User talk:Merrystar

Needle Point
Hey Wendy. Something is worng with me not being able to get my pic in with yours. I did it just like i would by uploading a pic of a cover of a book but it's not working right with me. What am i terrible doing wrong? -- Kyle (talk ) 01:55, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

John Denver Christmas 45
Hey, Wendy! I had no idea you had put up another John Denver Christmas 45! My reference books didn't mention it. I wonder why they forgot it. Anyway, on the one you put up, with the Peace Carol, do you know which songs were on which side? I think I have to change the other one I did, based on some new information, and I was wondering where you heard about the one you did. Thanks! -- Ken (talk ) 03:00, 21 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately I don't know. I found it on an ebay listing which had no pictures.  I also found a listing at a place called vinyluk.com, so I just went with it.  Perhaps it was a demo or UK only release? You might be able to ask the seller.  -- Wendy  (talk ) 03:22, 21 April 2007 (UTC)
 * It's a UK release. What threw me is that back in the '50's, RCA in the UK was called HMV (for His Master's Voice).  But that makes sense now that I look at it, because the numbers are too far apart when they would have come out the same month, and my reference books are known for being extremely thorough and reliable.  I hope we can still find a picture, though! -- Ken  (talk ) 03:49, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

no red Rowlf
In addition to the discussion on my talk page, I just thought I'd point out that we no longer have any red links on Rowlf at the Piano. And that's pretty cool of us :) —Scott ( talk ) 05:37, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Yay! I believe "Sailing, Sailing" was the last of the redlinked songs on the episodes as well.  -- Wendy  (talk ) 03:16, 16 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Excuse me, Wendy, but I noticed when I looked at the article, that the dashes look longer than what I usually see on articles, even though the "inside" of the page looks like it has normal dashes. Do you know how to make different size dashes?  I've been trying different things on the album pages, and I was wondering if different dashes would look better than what's there now, or if you can make ones that are different sizes.  Thanks! -- Ken  (talk ) 04:07, 16 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Scott made those; I don't known any obvious standard keyboard way to make them; I think they are a special character like the ¡. So as with that you can always just copy his dash to somewhere handy and then use it as needed. They are pretty.  His signature on the talkpages also uses them.  On my display they are obviously different (longer) even on the "inside" of the page.  -- Wendy  (talk ) 04:40, 16 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Do you think we should maybe discuss a dash style guide so that all pages look uniform? -- Ken (talk ) 04:48, 16 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Sure. Although it's not clear to me that every dash in the wiki needs to match, it might be nice if all the album pages used the same dashes along with all the other standardization you're introducing.  While it's obvious that Scott likes the long dashes,  I suspect the rest of us are just lazy and use the keyboard dash because it's handiest.   -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 04:58, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

Copyrights
Hey, Wendy, seeing as how we're all talking about songs and blue boxes and stuff, some of the Sesame Street songs are now getting to be old enough to start being renewed. This is especially noticeable on CD reissues where the publisher is either a different name from the LP version, or there are now two names. What should we do in those cases? Use the old name, new name, or both? Thanks. -- <font color="Blue">Ken (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 06:01, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
 * I always use the most recent publisher I can find because they currently control the rights. I don't think it much matters who controlled the rights in 1972 when a given album was made. Usually this means I take whatever is in ASCAP or BMI over what a CD/LP says; those databases aren't infallible, but they are at least a reasonably comprehensive single source.  If I can't find a listing there, I use the most recent info from wherever (CD, published music, etc).  I'm not sure how others go about it; many people ignore the field altogether.  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 21:41, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Slow?
Hi, Wendy -- I've asked Scott and Andrew, but neither of them are answering... :) Is the site running slow for you today? It feels like it's taking forever, especially hitting "Recent changes", which is taking about 15 seconds to load completely. I'm talking to the Wikia tech guy, who says it's running fine for him. Does it seem slow to you? -- <font color="Blue">Danny (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 21:36, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Not really. I just tried recent changes which took about 5 seconds to load which is roughly normal. I've noticed occasional slow loads as I've been hitting the endless "unprotect" tabs, but they are intermittent.   -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 21:45, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Weird! So what's up with my connection today? Thanks... -- <font color="Blue">Danny (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 22:00, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Magic!
Sesame Street Magic Slates is amazing. Did you get all those from Ebay? -- <font color="Blue">Danny (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 12:13, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Yup. Somebody got them at auction from Western Publishing's archives and is selling them off in lots right now on ebay.  They made me so happy to see; I had completely forgotten about Magic Slates.  We always had them to play with in the car when I was a kid.  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 13:25, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Wow, that's cool. Do you think we should write to that person and tell them about the wiki? It would be great if they had other Sesame items... -- <font color="Blue">Danny (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 14:15, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
 * On the other hand, they might be pissed off that we're "stealing" their pictures. So maybe it's better not to. -- <font color="Blue">Danny (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 14:23, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Yeah -- it's a touch call on that. He talks about "Sesame and Muppet" slates, which sort of suggests he might have more;  right now his other auctions are for Barbie slates.  It's easy to keep an eye on the seller and see what else pops up.  He didn't host the images on a protected server or watermark them (beyond the Ebay camera) so I would assume he's not too paranoid about the pictures, but who knows.  Except for competing sellers, I can't imagine why anybody would feel protective of their merchandise pictures anyways.  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 15:05, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I had somebody write to me once to complain that I'd used one of their auction pictures on Tough Pigs. It was bizarre -- I hadn't made reference to them as a seller or anything; I was just using the picture to illustrate a toy. So I don't even know how they found that their picture was on the site. Anyway, some people are prickly about their "rights" -- she said that it was her photo, and I had no right to use it. Whatever.
 * I looked at the seller's previous auctions -- he's only selling Magic Slates. I was sort of hoping to see a variety of Western items, but maybe he only bought slates. He's getting a pretty good price for them, too. -- <font color="Blue">Danny (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 15:08, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Nice work, indeed! Regarding the issue of eBay images, there is a legal notice somewhere on their site that states using their images elsewhere is illegal, but of course everyone does it. Just in case, I've removed the watermarks for each image and trashed the original just to cover our butts. —Scott ( talk ) 17:38, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks Scott! It looks better that way too. -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 18:24, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

