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DYK for Walter Baxter

The DYK project (nominate) 16:04, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

Echo the elephant

Hello, I think it would be even funnier, if you put...

"... that scientists observed an echo which lasted 65 years?"

instead of ... that scientists studied an echo which lasted 65 years?. Cheers, Gilliam (talk) 22:53, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for the suggestion. I've made the change. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:05, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Custom warnings in Twinkle

You can now add custom warnings to Twinkle via WP:TWPREFS. Give it a try! — This, that and the other (talk) 00:31, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Wow! That was fast! Thanks! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 10:04, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Removal of assessments

Hello Mandarax! Removing article assessments in project templates, as you did here, is not really helpful. If you feel that an article is clearly erroneously assessed for quality, changing it to your best guess, or simply the next level up or down, is much more helpful than deleting the quality assessment for several projects. This is indeed a different logic than removing a stub template, which is completely correct when the article is no longer a stub. Regards, Tomas e (talk) 14:22, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

On the contrary, I think it's very useful. The article was clearly not a stub, but I'm not familiar with the standards used by various WikiProjects to assess articles. If I had not removed the erroneous stub classification, it probably would have stayed that way for months or years. What happened is exactly what was supposed to happen: the next day someone assessed one project, and a few days later, you did the other two. It's much better to remove something which is incorrect, knowing that someone who knows what they're doing will come along and correctly add it, than to replace it with something else that may be incorrect. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:06, 5 April 2013 (UTC)

Parole camp

Hi. Ok, I have edited and revised the article parole camp. feel free to take a look. thanks very much. --Steve, Sm8900 (talk) 10:52, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Mine was just a drive-by comment. I see that you also notified the actual reviewer, who's updated the review, and I'm sure will complete it. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:27, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Apostrophe template

Thanks for correcting my use of this in DYK. I had never realised there was more than one template available. Cool! Espresso Addict (talk) 15:05, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

You're welcome. Strangely, the template with the straight apostrophe is used for italics, and the slanted, sort-of-backward-italic-looking one is used for non-italics. The amount of visible difference between them often depends on the adjacent character. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:32, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Great Moonbuggy Race

Dear Mandarax, would you mind running over this for copyediting purposes? Thank you so much. Drmies (talk) 18:19, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

 Done, but I think it would be good to replace those "First place" and "Best design" icons in the "Winners" section; I can't see them, and I assume a significant number of other readers also can't. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:04, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

ANI notice

Hello. There is currently a discussion at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents regarding an issue with which you may have been involved. The thread is User:Kavdiaravish.2FUser:Stonex201. Thank you. Drmies (talk) 18:24, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

Oh, I don't think I could turn Christmas in the Brothel into a DYK. It's not long enough now. I've looked into writing/expanding articles about individual paintings before, and unless they're very significant, I can never find enough usable information about them. (And the "very significant" ones tend to already have substantial articles.)

Perhaps you noticed that for the second time (the first time being at the top of this page), I've taken an article which you've moved out of AfC and turned it into an April Fools' Day DYK – the first one in the queue for 2014. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:29, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

Ha, yes, now I understand! I saw the conversation above and was wondering why that sounded so familiar. Alzheimer's comes early to me, Mandarax. Nice work, as usual. As for that Indian spammer, I hate nixing all those painting stubs but I was left with little choice. Rewriting and then destroying the history is an option, but there's only so much me left after I get the girls to bed. Drmies (talk) 02:15, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

New Ethel Scull 36 Times pic - thank you

Thanx Manrdrax!
New pic significantly improves the article, which is what we're here to do, write an encyclopedia.
(There may be some concerns raised that I wrote the article to support my RfA. I confirm that, yep, I wrote the article to support my RfA.)
I'm sure you are aware of the whole Kavdiaravish/wahooart.com dramahz. A previous version of their userpage asserted "I am on mission to create 10,000 painting wiki pages." I'd be happy to continue with that kind of project.
--Shirt58 (talk) 11:43, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

You're welcome. I wish I'd looked for the image two months ago when I edited the article with the summary "A larger image should be substituted, but for now, it's much better to show a small sharp image than an enlarged fuzzy one". When the image was re-enlarged a couple of days ago to a fuzzy state, it prompted me to go take care of it.

Good luck on your project. I notice that you avoided committing to 10,000 by saying "that kind of project" instead of just "that project". MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:12, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

DYK for Max Weber (artist)

PanydThe muffin is not subtle 08:02, 13 April 2013 (UTC)

Noland and McCracken

Please weigh in here [1], thanks...Modernist (talk) 23:49, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

I'm not very knowledgeable about image copyright issues. I'm glad that Johnbod, who seems to know what he's talking about, joined in. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:15, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

Admin

Is there any particular reason you're not an admin? --Closedmouth (talk) 15:46, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

Simple, most editors who work with Mandarax would vote oppose. Having a sane, rational person being an admin goes against the very definition of an admin. Once we invite one of "those" people into our club, we would start being nice. No way is that going to happen. Bgwhite (talk) 19:12, 15 April 2013 (UTC)
Hehe, thanks.

I don't think I would want to deal with the stress of an RfA. (I can't think of a single thing I've done which anyone could object to, but there are things I haven't done much or any of....) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:18, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

Hmm, well if you object to the notion I will desist forthwith, but I also can't imagine any oppositions anybody would have, and can assure you as someone who had an easy RfA (as I think you would have) that it can jangle the nerves a little bit but is nowhere near as stressful as it appears from the outside. And being able to delete things without asking is really convenient! Anyway, it's up to you, but I'd be happy to nominate you if you're up for it. --Closedmouth (talk) 02:56, 16 April 2013 (UTC)
Thank you very much for the offer. I'm not interested right now, but who knows? I might change my mind some day. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:27, 16 April 2013 (UTC)
Yours would be even easier than mine. Drmies (talk) 01:02, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
That hardly seems possible. As I recall, nobody even asked you any questions. Oh, yes, there was one... asking if you enjoyed being a member of the "100" club. And they didn't even follow up and ask how you felt about being in the "200" club! Somebody even referred to your RfA as a "lovefest". MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:38, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
Man, that neutral vote... that was something else. LadyofShalott 03:10, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
Yes, if I ever do go for it, maybe I should nominate myself, to spare a nominator from being investigated and attacked on the most ridiculous grounds conceivable. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 17:19, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
Oh yes, that one. I was thinking of the edit summary one, but yours was even worse. Ridiculix. Drmies (talk) 23:09, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

Talk:Karl Paryla

Can't believe how fast you are. Thanks Mandarax. Now, when you're done rereading Vonnegut and you've seen all episodes of Dr. Babylon VI enough times, maybe you should order a new book: Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald. Thanks again, Drmies (talk) 01:01, 18 April 2013 (UTC)

