Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2012 September 6

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September 6

Topknot ponytail hairstyle

What do you call the type of hairstyle worn by, for example, Kelly Bailey in the portrait currently used in the infobox in her article? It's sort of like a ponytail, but originating much higher on the top/back of the head, like a topknot, and angled so that the tail first goes vertically up before coming down (unlike a typical ponytail, which either goes straight down, or horizontally back before going down). It's a fairly common hairstyle which I've seen a lot of people wear, so I assume it has some specific name? —SeekingAnswers (reply) 01:30, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

That specific style was very common in the 1980s, though I don't know that it had a specific name aside from "pony tail". The "attachment point" of the pony tail varies considerably from woman to woman depending on where she chooses to put it, I don't know that each orientation gets it own name. --Jayron32 04:00, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

In the UK someone wearing their hair like this would probably be identified as a chav. The hair is pulled tight, making the skin around the face taught and giving the wearer a look similar to that of women who have botox injections. The overall effect is known (disparagingly) as a Croydon facelift. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 06:48, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Informally, people just use an adjective to distinguish the sub-classes of ponytails. Do a goggle image search for /high ponytail/, /side ponytail/, /classic ponytail/, etc. SemanticMantis (talk) 19:42, 10 September 2012 (UTC)

Off screen TV characters

Norm Peterson's wife Vera on Cheers, Ernie's mom on The George Lopez Show, and Howard Wolowitz's mom on The Big Bang Theory all seem to be examples of unseen fat women. Are there other examples ? StuRat (talk) 02:19, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

If I recall correctly, Vera appeared in a Thanksgiving's episode of Cheers, face obscured. She wasn't fat. Mingmingla (talk) 02:28, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

I was just about to mention that. She walked in the room just in time to have a pie thrown in her face. I believe it was season 5 or 6 and I know it took place at Carla's house. But going back to the question at hand, TV Tropes has a number of examples though they don't categorize them by gender or body size. Dismas|^(talk) 02:30, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

On Frasier, Niles's wife Maris was always described as exceedingly thin. Nricardo (talk) 03:47, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Also Home Improvement 's Wilson, and The Drew Carey Show 's Mr. Bell. --Jayron32 03:57, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

See also Category:Unseen characters. —Tamfang (talk) 04:15, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

That list doesn't seem very complete. It's missing every example discussed here, and many others, such as Charlie from Charlie's Angels. StuRat (talk) 10:20, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Surely the original must be Mrs Mainwaring, wife of Captain Mainwaring in Dad's Army. The extent of her appearances were Mainwaring's weary replies of 'yes, Elizabeth' to her inappropriately-timed phone calls, and her rather large outline in the top bunk whilst sleeping in their air raid shelter. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 06:53, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

We also have a small unseen character article although that also points to the category. Adam Bishop (talk) 09:58, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

List of unseen characters has been redirected to Unseen character but was once a long list: [1]. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:40, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, Prime. What a shame all the work that went into that list was deleted, and now we have a pathetic list of only 22 rather obscure items. StuRat (talk) 10:46, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Miss Cathcart in Hi-de-Hi never made an appearance AFAIK.--TammyMoet (talk) 10:57, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

We didn't ever get to see how fat "'er indoors" from Minder was... Britmax (talk) 09:41, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

An example on radio rather than television: List of The Archers characters#Silent characters. Cheers, davidprior ^t/_c 20:53, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, all. StuRat (talk) 03:27, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

We Will Rock You

In retrospect, this song is so obvious. The rhythm is so simple, so easily performed by anyone, that I'm surprised that it didn't happen earlier. Or did it? That's my question: does the rhythm and meter of the song occur anywhere else relatively prominently in pop music before it came out? Mingmingla (talk) 19:44, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Quite likely. Nothing is coming to mind immediately. But Queen was not above being "inspired" by other artists or beats in the pop music ether. Compare the baseline from "Another One Bites The Dust" with "Good Times". The beat in WWRY is so simple it probably shows up in like a million songs; what makes WWRY stand out is the fact that it is just the drum beat. Just a 4/4 beat, one hit per beat, and a rest on beat 4, and nothing else. That sparse instrumentation totally makes that song memorable. --Jayron32 02:16, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

Actually, what's making the song stand out is the fact that it is just the stomping of feet and hand claps:

        |                         |                         |
        | stomp stomp clap (rest) | stomp stomp clap (rest) | continues throughout the song.
        |                         |                         |

See the video for confirmation. The bass drum is used though, in an unusual way. In the video you can see a glimpse of the drummer banging the bass drum with his hand, holding what appears to be a microphone, when the rest of the band are stomping. And then towards the end of the song the singing is accompanied by a long, sustained guitar note, and then there's a guitar solo. Nothing else. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 09:15, 8 September 2012 (UTC)

Excellent! In live performances, Roger Taylor actually plays that part on the drums, the "stomp" parts on a bass & tom combination, and the "clap" parts on the snare. That's pretty cool that they recorded it with just their hands and feet. Well found! --Jayron32 14:43, 8 September 2012 (UTC)

I am glad I am not the only one who hears "stomp, stomp, clap". Everytime the song is played in public (e.g. the recent London Olympic closing ceremony, the crowd does "clap, clap, hands in the air". I thought I must be hearing the claps wrong!90.212.157.32 (talk) 20:03, 8 September 2012 (UTC)

Maybe they're afraid that rhythmic stomping might trigger demolition. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:05, 10 September 2012 (UTC)

Current events in Marvel Comics

I've been catching up with Avengers vs X-Men and this being the first time I've really read a story arc, I'm curious to know how far back the roots of this event go and what they are connected to. From what I have learned, it started with M-Day, then Civil War, and then Norman Osborn's grab for power. Am I missing anything important? --Melab±1 ☎ 20:34, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

To see what you're missing, navigate your way through the articles of Template:Marvel events, starting from the House of M (2005) entry. —SeekingAnswers (reply) 06:34, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

Does it all go back to the Scarlet Witch's mental breakdown? --Melab±1 ☎ 00:28, 8 September 2012 (UTC)