Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2008 December 11

= December 11 =

Feces Fetish
Please seek professional help for this problematic behaviour. The reference desk is not able to provide it. Julia Rossi (talk) 21:54, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Clip for cutting hair
I came across one of those "order now" products on TV earlier today. It was a clip that you could fix in your hair to give you a straight line to cut along. Murphy's law struck and the one time they actually have something that looks useful to me my hands are full, the basement is flooded, the cat wants to come in etc. I googled all sort of combinations of what I remembered from the ad, but couldn't find anything. The ad did have a website shown, but I can't remember what it was. Does anyone by any chance know the product name, or the site?? 76.97.245.5 (talk) 00:59, 11 December 2008 (UTC)


 * http://www.creaclip.com/ ? -- SGBailey (talk) 07:33, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks that was what I was looking for. Hope those things will work.  I'll give them a try. 76.97.245.5 (talk) 13:53, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Freud's myth of primal crime
Are there academics in cultural anthropology who are studying the cultural transitions of human evolution and who are focusing on the idea of a primal crime? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.165.55.126 (talk) 18:43, 11 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Are there any here? Psychohistory may be connected and lists among others, Freud and his work Civilization and Its Discontents Julia Rossi (talk) 08:22, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

Iris flowers
I have been given several different colored iris plants, including the ordinary purple ones. However, all the blooms are now white. I am trying to find out why. Can you help me? I'm in California, USA. Majhm35 (talk) 18:50, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Several flowers are colored by compounds which are pH indicators, that is they are compounds which change color depending on the pH level of the solution they are dissolved in. Usually, these are pink and/or blue and/or purple colors.  These flowers change their color depending on the pH of the soil they are planted in.  There is a discussion of this at the bottom of the pH indicator article. --Jayron32. talk . contribs  19:46, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Thank you, Jayron32. I will get the soil tested. But now I need to know if irises need acidic or alkaline conditions to bloom true to original color. Majhm35 (talk) 00:02, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I have no idea. Do a quick experiment (if you don't mind sacrificing a few irises).  Take some cut irises, along a series of glasses with water of different pH (like say each 1.0 pH from like 4.0-9.0 or so).  Place the stem of a cut flower in the each glass, and watch what happens.  If I am right on this, then there should, after a day or so, be noticible change in the colors of each flower.  This should work unless the color gets "locked in" before the flower is formed; which may also be the case, in which case you could plant some fresh iris seeds in soils of varying pH.  --Jayron32. talk . contribs  02:59, 12 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Iris (plant) recommends peat or loam so that would indicate acidic, but e.g. for Iris germanica alkaline soil is recommended. Opinions vary, generally "bearded" varieties seem to prefer (slightly) alkaline 7+ and non-bearded do better in acidic soils 6-7.  For more details you'd have to find out exactly what cultivars you're dealing with.  Haven't heard of the PH affecting color for irises, though.  If you have Iris that bloom twice a year, in spring and in the fall, then for some varieties it isn't uncommon for the second bloom to have a different color.  Or you may have planted them too close and the white ones have won the "natural selection" battle for that site.  I assume from your post that we are not talking bulbs but rhizomes. Hope this helps. 76.97.245.5 (talk) 06:38, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

Actually, these are blooming right now ( November-December!!!) So I will watch and see what they do next spring! They have been moved from their original spots, but until they multiplied they were never too close together. (And except for the purple ones and one peach, have always bloomed white.) And yes, they are rhyzomes. (I also have the Dutch iris, which are bulbs, but no problem with their color -- so far!) Thank you, all, for all of your help with this.Majhm35 (talk) 18:39, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

Sebastian's Journal?
Does anyone know where I could find a journal that closely resembles the one Sebastian used in Cruel Intentions ? I've been searching all over the internet with no luck. Thank youBreadchastick (talk) 23:03, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Can you link to a still photo or a video clip? --Fullobeans (talk) 23:28, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
 * It looks like standard A4 paper with plastic ring bind. SN0WKITT3N  10:12, 12 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I did a Google image search and, although I have no idea if the journal I found was the one you refer to, it appeared to be an unruled sketchbook with a black plastic comb binding. Your best bet would be checking art supply stores or calling stationers. You can buy relatively inexpensive comb binding machines, or order bulk comb-bound notebooks from various suppliers, so it would make sense for the movie's props department to opt for that sort of binding, since it's cheap and easily replaceable. --Fullobeans (talk) 08:51, 13 December 2008 (UTC)