You're welcome. Thanks for reminding me that there's still much Vonnegut I haven't read. I haven't seen Babylon 5 since it last aired on what was then called the SciFi channel, probably ten years ago. You're absolutely right. I should get the DVDs and watch every episode again. Why hasn't that run in ten years????? And you're also suggesting that I watch every episode of Dr. Who? That could be tougher. Hasn't it been running for forty or fifty years? We'll see. And then you want me to read another book too? Where would I find the time? MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:52, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
We had a group of tweens and teens show up today to make sonic screwdrivers out of pens and Sculpy and play Dr. Who trivia. They were quite enthusiastic and creative. (All were avid fans of Dr. Who.) They discussed fandom of various shows - a couple admitting, Drmies, to be "bronies". We wondered if there were any Downton Abbey fans amongst them. When we asked if any watched it, we got reminded that we're "old" with was a chorus of "My mother/parents do." LadyofShalott 02:16, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
My kids watch Downton Abbey. Drmies (talk) 02:17, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
What do they make of it? LadyofShalott 02:19, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
Mudpies, but they make that out of everything. Drmies (talk) 03:39, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
I got a VPN service this past fall so we could watch Downton Abbey and Dr Who before being shown in the U.S. Of course we watched Downton when it came on PBS again. The major downside is we watched it via a laptop while snuggling in bed. Made my wife happy, but I'm still seeing a shrink over it. Mandarax, did you see where J. Michael Straczynski is going to do a SciFi show for Netflix in 2014? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bgwhite (talk • contribs)
I've still never seen Downton Abbey or Dr. Who. I had to look up "bronies" to see what that was. (Hmmmmm, I would expect the Dr. Who fanbase to be largely male, but I wouldn't expect any of them to admit being bronies.) No I wasn't aware that Straczynski was working on anything, or that Netflix was doing any original programming. I see nothingk. I know nothingk. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 16:56, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
Ok Sgt. Schultz, thanks to Lady, I blocked my second person. I'm starting to get a hang of it, so you better be careful. Bgwhite (talk) 18:22, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
Oh, I meant to talk to you about that, Bgwhite. (Sorry for hijacking your talk page, Mandarax.) Just so you know, the kind of thing you revdeled from Lady's user page is the kind of thing that should ultimately get sent to oversight, though of course revdel is a good interim step. I put in a request for that one last night and it's already been approved, so no worries. Writ Keeper ⚇♔ 18:31, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
Ah, I didn't know that, so thank you. Hopefully I never have to do that again. It still won't stop my Madarax eradication campaign. Bgwhite (talk) 19:21, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
I don't even know what y'all are talking about, but apparently thanks are due - so thank you! I'm off to look at my page history if it hasn't already been oversighted. LadyofShalott 23:21, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
...and whatever it was is gone. Someone shoot me an email to fill me in, please? I like to know what's been hurled my way even if I don't want it left hanging around. LadyofShalott 23:24, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
Email sent. Bgwhite (talk) 23:44, 18 April 2013 (UTC)
Replied. Thank you again, BG and WK! LadyofShalott 00:00, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

Prep area

Hi, great minds obviously think alike as we seem to have hit an edit conflict in the prep area, as I was also trying to amend the 'called as' from the hook. Just a slight further thought - do you think it should read the Seychelles? I've always referred to it as the Seychelles but that might just be me! SagaciousPhil - Chat 21:02, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

It's odd how something can be around for a long time, then you go to edit it and you get a conflict as someone else does what you were going to do. Earlier today I went to revert some five-hour-old vandalism, and I got an edit conflict as someone reverted it moments before I tried to. I personally agree with you and think "the Seychelles" is better, but the country's article seems to use it mostly without the "the". I don't like the last part of the hook (Aldabra ... "has the largest concentration of about 100,000 Giant tortoises in the world"), but I guess I'll just leave it as is. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:25, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

Dash

I'm never going to get these right. I'm going to stick with using the dashes on my keyboard and wait for someone to correct it for me. Drmies (talk) 01:01, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

Hehe. That's fine – I don't mind switching 'em. You don't want to put the gnomes out of business! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 03:51, 23 April 2013 (UTC)
"hangry: 'cranky or angry due to feeling hungry'; adorkable: 'adorable in a dorky way'". Drmies (talk) 14:21, 25 April 2013 (UTC)
Mandarax, do you know if IP 99 is around somewhere? I just tag-bombed Stephen Hannock, and I think I was being modest. Drmies (talk) 15:44, 26 April 2013 (UTC)
Sorry, don't know; but 99's alter ego was around for two edits a couple of days ago. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:24, 26 April 2013 (UTC)
Get busy with it, my man. Usually I can do something with for instance a set of external links, but in this case there isn't much of a chronological narrative that I can stick such references in. Epeefleche and the Lady have been at it, but what we need is a man who knows his art as well as the art of Wikipedia maintenance. You. We need you. Fix it and I'll give you a free rollback of a good-faith edit by your worse enemy. Drmies (talk)
  • Your math is fine. For the initial size I get a slightly lower figure (1087), probably attributable to different tools (I used DYKcheck and thus am inclined to trust it), but the 11-character difference doesn't matter. For the expanded size, I used the current version, which is also lower (5855) than what you listed (6200), but in any case, it's comfortably more than a five times expansion. I have absolutely no idea how the other user arrived at their figures. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 18:59, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

DYK for Maria van Oosterwijck

The DYK project (nominate) 08:04, 4 May 2013 (UTC)

  • Thanks! It's very nice of you to say so. (I felt kind of... blah about the article after I'd written it, so it's good to get some feedback.) It was tough finding information on her – in English, at least; as one might expect, there seemed to be much more available in Dutch. And many of the sources contradicted each other.

    BTW, speaking of people of Dutch heritage with "van" in their names, I met Dick Van Dyke today at an art festival (his grandson is an artist). MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:15, 6 May 2013 (UTC)

  • I know, haha. Listen, I'm thinking of writing a whole slew of such articles. I'm in a nostalgic mood: listening to "Aan de Amsterdamse grachten", even thinking about it, brings tears to my eyes. Maybe God is telling me that I will die soon. Anyway, I want to have a whole bunch of them up at DYK but I still have to invent the special occasion--maybe the Uitmarkt, though that's hardly a worldwidely known phenomenon. What do you think? You practically run the joint. Drmies (talk) 19:58, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
  • Well, I certainly hope you're not going to die soon. Your writing a bunch of articles sounds great to me. If you're planning for Uitmarkt DYKs, be sure to write the articles in your userspace and don't move them to mainspace until the date is near. DYKs can only be saved for special occasions other than April Fools' Day a maximum of six weeks in advance. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:32, 10 May 2013 (UTC)
  • Oh, well, ahem, never mind then... You know I don't do user space, certainly not like you. I saw something go by on Recent changes a few weeks ago and thought about helping you, but your "BITCH don't touch this fucking article" template scared me off a bit. :) Happy mother's day, Mandarax. Drmies (talk) 15:55, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

