Wikipedia:Reference desk/Entertainment

The Wikipedia Reference Desk covering the topic of entertainment.
Entertainment #eee #f5f5f5 #eee #aaa #aaa #aaa #00f #36b #000 #00f entertainment Wikipedia:Reference desk/Entertainment Entertainment WP:RD/E

Welcome to the entertainment reference desk. Want a faster answer? Main page: Help searching Wikipedia How can I get my question answered? Provide a short header that gives the general topic of the question. Type ~~~~ (four tildes) at the end – this signs and dates your contribution so we know who wrote what and when. Post your question to only one desk. Don't post personal contact information – it will be removed. We'll answer here within a few days. Note: We don't answer (and may remove) questions that require medical diagnosis or legal advice. We don't answer requests for opinions, predictions or debate. We don't do your homework for you, though we’ll help you past the stuck point. How do I answer a question? Main page: Wikipedia:Reference desk/Guidelines The best answers address the question directly, and back up facts with wikilinks and links to sources. Do not edit others' comments and do not give any medical or legal advice.

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February 23

mattress and beauty sleep

I remember Donna Axum was a spokesperson for a mattress company. Bert Parks was her co-spokesperson. They were shown in the company commercial, but I can't remember which one. I also can't seem to find it on YouTube. Could someone please help? Thank you.158.222.165.116 (talk) 06:34, 23 February 2015 (UTC)

Chambers Biographical Dictionary - Andrew Dallmeyer

Hello all, I am hoping someone has access to this book to find out if Andrew Dallmeyer is featured in it. According to this website it has some useful information - Though it doesn't say which edition. Thanks in advance. ツStacey (talk) 17:53, 23 February 2015 (UTC)

Anyone? Anyone at all? ツStacey (talk) 12:38, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

Is there any space RTS or 4x game where the space is 3d?

Is there any space RTS or 4x game where the space is 3d instead of the usual 2d bullshit?
PS: Pc games. 201.78.165.137 (talk) 19:39, 23 February 2015 (UTC)

Homeworld (and its sequels). It's an old game, but you can still get it on digital distribution sites like GoG. A modernised version (Homeworld Remastered) will be released on Wednesday. -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk 21:22, 23 February 2015 (UTC)

"*Its a fantastic game." Fixed that for you, Finlay McWalter. Also, Sword of the Stars is another one. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 4 Adar 5775 21:26, 23 February 2015 (UTC)

• Back in the day Descent (video game) was a really good one. --Jayron32 09:53, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

But it's a shooter, not an RTS or 4X. -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk 09:57, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

I seem to recall Star Trek Armada having some 3d combat (in that units could move a certain distance above and below the plane, and the range would be adjusted accordingly). From what I remember the AI made absolutely no use of it though, and it was a sufficiently minor feature that most players didn't realise it existed (which could be used to good effect in multiplayer, since even a small range penalty to your opponent makes it much easier to defend valuable assets). MChesterMC (talk) 11:40, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

February 24

I simply want to report something!

Your article about Ursula Thiess Taylor is extremely repetitive - the second section repeats the content of the first.

Another comment?

Yesterday, as I researched the term Bisexuality, I found something utterly unverified. The section headed "Media/Film" featured a photo of Angelina Jolie. Read the caption:

Angelina Jolie is a bisexual actress.[75]

The footnote led me to "www.nydailynews.com". New York.

I would expect at least one more source on such a strong claim. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.1.198.55 (talk) 04:08, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

This desk is for general questions unrelated to Wikipedia articles. Your best course of action is to post this on the talk page for U Taylor and/or the Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons/Noticeboard. MarnetteD|Talk 04:17, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

I find Ursula Thiess only slightly repetitive. — Angelina Jolie's own article has at least two better-supported mentions of bisexuality. —Tamfang (talk) 09:12, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia has a policy for these kinds of problems: WP:SOFIXIT. WP articles only exist because someone was WP:BOLD enough to start them! So, in all seriousness, please feel welcome to edit the article to be less repetitive, or to find better references to cite for claims about a person (WP:BLP has more info on that). SemanticMantis (talk) 14:56, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Keys in music

Is there really a difference between keys in music? I find all major keys to give the same mood and all minor keys to give the same mood. It's only if i keep using the same key (e.g. A minor or C major, no black notes so easy to use) i get tired of it and prefer another key. Do most people have a preference for keys? E.g. alot of people say D minor is the saddest key. Why do i find everything to be completely relative? Money is tight (talk) 11:13, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Well, Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart's Ideen zu einer Ästhetik der Tonkunst certainly asserts that there are, giving different keys a range of differing characers based on their tonic. These do seem to have currency with musicians - the BBC's Key Matters program uses similar language to describe several of the keys; it's notable that for some (particularly Fm) it attributes the character to practical concerns - some early instruments weren't very accurate in Fm, so its tempestuous reputation is due to composers exploring that. Like you, I'm a bit sceptical that an untrained listener (one uncontaminated with the tonic-implies-character idea) would really attribute these moods to a piece of music transposed into different keys and played on a neutral instrument like a synthesiser. But I can't find actual empirical studies to find out. -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk 11:52, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

