Musings of a Dead Parrot

THIS WEEK'S QUIZ
1. Roger Federer has now matched what player's open era record of five Wimbledon singles titles in a row? I believe that Bjorn Borg won five in a row from 1980-84
2. The title of what 2007 film originally described a reason to sail "to Byzantium" in a famous W. B. Yeats poem? I did not recall the first line of Sailing to Byzantium, but I do know it now. "This is no country for old men."
3. What kind of seed gives tahini its distinctive flavor? sesame seed
4. As titles go, it's not quite as catchy as "Living History" or "The Audacity of Hope," but which U.S. presidential hopeful is the author of "Evaluation of Renal Biopsy in Pregnancy Toxemia"? this sounds like Bill Frist. Is he a presidential hopeful?
5. What element, used in atomic clocks, has the largest atoms yet measured by science? uranium-238 (this is a guess)
6. Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures are spin-offs of what venerable TV science-fiction series? Venerable TV science-fiction series? I can think of a couple - Star Trek, Dr. Who, The Twilight Zone, Battlestar Galactica. I'll guess Dr. Who.
7. What unusual distinctin is shared by these U.S. states, and no others? Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming? (As a hint, Massachusetts was originally on the list, but I now believe that it doesn't *quite* qualify.)

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What elite military force was long headquartered in Sidi-Bel-Abbes, Algeria? The French Foreign Legion. Nowadays, you *can* be French and still join the "foreign" legion, but you must make at least a token attempt to pretend to be from Monaco or something. correct
2. Why did headlines this month refer to Mia Hamm as the "Jerry West of women's soccer"? Her silhouette will be used as the logo for Women's Professional Soccer, a nascent league. Jerry West is the dribbling guy in the NBA logo. correct
3. What was a career for Sir Edmund Hillary and an avocation for Sherlock Holmes? Both were beekeepers. Also Henry Fonda, Archie Moore, Leo Tolstoy, and Viktor Tushchenko! (Yes, this was an abortive Question Seven that proved too Google-able.) correct
4. What future journalist was crowned "America's Junior Miss," representing Kentucky, in 1963? Diane Sawyer was a teen beauty queen. (And speaking of morning show hosts, the future Kathie Lee Gifford was in the same pageant a few years later.) I guessed Phyllis George. She was Miss Texas in 1971.
5. What expression meaning "everything" derives from the three main parts of a musket? The proverbial "lock, stock, and barrel" make up a rifle. correct
6. What title activity of a 1982 song began "as soon as the shareef had cleared the square"? Rockin' the Casbah. (I hear the shareef don't like it.) correct - more Clash questions please
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these famous people? Milton Berle, Steve Earle, Eminem, Melanie Griffith, Stan Laurel, Joe Louis, Frida Kahlo, and Lana Turner. All were married twice to the same spouse. Fred "Rerun" Berry was married to the same spouse *three* times, but I couldn't find enough of those to fill out a question. I really like Steve Earle's music (I have 10 of his CDs), but I did not know this about his personal life

# posted by The O'Brien's Team @ 4:17 PM