User talk:Lemurbaby

would love your collaboration

www.afropedea.org

Welcome

Hello, Lemurbaby! Welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. You may benefit from following some of the links below, which will help you get the most out of Wikipedia. If you have any questions you can ask me on my talk page, or place {{helpme}} on your talk page and ask your question there. Please remember to sign your name on talk pages by clicking or by typing four tildes "~~~~"; this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you are already excited about Wikipedia, you might want to consider being "adopted" by a more experienced editor or joining a WikiProject to collaborate with others in creating and improving articles of your interest. Click here for a directory of all the WikiProjects. Finally, please do your best to always fill in the edit summary field when making edits to pages. Happy editing! Redtigerxyz Talk 10:00, 9 October 2010 (UTC) Getting Started The five pillars of Wikipedia • Tutorial • Your first article How to: edit a page • upload an image Getting Help Frequently Asked Questions Where to ask questions or make comments Request administrator attention Policies and Guidelines Neutral point of view • Reliable sources Verifiability • Citing sources • No original research What Wikipedia is not • Biographies of living persons Manual of Style • Three-revert rule • Sock puppetry Copyrights • Policy for non-free content • Image use policy External links • Spam • Vandalism Deletion policy • Conflict of interest • Notability The Community Community Portal • Adopt-a-user program Assume good faith • Civility • Etiquette No personal attacks • Resolving disputes Build consensus • Village pump Signpost • IRC channels • Mailing lists Things to do Be bold in editing • Help develop an article Maintenance • Peer review • Requested articles Join a WikiProject • Translating articles Cleaning up: General • Spam • Vandalism Miscellaneous Categories • Disambiguity • Stubs User pages • Talk pages Useful templates • Tools • User scripts

Thanks for the barnstar. Please let me know if you need any help in any articles like an informal WP:Peer review or suggestions on the article talk. --Redtigerxyz ^Talk 16:18, 19 November 2010 (UTC)

GA review

Please review the page closely, the review is not on the talk page but its own sub-page found at Talk:Cuisine of Madagascar/GA1. Please add this page to your watch list and reply to any comments I leave there, okay? --Jeremy (blah blah • I did it!) 18:22, 15 November 2010 (UTC)

You're doing a great job! Check reference #14, there is an error in the named reference. Please take a look and fix that before you go on. --Jeremy (blah blah • I did it!) 05:52, 23 November 2010 (UTC)

IPA-mg

{{IPA-mg}} and WP:IPA for Malagasy are now set up. I changed two personal names to match the key. We can always change our conventions, but IMO it's best to keep all transcriptions on the same footing, so as not to confuse our readers. — kwami (talk) 09:19, 19 November 2010 (UTC)

Glad it's appreciated.

For barnstars, you can find the code here. — kwami (talk) 19:40, 20 November 2010 (UTC)

Music of Madagascar

Hi Lemurbaby, thanks for your message. I'm afraid I can't review the article, I wouldn't feel like I was doing it justice. It's quite a big topic, on something I know nothing about. One of the good article criteria is that the article is "broad in its coverage". This isn't something I'd feel comfortable assessing with this article. Hopefully someone will review it soon. I did read the article though, and I must say you've put a lot of work into it. It's really looking good. It's great to see this kind of work being done on Africa-related topics. One thing I will say, is that it's still a little short on inline citations at the moment. For example, the "Musical instruments" introductory paragraph has no references, "The earliest of these is played uniquely by women who sit with their legs outstretched together and rest the bars of the xylophone across their legs rather than on a separate resonator box." needs a reference, the paragraph about the Afindrafindrao needs a reference. It's certainly much improved though, so well done!--BelovedFreak 12:23, 25 November 2010 (UTC)

I hope you don't mind, but I've gone ahead and removed SillyTimmy's review, and relisted the article in a way that hopefully hasn't messed anything up, and the original nomination date should still be on it. This way, someone can give the article a proper review.--BelovedFreak 12:41, 25 November 2010 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Music of Madagascar

The article Music of Madagascar you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold . The article is close to meeting the good article criteria, but there are some minor changes or clarifications needed to be addressed. If these are fixed within seven days, the article will pass, otherwise it will fail. See Talk:Music of Madagascar for things which need to be addressed. Jezhotwells (talk) 00:14, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

Congratulations

		The Africa Award
		Awarded to Lemurbaby for fantastic contributions to articles related to Madagascar. Keep up the good work! BelovedFreak 16:51, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

Congrats on the Music of Madagascar GA! --BelovedFreak 16:51, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

Amazing work on Madagascar mate. Beloved freak, I, Aymatth and preicous few others actually work on African topics and it is brilliant to see an article with quality like Music of Madagascar. PLease keep up the terrific work! ♦ Dr. Blofeld 14:01, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Flag of Bhutan

Have you read the Talk page of Flag of Bhutan? Your recent edits have obscured some historiographical issues regarding the flags of 1949 and 1956. In brief, the CBS document does not give a description of the 1949 flag that is consistent with the surviving photos, and therefore its description of the 1956 flag (which it describes in terms of differences from the 1949 flag) is suspect. This needs to be reflected in the article, but you have removed the details. -- Elphion (talk) 17:03, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

Yes I have read the talk page. I agree that the credibility issues relating to the source cited need to be acknowledged, but the issue is in how that information is presented. The CBS document is, as far as the reader can tell from the article's contents, no more or less important as a source than any other document. The way that it is discussed places too much emphasis on the document itself, confusing the reader as to its importance (per the GA review). If it is a source of questionable credibility, this can and should be stated in a way that does not place distracting overemphasis on the document itself. Lemurbaby (talk) 19:21, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

I am also trying to keep note on some of the other issues. The problem with Bhutan, unlike any other featured articles about flags, is the lack of information. There are no official flag days (Japan (a FA that I created) has suggested flag days, but nothing official). Very few official details about construction (unlike Belarus, which is another FA of mine) has everything published from government sources. Frankly, this is the best information I can pull out of my personal archives and personal papers (see Lupant reference on talk page) and I know this is not enough for a really good flag article (I say so myself since I created several FA's about flags). User:Zscout370 ^{(Return Fire)} 06:49, 22 December 2010 (UTC)

Correction, I was able to find just one flag day so far. I added it to the article. User:Zscout370 ^{(Return Fire)} 00:13, 23 December 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia Ambassador Program is looking for new Online Ambassadors

Hi Lemurbaby! I noticed your activity as a Good Article reviewer, and wanted to let you know about the Wikipedia Ambassador Program, and specifically the role of Online Ambassador. We're looking for friendly Wikipedians who are good at reviewing articles and giving feedback to serve as mentors for students who are assigned to write for Wikipedia in their classes.

