Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2014 September 8

= September 8 =

1970s or 1980s Gag Clone Kit
I bought and gave a GAG Clone Kit at a Company Christmas Party back in the middle to late 1970s or early 1980s. I have been looking on and off for years to try to find the company that made it and / or find a copy of the directions for the Gag Clone Kit. All the Kit was is a Petri Disk with the Growth Medium already in it. The way I remember the directions went something like this: Dim the Lights and loosen any tight clothes. Relax. Take one hand and slowly move over your body, make sure you cover everything but don't stay in one spot too long, you might go blind. Then touch the growth medium with your hand, put the lid back on and then put the Petri Dish in a place you would feel safe, like under your bed or in a favorite closet. Wait a few weeks and your clone will be done. I know this isn't really important or useful information I am looking for, it is just frustrating that now days you can find anything on the internet, but I have yet to find this. On Ask.com I got an answer of a Clone a Willy Kit.....That is not what this kit was / is. I even tried to contact the Toy Guy that was on TV not long ago....No sucess....

Thanks For Any Help Anyone can give. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.178.94.210 (talk) 04:10, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

Gavels
In the Star Trek universe, both Klingon (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) and Bajoran ("Dax") gavels are seen to be round. Balls of possibly stone or metal without handles. Are there examples of these or other non-hammer looking gavels in real life courts? The only ones I've been able to find are those of the US Congress which are just the hammer without the handle. Thanks, Dismas |(talk) 05:40, 8 September 2014 (UTC)


 * I don't know about courtroom gavels, but 'non-hammer-shaped' gavels definitely find use. See, for instance, this 19th-century masonic etched glass gavel.  TenOfAllTrades(talk) 12:02, 8 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Ah, those delightful masons and their quirky gavels; see also this setting maul gavel. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 12:03, 8 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Maul gavels are popular in lodges, especially in Scotland. They are miniature masons mauls, which are round because it was believed that rotating them in the hand between blows prevented blisters. Having used one, I can endorse that. Fiddlersmouth (talk) 12:31, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

"Perhaps the most revered historic artifact in the Senate" is a handleless gavel - see Gavel, Senate, acording to which, the one used today is the Replacement Gavel, a gift from the Indian Government, after the original was broken by Richard Nixon in 1954. Apparently, another handleless gavel appeared in a courtroom scene of an episode of Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series), so I think it's an American thing. English judges don't use gavels anyway, despite what is shown on the telly. Alansplodge (talk) 12:50, 8 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Oops! - I've just realised that I misread the question - start again. The only references to ball-shaped gavels that I could find were on sci-fi blogs and fansites like this one. Alansplodge (talk) 12:57, 8 September 2014 (UTC)


 * You might want to expand the definition of "gavel" to include "any object banged against a surface, by a leader, to garner the attention of the audience". Tribal leaders, for example, might bang their walking stick on the ground when they want to speak.  Gongs are also sometimes used for this purpose.  I can imagine a rock being used, too.  A spherical object wouldn't be a very good choice, though, as the force of the impact is concentrated at a point, and it is likely to crack and chip.  StuRat (talk) 13:25, 8 September 2014 (UTC)


 * I wonder if the object of the exercise (being to make a loud and penetrating sound) is a reason for the shape?  There is surprisingly little said about the little wooden plate that you bang the gavel onto - you'd think that would be FAR more important than the implement itself. SteveBaker (talk) 17:48, 8 September 2014 (UTC)


 * You'd probably get a deeper and louder sound if you banged the gavel directly on the table or desk. However, that would leave marks, hence the little plate. StuRat (talk) 19:07, 8 September 2014 (UTC)


 * I was watching a TV program just 2 nights ago, depicting an auction from Christie's New York, and the auctioneer used a wooden object without a handle. It wasn't a ball, more like the head of a fancy hammer.  Small enough to hold securely in the palm of his hand, but large enough to make a sound audible to the entire congregation.  --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  21:39, 8 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Yep, auctioneer's gavels are often "non-handled"; wooden, glass or stone balls or other generally spherical or rounded gavels. These are often referred to as a "palm gavel" and if you Google (images) that term there are plenty of examples to have a look at. Exactly as Jack described - a regular gavel without the handle. In my experience these are often used for livestock auctions where the the auctioneer stands on a raised platform with a stock fence or hand-rail in front of them. Bit hard to hit one of those with a "handled" gavel so they carry a palm gavel which can be tapped on the rail with the same effect.  St ★ lwart 1 1 1 06:05, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Comic
Im looking for an parody Comic strip of the game hitman. Its made in Manga style and Hitman subdues a small girl and steals her clothes to disguise himself in it. Does anyone have a link to it? Joneleth (talk) 13:06, 8 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Perhaps what you are looking for is Katekyō Hitman Reborn!, but a quick scan of the plot didn't find anything about being disguised in girl's clothes.   —E:71.20.250.51 (talk) 18:22, 8 September 2014 (UTC)
 * | Here you go. For future reference, you'll get a quicker answer for questions like these on the Entertainent Desk.WinterWall (talk) 02:01, 9 September 2014 (UTC)
 * "I don't know nothin' bout no Manga" —E:71.20.250.51 (talk) 06:14, 9 September 2014 (UTC)