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June 30

Britney Spears - Scandal

I remember that there was an old scandal (between 1997-2000 I think) of britney because she was topless in clip - I think the clip was "Don't Let Me Be the Last to Know". However I didn't find any newpaper on the internet, not in wikipedia - and felt hopeless - perhaps I wrong... I also remember that her mother sued the company because Spears was a teenage - Someone remember it? what was the song? The best would be a link to newspaper... --84.228.228.76 (talk) 15:54, 30 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Non-standard ways to qualify musical intervals?

I seem to remember reading (possibly in one of Rameau's own theoretical writings) that he proposed somewhere to call (what we call) a major 7th an augmented 7th. For consistency's sake the consequences would have to be (what we call) a minor 7th would have to be called just a 7th, or a possibly a perfect 7th ("une 7ème juste"), (what we call) a minor 2nd would have to be called a diminished 2nd and (what we call) a major 2nd would have to be called just a 2nd, or a perfect 2nd ("une 2nde juste"). But strangely I don't recall reading explicit statements to that effect.

So was it all a bad dream, or am I really remembering something?

Note that such a system (whether it was really proposed or used by anyone or was just a hallucination of mine) would be just as self-consistent as our usual system (the inversion of minor would be major, the inversion of diminished would be augmented, the inversion of perfect would be perfect, diminished would be one chromatic semitone below minor or perfect, augmented would be one chromatic semitone above major or perfect and diminished, minor, perfect, major, augmented would follow each other on the cycle of rising 5th). But in such a system only the 3rd and the 6th could be minor or major, all other intervals would be perfect (or diminished, augmented, etc.) So it wouldn't be enough to dismiss this on the grounds that Rameau couldn't have proposed such an absurd system. In fact as far as I can recall he justifies his proposal carefully. On the other hand that too could be part of a midsummer nightmare.

Note also that there already is an alternative system to our usual system that I have without any doubt seen used by some continental Europeans and that goes in the other direction: in that system (what we call) a perfect 4th is called a minor 4th, (what we call) an augmented 4th is called a major 4th, (what we call) a diminished 5th is called a minor 5th, (what we call) a perfect 5th is called a major 5th, and so on. That system too is completely coherent but there the only perfect interval is the unison, all other are either major or minor (or diminshed, augmented, etc.)

Does any of this ring a bell?

Contact Basemetal here 16:48, 30 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Minor and major 4th (i.e. perfect and augmented 4th) were used by Mozart, as can be seen in a chart of intervals in Thomas Attwood's theoretical and compositional studies with him. However, he calls the diminished and perfect 5th respectively the false and true 5ths. The modification making them minor and major 5ths makes it more coherent, but I haven't seen it. If you find it, a link would be highly appreciated!

Calling the minor 7th a "perfect 7th" is a bit odd, to me. I'd prefer to let "minor 7th" denote the 12-ET interval, close to 9:5 (the 5-limit one) or 16:9 (the Pythagorean one), and let "perfect 7th" mean the harmonic seventh 7:4. But since 7-limit tuning mentions that Rameau considered 7:4 to be a dissonant interval, I have a hard time imagining why he would call it a perfect 7th, so I confess that I am at a loss. Double sharp (talk) 14:57, 1 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Here, on p. 22 you can see the guy uses minor and perfect 5ths (for our diminished and perfect 5ths) and major and perfect 4ths (for our augmented and perfect 4ths). Actually in French they're not "perfect" but "true" ("juste"). So not exactly Mozart's system. Not exactly what I remembered and what you're asking a link for either. Yet for some reason that little work was one of the places I thought I remembered minor/major 5ths and major/minor 4ths. So this is not the link you wanted but it's going in the right direction

I'll keep looking. I'm almost certain I've seen minor/major 4ths and minor/major 5ths, if not here (obviously) then elsewhere. As to Rameau like I said I am really not sure. From what I faintly remember he wanted to avoid having the augmented 7th ("septième superflue"? that would be ironic!) be the interval that's enharmonic to the 8ve because he was claiming that interval "doesn't exist" (?) and proposed renaming our major 7th into augmented 7th and that was his main motivation. One of the thing I seem to remember is that I came away thinking it was a "good" feature of this system that only the 3rd and the 6th could be major/minor. Note also what I remember is it was a speculative proposal, not the system he actually used. But all of this is so blurred that I really can't seriously affirm anything. Maybe one day I'll wade through "Traité de l'harmonie" and "Nouveau système" here to try and figure out what the hell it is I'm talking about. Contact Basemetal here 16:55, 1 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

