Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2010 March 20

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March 20

Heroes (80s TV series)

I remember watching a TV series in the 80s about a British(?) rock band called Heroes. I remember the name because in one episode they misspelled the band's name in a poster: "Herpes". The series was mostly for teenage audience I guess. I don't seem able to locate that series in IMDB or wikipedia. Can anybody help? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.223.110.171 (talk) 13:42, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

How about this one: [1] ? It's made in New Zealand, but, if you're American, it's possible to confuse Kiwis with Brits. StuRat (talk) 17:49, 23 March 2010 (UTC)

Yes, thanks, I actually managed to find it by myself. I'm not American, not even a native English speaker, so my confusion in understandable, considering I was a child back then :) There aren't too many NZ TV productions I can think of :)

Which of Asimov's robots is this?

[2]

This is really bugging me...which one is it?

It isn't necessarily any of them, as the cover art for books is often comissioned by the publisher and is only thematically linked to the plot (if at all). This was more true in the past when lead times from writing to publication were longer due to the limits of the technology. Britmax (talk) 18:19, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

That is probably true but say hello to Roderick anyway. meltBanana 18:37, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

Britmax and meltBanana are both correct: the artwork is by Chris Foss and dates from an era when in UK publishing many if not most SF paperbacks (and many hardbacks) were given 'generic' cover illustrations that just 'said SF', but I suspect the Foss painting meltBanana links to was named for John Sladek's humanoid robot protagonist of that name, which/who it does not actually resemble. Seemingly some artists produced portfolios of such works reflecting their own predilictions (Foss went in for enormous spaceships and other vehicles, robots and buildings that often seemed to be modelled on power tools or other household implements) and publishers would choose whatever they fancied, often with little (for example, Bruce Pennington produced illustrations of an apocalyptic concept of his own from which publishers took individual pictures that seemed to vaguely fit their title) or no regard for a book's actual contents and usually none for any opinions of the author, who would usually not be consulted.

Consequently one might, for example, find spaceships gracing the cover of a book which contained no reference to space travel (such as Foss's cover for Asimov's Panther paperback edition of The Gods Themselves), or as here a robot that is not intended to portray any robot described in the book itself. This was not of course invariable: other covers were specifically commissioned and some artists carefully read the works in question to find suitable material to illustrate. As a generality, however, UK SF publishers have never been as wedded to fully accurate narrative art for their covers as have their US counterparts, for whom artists like Michael Whelan have often striven to attain minute accuracy of detail.

For obvious business reasons, most paperback publishers tended to use a particular (though not exclusive) range of preferred artists, which gave some contemporary 'house style' to their productions. Some artists - perhaps because one of the books they had covered had become a (by genre standards) best seller and a cautious art director might prefer to ape the success of others - became very fashionable for a time and were used by several publishers who might also get their own regular artists to work in a similar vein: on age grounds also cover artists 'come and go', and the resultant waves of fashion in cover art are something I have been thinking of writing about, and have been gathering material on, for some years.

I expect regular responder ColinFine (with whom I'm slightly acquainted in meatspace) also has some thoughts on these matters. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 21:35, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

I can't get to the 'Roderick' page that was linked (dunno why) but the first story that came to mind was "Runaround". Dismas|^(talk) 02:34, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

It's been a while since I last read the stories, but I don't recall a robot designated AP 1, nor could I find a mention in any of the short story articles. (I'm also a bit suspicious since Asimov seemed to often choose letters that suggest names, e.g. RB -> Robbie, SPD -> Speedy, LNE -> Lenny, and AP doesn't seem to fit that pattern.) Clarityfiend (talk) 07:17, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

No, as I intimated above, that picture was one of a series Foss did of similar giant robots, none of which were intended to depict any particular robot from any particular story, so neither its exact appearence nor the designations on it are significant. He may or may not have known in advance that several of the pictures would be used on Asimov's covers, but even if he did, accurate depictions of particular robots were not required by the publisher(s) who used them. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 22:26, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

