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December 2

Looking for the name of a drummer

He's a session drummer with a very distinctive look. He's either pacific islander (Hawaiian or Samoan, etc.) or hispanic, with a shaved head, and usually a medium length, shaggy, "soul patch" style beard. He's a BIG dude, like 300 pounds or so. I've seen him at least twice on TV, both times on VH1 Classic: Once was backing Eric Clapton during Hard Rock Calling 2008, and once backing Paul McCartney on some recent tour. Besides drumming, he also sings harmony vocals. I keep seeing him all over the place, he's sort of like a 21st century Leland Sklar in that way; a guy with a very distinctive look who shows up as a backing musician all over the place. Any one know any famous Samoan drummers who work with British musicians from the 60's? --Jayron32 00:03, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Abe Laboriel, Jr.? Nanonic (talk) 00:16, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Dammit - beat me to it. Grutness...wha? 00:19, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

ANd that's him. Thanks a bunch! --Jayron32 00:19, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Ah ha! I knew he had something to do with Paul McCartney! And I didn't even read the entire question! Moptopstyle1 08:42, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

update on Maura Tierney

How is Maura Tierney doing with her breast cancer treatments? Has there been any updates so far?24.90.204.234 (talk) 00:34, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

It says here that on "Monday", which would mean November 23, her representative "said... there was no update on the actress' brave battle with the disease." --Anonymous, corrected 15:49 UTC, December 5, 2009.

silly song -- what is it?

I have part of a song stuck in my head and cannot figure out where it came from. It sounds a bit like the theme to Josie and the Pussycats but it's about "(someone) and the warblers". It may have accompanying animation. I think they also sing it in German. Help! -- KathrynLybarger (talk) 03:26, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

schnappi? Bus stop (talk) 03:33, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

No but that's very cute. :) Thanks! -- KathrynLybarger (talk) 04:09, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

I figured it out! It was a short on Cartoon Network called "Heidi and the Yodelers". Halfway through they start singing in Swiss. I didn't have any of the details right! -- Kathryn —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.140.138.201 (talk) 07:20, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Not all details wrong if the Swiss you mention was Swiss German. Rmhermen (talk) 16:00, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Statistics on how many people have been exposed to particular works

I'm looking for surveys and studies on what proportion of a given population have been exposed to certain famous works of fiction (of any medium). For example, I'd be very interested to know if there was a survey done which asked people whether they'd ever watched, say, The Godfather, Gone With the Wind, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, Titanic and so forth — something that would tell me that, for example, 50% have seen X, but only 20% have seen Y. Or, I'd like to know what proportion of people have ever read To Kill a Mockingbird, Finnegans Wake, Brave New World, The Great Gatsby, Moby Dick, The Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter. Or, what proportion of people have watched a play by Shakespeare. Or, what percentage of people have watched more than one episode of The Simpsons, Star Trek, or Survivor.

I don't have any specific medium or survey population in mind — really, I'm just looking for broad overviews of the whole topic, but I don't know whether and where statistics have actually been collected. I'm mainly trying to get a general sense of how far different well-known works have actually penetrated into the public consciousness. Some works may be famous, but that doesn't mean that the average person will actually have been exposed to them — I'm looking for anything that would give me a general, big-picture sense of what works of fiction people are likely to have seen, and what they are likely not to have seen. -- 203.97.105.173 (talk) 04:10, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Be very careful of statistics about things like this. For example: It has been claimed that more people have seen Jesus (1979 film) than any other film in history, and that it has been viewed almost 5.6 billion times (including repeat viewings) - but the basis of this claim has been strongly criticised. Not to mention that neither I nor anyone I know has ever heard of it till now, which, for a supposedly massively-watched film, must mean something even if it is OR. -- JackofOz (talk) 07:09, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Yes it means something. It means that most of the film's viewings took place outside the affluent Western world. Hardly anyone in North America and Western Europe has seen it, but you can find millions of people in Africa and South America where it's the only movie they have ever seen. There are probably hundreds of movies that you and your friends have never heard of that are more popular than your favourite movies - most of them Bollywood movies. DJ Clayworth (talk) 15:15, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

I think it is still claimed that, when adjusted for inflation, Gone With the Wind is the all-time biggest money-maker. Whether that means the most viewings, might be debatable. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:51, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

According to the American Literacy Council, [1] 90% of the U.S. population from 1700 to 1930 could read and write, but now that figure has dropped to 30%. Thus, millions have never read the books you mention. Pepso2 (talk) 08:34, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

Those figures sound highly dubious. The CIA World Factbook says the literacy rate was 99% [2] in 2003. Note that the American Literacy Council count non-English-speaking modern immigrants as illiterate (reading Spanish doesn't count as reading, who knew?), and yet they claim 90% (English?) literacy in an era when many people spoke French, or Cajun, or German, or Dutch, or Finnish or various other Languages of the United States. See also Roosevelt's comments in 1907. AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 09:31, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

Agree, unless they changed the definition of literacy somewhere along the line. Googlemeister (talk) 17:36, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the answers. 203.97.105.173 (talk) 03:07, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Identify a piece of classical music

Could someone help me identify this piece of classical music (played by a string orchestra). I have no sound file, only my own attempt to write down the notes from memory. Hopefully they are accurate enough to identify the piece, which I think is relatively well-known.

e'₂ g#'₂ b'₁ g#'₈ a'₈ b'₄ g#'₈ a'₈ b'₄ e″₄ b'₄ b'₈ a'₈ g#'₄ f#'₈ e'₈ a'₈ b'₈ c#″₈ a'₈ g#'₈ a'₈ b'₈ g#'₈ f#'₄

Thanks in advance! decltype (talk) 13:47, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Found it! The keyword is BWV 1042, apparently. decltype (talk) 15:42, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

James Bond music on BBC UK tv Top Gear programme

What is the name of the 'James Bond' music played at the beginning of the flight of the orange balloon in Top Gear series 14 episode 3, and currently visible online through iPlayer? 89.242.106.49 (talk) 16:17, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

You need this detailed forum that lists all the music of top gear and says it is Capsual in Space by John Barry from You Only Live Twice meltBanana 17:10, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. Fifteen different bits of music for one short clip - that's a lot. Those forumists must have got a lot of time on their hands to catalogue it all. 89.242.106.49 (talk) 20:10, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Any other UK tv channels available online apart from the BBC?

I am in the UK. Thanks. 89.242.106.49 (talk) 16:18, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

ITV: [3], Channel 4: [4], Channel 5: [5]. Fribbler (talk) 16:30, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

All of the freeview channels are available online live at tvcatchup.com (if you hold a current tv licence), sky users can use skyplayer. Nanonic (talk) 17:18, 2 December 2009 (UTC)

Don't know if you count British Eurosport: [6] --TammyMoet (talk) 11:44, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

This site may also help[7] —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pleasantman (talk • contribs) 12:28, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

December 3

I need help with the Left 4 Dead 2 baseball bat code

I'll tell my story first and then I'll ask some questions in numbered order and if you know all the answers or just a few of them or just one of them, please put a number before you answer so I'll know which question your answering and also be kind enough to explain your answer if it is an answer that needs to be explained, well, I'm gonna get Left 4 Dead 2 for Christmas and I plan to also get the baseball bat code from ebay for Christmas, but I don't have xbox live or high speed internet but I think you can join xbox live and not be hooked up to the computer cause all I'm gonna do is just put the code in to get the baseball bat and that's it cause I won't be able to play online or get DLC and the Left 4 Dead 2 game that I got has a free 48 hour trial so I plan to use that.

1.Can I join xbox live without being hooked up to the computer?

2.(if yes to #1)Can I get the baseball bat when I put the code in or do I need to be hooked up to high speed internet?

