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February 5

Why so much fuss about a footballer (UK) having an affair?

Why so much verbage and drama in the British media about a footballer having an affair? Surely that is normal footballer behaviour? Nothing remarkable at all. There must be countless other people in the public eye who have had affairs, and nobody bothers to report it. 78.146.193.0 (talk) 00:41, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Presumably, you are asking about reports of John Terry's supposed affair with Wayne Bridge's former girlfirend. It might be unremarkable, but there is a long "tradition" of the british media's obsession with the personal lives of celebrities and politicians; the more lurid the better. This is particularly true of the tabloids, though the bigger stories are sometimes mentioned in the broadsheet papers. Maybe they believe it will sell more papers or advertising, or that they are telling their readers something of Earth-shattering importance. Unfortunately, it can sometimes get so much out of hand that there are calls (usually started by journalists) for that person to resign. Astronaut (talk) 00:56, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

It wasn't just "an affair". It was with his teammate's former girlfriend, and as far as macho footy culture is concerned, Bridges is supposed to have some sort of proprietary rights over her continuing activities, particularly if they involve his friends or team mates. The principle seems to be that being someone's ex does not necessarily mean that they're a free agent. This attitude would be roundly condemned by most people, but the media are happy to pander to it if it can make some lurid headlines. This was reported in Australia as "another Wayne Carey episode", but the parallels are slightly tenuous. -- 202.142.129.66 (talk) 02:24, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

wasn't it his former-teammates girlfriend? My understanding was A) it happened whilst Bridge was seeing this lady and B) it was happening after Bridge had left Chelsea. The reason why it's a scandal is, well, it's not very becoming of the captain of the team (trust from your team-mates wise) to be violating the trust of one of the players you are supposed to 'lead' at a national level. (Think of it like this - if your manager slept with your wife would your level of trust and willingness to work hard for them be affected? I suspect yes, and I suspect it might concievably have an impact on that of your un-affected (directly) colleagues. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 10:00, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Our article says the lady in question, Vanessa Perroncel, was the former girlfriend of Wayne Bridge. Bridge had left Chelsea but was still playing under Terry in the current England team. -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 21:06, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think it would have been that big a deal (and it generally isn't usually in the UK) if he hadn't got a legal injunction out in the first place to stop newspapers reporting it. It would most probably have blown over very quickly. The same can also be said for Avram Grant's visit to a brothel and also the alleged images of Tiger Woods engrossed in a sexual activity. All have been barred from being commented on in the UK press over the past few months. And now the papers can finally reveal some of those, they're milking it for all they can. Nanonic (talk) 02:43, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Because it sells newspapers to millions of people who wish they were having affairs.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 08:40, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

He is not just "a footballer" - he is the captain of the England football team which (ahem) "carries the hopes of the nation" in this year's World Cup. As such, he is seen by many as, symbolically, the leader of the country (England that is, not the UK) in a massively important international competition. Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:49, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

becos it happens always doesnt make it right. however the fuss over the incident was unwanted as is the case in most controversies, basically the media has become so content starved they resort to cheap sensationalism

Spiritual scale (music)?

Hi. In the C major scale, the "spiritual scale" descending could be C-A-G|A-G-E|G-E-D|E-D-C|C-A-G-A, though not neccesarily in that order. Are there any other scales with similar unique properties? I'm not looking for modal scales or the blues scale. Thanks. ~A H 1^(TCU) 02:54, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not quite sure what you're asking about. Do you mean things like <str>major sevenths</str>Dominant sevenths, which are typically included in music exams with other scales and arpeggios? Eg, one octave dominant seventh in the key of C: G B D F G F D B C. What unique properties are you specifically asking about? 86.179.145.61 (talk) 00:58, 6 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Oh wait, are you just looking for pentatonic scales? 86.179.145.61 (talk) 01:09, 6 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

steam

is steam (game) working right now for u guys? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.246.254.35 (talk) 03:09, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Could you possibly be referring to Steam (content delivery)? -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 08:19, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I presume so. There's a handy site called downforeveryoneorjustme.com - worth a visit if you're not sure whether other people are experiencing the site being down or, well, it's just you (hence the name!). Not sure it covers Steam, but a useful site nonetheless. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 09:56, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Broadway lights song

