Musings of a Dead Parrot

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. In a 1996 April Fool's Day hoax, a Mexican-food chain caused outrage by announcing that they'd purchased what national symbol from the U.S. government? Taco Bell hoaxed that they had bought the Liberty Bell
2. What's the current name of the large world nation known for almost 200 years as "New Holland"? Indonesia has Dutch heritage
3. Who's the only woman to have earned both an Emmy Award and a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame? Dinah Shore
4. What's the common name for a Cydia moth larva in a seed of the Sebastiana shrub? I am trying to figure out the context. Is this a silkworm?
5. In what movie does a selection from Sonny & Cher's song "I Got You Babe" play on the soundtrack nine separate times? Groundhog Day
6. A recent bestseller revealed what fictional villain's given name to be "Elphaba," a nod to her original creator? the Wicked Witch of the West
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these U.S. cities, in this order? Ann Arbor, Seattle, Denver, New York City, Albuquerque, Cincinnati. In order. Are we looking at comparative statistics, like most bookstores per capita, most bars, etc.?

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. What performer's act was usually overseen by his brother, Dr. Leopold Weiss? Until they had a falling out, Dr. Leopold was the medical advisor to his brother Erich Weiss, aka Harry Houdini. correct
2. Inspired by an episode of The Simpsons, in 2003 botanist Rob Baur created a successful hybrid of a tomato and what other plant? Remember the one where Homer breeds tomatoes with tobacco to make "tomacco?" Well, apparently it works in real life. And you don't even need plutonium. what would be the benefit of tomacco?
3. Why didn't Serena Williams vote for Barack Obama? I couldn't resist the chance to ask a rare trivia question that starts with "why." The Williams sisters were raised as Jehovah's Witnesses, and Witnesses don't vote for religious reasons. who knew? not me.
4. The world's largest national park, bigger than 163 entire nations, is the entire northeastern portion of what island? A big chunk of uninhabited northern Greenland is a national park. A barren, impossible-to-visit national park, but still. how can Greenland have national parks when it is not a nation?
5. It's been over 400 years since there was a calendar year when England and France both had a king of the same name. What was the shared name? This has only happened once in history: in 1547, just months after the death of England's king Henry VIII, Henry II acceded to the throne of France. (The only other popssible shared names have been Charles and John, by the way.) I guessed one of the feasible answers, but not the correct one
6. Only 69 men have ever been named yokozuna, the highest rank in what field? Sumo wresetling. correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these movies? Angela's Ashes, An Angel at My Table, Atonement, Cinema Paradiso, Return of the Jedi, Shine, Slumdog Millionaire, and Zodiac. A character in all these movies is portrayed by three different actors. In many of them, the three actors were chosen to represent the character at different ages; in others (like the serial killer in Zodiac or Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi) the reason for the multiple casting was a little more exotic. my answer was almost correct. I did not specify three actors. And I thought they were all at different ages.