To be fair, the modern augmented seventh is rare to non-existent in modern harmony. It would technically qualify as a dissonance, being an augmented interval, but it is a real tour de force to make a perfect octave function as a dissonance! I have not seen this tried much in tonal harmony outside Alkan (which is of course in character of him, a renowned hater of enharmonic spellings). Double sharp (talk) 08:54, 5 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Note: The observations in my first post about the coherence of those non-standard systems for qualifying musical intervals, the relation between them and the order of intervals on the circle of 5ths, etc only make sense if we're only talking Pythagorean intervals but those observations about coherence, etc are entirely mine, they don't belong to Rameau's discussion (or anyone else's). So it is entirely possible that certain proposals on qualifying musical intervals concern themselves with natural intervals that are outside the Pythagorean system just like you're suggesting. Contact Basemetal here 17:14, 1 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Here you can read at the bottom of the page (which is p. 721 of the book): "La quinte diminuée se nomme quelquefois quinte mineure, et la quinte juste, quinte majeure". If you Google the equivalent of "major fifth" and "minor fifth" in continental European languages ("quinte majeure", "quinte mineure" in French, "große Quinte", "kleine Quinte" in German, etc) you may be able to find other examples. In any case that's how I located the link I've just given here. Of course you're bound to find relatively old sources as I believe nowadays the English usage has become pretty much universal ("quarte juste", "quarte augmentée", "quinte diminuée", "quinte juste" in French, "reine Quarte", "übermäßige Quarte", "verminderte Quinte", "reine Quinte" in German, and so on) Contact Basemetal here 00:05, 2 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Another possible reason for the decline of these terms, now that quarter tones are pretty much a standard device now, is that major fourth seems to have been redefined as the C-F

interval (almost exactly 11:8), and minor fifth means its inversion C-G

. (The system at Quarter tone#Interval size in equal temperament is not consistent; C-G

is a minor fifth, but C-C

is a semidiminished octave. I wonder how one could construct a consistent system?) Double sharp (talk) 09:02, 5 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

July 1

Olympics opening and closing ceremonies

An odd question I've been musing about for a day or two... At Olympic opening ceremonies there is always some big artistic performance depicting the history of the games or the country which pas playing host - all practiced at the main stadium in secret for several days before the ceremony. All well and good - but there is often a similar, if smaller, performance at the closing ceremony (ISTR that Barcelona in the 1990s had a huge fire festival and all sorts of other stuff during their closing ceremony). How and where are these rehearsed? I can't see how they could be rehearsed at the main stadium, since it would be in use for athletics in the final days of an Olympics. I also can't see them being rehearsed before the games, leaving a gap of two and a half weeks before performance. Do they somehow find down-time at the main venue, e.g., late at night after the events have finished? Or is the rehearsal all done at other venues and then all the necessary equipment and props moved en masse before the closing ceremony (a logistics nightmare, I'd imagine)? Thanks in advance for any answers... Grutness...wha? 13:05, 1 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

For the most recent one, see 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. "Rehearsals began in earnest in spring 2012 at an open-air site at Dagenham (the abandoned Ford plant)...Two full dress and technical rehearsals took place in the Olympic stadium on 23 and 25 July." Edit: oh wait, you're only asking about the closing ceremony. Scrub that, then. --Viennese Waltz 13:16, 1 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

From 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony: " There had been around 15 rehearsals for the volunteers at the Three Mills Studio and at a full-scale site in Dagenham, East London." --Viennese Waltz 13:32, 1 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

OK - cheers. Grutness...wha? 01:08, 2 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Ape Ejaculation

(Question moved to science desk, Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Science#Ape_Ejaculation. SemanticMantis (talk) 14:53, 1 July 2015 (UTC))[reply]

What kind of computer did Jerry have in his apt. on Seinfeld?

20.137.7.64 (talk) 15:39, 1 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

A mac of some sort, see here [1]. They say it was a Macintosh Performa, some other sources say it was a Macintosh SE. It seems like there were a few different Macs on the show, this page [2] lists several models used throughout the run. If you have a specific one in mind, someone here can probably identify it based on a picture and episode number. SemanticMantis (talk) 16:14, 1 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I had no particular episode in mind, I just noticed last night that the background of my Roku had an image of Seinfeld's apartment in coordination with the show being promoted on one of the streaming channels, and I saw the computer, which made me wonder the question. Thanks. 20.137.7.64 (talk) 16:42, 1 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, then make sure you read the first link. Your Roku might have been showing the promotional Seinfeld apartment that Hulu made up recently, and for a while at least was showing the wrong computer (i.e. not one that was shown on the show), and instead had some generic 90's windows PC. SemanticMantis (talk) 17:18, 1 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

