Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2007 April 4

= April 4 =

Trying to find a 'how to draw' book
Hi folks, I'm looking for a book that I've seen online before - as in, the full book scanned online, rather than just for sale. I can't remember who it's by or what it's called, but hopefully someone can point me in the right direction...

I think these books are quite old - possibly from around the 1960's or 70's. There's a series of them, on drawing cartoon and realistic styles, all by the same author. I think they're pretty well known. All I really remember is that one of them had a small cartoony looking guy on the front cover holding a pencil that was much bigger than him, and had sections on drawing faces using a bunch of circles to make the head, cheeks, chin, etc, in a kind of caricature style.

Does this ring a bell with anyone? I know it's not much to go on, but any help would be great.. thanks :D --02:15, 4 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Ah-ha, found it! - the author I was looking for was Andrew Loomis, should anyone be interested. --Noodhoog 02:40, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

John Gnagy was an artist who did "how to draw" programs on TV in the 1960's and sold kits with charcoal kneadable eraser, drawing pencils, etc and complete step by step instructions to create "masterpieces." Widely available still, but not free to download that I can see. Edison 20:07, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Board game history
In what year did Willie finalize the rules to Kalah that are more or less the same as we know today? I'm just assuming some time between 1910 and 1940 but it would be nice to have a better date.--Sonjaaa 15:03, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

According to the article, he learned about it in 1910, but only tried to produce it in 1940 DDB 20:36, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, but I thought he invented this variant of the game.--Sonjaaa 02:55, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

My Country; right or wrong
Who first said, "My Country; right or wrong"? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.14.236.83 (talk) 16:21, 4 April 2007 (UTC).


 * Carl Schurz said "Our country, right or wrong." . Sorry, I think Schurz was quoting or paraphrasing Stephen Decatur.  --LarryMac 16:29, 4 April 2007 (UTC) --LarryMac 16:37, 4 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Yes, it was Decatur's toast, adapted by many others, including the English writer George Orwell, for whom it was My Country Right or Left. Clio the Muse 19:17, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

broad mind and the world.
if we closely analyze we can see that as the mind of the people have become broader the skirts in the market have become smaller and smaller, what really is the connection between both, why has it happening this way. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 61.95.191.49 (talk) 17:00, 4 April 2007 (UTC).


 * I have a broad mind and several short skirts. Is that any help?  Clio the Muse 19:19, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Contrarily, I find that short skirts tend to reduce the number of things on my mind, generally to one. --TotoBaggins 19:26, 4 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Ha, ha! Well, women, have long known just how narrow the male mind can become, on so many issues beyond the obvious.  I am, of course, joking, Toto, as I am sure you understand.  Clio the Muse 19:35, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

"Disgusting little humans." — from Princess Mononoke. Vranak

Care to share the joke, Clio? I'm wondering about the expression 'broad mind' which has the obvious denotation of being smart and well read but which has the less obvious association with woman and tastes, using broad being Sinatra slang. DDB 20:44, 4 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I think 'broad minded' really means receptive, rather than smart or well-read, DDB; but I am receptive, smart and well-read, and many other things besides, including bloody-minded and opinionated! I have no comment to make on Sinatra's use of the term.  Clio the Muse 22:18, 4 April 2007 (UTC)
 * You might also be interested in reading the articles on Correlation does not imply causation, Post hoc ergo propter hoc and Spurious relationship. I've seen correlations of skirt length and economical factors presented as examples for some of these possible statistical fallacies. ---Sluzzelin talk  22:36, 4 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Ya, Sluzzelin, thank you for that prompt. The best example I ever saw of the various fallacies you have linked was a mischevious title given by Salvador Dali to an apostolic succession of Marxist 'saints'.  He called it The Rise of Marxism Corresponding to the Decline in Facial Hair.  Looking from left to right it begins with a hairy Marx, followed by an even hairier Engels.  Then comes Lenin with his goatee and moustache, followed by Stalin with just the moustache.  Finally comes bare-faced Mao Zedong!  It's very funny.  Clio the Muse 23:09, 4 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Where would that leave Khrushchev? 61.95.191.49, if you're interested in surprising freakonomical correlations, I'd recommend reading the works of Steven Levitt. And what a coincidence that his great uncle composed Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer. ---Sluzzelin talk  20:50, 5 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Krushchev, Sluzzelin, was one of the bare-faces the European left never warmed to. Their taste in political gangsters tended to be on a somewhat grander scale than the peasant Nikita!  Clio the Muse 23:48, 5 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Indeed, I should have read your post more carefully, I missed both apostolic and saints. Guess I couldn't resist the infantile need of poking fun at baldy. Ok, bedtime soon. ---Sluzzelin talk  03:44, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

