March 2015 – Page 2

1. What African leader threw himself a birthday party that reportedly cost more than $1 million and featured elephant on the menu?

2. What Latin American leader said that his country had captured U.S. citizens involved in espionage?

3. Tens of thousands marched through Moscow on Sunday to mourn this opposition leader, who was shot dead near Red Square.

4. Who told the U.S. Congress: “I deeply regret that some perceive my being here as political.”

5. Which of the following volcanoes erupted this week?

a) Llaima, b) Etna, c) Tungurahua, d) Villarrica

6. A man wielding a knife attacked the U.S. ambassador to what country?

7. Sohu, one of China’s major Internet portals, announced a deal to create a Chinese-language version of what American TV program?

8. Scientists at work in Ethiopia have unearthed a jawbone from 2.8 million years ago. What is the main significance of the find?

a) It represents the oldest known evidence of an ape-like creature, b) It represents the earliest evidence of the human genus; c) It establishes that humans developed in parallel across Africa

Answers

1) Prime Minister Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe; 2) President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela; 3) Boris Nemtsov; 4) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel; 5) d; 6) South Korea; 7) Saturday Night Live; 8) b

Robin Thicke may be hoping his testimony hit the right note.

The singer of “Blurred Lines” serenaded jurors in a federal courtroom recently as part of an effort to show that he and his fellow songwriters did not copy “Got to Give it Up” by Marvin Gaye.

At issue is a claim by Gaye’s children, who charge Thicke and songwriters Pharrell Williams and T.I. with infringing their father’s composition.

To aid Thicke’s testimony, U.S. District Judge John Kronstadt authorized the songwriters to set up an electronic keyboard in the courtroom.

As part of a demonstration to show how easily a song can be structured to sound like others, Thicke reportedly played some of “Blurred Lines ” along with songs by the Beatles and U2.

Part of the performance included Thicke’s attempting to substantiate that songs with similar chords – such as “With or Without You” and “Let it Be” – can be recorded differently. The medley by Thicke also included Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry,” Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” and “Forever Young” by Alphaville.

Musicality aside, the demonstration was notable, because “essentially what Thicke and Pharrell are arguing is exactly the opposite, which is that however similar the recording of ‘Blurred Lines’ and ‘Got To Give It Up,’ they found the actual underlying compositions are very different,” Austin Siegemund-Broka, who is covering the trial for The Hollywood Reporter, told Southern California Public Radio.

According to Siegemund-Broka, the writers of “Blurred Lines” contend that their song uses two chords — E-major and A-major — while Gaye’s composition uses eight chords

Besides an electronic keyboard, Thicke also obtained permission to carry in power cords, an amplifier, amplifier cables, a speaker, a keyboard stand and a surge protector, according to an order that Kronstadt signed on Feb. 24.

Here are the songs. See what you think.