If you're interested, I encourage you to take a look at the Online Ambassador guidelines; the "mentorship process" describes roughly what will be expected of mentors in the coming term. If that's something you want to do, please apply!

You can find instructions for applying at WP:ONLINE. The main things we're looking for in Online Ambassadors are friendliness, regular activity (since mentorship is a commitment that spans several months), and the ability to give detailed, substantive feedback on articles (both short new articles, and longer, more mature ones).

I hope to hear from you soon.--Sage Ross - Online Facilitator, Wikimedia Foundation (talk) 22:26, 27 December 2010 (UTC)

Cuisine of Madagascar PR

Sorry to be so slow in replying, but I will be glad to take a look at it, though it will take me a few days. Thanks for your work on an under-represented area of the encyclopedia. Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 04:02, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

Flag of Bhutan

I think all the intext website links in citation template now? Spongie555 (talk) 04:14, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

Good edits to the article today, Lemurbaby -- well done. I think I would not have been quite so bold, having been slapped down before for "original research", but you have gone farther than I did. -- Elphion (talk) 18:12, 30 December 2010 (UTC)

V for Vendetta GAN

Have the refs in the marketing section been adequately improved?--Iankap99 (talk) 00:33, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

National symbols of Bhutan

Thank you for promoting Flag of Bhutan to GA maybe you would interested in reviewing National symbols of Bhutan nomination? Spongie555 (talk) 02:31, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

This article is modeled after National symbols of Belarus article which is a GA. Spongie555 (talk) 21:26, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

Madagascar-related GANs

I will be doing the Madagascar-related reviews of your Good Article nominees. Please be patient while I try to fit it into my schedule. I seem to have bitten off more than I can chew with the collaborative Slow Loris project I'm a part of. – VisionHolder « talk » 16:21, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, I'm glad you're the one who will review them. Take your time, I'm more interested in getting quality articles up, regardless of how long it takes. -- Lemurbaby (talk) 18:13, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

Are you just looking at GA, or are you planning for FA? I can give more detailed reviews now if you want. – VisionHolder « talk » 18:20, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

I would like to go for FA ultimately - don't articles always have to get to GA first, though? I don't really know how that works. I'd welcome your more detailed critical feedback if you have time to give it. -- Lemurbaby (talk) 18:40, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

It's good to go through GAN first in order to smooth out the rough spots. However, you could nominate directly to FAC, assuming you don't have a nomination currently open. Until you get more FAs under your belt, I'd go through GAC first. And anyway, some people like to tally their DYK, GA, and FA credits, so it's nice to get credit for every step along the way. – VisionHolder « talk » 19:12, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

It might be wise to also review Wikipedia:Moving files to the Commons. Some of your older images are probably fine, although we should try to contact the site you got them from to see if they have higher-resolution copies they can share. We really do need to track down the source of these photos. If we can, I'd like o get the entire Madagascar collection from Gallica while we're at it. – VisionHolder « talk » 21:49, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

Keep up the good work while I'm gone. Don't hesitate to look around and ask people for second opinions and suggestions. Usually the only people watching a good article review are the nominator and the reviewer. Also, as you try to figure out how to move images to WikiCommons, I'm sure people will come along to help. (If I remember correctly, you have to flag it so that an admin can move it.) If they give any fuss, just explain that you're new and learning. If anyone's mean to you while I'm gone, just let me know and I'll anoint my ringed tail and go after them when I come back. – VisionHolder « talk » 23:33, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

By the way, I'm back and I want to apologize for not revisiting your GANs yet. I have a bunch of reviews to tackle, and if I don't get to them tonight, I will try for tomorrow night. – VisionHolder « talk » 01:41, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

Take your time - Over the past week I decided to get ambitious and make some major additions to the Rova and Architecture articles that are still in process. -- Lemurbaby (talk) 02:49, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

I don't know if you saw my most recent comments from last week on the GANs or my reply on my talk page. Do you keep these pages on your watchlist, or should I start using the {{Talkback}} template to notify you of my replies? I'm fine with either option.

I do have those pages on my watchlist but for whatever reason I can't find notifications of your replies on there. Thanks for pinging me on here. I've just looked at your comments and I'll be working on them soon. -- Lemurbaby (talk) 00:08, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

I just made a last quick note for the one remaining GAN. Please take a quick look and fix, and I'll be happy to pass it today. Thanks for the excellent work! – VisionHolder « talk » 20:38, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

Awesome work you two. I think you both compliment each other and increase quality. Keep up the great work. Lovely to see good articles for Madagascar on here, or any African country really.♦ Dr. Blofeld 01:23, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Handling OTRS

I noticed you claimed to have gotten a reply concerning your request to use the image on Rova of Antananarivo. I went ahead and made a change to the image on Commons to reflect the OTRS case that you will be opening up. Please note the change. Normally this is added when you upload the file. Now just email the release to permissions-commons@wikimedia.org, and you should get a reply within a few days or weeks. Once they confirm the request, you'll be good. If they cannot complete the request, you will need to address whatever issues they point out. – VisionHolder « talk » 17:30, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

Thank you - I have just submitted the authorization per your instructions. I'm glad M. Rajaonary agreed to let his image be used here - it adds a lot to have a current color photo of the Manjakamiadana in this article. -- Lemurbaby (talk) 19:15, 30 January 2011 (UTC)

Education in Malta GAN

Hello - I responded to your comments at this article's GAN. Unfortunately, due to the sheer lack of information on this topic, I couldn't address some of your comments (for example, I couldn't find an image on Commons, nor a CC image on Flickr). Would you be able to take a second look at all? Thanks, Arctic Night 19:00, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Caroline Lacroix

I just wanted to thank you for approving the article so quickly! It's much appreciated! :) Keep up the good work, Ruby2010 talk 16:50, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

GAN page

Hi Lemurbaby, you don't need to edit Wikipedia:Good article nominations‎ when you add a nomination, or start a review, or put an article on hold, in fact if you do, you may be reverted by the GA bot. You just need to edit the template on the article talkpage (see the "How to nominate an article" instructions on the page). --BelovedFreak 20:13, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for taking the time to explain this... it's good to know the bot could revert the nomination. I'm aware the bot should normally add an article to the GAN list, but normally the bot picks it up within 15 minutes, and the article had been nominated for several hours without getting listed. That's why I moved it over there manually. Is there any period of time after which it would make sense to list manually? In other words, does the bot ever fail? -- Lemurbaby (talk) 21:19, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

If the bot does't seem to be picking it up, and it has edited the page in between, or if it seems to be down, I would either post the problem at Wikipedia talk:Good article nominations or let User:Harej know. Sometimes, if the bot doesn't seem to be working, it's due to a slight problem in the talkpage template. In the case of Radama II, the bot added the nomination 12 minutes after you added the talkpage template. :) --BelovedFreak 23:00, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Ah! I see what happened. I was looking for it in the royalty/nobility section but had miscategorized it, so didn't see it when the article was listed in the general history section. I've fixed the category now. Thanks, Belovedfreak. :) Lemurbaby (talk) 23:16, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Recomendation?

