User talk:Cinemaniac/Archives/Miscellanea

"Young Turks (talk show)" Article in Need of Assistance, please!

What is your question? Lara❤Love 02:24, 22 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The tags on the article for cleanup and such alert editors who are interested in making such improvements. If you have a question, please replace the helpme template followed by your question. Lara❤Love 02:32, 22 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

My main concern was the article's current status—it's just a hodgepodge of random facts! As you can see, I tried to improve the article by adding sections and confirming the external links, but, as far as that, I wasn't sure if there was anything else I could do to make the article better. I'd hoped I helped draw attention to that article. It's in dire need of cleanup. — Cinemaniac (talk) 03:57, 22 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Merry Christmas!

Oh, what a merry Christmay Day!

Here the joyous music play.

Bells are ringing, choirs singing,

Oh, what a merry Christmas Day!

Sharing the season of good cheer

With the ones we hold so dear.

Friendly faces, warm embraces

Oh, what a merry Christmas Day!

Snowflaked-covered country lanes,

Christ's birth-painted windowpanes,

Twinkling stars atop Christmas trees,

Oh, what happy memories!

Gathered 'round the fireplace,

Families filled with love and grace.

From the peaceful ember's glow

Blessed yuletide spirits grow

Grow and grow,

Grow and grow!

Joy to the children far and near.

What a wondrous time of year!

Isn't it just grand to say!

Merry, merry Christmas

Oh, what a Merry Christmas Day! [1]

Call me a sentimental old fluff if you want to, but my time so far as an official Wikipedian editor has been great! In fact, far better than I could have anticipated. After nearly two months and 600 edits, I've:

1) built a friendly relationship with many editors of the Wikipedian community;

2) Created an article;

3) Joined several different Wikiprojects;

4) Successfully persuaded an IP editor to stop vandalizing;

5) Encouraged another user to join a Wikiproject;

6) Substantially expanded many articles;

7) Helped resolve several debates;

8) Helped solve niggling mysteries;

9) Generated a lot of healthy discussion; and

10) Learned how to make footnotes.

I'm feeling pretty good right now! ... and I sincerely hope all the rest of you out there are, too. Let's work together to make 2008 the best year for Wikipedia that the world has ever seen. Merry Christmas to one and all, have a Happy New Year, and. . . oh, forget the overly-PC-minded media. . . GOD BLESS US, EVERYONE! 8^) — Cinemaniac (talk) 03:44, 25 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

User name

That Jesus-whatever guy is here to cause trouble. I think you and I both should stop with our single respective comments and let the admins take over. The first thing he put on his user page was normal Christian preaching. The second thing was obviously intended to evoke a response. So let's just keep an eye on him and see if he does anything or if he's just bored and messing around on chilly Saturday, and will go away soon... especially if we don't talk to him (i.e. he's a troll). Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 00:40, 20 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed. Troll or not, there's nothing that upsets me more when someone so blatantly contradicts what they preach. Haven't people ever heard of The Golden Rule? — Cinemaniac (talk • contribs) 00:51, 20 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That's the dilemma - is he being serious, or is he just a troublemaker? I think the latter, as they tend to turn up here from time to time, mocking something by taking it to an extreme (like the Marx Brothers, minus the humor). But he hasn't done much of anything, and I alerted an admin to his presence, so hopefully it will be no problem. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 01:51, 20 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

He gone, along with another that's probably the same guy. [2] Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 01:55, 20 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The changed username probably wasn't the best choice, either. REPENT OR FACE ETERNAL DAMNATION!? I thought the whole point was to change your username to something less—uh—heated? . . . — Cinemaniac (talk • contribs) 02:12, 20 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Could have been a different guy. Either way, they be gone. :) Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 03:04, 20 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I edited your userpage

Hi Cinemaniac! I hope you don't mind, but I edited your userpage. I wanted to read your Important Projects, but the formatting of your user boxes was corrupted about down half way down the page and they overlapped that text. So I threw some formatting breaks into your userbox section at the mid-point to separate the project stuff. If you don't like it I apologize. Peace, out! --Captain Infinity (talk) 15:43, 20 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't mind at all, and thank you! It looks a lot better than what I had earlier. :-) Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 20:39, 20 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Cool, but unfortunately on a wider screen than the one I was using at the time, it still gets whacky: the projects section slides up and left of the boxes. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about how the userbox templates work, not to mention DIV tagging, to know how to fix this. --Captain Infinity (talk) 13:56, 21 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oh well, at the very least, it looks a little more organised. Thanks, again. Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 14:08, 21 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Race matters?