Brazil
What do you think about using the official title for the page, and the more common title for the links? So: A Scottish bagpiper plays "Brazil". I agree with your sigh.

By the way, Scott and I are talking to folks about how to turn off all that mess on Recent changes when you create a new page. I think we have an answer, but Scott needs to be the one to do the fix, cause I don't understand it. -- <font color="Blue">Danny (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 16:24, 22 March 2007 (UTC)


 * For song links -- I don't think it matters so long as the common title is also mentioned on the song page. After all, what's common to some readers, might not be to others. If we're all calling the song by the legal title, we're always correct. —Scott ( talk ) 17:43, 22 March 2007 (UTC)


 * I went with the legal title for Scott's reason; it's always correct, particularly for a confusing song like "Brazil". I like having the names right on the links as well as the page title because I'm like that, but I can see the point that the common name can help people remember which song it is.  Perhaps there is some other way to include both on the linking page when the real title is very obscure.  Of course all I can think of at the moment is parentheticals like on old sheet music eg. "It's in His Kiss (The Shoop Shoop Song)".


 * And that is very good news indeed about the Recent Changes stuff; I had assumed it was some wikia "upgrade" that we were stuck with. I will be glad to see it gone. -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 19:19, 22 March 2007 (UTC)


 * A thought occurs to me: Is it possible to say that "Aquarela do Brasil" is the Spanish name for the song, and "Brazil" is the English name? I just think it's a commonly known song, because Terry Gilliam used it as the theme for his movie, Brazil. I'd never know "Aquarela do Brasil" if you gave me a week to figure it out.


 * And yeah, it was part of an "upgrade", but Scott and I work hard not to get stuck with things that we don't like. :) -- <font color="Blue">Danny (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 21:33, 22 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Just for the record, I don't think it's an accurate claim to say that "Aquarela do Brasil" is just the Portuguese name. Disney used that title for their 1943 feature Saludos Amigos, where the title even appeared on-screen to introduce the sequenece (a literal animated water-color); before the changes, I had the inverse reaction of Danny, no idea it was the same song. So maybe one could say "Brazil" has become the more *common* name, but I don't think the other claim holds up. Since I'm planning to eventually add a page for Brazil the country (found a lot of info on the co-production and dubs), I'd prefer to keep the renamed title as is, but I like the initial suggestion, for linking within text, where simply placing the mouse underneath with reveal the actual link name. -- <font color="Blue">Andrew Leal (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 21:57, 22 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Good analogy. You wouldn't call Disney's film, Greetings Friends. —Scott ( talk ) 22:12, 22 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, you would call it that if that was what it was called in America. We call it Ugly Betty, and not Betty la Fea. -- <font color="Blue">Danny (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 22:19, 22 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, that's why I chimed in, to note that "Aquarela do Brasil" has been used in English productions and records, so the distinction is less of language than of the original title becoming more obscured as the years passed, as often happens. At this point, though, I'm a little confused as to what's being debated. If it's just the internal link within articles, I agree with Danny. If it's for redirects or page moves, I'm against it. -- <font color="Blue">Andrew Leal (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 22:25, 22 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Yeah, the question is about the link itself; I don't think anyone wants to rename the pages. However it's a split decision on the links.  For what it's worth, the legal title of the English lyrics version of this song is "Brasil", so with that and Andrew's example I'd say that what we call it "in America" is a bit up for grabs.  I don't suppose it was named on the show by chance?  If it were that's what I'd say the link should be.  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 01:22, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Release Gallery
Hi, Wendy! Do you know how to edit the release gallery on The Muppet Movie? Some of the longer label names and catalog numbers are coming across on 2 lines. Is there a way to make them line up more uniformly? Thanks. -- <font color="Blue">Ken (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 02:06, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Is that better? There's no really good solution for the re-release CD label.  Just so you know, you can insert   tags to force a line break and line things up.  -- <font color="Blue">Wendy  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 02:11, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I thought about the breaks, but since I didn't see any in there, I wasn't sure how it was built, and I didn't want to mess up somebody else's work. Looks great now, although I kind of knew that BMG and BMG Kidz and Jim Henson Records were going to need to be abbreviated!  Thanks! -- <font color="Blue">Ken  (<font color="Blue" size="1">talk ) 03:08, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

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