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Some cholera for you!

Cholera
Too late! clown ⚇♔ 18:00, 6 September 2012 (UTC) 18:21, 6 September 2012 (UTC)
That may be the weirdest wikilove ever. LadyofShalott 18:29, 6 September 2012 (UTC)
Well, I can think of a few that may be weirder in their own way, but this is a whole new category of weird! Hehe, thanks clownkeeper, I guess.

Sometimes I fully reveal my nerdiness to myself; upon seeing the word "cholera", the first thing that occurs to me is one of my favorite episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which deals with it. The title of the second thing that occurs to me tends to make me think of this as a quite appropriate WikiLove subject. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 18:47, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Once in a Bach cantata, all "chorale" were changed to "cholera" while on the Main page, - someone knew that word, not the other ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:34, 8 September 2012 (UTC)
Oh, that's horrible, and yet hilarious! I hope it didn't stay that way for too long. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 17:30, 8 September 2012 (UTC)
Wow, someone must have been mightily embarassed once they realized what they'd done (or they should have been at least). LadyofShalott 14:36, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
I would hope that it was something like a careless use of a spellchecking feature, but ya' never know ... maybe someone intentionally thought that was a correct replacement.

Mandarax tangent alert. When I find vandalism, I'm often more upset by the spelling and grammar mistakes than the intended vandalism part. Someone who types "poop you're pants" will hopefully mature some day and stop vandalizing, but they'll likely never know the difference between "you're" and "your" (and they'll probably have no clue what "yore" is). MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 18:53, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

Well, what can you say? Their aloud to be bad at spelling and grammer, two. Writ Keeper ⚇♔ 18:56, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
Hehe.

I should have used there/their/they're in my example, as that's probably an even more common error. Your "grammer" reminded me of an item on my talk page a few years ago. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:15, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

I literally died of laughter

While I'm on the subject of abuses of the language....

Today I heard a commercial on the radio which declared that the store was "literally bursting at the seams". I'm glad they disclosed that! It sounds like a very unstable and dangerous situation. I'm going to stay as far away from that crumbling building as possible. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 03:20, 13 September 2012 (UTC)

That is one of my pet peeves. That, and the word "very" used to qualify binary states. Writ Keeper ⚇♔ 03:27, 13 September 2012 (UTC)

220,000!

You are awesome, 6 July 2010, 6 January 2011 and 14 February 2012! (Forgive me if I said so before, also can't be repeated too much.) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:04, 8 September 2012 (UTC)

Awwwww, thanks! That's very kind of you to say. Y'know, you're quite awesome yourself! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 09:28, 8 September 2012 (UTC)
Thank you! Two awesome people officially said so before, I'm getting used to it and started to express it at least once a day ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:40, 8 September 2012 (UTC)
Congratulations, Mandarax. You must have a rubble heap full of milestones already... but I really came here to invite you to take a road trip: http://jcsm.auburn.edu/exhibitions/all_exhibitions/2012/2012_09_art_interrupted.html. Drmies (talk) 21:38, 9 September 2012 (UTC)
Looks like a great exhibition! I didn't even know you guys had an art museum. I probably won't make it there; have you seen it already? I'm guessing that you attended the opening reception.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:22, 10 September 2012 (UTC)
"You guys"--it's my paycheck, Mandarax, and they're 0-2. You know I'm an Alabama fan. No, I haven't been yet: I read about it this morning in the paper, and I'm planning to take a group of students there. I didn't know they had such a goodlooking museum there. Anyway, there's plenty of time: book your airfare quickly, though. Obviously I'll put you up here, and you'll be comfy enough in the newly redone bedroom, nicknamed "Oma's room". Tell you what, you won't have to do nightly Liam-duty every night. Drmies (talk) 01:14, 10 September 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for the invitation! But be careful; one day I may just take you up on your offer. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:23, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

Template:Did you know nominations/John Angel (Sculptor)‎

Thanks for undoing my mistakes. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 09:48, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 09:53, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
Mandarax, do I need to do three separate nominations, or would this suffice? I know I need to do a third QPQ, of course. Please pardon my ignorance. I just don't want to blow a time limit or fail due to a matter of form. I'm not asking for you to review the articles, as they can stand on their own merit. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 19:04, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
It's fine to do a triple. It's generally preferred to combine articles into one hook if doing so produces an acceptable hook. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:22, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
I've patched the other two articles into the nomination, including credits for you. If other users should also receive credit for either or both, {{DYKmake}}s should be added for them; you can do it yourself, or you can tell me who to add for which articles and I'll do it. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:31, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

The treble hook

Navigating on storm tossed seas
Just like Saint Brendan, you have been a savior. Thank you. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 19:36, 11 September 2012 (UTC)
Thanks! And you're welcome for the assistance. I don't think I've ever been compared to Saint Brendan before. Maybe Saint Stephen (as Deadheads know, "wherever he goes the people all complain"). MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:19, 11 September 2012 (UTC)

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The Last Leg With Adam Hills

Well done - many thanks for doing the tidy up. Headhitter (talk) 19:13, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:17, 19 September 2012 (UTC)

Wikipedia talk:Categories for discussion#Grandes écoles

Hi, Drmies recommended you as the person to go to for complicated questions... Could you have a look at the discussion I linked to above and give me some advice on how to handle this? I'm not quibbling with his arguments about "grandes écoles" and such. I'm objecting to the weird names that he chooses for his cats, such as "Grandes écoles (French mechanical & civil engineers, materials scientists)" for a category that is intended to group schools, not engineers/scientists and his obscurantist use of sortkeys of which only he seems to understand the rationale... Thanks! --Guillaume2303 (talk) 16:00, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

I read just a very small portion of the discussion (as I find it to be of no interest to me), but it seems clear that you're correct. As for what to do about it, I have no idea. If things are switched, the user will likely switch them back. If a discussion results in a consensus, and the user persists in making edits against that consensus, then steps could be taken in light of such disruptive behavior. Sorry I've been of absolutely no help, but being of no help is my forte. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:37, 20 September 2012 (UTC)
Thanks. Frankly, I haven't read all of it either, as this editor just keeps poring walls of irrelevant text into the discussion. I've been trying to find people who take an interest in this, in order to have a discussion and get a consensus, but have not been successful. I'm actually not that interested in this subject either, only got to it because this person edited an article I had watchlisted. I'm going to drop it, as I get tired of the subject and the relentless arguing and accusations of bad faith. Too bad, I feel a bit guilty about that, because at some point, somebody will have to clean up this mess... Anyway, thanks for listening and at least trying to look at this :-) --Guillaume2303 (talk) 21:43, 20 September 2012 (UTC)

syntax highlighting

FYI... an RfC regarding adding color differentiation to Wiki markup. Bgwhite (talk) 07:36, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

That would be good, but what would be much, much better would be if bots converted all refs to list-defined refs. That would improve readability of the edit window by several thousand percent. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:16, 24 September 2012 (UTC)

Vivek Moyal regarding Indian Rupee symbol page

Hello sir,

I have added some links to your page and it is for the help of those who needs the Indian Rupee Symbol in their photoshop they can download it from there. And these all the designs are made by me so there is no any scam or cheating — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vivekmoyal (talk • contribs) 09:28, 1 October 2012 (UTC)

All I did was place a conflict of interest notice on your talk page after you linked to www.vivekmoyal.in. If you read that notice, you'll see that I did not imply any "scam or cheating". The next day, someone else removed your contributions. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:30, 4 October 2012 (UTC)

ANI

Hello. There is currently a discussion at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents regarding an issue with which you may have been involved. Thank you. Drmies (talk) 23:42, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

How disappointing that it only peripherally involves me. Some time I'll have my day in the ANI sun.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:05, 7 October 2012 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
Aw shucks Mandarax, I'm all flushed. Drmies (talk) 04:26, 6 October 2012 (UTC)
Hehe, thanks. I guess this is for telling you how smashing you look. Well, not to take away from how smashing you do look, but I wouldn't have wanted to violate MLA guidelines by asking you a question without including that! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:15, 7 October 2012 (UTC)
for the random act of kindness to give me an exquisite award, I share treats, as I shared the award ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:49, 31 October 2012 (UTC)
Thanks, Gerda! I hate to be repetitive, but as I said in the Barnstar, "you're one of the nicest Wikipedians"! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:48, 1 November 2012 (UTC)

Please do not write below the line

Thanks for the correction. Sorry. I'm apparently a slower learner than I imagine, or I'm easily distracted. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 19:29, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

No problem. I fix those all the time. In case you're wondering why it matters... after a nomination is closed, everything above that line is hidden on the main nominations page, but anything below it will still be visible, so it will erroneously appear to be a comment attached to the previous nomination on the page. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:36, 13 October 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for the explanation. I knew there was a good reason, but my professional disposition would require me to follow the rule, even if there wasn't. It was a momentary distracted moment; in part engendered by the fact that the process and discussion was unusually prolonged. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 20:44, 13 October 2012 (UTC)
Yes, "unusually prolonged" is putting it mildly. Incidentally, although I'm very familiar with the linguistic portmanteau, I wasn't aware of the type in your nomination. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:08, 13 October 2012 (UTC)
And they actually are worthwhile articles. But that's just my biased opinion. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 21:30, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

wikimedia minor update

I forgot to mention... An update a couple weeks back added "Page Information" to the sidebar. Among the things it gives is page size.