To show how keen my powers of observation are, I just now noticed that you are an American of African ancestry. So I feel kind of ashamed for going on and on about the songs of Arthur Collins or that general subject, which I suspect you might be all too familiar with already. And if not, that's just as well. But I would like to ask: What's your take on the racial stuff in the comedies and cartoons of that era in general, and specifically the (at least) two items in Duck Soup where this comes up? Does that kind of get under your skin a bit? Or do you just kind of say, "Well, that was then and this is now?" Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 03:10, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

First of all, I'm surprised you had the guts to actually look at the userboxes on my userpage (assuming you really read them), as it's a rather long section; you can thank Captain Infinity for formatting that section so that it would look better. I'm also somewhat surprised that my ethnicity is just being noticed, as I dropped hints of it here and there. Remember our "code and two pair of pants" discussion at Duck Soup, specifically the discussion of the "All God's Chillun Got Guns!" number? Look closely and you'll see, in my talking about, I say that "it didn't offend me at all".

:) Just a little humor before I dig deeper. Now. . .

To answer your first inquiry: No, I wasn't really familiar with Arthur Collins, so don't be ashamed of providing that information at all; it was very, as I like to call it, "infotaining". :)

Second, I have long been well aware of the racial and ethnic stereotyping in the comedies and cartoons of The Golden Age of Hollywood. Even so, TCM remains my all but favorite channel. My response towards such ethnic jokes is based on whether or not any ill intent was truly meant. I often laugh at such jokes, too, simply because if they're funny, they're funny, and that's all that really matters. In reality, there is no way to be funny without risking insult.

For example, I know very much about the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies series of permanently banned cartoons—the "censored eleven"—and I've seen no less than three of them: All this and Rabbit Stew, Jungle Jitters, and Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs. While all three of those films have their own certain merits—especially Rabbit Stew, which features that unforgettable moment of Bugs's arms and legs separating from his body during a double take—I came away from most of these films feeling that they were crude and held a certain amount of contempt in all the comic bits of business. However, I must defend Coal Black, because, yes, even though the stereotypes are paramount throughout that short, I can clearly see that no malice was meant. Having studied that film and its history closely during the most recent Black History Month, I think what really propels Coal Black beyond those visible stereotypes is the energy that the film has, in its beautiful animation and in the film as a whole. Besides, as a Looney Tunes devotee, I realise it clearly wouldn't have mattered whether the characters in that Clampett film were actually Black or not; his films were always wacky. :)

I guess you could say that I see such stereotyping as a virtual relic of the time it was prevalent, and I don't usually let that get in the way of whether or not I enjoy a film (although I must confess that hated Eddie Murphy's weak film Norbit pretty much for that reason).

I hope that answers your questions. . . if you actually read all of that. :-) Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 03:41, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your comments, the whole book's worth. :) As I hinted, I often don't pick up on things that should be obvious, but sometimes something odd will catch my eye. What brought me to this was an unusal edit summary on your re-adding of an apparently "phantom" category about WikiCommonSense (and aptly phantom, all too often, it seems). Then I took a look through your categories and everything else on your lengthy but creative user page, at the very least to see if there's anything I could steal. :) For one thing, I'm pleased to see that your interests are not confined to cartoons. Wet T-shirts are good, too. :) Related to that, the "human form" drawing appears to be extracted from the Voyager plaque. You see, I also pay attention to things besides cartoons. :) For another, I am always heartened when someone as young as yourself takes an interest in pop culture and history from generations past. And it occurs to me that your embracing of Christianity in a positive way coincides with your positive attitude in general. Including, I hope, forgiveness of my lack of observational skills. :) One thing I might be able to help with: You said something about being unsure how to archive stuff from your talk page. At some point, if you're interested, I'll tell you how I do it. I don't know if it's the "right" way, but it works for me. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 04:10, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

About [[Category:WikiCommonSense]]: I added that to my user page as a proclamation of sorts of my advocating something whose use seems to be dwindling and dwindling every day. I often emerge discouraged when I see nothing but bickering and edit warring at some of the pages I visit. Whatever happened to the fun of collecting information and collaborating to publish that information to the rest of the world who may need it? Isn't that the whole point? That certainly is why I joined Wikipedia, and so far I hope I've upheld that goal. However, upon reading your former talk page, I see that you encountered the opposition to that core goal, which apparently spearheaded your temporary retirement. Glad to see that you came back, though, as you've made some pretty outstanding contributions to the encyclopedia. I hope that I won't run into the same kind of "vandalising deletionists", but I regret that I eventually won't be able to avoid it.

