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October 7

Two DOS/Windows/90s games.

I'm looking for two Pixel/DOS/Windows games.

1) The icon were two swords, and it was a "strategy" game, all i remember is that it had a map, and tiles. and you could PLACE some kind of tiles named "City" "Farm" "Town" etc and that's all, I also remember roads but it had no action it seems. just .. you could place those tiles on the map.

2) a 90s game, could have beeen on console too. It was a platform game from the mid-late 90s, and all i remember is that the BG was very detailed and yeah, it were pipes, all kinds of pipes with dark and neon colored pipes and then a dark sky or something also, i'm not sure what more, then it was a 90s platformer and the background weere just all kinds of pipes and stuff. 157.157.202.10 (talk) 00:58, 7 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

That's... Almost every game of those kinds. You're going to need more details. Ian.thomson (talk) 01:13, 7 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Since these are really two seperate requests, I've made two sub-sections so people can post their replies separately. --Bavi H (talk) 02:26, 7 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

1) A strategy game involving placing tiles on a map

Context for everyone: A very similar question was asked in 2013: Looking for a 90s PC game. If this is the same question, then everyone can review the responses there to get a feel for what wasn't the answer last time. Also, as I mentioned then, Windows provided some default icons, including one with two swords, that you could select when you make a shortcut to a DOS program (pifmgr.dll icons) . If this is the icon you remember, then the icon won't be much help identifying the game, since that icon was provided by Windows and not by the game itself. --Bavi H (talk) 02:26, 7 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2) A platform game with pipes in the background

Context for everyone: A similar question was asked in 2012: Looking for a old arcade like video game! If this is the same question, then everyone can review the responses there to get a feel for what wasn't the answer last time. --Bavi H (talk) 02:26, 7 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

rig-ram by anthony morson

How come there is no article about this song on Wikipedia? Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6c6b9TDD6c. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.31.17.203 (talk) 04:14, 7 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

As Colin Fine wrote last year in this thread:

The answer to the question "Why isn't there an article on X" is usually one or both of the following:

Because X is not notable by Wikipedia's special criteria (i.e. X hasn't been written about in reliable sources, independent of X); or
Because nobody has written one.

--174.88.134.156 (talk) 09:58, 7 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Does criminal rating in GTA San Andreas affect the gameplay in any way?

Or it's just for decoration and navel-gazing (in PC version)?--93.174.25.12 (talk) 17:13, 7 October 2015 (UTC) @93.174.25.12:cosmetics, bragging rights[reply]

October 8

Looking for a new YA book to read

I'm looking to see if anyone has suggestions for a YA book that I can read. Maybe with some action and sci-fi themes. Teenage first person narrator. Good, solid grammar (nothing like Blood Red Road). Fast paced, compelling read. Optional romance. Doesn't matter how many books in series. Could I get a list of suggestions?2602:306:CC43:A8A0:C8A1:D21E:F7DC:74C1 (talk) 00:24, 8 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

This isn't really our purview, but I think it's fine. When I was young I really enjoyed the books of William_Sleator. Most have some sci-fi elements, some coming of age, etc. Didn't you recently ask a question about higher spatial dimensions? Then Sleator's "The_Boy_Who_Reversed_Himself" might be just for you - kid gets the ability to move into a fourth spatial dimension, comes back "reversed", with his heart on the right hand side, etc. Can move through walls, fun stuff ensues. If you like fantasy and humor, Piers Anthony might be a good choice. (He's sometimes a bit ribald, but still PG-13) It's not squarely YA but Isaac Asimov's short stories are accessible to young people and a lot of fun - I, Robot in particular is a great introduction to sci-fi of the era. If you like Star Wars, the Timothy Zahn books for episodes VII-IX are probably the best Star Wars novels ever written. I remember really liking Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade when I read the books in the 90s. You've probably heard of The Hunger Games, but it's one of the newer YA series that I also liked, very tightly written and well-paced action IMO. Enjoy, and let me know if you read The Boy Who Reversed Himself :) SemanticMantis (talk) 14:37, 8 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, more on the dimensional theme - Flatland is a classic, but it's really more about social commentary than geometry. A more modern take on that is The Planiverse, which explores the idea of flat life in much more serious biological/physical/chemical detail. SemanticMantis (talk) 14:41, 8 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Along the sci-fi theme, there is the Ender's Game series. I've only read the first one. While I'd recommend it, I've heard fewer good things about the subsequent books in the series. Also, Robert Heinlein wrote a few books for younger readers. Podkayne of Mars is the first that jumps to mind. Dismas|^(talk) 20:57, 8 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

10th TCA Awards - Nominations

I'm looking for references to cite for the Nominations at the 10th TCA Awards.

