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July 23

Halo Wars 2

Will they make a Halo Wars 2? --Amerq (talk) 01:05, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

In this article from March, the creative director at 343 Industries (part of Microsoft) said they are not working on it right now. Maybe someday. Comet Tuttle (talk) 14:16, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

complete listing of the studio musicians featured in the recording of the 1990 hit "Impulsive" from Wilson Phillips self-titled debut album~`~`~~

I have searched in practically every other venue I know of (YouTube, for example) and have yet o come across a fact-checked, bona-fide list of ALL the studio players who played on Wilson Phillips hit "Impulsive" from their self-titled debut album. My reason for having such an intense interest in that particular song is this: both the lead (slide) and rhythm guitar tracks are extraordinary and I know several other professional guitarists whom share that opinion and who are equally interested in finding-out, once-and-for-all, who the players are who rendered those phenomenal performances, because they form the main basis for the song's appeal, other than the fact that the lead vocal was sung by Wendy Wilson in her first such turn as the featured lead-vocalist for Wilson Phillips.

My PERSONAL opinion is that that inimitable lead, slide-guitar track could ONLY have been played by Joe Walsh, of James Gang and Eagles, among others, fame. The problem with my hypothesis is that the guitarist shown in the video for the song does not LOOK, to me anyway, like Mr. Walsh. In addition, it's quite obvious that the lead and rhythm guitar tracks were recorded separately and then dubbed-in, but that previously-mentioned video for the song only shows that one "mystery" guitarist playing a gorgeous white Gibson Les Paul Custom with black binding and trim. I'm also very curious as to who that lone guitarist featured in the video for "Impulsive" is. I'm guessing, ad this is PURE speculation, that it might actually have been HE who played the almost-equally brilliant rhythm-guitar track. Any help in providing me, and the world of audiophiles in general, a comprehensive listing of the ACTUAL names of ALL the featured studio musicians on "Impulsive", as well as the name of the guitarist shown playing that white Les Paul in the video, would be greatly appreciated. SOMEONE out there knows, surely, the truth, and I'm imploring y'all to come forth with this information, finally.Steeldan33 (talk) 11:44, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Your instinct is probably correct, since according to Allmusic.com: Joe Walsh did play on that album. That is not to say that he played on that song, but he's the only slide guitarist noted in the credits, so it is almost certainly him. As far as the other musicians, it would be hard to say since the credit list does not break down the musicians by song, but the album itself featured, besides Joe Walsh, some other well-known session musicians whose names I recognize, including Abraham Laboriel Sr. on bass and Michael Landau and Steve Lukather on guitar, though there is no telling from Allmusic which tracts they played on (Abraham Laboriel is one of three bassists listed there, for example). If you can get a copy of the album itself, it may have liner notes which break down which musicians played on which songs, some albums do that. --Jayron32 15:40, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Ahem! The Wikipedia article Wilson Phillips (album) actually contains the answer the OP wanted. (Saved me from having to go downstairs and check my copy of the album, which would have been my next step.) (And now I have, the sleeve notes do indeed give very comprehensive details of the musicians involved.) {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.197.66.33 (talk) 23:55, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Movies about technical topics which actually get technical

Most movies about technical topics gloss over that topic completely to make it accessible to a broader audience. Thus, A Beautiful Mind barely mentions the math, Searching for Bobby Fischer doesn't even show the chess board so you can see it, and Contact spends almost no time on ham radio details. So, are there any films which do cover the supposed topic in detail ? StuRat (talk) 21:25, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Apollo 13? Clarityfiend (talk) 22:47, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Documentary films. Non-fiction is much more popular in print, for good reasons. It is difficult to quickly review or easily index a film. However, for complex topics that would bore casual readers, film can be a superior medium. The best documentaries are often entertaining, too. 99.2.148.119 (talk) 23:20, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

I've also seen documentaries in the form of biographies, which focused on the personal life of the individual and gave short shrift to the technical topic to which that person had dedicated their life. StuRat (talk) 12:39, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

Andrei Rublev is very detailed about bell casting. Scorsese's Casino tells you most of what you need to know to run a casino. La Belle Noiseuse and Edvard Munch do not disappoint as films about painting. Steve McQueen's Le Mans is generally reckoned to offer an accurate and detailed representation of motor sport, despite being really boring (actually, many people find motor sport is really boring, so there you go). --Colapeninsula (talk) 00:31, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

Tucker: The Man and His Dream Pepso2 (talk) 05:00, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

I recall lots of discussion of the financial aspects of car production, but little on the technical aspects, like draft angles on sheet metal dies and such. StuRat (talk) 12:41, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

Okay, then how about Breast Men and Day for Night? Pepso2 (talk) 13:07, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

I will second La Belle Noiseuse and add A Man Escaped, which is very technical about his escaping from prison. Recury (talk) 18:02, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for all the answers, so far. StuRat (talk) 23:31, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Half remembered science fiction book or short story....

I was wondering if anyone could help me ID a book or short story I half remember reading. The basic premise was that the action took place on a slowly rotating planet. The indigenous people there were therefore nomadic, always staying on the sunny side. The story followed a tribe of people whose calling in life was to live along the eastern edge of daylight and build the homes and infrastructure that made up their civilization. Once they built a town, they'd move east to newly exposed land and start over. I think (And this is the part that I can't quite remember) that the story's drama revolved around a woman who grew up in this tribe, but was marrying into a family that lived on the far western edge of civilization where everything was being broken down and salvaged before it was crushed by glaciers.

