Jump to content

Wikipedia:Reference desk/Entertainment: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
→‎Nolan Ryan: new section
Line 154: Line 154:


{{resolved}} [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] ([[User talk:StuRat|talk]]) 04:01, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
{{resolved}} [[User:StuRat|StuRat]] ([[User talk:StuRat|talk]]) 04:01, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

== Nolan Ryan ==

What were Ryan's four pitches that he used? I seem to remember that he had a fastball, curveball, circle-change, slider. I want to confirm this and I've looked without success.

Revision as of 09:11, 17 February 2009

Welcome to the entertainment section
of the Wikipedia reference desk.
Select a section:
Want a faster answer?

Main page: Help searching Wikipedia

   

How can I get my question answered?

  • Select the section of the desk that best fits the general topic of your question (see the navigation column to the right).
  • Post your question to only one section, providing a short header that gives the topic of your question.
  • Type '~~~~' (that is, four tilde characters) at the end – this signs and dates your contribution so we know who wrote what and when.
  • Don't post personal contact information – it will be removed. Any answers will be provided here.
  • Please be as specific as possible, and include all relevant context – the usefulness of answers may depend on the context.
  • Note:
    • We don't answer (and may remove) questions that require medical diagnosis or legal advice.
    • We don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate.
    • We don't do your homework for you, though we'll help you past the stuck point.
    • We don't conduct original research or provide a free source of ideas, but we'll help you find information you need.



How do I answer a question?

Main page: Wikipedia:Reference desk/Guidelines

  • The best answers address the question directly, and back up facts with wikilinks and links to sources. Do not edit others' comments and do not give any medical or legal advice.
See also:


February 11

Question about lyrics

Ok there is a song called "Post Organic" by the band Decapitated. Every place that I've looked for the lyrics, they all have some verses that I can't hear anywhere in the song.

The verses are:

  • Oxygen - no longer needed
  • Brain - lobotomized
  • Heart - pumping cyanide
  • Arms - mechanized
  • Eyes - throwing x-rays
  • Tissues - mummified
  • Erased - my memory
  • All the rest is vaporized

I can't hear them anywhere in the song, can anyone help? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.171.234.117 (talk) 04:18, 11 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Having checked out a couple of the versions of "Post Organic" on YouTube -- one that's probably from the album and a live performance -- you're right, those lyrics aren't there. It appears that they haven't released any other versions of the song, either, at least according to AllMusic. Still, it's possible that they've performed another version of the song live, and that's where those lyrics originally come from. Or, more likely: the lyrics that come with the CD include those lines, even if they aren't a part of what they actually sing. That wouldn't be unheard of; I have plenty of CDs where the printed lyrics are either incomplete or contain material that isn't actually included in the song. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 06:36, 11 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

What percentage of YouTube videos are actually rickrolls? Grsz11 18:33, 11 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think that is the kind of data that YouTube collects and anyone telling you otherwise is giving your some original research. I guess you could do a search for Rick Astley and then take that amount of videos returned divided by the total amount of videos, but this doesnt include ones that start out as something else and then suddenly turn in to the music video. Livewireo (talk) 22:05, 11 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with Livewireo. It is a fun question to ponder, but also probably an impossible one to answer. ( I must admit I was tempted to provide a link to "results" that would really result in a Rickroll! :) cheers, 10draftsdeep (talk) 22:09, 11 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Personally I'd like to see a list of links that would be improved by resulting in a Rickroll!--TammyMoet (talk) 08:46, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Put * in the Youtube search and you'll get precise number of videos. Livewireo's idea is great, you should try it. Kurtelacić (talk) 13:52, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]