Also, I like a minimalist look as it gives me more area to edit. You might want to take a look at User:Bgwhite/vector.css to see how you can delete somethings. Bgwhite (talk) 03:15, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing out the page info. I hadn't noticed that; it seems to gather together some potentially useful data.

I already delete a lot of stuff from my WikiScreen, but I'll check out your page to see if anything else should go.

BTW, I didn't realize that Sgt. Schultz's philosophy was so similar to that of Socrates. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:34, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

Great minds think alike... My wife had never seen Hogan's Heroes until about two months ago. She lived a deprived life. Bgwhite (talk) 07:43, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

The Tireless Contributor Barnstar
For your virtuality, displayed yet again in Nederlands Letterenfonds. Drmies (talk) 03:21, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! I really did spend a lot of time trying to find just the right category, before I decided to settle on one that would sorta do. We seem to have a specific category for everything except Dutch literary organizations. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:39, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Paul Kelpe

Hello! Your submission of Paul Kelpe at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and some issues with it may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! — Maile (talk) 18:45, 4 November 2012 (UTC)

How do people create stubs?

I hadn't written an article since the one that appeared as an April Fools' Day DYK, and I figured it was about time. But I wanted to be able to get one done quickly, so I selected as my subject Paul Kelpe, an artist who, although significant, was relatively obscure. There was not a single red WikiLink to him, and only one (unlinked) mention of him at all anywhere on Wikipedia. A quick search revealed that there appeared to be extremely little information about him available anywhere online. I figured, great – I'll quickly write a short article in a day or two, and, maybe if I'm lucky, I'll be able to gather just enough to cobble together a 1500 character article to meet the bare minimum DYK requirement. Well, seven weeks later, after sporadically working on the article in a sandbox, I ended up with a 7500 prose character article. As I had intensified my efforts, I found more and more information on him, and I determined that the subject of my first article in over seven months was a much more important figure in art history than I'd initially realized.

I don't think I'm capable of creating stubs. I feel a responsibility to do the best job I can, which is far, far from the best job possible. As for those who do write the best articles possible, well, unfortunately, some of them are no longer active, so whoever's left has to try to do the best they can. The way I see it.... The first place I look for information about anything is Wikipedia, and I assume that's the case for a huge percentage of people. So I see it as an awesome duty to, as much as I possibly can, do justice to the subject I'm writing about. Although anybody can edit, all of the articles which I've written have remained essentially unchanged since I created them. So it really is important to do things right. This is a subject which I care about, and each of the notable artists I've written about deserves to have a decent article on Wikipedia.

Writing articles does not come easy to me. Quite the opposite. A 7500 character article may seem small to some, but for me it was a huge effort. So this kind of explains why I'm far from a prolific article writer. But the few which I do manage to write are well-referenced and, I hope, reasonably well-written and informative.

People make comments like "we don't need to encourage users to write new articles any more – we're already a comprehensive encyclopedia with articles about everything notable". This is simply incontrovertibly untrue. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 09:29, 6 November 2012 (UTC)

DYK for Paul Kelpe

The DYK project (nominate) 16:02, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

He and his art are now featured on Portal:Germany, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 00:01, 11 November 2012 (UTC)
Thanks Gerda. You did this for my last German artist (Georg Muche), and I intended to take care of it this time, but I forgot. I can always count on you! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 04:02, 11 November 2012 (UTC)
Yes, I'm in Category:Wikipedians who take the liberty to stay --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:49, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

DYK issue

Hello! Please see Wikipedia talk:Did you know#Problematic hook. Thanks! —David Levy 03:56, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

I had no involvement in the articles or the content of the nomination or its review. I never looked at the articles (and still haven't). All I did was add a missing parameter to one of the nomination's credit templates and fix a couple of dashes per the MOS after barely glancing at the hook long enough to notice those incorrect hypens. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:07, 14 November 2012 (UTC)
As indicated in the linked discussion, I posted the above message on the talk pages of everyone who edited the nomination page (irrespective of their roles). —David Levy 09:40, 15 November 2012 (UTC)

Get out of the fast lane old fart.

Hey old, old fart. When somebody is behind you and trying to pass you, you are supposed to get in the slow lane. I can't believe you still have a license to work around here because of you being so old and slow. Let the young and quick editors pass you by.

On another note, my wife forgot to pick up my prescription, so I won't be going to sleep tonight. Yes, I'm in the lovely ranks of insomniacs. I'll stay up 3-5 days straight without drugs. Bgwhite (talk) 07:13, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

Perhaps you haven't noticed, but I've been in the slow lane for quite some time. I've been expecting you to pass me for weeks. However, I believe you're actually much farther behind me than you may think. I believe the figures in The List are incorrect. They show you behind by only about 2000. I have always gone by what I consider to be the "official" edit count – the one in My preferences (the figure which The List used to use, but hasn't for a long time, and which is the same as in the following links). This currently shows you to be well over 11,000 edits behind me. Not that I ever notice or pay any attention to such things....

Sorry to hear you don't have your drugs. Maybe without wasting your valuable time on sleep, you can work on your edit count and finally pass me. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:13, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

Oh, I know about the "official" count. I didn't want to mention such a trivial thing when I'm about to pass you. Yup, the number of edits page odometer is the correct one. Yup, sure is. Bgwhite (talk) 08:48, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

DYK review

I don't know if you review sports. It seems you mostly do WP:WPVA content. Thanks for fixing my typos. Any chance you could do this review.--TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR) 15:19, 17 November 2012 (UTC)

You're right that my interest is in art. No reflection whatsoever on you or your writing or the subject of this specific article, but I just have no interest in reading any sports articles. I know how frustrating it is to wait for a review, but I'm sure someone will get around to it in time. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:08, 18 November 2012 (UTC)

Nomination

A Tshirt!
I thought that you deserved something a bit extra for all of the amazing work you've done for the project.
I've nominated you for a gift from the Wikimedia Foundation!

Wow, thank you! That is so nice of you!

Incidentally, I was supposedly awarded a T-shirt in the 2011 Great Backlog Drive, but I never did get one. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:43, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

You are most welcome, and apparently you are owed! :) LadyofShalott 01:08, 19 November 2012 (UTC)
Hey, I'm also owed a T-shirt in the 2011 Great Backlog Drive. All I got was a &($*#% boulder I have to push up the hill everyday. Bgwhite (talk) 05:45, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

JSTOR

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Talkback

Hello, Mandarax. You have new messages at Hahc21's talk page.
Message added 15:34, 22 November 2012 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

— ΛΧΣ21™ 15:34, 22 November 2012 (UTC)

Thanks

Hi Mandarax, thanks for fixing a mistake I made this morning. I was moving the Current nominations header and somehow part of my edit summary appeared in the article's text. —Bruce1eetalk 09:51, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. I don't normally look at diffs there because the page is so large, but I saw your edit summary which said you were moving a heading and I wondered "how could that add 27 bytes?". MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 10:13, 23 November 2012 (UTC)
Well spotted! I should have checked the byte difference myself, and I normally do, but obviously not this time. —Bruce1eetalk 10:43, 23 November 2012 (UTC)

Thanks...

..for this. You make a great substitute bot! — sparklism hey! 10:17, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. It's good to know that my bot-like qualities are appreciated. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 10:24, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
MANdARAXbot • todXAЯAbИAM
Hehe. Lady, maybe I should remove the "This user is not a bot" user box from my page.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:16, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
"This user is not a bot, but plays on on TV WP." LadyofShalott 23:48, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
Hello, I'm Drmies. Drmies (talk) 04:43, 29 November 2012 (UTC)
Hey, Doc. Thanks for dropping by. Here's my WikiTidbit for today: actor Dax Shepard's first role listed in his filmography (sorry for contributing to the destruction of the linguistic world by using that word) is "vomiter at party". Now, I don't think that's a role I ever portrayed (if I did, I appropriately don't remember), but I've certainly been a vomiter after party. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 10:15, 29 November 2012 (UTC)
I'm glad to see we're making sure all the really important details about people's careers are in their articles. LadyofShalott 00:31, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
Well, I haven't seen the movie, but that could've been a very important role! BTW, nice edit summary. I can think of one admin who I think would appreciate it. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:39, 30 November 2012 (UTC)
I wondered if anyone would notice that. :) LadyofShalott 07:59, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

Sorry about that!

