Entertainment desk
< June 14	<< May \| June \| Jul >>	June 16 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Entertainment Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

June 15[edit]

1980s/90s Series - The Path of Cocaine[edit]

When I was in high school there was a pretty graphic mini-series showing the path that drugs took from Central America into the US. It started on a drug farm deep in the jungle, made its way through the world of the drug cartels, then to an American private pilot smuggler, and eventually to the streets of America through crooked police. It was a great and powerful series; anyone recall the name? -OberRanks (talk) 02:00, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Possibly Drug Wars: The Camarena Story (1990) or the followup Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel (1992)? A description/review of the latter by Entertainment Weekly does state "The best parts of Drug Wars guide us swiftly through the mechanics of the drug world — the processing of the cocaine, the smuggling of it out of the country, the laundering of billions of drug-profit dollars, and the ruthless killing of anyone who gets in the cartel’s way". Clarityfiend (talk) 02:45, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Those were unfortunately not it, but I remember them as well. The Camerena series was extremely hard to follow. I remember it raised a stink showing a torture scene on network television. The series I am talking about, I remember ended with the brother of a boy in an inner city getting killed over drugs, the boy cries, and back in Columbia a little boy working on the drug farm hears the cry. -OberRanks (talk) 03:35, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Need help about two photos[edit]

I recently uploaded several photos from the latest Cannes festival and I need some help to identify two persons. The photo on the left shows the cast and crew of the film High strung (not to be confused with the 1991 film of the same name, BTW). I identified the bearded gentleman on the left as Paul Freeman, who stars in the film, but I may be wrong. Could anyone confirm that it is indeed him or, if not, tell me who this is ?

So far, I could not identify the lady in the photo on the right (model ? actress ?). Does anyone have an idea about who she is ? Thanks a lot, Jean-Jacques Georges (talk) 08:02, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The other man is the director, Michael Damian, and the woman in purple between them is Jane Seymour. [Michael Damian's wife Janeen is on right.][1] I'm not so sure that's Paul Freeman, though. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:02, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I think you misunderstood the OP's question. He's not asking about Damien, or Seymour. He's only asking about the man on the left (and the woman in the other picture as well). --Viennese Waltz 13:50, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think Bugs misunderstood at all. The way I read it, he was just confirming that at least two of the other people in the picture are cast/crew of the same film. So, while it is conceivable that it is Freeman on the left, Bugs does not think so. BTW, I tend to agree with Bugs. I don't think it's him either. Dismas|^(talk) 14:03, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Well, yes and no. I went looking for corresponding pics in Google Images, but did not see any that looked like the woman in the blue skirt. I saw another pic with the Michael, Jane and the bearded guy, but it didn't ID him. Looking at photos of Freeman from recent years, the eyes and the hairline don't match. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:18, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Here are a batch of pics of Freeman young and old and none of them look like the man on the left. I tried looking for some of the people who were producers etc for the film and came up empty. Since Seymour and James Keach split up more than two years ago it is possible that it is someone she is dating etc at the moment but I don't follow that sort of thing. I mention it in case it helps others track down. MarnetteD|Talk 14:25, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I could identify Jane Seymour and Michael Damian. The blond woman is Janeen Damian, producer of the film and wife of Michael. It's just the bearded man I'm trying to identify (him, and the woman in blue on the other photo). Jean-Jacques Georges (talk) 15:15, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Here's another pic of Jane with that guy, but annoyingly enough it does not say who he is.[2]. I don't think it's James Keach, although there are similarities. However, they are holding hands, so it's likely they are more than just co-workers. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:48, 18 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

If I'm not mistaken, Jane Seymour and James Keach are separated (or divorced ?). Indeed, it is probable that this man is Jane Seymour's current boyfriend : even if that is the case, he might not be a public figure. Jean-Jacques Georges (talk) 09:50, 18 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I put it here, too (already did on WikiProject Film): The guy is David Green. --Paulae (talk) 15:23, 21 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

What game is this?[edit]

