Musings of a Dead Parrot

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. Only twice in Oscar history have two performers both been Oscar-nominated for playing the same character in the same movie. Name the actress who was part of the pair in *both* films. Trying to understand this question. So two actors/actresses nominated for playing the same character in one movie? Like Kate Winslett and Gloria Stuart both playing Rose in Titanic?
2. The U.S. presidential briefcase containing nuclear launch code is nicknamed for what piece of sports equipment? it is called the football
3. What profession is shared by "Escamillo" in the opera Carmen and "Pedro Romero" in Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises? I would guess something to do with bullfighting. Matador, toreador.
4. What company recently put out a press release entitled "Floor Mat Entrapment"? Toyota
5. The Luzon Strait separates Taiwan from what nearby nation? Luzon --> Philippines
6. A year ago this week, who became the only American Idol winner ever to top the UK pop charts? I will learn the answer next week and I really won't care. I don't think I have watched more than one episode of that show. I'll guess Carrie Underwood because I have at least heard of her.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these TV series? Girlfriends, Heroes, The Jeffersons, Lost, My Name Is Earl, The Office, Six Feet Under, Thief. Two of my all time favorites - Lost and Six Feet Under. Wonder what this could be. Something about ghosts or dead people as characters?

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. Name either of the two airlines that flew the Concorde from 1976 to 2003. Both British Airways and Air France flew the Concorde from their respective European hubs into JFK. correct
2. What dot-com once operated an indie film distribution company called Red Envelope Entertainment? Netflix, which sends out its DVDs in the aforementioned red envelopes. This question was inspired by watching a great Netflix-distributed documentary called "Street Fight" the other night. correct
3. What do you add to rum to make a Cuba Libre? Coke. Or Pepsi, I guess, if you're SOME KIND OF COMMUNIST. I guess that would be a Cuba No Libre or something. I was correct about the sugar. It is just delivered by way of a soft drink.
4. What former senator and Secretary of War was officially made a U.S. citizen on October 17, 1978? This might have been easier if I'd mentioned that this politician *had* actually been a U.S. citizen most of his life. President Carter restored Jefferson Davis's citizenship 89 years after his death. This is an absurdly tricky question, but there is probably some good trivia within it. Was Davis the only Confederate whose citizenship was stripped?
5. Inspired by the story in John 20:24-29, Caravaggio painted a 1602 masterpiece called "The Incredulity of" what figure? The most famously incredulous guy in the Gospels: St. Thomas, whose name we remember in the modern expression "doubting Thomas." correct!
6. What animal appears on both sides of the letter 'Q' in the band Queen's logo crest, representing John Deacon and Roger Taylor's astrological sign? Deacon and Taylor are Leos, which no doubt explains their confidence and passion and...aw hell, I can't even pretend to care about this astrology stuff. Anyway, that's why Queen albums usually have those dumb lions on them. correct
7. What unusual distinction is represented by this list of countries, in this order? Luxembourg, Turkmenistan, Vatican City, Afghanistan, Tunisia, Malta, Iraq, Syria... These are the northernmost countries not participating in the Vancouver Winter Olympics, listed in order from north to south. I thought this was a pretty great Question Seven idea when reader Greg McFarlane sent it in, but if you disagree, your beef is with me, not the clever Mr. McFarlane. Ken-Jennings.com accepts full responsibility for all Tuesday Trivia content, even the stuff we steal from someplace else.