I could have sworn I'd finished promoting Frank's Cock, but I must have only previewed it, and then mistakenly deleted the browser tab instead of saving it. Thanks for catching that and cleaning up after me! BlueMoonset (talk) 00:46, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. And thank you for everything you do to help DYK run smoothly. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 03:55, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

thank you

Thank you Re: [1]

Thank you very much. Spoildead (talk) 21:35, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:40, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

You fixed it :)

That was unnerving. Thank you. ClaudeReigns (talk) 11:35, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. Looking at your talk page, it seems that it's been almost five years since your last DYK. The procedure has changed a bit! Welcome back to DYK. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 11:43, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

Sorry for the monotony

Hehe... I didn't realize I was doing it until just now, when I noticed that I've begun my last five replies with "You're welcome." Well, I may be monotonous, but I guess I must be doing something right.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 12:00, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

If that's all you have to be sorry for, then you have no reason to apologize! :) LadyofShalott 03:39, 16 December 2012 (UTC)
Hehe. Oh, counting the one below, it was actually six replies in a row. And I see that BlueMoonset ended the next note with "Many thanks", so I guess I could've kept my streak going a little longer with another "You're welcome" if I'd thought about it.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 03:58, 16 December 2012 (UTC)

A bowl of strawberries for you!

When typing out a hook, (I usually copy-paste) I forgot to put a "that" in. You noticed and corrected it for me! Eternally grateful. Rcsprinter (natter) @ 18:59, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
You're welcome. Thanks for the strawberries! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:37, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

WT:DYK#Template: prefix on Template talk:Did you know

Mandarax, can I ask you to comment on this section? I don't know whether I'm on or off base here, and would like to have someone who's been involved in the T:TDYK page for a long time—and you're the one who changes the current dates almost every day—weigh in on the matter. Many thanks. BlueMoonset (talk) 17:47, 15 December 2012 (UTC)

 Done. Mandarax is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're gonna get. In this case, I agreed with you. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 03:28, 16 December 2012 (UTC)

Oh, whatever!

[2]. Sure, but it's all artsy fartsy above the Mason-Dixon line so who cares. Also, I will not insist on the period, dear Mandarax. Thanks! Drmies (talk) 19:57, 17 December 2012 (UTC)

That's one of those instances where you link to something without even thinking that it might be linking to something other than what you intended to link to. I think the "Guggenheim Museum" page should redirect to the Guggenheim Museum in New York [which already has a hatnote to Guggenheim Museum (disambiguation)], but I don't want to be accused of US-centrism. BTW, I saw a great exhibit at the Vegas Guggenheim when that existed. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:39, 17 December 2012 (UTC)
Yeah, sorry--I guess this is one of those cases where I prove to be an alien. Drmies (talk) 22:24, 17 December 2012 (UTC)
On that subject.... I had always assumed that you had adopted U.S. citizenship until you recently mentioned that you weren't eligible to vote. Of course, there I go assuming again; there are certainly other reasons for voter ineligibility.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:53, 17 December 2012 (UTC)
Ha, no, I've not been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude. Yet. Drmies (talk) 00:09, 18 December 2012 (UTC)

"New day"

Whenever I see your edit summary on TT:DYK saying that, I start hearing "You Are the New Day" as sung by The King's Singers in my head. LadyofShalott 00:12, 18 December 2012 (UTC)

I wasn't familiar with that song. I've never thought about it, but if I had, I think I would've thought of "Feeling Good" ("it's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life"), although I didn't know that title until I just looked it up. I'm really tired of that song right now, because I listened to a bunch of YouTube versions trying to find the one I was thinking of. I never did. But I discovered Nina Simone, whom I'd never heard of; I like her version! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:45, 18 December 2012 (UTC)
The Muse version is also good, but I think it's still not the version I was thinking of. But I've listened to so many, they're all meshing in my mind, and I think I might not even recognize the version I was thinking of. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:25, 18 December 2012 (UTC)
And also, merry Christmas, dear Mandarax. I was pleased with my gifts (I got an advance gift yesterday, and more today), and I hope you are spending ye ole Yuletide agreeably. Maybe I'll send you a book one of these days, but you have to be able to survive in hell. All the best to you and yours! Drmies (talk) 16:26, 25 December 2012 (UTC)
Thanks! Happy holidays to you and your family! (Oh, is it even legal to say "happy holidays" in the South?) Hmmm, that part about surviving is just a little intriguing and cryptic.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:14, 26 December 2012 (UTC)
Merry Christmas or happy winter-holiday-of-your-choice to you both! LadyofShalott 18:02, 26 December 2012 (UTC)
Thanks, Lady! Season's greetings to you and yours! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:34, 26 December 2012 (UTC)
You'll see, Mandarax, you'll see. Drmies (talk) 15:27, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

You have mail!

Hello, Mandarax. Please check your email; you've got mail!
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.

Regarding a t-shirt nomination :) Jalexander--WMF 02:43, 1 January 2013 (UTC)

Thanks! The shirts arrived. I was certainly surprised to see two of 'em. Apparently you noticed my note above in which I mentioned to LadyofShalott that I never received a T-shirt which had been awarded to me about two years ago in the 2011 Great Backlog Drive. I wasn't hinting that I should still get that one – I thought this one would simply take its place, and I was definitely not expecting a second shirt to ever materialize. Thanks again! And thanks again to the Lady for the nomination. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:13, 2 February 2013 (UTC)
Hurrah! They are well deserved. LadyofShalott 02:13, 3 February 2013 (UTC)

Portmanteaux

I didn't tell you that on the 21st I went to a birthpocamas (birthday+apocalypse+Christmas) party. OK, that's only one portmanteau, but the plural is more fun to write. LadyofShalott 03:10, 1 January 2013 (UTC)

Sounds like fun! I tried to come up with a clever portmanteau in response, but I keep drawing a blank. The only one I could think up right now is dranking: the state of drawing a blank. This sounds appropriate, since drinking can cause dranking. I had no episodes of dranking last night, as I was drinking only a little champagne. Hope you had a good New Year's Eve/Day! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 05:51, 2 January 2013 (UTC)
I didn't go anywhere, let alone to the Temple of Juno, which I'm leaving for you, dear Mandarax. Drmies (talk) 05:54, 4 January 2013 (UTC)
New Year's was: New Year's Eve was quiet, and I got to see some family on New Year's Day. I hope yours was good. Drmies, I don't think that article's long for this world. LadyofShalott 06:14, 4 January 2013 (UTC)
Maybe a general article about the Temples of Burning Man could be viable. The Temple of 2011 included a portion of the Gamelatron, a robotic gamelan orchestra. I had experienced a larger portion of it the previous year at Lightning in a Bottle. (At least I think it was larger; it may just be that it was more concentrated, whereas the Temple installation was spread over a larger area.) Even though that was still only about a third of the full orchestra, it was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced: beautiful, entrancing, wondrous, and mesmerizing. And, according to the Gamelatron's page, that was a pretty notable Temple.

The 2013 Burning Man ticketing procedure is supposed to be announced today. The 2011 ticketing turned into a huge debacle which I knew was the worst such experience possible. I, however, was proved wrong by the monumental ticketing fiasco of 2012. We'll see what lucky '13 brings.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:04, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

Have you given up completely? Drmies (talk) 17:36, 4 January 2013 (UTC)
On the prospect of getting Burning Man tickets? We'll see.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:48, 4 January 2013 (UTC)

Mandarax magic

Hey Manadarax. Could you do some of your template-fixin' magic on Template:Did you know nominations/History of Canadian women? Best, The Interior (Talk) 18:04, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

Hehe, "Mandarax magic"! Abracadabra!
 Done. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:02, 6 January 2013 (UTC)
Shazzaaaamm! Thanks, The Interior (Talk) 20:13, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

More of your magic needed

In 28 Days Later (comics), there is a category name listed right above the text. I've added the category properly, but I don't see where this odd bit of text (which looks like what you get when you nowiki a cat) is in the code. Can you figure it out and delete it? LadyofShalott 23:40, 6 January 2013 (UTC)

The sort key in the Infobox had {{PAGENAME:}} instead of {{PAGENAME}}. I just replaced it with a text sort key. (Uh oh. I may have just violated the Magician's Code. We should never reveal our secrets! But since I already have, I can point out that {{PAGENAME}} is a magic word.)