3.I read somewhere online where this kid got Left 4 Dead 2 and he had the code to get the baseball bat but everytime he tried to download it on his xbox 360 it would say it failed to download or something like that so he went over to one of his friends house and downloaded it from there but when he got back home and tried to load the code, it would say cannot find code, then he found out that the code was attached to his friends xbox 360 so my question is, will the code stick with the xbox 360 that I downloaded it on to or will it be downloaded on to my hard drive cause I plan to get the Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2 xbox 360 within the next few months?

4.(if the answer to #3 is hard drive)Can I tranfer the code along with all my memory on my 20 GB hard drive to the 250 GB hard drive?

5.If you have used the baseball bat on Left 4 Dead 2, is it worth it to go through all this trouble just to get the baseball bat or do you think I should wait for another few months until I do get high speed internet and xbox live cause if your playing online with someone who has the baseball bat, him and all his friends that are playing together have access to the baseball bat too?

6.if you answered #5 saying that it's too much trouble, this question is like an alternate #4 question, can I tranfer all my memory and achievement points without losing anything?

7.my friend told me that when I do start an online xbox live account that I will lose all my memory and/or achievement points? If so tell me how I won't lose it or recover it if it gets lost or deleted.

8.to put in the code and get the baseball bat, all I have to do is enter the code at redeem code but does that require me to have xbox live or have high speed internet? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.3.15.129 (talk) 01:23, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

1. You don't need to be "hooked up to the computer" (what computer?), but your Xbox does need to have an Internet connection to join Xbox Live. For most users this means you have a high-speed Internet connection via a cable modem or DSL modem, which is connected via an Ethernet cable to a router, which is connected via an Ethernet cable to your Xbox.

2. It is possible that Valve Software set it up this way, yes — call them on the phone and ask?

3. Too many details, important missing details, and too vague a question. (If you could link to the online claims then it would be easier to read.) If you are saying you don't have high-speed Internet at your house and you want to log on to Xbox Live from a friend's house and download something, then if you bring your Xbox itself (with hard disk attached) to your friend's house, log in from there, and download your DLC from there, yes, that will work - your Xbox and Microsoft don't care where you log in from. Your first act at your friend's house will probably to activate an Xbox Live account — find out how to get the 30 day free trial first.

Hey, that's the way he wrote basically, all I did was just read the way he wrote it and I don't remember the link to the site, I think it was gamespot forums, but even still, I don't know for sure if it was gamespot

4. Check this article - does it answer your question?

technically yes, but that's talking about a 120 GB hard drive, would it work for something like the 250 GB hard drive cause that's twice the space. Which one would work better, a transfer kit or if I got 2 xbox 360's, hooked them up together and switch the memory and achievement points from xbox 360 to another, I think it's called a system link, or would it only switch the memory over and not the achievement points cause I want both of them switched over

"System Link" is when you hook up several 360s to play against each other, playing games that have implemented System Link play, on an Ethernet network without having logged into Xbox Live - see this link for the how-to. It's not relevant to transferring one hard disk to another. That won't work. The transfer kit is what you need. Tempshill (talk) 05:26, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

7. Interesting. I think what he is worried about is that if you create a local, non-Xbox Live account on your 360 with the name "Chuckles", say, and then play for months, and then you decide to join Xbox Live, then you will not be allowed to have the name "Chuckles", because somebody out there already has that name. (You can name a non-Xbox Live profile whatever you want, including a profile that does currently exist out there on Live. You can create the account "Bill Gates" if you want.) I doubt that you will be forced to create a new profile from scratch when you try to join Live; most likely you will be told the name is a duplicate and you have to rename your account — but that wouldn't delete all your Achievements and Gamerscore. Tempshill (talk) 20:52, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

thanks, that answers question #7

Identifying a Strauss piece from a concert

Hello, RD'ers. I was skipping through television channels last night, and came upon a concert being broadcast on a PBS station. There was a fascinating piece of music being played, but since I missed the beginning of the piece, I didn't hear or see the title. (At the end, they just went into the next piece with a new title graphic.) Anyway, I looked up the name of the broadcast — It was called "Salute to Vienna," recorded in 1999, featuring the works of Johann Strauss Sr. and Johann Strauss Jr. — but the listing didn't identify the individual pieces performed. The piece in question featured one performer occassionally playing twittering bird sounds on a very tiny instrument, almost like a whistle, and another musician making cuckoo sounds on an instrument he held in two hands. Does anyone know the name of this piece? And what were those two unusual instruments? Thank you kindly? — Michael J 14:08, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

Did that program feature André Rieu by any chance? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:29, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm thinking of this [8] which is a piece called Im Krapfenwald'l (in Krapfen's woods). ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:45, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

In the small forest of doughnuts? AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 12:58, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't recall seeing André Rieu there. I've seen him before, and it was a little more sedate than one of his presentations (but not too much more). — Michael J 20:37, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

Im Krapfenwald'l appears to be it, thank you. That video wasn't the performance I saw, but that's definitely the piece I heard. (The one I saw had two different musicians doing the twittering and the cuckoo.) Thanks again. — Michael J 20:48, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

The instruments used were specialist whistles - a bird whistle and a cuckoo whistle. Our article Whistle briefly describes the mechanism by which the former works (it's filled with water), and there's a page here with more information and a close-up image of a bird whistle. Cuckoo whistles are made by several companies, including the famous Acme company [9]. Although often seen as toys, specialist whistles do feature in a number of serious musical compositions, and György Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre specifies a whole bunch of different ones including steamboat whistle, swanee whistle and quacking duck call, which must be great fun. Karenjc 11:28, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

The "cuckoo whistle" in the broadcast that I saw wasn't really a whistle at all. It was a device held in the hands that was rocked back and forth to make the sound of a cuckoo. — Michael J 20:24, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Wizard Music Video - I wish it could be Christmas everyday

has anybody else noticed the bass player in this video ? am I mistaken in thinking that it is in fact a very young Lemmy from Motorhead. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.162.206.228 (talk) 19:11, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

For reference, here's the video of which you speak. See [10]. For the record, the bass player in this video is Rick Price, who I will admit does bear a passing resemblance to Lemmy Kilmister. The song in question, I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday by Wizzard, was recorded in 1973, and at that time Lemmy was playing bass for the band Hawkwind. I don't think Lemmy ever played with Wizzard. --Jayron32 20:08, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

And here is a still image of Rick Price, just to see him better. As I said, he DOES bear a passing resemblance to Lemmy, but only in that "Long Haired White Bass Player With Beard" sort of way. For comparison, here's Lemmy circa 1973: [11] Lemmy is the last male on the right, next to the chick in the facepaint. --Jayron32 20:17, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

December 4

Songwriting royalties

Are songwriting royalties divided equally among everyone with a writing credit for the song? Or does each writer get a certain percent based on what parts they wrote? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.165.238.116 (talk) 00:07, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

From what I can find, the songwriters can divide the royalties among themselves in any split they can agree on, and the applicable performing rights society will distribute the royalties according to the percentage listing on the song's registration filed with the society. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 04:17, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

That's exactly right. When performing rights associations are notified of new songs by songwriters, one of the things which is sent is a percentage allocation to each writer. In my case, for an example, some of the songs I receive royalties for from APRA I get 50% and another writer also gets 50%, in others I get 25% and another writer gets 75%. In some, I get 62.5%, three other writers receive 12.5% each (in the latter case, it is because the entire band - four of us - wrote the music, but I wrote the lyrics). Writers are free to decide on a split entirely among themselves. Grutness...wha? 06:11, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