I can already find plenty of sources that only just cite the Winners, but I want a cite for the Nominees.

Specifically because I'm drafting up a Featured List drive for Bill Nye the Science Guy, and I want to find a WP:RS source that indeed confirms the television show was nominated for the 10th TCA Awards.

Please ping or message me on my user talk page if you find anything.

Any help would be appreciated,

— Cirt (talk) 06:11, 8 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

@Cirt: I'm not sure if IMDB is reliable enough for this usage, but it might be better than nothing - they list Nye as a 1994 nominee here [1]. IMDB has some user-generated content, but Wikipedia:Identifying_reliable_sources#Context_matters, and I don't think Nye's nomination is a very heavy claim, so it doesn't necessarily demand a heavy source. SemanticMantis (talk) 18:26, 8 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the reply, SemanticMantis, but I'd prefer a better source than IMDB. Any help would be appreciated, thank you, — Cirt (talk) 20:13, 8 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

foreign language cover versions of Alabama song

Looking for particular one, possibly eastern european language cover version,not version of the Brecht opera, well, same words, but like they've not heard the brecht and they're covering the doors song, I have heard it before. Rrrra r r soso (talk) 21:03, 8 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

One possible suggestion: "Song o Alabamie" by Kazik Staszewski, though it appeared on his album Melodie Kurta Weill'a i coś ponadto (2001) which might suggest that his point of reference was in fact Kurt Weill, not The Doors. ---Sluzzelin talk 10:27, 9 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I listened to the song now ([2]), and I'm still quite unsure that's what you meant. The Doors' version is closer to the original than Staszewski's interpretation is. Perhaps there are a couple of things that might remind one of The Doors' version (voice with reverb, for example), but mostly I hear differences. So again, very unsure ... I saw it's listed in our article's selection of recordings. Another Slavic language act I saw there is Električni Orgazam, but their version, "Alabama" (on Lišće prekriva Lisabon (1982)), is sung in English. ---Sluzzelin talk 21:50, 9 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

October 9

what is the name of the speech pattern, attitude pattern and form showcased by secret agents of government, military, black ops, mib etc?

Query repeated on Humanities desk—please respond there

always using verbose formal english, stoic but gives off a feeling as if agents are always optimistic, even during mission failure — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mahfuzur rahman shourov (talk • contribs) 05:43, 9 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Stiff upper lip? 196.213.35.146 (talk) 06:27, 9 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Somebody please correct this

Go to Tell Her (Lonestar song). There's a message saying:

This song should not be confused with the female interpretation of "Tell Him". "Tell Him" (and Tell Her) is a song written and composed by Bert Berns, which was first recorded as "Tell Her" in 1962.

The song "Tell Him", which is what the above statement is talking about, is a female-singer song. (We know that some songs have both male and female-singer versions, and I understand the phrase female interpretation to mean "variant of a song originally sung by a man being sung by a woman". This description make no sense implies that the song being talked about ("Tell Him" in this case) is a male-singer song and that it's talking about what a female-singer version of the song would be.) Please fix the statement.

Important note for anyone who wants to make a post in this section about reference desks vs. talk pages as places to post messages on Wikipedia: I'm posting this here so that it can get more attention; many talk pages get so little attention.) Georgia guy (talk) 16:45, 9 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I actually don't think it needs fixing. There is a "female" version of the song "Tell Him", which is a different song to the Lonestar song. I think the comment has been made because the Bert Berns song was a bigger hit than the Lonestar song and people might become confused. This sort of disambiguation is central to what Wikipedia does regarding information and clarification. --TammyMoet (talk) 17:40, 9 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

A "female" version of a song means a version of the song with a female singer, which "Tell Him" clearly does. What am I confusing?? Georgia guy (talk) 17:46, 9 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I've now rewritten the sentence as a hatnote, which I hope makes the position clearer. Ghmyrtle (talk) 07:44, 10 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

You're missing the change of the words to reflect the gender of the singer. The same song, sung by a female singer, has a different title because they've changed the words. Another example is the song "My Girl", which became "My Guy" when sung by a female singer, but was completely different to the song "My Guy" sung by Mary Wells. --TammyMoet (talk) 12:14, 10 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

October 10

Identify plot with a twist at the end ?

