User talk:Mandarax/Archive 8

This is an archive of past discussions with User:Mandarax. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

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Archive 15

		The DYK Medal
		For your tireless work in the DYK project area, which does not go unnoticed, and for writing the Batman 1 April 2011 hook. Materialscientist (talk) 03:47, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Thank you very much! I really appreciate it. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:06, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Just to let you know, I've added more characters to the Follow On (hymn) article to fix the issues you brought up on DYK. The C of E. God Save The Queen! (talk) 19:45, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. Sorry I hadn't encountered the article to edit it until after it was already in a Queue, but I'm glad you were able to take care of it before it hit the Main Page. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:53, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

You fixed a load of my appalling spelling on the article R v Horncastle. Just thought I'd pop by and say that it's appreciated :) Bob House 884 (talk) 10:21, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. And thank you for taking the time to write the nice note. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 17:01, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

On 7 April 2011, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Charles Angrand, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that Paul Signac praised Charles Angrand's drawings as "masterpieces", calling them "poems of light"? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

The DYK project (nominate) 16:02, 7 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks Mandarax--can you do that Celtic thing (and other cleanup?) for Jacques Cambry? Thanks! Drmies (talk) 22:04, 9 April 2011 (UTC)

I had already looked at it briefly and didn't see anything. After your request, I just ran AWB, and it didn't find anything either. But I'll have another look.

BTW, I had wondered how you'd feel about a potential loss of your anonymity; it's too bad others weren't as discrete as I was, sending email congratulations rather than WikiTalk. Oh, well. When you're an admin you can wipe out those revisions.

Another thing. I seem to remember seeing something around here from you indicating some sort of health problem, but I can't find it now. If I didn't hallucinate that, I hope you're well, now or soon. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:30, 9 April 2011 (UTC)

Health problem? Maybe I was joking, or maybe it's just ongoing chronic lower back pain. Plus, sometimes I'm really grumpy. But now I'm sipping on a Hades from Colorado, and maybe I'll get a half a little cigar in before my wife's guests arrive. Ah, the force of proper adjectivization.

Yes, my cover was blown pretty quickly, but the picture was a give-away, of course, as someone notified me. The responses on the interwebs are as expected--much of it unfiltered, uneducated, unspelled, and mean. Ah well. I chatted with the chancellor today (who had also read the blogs) and he was pleased enough. Which means I get money to get speakers to come to campus! Yeah!

Mandarax, thanks for your help, again, and that medal you got from Materialscientist, it's well deserved. Happy days, Drmies (talk) 00:36, 10 April 2011 (UTC)

Either you were joking, or I got you mixed up with someone else, or I really did just imagine the whole thing. I'm glad to hear that, in any case, it's nothing major, although, as a fellow chronic back pain sufferer, I know all too well how bad that can be.

Yeah, between the picture and Guillaume de Dole it didn't exactly take Sherlock Holmes to figure it out. Of course, I feel less special now that more people know your Secret Identity. Sorry to hear that you've gotten some "mean" responses, but, as you said, that was to be expected.

You're welcome. (Did you put that misspelled word in that big headline on purpose just to test me and see if I'd catch it? Of course, I did miss it the first time through.) And thanks, as usual, for the kind words. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 03:06, 10 April 2011 (UTC)

No, nothing intentional there, just a screw-up. I'm glad I have you around to catch them. User:Connormah also kindly helped out. You know, I do believe in this collaborative project! All the best Mandarax, Drmies (talk) 02:21, 11 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. It's still a bit disorganized, but at least it has some meat now. Drmies (talk) 19:18, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

Lookin' good. I think you'd like a couple of museums around here, the Getty Center and The Huntington Library, which have collections of illuminated manuscripts. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:29, 14 April 2011 (UTC)

On 15 April 2011, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Colin Campbell Cooper, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that American artist Colin Campbell Cooper helped rescue survivors of the Titanic, and during the rescue created several paintings (example pictured) which document the events? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

The DYK project (nominate) 16:03, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

Several times on these pages, I've mentioned my fabled list of articles which I intend to write and/or expand some day. Well, this was right at the top of that list. I initially created the stub (with no references) a little over three years ago after I attended an amazing retrospective of Cooper's work. I had the hook in mind, and my intention had been to complete the expansion in time for a DYK on the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. As April 15 grew closer, I fretted that my writer's block combined with my general slowness in writing would prevent me from attaining my goal. Then it hit me: forget the 99th anniversay; do this for the 100th anniversary on April 15, 2012. Problem solved! That epiphany, however, had consequences. As it took some of the pressure off, I realized that I might be able to do it in time for this year after all. With the close time frame, just enough pressure remained to force me to work in what is unfortunately my most successful manner, fighting a deadline. I was then able to write the article with time to spare. It's my longest article so far, and, although I hate to commit myself any further, I hope to expand it even more some day. My efforts were all worth it, as this was my most successful hook so far, generating 12k views for the article, and 13.5k for the image. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 18:36, 17 April 2011 (UTC)

Mandarax, my DYK stubs are dwarfed by the real articles that you produce. Congratulations--size matters, as does content, as do hits: 12k! BTW, I've been gnoming around. That's not a lot of fun! Drmies (talk) 04:30, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

• Awww, that's very nice of you to say. But we both know that you're much better at writing than I am, so if anyone's creating "real articles", it's you. Hey, you've got publishers clamoring to get a piece of you! I was glad to be able to fairly comfortably fit in so many relevant pictures. I love these artists who've been dead over 70 years!

• Wow, you wrote a template and then transcluded it all over the place. Congratulations! In the olden days I think you would've sought out a geek to take care of that for you.

• Oh, I experienced a bit of serendipity over the weekend. I was in an art gallery, and was surprised and thrilled to, for the first time ever, see some pieces in person by Claire Falkenstein, my International Women's Day DYK. The gallery owner was surprised that I had written an article about an artist whose work I'd never even seen (and whose name I didn't even know how to pronounce – it's "...stine", not "...steen"). Disclaimer: now that I think about it, this was almost certainly not the first time I'd seen Falkenstein's work. I'm sure I've encountered her work at the UCLA Sculpture Garden and possibly elsewhere, but hadn't heard of her at the time. There are still at least three or four artists whose articles I've written whose work I don't think I've ever seen. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:39, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

[1] As far as I'm concerned anyone who's edited the article deserves credit for it. Malleus Fatuorum 02:45, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Hehe, that edit summary was a joke primarily intended for Drmies. Good job on the article! Thanks for the note. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 04:07, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Drmies helped with sourcing, as did Ealdgyth. Malleus Fatuorum 04:21, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

I fear that I've been misunderstood and/or that I've misunderstood you. Probably both. Your comment, along with your edit summary of "help with sourcing is just as important as help with writing" makes me think that you thought I was implying that Drmies didn't deserve credit for his contributions. Well, nothing could be farther from the truth. I know very well how valuable his contributions are. If I've misunderstood you about misunderstanding me, I apologize. Otherwise, let me explicitly rephrase my comment above: my edit summary was a joke about myself which I intended for Drmies to see because we sometimes communicate via edit summaries and I was pretty sure he'd see it since I knew he was working on the article. Whew! I've gotta start writing more precisely; I don't think this is the first time my words may have been misinterpreted. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:31, 22 April 2011 (UTC)

Hi Mandarax, perhaps you can help. Since a couple of weeks my citation templates (in this pull-down menu on my edit screen) haven't been working properly. Specifically, the Show/Hide Extra Fields button doesn't do anything at all, and so I have to do a lot of things by hand (chapter title, editors, single page, etc.). Do you know? Is this some Java thing? Is there a setting I need to reset? Thanks... — Preceding unsigned comment added by Drmies (talk • contribs) 04:23, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Sorry, I don't know. I don't even get a Show/Hide Extra Fields button. And I don't have a drop-down menu either; I've got a button at the top of the edit window. Okay, I turned it on, and the Show/Hide Extra Fields button appears and works fine for me. Since you were already seeing it and getting the drop-downs, I assume you had the same setting, but just to check.... Go to my preferences, and under the "Editing" tab, make sure that the last two boxes ("Usability features") are checked. Save, then bypass your cache; for Firefox, I hold down Shift while clicking on the browser's reload button. I'm afraid I'm not optimistic that this will solve your problem, since I suspect you're already set up this way, but maybe the cache trick will do it. However, if it doesn't work, I suggest doing all of that, except uncheck those two boxes. This should make it work with the Cite button at the top of the edit window, and you won't need the Extra Fields button, because the "extra fields" are always shown. I hope some of this helps (as I have no other suggestions). Good luck! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 05:52, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

I tried all the tricks, but to no avail. I am going to give it a try with that different-looking edit interface (the graphics kinda remind me of working on a ZX Spectrum), though it's odd to change. I don't like change! Unless it's a change toward nationalized healthcare of course. Hey, my test edits were to Bad Company (1986 film). Check it out, and let's see if we can do something with it. Drmies (talk) 16:45, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Sorry to hear that. But I just realized that I forgot one thing. Go back to my preferences, click on the "Editing" tab and under "Advanced options" check the "Show edit toolbar (requires JavaScript)" box and under "Usability features" uncheck both boxes, then click "Save". Again bypass your cache; see above for Firefox, otherwise check for your browser's correct method. Now you should get a row of 23 buttons above the edit box; clicking on the first one should provide you with your desired Cite capability. If you're using vector and this doesn't work, try switching to monobook. If that still doesn't work, I'd suggest asking someone else instead of giving up. Anything to avoid change! As for health care, I had an inkling but no real idea what a backwards country I lived in until I saw Sicko. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 18:28, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Mandarax--I intended for my 70,000th edit to be this message on your talk page. Unfortunately, edit 69,999 was a CSD on Orange (wee wee), and so Twinkle made the next one a notice on the editor's talk page... Anyway, thanks for your help with many of those edits. Have a great day! Drmies (talk) 14:08, 27 April 2011 (UTC)

