Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2008 February 1

= February 1 =

Roseanne being 80s
Does Roseanne count as an 80s show? Heegoop, 1 February 2008 (UTC)


 * See Roseanne (TV series). It started in 1988, so it was an 80s and 90s show. --  k a i n a w &trade; 01:41, 1 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Generally the era that people think of as "the sixties" started partway through the decade and lasted partway through the next decade. The same goes with "the seventies" and "the eighties," so I think calling something "eighties" has more to do with retroactive popular opinion than the actual year of the premiere or show airdates. - Zepheus &lt;ゼィフィアス&gt; (talk) 08:18, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

Britney friend or associate
Somewhere I recall seeing the name Obama somthing or another in referece to Britney Spears as a friend or member of her business, medical or legal teems. Can anyone explain? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.100.10.4 (talk) 03:43, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Osama Lutfi is Britney's manager accused of a violent past. Whether it is he that is responsible for her troubles no one can tell - however, while it is doubtful all person with the first name of Osama are part of a conspiracy to bring America to its knees anyway it can as some have suggested all of it remains to be seen. 71.100.1.3 (talk) 14:51, 1 February 2008 (UTC)

scandal
am not sure if am allowed to post such a question here but no harm is intended.am from kenya and we just held elections where atleast 1000 pple have been butchered mostly by the opposition who are perfoming'ethnic cleansing'on some particular tribes.recently there was a leaked memo on who is actually funding the opposition campaigns and apart from several personalities who are being charged with corruption and been looked for by interpol our very own senator barrack obamas name was there,having donated 66 million kenyan shillings.okay first and foremost did he do anything wrong?can he be charged in court.probably the hague.i have a copy of the document in pdf format and can i attach it here for proof of whatam saying.i think one must be careful who he or she funds and must do a thorough background check up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.49.84.64 (talk) 07:33, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm afraid that the Reference Desk cannot give legal advice. You may want to read about the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, Extradition law in the United States, and List of United States extradition treaties.
 * To save others the trouble, this IP address geo-locates to Nairobi, Kenya. Bovlb (talk) 08:39, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * One should assume good faith, of course, but a proxy could be used... --Richardrj talkemail 08:41, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, and geo-location is not 100% reliable, but I speak to what I know. Bovlb (talk) 09:00, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * I find it odd that the poster claims to be from Kenya and then uses the phrase "our very own" referencing Obama. Anyway, I would first question your source.  It seems quite unlikely, and in any event, Interpol would not be "looking for" Obama.  His whereabouts are a matter of public record these days. &mdash; Lomn 13:54, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Bovlb, how exactly does this constitute legal advice? —Nricardo (talk) 00:51, 2 February 2008 (UTC)
 * My response is not legal advice. The original poster may (or may not) have been hoping for legal advice. The questions "did he do anything wrong" and "can he be charged in court" are suggestive.  Bovlb (talk) 01:15, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

how do u set up a proxy —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.49.92.61 (talk) 11:15, 1 February 2008 (UTC)


 * "Our very own" probably just refers to the fact that Obama is half-Kenyan by blood (Luo, specifically). Anyway, according to this currency converter, 66 million Kenyan shillings is almost $1 million dollars.  Obama's net worth is maybe double that -- a lot of money for an average person, but not enough to be throwing around millions.  There's no logical reason why he would donate half of his assets to a foreign presidential campaign when at the same time he would need those resources not only to live off of, but also to fund his own presidential campaign in the United States.  --M @ r ē ino 15:12, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * If you wish to make it harder for others to track your location through your IP address, the best way is to register an account. Bovlb (talk) 15:22, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Even if Obama donated to the opposition campaign, that hardly makes him complicit with the ethnic cleansing that followed the elections. 194.171.56.13 (talk) 20:25, 1 February 2008 (UTC)


