Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2012 October 10

= October 10 =

Are drums louder than they were 40 years ago?
Are drums louder than they were 40 years ago? I'm not a drummer, but when I go into a music store and try a drumstick on drums, they seem much louder than they were ~40 years ago (for the same force of hitting). Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 00:26, 10 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Seems unlikely. I suspect the reasons are psychological.  That is, old-timers like us don't like loud noises, while teens can't get enough of them. StuRat (talk) 01:18, 10 October 2012 (UTC)


 * The drums were made out of wood then - now they use other materials. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 01:47, 10 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Our article Vistalite Drums states that acrylic drums are louder than those made of more traditional materials, although the statement is not sourced. - Ka renjc 08:43, 10 October 2012 (UTC)


 * They seem louder to me. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 19:43, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

Exact date of comic publishing
Or being "released" or "hitting shelves" or "debuting" or whatever term they may use for Amazing Fantasy #15 also at wikipedia at Amazing Fantasy and also for The Amazing Spider-Man issue #1 in 1963. Thanks! Marketdiamond (talk) 11:37, 10 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Not a comic fan at all, any help on this? Do comic books have a "hitting shelves" date or release date? Thanks.  Marketdiamond (talk) 23:48, 10 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I'm not especially a comics fan, but as a former Bookseller (and Book Editor) I can offer some likely applicable information.
 * Most books, magazines and, I'm sure, comics in the 1960s in the UK – and I'm fairly sure also in most other countries – did have an official "publication date" aka "embargo date" before which they were not supposed to be put on the shelves/racks/whatever and sold: i.e they were "embargoed" by the contracts between publishers, distributors and retailers from being sold before that date.
 * However, since it can take a fair amount of time getting publications to all their retail outlets, especially in a large country like the USA but also in the UK, and even longer to ship them to other countries by sea (for example, the USA or UK to Australia), and also a finite amount of time for each retailer to handle their stock and arrange to display many new titles every day, many copies might be delivered days to weeks before the publication date, and were supposed to be kept in storage until Publication Day.
 * It was not uncommon for less scrupulous or less competent retailers to sell publications early, thereby deliberately or accidently "stealing a march" on their competitors – some retailers would police each other's shops and complain to the publisher if this happened, but ". . . after the horse had bolted" and so on.
 * Moreover, it would be common for the same publication to have different publication dates in different countries since, for example, a Release date in Australia on Day X would scarcely affect sales in the USA on their Release date X=7.
 * The upshot of all this is that asking what a particular publication's official release date was would depend on where one was talking about, and it's always possible that some or even many copies had actually been sold earlier. Hope this helps. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 84.21.143.150 (talk) 11:21, 11 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I don't think that comic books during this period were considered important enough to have embargo dates. They did have cover dates, which were the dates at which the comic was supposed to be removed from newsstands to make space for the next issue.  You can expect, therefore, that Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962) would have gone on sale no later than early July 1962.  But there were, predictably, efforts to game the system, and in fact the Comics.org database (to which you linked) tells us that Amazing Fantasy #15 went on sale on June 5, 1962 (even though Amazing Fantasy was a monthly).  The database does not seem to have on-sale dates for The Amazing Spider-Man #1 (Mar. 1963), a bi-monthly, but it likely went on sale in December 1962 or early January 1963.  John M Baker (talk) 14:56, 11 October 2012 (UTC)

1930s American film actresses - British accents?
Does it seem like most American film actresses of the 1930s spoke with British accents? Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 17:28, 10 October 2012 (UTC)
 * It's called a Mid-Atlantic or Transatlantic accent. It was expected of American actors at the time even though few people naturally sound like that. Kelsey Grammer sounds a bit British to Amercians but I've heard he doesn't sound British to Britons. I though Katherine Hepburn was English until I was 20 or so. Alexius  Horatius  17:49, 10 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Not British accents, usually it was upper class American accents. See Boston Brahmin, Philadelphia Main Line, etc.  Many actresses (such as Katherine Hepburn came from this background; others likely emulated it, much as modern actors and actresses are trained to emulate General American regardless of their native dialect.    For example, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's native dialect was Hudson Valley English; his prominence in the media in the 1930s probably set it as the industry standard accent for the time.  It is also a convenient convention; if an actress is portraying an "upper class" heroine, one can convey a lot just by the accent.  Just as movies established the "Gangster" accent (the harsher varieties of Inland Northern American English associated with places like Chicago and Detroit), the "Surfer accent" (think Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High or like, anything Keanu Reaves has done, based on California English), the "Goofball character accent", almost invariably some variation of North–Central American English, (think Fargo (film)), etc.  Hollywood often uses these convenient short cuts to establish character context without having to do a long exposition.  As soon as you hear James Cagney talk, you think instantly "Gangster" and don't have to be showed that in the film, even if in reality there are millions of people who speak like that and aren't criminals.  It allows shortcuts to be taken.  If Hedy Lamarr talked like James Cagney in a film, and was portraying a debutante, it would seem a bit incongruous!  -- Jayron  32  17:51, 10 October 2012 (UTC)


