Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2008 December 8

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December 8

Carlos Castaneda

I usually buy second hand books and I always see his books in the stands (already read up to the third book). Though the article provides some information, I want to know some anecdotal data. Was his books some kind of hit on an age group like Harry Potter series on kids/adolescents today? Besides why does his books become weirder and weirder?--Lenticel ^(talk) 02:38, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes, his books were a big hit—not quite as big as Harry Potter, but almost—among the Flower power generation (and I speak as one who was there). The focus on the use of drugs to expand consciousness didn't hurt. In those days, though, there wasn't quite the pervasiveness of media hype to make anything quite the equivalent of the Harry Potter phenomenon, thank God. Deor (talk) 03:40, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

There's a hint that the concerns of the books changed to the occult – see here at the Straight Dope[1] (Cecil Adams is not a fan). I came across Castaneda in the 90s, reading an earlier one and one or two of the later ones. The protagonist Castaneda seemed to change from a teachable, obliging follower to a nasty kind of sorcerer. Maybe it was power, or the hallucinogenics, in and out of universe... whatever it was, the author didn't seem to benefit from today's appreciation of allegory and instead kept it all vague and mysterious so it's hard to find much about this aspect. Julia Rossi (talk) 05:16, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks guys for the Castaneda times info and the SD article. I knew that there's something becoming more fictional in these books even with the generous suspension of disbeleif that I gave it. Well at least I can try to read Tales of Power with a fiction POV without being guilty of not trusting its "facts" and enjoy more of his "imagination".--Lenticel ^(talk) 06:43, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

All cool. That's not to entirely dismiss the Toltec foundations before Castaneda's "spin". Others have (more soberly or earnestly?) run with the inspiration. See Toltec section "Contemporary Toltec" and some who published in the wake of Castaneda's daring. I'm a Donald Barthelme fan myself.  : ) Julia Rossi (talk) 07:24, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

S class

Does anyone know why a majority of video games with rankings have an S rank as the top rank? For example, in Umbrella Chronicles, you can get a C, B, A, or S rank. Evaunit♥666♥ 02:43, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

What do you mean by rankings? The ESRB offers a rating system that uses letters, but they aren't those. I don't understand the question... --Jayron32.talk.contribs 03:24, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

(note for Jayron: the ESRB only rates games for the US of A. This is an English Wikipedia, and a large portion of users are in nations other than the US) flaminglawyer^cneverforget 06:45, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

(note for flaminglawyer: I am not an idiot. I know that. But given the ambigousness of the question, I was trying to figure out what he was going for)-Jayron32.talk.contribs 15:01, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

I think the OP is talking about the player's performance within the game which is similar to educational grading systems (poor performance gives you a C or D while and excellent performace will net you an A. Better grades also give you better rewards or unlocked features. Performance is based on factors such percentage of enemies killed, beaten time limits, secrets unlocked etc. My theory is that the S may mean Special or Super, making the player a member of that games fictional elite.--Lenticel ^(talk) 07:04, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Hmmm... Good point. Anyway (answer), it's like asking why the word "Fred" has an "e" for its 3rd letter. You'll never know why, but it still happens. flaminglawyer^cneverforget 07:12, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

In my experience, this kind of system is found mostly in Japanese games. Perhaps they are basing on it on some real-world system there. Recury (talk) 14:16, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

I vaguely remember S standing for "Special" in a few cases - I'm almost certain that was the case in the Final Fantasy VII chocobo rankings. --Bennybp (talk) 23:46, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

guitar effect in Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy

I'm wondering how Queen/Brian May achieved the guitar effects used during solos in that song. It might be Deacy Amp, but the article's not very descriptive :( . Does anyone know what this effect is or how it can be achieved? flaminglawyer^cneverforget 07:05, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Here's is a tutorial on how to play the solo, shown on YouTube: [2]. Interestingly, the guy is playing it on a Red Special knock-off (how cool is that!) and is using a VOX amp. VOX is known for having some really awesome on-board effects, though I am not sure they were availible in 1975 when Queen recorded the song. He does go through his equipment at the end of the video, and in looks as if he is using a phaser pedal of some sort, which very well MAY have been availible in 1975. Our article on phasers (see the link) does note that May used them extensively to achieve his sound. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 14:58, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

May used a huge variety of methods to achieve desired effects. These included modifications to the guitar, the amps, pedals, tape effects, pretty much anything that he could get his hands on. Dunno the answer to the specific question though! DuncanHill (talk) 15:04, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Indeed. On the song Good Company from A Night at the Opera, he famously recorded the horn section by playing each note for each intrument seperately using different effects on his guitar, and spliced them together note by note to create the solo. It took like weeks of solid work to create a 40 second simulated dixieland band using nothing but his guitar. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 19:26, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Film music released before the film was released

