Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2014-11-12/Featured content

Wikipedia goes to church in Lithuania

Nine featured articles were promoted this week.

Articles that gained featured status

• The Boat Race 1993 (nominated by The Rambling Man) Another part of The Rambling Man's drive to put as many articles about the Boat Race up to FA level, this covers the 1993 vintage, which RM says is a personal favourite. The race—held annually on the River Thames between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge—was an interesting one. New technology was employed by Cambridge in the form of the cleaver blades they used, while Oxford favoured the more traditional macon oar. Also notable on the day was one of the Oxford rowers, Matthew Pinsent, who found himself on the losing side for once (although with five Olympic gold medals to console him, it probably doesn't cause him too much grief). Cambridge extended their lead in the competition to 70–68.
• Carl Hans Lody (nominated by Prioryman) Lody was a reserve officer of the Imperial German Navy, who spent the opening months of the First World War spying on Britain. He'd received no training for the work, and was easily identified by the British counter-espionage agency MO5(g), the forerunner of MI5. They allowed him to carry on spying to gain information about German espionage techniques and spy networks. The work was relatively easy for MO5(g): Lody would send his reports un-coded to an address in Sweden known to be a postbox for German agents. By October 1914 MO5(g) had ordered his arrest; he travelled to Ireland in order to escape, but unwittingly left a trail so obvious that police tracked him down in less than a day. He stood trial, was convicted, sentenced to death and, on 6 November 1914, "shot at dawn by a firing squad at the Tower of London in the first execution there in 167 years". A hundred years after his death he appeared as TFA.
• Chandralekha (1948 film) (nominated by Kailash29792) Chandralekha is "a 1948 Indian Tamil historical fiction film directed and produced by S. S. Vasan. Starring T. R. Rajakumari, M. K. Radha and Ranjan in the lead roles, the film follows two brothers named Veerasimhan and Sasankan, who fight with each other over ruling their father's kingdom and for marrying the village dancer Chandralekha", according to the article. The story is based on a chapter of George W. M. Reynolds's 1848 novel Robert Macaire: or, The French bandit in England. The film was in production for five years and became the most expensive film made in India at the time.
• Endometrial cancer (nominated by Keilana) Something of a rarity: a health and medicine FA, (and a fantastic article it is too). The article concerns that cancer which "arises from the endometrium (the lining of the uterus or womb). It is the result of the abnormal growth of cells that have the ability to invade or spread to other parts of the body." While strongly related to obesity, the cancer is also "associated with excessive estrogen exposure, high blood pressure and diabetes." It is the third most common cause of death from female cancers and caused 76,000 deaths in 2012. The re-write and review process included an expert review from Cancer Research UK.
• Jack Crawford (cricketer) (nominated by Jhall1 & Sarastro1) Crawford was "a rather arrogant but massively talented cricketer", according to Sarastro. Crawford played for Surrey and South Australia as an all-rounder. He could score quickly, with powerful shots, and bowled an accurate medium-paced off spin. He made his debut for England before he was 21 years old, but only played in 12 matches for England, "although critics believed he had a great future in the sport and was a potential future England captain".
• HMS Formidable (67) (nominated by Sturmvogel 66) HMS Formidable was an aircraft carrier ordered for the Royal Navy before the onset of the Second World War, which was completed in late 1940. Sturmvogel 66 tells us that the ship had an extremely active role during the war, which included service in most major theatres of British involvement. The ship was "worn out by her wartime service and was scrapped as uneconomical to repair in 1953 after a brief period ferrying troops about shortly after the end of the war".
• Acacia pycnantha (nominated by Melburnian & Cas Liber) This plant is also more commonly known as the golden wattle; it has "profuse fragrant, golden flowers [that] appear in late winter and spring, followed by long seed pods". The plant is native to southern Australia, and since 1988 it has been the official floral emblem of the country. Despite such high official note for the flower, it is considered a weed in a range of countries, including South Africa, Tanzania, Italy, Portugal, India, Indonesia and New Zealand.
• Ontario Highway 403 (nominated by Floydian) This highway is a 125.2 km (77.8 mi) road that runs through Ontario, between Woodstock and Mississauga. The road was first proposed in the 1950s, its first section was opened in December 1963, and it was finally completed in August 1997.
• No. 1 Squadron RAAF (nominated by Ian Rose) FAC delegate Ian Rose once again turns into FA writer Ian Rose, as he turns his attention to a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadron. Formed during the First World War, the squadron saw action in the Sinai and Palestine Campaigns; it was also active during the Second World War, in the Malayan and Dutch East Indies campaigns, where it suffered severe losses. It flew missions during the Malayan Emergency in the late 1950s, and had been quiet since, until being assigned to the military intervention against ISIS. Aircraft from the squadron conducted their first mission, and their first strike, over Iraq in October 2014.