I find the whole idea of an Infobox adding sort keys, categories, and whatnot to be irritating. I think the only places I've encountered it before were in other comics-related ones. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:18, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

Ah, thanks! I agree - that should not be an infobox function. LadyofShalott 00:57, 7 January 2013 (UTC)

Thanks

Thanks for catching that glitch, Mandarax; I was actually working on it and had an edit conflict with your edit. You are faster than me! Regards, Pinethicket (talk) 11:53, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

You're welcome. Sorry for the speed! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 12:35, 11 January 2013 (UTC)

Template:Did you know nominations/Sakine Cansiz

Wait--"It's currently ITN, and is ineligible for DYK". I thought you were talking about the image! I don't understand--is it ineligible because it's listed under ITN, or because it's on a happening topic? I can't find either requirement in the guidelines. And will it be eligible? I thought I was doing us all a favor by having a very decent article on an important person on the same day... Thanks, Drmies (talk) 17:49, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) Because it's listed under ITN; look at sub-point 'e' under criterion 1 on WP:DYK#Eligibility_criteria. (And they say we're not a bureaucracy...) Writ Keeper ⚇♔ 17:57, 12 January 2013 (UTC)
Ah, I see it now. Well, that's a bunch of bull crap! Here's a timeline:
1. 10 Jan, at 16:10, I see a discussion at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2013 January 10 and comment on it, and again at 16:21;
2. 10 Jan, at 16:18, I turn a redirect into a real article;
3. 10 Jan, at 17:49, I nominate it, at Template:Did you know nominations/Sakine Cansiz
4. 11 Jan, at 00:50, I semi-protect it, and at 00:54 place a note on WP:AN about my "involved" protection;
5. 11 Jan, at 11:49, EdwardLane (talk · contribs) nominates it at Wikipedia:In the news/Candidates; their only contribution to the article is on the talk page, here, and a day later, here. At that moment, the article looks like this, and I am the only editor who has contributed significantly to it, and it's clearly good to go for DYK;
6. 12 Jan, at 00:10, I congratulate the ITN folks
It seems clear to me that if it hadn't been for me writing the article there wouldn't have been anything to put up at ITN; that the DYK nomination preceded the ITN nomination; that this should run at DYK, ASAP, and that I should get the usual credit for it. Mandarax, I'm posting this here not because I am blaming you, since you didn't close that DYK nomination, but because I happen to be here, a nice location I don't visit often enough. ;) Drmies (talk) 18:51, 12 January 2013 (UTC)
That sucks, Drmies. LadyofShalott 19:02, 12 January 2013 (UTC)
Not for long--I'm sure someone is going to set it straight. Hey Lady, are you walking around in shorts and flip-flops also? I am--and in California they're fanning the vineyards to keep them from freezing! Drmies (talk) 19:14, 12 January 2013 (UTC)
Actually I am way overdressed in a sweater and jeans. Why of all days did I pick today to wear jeans? (I'm much more likely to be in a skirt almost all year, and jeans only if it's cold.) LadyofShalott 19:35, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

I'm so sorry that the article was hijacked on its way to DYK! The consolation is in knowing that the great article which you wrote will get the high-profile exposure of ITN for days instead of a mere eight hours, and right at the top of the Main Page. I was on Wikipedia for many years before I ever scrolled down and discovered DYK. If you still want to try for the DYK (and Crisco fails to implement your suggestion), you could seek consensus for an exception to the rules at WT:DYK, but I wouldn't be too optimistic about that.

This is a problem which I would never encounter. At my pace, if I ever tried to write an article about a subject which was in the news, by the time I was done, it would be old, old news.

Drop by any time for a quiet, peaceful respite from the hustle-bustle of your talk page. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:47, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

  • I just don't understand the hijacking. On top of that, I (still) don't understand the specific application of that rule in this instance. I'm waiting for that editor who rejected it to come and explain themselves. Drmies (talk) 23:10, 12 January 2013 (UTC)
  • Well, as much as I might like for someone else to take the heat for something I'm responsible for, I saw The Office on Thursday, and such behavior ends up with Meredith shaving her head. I was the one who gave it the dreaded "", so I was "that editor who rejected it". I'm very sympathetic to your concerns, and I might be upset if a similar thing happened to me (although, as I explained above, that's not likely to ever happen). I can see how it might be disturbing that anyone can come along and, without notifying you, nominate it for ITN, but c'est la wiki-vie. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter that you nominated it for DYK first, and that you weren't consulted about ITN. The rule is that an article is not eligible for DYK if it's ever been a bold link at ITN. Note that ITN is a much more exclusive club – there have been over 64 thousand DYK articles, but only 2 thousand ITNs. My advice would be to try to enjoy the ITN experience. It's already accumulated over 22 thousand hits, and it's probably still got a week to ten days left. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:29, 13 January 2013 (UTC)
  • But what's the rationale for the rule? (And I'm a bit territorial, of course--I like my own club.) Also, if I get that ITN template on my page, I want it signed by you personally. You know I have another objective here: 300 DYKs and I can retire. Drmies (talk) 03:12, 13 January 2013 (UTC)
  • Your retirement is not allowed. That's my rule. (Retire from DYK if you want; I don't care all that much about it, but not from WP, and not from your good work on articles!) :p LadyofShalott 03:20, 13 January 2013 (UTC)
  • Drmies, I sort of answered the rationale question on your talk page. I dunno if you noticed, but I did give you a signed ITN template, which I then removed when I realized that someone else had already done so five minutes earlier. You have my permission to retire when your number surpasses that of Dr. Blofeld. I'll make it easier for you – you can even combine your numbers. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 04:39, 13 January 2013 (UTC)

RE: DYK edit summaries

Hi Mandarax, sorry about the DYK stuff, it's my first one ever so I'm really new at the whole thing. >.< Is there a maximum character amount for a hook? Should I write a new one? :3 —  dain- talk   21:10, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Welcome to DYK! Yes, there's a maximum of 200 characters allowed in a hook. (See WP:DYK#The hook.) Your ALT1 is 172 characters, so that one's an acceptable length, but if you want to use the original hook, it will have to be edited down from its current 273. I left the note as an edit summary rather than text on the nomination page because I've found that people are reluctant to review an article if any kind of comment has already been left on the page, and I didn't want to delay it for you. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:20, 18 January 2013 (UTC)
Ohhhh I gotcha. Thanks for the welcome, I wish I knew about DYK nominations before I started expanding the page because I would've worked harder at it instead of just casually updating it in my freetime while bored. Anywho, thanks for the tweaks! Cheers, —  dain- talk   21:48, 18 January 2013 (UTC)

Newbie looking for help

Hi Mandarax! I chose you kind of at random, but I would love some help for an article I just created and you look like you're fairly experienced and awesome. It's my first one, and I'm not sure if I did everything right for creating it. Of course, if you're super busy don't worry about it, or if you know someone else I should be talking to instead please let me know. Here's the article: http://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/Lauren_Santo_Domingo ConcreteFancy (talk) 00:23, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for the "awesome" comment. And congratulations on your first article! It looks good to me. I made some minor tweaks to the article. I'm particularly impressed that a first-time article writer did so well with the references – better than some people who have been writing articles for years. One suggestion is that instead of referring to her as "Lauren", it should use her surname; but I'm not sure exactly whether that should be "Domingo" or "Santo Domingo". I think it's probably the latter, but you researched her, so you're in a better position to know that. I added {{Persondata}} and DEFAULTSORT, using my guess for the sort key on these, but if I got it wrong, please correct it. I also added six categories; you can add any more that you think are appropriate.

However, I've never done anything with Articles for creation, and I have no idea what's supposed to be done now. I think it's already in a queue waiting to be reviewed by somebody who knows what they're doing. You could use one of the "assistance" links at the bottom of the article. For future reference, note that you can simply create articles in your userspace or directly in article space if you don't want to go through AfC. Also, in case you didn't know, you may submit new articles to DYK so that they may appear in the Did you know section of the Main Page. Thanks for your contributions! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:35, 23 January 2013 (UTC)

Walter

Well, I've done a few firsts. My latest article, Walter Baxter, is my first which is not related to art. And it's the first which I wrote solely for the specific purpose of appearing as an April Fool's Day DYK: {{Did you know nominations/Throatwobbler Mangrove}}. My original intention was somewhat similar to that of my previous article, and it had a similar result. I planned to expand the article just enough to meet the 1500 character minimum, but as I worked on it, I found myself unable to resist the urge to make it the best article I possibly could with the limited information available. I waded through page after page after page of mostly irrelevant search results more than I ever had before in order to find as many tidbits as I could.

Drmies, thank you for bringing this article to my attention. I've credited you, as well as the Lady, for your contributions.

The article, by the way, includes what may be the weaselliest quote I've ever seen. A newspaper columnist who objected to the "erotic odyssey" in Baxter's novel urged the publisher to withdraw the book from publication. The spineless publisher's reply is priceless:

MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:12, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

  • You really do get my humor! I wasn't sure anyone would notice the pun, so I had put it in italics.

    (Yes, it was available in paperback. And such a bargain! The hardcover was $3.50, but the paperback was only 35¢.) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:30, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

  • I don't have to tell you that gnome work is valuable! I once made a minor edit to the "Green children" article, which was then a soon-to-be FA (and is now a soon-to-be TFA), with a summary jokingly asking if that qualified me to receive FA credit. In what I believe was our only interaction, Malleus left me a note saying that anyone who had edited the article was entitled to share in the credit.

