Talk:Mike Patton

Patton's vocal range

Anyone have any clue as to what it may be? The man's very well known for having an incredible range but I've found no sources that give any indication as to what it actually is. I know he does some pretty extreme things exclusively in Mr. Bungle's "Pink Cigarette" (Eb2, most like vocal fry, probably an F2 in pure chest, also a very high Ab5 in falsetto towards the end), and he goes up to at least an A4 in pure chest in a number of Faith no More songs, notable "Star A.D." He sounds to me like a baritone of some sort with an impressive extension on both ends, but I haven't really listened to many of his songs in detail yet and would be interested in someone else's opinion on this.

i have listen to most of mike pattons music, and although i am NOT musically trained in music theory, i do however know without a doubt that he says more letters than that. i will try to provide references for this.

Uh... what do you mean by "he says more letters than that"? On that note though, I now know that he goes up to at least a Bb4 in chest voice (A Perfect Twist - A Perfect Place Soundtrack). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.105.149.48 (talk) 07:39, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Found some more stuff... he can definitely do a sustained Tenor C in mixed voice, and I've heard him pull off a C# one time live. It's pretty fucking massive, basically.

I am Legend?

Sooo, no info on his voicing the vampire things in that movie yet? "I Am Legend (2007) (voice) (as Michael A. Patton) .... Creature Vocals" http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0666604/ WNW3 (talk) 05:53, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

Suggested Amendment to Occupation?

Based on the sheer amount of voice-over work (video games, etc) he's been doing the last few years, should his Occupation be amended to maybe Musician/Voice Actor or the like? I realize that music is still his primary focus and what he's known for, but his work outside the music field is getting increasing notice and it's becoming clear that this is looking like more than just a couple of one-off gigs. Anybody?

Patton

I talked to Mike Patton after a performance at Hedgepeth for the Peeping Tom. He told me not to read Wikipedia and that the urinating on photographers comment is false.

"Patton regularly did flips while singing on stage. He often landed painfully on his back, but would get right up and continue singing without interuption." First of all, thats not how you spell 'interruption', and second of all, he obviously doesn't land too "painfully" on his back if he manages to get right up, don't you think?

I think this should be changed : "Sinatra-esque tenors and even death metal style grunts and screeches"

Because Sinatra was not a tenor, and Mike isnt a tenor either.

Crooning. Done and done. Gatesofawesome!

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Photos:

What in god's name is with all of these photo changes? It seems every week I come here a new image has been uploaded of Patton.

From IMDB: "Patton is a twentieth generation Native American."

Does anyone have any sources for this statement?

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Good job breaking up the continuity of my contributions to the article. I had a nice band/album history going on. Why do people care so much about this nonsense:

Patton was known for bizarre stage antics and commentary. He was known to occasionally douse himself in urine, and gained notoriety for flopping around like the fish during an MTV Video Music Awards appearance. Patton also was referred to by bandmates as a "shit terrorist" as he coped with the pressures and demands of fame by terrorizing hotel rooms while on tour with his fecal matter, hiding it in air vents or blow dryers for the unlucky to find. "That was just my way of deflecting a lot of that attention, by throwing it back in peoples’ faces in sort of a grotesque light," Patton explained. "Sometimes it didn’t work, it just made things worse, but nonetheless that was my way and it got me through what I needed to get through."

Mike Patton has done some musically interesting things. Unfortunately, his "stage antics" sure seem to have earned him a lot of incredibly stupid fans.

Will anyone shoot me if I move this to some other part of the article? 'Specially since it's so completely out of place where it is.

Patton says:

"People would rather just make my music a personality issue," Patton grouches, "which to me is a real bore. Give it a f---ing rest! It's a common thing for people to pull, you know, 'the psycho card', but it really just makes me want to take a nap."

-Roivas

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It is disputed (by Patton and others) that any of the scat stuff actually took place. He often cites boredom as a motivation for these claims of scatness. I will look at rewriting this as a self professed patton expert (oh i also updated the Trey Spruance page) - kenscanna

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Well, I moved it. Why would someone insert that between two paragraphs about Patton's recording history? Roivas 19:18, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

Patton on Roots

Heya,

Patton did additional vocals on Ratamahatta, Korn's Johnathan Davies did Lookaway.