Wow! Congratulations! You're catching up with me (and yes, that is possible; this month I've slowed down my pace by nearly half from the last two months). I'm honored that you would attempt to commemorate the occasion on my talk page. However, I've gotta say that I question your judgment – Orange (wee wee) sounds like a worthwhile article that deserves a place here. Maybe when you're an admin you'll reconsider and undelete it. The user was silenced before he was able to complete what was apparently intended to be a trilogy. This author also created such classics as Big ball ("Big balls are very similar to regular balls, but they are big."). MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:21, 27 April 2011 (UTC)

You know what, you're right--there was a trilogy lurking there, and I prevented it from happening. Since I just had a delicious St. Feuillien Tripel, I don't feel so bad, however. Drmies (talk) 23:19, 27 April 2011 (UTC)

OK--this ought to be a Featured Template. Drmies (talk) 00:25, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

Well look at you... creating templates all over the place. Yes, it should be an FT! The discrimination again template writers is shocking. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:56, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the category. I borrowed this basically from the Marshall template, which I basically stole from somewhere else. Making templates is kind of fun. Drinking beer is more fun! I had a St. Feuillien tonight (that article needs your help), and my wife had a Maredsous. There's an Orval in the fridge; I've never had one of those before. Have you heard of Westvleteren? And have you seen this? That's a lot of beer for $140, with the off-chance of a Westvleteren included--but that web address is suspicious, and it sounds almost too good to be true... Drmies (talk) 03:21, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

I haven't heard of any of those. As usual, I'm envious of your beer exploits. I assume you haven't ever had a Westvleteren, but I wouldn't be surprised if you planned a special trip to the Abbey in Belgium to ensure you could get some without having to rely on an iffy website. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:24, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

Hi, Mandarax. I've responded at User_talk:Philcha#Your_DYK_nomination --Philcha (talk) 19:45, 1 May 2011 (UTC)

Hi, Mandarax. I've another couple of questions, if you have the time:

• Maevia inclemens seems to be in some internal queue. I now realise that File:Dimorphic_Jumping_Spider.jpg (in Commons) would be good for DYK. --Philcha (talk) 12:04, 3 May 2011 (UTC) I'd realise a pic would be good by the time I nom'd Maevia inclemens - sorry. --Philcha (talk) 12:27, 3 May 2011 (UTC)
• I expanded Portia_(spider) in(?) 2008 while saving Spider from GAR, as what I found was too much for Spider. Portia is the über-jumping spider, as it's been called "intelligent" (cited) - what a hook! If there was a 5x expansion at the time (I've not checked), would it be a candidate for DYK. PS and it's a real mini-monster, see File:Portia.fimbriata.female.-.tanikawa.jpg.--Philcha (talk) 12:04, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

• Sorry, no. The DYK nomination must be made within (about) five days of the expansion. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:13, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

• Thanks. I wish I'd known about DYK at the time. --Philcha (talk) 07:13, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

• Yeah, lots of DYK rules. But fortunately there are also plenty of creepy crawlers out there for you create more DYKs about. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:03, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

Sorry for bothering you again, but there's a difference of opinion about Template_talk:Did_you_know#Native_American_Languages_Act_of_1990. As you're experienced on DYK but uninvolved in the difference of opinion, I'd be grateful if you about comment. I think the article's history (cited at the DYK Talk) shows less than 5x expansion in the 5 days before the nom. The other side claims that editing it recently in a sandbox page effectively resets the clock, see User_talk:Philcha#DYK_nomination_for_Native_American_Languages_Act_of_1990 and User_talk:Philcha#DYK_review_for_Native_American_Languages_Act_of_1990. --Philcha (talk) 16:59, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I have to tell you that you're mistaken. But you're not alone; this kind of controversy frequently pops up. The confusion is understandable, as the article history may make it seem that it's been in article space since creation, but it was actually created as a user draft and then moved into article space in a DYK-timely manner. A page's history moves along with the article to its new location, and by default, a redirect is left behind from the old name to the new. Check the history of the sandbox page to see that none of the original history remains there.

What I personally do is work on a draft in my user space (often for months!) and then copy/paste it into a new file in article space (or write over an existing article if it's an expansion), but moves, as done in this case, are equally valid. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 18:04, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

Philcha Proudly Presents Portia fimbriata - be very afraid if you're under 2 cm long --Philcha (talk) 09:13, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

I'm glad to see that you're back putting more creepy crawlers on DYK. I reserve the right be afraid even if I am over 2 cm long. That's a very impressive article. But I've gotta say, just on appearance alone, Maevia inclemens will be hard to top. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 09:37, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

I agree that the morphs of Maevia inclemens are pretty. Portia fimbriata is sombre, cautious and slow, but has the most deadly arsenal of hunting techniques. --Philcha (talk) 14:04, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

On 3 May 2011, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Pyramid of Skulls, which you recently nominated. The fact was ... that Cézanne may have painted Pyramid of Skulls (pictured) because he was drawn to the forms, exclaiming, "How beautiful a skull is to paint!"? If you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

Gatoclass (talk) 06:02, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

I've submitted a bot request at Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/Yobot-19BG to help finish up the rest of the listas. It is a previous request of Magioladitis' Yobot task request, but Yobot is currently blocked. As I like spreading pain and misery around, I mentioned your name as a possible helper. Bgwhite (talk) 07:02, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

As I've mentioned to you, I've gotten pretty burned out on sort keys. I still keep AWB running with pre-parsed pages awaiting sort keys, but I mostly just do it a little bit between other things when I'm bored, although I still sometimes have bursts of intense sort key activity. I'm especially tired of the "weird" ones, and these days exclusively deal with the most straightforward ones. That's part of why I was so impressed with your MBE-winning performance. A lot of the difficulty is that often one doesn't know it'll be a "weird" listas until seeing the article; something such as an irregular DEFAULTSORT or the article's about a musical group whose name looks just like a person's name, or any of countless other scenarios. This is why I submitted an AWB feature request to generate a list with each talk page immediately following the corresponding article. Now, to give you a more precise answer.... I've actually already done what you asked, but in a sort of reverse way. I've recently been working my way slowly through the alphabet, and I've already completed A and B and I'm partway through C, doing all of the ones which I don't consider "weird". I have a very low weirdness threshold. So I'm afraid my input will not prove to be useful in this endeavor. But I wish you the best of luck in successfully completing your task.

P.S. Are you familiar with LASP? I used to walk past 'em all the time back at CU. I also took some very interesting tours of NCAR. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:23, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

I am not familiar with LASP, but I've been to NCAR several times. Unfortunately, it wasn't the beautiful Mesa Lab, but mundane "foothill" buildings where most of the people work. "Foothill", yea, it's called a bunch of buildings next to the freeway and airport. I was most impressed with Boulder for the foothills because where I live, there would be houses all over them.

I completely understand on being burned out because that is where I'm at. If I see one more three-word Spanish or Portuguese name I will scream. Sort of why I want to do the bot... will feel like something is getting accomplished and give me gumption to soldier on. I also use two AWBs when adding listas for the same reasons, plus DEFAULTSORT is also usually wrong or missing on weird ones. You also forgot the scenario where it sounds like a name, but it is a belt, doll, fictional character or my favorite, a pot.

I don't mind if I do the weird ones. But, if I'm ready to run a letter thru the bot, I would appreciate looking over the names to see if you can spot a weird on I missed. I don't know all the honorifics or could be special cases, plus I will miss a few. Bgwhite (talk) 07:15, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

Hehe, those problematical Spanish names without listas... they're all soccer players and they've all got a DEFAULTSORT which is the same as the article name, or sometimes just the first name. I try to just avoid 'em all (see what I mean about my low threshold?). I've decided that it can be helpful when a bot makes some errors. For example, Yobot (senior) would sometimes add a second sort key, and since I monitor the category of pages with DEFAULTSORT conflicts, I was able to discover and correct a preexisting incorrect sort key which might've otherwise gone undetected forever. Similarly, people noticing a new listas on a watchlisted article will hopefully check it for accuracy and correct if necessary. I trust you to adequately filter out the "weird" names.

Oh, I just looked at the NCAR article. I didn't realize that the NCAR Mesa Lab was designed by I. M. Pei. I would've paid more attention to the architecture if I'd known. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:59, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

Important visual art is on the line here for deletion: Wikipedia:Files for deletion/2011 May 3, please weigh in...Modernist (talk) 11:20, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

I commented on a few then left to take care of some things. I returned, intending to do the rest, only to find that the nominator had withdrawn all of them. Obviously, my insightful comments were the deciding factor! But seriously, thanks to you, JNW, Johnbod, and others for keeping an eye out for and defending against such things. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:22, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

I was trying to trick a friend into thinking pinhole cameras were back in caveman times. It worked! :p Sorry, I won't do it again. 76.186.147.4 (talk) 04:01, 9 May 2011 (UTC)

Congratulations! Drmies (talk) 02:49, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. It seems like just yesterday I was toasting 151. On a related note, I realized last week that I had peaked at number 26 in the list of Wikipedians by number of edits. All of the users ahead of me are considerably ahead and I believe they're all active. Although I may eventually crawl up a place or two, I basically don't expect to get any higher. But that's okay; I can get vicarious thrills watching you climb up the list, as well as other much, much, much more important lists such as Wikipedians by number of DYKs or Wikipedians by number of pages created. (Yes, I know I could try to get on those lists myself, but it's easier to just watch your progress.) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:37, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

Aw knock it off Mandarax. I'm not doing much anymore at DYK anyway. Having to review other nominations is fair, but also a bit tedious sometimes, and I haven't really had the spirit move me. Richard Phipson was fun though, especially since it was nominated for speedy deletion almost immediately. But the semester is almost over, so maybe I'll get to write a couple more. Still, the DYKs I write are just stubs compared to what I see go around, and that is a bit embarrassing. Your DYKs are practically GAs, and I am a bit surprised that you haven't gone the GA route yet. Will you, please? Later! Drmies (talk) 02:50, 11 May 2011 (UTC)

No, you knock it off! Your wonderful DYK articles are well-written and researched, and cover their subjects well, so I'll hear none of this "stub" nonsense. Doing the reviews may be tedious for you because you're conscientious about it, doing them carefully and thoroughly. So many others seem to see it as a horrible obligation which they can fulfill by doing the most cursory, shoddy job possible.