    I just realized that I'm like an alien species on Star Trek: The Next Generation whose language could not be deciphered by the Universal Translator. It was eventually discovered that they could only communicate via stories and analogies from their history and folklore. On the slim chance that you want to know more, the only specific word I remember is "Darmak". I don't remember if that's the alien captain's name, or his species, or planet, or a name from their folklore, but I'm sure a search would find it. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:46, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

  • Well, I think I'll just say thank you, and leave it at that. I don't have to know what Darmak specifically means to know that stories are effective means of communication. Have you ever read the Neil Gaiman poem, "Locks"? Here's an online version. When I Googled to find that, I saw there there are also YouTube videos of Gaiman reading it. LadyofShalott 22:48, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
  • Thanks for the poem. I am notoriously bad at understanding poetry, but this one I could understand. In the spirit of this thread, I could relate the story of a particularly incorrect interpretation of a poem from high school, but it's too embarrassing. I'm in a little more searchy mood now than I was late last night, and I see that I misspelled "Darmok". It's been a long time, but as I recall, I didn't care for that episode very much, at least partly due to the implausible premise about the language. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:32, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, Mandarax. You have new messages at Al Ameer son's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

--Al Ameer son (talk) 00:06, 27 January 2013 (UTC)

Sheesh

This is why I need people looking over my shoulder. Thanks. LadyofShalott 03:05, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

You're welcome. I'm glad to see you creating painting articles. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 03:23, 28 January 2013 (UTC)
I'm enjoying it. Some folks like Drmies can crank out a much more substantial article in less than the time it takes me to create one of these stubs, but I'm both learning about Waterhouse and filling in at least some of the mass of red.

Regrading The Unwelcome Companion: A Street Scene in Cairo, we have Category:Novels set in Cairo. I'm thinking of making Category:Works set in Cairo as a supercategory which would also suit the painting. What do you think? LadyofShalott 03:48, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

Sounds okay to me, although the only current Works set in categories are all time periods (including the 27th century) rather than locations. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM

I've added another Waterhouse. I'd appreciate your eyes there. There's a bit of a discrepancy as well. I've listed the dimensions as given by the gallery's webpage. Hobson gives 74cmx109cm. I'm not sure what to do with that. LadyofShalott 04:33, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

Looks good; I just made a minor edit. I wonder about the painting's location, though, since the gallery's site marks it as sold. As for the dimensions, the decision you made seems fine to me. I hate when I encounter discrepancies in sources, but it happens all the time. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:19, 30 January 2013 (UTC)
Thanks. I did some more looking, and I think you're right, but I couldn't find any evidence of who bought it (private collector maybe?) so I just removed that line. LadyofShalott 17:56, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

Madonna

DYK: Karamokho Alfa

I often see you fixing problems in DYK submissions, and was hoping you could help with this one. Template talk:Did you know#Karamokho Alfa. It looked odd when I created it, with a title line like ====Karamokho Alfa====}} My attempt to fix it didn't. It has lost the ( Review or comment Article history ) links. I do not want the mess it up further. Thanks, Aymatth2 (talk) 04:06, 11 February 2013 (UTC)

 Done. Somehow the {{DYK nompage links}} wasn't there. I added it to {{Did you know nominations/Karamokho Alfa}}, and it seems fine now. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:36, 11 February 2013 (UTC)
Thank's very much. I don't know how that happened - I just filled in the standard form. I appreciate your help. Aymatth2 (talk) 13:10, 11 February 2013 (UTC)
You're welcome. As for how it happened.... There have been a lot of recent edits to {{NewDYKnomination}}, and it's quite possible that when you submitted your nomination, the template may not have been completely functional. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:28, 11 February 2013 (UTC)

New articles and Wikidata

As you are "weird" and actually create content... How many wackos are there? 5 or 10? Wikipedia is about conflict and not content. Get with the times.

Wikidata went live today. Been playing around a bit. I guess you would create new articles that would be found elsewhere in the wiki universe, thus need interwiki links. Some interesting finds... d:Wikidata:Tools contains some gadgets on wikidata. The first one, SlurpInterwiki, looks very helpful. Last one, Import statements, looks helpful too. On en.wikipedia, add to your user js file to display the wikidata link for the article under the article's title:

// d:User:Yair rand/WikidataInfo.js
importScriptURI("//www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?title=User:Yair rand/WikidataInfo.js&action=raw&ctype=text/javascript");
Bgwhite (talk) 06:26, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

How many wackos? I would estimate about {{NUMBEROFUSERS}} - 100. I apologize for not creating my quota of conflict, but in my defense, I must say that I don't create that much content either. Thanks for telling me about Wikidata. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:27, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

Precious again

knowledge and precision
Thank you for sharing your profound knowledge, your viewpoint on art, your patience in repairing the same formal mistakes over and over, your review of one Bach cantata to improve them all (with more patience, of course). Did you know that there is now a better list of the Bach cantatas, transferred from Germany? - Repeating: you are an awesome Wikipedian (6 July 2010, 6 January 2011)!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:03, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

A year ago, you were the thirteenth recipient of my PumpkinSky Prize, it still applies, repeated in br'erly style. Compared to last year: all Bach cantatas are now blue, thanks to Dr. Blofeld, not all expanded, though. I miss the photographer, again, and put "Letting go of the past" on top of my talk, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:12, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

Thanks again, Gerda. You're very kind and, of course, very precious yourself! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:51, 14 February 2013 (UTC)
Happy Wikiversary! Did you know that once I passed Precious on an eighth? So yours was seventh, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:32, 14 February 2013 (UTC)
Thanks yet again! As you apparently saw, I upgraded to my eight-year award but there's currently none for nine, so my next Looshpah upgrade will be in two years. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:53, 14 February 2013 (UTC)
This eight was rather quiet and taught me the design above and on my talk ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:58, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

Happy 8th Birthday

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Bgwhite (talk • contribs) 22:40, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

Awwwww, thanks! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:49, 14 February 2013 (UTC)
Some fluorite for you!

Well it's not as fancy as Gerda's shiny gift, but it has the right number of sides to celebrate your achievement. :) Thank you for eight years of dedicated service to Wikipedia. You, Mandarax, are a gift to the community. Here's to the next eight years! LadyofShalott 01:29, 15 February 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for the crystal and the kind words! How thoughtful! Ever since I was a little kid, I always enjoyed the mineral exhibits at natural history museums, and the fluorescent ones such as this were among my favuorites.

Urgh! Another eight years? I dunno if I'd survive.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:57, 15 February 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for your help with Ethel Scull 36 Times

Thanks for the pic tidy, Mandrax.
I was about to go to the Help Desk to find out how to make the pic look better, but you have fixed it up already - thank you. I was also going to put the article into the WP:DYK queue, but due to my sloth (the sin, not the animal) it's much too late for that.
Any chance you might want to work on the article about a stuffed goat half-way through a car tyre standing on a canvas with all kinds of random shit on it? (PS: see my FAQ)
Thanks again, --Shirt58 (talk) 09:40, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

You're welcome. Hehe... sloth.

It's definitely not much too late for DYK; it's just barely late. Although you created it on February 9, DYKcheck is reporting it as having been 5× expanded on the 10th, just six days ago, so it's just one day late. Many people nominate articles much later than that. I recommend that you nominate it as soon as possible, and if the reviewer complains about the date, point out the "Swahili" rule. (Alas, it no longer says that, but the rule is still there.)

Too tired to reply about the goat right now.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 10:36, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

Here we go. Do you know... that while we are co-conspirators, I will be completely blaming you if this goes all pear-shaped. --Shirt58 (talk) 11:39, 16 February 2013 (UTC)
I'll probably be up for a WP:RFA in late February 2013, and I'd just like to point out that this is simply a humorous discussion between two well-established editors who write in the field of visual arts, and it is in no way at all intended to be an attempt at subversion of the WP:DYK process.--Shirt58 (talk) 12:07, 16 February 2013 (UTC)
Hehe, I'm still chuckling at the image of your pet sloth preventing you from making a nomination. Yes, I take full responsibility. Of course, you're either simply applying the Swahili rule, or applying IAR. It's important for an admin to both work within the rules, and be able to IAR when called for, so you should be good either way.