Is this ringing any bells for anyone? I don't even remember if this was a book or a short story. If it was a short story than it probably appeared in either Analog or Asimov's magazines, because that's what I read, but I can't find it.

Thanks. APL (talk) 23:33, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

• The Paradise Syndrome Shell (Nut Case) (talk) 02:02, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

No, that's not it. It was definitely written fiction that I'm thinking of. Thanks, though. APL (talk) 02:09, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

Well, it is SF, about a tribe, and with Shatner, you know it has drama. That fits most of the criteria above. I'll keep looking. Shell (Nut Case) (talk) 02:22, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

Ok, but there are roughly a zillion SF stories about tribal cultures. The 'hook' to this one was that they lived on a slowly rotating planet, and that their role in society was to build up society's infrastructure on land that had just been freed from glaciers by sunrise. APL (talk) 05:22, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

Perhaps it made the list. Shell (Nut Case) (talk) 13:01, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

By chance is it Nightward by John Park - which was a short story published recently in Tesseracts? In an interview, he said that he got the idea from a story he read about a slowly rotating planet, which I can't find him giving the title in any interview. Perhaps the book he was reading is the one you are looking for if his story isn't it. -- kainaw™ 19:30, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

July 24

The Suite Life on Deck episode

Which episode was it that London Tipton wanted her own twin and that twin had a jersey accent and her name was Tess Wong? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.29.34.9 (talk) 01:24, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

This one[1]? --Colapeninsula (talk) 08:55, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

Freestyle piano

Hi. Does Wikipedia have an article covering the concept of what I call "freestyle piano", in which a pianist composes spontaneously without using any sheet music? This can be either for personal entertainment or in front of a crowd and is sometimes accompanied by other instruments during a jam session. However, freestyle piano often involves solo playing, and must adhere to a tune that "makes sense" so to speak. What are some online resources for this practice, and articles on famous instances of people performing freestyle, even sitting in front of a piano and producing only silence? What are some of the specific challenges, stereotypes and known techniques associated with this musical art form? Thanks. ~AH1 ^(discuss!) 01:45, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

It sounds like you're talking about improvisation on a theme, where the theme is a familiar chord progression like a twelve-bar blues, or on a fairly simple chord progression with a good melody, as is common in jazz standards. Anyone who is a reasonably skilled and experienced piano (or any other instrument) player can spontaneously string together chords (and chord fragments, and appropriately chosen excursions into chords of a higher factor), arpeggios, runs, and little melodies, messed around with grace notes and trills, dissonance and its resolution, syncopation, call and response, and brief mistakes that you then repeat so they sound deliberate, all over the underlying framework of the (usually fairly basic) tune. The skill (what separates Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker and Chet Baker from we mortals) is deviating from this in a way that sounds novel and exciting without a discursion into downright anarchy. I think where you're hearing something complex and novel the player is thinking "12 bar blues in A with the IV played 9th and the V 13th, and just mess around differently each turnaround, and bounce up and down the keyboard until someone brings me another beer". A great deal of it is just musical muscle memory. 87.113.56.103 (talk) 02:15, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

Agree that your describing a "jam band" format. Usually, you'll have one person who is the "lead" determining the "key". A keen eye will often observe subtle signals when one person is taking the "lead" and the others will "follow;" the result being a constant flow of improvised music. With more established bands (i.e. those who have played together for a long time- a signal is often either unnecessary or subconscious. In that, a "change" in the musical flow is often simply "felt.") Anyway, as long as everyone is on the same page, as it were, this could go on, theoretically, forever. Quinn ^{❀ BEAUTIFUL DAY} 04:11, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

As for sitting at a piano and producing silence, that's not as crazy as it might sound - see John Cage's 4′33″. (My next published work will be called "Grand Symphonic Rhapsody in the Form of Variations on a Theme of John Cage" - specifically on the Love Theme from 4′33″). -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 06:22, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

I'm familiar with theme and variations, but the type of performance I'm describing is closer to real-time improvisation, in which the pianist creates the theme instantaneously. There are many examples of "freestyle piano" on Youtube and Google Video. ~AH1 ^(discuss!) 15:28, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

Sure, some pianists specialize in this style, and it has nothing to do with "jam bands". First one I can think of is Keith Jarrett. Totally improvised solo concerts. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 20:09, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

Cecil Taylor would be another. --Viennese Waltz 22:43, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Dice game

Does anyone know how to play the Dice Game known in France as piste de 421

I am an australian and the local frenchmen in a Tabac play this dice game that is like Blackjack but the language problem stops me understanding it

The dice game is called

piste de 421 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.221.185.68 (talk) 10:37, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

French Wikipedia has an article on it: fr:421 (jeu). Here's a brief description in English. See also this old question. ---Sluzzelin talk 13:09, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

Nyan cat song

The nyan cat article says that the music is a remix of a song called "Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya!" Does anybody know where i can download an mp3 of this song, preferably from an officia/original source? THanks. 18:03, 24 July 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.112.136.243 (talk)

It's available to stream at Grooveshark (search for Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya, or for the artist Momonemomo). I think if you have their paid service you can download it to play offline (which may depend on the deal that Momonemomo's label has with Grooveshark, if at all). -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 18:12, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

If not, there are several sites out there that will let you download MP3s and such from Youtube videos, such as listentoyoutube.com. ^Avic_ennasis @ 06:14, 24 Tamuz 5771 / 26 July 2011 (UTC)

