Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2008 December 31

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December 31

What is " A NI SA HA NI " ?Siouxlin (talk) 01:28, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Saw on a T shirt: may be an organization or philosophy or group. I would like to know what it refers to.Siouxlin (talk) 01:28, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Blue Clan. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 03:07, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

(after ec on Humanities desk, where the question was drawn away from under my feet, while I was answering): Possibly the Blue Clan in Cherokee/Ah-ni-yv-wi-ya society. See the article on Cherokee Clans where it's transliterated as "Ah-ni-sa-ho-ni". ---Sluzzelin talk 03:12, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Which goes to mean it's (AFAICS) the name of the "Blue clan", which is, by the way, rendered in the article (as of current now) "Anisahoni": "This is the "Blue Clan".[6]" Please let's all spare each other painstaking lookups. --217.81.189.242 (talk) 19:37, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

Ooops, sorry about that, Sluzzelin. It was thoughtless of me, and the consequences entirely unintentional. I do apologise, and Happy New Year! ៛ Bielle (talk) 00:07, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Song

In NCIS Season 3 Episode 21 (Bloodbath) when the team is entered Krime Kleaners building there is a song playing, I've been unable to identify it, can anyone tell me which one it is? Joneleth (talk) 03:29, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

It's got to be Rob Zombie, "American Witch". --Milkbreath (talk) 03:59, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Yea thats it, thanks alot. Joneleth (talk) 04:32, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Market prices/agriculture

Where can I find market prices(U.S., or anywhere, just ballpark values) for farm-type stuff like cattle, pigs, whatever. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.227.98.148 (talk) 04:12, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

The Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are the main places where futures contracts (an agreement to deliver this good at a future time) are traded. This should represent the expected basic price of a large-volume or industrial order, but not a consumer-facing price. Here is CME: [1] and here is CBOT [2]

You will probably have to look up the units of measurement used to convert it into whatever you're using it for. Most things are "bushels" etc. NByz (talk) 06:25, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I was interested, so I looked this one up: Live Cattle is traded in units of 40,000 lbs of "55% choice, 45% select grade" (not sure what that means). Price quoted is cents per pound. NByz (talk) 06:33, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

You might find the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service a useful source of info. Astronaut (talk) 08:27, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

British Farthing

Is there a connection between the last year the Farthing was legal tender and the fact that it was 1/960th of a pound sterling? Or just coincidence? Coolotter88 (talk) 04:36, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

There are no coincidences, only hitsuzen ;) HHOS --Dr Dima (talk) 06:19, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Maybe you mean "a coincidence" is not "just a coincidence". -- JackofOz (talk) 06:23, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Which strangely reminds me of the Seinfeld about whether there are degrees of coincidences - "there are no big coincidences or small coincidences, there are just coincidences" is how it went, I think. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 09:46, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I can't imagine it would be anything other than coincidence. Astronaut (talk) 08:10, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

To give the questioner a more serious answer, I think there is a connection. The farthing went out of circulation in 1960. In 1960, the pound sterling was worth about only one third as much as it was in 1940 due to inflation. People's earnings grew even faster than inflation during that period. Consequently, where a shopper might have cared in 1940 whether potatoes cost two pence per pound or two pence and a quarter per pound, so that it was worth the trouble to the shopper and the merchant to account for farthings in accounts and in tills, the shopper no longer cared much about such a trivial difference in 1960, and it was no longer worth the trouble. Put differently, the 1940 farthing was worth about 5p in 2008 terms. By 1960, it was worth barely more than 1p today. It would not be so far fetched today for the Bank of England to retire the penny as a cost saving measure, since the average shopper doesn't care much whether a pound of potatoes costs 55p or 56p. Marco polo (talk) 16:53, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I realize that the coin was not worth a lot in 1960. I was talking about whether if the year 1960 had anything to do with 1/960th of a pound. Everyone seems to say that it's a coincidence. Thanks for the help though. Coolotter88 (talk) 19:15, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I suppose it's not utterly out of the question that there could have been a subconcious influence on the decision-makers. We don't seem to have an article on arbitrary coherence, but here's an article on it. I don't have any suggestion as to how you might figure out whether this was actually a contributing factor. --Trovatore (talk) 21:48, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

