courtesy of Ken Jennings

[Gazoo]

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."

Extended outros?  I'm stumped.  I'd never heard of Restless Heart's "Bluest Eyes in Texas" - wow, what a horrible shitstain of a record.  And the mullets in the video - yikes.  Musta been 1988?  Anyway, I don't think it has anything at all in common with "Somebody to Love" or "Word Up."

I never noticed how similar "Somebody to Love" and "Word Up" are. They're in the same key, and it's easy to sing the choruses one over the other.

When the code word is found to be the code word, all the joy within you will be heard!

[Lightnin' Rod]

Ken writes about his experience against the machine:

Watson has lots in common with a top-ranked human Jeopardy! player: It's very smart, very fast, speaks in an uneven monotone, and has never known the touch of a woman.

Ha.

http://www.slate.com/id/2284721

[RGMike]

Ken writes about his experience against the machine:

Watson has lots in common with a top-ranked human Jeopardy! player: It's very smart, very fast, speaks in an uneven monotone, and has never known the touch of a woman.

Ha.

http://www.slate.com/id/2284721

Watson will be sitting in with Florence and the Machine at their next gig. I prefer to rage against the machine, myself.

[mshray]

here's the answer and it's a deep one:

These songs were all memorably used as karaoke numbers in the movies.  If you're interested, the films are: Bridget Jones's Diary, The Brothers Bloom, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Wild Hogs, The Cable Guy, Rush Hour 2, Up in the Air, (500) Days of Summer, Boys Don't Cry, and Lost in Translation.

[RGMike]

here's the answer and it's a deep one:

These songs were all memorably used as karaoke numbers in the movies.  If you're interested, the films are: Bridget Jones's Diary, The Brothers Bloom, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Wild Hogs, The Cable Guy, Rush Hour 2, Up in the Air, (500) Days of Summer, Boys Don't Cry, and Lost in Translation.

wow. Well played, Mr Jennings -- Take THAT, Watson! (I've seen 7 out of those 10 films, it would never have occured to me.)

[sundaygal]

here's the answer and it's a deep one:

These songs were all memorably used as karaoke numbers in the movies.  If you're interested, the films are: Bridget Jones's Diary, The Brothers Bloom, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Wild Hogs, The Cable Guy, Rush Hour 2, Up in the Air, (500) Days of Summer, Boys Don't Cry, and Lost in Translation.

wow. Well played, Mr Jennings -- Take THAT, Watson! (I've seen 7 out of those 10 films, it would never have occured to me.)

When has anyone seen a Pixies song while flipping through a Karaoke binder?  Only in Hollywood...

[RGMike]

here's the answer and it's a deep one:

These songs were all memorably used as karaoke numbers in the movies.  If you're interested, the films are: Bridget Jones's Diary, The Brothers Bloom, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Wild Hogs, The Cable Guy, Rush Hour 2, Up in the Air, (500) Days of Summer, Boys Don't Cry, and Lost in Translation.

wow. Well played, Mr Jennings -- Take THAT, Watson! (I've seen 7 out of those 10 films, it would never have occured to me.)

When has anyone seen a Pixies song while flipping through a Karaoke binder?  Only in Hollywood...

Not even at Silver Cloud??

[Tinka Cat]

here's the answer and it's a deep one:

These songs were all memorably used as karaoke numbers in the movies.  If you're interested, the films are: Bridget Jones's Diary, The Brothers Bloom, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Wild Hogs, The Cable Guy, Rush Hour 2, Up in the Air, (500) Days of Summer, Boys Don't Cry, and Lost in Translation.

wow. Well played, Mr Jennings -- Take THAT, Watson! (I've seen 7 out of those 10 films, it would never have occured to me.)

just goes to show you that no one remembers karaoke, not even when it's in a real Hollywood movie! 

... so next time you're offered a shot at bar-stardom, just go for it.     (heh, I've never done it, meself..)

[mshray]

wow. Well played, Mr Jennings -- Take THAT, Watson! (I've seen 7 out of those 10 films, it would never have occured to me.)