As an example, the band Rush splits ALL band proceeds exactly into thirds; each band member gets the same amount of money for everything, even though Neal Peart writes most of the lyrics AND the drum parts, while the other two members write the guitar, bass and keyboard parts. I have seen interviews where they attribute this long-standing practice to the personal harmony that has kept them together for nearly 40 years. On the other hand, the Rolling Stones divide up revenues very differently, and it has often caused tension in the band. Mick Taylor, a former guitarist, sued the band frequently after he left for songwriting credit he thought he should have received but did not. On the other side, Ronnie Wood was not made a full member of the band for YEARS after he had been playing with them; I believe it was not until the 1990's that he was given full membership. Ian Stewart likewise had his "full member" status revoked despite being a founder of the band, as well as a contributor on most of their albums and concert tours. --Jayron32 06:32, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

They just can't get no satisfaction, can they? (Though they try, and they try, and they try, and they try...) Clarityfiend (talk) 06:38, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

U2 and REM are two other long-lasting groups who divide the publishing equally between the group members, so it seems to work for them as a way of maintaining harmony as well. On a related note, many progressive rock groups of the late 60s and early 70s used to divide their long compositions into several Parts, each with its own title. They used to get accused of doing this because they were being pretentious, but the real reason was that it multiplied the amount of publishing royalties they would get, since each part counted as a separate composition. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 14:56, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Violin Song Request

What is a good song for third positon for violin?69.227.69.48 (talk) 00:13, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Since you haven't had an answer yet, I'll have a go at helping. I take it that you've just started using third position? Are you looking for something that will help you practise third position, or are you looking for something to perform that will show you can use third position?

If you're looking for something to practise third position, it's probably best if you buy a book of studies for third position. This will have lots of studies (little pieces of music) written specially to help you practise using, and moving in and out of, third position. For example, this or this sort of book. Your local sheet-music shop should have at least one of this sort of book, or help you find one.

If you're looking for a piece of music to play in third position, there are thousands. Almost any piece can be played with third position, and most middle to advanced pieces expect that you can slip into it when needed. It is the most useful of the positions, after first. If you give a bit more information about the sort of piece you're looking for, and what you want to do with it, I might be able to help. 86.166.148.95 (talk) 22:20, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

What Movie was that ?

Many years ago, I recall watching a movie, the plot of which seemed to resemble Apollo 13, with the astronauts trapped orbiting the Earth, and engineers trying to bring them home. One of the astronauts was from San Diego, and in the movie, the whole city shone lights up to space, so he could see a light emanating from the California coast, is that at all possible, given that John Glenn and others said they saw oil fires in the desert from space, one of which was later put out by Red Adair, and they also saw Bedouin campfires at night, and what is the name of the film ? Thanks. The Russian. --C.B.Lilly 09:12, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

The Right Stuff (film)? --Jayron32 13:03, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Marooned (1969). Pepso2 (talk) 13:16, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Yes, it was this second one, Marooned. That sounds about right. I do not believe it was The Right Stuff, because I saw that later, and since it was made in 1983, it would not have been released on TV that early. I now realise I forgot to stipulate that I was watching the movie in question in either the late 1970's or the early 1980's. I did not realise the movie was as old as 1969, and thought it had been made in the seventies, but also got the impression it was a true story. Although it wasn't, as the review says, it was released around the same time as the real Apollo 13 incident, making it relevant and popular at the time. Thank You all. Also, does anyone know how much light one could shine into space for it to be seen by an orbiting craft ? Does NASA do such experiments ?

Males Wearing Bandanas Around Their Heads

Is it a single sided or is double sided bandana (if it is a bandana) that males wear around their heads? What is the color?

Traditionally, is it a single sided or is double sided bandana (if it is a bandana) that males wear around their heads? What is the color?174.3.102.6 (talk) 19:54, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Is there a photo online that would serve as an example? Bandanas can be worn a few different ways. Also, color may be an indication of street gang membership but without knowing the context of what you're referring to, all we can do is guess. Dismas|^(talk) 23:57, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

[12] Looking at these pics, I noticed an open center paisley bandana. Is that the orignial style?174.3.102.6 (talk) 02:25, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Original style of what? Of bandanas in general? According to that article, 'bandana' is a Hindi word and paisley is of Indian and Persian origin. So it's possible that bandanas were originally decorated in a paisley pattern. Or you may be interested in do-rag. While not bandanas, males often do wear do-rags on their heads. Dismas|^(talk) 02:57, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Original style of the bandana "look".174.3.102.6 (talk) 04:30, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Justin Lukach from Departures wears a black (as far as I can see) bandana. I am not certain if it is single sided or double sided. Does anyone know? (Or know how to figure out?)174.3.102.6 (talk) 08:56, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

I have no idea who he is or what Departures is but from a quick Google image search, it seems to be a standard bandana like any that you'd find in a camping supply store or maybe some clothing shops. Dismas|^(talk) 09:16, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

And the banada is not an open center paisley design.174.3.102.6 (talk) 09:19, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

T V SHOW-----WONDERLAND

What is the name of the theme music currently used on Direct tv's presentation of Peter Berg's "WONDERLAND"....& where can I find it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hal62134 (talk • contribs) 22:31, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

December 5

Shortened episodes of Top Gear

Can anyone tell me why episodes of the BBC television show Top Gear are shortened by about 10 minutes for iTunes and Netflix? Some episodes seem to have the news segment or the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment removed. (I'm in the US) Thanks, Dismas|^(talk) 00:05, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

It's shortened for Dave because they have to cram adverts into the hour, too. Are the Netflix and iTunes episodes from the BBC themselves, or from Dave? (No doubt I've just shown my complete ignorance of both iTunes, which I thought was a media player, and Netflix, which I've never heard of!) Vimescarrot (talk) 01:30, 5 December 2009 (UTC) Helpful fact: Dave episodes might be under the UKTV banner

iTunes also has a store component where you can rent or buy movies/tv shows/music/podcasts. And Netflix is a delivery service that sends out DVDs of shows and movies. When you've watched them, you send them back. It's basically a rental service through the mail and quite popular over here in the US. That aside, the episodes are not from Dave as far as I know, and I do know what Dave is. The end credits and such don't say anything other than BBC etc. Though, now that you mention it, I haven't paid particular attention to see if they say "BBC America", as opposed to just plain "BBC". BBC America is the network that carries it over here. That might explain it since they would show commercials as well. Dismas|^(talk) 01:45, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

It's common for shows to be edited for syndication or overseas sale. TV Tropes has a section on it too[13]. Quite possibly the versions on Netflix/iTunes have been edited for the USA, as other people have mentioned.--Pleasantman (talk) 14:46, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Assassin's Creed 2 Black Edition

I was looking online and I was thinking of getting assassin's creed 2 black edition and it's region free, but then I saw where it said Australian version, will there be any difference between the Australian version and the American version, anything at all like the story, combat, weapons, characters, anything at all cause I just want to make sure and I already know the difference between all the editions like the white, black, and the master assassin's edition. I just need to know if there is a difference between the Australian version and the American version and for that matter what does region free exactly mean? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.3.15.129 (talk) 06:15, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Due to recent laws passed in Australia, a special version of Assassin's Creed 2 will be released in that country with all violence removed. Instead of fighting enemies, you will hand them walkie-talkies and walk away. Seriously, though, this post seems to indicate that there will be no differences, but it's possible that there are many, but no one has spotted any yet. Also, the wiki indicates that all versions of the game will be available in Australia. Taggart.BBS (talk) 15:54, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

2012 movie

How many times does someone say "you have to see this" or similar in the movie 2012? I'm sure it's a lot, but I don't know how to go about finding a number. Tips? Aaadddaaammm (talk) 11:05, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Count. But why do you care, it's just about the most banal piece of leftist agitprop in history, further burdened by weak special effects.--Leon (talk) 12:32, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Leftist? Please do not set incorrect political labels on crappy movies, that does not belong on the ref desk./Coffeeshivers (talk) 13:15, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, my bad. But I contend that it is.--Leon (talk) 13:37, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Why on earth would you consider that a movie about the end of the world is leftist? DJ Clayworth (talk) 21:48, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps he objects to the heroic portrayal of an unnamed black president who is in office from '08 to '12?

