Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2013 June 3

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June 3

Name of unknown cartoon series

I remember watching a cartoon series years ago & from what I can remember of it, there was this kid who had a chemistry set type thing which he accidently used to create a group of mutants. Also there was this guy how stole the chemistry set type thing which he used to evil mutants for I assume to help him take over the world. Anyone know what the cartoon series was called ? 194.74.238.137 (talk) 10:41, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

Except for the chemistry set, it sounds vaguely like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Dismas|^(talk) 10:44, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

No I'm sure thats not it, it was on channel 4 (UK) in the 90's I think. From what I can remember, the kid had to hide the mutants from his family (I think) in his wardrobe. And I think that the kid could use the chemistry set thing to yndo the evil mutants. 194.74.238.137 (talk) 11:14, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

Name of unknown puppetry-type TV series

I used to watch a TV series, which was in a similar fashion (I think) to the Dinosaurs tv series (people dressed up as various animals), where the main family where rabbits or hares & there where cockroaches living in their house & one of them was always getting stepped on or squashed. Anyone know what the show was called ? 194.74.238.137 (talk) 12:24, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

Help identifying a possible celebrity

I was at the Manchester Day Parade yesterday, and we (the band I was with) encountered the man pictured in this image - he appears to be a celebrity of some kind, and somebody said that he was a presenter with the BBC Asian Network, but I'd like to know for sure. Can anybody identify him? (Edited to add another image I found of him) Morgana Fiolett 14:21, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

128th and 256th notes

I notice that support for them is not universal across scorewriters. Does anyone know why? (They are used in classical music – Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven – so lack of use certainly isn't the reason. Even 512ths and 1024ths have been used, albeit only in one work by a little-known composer AFAIK.) Double sharp (talk) 14:53, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

Perhaps relatively few new compositions use such notes, so there is little motivation to support them. Sure, the programs should support them, but there are only so many hours in the day. Neutron Jack (talk) 00:58, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

Other relevant questions:

Why are they rarely treated and considered rare (they're not that rare)? You'll be hard pressed to find a music notation book that even discusses such notes.

What are their Commonwealth "-hemidemisemi-" names? Double sharp (talk) 04:58, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

It's rather arbitrary what notation is used for such notes. The issue is the difference in timing between the shortest interval and the longest interval in a score. If a score has no whole or half notes, and instead is written mostly in 1/32 or 1/64 notes or shorter interval notes, it bears questioning why not rewrite the score to eliminate the unusual notes. Now, given that a composer can write any darned thing they want, it would be technically possible to include both whole and 1/256th notes in the same score, but for most music composed for popular consumption, where such notes would be unlikely to appear in the same piece, it makes sense to write the score using notation that the players will find comfortable to play. If there isn't the variation in rhythm that necessitates a wide variation of notation, then why use notation that will confuse and confound the musicians? --Jayron32 05:04, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

(That which you speak of has happened before. :-)) Double sharp (talk) 06:37, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

I have no doubt that it has, no doubt at all, but the OP seemed to be asking why a composer may want to avoid using 1/256th notes or some such. You can write any score in any set of notes you want; a score where the note values range include whole, half, quarter, and eighth could be rewritten as quarter, eighth, sixteenth, and thirty-second notes with no change in meaning at all, it is entirely arbitrary. --Jayron32 06:40, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

No change of meaning perhaps, but certainly a change of connotation. Would you perform a piece in 2/2 the same way as the same piece in 2/4? 2/1? 2/8? 2/16? Double sharp (talk) 16:17, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

Why not? A piece in 2/2 where the half note gets a tempo of X beats per minute shouldn't have any difference from a piece in 2/4 where the quarter note gets the same tempo. The conventions exist to fit pieces to standard forms, and to make it easier for musicians to follow a piece, but ultimately, they are arbitrary conventions. --Jayron32 17:54, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

True, but if there is no explicit bpm marking, then seing short sixteenth notes as the beat has a rather different connotation than seeing long whole notes, even if it is the same otherwise. It can lead to a different interpretation, much like E-flat minor / D-sharp minor (e.g. in the WTC). Double sharp (talk) 09:50, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

And let me quote that very document for you "Does the notation of an enharmonic work matter? To the listener it could not possibly make a difference. But to the performer it can." Just like with the notation, the key signature difference between E-flat and D-sharp is only of concern to the person reading the music. Exactly as I asserted above. --Jayron32 19:37, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

And further: "See how the first entrance begins in G-flat major? Now close your eyes, and rehear the passage in F-sharp. To my ear, F-sharp is brighter than G-flat. This may be aural voodoo, but conceptualizing this passage in F-sharp allowed me to begin this critical entrance with a brighter tone color than I would have chosen for G-flat major." So it can affect how the performer performs the piece, which the listener might possibly notice.

For extreme time signatures, consider Alkan's Comme le vent. It could definitely be more easily written in 2/4, but the fact that the performer sees 2/16 may well push him to go even faster – as asked by the composer in his ridiculously fast tempo marking of = 160. Double sharp (talk) 11:32, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

A scorewriter is a music notation program. (OP = me) Double sharp (talk) 06:59, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

Magic City on STARZ

There is an episode of Magic City, the television show on STARZ which plays a song, I think is called Daddy I Love You. This is from the episode Castles Made Of Sand, from Season One of Magic City. Can you help me find the correct title of the song and the artist who sang it? Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by Movy872gb (talk • contribs) 14:54, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

Macabre recollections of works of fiction - real or imagined?

I have been, for several years now, having recollections of rather macabre situations I think I have seen in works of fiction. These did of course not occur in real life.

In one, a man shoots a woman dead in a public gathering (possibly a wedding or a funeral). This probably happened outdoors. Instead of gasping in horror and alerting the police, all the other guests admire the man's markmanship.

In another, a man goes to a bar in a small, remote locality whose people are distrustful of strangers. The appearance of a stranger in the bar causes discomfort, which escalates to an argument, and is about to break into a fight. At this point, the bartender promptly shoots the stranger dead, and everything in the bar returns to its normal condition.

Have these really happened in works of fiction or did I dream them? JIP | Talk 19:20, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

The first sounds like Robert Sheckley's short story "Seventh Victim", in which it was a legal sport to hunt each other in society. It was made into the film The 10th Victim. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:04, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

I have not read the novel or seen the film, so it can't be that. I have a vague recollection it was an issue of the Tales from the Crypt comic or something, but I have long since forgotten which issue, if it even was one. I also have a vague recollection that the other one was some TV series, but I have no idea which one. JIP | Talk 18:37, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

It could have been an adaptation of Sheckley's work, though the Internet Speculative Fiction Database doesn't list it. The critique of the killing in the story is something that sticks in my memory. Clarityfiend (talk) 19:38, 7 June 2013 (UTC)