July 25

Music Business: Looking for a specific term of "sales strategy"

It happened to Mr. Jackson and now after the death of Ms. Winehouse: Is there a specific expression for the massive sales (strategy) immediately after the death of an artist? (see websites of music sales companies). The same can be observed with famous authors: Bookstores pile up their books for sale. "Awareness Strategy" seems to be not specific enough. Buying at that point in time seems irrational, because (a) the available art pieces do not get better by the fact that the artist has died; (b) the art pieces will not give any supplemental information concerning the death of the artist and (c) they still will be available long afterwards. Grey Geezer 09:45, 25 July 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Grey Geezer (talk • contribs)

I don't know about the rest, but it seems to me that any event in the life of an author (or creative person in any medium) increases their profile and public awareness of them and their work, attracting curiosity and possible sales. Death is merely one of the notable events that can occur. As someone (I forget who) said when Elvis died, "good career move". Britmax (talk) 12:23, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

So no kind of "Back to School"-Sales term in this case? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Grey Geezer (talk • contribs) 13:17, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

In Jackson's case, I have seen it referred to as a posthumous sales surge or bump.--Kateshortforbob _talk 09:25, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

sherlock holmes

a long time back i ve watched ur programme " the adventure of sherlock holmes and nw i want it's dvds in hindi ans same for " the return of sherlock holmes" could u able to provide it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Manindertyagi (talk • contribs) 14:29, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

I am afraid you are mistaken. Wikipedia does not produce TV shows. --Jayron32 15:57, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

However, there may be some relevant information at this article. The entire series has been released on DVD, but there's no information about foreign dubs, etc. LANTZY^TALK 16:48, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

Arnie and the Apple

Hey,

This might be a bit of a bizarre request, but I'd like to hear Arnold Schwarzenegger say the word "apple". Does anyone know if there's a film in which he says this word?

Jeremy Wordsworth (talk) 14:54, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

Can't guarantee it, but possibly he's given an apple in Kindergarten Cop? More likely than Predator anyway... Worm^TT · (talk) 15:03, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

Movie? Or video? He met Steve Jobs a couple of times (video at the bottom). I'd search in that direction... Grey Geezer 15:48, 25 July 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Grey Geezer (talk • contribs)

Many film scripts and transcripts are available on the Internet, and easily searched for 'apple'. Let's see what we can manage.

1. End of Days - No.
2. Jingle All The Way - No.
3. Collateral Damage - No.
4. Kindergarten Cop - No.
5. Junior - Someone says apple, but the transcript I found doesn't identify the lines. I don't think it's Arnold.
6. True Lies - No.
7. Last Action Hero - No.
8. Terminator 2 - No.
9. Total Recall - No.
10. Twins - No.
11. Commando - No.
12. The Running Man - No.

Unless that is him in Junior, it doesn't look promising. Of course, Arnold has been in more films than this, but I couldn't find scripts for all of them, and I skipped those in which he has minor roles or I am absolutely sure he doesn't say apple (like Terminator, in which he has maybe a dozen lines total.)

Finding a statement about the company from his time as governor is probably your best bet. gnfnrf (talk) 00:46, 31 July 2011 (UTC)

Mid 1990's alternative rock video

Hello, I haven't been around the desks for quite some time, but I'm stopping in to ask a music question that has bothered me for years. Sometime in the mid 1990's, I was watching the MTV show 120 Minutes late one night. I remember seeing a video by an alternative rock band which showed two boys on a beach. They are handling an apparent live explosive hand grenade, and at some point the older boy coaxes the younger one to pull the pin as he runs away...or something like that. The plot as I remember was that the older boy runs away and basically causes the younger one to unwittingly kill himself. I remember finding it quite disturbing at the time, but now I either don't remember or just never saw the band name. I'm pretty certain it is/was not a very successful band, they proabbly just had enough industry buzz to get a video or two aired on television. The song was typical guitar alt rock of the day. Does this sound familiar to anyone? thanks, 10draftsdeep (talk) 17:30, 25 July 2011 (UTC)

That doesn't sound familiar to me, and I was a pretty dedicated watcher from about '96 on. This might help you find something familiar: http://tylerc.com/the-120-minutes-archive/ Foofish (talk) 00:26, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the link. I'll look into it.The more I think about it, I probably saw this around 1994. 10draftsdeep (talk) 13:27, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

It's a bit later but Manic Street Preachers did a song called "So why so sad" which features images of people playing on a beach with soldiers running around and ends with a young boy about to hit a grenade with a baseball bat - available here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3i1E9N8zww&ob=av2e 90.215.145.67 (talk) 20:45, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

July 26

WAV Net Radio

Why don't you guys have WAV Net Radio on here?? They do awesome podcasts on iTunes called 'Halo Nerds' & 'Console Nerds'! You can go to www.wavnetradio.com for contact info, check them out! <3 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.70.3.138 (talk) 02:26, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

You could write it the article, if the station is sufficiently well-known. See Wikipedia:Your first article for help in writing. But the article can only be created if WAV Net Radio satisfies the criteria in Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies). This requires reports in mainstream media about the company/organisation, and I can't find any articles online, so you may have to wait until it gets more media coverage. --Colapeninsula (talk) 09:26, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

IMDB reviews

The form says it requires and does require 10 lines in a review, but many reviews I see on the site are nowhere near so many words. How can I post a short review like everyone else? Thanks. Imagine Reason (talk) 15:59, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

This isn't IMDB. This is Wikipedia. You're probably going to have to ask someone at IMDB about their policies and practices. --Jayron32 16:27, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