See Hostile media effect. APL (talk) 23:32, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Climate change is a myth created by leftists, obviously (even though the movie goes for the rightist excuse of sunspots). Adam Bishop (talk) 14:59, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

In short, just count. You haven't defined "or similar", so I'm compelled to say you need to count yourself.--Leon (talk) 13:37, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Wait for subtitles for the movie to come out. Use some sort of count function in your word processing program. Those won't include "or similar", though.

Thanks for the replies. The thing is I'm not so keen on doling out another 8 euros to see it in a cinema (although I did enjoy the special effects). Online scripts, or anything else? Aaadddaaammm (talk) 17:37, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Movie/Television show Identification

It's science fiction. At the start of the show, there was some crisis happening, and then there's a group of Star Trek-ish crew (not like conventional astronauts, I mean.) that go on a ship that was just outside the atmosphere. They then go through a huge circle shaped gate that functions like a warp drive. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 218.186.12.254 (talk) 14:42, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Stargate. --TammyMoet (talk) 15:41, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

I've watched the 1994 movie, but that's not it. (The gate-thing was in space.) It's not one of the newer 2008 movies, because I watched it in the late 90s to early 2000s. I should clarify, I think it was a movie rather than a television show. (Which rather rules out SG-1 too.)218.186.12.254 (talk) 15:58, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm going to guess Wing_Commander_(film), but I've never seen it, and am unsure whether or not they had jumpgates. Taggart.BBS (talk) 16:02, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Stargate SG-1 did have a couple of massive stargates in space, which could easily transport huge ships. Stargate Atlantis made copious use of stargates orbiting planets. I know you said it was a film but ... well, just in case. Stargate's supergate, Atlantis spacegate. Shoot - sorry, didn't realise you said late 90s early 2000s. I'd guess that's too early for Atlantis (2004). The SG-1 supergate didn't appear until after Atlantis started airing. Vimescarrot (talk) 17:19, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

The gate in SG-1 seems to look right but the timeframe doesn't fit.

There is more than one version of Stargate,perhaps Stargate-Atlantis?..hotclaws 21:26, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Personally I happened to be reminded of the Lost in Space movie.(Not that I'd reccomend it). There was a warp gate like device at the beginning, although it wasn't actually used. 07:10, 8 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.26.233.228 (talk)

December 6

Reverse

Here, you can see that the mangos are facing (oriented) in one direction (in the center). Although the mangos alternate (in this center), predominantly, the mangos fall in one direction. Where can I find (single sided) paisley banadans that are oriented the other way (the counter part, or reverse, as some would call it)?174.3.102.6 (talk) 01:05, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

What is this movie

I saw this movie about 1-2 years ago, and I remember I really enjoyed it, but I cannot remember the title! Can someone help me?

It's about an American Missionary going to a country like Brazil or something, and there's one scene where the villages of the place he's at tells him not to sleep with his feet uncovered or us the rats would chew his feet. And so he fell asleep with his feet uncovered and his feet were chewed up. The next day the missionary told the villagers that God would heal his feet, and so the next day or two he was able to walk.

Anyone know what movie that is? Thanks. 05:48, 6 December 2009 (UTC)Moptopstyle1 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moptopstyle1 (talk • contribs)

I don't remember the plots of it very much, as its been YEARS since I last saw it, but the most prominent movie about missionaries in Brazil was the film At Play in the Fields of the Lord. I do remember liking it a lot, but I don't remember that specific scene. --Jayron32 03:43, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Hm, that's not it, but thank you.

There was also another scene, if it helps, where he goes to the Village's Post Office to pick a telegram, and the Missionary was narrating what the Telegram a. And he said "STOP" a few times. And, ha! I forget what the telegram read. Another scene is where 3 of the Brazilian girls sold themselves or something to some men on a ship? I think so... So if that helps. Moptopstyle1 05:14, 7 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moptopstyle1 (talk • contribs)

The Other Side of Heaven? IMDb mentions rats eating the soles of somebody's feet[14].--Pleasantman (talk) 14:51, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

That's it! Thank you! "The Other Side of Heaven" is right! Thank you! Oh, I didn't know the Missionary was Latter Day Saint. Ha. Moptopstyle1 21:50, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

From what I remember, It's not really explicitly mentioned that he's LDS, but John H. Groberg was from Southern Idaho, did attend Brigham Young University, and then (in real life) became a General Authority for the LDS Church. Additionally, a small portrait of then-president David O. McKay is visible in the church meeting scenes. Kingsfold (talk) 18:27, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Anyone Know House of Heroes?

So, do you know about them? And please don't tell me that is not a question for Wikipedia.. The REAL discussion page hasn't been touched since 1990. (well, it seems like) So, this is kind of becoming a discussion page right? I think so. Moptopstyle1 08:28, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

What you think isn't all that relevant. What the consensus is, is relevant. This page is not a discussion page, as it explains in the header. And the talk page for House of Heroes was last edited the day before you edited it which was not in 1990. Dismas|^(talk) 08:47, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

I wasn't talking about the House of Heroes talk page, I was talking about the actual Discussion Pages that leads back to articles. I don't like how it's set up. The reference desk is much simpler. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moptopstyle1 (talk • contribs) 22:08, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

I, for one, still have no idea what you're talking about. The RFC page that you linked to was last updated yesterday by the bot that is in charge up updating it. And no discussions are supposed to take place there. It's a listing of pages with discussions on them. Dismas|^(talk) 04:09, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

You can go ahead and delete this question. Moptopstyle1 05:04, 7 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moptopstyle1 (talk • contribs)

Animated series like Ben 10

My young son is a big Ben 10 fan, however he has now watched all the DVDs of the original series and Ben 10: Alien Force. Can anyone recommend any other animated series in the same vein that might appeal to him? Many thanks. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 10:25, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Well, there's "Danny Phantom", and I think they still play that on Nicktoons, and that show is about a teenager who is actually part-ghost. There's "My Life As A Teenage Robot" which is about a robot teenager. (ha, ha)

A lot of the Nicktoons are pretty good. "Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends" is pretty good for kids.

Or, better yet, check out Common Sense Media and this page will give you a list of Children's Cartoons that will tell you what age group that cartoon is appropriate for. I love that site. Moptopstyle1 22:17, 6 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moptopstyle1 (talk • contribs)

When he gets older, he might like Green Lantern. I couldn't help but think of GL while reading the Ben 10 article. Dismas|^(talk) 05:53, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

New York and college football

Why is the state of New York so bad at college football? This result is surprising considering that New York has at least two strong reasons to be good at college football:

First, American football is certainly a very popular sport in New York. Consider that it has not one but two decently-strong professional teams: the New York Giants and the New York Jets.

Second, New York has the third-highest population of any state in the United States, so there should be a large pool of high school players from which New York colleges can recruit. Consider that almost all the other high-population states have historically elite or near-elite college football programs (this list is descending by population):

1. California - USC Trojans
2. Texas - Texas Longhorns
3. New York - glaring lack!
4. Florida - Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles, Miami Hurricanes
5. Illinois - okay, this is the other exception besides New York, but even the Fighting Illini and the Northwestern Wildcats are better than anything New York has
6. Pennsylvania - Penn State Nittany Lions
7. Ohio - Ohio State Buckeyes
8. Michigan - Michigan Wolverines
9. Georgia - Georgia Bulldogs

Who does New York have? The Syracuse Orange? The Army Black Knights? The Buffalo Bulls? Even if we include New Jersey (as right next door to NYC and where the Giants and Jets are actually based), we only get the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Putting it charitably, these are not exactly elite football programs. So why is New York so bad at college football, considering that they should have popularity and population advantages over most other states?