I'm looking for any decent examples (if they exist) of music that was written specifically for a film, but released and played (live performance; radio broadcast of recordings, etc) well before the film itself was premiered. I've come across the case of the Warsaw Concerto which was definitely being played live in the UK in June-July 1940 by Eileen Joyce but the movie for which it was written, Dangerous Moonlight, was not released until 26 June 1941. There may have been a particular reason for that, and I'm guessing the Battle of Britain had something to do with delaying the film's cinema release. But for the music to be played at concerts a whole year before the film was released seems very, very unusual to me. I've done some research - see the Concerto's talk page @ Timing - but have not got to the nub of the issue yet. However, maybe I'm wrong and maybe there are other cases where the music took on a life of its own significantly earlier than the movie for which it was written was released. Does anyone know of any such cases? -- JackofOz (talk) 08:31, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Do the James Bond songs qualify? What about the Mission: Impossible movies? 143.117.157.60 (talk) 14:02, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Selznick in the 1940s introed the idea of making special promotional recordings for radio stations. By the 1960s, it was the practice to deliver soundtrack recordings to DJs and retailers four to six weeks prior to a film's release. See The Sounds of Commerce (Columbia University Press, 1998) by Jeffrey Paul Smith. Cheap Trick did two songs for the animated Heavy Metal (1981), and as I recall, they performed live in the Guggenheim Museum at a press party prior to the release of the film. Pepso2 (talk) 16:36, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

The soundtrack for Phantom Menace came out a few days before the movie (and contained spoiler info). 216.239.234.196 (talk) 17:39, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Luke Haines's soundtrack to British movie Christie Malry's Own Double Entry was released in the UK on 11 Jun 2001[3] but the film didn't come out till over a year later on 16 August 2002[4]; I don't have a cite, but I believe the film was due to come out in autumn 2001 but was postponed due to the 9/11 attacks and the film's theme of terrorism. --Maltelauridsbrigge (talk) 21:31, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

The Australian release of Batman came about 6 months after the rest of the world but if you knew were to go (ie avoid the record label police), you could get the Prince soundtrack. I remember that there was a high profile prosecution of a Melbourne record shop for importing copies before the "official release date". --80.176.225.249 (talk) 22:45, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

It was common at one time to promote new films via radio. For example: An audio movie kit of 50 to 100 LPs were sent to radio stations in 1983 to promote Risky Business (1984). It featured an audio trailer, interviews and music.[5] --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 15:32, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

OK, thanks for those answers, people. None of them were quite in the same league as my Warsaw Concerto example, but it looks like my question was based on a false premise, namely, a literal reading of words written in a biography. How silly of me to take authors at their word! If you're interested in the details, they're at Talk:Warsaw Concerto. -- JackofOz (talk) 06:19, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Need a script for this Laurel and Hardy Skit

I've searched on every possible search engine and come up empty. The skit is called "The Wedding Night" and i am using it for a variety show i am putting on. I have a CD with the file on it, but i can't seem to find a script for this skit. Can someone help me?  Buffered Input Output 14:11, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

This script is in John McCabe's book The Comedy World of Stan Laurel (1974). Pepso2 (talk) 17:12, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Thank you SO much! Now i don't have to listen to the CD and transcribe it! THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by BufferedIO (talk • contribs) 15:02, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

NCAA football 09 roster download for PS2

I have NCAA 09 for PS2 and an Action Replay Max device to download saves from the internet. However, I cannot locate a PS2 roster save for this game. I have found plenty for XBOX and PS3, but nothing for PS2. Is there one out there?? --209.183.190.77 (talk) 14:48, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

There may not be... Given that PS2 is an older system (though new games are still released as you note) and that far fewer PS2s were ever connected than XBOX or PS3, and that the NCAA series was never quite as popular as Madden, it is quite likely that you may be the only Action Replay customer to play NCAA on PS2 and be looking to swap save files. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 14:51, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

A Friend of a Friend of Danny Ocean

Casey Affleck/Virgil Malloy in 'Ocean's Thirteen', he says something really funny in Espanol on one of the Mexico scenes. I forgot the line. It reminded me of Ang Lee's 'HULK' 'You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry' line. Anyone here remember what Casey said? Cheers, --i am the kwisatz haderach (talk) 18:06, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Seinfeld's

What is the name of the episode where George wear a wig? Gridge (talk) 21:06, 8 December 2008 (UTC).

George wears a toup�e for the first time in The Scofflaw and again in The Beard. SN0WKITT3N 22:08, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, man. Gridge (talk) 23:10, 8 December 2008 (UTC).

Titanic

Just finished watching the 1997 movie Titanic. As the ship is sinking the word TITANIC is followed below by LIVERPOOL. Yet the Wikipedia reference page indicates that the ship was built in BELFAST. What's the deal with that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rociante (talk • contribs) 22:18, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

• The ship was built in Belfast, but it's registered home port was Liverpool so that would explain it. Exxolon (talk) 01:08, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Exactly right. Titanic and Home Port have more. -- WORMMЯOW  10:21, 9 December 2008 (UTC)