Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2011 October 1

= October 1 =

Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, CA
The first line of the HISTORY section states: "The club was originally developed by a syndicate in the early 1920's, a principal member of which was Los Angeles oil millionaire Alphonzo Bell, Sr., AFTER WHOM THE CLUB IS NAMED TODAY. How can that be possible, if the name of the club is The Riviera Country Club?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mrsstix (talk • contribs) 00:03, 1 October 2011 (UTC)
 * That erroneous entry was posted last November, by someone who appears confused. The Bel-Air community was named for Bell, not this country club. I undid that entry. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:20, 1 October 2011 (UTC)

Interior of the Westgate Bridge
Hi - in news reports on the recent expansion of the Westgate Bridge, I saw that there's a huge workspace beneath the upper deck - can anyone provide an account of what that space is like? With pictures maybe?

Thanks Adambrowne666 (talk) 11:43, 1 October 2011 (UTC)


 * You can see its box girder construction (the space) here.--Aspro (talk) 13:51, 1 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Great - thanks, Aspro Adambrowne666 (talk) 01:56, 2 October 2011 (UTC)

place name
where is the place in the world were a mosque,a church,a temple a tree with a snake sitting on its branches, a buddha statue and a pyramid is build adjacent to each other.looking forward for your reply.. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.187.47.124 (talk) 14:19, 1 October 2011 (UTC)
 * If we tell you and you win, will you share the prize with us? --TammyMoet (talk) 15:33, 1 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Sounds like Las Vegas. Or possibly some museum. 148.197.80.214 (talk) 22:05, 1 October 2011 (UTC)

Addressing a professor properly
A question from the German reference desk: A graduate student has contacted an American professor re job opportunities, using the address "Dear Professor ". The profesor has replied "Dear ". What would be considered the proper way of addressing the professor from there? Greets 85.180.199.217 (talk) 14:49, 1 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Sir?--  Obsidi ♠ n   Soul   15:02, 1 October 2011 (UTC)


 * I see no reason to become more formal by using the bland anonymous "Sir". Just continue to use "Dear Professor ." It is far too early to become more familiar.--Shantavira|feed me 15:10, 1 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Hmm. So it does vary by nation, I guess. In our schools, using the full name and title is the more formal (stuffy) address. 'Sir' and 'Ma'am' is the acceptable [easier] address once sufficient familiarity has been established. Calling a professor by first name is also never acceptable, except if the professor insists and only if preceded by the title or sir/ma'am. --  Obsidi ♠ n   Soul   02:06, 2 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Sir is not much used in the States, except by policemen when they're arresting you. --Trovatore (talk) 02:12, 2 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Use "Dear Professor X" until they say, "Please, call me Danny," or whatever it is. If you are still a grad student you are still on the "bottom" in this situation until invited "up". If you are both on more or less the same professional plane I think you are safer in making the jump if they initiate it, but if you're still a student, don't make the jump until invited. Not all professors care that much — but it's the ones that do that are the reason for the custom. (One professor of mine always, ALWAYS, signed her e-mails "Professor Firstname Lastname" which I thought took it a bit far. I'm not talking about her auto signature — that was her normal "sign off," even if you e-mailed with her on a daily basis. Even at elite institutions I have never seen anyone other than her do that, though.) This was my perception, anyway, when I was in grad school. --Mr.98 (talk) 15:57, 1 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Generally, my professors are not so dear to me, so I simply open with "Professor,....." I have had professors that like me to call them by his or her first name in person, yet I have always opened my e-mails to them this way. Schyler  ( exquirere bonum ipsum ) 18:17, 1 October 2011 (UTC)


 * If you are an undergraduate, you should never call them by their first name unless they ask you to (which they really ought not to in most situations). --Mr.98 (talk) 18:47, 1 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Is the US really that formal? One of the reasons for choosing the particular college I applied to at Cambridge in 1973 was that when I visited a friend who was an undergraduate there, everybody I met was on first-name terms, whether senior or junior members. (Note to Americans: "senior members" are roughly what you would call professors, though we wouldn't, unless they held chairs). --ColinFine (talk) 19:42, 1 October 2011 (UTC)
 * In my experience, the expectation is initial formality. I do not think you should underestimate how brittle the egos of most American academics are. Showing too much familiarity with a professor, uninvited, is seen as sort of low class. --Mr.98 (talk) 21:15, 1 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Switch to Dear Dr. ____. It's slightly less formal. 75.71.64.74 (talk) 19:49, 1 October 2011 (UTC)
 * This is acceptable as well. --Mr.98 (talk) 21:24, 1 October 2011 (UTC)
 * It probably changes a fair bit by nation and less so by university & program. I would continue using "Dear Professor ." though I disagree with several others about how you call profs you know well. I, and many of my classmates, naturally called our profs by their first name only, and only use their full name and title on formal reports. Though this is in Canada, and mostly in my smaller classes, 6-20 students. In your case, better to be too formal than to not be formal enough. Public awareness (talk) 20:04, 1 October 2011 (UTC)


