Musings of a Dead Parrot

Long week. Tuesday became Friday very quickly. Busy working for company whose name and logo were prominently displayed on Jeopardy this week.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1. What is the Russian word for "truth"? A guess - Tass
2. What popular product has its origins in a "non-expanding recreational foam" invented by Parker Brothers in 1969? Nerf balls. If I find one around a house or apartment, I still reflexively pick it up and pretend to shoot baskets or throw a football. I think that I have non-expanding recreational foam in my DNA.
3. Who is the author of current and upcoming songwriting memoirs called Finishing the Hat and Look, I Made a Hat? Songwriter ---> have to guess Stephen Sondheim even though I don't understand the hat reference. Otherwise, Randy Newman? You can leave your hat on.
4. What country has the world's longest total set of land borders with other countries, slightly ahead of Russia? The US has 3000 miles of borders on the north 1500 or so on the south and another 1000 miles or more with Alaska. China has extensive borders on the north, west and south too. On a map, China seems to have more border length especially on the south and with Manchuria.
5. Who is the oldest active player in the NBA? Are Alonzo Mourning or Dikembe Mutombo still in the league? If not, Jason Kidd has been around a long time. I don't pay attention to the NBA.
6. The second law of thermodynamics states that what quantity, symbolized by the letter S, can only increase in a closed system? Entropy?
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these songs? Badfinger's "Without You," The Band's "Sleeping," Cameo's "Word Up," Exile's "Kiss You All Over," Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love," Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time," The Pixies' "Here Comes Your Man," Restless Heart's "The Bluest Eyes in Texas," Roxy Music's "More Than This." Seems evident that this involves cover versions. Each has been covered by others. Maybe songs sung by characters in Oscar nominated movies? If this relates to music videos, I give up now.

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1. Dancer Rene Elizondo, Jr., achieved his greatest fame by doing what with his hands on the September 1993 cover of Rolling Stone? Preserving Janet Jackson's modesty (a quantity more in evidence in 1993) by, er, inventing the "hand-bra." Mr. Elizondo was also married to her at the time, so that's all right then. I had no memory of this but others did.
2. What world leader was affectionately nicknamed "Matiba"? It's been pointed out that I made a Xhosa spelling error here: Nelson Mandela's clan name is actully spelled "Madiba." That's what I get from taking all my current events knowledge from rugby movies starring Matt Damon. A lucky guess.
3. Standard DVDs are read by a red laser, but high-definition optical discs are read by a laser of what color? It's Blu-Ray, not Yello-Ray or Fuschi-Ray. That's because the laser is blue. correct
4. What tennis player made headlines by defeating Margaret Court in the "Mothers' Day Massacre" of 1973? This was Bobby Riggs' first attempt at a tennis "Batle of the Sexes" before his more famous showdown against Billie Jean King. correct
5. What does a lepidopterologist study? Lepidopterans are butterflies and moths. correct
6. Most of the fighting of the Crimean War took place in what modern-day country? The Crimea, a peninsula on the Black Sea, is now part of Ukraine. The Ukraine did make my final list of choices.
7. What unusual distinction is shared by these fictional characters, listed in this order? Gregory House M.D., Paul Bunyan, Fred Flintstone, Radar O'Reilly, Mulan, Voldemort, the Lone Ranger, Zeus, Ace Ventura, Cosmo Kramer, Superman, Oliver Wendell Douglas. These twelve fictional folks each owned pets: respectively, a rat, an ox, a tiger, a rabbit, a dragon, a snake, a horse, a ram, a monkey, a rooster, a dog, and a pig. In other words, the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac! The iffiest member of this list is almost certainly Zeus. The ram Aries is referred to as a pet of Zeus in many modern retellings of the Golden Fleece myth, but I have no idea if that's ancient notion or not. Excellent get by Kmac and friend.