Musings of a Dead Parrot

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1.  According to the ubiquitous t-shirts in the film Napoleon Dynamite, whom should you "vote for"?  Vote For Pedro!
2.  In what Normandy city would you find the Musee de la Tapisserie, home to one of the most famous pieces of artwork in history?  Bayeaux
3.  A lavalier is a portable type of what electronic device?  "lava" = wash?  portable washer?
4.  What U.S. athlete was called "La Gazzella Negra" by the hometown crowds watching her great Olympic success?  this is in reference to the 1960 Rome Olympics.  I believe that the great American female sprinter then was Wilma Rudolph.  Wyomia Tyus was also a sprinter in the 1960s but I think she came a bit later in the decade.  Of course I may have reversed these two.
5.  Elvis and the Spinners both had hits singing about what action, which Aerosmith declared "hard on the knees"? The songs I remember by the Spinners - Rubberband Man; One Of A Kind Love Affair; (I Never Knew Love Before) Then Came You.  Falling in love?  That seems too general.  Step on my blue suede shoes?
6.  Of the eight nations whose names end with the letter 'Y', name the only two that aren't at least partly in Europe.  Paraguay and Uruguay.  I started in Africa before moving to the Western Hemisphere.  Then the answers became clear.
7.  What unusual distinction is shared by these famous people?  Roberto Bolano, Albert Brooks, Anthony Burgess, John Dos Passos, Newt Gingrich, Mark Twain, Gore Vidal.  They are all authors who have published books whose title includes a year - 2666, 2030, 1985, One Man's Initiation - 1917, 1945, 1601, 1876.

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1.  What author lent his name to the literary maxim that a loaded gun in a story must eventually be fired?  This little bit of inevitable of foreshadowing is called "Chekhov's Gun," for Russian playwright Anton Chekhov.  Or possibly for the helsman of the starship Enterprise, I'm not sure.  I was thrown off because The Method Gun is a re-creation of A Streetcar Named Desire but without the characters Blanche, Stella, Stanley or Mitch.  The Method Gun does include a gun hanging in a bird cage. 
2.  Who's the only player to have a number retired by two different NFL franchises: the Eagles and the Packers?  The year after his death, Reggie White was so honored by the two teams he played for during the bulk of his career.  correct
3.  According to the title of the most famous song by the late Gil Scott-Heron, what can we expect of the revolution?  It will not be televised.  Or, if televised, at least, it will air on NBC so no one will actually see it.  correct
4.  What's the unusual vocation of Joe Wurzelbacher, said to be considering a run for Ohio's 9th congressional district?  Back in 2008, we knew him as "Joe the Plumber."  Local newspapers reported that Joe was actually never a licensed plumber, so it might be more accurate to call him a plumber's helper.  correct
5.  What is the smallest number that's equal to its own absolute value?  A number's absolute value is its distance from zero on a number line: |4| = 4 , and |-4| = 4 as well.  Zero is therefore the smallest number that's its own absolute value.  correct
6.  What country sits to the north of the Gulf of Aden, home to many Somali pirates?  The gulf is named for the seaport of Aden, which is one of the largest cities in Yemen.  Neither is named for Aidan Quinn.  correct
7.  What unusual distinction is shared by all these TV shows?  Breaking Bad, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Chuck, Family Matters, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Futurama, Lost, Roseanne, SpongeBob SquarePants.  A character on each show holds a "McJob"--that is, he or she works fast food.  correct!

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1.  What author lent his name to the literary maxim that a loaded gun in a story must eventually be fired?  I just saw the play The Method Gun where this maxim played a central role.  Tennessee Williams?
2.  Who's the only player to have a number retired by two different NFL franchises: the Eagles and the Packers?  the only player I can think of who played for both franchises and accomplished enough to have his number retired is Reggie White
3.  According to the title of the most famous song by the late Gil Scott-Heron, what can we expect of the revolution?  it will not be televised
4.  What's the unusual vocation of Joe Wurzelbacher, said to be considering a run for Ohio's 9th congressional district?  plumber
5.  What is the smallest number that's equal to its own absolute value?  Not sure if 0 is considered the absolute value of 0, but that is my guess.  However if absolute values only apply to whole numbers, the answer could be 1.  If however you can do absolute values of fractions, you would not be able to pick the smallest fraction.  Which leads back to the original answer of 0.
6.  What country sits to the north of the Gulf of Aden, home to many Somali pirates?  the Arabian Peninsula is just north of the Horn of Africa.  I think that Yemen is the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula
7.  What unusual distinction is shared by all these TV shows?  Breaking Bad, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Chuck, Family Matters, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Futurama, Lost, Roseanne, SpongeBob SquarePants.  I think they all feature characters that worked at a fast food restaurant at some point during the run.  I know about Breaking Bad, Lost and SpongeBob for sure.  The other shows also seem to fit this hypothesis.