—Lowellian (reply) 16:56, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

It's very hard to maintain strong programs. Look at teams like Michigan and Notre Dame. They used to be among the elite, but they don't scare anybody now. That's true of teams like Army also, which used to have one of the strongest programs in the nation. Fordham used to be good too. These things ebb and flow. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:44, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

I know it's hard, and things ebb and flow. You're not answering the question, though. I'm asking why New York specifically does not have an elite program, when all the other high-population states do. New York does not put teams into the Top 10 or even Top 25 the way the other high-population states do. You can't say that Army or Fordham (the latter merely Division I-AA), over the past thirty years, has been anything like the teams I've listed from other high-population states. You mentioned Michigan and Notre Dame -- they may be be having down years right now, but both were in BCS bowls just three or so years ago. You can't say that about any team from New York. New York definitely underperforms relative to its population, and I'm asking why. —Lowellian (reply) 18:06, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Note: I can account for Army's weakness -- being a military academy makes for stringent admission standards which make it difficult to recruit an elite football team. But the question is why New York doesn't have elite state university system football programs like other high-population states do. —Lowellian (reply) 18:18, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

I know it is the wrong answer, but the reason could have been that somebody had a thought about what the main purpose of having a state university ought to be./Coffeeshivers (talk) 22:01, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

I believe there are two contributing factors: First, there is not a large public state college in one location in New York equivalent to the University of Texas, University of Florida, University of Michigan, University of Georgia, etc. etc.; SUNY is spread out over many small campuses without a central collection of alumni and support. The aforementioned state schools all have graduate schools of law, medicine and business that generally create a pool of well heeled alumni to support the expensive nature of a big time college program. Second, and this is more observation than provable fact, is cultural. New York high school athletes are spread across numerous minor sports (swimming, wrestling, lacrosse, etc.) and not concentrated in football. There is no "Friday Night Lights" equivalent in New York to compare with places like Texas and the Southeastern states where football is a semi-religious experience. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gtrp050 (talk • contribs) 22:35, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Columbia University used to have a major football program, but it has collapsed recently, along with most of the Ivy League. Woogee (talk) 00:20, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

That just backs up my original point, though. Like the rest of the Ivy League, the Columbia Lions are Division I-AA, and thus certainly cannot be considered to be an elite college football program in the modern (post-WWII) era. —Lowellian (reply) 02:19, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

New York University (NYU) disbanded its football team in the '40s for economical reasons (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,885939,00.html). An attempted revival in the '60s was unsuccessful (http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/arch/175/pages/footb.htm) --Nricardo (talk) 01:16, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

I'd argue that weather plays a role. A kid in Florida, Texas, or California can do sports outside year round. The same can't be said for New York. Look at the major football powerhouses, and in high school they're all southern states. In college they're usually southern states, although there are exceptions. On the other hand, many superb basketball schools at both levels are found in the northeast. Basketball, surprise surprise, can be played inside just as well as outside. 218.25.32.210 (talk) 02:19, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

The thing is, I have a hard time buying the "cold weather" argument against New York because Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania are all cold weather states, too, which isn't stopping them from fielding elite college football teams. —Lowellian (reply) 02:21, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Division I college football long abandoned the northeastern U.S., despite being essentially formed there. Today, there are only 5 Football Bowl Subdivision schools in New York and New England, and none are anything close to a national power, this is despite that area being the most densely populated area in the U.S. In football's early years, it was played almost exclusively by schools that would later form the Ivy League, mostly private, privileged northeastern schools. Large public institutions never really took hold of football in the Northeast. The first public schools to really embrace football were those of the Western Conference (later the Big Ten) and the Southern Conference (today the SEC and the ACC.) The smaller, private schools found themselves unable to compete with the larger public schools in terms of attracting the best football talent, so most of them became irrelevent by the middle of the 20th century. Since New England and New York lacks many of these larger, public schools, they lack the impetus to develop large football programs. The SUNY system, for example, lacks a "large flagship" school like say the University of Michigan or University of Texas, so there isn't a way to "concentrate" the football talent like in those schools. The University at Buffalo is the only Football Bowl Subdivision team in the SUNY system, and its perrenially bad. In the rest of the Northeast, none of the state-supported schools is generally large enough either. By contrast, places that don't have powerful football traditions have strong college basketball traditions. Since you only need 12 people to field a competitive Division I basketball team, as opposed to the 85 on a football bowl subdivision team, smaller private schools can compete on a more even footing than their larger bretheren. It is rare to find a school which is both a basketball and football power. If you had to press me as to why New York specifically lacked a football power, I would say that it's the organization of the SUNY system which lacks the sort of "flagship" school that other states of a similar size have. --Jayron32 02:44, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

I remember reading a piece by the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan who suggested that if there isn't much else to do, you devote your energy to rooting for, and supporting, the State University's football team. Where there are more entertainment venues, both indoors and out, there is less thrust to build major college football programs, most of which are actually profession teams with unpaid labor. New Yorkers apparantly support pros teams who call themselves pros. Such was Moynihan's thesis. B00P (talk) 03:34, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Which reminds me of the canard "The best pro football in Michigan is played in Ann Arbor"... But it does not explain how Pennsylvania can support the Steelers & Eagles AND the Nittany Lions, or how Texas ends up with the Cowboys AND the Long Horns. Its an interesting idea, that the prevalence of pro teams ends up hurting nearby college programs, except it doesn't really hold up. Heck, Florida has 3 pro football teams, and still has 3 top-tier college programs. --Jayron32 03:38, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Don't forget the Cowboys-overshadowed Houston Texans! ;) But yeah, I'm pretty sure having nearby NFL teams around doesn't weaken college football programs (if anything, as I wrote in my original post, I suspect they are correlated: nearby NFL teams increase the popularity of football and lead to more high school students playing football). Besides the examples User:Jayron32 has mentioned, there's also California, which also has both strong college programs and three NFL teams (Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers). —Lowellian (reply) 01:56, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

It should also be mentioned that Fordham had a major football program before WWII -- see Seven Blocks of Granite -- as well as Cornell, Colgate and the above-mentioned Columbia. Army was the dominant program of the 40s, even after the war ended. And don't discount Syracuse, the alma mater of Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Floyd Little, Larry Csonka and Jim Nance. New York state was once an absolute hotbed of college football. The question is why that changed. -- Mwalcoff (talk) 01:47, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Music Program Query

I need help with something!

I am a very creative guy, I've created more than 10 techno songs on my computer using program "Techno E-jay"... I subscribe myself as Survived Miscarriage, but that is not important now...

Techno E-jay is not really a program with lots of options. The main question is:

"What is the name of a program that allows you to create psychodelic and techno music that has lots of options to work with?"

The subquestion is: "Where can I find the full version of the program?" - you know that you can only download a demo from the internet.

Please, answer if you know the asnwer :)

Thank you! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Miscarriage (talk • contribs) 21:21, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Try one of the following:

• Cubase
• Fruity Loops
• Orion Platinum
• Reason

—Lowellian (reply) 21:46, 6 December 2009 (UTC)

Rock of Ages Musical

Wikipedia article lists the musical score for Rock of Ages and omits "Keep on Lovin You" written by Kevin Cronin. The song is listed in the musical credits in the Broadway Playbill. Do you know if it is performed in the show and, if so, at what point in the show?