It's from a TV show many decades ago, and I thought it might be a Twilight Zone, but I haven't been able to find it. The plot is as follows:

A husband and wife living in poverty are given a "magic button" and told that if they press it, they will get a million dollars, but that somebody will be killed. Worried that it might be somebody they care about, they are assured that "it will be somebody you don't even know". After much agonizing, they finally press it. The man shows up, gives them the million, and reclaims the magic button. They ask what he plans to do with the button, and he responds "I'm going to give it to some poor people who don't even know you".

Now, there's a Twilight Zone where a man and wife get 4 wishes from a genie, one of which is for a million dollars, but that's the closest I found. Does this plot sound familiar to anyone ? StuRat (talk) 05:25, 10 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

"Button, Button"? ---Sluzzelin talk 07:41, 10 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, that's it ! I've seen all episodes of the original Twilight Zone series many times, but apparently I am less familiar with this follow-up series. StuRat (talk) 14:45, 10 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

An intriguing plot with some similarities to The Monkey's Paw in which a family find an old paw which is said to grant three wishes. The wife wishes for £200 but nothing happens. The next day, the teenaged son's boss arrives and says that he has been killed in an industrial accident and gives them £200 as compensation. After days of agonising, the wife wishes that the son were alive again, but when the mutilated and decaying corpse arrives and starts hammering on the door, she has to wish him dead, thus using their third wish. Alansplodge (talk) 14:40, 11 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The husband has to wish him back into the grave just as the wife is about to eagerly open the door. Important point. Deor (talk) 21:16, 11 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Quite right, my memory was at fault. In fact looking at the synopsis, it seems that the husband made all three wishes, but the wish to make the son alive again was at the wife's insistence. Alansplodge (talk) 08:19, 12 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The "wishes that go wrong" trope has been heavily used. I've always thought that's just because the criteria of the wishes are under-specified. For example, how about specifying that the son be brought back to life in the same condition he was in an hour before the accident, and that the accident not occur at any time in the future, and that the son lives to be 100 in the same condition, other than normal aging ? StuRat (talk) 16:43, 12 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

And they all lived happily ever after... Alansplodge (talk) 07:56, 13 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

CG short to identify

Several years ago - I'll say early 2000s - I saw a short film featuring characters that loosely resembled the California Raisins, though they were supposed to be something else (coffee beans or whatever). It was a short clip, only a few minutes long, and extremely violent. The protagonist shoots, stabs, etc. a whole bunch of similar creatures, who are also heavily armed. It centers onto a kind of discotheque and the protagonist graphically kills everyone there. At the end, it's revealed that all the mayhem was started because the protagonist couldn't sleep because of all the loud music. Despite being pretty graphic, it was played as humorous - a kind of black humour slapstick. I got the impression it was done by an indie group, but was pretty well done technically. I think it was CG at a time when that wasn't the kind of thing just anyone could throw together. Any idea what I'm talking about? 99.235.223.170 (talk) 15:29, 10 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Title of an old film

Greetings Ref Desk friends. It's been a long time since I posted a question, but I saw about ten minutes of a film a couple of days ago and I'm curious about what it might be. It was in color, and based on the cars and style it was most likely set in the 1960's - 1970's. It looked as though it was actually produced and released during this time period, not a modern film. Here's what I saw: A somewhat well dressed man wearing glasses is with a woman in a white dress, with a white flower headband or hat. They are having a conversation in and around a parked car, and they seem to be going through suitcases of clothing, it is possible they had changed clothes just before I started watching. I got the impression they had perhaps just committed a crime or were running from someone, but I could be wrong. The man asks the woman about the whereabouts of her husband and children, she replies something as "they are gone, I am no good". The man dumps a suitcase and bag of clothing into a thrift goodwill collection bin, they leave in the car. He is driving, and she is sitting next to him in the car, at which time he starts to place his hand on her legs. The next scene they arrive at what appears to be a church or something similar, the man has a conversation with another man, and I think the woman goes on an underground guided tour of some catacombs, in which religious symbolism appears. That's all I got. The language was English and I couldn't get a idea if it was a dramatic, action or horror film. My Google searches have been in vain. Does this film sound familiar to anyone? Thanks! 10draftsdeep (talk) 16:45, 10 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It's been a while since I saw it, but maybe the The Thomas Crown Affair. There's a scene where Faye Dunaway's character is on a stakeout in a cemetery, which may be the "catacombs" scene you remember. That's the best I have right now. --Jayron 32 01:36, 12 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you very much for the response, Jayron32. That classic film does have a similar overall look and feel of the one of which I am searching, but I don't think that is it. I pride myself in being rather savvy in entertainment research (hence my track record of only the rare question here), but I'm completely befuddled on locating this one. I've tried IMDb and various other sites to no avail, but the search continues. If it helps to spark anyone's memory further, the man had gray hair, glasses and a mustache, and the woman had blond hair. They were driving in an urban environment. The underground catacombs scene was preceded by a number of people walking about on the grounds of a church or museum in sunny weather. The catacombs scene included a crowd of people walking on a guided tour. The first display they gaze appeared rather macabre, perhaps consisting of mannequins resembling corpses. Thanks 10draftsdeep (talk) 16:07, 12 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

