Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2010 August 25

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August 25

Hollywood Walk of Fame and Mariah Carey

Why does Mariah Carey not have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? She should have had one years ago. (Update: Mariah Carey received a star in 2007) Also Madonna and Julia Roberts don't have(Julia and Madonna don't want one). What's going on? Where's the justice? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.23.23.169 (talk) 03:41, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Our Hollywood Walk of Fame article says that Julia Roberts has declined to participate, for one. The article says that "Why doesn't ____________ have a star?" is the #1 question received by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. Comet Tuttle (talk) 04:57, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Glitter? Clarityfiend (talk) 06:53, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

According to The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, "Anyone, including a fan, can nominate a celebrity as long as the celebrity or his/her management is in agreement with the nomination. If there is no letter of agreement included from the celebrity or his/her representative, the committee will not accept the application." 24.189.87.160 (talk) 09:27, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

What I would like to know though, is if you can ask them to include a new category altogether, because I personally feel that athletes should have their place. I mean sports are a form of entertainment, are they not? 24.189.87.160 (talk) 09:36, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Of course, you can go to this website and ask them. But remember, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is a private body, not a democracy; they have no obligation to heed your argument. --M@rēino 13:35, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

sports are a form of entertainment, are they not? - only on the Wikipedia Reference Desk. Look in any newspaper and what do you find - the sport section usually at the back, and the arts/entertainment section somewhere else. On the TV news, there's a distinct section devoted to sports, which does not include anything to do with film stars, the theatre, comedy, singers, opera, you name it. It's not that sports are not entertaining, hence the spectators - but so is politics, and so is pornography. But all that aside, the Hollywood Walk of Fame is for people who've had some connection with, er, well, Hollywood (the movie capital). Can most sports people claim this? -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 20:10, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Jack! A pornography section? What newspaper do you read? ---Sluzzelin talk 20:42, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

You misread me, Sluzzo. I was simply acknowledging that, although they're not properly categorised as entertainment, sports do still have a certain entertainment value, as does politics, as does pornography. That's all. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 09:10, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

If baseball were film, the New York Yankees might fit into the porn category, as in "Yankee Does Dallas". For the Chicago Cubs, it would be more like "Plan 9 from Outer Space". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:05, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

Is the Hollywood C of C free to create a star posthumously? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:05, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

Why did Barbara Streisand change her name?

One would think it would be in her article, but I didn't find it in the usual places. At home, I try to avoid going to most web sites.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 18:47, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

From the Barbra Archives:

• "she dropped one letter from the conventional spelling of "Barbara" because, "I hated the name, but I refused to change it."[1].
• "the spelling of her first name is an instance of partial rebellion: she was advised to change her last name and retaliated by dropping an “a” from the first instead" [2].

---Sluzzelin talk 19:00, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Another answer from her: "Well, I was 18 and I wanted to be unique, but I didn't want to change my name because that was too false. You know, people were saying you could be Joanie Sands, or something like that. [My middle name is Joan.] And I said, 'No, let's see, if I take out the 'a,' it's still 'Barbara,' but it's unique." [3] -- kainaw™ 19:05, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Thank you. If I can't find it in the article, ... well, I suppose the talk page would be the place to propose including both of those.Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 19:18, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

I wouldn't bother bringing it up on the talk page — just add a subsection about it. Comet Tuttle (talk) 20:47, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Okay. thanks. Personal life okay?Vchimpanzee · talk · contributions · 20:47, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

Balls of Steel, Legal Action.

Has anybody from Balls of Steel (UK TV series) ever had criminal or civil legal action taken against them for actions performed during the filming of the show? SmokingNewton _{(MESSAGE ME)} 20:59, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Well, it is always hard to disprove something like that; best we can do is, search news. I see that 4 people were arrested for squirting water at Tom Cruise[4], but apparently he did not press charges[5]. This tabloid piece mentions the possibility of suing them, and Scotland Yard has investigated stunts but said "a criminal investigation was ‘not appropriate’".[6] In Sweden, production was affected by an incident, but it only says that someone was questioned by the Swedish Security Service.[7] [8] - I'm not sure if you could consider that to be criminal or civic action.

It would appear that the possibility of litigation influenced the decision to create an American version.[9].  Chzz  ►  02:18, 26 August 2010 (UTC)

12 and Holding

Hi, I just watched this very good movie on german tv. Could you tell me, wether and which connotation the title has? 12 ist the age of main characters, but what does holding mean? 91.52.139.209 (talk) 22:10, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Haven't seen it, but "holding" in this context usually means staying as you are, maintaining the status quo. For example, a holding pattern. I don't know if this helps. Britmax (talk) 22:21, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Yes, thanks. So it would just mean, they are 12 years old and hold/stay on this point of development, despite the events. - I had the feeling the title could play with some phrase from sports or gambling. - (The german title is "Ende der Unschuld"/"End of Innocence".) 91.52.139.209 (talk) 22:53, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Yes, that would be the idea. Britmax (talk) 22:57, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Not sports, as far as I know; think rocketry, specifically the countdown to a rocket launch. At least in NASA practice, if the clock is running they announce "T minus 20 minutes and counting"; if it's stopped (either due to a problem or because of a planned delay in the sequence), it's "T minus 20 minutes and holding". Back in Project Apollo days this usage would have been very familiar to many people. --Anonymous, 05:21 UTC, August 26, 2010.

Oh, thanks, that sounds good. The movie shows, that the kids are not ready for take-off into adult life. 91.52.138.210 (talk) 09:19, 26 August 2010 (UTC)