Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2009 February 20

= February 20 =

Olympic Singer
At 2000 Sydney Olympics Closing (or, less likely, Opening) Ceremony there was a bald dude singing some fairly simple lyrics (like 'Who are you' or similar) and imitating wolf's howling. Does anybody have the smallest clue what song/artist is it? Kurtelacić (talk) 01:10, 20 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I'm guessing it was Midnight Oil, the singer was Peter Garrett. - Akamad (talk) 03:02, 20 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Verily. He's now our Minister for the Environment.  --  JackofOz (talk) 05:18, 20 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Excellent. Its good to know that America is not the only country where being a good musician/actor/professional wrestler/commedian apparently automatically qualifies one to be good at governing.  Why have expertise and effectiveness where fame apparently is just as important!  --Jayron32. talk . contribs  06:16, 20 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Mind you, he's had his critics, many of whom believe that his record (no pun) since changing career is poor, and that he wasn't qualified to be in government in the first place. (I assume you meant "disqualified").  --  JackofOz (talk) 08:05, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
 * See facetiousness and sarcasm for more information. --Jayron32. talk . contribs  12:42, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Also Ronald Reagan, Jessie Ventura, Arnold_Schwarzenegger if the joke is still obscure to people not from USA. APL (talk) 19:45, 20 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I well and truly asked for that. My irony meter seems to be a little dysfunctional at the moment.  But let me make a comment while we're on the subject.  I'd certainly agree with the critics that Garrett's parliamentary performance to date has been poor, and maybe that shows he's in the wrong job.  Maybe not.  Time will tell.  However, if your subtext is that being a celebrity of the type you mention automatically makes a person somehow less qualified to be a lawmaker than a lawyer or some other "appropriate" background, then I'd have to disagree.  I'm not arguing cases here, just the general principle. --  JackofOz (talk) 23:00, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I think Jayron was saying being a celebrity doesn't automatically mean you are qualified to be a politician, not that it means you are worse than anyone else would be. --Tango (talk) 23:10, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, no-one here (or anywhere else AFAIK) is suggesting otherwise. --Richardrj talkemail 18:53, 21 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I read it quite differently. Jayron seemed to be commenting on political parties latching on to a celebrity in a bid to win votes, regardless of that person's capacity to be an effective parliamentary performer.  I'd agree that mere celebrity is no sort of qualification.  Garrett, however, had excellent environmental credentials, but his performance in his portfolio has been somewhat of a disappointment for those who had high hopes for him.  This has had a lot to do with the fact that he now has to adhere to party/government policy and he can no longer speak his own mind as freely as he could when he was a private environmental advocate or president of the Australian Conservation Foundation for 10 years (a post he held while simultaneously fronting Midnight Oil).  --  JackofOz (talk) 21:44, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

It really is the bald guy I was looking for. Is there any link of the same performance (not Midnight Oil)? Kurtelacić (talk) 22:30, 20 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure what you mean when you say "not Midnight Oil". Garrett is the lead singer of the band and he performed with the band at the closing ceremony. See . - Akamad (talk) 02:19, 23 February 2009 (UTC)
 * And for the record, he happens to have an Arts/Law degree background. Fwiw, Julia Rossi (talk) 11:34, 23 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Slight correction, Akamad. He was the lead singer.  However, he's going to be reuniting with them in a special concert to raise $$ for the February 2009 Victorian bushfires appeal.  That must be some sort of first: a Minister of the Crown singing in a rock band.  I wonder if he'll be billed as "The Hon Peter Garrett". :)  --  JackofOz (talk) 21:54, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Godspeed
Hey I just got The Red JUmpsuit Apparatus' nem CD Lonely Road and the last song Godspeed intrigued me. I would really appreciate it if someone could explain to me more of what it is about. Please and thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.58.107.84 (talk) 02:44, 20 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Just speculation, but start with the only concrete information offered in the lyric- the date. Then consider the band's evident social conscience and read more about the end of the Nigerian-Biafran War. Just a potential starting point. Wolfgangus (talk) 05:13, 21 February 2009 (UTC)