Two featured lists were promoted this week.

Lists that gained featured status

• Robert Downey, Jr. filmography (nominated by LADY LOTUS) Downey has had a colourful past that saw a promising start to his career take a dip in the late 1990s before he came back stronger than ever to become one of Hollywood's hottest properties. His early career saw him appearing in Weird Science (1985), Air America (1990) and Chaplin (1992). He received several nominations and awards for his portrayal of Charlie Chaplin. After drugs issues, leading to arrests, time in prison and rehab, Downey gave up drugs in 2003. Since becoming clean, Downey has appeared in a series of blockbuster films, including as Tony Stark / Iron Man in Iron Man (2008), a role he later reprised in Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013) and The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). He has also played Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011).
• List of awards and nominations received by Louie (nominated by Wikipedical) Louie is a television comedy show that spotlights the talents of the stand-up comedian Louis C.K., who created, wrote, directed and starred in the series. The show is a "fictionalized version of C.K.'s life as a comedian, father, and divorcé." The series was warmly praised by the critics, and awards followed, including "eleven Primetime Emmy Awards (three wins for the series), eight Television Critics Association Awards (three wins), a Golden Globe Award, two Writers Guild of America Awards (one win), a Directors Guild of America Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Producers Guild of America Award." C.K. himself has also been nominated for, and received, a stack of gleaming trophyware for his efforts, including being "nominated for sixteen individual awards his role as the series lead, four as director, six as writer, and eleven as producer". There have been four series of the show so far, originally broadcast from 2010 on the FX channel.

Fifty-five featured pictures were promoted this week.