July 2

Mr. Pine

In the third minute of "Mr. Pine" by the first version of Renaissance, a track otherwise unfamiliar to me, there's a familiar melody played on organ. Is it reused in a later Renaissance track, maybe "Ashes Are Burning"? —Tamfang (talk) 17:59, 2 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It's used in "Running Hard", on the same album: Illusion. According to the article, the theme is based on Jehan Alain's Litanies pour orgue. (judge for yourself, but, admittedly, maybe I'm not exactly certain about which excerpt you mean). ---Sluzzelin talk 18:12, 2 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. In "Mr. Pine", the melody I mean runs from 1:51 to 2:43; it's monophonic and slower than Litanies. — "Running Hard" is on Turn of the Cards, which I haven't heard in a while. —Tamfang (talk) 07:17, 4 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Abdel-Kader Zaaf

Was cyclist Abdel-Kader Zaaf, who was riding in the 1950's a black or white. My second question is was he French or Algerian? My Third question is the who is first black African to participat or ride in Tour de France? My last question who is the first cyclist to ever compete in Tour de France?— Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.202.251.31 (talk) 21:49, 2 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Our French Wikipedia page on him says he was born in Algeria, but had French nationality. Photographs of him [3] [4] suggest he was dark-skinned, but whether he was "black African" (i.e., of sub-Saharan descent) seems difficult to say - more likely he was of Berber ancestry. By the way, he competed before 1950, in 1948 - but was eliminated after just one stage. Grutness...wha? 01:28, 3 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Women's Water Polo

I was interested to note that the British Women's Water polo team for the 2012 Olympics (Great Britain women's national water polo team) had no one in common with the team at Baku 2015 [5]. So how long is a typical national team member likely to be in the team?

And then I noticed that the ages of the 2012 team are about 8 years greater than that of the 2015 team, even though playing only 3 years apart. What is normal? -- SGBailey (talk) 23:37, 2 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know, but given that they are that much younger, I would assume that the water polo federation is not taking the European games very seriously and sending a youth/B team. This is happening in many sports. Fgf10 (talk) 07:09, 3 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

July 3

Variety Club of Great Britain awards

The Variety Club of Great Britain (the link directs, not especially helpfully, to an article about the overarching international charity) used to hold an annual luncheon where a range of awards were handed out - here is the 1964 list, for instance. The organisation was apparently set up in Britain in 1948 - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/6526653/Variety-Club-of-Great-Britain-celebrates-diamond-jubilee.html - but, at some point, the awards ceremony seems to have ceased. Here is a picture of a 1980 award. Does anyone know any more about the history of these awards? More particularly, does anyone have a list of the winners? The obits for Val Doonican say that he won the award for BBC TV Personality - one of the Variety Club awards - three times, but I can't find any independent verification of that. At the time - presumably up to the 1980s - the awards were quite widely reported in the UK, but they have now been superseded by the Brits, BAFTA, soap awards, etc., etc. Ghmyrtle (talk) 15:04, 3 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The latest one I can find is 2010 - this is the IMDb entry for Channel 5's broadcast of it. Searching for "variety club showbiz awards 2011" (and subsequent years) doesn't come up with anything useful, but neither have I been able to find any official mention of their discontinuance. Tevildo (talk) 15:15, 3 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

What an interesting question. I haven't found the answer, but I have found the website for the Royal Variety Charity, and I wonder if they will be able to point you in the right direction if you email them? --TammyMoet (talk) 15:32, 3 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Do we know if the Royal Variety Charity is the same as Variety, the Children's Charity? I suspect they are separate organisations. Ghmyrtle (talk) 15:41, 3 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, they're different. The Royal Variety Charity used to be called the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund, according to this Rojomoke (talk) 19:49, 3 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Just to clarify, the "Showbiz Awards" were awarded by the children's charity (under their former name, "The Variety Club of Great Britain"). The artiste's charity is best known for the Royal Variety Performance. The children's charity is the one to contact regarding the awards. Tevildo (talk) 21:19, 3 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I suspect that the answers to my questions might only be found by emailing one of these people. As Tevildo says, the awards were most recently called the Variety Club Showbiz Awards. According to their 2011 annual report, "2012 has started with a huge change in the branding of the charity and we have changed the name from Variety Club to Variety the Children’s Charity. A plan has been developed to reposition the charity in a way that plays to its strengths, improve the branding by removing the word Club from the title and updating the corporate identity...." It also says: "A vigorous drive for cost effectiveness led us to review a number of events which have become a traditional part of our fundraising year but which were no longer delivering revenue at the level previously enjoyed. These less viable functions are being dropped in 2012..." So, that probably gives an end date for the awards themselves. Ghmyrtle (talk) 22:42, 3 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

What is this music?

