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November 14

Man with a wooden nose - antagonist from a story

Today I suddenly had a memory of a character in a book I had read several years ago, but I couldn't remember his name or which book he was from. The character was a man - I believe the captain of a ship - who was missing his nose. There was just a large hole in the front of his face. To appear more normal he wore a wooden nose which he tied around his head with a leather strip. When he breathed, the air would make a wheezing sound when it brushed around the prosthetic nose.

I could have sworn that there was at least one illustration of him in the book, and he truly looked quite evil and menacing. But I can't for the life of me remember his name or where he is from! If anyone out there has some ideas, I would be much appreciative! (Once I get thinking about a question, it will bug me until I figure it out.) Thank you! Stripey the crab (talk) 05:10, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Was it Captain Nerezza from Peter and the Shadow Thieves? -- Jack of Oz ^[Talk] 05:29, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Were you thinking of Justinian II? Although his replacement was made of gold. Those folks had some fun with their rulers, Political mutilation in Byzantine culture. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 06:24, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

JackofOz: yes! Thank you so much! When I read the name it sounded right, and sure enough, there's my wooden-nosed character! And CambridgeBayWeather, I'll have to take a look at Justinian II - that sounds very interesting! Thank you again! Stripey the crab (talk) 14:10, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Whew, that eclipse is finally over, apparently. Back to Perfection Unlimited. :) -- Jack of Oz ^[Talk] 18:38, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Which ties in neatly with the 16th century astronomer Tycho Brahe, who lost part of his nose in a fencing duel. The scholarly debate over what his replacement nose was made of is covered in Tycho Brahe#Tycho's nose. Alansplodge (talk) 21:50, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That is a very cool connection, Alan. -- Jack of Oz ^[Talk] 21:56, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you - I do my best. Alansplodge (talk) 10:29, 15 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Popularity of oval and stock car racing

I've noticed something: why are oval racing and stock car racing only very popular in North America? I know that there are oval tracks outside the United States, such as Twin Ring Motegi and EuroSpeedway Lausitz, and there are stock car series in other countries such as Argentina and Brazil, but ovals are in the minority and road courses are more common and popular, while stock car racing is overshadowed by rallying, drag racing, touring car racing and Formula One (even in countries with stock car racing, they usually race on road courses). Why is this the case? What is the reason for the relative lack of popularity of either oval racing or stock car racing outside of North America? Is it because of tradition? I'm aware that oval racing evolved from attempts to race on horse racing tracks, but why didn't this idea catch on in Europe and elsewhere? Narutolovehinata5 ^tccsdnew 12:01, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It's a chicken and egg problem: Oval racing is popular in America because that's the style that developed in the earliest forms of the sport where it became popular: the oldest and most important races in America are the Indianapolis 500 (open wheel) and the Daytona 500 (stock cars) and those are both run on ovals, so the sport developed around oval tracks. Also, most minor-league racing in America occurs on short 1/4-1/2 mile dirt or paved ovals (i.e. Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina, my own hometown of Hudson, New Hampshire has such a track: [1]) so that racers and fans are raised on the oval style of racing. Americas best driver grow up driving ovals in small town race tracks, fans watch local races on ovals, and ovals have always been the major form of racing in America since it became a major sport. It also helps to remember that in America, racing is primarily a rural sport: building a dirt oval with some bleachers in an unused field outside of a small town is it happened in America; NASCAR developed around such venues and races: Talladega, Alabama and Loudon, New Hampshire are still tiny towns despite having a major race tracks. In Europe, Racing developed around the Grand Prix circuit, which has always been organized as road races on existing roads. Many of the oldest and most prestigious Grand Prix races are street races, on the city streets of a city: The Circuit de Monaco hosts the Monte Carlo race, one of the oldest and most prestigious in Europe. Such races are usually held in urban areas. --Jayron32 15:17, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

In England stock car racing (and its close relation, banger racing) have their following, but obviously have nowhere near the profile that F1 or even Touring Cars have. --TammyMoet (talk) 16:19, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Have a look at some proper British stock car racing - this video shows a Reliant Robin race. Beat that if you can. Alansplodge (talk) 17:32, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Piano solo music with stand-out notes to produce a newer melody within a main theme?