education
why each ones life begins and drains with education?? is it going the right way?? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 61.95.191.49 (talk) 17:02, 4 April 2007 (UTC).


 * Please forgive me, but I simply do not understand the thrust of your question. Are you asking if education is a good thing or not?  Clio the Muse 19:09, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps you are asking about how outdated education methods, like learning by rote, suppress student's natural creativity, which they need to survive in the modern job market ? StuRat 20:12, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

"My lack of education hasn't hurt me none, I can still read the writing on the wall." - Paul Simon - StuRat 20:12, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Education is natural to Humans, who have delayed puberty, compared to other animals, allowing a time of learning. Schooling is more controversial, but not much more, allowing young to network with others their own age in a structured form. Sahaja Yoga is one expression of a dominating philosophy that questions the virtues of Education, and there are more.

Here is a tip; If you have a sound, effective education, you may not only say what you mean, you may mean what you say. DDB 20:27, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Contrary to Paul Simon's assertion, his lack of education has had a clear impact on his understanding and use of the English language, since he clearly cannot recognise a double negative. Or does he mean to say that he really has been hurt by his lack of education? Clio the Muse 20:40, 4 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I'm quite certain he is fully aware that his use of the double negative is incorrect, but chose to do so for effect, a type of poetic license. StuRat 20:44, 4 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Where in the world does the possession of a Bachelor's degree indicate a lack of education? American credential creep is out of control, if this is a common view. Natgoo 15:00, 6 April 2007 (UTC)


 * I believe that song lyric referred to an unnamed fictional character who had a lack of formal education, and was not meant to be autobiographical. StuRat 00:36, 7 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Since this is an opinion question, I have answered here: . StuRat 20:44, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Life actually begins with a lot of play. I should know, having a 16 month old kid. Pfly 20:43, 4 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Which in itself is a form of education! Clio the Muse 20:45, 4 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Absolutely, children probably learn more before they start formal education than they do during formal education. Learning how to walk, talk, eat, use the bathroom, and a thousand other things are frequently ignored, however.  Stroke victims, who sometimes need to relearn some of those skills, truly appreciate their importance. StuRat 23:18, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Education is the process of imparting knowledge, and human life starts with carnal knowledge. Edison 23:36, 4 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Disagree with Edison's basic premise.  For better or worse, education may have once been the process of imparting knowledge, but teachers and students of today's world know that literacy, skill, and comprehension, not knowledge, are now at the foundations of the modern Western educational system.   See, for example, Neil Postman's The End of Education, or even our own article on Education, which begins
 * "Education, short for formal education, is the organized teaching and training of students. Education is the application of pedagogy, a body of theoretical and applied research relating to teaching and learning"

and then goes on to note that although the imparting of knowledge is "a central tenet of education"...
 * "While the term, knowledge, is often used to convey this general purpose of education, it can also be viewed as part of a continuum of knowing that ranges from very specific data to the highest levels. Seen in this light, the continuum may be thought to consist of a general hierarchy of overlapping levels of knowing. Students must be able to connect new information to a piece of old information to be better able to learn, understand, and retain information. This continuum may include notions such as data, information, knowledge, wisdom, and realization."
 * Jfarber 09:59, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

So what IS Pot Cravie?
''Once, the horse of Spey invited a couple from the market to mount him, and once aloft upon his back they could hear the horse say, "And ride weel, Davie, and by this night at ten o`clock ye'll be in Pot Cravie." In 1884, a man in Cairny spoke of a slightly different saying of the kelpie that said, "Sit weel Janety, or ride weel, Davie, for this time in the morn, ye'll be in Pot Cravie."''