Now, as for that goat.... I actually saw that piece when it was part of what I believe was the largest exhibit ever of Rauschenberg's Combines. Now, I don't know if I was just experiencing Combine overload, but I didn't like the exhibit at all. Of course, that was six or seven years ago, and maybe my tastes have changed. This is irrelevant, though, as I don't have to like something in order to write about it objectively. I certainly haven't been crazy about everything created by the artists I've written about, and I've never even seen any work by some of them; they were just significant artists who deserved an article regardless of any personal feelings. Although I may add something to the goat article if I'm so moved, the sad fact is that I usually don't end up working on articles which are suggested to me; the only exceptions are John Vanderpoel, which only happened because JNW saw the suggestion on my talk page and wrote a great article which I then expanded, and another article, brought to my attention by Drmies, in which I saw great April Fools' Day DYK potential. What I'm trying to do now is get an article going about a female artist to appear as a DYK on International Women's Day (March 8). The one I sorta selected isn't thrilling me, so I may go in another direction. I don't understand why I have such difficulty writing articles, when I sometimes seem to just go on and on on my talk page.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:44, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

Oh, and I was unable to find the FAQ on your user page, but I was amused by the FQA. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:48, 16 February 2013 (UTC)
One more thing. I'd like to suggest that you work on articles, either new or expansions, in your user space. That way, you can leisurely work on it, and only when it's DYK-ready, you can put it in article space. The five day DYK clock only starts ticking when it's in article space, so you won't have to worry about your exotic animals interfering with a timely DYK nomination. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:58, 16 February 2013 (UTC)

Mandarax is one big, giant airport

Mandarax, you are one big giant CYKA. That's right, I'm calling you an airport in British Columbia. You are as temperamental as a 787 battery. You are loud and annoying as a jet engine. You are moody as a passenger stuck on the tarmac for hours. Be careful, or I'm got to set a Russian female dog on you. On the positive side, I now know a word to call my wife and not get in trouble for. Bgwhite (talk) 09:53, 17 February 2013 (UTC)

Hehe. HEY, I'M NOT LOUD!!! Before I found it on the Urban Dictionary, I thought it might be a slight misspelling of "psycho". Of course, why I even bothered to look up what some vandal called me is a mystery.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 10:22, 17 February 2013 (UTC)

Re: Your DYK nomination of Guo Jia

Hello, Mandarax. You have new messages at Lonelydarksky's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Why are you posting on my page

I will edit anonymously if I want so stop posting "helpful" messages on my talk page. I removed some vandalism...get over yourself. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.154.169.180 (talk) 20:18, 21 February 2013 (UTC)

Well, I thought I'd seen it all. But this is the first time anyone's ever left me an angry message because of a friendly "welcome" I put on their talk page.

BTW, I wanted it to be the friendliest welcome possible, so I didn't mention this at the time, but since you've decided to be nasty about it.... You only reverted part of the edit which vandalized the article, while leaving the worst part of the vandalism intact. This can often be worse than doing nothing, as people may look at the last edit, see that vandalism was reverted, and think it was completely taken care of. Fortunately, I was conscientious, checked the history, and fully reverted the vandalism.

Although your intentions in reverting vandalism appeared to be good, please remember that this is a collaborative environment, and if someone thanks you for your contributions, please don't respond by spitting in their face. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:51, 21 February 2013 (UTC)

This seems to be a day for weirdness. LadyofShalott 22:28, 21 February 2013 (UTC)
A truly weird day would be a day without weirdness. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:50, 21 February 2013 (UTC)
What a weird paradox, a paradox! A most ingenious paradox! LadyofShalott 03:22, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
I like paradoxes, although they sometimes make my brain hurt. BTW, I had taken a quick glance around, and nothing of unusually notable weirdness jumped out at me. I hope any weirdness you may have encountered didn't adversely affect you. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:57, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
My weirdness was not of the wiki variety. I could not find my glasses when I got up [they turned out to have gotten mixed up in my covers after I'd awakened early, read, and then gone back to sleep, but I'd had to spend the day between semi-blindness and prescription sunglasses before finding them], and then I had a patron slip me a note asking if I'd take my shoes off so he could see my feet (really, I can't make this stuff up). LadyofShalott 17:54, 23 February 2013 (UTC)
Well, it could've been weirder... he could've been more interested in your shoes than your feet. At least I think that would've been weirder. I hardly know any more. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:51, 23 February 2013 (UTC)
On the other hand (hehe), your recent edits regarding nail polish make me wonder if he wanted to check out your toenail polish.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:48, 23 February 2013 (UTC)
Hah! I do have some, but the only way he'd know that would be if I had responded to his request the way he wanted... and that was not exactly a work appropriate query. LadyofShalott 22:57, 23 February 2013 (UTC)
I am sure the request was for educational research. --kelapstick(bainuu) 00:14, 24 February 2013 (UTC)

Re: Your signature

I fixed the problem when it occurred, more than a few hours ago, where exactly did you see this "linkless" signature? Your signature says that the message was sent at 1:58 UTC, did you do something else when you saw my link-less signature? I am merely curious, not trying to make an an argument.Link from the Void (talk) 02:11, 22 February 2013 (UTC)

I had added a link to your signature on Template:Did you know nominations/Ernest Gibbins. I consider the final verification of a DYK hook to be a place where it's especially important to have a valid signature. I had checked your contributions, and the other most recent place I found that you signed, User talk:Stefan2, also had (and still has) your linkless signature, so I assumed it was still an issue. Glad to see that you've fixed it. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:44, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
Linkless from the Void? Sorry, couldn't resist, don't mind me. LadyofShalott 03:26, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
Hehe. But, the Void is ... a void, so I think any search for X from the Void would prove to be X-less from the Void, except, of course, where X equals something like nothingness. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:43, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
Oh, then I want to thank you for cleaning-up after myself. By the way, Link refers to this Link, which I had used in a Zelda forum (I forgot what Void meant though); however, I was aware of the double entendre of both links, just fyi, if you wanted to find out.Link from the Void (talk) 16:19, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
You're welcome. It's good to know that your "Link" comes from there, rather than from the super-intelligent, murderous orangutan. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:15, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

Never thought I would be saying this but...

Hello again Mandarax, I usually prefer to not seek outside help; however, I will not be online tomorrow and I would like to at least have a DYK article reviewed by someone. Could you review Template:Did you know nominations/Juniper's Knot? I understand and know that you probably have many other things in your queue list, so I do not expect it to be reviewed. In addition, I would also ask of this to some-one else, but the only other person that I know whom is active enough seems to be Player017 and he has helped me write the article, thus I believe that it would not be fair (or Wikilegal) for him/her to review that article.

Thanks for reading, Link from the Void (talk) 00:26, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

I'm afraid I do very few reviews any more, and those that I do are in subjects that especially interest me, which is not the case here. But don't worry; everything gets reviewed. All that's needed is a little patience. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:15, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

Two questions

Oh! and a remark! Now I remember! Be back in a minute. Drmies (talk) 17:49, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

Here it is: a story on NPR which made me think of you. Don't let the text fool you: in the audio file, the "literally hundreds of layouts" is in fact followed by "there are literally millions of permutations". Now, on to my questions.

  • Is there a way to search through an editor's contributions looking for text--say, the title of an article someone has edited? (That would be the simplest search, I suppose.)
  • If someone has an autobiography, and that autobiography is notable enough for a Wikipedia article, do we have a word for the editor who writes that article if the editor is also the writer (and subject) of the autobiography?

I hope you're having a great day. Can I see your feet? Drmies (talk) 17:59, 26 February 2013 (UTC)

  • I've found the User Edit Summary Search to be helpful on various occasions, but I just tested it, and it only searches the edit summaries supplied by a user – not the titles of articles they've edited. It seems to me that it would easy to modify that tool so that it would search titles; you'd just have to ask Sn/cotty. And it's certainly possible that such a tool already exists, but I'm not aware of any.
  • Hehe, no, I know of no word for the autoautobiographer.
  • Thanks; you too. And no.
  • Speaking of "literally", don't you hate it when you wait two weeks for a book to arrive at the library, and it turns out that it contains literally six words – plus two numbers[1] – about the subject of interest? Oh, and speaking of "don't you hate", don't you hate when this happens? MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:36, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
  • Oh, that's priceless! But Mandarax, really, that's a new low even for you. I tell you what, I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't one of WritKeeper's dirty little tricks. Has he been in his sandbox recently? Drmies (talk) 03:21, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
  • OK, I was going to block a range; only the last of those has been blocked, and that for three months: one would think that all of them should be blocked for that long. Problem is, [[the manual is not in a language I speak. Maybe you should be an admin, Mandarax, cause I'm sure you know how to do all them things. Drmies (talk) 03:27, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
  • The day only started, but I feel that Wednesday has been a productive day. I never knew about Bill Mumy's connection to Fish Heads. I didn't get into Dr. Demento until around 1982. Ah, memories. Might as well complete Mumy trivia. Bill Mumy played Will Robinson in Lost in Space and in one of the best Twilight Zone episodes. I saw Bill Mumy on PBS on the Pioneers of Television series the other day talking about his Lost in Space misery. There were big celebrations in geekdom last week as it was Babylon 5's 20th anniversary. I do miss that show. Bgwhite (talk) 08:01, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

So, Mandarax, you felt bad about that edit where you put a cock in someone's mouth? Imagine how Cluebot must have felt. I hope Cluebot's parameters have been tweaked since. Drmies (talk) 22:49, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

Well, I never said I felt bad about it. Ah, ClueBot, ClueBot, ClueBot... it does some good work, but it does irritate me sometimes, especially when it adds multiple redundant date headings for its warnings. This has the effect of obscuring the levels of monthly warnings; for example if someone simply glances at the latest section to assess the level of recent vandalism in deciding which warning to issue next.