Why - of all days - does April Fools' Day get to be the one day for which DYKs can be saved for an entire year? For that to be the sole exception to the rule seems extraordinarily silly. Perhaps therein lies the irony. LadyofShalott 00:56, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

This actually does make sense. If someone wants to work on an article specifically for other occasions, such as Christmas or International Women's Day or even Uitmarkt, it's pretty easy to find a relevant topic and go for it. But it's generally not so straightforward for April Fools' Day. To facilitate making the best AFD possible, it helps to allow people to nominate articles throughout the year as they come across them and see Foolish potential. That's how I was able to nominate the first one for 2014, on April 3. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:15, 13 May 2013 (UTC)
Hmm, ok. I guess I can't argue that. LadyofShalott 02:47, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

QPQ check

Using the bot edits gives a cleaner easier to understand output, but it is not accurate. This task used to be done manually and those results are excluded. For instance, I am shown as having only two DYKs which is long way from being anywhere near correct. SpinningSpark 21:55, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

I was the one who, sixteen months ago, first suggested using the tool for determining QPQs. At that time, I mentioned the limitations. I never suggested that it's "accurate", but for most users it will show if they've got over five. If it doesn't, then it should be investigated manually. (The situation is similar for DYKcheck – if it says the article has been expanded five times, then it's fine, but if it doesn't, then you should always check manually.) The way the toolbox was before I changed it was much less accurate and much less helpful in most situations. For example, it shows that I've made 4314 edits to Template talk:Did you know, which is a bit more than my 19 DYKs. Every edit made to the page, including all those before we had subpages, would be included. Conversely, it would undercount DYKs for users who didn't do the transcluding (such as when a co-author or someone else does the nomination) or when there are multi-article hooks (there's just one transclusion no matter how many articles are nominated). MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:46, 23 May 2013 (UTC)
I doubt that the vast majority of reviewers will understand that, or even be aware that there is a potential issue. It really is not much use when it is not even picking up a DYK I had in February. I doubt your claim that this will work for most users. Isn't that kind of assuming that those that do have five or more are churning them out every week? On the other hand, number of edits to the nomination page may not equal DYKs, but anyone who is regularly editing that page has probably got five at least. SpinningSpark 23:06, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

Note: when I made the change to the template, I assumed that someone had accidentally put in the wrong value. It didn't occur to me that it had been done intentionally until I saw your note.

I was curious why this didn't work very well for you. After a little investigating, I discovered that it's because you archive your user talk page by moving it instead of copy/pasting it. (This archiving practice is strongly discouraged now except possibly for grandfathered users such as yourself.) Instead of simply searching your main talk page history, which works fine for users who archive the recommended way, it's necessary to search the separate histories of each of your talk page archives. It works for you by using a wildcard. It still obviously doesn't show your DYKs from the pre-bot days (the bot has been online since about February 2010).

If we want to be able to make this work for the rare people who archive your way, we could make the link like this: QPQ check. Using a wildcard would have the occasional disadvantage of returning results for other users whose names begin with the desired user's name (searching for John* would return not only John but Johnbod and others).

I have no idea what you mean when you say "Isn't that kind of assuming that those that do have five or more are churning them out every week?" Nothing is being assumed about a user's rate of DYK output. It counts the total number of the bot's edits to a user's talk page(s).

I also don't understand why you criticize my method because "it is not accurate" and then defend your method with the very imprecise "anyone who is regularly editing that page has probably got five at least". Remember that before the relatively recent switch to subpages, all discussion of nominations took place on T:TDYK. It would be quite possible for a user who had just one or two DYKs (or even zero – for example, if their nomination was rejected) to have made more than five edits to that page.

Personally, if I need to find out how many DYKs someone's had, my first choice is always to look on the user's page, which usually lists, or links to a list, of their DYKs and/or has a userbox with the number. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:23, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

The comment about "churning them out" was due to my own results going back only a month and the erroneous conclusion that QPQ would therefore only come up positive if the editor was creating DYKs at the rate of five per month. Thank you for explaining why my results are anomalous, but not sure I want to change my archiving method after all these years. It would certainly be a complete pain to undo the existing archiving. SpinningSpark 08:55, 24 May 2013 (UTC)
Ah, I see.

I wouldn't expect you to change how you archive; as I mentioned above, I'm sure that users who have been doing it your way are "grandfathered" in. And even if you did decide to switch from now on, I definitely wouldn't expect you to adjust your existing archives. Although it could be an interesting administrative challenge to merge more than a dozen histories! (Well, probably a lot more tedious than interesting.) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 10:01, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

Washington Cemetery

See my response at Talk:Washington Cemetery (Washington Court House, Ohio). Nyttend (talk) 01:59, 26 May 2013 (UTC)

Davidwr has given you a cookie! Cookies promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. You can spread the WikiLove by giving someone else a cookie, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend.

For your help teaching QM400032 (talk · contribs) how to change his signature so he can resume editing. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 18:47, 26 May 2013 (UTC)

To spread the goodness of cookies, you can add {{subst:Cookie}} to someone's talk page with a friendly message, or eat this cookie on the giver's talk page with {{subst:munch}}!

Thank you very much! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:27, 26 May 2013 (UTC)

The Minor Barnstar!

The Minor Barnstar
It may seem completely trivial, but thanks for catching the en dash on the DYK — little things matter! NorthBySouthBaranof (talk) 09:09, 31 May 2013 (UTC)
Thanks for the barnstar! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:42, 31 May 2013 (UTC)

I'm a hybercritic

Not only am I a hybercritic, I'm also a hypercritic. I've also been taken to ANI by their sockpuppet and had some of my userspace pages altered unintentionally. Another words, I'm having a fun time. Signed, Hybercritic. Bgwhite (talk) 07:06, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

I was unaware of both your hybercritic and hypercritic tendencies. I also didn't know that you do "nothing else all day then deleting stuff". All good to know! I had seen the ANI because of the notice on your talk page. (The only time I ever visit ANI is when I see a notice on someone's talk page.) They're right – if you're guilty of anything, it would certainly be a "clean up violation". Oh, speaking of cleaning up... after about a four month absence, I finally started using AWB again to do some listas and DEFAULTSORT maintenance. So I'm having a fun time too. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:55, 4 June 2013 (UTC)

DYK for Albert Swinden

Graeme Bartlett (talk) 16:02, 6 June 2013 (UTC)

Tom Wills

Thanks for fixing my DYK on Tom Wills. I was wondering, has the nomination not been reviewed because it doesn't qualify as new content? Maybe I should change it to a fact from the "family and early years" section, which has undergone the most expansion within the last week or two. - HappyWaldo (talk) 02:07, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

You're welcome. No, I don't think that's the reason. If someone had determined that, they probably would have mentioned it, and that would have been their review. It can take a long time for a nomination to get reviewed – sometimes several weeks or more, and you just submitted it yesterday. I see that you listed the nomination under June 7, but a quick look at the article's history shows that it hasn't been edited since May 25. It's supposed to be listed under the date expansion began. I don't know if you've got sufficient expansion, but it looks like the nomination was late (it's supposed to be expanded and nominated all within five days). It may be up to the generosity of the reviewer. It doesn't matter which section the fact is from; the total prose size of the article must be five times expanded, whether the whole article is expanded or just one section.

