Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2014 September 23

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September 23

A Game of Thrones

Is it a coincidence that Stark and Lannister is like York and Lancaster, or did Martin get some inspiration from the wars of the Roses?--85.74.96.125 (talk) 10:30, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

See A Song of Ice and Fire which is the name of the series of novels. The third paragraph starts "Martin's sources included the Wars of the Roses...". Dismas|^(talk) 10:35, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Also see the aptly-named History-Behind-Game-of-Thrones.com. Goes well beyond Yorks and Lancasters.

Dolorous Edd is still a mystery. InedibleHulk (talk) 21:06, 24 September 2014 (UTC) 21:06, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

How is Neo able to breath in Machine City ?

In The Matrix Revolutions, there is a scene were Neo is in the Machine City & confronts the leader of the Machines. But if humans were able to perminantly block out the sun during the first machine war, & the events of the trilogy are set (approx') in 2699 then would there still be enough oxygen in the atmosphere in the "present day" ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Scotius (talk • contribs) 12:14, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

If they were capable of blocking out the sun, then they could have managed any attendant ecological problems. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:40, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

See fiction. The authors are under no requirements to adhere to the basic laws of nature when writing fiction. They can just make up whatever they want. After all, the meaning of fiction is "making things up". Sometimes, some writers have forseen such problems, and have worked solutions into their writing. But if they don't, there is no meaningful way to provide answers to questions like this because the entirety of the writing about this fictional world is given to us by the authors, and if they didn't say anything about it, there's nothing we can add. --Jayron32 16:27, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

See also, A wizard did it, possibly retcon, and verisimilitude SemanticMantis (talk) 16:52, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

It is of course fiction, but my personal guess would be, that the air would be still be respirable (although not very healthy). After the Chicxulub meteorite hit the earth, the planet was darkened for many years (scientists are not sure of the exact time it took until the dustcloud disappeared entirely). However, according to most paleontologists and chemistrians, the oxygen levels of that time could still be enough for a human to survive at least for a short period of time. Given that Neo spends a rather short time in the machine city, I would guess that it could be possible for Neo to stay alive temporarily but would finally result (after days) in some serious brain damage and damages in the respiratory tract.--178.195.94.230 (talk) 21:00, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

Is Heisenberg's classic coke speech in Breaking Bad a product placement?

Has it ever been confirmed or denied that Heisenberg's classic coke speech in season 5 episode 7 is a product placement paid for by the Coca-Cola Company?

I have two (flimsy) reasons to suspect that it isn't:

1. The line "Do you really want to live in a world without *insert brand/product here*?" doesn't really work with any other brand or product.

2. The producer confirmed that their usage of Danny restaurants were not a product placement[1]. This isn't a valid reason per se, but it at least shows that it's possible for the show to value artistic merit over financial incentives.

I'm looking for public statements or interviews by either the Breaking Bad production team or Coca-Cola Co. that confirm or deny there being paid product placement in season 5 episode 7 of Breaking Bad. I know this question is a long shot, but the producer, Vince Gilligan, has elaborated on the topic of product placement in the show in multiple interviews and podcasts[2][3], so hopefully there is something out there. WinterWall (talk) 18:00, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Movie theme

I'm looking for the name of a sinister movie theme. The first time I heard it was in season 2 of 快乐星球, a Chinese series for kids which most of you probably are not familiar with. The theme is always played when the robot teacher does evil things like trying to get the kids' DNA. The series is somehow based on Star Wars and it could be, but I'm not sure, in a Star Wars prequel where I heard it the second time. It was definitely a movie by westerners, so I assume it wasn't exclusively composed for 快乐星球. The theme is in G minor (I think) and only contains string instruments. The double bass is accompaniment (absolute notation):

The cello plays the melody. I'm not sure how the rhythm goes together, but it's something like this:

The quarter notes should be half note triplets, but I'm having issues with LilyPond. If someone can change that, I would be grateful (the last note is a new measure). This theme develops and more and more instruments enter for dramatics. --2.245.115.194 (talk) 20:42, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Can't help you I'm afraid because that plugin doesn't work with IE9. --Viennese Waltz 08:34, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

I changed it to show half-note triplets. Double sharp (talk) 10:16, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

I'm betting it is based on The_Imperial_March, which is Darth Vader's theme (himself a cyborg), and is also in Gm. OldTimeNESter (talk) 19:31, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

Unfortunately, it isn't. I would've recognized it if it was the well-known Star Wars theme. The theme I'm looking for is much darker. The one used in the Chinese series is not based on something, it was exactly the same when I heard it in a non-Chinese movie. The Chinese community wasn't able to find out what it was either. The whole series is on Youku, a Chinese video hosting service. It's licensed content and Youku even buys American shows. Videos are not available outside mainland China, but there are Firefox and Chrome extensions to unblock them. I'm probably not allowed to post a link here, but those who still wish to listen to the theme can google for 快乐星球第二部. The first result should be from Youku. You can hear it in episode 15 at 10:37. --2.245.96.251 (talk) 16:57, 25 September 2014 (UTC)

Is this the one? Something stringy starts at 10:47, but I don't recognize it, or have any idea what's going on, plotwise. InedibleHulk (talk) 19:58, 25 September 2014 (UTC)

After enabling Javascript here and listening to the MIDI, nevermind that first question. InedibleHulk (talk) 20:01, 25 September 2014 (UTC)

Yes, this is one of many scenes with that theme. Actually it starts earlier, you just have to turn up the volume to hear the double bass. Briefly about the series itself: 快乐星球 is literally translated as Happy Planet, but the official English title is Happy Star. Children from Happy Planet are very smart inventors and technology is more advanced there than on Earth. In season 1, three child inventors find an unhappy child on Earth and help him become happier, braver and more caring. The 10-year-old 乐乐 (literally Happy) often receives inventions which make his everyday life easier. However, the focus is rather on 乐乐's development. There are many touching stories covering quite serious issues for a kids' show and the season finale is a bit sad. In season 2 (the one with that dark theme), 2 children from Happy Planet are sent to a boarding school on Earth because although being very smart, they don't understand human emotions like earthlings do. "Dark Planet" which tries to conquer the galaxy has been unable to enter Happy Planet. The leader of Dark Planet sends the human-looking robot agent 008 (a reference to James Bond) to Earth. It's the guy wearing the black leather jacket. Disguised as a computer teacher at that boarding school, he tries to find out the weakness of Happy Planet people. In the scene you saw, 008 suffered temporary amnesia due to water. He forgot having secretly been to Happy Planet. The saber with which one could win any duel was an invention he stole. The student was curious about that saber because the school had just hired a fencing teacher and the sport was becoming popular. 008 regained his memory, contacted his leader to tell him he had been to Happy Planet, but he had forgotten the password. --2.245.96.251 (talk) 02:30, 26 September 2014 (UTC)