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August 7

Song called Ach ya?

I want to know more about an old song. I believe it goes like this: "When the mother and the father took the children to the fair ach ya! Ach ya! Though they hadn't any money they were the richest ones there ach ya! Ach ya!" I want to know if there are any more lines to it, who created it (and when) and why? And also why did he/she write it? Thank you :)

Google is fairly helpful, although you may have found it harder as you were mis-spelling 'ja' (the German for 'yes'). Unfortunately, I am not registered with JSTOR so I can't see the detail on that page, but the third link down says the lyrics are:

When the Father and the Mother/Make a visit to the fair/Ach Ja! Ach Ja!/They haven't any money/Nor does anybody there/Ach Ja! Ach Ja!/Tra la la, tra la la/Tra la la la la la la/Tra la la, tra la la/Tra la la la la la la/Ach Ja! Ach Ja!

Hope that brings you a little closer to the answers. Skittle 15:39, 8 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Rare Flower Opening Theme of 90's Comedy Film

I can't remember, I thought BigTopPee-Wee at first, but then realized no. The film is a cheezy plot I think, maybe an alien or something coming in a human body? Or no, maybe just a dork. But the point is, having a flower and it only opens on an exact time of like 100 years or something stupid like that, and something happens bad, like someone steps on the flower or something, and then they have to find another one somewheres else? Does anyone remember the film? Thanks. --Jacobo

No, but reading your question reminded me of Horton Hears a Who. For whatever that's worth. (Joseph A. Spadaro 03:38, 7 August 2007 (UTC))[reply]

It reminded me of a Simpsons episode, which turned out to be Moe Baby Blues. The actual flower is Titan arum. The movie is probably Dennis the Menace (film). --tcsetattr (talk / contribs) 21:21, 13 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Why do football teams play better at home?

Is it because the referees are biased towards the home team? Or that the crowd keeps cheering the home team? Maybe the players are more familiar with the pitch?

The second and third reasons are certainly the major factors. Regarding the referee, they are of course supposed to be neutral, and no referee will ever admit to bias. But it's not impossible that a referee might, consciously or unconsciously, make a ruling in favour of the home team in the face of barracking and pressure. However, I don't think this factor by itself would account for the fact that teams win more often at home. The support of the crowd and the familiarity with the stadium are the main things. --Richardrj ^talk ^email 08:48, 7 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The pitch conditions will be those they are most used to playing on. Also football pitches are not all created equal, there are minimum sizes stipulated but rules mentioning slope are not covered in the rules governing pitch size. [1] Lanfear's Bane

I think referees definitely tend to favour home teams a little. A huge roar for a foul tackle or whatever can, even unconciously, make the referee's mind up about it. Other possible reasons might be the home players are better rested, as they have not had to travel or stay in an unfamiliar hotel room, the pitch has been watered / grass cut to suit the home team (longer / slicker grass can make a difference depending on how the team plays, and lots of little things. Ball boys can even affect the game, by favouring the home team when they return the ball. Neil ╦ 14:03, 7 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Particularly in the States, travel fatigue on the part of the visitors is commonly cited as an advantage to the home team. For instance, analysis of betting lines for professional football shows that the home team gets about a 3-point advantage just for being the home team. On the other hand, baseball has the weakest home-field advantage of the major US sports despite having the most field-of-play variety and one of the strongest home-team-favoring rules (hockey arguably has a stronger rules advantage). — Lomn 15:10, 7 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Doesn't the home team usually wear a lighter coloured strip than the away team? That would presumably be an advantage as it will be slightly easier for the home team members to quickly spot each other.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 18:10, 7 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No, each side just wears its usual kit (which may be light or dark), unless this result in a clash of colours, in which case the away side wears its change kit. --Richardrj ^talk ^email 18:37, 7 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In American Football, the home team traditionally wears team colors and the away team traditionally wears white. This is not always the case. For example, I remember the Chiefs wearing white in some of their home games last season (or was it the season before?) -- Kainaw^(what?) 22:34, 7 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In American Football most teams wear thier colors at home, and color choice belongs to the home team. Unless there is an advantage to wearing their whites. For instance the Dallas Cowboys almost always wear white, because they play in a hot climate. A couple of years ago the Denver Broncos caused a controversy when they brought only their white uniforms to San Diego during a hot weather game. --Czmtzc 15:19, 8 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Psychologically speaking the team are often more expectant of winning at home so will be in a 'winners' mindset. Also as noted pitch-dimensions can vary. Arsenal used to play on a tiny pitched compared to say Southampton who played on a huge one. Familiar surroundings will help, and home support can be like having a twelfth man at times. I expect travel/fatigue plays a role too. Also teams tend to be set up more attacking minded at home which could increase their chances of winning (similarly the defensive mentality may produce a defeatest mindset during away games). I guess if you travel a big distance the changing climate/weather would be a reason. Brazil are the only team to have won a world cup outside of their own continent (I think) which shows how important climate is. ny156uk 17:02, 8 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia's football teams have much better home records than away records. The reason? Altitude. [2] Rockpocket 22:32, 8 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The crowd has an effect on the game as well, at least in the United States. A crowd will purposely make noise during critical moments to make it more difficult for the visiting team to communicate with fellow players. NezzerX 16:37, 9 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

FIFA tracks

I once googled interactive FIFA track list, which featured snatches particularly from The Go Team, Stefy Rae etc. but I can't find it again. Does anyone know the site? Thanks.

Need a modification for EaW AI

The AI in Star Wars: Empire at War is anything but aggressive. I want it to actually ATTACK me, instead of just waiting for me to attack it. This would preferably (but not necessarily) include not leaving large garrisons on planets, using the Rebel "Raid" feature, utilizing smugglers and (maybe) bounty hunters (the latter in small numbers at all), and actually having the Black Sun DO something instead of just sitting there. However, anything that makes it actually ATTACK would be useful. Thank you. 71.34.241.239 23:00, 7 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

EaW's AI is painfully inadequate. Several mods do high-level AI work (check out [3]), but due to Petroglyph's rather modder-unfriendly composition of the game's assets, the underlying AI is still terrible and you're better off either playing another RTS. -Wooty [Woot?] [Spam! Spam! Wonderful spam!] 03:32, 8 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]