Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2011 February 9

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February 9

Find a How-To

For this card trick? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.181.202.2 (talk) 06:08, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

It is basic sleight of hand techniques. In the first case, several times, you can plainly tell that he does a "fake cut" or "fake shuffle" of the deck. The fake cuts, when they are obvious, are really obvious. He cuts the deck into two portions, gives the top portion a 180 or 360 degree twist, and drops it right back on top again. The rapid movement and twist makes it look like he's swapping the position of the two halves, but he really isn't. Secondly, its obvious he is using at least two decks; one deck that he does real shuffles with, and which he has the audience members handle, and the other that is his fixed deck that he tells the story with. The decks are likely being swapped with the aid of the square black pad on top of the black table cloth. That black pad is a bit odd, isn't it? I'm sure it allows him to conceal the swapping of the decks in some way. The way he palms the deck is a dead-giveaway that he is swapping cards and/or decks. Magicians always hold objects in their hands in a specific and peculiar way. They practice it so it looks natural to them, that is it is fluid and graceful, but it is in no way how a normal person handles a deck of cards; the way he holds it is specifically designed to hide the cards from view most of the time, obscuring any sureptious swaps and changes he may make. The story itself is classic misdirection; when he tells the story, your attention drifts from watching his hands, so you don't notice anything he's doing there. --Jayron32 07:00, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

Magician School

Is there a magician school for basic magic or street magic? Specifically in New Jersey. How do folks like David Blain and Davie Copperfield get their start? --Endlessdan (talk) 20:02, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

I typed "magician classes new jersey" into Google, and one of the links was this: [1]. Professional magicians learn their trade often by apprenticing with older magicians and by LOTS of practice. Magic is a highly precise and choreographed thing, even basic card tricks are highly routined. Magicians make it look natural and spontaneous because they practice a LOT, just as much as professional musicians and dancers and atheletes do. There are also lots of books about how to do magic. Most magicians actually have a pretty common toolset of sleight of hand and other techniques that they all use; once you learn to spot these you'll be surprised how simple most of it is. Note that simple does not mean "easy to do yourself". What a basketball player does when he shoots a basketball is "simple", playing in the NBA is still hard. --Jayron32 00:33, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Raymond Chandler programmes on BBC radio

I understand there are several of them this week. I am only aware of two so far: The Saturday Play "The Big Sleep" on the 5th. February, and A Coat A Hat And A Gun on the previous Thursday. What other ones are/were there please? Thanks 2.97.217.143 (talk) 20:52, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/classic-chandler/ Nanonic (talk) 21:28, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

In past years, BBC7 (now called BBC Radio 7) has broadcast The High Window, also known as The Brasher Doubloon. I'll look back in my files. I remember a series of Philip Marlowe stories in what 7 called their American season. David32768 (talk) 01:59, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Yep, just found The High Window with Ed Bishop as Marlowe broadcast on Dec. 1, 2007. I'll look for more. David32768 (talk) 02:03, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

The Big Sleep on Nov. 17, 2007; Farewell My Lovely on Nov. 24, 2007; The Lady in the Lake on Dec. 8, 2007; The Little Sister on Dec. 22, 2007; The Long Goodbye on Dec. 29, 2007; The Lady in the Lake on Aug. 23, 2008; The Big Sleep on Sept. 27, 2008; Farewell My Lovely on Oct. 4, 2008; The High Window on Oct. 11, 2008; The Little Sister on Oct. 18, 2008; The Long Goodbye on Oct. 25, 2008. All these starred Bishop as Marlowe. David32768 (talk) 02:32, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Film made at Camp Cooke, CA - 1943

My grandfather, Harvey L. Hargis, was with the 1st platoon, Comp G, 66th Armored Regiment of the 2nd Armored Division of "Hell on Wheels" 702nd Tank Destroyer Battalion, 195th Anti-Aircraft Battalion. He was inducted July 11, 1941; departed overseas Feb 12, 1944; arrived Feb. 23, 1944; departed Oct 2, 1945 and arrived back in the United States Oct. 11, 1945; separated from the army on Oct 17, 1945. As his granddaughter, I have many of his photos, a couple of large maps and misc personal items belonging to him, he passed away Nov 9, 1980.