On a somewhat-related note, although I may not always approve of what is published, I do not believe censorship is the way to go. I may not approve of what you say, but I will fight to the end to ensure your right to be able to say it. And hey, why not show a little bit of honest humor while fighting for that, eh? :)

I've often faced reproach in real life because of my fondness for vintage pictures and classics, but, to be honest, I can't apologise for that. I do like a lot of newer films, but I can't seem to enjoy them as much as I do the films of the "golden age". I can watch them over and over again and still derive enormous pleasure from them. I guess that's a testament to the skill and talent of the artists of that period, who have given us a template of high standards that my generation will have to live up to as it's churning out those often-debased, shoddy products year after year.

RE Christianity: While I'll be the first to admit that I am a Christian, I do not believe that avoiding—and, as often happens nowadays, bashing—those who aren't is the way to go. After all, as the villian Shylock essentially said in The Merchant of Venice, we're all humans, battling the same things and reaching for the same goal. As a result, I do my best to respect other religions and live by Jesus's commandment to love others.

Finally, about talk page archiving: As I say on my user page, I've read the instructions, but still remain unsure about how to do it without screwing up. While I may be persuaded to archive my talk page in the future, I have no intentions to now, since I actually like the discussions I have here with other editors, and, since I often refer back to the chats I've had here, it helps chart my growth and development here at Wikipedia. Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 04:55, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

OK, time for a little rant of my own, and I apologize if I've said some of this stuff to you already. :) Back to the actual point I originally brought up, you're right that intent counts for a lot. I've only seen clips of Coal Black and it looks like it's a great cartoon. I have to commend WB for not censoring their stuff on the LTGC DVD's, but instead providing a disclaimer (done by Whoopi Goldberg initially, and then simply appearing as text), which is the right way to do things: Don't patronize the viewer, don't play "nanny", just let them know what's coming. Ethnic stereotyping is only one issue with cartoons of that era - extreme violence is another, satirized by "Itchy and Scratchy", and which is not far removed from the truth. The dilemma is that with any work of art, you don't know how someone is going to take it. Racists will use it to reinforce their own bigotry. But artists can't cater to those kinds of people, or they'll never do anything. I think it's fair to say that there was no racism in Groucho Marx at all, or for that matter in any of the other Marx Brothers, that I know of. Groucho was very liberal politically, as you probably know. Going farther back, I'm curious about your take on things like Stephen Foster songs. He throws words like "darkie" around quite a lot, which seems racist in one way of looking at it - yet his songs also seem to have a great deal of affection toward his "darkies". Is that racism? I don't think so. But it's not my call. One thing that offends me more than anything is white people telling people of other ethnic groups that they are "too sensitive". I find that extraordinarily patronizing. It's not my place to tell anyone how they "should" feel about anything. I want to know how they do feel, and why. You're right about comedy running the risk of insulting someone. One of my all-time favorite films is Blazing Saddles, which takes shots at just about every stereotype you can think of. I expect you've seen it, and you know that they throw the "N-word" around freely. I didn't hear this, but someone I knew who watched the film in the theater told me about it; they heard someone respond to this joke ("All right, we'll give some land to the n*gg*rs and the ch*nks; but we don't want the Irish!) with an indignant, "That's not funny!" Well, sorry, but it is. And I'm 1/4 Irish myself. :) Way back when, I recall a college instructor saying, "Meanings aren't in words, meanings are in people." How you treat someone individually matters more than anything. OK, end of rant. I now return control of the screen to you. :) Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 04:29, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You're right, Groucho was not racist at all; nor were any of the other Brothers, who all stated their disgust of the stupidity and hypocrisy of Anti-Semitism. As Chico Marx once told his daughter when they were thrown out of a hotel by some bigot managers: "There are some stupid people who don't like Jews. We don't need that hotel".

