Musings of a Dead Parrot

THIS WEEK'S QUIZ
1. The Empire State Building extinguished its lights for fifteen minutes in August 2004 to mourn the death of what Canadian-born woman?
2. What common item is tracked by the website Where's George? Which George? George Bush? George Hamilton? George of the Jungle? Hmm. Is Air Force One considered a common item?
3. What nation is home to the militant nationalists called the Tamil Tigers? Sri Lanka
4. What's the only single in the history of the Billboard Top Ten to share its name with a book of the Bible? ("Theme from Exodus" is NOT a biblical book.) Daniel (by Elton John)
5. LDL and HDL are the two main types of what substance? cholesterol
6. Who's the only coach in NBA history to lead seven different teams to the playoffs? I am tempted to say Larry Brown but I don't think he has coached seven different teams. I think it is Lenny Wilkins.
7. What color comes last in this list, and why? Gold, silver, green, copper, blue, purple, ____.

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. Where did the Beagle 2 crash and disappear on Christmas Day 2003? The Isidis Planitia on Mars. (In the spirit of the season, we accepted just "Mars.") correct
2. What was the first name of eight-year-old Miss O'Hanlon, who wrote a famous letter to the New York Sun in 1897? Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. Oddly, she wrote the letter in September. correct
3. "White Christmas" playing on Armed Forces radio was the secret signal for what 1975 event? The evacuation of Saigon. (In April--that wouldn't be such a good code in December.) correct
4. According to PNC Bank's "Christmas Price Index," what would cost a record $19,507.19 in 2007? All the gifts from "The Twelve Days of Christmas," from one on the first day all the way up to seventy-eight (no, really--do the math) on the last one. correct
5. At the age of eleven, who accidentally discovered the true identity of his baseball pitcher father while searching his mother's closet for hidden Christmas presents? Not to make light of Tim McGraw's childhood traumas, but yikes. That sucks. Don't peek at your presents early, kids. correct
6. Why might you want to avoid the Christmas party of Japan's Nakatomi Corporation? Because what if self-styled terrorist Hans Gruber were to crash it and hold everyone hostage while he broke into the vault for bearer bonds as he does in the 1988 film Die Hard? (In the spirit of the season, we accepted anything even remotely along these lines.) correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these Christmas carols? "Christmas in Killarney," "The Christmas Song," "A Holly Jolly Christmas," "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," "This Christmas." They're the only popular Christmas songs I can think of that mention mistletoe. "The Most Wonderful Time..." gets extra credit for using it as a verb.

6 out of 7 correct - a record for me! Must have been holiday charity.