John Lennon

Was John Lennon ever charged for assaulting that Radio Personality guy at Paul's birthday party back in 65 or 66? What had happened is that, the Radio Personality made a comment on John Lennon's vacation with Brian Epstein and commented "Did you enjoy your honeymoon?" (and Epstein was known for being gay, and the Radio Personality known for his humor) So, did the man drop charges on Lennon? I read Lennon actually broke some of the man's ribs. Yikes. Moptopstyle1 22:27, 6 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moptopstyle1 (talk • contribs)

An alternative way to say "Give Peace a Chance". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:12, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Oh! Ha ha! Nice one! But he kind of changed as he got older! With the whole "Lost Weekend" with May Pang! Ha, ha. Yeah, I do like him more as a musician. And I forgot to add (sorry about that)

HE WAS DRUNK WHEN HE ASSAULTED THE MAN. Sorry for not clarifying that. Moptopstyle1 05:09, 7 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moptopstyle1 (talk • contribs)

I'm not sure that being 'drunk' is ever an acceptable excuse for assaulting someone. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 12:13, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Hm, John Lennon later did apologize for assaulting the man. Hm, look what I've started! Okay, since the Anniversary of Lennon's Murder is tomorrow, I'll ask a more positive Question in Respect of him. Moptopstyle1 22:01, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Sitars Anyone?

It there a website that has a toll free number where you can order Sitars? You know those Indian Guitar things? That George Harrison played? Ha, ha. Thanks. Moptopstyle1 05:35, 7 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moptopstyle1 (talk • contribs)

Have you looked at any websites so far? I went to google and simply entered [sitar purchase] and a bunch of sites came up.

Most of them have the normal sized sitar. Some of them have the small one, called the "baby sitar". [Thanks to the late Joey Forman for that one.] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:57, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Well, at MusiciansFriend.com, it's a weird looking "Guitar Sitar". Oh, but at tablasitar.com it has them! Thank you. Moptopstyle1 21:55, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

December 7

Veronica Lake

As Joseph Pulitzer stated, the three most important things in reportage are "accuracy, accuracy, and accuracy." The same is, of course, true for Wikipedia articles. Being sure of one's sources is critical, and the internet has rather low reliability. This was driven home for me when doing research to expand an article which I wrote and maintain, and I came across a number of sites that were verbatim copies of what I had written. Although my article was well-researched and correct, the ease with which misinformation can be spread on the net is frightening. The point of this prologue is that I implore that anyone who answers my question will supply a valid source for the information.

I refer to the article on Veronica Lake.

• The infobox at top right states that she was born in Seattle.
• The section "Early life and career" claims that she was born in Brooklyn.

Okay, so where was she born? B00P (talk) 03:15, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Ain't Seattle a suboib of Brooklyn? I've corrected it (IMDb and other unreliable sources say the latter), but am still searching for a good source. Clarityfiend (talk) 05:03, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

I don't see a reliable source, but there are so many semi-reliable sources for Brooklyn, and so few for anywhere else, that I would consider Brooklyn pretty safe. The year has much more variety in sourcing. DJ Clayworth (talk) 18:11, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Hm. The article currently reads When she was about one year old, the family moved to Florida but returned to Seattle before she was five. Did they live in Seattle once, but moved to Florida and then back to Seattle, or was this the first time they'd ever been in Seattle? It's kind of confusing. 99.166.95.142 (talk) 17:21, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

According to Jeff Lenburg's biography of Lake, Peekaboo, her parents lived on Lefferts Avenue in Brooklyn when she was born, and then at the age of eight, the family moved to Saranac, New York. Then she went to a Catholic girls boarding school in Montreal. Pepso2 (talk) 17:43, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

fringe (TV series), season 1, episode 18 (midnight) - soundtrack

hi! i would like to listen to one of the songs in the club scene (@53th minute including commercials), after walter says "prepare the table, agent farnsworth" (or similar) and the syphilis-guy says "thank u" (the song says "about u" quite often, i think...) (the fbi gurl asks "have u found something?" (or similar) and peter says "not yet - i got her" (or similar))... who can say the name of the song? and its artist...? thx. bye. --Homer Landskirty (talk) 03:47, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

There is a chance it could be one of these: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1390443/soundtrack. Lanfear's Bane | t 23:53, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

nope... but ur suggestion made me google for fringe midnight soundtrack; and i found this [15] - the tune is the one by ladytron: [16]... :-) w00t *wag tail* --Homer Landskirty (talk) 01:29, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Guitar Center People!

Does Guitar Center just MATCH the lowest price advertised, or will they actually LOWER it? I'm looking at this Gretsch 5120, and on most sites it goes for $699, and that price is also on Guitarcenter.com So, is that the only price they'll stay at, or will it go even cheaper to be the "Guaranteed Lowest Price" ? 05:47, 7 December 2009 (UTC)Moptopstyle1 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moptopstyle1 (talk • contribs)

And also, I CAN'T SIGN TALK PAGES! For real! I Click the "Moptopstyle1 05:49, 7 December 2009 (UTC)" things, and it doesn't work! Sorry, it just won't except it? Any other ideas for me to sign? Watch it won't take it! Moptopstyle1 05:49, 7 December 2009 (UTC) I signed it and it won't work! Moptopstyle1 05:49, 7 December 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Moptopstyle1 (talk • contribs)

Never mind about the signing my talk pages. Jayron32 figured it out for me. But does anyone know the answer to the Guitar Center question? Moptopstyle1 (talk) 06:03, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Song from I.O.U.S.A.

Hello friends, There is an instrumental song in the documentary called I.O.U.S.A.. If you watch the 30 -minutes, Byte-Sized version here, it begins at 8:46 and lasts for around one minutes. I've searched extensively, but to no avail. Any help would be much appreciated.```` —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jerjacques (talk • contribs) 06:53, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

30 Rock Song

There's a string-quartet song in the latest episode of 30 Rock that I'm really hankering for. It starts at 19:27. Many thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jerjacques (talk • contribs) 07:06, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Play a midi on CD?

Someone sent me a midi (new to me!) and I can click on it and play it on my computer. Can I transfer it to play it on a CD? If so, how? I am an elderly ignoramus so please don't use too much jargon! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jetolan (talk • contribs) 11:20, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

MIDI files (which normally have a .mid extension) are stored in a special format, which just encodes the notes and voices. This isn't compatible with a CD. You'll need MIDI player software which can output to audio files, or you can record the output of your PC. Google[17] suggests there are a few websites (such as Hamienet) and free software packages which will convert midi to MP3 or wave audio which can then be burnt to a CD, but I don't have the experience to recommend any.--Pleasantman (talk) 15:01, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Thank you, Pleasantman. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jetolan (talk • contribs) 22:14, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Ghana's national football team's biggest loss?