I have seen Mel Brooks's Blazing Saddles—in fact, I think I've seen all of his films—and I agree that it is very funny indeed. Maybe it's because of that film's self-satirical nature that we can laugh at such jokes; or maybe, as I've mentioned before, it's just funny because of the way it's said. After all, we live in the time of Richard Pryor and Chris Tucker and Dave Chappelle, all who have gained fame for their embracing mockery of stereotypes and slurs. I've seen Chappelle's Show on more than one ocassion—and if you didn't laugh at the pilot episode, you were pretty much meat to the dogs from then on out. But when Dave Chapelle uses it, in that sketch and in many others, there doesn't seem to be any venom in it, and it's mainly a sarcastic, ironic use of the word, so I laugh (and I mean, belly laughs) at his comedy, and others' like it. Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 05:12, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Archiving

Just for possible future reference, I do it the way someone once taught me. Maybe you know you can create sub-pages. That is, you have a user page and a user talk page. From either of those pages, you can create a sub-page just by going to the URL line and adding "/[whatever page name]" to it, and hitting return. It will prompt you to create a new page, just like it would for an article. Then you can create it and add whatever you want to it. Some folks use those sub-pages for developing new articles, for example. If you want to create your first archive page, you could do the following: (1) go into edit mode on the talk page; (2) click-and-drag to select everything you want to archive; (3) ctrl-x to cut it; (4) save the talk page; (5) start a new page by tacking /Archive001 to the URL, or whatever name you want to give your new page; (6) when prompted, create it; (7) paste in what you cut; (8) maybe say "New archive" in the edit summary; (9) save it; and (10) go back to your talk page and add a link to that archive page, maybe the way I did on my own talk page. I don't create a new archive every time, although I certainly could; instead, I just keep adding to the most recent one until it gets too big. I don't really go back to it too often, but sometimes it comes in handy. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 05:43, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! These instructions will come in handy if—well, I should say when—I archive my talk page, since it has grown to an almost intolerable length (as of this writing, 70 pages), and I highly doubt anyone with even the most patience would feel like nagivating this page. :) Thanks again! Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 15:43, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Depending on how you want to group things, you could create a separate archive for each time period, like maybe one for each month (in which case you could name them /Archive_2008_01 or some such) so that each one is a reasonable size. That's how I would do mine if I were to start over. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 16:43, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Others use methods used in wiki administrative pages, like archiving "resolved" issues periodically into separate numbered archives; or archiving "old" discussions, e.g. more than some number of days or weeks since the last comment. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 16:45, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I dislike that method, since there is no real time span for discussions, and I know how difficult it sometimes can be to find time to respond. I prefer to keep discussions open as long as possible. Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 16:58, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Another way, more innovatively, could be to keep the archives by topic. Then you could keep adding new stuff to them. And herr's another approach: I've seen some users who actually redirect their talk page to whatever their current archive is. When it gets big enough, they just switch the archive. That could be done by topic, also, which would be neat, except that it would compel the user to try to follow someone's system, which I would say has a limited chance of success. :) Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 17:09, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm. . . that's interesting, but I think it'd be too complicated for some of my visitors. While I might be swayed to use the archive-by-topic system, I think I'll just stick with the standard way of archiving, at least for now. Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 18:38, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Happy First Day of Spring!

Just wishing you a wonderful First Day of Spring {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}! ~~~~

If you live in the Southern Hemisphere and are entering the season of Autumn not Spring then I wish you a happy First Day of Autumn {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}!
To spread this message to others, add {{subst:First Day Of Spring}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

--Mifter (talk) 14:29, 20 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ya know, I kinda forgot it was springtime. Hey, that means it sunny outside! *looks out window and sees pouring rain* Oh well . . . Thanks anyway! :) Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 15:07, 20 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Note to self: Actually, after doing some quick research, I realise that the first day of spring doesn't actually start for me until about 13-14 hours from now. Fortunately, I'll only have to wait a little over eight hours from now before I can deliver this message to other editors. Thanks for the template! Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 15:31, 20 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Happy Spring to you too! Have a good one. Agtax 02:21, 21 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! I'm gonna try to wish the same to many of the other editors I know 'round these here parts, but real life preoccupations may limit me from posting this message to everyone on my list. Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 02:30, 21 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Taking Mifter's lead, I've been able to post this same, courteous message on the talk pages of practically every editor I've been in contact with in the last six months. I hope no one minds. :) I might as well get this off my chest: I wish everyone out there a good Spring Break, and a Happy New Year! :-) --Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 03:42, 21 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks so much for the Spring wishes! Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 04:12, 21 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Likewise. Happy vernal equinox! Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 04:19, 21 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the the "Spring in the Air!" message. Unfortunately, I'm too tired right now. Maybe after a little sleep, I'll do a little hop. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 05:38, 21 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you as well for your kind message, and I must say it was a horrible day to start spring. It was about -5 degrees with the wind chill where I live. Yet, I braved it to get some free Rita's Water Ice. :P ~ Bella Swan 12:07, 21 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You're welcome! It's actually been a pretty good "first day" of spring where I live, although it feels like the summertime, the weather reaching around 80 degrees! It was so suddenly hot that, to adjust, I had to buy two Livewire Mountain Dews! :) Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 21:59, 21 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hello

