I have another question. Why was this nominated as a film GA even though this really should be listed as a media and drama GA, as this is a bio?
和DITOREtails00:49, 10 September 2013 (UTC)reply
Many thanks for your comments EdirorE! I listed it under "Film" because Divine was primarily known as a film actor, although looking further at the issue, I realise that you are right! It should be under Media and Bio. My mistake.
Midnightblueowl (
talk)
20:18, 10 September 2013 (UTC)reply
I've updated the article's talk page so the nomination will appear under "Media and drama", which is where actors belong; it's primarily important when the article becomes a GA, so it can be listed in the correct section.
BlueMoonset (
talk)
18:47, 8 October 2013 (UTC)reply
I know its going a bit slow, but I've just been wanting to do other stuff. I'm sure I'll get back to this, since this is the first time I've a GA review on a long article. BTW, can we do a better job with the citation style of the People mag ref? Maybe a link exists for it too?
和DITOREtails22:53, 1 October 2013 (UTC)reply
True, but a month is stretching things when it comes to finishing a review. Agreeing to do a review carries with it certain responsibilities, such as giving it a reasonable priority level in overall Wikipedia activity.
BlueMoonset (
talk)
18:47, 8 October 2013 (UTC)reply
I am willing to assist in reviewing this article. At first blush, it looks like a very strong candidate. I will give a more detailed review in the next day or two. –
Quadell(
talk)17:14, 28 October 2013 (UTC)reply
Regarding my reviewing style, issues I identify below will be prepended by the number of the relevant
GA criterion. As they are resolved, I will cross out the issue number. Comments that are not actionable requirements are not prepended.
I proof-read the article and made several minor text changes, altering punctuation and splitting long sentences. If you disagree with any of these changes, feel free to revert and discuss them.
1b According to
WP:OVERLINK, we should not link "the names of major geographic features and locations; languages; religions; common occupations" or "everyday words understood by most readers in context". We don't need to link Maryland, California, Yugoslavia, Christianity, Christmas, Santa Claus, New York City, Los Angeles, London, celebrity, or elephant. You also link
marijuana twice in the prose, as well as some names: Mink Stole, Andrew Logan, Mary Vivian Pearce, Sylvester, Tab Hunter, and Ricki Lake. Finally, it isn't appropriate to link to
legal guardian with the term "godfather"; they are not the same thing.
Part of the issue here is regarding what constitutes "major geographic features and locations". The US states (and in particular
Maryland) aren't necessarily well known to everyone around the world, or even in the Anglophone world. Sure, every US citizen probably knows what they are and where they are (or at least I would hope so), but I really don't think that the same is true of every citizen of Hong Kong or South Africa, for instance. So if it's okay, I'd rather leave them linked. Similarly, Yugoslavia no longer exists as a country, so I suspect that many readers around the world (and certainly those reading this in the future) might have no idea what it actually is. So again, I would argue in favour of retaining the link. Contrastingly, I am more than happy to de-link
celebrity and
elephant, and de-linking and repeated words.Midnightblueowl (
talk)
21:24, 29 October 2013 (UTC)reply
Yes, you're right, the issue is not black and white. Your linking decisions make sense; thanks for giving careful thought to the issue. –
Quadell(
talk)12:24, 30 October 2013 (UTC)reply
1a The infobox spells "character actor" wrong.
Someone else has added that in recently. Seeing as how the infobox already describes him as an "actor", I really don't think this necessary, and have removed it.
Midnightblueowl (
talk)
21:24, 29 October 2013 (UTC)reply
1b The section should not be called "Youth: 1945–1965", since the entire first third concerns events before 1945. What would you think of "Family and childhood"? If so, you should probably take the years out of the other section headings. (I don't think they're particularly useful anyway.)
Hmm. I'm a big fan of dates in headings; I think they are very useful for readers who come to Wikipedia wanting to find out what a certain individual was doing when (which is something I often do). That being the case, I personally would really like to retain the dates. However, if you really think we should change it, then I'll go along with that.