 * I've noticed this for a long time, but today I saw part of Women against Women, from 1938, by an American director, using American cars, and all of the women had that accent. There were three of them at a table and none of their husbands had that accent.  Only one other man seemed to have it.  Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 18:15, 10 October 2012 (UTC)


 * In addition to the relevant articles above, see also Stage English which is about a codified version of this accent that was specifically taught to actors especially of the films of the 30's and 40's. You can also hear this way of speaking in the late (2003) NY Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who was born in Oklahoma and grew up poor in the Bronx.  Listen to his vowels and his clearly enunciated /t/s in this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPxkJZsz4Kc .  Local Philadelphia and NFL "Voice of God" broadcaster John Facenda had wonderful vowels, and British /r/s and /t/s, but had a street brawler's vocabulary off the air.  Listen to this great outtake clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsoLHIBi1rU .  Philadelphia councilman Thacher Longstreth who also died in 2003 was also famous for his Mainline accent.   I haven't been able to find a video of him at youtube, but it would be great if someone could post a file. μηδείς (talk) 18:18, 10 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Yes, those women did use the accent you are describing. No, it isn't British, it's a native American accent known Mid-Atlantic English which was an affectation of Hollywood, and based predominantly on actual American accents as can be heard in various upper-class pockets such as Philadelphia's main line, the Hudson Valley of the Roosevelts, and the Boston Brahmin accent.  It was a deliberate cultivation of Hollywood, but strictly speaking it isn't British as it did not arise in Britain.  -- Jayron  32  18:21, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 01:22, 12 October 2012 (UTC)

Achievement music?
Hi I am looking for a music for achievement moments. Like in a film, there is a music, when the main character achieve some divine thing. In the background there is accompaniment of human voices which say "oh ho ho ho oh ho oh ho". It is very similar to Tarzan's roar, but it is much more calming. Thank you. Exx8 (talk) 23:35, 10 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Chariots of Fire (instrumental) and Gonna Fly Now immediately come to mind, not sure if your trying to identify a specific tune with the oh ho ho ho stuff . . . are you? Marketdiamond (talk) 23:44, 10 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Sorry, these aren't which I have talked about.Thank you anyway.Exx8 (talk) 01:01, 11 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Orinoco Flow? -- Jayron  32  01:11, 11 October 2012 (UTC)


 * So, just to be clear, you're looking for a specific tune? Not just various pieces of music from this genre, right?  Dismas |(talk) 01:23, 11 October 2012 (UTC)
 * If I am reading you right that this is a specific song and you know it is used in a movie for a cinematic "achieve some divine thing", do you remember the movie? Marketdiamond (talk) 02:38, 11 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Tarzan Boy? Nricardo (talk) 02:40, 11 October 2012 (UTC)
 * "achieve some divine thing" I would think would rule out Tarzan Boy, but curious about OPs opinion. Marketdiamond (talk) 03:52, 11 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I would guess at an understated version of Handel's Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah (Handel).  meltBanana  09:38, 11 October 2012 (UTC)

The Lion Sleeps Tonight? --Dweller (talk) 12:22, 11 October 2012 (UTC)
 * The Lion Sleeps Tonight is one of the greatest songs of the last century, especially in this version by Miriam Makeba, but is it really that climactic? Is there a movie scene you can refer us to? μηδείς (talk) 01:58, 12 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I can't see anything about "climactic" in the OP's question. No idea if any of its myriad recordings have been used in film - I quite like the Tight Fit version myself, but the video is quite simply the worst ever made in music history. Seemed to fit the "oh ho ho ho oh ho oh ho"/Tarzan requirements quite well. I find its rhythm pretty calming. --Dweller (talk) 22:50, 11 October 2012 (UTC)
 * The OP said "achievement" which is why I said climactic. I do see where you are going with the oh ho ho thing, but if that's what he want's I think Rmhermen may have the answer below.  And please pay attention where you insert comments, Dweller.  You separated my comment above from its signature below--but no worry, I have simply added a signature above. μηδείς (talk) 01:58, 12 October 2012 (UTC)
 * I would suggest "I was cured alright" set to the Ode to Joy as a great example of the trope. μηδείς (talk) 17:33, 11 October 2012 (UTC)
 * "Hojotoho!" from Wagner's opera, Die Walküre? Rmhermen (talk) 21:35, 11 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Great minds. I was thinking of a similar piece from Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, or even the Ride of the Valkyries.  But they utterly fail the "much more calming" test.  --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  21:43, 11 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Another possibility is the overused "O Fortuna", (also mondegreened as "Oh Four Tuna". ---Sluzzelin talk  23:08, 11 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Also The Flower Duet from Lakmé - - might fit the bill.  They do sing actual words, but one could be forgiven for thinking they're just repeating "oh" etc.  --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  23:17, 11 October 2012 (UTC)


 * I've been hearing Vangelis' "The Conquest of Paradise" played during the Cricket T20 World Cup, just before the National Anthems. It seems to be suitably portentous for the OP. The choir are singing words, but apparently they were made up by Vangelis to sound like Latin. --TammyMoet (talk) 09:23, 12 October 2012 (UTC)