But, more importantly, something freaky happened. I'm literally freaking out! I was just going through some boxes I haven't looked at in many years, having not the slightest clue what was inside. What did I find? A copy of Bless the Beasts and Children! I hadn't seen that book since I packed it away after reading it in... high school?... junior high? This can be no mere coincidence; the universe is trying to tell me something! Anyways, I spelled lots of things wrong above. It's actually: "O twayne me a twim, where the ffubalo jym, where the rede and telopen zoom; where nibber is nat, a conframitous rat-tat-tat, and the dils are not icky all doom." If I were actually looking for the book to check on that quote, I can tell you definitively[2] that I never would've found it. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:18, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

Wait: you can hate something you did without feeling bad about it. I'm literally glad I don't have your complicated ethics. I'm also virtually jealous that you still have boxes of unknown stuff. Must be fun! Also fun: making this. Not so fun: the moment you and Bgwhite start talking I have no frame of reference. Space fiction, right? Drmies (talk) 23:47, 27 February 2013 (UTC)
I don't hate what I did. I hate what happened to me when I did what I did.[3] About the only edit I might feel bad about is if I have to revert a misguided edit that appears to have been a good-faith attempt, especially if it seems that it may have taken a little time to do. The recipe sounds good except, of course, for the guanciale, which I'd never heard of before, and certainly looks quite disgusting. (I wonder if the word is derived from the same root as guano....) Just be thankful that I've never seen Doctor Who. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:59, 28 February 2013 (UTC)
Point taken. Drmies (talk) 01:14, 28 February 2013 (UTC)
That version of "Home On the Range" reminds me of the guy that does the monologues for the Capitol Steps. Y'all's literally random discussion of feet was funnier than it should been. LadyofShalott 03:02, 28 February 2013 (UTC)
  1. ^ I originally wrote that the numbers were the birth and death year, but that's incorrect. Here's the long-anticipated source material in its entirety: "Sculptor. Resident of San Francisco in 1896–1902." Uh oh. I've copied 100% of the artist's entry here. I hope I don't get blocked for massive copyright violation!
  2. ^ Standard disclaimers apply.
  3. ^ What I did was attempt to revert unconstructive edits. What happened to me was that my reversion accidentally (and horrifyingly but hilariously) restored something much worse.

Template:Did_you_know_nominations/Stan_Sismey

Thanks for the heads up. Now fixed...I think ;-) Grant | Talk 01:08, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

Caroline Shawk Brooks

Fascinating! Nicely done. LadyofShalott 22:44, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

Thank you very much! I originally planned to have it ready as a DYK for International Women's Day on March 8, but it unfortunately looks like they're not doing that this year. (That's a shame, as the last few years, they made all sets for the day composed entirely of articles about women.) When I realized that wasn't happening, I took some extra time and further expanded the article, to appear any time during Women's History Month. I believe it's my longest article ever. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:27, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
You should think about nominating as a GA. Why no IWD this year? LadyofShalott 23:34, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
Thanks again. One of these days I'll look into nominating some of my articles for GA. I don't really know what's involved or how close I may be. I do know I've seen some Good Articles that aren't very... uh... good.

BTW, those six words I found about Brooks in that book I'd waited two weeks for? I included that information even though it didn't seem important enough for any other source to mention, but I wasn't about to let my long wait and the trip to the library be in vain. I dunno why IWD isn't being commemorated this year by a day full of DYKs about women. Maybe it's just that nobody brought it up. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:09, 7 March 2013 (UTC)

Oh, I hadn't seen your "Possessive forms" thread on Drmies'/Drmies's talk page until just now. It seems very relevant, as I use "Brooks's" a couple of times in the article. I must say that the Brooks'ses look wrong to me, but I still did it that way because I thought that was the correct current consensus. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:20, 7 March 2013 (UTC)
I didn't even notice them when I read through your article, because that form is what looks right to me. :) LadyofShalott 22:23, 7 March 2013 (UTC)

The Working Man's Barnstar

The Working Wikipedian's Barnstar
for tirelessly fixing minor changes to DYK nominations & ensuring that editors errors are fixed Dan arndt (talk) 09:40, 7 March 2013 (UTC)
Thanks! Your barnstar is much appreciated! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:59, 7 March 2013 (UTC)
Thanks again for the corrections - you'd think that I'd get it right this time... Dan arndt (talk) 09:29, 8 March 2013 (UTC)
You're welcome. Those little things are certainly easy enough to do, and lots of people do 'em all the time. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 09:45, 8 March 2013 (UTC)

DYK for Caroline Shawk Brooks

 — Crisco 1492 (talk) 16:12, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

Request for advice

If you look at Wikipedia talk:Did you know#Proposal: Tweak to nomination instructions you will see a proposal to change the wording that appears at the top of a DYK nomination. The proposal has been open for 7 days, with nothing but support, so it seems reasonable to implement it. I think all that is needed is to change the text in template:DYK prose, but do not feel at all confident that will work. Advice? Thanks, Aymatth2 (talk) 18:43, 11 March 2013 (UTC)

As far as I know {{DYK prose}} is completely useless. If it has a purpose, it certainly eludes me. I think what you actually want to edit is User:Rjanag/DYK review criteria, which gets transcluded onto the editnotice for nomination pages. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:17, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
  • Thank you. I was a bit nervous, given potential impact, but did that and it seems to work. It would never have occurred to me to look in a user name space. :~). Aymatth2 (talk) 00:56, 12 March 2013 (UTC)
  • You're welcome. It was probably a userspace draft of proposed wording which was intended to be moved elsewhere when complete, but that never happened. Anyways, that's fine – it works, and that's all that matters.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:37, 12 March 2013 (UTC)

Nathan Wyburn

Hi Mandarax, I came across this article today, and noticed you did a bit of housecleaning in 2011. It really needs a scalpel, but before I do anything I thought I'd drop you a note first. And it's a good excuse to say hi, since it's been a long time. Very best, 99.137.210.226 (talk) 21:02, 11 March 2013 (UTC)

It's always great to hear from you. As a matter of fact I had just done some research on a couple of articles that you suggested I write. But I'd like to get another female artist (or dare I say two) done before the end of Women's History Month (notice like in italics, indicating that it's not really very likely), and there are some others ahead in my queue, but at least I've made a minimal start at starting to start.

As for Nathan Wyburn, I'm very curious: is this a mere coincidence, or did you bring up the subject of an artist who creates portraits using Marmite on toast because you saw that I'd just had a DYK about an artist who sculpted in butter? I originally stumbled across Wyburn's page because it claimed he'd been written up in the Sun, that big yellow thing in the sky, rather than in the British newspaper The Sun. (How ironic that the source of all life on earth is not a reliable source on Wikipedia.) Yeah, looks like I did a lot of cleanup on the article, but I must confess that I often use my sixth sense – my Wiki-sense – to scan articles for problems without ever actually reading the article. That was probably the case here. I have no particular interest in the article, so feel free to use a scalpel, butcher knife, machete, or whatever's necessary. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:52, 11 March 2013 (UTC)

Pure coincidence. I only ran across it earlier today by chance, and know nothing about Marmite, much less butter sculpture. I like the story about the Sun. Though I'm no longer nearly as productive here as you, it's always a pleasure to chat. Cheers, 99.137.210.226 (talk) 23:08, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
"Marmite on toast, ketchup, sugar, chocolate"--really. Drmies (talk) 23:33, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
HOLY SHIT. 99, please clean that up will you. Drmies (talk) 23:36, 11 March 2013 (UTC)
As I was writing about Brooks, my butter sculptor, I was thinking about Janine Antoni, who's worked with lard and chocolate. I think it was Antoni But it was Edward Ruscha who created an installation I experienced at MOCA LA which was a room whose walls were entirely covered in sheets of chocolate. BTW, Drmies, in case you didn't notice that butter sculptor article, I finally wrote about an artist who was an Arkansasinian! (And yes, I looked it up, but I'm certainly not going to say "Arkansawyer"!). MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 05:44, 12 March 2013 (UTC)

Hello again!

Hi Mandrax! For obvious reasons, I am taking things veeery slooowly at the moment. Perhaps it's just my computer settings, but it would appear that http://www.myemarketplaces.com/ doesn't exist, not even in the form of a domain name placeholder thingummy whatsit. Are your results different? --Shirt58 (talk) 09:09, 14 March 2013 (UTC)

Yes, both http://www.myemarketplaces.com/ and the specific page which the user, MYeMarketPlaces, linked to – http://www.myemarketplaces.com/Specifications.aspx – work for me.

I see that the reason you're inquiring is that you're a new admin. I know you mentioned that you were planning on going for that, but I rarely pay attention to RfA, so I'm glad to see that you were successful in that endeavor.

Looking at your talk page, I was amused to see that, while most nominations merely get transcluded, yours transcended! (And I know someone else's almost got a transfusion.) In taking a belated look at your RfA, I noticed that you consider Ethel Scull 36 Times to be one of your best contributions, so I'm especially glad that I was instrumental in getting you to submit it for a DYK. I was also glad to see that our co-conspiratorial skulking around in that matter was not a factor in your RfA! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 09:45, 14 March 2013 (UTC)

Thanks!