Greets,
-Maverick Hunter Styx 11:19, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

Wrong. Carlinhos Brown does the additional vocals on Rata, as well as composing and performing percussion on that and two other tracks. Patton does indeed appear on Lookaway, along with Davis. Davis shares the less 'technical' whispery stuff with Patton, and Patton outstrips him with the throat and other assorted signature vocals. ◄ИΞШSΜΛЯΞ► 01:11, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

BLP/defamation

Under Wikipedia's biographies of living persons policy, I'm removing all the references to bodily excretions incidents. If any of these were reported in reliable sources they may be cited as claims, e.g. "In 1994, Rolling Stone reported that ..." but potentially defamatory material is not permitted in Wikipedia. --Dhartung | Talk 19:53, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

Urgh! Ok let me clear this up (no pun intended), Mike Patton during the period of touring promoting the albums The Real Thing and Angel Dust with the band Faith no More made MANY references to bodily excretions. Some examples are in the 1992 Melody Maker article (interview) in which Patton stated he had "shat in Jim Martins's (guitarist) orange juice and watched him drink it", also a more obvious example would be found on Faith No More's Video Croissant release in which Patton is shown pouring a bottle of urine over his head in Spain (i think), in between this Roddy BOttum (Keybopard player) talks the viewer through the incident. The following citation is taken from Select Magazine August 1993

" The role of Shit Terrorist that Patton has maximised since the release of the 'Angel Dust' album 12 months ago, is perhaps beginning to feel uncomfortable. The singer's inglorious antics during this period have been well documented: urinating in his own boot onstage and drinking it down before a capacity crowd; crapping in hotel hairdryers; polluting beverages backstage with his own excrement; acquiring all manner of contraband pornography. In fact the singer -- who said "a shit-eating video is so much cooler than watching two people kissing" last time I interviewed him -- is now travelling with what might comfortably be deemed an affectionate female friend." (Mary Anne Hobbs)

she also goes to mention

" It's difficult to ascertain whether the Shit Terrorist is a strap-on character, like Bono's MacPhisto, how much Patton could peel away, even if he wanted to, and whether he is actually proud of this image. Most critics, when faced with his litany of repellant hobbies, have tried to understand rather than chastise him. Patton might indeed have inspired the press intrigue that he wanted over the last 12 months, but at what price? There has been a fundamental change in the singer's appearance. His hair, which is usually fashioned after something you might fish out of a plughole, is freshly trimmed. His clothing is neat; conservative even. And the steel sleeper once hooked through his pierced eyebrow is gone. Has Patton already begun to scrub away the Shit Terrorist's stains? And if so, how much of FNM, by association, will go with it" (Mary Anne Hobbs)

This article can be found in full online here ----> http://www.negele.org/db/index.php3?&id=932

THIS HOWEVER IS FROM THE HORSES MOUTH!! taken from an interview with Mike Patton on the aforementioned Angel Dust tour!

"What's the most rock n' roll thing you've ever done? 'Jesus Christ! That's a bad question! Um ... When I was staying in a hotel room once, I took a shit, rolled it into a ball and put it in the hair dryer so that the next guest to dry their hair would get hot shit in their face. Ain't that rock n' roll? I do hope rock stars are a dying breed. People love to lap them up -- you know how something always tastes better if you swallow it quickly.'" (Amy Raphael)

The link to this article is here ----> http://www.negele.org/db/index.php3?&id=1275

Now, later in his career, Patton has made claims that he used to make up all these stories because of interview boredom. It is hard to deny however that the urine thing mentioned above was ficticious. Mike Patton IS famous for talking about bodily excretion ... please put the article back as it was and stop tryingto control every thing!

Kenscanna 16:11 24/09/06

Kensacanna, that is helpful. These references should be integrated into the article in a proper encyclopedic tone. Now, you must realize that in the real world there are libel and defamation laws. As a publisher Wikipedia cannot be in the position of publishing unverified and unattributed negative information; it could expose Wikipedia to a lawsuit and, in a worst case scenario, closure of the project. This is why there is a biographies of living persons policy. The message you left on my talk page asserting that references were provided for "your [my] benefit" could not be further from the truth. The references are provided for the benefit of the editor who made them, the reader who reads them, and the Wikipedia project generally. We're not Geocities, open to anyone to write anything about a musician they want to; we're an encyclopedia. We have a responsibility to provide the most relevant and least gossipy profile of a person possible. If you can't understand why this is important, I suggest you find another hobby. For further comprehension of the dimensions of the problem, see John Seigenthaler Sr. Wikipedia biography controversy.

But the article cannot be "put back as it was". That would violate Wikipedia policy and any editor is authorized to immediately delete material per the BLP policy. See the box at the top of this Talk page. --Dhartung | Talk 19:10, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

I had heard that one of the reasons that bungle broke up was because of a fight between patton and spruance. I however have no actual proof for this. Does anyone have an article or something so this can be mentiond at least as a posibibly. ---I read that too somewhere: Patton said something like somebody's "ego" was the problem and Spruance being quoted as saying "that band [Bungle] could conquer the world."