Will this be your first DYK? If so, you might want to mention that, both to make it clear that you're not required to perform a review, and also some reviewers may be more inclined to give you a little more slack. If this one doesn't work out, keep at it, and good luck with your next one. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:53, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

DYK nomination defeated, oh well. This was my second attempt at a DYK, the first came from a new article and sneaked through after some corrections. I still find the process a little confusing, but your reply and a review I received have cleared some things up. - HappyWaldo (talk) 09:06, 9 June 2013 (UTC)
Aw, that's too bad. But at least I see you got some very positive feedback. Thanks for the work you're doing here, and I hope your next DYK attempt is successful. BTW, the five day rule applies to the time an article is in mainspace. If you need more time to create or expand an article, you can take all the time you want if you work on it in a sandbox in your userspace. The five-day clock only starts ticking when it hits main article space. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 09:39, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

DYK suggestion

It would probably be a good idea to add the info about the formatting for the "(pictured)" to the boilerplate at the head of each nom. I know that I can't ever remember it.--Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 20:44, 8 June 2013 (UTC)

Possibly, but I think I'd prefer not to clutter up the important instructions with something so insignificant. If it's done "wrong", then someone usually fixes it, and if not, worst case is that a hook makes it to the Main Page with unitalicized parentheses. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:25, 8 June 2013 (UTC)
OK, I just don't know how often y'all have to correct it for it to be burdensome. But if y'all are OK with fixing those... --Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 01:11, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

Template:Did you know nominations/Daniel Vineyards

Issues worked in my user space as best I can, article recreated, DYK renewed. You can find out what is in the grape-free wine now ;-) PumpkinSky talk 10:44, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

Hehe, thanks. I guess it's a good hook, since it made me wonder. I'm glad to see that you recreated the article, since you seem to have nominated it for deletion out of frustration and exasperation. I hope you have better luck with the DYK now. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:28, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

C/O Sir

Put me in the picture: Template:Did you know nominations/C/O Sir! --Tito Dutta  (talk • contributions • email) 05:26, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

At first I didn't understand your cryptic message. Then I looked at the nomination page and saw that, after the hook was removed from the Queue, nobody remembered to unpromote it on its nomination page. I've now done it, so it's active again. Good luck this time. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:03, 10 June 2013 (UTC)
I read a short story in 2002 (when I was a school student)— "The cage" by Bertram Chandler! That "excellent" story had this line "put us in the picture"! I thought this was a common English use, see last 4 lines of page 6 here. Very sorry for confusion! --Tito Dutta  (talk • contributions • email) 07:16, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Thanks

For sorting out the template here. I knew there was something wrong with it, but couldn't work out what. Prioryman (talk) 22:16, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

You're welcome. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:19, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

The Original Barnstar
Thank you again, Mandarax, for looking over my shoulder. I'm kind of pissed: I went to school with him, and he's a thousand times more notable than me, and better-looking to boot. (Well, with hair he was; he got ALL the girls.) Drmies (talk) 01:22, 12 June 2013 (UTC)
You're welcome, and thanks for the barnstar. Just for anyone looking at this, I'd like to point out that I did my review of the DYK nomination before I saw this barnstar. Gotta avoid a big barnstar-for-review scandal! I'm sure your notability will skyrocket soon. Oh, I learned that the Dutch word for "one liners" is apparently "oneliners". MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:58, 12 June 2013 (UTC)
Yeah, wonder how that got into our language. We spell our compounds as one word, usually. DYK that his father used to drive a beautiful Citroen DS, and then a CX? Drmies (talk) 02:01, 12 June 2013 (UTC)
I didn't know that about Dutch. I imagine it's not done quite to the extent it is in German. You could probably write a whole novel in German using just one word.

Thank you, Drmies (←invoking a Notification to you), for the link to the Citroën. When I saw it, I was thinking "wasn't that the car Columbo drove?" So I checked it out, and answered not only that question, but another one I've had for a while: "isn't the car which The Mentalist drives very similar to Columbo's?" I like it when questions which have been tumbling around in my brain get answered serendipitously. (Sometimes I wish that "In popular culture" sections were eliminated, but then I come across one like the Citroën one that I actually find helpful.) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 09:28, 12 June 2013 (UTC)

The DS is the most beautiful car ever built. When I was a kid there was a man in our street with one, and I used to walk past it on my way to school, drooling all the time. I once hitched a ride in one: it is so much more comfortable than any other car of that era, it's unbelievable. The Mentalist--that's a current series, right, with a blond hipster? Check out the Citroen SM: it's not as pretty, but it's a DS on steroids, with a Maserati engine. Johan Cruijff had one. Those cars are rare: I saw one in 1990 or 1991, on my way to the pharmacy in Amstelveen. (That's how memorable those cars are!) And I hate Burt Reynolds, since he dumps one in the drink--in one of those stupid movies he made. Wasn't it the one partly shot in Tuscaloosa? Where he jumps a river? I wish I didn't have to work today. Ramble, ramble. Drmies (talk) 14:59, 12 June 2013 (UTC)
You realise its name is a play on the word déesse... Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 22:05, 29 June 2013 (UTC)

DYK for En Canot, Im Boot (Metzinger)

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 16:02, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

I don't consider myself to be particularly an advocate for, or an enthusiast of, abstract art, but I am personally responsible for every image of an abstract painting which has appeared on DYK for at least the last five years. I pored over the DYK archives from June 2008 to the present, and found just five. These illustrated three articles which I wrote – Frederick Hammersley, Paul Kelpe, and Albert Swinden – and two which I discovered and nominated – Max Weber (artist) and now En Canot, Im Boot (Metzinger). Of course, I've written three other DYK articles on abstract artists which didn't have DYK images, making abstract artists 30% of my DYKs. Plus I wrote another article about an abstract art movement. Well, maybe I am an advocate for abstract art! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:32, 19 June 2013 (UTC)
Ha. You know, my four-year old could make those paintings and write those DYKs. Drmies (talk) 03:14, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
I've still got the drawing of the dogs, one six-legged and one eight-legged. Some day, when your kid's a famous artist, it'll be worth a fortune! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:00, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

Hi again Mandrax. Tho I was just a kid at the time I well remember that it was widely regarded as a huge barrel of laughs. And as I add to it, it just gets lulz-ier. A few days after the theft, the gallery administration decided to make the security people more more active, so their chairs got taken away. The security staff promptly went on strike, and the gallery had to close down for three days. And turns out the entire gallery's collection was insured for less that the price of the painting itself. All coming soon and with reliable references and everything. Pete aka --Shirt58 (talk) 13:37, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

Oh yeah.Do you know how to make
float at the side of the text like an image, instead of being like a block quote? --Shirt58 (talk) 13:50, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
You're welcome for the fixes. Wow, that's all amazing. I hadn't looked at the article before, and from the hook ("the crime is still unsolved") I assumed that the painting was still missing. I'm glad to see that it's not.