I would imagine that these 'short reviews' were posted in the nineties / early 2000s, before that policy was enacted. Vranak (talk) 16:48, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

If you wanted to review Captain America, go to that IMDb page and then scroll way down until you see "user reviews". Then click on "review this title". After you do a simple "review profile" of your name and location, you can then write the review. Pepso2 (talk) 19:14, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

HIMYM

Hi all, I've been watching How I Met Your Mother on dvd, and most of the early ones are great, but it starts jumping the shark around season 4. Still, having watched the show for a long time, I know they get it back, and then start losing it again and so on. Last year, I watched some of season 6 on tv, and it was so bad I gave up altogether. I'm still looking to download any remaining good episodes on iTunes, however, so does anyone share my taste in HIMYM, agreeing it was brilliant, and after that, intermittently good-to-brilliant, and if so, can people please point out any legen-(and I hope you're not lactose intolerant because the next word is)-dairy episodes (or middling to good ones) from seasons 5 and 6? — Preceding unsigned comment added by It's Been Emotional (talk • contribs) 17:42, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

Sorry, Wikipedia's reference desk is not the appropriate place to solict opinions about people's favorite episodes of a TV series. This service exists to direct you to places to find answers to questions you may have of a factual nature, and isn't an open forum just to chat. If you are interested, there are a number of fan forums on the internet where you can solicit the opinions you seek. --Jayron32 17:53, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

The question can be turned into a Refdesk-worthy question relatively easily, though: "Are there any sites/places which provide an episode-by-episode (as opposed to whole-show or whole-season) ratings/rankings of television shows such as How I Met Your Mother? Perhaps a review aggregator like Rotten Tomatoes (but for TV episodes, rather than films), as I realize not everyone might share my taste in what constitutes a good HIMYM episode." - Unfortunately, I don't know how to answer that question. -- 140.142.20.229 (talk) 18:15, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

One such site would be Television Without Pity. --LarryMac | Talk 18:18, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

90ies UK film or tv series about precognitive kid

I'm desperately trying to find a certain tv series (it may also have been a film or miniseries).

iirc remember correctly, it's from around the early or mid-nineties and plays at least partly in Wales. The protagonist is a boy who has the gift of precognition (iirc, he can see people's dreams).

That is unfortunately all I remember. I've googled off my fingertips for terms as "film"/"series", "precognition", "wales" etc, to no avail. Anyone who can give me a hint wins the internet. --195.14.197.88 (talk) 18:33, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

I clicked through the articles in Category:Films set in Wales and Category:Television shows set in Wales, and didn't see anything like you describe. I'm giving Category:British supernatural television programs a shot now. --some jerk on the Internet (talk) 20:07, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. Yeah, I've looked through all three categories, but the production I'm looking for appears not to be in there. Awm, hm. I guess I'll have to keep googling. --195.14.197.88 (talk) 20:41, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

Could it be the revived The Tomorrow People? -- Finlay McWalter ☻ Talk 20:48, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

I don't think it's the one I'm looking for. I remember the tone of the series/film to be quite dark, and focused just on the one kid. --195.14.197.88 (talk) 20:54, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

How terrible. I hope he eventually developed into the cognitive stage from the precognitive stage. μηδείς (talk) 22:03, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Music by the Icelandic Police Choir in the film Jar City

Please can anyone tell me the name of the music performed by the Icelandic Police Choir, throughout the film, "Jar City"? I have made extensive searches but without results. Someone must know. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.32.59.83 (talk) 22:22, 26 July 2011 (UTC)

July 27

Penn & Teller questions

1. Is it true that there has been more than one Teller over the years and that the original guy died (I don't think that's true but I've heard people saying that)? 2. Can Teller actually talk? Looking for a definitive answer here... 3. Any truth to the rumour that P+T really hate each other's guts in real life?

Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.148.108.120 (talk) 00:06, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Have you looked at the articles Penn & Teller (there's an extensive history of the duo, and a section entitled "Off-stage relationship") and Teller (entertainer) (goes into length about his ability to talk)? -- 140.142.20.229 (talk) 00:29, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Regarding #2: I have spoken to him. I have been to several shows, and Penn and Teller often meet people in the lobby and give autographs and chat with people. Teller has a quiet voice, but he's not particularly "shy" when off stage, he seemed quite personable when I spoke to him. I have also seen him on more than one TV show without Penn, and he speaks freely then as well. The whole "silent" bit on stage is part of the act. The quiet, reserved Teller "character" is supposed to be a foil for the bombastic Penn "character". Most comedy duos are built this way (think Abbot and Costello or Laurel and Hardy) with two polar opposite personalities. You will rarely find that the on-stage persona of a performer matches their off-stage personality; it may be influenced by it, but many performers affect on-stage personas for purely entertainment purposes. --Jayron32 02:38, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

In one of their Simpsons appearances, Teller says he's "not the first Teller", implying that Penn has possibly killed earlier Tellers. So that's probably where that part comes from. Adam Bishop (talk) 03:59, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Of course, because when I want scholarly facts, quality journalism, and reliable information, I go to the Simpsons. --Jayron32 21:08, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

It's a perfectly cromulant source. APL (talk) 21:59, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Go get embiggened... --Jayron32 22:06, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Well I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, but can you imagine someone watching that episode and then repeating that bit, and then people believe it as fact without realizing it's a Simpsons joke? I can imagine it. I'm sure it happens all the time (how many people think Sarah Palin said she can see Alaska from her house, which was an SNL joke?). Adam Bishop (talk) 06:22, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