Midnightblueowl (
talk)
19:55, 30 October 2013 (UTC)reply
It's
not a GA requirement to take years out of headers. But I'd feel more comfortable if the years were clearly accurate. Would a header like "Youth: before 1965" suit you? (Or maybe "Family and childhood: pre-1965"?) –
Quadell(
talk)20:55, 30 October 2013 (UTC)reply
If I'm being perfectly honest, I think that "before 1965" and "pre-1975" sound a bit too messy. This particular section is titled "1945–1965" because it covers those early years of Divine's life. Yes, the first paragraph does provide a brief biography of his parents, which takes us a little back in time, but that is only there to provide a tiny bit of background information, and I don't think that this needs to be reflected in the title dates. That's my feelings anyway, but I can always be over-ruled by consensus.
Midnightblueowl (
talk)
19:23, 31 October 2013 (UTC)reply
Fair enough, I suppose. I still think it would be better to change it, but on balance it's not the sort of unambiguous inaccuracy that would be an impediment to GA status. –
Quadell(
talk)21:54, 31 October 2013 (UTC)reply
1a This sentence needs to be rewritten: "Sometimes helping out at his parents' day care business, for instance dressing up as Santa Claus to entertain the children at Christmas time,[18] Milstead eventually gave up his job and for a while was financially supported by his parents, who catered to his expensive taste in clothes and cars."
1a This sentence needs to be reworded: "Escaping police by traveling to San Francisco, California, the city had a large gay subculture..." (The city did not escape police.)
2b Direct quotes need direct citations, at it's clearest to put each citation immediately after the quote (or at the end of the sentence, but only if it's clear which source the quote comes from). This is a problem for "a beatnik bar", "the trashiest motion pictures in cinema history", "elderly dames, young faggots...", "bottom-of-the-barrel prices", "an exercise in poor taste", "the filthiest person alive", "I followed that dog around...", "I run around doing it all the time...", "very significant success" in "micro-independent terms", "downtown gay people, more of the hipper set", "working-class kids from New Jersey...", "the Godzilla of drag queens", "crime is art", "a bit leery", "was blessed with many talents and abilities...", "liked to eat... and eat...", Waters' descriptions "spooky" and "channeling", and all the small quotes by Bernard Jay in the Publications section.
Well, it's been a week, and there have been no edits. I don't mind holding this open if it's being worked on, but if not, I may have to close the nomination. –
Quadell(
talk)15:13, 7 November 2013 (UTC)reply
I'm really sorry, I've been working long hours every day this week, and have had barely any time for Wikipedia! I'll endeavour to complete this tonight.
Midnightblueowl (
talk)
17:12, 7 November 2013 (UTC)reply
And it's done! Once again, sorry for the wait, it's just been one of those weeks.
Midnightblueowl (
talk)
1a This sentence needs rewording: "Purchasing a house in Santa Monica, which he furnished to his expensive tastes,[66] during the early 1970s, Divine and Waters attended the balls in Washington, D.C. that were frequented by LGBT African-Americans." (For one thing, it isn't clear who purchased the house and who had expensive tastes.) I'd suggest splitting it.
1a When you say "an extra-large coffin/casket", a slash isn't a good punctuation mark to use in an encyclopedic article. Was it a coffin or a casket? The
coffin article says "A coffin is generally understood to denote a funerary box having six sides, while a casket generally denotes a four-sided (almost always rectangular) box."
Oh, that's another change that someone has made without me noticing it. I agree wholeheartedly with your view. I'm just going to revert it to "coffin".
Midnightblueowl (
talk)
22:10, 29 October 2013 (UTC)reply
1a The article says "to leave makeup and food, and graffiti on his grave". Would it be correct to say "to leave makeup, food, and graffiti on his grave"? Or "to leave makeup and food on his grave, or to vandalize it with graffiti"?
