Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2008 August 9

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August 9

webcomics / OEL manga recommendations based on artwork

Hi People. I am looking for webcomics ratings by artwork, rather than by content. There are several sites that rate webcomics and web-accessible OEL manga, but the ratings are non-specific, in the sense that a poorly drawn but hilarious comics gets as high a rating as a very elaborately drawn but subtly humorous one. Do you know of any sites that rate webcomics / OEL manga by artwork specifically? Alternatively, please give your suggestions which webcomics or web-accessible OEL manga, in your opinion, I should look at for the best artwork. (No ecchi please!!!) --OKMNJIUHB (talk) 01:58, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Olympics Road Race Mens

How do the teams work in this event? I just saw the Australian on CBC (in Canada here) Cabel (somthing, I can't remember his last name) and his radio didn't work, and his team came in a car with a technician to fix his radio. He was holding on to the car while the technician was fixing his radio. What is the purpose of the radio, etc. etc. in this event?68.148.164.166 (talk) 03:46, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

That would be Cadel Evans (a good Welsh name). A similar question was asked during the Tour de France about a month ago. basically, the team car keeps the cyclists informed of things like how far ahead any breaks in the peloton are (or how far behind the chasers are if the cyclist is in the leading group) and who is in those groups, any upcoming changes in track conditions (e.g., if it's raining further along the course), information about problems with other members of the team - things like that. It's not for coaching or anything like that (at least, not officially), but is to help the competitors in an event where - by its very nature - it's impossible to always know where other members of your team (in this case, country) or your leading rivals are. Grutness...wha? 21:23, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

He's been the runner-up in the Tour de France 2 years in a row, so you'll be hearing more of him. -- JackofOz (talk) 23:32, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Nice promo - not a countryman of yours by any chance? ;) Grutness...wha? 01:12, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Oh, how delightfully surprising! I never knew that.  :) -- JackofOz (talk) 02:54, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Song Words on BBC Radio

Some fifteen years back I used to listen to an English learning programme called Song Words on BBC Radio. Is it archived accessibly somewhere? 05:40, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

game site

where can i get the latest game news online? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.50.249.10 (talk) 09:03, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Please clarify what you mean by "game". Board game? Sporting game? Video game? − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 10:57, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Grand Theft Venison? OtherDave (talk) 12:07, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Controversial question alert?

I hope I'm not out of line by by asking you who the tallest jockey and the shortest basketball player ever were. That's right,- political correctness be damned!......Sorry, I suffer from borderline personality disorder.Baseball and and and Popcorn Fanatic (talk) 17:53, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

• I'm guessing the tallest jockey ever is Manute Bol, a 7'7" former NBA player [1]. The shortest NBA player was Muggsy Bogues, who was 5'3", but I'm not sure who the shortest basketball player in general is. Maybe a member of a dwarf basketball team, like the L.A. Breakers [2]. Zagalejo^^^ 18:56, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Rest easy, there's nothing inappropriate in your question, BaaaPF. -- JackofOz (talk) 23:30, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Olympic Qustions

I have two questions after watching the openning ceremonies on NBC on August 8th

1. Why will baseball (and softball?) be missing from the Olymipics in London (and possibly the next location)?
2. Which country pulled out of the 2008 Olympics and has a reason been given yet?

Nice or in evil (talk) 22:08, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

1-It's pretty expensive to build a baseball diamond for two weeks in a country that doesn't normally play baseball/softball. Corvus cornix_talk 00:04, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

From the 2012 Summer Olympic Games article "London's bid featured 28 sports, in line with other recent Summer Olympics, but the IOC voted to drop baseball and softball from the 2012 Games two days after it selected London as the host city. The IOC reinforced its decision to drop both sports during the Turin Games after they lost votes for reconsideration. They will be Olympic sports for the last time at Beijing in 2008". Also, Brunei were disqualified from competing for failing to register their athletes and Georgia are currently considering pulling out due to the ongoing conflict/war with Russia (see 2008 Summer Olympics#Participation changes). Nanonic (talk) 00:17, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Baseball#Baseball_around_the_world has some of the details. Though this is only conjecture, a major consideration with both baseball and softball was probably the small number of countries in which they're played at a competitive level. Africa, for instance, has onlyh one counry that has ever played international baseball (see History of baseball outside the United States). The IOC sets minimum standards such as the necessity for a sport to be played in a large number of countries and on all continents. Baseball is still a very small minority sport in many countries. For someone like me, brought up in a Commonwealth country, it's natural to compare the situation with baseball to that with cricket, which hasn't been an Olympic event since 1904, despite having over 100 countries that have played it internationally. baseball - by a continuation of the comparison - has a far lower profile in countries like the UK than cricket has in the US. As such, it's not as international a sport, and that is what the Olympics is all about. As such its and similar sports dominated by a handful of countries (e.g., hurling, pelota, rugby league, Aussie rules) are unlikely to geet huge support from the IOC. Grutness...wha? 01:25, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

A pessimist might say that baseball didn't pay a big enough bribe. (See Keirin, specifically the Olympic section.) Rmhermen (talk) 18:03, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

There are a series of sports that are changed/alternated at each olympics - some are set as always being there (e.g. most of the track events) but some are added and removed from olympics to olympics. I'm not sure of the process but I suspect it is either a vote by the committee or is left to the host-city to decide. I'll see if I can find out the rules and add it later (my internet runs really slow unfortunately) ny156uk (talk) 21:35, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Seems I was mistaken - it looks like there are things called 'demonstration sports' which are included from some olympics, and there are also 'discontinued sports'. The article Olympic sports goes into detail about which events have been removed and also the selection process required for an event to be 'considered' for entry into the olympics. ny156uk (talk) 21:41, 10 August 2008 (UTC)

Quantum of Solace

Is true that the opening credits sequence (as well as the gun barrel design) will be created by MK12? David Pro (talk) 23:07, 9 August 2008 (UTC)