Musings of a Dead Parrot

THIS WEEK'S QUESTIONS
1.  What holiday symbol is easily recognized by its colorful bracts?  poinsettia?
2.  The historical Saint Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra, a city located in what is today the Antalya Province of what nation?  Turkey
3.  The hybrid holiday Chrismukkah was popularized on a December 3, 2003 episode of what TV drama?  sounds like something that would be made up for a comedy, not a drama.  Curb Your Enthusiasm would be a comedy for sure even though this sounds like it could be a Larry David term.
4.  What Christmas character is accused of being "an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato"?  The Grinch
5.  Of the four major North American sports organizations, what's the only one that schedules an annual slate of a few games on Christmas Day?  NBA
6.  Who resigned from his presidency on Christmas Day 1991, leading to the dissolution of his nation the following day?  Mikhail Gorbachov
7.  What unusual distinction is shared by all these animals?  Beetles, cats, moths, prawns, rat snakes, salamanders, sharks, swallowtail butterflies.  no idea

LAST WEEK'S ANSWERS
1.  What nation is the only nuclear power in the Muslim world?  That would be Pakistan, for the moment.  correct
2.  What literary character's name supposedly means "White Skin" in the made-up Mangani language?  "Mangani" are the apes, and good ol' White Skin is better known to us as "Tarzan."  Wow, those apes are sort of racist, right?  not correct but an interesting factoid
3.  What phase is the moon always in during a solar eclipse?  The Moon is always directly between the Earth and the Sun during a solar eclipse, so the moon then is always new.  correct!
4.  Trumpet player Ben Cauley was the only survivor of the 1967 Wisconsin plane crash that killed what R&B legend?  RIP Otis Redding.  Cauley is still alive today; two other members of Otis's band managed to survive the crash because they didn't fit aboard the soul star's tiny private plane.  They flew commercial. correct
5.  Every time the American flag changes to reflect a new number of states, the re-designed flag traditionally flies first over what National Monument?  Fort McHenry, where another (less) star-spangled banner famously flew on September 14, 1814.  doh, of course
6.  What kind of social event first took place at Peet's Cafe in Beverly Hills in 1998, as the brainchild of Jewish Orthodox rabbi Yaacov Deyo?  That was the first speed-dating session.  really?  I thought that speed dating existed prior to 1998




7.  What unusual distinction is shared by these TV shows?  The Donna Reed Show, Everybody Loves Raymond, Gimme a Break, In Living Color, The King of Queens, Kojak, Little House on the Prairie, Oz, SeaQuest DSV.  Each included a pair of siblings in the cast--and not just twins sharing the same role, Full House-style, but two siblings (or step-siblings in a couple cases, I believe) playing two different parts.