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1.  Who got his most famous nickname after Frank Galluccio attacked him with a knife in 1917 at a Brooklyn nightclub?  Frank's was the knife that turned Al Capone into "Scarface."  correct
2.  What world airline uses the callsign "SHAMROCK"?  The national airline of Ireland is Aer Lingus.  correct
3.  Frito-Lay is now selling "Cheesy Poofs" at Wal-Mart to celebrate the 15th anniversary of what?  I'm having a hard time believing that South Park turned 15 this year, but it did.  correct
4.  What's the only type of radiation on the electromagnetic spectrum that has a shorter wavelength than X-rays?  Gamma rays, also the kind that can turn you into the Hulk when you are searching for a way to tap into the hidden strengths that all humans have.  Alpha, beta, gamma rays.  Would omega rays be even shorter?
5.  Which Las Vegas casino has a $9 million lion habitat in its lobby?  I was hoping you could guess this one even if, unlike me, you didn't spend the weekend there this summer.  That's the MGM Grand, whose namesake studio was long represented by Leo the lion.  Makes perfect sense.  There may be a hotel in Ohio with a lion in its lobby, but that would not have been intentional.  http://bit.ly/qZKw6u
6.  What 85-year-old recently became the oldest artist by far ever to top the Billboard album chart?  Tony Bennett has almost two decades on the previous record holder, Love and Death-era Bob Dylan.  correct
7.  Among non-European countries, what unusual distinction is shared by these and no others?  Canada, Costa Rica, East Timor, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Liberia, Sout Africa, South Korea, USA.  Did "Liberia" make this one easier?  These are the countries that have been led by Nobel Peace Prize winners.  Liberia's Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won her prize earlier this month.  correct.  Easiest Q7 in a while.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1.  Who got his most famous nickname after Frank Galluccio attacked him with a knife in 1917 at a Brooklyn nightclub?  Scarface
2.  What world airline uses the callsign "SHAMROCK"?  Aer Lingus
3.  Frito-Lay is now selling "Cheesy Poofs" at Wal-Mart to celebrate the 15th anniversary of what?  South Park.  I love cheesy poofs, You love cheesy poofs.  If we didn't eat cheesy poofs, We'd be lame.
4.  What's the only type of radiation on the electromagnetic spectrum that has a shorter wavelength than X-rays?   Infrared?
5.  Which Las Vegas casino has a $9 million lion habitat in its lobby?  Luxor?
6.  What 85-year-old recently became the oldest artist by far ever to top the Billboard album chart?  A question I was going to ask at O'Briens on my next quiz.  You might think it would be Cher, but it is Tony Bennett.
7.  Among non-European countries, what unusual distinction is shared by these and no others?  Canada, Costa Rica, East Timor, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Liberia, Sout Africa, South Korea, USA.  East Timor, Egypt and Israel definitely are giveaways.  The only non-European countries with Nobel Peace Prize winners.

