Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2012 January 5

= January 5 =

Once upon a time I was electrified.
At least  so  I  thought. Many many years  ago  I  once  watched  a  five  minute  thing  on  how  a  boy  wanted  to  be  able  to  get  onto  the  paragliding  ride  at  Acapulco - one  where  a  speedboat  pulled  a  parachute  on  which  was  a  chair  to  sit.

The boy  had  no  money,  but  the  beauty  of  this  story  was  that  it  was  designed  to  teach  children  that  if  they  wanted  something,  all  they  had  to  do  was  work  for  it,  since  the  boy  approached  a  soft  drink  vendor  on  this  oppressively  hot  Mexican  day,  and  he  either  lent  him  a  crate  of  bottles  to  sell,  as  if  on  consignment,  to  split  the  take  up  later,  or  sold  it  him,  allowing  him  to  charge  enough  so  that  his  profit  would  cover  the  cost  of  the  ride.

He got  a  younger  boy  to  help  him,  and  hours  later  they  sold  all  but  one,  which  the  older  one  let  the  younger  keep  as  his  payment,  and  so  the  main  boy,  having  worked  for  it,  had  enough  cash  to  ride  on  the  paraglider.

Now all  I  need  to  know,  is  where  this  came  from,  since  in  the  seventies  and  through  to  the  mid  to  late  eighties  we  had  a  number  of  educational  shows  to  watch  like  this :  Animals, Animals, Animals  with  Hal Linden,  which  I  know  it  is  not,  The Big Blue Marble, 3-2-1 : Contact, The Electric Company,  and  it  may  not  even  be  one  of  these,  but  if  anyone  has  any  ideas.

One of  these  types  of  shows - or it may have  been  a  one  off - also  had  a  story of how a young  black African American boy  decided  to make his own toothpaste and sell it, and it  worked,  but the Health Department  took it off him due  to  his not being licensed and the fact he was reusing his toothpaste containers which could be considered a bit dodgy, even back then.

When I watched that one I felt sorry for him as if he were the  victim of  mindless beaurocracy,  but then one could understand  the  other  side  of the argument and I think the point of this one was to show that ideas and initiative are  good,  but to be sure the proper laws are obeyed, as  established companies  had to do.

In addition, there is an unrelated  thing  bothering me about a more recent American programme I  think is a US comedy, live action, and  there is an episode about a character who  loves  these  kind of  fried pastries - they may be sausage rolls,  but I cannot recall what show they were in - whether Seinfeld, Ray Romano, Third Rock,  or one  less  known,  but I am almost certain it was an American sit com. They are at a party, and this kind of food is one of the hors d'oeuvres served  there, they may even have  been called  weenie tots, which name has just sprung up, and which I shall also look up  now, and  having  done  so,  I  see  it is from  a  1991  episode  of  Married: With Children,  which  I  may  see  if  I  can  get  a  look  at  it  to  see  if  that  is  what  I  am  thinking  of - I recall this episode as the one where  Bud  misses  out  on  meeting  The President,  but  currently, Comedy Central  here  is  already showing  1996  episodes. Any other  help  would  be  appreciated. Thanks. Chris the Russian Christopher Lilly  05:58, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
 * "Beanie Weenies", or baked beans with hot dogs, were a family favorite in Married With Children. That food is mentioned in the Van Camp's article. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 06:20, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Likely the U.S. version of Pigs in a blanket. 75.41.110.200 (talk) 17:34, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Brand New Key
Hi. I was just wondering if Joni Mitchell had ever recorded a version of Brand New Key. I heard the song on the radio a couple of days ago and mistakenly thought it was Joni Mitchell as the presenter didn't specify who it actually was (or maybe I missed her). She went on to recommend Wild Horses by the same artist, and with a little research, it turned out she was referring to Melanie Safka. Googling both song titles with Joni Mitchell does produce some results, but nothing specific. Can anyone help? Cheers 86.169.171.197 (talk) 13:21, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I can't find any evidence on allmusic.com that Joni Mitchell has ever recorded Brand New Key. Also no entry on Second Hand Songs  -- LarryMac  | Talk  13:34, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Melanie Safka did the original version (or the one that everyone knows, anyway). She does sound a bit like Joni Mitchell, and they were both active in the 70s, so maybe that is where the confusion comes from. Adam Bishop (talk) 15:46, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I just want to say that it's a shame that Melanie (we only ever used the one name for her, back in my day) is mostly known for that song, when so many of her other songs were quite nice. /OR /reminisce -- LarryMac  | Talk  19:32, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks for looking into this for me. Interestingly both Google and Youtube have predictive searches for Joni Mitchell Brand New Key so I guess I'm not the first person to made this mistake. But I've now been introduced to a new singer whose work I was unfamiliar with until earlier this week, and I agree it is a shame many of her other songs seem to have been forgotten. 31.52.78.146 (talk) 11:58, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

what song is in this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaNBuqSuNqk&feature=player_embedded