It may even be that the western idea of a major scale as having a "happy" character and a minor an "unhappy" one is pure acculturation - that as a small child you heard happy songs in a major and sad things in a minor, and that has caused the association. In about 1992 Scientific American published an article about childhood acculturation to different scales (comparing european and east asian scales) - the authors argued that when parents spoke to their children they unconsciously used their culture's scales, giving the infant an idea of what notes go together properly. The paper said that this fixation happened pretty early in the child's development - that by some young-ish age (I forget when - it was something like 3 or 4 years of age) the child had fixed on what was "right", and that after that time music in other scales would sound "wrong", or at least "exotic". If that's really true (and one paper I dimly remember from a quarter century ago don't make it so), it's fair to think that Fm is funereal because, and only because, we've all heard lots of funereal music in Fm. -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk 12:08, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

The answer is it depends. What it depends on is the tuning system: how the notes are spaced determines the differences between keys. Depending on the kind of instrument, and the particulars of the tuning, you may be tuned to just intonation, or some other musical temperament, such as 12-tone equal temperament or (as was done with older music), quarter-comma meantone temperament. The "differences" between one key or another can be more or less pronounced depending on which temperament you're working in. Vocal ensembles, for example, often naturally tune to just intonation, because among tunings, it is the most perfectly harmonic. Keyboards and fretted string instruments (like guitars) are more commonly tuned to 12-tone equal temperament, because it allows one to change keys without retuning. Indeed, if a guitar was tuned to just intonation, it would only be able to play correctly in one key. Temperament allows guitars to play in any key; it means every note is slightly out of tune for perfect harmony (see comma (music) for a description) but the difference is almost unnoticeable in equal temperament, and the ability to play across any key is far more important. Of course, this discussion assumes you're dealing only in like keys or modes, like all major keys. There are well-documented differences in feel between major and minor keys, for example.--Jayron32 12:13, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

I have key preferences, but I have a feeling that some of this is due to conditioning, as stated in the above responses. What would be a nice test of key preferences is by listening to songs in transposed keys, or Baroque music at A 415; if there are really key characteristics audible to the general listener, and the composers are exploiting these, it ought to be possible to guess what the original key was, or at least tell that the piece has been transposed.

Schubart's key characteristics (linked above, though this might be more convenient) are sometimes not so much characteristics as full-blown personifications: consider D♭ major "A leering key, degenerating into grief and rapture. It cannot laugh, but it can smile; it cannot howl, but it can at least grimace its crying.--Consequently only unusual characters and feelings can be brought out in this key." and B♭ minor "A quaint creature, often dressed in the garment of night. It is somewhat surly and very seldom takes on a pleasant countenance. Mocking God and the world; discontented with itself and with everything; preparation for suicide sounds in this key." Part of this may be the tuning, of course: Young's well temperament (1799) apparently (well, according to Kyle Gann) makes D-flat major harsh, instead of the soft colour I perceive. Double sharp (talk) 15:28, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Regarding the test: I'm wondering what would happen if it were also conducted only using sine tones (well, one thing that would happen is that the experimentees would suffer a very unpleasant hearing experience of Baroque music). To use a different aspect of colour in music: I think we're also very familiar with the timbres of instruments and voices in different pitches, something the composers will exploit too, of course, and that might interfere with testing the key's "pure character" (or colour, as you put it, q.v. chromesthesia perhaps) in the sense that is being asked. ---Sluzzelin talk 20:50, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

Hmm, it's interesting that the chromesthesia article mentions something very much like the concept behind my suggested test: "There may be an effect of semantic mediation in some individuals with sound-color synesthesia. One subject, MH, self-triggered notes on a synthesizer and noted the color associations. When the synthesizer was transposed without her knowledge, she reported identical color associations to the notes that she believed she was hearing, rather than the absolute pitch of the tones." Double sharp (talk) 12:29, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

Equal temperament says "there is a great deal of variety in the particular opinions of composers about the moods and colors of particular keys." (But it's tagged ^{[citation needed]}.) -- BenRG (talk) 02:41, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

Piece by Ravel

As one of the comments already mentioned, what's the name of the Ravel piece used here? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsDyX3trkdM --2.245.147.109 (talk) 23:13, 24 February 2015 (UTC)

I think it's from the second movement ("Adagio assai") of his Piano Concerto in G major. I believe the passage is often performed at a faster tempo than that, see for example Martha Argerich here. ---Sluzzelin talk 00:16, 25 February 2015 (UTC)

February 26

Daytime and nighttime keys

Do any Wikipedians recognize the difference between daytime and nighttime musical keys?? The way I hear music, the key of G major sounds more like a daytime key; they key of E-flat major sounds more like a nighttime key. Is this true with many listeners?? Georgia guy (talk) 15:13, 26 February 2015 (UTC)