• 
  Yellow-billed shrike with prey
• 
  Gulf fritillaries mating

• Training exercise of the Royal Canadian Air Force (created by Letartean, nominated by EuroCarGT) The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Cap Aupaluk train with the Royal Canadian Air Force in a practice rescue at sea.
• Ten, twenty, fifty, one-hundred, five-hundred, one-thousand, five-thousand, and ten-thousand U.S. dollar gold certificates from the 1928 series (created by the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing, nominated and prepared from the collections of the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution by Godot13) Redeemable for gold, the 1928 series of United States notes included William McKinley on the $500, Grover Cleveland on the $1,000, James Madison on the $5,000, and Salmon P. Chase on the $10,000, as well as the better-known personages that remain on current U.S. banknotes.
• Midsummer Eve Bonfire on Skagen Beach (created by P. S. Krøyer, nominated by Chris Woodrich) "Midsummer Eve Bonfire on Skagen Beach (Danish: Sankt Hansblus på Skagen strand) is a 1906 painting by P.S. Krøyer. The large work, which took several years to complete, shows many of the artists in the group known as the Skagen Painters as well as influential members of Skagen's local community."
• Yellow-billed shrike (created by Sumeet Moghe, nominated by Jim Carter) The yellow-billed shrike, also known as Corvinella corvina, "is a common resident breeding bird in tropical Africa from Senegal east to Uganda and locally in westernmost Kenya. It frequents forest and other habitats with trees. The nest is a cup structure in a bush or tree into which four or five eggs are laid. Only one female in a group breeds at a given time, with other members providing protection and food."
• Franz Lehár (created by Bain News Service, restored and nominated by Adam Cuerden) Best known for The Merry Widow, Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár was a prolific composer of operetta in the early 20th century. Like many classical composers, his music has entered society so pervasively that many people will know his music without realizing it; for example, the waltz from The Merry Widow was used in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood for that show's variant of a "Happy Birthday" song.
• Chronology of the universe diagram (created by NASA/WMAP Science Team, with modifications by Ryan Kaldari nominated by Pine) This diagram produced by NASA shows the evolution of the universe on a cosmic timeline of billions of years.
• Nave facing east, nave facing west, altar, and ceiling of St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Vilnius, Lithuania (created and nominated by David Iliff) These breathtaking pictures of St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Vilnius, Lithuania show the stunning, gleaming white interior, broken only by the occasional splash of artistically positioned colour, but full of carvings and sculptures and reliefs in white. The church is considered a masterpiece of Lithuanian Baroque architecture, and it's not hard to see why.
• Madonna with the Blue Diadem (created by Raphael and Gianfrancesco Penni, nominated by Chris Woodrich) "The Madonna with the Blue Diadem is a painting by Raphael and his pupil Gianfrancesco Penni, and was most likely painted in Rome around 1512." The painting is now at the Louvre. In the Louvre, the painting is named Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John, also known as Virgin with the Veil or Virgin with the Blue Diadem. Additional names include Virgin with the Linen, Slumbering Child and Silence of the Holy Virgin."
• £5 Kingdom of England exchequer note (nominated and prepared from the collections of the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution by Godot13) "A 5 pound interest-bearing Kingdom of England Exchequer note dated 6 August 1697. These bills were first introduced one year earlier (1696) and paid interest for loans made to the government. This note was issued during the reign of William III, less than a decade after England’s 1689 Bill of Rights was adopted, and a decade before Great Britain was formed."
• Pah Wongso's registration card from the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies (created by the Japanese Occupation Government, prepared and nominated by Chris Woodrich) In World War II, the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, were occupied by Japanese forces from 1942 to 1945. The weakening of Dutch rule by this occupation led directly to the declaration of Indonesian independence at the end of the war, setting off a four-year battle for control between Dutch and Indonesian forces. Pah Wongso, whose registration card this is, was an Indo social activist who worked to raise money for the Red Cross who was held in a Japanese concentration camp for much of the war.
• Mating Gulf fritillaries (created by Umbris, nominated by Gwillhickers) "The Gulf fritillary or passion butterfly (Agraulis vanillae) is a bright orange butterfly of the family Nymphalidae and subfamily Heliconiinae." It "is a medium to large butterfly, with a wingspan of 6–9.5 cm (2.4–3.7 in). Its underwings are buff, with large silvery spots. It takes its common name from its migration over the Gulf of Mexico."
• Franklin Pierce (created by Mathew Brady, nominated by Adam Cuerden) Technically, this reached featured picture a while ago, but I realised the day after it passed that I could do a better crop, and, as I'm the editor of the Featured Content section, I held it back until after the featured credit got moved to the better image. Franklin Pierce, the American president who failed to avert the American Civil War, became a featured article back in September, and this restoration was the Signpost's way of celebrating that.