If the movie was on TV where you are, it might be useful to check listings of TV channels, for example using newspaper back issues that you might find at a public library. --174.88.134.156 (talk) 23:14, 12 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

October 12

Identification of a Aussie footy player

Hi, Can anyone identify the player running with Collingwood's Levi Greenwood in this picture?

The picture was taken at an open training session on 12 December 2014.

@The-Pope: @JackETC: maybe you guys have an idea

Thanks,

--SuperJew (talk) 06:38, 12 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Adam Oxley? Hack (talk) 07:32, 12 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I asked for help from Collingwood fans on twitter, and Oxley was their answer too. The first photo on this page seems to look like the runner. The-Pope (talk) 12:49, 12 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Cool. Thanks guys. Fixing it up now. --SuperJew (talk) 13:09, 12 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

No worries, User:SuperJew. Can I suggest that you crop it into two separate photos and use each isolated photo, rather than the pair, on each player's page. The pair photo might be suitable for 2015 Collingwood Football Club season or similar. The-Pope (talk) 13:38, 12 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, I was considering that (even just for Greenwood originally), but my default photo editing program was making problems. I'll try to do it when I have some more time. Or maybe someone else will beat me to the punch? --SuperJew (talk) 13:43, 12 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Done :D cropped for Greenwood and uploaded another pic for Oxley. --SuperJew (talk) 18:01, 12 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

October 14

Looking for an 80s dramedy/comedy

I'm looking for an 80s dramedy/comedy. For a long time, I thought it'd be Arthur (1981), but now that I'm watching it, it's not the one.

The main character of the film I'm looking for also seems to be either a childish millionaire, or really a millionaire kid. Digging deep in the back of my memory, he had the name Eric and had a black adult servant and confidant. I dimly remember a funny scene where the black servant was locked out of the Penthouse, running around on the lawn while trying not to get wet by the many sprinklers and calling, "Eric! Eric!" for his master to let him back in. --2003:48:2E4C:B175:11DD:8C1B:A072:CC9A (talk) 03:39, 14 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

From your description I am pretty sure that you are remembering The Toy (1982 film). MarnetteD|Talk 04:00, 14 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks a lot! :) I'll check it out to see if that's the one. --2003:48:2E4C:B175:11DD:8C1B:A072:CC9A (talk) 05:59, 14 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Revision as of 04:01, 14 October 2015 edit MarnetteD (talk \| contribs) Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers 333,261 edits →‎October 14: reply ← Previous edit		Revision as of 05:59, 14 October 2015 edit undo 2003:48:2e4c:b175:11dd:8c1b:a072:cc9a (talk) →‎Looking for an 80s dramedy/comedy Next edit →
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	:From your description I am pretty sure that you are remembering ''[[The Toy (1982 film)]]''. [[User:MarnetteD\|MarnetteD]]\|[[User talk:MarnetteD\|Talk]] 04:00, 14 October 2015 (UTC)		:From your description I am pretty sure that you are remembering ''[[The Toy (1982 film)]]''. [[User:MarnetteD\|MarnetteD]]\|[[User talk:MarnetteD\|Talk]] 04:00, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

			::Thanks a lot! :) I'll check it out to see if that's the one. --[[Special:Contributions/2003:48:2E4C:B175:11DD:8C1B:A072:CC9A\|2003:48:2E4C:B175:11DD:8C1B:A072:CC9A]] ([[User talk:2003:48:2E4C:B175:11DD:8C1B:A072:CC9A\|talk]]) 05:59, 14 October 2015 (UTC)