Talk:Changing of the Guard

Redirects are my friends, but where?

What's the official title, here? Should it be The Changing of the Guard, Changing of the guard, Changing of the Guard (my fave) or what? Howard? Hayford? Anyone?

Not doing that subpages thing until we're decided, 'cause they're just too blasted hard to move.

Aleta Curry 20:19, 13 August 2008 (CDT)

"Yhe" should not be part of the indexing of a title, perhaps with exceptions for films, books, etc. "Thing, The" would be wrong as the title -- by all means use "Thing, the" as the sort field, but "The Thing" was the name of a specific film.

The CZ convention seems to emphasize lower case even when it's not commonly used; I particularly like to capitalize titles to show the derivation of the usual acronym: I used Emergency position indicating radio beacon usually called EPIRB, and, given my choice, I would have capitalized the keywords in the article name.

Thinking about the specific example, however, Arlington National Cemetery's website uses "The Changing of the Guard" (http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/ceremonies/sentinelsotu.html). When I lived nearby, we tended to speak of the "ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns"; if you said "Changing of the Guard" to me, I'd think Buckingham Palace; in local conversation, there was always a reference to the Tomb, the Unknowns, or both. In other words, I'd look for the ceremony not under "Changing of the Guard", but "Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers"

There actually are a number of military terms for a change of sentinels, such as "Guard mount" Howard C. Berkowitz 20:47, 13 August 2008 (CDT)

Given CZ conventions, and other factors as noted above, I myself would call the article Changing of the guard. If it were a particular song by Hank Williams, say, called The Changing of the Guard (Means You'll Take These Leg Irons from My Heart), that would be different.... Hayford Peirce 21:29, 13 August 2008 (CDT)

There are times and places for such songs. While a research volunteer at NIH Clinical Center, I objected strenuously to the musical choice by the senior invasive cardiologist, a C&W fan. Specifically, "Achy Breaky Heart" was not quite the mood music for an experimental procedure during a cardiac catheterization. The English cardiology fellow, who was actually doing the procedure, and I jointly retaliated by discussing the status of my myocardium in terms of Norwegian Blue Parrots. Howard C. Berkowitz 21:40, 13 August 2008 (CDT)

"Lovely plumage!" ROTFLL! I wish you had a tape of that... J. Noel Chiappa 14:44, 28 October 2008 (UTC)

It so happened that the particular test was distinguishing between dead (infarcted) myocardium and "stunned" myocardium, which would contract with direct electrical stimulation but normally had inadequate oxygenation to do more than survive. If the process is proven, it will be a valuable adjunct to angiography in determining whether revascularization will be useful, because infarcted myocardium won't come back no matter how much it's revascularized (angiogenesis is another matter).

Conveniently, as I remember (and it should be that way for my story), the infarcted areas were blue on the monitor. The cardiologist stimulated the first blue area (it would change color if stunned) and said, conversationally, "sorry, Howard, that's infarct." On the spot (or the table), I improvised, "'es not infarcted. 'es only stunned." Julian came right back "'es only hanging onto the pericardium because the scar tissue glued it there." We went merrily back and forth, utterly confusing the senior physician, who, while a country music lover, is an immigrant from the Middle East and was severely deficient in Pythonology. Howard C. Berkowitz 15:09, 28 October 2008 (UTC)

Getting back on topic, the Parliament of Canada website just says "Changing the Guard" (no definite article)[1].-Derek Hodges 00:06, 14 August 2008 (CDT)

Has any conclusion been reached about the appropriate name? I don't want to checklist this until we're sure where it's going to wind up. J. Noel Chiappa 14:44, 28 October 2008 (UTC)

It wasn't settled, Noel, but even with the passage of time, I think my instincts were correct and it should take a capital 'G'. My feeling is that it is actually a title and that Guard takes the place of a formal name, e.g. The Queen's Guard at Buck Place. Aleta Curry 22:38, 28 October 2008 (UTC)

Chris Day = Speedy Gonzales Aleta Curry 23:02, 28 October 2008 (UTC)

Ahem...ma'am

Arlington, where the Yankees took Marse Robert E. Lee's ancestral home to build a graveyard, is in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Q: How many Virginians does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Three. One to do the electrical work, while two discuss how good the old light bulb had been.

Howard C. Berkowitz 00:19, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

LOL

Okay, so I s'pose y'all're gonna explain to me how come Virginyah is a commonwealth and not a state, Howard?

Aleta Curry 02:21, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Because that's the way the royal warrant was issued. Massacusetts, heart of Yankee tradition, also is a commmonwealth. Louisiana is a state, but it is the only state with parishes rather than counties, a legal system significantly based on the French civil code rather than English common law; there are those that regard Louisiana as at least extraterritorial, if not extradimensional. Of course, then you have the cases of the three states that were once nations, or four according to some. Texas and Hawaii are the well-known ones; the third is American history trivia, and there is much argument if the fourth really qualifies.

Ooh, Lordy You've got me thinking now. West Virginia? California? (Was California independent? Wait--didn't Spain own CA? Did it declare independence from Spain? I'm not sure. And I thought Teas was Spanish too. No, wait, Mexican, that's what the war was about, right? Wasn't there something about Vermont? Am I even close? Manhattan? (I mean, you stole it from the Indians, right?) Aleta Curry 04:51, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Very, very good. Few Americans get the third and the 3.5. Republic of Texas, Kingdom of Hawaii, Green Mountain Republic (Vermont), and, while I think most say it wasn't really representative, some Californians declared the Great Bear Republic.

Texas fought a war of independence with Mexico, had two presidents, and then joined the U.S. Hawaii, I must admit, was really a takeover, although one of those complex cases with people who had been born in the Kingdom, but considered themselves Americans.

Vermont was very brief, but it was there. Part of the current state, however, is known as the Northeast Kingdom. Howard C. Berkowitz 05:11, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

West Virginia was the interesting case of a part of a Confederate state seceding from the Confederacy, and was briefly the State of Kanawha. Howard C. Berkowitz 05:11, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Seriously, the experience at the Tomb of the Unknowns can be very different that some of the finest ceremonials elsewhere. While the Sentinels carry out their rituals under every condition, I've found it best to take a long walk from the cemetery entrance to the Tomb. It's a substantial distance, and, if one is reasonably conversant with American military history, reflecting on the monuments one passes puts one in a reflective mood for the ceremonial. I don't remember who said it, but one of the right mindsets is not so much to mourn the dead, but to celebrate how they lived, and that we learn from them.Howard C. Berkowitz 02:45, 29 October 2008 (UTC)