Thanks; as usual, you're too kind. Also as usual, you've provided some inspiration to me. I may try for GA some time, but since you're the one who brought it up and you're a seasoned GA veteran, I may ask you for some guidance and assistance. But it could be quite a while, as I do have some more articles I want to write first, and we know how fast that tends to happen. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:06, 11 May 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for the birthday wishes. It is misleading as I haven't been active the entire time. People remember when and where they were when something terrible happens, such as a president being shot or 9/11. Well, I remember when and where I was located when I made my first edits........ Bgwhite (talk) 06:15, 12 May 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. My situation is similar. I also registered in 2005, about three months before you did, and I had about three years with little activity. I don't remember the circumstances of my first registered edit, but I had been editing as an IP for a while prior to that. One of my first sets of IP edits was correcting the spelling of "Synchromism" in several places. Synchromism would soon thereafter turn out to be the second article I ever wrote. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:02, 12 May 2011 (UTC)

Sorry Mandarax... I hope the summary explains why I chose this extraordinary measure. To make up for this evil act, let me invite you to dinner tonight. Drmies (talk) 21:35, 14 May 2011 (UTC)

There's certainly no need for an apology, especially since I specifically mentioned in my edit summary that you should do what you did if you thought it was appropriate. But that doesn't mean I won't accept your dinner invitation. Are you serving homemade panir? P.S. Just for the record, I still stand by my edit, but I understand your view and I'm not the least bit upset that you reverted me. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:57, 15 May 2011 (UTC)

Non-fiction? --kelapstick^(bainuu) 23:41, 14 May 2011 (UTC)

Well, it looked to me like a humorous parenting book relating real-life tricks kids play to stay awake and presenting commentary and how parents could respond. But per your objection, I undid my edit. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:57, 15 May 2011 (UTC)

Oh, I'm with Mandarax on the non-fiction, especially after some birdie dropped the PDF on my doorstep. Hey, we could start an edit war--how about it? Some dinosaurs slugging it out? (Oh Mandarax, it was steak and fries, sorry.) Drmies (talk) 13:39, 15 May 2011 (UTC)

Sometimes I wonder how I ever ate steak. Fries sound good, though, as long as they're not beef-tainted like McDonald's fries. Tonight I went to my favorite little hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant which I've told you about, and got a delicious panir dish. But before that happened, just ahead in line was a police officer who had just been informed that the place was all vegetarian. "You mean there's no meat in anything??" I told him that he wouldn't even miss the meat, and that everything was delicious. I'm afraid I wasn't convincing enough, because he and his partner left without getting anything. It's too bad some people are so close-minded; they missed out on some of the best Indian food! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:16, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

An edit war sounds fun. I've never been in one of those before (except with vandals). This would be especially fun since you'd be reverting to my original version. So go ahead and revert me; besides, I'm *sniff sniff* used to it now. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:30, 15 May 2011 (UTC)

I have no issues refering to it as non-fiction, it was more of a question than an objection. It could be classified as "based on a true story" in my house...--kelapstick^(bainuu) 22:31, 15 May 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, I guess it was a bit presumptuous of me to characterize "Non-fiction?" as an objection.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:43, 15 May 2011 (UTC)

<--(outdent) I agree that it qualifies as non-fiction. I'd be of a mind to see that PDF if a little birdie wanted to sent it my way. :D LadyofShalott 22:56, 15 May 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. Incidentally, in case you were wondering, I wasn't the "little birdie", but hopefully little birdie's little birdie will grant your wish. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:16, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

I undid the undo, and all is right with the world. Cheers.--kelapstick^(bainuu) 00:40, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. After seeing the consensus here, I would've rereverted myself if you hadn't already done so. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:16, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

<--Mandarax, thanks for your kind words at RfA. Your cop/meat story is pretty funny, and pretty sad, yes. I'd love some good Indian food, but our one Indian restaurant isn't all that great. We don't eat out much anymore anyway, and when we do we go to this little Mexican hole in the wall which appears to be pretty authentic. BTW, I'm sipping on one of yours--"Colette," from Great Divide Brewing Company, a "rustic" yet "refined" "farmhouse ale." Drmies (talk) 23:22, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. Thanks for mentioning me in your answer, although you greatly overstated your need for a proofreader. After going through the first part of this ordeal, I guess you're quite aware that RfA can certainly be a very trying experience.^[1] BTW, I'm not gonna name names, but isn't number 83 saying the opposite of what I think they mean to say?

I hope the Colette tastes as spectacular as the view from the continental divide, which I used to drive over a few times a year, and which I assume the company was named after. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 05:29, 21 May 2011 (UTC)

It's too bad that your first choice isn't really gonna work out too well. Hopefully the next item on your list will suffice. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 05:39, 22 May 2011 (UTC)

mauchoeagle _(c) 00:13, 21 May 2011 (UTC)

I agreed with you, but after a slightly bold move, I had to come back to reverse myself after having done a simple confirmation. The public domain film can be seen in its entirety HERE (loads quickly) 23 seconds into the film, and despite sources not always using it, the apostrophe IS in the film's on-screen displayed title. It needs to stay per naming conventions. Schmidt, ^{MICHAEL Q.} 02:54, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

As I've said on the article's talk page, thanks for taking the time to research the matter. Oh, and I hope you don't mind that I had suggested a few ALTs for the DYK hook. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 03:37, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

I responded at DYK as well. Whatever hook will most intrigue readers is fine with me. :D Schmidt, ^{MICHAEL Q.} 04:08, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

for fixing my oops. KillerChihuahua^?!?Advice 17:41, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 17:43, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

I saw the fun you have been having today.... some nice user page edits you have had. I just got my first insult email via Wikipedia today. I can't stop smiling since reading it. You are almost at 100 vandalized pages. You need to start thinking what you are going to do to celebrate such an achievement. Bgwhite (talk) 05:46, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

Hehe, the rewards of fighting vandalism. About a month ago, someone put about 13,000 large swastikas on my user page. Sorry to hear you've gotten insulted via email, but I'm glad it at least amused you.

Yeah, I've always used an edit summary like "V+1" (or "V++") when I incremented my vandalism count, but I just used "Vandalized: 95", figuring I'd eventually build up to the Big Event. And now they've gone and made it all anticlimactic by putting me over 100 all in one vandalism spree. Oh well.

Thanks for being part of the crew that cleaned up the vandalism! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:05, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

Is it like when McDonald's used to have the "Over __ billion served" tag on their signs? Friend of mine used to run outside after ordering a burger to see if he was the one that put it over the top. DMacks (talk) 07:10, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

Hehe. Coincidentally, as you now know, I was just over at your talk page writing you a thank you note for the block. Well, thanks again! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:16, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

While it isn't easy to follow, I'm fairly sure MOSDAB does not recommend exposed links like that. In fact if I'm reading it correctly that is an area where piping is entirely appropriate. Those links do not offer themselves to immediacy for information for a reader.Darkwarriorblake (talk) 22:10, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

We're actually both partially correct. The section about WP:PIPING states in bold letters that piping or redirects should not be used in disambiguation pages. However, the section "Where piping may be appropriate" is relevant here. I've edited the article accordingly. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:55, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

No problem, I'm just anal about aesthetics. The exposed links were like kryptonite to me Darkwarriorblake (talk) 23:11, 25 May 2011 (UTC)

Mandarax, I won't waste any words--Kurt V. won't let me. You've held my hand a couple of times, and I value your patience and kindness. Like the Lady, you have made me a better editor. Drmies (talk) 21:52, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

Well, thank you! Your inspiration and guidance have been very valuable.

Sorry I accidentally made your first day a little challenging, but let's face it... your RfA was such a cakewalk! You needed a little bit of difficulty to be initiated into adminship. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:04, 28 May 2011 (UTC)

• And more. Drmies (talk) 02:17, 28 May 2011 (UTC)
  • also → -kelapstick^(bainuu) 00:32, 29 May 2011 (UTC)

Drmies, I don't want to clutter up your talk page with idle chit-chat, but I have no such qualms about my own page. I figure you'll eventually see this here. I noticed that you're now writing about palindromes, a subject which is somewhat of interest to me, as you may have guessed from my signature. My sig, of course, is not technically a true palindrome, but is instead in a rare subset of pseudo-palindromes: the mirror-image palindrome. Have you seen the parody of "Subterranean Homesick Blues"? "Weird Al" Yankovic's lyrics in "Bob" consist entirely of palindromes. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:47, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Hey, my signature is also one of those mirror-image palindrome thingies! XARAdNAM • MAИbAЯAX 04:39, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

Boy, you get all the fun titles on your talk page. "Go the Fuck to Sleep" and "Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo" Not fair, but it did make me smile. Signed, etihwgb. Bgwhite (talk) 05:44, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

Hehe, I'm glad it made you smile. And I'm glad I'm not just talking to my evil twin any more. Your "g" is problematical, but "white" works fine: WHITЄ ЭTIHW. Someone once accused me of being a member of the labaC Cabal, and I replied (as best as I could with the available character constraints) in all mirror image. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:25, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

• Ha, there I am, finally. Sorry I'm not watching you as carefully as I should. And darn it, I forgot to take the facsimile to work--I was going to scan the palindrome. I'm a mess, our house is a mess, my office is a mess: open house on Sunday. Why don't you just buy it? I promise the trim will all be painted by the time you get down here. And you'll get pool privileges in the new house (across the street!). ¿nimda rof nur annaw ,yeH Drmies (talk) 15:00, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

• Oh, I've gone and written another of my rambling epics. Feel free to skip this for now and come back to read it after you're done with your house activities. I didn't bother pointing you here sooner because it was obviously not important and, as I said, I figured you'd find it eventually. (BTW, had you seen another "stealth" thread?) But when I saw you mentioning a backwards letter ("J", for which I ironically don't have a backwards version), it seemed appropriate to chime in. In my note (which I wondered if someone would revert as vandalism), I initially used "¿" before deciding that "ʕ", although not perfect, was closer to what I wanted. It's challenging trying to write without using letters which have no good backwards equivalent (FGJKSZ and sort of C, which has an IPA version "ɔ" that I think some computers don't display properly). I'm reminded of a TV show (well, sort of reminded, as I can't recall which show it was^{[note 1]}) where someone was trying to type on a typewriter without using a certain important nonfunctional letter (a key key). BTW, I see that "Bob" has an article. I'm generally not a big Weird Al fan, but I thought that video was amusing.

