Musings of a Dead Parrot

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. What two George Michael-written hit songs could have a number "7" appended to their titles to make the names of capsules of Mercury space missions? Faith is probably one of them. I can only think of one other George Michael song - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.
2. Where would you most often see the Greek letters iota, chi, theta, upsilon, and sigma side by side? I think those are the letters that you see inside a fish representing Jesus. There are five Greek letters. Can't think where else you would see five Greek letters side by side.
3. Hong Kong is one of two "special administrative regions" of China. What is the other? Macau? Is that what allows them to have all those casinos?
4. What NFL star got his nickname from his mother, from the speed with which he drank his milk as a child? In general, NFL players don't have great nicknames. Walter "Sweetness" Payton. Ickey Woods. The Frig. David "Deacon" Jones. Rod "He Hate Me" Smart. Boomer Esiason. Who am I missing? Of these, Ickey Woods fits the best.
5. Now that Pluto's been demoted, what's the smallest planet of the solar system? has to be Mercury or Venus. I think Mercury is smaller.
6. Geraldine Brooks' Pulitzer-winning 2006 novel March is narrated by the absentee father from what classic novel? Does March refer to the March sisters in Little Women? I have not read it to know if the father is absentee or not. Maybe Middlemarch?
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these Muppets? The Amazing Mumford, Barkley, Floyd, Dr. Bunson Honeydew, Janice, Pops the Doorman, Sully, the Swedish Chef, and Zoot. I have to look at the pictures of them. But one thing that strikes me is that you cannot see their eyes.

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. GM has been the top-selling automaker in the U.S. for 77 years, until it was surpassed last quarter by what company? Toyota finally passed General Motors, which passed Ford way back in 1932. correct
2. What phenomenon was the "Foucault pendulum" invented to demonstrate? Foucault's pendulum was so tall that its swinging actually changed direction with the rotation of the Earth. correct
3. The final actor to play the street urchin Gavroche in Broadway's Les Miserables is now the youngest member of what band? Nick Jonas, the youngest of the Jonas Brothers, is a Broadway veteran (or so I hear...it turns out I'm not a 13-year-old girl, so I had to look this one up). correct! a lucky guess
4. What hit 2008 film was based on the Commonwealth Writers' Prize-nominated novel Q and A? Slumdog Millionaire, about the questions and answers on a game show. The Jeopardy! version would have been called A and Q. correct
5. Who are the only two *consecutive* U.S. vice presidents to each serve full eight-year terms? Al Gore and Dick Cheney. I've been sitting on this one for about a year, not wanting to run it until I was sure Cheney would make it. Seeing him stealing Uncle Billy's $8,000 from the Bailey Building & Loan at the inauguration reminded me I could finally use it. correct
6. What kitchen brand, patented in 1957, was named because it was originally the product of inventor Arthur Meyerhoff? PAM cooking spray--the name is an acronym for _P_roduct of _A_rthur _M_eyerhoff, even though some guy named Leon Rubin was apparently the original inventor. I guess "PLR cooking spray" doesn't exactly trip off the tongue. groan!
7.What is the significance of the order of this list of world nations? Monaco, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tuvalu, Jordan, Nauru, Congo (Kinshasa), Slovenia, Togo, Iraq, Belgium . . . These are the first ten nations of the world, if you list them in order of shortest coastline. Sort of funny how huge countries like Iraq and the Congo are right there mixing it up with Monaco and Nauru. Oh, and I left off the landlocked ones. They're tied for first place.