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August 4

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A Ghost Story

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Does the film center around her husband who, is unexpectedly killed in a car crash and later returns home from the morgue 👻 draped in a white sheet with round eye holes slowly walking around a young, devastated widow at home now embroiled with her leaving a small note inside a small wooden crack and her husband-the-ghost silently talking to another 👻 looking out a window next door, makes way for a reminiscent, ghostly union with the two sheets eventually lying flat on the floor? Afrazer123 (talk) 01:21, 4 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I don't understand what you are asking, but you can read about the movie plot at Ghost_(1990_film) RudolfRed (talk) 02:13, 4 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I think the OP is asking about A Ghost Story, which they could read and see if it answers their question(s). ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots03:00, 4 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I opine that it's like knowing where's the good vibrations, sweet sensations? Was it before she found him dead in his car? Was it there on the fiery wall at the hospital? Was it the day his ghost opened the front door? Was it the gleaning companionship between two ghosts? In my opinion, these type of questions may stem from a threshold, a train of thought between life and perhaps death as portrayed in Hollywood. Afrazer123 (talk) 04:43, 4 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
You're welcome to your opinions, but this is not a place to discussion opinions. The film is fiction, so if the answer is not in the film there is no answer. Shantavira|feed me 08:37, 4 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
But what is the question? As the plot is described in A Ghost Story § Plot, the deceased husband, C, is the protagonist, and there is no "ghostly union".  --Lambiam 07:50, 8 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Everyday Readers

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Where can I watch the 1998 film titled Everyday Readers Starring Peter Sallis. Matthew John Drummond (talk) 16:35, 4 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Is that a documentary? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots22:11, 4 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Appears to be, though the reference in Sallis's article needs refinement. Currently reference [9] covers about 130(!) separate citations, linked to an overall search for Peter Sallis on the BFI website; the actual film entry requires a further search there, that yields this. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.1.211.211 (talk) 08:19, 5 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
How can we find more further information about the film Matthew John Drummond (talk) 17:48, 5 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

August 5

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Victor and Hugo: Bunglers in Crime (2)

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How many audio cassette books where there for the 1991-1992 tv series Victor and Hugo: Bunglers in Crime and what are the names for all the audio cassette books. Matthew John Drummond (talk) 21:29, 5 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Matthew John Drummond, if anyone here knew the answer, or knew how to find the answer, they would already have answered your previous near-identical queries on 27 July and 1 August. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.1.211.211 (talk) 08:34, 6 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

August 8

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27 Club - identification of a person wanted

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This image, taken from this article (and also used in others), shows nine members of the 27 Club. But it is not mentioned and not clear who is the guy on the very right. Anybody know him, please? --KnightMove (talk) 14:02, 8 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The 27 Club article has quite a few names listed. Have you looked for pictures of each "member"? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots14:36, 8 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I quickly skimmed the list and the only one who looks remotely like the guy in the photo is Jonathan Brandis, although I'm not convinced it's him. It's strange, though – the photo doesn't come up in a reverse image search, which I would have expected it to do if the guy was famous. --Viennese Waltz 15:17, 8 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It's not Jonathan Brandis. I don't know who it is, but it isn't him. DuncanHill (talk) 16:37, 8 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you all. By now I assume that it is the creator of this specific compilation who erected a monument for himself, just like the painter of the 27 Club graffiti in Tel Aviv did. --KnightMove (talk) 06:46, 9 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

August 9

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Has Morrissey ever written or co-written his own music?

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If you look at the articles about The Smiths's and Morrisey's discography, some articles (especially those regarding the early albums) explicitly state Morrissey only supplied the lyrics. For example (according to the articles) when he was the lead singer of the Smiths the music of all the songs was written by Johnny Marr. That continued with his first solo albums, albeit with different musicians. But in some of the later ones there are no separate specifications for "music" and "lyrics". That does not imply that Morrissey did start to write music. (It is noteworthy that not a single song is credited to him alone.) However that does not preclude the possibility that he did either. My question is: Are there explicit statements out there to decide the question one way or another? 178.51.2.117 (talk) 21:32, 9 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

August 10

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The Diary of Samuel Pepys

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How many episodes of the 1958 tv mini series The Diary of Samuel Pepys survived. Matthew John Drummond (talk) 01:29, 10 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

There's that Peter Sallis again. The article The Diary of Samuel Pepys doesn't say, but it reads like a press release. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots07:04, 10 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Films viewable on Wikipedia