Did you mean to type "Russia" rather than "Alaska" there? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.201.110.2 (talk) 13:52, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

There's a few videos on YouTube in which Teller speaks (search for 'teller talks', or 'teller speaks') - this one is a good example (note the woman exclaiming "WHOA! HE'S TALKING!" at about 1min in). I guess it's easy to imagine that famous duos are the best friends forever (BFF) and do everything together in real life, or even live together (no, not in *that* way) - but it *is* funnier to imagine that as soon as the cameras stop rolling, or the curtain goes down, the smiles fall from their faces, they glower at each other with outright hate in their eyes and then walk in opposite directions, never to speak to each other again until the next performance necessitates it. --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 22:42, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Actually, neither of those facts is true either. They have both talked about their off-stage relationship. They have a good, friendly, and productive working relationship. They just don't hang out together off the job. Many many many people are like this; it is quite possible to get along with your coworkers and not hang out together with them, and just because you don't hang out with your coworkers doesn't mean you hate them either. --Jayron32 23:09, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Na, I was talking about famous double-acts in general there (or at least that's what I meant to be doing), not P+T specifically. --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 23:19, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

The Flying Karamazov Brothers are another example of this. I don't think they even live near each other. From what I recall, they figure out their shows through phone/internet, organize time to get together, do so, and then take it on the road. (I've been to a few of their shows and take the opportunity to go meet them after the show.) Dismas|^(talk) 23:24, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

"Teller" is Teller's surname from birth (and now, legally, his only name). So it would be really odd for Penn to have had "another Teller" unless Teller is either lying about his entire life history or it was his brother. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 23:25, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

documentary films showing bad effects of chemistry

Hi, I would like to the titles of a few documentary films that show the evil effects of science, especially chemistry or the evil uses it is put to. Can somebody suggest? --Ppppoep (talk) 02:40, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

What do you mean by "evil"? --Jayron32 03:12, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

certainly nothing grandiloquent. The destructive use of science as well as the ecological depredation caused by the technology is my concern. Also, I am not looking for the conspiracy theory things propagated by the alternate and pseudo science guys. --Ppppoep (talk) 04:41, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

The BBC recently did a series of documentaries entitled "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace". Not strictly about chemistry, but each of the three parts looks at a particular area of scientific and social advancement of the 20th century and the terrible consequences. The third part should only be watched behind depression-proof glass, as it is incredibly sad and made me have to sit quietly and think hard about stuff for a good long while. Pascal (talk) 06:32, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

I think I would feel much more comfortable if this topic was renamed to "Documentary films showing effects of bad chemistry" It reads now as if all chemistry is bad. HiLo48 (talk) 08:08, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

There's a number of documentaries about the Bhopal disaster: One Night in Bhopal, Tragedy at Bhopal. 3 Billion and Counting[2], about the history of DDT and whether its goods outweigh its evils, is more complex. There's also the short Haber (film) about Fritz Haber, who developed chemical weapons and fertilizer; a lot of other films show the bad effects of chemical weapons (from episodes of The Great War (documentary) to Fallujah, The Hidden Massacre). --Colapeninsula (talk) 09:24, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

While not a documentary, Doomwatch is concerned with the effects of dumping chemical waste. --TrogWoolley (talk) 15:44, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Angel/Charmed convention

"Is there an upcoming convention in 2012 about Angel_(TV_series) Buffy_the_Vampire_Slayer_(TV_series) or Charmed in the United States? I'm asking about 2012, not this year 2011. Neptunekh2 (talk) 02:59, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

I have not the slightest idea what the answer is, but I've taken the liberty of severely reducing the number of words in the header. To quote the entire question verbatim in the header when it's as long a question as this one is is as inappropriate as having just "Question" in the header. -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 10:57, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Does this site help? By the way Google is your friend here. --TammyMoet (talk) 16:53, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Other pictures of Earth after 2012??

I saw one picture of Africa at the end of the Roland Emmerich flick. However, I didn't get to see what the rest of the world looked like after the apocalypses of 2012. Are there other pictures of other parts of the world (maybe as an "extra features" extra on some official promotion site, etc.?) Because I'm so curious about how those cataclysms will reshape the planet. Thanks. --70.179.165.67 (talk) 04:37, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

You talk as if the film is a documentary about what will actually happen in 2012. Are you aware of the background to the doomsday prediction regarding 2012? It's nothing more than the end of the Mayan long count, a remarkably long calender, which is probably comparable to the end of a millennium in western culture. Before the year 2000, many thought that the new year would herald the end of the world or the second coming, neither of which happened, and the year 2012 will go without a hitch too. Except for the Olympic Games which the UK will bugger up. Pascal yuiop (talk) 05:43, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

We still have to get through 2011. (Yawn.)--Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:14, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

I don't remember how accurate the image of Africa in the film is.

However, you might be interested in this : GlobalFloodMap.org.