P.S. Though not to appear due to lack of reference: I witnessed with my own eyes Mike Patton piss in a low top Converse shoe that someone had thrown on state, then raise it overhead and dump it into his mouth (complete with Danny Heifetz rim shot and cymbal crash). This was at the New Year's Eve show in 1990, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco: The Melvins, Pixies (Bossa Nova tour), and Primus were the other bands on the bill.

The "Early years" section

the page says:

Growing up in Eureka, California, at the age of 9 he joined the punk band Middle Class and appeared on their seminal 1978 e.p. Out of Vogue, which is deemed by many to be the first hardcore record. After the group dissolved Patton and friends formed Mr. Bungle circa 1985.

but is this true? mike patton is not described as the same mike patton on the page for the band "middle class" (which, by the way, appears as a dead link in the page; the band's wiki page has to be found with the redirect option at the top of the "middle class" wiki to the "middle class (band)" wiki). that wiki says its the mike patton who produced the first album by The Adolescents. the page for that album doesnt mention that producer being the same mike patton as this one: The Adolescents (album page)

is this an error? is it really the same mike patton?

160.39.208.20 23:32, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

NO! This is not the same Mike Patton, Patton was in a few earlier incarnations of Mr Bungle in high school, one was called 'Turd', but he was never in Middle Class. [Kenscanna]]

External Links

Hi,
First of all, I want to say "sorry" for editing the External Links section without asking you about it, sorry once again. But I really think, that the site PattonFans.net should be linked. It's a great resource for Mike Patton fans, and, also, it soon comes with English version. I'm not an author, but before posting links here, I wrote mail to admin, and asked about the site. He told me, that works for English version are very close to the end. So once again, I think that link should appear. Thanks for reading and sorry for possible language mistakes:)
--Spec0071 01:00, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Mr Bungle.jpg

Image:Mr Bungle.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 23:26, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Genres in infobox

I noticed that the current genres in the infobox are pretty redundant, especially considering the myriads of genres Patton has been involved in. To start, avant-garde is an artistic movement, which, if applied to music, can be very overlapping (if not synonymous) with experimental music. Also, putting up experimental rock, alternative rock, and alternative metal is pretty long, so I would consider to remove alternative rock, since the Patton projects that could apply to this (at least those that I can think of), Mr. Bungle and Faith No More, are more experimental than alternative. Currently, the article reads: "In February 2006, Mike Patton performed an operatic piece, composed by Eyvind Kang..." so I think it would be legitimate to add Opera in there. Also, I imagine Vocal music wouldn't be inappropriate in the infobox since his solo album Adult Themes for Voice is made almost entirely with his voice. I think the genres in the infobox need discussion. ZOUAVMAN LE ZOUAVE 02:00, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

One opera song doesn't make him an opera singer. I agree with removing alternative rock. However death metal should definitely go. He can do death metal growls, but he hasn't sung with death metal bands. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pwrong (talk • contribs) 15:38, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

Early Mr. Bungle started as an experimental death metal band, although I think it's a relatively minor portion of his career and probably shouldn't be included in the infobox. Wyatt Riot (talk) 15:49, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

Well so is his career in trip-hop and noise music. I believe it should be added back. Zouavman Le Zouave 19:25, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

The problem is that he has his hands in just about every genre out there and we can't list them all. Even the template guidelines stresses generality. Personally, I think the list should be reduced to Experimental rock, Heavy metal music (debatable, since it's a subgenre of rock), Vocal music, Funk, Noise music (again, debatable), and Hip hop music. Wyatt Riot (talk) 20:06, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

Works for me, although I would replace noise music by experimental music (his second solo album is best described as such). :) Zouavman Le Zouave 20:28, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

How about this? (Ignore the stuff in parentheses, just my comments as to why I think the genre is justified.) Experimental music (pretty much everything), Vocal music (much of his solo work), Heavy metal music (a lot of his output, especially with Faith No More), Funk (again, a lot of his earlier output), Hip hop (some of his later work). This eliminates the need for subgenres and crossover genres like Avant-garde metal and Alternative metal. Personally, I still think that Noise music should be included because his solo projects and work on Maldoror have those elements. I don't consider Noise to be a subgenre of anything, which is part of my justification for it being included. I also think we should add a hidden message saying something along the lines of "Please discuss all genre changes on the talk page. Undiscussed changes will be reverted". Suggestions? Comments from others? Wyatt Riot (talk) 12:17, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