I saw your nomination of one of kings of Madagascar for GA maybe you should go for a Wikipedia:Good topics with the Madagascar monarchs? Its just a suggestion since you probably will get them to GA anyway Spongie555 (talk) 04:33, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

Education in Malta - GAN

Hello Lemurbaby, I have responded to your concerns here. Thanks, Arctic Night 02:42, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

Maybe?

User Artic Night recently retired and I noticed he/she left quite a few GA nominations left. I thought you maybe you be interested in watching them beacuse I don't think that the users nominations should go to waste especially since this user probably put alot of time in it. I asked you beacuse I saw you reviewed arctic night nomination of education in Malta. Spongie555 (talk) 08:26, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Also I had a question for you. Does Madagascar have a current pretender to the throne? I asked you since you work with Madagascar royalty. Spongie555 (talk) 07:32, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Hi Spongie555, thanks for your idea about creating a GA group for the Malagasy royalty articles. I would definitely like to make that happen once all the related articles reach GA status. As far as a claimant to the throne, that's not something the andriana (noble) class is advocating for. So many generations later, there are far too many descendants of the various monarchs for any one of them to even make a case that they are more deserving than the next. Some Malagasy do sometimes say they think the country would be better off under a king since they feel disappointed by democracy - and then some of my Malagasy family in Tana sometimes only half-jokingly say the country should be recolonized. In my opinion, what the country needs is a drastic reform to the constitution (having compared the constitutions of the 3rd and 4th republics side by side, I see hardly anything meaningful and even less that's positive was accomplished by the "reform" the current administration has put forward). It's based on the French parliamentary model with too much power massed at the executive level - and really terrible division of powers (i.e. for all practical purposes, the division is nonexistent because the executive branch gets to select key positions that control what the other branches do). Such an arrangement makes it very easy for the president to abuse his power. -- Lemurbaby (talk) 18:08, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Interesting I thought they would have a claimant from Ranavalona III decendents. Also are you going to work on Ranavalona III article in the future? It looks interesting and some thing I would look forward to see expanded by someone. Spongie555 (talk) 08:10, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

Ranavalona III didn't have any children of her own. She did adopt her sister's two children (both girls), who could have claimed the throne but one died very young and the other died in childbirth, leaving behind a daughter named Marie-Louise Ranavalo who joined her great-aunt in exile in Algeria as a child and was raised by her. Marie-Louise married a Frenchman named M. Garnier and died in the 1940s. I haven't been able to find out if the marriage produced children, but they would have been half-French ethnically and have French citizenship, which would have kept them from being able to claim the throne anyway. So all the immediate lines of descent have ended. That leaves far too many contenders among the various nobles for any one person to authoritatively claim the throne. I'm getting a lot of joy out of researching and writing on these Madagascar topics and I do plan on getting all of them to GA one by one. It makes me happy to hear from you and know these articles are being read. Sometimes I wonder if all this work is going to be useful to anyone. What's the nature of your interest in the sovereigns of Madagascar? -- Lemurbaby (talk) 14:27, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

I have always been interested in former monarchies. The sovereigns of Madagascar started to Interest me because it was more recent(well compared to monarchies in the renessiance). I usually read former and current monarchies articles( I read to much that that i think it's turning me into a monarchist). Spongie555 (talk) 17:59, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

Shashthi GAN

Thanks for the GA pass and constructive edits on Kamadhenu. I have been busy lately and may not be able to address your concerns till the weekend. Please bear with me. Thanks. --Redtigerxyz ^Talk 17:04, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Anyway, got some time today. So replied your comments in the article with HTML comments. Please feel free to reword accordingly. Thanks. --Redtigerxyz ^Talk 17:49, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Please check. Redtigerxyz ^Talk 18:09, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

Addressed issues. Redtigerxyz ^Talk 15:45, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for all your constructive edits and the GA pass.Redtigerxyz ^Talk 05:20, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

Rock [barn] star

Thanks for the Barnstar and the encouragement. Which are both much appreciated. I am getting there with the webcites and hopefully the encyclopedia authors won't take as long. Ghmyrtle has promised to have a look at the draft lead/characteristics section this week, which is usually very helpful. I will drop you a line when I've considered any suggestions he makes. So we are making progress. Thanks again.--SabreBD (talk) 19:29, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

I presume Ghyrtle is busy, so rather than wait any longer I have posted a link to my sandbox on the article talkpage in the hope of getting comments.--SabreBD (talk) 21:47, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

This looks wonderful, Sabrebd! there are just a few minor punctuation, spelling and sentence structure edits to make before it's ready to be added to the article. Great work! -- Lemurbaby (talk) 22:21, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. I think it will be a big improvement to the article if we can get agreement on the text.--SabreBD (talk) 22:32, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

Hi Lemurbaby. I am sure you are pretty busy, but if you get time there are some comments from me on progress on the review at [[1]]. Thanks in advance.--SabreBD (talk) 08:43, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for pinging me here, Sabrebd. I'm going to try to have a look in the next day or two - I'm just about to move cross-country so I'm a little tied up but will come back to the article when I have some time to dedicate my full attention to it. -- Lemurbaby (talk) 06:12, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

That's great. Hopefully it will give me time to pin down any outstanding issues.--SabreBD (talk) 07:46, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi. I am sure you are busy, but is there any chance you can take a look over the rock music article and review comments as I cannot progress further until I get some input on progress so far or remaining issues. I would like to get this view wrapped up soon so that I can move on to other things. Thanks.--SabreBD (talk) 19:05, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

Just to say many thanks for undertaking the daunting task of the review. It is a much better article now and hopefully, when I have recovered, it may be possible to take it to FA status with all the helpful advice and improvements, but if you do think of anything else that would need doing for that do let me know. Thanks again.--SabreBD (talk) 18:19, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi Lemurbaby. Sorry to bother you but I have just noticed that Rock music is showing as a B Class article and a Good article nominee, rather than as a good article. I cannot see why this may be as all the templates seem to be in order, but perhaps you could just have a check if you get time.--SabreBD (talk) 16:20, 20 March 2011 (UTC)

Hold that thought it may be one of my displays - its showing fine on my main pc.--SabreBD (talk) 17:34, 20 March 2011 (UTC)

Smile!

