This is an archive of past discussions with User:JackofOz. 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.
Hi JackofOz, contrary to your assumption, I know an extensive amount of both Australian and English history. Is Queens Elizabeth not the Monarch of Australia? I am also not talking about the legal system and how Australian court systems no longer appeal to the Privy Council in London, in which this Acts implies.
Australia is a constitutional monarchy with The Queen as Sovereign. The Queen has developed a very personal relationship with Australia through regular visits. She has travelled throughout the different states to meet people from all cultures, walks of life and regions of this enormous and fascinating country. As a constitutional monarch, The Queen, by convention, is not involved in the day-to-day business of the Australian Government, but she continues to play important ceremonial and symbolic roles. The Queen's relationship to Australia is unique. In all her duties, she speaks and acts as Queen of Australia, and not as Queen of the United Kingdom. The Queen's Royal style and title in Australia is Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth.
Thus, the Australia Act of 1986 does not make it a completely independent country. Isn't the Queens still on its paper notes? I also know there are a lot of people in Australia that would rather be completely independent and some would have the whole world believe that they are due to certain radicals. Is Australia independent like the United States? No, they are a commonwealth of the Monarch of U.K. Savvyjack23 (talk) 04:48, 1 May 2014 (UTC)
Also, see Commonwealth realm. The map on this page shows in blue all who are current, and former Commonwealth realms that are shown in red. Australia to no surprise at all, is not of the former Commonwealth realm (like India, United States, etc.) Savvyjack23 (talk) 04:56, 1 May 2014 (UTC)
Hence, it would be an "establishment from the United Kingdom". Self-governing as it was, more power to its government as it may but still not off of the monarch completely. Savvyjack23 (talk) 05:00, 1 May 2014 (UTC)
1986 - The Australia Act makes Australian law fully independent of the British parliament and legal system. There is no longer any provision for Australian courts to mount final appeals to the Privy Council in London.
This certainly does not imply that Australia is a fully "independent country". This may be a "de facto" belief by some Australians, since Australia is on the other side of the world away from the U.K., but it is simply untrue to say it is fully independent. Savvyjack23 (talk) 05:09, 1 May 2014 (UTC)
In theory, Great Britain. An act of the Australian parliament does not, actually, become law until the sovereign in London—or his vicegerent in Canberra, the Governor General—assents to it. Said ruler/viceroy would remain well within his constitutional rights to withhold his assent, and issue a "royal veto."
Although, in fairness, this has never, ever, happened in Australia—or in the United Kingdom, for that matter, since the time of Queen Anne. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Twinpinesmall (talk • contribs) 23:25, 5 June 2014 (UTC)
Your remarks are unbelievably wrong-headed.
(a) Great Britain is not a sovereign country; it is merely a geographical expression. It is part of the territory of the United Kingdom.
(b) It is true that Australian laws require the assent of either the Governor-General or, in special cases, the monarch. Note that the Constitution gives the primary role here to the G-G, not to the monarch. It is the G-G, and only the G-G, who must determine that a certain bill shall be reserved for the monarch's personal assent. If the G-G is not of such a mind, the Queen cannot just interfere and demand she sign a bill into law; that would be utterly unconstitutional and invalid. The Constitution gives the G-G powers that only he/she, and NEVER the queen, can exercise. For example, if the monarch were on a visit to Australia and the Prime Minister suddenly dropped dead, it is extremely doubtful whether the monarch would have the constitutional power to commission a new PM. That role is reserved exclusively for the Governor-General. If he happened to be out of the country at the time, the commissioning would be done by the Administrator of the Commonwealth (typically the senior state governor, who acts in loco gubernator-generalis in such cases).
(c) The Queen of Australia is the Queen of Australia, whether she is in Windsor Castle, Buck Palace, Oodnagalarbie or Siberia. She also simultaneously wears 15 other crowns, no matter where she may be at any one time. Australian laws, if reserved for the monarch's personal assent, are assented to by the Queen of Australia, and not by the Queen of the United Kingdom, or the Queen of New Zealand, or the Queen of Canada, or the Queen of Jamaica, or the Queen of Anywhere Else.
(d) The Australia Act 1986 put all hyper-theoretical notions of usurpation of Australian laws by the United Kingdom Parliament to rest, permanently. Before then, it was theoretically possible - albeit unthinkable in practice - for the UK Parliament to abolish an Australian law. Now it is not even theoretically possible. The High Court of Australia is the highest court of appeal available to Australians. They cannot now appeal to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. Since 1931, the Monarch of Australia has taken their advice on Australian matters from the Prime Minister of Australia and from the Prime Minister of No Other Country.