Ok so, I seem to remember seeing a trailer years ago, I think with dev commentary, but I can't recall the name of it. All I can recall is it was some action game, I think for PC, and its niche was your inventory was accessed via your character looking inside an open trenchcoat, e.g. the camera actually tilted down and the coat opened and your inventory was there hanging inside the coat. Also I seem to recall water figuring in heavily too maybe but I could be mistaken. RegistryKey^(RegEdit) 12:13, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I think you are thinking of Alone in the Dark (2008 video game). See a youtube video of the inventory mechanic here: [3] gnfnrf (talk) 13:07, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

derek jacobi[edit]

hello,

anybody knows how can one make contact with sir derek jacobi? perhaps via email or the Social networks? I'm a fan, and want to ask him something about I, claudius...

thanks so much! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.228.11.199 (talk) 12:37, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

This page gives contact details for his theatrical agents. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 13:08, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Flexible chord progressions[edit]

Let's look at the melody of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

F-F-C-C-D-D-C

B♭-B♭-A-A-G-G-F

C-C-B♭-B♭-A-A-G

F-F-C-C-D-D-C

B♭-B♭-A-A-G-G-F

Now, compare how the last line of the melody would sound if the following chord progression accompanies it:

C7-F-C7-F (where each chord accompanies 2 quarter notes or a half note)

...with how it would sound if the following chord progression were used instead:

Gm7-C7-F-Dm-Gm7-C7-F (where each chord accompanies a quarter note except the final F chord, which accompanies a half note)

Georgia guy (talk) 20:25, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Is there a question? --LarryMac | Talk 21:04, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The question is: how will the chord progression affect how the melody sounds?? Georgia guy (talk) 21:22, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I think you'd be able to find a lot of possible harmonizations for this melody in Mozart's variations on this melody (KV 265/300e). There's ii-vii^o-I-vi-ii-V-I (theme and variations I and V; the second time variation V replaces the initial ii with V/V by sharping the first note, and variation XII does this every time); IV-V-I-vi-ii-V-I (variations II and IV); IV-vii^o-I-vi-ii-V-I (variation III), ii-V-I-vi-ii-V-I (variation VI); IV-vii^o-V/vi-vi-ii-V-I (variation VII); (minor) V (twice as long)-i-VI-ii^o-V-I (variation VIII); (each chord twice as long) V-I-V-I (variation IX); (sharping the first note) V/V-vii^o-I-vii^o/V-V (twice as long)-I (variation X); IV-V-I (twice as long)-ii-V-I (variation XI). Double sharp (talk) 13:24, 17 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

This is known as "orchestration" to students of music. You might find this YouTube video useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOXdAa-G4bo --TammyMoet (talk) 12:23, 16 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Not really, Tammy. Orchestration is where a piece originally written for a solo instrument or small combination of instruments (I include the voice there) is rearranged for an orchestra of many instruments (which may feature a solo instrument or voice). Just playing a sequence of notes on, say, the piano that are different from those written in the music could, depending on the specifics, fit into modulation (music) or variation (music) or re-arrangement or, indeed, error. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 20:01, 16 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The melody is in F major. The first harmonization is the usual V-I cadence once repeated. When you insert the minor chords, as far as I can tell, it doesn't affect the melody much. Depending on the tempo, it may sound like a little excursion in D minor (the relative minor of F major) although I'll let people with more expertise determine if the feeling of D as a tonic is really suggested. The more symmetrical harmonization Gm7-C7-Dm-F-Gm7-C7-F where the minor chord falls systematically on the beat makes it sound almost like the end of a choral. The harmonization C7-Gm7-F-Dm-C7-Gm7-F where it is the major chord that falls on the beat is a bit weird, the minor chords sound redundant and unclear and inserting the ii chord in between V and I weakens the conclusive feeling of the cadence. The area of music theory that deals with these sorts of questions is harmony. Orchestration deals with questions such as how to distribute the notes of a chord between instruments or groups of instruments, for example in an orchestra. Contact Basemetal here 19:56, 16 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The second one is also rather strange in terms of functional harmony: in F major, it would be V⁷–ii⁷–I–vi–V⁷–ii⁷–I, but V as a dominant function leading to ii as a predominant is kind of the opposite of what usually happens. It weakens the cadence and, at least to me, makes the progression feel a bit more modal. Double sharp (talk) 13:13, 17 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Off topic, but since orchestration was mentioned, and assuming you'd like to get a feeling for what orchestration involves, you could do worse than listen, side by side as it were, to the original version for soprano and piano and the orchestral version for soprano and orchestra (orchestration by Antony Beaumont) of Edgard Varèse's setting of the poem "Un grand sommeil noir" by Paul Verlaine, especially since they are both being sung by the same singer, Mireille Delunsch. Contact Basemetal here 20:35, 16 June 2015 (UTC

