKR6000&t=15s
32. Name these children's TV characters?
33. Which UK petrol company had the slogan "Boom boom boom boom **** Blue."?
34. Which children's TV show featured a character named 'Aqua Marina'?
Link to song (spoiler alert) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxOYqoPkdc8
35. In which US city was the TV cop show 'Hill Street Blues' set?
Titles music - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pThIeuKD6uM
36. Which UK TV sitcom was set in Gasforth police station?
37. Which character in 'The Simpsons' has blue hair?
38. Name this 1980 movie?
39. Name this 2009 movie?
SONG. 'Trail Of The Lonesome Pine', Laurel & Hardy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qApsAPnoH7c&t=28s
40. In which US state would you find 'The Blue Ridge Mountains'?
ROUND 4. Blue In Music
41. Who 'found his thrill on Blueberry Hill' in 1956?
Here is the song (spoiler alert) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQQCPrwKzdo
42. Who had a hit with ‘Summertime Blues’ in 1958?
Here is the song (spoiler alert) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In7z7B87Puc
43. Which group had a number 1 hit with the song 'Blue Moon' in 1961?
Here is the song (spoiler alert) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0fy1HeJv80
44. Who sang 'Blue Velvet' in 1963?
Here is the song (spoiler alert) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icfq_foa5Mo
45. Which singer songwriter released an album entitled 'Blue' in 1971?
Here is the title song (spoiler alert) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaZFfjpCPfw (rare live performance)
46. Who was lead singer of 'The Moody Blues'?
47. Which singer songwriter had top 20 hits with 'Song Sung Blue' & 'Forever In Blue Jeans' in the 1970s?
Here are the songs (spoiler alert) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrMkAc2LW5k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R5C5ru9pFo
48. Which singer songwriter had a top 10 hit single in 1983 with 'I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues'?
Here is the song (spoiler alert) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6KYAVn8ons
49. Which artist released an album entitled 'True Blue' in 1986?
Here is the title song (spoiler alert) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P51LunEV3Sk
50. Which singer was the biopic 'Lady Sings The Blues' about & who starred in the 1972 movie?
Medley (spoiler alert) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxYs8f1mdpM
AND TO FINISH, A COUPLE MORE SINGALONGS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9axQVJF_FYs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuqF_LC_U7Y
BONUS ROUND
What are the following…
Le cordon bleu
Boys in blue
Black and blue
Blue blood
Bluebottle
Blue around the gills
Blue collar worker
Once in a blue moon
Into the wild blue yonder
A bolt out of the blue
Feeling blue
Have a blue fit
Like a blue arsed fly
Between the devil and the deep blue sea
Out of the blue
Screaming blue murder
Turn the air blue
Blue movie
True blue
Blue Tit
A COUPLE OF RHYMES
Little Boy Blue come blow your horn,
The sheep’s in the meadow the cow’s in the corn.
But where’s the boy who looks after the sheep?
He’s under a haystack fast asleep.
Will you wake him? No, not I – for if I do, he’s sure to cry.
Lavender's blue, dilly, dilly
Lavender's green
When I am king, dilly, dilly
You shall be queen:
Who told you so, dilly, dilly
Who told you so?
'Twas my own heart, dilly, dilly
That told me so.
Call up your men, dilly, dilly
Set them to work
Some to the plough, dilly, dilly
Some to the fork
Some to make hay, dilly, dilly
Some to cut corn
While you and I, dilly, dilly
Keep ourselves warm.
Lavender's green, dilly, dilly
Lavender's blue
If you love me, dilly, dilly
I will love you
Let the birds sing, dilly, dilly
And the lambs play
We shall be safe, dilly, dilly
Out of harm's way
I love to dance, dilly, dilly
I love to sing
When I am queen, dilly, dilly
You'll be my king:
Who told me so, dilly, dilly
Who told me so?
I told myself, dilly, dilly
I told me so
ANSWERS
1. Green & Purple
2. Sapphire / 65 years
3. Facebook & Twitter
4. Cardiff City
5. Conservative Party
6. Palma Violets
7. Mayfair & Park Lane
8. Something old, something new, something borrowed ...
9. Pink for girls, Yellow if unknown
10. Indigo & Violet
11. Blue Whale
12. Neptune
13. Kingfisher
14. Cleanliness
15. Acid
16. Common Blue
17. Forget Me Not, Lavender & Bluebell
18. Stilton
19. 48%
20. 'Old Blue Eyes'
21. Pablo Picasso
22. Thomas Gainsborough
23. Fuji
24. Johann Strauss
25. George Gershwin
26. The Netherlands (Dutch)
27. Ming Porcelain
28. Claude Monet
29. Virgin Mary - 'Marian Blue' is referred to as "the colour of angels"
30. Vincent Van Gogh
31. 'Blue Peter' / Peter Purvis, Valerie Singleton & John Noakes
32. 'The Smurfs'
33. 'ESSO'
34. 'Stingray'
35. San Fransisco
36. 'Thin Blue Line'
37. Marge
38. 'The Blues Brothers'
39. 'Avatar'
40. Virginia
41. Fats Domino
42. Eddie Cochran
43. The Marcels
44. Bobby Vinton
45. Joni Mitchell
46. Justin Hayward
47. Neil Diamond
48. Elton John
49. Madonna
50. Billie Holiday
BONUS ROUND ANSWERS
Le cordon bleu - high class cooking
Boys in blue - police
Black and blue - bruised
Blue blood - royal connections
Bluebottle - Blow Fly
Blue around the gills - feeling sick
Blue collar worker - working class
Once in a blue moon - infrequently
Into the wild blue yonder - into the unknown
A bolt out of the blue - surprise
Feeling blue - down
Have a blue fit - angry
Like a blue arsed fly - busy
Between the devil and the deep blue sea - difficult choice
Out of the blue - unexpected
Screaming blue murder - noisy protest
Turn the air blue - swear
Blue movie - smutty film
True blue - loyal
Blue Tit - bird