(e) It is true that the UK government still has some minor role in commenting on the proposed appointments of governors of the Australian states. But if there were ever a case where the UK government had a dim view of a certain suggested appointment, the Queen's advisers would seek advice from the Premier of the state concerned, and if the matter came to a head, the Premier's wishes would prevail. That is absolutely clear.
(f) The Commonwealth of Australia is a fully independent country. In every conceivable way.
Hello, I'm BracketBot. I have automatically detected that your edit to Kurt Adler may have broken the syntax by modifying 1 "()"s and 1 "[]"s likely mistaking one for another. If you have, don't worry: just edit the page again to fix it. If I misunderstood what happened, or if you have any questions, you can leave a message on my operator's talk page.
It was a mistake. I was trying to undo another user's edits (which consisted of unsourced information). I undid the bolding before you ever posted your message to me, as you can see. I never intended to bring it back. Freshh! (talk) 21:59, 1 May 2014 (UTC)
descriptions and prescriptions
Hey Jack,
Your reply to my comment on the Language Desk today reminded me of one of our first interactions here a while back: I had replied to your answer on some correctness of grammar question saying something like "that's just rank prescriptivism", and you called me out for for my use of the word. Anyway, good times :) I guess deciding which is called for is mostly a question of taste and context-dependency. I favor for descriptivism in casual life, but I ain't gonna let that fly in any published academic discourse! SemanticMantis (talk) 23:11, 7 May 2014 (UTC)
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Hi Jack
Just a courtesy note - I have reverted the addition made to the Theory of the Portuguese discovery of Australia that I notice you were trying to tidy up and explained my reasons on the talk page. I can see by the original expression its not your work, but thought Id point out what Ive done and why. CheersNickm57 (talk) 13:07, 4 June 2014 (UTC)
Yes, we do need an article. Who's going to do it? You, me or both of us? (I think Les illuminations is much better sung by a soprano than by a tenor.) Tim riley talk20:46, 7 June 2014 (UTC)
Great minds, Tim. I was just now googling away to find some info on her, as her name is pretty new to me. I've been in a rather non-article-creation mood for a few months, so I'm just in a reading-only phase now, not in a collecting-sources phase. If you feel the juices flowing, please be my guest.
Indeed I have the Kildea book, and apart from his unsubstantiated tittle-tattle about syphilis it's quite good. A bit chip-on-shoulder here and there, perhaps. I don't get the impression that Mr Kildea likes English people very much. Be that as it may, I shall be pleased to run up a first go at an article on Sophie W. Watch this - or rather that - space. Tim riley talk21:10, 7 June 2014 (UTC)
Created page. I've tried not to let Les Illuminations and Britten dominate the article: she was of much wider importance in modern music than I had realised before rummaging in the archives. Now, over to you. Tim riley talk12:31, 8 June 2014 (UTC)
Both you and Tim have made an excellent start on this article. Just to say that there was some material you added which I felt rather misrepresented Britten's attitude to Wyss. I haven't seen the context in which Kildea quotes a letter in which Britten writes "the woman's a moron. How can a person be so daft?", but it was written to his close partner Peter Pears and - as is clear from its context in the original letter - Britten wrote it in a moment of private exasperation that Wyss, even when he had tried to politely put her off over the previous two years, was insisting on sending long letters "including a nice lot of copies of press cuttings, showing how good she & I are together". I've replaced this with relevant quotes from two other letters which are more pertinent in explaining how Britten reacted to her style of performance after having heard Pears perform Les illuminations.
I hope you don't mind. Sorry for any infelicity in my explaining this - it's now very late here in the UK. All best, Alfietucker (talk) 00:22, 9 June 2014 (UTC)
You've explained it well, Alfie. I did have some misgivings about the stuff I included, but I trusted the system to quickly produce an editor who would know how to make it right, and I was not disappointed. Thanks. -- Jack of Oz[pleasantries]00:27, 9 June 2014 (UTC)
And greetings to you both. Tim you're very kind - I may yet trip, and I admit to being rather more sympathetic to Britten (given the gruelling rate at which he worked, and, to my ears, the wonderful music he created) than some other listeners are. Anyway, it's always a pleasure to work with you both. Alfietucker (talk) 18:46, 9 June 2014 (UTC)
Hi Jack - I noticed that you've recently added a flag to your signature. I hate to do this, but I'm going to ask you to take it out. To be clear, this has absolutely nothing to do with the content; flags – and any other images – are just plain forbidden in signatures: WP:SIGIMAGE. Let me know if you have any concerns. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 12:48, 10 June 2014 (UTC)
Done. Sorry, I was not aware of that policy. I modelled my amendment on the sig of another user I came across at random. If I could remember who it was, I'd tell them to clean up their act too. :) -- Jack of Oz[pleasantries]21:03, 10 June 2014 (UTC)
(ec) No worries, and thanks for making the change. Think of it as an act of kindness towards individuals on dial-up (or bandwidth-capped mobile) connections.