 * There is considerable interest in Obama in Kenya cf. this google new search, but no evidence from the same source that there has been any 66 million funding. According to Time, "The instability in Kenya has so alarmed the Administration that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reached out for help to an unlikely ally: Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, whose father was from western Kenya and who has relatives near the city of Kisumu, the scene of some of the worst violence. Obama recorded a message, aired on the Voice of America, calling for calm. On Jan. 3, the day of the Iowa caucuses, he spoke with South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who had flown to Nairobi, the capital, to see if he could negotiate a peace. In the days since his Iowa victory, Obama has had near daily conversations with the U.S. ambassador in Nairobi, Michael Ranneberger, or with Kenya's opposition leader, Raila Odinga. Obama was trying to reach Kibaki as well." . I conclude that the questioner is mistaken in his assertion - or in the alternate, invite him to cite any proof of it. And I'm reminded that Obama is in a position where he might anticipate such dirty tricks as a whispering campaign about his funding of those involved in ethnic cleansing, not least if such a campaign might be thought also to assist the Kenyan government faction. Such campaigns are common enough in heated disputes. --Tagishsimon (talk) 01:09, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Pulp Fiction
Is there any particular reason why it isn't in chronological order apart from trying to be clever? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.188.208.251 (talk) 15:17, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * According to Pulp Fiction (film), the director said, "One thing that's cool is that by breaking up the linear structure, when I watch the film with an audience, it does break [the audience's] alpha state. It's like, all of a sudden, 'I gotta watch this...I gotta pay attention.' You can almost feel everybody moving in their seats. It's actually fun to watch an audience in some ways chase after a movie." Curiously, I can't find an article on non-linear timelines.  Bovlb (talk) 15:46, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * No article on non-linear timelines (and not a bad idea for a new article), but we do have the following:
 * In medias res
 * Reverse chronology
 * Flashback
 * Flashforward
 * --The Fat Man Who Never Came Back (talk) 15:53, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * (after edit conflict) Non-linear narrative structure is interactive in the sense that it invites viewers to put the various threads together and form a coherent story. It invites you to actively take part instead of passively sucking in the story as it conveniently unfolds without your participation. It's not just "clever", but a literary and cineastic technique, challenging and interesting to author and audience alike, and we are getting more and more used to it in our everyday lives. Hypertext from business websites to Wikipedia are non-linear too, and we all follow our own "narrative" at Wikipedia, for example.
 * Non-linear narrative structure is old and Tarantino didn't invent it for cinema either. You might be interested in This artice, for example, which lists aspects of this in literarure (the Talmud, e.g.) and movie history (Head, Rashomon, Zentropa, but also Back to the Future and Groundhog Day ---Sluzzelin talk  16:07, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * There already exists an article Nonlinear (arts) covering nonlinear timelines in fiction. It isn't a great title for an article; I would suggest renaming the article to non-linear narration. In any event, we need a number of redirects, because you can write the word as "non-linear" or "nonlinear", and people might search for this type of article by using non-linear chronology, non-linear storytelling, non-linear narrative, non-linear timeline, non-linear timeline in fiction, etc. --Cinematical (talk) 22:06, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * See also Hyperlink cinema. --Richardrj talkemail 19:23, 3 February 2008 (UTC)

Schlocky Horror Movie Title?
This particular movie took place on a tropical island with a native population. A team of 'civilized' people are doing something on the island. An indigenous person is buried and resurrects as a tree-like monster that goes after the outsiders. I have no idea when it was made but the late 50's is pretty likely.

This reference desk hasn't failed me yet and thank you for that. Cheers, Mooney 12.146.184.9 (talk) 21:07, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * From Hell It Came? Bovlb (talk) 21:21, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * YES! I could not find it just from looking at the lists of titles, and I half-assed the plot, but that's the one! You rock! Thank you, Mooney 12.146.184.9 (talk) 21:30, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
 * This is the movie that inspired Leonard Maltin's movie guidebook to say, "As walking-tree movies go, this is the top of the list". (Quoted from memory, but close.  I don't know if it's still in the current edition, though.)  --Anon, 01:54 UTC, 2008-02-02.