It seems to me that if someone in government with enough influence to set the date of the farthing's demise had come up with this idea - they'd have made it very public at the time and we'd be able to discover that fact. There would be little point in picking that exact year - forcing either the early or late retirement of the coin through all of the necessary regulatory hurdles just to make that date work - then keeping entirely quiet about all of that cunning planning! So I'm going to say "Coin-cidence". SteveBaker (talk) 23:35, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Sexy veggies

A few months ago there was an add campaign for greenpeace or a similar organization that showed sexy vegetables and greens photographed in an erotic manner. I can't find it anymor. Would anyone have a link to the adds? Thank you. Keria (talk) 14:42, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Where did the ads appear? (What country, region, or market?) Were they print, television, or billboards? Were the ads in English? TenOfAllTrades(talk) 15:33, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately I didn't see them at the time, they were all over the ternet though, and I guess they must have been published in some magazines I really couldn't say where (surely in the US and UK, I would guess in continental Europe, I don't know where else). They were print and internet campaigns I don't know if they made videos for them. It's strange that I can't find it through search words as I remember it being all over add and visual production blogs. Cheers. Keria (talk) 15:45, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Did you mean People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals#Lettuce Ladies? CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 20:22, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Should have looked further down, Lettuce Ladies and Broccoli Boys. Good thing I know the enemy. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 20:24, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

All right, I think I found what I was looking for. It is actually called Forest Love and I was really misleading as it seems to actually be a campaign to save trees by Greenpeace. I also heard there was a Norwegian campaign to promote vegetarianism that used the theme of sexy vegetables, so if anyone has any more reference on that theme they are very welcome. Keria (talk) 21:33, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Have you tried a Google Image search on "sexy veggies"? I have, and I'll never eat cucumbers or corn on the cob again. Search tip: turn on SafeSearch. --Milkbreath (talk) 21:40, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

It was pretty bad, but it wasn't as bad as the time I didn't know what "yaranaika" was. bibliomaniac15 21:48, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

There was an ad campaign advocating use of condoms last time I was in Germany. There were posters featuring veggies wearing "rubbers" in places like subway stations. Found one in Google: [3] 76.97.245.5 (talk) 09:10, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

What is Topaz Gold please

No definition on WKPD —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.110.149.97 (talk) 15:59, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I'd never seen that abbreviation before and thought you were talking about a television or radio station... Anyway, could you provide some context? Topaz Gold could be used to refer to anything from a brand of organic beverages to gold rings with topaz gems in them to a color of decorative bead to a cellphone. Dismas|^(talk) 16:13, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

used to be a brand of poppers from what I remember.86.53.80.11 (talk) 06:52, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

MIT Undergrad

What is the best dorm? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.227.98.148 (talk) 22:05, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Presuming there are MIT residents on here, you might get some answers, but you'll have to provide a little more context, as to what you're looking for? Low crime? (Yeah, even at MIT it could be a problem?) Activities? (Some dorms have things more geared for fellowship and community.) Offering single rooms versus rooms where you must share?

I'd recommend you contact MIT and search under "housing." My hunch is you'll get a good description of each dorm. Of course, the description won't always be perfect. At College of Wooster when I was there, one dorm was supposed to be a quiet community, with much more stringently enforced quiet times, but the times they could be loud it was loudest on camps; and even times when it was supposedly quet. :-) So, some contact with students who can answer would help, too.Somebody or his brother (talk) 23:46, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

This article might interest you [4] - 76.97.245.5 (talk) 09:19, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Here is the official introduction to MIT housing. Here is a clickable list of dorms. And here are some student blog posts on life in specific dorms. Marco polo (talk) 19:24, 1 January 2009 (UTC)