• Ten-koruna Czechoslovakian banknote (1919) (Created by the Austro-Hungarian Bank and Republic of Czechoslovakia nominated and prepared from the collections of the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution by Godot13) The first Czechoslovakian banknote issue, this 1919 provisional issue used a 1915 Austro-Hungarian Bank issue with an affixed adhesive stamp equal to 1/100 the value of the note. But fear not: more original banknotes were issued later that year.
• Dutch East Indies gulden (From the collections of the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution; prepared and nominated by Godot13) When the Dutch government took over control of the Dutch East Indies from the British in 1815 (who had taken it from the Dutch East India Company), they issued, among other things, a local currency known as the gulden. This new featured picture is from the first series issued.
• Léal Souvenir (created by Jan van Eyck, nominated by Chris Woodrich) A souvenir brought from Leal for a man named Timothy... oh, wrong kind of souvenir. This small 1432 oil-on-oak panel portrait by the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck takes its name from the French inscription, meaning "Faithful Remembrance". The article is likely to show up here within a couple weeks, following its lead image's success.
• 1936 Cuban silver certificate bank note series. Progress proofs: one peso obverse, one peso reverse, five peso obverse, five peso reverse, ten peso obverse, ten peso reverse, twenty peso obverse, twenty peso reverse, fifty peso obverse, fifty peso reverse, one-hundred peso obverse, one-hundred peso reverse. Certified proofs: one peso obverse, one peso reverse, five peso obverse, five peso reverse, ten peso obverse, ten peso reverse, twenty peso obverse, twenty peso reverse, fifty peso obverse, fifty peso reverse, one-hundred peso obverse, one-hundred peso reverse (created by the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing, nominated and prepared from the collections of the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution by Godot13) This set, informally known as "I hate you, Godot13" by those who had to document it (it took about half an hour to wrangle the massive list into something that could be followed), is a 1936 series of Cuban banknotes published by the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and showing various heroes of the Cuban War of Independence. Okay, we don't really hate him: It's a highly encyclopedic and interesting set of banknotes, provides useful illustrations to a lot of the heroes of the Cuban War of Independence, and, as it was created by the United States for Cuba, provides a touchstone for the diplomatic relationship of the time, now completely soured.
• Sunrise, Inverness Copse (created by Paul Nash, nominated by Hafspajen) Although Nash developed into a surrealist painter, during World War I he still had more traditional tendencies. The war had a great effect on him, and in a letter to his wife he wrote "I am no longer an artist interested and curious, I am a messenger who will bring back word from the men who are fighting to those who want the war to go on for ever. Feeble, inarticulate, will be my message, but it will have a bitter truth, and may it burn their lousy souls".
• Cypresses at Cagnes (created by Henri-Edmond Cross, nominated by CorinneSD) This painting is "among the late works of the artist, after shifting his technique from Pointillism to 'broad, blocky brushstrokes'." It "illustrates the 'second generation Neo-Impressionism strategy' of keeping 'the colors separate'. Cross's paintings of this time were considered 'precursors to Fauvism and Cubism'."
• Long-billed curlew (created by Frank Schulenburg, nominated by Chris Woodrich) One of relatively few featured pictures of North American birds, this shot shows a long-billed curlew standing on the beach at Point Reyes National Seashore. The photographer explained that he was lucky to take this shot, for "shooting at a beach means you really need to get low and probably will get wet… And someone on the ground making funny moves attracts dogs". We'll let you imagine what happened.
• Bangles (created and nominated by Muhammad Mahdi Karim) Although the Christmas season is just around the corner, the jingling you hear is not bells. No, its these bangles on sale in Bangalore. Such bracelets have an important place in Hindu tradition: it is inauspicious for a woman to go with bare arms, and "it is a common tradition to see a new bride wearing glass bangles at her wedding and the honeymoon will end when the last bangle breaks".
• Oecophylla smaragdina (created and nominated by Muhammad Mahdi Karim) Another stunning insect photograph by Muhammad Mahdi Karim, and one which makes a certain shortening-themed editor extremely jealous. This weaver ant is shown atop a leaf (the material they use to make their nests) in Bangalore, India.
• Southern side of the Taj Mahal (created by Yann, nominated by Jim Carter) It's the Taj Mahal. We really don't need to introduce it, do we? We do? Alright, this white-marble mausoleum was constructed in the 17th century and serves as the final resting place of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is now a very popular tourist attraction (and subject of numerous pictures on Commons).