  I suggest keeping both houses and building either an overpass or a tunnel to connect them. Hey, you've got tenure now, so you're pulling in the big bucks and can afford it!

  Thanks for inquiring about adminship for me. I had seen your previous note but just hadn't gotten around to responding. Someone actually just offered to nominate me, but I declined. I've got an excellent record at UAA and some AIVs as well as a lot of good CSDs from my distant past, and of course I help out at DYK, but I think I've got too little adminly activity for !voters (hehe, I think of the Lady whenever I see !words !like !this) to approve of. And some users disapprove of candidates with a large percentage of semi-automated edits, which is obviously very relevant to me. Plus, no GA or FA. But, on the plus side, I do use edit summaries 100% of the time, unlike some people.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:18, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

It's nice to know someone has taken note of my opinion on that matter... even if the rest of the Wikipedia world insists upon using that obnoxious formatting to make a pretense that we don't vote on things. (We do vote; it's just that the arguments made are more important than the strict vote count.) LadyofShalott 01:58, 2 June 2011 (UTC)

I took note, but I still used it anyways. However, I'd like to think that I used it ironically. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:48, 2 June 2011 (UTC)

Done with house activities for the night. The list for tomorrow is overwhelming. I'm sitting outside with a Leffe and my laptop, with the fun running--almost midnight, and still 90 here. I think you would do some good as an admin--there's a lot more to it than blocking and deleting. Moves, history merges, they're work for gnomes. Alright, I'm gonna go block some people so I can go to sleep. I'm not sure what our quotas are, but I'm sure I'm not making them. Though I did block someone indefinitely today... Drmies (talk) 04:39, 2 June 2011 (UTC)

Oh, I can't stand hot nights. I see you've got quite a heat wave going on there. It's not gonna cool off til June 9, when your high's supposed to dip down to a chilly 95. Yes, it would certainly be useful to be an admin. An important aspect you didn't mention is the ability to edit protected pages. For example, I've seen valid fixes requested on WP:ERRORS go for hours without getting done. I didn't realize that blocking people helps you sleep; I'm in! The indef of Electricsexpants looked good; the racists, homophobes, and other haters are especially disruptive. HOWEVER, if that's a real product, I'd like a pair! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:48, 2 June 2011 (UTC)

Can you put the succesor of Chris Lee?--46.12.45.67 (talk) 10:46, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

His successor, Kathy Hochul, doesn't take office until tomorrow, so I don't think Current members of the United States House of Representatives should be updated until then. If I remember, I'll do it; if not, I'm sure someone else will. Feel free to add that information yourself, as the page is not protected. (Note: my only contribution to that page was fixing one typo.) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 17:33, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

I am here to remember it to you.--46.12.12.181 (talk) 10:34, 4 June 2011 (UTC)

 Done. I'm surprised it hadn't been taken care of already. Feel free to edit it if you think anything should be changed. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 17:36, 4 June 2011 (UTC)

Will this be compatible with the latest twinkle updates? Just wondering if I should keep in it my monobook js.--Closedmouth (talk) 11:18, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

I believe it actually bypasses the new version of Twinkle. As you know, I originally set it up in response to your request, but since then, the requested option has been added to the official Twinkle. While my version currently works, I imagine that sometime in the future it no longer will. To switch to the new version you can just replace importScript('User:Xaradnam/twinkle.js'); with importScript('User:AzaToth/twinkle.js'); in User:Closedmouth/monobook.js. When you do so, a notice will appear about the Twinkle configuration utility, which you should use to set your options, including the one to turn off those links you don't want. (You can also use the new version by removing the Twinkle line from your monobook.js and instead enabling Twinkle in the Editing gadgets section of the Gadgets tab of your Preferences.) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 17:14, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

Oh, excellent. Thanks for your help, really appreciate it. --Closedmouth (talk) 18:42, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

Alright, everything seems to be working fine except for one little thing: do you know how I would go about controlling the order in which separate scripts load the tabs that they generate? I use the User:Haza-w/Drop-down menus gadget, and the tabs that it generated (user/page) were first in the order (just after edit), but now, after changing to the regular Twinkle, the tabs are last in the order ([2]). If you know how I can get them back to the front that'd be great. It's a very mild inconvenience, and I'm willing to put up with it if there's no solution, but I figured I'd ask anyway, just in case. Thanks! --Closedmouth (talk) 19:49, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

Sorry, I don't know. I think Twinkle is just greedy and takes the prime real estate. I would recommend asking about this at WT:TW.

I see you tried installing the menus script at the top of your monobook.js; it seems like if anything would fix it, that should, but I know from my own experience that it doesn't help. I only tried the new Twinkle briefly, and I saw this problem as much more than a "very mild inconvenience" as I usually don't have my Wiki window full screen, so to get to those frequently-used tabs I had to scroll. I had the "menus" line above the "Twinkle" line in my monobook.js. Another thing that made it extra inconvenient is that the new Twinkle seemed to be incompatible with the script which shortens the names of tabs. So, for example, I had a "discussion" tab rather than "talk" and "edit this page" rather than "edit". I see in the image which you provided that your link says "edit", so I'll have to figure out why that seems to work for you and not for me. (I suspect it may have something to do with User:AzaToth/morebits.js.) The biggest problem for me, though, is that my personalized enhancements aren't working with the new Twinkle/Friendly. So, for now, I'm sticking with the old version until I get around to seeing if I can enhance the new one. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:19, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll ask there. I know what you mean about not maximising the window; when I have mine maximised, it's like reading a paragraph of text on the side of a bus. By the way, the smaller edit, etc. buttons were built into friendly, if you add importScript('User:Ioeth/friendlytabs.js'); it'll bring them back. Thanks again for your help. --Closedmouth (talk) 11:19, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. I don't think the answer you received there will help, as it's basically what we've both tried already, except loading Twinkle directly instead of one step removed. And thanks for the suggestion, but I already had friendlytabs installed. I guess my enhancement to another part of Friendly interacted with the new Twinkle to break friendlytabs. It was broken for someone else too, and they fixed it by adding friendlytabs after Twinkle, but that's how mine already was when it didn't work. These things are sure complicated.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:15, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

Hey Mandarax, I think you should invent a Yukbot, which will automatically weed out "Having said that" (except for in quotes, though an intelligent bot would trim it from the start of the quote). Your lack of commitment forces me to do this by hand, and it makes for tedious edit summaries. Apparently, I have 230 more instances to look at. Thanks for your help! There's a sticker in it for you! Drmies (talk) 16:16, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

Well, it looks as though it's actually considerably fewer than 230. Most of those search results seem to be of the general form "... he was quoted as having said that ...", which, although maybe not ideal, looks okay to me. I had AWB whittle it down to those with a capital "H", leaving 107. I've just started going through them, and all I've looked at so far have been in the middle of quotes. I don't intend to replace it with an ellipsis in any quotes, but if you want to, I could supply you with a list. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 17:25, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

Okay, sorry, but I'm going to abandon this. All of the ones I've looked at are still in quotes. The moral of the story: Wikipedians may be better with words than those in their articles. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 17:41, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

Mandarax! You actually went ahead and did it! You are so smart. (Don't you have a day job?). Yes, many of them would be quite alright, of course, and I noticed the same thing that you point out in your final comment. No, I wouldn't want to replace them with ellipses, that would be pedantic (I admit, I thought about that earlier). Thank you so much for your help! Drmies (talk) 18:04, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

BTW, /klɛər ˈfɑːl.kənˌstaɪn/ looks fine to me--but since she wasn't a southerner, I'd remove the schwa from her first name. Drmies (talk) 18:07, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

Well, I didn't actually do anything. I just had AWB filter the search results, then I started to go through them manually before eventually quitting without making any edits.

Thank you so much for checking my IPA. It took me almost as long to construct that as it did to write the article! I originally had it without the schwa, but then I saw something somewhere that suggested I should add it. I don't think I'll ever speak IPA. I especially don't like how, to ignorant people such as myself, it looks as though the last syllable would be pronounced "stain" when it should be "stein". (Hehe, all conversations with you end up relating to beer in one way or another!) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 18:29, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

Where I'm from, Mandarax, we drink from glasses. IPA, honestly, it's a drag--but that's because language is complicated. For instance, I don't know what you mean in your last (non-parenthetic) sentence; I assume you're pointing at an American pronunciation, when mine is untainted by the evil of evils, the GVS. All this is making me thirsty, by the way. Drmies (talk) 19:37, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

I was unfamiliar with the GVS. You teach me new things all the time. BTW, isn't the IPA at Beer stein incorrect? It looks as though they may have given a German pronunciation or something. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:43, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

Update: I corrected the pronunciation at Beer stein. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:31, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

Speaking of yuk and beer... well, yes. Now if you want to talk about cider, that's a different matter. :) LadyofShalott 01:03, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Some cider sounds good about now. To be honest, I drink very little beer (but don't tell Drmies). MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:21, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Hi Mandarax, and thank you for reverting vandalism to my talk page--it comes from an IP in Thailand with a longtime agenda on the Grenada article, which I last visited well over a half year ago...one of the surest roads to misery is the determination to nurse animosity.