Hello Lemurbaby, User:Ruby2010 has smiled at you! Smiles promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Spread the WikiLove by smiling at someone else, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Go on, smile! Cheers, and happy editing!
Smile at others by adding {{subst:Smile}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

Ruby2010 talk 18:14, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

Source about food prices

• "Madagascar: Rice is 'becoming a luxury'". World News. 15 February 2011. Archived from the original on 19 February 2011. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
• "Madagascar: Food insecurity tightens its hold". World News. 3 February 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2011.

Thought this might help with one of your Malagasy articles. – VisionHolder « talk » 23:01, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

I've added another one I found, although I don't have time at the moment to archive it. – VisionHolder « talk » 14:51, 26 February 2011 (UTC)

Ralambo

Before I start in on the full GAN review, there are two issues in the references. First, "La Vaissière (1885), pp. 285-290" does not provide enough details on where it's from. Also, I noticed that one of your references is listed twice for different page ranges. I was wondering if you were up for trying out a slightly different referencing system, similar to what I've been using on lemur and loris articles. I would gladly walk you through setting is up if you need help. Basically, I suggest both list define references (to put all your references in one place at the end of the artile) and the {{Sfn}} template (to handle short foot notes for specific page references to books). Just let me know. – VisionHolder « talk » 16:32, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Oops... I left the "de" off the second la Vassière ref. It actually *is* the same as the one cited earlier. Thanks for catching the inconsistency. It's been fixed now. That different citation style you propose does look cleaner and I like it, although I might try experimenting with it on future articles rather than trying to revise the ones I've already written so far (at least for now). How exactly would it work for the first reference? Would you cite the page number(s) for the first citation, and then simply list different page numbers below the initial one for each subsequent citation of the same reference? -- Lemurbaby (talk) 20:49, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Sorry for missing the de la Vassière ref. I did a visual scan that lasted 0.03 seconds, then did my traditional search: highlight, Ctrl-F, Enter, and it didn't pull anything up. However, I forgot the "search" feature in IE6 here at work doesn't work. Anyawy, as for the reference system, I don't mind converting the Ralambo article for you in one edit so that you can see how it works. Basically, with LDR (list defined references), the refs get listed in the References section, and you just use the usually repeated ref tags (<ref name=.../>) throughout the article. Sfn is a little trickier, but you'll catch on quickly. Just let me know. Either way, we'll want to use footnotes for this article, whether we use Sfn or do it manually. – VisionHolder « talk » 21:18, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

request

Hi again,

Could you add the native name and IPA to Malagasy language? And maybe an explanation of the el: is that dialectical, or a grammatical derivation?

Thanks, — kwami (talk) 15:31, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

Would you have a look at what I added and let me know if this is what you had in mind? I'm not quite sure what you mean by "explanation of the el"... having no linguistic background, I could benefit from a little more information. :) Thank you in advance Kwami. -- Lemurbaby (talk) 15:58, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

Madagascar

I recently found an article I thought was odd but interesting. It is the article of Maurice Benyovszky who was a Hungarian who claimed the Madagascar throne. I wanted to see what you think about him. Spongie555 (talk) 06:49, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for this lead. I will look into it soon. -- Lemurbaby (talk) 18:51, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

Also could you review the article National symbols of Bhutan(it's not a GA nomination but we could use some feedback to get it to GA. Also it has been improved since the GA nomination before. Spongie555 (talk) 01:16, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Hi Spongie - Sure I will have a look at it, hopefully this weekend if I have the chance. -- Lemurbaby (talk) 13:51, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

Thank you. Hopefully the article can get to GA we just need some input. Spongie555 (talk) 03:10, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

Article size

I really like the improvements you're making on the article Madagascar. However, I should note that the size is starting to get a little large. Yes, the article Lemur is larger yet—something I hope to remedy with sub-articles in the future—but regardless, we need to keep things brief and rely on those links to related articles, otherwise people will have problems accessing and editing the article. Otherwise, I'm looking forward to the finished product. Let me know when it's GAN ready! – VisionHolder « talk » 12:27, 21 March 2011 (UTC)

Ardhanarishvara

Thanks for your improvements. I left replies to your comments in the comments on the article page. Please take a look. --Redtigerxyz ^Talk 17:59, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Sorry, I realized today that you were the GA reviewer. Thanks for the review.--Redtigerxyz ^Talk 17:10, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Madagascar Geography Stubs

Also posted on WikiProject Madagascar's discussion page -- looking for comments or thoughts from the Madagascar editors before going ahead. Madagascar's geography stubs still use the old 6 province system. WikiProject Stub sorting approved creating 22 new stub types for the new regions. The discussion and proposed stub types are here for your review. I'll be creating the stubs and starting the sort this weekend if all looks good. Aelfthrytha (talk) 00:09, 29 March 2011 (UTC)

Madagascar lede

Thank you for your significant and generally useful edits to article Madagascar. However, the lede does not seem to clarify that the change in illegal logging situation is due to instability and withheld aid is the main cause rather than only Rajoelina's policies. The latter I found could be a possible interpretation of the current text. The lede also mentions nothing about Ravalomanana's abuses of power despite its substantial length. Munci (talk) 18:01, 17 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for your feedback, Munci. The lead does not provide the reasons for the increase in illegal logging - it only states that the logging has increased under the present regime. Thank you for observing that Ravalomanana's misdeeds are not noted in the article (at this point, only Ratsiraka is really singled out, for his use of violence via the secret police). I am continuing to work on the article as time permits and hope to elevate it to GA and eventually FA status, and some of the corruption and abuse of power issues common to all the regimes in Madagascar will be mentioned in the politics section. Great work on the Sega article and others relating to Reunion and the Indian Ocean islands, by the way. It's great to get in touch with a fellow Wikipedian working on sharing information on that part of the world. -- Lemurbaby (talk) 23:16, 17 April 2011 (UTC)

re:Introduction

Hello Lemurbaby, and sorry for a very late reply ^^' ;

I am now seventeen, but soon eighteen, and I am a malagasy born in Madagascar. I am now in Paris, France. I lived here for eight years now and I am now preparing the french Baccalaureate in Industrial and Technical Sciences ; I study electronics and informatic.

