Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2010 October 2

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October 2

Ayumi Hamasaki

This is not a question, but I'm wishing Ayumi Hamasaki a happy 32nd birthday after being the article of the day here in Wikipedia's main page! みんな空の下 (トーク | I wanna chAngE!) 00:18, 2 October 2010 (UTC)

Amerian Pie

Does anyone happen to know to which actual persons Don McLean refers as "them good ol' boys drinking whiskey and rye" in his classic song American Pie? Wikipedia's article on the song doesn't say. I am of the opinion it was either The Crickets or Bill Haley and the Comets. Thank you.--Jeanne Boleyn (talk) 10:08, 2 October 2010 (UTC)

Don McLean may know - but he has made it clear that not all of the lyrics have clear meaning. In this case, the "good ol' boys" were singing "this'll be the day that I die." The entire song is based on McLean's reaction to Buddy Holly's death. One of his popular songs contained "that'll the day that I die." McLean changed "that" to "this". There is not much reason to assume that the people singing along are anything more than other Buddy Holly fans. -- kainaw™ 15:02, 2 October 2010 (UTC)

There has been a large amount of time and effort invested in interpreting that song. If websites like this and this don't have anything, you'd have to think it's pretty much not known. Years ago, there was a website that purported to be the minutes of an American Pie interpretation society called APHID (American Pie Historical Interpretative Digest), which I can't seem to find, but which should give some indication of how intensively this has been looked at. Matt Deres (talk) 16:58, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

I read both those sites; it appears that the good ol' boys were atually the citizens of Lubbock mourning Buddy Holly. Thank you. They made interesting reading.--Jeanne Boleyn (talk) 14:11, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

It should be noted that all of those sites, and more, are 100% speculation. The only person who knows for sure is Don MacLean. The most telling quote from him on the song is, when asked "What does American Pie mean?" he usually responds "It means I never had to work another day in my life". He has never, to my knowledge, publicly admitted to any particular interpretation of the song, besides the connection to the Buddy Holly/Richie Valens/J.P. Richardson plane crash. --Jayron32 21:20, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

Tracking down a song from a TV episode

I am trying to identify a song played during the episode "The Gold Violin" of Mad Men (season 2, episode 7). The song, a jazz number, is played during scene when Ken Cosgrove goes to dinner at the house of Salvatore Romano. Peremptory googling turned up nothing; any suggestions? 83.70.239.179 (talk) 12:10, 2 October 2010 (UTC)

Britney Spears Circus Tour - Perez Hilton

During the intro for the Britney Spears Circus Tour Perez Hilton can be seen with both British and American flags on his hat. Can anybody tell me why the British flag is there too? Brit is quarter British if IRCC, could that be something to do with it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.60.235.111 (talk) 15:23, 2 October 2010 (UTC)

what kind of movie scene would use a sound effect like this

what type of movie scene would use the type of background sounds in the following clip: www.audiosparx.com/sa/summary/play.cfm/sound_iid.196732 Notice the printer and ripping papers (sounds like taking poasters down) Thanks. 204.112.104.172 (talk) 01:18 pm Central Canada Time, 2 October 2010 (UTC)

That is the sound of the original zig-zag folded printer paper being divided into parts. It may have been used in any office scene of the 1970s / 1980s (including a police station, as the linked clip states). --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 21:13, 2 October 2010 (UTC)

Arn't those printers obsolete? I do hear them in hospitles and airports, but i don't hear them around like i did when i was a kid, and i was born in 92. 204.112.104.172 (talk) 21:30, 2 October 2010 (UTC)

I haven't listened to the sound but it sounds like you're referring to dot matrix printers. Dismas|^(talk) 23:42, 2 October 2010 (UTC)

Check out the sound, i think that's what it's called. are they obsolete? because i only gear them like i said in hospitals and airports? Can someone provide me to a link from audiospark with a dot matrix? i'm not sure what this is, so i can't say for sure. 204.112.104.172 (talk) 00:12, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

Okay, it's a dot matrix printer. The file description even includes those words. Here is a link to a dot matrix printer at that site. And no, they're not obsolete. As the article states, they are used at many ATMs and various other point of sale locations. My local auto parts store still uses one of them for the shop's sales receipts. Dismas|^(talk) 00:39, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

I guess where i live, they are only found at the airport and hospitle, allthough i haven't been at every building here where i live, so they could be in ones i haven't been to. Are there movie scenes with them in it? because the origional question is what type of scene would the sounds in the link i gave the desk be in? because i would like to ask a company to include those sounds in my "room 203" movie. yes, there is an office, the ghost hunter's office, where all their meetings take place, and where their equipment is. 204.112.104.172 (talk) 00:58, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

Dot matrix printers and continuous-feed fanfold paper are regularly used at all bridge tournaments I go to. I suspect they're either been found to travel better or else it's because they can print on wider paper than today's typical office printers. However, I have never seen a movie with a bridge tournament scene in it. --Anonymous, 04:42 UTC, October 3, 2010.

The dot matrix printer and continuous feed paper is a bit old fashioned, but not nearly as noticeable as that guy singing "Doot Doo Doo Doo!" at about 1:05.

Seems like this would be perfect if you were doing a scene about an office in the 1980s with an annoying guy who likes to sing while he's walking down the hall. APL (talk) 07:49, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

That guy makes me laugh. Maybe his singing would be a funny sound for the background sounds at the ghost hunters office, and my movie takes place in 1997, because that's when Nissae Isen was born. Pluss, there arn't any more good haunted movies that take place then anyway. 204.112.104.172 (talk) 14:41, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

Dot matrix printer are still widely used in any area that requires the use of carbonless copy paper, such as waybills, proof of delivery slips, and shipping invoices. Hospitals and airports use them similarly, but you'll find them at several points of almost any commercial supply chain, including distribution centers. Matt Deres (talk) 17:13, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

Ok, so i guess i only find them in the local hospital and airport in my home town, they're probibly in lots of places in citties, right? I don't know if any movies have them in it, will mine be the first? And would a ghost hunter's hq be a good place for them? Especially in 1997? I need my movie to at least make sense, so i don't lose the viewers. 204.112.104.172 (talk) 18:01, 3 October 2010 (UTC)