Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2012 June 30

= June 30 =

List of Black Marvel superheroines?
Can't seem to find this list but since Wikipedia knows EVERYTHING, there has to be a list of Marvel's black female superheroines. Anyone have a link to the article?


 * Not in Category:Lists of Marvel Comics characters. Looks like you'd have to go through each list letter by letter. Clarityfiend (talk) 10:18, 30 June 2012 (UTC)


 * You might have more luck looking at List of black superheroes and finding the female ones. --Canley (talk) 00:52, 1 July 2012 (UTC)

Ben Parker's killer
I just watched The Amazing Spider-Man starring Andrew Garfield last night (which I didn't enjoy). Anyway, what happened to Ben Parker's killer in the movie? All I saw is that he was webbed to a wall. But I remember seeing a previous film where he died after falling off a building. What really happened to him? What was his fate in the comic books? And please no spoiler warnings, they annoy me. Narutolovehinata5 tccsdnew 09:03, 30 June 2012 (UTC)
 * There is an article on the character: Burglar (comics), which should explain the various incarnations and portrayals of the character. --Canley (talk) 10:05, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

The Entertainer tempo
What is the Italian tempo mark for Scott Joplin's The Entertainer 27.65.59.57 (talk) 13:25, 30 June 2012 (UTC)
 * The tempo marking on the first-edition sheet music is in English: "Not fast". I guess it's up to you to decide what the Italian equivalent might be. Andante? Moderato? Deor (talk) 16:45, 30 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Joplin's sheets usually said "not fast" because the tendency at the time (and even now, really) was to play rags too fast. I have a recent printing of the Entertainer which, in addition to "not fast", also suggests a tempo of 72bpm which falls into the adagio range. Regards, Orange Suede Sofa  (talk) 20:54, 30 June 2012 (UTC)
 * I'd say 72 is a little slow - with a combination of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMAtL7n_-rc (played by Joplin himself) and http://www.all8.com/tools/bpm.htm I get = 110 (moderato). 72 would be perfectly adequate, though, especially for learning the piece. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 21:00, 30 June 2012 (UTC)


 * So-called recordings of Joplin playing his own music are subject to severe qualifications.
 * Firstly, not all of the many piano rolls that were published as his own performances were in fact played by Joplin personally. There are only 7 recordings he is known to have made, but I have an LP with 12 tracks, all supposedly recorded by Joplin.  I checked this issue out in 2008, and the very enlightening results can be seen here.  The "Maple Leaf Rag" you posted is, fortunately, one of the authentic recordings.
 * Secondly, even those 7 authentic recordings underwent significant editing. His syphilis may have markedly affected his playing.  To quote our article at Scott Joplin, one recording was described by biographer Blesh as "... shocking... disorganized and completely distressing to hear".  Hence, his own playing of his own music cannot be regarded as a reliable guide.


 * My edition of 8 of Joplin’s Piano Solos has a foreword and some introductory exercises by Joplin, in which he says at Ex. 1 "Play slowly until you catch the swing, and never play ragtime fast at any time". At Ex. 6, he says "We wish to say here, that the "Joplin ragtime" is destroyed by careless or imperfect rendering, and very often good players lose the effect entirely, by playing too fast.  They are harmonized with the supposition that each note will be played as it is written, as it takes this and also the proper time divisions to complete the sense intended".  Then, 7 of the 8 pieces in the collection are marked either "Not fast", "Not too fast", "Play a little slow", "Slow march tempo" or "Very slow march time".  Gladiolus Rag also has a special box containing the message: "Do not play this piece fast. It is never right to play “Ragtime” fast".  The box at Pine Apple Rag says "Do not play this piece fast".  The only piece that does not explicitly mention the tempo (which coincidentally is the same YouTube clip that Cucumber Mike posted) is Maple Leaf Rag, which is marked "Tempo di marcia".

I think 'The entertainer' can be taken at 85 bpm, it actually sounds really nice at that tempo, the composers indication 'not fast' doesn't necessarily mean slow. . ...
 * Pine Apple Rag is the only one that has a metronome marking, namely = 100.


 * Make of all that what you will. --  ♬  Jack of Oz  ♬  [your turn]  23:13, 30 June 2012 (UTC)

In what movie does Martin Sheen kill a rattlesnake?
There is a movie dated about 1970 which begins with the bad boy lead meeting a girl at a gas station and killing a rattlesnake. I think it stars Martin Sheen but it may have been another actor. It seems similar to the movie Badlands (film), but I have not been able to watch the beginning of it or get a detailed plot synopsis, and I think the lead female is a prettier blond, not Sissy Spacek. It may have been a made-for TV movie. I may even be wrong about the snake--but it did involve the bad boy meeting a girl at a gas station. Can anybody identify the film? μηδείς (talk) 19:34, 30 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Haven't seen this so I am just guessing but from the synopsis I read here, it might be a 1975 TV movie called Sweet Hostage, which does include Martin Sheen and an ex-rattlesnake. FlowerpotmaN &middot;( t ) 20:10, 30 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes, that's definitely it, I remember the title now and the synopsis is an exact match. Saw the first ten minutes and really would like to watch the whole thing. Thanks!μηδείς (talk) 21:35, 30 June 2012 (UTC)