As for moving the quote to the side, use {{rquote|right or left|quote|author}} MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:00, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, Mandarax. You have new messages at Template:Did you know nominations/HMS Vestal (J215).
Message added 18:57, 24 June 2013 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

I fixed the page size Matty.007 18:57, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

I had left you a note on your talk page rather than on the nomination page because I usually find that once one person makes any comment, nobody else will touch the nomination. I was hoping you could fix it before anyone mentioned it on the nom page. Some people will do that, claim it as a QPQ review, and never come back. I'm glad to see that the person who did mention it on the nom page is still working on the review. Good luck. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:11, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

Thank you

Thank you for contacting me about the DYK.--Taiping Tulip (talk) 14:57, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

You're welcome. Good luck with the DYK. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:04, 27 June 2013 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar
Well caught. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 22:01, 29 June 2013 (UTC)
Thanks! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:38, 29 June 2013 (UTC)

Re: DYK nomination of Jean Swank

You wrote in my talk:   Hi, in order to eligible for the 2× BLP exception in DYK, an article must have had no references at all before expansion began. This is not the case for your nomination: Template:Did you know nominations/Jean Swank. However, you've almost expanded it the "normal" 5× amount. It was 526 prose characters before expansion, and it's now 2547. So, if you can add just another 83 characters, it will be a full five times expansion. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:51, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for letting me know. Should be well over now. When I find time, I'll expand her article more. She's won quite a few awards in her career. There's a more to the GEMS story; cancellation of the project is probably why she retired this summer. Even though she's over 70 (and I haven't been able to find her birth date), I suspect she would have remained at NASA until it launched in 2014. Thanks again and take care, DocTree (ʞlɐʇ·cont) Join WER 04:48, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
You're welcome. I've noted on the nomination page that you've satisfied the regular five times expansion requirement. Also, while there, I noticed that a reviewer was not thrilled with your original hook, so I suggested an alternate. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:50, 9 July 2013 (UTC)
And 'tis a much better hook. I added wikilinks. Again, many thanks for your help. DocTree (ʞlɐʇ·cont) Join WER 17:33, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, Mandarax. You have new messages at Template:Did you know nominations/H-Bomb Yield Calculation.
Message added 19:21, 13 July 2013 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

The article was AFC created, see page. Matty.007 19:21, 13 July 2013 (UTC)

Answered on the nomination page – that was thirteen months ago, unless I'm missing something.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:42, 13 July 2013 (UTC)

Dr. What?

Hey, we're watching some Dr. Who thing on Roku. A department store was just blown up, and a plastic arm discarded. It's probably going to walk away or something. You can tell I'm greatly enthralled by this TV show. Drmies (talk) 02:57, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

Ninth doctor, first episode of the series. The blonde is Rose Tyler, she becomes quite significant in the series. That was the first episode of the revived series, you are watching history Drmies. --kelapstick(bainuu) 03:05, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
I tried to read the main Dr. Who article but couldn't make heads or tails of it. I thought it was Dr. 11 or 12 or so, but didn't recognize them--all those white people pretty much look the same to me. Fortunately Liam started crying so we had to interrupt our viewing session. With a little bit of luck he'll be difficult to get back to sleep again and we won't resume this. I mean, that would suck terribly of course. Is there full frontal nudity in any of these shows? Drmies (talk) 03:09, 21 July 2013 (UTC)
I've still never seen Dr. Who. I think I'm afraid that I might like it, and then I'd be committed to spending the rest of my life catching up with fifty years of it. And furthermore, I have no idea what Roku is. Is that something like Netflix? MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 05:53, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

One deep rabbit hole

Hi Mandarax, apologies in advance for what I'm about to drop on you, but don't feel obliged to take action. More than anything I'd like your feedback, and for others to be aware of the following. While I was adding to a few bios I was led to Paul Dougherty (artist), which was largely edited by a few related accounts; the main one, I gather, is an art appraiser with whom I bantered a few years ago. They know their subjects, but have left a trail of articles, often on noteworthy artists, that are rife with listcruft, 'further reading' lists that are called 'references', promotional tone, anecdotal and poorly sourced content or use of unreliable sources and original research (Tim Solliday, Theodore Lukits, Arny Karl, Peter Seitz Adams and California Plein-Air Painting, for example, and California Plein-Air Revival and Decorative Impressionism, which appear to be invented titles based on original research). The problem with articles like these is that they're a rather equal mix of interesting content and scattershot scholarship. I think they persistently weave across the solid line of COI. It looks like there are strong ties to the California Art Club. If you have the time take a look at a few of these, and let me know what you think. I hardly have the stomach to gut these, but can bring this elsewhere at your recommendation. If nothing else, it's a rationale to chat. Thanks and best regards, JNW (talk) 14:27, 22 July 2013 (UTC)

I'm really not good at recognizing and dealing with stuff like this. But you are, and I fully support any action you decide to take, from gutting to reporting at any appropriate noticeboards. As someone who tries to make sure that every fact is backed up by an inline reference, I find it disturbing to have an article the size of Dougherty's without a single one, and the listed articles which do have them include a large percentage which don't look particularly helpful, including ones for Wikipedia, which everyone knows can't be used as a reliable source. BTW, thanks for your work on Talcott. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:53, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
Thank you. If only I hadn't started with Talcott.... there's so much wrong with the aforementioned articles that I find it overwhelming; there might be dozens that have been so impacted. For a start I've AfD'd one of them, but I hardly know which noticeboard to go to. Hope you're well. Cheers, JNW (talk) 21:58, 22 July 2013 (UTC)
Sorry to have inadvertently pulled you right back in by writing Talcott. Or was that my evil plan all along? MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:57, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

Template:Did you know nominations/Gene Stratton-Porter Cabin (Rome City, Indiana)

I don't see how the hook is awkward. After Tony's excessive nitpicking about the nominated article being close to the beginning rather than towards the end, all hooks that were promoted since then were reworded so that the nominated article was moved towards the front. It didn't matter to them if the original hook was alright. I can add a new hook if you want, but I would like you to approve it because I believe that an article should not be held up over the hook when the original one was not inaccurate. SL93 (talk) 02:53, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

Responded there. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:29, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

DYK for Allen Butler Talcott

 — Crisco 1492 (talk) 15:32, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

A bowl of strawberries for you!