February 12

Famous people, starlets and miscellaneous

Hello, Refdeskers! I have a question regarding popular culture. Well, it's more of a general wondering... ment than a question: why do everyday folks interest themselves for lives of starlets, celebrities and such? How come they read tabloids? Ideas will be welcome. Maybe this question'd fit much better over at the humanities desk, but I'm trying here first. Thanks and have a nice day! --Ouro (blah blah) 13:58, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Simple gossip. Nothing special. -- kainaw 14:28, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Additionally some of it appears to be schadenfreude. It may be that the person is jealous of Actress X for being consider stunning/beautiful and it makes them feel a little inadequate so when the gossip-rags show a photo of celeb X looking anything but stunning (say without make-up/with wind-swept hair) they think "geez maybe i'm not so ugly if even they can look like that." Also there's the same idea with the 'hum-drum' life - that is the life of many celebrities can seem (from a media perspective) like it is exciting and varied with parties and jet-set lifestyle etc. It's a chance for some people to escape their reality and read about something that is so different to theirs. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 15:12, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Escapism covers this rather nicely. It's that your own life sucks so bad, it helps to have a distraction from it... --Jayron32.talk.contribs 16:00, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Also, some people picture themselves as one or more celebrities. Say somebody came from their home town and made it big, they might think "that could be me !". This can sometimes become an obsession, like in the case of Mark David Chapman, who shot John Lennon. StuRat (talk) 16:05, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]


I'm sometimes interested in the private lives of sports players as it could have a bearing on how they play.It's a well know fact that the length of a pitcher's whiskers have a direct influence on how many strikes he can throw.hotclaws 18:11, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The media have role to play here - albeit a reprehensible one. Whenever that woman whose name I refuse to utter picks her nose, the media report it. She came to Australia recently, reportedly to do some shopping. That's all, just going shopping. Is that news? Hardly. It's not as if we're so totally bereft of visits from international celebrities that any visitation by any "star", for any purpose, is automatically newsworthy. But her presence here was breathlessly reported in newspapers, TV, radio, you name it - presumably on the basis that some people are interested in her doings and would want to know about this. (Just exactly why they're interested in her is a mystery that nobody's ever explained. They don't publish most of my letters to editors, which are for written for public enlightenment, so there's obviously a double standard operating here.) Now, I see that that woman is featuring in a locally-made TV show, which was obviously the primary reason for her presence here. (The media weren't aware of that at the time, so what does that say about their journalism?) Unfortunately, what little credibility that TV program may have is reduced to zero by her inclusion in it, and the TV station's promotion of her as part of it. End of rant. -- JackofOz (talk) 01:13, 15 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

All answers (and rants, JackofOz) are appreciated. I don't really follow any news or TV in these matters, so it's mostly uncharted waters for me. --Ouro (blah blah) 07:04, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Possible Twilight Zone or similar show episode

A friend of mine remembers seeing an episode of the twilight zone or maybe it was a similar series. The episode was about a woman who had a swordfish medallion or necklace and it kept growing until it was very large. Can anyone remember a specific show based on this vague recollection? Thanks! -- 12.181.197.100 (talk) 20:37, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]


February 13

People walking in front of cameras

Why do I so often see people walk in front of cameras during TV shows or movies? I used to think this was supposed to be a subtle attempt to transition between two different takes, but sometimes I see it multiple times during short scenes. Can't they just shoot the whole thing over again? Thanks!--el Aprel (facta-facienda) 02:49, 13 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If it occurs in a film/scripted tv-show it is definitely going to be planned. It would have to be a case-by-case analysis to understand why. For instance if you're filming a couple talking in a busy-street it may add to the feeling of 'busyness' by having characters cut-off the viewers vision for a second. It's an interesting question as it depends on what the director/writers want the viewer to be...Sometimes the camera is simply there to 'see' what is going on, sometimes it is used to make you feel like you are 'there', sometimes it is used to make you feel like a voyeur (Rear Window does this brilliantly). 194.221.133.226 (talk) 09:48, 13 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Good answer. In some rare cases, this won't even be choreographed: the camera might be far away, using a long lens, and people walk by without being aware of the camera. This is one of a number of techniques, like hand-holding the camera or re-framing in mid-shot, that help give a cinéma vérité or direct cinema feel to the scene. —Kevin Myers 15:21, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Rock Song?

