Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2012 October 15

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October 15

Super Nintendo Racing Game

I have a faint memory of a video game i played when i was young. It was some kind of racing game, but you could use semi's and other weird vehicles. Any ideas what that is? the juggresurection ^{(>-.-(Vಠ_ಠ)} 01:10, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

You could try looking through the list at List of Super Famicom and Super Nintendo vehicle simulation games to see if anything rings a bell. -Cucumber Mike (talk) 07:38, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

The Semi and other wierd vehicles part reminds me of the Twisted Metal series, in particular the World Tour edition, however that was more of a Destruction Derby style shoot and smash-em-up with world cities instead of a bowl, rather than a race... gazhiley 12:08, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

Trust me, the link was purple, that was the first place i looked. As for TM, it was different in the way that this game was more cartoon-ish.the juggresurection ^{(>-.-(Vಠ_ಠ)} 20:06, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

Was it Rock n' Roll Racing? Livewireo (talk) 20:49, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

Stunt Race FX perhaps? That had multiple vehicle types, each with cartoon eyes. Oldelpaso (talk) 21:43, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

The Lady Came From Baltimore

Tom Harden's song, The Lady Came From Baltimore; what do the lyrics mean? Roxanne — Precedingunsigned comment added by 70.57.34.57 (talk) 01:35, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

The lyrics are shown here. I'm not familiar with the song, but the meaning seems fairly simple, to wit: A poor boy marries a rich Baltimore girl named Susanne Moore, initially intending simply to use her for her money. She is unsuspecting and in love, but her father (possibly a lawyer - he 'read the law') suspects the truth - that the boy is a 'thief'. However, it turns out that the boy develops feelings for his wife, falls in love with her and ends up staying with her for love, not money.

That's what the words say, anyway. If there's a subtle hidden meaning, I'm afraid I've missed it. Subtle as a lump hammer, me. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 07:48, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

The only subtlety is that it says he's there to "steal her rings", which, I suspect, shouldn't be taken literally. I assume he had a plan to get more money out off her than just grabbing her rings and running. After all, no wedding is required to do that. StuRat (talk) 07:56, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

Tim Hardin (not "Tom Harden") wrote the song about his wife, Susan Morss. This site gives more details: "A move to Los Angeles in 1965 resulted in him meeting an actress from a TV show called "The Young Marrieds". Professionally she was known as Susan Yardley, but her actual name was Susan Yardley Morss. His romance, marriage and life with her form the basis for many of the songs that were to follow. He adapted her name slightly for his songs to Susan Moore, although she wasn’t from Baltimore, but from Vermont and New Jersey. However her father did, in a sense, live the law, being a prosecutor back home. Tim’s previous relationships would suggest that he was there to steal her money –to feed his addiction – but, moving back to New York, he did fall in love with the lady." Ghmyrtle (talk) 20:33, 20 October 2012 (UTC)

Ceefax music

Hi there, can anyone tell the piece of music played on BBC2 ceefax pages in the early 80's, it was classical music and it was accompanied by an animation of faceless musicians in georgian clothes playing on a boat in the sea with waves crashing around them, please help, thankyou.188.28.2.83 (talk) 10:10, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

If you're referring to music played while BBC2 aired pages from Ceefax, I can't imagine where you saw animations, because the screen would have been showing... erm... pages from Ceefax. Can you clarify? --Dweller (talk) 12:01, 18 October 2012 (UTC)

Is Mickey Mouse in the public domain in other countries?

Is Mickey Mouse in the public domain in other countries? I understand that it will never be in the public domain in the US. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.125.31.17(talk) 13:28, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

To me, the US is one of those "other countries". But where is the source that tells us that "it will never be in the public domain in the US"? I knew US copyright law was extreme, but that seems hard to believe. HiLo48 (talk) 16:53, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

Mickey_Mouse#Legal_issues 173.59.117.233 (talk) 17:18, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

The iconic character "Mickey Mouse" is trademarked, and trademarks do not expire so long as they are maintained. The cartoon shorts in which he first appeared are copyrighted, and those copyrights will eventually expire (beginning in 2023, according to the link above). After that expiration, others will be able to reproduce and sell the old cartoons, but will not be able to make new cartoons with Mickey. John M Baker(talk) 18:26, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

The concept is that the Walt Disney company is so influential and so protective of their intellectual property, that any time that the copyright for Mickey Mouse comes up for renewal they will successfully lobby for the extension of the copyright. From that point of view, it's already happened once before, with the so-called "Mickey Mouse Protection Act", which in 1998 extended all copyrights for 20 years. To a person holding this view, it is taken as given that sometime in the next 10 years the copyright term will be extended yet again, keeping Mickey Mouse protected past the current 2023 date. - Of course, whether that will happen or not is in crystal ball territory, and we can't say for certain, but we can say that a number of people hold this view, and this explains the "it will never be in the public domain in the US" comment. --205.175.124.30 (talk) 19:31, 16 October 2012 (UTC)

I'm guessing you mean "any time that the copyright for Steamboat Willie is due to expire". —Tamfang (talk) 02:41, 18 October 2012 (UTC)

Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks was born in 1956. You reference him marrying Ms Wong in 1965, when he would have been only 9 years old. This is not even legal even if it was for convenience. — Preceding unsigned comment added by108.215.196.157 (talk) 18:08, 15 October 2012 (UTC)

The article says that Tom Hanks' father, Amos, married Ms. Wong when Tom was 9 years old. I didn't see any vandalism edits and the article hasn't had any changes since last week. However, if you do find any factual problems with a page, I encourage you to be bold and make the change yourself. You can also reply on the article's talk page if you have any concerns. Livewireo (talk) 18:23, 15 October 2012 (UTC)