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1.  What was the day job of Francis Scott Key at the time he wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner"?  He was a lawyer.  In fact, the only reason Key was around to watch the Battle of Fort McHenry is because he'd been invited aboard a British ship that night to negotiate some prisoner releases.  As you know if you've ever tried to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner," he may actually have been a better lawyer than he was a poet.
2.  What film franchise followed the character Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh? Those are the Lethal Weapon partners.  Murtaugh is the guy who is getting too old for this.  Riggs is the slightly unhinged one who thinks that the Jews started every war in world history.  correct
3.  What island's official language is Kalaallisut?  Kalaallit Nunaat is the official name of the island you probably call Greenland. correct
4.  What recently became the first college football team to top the AP poll 100 times?  The Oklahoma Sooners had their 100th #1 week last month sometime.  correct.  Boomer Sooner!
5.  What novel's second sentence is, "Some years ago--never mind how long precisely--having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail a little and see the watery part of the world"?  The first sentence is "Call me Ishmael," so this is...Marley and Me.  No, wait.  It's Moby-Dick.  good call, Alex.  you picked up on the clue which was to figure out the opening sentence
6.  What is the only dwarf planet of the inner solar system?  Ceres, the largest asteroid in the belt between Mars and Jupiter, is so big that it's now classified as a dwarf planet, just like Pluto and company.  correct
7.  What unusual distinction is shared by all these albums?  Tori Amos's Little Earthquakes, Arcade Fire's Funeral, Elvis Costello's Trust, Bob Dylan's Desire, Field Mob's Light Poles and Pine Trees, the Grateful Dead's Shakedown Street, Roxy Music's Avalon, Sinatra's Come Fly with Me, James Taylor's Gorilla, Kim Wilde's Select.  Each includes a song that shares its name with a country.  Respectively: China, Haiti, Luxembourg, Mozambique, Georgia, France, India, Brazil, Mexico, and Cambodia.  correct.  Fine with me to include more Arcade Fire in future Q7s

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1.  What was the day job of Francis Scott Key at the time he wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner"?  Wasn't he a POW?  That's not really a day job though.  Maybe he wrote jingles for radio ads.
2.  What film franchise followed the character Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh?   Lethal Weapon
3.  What island's official language is Kalaallisut?  Greenland
4.  What recently became the first college football team to top the AP poll 100 times?  Oklahoma.  Boomer Sooner!
5.  What novel's second sentence is, "Some years ago--never mind how long precisely--having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail a little and see the watery part of the world"?  sounds like something Robinson Crusoe or Gulliver might say.  I'll go with Gulliver.
6.  What is the only dwarf planet of the inner solar system?  Pluto or Eris?  but they are really in the outer solar system
7.  What unusual distinction is shared by all these albums?  Tori Amos's Little Earthquakes, Arcade Fire's Funeral, Elvis Costello's Trust, Bob Dylan's Desire, Field Mob's Light Poles and Pine Trees, the Grateful Dead's Shakedown Street, Roxy Music's Avalon, Sinatra's Come Fly with Me, James Taylor's Gorilla, Kim Wilde's Select.  All have a song that is the name of a country - China, Haiti, Luxembourg, Mozambique, France, India, Isle of Capri?, Mexico, Cambodia.

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1.  In the United States, what are Leavenworth, Lewisburg, and Lompoc?  They're all prisons--U.S. federal penitentiaries, to be precise.  We also would have accepted "the pokey."  Lompoc can become Lompokey.
2.  What did Alfred Butts first call "Alph" and "Criss-Cross" when he invented it in 1948?  Scrabble!  We also would have accepted "the pokey," because that's a funny answer to just about any question.  I would like this as a quiz question if it read "what game did Alfred Butts . . . " That makes it about the level of difficulty of a Final Jeopardy clue.
3.  What major U.S. company that went out of business in December 1991 shares its name with a new ABC TV series?  Pan Am, a TV show about how awesome it used to be to fly Pan Am.  Until time travel is invented: most pointless product placement ever!  correct
4.  What industry was decimated in 2006 by a syndrome called colony collapse disorder?  Beekeeping.  Colony collapse disorder, whose cause is still not well understood, has killed about 34% of American bees a year since then.  correct
5.  The world's largest sperm bank has just announced it will no longer accept donations from men with what easily apparent physical characteristic?  Redheads!  This seems a little drastic to me.  Can't they just discount the redheaded sperm and put it at the back of the store so you're tempted to buy a lot of other, more expensive sperm on the way back there?  correct
6.  Joe Sumner, the bassist for the band Fiction Plane, is the son of what musician?  His dad is fellow bassist Gordon Sumner, better known as Sting.  Sad postscript: the bee for which Sting is named died last year due to colony collapse disorder.  correct
7.  What unusual distinction is shared by these people, both real and fictional?  George Bailey, Lewis Carroll, Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Stephen Colbert, Holly Hunter, Jane Lynch, Yao Ming, Nico, the Wife of Bath, Brian Wilson.  All are deaf in one ear.  I said, ALL ARE DEAF IN ONE EAR!  correct!