There was a hit (possibly) a few years back, in canada anyhow (it had been played a lot), it sounds like it could be by a boy band, (the artist's voice is male sounding), with possibly the lyrics "What's it all about" or "What's going on" and then the second line has "baby" as the last word, I reckon. This chorus repeats a lot, compared with other songs. It has drums, and sounds kind of like a rock song. Who is the artist and what is the song name?96.53.149.117 (talk) 06:30, 13 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Possibly Hey God? --Rixxin (talk) 11:49, 13 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Or "What's Going On" by A Perfect Circle --Rixxin (talk) 11:53, 13 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Unfortunately neither.96.53.149.117 (talk) 14:35, 13 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
4 Non Blondes had a rock hit with What's Up, which had an oft-repeated "What's Going On?" in the chorus, though with a female singer: video. —Kevin Myers 15:35, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Don't know if Kevin is correct but What's Up is a dynamite guess, esp considering the female singer's low voice. Wolfgangus (talk) 05:22, 21 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The Fenwicks

Sometime in the past three years I downloaded a song. I've forgotten where I got it (save for a vague notion of a libertarian website) and the obvious keywords don't find anything.

The filename is manfir and the artist is The Fenwicks. (No other metadata.) Some lyrics:

Nature is not my mother / and I am no one's son
This my world to create / This my canvas here to paint
Crawl back / to your dark days / Crawl back / to your stone age

Can you tell me anything about this? —Tamfang (talk) 17:06, 13 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I found a website for a band called The Fenwicks at http://www.thefenwicks.com/. They may be what you're looking for, but I'm not sure since I can't currently get to a site that details the tracks on their CD because of my employer's firewall. Laenir (talk) 17:22, 13 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Here is a link to the album. The song is called Man First and there's a music sample that confirms your lyrics. Fribbler (talk) 18:05, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
That's it! Thanks. —Tamfang (talk) 04:20, 18 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

February 14

Does anyone own this book by Jay Mohr? If so, could you please tell me on which page Mohr states Adam Sandler coined "the Glue" as Phil Hartman's nickname? Thanks. Gran2 10:45, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Page 164: "He held everything together. As long as Phil Hartman was on the show, every sketch had at least one person in it who would never let you down. Whether he was playing Sinatra or Charlton Heston or a schooteacher or a Bond villain or Frankenstein, he executed flawlessly. I never met anyone with Hartman's versatility." He mentions "the glue" again on page 292 while describing Hartman's last SNL appearance. Pepso2 (talk) 18:22, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! Gran2 15:10, 15 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Taylor Swift in the UK

Taylor Swift is currently in the UK - can someone tell me what tv appearances she will be doing and when they are? Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.109.164.189 (talk) 15:13, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Are you sure? Her Myspace currently lists her doing two sessions in Nashville tomorrow. Incidentally her MySpace has about 6 autolaunching videos plus her song player so you get 7 audio tracks mishmashing on your PC! Exxolon (talk) 15:31, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sofia Coppola missing film?

Sofia Coppola directed and/or produced a film (love story: female lead meets European man in U.S., rejects him, then goes to Europe to find him) that was shown at the Napa Film Festival in July 2007, but apparently never released. Do you know name of film, or what happened to it?

Thank you.

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Patriciaware (talkcontribs) 16:08, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I've removed your email address - all answers will be posted here and as we are heavily spidered, putting your email address here is asking to be spammed to death. Exxolon (talk) 16:18, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
This is a description of Zoe Cassavetes' comedy-drama Broken English (2007) starring Parker Posey. It has a "very special thanks" to Sofia Coppola in the credits. It played numerous film festivals and had an August 2007 DVD release. Pepso2 (talk) 17:51, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Doctor Who