I like your thinking. Personally, I would think listing Experimental rock is essential to Patton's infobox. His most important acts (Bungle, FNM, Fantômas, & Tomahawk) can all be classified as such. However, he has also had side projects and solo projects revolving around one sort or another of experimental music (noise music, vocal music, experimental jazz). Therefore, I would suggest: Experimental rock, heavy metal music, funk metal, experimental music, hip hop. Bungle and FNM were both extremely influent funk metal acts, and I think it is therefore important that the genre be listed in Patton's infobox. Experimental music includes his solo work and his project with Merzbow, and hip hop covers the more hip hop oriented material of recent years (Peeping Tom, General Patton, etc.). What do you think? I agree fully with the hidden comment in the infobox asking for discussion before a genre change. Zouavman Le Zouave 14:52, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

I think Avant-garde metal is essential since it's the only one that covers Fantomas. I think it also covers the Moonchild series, most of Bungle and perhaps the new Tomahawk album. Fantomas and Tomahawk fit entirely into metal, so experimental rock isn't appropriate for them. Bungle is part rock, part metal, all experimental. FNM and tomahawk aren't generic heavy metal, so we need to be more specific than "heavy metal music". He rarely sings any metal that isn't either alternative or avant-garde. I suggest: Alternative metal, Experimental rock, Avant-garde metal, funk metal, experimental music, hip hop.Pwrong (talk) 15:46, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Indeed avant-garde metal is important, but I think alternative metal is redundant with funk metal, for he doesn't have much to do with the other forms of alt metal. I don't mind avant-garde metal being added, but I would be against removing heavy metal music from the infobox, for it gives a more general approach to the music of several of his bands. So, to find a middle ground, I suggest: Experimental rock, heavy metal music, avant-garde metal, funk metal, experimental music, hip hop. What do you think? Zouavman Le Zouave 19:34, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Personally, I'm against including genres like Avant-garde metal. While it may fit some of his creative output, it's too specific (violating template guidelines) and it encourages genre creep ("if we can include A, then why not B and C and D and..."). That's why I thought it best to strip it all back to the basics of what he does: experimental, vocal, heavy metal, funk, and hip hop. (And noise, but it seems like the consensus is against that.) Everything else, like "avante-garde metal", is just a combination of the above. Just my $0.02. Wyatt Riot (talk) 22:22, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

We should look at the genres of his bands. Fantomas is classified as Avant-garde metal and nothing else. Therefore he's written at least four avant-garde metal albums. Heavy metal is far too general, we might as well include "music". None of his bands are listed as heavy metal. Saying he sings heavy metal suggests that he sometimes sings generic heavy metal that doesn't belong in any subgenre. He's never done that. Btw funk metal is very different from funk, he's never sung funk music. I've listed the genres for each band according to their respective articles.Pwrong (talk) 06:24, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Fantomas: Avant-garde metal
Faith No More: Alt metal, funk metal, experimental rock
Mr Bungle: experimental rock, avant-garde metal, funk metal, various others.
Tomahawk: Alternative metal, Alternative rock, experimental rock
Everything else: Avant-garde music, experimental music, hip hop

To borrow the example from the infobox guidelines, just because someone plays East Coast hip hop doesn't mean it should be included in the infobox itself. While I agree that Patton does play avant-garde metal, I feel that it's far too specific for the infobox. It is certainly appropriate to mention in the article itself but we are supposed to "aim for generality" in infoboxes. Wyatt Riot (talk) 11:59, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

If we're supposed to aim only for generality, why is Fantomas listed as avant-garde metal and not just metal? Or rock for that matter? Avant-garde metal covers Fantomas, Bungle and the Moonchild series better than any other genre. Furthermore, Patton is one of the biggest names in avant-garde metal, and is extremely influential in the genre [1]. Surely generality isn't the only thing we should be looking at.Pwrong (talk) 11:51, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

That's like saying, "if we're not supposed to spam on Wikipedia, why is there so much spam?". Infobox guidelines state to "aim for generality", so that's what we should be doing. The infoboxes on those other articles should be changed as well. Wyatt Riot (talk) 12:04, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Ok, so I replaced the entire list with music. Shall I start changing every other article?Pwrong (talk) 12:54, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

On a side note, I think the template guidelines need some work, since they only have a couple of sentences for each bit. Pwrong (talk) 13:14, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

I agree that they need some work. For what it's worth, I don't necessarily agree with the template guidelines, either, I just think that they're guidelines and we should follow them. Wyatt Riot (talk) 00:18, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

On the French language article, there is a section for his styles and influences. Perhaps this should be developed further. Zouavman Le Zouave 09:56, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Got rid of the wolfmother b.s. It's not a controversy to dislike a band. Especially as something as subjective as music.