Thank you for making Audrey Smith a better article. I told our new editors at

Wikipedia:WikiProject Women's History/NIMR2013 that we should aim for a few DYKs, so am going for this and Elizabeth Press. Maybe ‎Delphine Parrott too! Edwardx (talk) 07:43, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for the strawberries, and you're welcome for my work on the article. I'm very supportive of the goal of getting more articles about women on Wikipedia (especially ones who write about reanimating and resuscitating rodents!). Of the twenty one DYK articles I've written, eight have been about female artists. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:01, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

Thanks

Mandarax, yes, you were right about those bizarre edits when I was replacing ş with Romanian ș. I think it was a browser issue; normally that doesn't happen. Thanks for catching it. EvaristoAugello (talk) 19:38, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

Or maybe it was a Visual Editor issue. I hear it's been doing some strange things. I discovered your edit as I was replacing a whole bunch of instances of "Constantin Brâncuşi" with "Constantin Brâncuși", MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:50, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

DYK for Transportation of animals

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 03:33, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

  • It's hard to predict how successful a hook might turn out to be. BTW, I don't think my minor contributions were sufficient to include me in your "we", but thanks for adding me to the credits, no matter how undeserving I may be.

    In other news, history has sort of repeated itself. In my very first Wikiedit, I corrected the spelling of Jackson Pollock's name, from "Pollack". Well, tonight, eight and a half years later, I was at a gallery and I noticed that the artist's statement displayed on the wall mentioned "Jackson Pollack". After all my time on Wikipedia, I often find myself frustrated when I discover an error somewhere that I can't correct. But here I was, and I just happened to have a pencil with me. so I corrected it. I didn't think anyone had seen me do it, but a little later someone approached me and told me he was the artist. He thanked me for correcting it, saying that the error was embarrassing. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:33, 11 August 2013 (UTC)

  • That's a great story, Mandarax. L'histoire se repete. And I think you deserve every bit of credit that gets thrown your way, and more. Have a great Sunday! We're going swimming. Drmies (talk) 14:36, 11 August 2013 (UTC)

You are a Golden Editor!

Good as gold!
Earlier this year, I began presenting the Golden Editor Award to editors who have made a significant contribution to this project. While I don't recall ever having talked with you, I believe that you meet the criteria for this award (you should probably be given an award simply for hanging around this place for eight-and-a-half years). Your userpage shows you've done plenty of content work, but I'm sure that's not the only way you have contributed to the 'pedia. I have been impressed by the respect shown to you both on Drmies talk page and also in the "Admin" section above. I certainly hope you will at least consider presenting yourself to the community as a candidate for adminship. While your hesitance to give it a try is understandable, RfA isn't always as bad as it's made out to be and this community needs more quality candidates. Either way, I am quite pleased to dub you a Golden Editor (even if chocolate is better than cheese). AutomaticStrikeout  ?  02:01, 13 August 2013 (UTC)
  • Thank you very much! That's very kind of you.

    In general, I agree about chocolate, especially the dark stuff. (As a matter of fact, as I look at the gold medal above, I'm imagining it being a chocolate coin.) But the way the question was posed, I felt that cheese was the best answer. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:14, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

  • LOL. Hey, when I was little, I used to really get excited when I'd find little bits of that sparkly stuff! Of course, I never found anything so spectacular as those beautiful specimens in the article; they look like abstract sculptures. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:14, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

Pindakaasvloer

Well, it's up and running. Note also Template:Wim T. Schippers; I wrote all of them and significantly increased the quality of the Schippers article. He's got a couple more notable art works. I wish I could find a properly licensed photo for the peanut butter platform... Drmies (talk) 03:39, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

Wow, you've been busy. Good work! Now you just need to get all of them DYK-ready and make your biggest multi-article hook ever. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 10:01, 21 August 2013 (UTC)
It's a bit difficult to find a lot of reliable sources, and I might well be tired of article writing. Hey, check this out, from Barend is weer bezig--that's 1972, and what was controversial then in the Netherlands is still illegal on American TV. Drmies (talk) 17:00, 21 August 2013 (UTC)
I got four or five of them ready to go. Really, I need the shows to be of appropriate length.

DYK that Wim T. Schippers, who worked on Hoepla* (the first Dutch TV show to display full nudity, in 1967, leading to questions in parliament) with Gied Jaspars*, also conceived, wrote, and directed, with Jaspars, Wim van der Linden, and Ruud van Hemert*, the toilet-humor and nudity rich VPRO shows De Fred Hachéshow (1972, introducing the characters Fred Haché, played by Harry Touw (a comedian from The Hague), Barend Servet, played by IJf Blokker* (a former drummer), and Sjef van Oekel, played by Dolf Brouwers* (a former tour guide and vacuum cleaner salesman)), Barend is weer bezig (again leading to questions in parliament and a note of censure for the VPRO), Van Oekel's Discohoek (1974-1975, a parody of a pop show with appearances by Captain Beefheart and Donna Summer), Het is weer zo laat!, De lachende scheerkwast, Opzoek naar Yolanda*, and We zijn weer thuis (all shows produced by Schippers's partner Ellen Jens), besides playing the character Jacques Plafond in the radio show Ronflonflon avec Jacques Plafond, and that many of the songs and jingles for those shows (including a hit song written for Opzoek naar Yolanda's lead character who was kicked out of the studio for being unable to sing) were written and played by Jan Vos, a character played by jazz musician Clous van Mechelen? Phew--is that all of them? Drmies (talk) 05:13, 22 August 2013 (UTC)

Well, they may have to trim (or eliminate) the Featured Article blurb to fit this in the DYK slot, but that's fine with me! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:34, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
👍 Like LadyofShalott 17:30, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
Do you mind if I use this as a check sheet? I'm putting asterisks by the ones that are long enough. Drmies (talk) 22:53, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
No problem. I noticed that Schippers isn't bold. You've already expanded it 4.3 times, so you're almost there. You just need 1015 more characters. If you can't find more material, just get out your thesaurus and replace every word with a longer one. Be sure and nominate at least the existing articles in a timely fashion even if they're not ready yet; some reviewers are really sticklers about the article being nominated within five days. But then you have virtually (oops, I forgot...) literally an infinite amount of time to bring it up to DYK standards. (Yes, it makes absolutely no sense. But since that's the way it works, might as well exploit it.) I wonder if they can really all be put into one viable hook.... Because of space limitations, most of the previous large multi hooks consisted essentially of just a list of the articles. But, to get a higher ranking in the Hall of Fame (ha... your best is currently a measly seven), that's the sacrifice you may have to make. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:51, 22 August 2013 (UTC)
Phew. The QPQs alone might kill me. Thanks for the advice, Mandarax. Ha, if you bring Pindakaasvloer and that little tower up to snuff, you can get in on this action... Drmies (talk) 05:23, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
BTW, I still don't agree with that lunar sample entry. Drmies (talk) 05:25, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

← Wow! You did it! I see that BlueMoonset said essentially the same thing I did, and you've, alas, abandoned your shot at improved Hall of Fame fame in favor of a series of more traditional hooks. BTW, as for "Dutch-appropriate time slot"... Although apparently not especially necessary in this particular instance, BlueMoonset more than anyone else tends to pay attention to such things, often juggling hooks to get them into the geotemporally correct slots without even being asked.