Hello this is The K.o. King. I was just looking at your User Page and I noticed that your User Box's are very neatly organized if you ever get a chance and if you feel like it could you organize mine I think it's a little messy? If you want to thanks and if you don't want to Bam you (just kidding). Oh, I am also happy to find another Christian on this site out of curiosity do live close to Blackstone VA.? Leave a message on my page when you get a chance please...God Bless!! The K.O. King (talk) 16:05, 24 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

BTW, about my userboxes: For a long time that section was rather long and messy, too, before Captain Infinity went ahead and organised the section into split tables. I'm not sure how to do those kinds of things, but you can ask him if you want. :) And God Bless! :) Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 01:33, 25 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

RfC on me

Hi. Just wanted to point out that an RfC has been filed on me, and invite you to participate (one way or the other) if you're interested. Thanks. Ed Fitzgerald (unfutz) ^{(talk / cont)} 19:02, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I would, but I don't have much time at the moment. I'm rather busy with real life matters, and, thanks to the recent disastrous crash on my hard drive, I won't be contributing much here for a while. :-/ Keep me posted, though. :) Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 19:19, 22 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm back after almost a month of inactivity here, and I've replaced my old computer. You should expect more contributions from me on a regular basis from here on out. Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 23:53, 26 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Glad to see you're back, and congrats on the new 'puter. Now get out there and edit articles for the Gipper. Ed Fitzgerald (unfutz) ^{(talk / cont)} 07:03, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! It certainly feels good to be back again. d:) I need to catch up on current events, though. How'd the GA candicacy for Duck Soup go while I was away, as well as your own RfC? Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 19:06, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I really don't know what's happening with the Duck Soup GA. I still have the article watchlisted but there hasn't been any action on it for a while. As for my RfC, it's still ongoing -- feel free to weigh in one way or the other. How is it going? I dunno, really, I've never really paid attention to RfCs, so I don't know how they are usually. Ed Fitzgerald (unfutz) ^{(talk / cont)} 00:41, 28 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

May 2008

Welcome to Wikipedia. It might not have been your intention, but your recent edit removed content from Beki johnson. When removing text, please specify a reason in the edit summary and discuss edits that are likely to be controversial on the article's talk page. If this was a mistake, don't worry; the text has been restored, as you can see from the page history. Take a look at the welcome page to learn more about contributing to this encyclopedia, and if you would like to experiment, please use the sandbox. Thank you. Sceptre ^(talk) 23:44, 9 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

First of all -- I made my explanation quite clear on why I deleted this article in the edit summary itself. Second, there doesn't need to be an "up for deletion" template, really, because the "article" is clearly just a quick little bio someone did over his/her best friend's birthday! The guidelines say "DO NOT create an article about your best friend"! Cinemaniac (talk • contribs • critique) 23:49, 9 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, welcome to wikipedia, since you've only been on it since October. :) Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 01:50, 10 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedian Survey

Hello,

My name is Brenton Stewart. I am an African American, doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin- Madison in Library & Information Studies. Currently I am conducting a study on the motivational factors of African American Wikipedians. I am asking for your help by participating in this short online survey which will take take approximately 5 minutes to complete. Please feel free to distribute to other Black Wikipedians. The survey will be available from Tuesday July 1, 2008 until Tuesday August 5, 2008. Thank you so much for your participation.

Survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=HlzQGQIRUjncj7O09zgy4g_3d_3d —Preceding unsigned comment added by Emelian1977 (talk • contribs) 06:26, 1 July 2008 (UTC) e1977 06:28, 1 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Happy Thanksgiving

Back at ya. :) Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 17:56, 27 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]