I thought it might be a Foss: as our article on the album shows, the Ian Gillan Band album Clear Air Turbulence indicates Foss' predilection for strangely fat "Sting" style stripey spaceships. "Accurate descriptions of particular robots were not required by the publisher(s) who used them" - yup, that was about the score. Britmax (talk) 22:57, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

Music at Irish Rugby internationals

Just watching the Irish President meeting the teams at Croke Park ahead of the match, and rather surprised to hear the tune of I Vow to Thee, My Country playing as she did. The tune has strong UK patriotic associations, so it seems odd to me that it would be played at an Irish match, especially at Croke Park. Does it have other connotations for Irish people that would explain its use? DuncanHill (talk) 16:59, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

It's the 6 nations "theme music", at least on RTE, and has been for quite some time. Irish people generally aren't very aware of what songs have "strong UK patriotic associations" outside of The Troubles or things like Jerusalem/Swing Low, Sweet Chariot for rugby fans. Bonus trivia: many Irish nationalist songs, even virulently anti-British ones, are set to English airs. 86.45.135.75 (talk) 17:06, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

See also World in Union, a rugby song with the same air. 86.45.135.75 (talk) 17:21, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

Thanks - I'd forgotten about World in Union. It's a jolly good tune. DuncanHill (talk) 17:28, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

At an Olympic closing ceremony some years ago (can't remember which one), the orchestra played Pomp and Circumstance March No 1, perhaps not realising (or caring) that it was Land of Hope and Glory to us Brits. Alansplodge (talk) 17:44, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

I always feel sorry for foreigners, all the best patriotic tunes are British :) DuncanHill (talk) 23:28, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

How is the name of the pub in Bottom (The Lamb and Flag) funny?

In Bottom, the lads' pub of choice is called "The Lamb and Flag". Now, pretty much all names in Bottom are nonsensical or otherwise funny (Spudgun, Dave Hedgehog, Dick Head, etc. etc.), but with this I don't see it. Note that at one point a rival pub with the obviously funny name "The Dog and Handgun" is mentioned, which is all the more reason to think that it has to be comical in some way. Is there some pun going on here that, not being a native speaker, I fail to spot? Also, I understand that there are actually real pubs with this name, so is it perhaps a reference to one of those? Thank you in advance. 83.81.42.44 (talk) 19:31, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

I think it's just a realistic pub name: when I hear it, I immediately know it's a pub. It might be used as a contrast to "The Dog and Handgun", in that it is a real and traditional-sounding pub. 86.177.124.127 (talk) 20:05, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

It's a real pub name. The best known is The Lamb and Flag, a well-known Oxford pub. Many British comedy writers attended Oxford University, in which case I would have assumed it was a reference to a pub they drank in, but Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson famously didn't. DJ Clayworth (talk) 21:50, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

At the risk of answering my own question, it could be a jab at that Oxford comedy scene then. Their famous and prestigious pub is ridiculed by situating it in less than glamorous Hammersmith and having it managed by Dick Head. Not sure if most viewers would have caught onto that, though. Thank you. 83.81.42.44 (talk) 11:20, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

Song

I just heard the snippet of a song and was hoping any of you might know it seeing as google fails to provide the results requied. All i heard was "...me, for anyone, for anyone...". Would any of you know it possibly? Thanks for your time. 86.182.205.144 (talk) 20:24, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

What genre? (rock, disco, jazz, etc.) Is it a new song? Where do you live? (US, UK, Canada, etc.) A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 20:28, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

It's relatively new. In the last 5 years I think. I live in the UK and I have no idea what genre. It's a man singing. Thanks 86.182.205.144 (talk) 20:43, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

Still too ambiguous of a description. 24.189.90.68 (talk) 20:49, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

The Onion satirical heights

Has The Onion ever ran true stories in a straight-faced manner that seemed so absurd as to be satire? Alternatively, has it done any famous April Fool's pranks? 22:55, 20 March 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.45.135.75 (talk)

I know there are some real-life situations that arose after a story ran in the Onion that depicted the same situation, but I can't think of any at the moment, seeing as I seldom read the Onion. 24.189.90.68 (talk) 06:28, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

I believe their Star Wars Gamer blurb was factual except for the snarky quote from a fictional person at the end. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:17, 21 March 2010 (UTC)