Ghana national football team says Brazil 8-2 Ghana 1996-03-27, with references for that score, but not mentioning if it's Ghana's biggest loss. Bulgaria national football team says Bulgaria 10–0 Ghana 1968-10-02 with no references at all. Contradiction pointed out via OTRS. -- Jeandré (talk), 2009-12-07t12:38z, -- Jeandré (talk), 2009-12-07t12:40z

According to the very comprehensive EU Football website, it was a friendly played in Leon, Mexico, shortly before the 1968 Olympics (held in Mexico City) in which Bulgaria and Ghana competed in the football (soccer) championship - although there's a lack of references, and eu-football.info is banned from Wikipedia. The two teams never met in the Olympic tournament, in which Bulgaria was ultimately runner-up to Hungary but Ghana went out in the first round.[18] --Pleasantman (talk) 15:22, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

The RSSSF archive, which is very comprehensive, doesn't list the Bulgaria-Ghana game[19], so I'm a little worried if there's any evidence it took place. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pleasantman (talk • contribs) 15:37, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

For what it's worth, the 1968 game would presumably have been played by the Olympic teams and not the official national teams and may not be considered a full international. The FIFA web site does not list the Ghana game - in fact it seems that Bulgaria and Ghana have never played a full international against one another - but does list the 1996 Brazil friendly. --Xuxl (talk) 18:27, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

song from La Chinoise

Godard's La Chinoise has this song. Whose song is this? The female voice introduces tonal and rhythmic shift. What do you call this in music? Anything to do with contrapuntal? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Saptharishi (talk • contribs) 14:26, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

If by "Whose song is this?" you mean "Who wrote it and sings it?" the answer is Claude Channes. Deor (talk) 01:44, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Agency name/address for John Williams the film composer

I would like to book John Williams for a future event and need the name/address/phone of his agency in order to make contact. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.74.134.208 (talk) 20:16, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Did you try Googling "john williams agent"? The first hit is this page, which lists an agent who is allegedly his. Naturally, this is on a random Internet site, so be careful that you are able to validate that it's really his agent and not some con artist who will book you with John Williams, the puppeteer. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:23, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Or John Williams the classical guitar player. --TammyMoet (talk) 10:31, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

The Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency, Inc. lists him as one of their composers on their web page[20] --Pleasantman (talk) 15:15, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Seven dwarfs, seven samurai

Any connection? 78.146.231.126 (talk) 21:40, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

There are 7 of both of them. --Jayron32 21:54, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Snow White is a fairy tale dating back hundreds of years. Seven Samurai is a movie from 1954. If you want to claim that the Disney movie is related to Seven Samurai, keep in mind that the Disney movie was released before Seven Samurai. So, you'd be claiming that, for some reason, Kurosawa watched the Disney cartoon and decided to change the dwarfs to samurai, give them entirely new names and personalities, get rid of Snow White and the witch, forget about the whole apple thing, replace the forest with a Japanese village, and drop everything about the animals being helpful servants. Pretty much, he'd just keep the fact that the stories both take place somewhere on a little blue-green planet somewhere in space. -- kainaw™ 21:59, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

I have no idea if there is any connections between the stories. I'd guess no, but I'm no historian/linguist/etc but you sound like the kind of person who would enjoy this page: 7_(number). Aaadddaaammm (talk) 22:02, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

And exactly what Kainaw describes did happen to Seven Samurai, not for the seven dwarves though. "Its influence can be most strongly felt in the western The Magnificent Seven (1960), a film specifically adapted from Seven Samurai. Director John Sturges took Seven Samurai and adapted it to the Old West, with the Samurai replaced by gunslingers." Seven Samurai. Aaadddaaammm (talk) 22:07, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

That is not exactly what I described. Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven have very similar plot lines. The Seven Dwarfs and Seven Samurai have nothing by trivial plot elements in common. -- kainaw™ 02:38, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

I wonder what the chances are of Kurosawa seeing SWATSD. Was it distributed in Japan? 78.146.231.126 (talk) 23:28, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

According to imdb, it was released in Japan in 1950. Seven Samurai came out in 1954. Woogee (talk) 01:59, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Many directors, Kurasawa included, are students of film worldwide. Even if there was not widespread release of some movie in Japan, it is likely that he was familiar with it. --Jayron32 02:34, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

The Snow White story probably has a closer connection to The Seven Little Foys than it does to the Samurai. Although the thought of the Samurai marching to war singing the "Hi-Ho" song is an interesting mental picture. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:13, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

George Romero once said he wanted to do a remake with women which he would title The Magnificent 14. Pepso2 (talk) 03:38, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Vaguely related to that, though not much to the OP's question, was this Carnac joke: "Divine Right ... Describe half of Raquel Welch!" ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:05, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

And then there is Snow White and the Seven Samurai, which is a poor article, and the Tom Holt website page about the book is not that much better. Here the dwarves and the Samurai are the same beings, or maybe not. Bielle (talk) 04:58, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Probably not, but A Bug's Life is a retelling of that story.... Kingsfold (talk) 18:06, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Guitar Center

Does Guitar Center just MATCH the lowest price advertised, or will they actually LOWER it? I'm looking at this Gretsch 5120, and on most sites it goes for $699, and that price is also on Guitarcenter.com So, is that the only price they'll stay at, or will it go even cheaper to be the "Guaranteed Lowest Price" ? Moptopstyle1 21:53, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Have you contacted your local Guitar Center? They will likely answer your questions over the phone or in person. I'm a Sam Ash man myself, but I've used Guitar Center for some stuff before. They seem like reasonable people at my local store, and I don't think they'd laugh at me behind my back if I asked this kind of question of them. --Jayron32 21:56, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Well, I have asked them if they match prices in China! ha! They said they don't! I wish they did! You can get a Gibson, Seriously, for $200! But, I guess I could ask them. But the nearest Guitar Center is an hour 1/2 away from me. So... Moptopstyle1 22:05, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

John Lennon 2

What kind of impact did he have on society when he was alive? Moptopstyle1 22:01, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

See The Beatles, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Imagine (song) for a start. He was a wildly successful performer in a band, had good success as a solo artist and was known to be vocal about his thoughts on all manner of things political. ny156uk (talk) 23:22, 7 December 2009 (UTC)

Also see more popular than Jesus for his own reference to his (and the Beatles') impact on society. -- kainaw™ 05:22, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

You could say he was responsible for the end of the Vietnam war. And you could also say he gave us some of the most enduring popular music of the 20th century. Really, however, measuring the impact of one man on modern Western society is a job for future generations. --TammyMoet (talk) 10:30, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

The second statement is demonstrably true. The first statement is not. I assume you were being funny with that one. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 10:34, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Alice in Wonderland

Was that movie about Alice going on a drug trip? Cause she eats a mushroom or something and then goes to the Wonderful land of Oz. ha, ha. Okay, just wherever she went. Moptopstyle1 02:34, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

The drug references in Alice are rather overt, the "eat me" cakes and "drink me" drinks which mess up Alice's perception of the world seem so. Such references are themselves the basis for the Jefferson Airplane song "White Rabbit". Don't confuse Alice in Wonderland with the Wizard of Oz, which has its own drug references (poppies... poppies...) Completely different stories. But yes, you are not the first to notice those allusions. --Jayron32 03:50, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

I was joking about the "Wizard of Oz" thing. Ha. It really does seem like "Alice In Wonderland" would be a very "druggie" movie. Especially with a lot of the psychedelic scenes. It almost seems like the song "Lucy in The Sky With Diamonds" belongs on the soundtrack. Moptopstyle1 06:03, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

I've never noticed the drug themes in "The Wizard of Oz." The poppies would be a direct hit to heroin, but what about "Emerald City"? it's designed to look like "Crystals" isn't it? And maybe how the "Good Witch Of The North" made it "Snow" when they fell asleep in the "poppies." "Pixie dust" possibly? I've always thought "The Wizard of Oz" was a clean movie! ha, ha. Moptopstyle1 06:12, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

You are aware that the movie The Wizard of Oz predates most of the slang drug names you mention, and that the book it is based on predates them by a long way? DJ Clayworth (talk) 15:24, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Also that Alice in Wonderland (the Disney film released in 1951) is based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll's 1865 novel) and both of these predate 1960s drug culture (with its use of Psilocybin mushrooms)? AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 15:38, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

To make things a little clearer for my answer; the "poppies" thing was the only overt drug reference from TWoO. However, while the Alice stuff predates the 60's drug culture by about a century, it certainly does not predate drugs. Laudanum and Opium were well known to Carroll's time; Samuel Taylor Coleridge was openly using drugs to "enhance" his creativity some 50 years before Carroll even! The 60's did not invent drug use... --Jayron32 18:29, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

December 8

Most prolific voice actor

Who is the most prolific voice actor? jc iindyysgvxc (my contributions) 05:16, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

