Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2010 August 23

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August 23

Viper roller coaster

On the Viper (Six Flags Magic Mountain) page, it says that Viper currently holds the world record for tallest vertical loop, but on the List of roller coaster rankings, Viper isn't even on the top ten. Why is this? --Nick4404 yada yada yada What have I done? 01:07, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

Well, it doesn't help that neither article has a reference for its info. The official Viper page says it climbs 14 stories but doesn't express that in feet/meters. This page, which is linked from the list you provided a link for says that the Viper is 188 ft tall which beats the tallest in the list by 44 ft. In the end, both articles could use some references.

Also, it's sometimes hard to compare roller coasters. They're a bit like the claims of the tallest buildings. One person will claim building A is taller than B. But another person can counter with the idea that A is only taller because of antennas on top of the building and not livable space. Dismas|^(talk) 01:20, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

Now, to throw another monkey wrench in this. The listings for tallest vertical loop appear to assume the loop itself is that tall, or, put another way, has that "diameter" (I place diameter in quotes because roller coaster loops are generally clothoid loops and not true circles). Viper's first inversion, on the other hand, is basically the same size as the next two on the ride, but it's situated up much higher than would normally be expected, as shown here. So Viper's claim is that, in the element, riders are farther away from the ground when upside down than on any other loop. --McDoobAU93 (talk) 02:00, 28 August 2010 (UTC)

Heartbeat TV Series (British)

Who played Edward Walton (Ex bank manager) in Episode 366 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.211.94.167 (talk) 12:33, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

This says Rodney Bewes. Ghmyrtle (talk) 12:55, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

Stephen Fry's death

Resolved

Will QI be able to complete the alphebet at it's current rate of one letter per series before Stephen Fry dies? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Prize Winning Tomato (talk • contribs) 15:49, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

Who knows, but like it says at the top of the page "The reference desk does not answer requests for opinions or predictions about future events."  ZX81  ^talk 15:53, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

I'm not asking for predictions, I want to know with the average lifespan of a male in the uk, if at his current age whatever that is will he be able to complete the alphebet before he dies, or will another host (assuming the show isn't canceled) take over? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Prize Winning Tomato (talk • contribs) 15:58, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

He isn't "that" old. Standard life expectancy will give him another 26 years. -- SGBailey (talk) 16:13, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

Series "I" will presumably be recorded in 2011. Fry is currently 52 and will turn 53 later this month. There are 18 letters left including "I" giving us :-

• I - 2011
• J - 2012
• K - 2013
• L - 2014
• M - 2015
• N - 2016
• O - 2017
• P - 2018
• Q - 2019
• R - 2020
• S - 2021
• T - 2022
• U - 2023
• V - 2024
• W - 2025
• X - 2026
• Y - 2027
• Z - 2028

another 18 years. Fry will be around 70 when we reach Z, old certainly but hardly decrepit. As current male UK life expectancy is 77.2 years it's most likely Fry will still be around. It's more likely the series will end before reaching Z for unrelated reasons than Fry dying beforehand. Exxolon (talk) 18:46, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Prize Winning Tomato (talk • contribs) 18:47, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

Note also that, if overall UK life expectancy is 77.2 years, the life expectancy for someone Fry's age is substantially higher -- he's got a floor of 52 years as contrasted with the floor of 0 in the overall calculation. — Lomn 21:15, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

Walk don't run

Has Walk, Don't Run (song) been the theme tune to any TV programmes? If so which? -- SGBailey (talk) 16:14, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

It's not on the List of television theme music and I can't find anything that suggests otherwise. I think The Ventures will just have to be satisfied with "Hawaii Five-O". Clarityfiend (talk) 01:03, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

Not a TV show, but apparently Yleisradio used it as its theme song, see the article on rautalanka. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sluzzelin (talk • contribs) 01:11, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

ESOL 5

HI! My name is Sitwat Ara, i am a new student came from another country, i want to know that the school place me in esol 5, can u plz tell me what they will teach me in that class bcoz my reading & writing is perfect & i can also understand english, & i can improve my speaking power in my regural classes, my cousin told me that if i take esol class i will miss my another important subject. thankyou —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sitwat ara (talk • contribs) 21:22, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

You'd have to specify which country you have moved to; and if it is a federal country (like the U.S. or Canada), you'd need to indicate the specific state or province. Educational standards vary by jursidiction, so we'd need to know where you are before we can answer your question. --Jayron32 02:49, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

It is also plainly obvious that your writing is far from perfect. Googlemeister (talk) 16:15, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

ESOL is "English for Speakers of Other Languages". Would it correct to assume you have moved to an English-speaking country, from a country where English is not your normal language? Your school will be able to tell you what "ESOL 5" means for that school and what the course will teach you. Astronaut (talk) 21:31, 25 August 2010 (UTC)