Dear Wikipedians,

A BBC4 series on forensic history uses a piece of music as a 'theme'. I assume it is not an original composition as the credits show no composer. It is most obvious from 0:42 to 1:26 on link. Can anyone tell me what it is, and where I can find a longer version? Many thanks. 92.25.175.235 (talk) 22:04, 3 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

While I can't help you, you could try posting your question on the BBC message board, specifically this thread http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbpointsofview/NF1951566?thread=8324930 You'll have to sign up (it's free) and you'll be able to ask BBC viewers, some who watched the program.

Many thanks, have stuck a post up and hopefully will get some joy. 78.148.123.140 (talk) 16:24, 5 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

--TrogWoolley (talk) 19:53, 4 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately you've to be in the UK to play that video. I hope someone in the UK can help you. You could also ask the BBC to stop doing shit like this. Contact Basemetal here 22:39, 3 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Not true, Basemetal. I just watched the first couple of minutes and I'm in New Zealand. The music does sound familiar, not I can't place it, sorry. Grutness...wha? 01:35, 4 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Lucky duck. Their system detects your IP address, and if it's outside the UK, you're out of luck. Such is my fate. I have heard that the New Zealanders are more English than the English, but that's an absurd basis on which to run a file sharing system. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 03:57, 4 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

More likely not luck. BBC's iPlayer geolocation is fairly effective and more likely to block someone who should have access then the reverse. I expect Grutness is either with an ISP who offers Global Mode which isn't disappearing until September [6] and it was enabled by default, or someone in charge of the internet connection enabled it. Or alternatively someone in charge of their internet connection or browser set it up to get round the iPlayer geoblock. In any case, you're right the vast majority of people outside the UK are not going to be able to watch the video. Nil Einne (talk) 04:40, 4 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried a music identification service such as Shazam? It's quite good, but 50 seconds is sometimes not sufficient time for it to work. Matt Deres (talk) 12:58, 4 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

There's currently a brouhaha about Europe possibly severely tightening its "freedom of panorama" rules. Might that IP-based type of restriction also work to prevent Europe from seeing pics that we can see? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:33, 4 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's more likely that the BBC don't want people to see their programmes in countries which they may later sell them to for large amounts of money.

Also, British people have already paid to see them by stumping up their TV Licence fee. Alansplodge (talk) 19:25, 4 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

July 4

Stalemates and perpetual checks between chess engines

Is it known how many draws between competing chess engines were achieved by stalemates or perpetual checks/threefold repetition (possibly including strong ones like Houdini, Rybka and Stockfish)? Thanks in advance. Brandmeister^talk 13:54, 4 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I have 3 questions about the Jerry Springer show?

1. Are any of the guests "problems" actully real?
3. Are the transexual people on the show really trans or just pretending? Venustar84 (talk) 18:54, 4 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Is that show still on the air? I think he's been accused of "staging" stuff in the distant past. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:57, 4 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

1) It's rather obvious that they do something to make physical fights happen often, as they erupt way too often on stage to be mere chance. But, the degree to which it's staged is unclear. It's probably not fully staged, with actors playing all the parts and every fight choreographed in advance, as that would leave way too much of a trail. It might just be that getting "guests" on the show that hate each other, then announcing something to make one hate another even more, is enough to start a fight. Could be they offer some financial incentive to fight on the show (perhaps just paying people who are prone to fighting to be on is enough incentive). I'm doubt that any payments specifically to fight could be keep secret for long, though. StuRat (talk) 23:40, 5 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

2) I removed Q 2 ("when was the KKK last on") since you asked below and got an answer there. Don't double post Q's. StuRat (talk) 15:59, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

3) I don't see any reason why they couldn't get real trans people for the show. Presumably they would prefer that, since their viewers might be disappointed if that aspect of the show was revealed to be fake. And, unlike onstage fighting, it shouldn't be hard to find a new transsexual or two for every episode. StuRat (talk) 16:03, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

July 5

Movie

Hello all

Does anyone know what film is used in this Youtube clip?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XzYeHE2O4k

Thanks :)27.32.225.185 (talk) 15:46, 5 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The Baader Meinhof Complex, it also says that in the comments. Nanonic (talk) 16:05, 5 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