Among these photos, which I found very interesting, was photos of a film crew taking pictures of what looked like army tanks in battle. One tank had smoke coming out of it and a couple soldiers, one wounded, one on the ground near the tank. Another photo showed what looked like an actor with a mustash wearing a hat, scarf and western shirt with belt with several soldiers around him. I did not recognize the actor. I have photos of the film crew making the film.

My questions are: Was there a hollywood film made at Camp Cooke in California in 1943? What was the name of the movie? Who starred in it? and, How does my grandfather's tank platoon fit into all of that, if at all. Was it just a training movie for the army?----

If you were to scan the photo and post it to a site like Flickr and direct us to the site, someone might be able to identify the apparent actor. Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:03, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

According to TCM's notes, "some scenes were shot on location at Camp Cooke" for This Is the Army (1943). It starred some actor with higher aspirations. Can you tell if the tanks are from World War I or II? After reading the synopsis, it looks like this film would only have battle scenes from WWI. Clarityfiend (talk) 00:18, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

you might also be able to look on real military flix to see if there was a training film fitting that description they have a sizeable archive of them ranging from basic training stuff to OSS top secret-level training films about establishing cover in enemy territory... I didn't see anything that meets your description right off the bat though in their WWII section. 65.29.47.55 (talk) 01:44, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Doctor Who theme

Just so I can win an argument, this is in 12/8 time, right? The article is evasive on the subject. 86.6.193.43 (talk) 22:11, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

Personally, and I've just gone through the original theme to do this, I find you can map it to a straight 4/4 time sig. Don't know where 12/8 comes from, sorry. --TammyMoet (talk) 22:29, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

I can see how it's quadruple meter. But it's completely in triplets; no-one would write a piece in 4/4 where every beat was tripletted, you'd rewrite it more legibly in 12/8 surely... (For the record, the person I was arguing with said it was 6/8.) 86.6.193.43 (talk) 23:20, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

Just as a counterarguement, I'm right now looking at sheet music for Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (Hal Leonard's Greatest Guitar Songbook) which is notably written in 3/4 time and its all triplets, notably not written in 9/8, which would be the equivalent compound meter for 3/4 as 12/8 is for 4/4. Not being a huge music theory expert, someone else could likely explain why this is different than the Dr. Who debate above, but I just wanted to point out that sometimes music is written is simple time signatures and all triplets. --Jayron32 03:41, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Not sure what it will take to win the argument, but it is indeed 12/8. (To Tammy- this means 4 beats per measure, and each beat is subdivided into triplets.) See Compound meter. Staecker (talk) 03:33, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

(See also: example of a rhythm notated in 12/8 and in 4/4.) --Bavi H (talk) 04:13, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Is your argument specifically about the original score? If not, as long as it fits mathematically, the choice of time signature used in the notation seems more of an editorial decision, not a property intrinsic to the music. As you noted, if there's a constant triplet beat, 12/8 can help remove the need for writing little 3s over every eighth note trio. But if it's a syncopated or occasional triplet, 4/4 may be used: example 1, example 2. Or perhaps you might choose to divide each 12/8 measure into two 6/8 measures, if you consider measures with total durations of more than 4 quarter notes may be confusing for your music readers? --Bavi H (talk) 03:50, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

According to this it's in 4/4. I rest my case. --TammyMoet (talk) 13:58, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

I think much of the confusion comes from the use of echo. If you remove the echo, it fits into 4/4 time easily. With the echo, each note is repeated a few times very quickly, sounding like a long string of triplets. I don't think there is a standard notation for "4/4 with a strong echo". -- kainaw™ 14:29, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Jo Stafford biographies

Can anyone tell me, have any biographies been written about the wartime singer Jo Stafford? I have been looking for one for ages, but without luck. 81.151.31.198 (talk) 23:21, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

A quick Google Books search doesn't turn up one, but searching there for Jo Stafford does yield one book (the second one in the list) that at least gives her a few pages of biography. Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:47, 9 February 2011 (UTC)