Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2012 September 1

= September 1 =

Bourekas films list
Is there a website that list Israeli films as Bourekas films? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.31.23.58 (talk) 02:22, 1 September 2012 (UTC)

French films
Are there French films that deals with a hero of non-French origin (Arabs and African origin) and a heroine of White French origin? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.31.23.58 (talk) 02:42, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
 * The TV series Engrenages (marketed in English as Spiral) featured, in series 2, an undercover cop named Samy, of (I think) Moroccan descent. The main female character throughout the series, Captain Laure Berthaud (Caroline Proust), is white. I'm not sure to what extent either could be described as a hero/-ine though. They both have fairly serious character flaws, despite being on the side of the 'good guys'. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 18:28, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
 * It was an American film, but the characters and actors were French, Inglourious Basterds features a French couple which has an important heroic role in the film. He's black and she's white.  -- Jayron  32  19:51, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
 * 2 Days in New York is in theaters now (in the US). The story is about a married couple played by Julie Delpy (white French) and Chris Rock (african American). Staecker (talk) 11:40, 2 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Taxi (the French film, not its inferior US remake) and its sequels, star Samy Naceri (of Algerian descent) trying to woo his white girlfriend Marion Cotillard while helping the police. Astronaut (talk) 19:19, 3 September 2012 (UTC)

Sound recording error in Mrs. Brown ?
Near the end, when Queen Victoria and other women are walking down the hall to visit Mr. Brown, on his deathbed, the sound of rustling dresses overwhelms the sound track. Was this intentional, or a mistake ? StuRat (talk) 03:25, 1 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Does the sound obscure any speech? If so, turn on the subtitles and see what they say. You might also want to check that both sound channels are working.--Shantavira|feed me 07:50, 1 September 2012 (UTC)


 * OK, thanks. Yes, both sound channels were working. StuRat (talk) 15:57, 10 September 2012 (UTC)

Power balance in ParaCycling
I'm watching the cycling at the Paralympics - right now it's the B1 time trial for blind cyclists on a tandem with a sighted pilot. The visually impaired athlete sits at the back and acts as the stoker. What I'm wondering is how much effect each of the riders contributes to the overall speed. Is the stoker the 'engine room' of the team, or could a better pilot have a disproportionate effect on performance? In other words, if I (a reasonably competent but unfit and slow cyclist) was to lose my sight, how close would I get to a Paralympic medal by teaming up with Sir Chris Hoy? (I'm aware that there are restrictions on using current world-championship cyclists, but let's assume that Sir Chris would give up his career for the chance to pilot me.) If it helps, the teams seem to be using in-phase pedalling, suggesting a fairly close balance of leg strength. I'm happy to pedal out-of-phase with Sir Chris when when we get to Rio though. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 09:42, 1 September 2012 (UTC)


 * If you look closely at the bike, you will see that the stoker's pedals are also connected to the pilot's pedals by a long chain. This arrangement seems to be quite vulnerable to mechanical failure as we have seen today. It means that the stoker provides most of the motive power for the tandem, as opposed to the "normal" tandem which is, in effect, two bikes stuck together as far as the pedal arrangements go. --TammyMoet (talk) 13:12, 1 September 2012 (UTC) The long chain is clearly visible in this image. --TammyMoet (talk) 13:14, 1 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Sorry to be dense, but I don't quite understand. What's the difference between this arrangement and a "normal" tandem (assuming that I've linked to a normal tandem), and what effect does the chain link have on power? Is there anything like a Dynamometer test showing respective power of each rider? - Cucumber Mike (talk) 18:38, 1 September 2012 (UTC)