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I know that some feature length films in the public domain can be viewed complete on Wikipedia. I wonder whether there is a comprehensive list of all such films. Might there also be a list of shorts that are available for viewing on Wikipedia? Many thanks, Doug Beemoz (talk) 01:59, 10 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Do you have any examples? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots03:51, 10 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The General (1926 film). Clarityfiend (talk) 05:31, 10 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Aha! That's File:The General (1926).webm, so at least any file with the extension webm would be a candidate, provided they can be searched for. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots06:59, 10 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It turns out there is a "Category:WebM videos", so that would be a good place for the OP to start. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots07:02, 10 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This film can be viewed on Wikipedia because it is hosted on the Wikimedia Commons (as commons:File:The General (1926).webm). Just commons:Category:Videos of 1926 from the United States contains more than 40 feature-length films.  --Lambiam 09:32, 10 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Which leads to "Category:Videos from the United States by year". There are even more in 1927, quite a few in 1928, and then it drops off sharply, probably because currently the "public domain" line is January 1, 1929. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots20:28, 10 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
You may appreciate the interface of Wikiflix. --Error (talk) 19:48, 11 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

August 11

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Time (Dec. 9, 1985)

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What is the name of the girl on Time cover of Dec. 9, 1985 (https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19851209,00.html)? 176.200.135.6 (talk) 16:29, 11 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It's possible there's a credit in one of the first pages inside. Your local library might have back issues. If not, you could write to the publishers and ask. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots17:10, 11 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Angela Helton. [1] And the cover story she is featured in is accessible here which is reached from browsing Time's website's archive on this page which I see you already linked to. The extra dates added to these pages is confusing though... Modocc (talk) 18:15, 11 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

August 12

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Led Zeppelin Brandy and Coke video Room 8

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On YouTube, it is easy to find all of the rooms for the Led Zeppelin Brandy and Coke video except Room 8. Does anyone know of an online resource to get the video for Room 8? 75.136.148.8 (talk) 17:40, 12 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Italic for media franchises

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Hello, I can't understand why Pokémon (the media franchise, not the anime TV series or other works with that name) should be in italic while the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not reported in italic despite the fact that it is a media franchise just like Pokémon Redjedi23 (talk) 21:36, 12 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Titles of works/Archive 2#Italicizing media franchises (2011) says no. People may have misinterpreted Wikipedia:WikiProject Pokémon/Style#General advice, which states that "Names of games, manga, and anime series go in italics." But whether it is a good idea to correct the (Poké)mony italicized mentions is debatable. Can a bot distinguish between the franchise and the other categories? Clarityfiend (talk) 22:55, 12 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The reply on the talk page is just the opinion of one editor. They also write that the franchise name should be in quotation marks. So should we then report that Colman Domingo will join the "Marvel Cinematic Universe", using quotation marks? News media don't think so,[2] and neither do I.  --Lambiam 00:22, 13 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The rule given at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Titles of works § Series titles, if I understand it correctly, says that we should write "the Pokémon franchise", not "the Pokémon franchise" or "the 'Pokémon' franchise".  --Lambiam 09:14, 13 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Say what? It actually says "Descriptive titles for media franchises (including trilogies and other series of novels or films) and fictional universes should not be placed in italics or quotation marks". (bolding mine, italics not mine) Clarityfiend (talk) 12:11, 13 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Is Pokémon considered a foreign-language word? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots12:30, 13 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Doesn't matter. According to the MOS, "proper names ... in other languages are not usually italicized," Deor (talk) 13:38, 13 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
So, should someone change the article? Though they would have to hunt for other occurrences, such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, James Bond, The Thin Man, and probably many others. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots20:54, 13 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I do not think that "Pokémon" qualifies as a descriptive title. The section gives this as an example:
the Star Wars franchise.
Note that where the rule refers to series names, this includes franchise names. The formulation of the rule is not abundantly clear, but apparently, given the example, we should interpret
"The name of an individual work within the series name"
as meaning
"A series name, or a part of a series name, that is also the name of an individual work".
So according to this rule it should still be be set in italics when it is used as (part of) the name of a franchise.  --Lambiam 11:30, 14 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
What "individual work" is named Pokémon? Clarityfiend (talk) 01:17, 15 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
When the game was released in America in 1998, it was referred to as "Pokémon", called a "quirky Game Boy title".[3] The journalist was presumably unaware of the fact that there were two games, Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue; the anime series was only aired in the US in 1999.  --Lambiam 11:46, 15 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
There doesn't seem to be any consensus out there. pokemon.fandom.com uses italics, MSN doesn't. I couldn't find anything either way in the official website, but then again, I wasn't about to go digging too far. Clarityfiend (talk) 01:45, 15 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Maybe the MOS needs some more scrutiny and clarification. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots03:47, 15 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
When it comes to typographic style, we have our own manual of style, mainly for internal consistency. The companies behind different franchises have no incentive to be consistent with each other.  --Lambiam 23:04, 15 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Whatever is decided about Pokemon would be of no application to Marvel Cinematic Universe. There is no "name of a single work" involved there at all. "Marvel" is a publisher. "Marvel Cinematic Universe" is a purely descriptive phrase meaning "the fictional universe presented in movies based on characters from comic books published by Marvel". --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 12:19, 15 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
We all agree that "Marvel Cinematic Universe" should not be set in italics. The issue was, should the rule that applies to "Marvel Cinematic Universe" not also apply to "Pokémon"? Your contribution seems to answer the converse of that issue; it does not bring us closer to an answer to the original question.  --Lambiam 22:54, 15 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I read the initial question as being why wasn't MCU italicized when Pokemon was. Looking back, I am no longer sure which question the original poster was actually asking, the one I thought or the one you thought. User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 04:21, 16 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I reread the initial question and now too don't know what, precisely, they were asking – except that I think we can agree it was about a perceived inconsistency. Since the MOS rule is about descriptive titles, which "Marvel Cinematic Universe" is and "Pokémon" is not, the typographical difference is (IMO) as prescribed by the MOS.  --Lambiam 14:49, 16 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Clarityfiend Maybe the anime series? Pokémon Redjedi23 (talk) 13:42, 15 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