I was shopping in my local chain drugstore. Over the loudspeaker, I heard a song. It had a chorus with a line sounding like 'Livin' It Up (On the Lights on Broadway)'. Could that be the song's title, or am I just out of my mind?24.90.204.234 (talk) 08:13, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Are you possibly thinking of "On Broadway"? It was covered fairly often, possibly most famously by George Benson. Dismas|^(talk) 12:38, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Possibly Nights on Broadway by the Bee Gees. --LarryMac | Talk 13:49, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'd agree with LarryMacChief41074 (talk) 15:07, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Except the Bee Gees song is blaming it all on Broadway. Mis-heard, perhaps? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→

There's also Billy Joel's "I've seen the lights go out on Broadway", but that doesn't quite match either. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:21, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Lyrics to Schubert's Song "The Trout"

At school, in England, in the 1950s, we sang a version of "The Trout" which began: "As by a crystal brooklet I wandered on my way Amongst the gentle ripples I spyed a trout at play

And here and there he darted As swift as swift could be Was ever fish so lively Or frolicsome as he?"

I should be grateful for either, the completion of these lyrics or, how to find a source of them. Searching so far has yielded a quite different set of lyrics but they do not serve my purpose.Philsu (talk) 11:53, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Our article Die Forelle has links to text and translations. — Sebastian 02:19, 9 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Know any other heavy-on-the-bass songs that sound like this cover of Blueberry Hill?

Jah Wobble - Blueberry Hill (Computer version).
Follow up question: what would you describe this music as? 192.30.202.13 (talk) 15:00, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Unsurprisingly, Jah Wobble is known as a bass player, so wouldn't his interpretation of Blueberry Hill be "heavy on the bass". Astronaut (talk) 00:46, 6 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Know any songs with fast jazzy drums, groovy guitar, and at least 3 analog synths that really cook?

Thanks.192.30.202.13 (talk) 15:00, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Are you thinking about prog rock or synth rock? If prog rock, check out anything by Yes, Genesis or Pink Floyd. --TammyMoet (talk) 20:08, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Not quite--though I'm a fan of all you have mentioned. I'm thinking ELP's Lucky Man, but a bit faster. I remember hearing a song on the CBC. Heavy on the synths--they sounded like Moogs. It sounded like they were parodying the late 60's and 70's, but it sounded pretty good. Lots of drum rolls and cymbals, and a few synths. Kinda hinted at Frank Zappa too.192.30.202.11 (talk) 21:43, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Don't think I can help directly but if you go to www.uk70sprogrock.com you should be able to find some sort of track listing or artist listing which may give some ideas... --TammyMoet (talk) 10:16, 6 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

How to correctly burn a PS2 disk?

So far I have heard many tale about burning PS2 disk, for example: the disk cannot be read, the screen blinks through the game, the loading time is awful long... and so on if you burn the disk at high speed. When I download a PS2 DVD image via torrent, the one who uploads it also leaves a comment that I should not burn it too fast -- 4x is maximum, use 2x or 1x if possible (see here).

To make sure correct burning, I even visit http://www.youtube.com/ and watch some guides before I actually do it. These guides revolve around DVD Decrypter and Alcohol 120% are the best programs to burn PS2 games, and using 4x or lower speed to burn the disk. I eventually choose Alcohol 120% because of its "PlayStation 2 datatype" option when ripping/burning.

Using Alcohol, I burnt my Final Fantasy X-2 disk at 2x speed, which is the lowest possible, with "PlayStation 2 datatype" option selected -- exactly what these guides said. I insert my careful work to my modded PS2. At first run, the TV displays the text "PlayStation 2", it means the disk can be read, but it prompt me to insert a PlayStation or a PlayStation 2 CD/DVD right after. Reset the console, I hope it will work. Thanks gods, the disk is played after... 30 seconds loading.

It seems that everything is ok. The opening cinematics is great with Yuna performing Real Emotion. But after this wonderful moment, I realize that everything is not perfect as I expected. The subtiles shows up, and then the character voice-over is played after 5 → 15s. During the delay, all characters stand in their places and do nothing. The characters start speaking immediately only when I press the square or triangle button, but it's not working all the time. Worst of all, when a Yuna is speaking and has not completed her sentence yet, she is immediately interupted by Rikku. There's the same problem with all other characters. I suppose it's time to throw my work away.