I agree that it doesn't change much. It substitutes the original simply-structured chords with chords that lie very close, sharing 2-3 identical notes, including the notes of the melody, and follows the logic of commonplace ii–V–I progressions (or vi-ii-V-I progression). I'm sure it can be done cleverly, and I guess you could use it for the final bars (the acceleration of the harmonic rhythm, now changing note by note, suggests this kind of use), but it doesn't add much. At least it doesn't sound as contrived as some exercises in reharmonization do more often than could be desired. ---Sluzzelin talk 22:45, 16 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, as Sluzzelin noted Dm-Gm7-C7-F is (in F major) the very common vi-ii-V-I progression, which is a progression which descends the circle of 5ths step by step (that is the root of the chords progresses by descending 5ths). The longest such progression in non-modulating diatonic harmony is iii-vi-ii-V-I which in F major would be Am7-Dm-Gm7-C7-F. You can even harmonize the last phrase of your melody with that progression (so Gm7-C7-Am7-Dm-Gm7-C7-F) and see how you like it. You can then raise (sharp) the C of the Am7 chord to make it into an A7 chord (Gm7-C7-A7-Dm-Gm7-C7-F), which would accentuate the feeling of a modulation to D minor. There I would say the feeling of a modulation would be hard to miss. So you can have a little fun even with such a simple melody as "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman" (aka "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"). Contact Basemetal here 00:35, 17 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

It'd be a really short modulation, though, and you could equally analyze the A7 as just V⁷/vi – a secondary dominant.

Also, the full circle progression I–IV–vii^o–iii–vi–ii–V is perfectly possible in non-modulating diatonic harmony, isn't it? I can think of one in Schumann's Op. 124 No. 4, for instance. Double sharp (talk) 13:13, 17 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The root of a vii^o is not always the 7th degree. It can be e.g. a V7 with a missing root. But even if its root is the 7th degree, the movement from the 4th degree to the 7th degree is not a fall of a (perfect) 5th but of a diminished 5th. It is only by analogy that one calls that moving on the circle of 5ths. Contact Basemetal here 14:49, 17 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict × 2) Yes, usually vii^o can be better analyzed as V7 with a missing root, but in the circle progression it makes sense to treat the 7th degree as the actual root. Agreed that the movement by d5 instead of P5 between IV and vii^o is only acceptable by analogy, though: I didn't notice you said "circle of 5ths" the first time, and simply responded to "progresses by descending 5ths". You'd need it far more often in minor keys, either between VI and ii^o, or between ♭II and V.

What would make another interesting question, is why d5 appears to be a very acceptable substitute for P5, but A5 isn't usually acceptable: in minor-key circle progressions, you see VII often, but not vii^o with the leading note instead of the subtonic (which would also require the subsequent use of III⁺). Double sharp (talk) 15:30, 17 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

<Inane trekkie-comment alert!> For unexplainable reasons, I was reminded of how Jean-Luc Picard, and especially his love-interest Nella Daren interpreted "Frère Jacques" in "Lessons". She uses the canon to coax him into improvising, and does her own showy neat little fancy modulation on her portable rollable keyboard (which somehow fit the way she was portrayed and somehow also managed to annoy me at the time ;-). ---Sluzzelin talk 01:04, 17 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Then how about this?

And on John Peel! A twinkle amid the fall? Weird. And now Picard and Nella (mentioned by Sluzzelin). Star Trek is so puritanical! Why don't they just have sex? No such scruples here. Contact Basemetal here 16:21, 17 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

(Singing Whaa O E, Whaa O E to the tune of "Three Blind Mice") Now, surely you didn't expect this not to be covered at Wikipedia, of all topics and places? ---Sluzzelin talk 16:56, 17 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Banned[edit]

Is it possible to get banned so hard that you can't even access wikipedia? Do admins have that power even, like just firewall your IP address from anything wikipedia related at all. — Preceding unsigned comment added by WimmyJales (talk • contribs) 22:15, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

This isn't the forum for such questions; try the Village Pump; though anyone can read articles on Wikipedia even if banned. 331dot (talk) 22:21, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]