I'm glad you're still busy here. Keep up the good work. Very best, JNW (talk) 21:21, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. Wow, some people sure do hold a grudge.

Yeah, I'm still plugging away here. Thanks for the "good work" comment.

You're still very much missed around here. I was actually thinking of you a few days ago. I was at a museum and saw a painting attributed to "Julian Alden Weir". You may recall that I edited one of your DYK submissions (Landscape, Branchville, I think), changing the name to J. Alden Weir. I resisted the urge to change the museum label. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:52, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. Occasionally I think about returning for the odd (to be taken in every sense of the word) edit, but the spirit usually isn't there. Coincidentally, today I was visiting a gallery that I work with, and spotted a portrait by Weir, as well as a watercolor by Theodore Robinson and the requisite seascapes by Frederick Waugh. And stay away from the museum labels--what an unsatisfying reason to get arrested. JNW (talk) 22:32, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

Could you suggest a better reason to get arrested? Much obliged! Drmies (talk) 03:26, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

I can only add more poor reasons. Long ago fueled by an inexhaustible supply of youthful rage I did many stupid things, which included cursing out a New York City cop. I suppose the only good reason would be in the service of a noble principle, a la Mandela. JNW (talk) 05:39, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for reverting the vandalism on my user page. I'm not sure how you found it, but it's appreciated! -Phoenixrod (talk) 22:54, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. As for how I found it, I had reverted vandalism to a page on my watchlist, then checked the vandal's contributions for further damage, and noticed that they'd paid a visit to your page. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:56, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

You're a good Man, darax. Thanks. Drmies (talk) 03:25, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Hehe, thanks. You may have noticed how quickly I noticed your edit summary and jumped into action. Now, I don't want you to think I'm really stalking you. I just happened to check your contribs and there was my name in your edit summary right near the top of the list!

As for my edit summary, ever since my last DYK almost two months ago I had been trying to work on an article that's been plaguing me for over a year. I've tried to begin work on it before, only to abandon it and move on to something else. Well, the article-specific writer's block won out and I decided to set it aside again. And I'm actually making small but perceptible progress on the alternate article. But I will finish that other one some day. Although I've been having trouble writing the article, I've already written the hook! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 03:44, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

I think I may have found your secret project. I hope you don't mind that I broke in. Feel free to revert or to report me for blatantly disregarding your warning. Drmies (talk) 04:04, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Can one block oneself? LadyofShalott 04:44, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

I seem to recall seeing someone accidentally self-block, then sheepishly self-unblock, and then block the real intended target. Or I could be hallucinating. I do that sometimes. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:48, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Drmies, thank you very much for your contribution. Your input is always valuable. However, in this case, it does complicate things for me, and I think I'm going to temporarily revert it. It's very important to me that I always have my drafts deleted after I put an article in mainspace because I definitely don't want people to be able to refer to a permanent record of my sandbox editing, which is just for my own use. These edits are extremely different from those I make elsewhere; usually choppy and sloppy, sometimes strewing bits and pieces about, often with tiny changes, sometimes with errors, and always without proper edit summaries. It's fine to copy and paste an article to mainspace and delete my drafts when I'm the only contributor, but that shouldn't be done when there's content from anyone else. So I'm going to eradicate your edit and then ask you to please add the information back if you'd like to after I put the article in mainspace. This may all seem silly to you, but if I had to write drafts knowing that the full history would be preserved forever, I'd do it much differently, and it would take me much longer to write than it does now (if that even seems possible). MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:48, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

No problem, Mandarax. I got other things to do right now anyway--my mother in law gave me a bag full of poblano peppers, and I'm roasting and stuffing them. Yum! Drmies (talk) 22:21, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for understanding. Oooh, I hope you're stuffing those with cheese. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:40, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

I'm not even wrapping them in bacon. Drmies (talk) 05:57, 11 June 2011 (UTC)

Archives of American Art Wikimedia Partnership - We need you!

Hi! I'm the Wikipedian In Residence at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art and I'm recruiting Wikipedians who are passionate about art to participate in furthering art coverage on Wikipedia. I am planning contests and projects that will allow you access, no matter where you live, to the world's largest collection of archives related to American art. Please sign up to participate here, and I look forward to working with you! SarahStierch (talk) 00:14, 13 June 2011 (UTC)

I am the same who told you about Cathy Hochul but I changed IP. Can you go there, see what I done and tell me if you like it?--46.12.1.222 (talk) 18:20, 13 June 2011 (UTC)

Wow! You've been busy. It looks very good. (However, it's possible that some people may object because a large, slow-loading page now loads even slower.) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 18:39, 13 June 2011 (UTC)

• Thanks! Well, it wasn't very difficult because I used tabs and coppy-paste. Also my mom and dad who are actors were trying to find songs and excerpts from plays/novels for a performance, so I had fun.46.12.1.222 (talk) 19:27, 13 June 2011 (UTC)

... and for all the good work you do at DYK. I love that Al Yankovitch song "Bob"! 19:50, 17 June 2011 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sharktopus (talk • contribs)

You're welcome for the fixes, and thanks for the "good work". Yeah, "Bob" is fun. I like the way the video faithfully recreates Allen Ginsberg in the background from the original Dylan version. (BTW, hehe, speaking of "botchiness", it looks like you did one too many tildes for your signature.) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:04, 17 June 2011 (UTC)

Keyboards are hard for sharktopus tentacles -- and my spiky teeth don't work on them all that well either ... Sharktopus^talk 04:24, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

Ah, thanks; that helps me picture what this "sharktopus" creature looks like. Hehe, whenever I encounter the word "tentacles", I think of a funny scene from the John Cusack movie Better Off Dead.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 05:12, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

Haha, no, I hadn't even seen that. I was referring to the DYKMake templates, which I always seem to get wrong. But while you're at it--the article needs some expansion, esp. about the content. Some specific examples of the rules would be nice. Hop to it! Drmies (talk) 18:23, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

Context for any stalkers: see the first and last entries here.
You probably forgot the italics due to your intense concentration on getting the DYKmakes correct. (I figured you probably hadn't even noticed my DYKmake correction for Lacinato kale, but now I guess you did.) Should Excarpsus be added to your Category:Saint Boniface? I'm generally (read: completely) ignorant of the subject matter, and I don't think I'd be of any help on expansion, but maybe I could add a taxobox for the elusive Excarpsus cummeani!

BTW, thanks for finding that Germaine Greer book for Barbara Longhi. I further quoted from it. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:29, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

Hah, wasn't that funny. I suppose that Excarpsus cummeani sounds at first pass like it could be a scientific name, but the article was all of three sentences long at that point - not hard to glance and see what sort of subject it was. LadyofShalott 20:43, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

Yeah. Normally I might expect an edit such as that to be from a careless (semi-)automated user or something, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. Well, at least we all got a bit of amusement out of it. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:33, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

Mandarax, why would you think I know anything about this stuff? The less you know, the less biased you are! Drmies (talk) 01:28, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

Well then I must be completely unbiased. This Excarpsus cummeani thingie is a penitential? What's a penitential? Is that some kind of animal? Is that why someone thought the article needed a Taxobox?

About my last edit, I assume you saw a dash between the page numbers, or you would've fixed it. I saw strange characters in the page ranges. For example, I saw "35" then an "a" with a circumflex (â), then two little boxes with four tiny numbers in them, then "62". I'm sure my computer configuration is not unique, so other people must've also seen those strange characters instead of a dash. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:33, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

Yes I did see that. BTW, I've added a brief explanatory section. I assume you're a heathen and will burn in hell with your Burning Man artist, but it's a regular Catholic thing. ;) Now, those 'dashes', they come from the template (whatever machine provides me with that template--I have it set up the way you suggested to me a month or so ago). Sometimes (I don't think it does it always) it inserts that odd character, and often I catch it, though clearly not always. Can you fix that template, maybe? I mean, why would I be the only one who has that? Maybe I am--maybe I am cursed. Drmies (talk) 15:27, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

I get that happening as well. I'll use the hyphen from the keyboard, and it instantly turns into nonsense. It's rather annoying. LadyofShalott 18:56, 19 June 2011 (UTC) P.S. What do you have against heathens? ;)

Hey, shouldn't you be getting ready for your vacation instead of thinking about mundane things such as this? But first, I think you should put a WikiProject Heathenism userbox on your page, and then nominate someone for adminship. (I'm still shocked by that RfA nonsense, which raised ridiculousness to a whole new level.)

Drmies, yeah, I saw that section; I was just being purposely obtuse (as opposed to my usual state of accidental obtuseness). I'm surprised to hear that the configuration works per my suggestion, as I got the impression it wasn't working for you.