How to pronounce Roku

My wife and I disagree about the pronunciation of "Roku". She says "row-koo", and my idea is "rock-you." Which is correct? --Halcatalyst (talk) 15:46, 5 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Roku, Inc. says "/ˈroʊkuː/ ROH-koo", and cites a post on the company's website. Rojomoke (talk) 16:30, 5 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. --Halcatalyst (talk) 16:53, 5 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Wrong Turn at Tahoe plot

I just watched the movie and seem to have missed a critical plot point. Jeff provided Joshua and in turn his boss Vincent incorrect info that Frank Tahoe was out to kill Vincent. This misinformation causes everyone in the movie to lose their lives, loved ones, or be wounded. So, why was this misinformation given ? I got that Jeff owed $3000 for drugs to somebody and that this was somehow the reason, but I didn't get the details. Was it Frank Tahoe he owed the money to, and was Jeff hoping to cancel his debt when Joshua and Vincent kill him ?

There's also an apparent plot hole, when mob boss Nino orders Vincent's wife brutally killed, even though Joshua and Vincent have already proven they can get the jump on Nino's men. It would therefore be obvious to Nino that he was putting the lives of himself, his wife, and his "soldiers" at risk, by killing Vincent's wife before first killing Joshua and Vincent. So, perhaps I didn't miss anything on Jeff's reasons for lying, and it's just another giant plot hole. StuRat (talk) 23:07, 5 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

July 6

When was the last time the KKK on the Jerry Springer show?

Please let me know. Thanks! Venustar84 (talk) 00:56, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Looks like there were a few appearances of current or former KKK members in 1996/7. The most recent I can find is this one [7], which aired Tue, 2006-09-26. There may have been more recent shows with the KKK, but at least this is a starting point. SemanticMantis (talk) 14:47, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Do "Christian films" automatically mean "Protestant"?

So, I watched Confessions of a Prodigal Son (2015) and In the Name of God (2014). Both of them had a church scene, and in both church scenes, the pastor wore a suit and a tie instead of vestments. I concluded that the denomination must be Baptist, Evangelical, non-denominational, or something very low-church. I might have watched a horror film that involved a Roman Catholic priest performing an exorcism on a little girl. It was more creepy than spiritual. Are there Christian films that actually portray Roman Catholicism in a positive light? 66.213.29.17 (talk) 20:07, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Restorationists (who are protestants whether they want to admit it or not) and Evangelical protestants place more emphasis on being separate from the "sinful" world while still "fitting in" when comes to wholesome entertainment. Those movements flourished in America. Randall Balmer's documentary "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" covers all that in more detail. Oddly, in my Bible Belt home town, "inspirational" literature in book stores features "Amish" characters (I put Amish in quotes because the books or movies were usually written by Baptists, non-denominationalists, or Mormons who never met any Amish people).

I haven't seen the whole thing, but The Shoes of the Fisherman seemed positive. There are a number of works based on the Father Brown stories, but they're mysteries starring a priest (though created by a devout Catholic) rather than being just "inspirational" literature. Other movies would be listed in Category:Films about Roman Catholicism, but that page would also list movies that are not as positive, like Doubt. For some reason, Kevin Smith's Dogma isn't listed. Like Erasmus, it takes issues with certain human ideas popular in the Catholic church, but affirms its sanctity. Ian.thomson (talk) 20:24, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

You may be interested in the IMDB list Catholic Church at the Movies. -- ToE 22:14, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Lots of Spanish movies made during Franco's time present CCatholic priest in a good light ranging from the serious ones such as Miracle of Marcelino (well, those are monks, but still Catholic) to the silly ones such as El Padre Coplillas. Even in Miracles of Thursday, which is the closest you could get to religious satire at the time, the village Catholic priest is the most honest and sane character of the movie.--85.55.195.78 (talk) 23:29, 6 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Explanation of magic trick

I watched the documentary "An Honest Liar" focusing on James Randi and there was the part describing Project Alpha where Randi planted two guys good at magic tricks in the McDonnell Laboratory to show that magicians who of course didn't have real powers could show that the researchers weren't sufficiently tight in their experimental protocols and were being tricked. There was a part in "An Honest Liar" where the two accomplices were describing a time when the researchers put a spinnable rotor under a bell jar and one of the magicians couldn't get his to spin but the other could. The one who couldn't told the interviewer on the documentary that he went and talked to the other magician by the soda machine, and then he could do it. But they didn't mention what the trick was to be able to do it. What was the trick to be able to spin the rotor under the bell jar without touching it? 75.75.42.89 (talk) 03:04, 7 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]