It's an interactive map, so you can see which cities of the world will be under water in various rising sea levels scenarios. So if you put in a ridiculously large number of inches of sea-level rise, I suspect you'll get a map similar to the entirely fictional images in the movie. APL (talk) 08:48, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

A link like that one is what I was about to suggest to the OP when I got caught by the edit conflict. Too bad that you can't just set that map to "polar ice caps melt". Dismas|^(talk) 08:55, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Surely that won't cause major flooding at all. When an ice cube floating in a glass of water melts, the level of the water doesn't go up. Same with icebergs and the ocean, surely? I thought the greeks figured out the whole displacement thing. Pascal (talk) 09:01, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Yes, there's that and the idea that Antarctica (and Greenland, etc) will be able to rise once the huge ice cube isn't sitting on top of it. But "polar ice caps melt" would mean a bit more to the average person that X number of inches. Yes, 1000 inches is interesting to look at and say "Huh!" but it's not real meaningful to a lay person. Dismas|^(talk) 09:07, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Another major factor in the current sea level rise is the expansion of the volume of the oceans, due to temperature rising. Ghmyrtle (talk) 09:27, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

The presence of ice at the poles is the definition of an ice age. We're getting off topic here. Pascal (talk) 09:48, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Also the definition of "Conditions we need so that our largest cities are not underwater." APL (talk) 01:50, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

Pascal, your analogy of an ice cube only holds true for the Arctic ice cap: the Antartic is over a land mass. Surely that would add greatly to the volume of free water in the oceans?--TammyMoet (talk) 16:51, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

I suppose. But it's not like we're going to wake up one day and find ourselves flooded. And I wonder about the places that are currently experiencing drought. I better they're just waiting for the ice caps to melt. 81.110.30.81 (talk) 09:32, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

If the icecaps melted, that and the even greater effect of the thermal expansion of the oceans' water (as Ghmyrtle mentions above) would inundate (not, I agree, instantly) most of the world's major cities, which tend to be situated on coasts. The massive deleterious effects this would have on the world's population and economy would do nobody any favours. Meanwhile, the likely large but currently unpredictable-in-detail changes to weather patterns which would accompany such a scenario might well make some current drought-stricken areas even dryer, and some wet areas even wetter (hello, even bigger seasonal floods). While some other areas might also experience notional improvements to their weather, even adapting to those changes would involve significant costs: remember the old proverb "Three removes are as good as a fire." [Translation to currentspeak - "Moving house three times costs as much as having one house burn down."] {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.201.110.2 (talk) 12:47, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

_{That's fair. But I'd rather we stop killing each other for stupid reasons and disagreeing over pointless things first. Pascal (talk) 18:20, 28 July 2011 (UTC)}

_{I'm not sure what your statement has to do with the topic under discussion (You'd rather we stop having pointless wars before our coastal cities flood? Well sure, but one isn't waiting for the other.), but that'll probably happen in a manner of speaking. The economic problems that will come with climate change will have us fighting each other for important reasons. It's not pointless at all to fight over food sources, fresh water supplies, or new trade routes. If the oil supply keeps going in the direction it's heading we might be fighting over that at roughly the same time. The next one or two hundred years should have lots of interesting history in them. APL (talk) 00:21, 30 July 2011 (UTC)}

Japanese Horror TV show

This is probably a long shot, but I guess I've nothing to lose by asking.

I'm wondering if anyone can help me name a TV show I saw when I lived in Japan. I saw it in 2004 - probably between August and September/October. It aired in the evening, and would have been on one of the regular (non-cable) channels. It has stuck in my mind as being quite terrifying, despite the fact that it seemed to be aimed at children (or teens).

The show, as I remember it, went as follows:

It opened with a short dramatic film about a couple (or family) driving through a tunnel at night. Every so often in the tunnel the man driving would see a load of clothes by the tunnel wall at the side of the road. He'd turn a corner in the tunnel and see the same clothes again. By the end of the tunnel the clothes were there again, this time with a man inside them, lying down. They left the tunnel and the guy saw in his rear view mirror a figure in the same clothes as in the tunnel running behind their car. He said something to his wife, looked back and the figure had disappeared. Then the camera view switches so we can see outside the passenger window from inside the car, and the man from the tunnel is running alongside the car with a twisted hideous lifeless smile on his face.

This just lasted a few minutes. Then the show was in a studio that had been made up to look a bit like a research laboratory. The host (possibly a member of SMAP, if I remember correctly, though I can't see anything mentioning this in their individual pages) seemed to be putting a group of kids through various challenges. They involved showing the kids photos where they'd have to point out the supernatually weird things in them (like, old photos in which the people have mysteriously disappearing limbs, that kind of thing). The back of the studio mimicked windows to the outside world, with the sillhouettes of shuffling zombie-like creatures moving about.

The show switched between the studio segments, with the kids genuinely screaming when being shown various scary photographs, and other short horror films. The second one I recall had a girl in an apartment who noticed scratch marks in her tatami mat. One night she stayed up and saw a hideous crone trying to make her way into her room through a hole from the next apartment, scratching her fingers on the mat to pull herself through.

That's pretty much all I remember about it. Does anyone recognise it (or the format)? I've tried searching specfic details on the net but without a name I'm coming up blank. Any suggestions gratefully received!

Phileas (talk) 17:16, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Movies get digitally remastered. Can't movies that take place in the future get updated with actualities?

On A.I. (film), the WTC towers still stand in the permaflooded Manhattan. Every so often, there's a digital remastery of films, so would the remasterers videoshop out the twin towers to replace them with the Freedom Tower complex, the next time they remaster this film?

Then there's Back To The Future II. In just 4 years, Princess Diana won't be resurrected to become Queen Diana. Hoverboards won't be invented in time, phone booths aren't commonplace, and etc. Therefore, if there's a remastery in 2016 or later, could references to Queen Diana be CGI'd to show King William instead (if Queen Liz is no longer around?) Also, how about phone booths being videoshopped out, and the original actors being CGI'ed over with new ones in scene reenactments, this time holding cellphones.