Can anyone rank all 10 Doctor Who's by minutes on screen, rather than just length of their tenure? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.32.3.100 (talk) 23:35, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Do you want the minutes the characters were actually on the screen, or just the length the episodes during their tenure? The latter is relatively easy, the former would require finding somebody sad enough to have gone through timing it (I'm sure such a person exists, and google will find them with enough effort!). --Tango (talk) 23:40, 14 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Doctors by episodes (As Tango said, actual screen time would require a stopwatch and countless DVDs). The "No. episode" data come from the WP infoboxes; I'm assuming these are accurate. I don't think these include the the multi-doctor stories (this can be checked by counting up at List of Doctor Who episodes: my interest doesn't stretch that far). It doesn't make allowance for any regeneration appearances. I've noted the unusual lengths of some of Ten's; I didn't bother checking the others. Gwinva (talk) 06:17, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Doctor No. Episodes Episode length (min) Total episode time (min)
Fourth Doctor 172 25 4300
First Doctor 134 25 3350
Third Doctor 128 25 3200
Second Doctor 119 25 2975
Tenth Doctor 34 45
13 3:30
3 50
3 60
1 72
1 65
1 52
1 8
2 7
1 14 2060
Fifth Doctor 69 25 1725
Seventh Doctor 42 25 1050
Sixth Doctor 18 25
13 45 1035
Ninth Doctor 13 45 585
Eighth Doctor 1 89 89
It's worth noting that a number of Hartnell (and a few Troughton) episodes do not actually feature the Doctor (except possibly in the recap), since the actor was on holiday that week.
Also, judging by the episode lengths given above (I can't be bothered to count them up myself to check their accuracy), The Five Doctors (90 mins) has been omitted. Presumably that story, together with The Three Doctors, The Two Doctors, Time Crash and (dare I suggest it) Dimensions in Time should be added several times, to each of the relevant Doctors' tenure. Malcolm XIV (talk) 20:20, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I've also realised that Colin Baker's episodes are credited as being 25 minutes apiece, when that is true of only 18 of them. The other 13 were 45 minutes in duration, bringing his total time to 1035 minutes. I've altered the table accordingly. Malcolm XIV (talk) 22:38, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

February 15

Smokey Robinson's Possible Tribute to Marvin Gaye

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles covered a song called Abraham Martin and John in l969. Marvin Gaye covered the same song in 1970. They both added an extra verse to this song with a dedication to 'Bobby' - Robert F Kennedy. However I have heard the same song with the word 'Marvin' instead of 'Bobby' in the final verse. I cannot trace this version of the song on the Internet though many people I know recognise it. I want to know who sang it please. My guess is that it was re-recorded by Smokey Robinson in 1984 or 1985 as a tribute to Marvin Gaye who was shot on 1st April 1984 - hence the word 'Marvin' is substituted.Geekiss (talk) 18:08, 15 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Our article on Abraham, Martin & John has a basic outline of the song, but does not mention the specific version you speak of. You may want to search at Allmusic.com which should have the version you are looking for. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 18:45, 15 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

immortal beloved end music

anyone know wut the piece of beethoven's music is called when the end credits r playing on immortal beloved? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jwking (talkcontribs) 19:59, 15 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The film's soundtrack listing at IMDB is here. I'm afraid I don't know which of the listed pieces is the one you are after, but the order in which the list is written suggests it may well be either Beethoven's String Quartet No. 13, Op. 130, or his oratorio Christus am Ölberg, Op. 85. Perhaps this will help you narrow it down? Karenjc 22:07, 15 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

February 16

ABBA Former Singer: How many languages does Frida Lyngstad speak?

Being the case that Abba recorded in several languages and Frida's pronunciation is REALLY good... I was just wondering if there is a way to find out how many languages she actually speaks. I have checked several biographies and, mostly, they don't mention that detail. Even though her father was German, I don't think she learned any from him because - according to the information I have read - he left even before she was born. I am a native Spanish-speaker and her Spanish in Chiquitita (the Spanish version) sounds incredibly natural. Could anybody help me find out about this? I recognize it is not a "life-or-death" matter... but I'm very intrigued! I'd appreciate your help. Thank You! Allav82 (talk) 03:38, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

movie identification

I saw a sci fi movie back about (maybe) 1992. A group of activists go into a corporation building at night to mess things up. It truns that one of them is the leading scientist for the company that has lured them into this so he can use them to test his new war machine robot on. Anyone have any ideas what it was? thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.234.165.74 (talk) 04:08, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There's a FAR outside shot that this is a misinterpretation of the plot of Sneakers (movie). In that one, a group of computer hackers run a business where they are hired by large corporations to test their secutity systems. The end up hacking into the building of a company run by a friend of one of the main dudes (Ben Kingsley is the friend, Robert Redford is the hacker). There's some convoluted plot twists in there as well. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 12:24, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

