Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2012 July 5

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July 5

left 4 dead

hello guys,i have left 4 dead 2 on my pc and on low video settings it runs really great for only 2 mins then it starts flickering or lagin for 2 mins then it runs normally for 2 mins ad then laging for 2 mins......so i press alt esc and in the loader i find(game update:AppID 550',ProcID0, IP....) can anyone help me solve this problem,i cant take this shit anymore,i cant play the game for 5 straight mins,or maybe this isnt the problem maybe it happened with some one else and they knew how to solve it.

You should try the Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Computing reference desk instead. Their expertise is more suited for your problem.A8875 (talk) 00:12, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

I am not sure how to move this, but to (hopefully) answer your question: it sounds a lot like the computer is repeatedly overheating and cooling. One thing you could try to do is to open up and clean out your computer with a can of compressed air, or very carefully with a vacuum cleaner. Can you provide the model of graphics card? Sazea (talk) 16:59, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

It might pay to make sure the fans are working by trying to find an airflow (holding your hand near the outlet of the fan while the machine is running). If there is not much space around the computer it might pay to give it a little circulation space to allow the warm air to escape and be replaced with cooler air. Britmax (talk) 17:05, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

A way to determine if it's overheating is to remove the case and point a fan directly at it, on high. If this solves the problem, then you know overheating was the problem. A permanent solution may involve a more powerful case fan and/or CPU fan, or changes to the software, if the fan isn't coming on soon enough, or ensuring that any heat sinks are properly attached. StuRat (talk) 17:51, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

Most parodied national anthem

What is the most parodied national anthem in the world? (presently used anthems only) 117.5.2.38 (talk) 03:59, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

I don't know that anthems get parodied all that much, at least not outside their own countries, since the average citizen probably doesn't even know many others. One that does come to mind is the French anthem, which featured in a Monty Python bit about a man with a tape recorder up his nose. Not so much a parody as simply tweaking the French. It was also used in one of Allan Sherman's more obscure songs which concerned Louis XVI. The American anthem tends to get ridiculed for being difficult to sing. It was used in the title song from Hair: "Oh, say, can you see... my eyes? If you can, then my hair's too short." The American patriotic song more likely to be parodied is "Yankee Doodle". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:37, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

God Save the Queen is a very well known tune and as a result is frequently parodied (to this day, I don't know its real lyrics, but can sing some parody French lyrics about plum pudding being the English national dish which fit the melody perfectly). --Xuxl (talk) 13:22, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

Does My Country, 'Tis of Thee count as a parody? -- 71.35.99.136 (talk) 15:36, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

When i first heard God Save the Queen (with its odd repetition) I thought it must be a parody of the American original. μηδείς (talk) 20:14, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

What odd repetition? --Dweller (talk) 10:28, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

This repetition:

God save our gracious Queen,

Long live our noble Queen,

God save The Queen

μηδείς (talk) 21:36, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

I'd submit the French National Anthem as a possible answer, since the Beatles used La Marseillaise to provide the first few bars of All You Need Is Love. There's a nice story (possible apocryphal) about Jools Holland playing the song at an international conference, and Jacques Chirac getting to his feet, followed by Tony Blair, Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton. Although they soon realised their mistake, to avoid Mr Chirac looking foolish, they pretended they knew all along and danced along.

That sounds like Mrs Mitterand's toast wishing that the Queen might have nothing but a penis. μηδείς (talk) 02:24, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

You might take a look at La Marseillaise#In Popular Culture, which contains a few examples of what could be described as 'parody'. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 16:38, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

The answer seems to be "we can find a few examples of some parodies, but we don't actually know which is the most parodied." --Dweller (talk) 10:29, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

Countless millions of Australians have for many decades sung a silly ditty at birthday parties, called "Why was s/he born so beautiful, Why was s/he born at all ...". This is sung to the (possibly modified) tune of Advance Australia Fair, which was a popular song almost from its creation in 1878, but only became our official national anthem as late as 1984, so I'm not sure if that counts. -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 21:05, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

But now see below to my separate question headed "Why was he born so beautiful?". -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 00:43, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

Every English schoolboy knows (or used to - the state of the education system etc) that the correct translation of La Marseillaise is as follows:

A Frenchman went to the lavatory

For to have a jolly good shit,

He took his coat and trousers off

And began to revel in it.