I'm at my wits' end. I need your help. My only desire is to have Final Fantasy X-2 in the 2 week lunar new year holiday. Those who have successfully burned PS2 disks please share some of your experience to me. -- Livy the pixie (talk) 17:29, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

This is a request for help with software piracy, and the mostly upright, mostly law-abiding Reference Desk community is unlikely to help you. Many of us here derive our livings from consumer software sales. How about going and buying a copy? It's like US$15. That's pretty inexpensive to satisfy your "only desire". Comet Tuttle (talk) 17:33, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I myself is an IT student, and will become a software developer in the future, and of course will derive my living from consumer software sales. But you know, I can announce that there is NO copyright law in this cursed country. Not even software, but movie, music... all of these are posted throughout the net. They use pirate software publicly in schools, offices... The government knows full well but you think they will seft-sentence? Hah. The sky will fall if you find an original PS2 game DVD in Vietnam (only PS3 games are original blu-ray disk, but it is hard to say how long it lasts because of some news I've heard recently 'bout PS3 is getting hacked -- the PS3 owners say that's a very, very good news). In fact, pirate DVDs are sold in may store and cost only $1. I don't know how they can burn PS2 disk. I asked, but was met with silence. Final Fantasy X-2 is no longer available because it is too old. So I have to download and burn it by myself. So, please help! -- Livy the pixie (talk) 18:07, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That doesn't make it okay. You're still asking people to give away their life's work for free. Not illegal doesn't make it not wrong. Aaronite (talk) 18:35, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

No one is giving away their life's work. The copyright is held by Sony, or EA or somesuch, and the people who worked on it, well their efforts do not belong to them anymore. Besides, isn't it legal to make a copy for "backup purposes"? Maybe that is not the intention of the OP, but why are we so quick to assume that he/she is trying to do something illegal? Googlemeister (talk) 21:34, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Because the OP told us that he or she is pirating the disc. And you are jumping to a conclusion when you say that the employees' "efforts do not belong to them anymore", meaning you are assuming that employees don't get compensated based on sales. Comet Tuttle (talk) 23:21, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

My classmate just offers me his Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 disks. Pirate disks cost only $1, so we do not hesitate to offer the others once we already play the games to completions. But I still want to know how they make the disk run smoothly. Perhaps I should go back to some forums and seek out for the answer. I put my question here only because I can't judge who is believable. In this cursed country, the stupid is everywhere, and usually give others advices while they have no basic knowledge about it, and they also assume that they are always right (we DotA gamers' motto is "We cannot defend the stupid because they are too agressive and many in number" -- and that's the reason which I left Vietnamese Wikipedia). Some noobs (or maybe he want to fool me) even said that there's no differrent beetween burning PS2 DVD and burning the other types of disk. I don't want to put myself at risk and destroy dozens of my DVD-R just to burn a game. Very well, I'll looking for it anyway. -- Livy the pixie (talk) 01:48, 6 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

That question is easier — some commercial pirates who manufacture and distribute thousands of discs use commercial stamping equipment to make bit-for-bit copies of the discs. It's more sophisticated than the consumer stuff we all own. Comet Tuttle (talk) 15:36, 7 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

New York Times calling Meat Loaf "Mr. Loaf"

It is an oft-repeated rumor that the New York Times once called Meat Loaf "Mr. Loaf." Can anyone cite the piece in which this occurred? The Hero of This Nation (talk) 18:17, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

P.S. It would be neat to say to The Edge "Mr. Edge—or may I call you The?" The Hero of This Nation (talk) 18:24, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

"The notion that The Times referred to Meat Loaf as "Mr. Loaf" is more or less apocryphal." --LarryMac | Talk 18:30, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c) The Chicago Sun-Times did it in 1993. However, according to Deputy News Editor Philip B. Corbett, the NYT has never done so, only using it in a headline as a joke:

The notion that The Times referred to Meat Loaf as "Mr. Loaf" is more or less apocryphal. As my colleague Merrill Perlman explained when she took questions in this forum, our one use of "Mr. Loaf" was as a joke, in a headline for a review of a movie about him. The headline was, "Is He Called Just Plain Meat Or Should It Be Mr. Loaf?"