I just tested it, and for page ranges of all cite formats except book, if you enter 35-62, it keeps it that way. For book it admirably tries to correct the hyphen to an en dash, but instead replaces it with that mess. (If you do enter an en dash, it does keep it unchanged.) The "new" toolbar, obtained by checking the two boxes at the bottom of the Editing tab of My Preferences, passes all page ranges through unchanged, but I don't like that toolbar at all. I think the "old" one that I prefer (the easyCiteMain button) is now or was at one time WP:refToolbar 1.0 and the new one is WP:refToolbar 2.0. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:26, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

Probably. :) I agree that whole sideline to the RFA was ridiculous. I hated that it besmirched Drmies's otherwise lovely RfA. You may or may not have noticed that I now have zero wikiproject boxes on my userpage. I'll just do what I do, and if it corresponds with the goals of any wikiprojects, well that's just peachy. LadyofShalott 22:28, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

At least I don't think it ever reflected badly on him. At first it appeared to be a potential blot on your good name (although not as much as that of the accuser, for making the guilt-by-association accusation), but only until the "reasoning" was revealed. At least it did add a little spice to what was looking to become one of the most boring RfAs in history. See the #Mandarax's awkwardly inserted new section heading to reflect a (mostly) new topic section above for a clip which sums up my interpretation of how his RfA was going before that happened.

Oh, Drmies, speaking of Burning Man, forgive me.... I forgot to remind you about Transformus, and it's all sold out by now. Eh, you probably didn't want to pay $90 and then travel 400 miles to spend time among the heathens anyways. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:56, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

I know... at first it was really bothering me. Just what had I done that was so terrible that anyone I nominated could not be supported on that basis alone? Then he said what it was really about. That was just not the forum to address that issue. You have a problem with some wikiproject's userboxes, take it up with that project... not some nearly random person's RfA. LadyofShalott 02:09, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

<--Yes, that was really quite nonsensical. BTW, Mandarax, I got nothing against heathens--I look at them as future Catholics. (I'm trying very hard to keep a straight face even as I'm typing this.) It was a boring RfA, that is true, and the two opposes didn't make it exciting, just silly and ironic. I think Mindbunny is gone now, and I make a point of not running into the other (who cut their promised Wikibreak short and returned two days later, I think). As for blocking CoM, anyone who knows my history here knows how much I owe to him, which is probably why I should keep my mop away from that mess if he stops socking long enough to return--which I hope he will. Do you have handy diffs on hand for every editor, Mandarax? A closet full of skeletons ready to open up? And...did you ever get some Electricsexpants? Drmies (talk) 03:23, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

The butterfly effect. You mention the word "heathen", and an Excarpsus cummeani thread turns into a recap of your RfA. No, I don't file away diffs for every occasion, but now that you mention it, that sounds like a good idea. I'm just sometimes good at finding things. However, the CoM diff is something I just stumbled across. I figured while I was supporting your RfA, I should peruse some of your adminly activities, so I looked through some of the AfDs you've participated in, and I just happened to see your amusing comment that blocking him would be at the top of your list when you became an admin. I figured you had most likely forgotten all about that, and I couldn't resist reminding you since it had suddenly become very timely. Alas, no Electricsexpants yet, but the search continues.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:24, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

No, I hadn't forgotten. I think of CoM often, but at that time the blocking thing was nothing but a joke. I wonder what embarrassing stuff you found while perusing! Please don't remind me! BTW, I'm really not so interested in AfD anymore--too contentious and often too personal. I should start caring a bit more so I can help in closing them. I remember looking at the NAC instructions one time and being very confused. Drmies (talk) 14:40, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

Hi, I'm a novice here; I sent you an email asking for your help in revising the entry for the American artist Charles Recher. Whichever way you want to respond, here or email, is fine with me. Thanks!

Nancy Mandowa --Nmandowa (talk) 05:54, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

First, welcome to Wikipedia.

Contrary to what your email implies, my only connection to the Charles Recher page was that in December I added a listas, which is a sort key, on the article's talk page. I did this using a semi-automated tool called AutoWikiBrowser, so I only saw the talk page, which has nothing of substance on it, for a few seconds at most, never edited the article itself, and never even saw the article until just now.

When writing about a friend and work associate, be extra careful that material you add is neutral and factual, with citations from reliable sources, and not just sources from the artist's own page or other pages that he may edit. From your email, it sounds like you understand how Wikipedia works pretty well. Feel free to add information and if it's not properly formatted, I or someone else will take care of that. As for "stepping on toes", I wouldn't worry about that, as the article has had no substantial content added since April 2009. If you have any questions while you're editing, you may ask them on your talk page, preceded by: {{help me}}. Good luck, and, again, welcome! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:24, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

Please see Talk:Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.#Name change. Thank you, Drmies (talk) 18:48, 21 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. As I implied on your page, I just don't have the energy right now to go off looking for sources supporting my position, but maybe I'll do that some day soon. With my current fatigue level, it's hard to think. Fortunately, things like AWB editing don't require any thinking at all! Oh, and as for that NPA thing, I guess I'll let it slide this time, but in the future, just watch who you're accusing of liking show tunes. Them's fightin' words! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:05, 21 June 2011 (UTC)

Mandarax--you're a vegetarian and you like art. And you're telling me that you don't care for show tunes? Who do you think you're fooling? Drmies (talk) 00:29, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

If you persist in this campaign of harassment and attacks, it's gonna end up at AN/I! Seriously, sitting through the seemingly endless 42nd Street was one of the most painful experiences of my life. Well, okay, I admit that I like The Sound of Music. Does that count? On a somewhat related note, since lounge music is just a tiny step away from show tunes, have you heard the Lounge-A-Palooza version of "Black Hole Sun" by Steve and Eydie? It's hilarious. But, looking at the BHS page just now, I'm reminded that it wasn't intended as a parody, which, of course, makes it even funnier. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:50, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

Oh, I fondly remember sitting by our friends' pool outside Paris--they were all gay American actors, and learned show tunes from their mothers, no doubt. Lounge music and cocktails, all the livelong day... I do like The Sound of Music, yes, and some of the old Gene Kelly movies--but the real (Ziegfeld) stuff is wasted on me. I'll listen to your suggestion in a little bit--I'm still recuperating from playing some really, really loud music in the car on my way to work. If we were Facebooking, you'd see a video of the girls dancing in the kitchen to "Black Dog". Drmies (talk) 14:33, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

To be perfectly honest, even though I've somehow heard the name many times (but always "Flo", never "Florenz"), I was completely unaware that he produced Broadway musicals. I was aware of his Ziegfeld Follies, which I thought was a more Vaudeville/cancan type thing.

L.A. is home to many fine tribute bands, and I've seen Led Zepagain many times. They're good, but their Jimmy Page has a bit of an ego. They usually play with what I consider to be the best tribute band I've ever seen, the Pink Floydy band Which One's Pink. (Some of the others I've seen have included David Bowie, The Beatles, and the Grateful Dead.) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:16, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

Yes, I knew that, but was wondering if there was something else. Anyway, I can order you a copy of Glas--that will probably knock you right out. Better yet, some compilation of Ziegfeld follies! Drmies (talk) 04:10, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

• Nevermind. Copies are not available under $100, and it's too early for your birthday. (or too late) Drmies (talk) 19:24, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

• Ah, well, thanks for the thought. And yes, you're right that it's both too early and too late for my birthday. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:32, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

• Ha, I finally got to stave off a 4chan attack, on Pygmy peoples. I think I just blocked two dozen accounts and IPs. Drmies (talk) 19:56, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

• Well done. Drmies: The Executioner! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:02, 22 June 2011 (UTC)
• Y'know how, when someone moves a page which is on your watchlist, both titles end up watchlisted and remain there even if the page is moved back or deleted? Well, I just did a "View and edit watchlist" for the first time in quite a while, and found a doozy! From the title I found there, it looks like someone claimed you had a very unusual talent in the field of sculpture. I dunno when this was done. The logs are very unhelpful (perhaps evidence has been expunged?), but I assume someone had moved your user page. If it was some other page that was moved, and you're somehow unaware of all of this, I could supply the page name if you're interested. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 21:01, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

• Hmm. Was this an oversighted action on 31 May? Drmies (talk) 21:15, 22 June 2011 (UTC)
• Oh yes, revdeleted--I did see that, some time ago. Charming! Drmies (talk) 21:16, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

• Eh, wasn't so bad. I've seen much, much, much, much worse. It kinda portrayed you as a modern sculptor combining the talents of Chris Ofili, Andres Serrano, and Hieronymus Bosch.

  Congratulations on graduating from quadruple digits to triple digits in the list of Wikipedians by number of pages created! So many of the people high in the list just create cookie-cutter stubs, whereas you create quality content. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:18, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

• I don't even make the list. <sniff, sniff> I may have to do something about that (but not this week). LadyofShalott-alt (talk) 03:40, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

• Well, what kind of a vacation is it gonna be if you don't spend it writing articles?!? Alas, I don't expect to ever make the list, unless elves construct drafts of articles from my wish list for me during those rare times when I'm asleep. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 09:36, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

<--Lady, much of what I've produced is stubby anyway; Mandarax is just being kind. He churns out, regular like clockwork, these lengthy articles on artists without even a single spelling error in them. These days, I read German articles for my Boniface database and turn some of what I read into articles. Right now, as you may have seen, it's the Concilium Germanicum. Whenever I run into an interesting manuscript, I take that as well--but again, many of those are stubby as well. With Codex Vindobonensis 751, I got lucky--cleaning up my shelves I saw that I had a facsimile, and found some stuff online (most of my books are in boxes right now...). It does take time, though, and especially with things in my field I am extra careful. BTW, I still haven't been able to scan the palindrome in that codex: scanner problems at work... Drmies (talk) 23:41, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. Hehe, when you say I turn articles out like clockwork, I was reminded of that organ composition which lasts hundreds of years because the note changes only every year or so. I thought it was by John Cage, but after a quick look at his article I didn't notice anything about it. Maybe I was mixing him up with this because he is known for some of his unusual work, such as his silent composition 4′33″. Yeah, I do proofread my articles pretty well, but this time I actually did have a spelling error. Oh, and it was the worst kind: inside a quote, so people don't know whether to correct it or add a [sic].

As for your stubs, they're individually crafted, quality stubs. Some people mass produce stubs on similar subjects and just change a word or two.