My mother tongue is Malagasy, the easiest language that I can understand. I have studied mostly in French language. I learnt English and Spanish at school. I have been interested in learning old english and Lakota, but because lack of time (for many reasons), I didn't have learnt them.

I learnt myself to write in malagasy language, as in France I was not encouraged to learn my own language ; I really started to relearn malagasy three years ago, and now I am as clever in written malagasy as in written French. I also learnt esperanto myself, for three years ; as I don't use it as often as Malagasy, I am less fluent in that language.

I am writing on malagasy wikipedia and wiktionary. I often read my discussion pages over there ; whereas the discussion page here is not often seen.

Ah, as you lived in Madagascar during two years, you didn't learn Malagasy? It's a very difficult language, I know, but it is a beatiful language, and I love that language.

Best regards from Paris, --Jagwar - (( talk )) 12:12, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

Malagasy cuisine

Thank you, Philg88, for your thorough work! The article has a more natural, non-academic style to it now thanks to your changes. I did revert a couple of edits where the word Malagasy was originally used - the word is both an adjective for anything associated with Madagascar and also for the people of Madagascar themselves, and although it's not immediately recognizable to some readers (who might be more comfortable with some invented term like Madagascarian), I wanted to keep Malagasy in the article to help familiarize readers with the correct term.

Hey, you don't feel like going through my other copy edit request for Rova of Antananarivo do you? :) -- Lemurbaby (talk) 14:03, 1 May 2011 (UTC)

GAN nomination of List of World Heritage Sites in Madagascar

List articles cannot be good articles, please read WP:WIAGA. I am removing the template. You may wish to consider WP:FLC but please read the criteria. Jezhotwells (talk) 23:48, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Rova of Antananarivo‎

Hi Lemurbaby, this is a nice article and could make it to FA status fairly easily I think. Interesting topic too - makes me want to visit Madagascar :) (I was already half sold after copyediting the food article.) ► Philg88 ◄ ^talk 02:17, 5 May 2011 (UTC)

Thanks very much for the barnstar - I agree with the above comment, reading the article made me want to visit Madagascar and see this (and have a time machine to see it before the tragic fire). Thanks for your work on it and please let me know when it is at FAC, Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 20:27, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

Colonization of Madagascar

The introduction of this paper by Blench and Walsh (2009) discuss a colonization history that seems to conflict with what is written in the Madagascar article and others. I think we need to do some more research, particularly among the most recent literature. – VisionHolder « talk » 00:03, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

FAC noms

Please see the responses on my talk page, regards, SandyGeorgia (Talk) 23:20, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Bhikshatana

Thank for a GA review. My Home PC is not workibg for a week. So I haven't edited for a week. I will try to edit by another PC on the weekend. However, I may not be able to edit in the week, if my PC does not get repaired. If you feel that this article is closer to GA than B, please keep the article on hold for a longer time. Thanks. Redtigerxyz ^Talk 15:08, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the GA pass and improvement in the article. I noticed you have also initiated the GA review of Ahalya. My Home Pc is still not working. I hope it starts by Wed. In a worst case scenario, i will be away till Fri. Redtigerxyz ^Talk 14:57, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for your patience. Please take a look. --Redtigerxyz ^Talk 09:28, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Please take a look. I have addressed your concerns.--Redtigerxyz ^Talk 05:23, 30 June 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the pass. All the best for the FAC. It is a very nice article on cuisine, but today, I would not be a neutral party to vote. Anyway, this time it seems it will pass. --Redtigerxyz ^Talk 15:43, 1 July 2011 (UTC)

Paulo Francis

I've withdrawn GA-nomination, and am willingly to comply with requirements to present it anew. As to illustrations, I don't know how to work with Commons, so please help me. As to the other changes suggested, I will do what I can, OK? RegardsCerme (talk) 00:53, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

Hi Cerne! I replied at your talk page. Lemurbaby (talk) 10:29, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

Cuisine of Madagascar

I will be glad to take a look at it and make some comments, though it may take me a few days. Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 03:22, 2 July 2011 (UTC)

Featured Article promotion

	Congratulations!
	Thanks for all the work you did in making Malagasy cuisine a Featured Article! Your work is much appreciated. Thanks also for your reviews. Featured article candidates and Good Article nominees always need more reviewers! All the best, – Quadell (talk)

Excellent job! Congrats! – VisionHolder « talk » 19:51, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Congrats. Great job. --Redtigerxyz ^Talk 05:42, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Talk:Feologild/GA1

I see you quick failed the article for being "... inadequately developed to meet GA standards. Please continue to expand upon the content." However, that is all that is known about the subject. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry (can be seen here if you have access) is all of 61 words, while the current Wiki article incorporates pretty much all information known or speculated upon him. Rather than take this directly to GAR, I've brought this here to discuss with you first, realizing that you're relatively new to GA reviewing. I'll point out Wikipedia:What the Good article criteria are not , section 3, where it states a mistake to avoid is "Requiring the inclusion of information that is not known or addressed by reliable sources." and "Imposing arbitrary size restrictions, rather than directly addressing GA issues of coverage, conciseness, focus and the use of summary style." Sometimes there just isn't coverage of every aspect, especially for early medieval subjects. Ealdgyth - Talk 18:26, 20 July 2011 (UTC)

Hello Ealdgyth, I can entirely relate to the challenge of limited sources for historic figures. I've written several articles on 17th century kings of Madagascar whose accounts have survived through oral history, and you're right - sometimes there's just a limit to what can be said. It would have been helpful to indicate as much on the article talk page to help reviewers understand you were at least trying to be thorough. That being said, there is more that can be added about this man, and particularly given the short length of the article it really does require that you or other interested editors do your best to flesh out the story as completely as possible. Nobody likes a quick fail - it always feels unfair, especially when there are not many comments to justify it. If I could have seen some evidence that you believed you'd done a fair job of gathering all known information about him, I would have gone into more detail in the comments. However in this case the quick fail is not without reason because there's more that can be said on this person. I've expanded my comments on the review talk page. If you can make those changes and resubmit, I'd be happy to work with you to pass the article. Best of luck, and thank you for all your contributions to the site. Lemurbaby (talk) 00:53, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Good Article promotion

	You did it again!
	Another round of congratulations are in order for all the work you did in making Ranavalona III a certified "Good Article"! Thank you; your work is much appreciated. All the best, – Quadell (talk) And again! Ranavalona I is a good article as well. Congrats! – Quadell (talk) 14:34, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

