Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2008 July 3

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July 3

Another musical question

<moved from misc desk for optimal input! Julia Rossi (talk) 08:15, 3 July 2008 (UTC)>
(I am asking this one here as opposed to the entertainment desk, as, again, the misc. desk has many more people staffing it, so I am more likely to get a good answer. This having been said, let me get on to the question.)

Are there any (not necessarily mainstream) songs featuring math in a way similar to the song Mandelbrot Set by Jonathan Coulton? Or songs in computer code? Binary? L337sp33k? Anything else nerdy? Once again, thanks a bunch. Ilikefood (talk) 00:58, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

On the geek/nerd front, I've always enjoyed "Make a Circuit with Me" by The Polecats. --LarryMac | Talk 01:16, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

LOL thanks. Electronics rock! (literally, now!) Ilikefood (talk) 01:24, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

See this? --Endless Dan 01:35, 3 July 2008 (UTC) See also Nerdcore. Steewi (talk) 01:59, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

There's also, in a completely different genre, Tom Lehrer's song "Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky", and, of course, his song "The Elements" is worth mentioning. Warren Zevon's song "Run straight down" has a background chant that is a list of the carcinogenic chemicals in tobacco (IIRC) - it sounds like a chemist's mantra. Grutness...wha? 02:07, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

"White & Nerdy" by Weird Al Yankovic, "She Blinded Me with Science" by Thomas Dolby, "Science Genius Girl" by Freezepop (though I can't think of the lyrics just now... Dismas|^(talk) 02:32, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

There is Here Come the 123s for kids, Why Does the Sun Shine? (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas) and I Palindrome I for adults (all from TMBG). Rockpocket 05:16, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Another Tom Lehrer song is his 'New Math' ("It's so simple, so very simple/That only a child can do it.") AndrewWTaylor (talk) 09:11, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

"The Humans are Dead" by Flight of the Conchords features a binary solo. Digger3000 (talk) 09:42, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

I recall a rap-song that was re-lyric'd about maths that was on youtube. I can't remember the name or the content but recall finding it rather amusing at the time. I think the original song was something like "this is why we..." and they'd redone it into a maths/fractions style. Also there's the superbly funny Famous Last Nerds who did a rap-style song called 'Fraction Jackson' that can be found on their site...Whilst you are there you might be amused by The Godfather in 1 minute and Shawshank Redemption in a minute - both of which are very funny (in my humble opinion). 194.221.133.226 (talk) 12:36, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Is this π song nerdy enough for you? Kreachure (talk) 13:38, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

The play Proof (play) and the movie made from it features a set by a band of mathematicians who announce that their next song is called "i". They then play nothing at all, the explanation being "it's an imaginary number". DJ Clayworth (talk) 18:52, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

One of my favorites is the soundtrack to Ballblazer, which the article describes as "fractal based algorithmic music". -- KathrynLybarger (talk) 21:35, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

In 1939, Heitor Villa-Lobos used the shape of the New York skyline in a photo as the basis of a piano piece called New York Sky-Line Melody. -- JackofOz (talk) 22:59, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Then there's my fav chess-related song (of all the thousands to choose from...), I've Seen All Good People by Yes: [1]. StuRat (talk) 02:08, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Then there is One Night in Bangkok. As the article states, a "glorification of the intellectual purity of chess". 152.16.59.190 (talk) 04:16, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

For those of you interested in this subject but didn't get the initial reference, here it is [2]. DJ Clayworth (talk) 16:11, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Help finding old MTV Cribs skit

Hi I was wondering if anyone knows the name of the presenter in the MTV UK & Ireland cribs skit in the country manor. A few years back they used to always air Cribs skits with their presenter and there was one of a female presenter in some old country manor. She went around the place showing lots of old potraits one of which I remember she called "Henrietta". Does anyone know her name, or even better, somewhere I could find it? - 79.97.118.96 (talk) 20:15, 3 July 2008 (UTC)