Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2016 May 5

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May 5

Ill man requires consultation on the subject of self defense

Dear Gentlemen

I am in some deep problems: I am living in a rather bad neighborhood in Switzerland (crimes happen here around all the time, and have exploded in the last few years), and suffer from both congestive heart failure and severe asthma. I would love to train martial arts to defend myself, but my doctors have told me, that my body is too weak for such training (and that it could injure me). Also, I can’t carry either a gun or a knife with me, because Switzerland has banned both weapons in public (you are only allowed to carry a weapon of the size of our famous “Swiss Army knife”, which isn’t going to help me, since many criminals around here carry weapons of the size of a machete). I can neither move (I am currently a student) nor hire a bodyguard. I was wondering whether you can help me and give me some advice what I can do to protect myself better. Are there tactics, non-lethal weapons and technologies that could help me that I haven’t seen yet or that are available in other states?

Thank you for your suggestions

Yours truly--2A02:1205:5027:5380:1481:471E:7E1F:8FF6 (talk) 12:31, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

I live in the same city, but I don't think we should be giving you any advice here as it touches on all sorts of legal questions. One thing you can do is contact the Kantonspolizei Zürich's security consulting staff (by phone or by email). They might have some suggestions or give you contact numbers of other advisory bodies, including non-governmental ones. ---Sluzzelin talk 12:51, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

And as we cannot offer medical advice, any suggestions besides calling people should really be phrased in terms of "ask your doctors about," if we can suggest it at all. For example, I'm not sure if I can recommend that you ask your doctors about Tai chi, which has non-strenuous soft exercise forms as well as combat forms, though the combat forms require a basic level of fitness to be applicable and are overshadowed by the exercise forms. (I can say that if someone taught my mother everything there is to know about Chin Na and Pressure points, she'd still lose any given fight because she wouldn't be up for the stress of it). Ian.thomson (talk) 13:19, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

Are non-lethal weapons legal there, like pepper spray or a taser ? If not, how about just alarms ? An air horn requires very little effort to make a loud sound. A whistle requires that you have a strong breath. Of course, the use of alarms assumes that the attacker will have enough fear of somebody seeing them or stopping them that they will flee, and in some areas that's just not the case.

Also, some basic defensive measures should be taken, like not going out alone, or at night, or carrying expensive items or cash (or at least hiding them if you must). Also, some routes are likely safer than others, if they are better lit, closer to the police station, have more traffic, etc. StuRat (talk) 15:09, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

name for this kind of vocal improvisation?

lots of Prince stuff going around, of course...between about 1:10 and 1:20 in this performance he does something surprising vocally that is quite impressive/stunning/beautiful right before the guitar solo....is there some more specific name for this besides just "vocal improvisation" or something...and is it the kind of thing that other gifted/professional vocalists could fairly easily recreate...is he doing something musically as far as what notes he's hitting? also was this fairly spontaneous do you think or was he planning this delivery?? (didn't really care for most of his music but guy was a freakish talent, obviously) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5b8U_A25A868.48.241.158 (talk) 17:44, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

Jacques Dutronc does the same thing after 2:56 in this song L'Idole

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WJ-thmHMVI

Akseli9 (talk) 19:08, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

I wouldn't say that's particularly similar..though he does repeat a similar kind of high note, though in a less precise way...68.48.241.158 (talk) 19:34, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

It is the same thing. If he had to shout it "on the same range", it would be much too high, so he switches to the next (higher) range. I was just giving another example of it so a vocalist-knowledgeable poster will soon give us the name of this particular technique. Akseli9 (talk) 19:52, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

Free improvisation or scat singing possibly? Again, someone more well versed (pun intended) in music might have a more precise term. Dismas|^(talk) 00:15, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

He picks one note from another (higher) range of notes, from a higher range of voice, and he places it right in the middle of his set of notes on the lower range, he places it right in the middle of his normal range of voice. Although it comes from another range of notes and from another range of voice, his skill is to get it to belong exactly right. Akseli9 (talk) 06:06, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

yes, this is a good description of what he's doing..I've seen other vocalists do similar kinds of brief improvisations before, often not quite as skillfully..but his phrasing works really well here and it's a beautiful little moment...68.48.241.158 (talk) 12:31, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