Page blanking and redirecting

What was your reason for wiping out Ranavalona III and copying the content to Ranavalona III of Madagascar? (The same question goes for the talk page, which you wiped.) If you want to move an article, there's a "Move" option. If you don't have permission, then you should request the move of an administrator. Anyway, page moves should generally be discussed before being implemented. – VisionHolder « talk » 16:58, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

I've decided to revert this for now. Let's discuss it on the talk page. In the future, if a move is needed and a redirect already exists (which you can't overwrite), please use {{Requested move}}. – VisionHolder « talk » 17:03, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Looking at the other pages for royalty, Name of Country seems to be the standard format for article titles. That's why I changed it, in preparation for moving them through the FAC process. I didn't realize that redirects weren't supposed to be done by anyone else, or that there was a separate process for "moving" an article. It seems the articles need to be renamed the way that I just changed them to be. What is the best way to proceed? Lemurbaby (talk) 18:51, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

First of all, I apologize—I don't want to discourage you from being bold. This was just a simple faux pas. The issue at stake here is the edit history of the three articles. By simply copying and pasting the content to a new article, you leave behind the edit history on a redirect page. Using the "move" option is strongly preferred for page moves since it preserves the history. However, in these three cases, the redirects already existed. Because you don't have admin rights (nor do I), you can't overwrite another page, regardless of the fact that it's just a redirect. In order to proceed, you should technically use the {{Requested move}} template on the article and, as the documentation for the template says, start a discussion on the article's talk page so that people can discuss the issue. In more clear-cut cases where there's clearly an error in the article's name, you might just drop a note on an admin's talk page (someone you know) asking for help. In the cases here, I'm not 100% certain you need to add the country name behind the ruler's name. I don't know of any stated convention for it, and it seems like only half of the GAs under "Royalty, nobility and heraldry" follow this. I'd say you could either wait for FAC and make sure that reviewers share this view, or use the {{Requested move}} template and make your case per the directions. It may take a couple of weeks, but it will be resolved before you finish your next FAC. Hope this helps! – VisionHolder « talk » 19:22, 21 July 2011 (UTC)

Btw, this should answer the question as to whether or not the articles will need to be renamed: Wikipedia:Naming conventions (royalty and nobility) From what I read, they do not need to be renamed. So unless I read it wrong, if someone says something about it at FAC, I would direct them there. – VisionHolder « talk » 23:13, 23 July 2011 (UTC)

Rova FAC

Thanks for the notices. It has been long enough that I need to carefully reread the article before commenting on it at the FAC. I have been quite busy in real life of late and so have not yet had time to do this, but should be able to do so in a few days at most. Yours, Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 01:31, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

I'll have a look later today. Note that I also have an older current FAC which could do with more reviews Jimfbleak - talk to me? 06:06, 3 August 2011 (UTC)

William L. Walsh

Hello Lemurbaby. There has been no recent improvements to the William L. Walsh article for GA status. Possibly this article needs to be withdrawn from the Good Article nominations page, unless, recommendations have been addressed. Cmguy777 (talk) 21:00, 7 August 2011 (UTC)

Main page appearance

Hello! This is a note to let the main editors of this article know that it will be appearing as the main page featured article on August 11, 2011. You can view the TFA blurb at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 11, 2011. If you think it is necessary to change the main date, you can request it with the featured article directors Raul654 (talk · contribs) or his delegate Dabomb87 (talk · contribs), or at Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests. If the previous blurb needs tweaking, you might change it—following the instructions of the suggested formatting. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page so Wikipedia doesn't look bad. :D Thanks! Tbhotch.^™ Grammatically incorrect? Correct it! See terms and conditions. 18:52, 8 August 2011 (UTC)

Malagasy cuisine encompasses the diverse culinary traditions of the island of Madagascar. Foods eaten in Madagascar reflect the influence of Southeast Asian, African, Indian, Chinese and European migrants that have settled on the island. Rice, the cornerstone of the Malagasy diet, was cultivated alongside tubers and other Southeast Asian staples by the island's earliest settlers from Borneo. Their diet was supplemented by scavenging and hunting wild game, which contributed to the extinction of the island's megafauna. These food sources were later complemented by beef in the form of zebu. Trade with Arab and Indian merchants and European transatlantic traders further enriched the island's culinary traditions by introducing a wealth of new fruits, vegetables and seasonings. Throughout almost the entire island, the contemporary cuisine of Madagascar consists of a base of rice typically with an accompaniment termed laoka. A wide variety of sweet and savory fritters as well as other street foods are available across the island, as are diverse tropical and temperate-climate fruits. Locally produced beverages include fruit juices, coffee, herbal and black teas, and alcoholic drinks such as rum, wine and beer. (more...)

Ranavalona III

You mention a pregnant Razafinandriamanitra and then call her Razafindramanitra a few lines down. Which is the correct spelling? You might want to change that.--KAVEBEAR (talk) 16:44, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for catching that! I'll fix it now. Lemurbaby (talk) 16:46, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

I wondering who is this Marie-Louise you mentioned in the article does she have a Madagascan name besides her French name?--KAVEBEAR (talk) 18:57, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

I have seen several different Malagasy names used in association with her, but I'm not sure which one (if any) is correct. I've seen Ranavalo, Razafinandriamanitra, Razafinkeriefo (this doesn't look like a real Malagasy name to me!)... Also, there are quite a few people who claim to be a descendant of Ranavalona III via a daughter she supposedly had with her first husband (who was reportedly poisoned so Razafindrahety could be married to Rainilaiarivony). She reportedly sent the infant to be raised in the countryside with a sister,. The child's whereabouts were kept hidden and her existence had essentially been forgotten and was kept a secret by the extended family when Razafindrahety became Queen Ranavalona III under such suspicious circumstances. I wish I could write all about that in the article, but all the discussion about it is in online genealogy forums and not in any "official" sources. Lemurbaby (talk) 19:17, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

I requested for the lead image on this article to be clean up and added the new image and a signature of the Queen. See if you have any other opinions to these changes at Wikipedia:Graphic Lab/Photography workshop#Ranavalona III. I think the image might be too bright but I don't know.KAVEBEAR (talk) 00:30, 15 August 2011 (UTC)

Were you aware that your nomination is not transcluded at the main FAC page? DrKeirnan (talk) 09:03, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

Congrats and a question

Congratulations on the recent Main Page appearance.

