Musings of a Dead Parrot

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. What hit 2010 film was based on a book called The Accidental Billionaires? The Social Network
2. What small Asian lake lent its name to one of the most influential scientists in history? am I looking for an Asian scientist? influential may mean that this person has something named after him, like a constant or a law.
3. If her husband had won his election, what still-living woman would have become the first foreign-born American First Lady since John Quincy Adams' wife? let's review the recent losers - John McCain, John Kerry, Al Gore, Bob Dole, GHWB, Michael Dukakis, Walter Mondale. Whose wife was not born in the US? Gad, no idea. Kitty Dukakis? What's-her-name Heinz? No way Cindy McCain or Tipper Gore are foreign born unless they are Canadian.
4. According to legend, what famous and much-feared object was forged on the isle of Avalon? Excalibur (the Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the whitest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur, thereby signifying that I, Arthur, am the true born kind of Britain. Look, strange women lying around in ponds is no basis for a system of government.)
5. What artist set a record in 2009 by having all seven songs on his debut EP chart on Billboard's Hot 100? I was trying to think of a rapper or hip hop guy when this answer came to me - Justin Bieber.
6. What U.S. government agency can be reached toll-free at 1-800-829-1040? IRS
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these TV series? Castle, Louie, M*A*S*H, Maverick, The Odd Couple, Roseanne, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The West Wing. Characters whose names are based on real people? I found the following Richard Edgar Castle where Edgar is from Edgar Allan Poe; Benjamin Franklin Pierce (MASH); Doc Holliday (Maverick); Jerry Garcia Conner (Roseanne); Samuel Clemens (Star Trek TNG); Katarina Witt (West Wing). But I can't find anyone who fits this theme for Louie or The Odd Couple.

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. Where on your body would you wear brogues, Bluchers, or Balmorals? On your feet, one would hope, since they're all varieties of shoe. correct
2. What's the only U.S. metropolis to have over half its population--a whopping 60.6%--made up of foreign-born residents? Miami is far and away the most foreign-born big American city. L.A., for example, is in third, and it's barely above 40%. Honolulu (my guess) is around 20%. Miami, Los Angeles, NYC, Houston, SF - these are port of entry cities. Interesting that Miami has so many more foreign born residents than the others.
3. What was the real first name shared by two icons of 1950s childhood: Dr. Seuss and Beaver Cleaver? Theodore Seuss Geisel and Theodore Cleaver. Did they ever meet? Who knows. correct
4. Name any one of the three movie soundtracks to be the year's top-selling album during the 1990s. The Bodyguard, The Lion King, and Titanic. Boy, a tripel play of the big hits from each of those respective albums would be like an instant time-machine trip to any crappy Gen-Y high school dance. correct
5. What famous quote is the first half of a 1964 couplet that ends, "Your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see"? "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee," the most famous bit of verse by noted modern American poet M. Ali. correct
6. The president of France is, by law, also the "co-prince" of what other nation? Nicholas Sarkozy is, in addition to his day job, co-prince of tiny Andorra, by treaties that date back to 1278! The bishop of the Catalan diocese of Urgell also gets to be a "co-prince." I wonder if there's a tidy little paycheck associated with co-princedom, or if they get to sleep with their choice of co-princesses. correct.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by all these films? Donnie Darko, Gas Food Lodging, Good Will Hunting, Grand Hotel, Mo' Better Blues, Say Anything..., The Royal Tenenbaums, Young Guns. Not a particularly hard one this week: these are all movies that co-starred famous pairs of siblings. Actually, one of these movies has *two* pairs of siblings in big roles--do you know which one? Answer is at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100168/ , if you can't figure it out. correct!