It seems funny to mention that term in connection with Prince, but the change between chest and head registers points towards yodeling. --Wrongfilter (talk) 06:54, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

yes perhaps could be considered a kind of brief yodel...I would think professional vocalists etc might have a more specific term for this exact kind of brief vocal improvisation..as I've seen the kind of thing done by others, though often not quite as skillfully...68.48.241.158 (talk) 12:31, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

I think Akseli9 has the literal description, but for OP and anyone else who's into the theory: broadly, this is Variation_(music). I think he's popping up notes in higher chord inversions as a way of freshening up the established melodic sequence. The following s is not a description of your example, but it's an illustration of the concept that might make sense: If the melody calls for a note from a V chord in a certain spot, he fills it in with the same note from the Second_inversion, which has the tonic above the fifth. Or maybe he's hitting the fifth above the tonic, or many other possibilities- I can't tell by ear.

This sort of thing is a standard technique in jazz improvisation. See also e.g. [1], or google/youtube various things like /improvise chord inversion/ Yes, I think any good singer or instrumentalist can in concept add interest to a melody this way. Whether the end product has the same effect is a different matter. For a good example of many variations on a famous melody, check out Coltrane's MY Favorite Things [2]. SemanticMantis (talk) 14:39, 6 May 2016

(UTC)

yes, it's quite interesting...these things are all relevant, I'm sure...I wonder what the music theory behind it is...as you would think it wouldn't work musically, but he's able to pull it off in a way that does work musically in a pleasant and interesting to the ear kind of way...in lesser hands it probably wouldn't work at all...so I wonder if it's more about his particular skill/talent (ie to break the rules successfully, so to speak, one has to be of a very expert level)..68.48.241.158 (talk) 18:36, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Amazing to think there are still about 100 or 150 songs and videos unreleased in his attic!.. Akseli9 (talk) 20:22, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Most points at the Indy 500

Since there are more points available on the Indy 500 than other races I was wondering what the most points a driver scored in a year over the Indy 500 event (qualifying + race combined)?Perfectamundo (talk) 21:18, 5 May 2016 (UTC

Do you mean points in the IndyCar Series? The history of IndyCar has been convoluted and the series as such has only really existed in its current form since the re-merger of CART and INDYCAR in 2008. Wikipedia does have full race results, along with points earned for each race, on the season articles of every race. Feel free to compile the results from the openly available data. You can start with the 2016 IndyCar Series and work backwards from there. --Jayron32 13:05, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2014 scored 126 points. This was because of a change to the point scoring system in 2014. The 2016 Indy 500 hasn't happened yet. I only went back as far as 2010.Perfectamundo (talk) 22:43, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Bundesliga

No former East German club has won the German Bundesliga but what is the best league position a former East German has finished in the German Bundesliga? (Mobile mundo (talk) 23:03, 5 May 2016 (UTC))

I cant find any source giving the answer definitively, but only two former East German teams, F.C. Hansa Rostock and Dynamo Dresden, made it into the Bundesliga after unification for the 1991-92 season. Hansa Rostock were relegated at the end of that season; Dresden finished 14th in 91-92, 15th in 92-93, 13th in 1993–94 and 18th in 94-95 and were relegated. VfB Leipzig were in the top league for the 93-94 season, but finished bottom and were relegated. Hansa made it back up to the top league in 95-96, finishing 6th, 18th the next season and 6th again in 97-98. They didn't reach higher than 9th in later seasons before being relegated. FC Energie Cottbus made it to the league, but 13th was their highest placing. So, Hansa Rostock would seem to be the answer, reaching 6th in the Bundesliga twice. I would prefer to use an outside source to confirm this; if anyone wants to check my homework, feel free FlowerpotmaN·(t) 00:35, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Just a note of appreciation to the person or people who added maps the Bundesliga articles; very helpful they were. (And anyone looking at them should note that Hertha BSC were in West Berlin) :) FlowerpotmaN·(t) 00:43, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Our all-time Bundesliga table agrees: It allows you to sort by best result at the end of a season ("BR") and there is no former DDR club ranked higher than Hansa Rostock's 6th place, as ferreted out by FlowerpotmaN. During the 97/98 season, kicker held a survey among 200 Bundesliga players, and Hansa Rostock came in first in the category "schönster Fußball" (most beautiful football). [3] ---Sluzzelin talk 05:37, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Thanks (Mobile mundo (talk) 14:54, 6 May 2016 (UTC))