Thanks for any answers :/ 157.157.234.225 (talk) 19:48, 5 January 2012 (UTC)


 * The comments right below the video state that it is Ghostwriter [Remix] by Rjd2, but I assume that if you are unable to read the comments that are right in front of you, you won't be able to read this response as well. -- k a i n a w &trade; 19:50, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Wow, calm down there... you saying im blind?? You know that i didn't know about the NEW COMMENT with the song's name in it, i just asked now hadn't checked the comment and / or noticed that new comment... -.- — Preceding unsigned comment added by 157.157.234.225 (talk) 20:05, 5 January 2012 (UTC)


 * There are (as of now) 28 comments stating the name of the song - most of them more than a week old. -- k a i n a w &trade; 20:12, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

Figuring out an old game
I vaguely remember playing a computer game in the mid to late 1980s and I'd love to figure out what it was.

I believe it had CGA graphics. It was for MS-DOS.

It was a "pirate's treasure"/maze sort of game. Basically you would type in directions like "N" or "S" or "E" or "W" and it would move you to a different screen. Each screen had a big graphical display and some text.

I believe the goal was to find some kind of treasure in a cave. Scenes I remember include getting stuck in some kind of catacombs (it was some kind of maze), some sort of river deep in the cave, and maybe some kind of note pinned down with a dagger or something. I think I remember pirates being involved?

It's been 20+ years since I've played it, so I'm sorry I can't be more specific. I know I'd recognize it instantly if I saw it. I'm pretty sure it is not Colossal Cave Adventure, but it might have been derivative of it? I remember it as being much simpler than the description given there (I'm pretty sure there were no items).

Any thoughts you had would be appreciated. --Mr.98 (talk) 22:19, 5 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Sounds like Transylvania, although that didn't have pirates...but maybe it was from the same company? Adam Bishop (talk) 22:51, 5 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Hmm, doesn't quite look like that. The screen shot for Colossal Adventure (1986) actually looks similar to what I'm remembering, but the description is not right at all. I mean, it's close — some of the Colossal Cave Adventure locations sound really familiar (hall of the Mountain King, etc.), but I don't remember having items at all. And I'm pretty sure there were pirates... --Mr.98 (talk) 23:38, 5 January 2012 (UTC)


 * This genre of game is called a dungeon crawl and there were dozens, if not hundreds, produced during the 1980s. The Wizardry games started the first-person dungeon crawl genre, and then it exploded form there.  It would give you somewhere to start.  -- Jayron  32  01:18, 6 January 2012 (UTC)


 * While it took place in a cave, it was more of a maze game than a dungeon crawl. There were no items or fighting or anything. It was not an RPG. I'm more and more convinced that it was some kind of CCA derivative — the three canyons, the bridge over a chasm, the hall of the mountain king all sound very familiar. But other than that I'm not turning up much specific, alas.. --Mr.98 (talk) 21:22, 6 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Twin Kingdom Valley ? 87.115.57.93 (talk) 02:24, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Entertainment Families
Can you please create a Family Tree article on each of the following famous Entertainment families, just like the Coppola Family Tree, please - The Redgrave Family; The Huston Family; The Cusack Family. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.239.126.63 (talk) 22:59, 5 January 2012 (UTC)
 * You could do the research and create the articles yourself. :) ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 23:36, 5 January 2012 (UTC)


 * And now for a proper response: A quick check reveals we already have a Redgrave family article. We have a category called Cusack family but no article.  And nothing on the Hustons at this stage.  You can request new articles at Requested articles.  --   Jack of Oz   [your turn]  01:12, 6 January 2012 (UTC)


 * And don't forget the Fondas. -- Jayron  32  01:15, 6 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Barrymore family looks nice. Clarityfiend (talk) 01:55, 6 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Sheen family aka Estevez family. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 10:12, 6 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Why are we systematically calling out all the names @ Category:Show business families? The OP asked about 3 specific families that he thought need articles, 2 of which do.  --   Jack of Oz   [your turn]  20:22, 6 January 2012 (UTC)
 * In my case, it's to show an exemplar of what they should look like. However, I'm not convinced the Hustons and Cusacks really need such articles, much less a category for the Cusacks. The latter only encompass two generations (and that barely, as the patriarch is hardly a household name), so there's not a lot of complication there to clarify. The Hustons are borderline IMO; though there are other Hustons with articles, there are only three who are Famous with a capital F, and their relationship is pretty linear: grandfather, father and daughter. Now Roger Livesey's family tree is much more necessary. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:50, 7 January 2012 (UTC)