In Launchpad, many icons are simply question marks

I just upgraded to Mountain Lion and I'm trying to get into the habit of using Launchpad to open applications instead of of the Finder. When I launch Launchpad, many of the icons are translucent question marks instead of an actual icon...the application name is still listed below the quasi-icon. What gives? Oddly, some of the ghost icons are for applications that are native to my iMac...like QT player, GarageBand, Calculator, iPhoto etc. There are 8 pages of applications and many of them are repeats.
I'm wondering where Launchpad goes to find the listed apps...if I knew I cold possibly remove some duplicates.
Also, when I try to open many of the applications, nothing happens...the application doesn't open. Also launchpad stays active as opposed to going back to my desktop (which is what happens when I click on an empty space). It's as if I haven't clicked anything at all.
If anyone has some idea how to pear down my bundle of applications, let me know.
Thanks.

You could try having LaunchPad rebuild its database, as detailed in this article:
http://osxdaily.com/2011/08/01/refresh-launchpad-in-mac-os-x-10-7-lion/
Specifically, paste this into a Terminal window:
rm ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock/*.db ; killall Dock

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In Launchpad, many icons are simply question marks

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