I looked carefully at the map File:Map of Rova of Antananarivo Madagascar 1990.jpg and one structure, No. 9 "Soamiadanana", is not mentioned by that name anywhere in the article that I can find. Can you please clarify? Thanks, Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 20:36, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, Ruhrfisch. I actually can't say much more about Soamiadanana. The source I used to make the 1800 map shows the location of the building (also called Soaniadanana in some alternate versions of the map) but does not provide any other information on it. The building is also not mentioned in the classic transcription of Merina oral history (Tantara ny Andriana eto Madagasikara), which was clearly one of the original mapmaker's primary sources. Nonetheless, that researcher is very well-reputed, so he probably based the map on unpublished primary sources in Madagascar that I can't get here at the Library of Congress. Print sources and archeological information about the Rova are pretty limited for this early time period. I can't add anything to the article in regard to that building, but it would be unjustified to remove it from the 1800 map. However, I am about to redo the 1990 map. I have a better illustration to use now and it does NOT specify Soamiadanana on it. I will be uploading it shortly. Lemurbaby (talk) 21:31, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks

Thank you for comments at the Caroline of Ansbach FA candidacy. We've made some changes to the article hopefully in line with your comments. DrKiernan (talk) 12:08, 21 August 2011 (UTC)

Talk:Church of the Holy Mother of God, Donja Kamenica/GA1

This has been on hold for 48 days now - are you planning on concluding soon? Jezhotwells (talk) 22:09, 22 August 2011 (UTC)

Featured Article promotion

	Congratulations!
	Thanks for all the work you did in making Rova of Antananarivo a Featured Article! Please accept this award. Your work is much appreciated. – Quadell (talk)

International community

Hello, regarding the edit on Andry Rajoelina. I need to tell you that international community is a phrase of term and is not something that an objective medium would use liberally. When used positively, it invariably implies a preponderance for global powers; when used negatively, it usually originates from those who may feel victim (such as by politicians of smaller/weaker states) to an injustice in claims such as "why is the international community doing ABC for XYZ but not for us?", I recall examples when people were up in arms about Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, 2008, using echoes of Kosovo earlier the same year. You mention "civil" in your summary. In world affairs, the only voice is the government; only it speaks to others who themselves are governments at smallest, or intergovernmental organisations on a bigger picture. That is to say, public opinion is irrelevant. More to the point, even if we wanted to introduce a new section to state that the coup in Madagascar was unpopular with ordinary folk throughout the world, how do we go about proving this? Blogs? Statistics? I'll be fair with you, give the average British person a map of Europe and he'll have difficulties finding Ireland. To many people in many places, affairs of African nations don't make mainstream news and this certainly didn't. Libya is hot on people's mounths but Ivory Coast wasn't when a similar "opposition closes in on government" scenario occurred in the previous months. The only important reactions to political acts are the responses from governments and organisations, they are on another plain. This brings me back to referring to the IC, you probably know of not single time that the U.S. was "comdemned by the IC" or that the IC stood firmly by one view which the U.S. believed differently. Sometimes the "international community" (even when referring to governments) is in a minority. A good example is Iran's nuclear ambitions, denounced as being against the will of the international community and yet Iran was endorsed by 118 countries. The UN only has 193 members. On one note, you are right, the rump term "international community" is given to take in cultures and ordinary populations but as I stated before, not only will we find no information on public opinion throughout the world on the coup, but you can also bet your money that views would in any case be mixed. If you're lucky, you'll get a majority that condemned the action but that won't make the remainder a lesser faction of the IC. I don't have an opinion on coups, to me, what happens happens and I am poweless to prevent it. I do know however that wherever and whenever it happens, there is a reason and it is never because things are beautiful for everybody. In Libya for example, Captain Gaddafi took control by ousting the king which now looks despotic but people sidestep the fact that Libya had been oil-rich for ten years and all of the money was confined to the central circle. All right, a coup simply meant that one evil was replaced by another! But the point is - not everything was beautiful for the Libyan people before September 1969. My roots are in the Balkans (especially former Yugoslavia). In the whole region of south-eastern Europe, you will NEVER get "one voice" - it is irrational. Many people follow world affairs, that is their mainstream the way people follow showbusiness in other countries. You watch the news and after 20 minutes of today's parliament, they switch to the outside world, they inform you that there was a coup somewhere in the world and that the U.S. president along with his NATO allies have condemned this, they are then told that their own leader has "mirrored" the "IC's" view and joined the parade of disgruntled. What then happens with the folk? Most of them instantly smell a rat - is this political or moral? 101 times out of 100 it is political, then as others take an interest they familiarise themselves with the conditions that led the coup in question and before you know it, a thousand opinions are formed! This is the same with people in the Caucasus and everywhere that their land has been embroiled in international affairs. This is why I suggest we modify it. If there is such thing as the IC - everyone is part of it, so logically nobody can be outside of it and court condemnation by it! It would at most be "the rest of the international community". High profile world leaders/governments is more truthful and appropriate as they are the ones with whom a new administration will have direct dealings. If however, the source suggests that there was widespread dissatisfaction from the public in Tonga, Bolivia, Belarus, Iceland, Chad, Angola, Nicaragua, Benin and St.Kitts & Nevis over what happened, we need to state this separately as even THAT still presents IC in a political light. The administration's supporters approved it if nobody else in the world did. Newsreel and journalism is one thing and an encyclopaedia is different - I oppose the use of "régime" for the same reason. Its literal meaning is innocent and well-defined, its practical usage however expresses dissatisfaction towards the target being labelled one, as testified by no citations of "my régime" uttered by a president; or "the régime of my ally" by the same! Can we work on this one? Evlekis (Евлекис) (argue) 11:38, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

I'm using international community precisely because it is what's being used in all the media discussions within and outside Madagascar to characterize where the opposition to the HAT lies. I've never heard any newspaper or televised news report speak about "international governments" opposing the HAT - it's always the "international community." You raise plenty of good logical points but this is the predominant term used, so it makes sense to use it here rather than invent one of our own, and thereby set a new precedent, don't you think? Lemurbaby (talk) 12:30, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

You hit the nail on the head when you said the word "media". Regardless what they say and what IC means in its fullest form, the truth is that it is simply the power bases that transmit their thoughts and in turn have power to act. There are ways around this - let's explore one of them. How about we say "in a move that was widely condemned" and avoid mentioning collective names for pseudo-organisations. For the record, IC is not subjective at all; for those who do not speak of it, when wishing to refer to the same nexus they will cite the global elite. This stretches from people to governments and includes media. I'll await your reply. Evlekis (Евлекис) (argue) 22:30, 26 August 2011 (UTC)

"Widely condemned" is quite vague - it fails to explain who is doing the condemning. Even if the International Community is a global elite, that doesn't change the fact that the term is globally recognized shorthand for a group of organizations (governments, civil society orgs) that have almost universally condemned Rajoelina's regime. It is also from the International Community that the Rajoelina regime alternately seeks or rejects the IC's stamp of approval (and thereby, the HAT's legitimacy). Given that the term "International Community" is widely understood and used within and outside of Madagascar when describing the very situation that the article discusses, why are you so intent on changing the terminology? It isn't misleading because it is widely and internationally understood for what it is, and in fact as the shorthand that it is, using any other term might be more confusing and misleading than the present one to the average reader who would anticipate seeing "International Community" rather than an alternate term.