Incidentally, I don't know what it says about the way my mind works, but I just read the superscript tags in your signature as a greeting: 'sup! I think it makes sense, as the tags enclose "pleasantries". Cheers! TenOfAllTrades(talk) 21:25, 10 June 2014 (UTC)
I was just coming here to let you know that I liked the flag! Too bad it has to go... I originally tried making the stripe under my name match the flag but I couldn't make the markup short enough for the settings page to accept it. Katie R (talk) 12:11, 11 June 2014 (UTC)
Ah yes, Katie. What terrible limitations this newfangled jimcrackery has. Things were better in my day: kerosene TVs, hand cranked cars, and food that didn't make you fat. -- Jack of Oz[pleasantries]12:39, 11 June 2014 (UTC)
Vent
Bitch. Moan. Curse. Philosophical reflection. Ironic observation. Self-depreciating aside. Humourous comment. Pause & reflect. G'day Jack! I trust you are well!! Cheers, Pdfpdf (talk) 14:03, 24 June 2014 (UTC)
** Pretends to sigh wearily, patronisingly and superciliously **
One would be better if venters could spell "deprecating" and "humorous" correctly. They know how super-sensitive one is to things of this kind. :)
Hi, Jack. I removed the cat that you added to this article, because this score is not an arrangement. The score is original. It is the libretto that is based on the earlier work. All the best! -- Ssilvers (talk) 13:11, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
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Thank you very much for that link to the Staggers, Jack. I think it important enough to have the point, with Alfietucker's additional comments, on permanently accessible record at the Britten talk page, and have cut and pasted from my talk page thither. I am, as I say there, minded to leave the BB article unchanged, but will gladly join in a brawl (biting allowed, but no gouging) at the BB page if you demur. Tim riley talk18:51, 26 June 2014 (UTC)
Hello JoO. I hope that you are well and thriving on WikiP and, more so, off. Thanks for mentioning LoB at the question at the Entertainment Ref Desk. I hope that you have also seen Not the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy). It is a hoot with some rib tickling moments. Cheers. MarnetteD|Talk21:28, 26 June 2014 (UTC)
Thanks MD. I will definitely look out for that entertainment.
Jack, I am still laughing after 10 minutes. I know this is wrong, but I still had to thank you. WP:DYK beckons, I feel, for Father Gerard. Poor guy. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:01, 1 July 2014 (UTC)
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As you have contributed to this article in the past, you may be interested to know that I'm hoping soon to start some significant work, to bring it to featured standard if possible. User:Alfietucker has offered his assistance. Any comments/contributions you care to make will obviously be welcome. Brianboulton (talk) 21:01, 7 July 2014 (UTC)
You are right. "Still married" assumes divorce is the norm.
~~nghtownclerk~~
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Wouldn't that question be more appropriate for the Entertainment desk? After all, that's where you'd expect musicians to hang out ... :-) --Florian Blaschke (talk) 20:39, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
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Up to a point, Lord Copper. To oblige a dear friend, an opera buff who reads WP but doesn't edit it, I waded in to Jules Massenet to upgrade it as my pal requested. Now, I am to French opera (apart from Carmen, natch) what elephants are to hang-gliding, but to my great surprise and pleasure I found old Jules a delight to research and write up. I know you don't usually dip into the peer reviews or FA sifts, but if you have time and inclination to look in chez Jules it would be esteemed a favour. (Suggestions here, please.)
I am hoping your agnostic remark about Britten refers only to Noye's Fludde. If you don't like Peter Grimes or the Serenade or Les illuminations I'm afraid we shall have to refund your subscription and ask you to leave. Tim riley talk17:19, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
Actually, I know only so little of NF as for me to find it unlikeable and not requiring any further exploration. In other words, it doesn't grab me. See, Tim, I extend to music and most other things the John le Carré literary principle: As a reader, I insist on being beguiled early or not at all, which is why many of the books on my shelves remain mysteriously unread after page 20. But once I submit to the author's thrall, he can do me no wrong. My explorations of PG, BB and D in V have been similarly cursory. I do like the 4 SI, the S for TH&S, the Nocturne, the V on a T of P, the V of a T of FB (which article I wrote), and sundry other bits. Those exceptions aside, BB's music is to me generally cold, unmusical, uninteresting, perplexing (but only in that the musical cognoscenti rate him extremely highly but I can't see what all the fuss is about, and that bothers me) and barren of anything I'd call art. Also, I basically can't stand PP's voice (maybe one has to be English to understand; speaking of unhallowing the hallowed, I have similar problems with D F-D, who always sounded like he was trying way too hard and managed to go off-key, slightly but noticeably sharp, in his struggle. Doesn't anyone else hear this?). To me, a male voice is **** Bjorling ****, Warren, Tagliavini, Gigli, Souzay, Hvorostovsky, Terfel, Pavarotti and some others. I'd even listen to John McCormack over PP. OTOH, my recording of Dichterliebe and Winterreise, with PP accompanied by BB, has been played to death. You work me out, I can't. I'd be happy to review JM. TTFN :) -- Jack of Oz[pleasantries]21:46, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
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Please. I have done so many violations on it that I need help fixing my mistakes. People are kinda worried because I'm not suppose to create categories. Maybe you could speak on my behalf. I do have some mental health issues. Please? Venustar84 (talk) 04:00, 9 August 2014 (UTC)
Hi, Venustar 84. I'm flattered you should ask me to be your mentor, but I must decline. I have more than enough on my plate at the moment to take on any new projects, and it's easy for my energies to become fragmented if I do too much.