I WONdЄRЄd AbOUT THAT pAlINdROMЄ! !ЭMOЯbИIlAq TAHT TUOdA bЭЯЭbИOW I

BTW, that was SO nice of you to help out that guy with the article for his artist father! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:09, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

Well, us Dutchies gotta stick together. And it is John Cage--I've seen about it on TV a few times (in the motherland, where there's interesting and cultural stuff on TV): see this. Well, add it to the article! Drmies (talk) 23:38, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

Ah, thanks. I guess I was wrong about being wrong. Oh, but I was sorta wrong about it not being in the article. Now that I have the composition's title, I checked "What links here" for As Slow As Possible, and it listed John Cage. I perused the article more carefully and discovered it in the annotated fourth subsection of External links. That article has a complex structure. It's got Footnotes and Notes, plus References with three subsections, and six subsections of External links. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 01:27, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Clean up, clean up, everybody clean up... Drmies (talk) 02:49, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

I removed an audible sound from the composition's article. It reminded me of this. Drmies (talk) 02:53, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Hehe, well, in all fairness to the person who wrote that, up til then, they were "playing" a rest – sort of an inaudible sound – for 17 months. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 05:42, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

OK, I trimmed some of the apparatus (and inappropriate links...) in the Cage article. But I added more apparatus: a list of compositions. That should probably be a separate article. But for now, whenever you run into something, drop it in. The article isn't bad, but, as you said, somewhat difficult to navigate. Drmies (talk) 03:00, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Wow, you're a man of action. I mention something and you jump right on it! BTW, I wasn't complaining about the article's structure, but merely commenting upon it. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 05:42, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Aiai, that article exists. Difficult to navigate? Certainly for the blind, like yours truly. Drmies (talk) 03:03, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

OK--but where in List of compositions by John Cage should the link to As Slow As Possible go? Surely it ought to be linked somewhere! Drmies (talk) 03:05, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Actually, it already is, in the Return to composition (1969–86) section, but it's piped to ASLSP. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 05:42, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Man, what a list. First of all, kudos to Cage for being so productive. Second, can we not improve this? I see references, but no inline cites. For a lot of entries that's probably irrelevant, but not for sections 5 and 6. And do his life and work really fall into such neat periods? Clearly not--look at the "Happenings" section. IMO, a chronological table would be of no use here given the amount of entries; contentual organization is indeed best, though the current organization puts the lie to the lead, it seems. Man, that's a lot of work he did! Drmies (talk) 14:20, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Hi, can you point me to where (pictured) is excluded from the character count? Apparently the opening ellipsis points and space are included (that's four already). Tony (talk) 07:41, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

Well, unfortunately, rule E5 is posed as a question and is listed under "Rules" sometimes invoked but lacking a consensus. But as long as I've been at DYK, there actually has been consensus. DYKcheck, which everybody relies on for the final word in such matters, was constructed to reflect consensus, and I've never seen anybody suggest that it fails to do so, or that the "rules" it implements should be changed. According to its documentation, the ellipsis and its space are not counted and neither is "(pictured)", but "that" and "?" are, as are any extra characters included with "(pictured)"; for example in "(example pictured)", "example " would be counted.

Thanks for your efforts to improve DYK. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 09:38, 22 June 2011 (UTC)

On 23 June 2011, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Barbara Longhi, which you created or substantially expanded. The fact was ... that Barbara Longhi's painting Saint Catherine of Alexandria (pictured) is believed to be a self-portrait, presented as a devotional image to avoid the appearance of indulging in the sin of vanity? You are welcome to check how many hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, quick check) and add it to DYKSTATS if it got over 5,000. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the Did you know? talk page.

The DYK project (nominate) 18:03, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

DYK #10. Finally hit double digits! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 23:02, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

What do you mean--it's triple digits! 319 hits! Drmies (talk) 23:36, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

It may be difficult for Mr. 164 165 DYKs to comprehend that this was only my tenth DYK (excluding nominations of others' articles). Hopefully the views will be a little more. I know at least one person saw it today, and was moved to vandalize it. (Feel free to IAR and indef block 174.115.246.90.) MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:06, 24 June 2011 (UTC) I had to update your DYK count, as another one appeared as I was writing this.

I did worse. I sent my kids to their house. And if you are going to insult me, use "Mrs." You produced yet another fine article, by the way. Now grab some nineteenth-century novel and doze off! Drmies (talk) 00:24, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

Hard to ignore some acts of vandalism, isn't it! Drmies (talk) 00:25, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the "yet another fine article" comment!

I guess I'm not very good at predicting how hooks will do. I didn't think this one would attract very many hits, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it got 4700! And the last set of the day tends to get some spillover into the next day's stats, so it could still go over 5000 and make it onto the Stats page. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 03:46, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

Well, you did fine. But Mandarax, it's not a competition, you know. We're all brothers and sisters here. Look, next time, whatever hook you have, put bacon in it. Drmies (talk) 04:26, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

The important thing is introducing a little culture to as many people as possible. I guess if bacon can facilitate that, so be it. It's amazing that as many people see the article during its six hours at DYK as will probably see it for the next... what? Four months? Six months? Maybe a year. Anyways, thanks again for your help with the article. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:01, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

Incidentally, this hook's history featured some extremes: I believe it was the fastest approval (within five minutes) for any of my hooks, but it also took the longest, nine days, from approval to Prep. However, I'm very grateful that it took so long, because it gave me the time to get a book which helped me to improve the article and provided the information for the second part of the hook, which I thought made it much, much more interesting. Oh, and now I see that you're up to 166. You're a DYK machine! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:49, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

That's what she said. Drmies (talk) 18:59, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

Hehe! Well, now you've gone and ruined a perfectly good acronym for me. I've used T'sWSS myself at least two or three Wikitimes, but I think it's always been in an edit summary. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:09, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

<--TWSS. Drmies (talk) 20:16, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

• Did you see the German article on Longhi? Apparently she made a Judith holding the head of Holofernes. Now that's fascinating stuff--it's better than bacon. Drmies (talk) 21:19, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

• Yes, but why isn't there an Italian one??? Oh, and while I'm indignant about national pride, why is the French article on Charles Angrand so short??? Anyways, among the first things I did for the Longhi article was extract the painting locations from the German article. Thanks for bringing up Judith and Holofernes – I've added info on it to the article, with credit, of course, to you for inspiring the addition. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 03:11, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Ha! Drmies wrote on my talk page and wants me to do a DYK. Does this mean I get to join your DYK cabal? Pretty Please. It is lonely in listas land. However, I don't want to play with Lady of Shalott because she is to normal and level headed for me. Bgwhite (talk) 06:10, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

If there's a DYK cabal, you're definitely welcome to join it. I'm certainly not going to speak for Drmies, but I think you'll find him to be very friendly and helpful. If he thinks an article is DYK-worthy, it'll probably happen one way or another. Oh, wait. You did support him in his RfA, didn't you? Because if you didn't, you're dead to him.^{[disclaimer 1]} Hey, I always thought I was the normal, level-headed one; I think you'll discover that the Lady's a wild woman.

As for listas, I dunno if you've noticed my recent contributions, but I've completely abandoned them, because you and your bot have been doing such a fine job taking care of them. Ha! I'm reminded of Desmond from Lost: stuck for years entering those numbers into the computer to prevent the destruction of the world, and as soon as Locke shows up, he shifts the burden onto him and gets outa there. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:12, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

Well, Mandarax and Bgwhite, it's a package deal. If I am to be your friend, you have to take the Lady into the bargain, and User:SpacemanSpiff as well (he balances out the Lady's levelheadedness nicely^{[disclaimer 2]}). Drmies (talk) 18:58, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

Ah dang. Ok, if I have to take Lady, I will. I just don't associate with normal people too well. Also, whenever I see her name, the Loreena McKennitt song of the same name starts playing and playing and playing in my head. I don't know SpacemanSpiff, but his username makes me smile.

Yes, I noticed that you abandoned me from listas land... it does make sense. However, there is nobody left, so I just talk to myself. With clearing out so many names, the problem I have is all the new articles without listas. It takes me around 90-120 minutes everyday to do it because I set Defaultsort, persondata and add any new WikiProjects. Also, if the article is at AfD, has a speedy delete or no references, I go and investigate.

Have you heard Samuel L. Jackson's audio version of Go The Fuck To Sleep? Inspired choice.[3] Bgwhite (talk) 07:32, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Too normal? Me??? I admit that I like Loreena McKennitt's setting of the poem, but I liked the poem long before I knew the song. (As for wild woman... no comment). I like Drmies's package deal (awwww). LadyofShalott-alt (talk) 03:14, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

TWSS. Hey, you're having an exciting weekend! Will you invite Mandarax next time? He needs a break, I think. Drmies (talk) 04:43, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Oh my goodness, lol! (I had to click the link, and then reread what I wrote.) I am having an exciting few days actually. I have a 7:30 choir call in the morning, but I am wide awake. :/ LadyofShalott-alt (talk) 04:48, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Well, don't be thinking of out-of-state packages when you're singing your hymns. Hey, thanks for fighting the good fight. Go NY! Drmies (talk) 05:06, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

← I've never heard of Loreena McKennitt; when I think of the Lady, I picture the painting from her user page. Yes, I may be needing a break; or am I already on a semi-break? My Wiki contributions have decreased dramatically lately, and not just in regards to listas activity.