 * When you know someone well, you can make the judgment call. But a reply to an e-mail should not assume that just because someone signs their first name, or uses your first name, is permission to address them by their first names. Just my experience of it, having been an undergrad, a grad student, and (for awhile) a professor. When I was a grad school, we generally got on first-name basis with our professors pretty quickly. But that's after you're already accepted and have met them a few times and all that. It's not what you did when you were just starting out and just meeting them. As an undergrad I don't think I ever addressed a professor by their first name unless I knew them in some context outside of the classroom (I did student jobs for a few of them, for example). --Mr.98 (talk) 21:15, 1 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Times change, apparently :-). Forty years ago, through many years of undergraduate and graduate work, I never EVER called a professor by his/her first name -- even outside the office.
 * NEVER.
 * --DaHorsesMouth (talk) 01:22, 2 October 2011 (UTC)
 * In grad school the professors always told us to call them by their first names, but I never did, I guess I preferred the formality. But when I defended my thesis, my advisor insisted that I henceforth use his first name, as I was now "part of the club", haha. Usually they prefer to be called "Professor" by undergrads though. This is so deeply instilled in undergrads that those kids often address grad students as "Professor" or "Doctor" too. Adam Bishop (talk) 06:58, 2 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I can confirm that these trends are still the case, at least the universities I was at. In my field, it was not thesis defense that was supposed to be (but rarely was) the "turning point," it was the oral examination (that signaled you were All but dissertation), but same difference. It was always amusing as a grad student when undergrads call you "professor," totally obvious to the specificity of the term. --Mr.98 (talk) 20:01, 2 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Did you mean "totally oblivious"? If you didn't, it isn't obvious to me what you meant. BrainyBabe (talk) 16:53, 3 October 2011 (UTC)

Note also, that the gender of the professor has not been stipulated here. If you wish to go with a shorter salutation, then 'Dear sir' or 'Dear madam' are both perfectly acceptable. Of course, 'Dear Professor [surname]' would be the best way to continue, in my opinion. KägeTorä - (影虎) ( TALK )  23:47, 2 October 2011 (UTC)

Who are these people?
I happened to come by this web page:

Who are the two people on the first image? I can identify the people on the three others:
 * A Crusader knight and a Ku-Klux-Klan member
 * Jesus and a Spanish Inquisitor
 * An ogre and another ogre

But who are the first two? J I P &#124; Talk 21:07, 1 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Carl Sagan and Bill Maher. (And the last two are trolls, not ogres.) --Mr.98 (talk) 21:19, 1 October 2011 (UTC)

You might, given the robes, expect the Spanish Inquisition, but it's actually Michael Palin. μηδείς (talk) 22:43, 1 October 2011 (UTC)


 * No, I'm not going to say it. Looie496 (talk) 23:26, 1 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Ah, but you just did say it.μηδείς (talk) 23:30, 1 October 2011 (UTC)


 * The knight is dressed roughly in the style of the Knights Templar, if that helps. Adam Bishop (talk) 06:48, 2 October 2011 (UTC)

mystery item of german WW2 uniform
Hi, I was watching The Battle of the Bulge this afternoon and noticed one of the German motorcycle riders had something hanging round his neck which I couldn't identify.

It wasn't the gas mask cylinder - it looked more like a large, almost crescent-shaped piece of lead. (But it probably wasn't actually that).

I found a photo showing what I'm trying to identify although I have no idea how to embed it within this question.

so here's the URL: http://www.motorleathers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/german-style-dot-helmet-1.jpg

Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.97.213.78 (talk) 22:49, 1 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Its a Gorget I believe-- Jac 16888 Talk 22:51, 1 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I'm pretty sure it is the fold face mask portion of a gas mask. The cord running from the object over the soldier's shoulder has the distinctive pattern of a German gas mask hose.  The cylinders aren't visible as they probably are on the soldier's back. -- Daniel  22:54, 1 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Never mind Jac is right, it is a gorget. Take a look at the pictures on Feldgendarmerie.  They are wearing the same item and is clearly visible.  The gorget is held in place by a chain that has a similar pattern to a gas mask hose in fuzzy image. -- Daniel  22:57, 1 October 2011 (UTC)

WOW, thanks guys. It seems my original guess wasn't a zillion miles out. That word is now going to sit in the part of my brain which fails to recall the name for the dot above the letter i and other seldom-used things. (Now, how do I mark this as 'solved'?) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.97.213.78 (talk) 23:14, 1 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Like this? Alansplodge (talk) 23:37, 1 October 2011 (UTC)