Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2009 February 18

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February 18

What's the name of that movie?

Sounds like a game show...anyway, a physics teacher of mine told me about a mafia movie she had seen "10-15 years" ago.

It was a B-movie, and included a scene where the good guys, presumably policemen or the like, synced a "sound gun" to the mafia men's resonance frequency, while the mafia hitmen were sitting in a restaurant. As some drinking glasses do when rubbed across the top at the right resonance frequency, the men vibrated. The policemen then increased the amplitude of the frequency and proceeded to explode the hitmen, just as an opera singer is sometimes shown comically to break a drinking glass.

I know this isn't possible, but does anyone know what movie I am talking about? My teacher does not know the title. She said that it was old when she watched it, and said it was probably released about "20-25 years" ago.

Thanks. Should this go on the science desk? The Reader who Writes (talk) 03:11, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

I don't know the movie, but this desk is the right place for your question. 152.16.253.109 (talk) 04:39, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

I agree that this is the right Desk. You would ask at the Science Desk if you wanted to know why this wouldn't work. (Because, unlike crystals, people have soft parts which convert vibrations into heat, "using up" the vibrational energy.) StuRat (talk) 14:57, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Thank you, I thought this was the right desk, I just wasn't sure. Good thing I had low expectations asking this question. Next week, to the miscellaneous desk! The Reader who Writes (talk) 03:16, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Lyrical Clichés

Hi, I'm working on a writing project and I'm looking for examples of lyrical clichés, usually rhyming couplets that have been used so often in different songs that they instill a sense of deja vu in a listener, even if they haven't heard a song before. Examples, to my mind, include:

• "Wave your hands in the air like you just don't care"
• "She's my baby and I don't mean maybe"
• Rhyming "baby" with "crazy"
• Rhyming "sky", "fly" and "high"

etc

Can anyone think of any more?

Thanks!

Phileas (talk) 13:38, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

• Rhyming moon and June'. DuncanHill (talk) 13:50, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

• Also, "love from above", "dove", and "glove", "sitting in the sun you are the only one", "the blue skies and your beautiful eyes", geez, I am making myself sick here. :) cheers, 10draftsdeep (talk) 14:42, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

The Beatles are often criticised for their use of chiches in their early songs - just listen to Please Please Me and you'll hear them all (that doesn't make it a bad album - it's one of the best albums ever made). Dendodge Talk^Contribs 14:49, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

A lot of Hip-Hop and Reggae artists will re-use phrases from other songs. Over time some have become cliched. See this discussion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.111.91.7 (talk) 22:37, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks guys, there's a few things here for me to think about. Let me know if anyone thinks of any more! Cheers! Phileas (talk) 13:30, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

You've got me on my knees, I'm begging, darling please. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 21:05, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

That's a good example and even better song (Layla). Clapton, however, writes good lyrics; just listen to 'Hello Old Friend'. Kurtelacić (talk) 01:04, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

tonight / until the morning light. The Go-Go's played with this one by omitting light until the last refrain. —Tamfang (talk) 02:33, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

YouTube

How can I take an image from a YouTube video? --200.112.95.164 (talk) 15:16, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

The "Print Screen" button? Be careful what you do with it, though, it will most likely be copyrighted. --Tango (talk) 15:31, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

(EC) Pause it at the moment you wish to capture and use print screen and paste in an appropriate program (there's always good old Paintbrush) or command-shift-3 should deposit it to your Apple desktop or command-shift-4 to take a specific area of the screen. Lanfear's Bane | t 15:39, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks Lanfear's Bane, that's excellent! Julia Rossi (talk) 09:12, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Was track 4 of Debut (album) by Bjork actually recorded in a toilet?

I don't understand. That doesn't really make sense.--Crimean Hake (talk) 23:50, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

Translation for Americans: "toilet" = "bathroom". StuRat (talk) 14:51, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Sometimes toilet refers to the room and not the commode itself; and there is a history of songs recorded in bathrooms. See My Bologna or Ellen's Bathroom Concert Series or these viral video stars. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 05:33, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Weird. Next they'll probably start recording drum tracks in tall stairwells. -- kainaw™ 16:27, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

There have been some albums recorded in pretty strange places. Machine Head by Deep Purple was recorded in a hotel, with each band member setting up shop in different rooms and hallways. It was recorded "live" with no overdubs, and each musician being fed a live mix through headphone monitors. The Band album by The Band was recorded in Sammy Davis, Jr.'s hollywood house, and likewise, various rooms were used at various times for their specific accoustic properties. I have no idea if they used a bathroom or a stairwell in either of these albums, but there are two classic examples of famous recordings done outside of a traditional studio setting... --Jayron32.talk.contribs 03:15, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Didn't Ben Folds Five record one of their CDs at home? Also expanding on the 'interesting place' theme, Aimee Mann recorded a song on her i'm with stupid album (Frankenstein) where much of the musical instruments used were fashioned from things such as boxes/garbage cans stuff like that. Presumably there's a name for that type of home-made instrument style? 194.221.133.226 (talk) 09:51, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

In the famous Orson Welles Martian invasion, a microphone wire was strung to a bathroom, and the Martian cylinder opening was actually a jar being unscrewed in the toilet bowl. Previously, Welles had put actors in the bathroom to get the effect of THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO dungeon and the flushing toilet to create crashing waves. Pepso2 (talk) 18:32, 20 February 2009 (UTC)