Hi Mandarax,

Thanks for the fixes to my DYK nominations, including the latest one, Elizabeth Stafford. I'd like to get the formatting right so you wouldn't have to do the fixes, so if you have any suggestions for me, please let me know. Best, NinaGreen (talk) 07:55, 15 March 2013 (UTC)

You're welcome. The main problem is that when the template asked for the "author", you accidentally gave your name with a space in the middle rather than your username, which has no space. This caused the template to produce incorrect links to your user and talk pages, and it thought you were two different users, so made a creation credit with the incorrect username, plus an extraneous nomination credit with the correct username. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:54, 15 March 2013 (UTC)
Got it! NinaGreen (talk) 17:17, 15 March 2013 (UTC)

Thank you, Mandarax

Everybody gets lucky sometime [3]. Apparently I receive such bouquets from all over the world [4], invariably from editors who are intent on adding unsourced POV material. The latest comes from a longterm vandal who doesn't like Ross Rowland. Perhaps you could add the article to your watchlist--I first came upon this in 2010, but it was going on at least two years earlier. As always I hope you're well, and wish you the very best, JNW (talk) 12:56, 15 March 2013 (UTC)

Yes, they got lucky and accidentally spelled it correctly this time (I had obviously noticed that you'd previously taken pity on 'em for their inability to get the right spelling). I, of course, got unlucky and initially reverted to their first attempt (from a different IP), which they apparently felt wasn't bold enough. At least it wasn't as bad as the last time I did a similar revert, which I mentioned above. As for my thoughts on vandals who can't spell, I also addressed that above. I'll see if I can keep an eye on that article, but I must admit that sometimes these days I barely glance at my watchlist. I hope everything's fine with you other than the occasional Wikiattack. I believe I read recently that you weren't feeling well, so I hope that's all better. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:33, 15 March 2013 (UTC)
I don't ever look at my watchlist anymore. I noticed the cholera business up top, most unusual. I have something less dramatic, but unpleasant nonetheless. Will be better in a few days. Cheers, JNW (talk) 20:43, 15 March 2013 (UTC)

Thank you!

Sorry I didn't notice that the brackets around 'pictured' weren't in italics on DYK hook for Fanny Murray; thanks for correcting it - very much appreciated! SagaciousPhil - Chat 21:59, 15 March 2013 (UTC)

You're welcome. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:11, 15 March 2013 (UTC)
Thank you also with your help with Ingrid Chua-Go. I'm afraid I'm not very good at the technical aspects of this reviewing stuff. But as a self-nominator for a DYK, I'm obliged to muddle on! Amandajm (talk) 01:13, 16 March 2013 (UTC)
You're welcome too. I can muddle through the technical stuff okay, but I wish I could write as well as you do. Your hook with that stained glass window is going to look great on DYK. Oh, and the dirty little secret is if someone else nominates your article for you, neither one of you has to do a review. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:24, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

One for you

Can I leave Holton Rower to you? Happy editing, Drmies (talk) 02:02, 18 March 2013 (UTC)

Urrgh. I have no interest in dealing with an article about a subject of questionable notability, written by the gallery who's promoting his art. (His pieces look, to me, like cross-sections of agate.) I have great respect for the people who do the necessary work of major cleanups of articles, but I think that ain't me right now.

At my current pace, March will mark my lowest number of monthly edits in years, and I'm kinda trying to just make edits I want to. I haven't made a single AWB edit for about a month. I'm trying to limit my Wikiwork to a few specific tasks, hopefully giving me more time to actually write some articles (but I'm making no promises!), still at my usual snail speed, of course. I went seven months last year without a DYK. Sometimes the most writing I did was the act of adding titles to my list of articles that I want to write. My hope is that by being less productive, I can become more productive. Oh, another library book I'd ordered arrived, and I was pleased to see that, unlike the previous one that had just six words about my artist, this one has six pages. (Well, six small pages, with much of that territory covered with photos and not that much information, but still....)

Sorry for the mandarambling, which has become my new favorite portmandaraxteau. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:25, 18 March 2013 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Holton Rower. Haha, I once ordered an expensive 500-page book to correct a page number error in Google Books. So--thanks for nothing, I suppose? I wish you all the best, dear Mandarax, and whether you care or not the latest David Bowie album isn't bad at all. Godspeed you black emperor! Drmies (talk) 14:27, 18 March 2013 (UTC)
First I apologize for omitting a crucial word. I meant to reiterate that that book had literally six words about the artist. Secondly I apologize for your purchase of that book. If I recall correctly, I was the one who questioned the page number, and when you mentioned buying it to check, I was thinking "no, no, no, don't bother doing that!", but it was a fait accompli. I attribute my Wikislowdown to the fact that I've finally been Wikishirted, and really that's all I was in it for. I like most Bowie, but his early stuff was magnificently inspired. And I've been mandaracking my brain to come up with another good portmandaraxteau, but haven't been very successful. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:37, 18 March 2013 (UTC)
Yes! It was you! Mandamn you! Drmies (talk) 04:14, 19 March 2013 (UTC)
C'est la vie! (I dunno why I'm speaking French today.) I kind of glossed over the "Godspeed you black emperor!".... Were you recommending the band (do they have some connection to Bowie?) or the film (neither of which I'd ever heard of before), or was it a reply to my random Grateful Dead lyric in my edit summary, or was it perhaps a Tourette's-like outburst? BTW, it's nice to see you here. I must admit that I don't keep up with everything on your talk page these days. I almost never read ANI (and when I do I always regret it), so it's not surprising that I don't follow everything that happens on ANI 2.0. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:01, 19 March 2013 (UTC)
Thanks to Amazon Cloud player I discovered I bought one of their albums a few years ago, probably because of some Wikipedia edits, and was surprised to find it wasn't death metal or some such thing. It's not bad. I was not aware of a film. ANI is no fun; ANI 2.0 is a bit better. There's brownies on the conference table right now, courtesy of Malik. A n d n o w w e m o v e o n , a t a s n a i l ' s p a c e . D r m i e s ( t - a - l - k ) 16:04, 19 March 2013 (UTC)
That means it's my fault you've slowed down. Aaaaah no, the guilt!!!! LadyofShalott 02:11, 21 March 2013 (UTC)
Hehe! Yes, it's all your fault! Thank you! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:53, 21 March 2013 (UTC)
Found you a commercial portmanteau: glamping. May I please be ill at that? LadyofShalott 02:42, 21 March 2013 (UTC)
Every year people get outraged when they see advertisements offering luxury, air conditioned, catered Burning Man accommodations, with servants and private bathrooms, of course, reached by private helicopter, for hundreds of thousands of dollars, while the other fifty thousand people wait in line for six to ten hours to drive in and make do, sweltering in their crude camps constructed in the playa dust. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:53, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

Stepehen Stepanian

Ok so I revised ALT2. I guess I'm fine with it. I tried adding the "Armenian" in there but it didn't work out. If you could somehow do it yourself that would be great. Thank you once again for your advice. Proudbolsahye (talk) 01:20, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for your note. I'm glad to see that you're not upset by my suggestions. My only goal is to produce the best hook, which will hopefully result in the most people clicking through to see your article. I've added ALT3, which not only adds "Armenian", but also adds that the patent was initially rejected, which implies that he was eventually successful. I hope it works for you. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:32, 21 March 2013 (UTC)
No problem. I know you are definitely sincere in your observations. Mandarax...in the ALT3...do you think the word reportedly is even needed? "due to a belief" already signifies one belief anyways...heres the hook for reference:

...that Armenian inventor Stephen Stepanian's patent for the first concrete mixer truck (pictured) was initially rejected, reportedly due to a belief that a truck couldn't support the weight of a concrete mixer? Proudbolsahye (talk) 04:48, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

I only added the "reportedly" in response to a comment on the nom page, so if you (having access to the original source) think it's not necessary, I guess it's not. I've removed it. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:19, 21 March 2013 (UTC)
Sounds great Mandarax. You have been of great help. Thank you. Happy editing! Proudbolsahye (talk) 06:42, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

Thank you (again)!

Hi, thanks for sorting out the formatting of the Dick Wick Hall DYK hook - as you've probably realised, I always seem to miss something no matter how thorough I might think I am - I'm just really glad you're able (and willing) to sort out my mess! Thank you, it is very much appreciated. SagaciousPhil - Chat 19:15, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

You're welcome. That was a very minor thing, and I certainly would never say that it was a "mess" I had to "sort out". MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:24, 29 March 2013 (UTC)
You are very kind! Can I adopt you so you can make sure I always do things properly? - have a great holiday weekend! SagaciousPhil - Chat 19:42, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Update on Joan Feynman DYK nomination

Hey there. Thanks much for your help and suggestion on adding to the Joan Feynman article for my nomination for DYK :) Just FYI, I think I've added the correct amount, so hopefully it's long enough now to meet the relevant criteria. Please let me know if there's anything else I can do to help it along! cheers Girona7 (talk) 05:31, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Hi, sorry I haven't been around til now. I see that your query's already been answered on the nomination page, that you've installed DYKcheck, and that you're almost there. Good luck! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:07, 31 March 2013 (UTC)
No worries at all. Thanks again for your help and encouragement :) Girona7 (talk) 23:37, 31 March 2013 (UTC)




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