Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2009 July 20

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July 20

Range of instruments

Whenever I see a chart of the range of an instrument, I usually see the lower limit and the upper limit of the range, but sometimes I see smaller note(s) which are lower than the lower limit or higher than the higher limit. What does it mean?--Mikespedia (talk) 05:50, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

It depends on the instrument, but it usually means that the small notes can only be played on some versions of the instrument, or with special technique. Double bass is an example of the former, where the normal bottom not is E, but the C below that can be played on basses with a low-C extension. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 10:16, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Likewise, for trumpet, one generally shouldn't write much above "high C", but with a lot of training, players can get an octave above that (and more). --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 20:31, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Travel guide

Hi,

I've found in a book store some very good travel guides with 3D-drawings and lots of pics and info. The name of those books is El Pais Aguilar. The only problem is that those books are in Spanish and it would be easier for me to buy English books. Could you tell me if you know the titles of useful travel guides? Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.210.102.74 (talk) 20:02, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

The Eyewitness series of guides may be of interest to you. In the UK at least, these are published by Dorling Kindersley, have a good reputation and have lots of pictures of the favourite sightseeing locations such as churches and museums. However, they are not so useful as regards nightlife, hotels, restaurants and so on. By far the best all-round country guides are those published by Rough Guides. If it's a city guide you're after, you can take your pick between the Rough Guides and Time Out series of city guides. The former are better on history and sightseeing, while the latter are better on nightlife and shopping. On no account touch the Lonely Planet series, they are terrible. If you have a particular country or city in mind, say so and I can come up with some more specific recommendations. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 21:37, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Have you tried the online travel guide that anyone can edit, Wikitravel? Tempshill (talk) 21:38, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

I think Wikitravel is often pretty bad. What book you want really depends on where you're going and what you priorities are. Even within one publisher there is often a wide range of quality depending on the destination. (E.g. I'm travelling to India soon and of the probably two dozen people who have responded to me on various forums they like Lonely Planet the best, even though LP may not be good for other places. Similarly, Moon travel guides don't exist for many destinations but it seemed when I went to Panama that the Moon guide was the best regarded for that country.) I would recommend going on Amazon and doing a search for whatever destination you're interested in, then checking over the reviews. That should give you a good idea. A general guide of the target audience for a variety of books follows... Let's go: party backpacker. Lonely planet: adventure-y backpacker. Rough guides: adventure-y backpacker with maybe a bit more money and class. Moon: kind of like rough guides. Fodor's/Frommer's: probably middle-aged target audience, less adventure and higher budget. Eyewitness: less practical hotel info and lots of pretty pictures, good for planning but less for logistics, maybe the same audience as Frommer's. Rick Steves: middle-aged but a young backpacker at heart. Cadogan's: lots of history and culture info, good if you want something that's maybe a little textbookish. Bradt: good for obscure third-world destinations off the normal tourist track. I would also recommend travelfish.org if you're going to SE asia. Calliopejen1 (talk) 12:56, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

USS Enterprise (Star Trek)

Why is the ship in Star Trek the Next Generation called USS Enterprise if there are not any remaining nation states? Googlemeister (talk) 20:15, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

In Gene Roddenberry's original Star Trek pitch, the starship is described as a "United Space Ship," and in two episodes of TOS, Kirk refers to the "United Space Ship Enterprise. -- from Starship Enterprise. --jpgordon^{::==( o )} 20:29, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Because traveling in un-united space ships can be quite drafty? Clarityfiend (talk) 22:27, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

Enterprise trailer music

Speaking of the starship Enterprise, what is the music in this trailer? I heard this song in another non-Star Trek context and was wondering what it was. Thank you in advance. --Blue387 (talk) 20:34, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

My Flash isn't working after the FireFox upgrade. Probably "Where My Heart Will Take Me" which was rather contentious. See Star Trek: Enterprise#Theme song. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 21:01, 20 July 2009 (UTC)