Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2008 May 25

Welcome to the Wikipedia Entertainment Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

May 25

Image

Who is this? If it's someone famous, could you add it to the person's article and/or transfer it to commons with a better title? The Evil Spartan (talk) 02:51, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Presumably it is User:Alp38. Adam Bishop (talk) 03:49, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

The big clue is when it says on User:Alp38's page, "Below is a picture of me..." Clarityfiend (talk) 06:40, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Here the user says, "As part of the course we are required to use a Wikipedia userpage to post updates on our projects..." – apparently conflicting with what wikipedia is not, or am I mistaken. Is it about wikipedia projects or University projects, any insights? Julia Rossi (talk) 00:05, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

University projects, and since she rarely edits, it can probably be deleted. Adam Bishop (talk) 01:14, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

After reading her talk page, it seems that part of her class project is to make edits to the Wikipedia. Dismas|^(talk) 03:02, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I am legend film

What is Will Smith referring to when he speaks of Bob Marleys album? which album is he talking about? thanks W —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.34.248.222 (talk) 06:29, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

What does he say? Can you provide a link to the quote? He says a few things about Marley in the film but I don't recall the specific comment you seem to be referring to. Dismas|^(talk) 08:41, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Maybe 'Legend'? Richard Avery (talk) 09:33, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

The song played in the movie is Three Little Birds and during the credits they played Redemption Song so I'm pretty sure it was Legend. I can't remember Will Smith referring to an album though. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 12:46, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

The scene in the film where they talk about Bob Marley is here. 217.168.3.246 (talk) 17:01, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Letter on formula one cars

Hi, does anyone know what the N (or the Z, depending on which way you look at it), on formula one cars stands for or means? 202.37.62.201 (talk) 07:13, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

It's there to indicate the location of the button that puts the car into neutral. This is used by marshalls when they have to recover or remove a car from the track. For the exact wording of the regulations see section 9.4 (Clutch Disengagement) on the official F1 website. Nanonic (talk) 01:08, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Font

What's this font (also shown below if you don't know which one I mean) called? Interactive Fiction Expert/Talk to me 07:29, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Beetle Adventure Racing!

(Image changed to link; fair use image.) --Kjoonlee 21:14, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

It appears to be AdLib, with the individual letters rotated slightly. (See fonts101.com.) — Michael J 06:19, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Copied from Science desk: "Education & Career"

This question was on the science desk, I think it would find more people able to answer here. Lisa4edit (talk) 11:41, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

What are the prospects of the animation industry in the next ten years? 117.194.226.87 (talk) 05:40, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Are you in Australia? Here's a forecast for Flanders[1] (2006), Australia: job prospects for IT Computer Animation are good. ...February 2007 fell slightly in the past five years, and rose strongly in the long-term (ten years) at [2]. The scope is there, Julia Rossi (talk) 02:27, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

How does paparazzi affect the media and us?

We see many people complain about paparazzi. However, if we do create a law that bans the paparazzi from "stalking" celebrities, doesn't that harm the media industry and us? And also, how and why? Isn't the paparazzi included into the media, so banning the paparazzi is basically banning the media industry from taking any photos of famous people right? If celebrities complain about paparazzi, why doesn't Obama and other politicians complain about the other people that hogs to take his pictures. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.24.250.172 (talk) 22:45, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

As you said, banning paparazzi would affect their freedom of the press, but here[3] looks at some of the restrictions. Celebrities would be the biggest noisemakers if paparazzi were banned because they may be pests but they keep celebrities, celeb magazines, politicians, news media and the rest, in busine$$. Julia Rossi (talk) 02:18, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

That is right, celebrities don't want to prevent their pictures being taken because the pictures are a large part of what keeps the public interested in them, they just want them taken on their terms. The same with being in the press generally. They want stories published about them, but they want to control what goes into the stories. Scorpion Question Man (talk) 13:22, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Electric guitar purchase

Hello there. I am a beginner guitar player and plan to buy my first electric guitar soon. I wanted to buy one of the deluxe Fender Stratocasters, but the store I want to buy it from only has the standard kind in left-handed style. My question: Is it possible for one to replace/change pickups on guitars once you've bought it? OR is it possible to change the strings around? Also, as well as an amp and a guitar lead, is there anything else I should purchase to be able to play guitar at home? Thanks in advance! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.137.57.37 (talk) 22:58, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

You can get them changed in order to play left-handed, but I would let a professional do it. You may also want to buy a distortion pedal (the first thing I wanted to was make a whole lot of noise!). When I bought mine, they suggested buying a cheaper starter guitar - Squier is a knock-off of a Stratocaster which is a good one to start with. I suppose they assume they can make two sales that way, since you will probably go buy a better one in a couple of years. Adam Bishop (talk) 01:12, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Yeah I've read the advice about starting cheaper but I figure as I'll end up upgrading to a better guitar anyway I might as well start off with one and save myself the expense. A distortion pedal is a good idea, thanks for the thought. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.137.57.37 (talk) 02:09, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

A comparatively inexpensive little toy to round out your shopping list would be a Capo. It'll let you play around with a whole new range of chords and variations. --Lisa4edit (talk) 09:21, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I recommend plain-old right handed guitars for all players, even if they're left-handed. There's no good reason I've ever heard to do it otherwise. If you learn to play right handed, you can borrow someone's guitar and play it. You can walk into any guitar shop and have hundreds of guitars you can play. You can flip the guitar over and re-string it but the controls and whatnot will be in awkward positions. Friday (talk) 16:26, 30 May 2008 (UTC)