Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 August 21

= August 21 =

Fashion - What is the propper cuff size for flared / bell bottom pants?
these days there are straight leg, boot cut, flared cuff, bell bottoms, big bell, elephant bells, etc... How is one to know when your cuff has crossed over from one style to the next? is there a certain number of inches a cuff should be to be one style or another? 174.253.31.141 (talk) 09:10, 21 August 2011 (UTC)


 * As a retired tailor, I have given up on what is deemed to be proper in terms of fashion. When I was an apprentice, everyone I knew would wear a 2 or 3 piece suit, even when only going out for a pint to the pub. And that also included a shirt and tie and cufflinks. And thousands of people had respectable and relatively well-paid jobs that supported families and homes and support industries. Ahhh - happy days. And cuff sizes were almost absolutely adhered to at 16 to 18 inches. Anything less was flaunting indecency and anything more was approaching the American Zoot Suit. But nowadays, anything goes, and you can give it any name you like. I saw a young guy yesterday wearing jeans that were so low on his buttocks and so tight on his legs that he was to all intents and purposes naked. And when he walked, he had to spread his legs wide apart to stop his pants from falling down. Fashion?? Anything goes it seems nowadays. And the "victims" seem unaware of how ridiculous they look and how financially exploited they are. 94.172.117.205 (talk) 10:49, 21 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Wear what you think is right - that is fashion, not some arbitrary style or colour dictated by the manufacturers and drip fed to us through the media. Do your own thing, this is way more likely to get you street kudos than slavishly following some expensive temporary trend that makes you look like an ersatz celebrity. (gets down off soapbox) The width of the 'cuff' of the jeans or whatever are only part of the look. You'll need to consider if you want a taper from the hips or a snug fit to the knees and then a flare. Then you'll have to think about the length. Long enough to cover the shoes or (God forbid) boots or right to the ground so they get that nice 'blotting paper' look when it rains. Ah, being a fashion victim is never going to be easy! Richard Avery (talk) 14:41, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

Debt-snowball method
Does anyone have a Russian article about this term? Thanks! -212.143.128.190 (talk) 13:41, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
 * No idea, but for convenience our article is Debt-snowball method. Looie496 (talk) 16:58, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
 * It looks like you can get to a Russian page about this by choosing the top link from a Google search for "Долга снежный ком метод", which I obtained using Google translate. Note that the page is currently inaccessible due to having exceeded its bandwidth limit, but you can still access it using the Google cache.  Whether the article is helpful I can't say. Looie496 (talk) 17:05, 21 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Does this method has some financial merit? Or is the merit of it just psychological? 88.9.108.128 (talk) 11:57, 23 August 2011 (UTC)
 * The English article linked above explains the merits. They are primarily psychological, though, yes. If you have perfect financial discipline, you should pay off the highest interest loans first, but if you had perfect financial discipline you probably wouldn't be in lots of debt to begin with. --Tango (talk) 12:00, 24 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Yep. In principle, one could combine this process with some sort of debt reorganization/refinancing, so that the largest debts are predominantly at the lowest interest rates and the amount of money owed at high interest is minimized.  (I could see a financial planner or debt counsellor helping a debtor to reorganize their outstanding loans in this way.  Such an approach would combine the psychological boost of clearing a number of small debts early on with the benefits of carrying the bulk of one's debt at a lower interest rate.)  The only other benefit is that it ought to reduce the total number of bills owed and payments required at the end of each month, which may reduce the likelihood the debtor will forget one or more of a long list of payments (thereby avoiding further damage to one's credit score, and penalties associated with missed payments).  TenOfAllTrades(talk) 13:01, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

Holy Bible
what kind of paper was the original and oldest found Bible writte on....both the New and Old Testaments? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.208.83.246 (talk) 16:31, 21 August 2011 (UTC)


 * There really isn't such a thing as an original and oldest Bible -- the Bible is a collection of books that were written independently and grouped in various combinations at various times. One way or another, though, the answer for both testaments is almost certainly papyrus -- in fact the word "bible" comes from Greek meaning "little papyrus books".  You might benefit from looking at our Bible article.  Looie496 (talk) 16:56, 21 August 2011 (UTC)


 * The oldest known surviving Biblical manuscripts are the Dead Sea Scrolls. They are written mostly on parchment, some on papyrus. --Mr.98 (talk) 21:13, 21 August 2011 (UTC)


 * And let's not forget that the Ten Commandments was supposedly carved into stone. (The story is that God did it, but I notice Moses was up that mountain quite a long time, more on the order of how long it would have taken him to carve it.) StuRat (talk) 08:46, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
 * "I am teh Lord thy God" was a dead giveaway. Clarityfiend (talk) 20:33, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
 * That deserves this. μηδείς (talk) 00:53, 23 August 2011 (UTC)

Cinema center films pressbook ( A Boy Named Charlie Brown ) Charlie Brown and the Peanuts Gang in their First Movie. original Folder dated 08/17/1969
I bought an old house and I found in that house this original movie press folder that is in excellent condition. It has serveral pages in it as well as serveral loose pages. The attached pages contain information about the creation of the characters as well as information about its creator. It also contains information about the producer and why he produced the the film. On one page the characters are sitting in their individaul chairs with their name on the chairs and then their character is explained below the chairs. It seems that this folder could have been purchuced at one of the first showings of the film. Some one has placed on the front of the folder with masking tape the date 08/17 and then below it has 1969. I think it would be interesting to share this with everyone since it is obviously so rare but what would be the best way to do that. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.81.33.38 (talk) 17:18, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
 * How about scanning it very carefully and including it on the Commons? We have an article about the film, it would be a great addition. Might be copyrighted or something, though, I'll let someone else handle that bit. --Ouro (blah blah) 17:55, 21 August 2011 (UTC)
 * If it is 1969, it is definitely still under copyright, and unless it is clearly marked somewhere as open source(which i seriously doubt it will be) do not scan and upload it to commons, as it would be immediately deleted as a copyvio.  He  iro 13:36, 22 August 2011 (UTC)
 * And thanks, Heiro. I suspected this would be copyrighted. May I ask a follow-up question then: would uploading it at a low resolution qualify for fair use? --Ouro (blah blah) 16:10, 23 August 2011 (UTC)

Underground Railroad Notable Locations
In the Wiki for the Underground Railroad there is a heading labelled "Notable Locations" under which is Pickering, Ontario. I am doing research on black settlers in the Pickering Township and was interested to see that Pickering was a notable location along the Underground Railroad. However, an explanation as to why it was notable is not given. If you could give me any information or sources where I could find such information that would be greatly appreciated!http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Railroad#Route 99.243.27.222 (talk) 18:06, 21 August 2011 (UTC)


 * You may have more success if you bump this question over to the Humanities Reference Desk. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 13:50, 23 August 2011 (UTC)


 * I was going to suggest Mornington Cresent, but that seems to be the wrong underground railway network. Astronaut (talk) 15:42, 23 August 2011 (UTC)
 * You're not playing the Lourdes-Helmer transit rule? I thought it was standard these days... Grandiose (me, talk, contribs) 16:06, 23 August 2011 (UTC)

Type of Jeans Usher and Justin Bieber wear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKfzjz7V0KQ

Could somebody identify what style/cut of jeans this is? Usher always seems to wear them but i have no idea where I could buy them. Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.112.45.176 (talk) 18:39, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

The very bottom section of this page (http://www.theurbangent.com/tag/usher) may be what you're after. Looks like they are 'Rock & Republic' boot-cut jeans, though no idea if that's what Usher wears most of the time. ny156uk (talk) 20:57, 21 August 2011 (UTC)