Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2013 April 15

= April 15 =

Battlestar Galactica - Twelve Colonies of Man - Chinese zodiac
What would the Colonial (Kobolian) names for the Twelve Colonies of Man be if the Chinese zodiac was used instead or if it just us using the Chinese zodiac. Any suggestions? 194.74.238.137 (talk) 12:58, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
 * For those who might be lost, the OP is referring to Battlestar Galactica. Dismas |(talk) 13:04, 15 April 2013 (UTC)


 * Different types of languages are susceptible to different types of word play. Monosyllabic Chinese with its ideograms is not susceptible to anagraming or metathesis in the same way as English with its polysyllables, consonant clusters, and alphabet.  The names on BG are deformations like Capricorn > Caprica.  But given the limited number of Chinese monosyllables, deforming the syllable hou in Chinese for the zodiacal sign of the Monkey just gets you a different word entirely with its own meaning.  So, although I am sure there would be some way of using word play (see the infamous grass mud horse) to achieve a similar effect it would not be the same method as was used by the English writers of the show. μηδείς (talk) 17:50, 16 April 2013 (UTC)
 * While not really disagreeing with you, I would point out that modern Chinese is predominantly polysyllabic, and that metathesis does not depend on writing, though anagrams do. On the other hand, Chinese has at least two kinds of word play which are not available in English: puns that involve different tones, and writing words with different characters that cause the word on the page to have an entirely different meaning. --ColinFine (talk) 23:45, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
 * This is not really the place to ask speculative questions. Take a look at Chinese zodiac and make your own guesses, or read the Chinese version of the article to see what it was called in the Chinese translation.  Astronaut (talk) 18:02, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

Basketball Strike
I don't follow basketball. In the very funny recent radio commercials by Flo at Progressive she compares how strikes are good in bowling and bad in baseball. She then says she's heard of basketball strikes, and says she's not sure if they are good or bad, but suspects bad. I assume she's talking about a work stoppage? Or is this something obscure like the infield fly rule? Googling just gets me work stoppages. Thanks. μηδείς (talk) 18:45, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Yeah, only refers to work stoppage. Well unless a player "strikes" their head on the backboard while dunking the ball :-) MarnetteD | Talk 19:42, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Yes, bizarrely one player striking another had occured to me, but I assume that's called a foul. Which is not the same as a foul in baseball. μηδείς (talk) 19:44, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
 * IIRC, that commercial came out around the same time as the 2011 NBA lockout, or "Basketball strike". There is no part of the play of basketball which is called a "strike".  That terminology just isn't part of the game, and I'm entirely certain she was talking about the 2011 lockout.  That sense seemed obvious to me when I saw it.  -- Jayron  32  20:19, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
 * I only heard it this weekend in the Delaware Valley broadcast area, which is odd for an old strike. In any case, me and my dad both have crushes on Flo, which makes me laugh to no end. μηδείς (talk) 21:41, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Technically it wasn't even a strike, unless you consider the owners to have been "on strike" against the players. And strikes are both good and bad in baseball: it depends whether you're pitching or batting. Flo is cute, though, regardless. :) ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 02:20, 16 April 2013 (UTC)

Harold and Maude
In the film Harold and Maude (1971), which denomination does the priest belong to? Sneazy (talk) 19:36, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
 * For some reason I think he's Episcopalian, but I have neither the movie, a reference, nor the exact memory. μηδείς (talk) 19:45, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Near the end of the film, Harold decided that he would marry Maude, which caused a shocked reaction from his mother, his psychiatrist, and his priest. I know that some people would visit a priest if they want to receive a blessing for their marriage, so perhaps that is a hint. I also noticed that he liked to attend funerals. I am not sure if people are allowed to attend the funerals of random people, but I have heard that the Roman Catholic Church performs funeral Masses. He might be Catholic. But he also drives a hearse, which may also indicate his reason for being present at funerals to appear socially normal. Sneazy (talk) 20:14, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
 * I see no reason that random strangers would be barred from a Catholic funeral. They could simply be there to pray for "the departed", as they say.   Dismas |(talk) 20:19, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
 * According to this website, the church scene was filmed at St. Thomas Aquinas Church which is (Roman) Catholic. I happened upon a clip of the film on a certain well known video hosting site - the priest and the servers were wearing Catholic vestments, although some Episcopalian priests might wear these too. Alansplodge (talk) 21:22, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
 * I do, for some reason, remember the impression the priest was not Catholic. again, that's total, and bad OR on my part. I didn;t like the movie, so I am not wont to review it. μηδείς (talk) 21:38, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
 * That is a meaning of wont that I have never encountered before.--ColinFine (talk) 23:51, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
 * I have always used it to mean "prone to" or "likely to".

Bowed zither?
So, I'm watching this Joe Bonamassa concert on Palladia, and his backing band is all interesting acoustic string instruments: fiddle, mandolin, banjo. On one song, however, one of the musicians is playing something that looks like a bowed zither or dulcimer of some sort. It was shaped sorta-like a violin with a really fat neck, and notes seem to be played with keys along the underside rather than by fingering the strings directly. I've done some searches on zithers and bowed instruments in general, and looked through the zither article and categories on Wikipedia, but I can't seem to identify it. Can anyone identify what this instrument was? -- Jayron  32  20:17, 15 April 2013 (UTC)


 * Could it be a Yueqin? Or maybe it is a Pipa? Sneazy (talk) 20:28, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
 * No, looked nothing like that. It was roughly violin shaped, was played with a bow, and notes made with what looked like some keys under a very fat neck.  The player held it lap-style, like a lap guitar.  It looks like it had 12 strings, with a headstock like a 12-string guitar, 12 tuning pegs with 6 to a side.  Definitely more western-looking than Asian looking.  The body wasn't round like those, more like a violin or guitar shape.-- Jayron  32  20:33, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
 * Must have been a hurdy-gurdy with a manual bow rather than a wheel, like a Nyckelharpa. -- Atethnekos (Discussion, Contributions) 21:01, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
 * That's it! It was obviously a nyckelharpa.  Didn't look identical to any of the pictures in that article, but that's obviously what it was.  Thanks!  -- Jayron  32  21:48, 15 April 2013 (UTC)