I'll be surprised if anyone has done more voice work than Mel Blanc. He did tons of work every year for almost 60 years. -- kainaw™ 05:20, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Currently working, I would say Frank Welker and Billy West are pretty prolific. Livewireo (talk) 15:52, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Other voice actors who appear in LOTS of stuff nowadays include

• Carlos Alazraqui, who as a live actor plays Deputy Garcia on Reno 911!; his voice work is pretty extensive. You'd know him best as the Taco Bell Chihuahua, but the rest of his work is all over the place.
• Mark Hamill (yes THAT Mark Hamill) has quietly made quite a career as a voice actor. He's got a quite a versitile range of voices that he does; but he's best known as The Joker in just about any animated Batman series for the past 15-20 years. He also has numerous voices around the Adult Swim universe.
• Hank Azaria does about 3/4ths of the voices on The Simpsons, which of itself would make him one of the most prolific voice actors working.
• Harry Shearer does most of the rest of the voices that Hank Azaria doesn't do for The Simpsons. Other than the Simpson family themselves, Hank and Harry do almost every other voice in the series.
• Brendon Small, most famous for Metalocalypse and Home Movies, also shows up all over Adult Swim
• Seth Green also does a LOT of voice work, besides his live action stuff, mostly for Family Guy and Robot Chicken.

--Jayron32 18:24, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

TV show about technology ending in concentration camps

Maybe 10-20 years ago I saw a (I think) PBS show about technology along the lines of James Burke's Connections in which one episode ended at the site of a German concentration camp with the host or narrator reaching down and pulling up a handful of soil that included the ashes of victims. I could be wrong about it being strictly about technology or part of a series but I don't think it was only about WW2/Germany/concentration camps. I looked at the short descriptions of the Connections episodes and didn't see it there but the descriptions are not very detailed. My memory of the scene isn't of James Burke either, but again, it was years ago. Any body remember this? If someone can answer I will double my recent donation to WP. TIA! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.234.6.239 (talk) 07:45, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Okay, here's an answer: "I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn't know." --Anonymous, 08:25 UTC, December 8, 2009.

Probably this famous scene from Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man. Save your money, give it to something deserving. meltBanana 10:39, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Rest In Peace John Lennon

Is the murderer of John Lennon, Mark David Chapman, still in prison? and if he is, is there any possibility he might face the death penalty? Which I surely doubt he would now after, 39 years, but, it is never too late.

And also, when John Lennon went to art school a while before the Beatles, did any of his sketches make it out into the public? Is there any existence of his sketches?

In addition, is there any suggestions of ways you can remember his life on this day? (for those who do not know, today is the 39th anniversary of when he was murdered in New York City)

It'd be nice if people can go to John Lennon's Talk Page and leave a "+" or anything in Respect of him. Thank you. Moptopstyle1 08:38, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

This[21] is a misuse of wikipedia, as it has nothing to do with improving the article. Hence I removed it. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 09:14, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

I'm going to answer your first question with a question... Have you read the Mark David Chapman article? For the second, no, there is no chance he'd face the death penalty. He's already been sentenced. Dismas|^(talk) 09:34, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Go to google and enter ["john lennon" sketches] for starters. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 09:49, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

In the interest of accuracy, today is the 29th anniversary of John's passing, not the 39th. As to his artwork, he wrote two books in the sixties, In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works. Both books are illustrated with his own artwork.Chief41074 (talk) 15:20, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

If you want to see how people are remembering John Lennon, a good place to look would be Yoko Ono's website.

Interpretation of Barbie Girl lyrics

In the song Barbie Girl, there is a line which goes "Come jump in, _____, let us do it again" where I can't be sure what the correct interpretation of the words in the blank is. According to the lyrics published in court documents, it is "be my friend," but after hearing the song many times, I have to say it sounds closer to "bimbo friend" (there is a mention of bimbo elsewhere in the song). Web sources are split relatively evenly between the two interpretations. Which interpretation is more correct? 128.2.251.173 (talk) 12:55, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Is it on youtube? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:26, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Here's the video. The line seems to be at 1:54, and sounds (and looks) like he's saying "bimbo friend". It's not unusual for published lyrics to differ from the performed lyrics; musicians vary the wording sometimes. Fribbler (talk) 14:46, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

That link doesn't work. It just takes you to the youtube page, where it says, "This video is not available in your country due to copyright restrictions." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:13, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Hmm. Works here in Oirland. Maybe try a related video? Fribbler (talk) 15:26, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

This site suggests "..bimbo friend..", which is what it sounds like on the video. Ghmyrtle (talk) 15:31, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

OK, so this is not an advertisement for the Barbie Doll. "Bimbo" seems to appear several times in the lyrics. Obviously the doll manufacturers wouldn't use that term, but songwriters certainly might. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:39, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Powerthirst bodybuilder

Who is the way over-the-top pumped bodybuilder in the Powerthirst video and other internet memes? Is that how he really looked or is the picture altered? DarkAudit (talk) 16:05, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

How do I play this guitar tab?

Hi. I am new to the guitar and have been learning to play some riffs using guitar tabs. However I am confused by part of one tab shown below.

e-----------
B--3--3--3--
G--2--2--0--
D--0--0--0--
A-----------
E--2--2--3--

Now, I understand that the 0s mean that you play an open string and that if there is no number you just don't play the string. What is confusing me is that this is the first time I have seen a situation where there is a string with no number (i.e. the A string) but numbers on the strings above and below. On a literal interpretation this would seem to suggest that you have to not pick the A string, but pick E, D, G and B (with D being an open string, and G being an open string on the last column of numbers). Is that what you are meant to do? If so, I didn't realise that you could do that. If that is what you do, can somebody please tell me what the technique to skip a string is called? For some reason, I can't find an explicit mention of how to interpret this on the guitar tab sites, perhaps it is so common that they don't think it needs explaining. Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks CreepingOnTheCeiling (talk) 17:12, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

You've got it right. If I were reading it, I'd pluck the B, G, D strings with my fingers and the low E with my thumb. (Often the unplayed strings are marked with an "x".) You can't strum it easily, though; it's for picking. Something beginning guitarists don't realize sometimes: you don't have to use all six strings all the time. In fact, it's best not to a lot of the time. (Says the man who took that to an extreme and started playing ukulele instead.) --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 17:54, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

You could also play it strum style. Your left hand could play it two different ways, using either the thumb OR index finger to play the bass notes on the low-E string, and the remaining fingers to hold the other strings depending on which was more comfortable. I tend to use my thumb to play this chord. The trick is you can "mute" the A-string with the thumb, basically when you play that F# note with your thumb, you roll it forward far enough to "just touch" the A-string which will mute it. Muting the high-e string is also easy, just let your palm rest on it so it doesn't sound. You'll find that with some practice you can mute just about any string while sounding the string immediately above or below it, which means you can play chords like this while strumming. --Jayron32 18:06, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Incidentally, this is a D major chord, with the third in the bass, i.e. D/F#. Therefore, if you were to strum it, it wouldn't matter a lot if you allowed the A string to ring (because it is part of the chord), but normally you would want to mute the e sting. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 18:43, 8 December 2009 (UTC)

Jazz song requests

I'm quickly becoming a fan of jazz music. Right now my hands down favorite is Blue in Green by Miles Davis. It's soft and smooth, easy and melancholy, with Bill Evans' light piano in the background, with soothing sounds from Mile's trumpet and John Coltrane's sax. See YouTube video here: [22]

Anywho, I'm wondering if anyone could please point out similar songs to Blue in Green - similar mood and feel. I realize that's asking you to interpret the song from my point of view, but any close suggestions would be appreciated!

Thx Rangermike (talk) 19:20, 8 December 2009 (UTC)