Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2009 May 18

= May 18 =

Horse Racing
For the purposes of these questions, I'm referring to flat track racing in the US, though if you know about racing in other countries as well, that would be of interest too, I guess. I looked at the horse racing article but it doesn't really go into the mechanics of the sport.

I've never followed horse racing but I've been wondering what the season is like for a horse. Is there even a horse racing "season" as there is in baseball, hockey, football, etc? I'm rather familiar with those sports and I know that each team can be at their home stadium/rink/etc or away at the opposing team's stadium/rink/etc. So do horses have a home track? How much do they travel in a given week, month, year? How often do they race? For instance, an American football team only plays one game a week but baseball teams play nearly every day. And how do the horses travel? Is it most common to be in a horse trailer on the road or does the method of travel vary based on the distance (or the size of the owner's pocketbook?) Dismas |(talk) 03:50, 18 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm a little rusty on this since my father died, but yes there is a season for horse racing. The flat racing season in the UK is a summer sport, while the National Hunt (jumps) racing season is a winter sport. There is a little overlap at either end. Horses do have a home course, usually the nearest one to them, but they can compete anywhere in the country that there is a suitable race. Horses are schooled daily, that is galloped across special country tracks and trained to jump. However, National Hunt horses may only race once or twice a year depending on injuries and what the race schedule is. I've never heard of horses travelling in anything other than horse boxes. The grander ones are the size of Winnebagoes and can hold up to 10 horses, while you can get much smaller ones like a shed on wheels for a pony. I'm pretty sure we don't have horse boxes on trains in the UK! Of course, for international racing they go by air in special crates. --TammyMoet (talk) 17:14, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

trying to think of movie name
It had Patrick Stewart. He had as many guns in his house as American Dad. He seemed a bit paranoid. 65.121.141.34 (talk) 15:52, 18 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Have a look at Patrick Stewart, follow the links therein and see if any of them ring a bell. --Richardrj talkemail 16:07, 18 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Safe House (film) APL (talk) 16:13, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

a michael mann film 'PUBLIC ENEMIES' trailer
"i hit any bank i want anytime - they got to be at every bank, all the time." name credits, johnny depp, christian bale, marion cotillard/enter rhythm & blues song: 'so go down you must stand, you must stand, all alone, ..so go down, ..you must stand, all alone, all alone, all alone, all alone...' QUESTION: Song Artist/Song Title? --i am the kwisatz haderach (talk) 18:22, 18 May 2009 (UTC)


 * The trailer I watched may have been different to the one you saw (mine had very little singing); if you could let us know where you saw it, someone might be able to pinpoint the music more accurately. A few blog comments etc. seem to suggest the Otis Taylor's Ten Million Slaves (and this is also mentioned, unsourced, in that article). However, I'm having trouble finding either lyrics or a recording online to compare the lyrics you quote. -- Kateshort forbob  20:40, 18 May 2009 (UTC)


 * yup, you were right, Otis Taylor Ten Million Slaves, thanks, the main 'trailer' on their website http://www.publicenemies.net/ --i am the kwisatz haderach (talk) 22:50, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

clown car
Is there a trick to how they fit 8 clowns into such a tiny car, for the circus gag? The article we have was of no use at all. 65.121.141.34 (talk) 19:29, 18 May 2009 (UTC)


 * I would guess the car is stopped above a trap door. --Tango (talk) 19:51, 18 May 2009 (UTC)


 * The cars are gutted of everything that they can possibly remove to give more room for more clowns. The engines may even be removed and a smaller engine put in its place.  After all, the car doesn't need to go at highway speeds, it just needs to travel a few miles an hour for a few hundred feet or less.  Dismas |(talk) 21:27, 18 May 2009 (UTC)
 * It's been a long time since I've been to the circus, but they aren't usually production cars, are they? I thought they were specially made props. You could easily fit 8 people in a standard production car without any modifications. --Tango (talk) 01:39, 19 May 2009 (UTC)
 * They likely are but the point remains the same: There is little to nothing inside the car that isn't absolutely necessary. Dismas |(talk) 06:06, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

What are the sales of CD albums and CD singles still like?
People still buy CD albums, but CD singles seem to be almost non-existent these days. Obviously digital downloads have replaced them largely but what are the statistics? Are CD singles still produced on a commercial basis on a large scale?--NavyDrinker (talk) 20:24, 18 May 2009 (UTC)
 * There's a CD single of Kanye West's newer single "Love Lockdown" on eBay (|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50 link), so I guess they are being produced. Production may've been widely curtailed for the points you raise, though.--droptone (talk) 21:00, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Many high-street changes stopped stocking singles a while ago. I seem to recall reading about HMV doing the same but can't find a news article about it. link (http://drownedinsound.com/news/3067167). 194.221.133.226 (talk) 10:28, 19 May 2009 (UTC)
 * In 2007, 8% of UK singles sales were on CD, with 89% downloads, so I imagine it's much worse than that today. Looking on Amazon some recent singles (e.g. Lady Gaga's Poker Face) are still on CD single in USA and Europe.--Maltelauridsbrigge (talk) 12:02, 21 May 2009 (UTC)


 * I haven't seen CD singles for a long time and it is quite likely much of that market has moved to downloads. The problem is that CD singles were always a huge rip-off - £4 for a single and some dodgy remixes, when you could buy the whole album for £10 and get the previous singles with it.  I think the problems started when they gave pre-releases to radio stations a couple of months before release to build up that marketing "buzz"; by that time everyone had heard it so much they were already bored with it or had decided to get the album anyway.  People found they could download the singles from the internet before the official CD release came out and CD single sales fell even further.  It would be interesting to find out how many of those 89% single downloads are actually paid for.
 * When it comes to albums however, I much prefer buying CDs to downloading. I have something tangible to hold in my hands, that cannot be deleted by mistake or corrupted by viruses, that will play anywhere, and I get some nice sleeve notes to read as well.  If I want to put it on my iPod/MP3 player it can be ripped and copied as many times as I want without any problems (so long as I don't install the proprietary crapware included on some CDs).  Astronaut (talk) 13:48, 22 May 2009 (UTC)