Got rid of the wolfmother b.s. It's not a controversy to dislike a band. Especially as something as subjective as music. Littlenickle 18:29, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

It is controversial to diss them so publicly though- and if it weren't for this video, most WolfMother fans would never heard of Patton. I say it deserves its mention. Spugmeister 19:07, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

Uh no it's not controversial at all. Music is all opinion. Anybody has a right to say what they want. I don't even have to say anymore but I will--there have been hundreds of musicians dissign other forms of music in interviews and what not. It's not controversial at all, you can say whatever you want since it's subjective. 71.117.211.136 03:34, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

Noise music?

Since when does Patton do noise music? If its his work with Fantômas, it's simply one of its many influences... Is there another project that he dedicates to noise music (not to be confused with noise rock)? If not, I believe this should go away from the infobox. Thanks in advance for some facts/opinions. Zouavman Le Zouave 10:50, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

Try his solo album "Adult Themes for Voice". LegoTrip (talk) 10:50, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

I do possess this album. Experimental, yes, but does not really sound like noise. He experiments with screams and strange vocal noises, but this doesn't make it noise, in my humble opinion. Should that really be used to say he is a noise artist? Zouavman Le Zouave 12:22, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Maldoror? Blackmetalbaz (talk) 04:19, 17 January 2008 (UTC)

Listen to other self proclaimed noise, like the japanese band the boredoms, and you will see the connection. Also some of this stuff he does with Zorn can be seen that way as well.Pwright329 (talk) 23:29, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Maldoror is essentially a project with Merzbow, which is noise music. Also Boredoms are noise rock, not noise music.Pwrong (talk) 15:31, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

Navbox

Shouldn't the Mike Patton template be yellow, and a Musical artist navbox, in accordance with the parameters and such? — Balthazar ^(T|C) 01:47, 4 March 2008 (UTC)

Translating from French

I have remade the article on Mike Patton on the French speaking Wikipedia. Feel free to check it out here. While I doubt this article will obtain a GA or FA status there, I believe that it could get one of those if translated here. If anyone feels like doing it, go ahead. ;-) Zouavman Le Zouave 12:57, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Translating from French

I have remade the article on Mike Patton on the French speaking Wikipedia. Feel free to check it out here. While I doubt this article will obtain a GA or FA status there, I believe that it could get one of those if translated here. If anyone feels like doing it, go ahead. ;-) Zouavman Le Zouave 12:58, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Moonraker (band)

I'm trying to sort out a disambiguation page.
A search for this term re-directs here: does anyone know why? I've looked through but I can't see a band by that name here.
Moonraker12 (talk) 17:10, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Its the name of one of his live bands, with Buckethead & DJ Flare. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.43.249.65 (talk) 18:01, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

Ah! Thanks! Moonraker12 (talk) 11:21, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Discography

Anyone else in favour of giving Patton his own discography page? -Gohst (talk) 04:06, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

It's been long overdue for a Patton discog for some time now haha. Since he's involved in so many projects, keeping it as tidy and efficient as possible is the main thing to keep in mind.. it could definitely be a featured list if done right. —Vanishdoom (talk) 04:35, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Birthdate

Could there be a comparison of sources for the birthdate? Several websites seem to display 1968 as his birthdate, although several books I read set it at 1967. Also, IMDB is inaccurate since there is an inaccuracy within the biography of Patton. The article claims Patton formed Mr. Bungle at the age of 15, in 1985. If Patton was born in 1967, he would've been 18 (or 17, if it was early in January), not 15. So what credible sources do we have for Mike Patton's birth date ? Zouavman Le Zouave 19:00, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Ipecac.com (the record company that Mike owns) says 1968, so I would say that's the correct year. [2]. Erzsébet Báthory_{(talk|contr.)} 20:09, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for this source. It appears that the Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock 'n' Roll was incorrect... :( Zouavman Le Zouave 10:12, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

Paddy Irishman

There's been a recent edit war over whether Patton is influenced by Paddy Irishman. I have seen sources for this (which I'll do my best to dig up) and believe it's relevant information to the page. Vigimael (talk) 14:46, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

I wouldn't call it an edit war, it's been reverted about twice. And I don't see how the information is relevant, let alone verifiable. Megazine itself isn't notable, so I don't see how the comments of a 'regualar' contributor are going to be notable either. Aside from that, it just doesn't add up. Patton only having a 14" TV? Pfft. Spugmeister (talk) 21:40, 27 November 2008 (UTC)