I have another question. Why was this nominated as a film GA even though this really should be listed as a media and drama GA, as this is a bio?
和DITOREtails00:49, 10 September 2013 (UTC)reply
Many thanks for your comments EdirorE! I listed it under "Film" because Divine was primarily known as a film actor, although looking further at the issue, I realise that you are right! It should be under Media and Bio. My mistake.
Midnightblueowl (
talk)
20:18, 10 September 2013 (UTC)reply
I've updated the article's talk page so the nomination will appear under "Media and drama", which is where actors belong; it's primarily important when the article becomes a GA, so it can be listed in the correct section.
BlueMoonset (
talk)
18:47, 8 October 2013 (UTC)reply
I know its going a bit slow, but I've just been wanting to do other stuff. I'm sure I'll get back to this, since this is the first time I've a GA review on a long article. BTW, can we do a better job with the citation style of the People mag ref? Maybe a link exists for it too?
和DITOREtails22:53, 1 October 2013 (UTC)reply
True, but a month is stretching things when it comes to finishing a review. Agreeing to do a review carries with it certain responsibilities, such as giving it a reasonable priority level in overall Wikipedia activity.
BlueMoonset (
talk)
18:47, 8 October 2013 (UTC)reply
I am willing to assist in reviewing this article. At first blush, it looks like a very strong candidate. I will give a more detailed review in the next day or two. –
Quadell(
talk)17:14, 28 October 2013 (UTC)reply
Regarding my reviewing style, issues I identify below will be prepended by the number of the relevant
GA criterion. As they are resolved, I will cross out the issue number. Comments that are not actionable requirements are not prepended.
I proof-read the article and made several minor text changes, altering punctuation and splitting long sentences. If you disagree with any of these changes, feel free to revert and discuss them.
1b According to
WP:OVERLINK, we should not link "the names of major geographic features and locations; languages; religions; common occupations" or "everyday words understood by most readers in context". We don't need to link Maryland, California, Yugoslavia, Christianity, Christmas, Santa Claus, New York City, Los Angeles, London, celebrity, or elephant. You also link
marijuana twice in the prose, as well as some names: Mink Stole, Andrew Logan, Mary Vivian Pearce, Sylvester, Tab Hunter, and Ricki Lake. Finally, it isn't appropriate to link to
legal guardian with the term "godfather"; they are not the same thing.
Part of the issue here is regarding what constitutes "major geographic features and locations". The US states (and in particular
Maryland) aren't necessarily well known to everyone around the world, or even in the Anglophone world. Sure, every US citizen probably knows what they are and where they are (or at least I would hope so), but I really don't think that the same is true of every citizen of Hong Kong or South Africa, for instance. So if it's okay, I'd rather leave them linked. Similarly, Yugoslavia no longer exists as a country, so I suspect that many readers around the world (and certainly those reading this in the future) might have no idea what it actually is. So again, I would argue in favour of retaining the link. Contrastingly, I am more than happy to de-link
celebrity and
elephant, and de-linking and repeated words.Midnightblueowl (
talk)
21:24, 29 October 2013 (UTC)reply
Yes, you're right, the issue is not black and white. Your linking decisions make sense; thanks for giving careful thought to the issue. –
Quadell(
talk)12:24, 30 October 2013 (UTC)reply
1a The infobox spells "character actor" wrong.
Someone else has added that in recently. Seeing as how the infobox already describes him as an "actor", I really don't think this necessary, and have removed it.
Midnightblueowl (
talk)
21:24, 29 October 2013 (UTC)reply
1b The section should not be called "Youth: 1945–1965", since the entire first third concerns events before 1945. What would you think of "Family and childhood"? If so, you should probably take the years out of the other section headings. (I don't think they're particularly useful anyway.)
Hmm. I'm a big fan of dates in headings; I think they are very useful for readers who come to Wikipedia wanting to find out what a certain individual was doing when (which is something I often do). That being the case, I personally would really like to retain the dates. However, if you really think we should change it, then I'll go along with that.