But when he reached for the paper

Someone had been there before

Ou est le papier?

Ou est le papier?

Monsieur, Monsieur

J’ai fait mon mieux,

Ou est le papier?

On that note, I wish you all goodnight. Alansplodge (talk) 02:28, 9 July 2012 (UTC)

The Way I Are

Why it was decided to use broken English in "The Way I Are" lyrics? Thanks--176.241.247.17 (talk) 10:26, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

I gess becuz it's kool to be illiterate?--Shantavira|^{feed me} 10:44, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

It's catachresis (deliberate error for rhetorical effect) to emphasise the connection between the concepts in the lines "I like you just the way you are" and "can you handle me the way I are?". Presumably Timbaland felt that if he used dissimilar verb forms his argument wouldn't be so powerful and he wouldn't get with the girl. I've heard the suggestion that it's to rhyme but that's not quite accurate because "are" and "are" don't rhyme, but it's certainly to emphasise the parallelism.[1] It's not a standard feature of African American Vernacular English, which would be more likely to use "I am" in a stressed position and "I'm" or "I" without a copula in an unstressed position[2] and has a general tendency to replace "are" with "is". --Colapeninsula (talk) 11:33, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

Sometimes you have to use some poetic license to make things rhyme. How about the 1960s song by Roger Miller, where the first line of the chorus goes, "Kansas City star / That's what I are / Yodel-lee-oh-lay-dee / You oughta see my car..." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:39, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

Fawlty Towers - 200 pounds is a lot?

In Fawlty Towers - A Touch of Class, Lord Melbry asks Basil to cash a 200pound check. This is portrayed as a very difficult thing or extremely expensive. Being a young lad, this means nothing to me. During the period of Fawlty Towers was this really a burden? The Masked Booby (talk) 12:28, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

Pending better answers: in 1975 (if this is from the first series) £50/week was considered amongst my schoolmates an implausibly high wage for an 18-y-o's full time Summer holiday job, and £1.00/h was good money for casual labour, so £200 might well be more than the average small hotel might usually have in cash on the premises, especially if most of its guests did not pay bills in cash. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 84.21.143.150 (talk) 12:39, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

According to our article it was the first one to go out, in September 1975. At the time the British Army were paying me £21 a week so £200 was a fair sum, then, yes. Britmax (talk) 12:44, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

You could look up your rank then in the current pay table and give us a scale to multiply by. Even if you were the poorest grade of private, that's a scalar of about 15x; I think any hotel now would blanch at the prospect of being asked to cash a £3000 personal cheque. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 12:49, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

The Bank of England inflation calculator [3] calculates that £200 in 1975 would equate to £1376.55 in 2011. Although, as with any inflationary measure, the exact comparison will vary somewhat depending on context. -- 71.35.99.136 (talk) 15:33, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

Regardless of the sum (seems like it's about $2,500 current USD) businesses like hotels don't have a lot of cash on hand. μηδείς (talk) 20:11, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

Thanks a lot, everyone! The Masked Booby (talk) 01:42, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

Basil was always trying to keep costs down in the hotel. Both O'Reilly and Manuel were described as cheap. HiLo48 (talk) 03:20, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

Ha! There is too much butter on those trays... Britmax (talk) 15:50, 6 July 2012 (UTC)

He's from Barcelona.-- OBSIDIAN†SOUL 03:20, 8 July 2012 (UTC)

I think the answer may be that the first cheque guarantee cards in the UK were only good for up to £50. So Fawlty was being asked to accept an un-guaranteed cheque. Alansplodge (talk) 17:19, 9 July 2012 (UTC)

Typo?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali#Personal_life

Personal life

On August 17, 1967... They had four children: Maryum (b. 1968), Jamillah and Rasheda (b. 1970), and Muhammad Ali Jr. (b. 1972).[71] Maryam has a career as an author and rapper.[72]

It seems that Maryum & Maryam are both proper names, spelled correctly. Is one name incorrect? Which one? 20rdj04 (talk) 18:12, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

Judging by Google news hits, Maryum (with a "u") seems to be the correct version. The reference used for her career as a rapper also uses Maryum. FlowerpotmaN·(t) 18:25, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

I went ahead and changed Maryam to Maryum for consistency and per the references.FlowerpotmaN·(t) 20:23, 5 July 2012 (UTC)