We have an entire thread two sections above this one which covers this exact topic. You may want to contribute there, keeping in mind that anecdote is not the singular form of data, and Wikipedia reference desk answers need to be based on links to Wikipedia articles or reliable sources, and not mere discussions of personal experiences. --Jayron32 15:18, 26 February 2015 (UTC)

But the person in that thread doesn't agree with me. They think that all major keys sound happy and all minor keys sound sad. This is about daytime and nighttime sounding keys, and both the keys I'm using in my comparison are major keys. Georgia guy (talk) 15:23, 26 February 2015 (UTC)

Here's a discussion of the "mood" and feeling of various keys, attributed to various authors, with citations, [1]. One source says E-flat major is "cruel and hard", while another says it is "The key of love, of devotion, of intimate conversation with God." So it's highly subjective, and rooted in cultural experience. So you're probably not the only one, but there are also no universal attributes to keys, other than the note structure that comes with the name. SemanticMantis (talk) 19:32, 26 February 2015 (UTC)

More like the other way around, that "happy" songs might tend to be written in major keys. This reminds me of a Billy Joel special I saw a couple of decades ago, in which he pointed out that the chorus of his song "Pressure", if converted from its minor key to a corresponding major key, comes out sounding like a polka. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:30, 26 February 2015 (UTC)

This may be of interest. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 18:44, 27 February 2015 (UTC)

American Dream by Billy Ray Cyrus

i just want info on the song the american dream by billy ray cyrus and there is no info on wikipedia just has info on a song by the same name by hank williams jr i wanna know more info bout the billy ray cyrus version — Preceding unsigned comment added by Guitar1223 (talk • contribs) 20:08, 26 February 2015 (UTC)

A quick search shows that it was on the album Shot Full of Love, last and eleventh song on the album, released in 1998. It was written by Gary Harrison (more info) and Keith Stegall (more info), and first performed by The Oak Ridge Boys in 1989. --NorwegianBlue ^talk 22:31, 26 February 2015 (UTC)

February 27

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Series 3

When will I be able to view Miss Fisher's Murder Misteries season three (3) on Netflex? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.207.229.59 (talk) 20:18, 27 February 2015 (UTC)

Seasons 1 and 2 took seven months from shooting to airing. Season 3 started shooting in mid-October, so mid-May seems reasonable. InedibleHulk (talk) 20:25, February 27, 2015 (UTC)

February 28

1996

What Pokemon video games were released in 1996?Ohyeahstormtroopers6 (talk) 18:27, 28 February 2015 (UTC)

See Pokémon (video game series). Dismas|^(talk) 20:08, 28 February 2015 (UTC)

Tetris Attack was later Pokemonized, so half counts. InedibleHulk (talk) 20:10, February 28, 2015 (UTC)

When is season 2 of Orange is the new black being released on dvd?

Thanks! Venustar84 (talk) 18:33, 28 February 2015 (UTC)

Moved from the misc desk by LongHairedFop (talk) 19:07, 28 February 2015 (UTC)

Season 1 was released ten months after the premiere. This one premieres in June. So, April 2016. Maybe. InedibleHulk (talk) 20:03, February 28, 2015 (UTC)

Or wait, no. I forgot what year this was. April 2015. Maybe. InedibleHulk (talk) 20:05, February 28, 2015 (UTC)

No problem. 2015 is the new 2014. StuRat (talk) 01:22, 1 March 2015 (UTC)

Although there doesn't seem to have been annoucement yet unlike with season 1 where the DVD had been annouced by now [2], I would also suspect April or May although probably more likely May. Our article suggests the third season is premiering in June, as did the second season. For a continuing US series, I think the premier date of the next season is often a closer indicator of the DVD release then the premier of the season to be released, unless the DVD is released very soon after the season finishes like within 3 months, or since this was a Netflix show and it was released at once, perhaps 6 months. Around a month before the next season is often roughly the time the DVD is released, to build interest and to give those who didn't see the season time to catch up and this may still apply to a Netflix show. Nil Einne (talk) 02:51, 1 March 2015 (UTC)

Similar songs

I would be fascinated to hear people's favourite songs. Also, if anyone knows of any instrumental songs similar to the Harmonic Brass Ensemble (War), or Battle Without Honour or Humanity please say.

Thanks!

86.182.37.253 (talk) 21:11, 28 February 2015 (UTC)

Mine would be "Gentle on My Mind", as rendered by Ethel Merman. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:52, 28 February 2015 (UTC)

Ethel Merman singing anything gently sounds about like Carol Burnett singing I'm Shy ! StuRat (talk) 01:21, 1 March 2015 (UTC)

• This board is not for such discussions. We are a reference service. There are no references for random anonymous people's favourite songs. None that are published in reliable secondary sources, at any rate. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 01:39, 1 March 2015 (UTC)

JackofOz: so asking for similar songs is also not asking for assistance? That sounds strangely like a request for help in "finding information" to me. I can recognise that the aside was not really relevant though, and have struck it. 109.157.240.231 (talk) 09:28, 1 March 2015 (UTC)