Also, to say nothing about fashion. Could everyone be CGI'ed or reenacted to wear the fashion that'll be true of 2015?

Overall, when a future movie becomes the present, then the past, why do I NEVER hear of digital remasteries rewriting the movie's small details to make them reflect the actualities of what really happened that year?

Even though I've never heard of these, that (probably) doesn't mean they don't happen. Therefore, what movies had this happen in their remasterments? --70.179.165.67 (talk) 19:20, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Could it be done? Pretty sure its possible. But I highly doubt it would be, CGI is very expensive, and doing so wouldn't really improve the films in any real way, and its unlikely it would increase sales or anything. In fact its pretty common to hear fans raging about lucas's changes to the original trilogy, if it started happening to the classics it would just annoy more people. If they went back and changed bttf2 and changed the fashions, took out the hoverboards etc it would be practically criminal--Jac16888 ^Talk 19:42, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

I know nothing of the technicalities of which you speak. But as for there being a King William on the British throne, that may happen in about 35 years. In between, for about a quarter of a century we can expect a King Charles (or perhaps a King George). All the media hype around Prince William has had the effect of pushing his father Prince Charles into the background, but he's still there, still the heir to the throne, and I'm sure a lot of people are going to get quite a shock when he becomes king when Queen Elizabeth dies. The media have been blithely referring to William as "heir", but that's completely wrong. At best, he's the heir to the heir to the throne. That's the media for you. -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 19:49, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

I can't begin to imagine what you would do with 2001: A Space Odyssey... Adam Bishop (talk) 20:26, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

We'd just have to retitle the year to 2051. We could keep the Pan Am nameplate, in case it resurrects much like how Indian Motorcycle did after being dead for 50 years. Many other dynamics would still need updates though. --70.179.165.67 (talk) 02:31, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

I'm not sure it'd be a good thing. Remastering movies from the original film-stock is great, but I already find it distracting when they add new special effects. A slick, modern computer animation doesn't seem to "fit" with Star Trek's obviously ply-wood and cardboard sets. APL (talk) 21:56, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

APL, they kinda already refurbished Star Trek in 2009, with the reasoning behind it being that they are now in a forked timeline, where events happen differently, and (as a consequence?), technology appears to get developed a whole lot faster. --70.179.165.67 (talk) 02:31, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

I don't mind entire new films. I was referring to the Original Series episodes, that are now available on BluRay or Netflix. They've taken the original film and remastered the show in HD, which is nice, but they've also re-done many of the special effects, which I find distracting because the new effects miss-match the footage so badly. APL (talk) 03:38, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Editing out the Twin Towers from history is as morally repugnant as destroying them in the first place. Moreso. One is an act of murder, the other willing complicity in one's own destruction. μηδείς (talk) 22:11, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

July 28

rail gun - backyard monsters?

in backyard monsters, do railguns fire through other buildings or only through clear paths? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.68.72.124 (talk) 13:29, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

PBS/ETV program

I am looking for info on a television program that aired on U.S. PBS/ETV in the Eighties. It was about fundamental writing. The premise is a little fuzzy in my mind, but it was about a man who was learning to write. I remember that it was mainly set in his house, and would show him writing on an old electronic word processor. He would often get help on his writing assignments from friends that stopped by to visit him. The lead was a white male, with darkish hair, roughly on the young side of middle-aged. There was also a black woman who I believe was a co-worker. Also another white woman who was either a co-worker or neighbor, and was an implied love interest. What sticks out in my mind is how slowly he typed. The camera would often focus close up on the computer screen as he typed in a sentence, and he would make corrections suggested by his friends. The purpose of the show was to teach basic grammar and punctuation. It was basically an "adult education" show, loosely set around a fictional plot and characters. Also, pretty cheesy writing and acting. Any ideas on this would be helpful. I went through the list of PBS programs, but none of the titles jumped out at me. Quinn ^{❀ BEAUTIFUL DAY} 14:37, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

Was it a show called Learn To Read? I found some clips of the opening and closing credits, and those look incredibly familiar. I don't know if it's the same show, but I do remember what you're talking about. Foofish (talk) 01:14, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Foofish, we actually have an article about Learn To Read. I worked at WXYZ-TV, the television station where this series was shot and edited many of the segments myself. I don't think this is what Quinn is looking for, though, since there is no story about neighbors or love interest involved in the series. The whole point was teaching English literacy to illiterates, including rules and spelling, not typing or interpersonal skills. --Thomprod (talk) 17:33, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, sorry just now looking back here. That's definitely not it. It was based kind of on the sit-com format (except not funny) that was popular at the time. You know, where there was one main set (his house) and everything kind of happened there. For instance, a friend would stop by his house, and the main character would be all like, "I'm having trouble with my writing assignment." And there friend would say, "Well let's take a look." Then close up on the computer screen as the lead typed a sentence. You'd then hear the friend say something like, "Oh, well, see there...that's an independent clause. You need to put in a comma." Also, there was really cheesy theme music. Anyway, I thought for sure someone would remember this, but, come to think of it, it may have been regionally or locally produced. Quinn ^{❀ BEAUTIFUL DAY} 21:26, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

July 29

Stinkfist

Does anyone know of a good source that analyzes the music video for the Tool song "Stinkfist"? There's so much weird stuff going on in that video; it's hard for me to even understand what's happening on a literal level. Our article describes a few elements of the video, but leaves me unsatisfied. Zagalejo^^^ 03:57, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Just to be fair, "so much weird stuff going on...hard to even understand what's happening on a literal level" pretty much describes every video to every Tool song. Their visuals (including photo collages in CD booklets, etc.) are generally abstractly provocative and intentionally disturtbing. --Jayron32 05:04, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

tommy james and the shondells

Ifound the article informative. Didn't the group record a song called "DRAGGIN' THE LINE" ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.239.96.68 (talk) 08:31, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

You mean this? That was a solo single, after the band split up. Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:52, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Sicko Muzak

In Sicko, When Michael Moore and co. are traveling to Cuba, a disclaimer pops up while a soft muzak tune plays in the background. Does anyone know the name of this tune? Thanks in advance.