 * I see what you mean. I'd seen another picture of the paralympic tandem with two sprocket arrangements on linked by the long chain, but with each rider's sprocket also attached separately. There is a short chain as well as the long chain. I'll try and find another photo showing that. I had found a photo showing that but couldn't link to it. --TammyMoet (talk) 20:49, 1 September 2012 (UTC) Meanwhile, here is a link to our tandem article which covers different drive arrangements. --TammyMoet (talk) 20:52, 1 September 2012 (UTC)
 * I'm quite frustrated as I can't find a still picture of the coverage of the broken tandem that happened yesterday that showed the set up clearly. However, as I'm watching it this morning I can report that the pilot is pushing a smaller sprocket than the stoker. There's some sort of mechanism that allows both cyclists to pedal at the same rate. --TammyMoet (talk) 08:46, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Morning. Is the 3rd picture on this page what you're looking for? I'm starting to see what you're getting at - I can now see a visual difference between this arrangement and the road tandem - but I'm still not quite sure what the effect this has on power output - or whether this is a deliberate effort to ensure the stoker does most of the work, or a reaction to the fact that the stoker is a stronger pedaller. I found a discussion which asserts that 'the captain' (the front guy) does most of the work, but there's no citation for that - Cucumber Mike (talk) 09:47, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Ah yes. Now you can see that the pedals of the pilot are not attached to his own wheel at all, only to the pedals of the stoker. The pedals of the stoker are attached to his own wheel and to the pedals of the pilot. --TammyMoet (talk) 12:02, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * That's the same for any bike. The pedals are never attached to the front wheel. 109.99.71.97 (talk) 18:02, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Not necessarily: see Tandem_bicycles .--TammyMoet (talk) 19:13, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Early bicycles had the pedals on the front wheel. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 22:22, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Early television programming
The History of television article says there were television sets available in the UK from 1928 on. What sort of advertising was available that early? 69.62.243.48 (talk) 23:48, 1 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Perhaps none. The article TV_advertising says that the first TV ad in the UK aired in 1955.  RudolfRed (talk) 02:34, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * The first British television broadcast was made by Baird Television's electromechanical system over the BBC radio transmitter in September 1929. Baird provided a limited amount of programming five days a week by 1930. What kinds of programs were provided? 69.62.243.48 (talk) 03:28, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * The first British television play: The Man With the Flower in His Mouth on 14 July 1930. Clarityfiend (talk) 04:20, 2 September 2012 (UTC)


 * The first commercial television station didn't start broadcasting until 1954. --TammyMoet (talk) 08:43, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * September 1955 to be exact. Before that, the British Broadcasting Corporation had a monopoly. The BBC is funded by everybody buying a licence for their television (in those days you needed a radio licence too), and so is wonderfully free from advertisements. Whether it's worth the £145.50 we have to pay for it these days is a matter of debate. Alansplodge (talk) 21:13, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Some information about BBC TV in the 1930s is here.
 * But most of that is about radio. I also found The First Colour Television Transmission which mentions Baird's television demonstrations at the Olympia exhibition hall in London; ''"...which included half an hour of songs and droll Irish stories by a star of the day, Peggy O’Neil, and the world’s first television advertisement, for the Daily Mail. In 1929 Baird provided the first-ever BBC television programme, in black-and-white, which led to half-hour programmes five mornings a week, and in 1931 screened the Derby, with much favourable publicity." Alansplodge (talk) 21:28, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * There are a few scanned pages from the Radio Times here, covering 1936 to 1939. (The 1936/37 pages cover the period when the BBC alternated between the Baird system and the Marconi/EMI system each week). Primetime highlights for a Friday night in November 1936 include "A Laundry Demonstration" with Mrs Daisy Pain, which included "some tips about ironing"  FlowerpotmaN &middot;(t) 22:38, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * (PS) And there's a programme schedule for the Baird 30-line broadcasts from December 1930 here.  FlowerpotmaN &middot;(t) 22:56, 2 September 2012 (UTC)
 * Thank you for those links, Flowerpotman, which I found absolutely fascinating. Leaving aside the dubious political correctness of some of the items, I think it says a lot that I would rather watch variety acts and laundry demonstrations than what passes for entertainment on British daytime TV these days. -  Ka renjc 12:10, 3 September 2012 (UTC)