Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2016 April 14

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April 14

XKCD and architecture

Has Andrew Lloyd Webber done any architectural work, or is it a joke? I'm leaning toward joke, but I could always be wrong. Nyttend (talk) 00:16, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

xkcd is nearly always a joke. In this case, it messes with your brain by confusing ALW with Frank Lloyd Wright, who indeed is an architect. Explain xkcd is usually a good stop if you think you miss part of the joke. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 00:47, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

Section 11.1 notes the FLW connexion, so I expected that 11 was a joke, but it made me wonder if ALW really has gotten into architecture on the side. Both composers and architects sometimes do other things as well, e.g. Charles Ives and Thomas Jefferson, so it's not something totally outlandish. Nyttend (talk) 01:15, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

Confusing people with similar names is constant fodder for humor, sometimes inadvertently. Consider confusion between has been consumed by confusing James Earl Jones with James Earl Ray: This incident was monologue matter for the late night talk shows for days. Similarly, the Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander didn't briefly marry Brittany Spears, though another Jason Alexander did, causing similar jokes. When music producer and arranger George Martin died, it caused an outpouring of grief from Game of Thrones fans who didn't realize that's a different person than George R. R. Martin. Sometimes, it isn't a joke, and can get people into real trouble, like when sportcaster Gerry Sandusky got confused with convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky. Sometimes it's similar appearance causing name confusion, here is a Cracked.com article about the subject. --Jayron32 01:19, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

I frequently confuse Audrey Murphy with Audie Hepburn... Iapetus (talk) 08:58, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

And spare a thought for the singer Ian Watkins, better known as H from Steps, who found himself confused with the other singer Ian Watkins who was sent to prison for a host of horrible offences including raping a baby. Smurrayinchester 09:24, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

Winston Churchill invited Irving Berlin to lunch at Number 10, thinking he was Isaiah Berlin. True story. Carbon Caryatid (talk) 22:55, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

Maybe apocryphal. "Richard Nixon threw a 70th birthday party for Duke Ellington at the White House. Scores of dignitaries and celebrities were invited, including Cab Calloway. At some point during the celebration, Nixon went up to Cab Calloway and said: "Ah, Mr. Ellington. Happy, happy birthday. Pat and I are such fans of your music." Cab Calloway didn't want to embarrass him, so he just thanked him and moved on." -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 07:39, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

More recently, a news anchor made an on-air gaffe while talking to Samuel L. Jackson and confusing him with Laurence Fishburne. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:31, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

Picturing Samuel L. Jackson as Cowboy Curtis is a bit much right now... I may need to excuse myself. --Jayron32 20:22, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

For a shoe on the other foot, some chat show host naïvely compared Rachael Stirling to Diana Rigg. —Tamfang (talk) 18:29, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

SNL once had both Senator Paul Simon and musician Paul Simon on the show, with consequent confusion. Currently in the news is NFL player Will Smith, killed by gunfire, and I expect at least a few casual readers of news page were startled to think it might have been the actor. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:29, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

I recall a story from the mid-eighties, when David Attenborough got his knighthood. Apparently he had been put up for one several years before, but the civil servants reviewing nominations saw "D Attenborough" on the list and (perhaps after rather a good lunch) crossed it off, with the comment "Dickie's got one already". DuncanHill (talk) 20:42, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

Well my reading is that in the fictional universe of the cartoon it was designed by ALW, leading to roof collapse... --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 07:51, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

I don't know FLW's rate of roof-collapse, but he was pretty crap at making buildings that kept the rain out, despite "being able to go inside it out of the rain" being consistently in the Top Ten of "things people who aren't architects want to be able to do with a building". DuncanHill (talk) 16:28, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

“This is what happens when you leave a work of art out in the rain.” [1] Carbon Caryatid (talk) 22:59, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

My reading is that someone found an external source for the ALW claim that had copied it from Wikipedia, as in xkcd #978. -- BenRG (talk) 16:45, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

I recommend explainxkcd.com. The Quixotic Potato (talk) 20:34, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

Yeah, someone else already posted that link (half an hour after the question was posted, as it happens). --Viennese Waltz 08:32, 15 April 2016 (UTC)

My twisted brain wants to fit this to the quip "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture," but it won't go. —Tamfang (talk) 18:24, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

Going by what Duncan said, ALW and FLW were both good at bringing down the house. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:14, 16 April 2016 (UTC)

Western University Pics - Guess the Uni

Hello, I have several pics of universities...they could potentially all be located within one uni but might quite as well be located in several different ones...any help identifying them would be greatly appreciated. I believe they are probably within the British Isles. Many thanks.

Library

great hall — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A01:388:361:110:0:0:1:1F (talk) 23:09, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

You changed the section title. Do you know the answers already? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:22, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

Sorry, no I thought this would be more helpful. I have tried using google image search however it is coming up with very similar images, that are, upon closer inspection different. The great hall for example I thought was Oxford, but if you look closely there seem to be considerable differences to the pictures despite their initial similarity. 2A01:388:361:110:0:0:1:1F (talk) 23:25, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

When you say "I have", it implies they are yours. I'm supposing you mean to say "I have found"? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:38, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

First is Copenhagen University Library. Compare [2] Nanonic (talk) 23:46, 14 April 2016 (UTC)

Second is Keble College, Oxford - full size at [3]. FYI, I used TinEye to find both. Nanonic (talk) 23:49, 14 April 2016 (UTC)