Americanfreedom (talk) 08:50, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Is it Gotta Be This Or That? --Frumpo (talk) 09:49, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Or you could hunt through the soundtrack listing. I'm not sure whether it would be necessary to list a snatch of music like that. --Frumpo (talk) 10:36, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Real life places from TV shows/films

For this question, I'm ignoring places like Thames House and going for places that are famous for the show/film that they were in.

I know that the house from The Christmas Story is still there and there's a bit of a museum (for lack of a better word) made out of it. But is there anything to commemorate The Dick Van Dyke Show at Bonnie Meadow Rd. in New Rochelle NY? Judging from GMaps, there is no 148 address on that street. But does anyone know if there is a sign mentioning it? Are there other places, known because of the show/film, that exist which were the setting of a TV show or film? Dismas|^(talk) 21:22, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Cheers Beacon Hill = Cheers

Soup Kitchen International = Seinfeld (Is actual place seen on the DVD?)

Tom's Restaurant = Seinfeld and "Tom's Diner"

Field of Dreams (Dubuque County, Iowa) = Field of Dreams ......... Pepso2 (talk) 21:43, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Ramsay Street. (Just adding a non-American perspective. I'm sure our British readers will appreciate it.) HiLo48 (talk) 22:11, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

I did mention Thames House, so I wasn't completely ignoring non-US shows/films. Dismas|^(talk) 23:24, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

I thought of another a bit ago. I've seen pictures of the house from the title sequence of The Brady Bunch. So, as of a few years ago, that was still standing. Dismas|^(talk) 23:24, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure the setting for The West Wing can still be found. HiLo48 (talk) 23:35, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Chicago is a common setting and filming location for many films and TV series. The Fugitive (1993 film) is set in Chicago, and much of the action takes place at Cook County Hospital, the exterior is distinctive. My Big Fat Greek Wedding is set in Greektown, and the restaurant that Nia Vardalos's family works at, Zorbas, is on Halsted Street and you can visit that(I used to eat there regularly, great post-drinking 24 hour diner!). The University of Illinois Medical Center was used in filming shows like Early Edition and ER. Fans of the Blues Brothers will recognized Richard J. Daley Center as the end of the car chase scene; there's lots of other places around the city recognizable from the film as well. The unnamed city in the first Matrix film is Chicago; the subway stations used in the film are modeled after underground 'L' stops on the blue and red lines, and several locations, both used in reference and actually in the film, are recognizable as Chicago. (Later films in the series used L.A. as the backdrop, IIRC). Outside of Chicago, I few I can think of is the areas around Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) where The Exorcist was shot. You can see lots of the scense from Good Will Hunting around Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, like buildings from MIT or Bunker Hill Community College. --Jayron32 23:49, 29 July 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for some of those. As I mentioned at the top, I'm not looking for places that are already well known like Daley Plaza. Dismas|^(talk) 02:37, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

"Miss Alva", the 1911 Pullman car used for an extended Natalie Wood/Robert Redford scene in Sydney Pollack's This Property Is Condemned (1966) is open to the public at the Meridian Railroad Museum [3] in Meridian, Mississippi. Pepso2 (talk) 02:44, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

July 30

Films where the director treats the audience with contempt

I was reading the article for From Dusk till Dawn and it mentioned a reviewer who complained about how Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino had made a movie that treats the viewer with contempt just for watching it, or something along those lines. I can kind of see what they were getting at, although it does not hamper my enjoyment of the film. Are there other films that fit that description? Where it is apparent that the director purposely attempted to insult (perhaps not the correct word, but the only one that comes to mind at the moment) the viewer?--GroovySandwich 02:36, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Some people apparently believe that's the intent of filmmaker Harmony Korine, although Korine says, "I mostly just make things to entertain myself and at the same time hope that there’s some type of audience that likes what I’m doing." Pepso2 (talk) 03:11, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

I can see that; Gummo was a trip--GroovySandwich 03:15, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Most horror films and a whole lot of "art" films fit that description. Same for anything directed by Michael Bay or produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. There's that human centipede movie. Pecker, Cecil B. Demented, and A Dirty Shame are more embarrassing for the director of such classics as Hairspray than the audience. I instinctively avoid such crap, so I apologize for not having anything to suggest for your viewing pleasure. Oh, wait, Mars Attacks occurs to me. Can't think of anything worse than that that I've actually sat through. μηδείς (talk) 03:29, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

On Simpsons, a cellular service sponsors the Smithsonian

Even though I'm not a Simpson's fan, I remember watching an episode long ago involving a cellular service provider sponsoring the Smithsonian because the government ran out of money. Thinking of the current events, made me think of that episode.

What would this episode be? --70.179.165.67 (talk) 03:46, 30 July 2011 (UTC)