Please call me by my first name Kristine. Here is a category I'm not sure if I should have created in the first place: Category:People_from_Lake_Laberge Venustar84 (talk) 04:33, 10 August 2014 (UTC)
Hi Kristine. Have you read the message @ Category:People from Lake Laberge? Essentially, it's saying it's empty, and we don't need empty categories clogging up the works. But a solution is on offer: If you know of pages which are appropriate for this category, please populate it and remove this notice. If you do know of such places, then put them into this category by adding [[Category:People from Lake Laberge]] to the bottom of their pages. If not, then I guess I would have to ask why you created it in the first place.
I noticed you were the first person to add Pablo Picasso's full name to the article, back in 2006. Some other names have been added and removed over the years. I'm trying to figure out what the actual name is, which is difficult to do right now with just online sources, as so many have likely pulled their information from the Wikipedia article itself. Do you have a source for the name? Lexicon(talk)03:27, 12 August 2014 (UTC)
Hi. Whatever source I used back in 2006 has long since departed this life; I seem to remember it came from an article I had cut out of the Canberra Times some time in the preceding 10 years, and sourced to somewhere European. But would this source suffice? Cheers. -- Jack of Oz[pleasantries]03:37, 12 August 2014 (UTC)
Featured article candidate
Having lured you into the peer review, can I push my luck still further? Jules Massenet, the second greatest composer born in 1842, is now at FAC. If you have time and inclination to look in, it will be esteemed a favour. Tim riley talk21:43, 12 August 2014 (UTC)
Sorry that I didn't get around yet to move the other Schubert piano sonata pages, I'll get to it ASAP, and once there is an OK on the issues being tested/clarified.
Thanks, Francis. In the meantime, however long "the meantime" may be, and thanks to me, all the Schubert sonata articles are now consistently formatted. That is all I wanted to do, and I did it by moving one (1) page. When other decisions get made, then they can be implemented uniformly. Cheers. -- Jack of Oz[pleasantries]04:25, 15 August 2014 (UTC)
Sonatas: seem to be the only exception at Wikipedia:Naming conventions (music)#Compositions (classical music), per the example I copied from the guideline above — or is it the disambiguation by catalogue number that makes the exception... not clear in the Naming Convention, but anyhow that also applies in this case. I followed the guideline. Whether the piano sonatas by other composers are in line with the guideline is not my concern. If the guideline is changed the Schubert piano sonatas can be moved. I don't consider it my task to divert from the guideline with a WP:OTHERSTUFFEXISTS rationale.
is Glen Sheil the tennis player not the same person as Glen Sheil? every draw links to this page, same birth date... the wiki page even states "He was also active in tennis". is this all a massive coincidence or a combo of wrong data in the article or is this the same guy? Asmazif (15 August 2014)
Well, on reflection, I suppose we have to assume they were the same person. But the tennis database says he's still alive and aged 84, so they seem to be completely unaware he was the same person who was much more notable as a politician, and who died 6 years ago, and that's a worry. Being a second-round or even first-round player at multiple Grand Slam matches, against the likes of Lew Hoad and Fred Stolle, is quite something, not to be dismissed with a mere "was active in tennis". His Senate condolence motion does mention his involvement in tennis, but gives no details of any matches he played. It says he represented Qld in tennis, but no mention of his Australian Open appearances. So, he seems to have had 2 quite different and completely unconnected claims to notability, and the two worlds he inhabited had only minimal (or no) awareness of each other. Odd. -- Jack of Oz[pleasantries]12:34, 15 August 2014 (UTC)
I guess that is a bit strange. As for Tennis Archives, I've noticed it often hasn't updated death dates etc of obscure, early/mid 20th century players, so that's not an omission too surprising. Your link cites him as a foundation member of Brisbane Tennis Association and lifetime member of Queensland Lawn Tennis Association, so yes, I think we should assume they are the same person. I'll re-add the info if that's OK. Asmazif (15 August 2014)