From Rachmaninoff's Prelude in G Minor. The left hand is playing arpeggios, and the right hand is playing the main melody, also in chords, but in the middle of the measure is a second theme that is shared (played) by both hands. These are sometimes presented as notes with separated stems or sometimes double-stemmed, like in the last half of the measure. I'm looking for the term for this line of melody-within-a-melody, or maybe the name of this technique. Thank you so very much! – Kerαunoςcopia^◁_galaxies 17:24, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Wow, I thought I'd read the article on the prelude, and it does mention counter melody. Well, any additional responses on this would still be extremely helpful. Is this, therefore, an example of counterpoint? – Kerαunoςcopia^◁_galaxies 17:28, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, it is an example of counterpoint, a discipline Rachmaninoff mastered completely. As for specific reference to being a middle voice and to the melody being shared by both hands, I did some searching, in English and German, but found nothing more specific than the rather generic "middle voice"/"Mittelstimme" and "divided between both hands" or "auf beide Hände verteilt". There may well be a specialized word, perhaps in Italian, or even in German, English, etc., but I couldn't find it. "Divided accompaniment" ("accompagnement divisé", "geteiltes Accompagnement") is similar, but doesn't fit your example. ---Sluzzelin talk 21:55, 20 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

another Hurricane Sandy benefit concert

I learned there's bound to be another Hurricane Sandy benefit concert. It's going to be called NOLA Pay It Forward. It's being organized by New Orleans Mayor Mitchell J. Landrieu. It'll also be held on November 20, 2012, at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts in New Orleans. When I tried to submit an article about it with the best of my knowledge on the information, I learned the article was declined. I used my own words. There should be an article about the upcoming benefit concert.142.255.103.121 (talk) 22:51, 14 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Well, according to this page, you submitted a blank article. Not sure if that's what happened? Regardless, it's unlikely that this concert is notable enough to merit its own article. Regards, --Viennese Waltz 05:43, 15 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Use the six degrees of separation principle to find someone you trust who knows someone who needs help, and send them a check, rather than paying some producer's middleman to pass nothing on to nobody. Contact a place of worship in the area and ask them to name a verifiable candidate to whom you can write a check. Or, if you are interested in the benefit album, buy it used for 1c plus shipping three months from now. μηδείς (talk) 05:53, 15 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

What are you talking about? The question is about a Wikipedia article on the benefit concert, not about how the OP can help the victims of Sandy. --Viennese Waltz 05:56, 15 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Well, evidently I was talking about how she could help someone, not how she could write an article. μηδείς (talk) 18:26, 15 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Then you weren't really answering the question, were you? Why were you talking about how she could help someone, when she didn't ask for advice on that? --Viennese Waltz 18:52, 15 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know, could it be ...SATAN? μηδείς (talk) 19:36, 15 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Or it could just have been you being disruptive again. --Viennese Waltz 21:31, 15 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

As an NYC resident I happen to know volunteer military, church and synagogue members in the area who would have been happy to advise the OP on good local charities to donate to. That seemed to be her interest, to promote charity work regarding the disaster. Why an Englishman in Austria would assume the only possible purpose of my comment was disruption, explained to you three three times now, is beyond me. If AGF is too much for you, why don't you take this to ANI and stop wasting your time disrupting this thread with your bizarre accusations? This is really beyond all belief. μηδείς (talk) 21:50, 15 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Both of you guys, please stop arguing! I really need help on creating the upcoming benefit concert article. It's bound to happen this coming Tuesday. Today, I heard my local radio station there's going to be a Hurricane Sandy benefit concert at Madison Square Garden. The concert will happen on December 12, 2012. Thus, it'll be named after the date, 12/12/12 the Concert for Sandy Relief. Shouldn't an article be written about it, as well?142.255.103.121 (talk) 03:39, 16 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

No. As I said before, it is not notable enough for an article. --Viennese Waltz 08:40, 16 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

But both benefit concerts will be notable enough for articles soon. That I know. I found some references regarding both concerts. [2] and [3] have information on NOLA Pay It Forward. [4] and [5] have information on 12/12/12 the Concert for Sandy Relief. 142.255.103.121 (talk) 18:57, 16 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The issue is, is there press coverage? There will likely be more press coverage afterwards than before it happens. Contact me on my talk page if there is any significant newspaper coverage and you still have a problem with editors wanting to delete an article. You can ignore VW's comments which seem to be oddly personal attacks against me, rather than a concern with documenting the event. μηδείς (talk) 21:18, 19 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]