Since I am currently compiling as much information as I can about water-horses, I figured it would be good to know exactly what this "Pot Cravie" was. Was it the destination of the person(s) in question? A body of water (perhaps a river) located nearby? A name for the underworld? I've searched for the term as much as I can, but the only results I've found were re-iterations of the same story. Does anyone have any idea what Pot Cravie is or was? Or is it so obscure that no one knows anymore? 71.217.98.158 19:39, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

I'm guessing it is related to the expression "In the Gravy" DDB 20:19, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

From your research you will obviously know that those unwise enough to mount the kelpie were ridden to their deaths in the deepest part of a body of water. So I would guess-and it is only a guess-that Pot Cravie refers to the depths of some lake, perhaps in Loch Ness or a similar large body of water in Strathspey. A dictionary of Scottish fokelore might offer some better information on this. Clio the Muse 20:27, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Clio the Muse is, as usual, pretty much spot on. If you search Google books for "Pot Cravie", you'll find that it's glossed as "a deep pool [of the River Spey]". "Pot" is this sense, a variant of "pit". There's no place called Cravie that I can find, but it is a place-name element, e.g. Corriecravie on the Isle of Arran. Curiously enough, Corriecravie could be translated as the "Pot of Cravie", if you were so inclined, but it isn't the one in question. The corrie on Arran is probably a corrie, but the word can also mean a whirlpool, as in Corrievreckan. I'm afraid my Gaelic isn't up to figuring out possible Gaelic names that might end up as Cravie in English. Hmm. All very interesting, but unfortunately it doesn't get any closer to knowing where this deep pool or whirlpool was on the Spey. Angus McLellan (Talk) 20:49, 4 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Sounds like an excellent definition to me. Thanks for your help, folks! 71.217.98.158 00:19, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Politicians and new media?
Heya people,

I was wondering if anyone had any examples of politicians (preferably European) using 'new media', like blogs, vlogs, facebook, etc to connect with their constituents? Need some examples for a uni presentation xxx --83.104.50.65 19:46, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Can't tell you about anything European, but check out the US Presidential Nominees Race. Folks like Clinton have been using that recently.martianlostinspace 20:05, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Yeah theres been quite a few. segolene royal, in her election campaign has her desirsdavenir.org ("future desires", its all in french tho) website so that her fans can debate the issues etc. also a little closer to home there's david cameron, whose website is something like webcameron.com (geddit?!) hope it all helps!87.194.21.177 20:09, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

See Howard Dean. Corvus cornix 20:48, 4 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Supranationally, you might want to look at Finnish MEP Alex Stubb, who blogs multi-lingually. On a much more local scale, Tim Kent, one of my local Councillors in Bristol has recently released a 'video leaflet' about his activities in the city --Mnemeson 20:49, 4 April 2007 (UTC)


 * David Cameron, the leader of the UK Conservative Party, has a video blog at Webcameron.org.uk. --Nicknack009 21:58, 4 April 2007 (UTC)
 * This Business Week article might interest you (though it's from October 2006 and thus frightfully old for political ephemera). ---Sluzzelin talk  23:49, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Scenario planning
What are the major critiques of the Global Business Network’s theory of scenario planning?


 * I wiki-linked your question; hope you find the answer in one of those questions. --Khunter 03:45, 6 April 2007 (UTC)