3D Films

Are there any that haven't used the "popping out of the screen" gimmick, or any future film that has been said to not do that? I just watched Coraline, and while quite nice looking overall, it was also painful and difficult to focus on at parts due to the virtual proximity of the image. 24.76.160.236 (talk) 06:16, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I've been told by others that this may have been an issue with my theatre's projector. Not sure how they could screw it up that badly with only one projector, but to be sure it was lower quality than the DLP projectors at another nearby cinema. I'll have to compare them eventually. 24.76.160.236 (talk) 10:26, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I haven't seen Coraline yet, but several reviews I have heard mentioned that the 3-D effects are well-done even they do not use the "'popping out of the screen' gimmick". --Thomprod (talk) 00:18, 17 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, you can definitely tell when the scene was tailored towards it, but those were rare and it was handled well. The convergence was just screwy and painful. But from other's experiences, that was probably just the projector's fault. 24.76.160.236 (talk) 00:44, 17 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Turkish pop song

This is a huge shot on the dark, but I've tried this before here and amazingly the first reply was what I was looking for, so here we go again: I don't speak Turkish, but this guy I used to work with had some turkish music (he was lebonese, didn't understand a word of it) and basically the song is very upbeat sounding, has about three people (two males and one female) singing different parts, and throughout most of the song, each line for the chorus ends in -na [nA]. It's super vague, I know, but I'm not even sure where to start, so any help is greatly appreciated. --Anthonysenn (talk) 08:07, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

Who was the first monster to be destroyed by the Rangers with the Power Blaster? 200.112.78.128 (talk) 14:27, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Amazingly, our article Mighty Morphin Power Rangers has some information. --Thomprod (talk) 00:15, 17 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hi I have noticed that you have some links towards the end of the information article, how would I be able to put a link on there myself? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.14.199.190 (talk) 21:41, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The wp:help desk should have some "how to make a link" bits in it. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 22:18, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Which article are you referring to? --Thomprod (talk) 00:14, 17 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Just in case you're thinking of adding a link to your company homepage, for example, chances are it's not going to stay there unless the article is about your company. Advertising is a no-no on Wikipedia. (Plenty of other kinds of links are perfectly acceptable, though!) -- Captain Disdain (talk) 07:26, 17 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Looking for a music video (needle in a haystack)

Hi, while we were out on the town in Oxford (UK) celebrating Valentine's Day on Saturday the night club we were in was playing a music video on the TV screens above the bar (it wasn't the same track as they were playing on the dance floor). In it, while the band was playing, there was a young man and a considerably older woman doing acrobatic tricks on a stage while a crowd of onlookers gasped in awe.

I would like to study the video closer because I can't believe a grey-haired older woman can pull off feats of athleticism such as that without doing herself a serious injury, however I have absolutely no idea who the band was, or what the song was that they were performing. If anyone has any idea from this brief description what I'm referring to, can you let me know and put me out of my misery please?

The young man was wearing very little, and the woman had an outfit with a black stripe down the middle. -- roleplayer 23:58, 16 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The Hardest Part (Coldplay song)? Nanonic (talk) 00:34, 17 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Yes that's the one. Thank you ever so much. -- roleplayer 02:07, 17 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

February 17

1940's film

I'm trying to remember the name of a film. It is set in Germany very shortly after the end of the war, and I think was actually filmed there at the time - huge piles of rubble, city half-destroyed. It is a British or possibly American, film. There is a small blond boy living in the rubble, somehow he gets "adopted" by an American, or possibly British, soldier. I think there was also a romance between the soldier and a German woman working for the Red Cross or the UN. Not a lot to go on I'm afraid! DuncanHill (talk) 02:57, 17 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Found it - The Search. DuncanHill (talk) 03:14, 17 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Resolved

StuRat (talk) 04:01, 17 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Nolan Ryan

What were Ryan's four pitches that he used? I seem to remember that he had a fastball, curveball, circle-change, slider. I want to confirm this and I've looked without success.