Midnightblueowl (
talk)
19:55, 30 October 2013 (UTC)reply
It's
not a GA requirement to take years out of headers. But I'd feel more comfortable if the years were clearly accurate. Would a header like "Youth: before 1965" suit you? (Or maybe "Family and childhood: pre-1965"?) –
Quadell(
talk)20:55, 30 October 2013 (UTC)reply
If I'm being perfectly honest, I think that "before 1965" and "pre-1975" sound a bit too messy. This particular section is titled "1945–1965" because it covers those early years of Divine's life. Yes, the first paragraph does provide a brief biography of his parents, which takes us a little back in time, but that is only there to provide a tiny bit of background information, and I don't think that this needs to be reflected in the title dates. That's my feelings anyway, but I can always be over-ruled by consensus.
Midnightblueowl (
talk)
19:23, 31 October 2013 (UTC)reply
Fair enough, I suppose. I still think it would be better to change it, but on balance it's not the sort of unambiguous inaccuracy that would be an impediment to GA status. –
Quadell(
talk)21:54, 31 October 2013 (UTC)reply
1a This sentence needs to be rewritten: "Sometimes helping out at his parents' day care business, for instance dressing up as Santa Claus to entertain the children at Christmas time,[18] Milstead eventually gave up his job and for a while was financially supported by his parents, who catered to his expensive taste in clothes and cars."
1a This sentence needs to be reworded: "Escaping police by traveling to San Francisco, California, the city had a large gay subculture..." (The city did not escape police.)
2b Direct quotes need direct citations, at it's clearest to put each citation immediately after the quote (or at the end of the sentence, but only if it's clear which source the quote comes from). This is a problem for "a beatnik bar", "the trashiest motion pictures in cinema history", "elderly dames, young faggots...", "bottom-of-the-barrel prices", "an exercise in poor taste", "the filthiest person alive", "I followed that dog around...", "I run around doing it all the time...", "very significant success" in "micro-independent terms", "downtown gay people, more of the hipper set", "working-class kids from New Jersey...", "the Godzilla of drag queens", "crime is art", "a bit leery", "was blessed with many talents and abilities...", "liked to eat... and eat...", Waters' descriptions "spooky" and "channeling", and all the small quotes by Bernard Jay in the Publications section.
Well, it's been a week, and there have been no edits. I don't mind holding this open if it's being worked on, but if not, I may have to close the nomination. –
Quadell(
talk)15:13, 7 November 2013 (UTC)reply
I'm really sorry, I've been working long hours every day this week, and have had barely any time for Wikipedia! I'll endeavour to complete this tonight.
Midnightblueowl (
talk)
17:12, 7 November 2013 (UTC)reply
And it's done! Once again, sorry for the wait, it's just been one of those weeks.
Midnightblueowl (
talk)
1a This sentence needs rewording: "Purchasing a house in Santa Monica, which he furnished to his expensive tastes,[66] during the early 1970s, Divine and Waters attended the balls in Washington, D.C. that were frequented by LGBT African-Americans." (For one thing, it isn't clear who purchased the house and who had expensive tastes.) I'd suggest splitting it.
1a When you say "an extra-large coffin/casket", a slash isn't a good punctuation mark to use in an encyclopedic article. Was it a coffin or a casket? The
coffin article says "A coffin is generally understood to denote a funerary box having six sides, while a casket generally denotes a four-sided (almost always rectangular) box."
Oh, that's another change that someone has made without me noticing it. I agree wholeheartedly with your view. I'm just going to revert it to "coffin".
Midnightblueowl (
talk)
22:10, 29 October 2013 (UTC)reply
1a The article says "to leave makeup and food, and graffiti on his grave". Would it be correct to say "to leave makeup, food, and graffiti on his grave"? Or "to leave makeup and food on his grave, or to vandalize it with graffiti"?