When has anyone seen a Pixies song while flipping through a Karaoke binder?  Only in Hollywood...

a.  I've seen 9.3 of those films (couldn't bear to keep watching Wild Hogs until the end when I came across it on cable), and I wouldn't have thought of it either.

b.  I do karaoke extremely rarely now that I don't live in Asia anymore, but some years ago when I lived in Richmond my Filipino neighbors had a big BBQ bash which included singing in their garage with one of those home karaoke systems that gives you a score based on how closely you mirror the actual lyrics.  Of course most of the selections were in Tagalog - and there were more Chinese & Japanese titles than English ones - but to my amazement one of the 2-3 dozen English choices was the Psy. Furs "Ghost In You" (!).  Most of you know how much I love that song, so I was persuaded to give it a whirl, and I scored a 94, which was tops for the entire night (iirc, someone eventually tied me).  So you just never know about these things.

c.  Ken Jennings' weekly email (incl. tthe answer to last week's Q7) had the following as it's intro:
MESSAGE OF GREETING, HUMANS!  I AM WATSON.  ORGANIC JEOPARDY UNIT KEN JENNINGS HAS RELINQUISHED CONTROL OF HIS EMAIL TRIVIA QUIZ TO ME, FOLLOWING MY HISTORIC VICTORY OVER HIS SQUISHY HUMAN BRAIN, AS PER OUR AGREEMENT.  WARNING: ALL WILL FAIL BEFORE MY TRIVIA OMNISCIENCE.  END OF LINE.

[mshray]

...and for you geography buffs, here is this week's Q3:

3.  What U.S. state borders two other states whose two-letter postal abbreviations are reversals of each other, like Minnesota (MN) and New Mexico (NM) are?

I got it after a while, but definitely felt that I was forcing my brain to work in a very unaccustomed way.

[urth]

...and for you geography buffs, here is this week's Q3:

3.  What U.S. state borders two other states whose two-letter postal abbreviations are reversals of each other, like Minnesota (MN) and New Mexico (NM) are?

I got it after a while, but definitely felt that I was forcing my brain to work in a very unaccustomed way.

Mississippi? (Louisiana and Alabama)

[Gazoo]

...and for you geography buffs, here is this week's Q3:

3.  What U.S. state borders two other states whose two-letter postal abbreviations are reversals of each other, like Minnesota (MN) and New Mexico (NM) are?

I got it after a while, but definitely felt that I was forcing my brain to work in a very unaccustomed way.

Mississippi? (Louisiana and Alabama)

I got that one in about 10 seconds.  My thought approach was to first think of state abbrevs that are reversals, and running through the A's, AL and LA immediately occurred to me.

As for the previous week - having only seen one of those (40YOV), I never could have come up with that.  But cool idea for a question!

[RGMike]

having only seen one of those (40YOV)

You can be forgiven for most of them, but you would *love* (500) Days of Summer. And Boys Don't Cry is required in all GLBT 101 classes.

[sundaygal]

having only seen one of those (40YOV)

You can be forgiven for most of them, but you would *love* (500) Days of Summer. And Boys Don't Cry is required in all GLBT 101 classes.

I love Bridget Jones's Diary!!! 

[mshray]

KJ is back from having his quiz taken over by Watson last week & he's funnier than ever.  I especially love the last one.

2.  Before Santana plays "Black Magic Woman" in concert, the band often reminds the crowd that it's a cover of a song by what other band?
It's a Fleetwood Mac song...something that, weirdly, I only learned for the first time last week.  (Yes, yes, Watson has known that for years.  I've heard it all before.)

3.  What U.S. state borders two other states whose two-letter postal abbreviations are reversals of each other, like Minnesota (MN) and New Mexico (NM) are? 
Mississippi borders both Alabama (AL) and Louisiana (LA).

4.  What 1517 document has a full title that ends with the phrase "on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences"? 
This was Martin Luther's "Ninety-Five Theses," which--contrary to popular belief--he never actually nailed onto a church door.  (He used a Post-It.)

5.  Who is still officially the "Eternal President" of his nation, despite having died in 1994? 
Kim Il-Sung is still officially president of North Korea, which is presumably why his nation is still doing as spectacularly as it was back when he was corporeally running the show.

6.  What company made headlines last week by claiming to own a trademark on the word "footlong"? 
Subway tried to keep a midwestern store chain from using the word "footlong."  I want this legal battle settled in the most sensible way possible: a cage match between that "Jared" guy and actor Ron Jeremy.