August 15

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Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic

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The third of Clarke's three laws (or the variant "Magic is just science that we don't understand yet") is often cited in works of fiction. I know that it was Arthur C. Clarke who said it, but I have not read his books yet. However, there can be two meanings to it. One, if someone meets a highly advanced technology for which he has no frame of reference (this may involve time travel or advanced aliens), understanding the way it works would be so difficult that it's tempting to just give up and cry "it's magic!" (but there's not really any magic, and things may be eventually understood anyway with enough dedication). The second, there is actual and functional magic in the setting (such as Dr. Strange), and some scientist character refuses to accept it as such, because it's just a phenomenon that has not been studied enough, and there has to be an underlying logic to it.

In which in-story context does Clarke use those laws? The first, the second or both? The article is focused on the real life side and does not mention it. in fact, when mentioning its uses it only cites essays, not stories. Is it even used within Clarke's works of fiction (as Asimov's laws of robotics), or did he use it in real-life discussions? Cambalachero (talk) 23:01, 15 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This occurs in a footnote in a revised edition of Clarke's non-fiction work Profiles of the future; an inquiry into the limits of the possible.[4] In the context, "magic" appears to stand for "scientific achievements one would not have thought possible" – where I guess by "possible" he meant "possible within the laws of nature such as they are".  --Lambiam 23:19, 15 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
An earlier use by Clarke is in a letter to the editor of Science.[5] I found this by reading the section Clarke's three laws § Origins, where it is referenced.  --Lambiam 15:11, 16 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

August 16

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Czar of all the rushes

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"Czar of all the rushes" is a very witty and famous pun on "Tsar of all the Russias". It was apparently coined by Budd Schulberg, but sources differ as to whether he applied it to his film mogul boss Louis B. Mayer, or that redoubtable guardian of public morals Will H. Hays.

I am stunned it appears in none of the three men's articles, or anywhere else on Wikipedia for that matter. Or Wikiquote.

Can we settle exactly when it was originated, and to whom it referred? -- Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 06:31, 16 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I found the pun used in 1851 in the form "Emperor of all the rushes", in a trashy play the Queen of Frogs, but you're probably not interested in that. I also found Ethel Barrymore called "Empress of all the rushes" by a writer (in 1932) in Silver Screen, but that's just casual punning based on her role in Rasputin, so the meme had not yet taken flight. One source says it was said of Darryl F. Zanuck (without attribution). One from 1939 attributes it to Howard Dietz. [6] But Movie Mirror in 1933 applies it to Irving Thalberg. Another source says the target was Walter C. Mycroft.  Card Zero  (talk) 08:03, 16 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This is already looking like a can of very bad worms. -- Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 11:18, 16 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Alexander Woollcott definitely used it in a letter written in 1935, saying it was what they were all calling Noël Coward in Astoria. [7] We could possibly feed the worms to the bullfrog, named Emperor of all the rushes, that won a $100 prize in 1865 for being unusually big and fat. [8] A superb batrachian 15 inches long, two pounds weight, of bright bronze hue.  Card Zero  (talk) 11:37, 16 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Here, in 1854, someone (I think the Emperor of Russia) is referred to as "the Hotcat of all the Rushes". The pun is apparently irresistible and may have been reinvented again and again.  --Lambiam 12:47, 16 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This source writes that Will Hays was regularly described as "The Czar of All the Rushes". Soon we may have more Emperors/Czars of all the Rushes than Princes of Darkness.  --Lambiam 12:59, 16 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

August 17

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An anti-Soviet song by Ukrainians

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I've discovered a Ukrainians song Go to death, Empire with melody from the national anthem of Soviet Union, but the lyric looks anti-Soviet. Who know about its origin? You can hear this song here. -- Great Brightstar (talk) 09:04, 17 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]