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Lack of humour

• The Ontario Highway 403 blurb is a joke, right? If so, it's not a very funny one. TCN7JM 03:43, 17 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• I think I'll edit that. --Pine^✉ 08:02, 17 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• Ah, yes, my mistake: I forgot that humour is not allowed under any circumstances. My commiserations on the loss of yours. - SchroCat (talk) 18:08, 17 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

  Humor is fine, SchroCat, but you have to be very careful in its use in something that's designed to be a listing of our newest featured content. Lots of hard work goes into research and writing FAs, and then for the subject of an article to be so flippantly dismissed as it was... well, let's just say it comes across as a flippant dismissal of that hard work writing and researching the article. Imzadi 1979 → 05:42, 22 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• It's utter nonsense to say that describing a road as "large, grey and made of tarmac" is dismissive of the article or it's writer: the connection doesn't exist, so don't try and force it. I'm not sure why the need for your further comment five days after the hugely offensive text was altered – there's enough drama on wiki as it is, without stoking the fires of a dead non-issue. There is also no need for the patronising note either: considering the featured content I have been involved with, and the role I take as an FL delegate, I am fully aware that "hard work goes into research and writing" any featured content, so please don't include such a condescending note – try using humour instead... – SchroCat (talk) 09:36, 22 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Try self-depreciating humour. The number of times I've been working on one of these, and realised I had to write a blurb for (say) some complicated sporting event which I knew nothing about, and the only way forwards was to make a joke about how I really shouldn't be writing the blurbs for complicated sports articles... Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 05:51, 22 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"Downey, Jr."?

I don't know how this page is put together, or where the following text is (evidently) transcluded from, so I can only comment here. @Lady Lotus:? Boldface added.

Robert Downey, Jr. filmography (nominated by LADY LOTUS) Downey Jr. has had a colourful past that saw a promising start to his career take a dip in the late 1990s before he came back stronger than ever to become one of Hollywood's hottest properties. His early career saw him appearing in Weird Science (1985), Air America (1990) and Chaplin (1992). He received several nominations and awards for his portrayal of Charlie Chaplin. After drugs issues, leading to arrests, time in prison and rehab, Downey, Jr. gave up drugs in 2003. Since becoming clean, Downey, Jr. has appeared in a series of blockbuster films, including as Tony Stark / Iron Man in Iron Man (2008), a role he later reprised in Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013) and The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). He has also played Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011).

Since when has "Jr." been treated as part of the last name? Never, as far as I know, and certainly not in the article this paragraph is about, which refers to him three times after the beginning, each time as just "Downey". --Thnidu (talk) 07:00, 17 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with Thnidu that the "Jr." is unnecessary. It would be relevant if we had difficulty distinguishing in the paragraph between one Downey and another. --Pine^✉ 08:02, 17 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Franz Lehár

The ¶ about Franz Lehár says

for example, the waltz from The Merry Widow was used in Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood for that show's variant of a "Happy Birthday" song.

Fred Rogers would have not have been happy. His show was titled Mister (not Mr.) Rogers’ (no d, and with an apostrophe) Neighborhood. --Thnidu (talk) 07:08, 17 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Thnidu yes, that's an error. Thanks for fixing it. --Pine^✉ 08:02, 17 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, I was kind of working through a cold and thought, "Hmm. Is this right? Well, it's not redlinking...." Adam Cuerden ^(talk)

I fixed it.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 22:33, 18 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

@Vchimpanzee: ...I really shouldn't presume people fixed it already without checking. Thanks! Adam Cuerden ^(talk) 00:15, 19 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Carl Hans Lody

"Neutral Ireland"? Err, no, at the time the whole of Ireland was part of the UK. -- Arwel Parry (talk) 07:29, 17 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I think someone misread the article when writing that summary. I'll remove "neutral". Thanks. --Pine^✉ 08:02, 17 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Hozier

"Take Me To Church," finally! Smart people are Lithuanian. LonelyLaura (talk) 20:02, 21 November 2014 (UTC)[reply]