Hehe, somebody's probably gonna take the FA suggestion seriously and get all upset about it.

Did you intentionally omit Pindakaasvloer and the tower from the big hook, or was that an oversight? I may see what I can do about Pindakaasvloer, but I'm not making any promises.

Incidentally, I noticed that you linked BlueMoonset's and my user pages on the nomination template. In case you weren't aware of it, a notification is not triggered when such links are added in Template space. In addition to User talk pages, I think it works on Wikipedia and/or Wikipedia talk, and possibly on article talk pages. (It would be nice if it worked in all namespaces, plus in edit summaries....) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:23, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

  • Wait, so you're congratulating me and calling me a pussy in the same breath?? That's nice. I hope someone takes me seriously--and I can claim it was Schipperiaans. I did not include the two artworks, no, but I still might. There's plenty more on Pindakaasvloer; besides, he's got a few others as well--there's a Zwevende kei ("Floating boulder"), which might well be a joke on "Zwerfkei" ("Glacial erratic"--there's a few of those in the motherland), since the present participles "zwevende" and "zwervende" are almost the same, and "kei" is really only used in that word. I merged Jacques Plafond and Ronflonflon, so I'm minus one (but plus one in the morals department, haha).

    I'm learning a lot, writing all this up. Wim van der Linden was interesting--watch the slide show, in the External links, and you'll see why the (in my eyes) atrocious Bijlmermeer was conceived and built. You can listen to the interview with Gerard Reve, now linked in Ronflonflon; you don't have to be Dutch to recognize the principle of overblown jingles followed by letdown. BTW, in a week's time I'll be an Illustrious Looshpah, with over three times the required number of edits; we're both well into Lord Gom territory. Thanks for your help and advice, Mandarax. Have a good night. Drmies (talk) 03:30, 24 August 2013 (UTC)

  • Oh, you're committed alright! I am commissioning you! It's been years since we worked on something together, and I totally forgot about your ridiculous system. But the dude abides, and I can work with yours even if you cain't work with mine. Thanks for your help; it won't take much more. Maybe art with peanut butter requires its own category? Drmies (talk) 04:02, 24 August 2013 (UTC)
  • Hehe. Yeah, I guess I am committed. If I work on it at my usual pace, it should be ready by Halloween. With you taking care of the other – what was it? about 137 Schippers articles? – I figured I could take one up to DYK length. We've been over my "ridiculous system" before, but I'd encourage any stalkers to compare the version immediately before and after my conversion to LDR. I originally didn't intend to change it, but I went in to add something, and I literally couldn't find the spot I was looking for to insert it among all of the citation templates.

    Congratulations on your upcoming Looshpahness! I hope you'll enjoy perusing your copy of The Complete Compendium of Universal Knowledge. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 04:56, 24 August 2013 (UTC)

  • Okay, it's long enough now, although, as with most short articles I see at DYK, it still seems skimpy. That's skimpy, not Skippy®. It might benefit from some polishing or if there's any more material that can be added, but it's DYK-ready now. I dunno if you wanna add it to the Megahook nomination page, or start a new one, or whatever, but one way or another it should be done soon. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:40, 24 August 2013 (UTC)
  • Both articles look good, except that an image would obviously be desirable for the peanut butter one. It's a bit annoying to do Fair Use images, but one should probably be included. Thanks for rearranging, using a "Background" section. That's exactly what I thought I should do last night, but I was too tired to think about how to integrate it correctly. I'll patch what's needed on the nomination template, including removing the tower credit for me. I'll also list a review I did, so you'll only have to do one. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 18:54, 24 August 2013 (UTC)
  • I was checking out the available images and couldn't decide which one would be best; I was hoping you would pick one so I wouldn't have to. But I guess I'll take another look. I was surprised to see how (relatively) tiny the first incarnation, at Galerie Mickery, was. Wow, "next batch"! I consider myself to have had an extraordinarily productive day if I've done one constructive thing. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:40, 24 August 2013 (UTC)
  • Urrrrrggghhhh. I knew that the rules were different for 3D objects than for 2D, but I thought a Fair Use would still be possible, but now I think I was wrong. After filling in items on the Upload form about the object, I encountered the dreaded "Image status", which provides two and only two options: the photo was taken by the creator of the object, or the photographer who took it released the photo with a free license. How disappointing! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:53, 24 August 2013 (UTC)
  • Mandarax, you blinded me with science. Also, I had cocktails with Liam, a beer over dinner, and some bourbon(s) later on while we're gasping over prices for condos on the Gulf. Hey, let's ask Moonriddengirl--with her WMF credit card she can probably fly out to Rotterdam (yes, they actually have an airport there) and take the picture for us. Hey, MRG, can you pop on over to Amsterdam and take a picture of the Trouwzaal in the Stopera? Drmies (talk) 03:32, 25 August 2013 (UTC)
  • The closest thing I have to a WMF travel budget is IRC. :D (Maybe you could get crafty Drmies and post a home-made picture with a label something like, "Pindakaasvloer is not to be confused with the piece of art depicted, which is not a peanut butter covered floor, but an almond butter covered door.) (Really interesting article, guys. Well done. :)) --Moonriddengirl (talk) 12:02, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

← There's a hook about a peanut butter jar currently in Prep 3. I'm almost tempted to suggest holding it so that a peanut butter themed set could be constructed.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:40, 27 August 2013 (UTC)

Burning Man

I just heard on BMIR (Burning Man Information Radio) that Burning Man has officially opened.

After attending for four years in a row, this is the second year in a row that I'm not going. In recognition of the event, I've decided to make my account of the 2009 Burn (my second) available. I've talked about Burning Man on various occasions, and some of you may be wondering what it's really all about.

This account is obviously of my own personal experiences and observations, and anyone else's account is likely to be radically different. I hope it gives the reader a small taste of what it was like for me to be there. This is the longest thing I've ever written, so if you request it, I have no expectations that you will actually read all (or even any) of it. If you'd like a copy, just let me know, either here (assuming you're email-enabled) or send me an email. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:03, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

  • Please. LadyofShalott 02:24, 26 August 2013 (UTC)
  • Sure! Drmies (talk) 19:50, 27 August 2013 (UTC)
  • Addendum Somehow in 50K of prose, I think I failed to adequately describe the city layout. The Man is at the center and there is a large amount of space between him and the first concentric street, the Esplanade, followed by concentric streets named alphabetically from Adapt to Lineage. The only physical streets in the large central area between The Man and the Esplanade are 6:00/12:00 and 3:00/9:00, and the only ones elsewhere are from 2:00 to 10:00 (clockwise). Center Camp is at 6:00 near Esplanade and the Temple is at 12:00 where the Esplanade would be. People and theme camps are located between Esplanade and Lineage and 2:00 and 10:00. The vast expanses of the central space and the areas between 10:00 and 2:00 (clockwise) are open playa, with no streets or markings of any kind. It's mostly nothingness, with widely scattered art installations. This huge amount of sparse, untamed, unmarked territory is what makes it so difficult for people such as myself who would love to see all of the art. (They should provide GPS coordinates!) You may consult the 2009 map. The 2013 layout is on Google maps. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:05, 29 August 2013 (UTC)
  • I just watched The Man burn live on the playacam, as part of the largest Burning Man theme camp. "Camp Envy" is composed of everyone worldwide who wasn't able to be on the playa, but experienced it, one way or another, remotely. (I dunno why they had to name us after a Deadly Sin, but there ya' go.) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 05:13, 1 September 2013 (UTC)

Your edit...

