Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2008 April 5

= April 5 =

Soccer Stats
Are there any good sites for soccer stats, specifically those beyond the standard goals, assists, cards, etc? Specifically, I'm trying to settle a debate about how many of Landon Donovan's goals come from penalty kicks, but I'd love to see other more "obscure" stats as well. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.229.190.19 (talk) 00:11, 5 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Try http://www.rsssf.com/ - probably the best site around for soccer-stats. Not sure how much focus there is on the US, and unfortunately its navigation/layout is a bit poor - but believe me it is a very good site. Also The Guardian newspaper has an excellent set of questions in its 'The knowledge' archive here (http://football.guardian.co.uk/theknowledge/). As for your question I don't think that is on rsssf (from my quick scan) but maybe you'll find it. The UK has a thing called 'opta index' stats, maybe one exists for the MLS ny156uk (talk) 18:15, 7 April 2008 (UTC)


 * For the 13 goals scored by Donovan at the LA Galaxy recorded http://www.footballdatabase.eu (requires registration), 5 are down as penalties. Of his 28 international goals, 7 are penalties. They may be out by 1 or 2 but penalties are normally recorded as such so they are reasonably accurate. Obviously it is missing a lot of goals but it gives you the general idea. --Iae (talk) 22:28, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

Mutation in cartoons = tentacles!
How come mutation in cartoons are so oftenly represented as tentacles? I'm guessing they're sort of an nice crazy result, but then how did this trend start? &mdash; Kieff | Talk 00:51, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I suppose that tentacles are not only very alien to a human body, but they don't exist outside of water, which you could almost think of as a different plane of existence. I know in hentai they used to give the monsters tentacles for penetrative purposes to get round certain censorship issues. FreeMorpheme (talk) 08:25, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh, have you been reading CRfH? —Tamfang (talk) 01:12, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

West Wing recommendation
I've been meaning to buy some of The West Wing on dvd, but it's expensive, with each series boxed as a single package, and retailing for about $114. I trust the cultural tastes of people on the ref desk, so can anyone tell me if there is a "best" series, and does it matter if you don't view them in chronological order? That way, I could just buy whichever one is meant to be the best, and get the others if that whets the appetite. To guide you, since you are all very precise people, for me "best" would be according to educational value about life in an American President's administration, followed by dramatic criteria, eg. I can't handle really corny dialogue, or contrived, cliched plotlines. Literate writing is always a joy, on the screen or anywhere. Thanks, 203.221.126.95 (talk) 23:05, 4 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Our article, The West Wing, says that the genius behind the show, Aaron Sorkin, left after the fourth season. I can tell you that I tried to stay with it, but "there was no blood going to it" after he left, so I stopped watching. Get the first four seasons. The order matters, but it's not critical. Each episode is pretty well self-contained, but a couple of plots span a few; several episodes are told mostly in flashback, too. --Milkbreath (talk) 23:28, 4 April 2008 (UTC)


 * The first series contained a character who dropped completely from view in the subsequent series, something that became almost a motif in the West Wing, so you might want to have a look at series 3. I have no idea where you are looking to find these at $115 though, you should be able to pick up the entire 7 series for that much. FreeMorpheme (talk) 08:22, 5 April 2008 (UTC) EDIT: I should probably have referred to 'seasons', this being a US effort.


 * Why not rent them from Netflix or Blockbuster for a fraction of the cost ? Also consider that if you buy them now, that 10 years from now, when everyone is using Blu-ray, you'll look at those expensive standard-res DVDs as total crap, sort of how many of us view VHS tapes now. StuRat (talk) 03:50, 6 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Also, I don't know what libraries are like where you are but sometimes they will buy in requests from the public. Just don't tell them what StuRat told you. Julia Rossi (talk) 04:58, 6 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks to everyone for the answers, and especially StuRat's and Julia's advice. I think I will go looking through libraries and rental stores, to save the money and the hassle. But as I don't have a blu-ray player, and can't see why they're needed, I'm hoping to hold off for as long as possible on that one. dvd is perfectly adequate for my needs, and really for everyone's, if they could just cool down with this technological hunger. 203.221.127.76 (talk) 18:07, 6 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Seasons 2,3 and 4 are probably the high points. Season 1 was finding it's feet, and it did lose something after Aaron left. Incidentally you are paying WAY too much for the DVDs. Amazon is selling them for $20-30, and $200 will get you the whole series 199.71.183.2 (talk) 17:34, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Charlie Landsborough
can someone please do an article on English singer and song writer Charlie Landsborough —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.79.124.75 (talk) 13:57, 5 April 2008 (UTC)


 * What´s wrong with the one on the other Charlie Landsborough? --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 19:04, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Popular name
Who gave the populer names to Sarajo Devi as Abinaya Saraswathi Punnagai Arasi  to K R Vijaya Kadal Mannan to Gemini Ganesan, Navarasa Thilagam to Murthuraman, Latchiya Nadigar to S S Rajendran, Naatiya Peroli to Padmini, etc —Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.201.16.148 (talk) 17:06, 5 April 2008 (UTC)


 * I turned down the volume but the punctuation and spelling is all yours. Please unlock the caps lock as all caps is considered shouting online. Julia Rossi (talk) 04:55, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

Alicia Keys video
Just a random question.. At the beginning of her new video for No One, and occasionally at other parts, is that a Piano Roll playing? Thanks 79.72.164.29 (talk) 18:55, 5 April 2008 (UTC)


 * The bells suggest it's some kind of music box. Pianos don't have bells.  --  JackofOz (talk) 22:14, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

name of Chayanne album
It's album by Chayanne that feature the songs "Boom Boom", "Yo Te Amo", "Candela" and "Simplemente". Can someone recongnize this album? David Pro (talk) 21:28, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
 * According to the Spanish Wiki, it's Simplemente (Chayanne).--Yamanbaiia(free hugs!) 21:38, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

There is any hard science fiction anime???
There is any hard science fiction anime??? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.79.163.219 (talk) 23:17, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I once asked this question of some friends who watch a lot of anime. They told me Planetes.  Personally, I couldn't stand it, But I dislike most anime and it seems to be well regarded, so it's worth a look. APL (talk) 02:26, 6 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Planetes is definitely a good choice. Others include (depending on your definition of "hard science fiction") Ghost in the Shell (cyberpunk), any of a number of Gundam series (some are more technical than others), Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise, They Were Eleven, and Armored Trooper Votoms. ··· 日本穣 ? · Talk to Nihonjoe 08:10, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks

As the guy said that hard scifi "depends of your definition of hard science fiction", use this website as basis ( http://www.kheper.net/topics/scifi/grading.html ). 201.79.35.50 (talk) 03:59, 7 April 2008 (UTC)