Musings of a Dead Parrot

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. Last week, what state became the first in the U.S. to honor an official "State Microbe," Lactococcus lactis? the microbe sounds like one that might be used in a dairy process to make milk or cheese ---> Wisconsin
2. Who was the last NBA Rookie of the Year to have entered the league straight out of high school? you have to keep in mind the NBA's recent rule that forces high school players to attend college. I believe that was implemented in 2007 or so. The question also says "straight out of high school" which would eliminate European players or Yao Ming. Which leads me to one obvious answer - Lebron James.
3. During its first season, what TV comedy include the names "De Fazio" and "Feeney" in its main title screen? Laverne and Shirley
4. What are you doing in between the hypnagogic state and the hypnopompic state? hypno refers to sleep. These could be scientific terms for the beginning and ending of a sleep cycle.
5. The second highest mountain in Africa is located in, and shares its name with, which nation? Somewhere in my brain I recall that there is a Mt. Kenya
6. What history-changing event happened eight miles off Kinsale, Ireland on May 7, 1915? 1915 coincides with the start of WWI ---> sinking of the Lusitania
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these pop songs? "Complete Control" by the Clash, "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen, "God" by the Plastic Ono Band, "How Many More Times" by Led Zeppelin, "In My Head" by No Doubt, "In My Tree" by Pearl Jam, "Paintwork" by The Fall, "Strange" by R.E.M. I have listened to several of these. They all seem to have a bass line or guitar line that does not change much from the beginning of the song to the end. Or maybe they each only use a minimum number of chords. I tend to think that the answer for this one is in the music itself.

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. The Treme neighborhood is part of what city's historic core? This was a TV question masquerading as a geography one; Treme is the name of David Simon's excellent new HBO series set in a post-Katrina New Orleans. correct
2. What famous inventor "plays the mamba," according to the lyrics of Starship's "We Built This City"? Marconi plays the mamba. Not the mambo, apparently--the mamba, a kind of snake. Did you know the great Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics to this crappy song? Me neither. Obscure lyrics from a horrible song is not a good question. This is arcana, not really trivia.
3. What modern nation was the birthplace of luger Nodar Kumaritashvili and dictator Joseph Dzhugashvili? Kumaritashvili was the luger who tragically died on the eve of the last Olympics; Dzughashvili you might know better as "Stalin." Both were from Georgia correct
4. The Central American basilisk lizard is sometimes nicknamed the "Jesus lizard" because it can do what? Loved all the scripturally suspect answers here ("turn water into wine"?!?) but the basilisk lizard can walk on water pretty plausibly. correct
5. Who claimed that his painting Woman in Three Stages inspired his famous countryman Henrik Ibsen to write When We Dead Awaken? Hopefully you knew one Norwegian painter here: Edvard Munch, best known for "The Scream." correct
6. The most common version of what item is coded "#2" in America, and "HB" in the rest of the world? Pencils, or their "lead" (actually graphite, but if you're playing a weekly email trivia quiz, you probably knew that). correct
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these movies? Annie Get Your Gun, Apocalypse Now, Back to the Future, Death of a Scoundrel, Elephant Walk, Elizabethtown, Panic Room, Shrek. In each case, the moviemakers replaced their lead actor once production had already started, with scenes (or voice sessions, in the case of Chris Farley as Shrek) already in the can. Sure, you can sort of picture Eric Stolz in Back to the Future, but just imagine how lousy he would have been in Annie Get Your Gun!