Any piece that I could find refers to him as "Meat Loaf" throughout. Xenon54 / talk / 18:39, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In Newsnight,when interviewing Dizzee Rascal,Jeremy Paxman refered to him several times as Mr.Rascal Lemon martini (talk) 01:32, 6 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Reminds me of a mailing list story from decades ago, where a computer program tried to personalize the contents by guessing the sex of the recipient. One of the recipients was "UNIV O WISCONSIN", and the personalized letter began, "Dear Mrs. Wisconsin..." ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:10, 6 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Athletes who appeared in the playoffs without ever appearing in a regular season game

In the history of the big four American sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL), has there ever been a player whose only recorded appearance came in a playoff game (or in playoff games)? Zagalejo^^^ 22:56, 5 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I believe Deion Sanders tried with the Oakland Raiders (but my memory is fuzzy). If I am correct, he was retired and the Raiders were doing great. So, he tried to get signed for the postseason, but couldn't. -- kainaw ™ 04:33, 6 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

He was a regular player, though, for several years (in addition to playing MLB, as with Bo Jackson and some others in ancient history). The OP is asking whether there's anyone who never played in the regular season, but only in the post-season. Seems very "unlikely", but I've got no factual basis for saying "not ever". For baseball, the rule for a long time is that you can't play in the post-season unless you were on the roster September 1 or earlier. Theoretically you could be on the roster September 1 and not get used at all during September, but that's also unlikely, unless you're injured. Obviously that rule is to keep teams from bringing "ringers" in. The exception is if someone on the regular roster gets injured in September and is unable to play in the post-season. Then they can add a player to their roster, but I think the particular player has to get approval through the Commissioner's Office, which runs the post-season. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:07, 6 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Seems rather unlikely, as it takes a while to get a new player integrated into a team. I could see somebody like Bill Veeck doing it as a publicity stunt during World War II, when there was a shortage of white baseball players. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:50, 6 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I think it would be more likely in the early days of the various leagues, when teams didn't have significant financial resources and didn't carry as many substitutes on the roster as they would today. A team only has one goalie, say, and he gets injured before a game, and they need a warm body to fill the net; so they recruit someone from a local amateur league to fill in for one game. That sort of thing certainly did happen in the NHL in the early days and I see no reason why it might not happen in a playoff game. However, it might not leave much in the way of easily searched records. --Anonymous, 07:55 UTC, February 7, 2010.

If we can extend the question to reach Canada, the 2007 CFL playoffs featured Ryan Dinwiddie, a quarterback starting his first game not just in the playoffs, but in the championship game! See 95th Grey Cup. 75.157.57.12 (talk) 03:36, 8 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, but then he spoiled it by playing the next season. Clarityfiend (talk) 03:50, 8 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Though he would later go on to a good regular season career, Ken Dryden famously won the 1971 Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP the year BEFORE he won the 1972 Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year. Dryden had appeared in only 6 regular season games in 1970-71, but developed into a stallwort netminder during the 1971 Stanley Cup playoffs. Though technically not what the OP was looking for, the feat of winning the Playoffs MVP the year before winning Rookie of the Year is an impressive feat... --Jayron32 03:56, 8 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Ouch. Don't remind me. He beat the Blackhawks in the best chance they'd had at the Cup since 1960, and since then to the present day. He was an outstanding goalie, though. Seeing little or no action prior to the playoffs is half of what the OP was asking for, and Dryden nearly fits the bill. If a guy does well in one season or playoff, almost certainly someone would want him the following season, unless his name is Joe Hardy or Roy Hobbs. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 04:18, 8 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

And then there's Timmy Smith, who literally came out of no where to set the Super Bowl Rushing Record in Super Bowl XXII. He rushed for 204 yards in that game, and has a career rushing total of 602 yards. Again, not exactly "never played in the regular season". But as a one-hit-wonder in the playoffs, almost can't be beat.--Jayron32 03:59, 8 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Here's one even closer. Percy Howard had one career reception: A 34-yard touchdown catch in Super Bowl X. A played a little during the regular season, returning two kicks on special teams. But to have your only career reception in your only NFL season be a 34-yard TD reception in the Super Bowl (albeit, in a losing effort) is pretty cool. --Jayron32 04:08, 8 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In baseball, Mark Kiger played two games in the 2006 American League Championship Series but never played in the regular season. George McAvoy did this in the National Hockey League in the 1955 playoffs; there may be one or two others. --Xuxl (talk) 21:15, 8 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, nice. That's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks! (And thanks to everyone else who chimed in!) Zagalejo^^^ 07:20, 9 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]