If this is Abstract Expressionism, it's fine with me.

...did something else (this one): I got notifications that a bunch of Schippers-related articles were linked from the page, but his template had been up there for quite a while. I noticed the same thing with Template:Beowulf the other day; someone vandalized the article, and boom, two articles I recently wrote/added to the template were linked from Beowulf, and I was notified of it. So, someone edits, and something sends some kind of signal to something else with an update of sorts. Odd. And thanks for the edit, of course! Drmies (talk) 14:21, 29 August 2013 (UTC)

Yes, that's very odd.   So you got 27 notifications from an edit which should not have generated any? Let's hope that doesn't happen every time anyone edits (or links to) any of those articles! And then, as I mentioned on your talk page, there was the issue of me not getting a notification that I should have when you linked to me via {{U}}. Incidentally, as you may or may not have noticed, what I sometimes do if I want to avoid cluttering up a page with user links is pipe it to a blank, [[User:Drmies| ]], which triggers a notification but produces no visible output and, depending on your browser, either no link or an invisible link. (Hehe, when I saw you'd left me a note with the heading "Your edit...", I thought you were going to scold me for removing a message from your talk page. But I figured your talk page tends to be quite large enough without being cluttered with bot notices about untranscluded nominations.) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:00, 29 August 2013 (UTC)
That's a low blow, MANdARAX. Cluttered?? (I'll get on it, one of these days.) No, I didn't get 27--I get a couple at a time. For Schippers, maybe five or six? For Beowulf only two, but that makes sense. Your piping is very clever, sir. You ought to be on payroll, like Dougweller. Between the two of you, with Dennis Brown in between if you start fighting, you'd be able to finish our project pretty quickly. Drmies (talk) 22:37, 29 August 2013 (UTC)
There are those who would say that this project is already "finished"! I think the notification for links to pages you created is the least useful one, although that's how I found a new article which I then nominated for DYK. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:11, 29 August 2013 (UTC)
Already finished? Yeah, I've heard people say that. I think those people lack imagination. (They've never taken a very close look at any of the lists of requested articles either.) LadyofShalott 01:37, 30 August 2013 (UTC)
Again: this edit prompted two "link" notifications. It's like an article takes Dulcolax and poops out connections. Drmies (talk) 14:57, 30 August 2013 (UTC)
Mention it to Okeyes, or some more appropriate error noticeboard, as being a bug? LadyofShalott 17:26, 30 August 2013 (UTC)
I don't know if it's a bug, and I don't have that much community spirit. Mandarax, I'm making reservations for you, me, and the Lady at The Lightning Field, for 2014. Get ready. Drmies (talk) 18:21, 30 August 2013 (UTC)
While the notification system seems to have diarrhea for Drmies, for me it's constipated. I've already mentioned that this edit produced no notification for me, and I've just noticed this one by the Lady which also failed to generate a notification.

As for Abstract Expressionism, that's historically been one of my least favorite art movements, but it may be growing on me. Hehe, nice segue, huh? From bowel movements to art movements.

I'm looking forward to our Lightning Field meeting. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 18:29, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

What's "Abstract Expressionism"? I finished up the reviews for the Going to the Dogs nomination and am working on the Wim T. Schippers nomination; need four more, and then four more for Ellen Jens. Phew. Drmies (talk) 19:04, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

Reviewers who aren't as conscientious as you, and believe me, there's no shortage of 'em, could have knocked out all of those reviews very quickly.

Regarding the image you added... although I didn't mention nudity in my narrative, there's tons of it (literally!) at Burning Man, and most of it isn't camouflaged as in the picture. Everywhere you look, there are nekkid people! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:45, 30 August 2013 (UTC)

HmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmI like nekkid people. Unfortunately, usually they don't like me. Hey, this one isn't even wearing panties! Drmies (talk) 23:57, 30 August 2013 (UTC)
Mandarax, some of those articles need a lot of time, unfortunately. I just spent 40 minutes on Template:Did you know nominations/James E. Dull, and I'm the second reviewer there. Drmies (talk) 01:53, 31 August 2013 (UTC)
Yeah, I know. Like you, I try to be very thorough, and reviews take me a long time. I see some "reviewed" and approved nominations which have grammatical and spelling errors in the hook and in the article; sometimes there are passages which are virtually unintelligible, and I've got to wonder if the "reviewer" even glanced at the article. My rare reviews include basic copy editing as well as all of the other things which are supposed to be checked. And I know you do the same and then some. BTW, what you've done with the Schippers articles is amazing. You've gone and created more articles in... what? about three days?... than I have in eight years. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:57, 31 August 2013 (UTC)
Thanks--but not all of it is of great quality. Harry Touw needs a lot of work--thanks, by the way, for your edit: it worked, and produced four notification (why not more, I don't know). I'm also getting a lot of hits today because I wrote a quick stub on a book by Seamus Heaney, and editors everywhere are working on his articles. I'm pleased with Schippers, though: it was, for someone so incredibly famous in the Netherlands, quite difficult to find a lot of material, esp. on the TV shows. The problem is the (Dutch) newspaper archiving and accessibility: a lot of papers don't show up (or only partly) in Google News, and there is infinitely more chaff than wheat in the regular Google search when it concerns TV shows. The NYT archive shows up comprehensively, and if Trouw, Het Parool, NRC Handelsblad, de Volkskrant, and the Algemeen Dagblad did the same, it'd be a lot easier. Those are the national dailies, right--the funny thing is that the more regional media do show up in GNews, such as the Provinciale Zeeuwse Courant, that you helped me with three years ago. (And I think I wrote most of the articles on those papers, haha.)

What I don't understand is this: it must be some kind of unwillingness on the part of the companies to have their goods displayed, but what are they afraid of? That someone is going to read what they have in their archives for free? Drmies (talk) 14:25, 31 August 2013 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, Mandarax. You have new messages at LazyBastardGuy's talk page.
Message added 18:21, 2 September 2013 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

LazyBastardGuy 18:21, 2 September 2013 (UTC)




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