I don't think I've ever interacted with SpacemanSpiff. Whenever I see his name, I have a slightly different reaction than Bgwhite; instead of making me smile, it makes me a little sad, as I miss Calvin. (Not really "glass half full/half empty"; more "to-may-to/to-mah-to".) But, just going over his userboxes, we seem compatible. I also prefer dark chocolate. As you may have inferred from the fact that I love the local Pink Floyd tribute band, I love Pink Floyd too. The Dark Side of the Moon userbox is good, but I do question the one for The Wall, a horrible album which marked the beginning of the end. I'm a little more sure of my bot status than SS. While my userbox firmly states that I am not a bot, SS merely "believes that he is not a bot". MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 06:43, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Update on my "semi-break". The June figures confirm it: my contributions for that month numbered 4312, the fewest in thirteen months, since May 2010. Hehe, I never would've foreseen the day that I'd be referring to four thousand edits in a month as a slowdown. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:17, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

I blame you for getting me addicted to listas starting this past February. Since then I've had months of 9700, 11,300, 6800, 4400, and 8,300 edits. Of course, I haven't interacted with my wife as much, so that is a really great thing.Bgwhite (talk) 01:45, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

You're probably not going to believe this, but I swear it's absolutely true: just moments ago, I checked the edit counter for your stats and noticed that you had not opted in! Although the more I think about it, the less amazing it becomes. I guess I checked your stats because I had replied about my editing stats to a thread which you started, and then you probably saw my note and decided to opt in and check your stats yourself. Still, I suspect that I may have some sort of Svengali-like psychic control over you. If you feel a sudden urge to empty out your bank account and send it all to the address which I'm concentrating on, go for it. Another coincidence is that your busiest month (11355, in March) had just nine fewer edits than mine (11364, in December 2009). Anyways, sorry for getting you addicted. ...Or am I? I hope you were a fan of Lost so you knew what I was talking about above in regards to Desmond and Locke with those numbers. I worked on listas for about two and a half years, but just remember that you can get out any time you want to. ...Or can you?

I don't know how you and Drmies get away with those sort of remarks about your respective wives, but it's fun to watch. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:24, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

I have this uncontrollable feeling to give you my bank account number. It is 4 8 15 16 23 42. I've watched lost except for the last season. I had a nice vacation in the local hospital that made it hard to watch four weeks of the 4th season...You can't miss one episode of that show. I'm caught up with season 4 and now on 5. The vacation also made me miss the last episodes of Battlestar Galactica. grrrr. Listas is now under 18,000, so hopefully only a few more months left. I call my mother-in-law the spawn of Satan. I think she and Satan hooked up with my wife the result of that unholy union. So, my inbred wife is the daughter and grand-daughter of Satan. :) Bgwhite (talk) 07:14, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

Hehe, now why does that bank account number seem somehow familiar...? Oh, sorry to hear about the hospital stay. I hope you're all better. I only watched the pilot episode of Battlestar and didn't especially like it, so I never watched the show again. I've heard good things about it, though, so maybe it was the biggest mistake of my life; and yes, it's irreversible, 'cause I'm never gonna watch the whole thing on DVD. As far as I'm concerned, the best work of science fiction ever produced was Babylon 5. Congratulations again on your stunning work with listas. If I hadn't disabled my WikiLove tab, I might've been tempted to give you another barnstar or a kitten or a limequat or something. Congrats also on snagging a wife with such interesting lineage; sounds like a keeper! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 08:33, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

I loved Babylon 5. Seasons 2-4 were fantastic, especially the last episode of season 4 where Sheridan is taken beyond the Rim. Any scene with Gkar or Lando in it was special. RIP Gkar, Zack and Dr. Franklin. You would love Battlestar. Season 1 was the weakest. It had long story arcs in the best tradition of Babylon. Twist, turns, and present day stories as plots. I've got netflix and it is on instant watch. Battlestar is my favorite Sci Fi series with Babylon #2. Nobody ever listens to Zanthras.... Bgwhite (talk) 09:12, 3 July 2011 (UTC)

• Spiff is a good kid, though a bit young and restless. Instead of gnoming away day after day he'll take off and listen to music or go to different continents. It's a sign of immaturity, but I think he'll grow out of it. And you know, a lot of kids think that they're not bots. We know better. Yes, I miss Calvin too. I was driving home the day before yesterday and out of nowhere the phrase "a slug the size of the Chrysler building" popped into my head. What fun. When it comes to Pink Floyd, I'm even more of a purist--for me it started going downhill around 1965. Drmies (talk) 12:06, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

• I hope to be that immature some day. I'm not sure what you're saying about Pink Floyd. Is it that you only like their very earliest stuff, or that you just don't like any of their music? MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 17:32, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Hey Mandarax, can you do me a favor? I've added List of Frankish synods to our repository and to a DYK currently on the Suggestions page (for Concilium Germanicum. Can you please check if I filed the correct paperwork to add it? And if you have a moment, in between naps, to let your AWB loose on that list, I'd really appreciate it. I had some conceptual problems when I started it (with the periods, really) but I think I solved them. The links, I'm not impressed with my own work--many of the articles don't exist (but they're all verified!), and I've piped most of them to what I hope is an appropriate target. Your oversight is, as always, appreciated. And if you have an index of church synods on your shelves, feel free to complete the list... Thanks! Drmies (talk) 21:14, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

All I found was one of those pesky three-character-dash-thingies, and when I went to fix it, you'd already done so. Other than that, all I see to do is remove the stubs, but you're busy editing the article right now and I don't want to cause you an edit conflict. AWB didn't find anything either. Good job on the article! BTW, I never knew "convoked" was a word. I guess if I'd thought about it I would've realized that "convocation" came from somewhere.... The DYK submission was fine, except I added a missing "of". And you had "Saint Boniface' career" which I changed to "Saint Boniface's career", but if your way is correct here, please change it back. Alas, I loaned my copy of the church synods index to somebody and they never returned it. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:27, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

It was 15 minutes since your last edit to the page, so I went ahead and removed the stubs. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:30, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. I screwed up the possessive? I was trying to do that {{ thingy that you always edit in at DYK nominations... Thanks Mandarax! (What a riveting article--*yawn*) Drmies (talk) 00:18, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

True, it's not exactly the most exciting subject, but it's not gonna cure my insomnia either. Incidentally, I only use the {{`s}} after a bold. It doesn't hurt to use it elsewhere, but it's not necessary. The first three below are correct, and the others are two of the possible incorrect ways:

[[Saint Boniface]]'s	Saint Boniface's
[[Saint Boniface]]{{`s}}	Saint Boniface's
'''[[Saint Boniface]]'''{{`s}}	Saint Boniface's
'''[[Saint Boniface]]''''s	Saint Boniface's
'''[[Saint Boniface]]'s'''	Saint Boniface's

MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 02:29, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

Yes, my Boniface wasn't bolded. Silly me. Thanks! Drmies (talk) 04:41, 26 June 2011 (UTC)

I submitted the Herlinatiens article for DYK Template talk:Did you know#Herlinatiens. With this being my first DYK, could you or Drmies take a look to see everything looks ok? I sent Herlinatien an email awhile back and finally heard from her today. I could finally write what the book was about rather than decipher what Google translate says. She sent me some more references including the English summary of the book. She did her email thru Google translate, so it was hard to understand... but she is unable to publish in Indonesia and is being "watched". Bgwhite (talk) 06:10, 27 June 2011 (UTC)

I had done a few minor corrections to the nomination (for example, you didn't have a link to the article), before I even saw your note. Also you had nominated it as 2x expanded and sourced BLP, but the article was never really unsourced. To qualify for this, the article must not have any inline references prior to expansion. However, this wasn't necessary anyways, as the article was created recently enough to qualify as new. And, of course, you'll have to wait for the results of the AfD. Otherwise, everything looks fine. Congratulations on the successful contact with the subject. Good luck! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 07:44, 27 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, Mandarax! And would you mind having a look at the article? There may be some translation awkwardnesses in there, and for some reason I cain't type anything write tonite. I thought of you earlier, when I opened a delicious Maredsous. Thanks again for your help, Drmies (talk) 05:44, 29 June 2011 (UTC)

Must've been exciting standing in line with a famous actress. (Although in the U.S. Willeke van Ammelrooy's not exactly a household name, I guess in Dutch cinema she's huge.) Being in the L.A. area, I've had a few encounters with celebrities myself, including Ted Danson, Wallace Langham, Richard Kind, Joe Spano, Jeffrey Jones, Jacob Zachar, John Hensley, and possibly some others.

Besides my minor edits to all four articles, I supplied a DYKmake for each of the three people for each of the four articles per your comment with your nomination. Did you intend this to be kind of an honorary award in some cases to acknowledge general contributions to the tetralogy as a whole? For example, on Renée Soutendijk, the expansion appears to be entirely yours. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:01, 29 June 2011 (UTC)

"Huge"? You should see her behind. Ooh lala! Hey, thanks for your help! As for the individual thingies, well, it's all a group effort, of course, so whatever you did is fine. It was fun working on those articles, though it made me realize how much still needs to be covered. The lady redlinked Rembrandt Award, for instance. Matthijs van Heijningen is lousy, and so is Monique van de Ven. Netherlands Film and Television Academy is nothing. Etc.! I smell quintuple DYKs all over the place, but at some point I have to get back to work--real work. Like, now. Sayonara, Drmies (talk) 20:03, 29 June 2011 (UTC)

Well, now you can! You're welcome. And it's artsy! Drmies (talk) 20:05, 29 June 2011 (UTC)

Woohoo! Hey, it doesn't look huge to me. Oh, I don't know how things work in the liberal Netherlands; was she nude in the grocery store line too? I must say that the very first thing I thought of when I saw the photo was that it reminded me of Manet's Luncheon on the Grass.

Yes, find a little time to make it a quintuple. The exposure in the DYK Hall of Fame may permanently ensure a flow of traffic to the articles. As for how your nomination got screwed up, it looks like an accident when someone added a nomination above yours. MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 20:40, 29 June 2011 (UTC)

Yes, I saw the oopsie and corrected it--no big deal. Indeed, dejeuner. No, unfortunately that's not how we go grocery shopping--and "huge" was meant as expressing profound admiration. Now I'm off to Publix--who knows what I might see today. ;) Drmies (talk) 20:42, 29 June 2011 (UTC)

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