As regards the use of the word "regime" - you're probably right. It would be more correct in English to say "administration." In French, the word for administration is "regime", and since I'm pulling so much of the information for the Madagascar articles from French language sources, sometimes I forget there is another implied meaning for the word in English. Lemurbaby (talk) 01:34, 27 August 2011 (UTC)

I always change "régime" with administration or government and it has never been challenged. I generally always amend "IC" with world leaders, governments, etc. and this too had never hitherto met with resistance. I'm sorry to say but I will not settle for "IC" in any circumstance as the term is POV. I still say, the message can be delivered without having to use it. If "widely" is too vague, I'll suggest something else. In your above statement however, I cannot help notice that you too have the habit of using "IC" with the language of official sanction when you know there is no such body. We can speak of the UN, NATO, OPEC, NAFTA, ECOWAS, the EU, CEFTA et al, but there is no "International Community" rotating presidency, flag, seat or true representation, to that end there can be no such thing as a "stamp of approval". As for its recognition? The congoscenti will permanently take this to mean the powerful heads of state. Media will use it liberally but there is more than enough publication out there that condemns its usage and exposes it for its true nature. How does the following example sound to you? ...in a move that was internationally condemned or condemned by most of the world. Better? Evlekis (Евлекис) (argue) 08:54, 27 August 2011 (UTC)

It sounds like we can both acknowledge that the media related to the situation in Madagascar commonly uses the term International Community. I do want to clarify, however, that the media itself is stating that the HAT is "seeking the approval of the international community", or that the international community has condemned the HAT. This is not my opinion, or a reflection of my own word choice - this is the language used in common parlance and in the media and does not necessarily reflect my personal views at all. Furthermore, in my many discussions with Malagasy people about this situation (including Malagasy politicians, members of civil society organizations and your average Joe), they themselves constantly use the term "international community" to describe what we're talking about here. The term is a real and legitimate one in the field of international affairs, and one that embodies distinct meaning from its components (such as government or NGOs etc) in that it is meant to represent a "community of humanity" in a certain sense, a sort of grouping of the peoples and their leaders who share the predominant positive universal values of the day. In practice, of course, there are the practical ways this community is operationalized through government spokespeople, contradictory values it may seem to represent, or contradictory meaning that people invoke in using the term (most of which you discussed above, and which form the basis for the criticism that you and others offer of the term).

As I stated earlier, I don't see it as our role to create new precedent for "correct" terminology when there is already a term widely used in multiple languages when describing an issue, and particularly this specific issue. Although previously you haven't encountered resistance from others about changing from IC to "world governments" or something similar, each circumstance is different and in this case the use of IC seems most appropriate. It's a bit concerning to me that you say you "will not settle for IC in any circumstances as the term is POV." I think that's something highly debatable, and perhaps largely irrelevant in this case, because the term is in common parlance when describing this situation, and your disinclination to use the term may effectively hinder the average reader's understanding of the situation by demanding changes in terminology. The appropriateness of the use of the term really ought to be situation-specific, because the term is not inherently incorrect or non-neutral. Even the definition listed here on Wikipedia does not appear non-neutral. - Lemurbaby (talk) 12:29, 27 August 2011 (UTC)

I've added a reference from BBC that states the situation in Madagascar was "condemned as a coup by the international community." Now that I have included this specific example of the language choice in this article, let's agree to a mutual understanding of the validity of using the term in the context of the Madagascar situation, at least as the most appropriate term to be used on WP when discussing the issue due to the precedent set in international media. This is for the ease of comprehension among readers who may already be familiar with the body of reporting and analysis on the topic in English, French or whatever other language and who will be expecting consistency in the terminology when reading about it here. I respect your views but can't agree that it will be beneficial in the case of writings on Madagascar on WP to substitute alternative terms based on your perceptions of the meaning (or lack of meaning) represented by the term International Community.

I'm working hard on a number of Madagascar-related articles right now (I am in essence the only person writing any substantive articles related to the country's people, rather than its wildlife) so I probably won't be very available to respond further in this discussion, but if you do feel very strongly about this, I encourage you to bring it up to a mediator who can act as a neutral arbiter in the decision process. Thanks for all of your contributions on WP, and for the thoughtful discussion. - Lemurbaby (talk) 12:47, 27 August 2011 (UTC)

Believe you me, I know you are working hard on Madagascar-based topics and I don't want that to change. Because IC - in my mind - is in POV territory, I would be far happier to find a solution. Before I announce another suggestion, can I make it clear that I am not an apologist for Rajoelina (I detest all political figures everywhere but that's just Evlekis) and it is not my intention to amend the actual content. What happened happened, you know and I know the circumstances concerning the military split and how he seized power tactically. I know we've exhausted everything we need to say about the "IC" but I cannot help but feel it is unencyclopaedic. Remember me saying it was used either positively or negatively but never in such a way as to encompass what it actually means? The remnant here of its true meaning is - and I grant you this - it states "most of the IC", had it said "IC" alone then that would certainly have been POV. But don't put it past its proponents!!! I sometimes find it funny that the term is used when it is jaw-droppingly obvious that it doesn't include everybody! When you've been a naughty boy, you're not in it! When you ARE that naughty boy, you're on the outside looking inward (that's what I meant about "negative" usage). So - George W.Bush and western press cited IC as disapproving Iran's nuclear ambitions when over half the world's states gave it the thumbs-up. In 2000 after Slobodan Milošević was ousted, Tony Blair hailed the revolution and spoke of welcoming Serbia "back into the international community" (surmising that it - or FR Yugoslavia as was then - has been expelled from this nexus), whilst from the negative angle, Robert Mugabe when addressing the UN cited the "illegal sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the IC". In and of itself it means nothing but somehow we both know that Zimbabwe itself didn't play a very active role in the imposing of sanctions upon its own self!! You don't need me to provide sources for these things. Anyhow, back to the article. The original source stated mainly the AU, normally - as you know - when IC is mentioned, we know that also implies the west. Do you feel the same message can be conveyed if we were to say "vehemently condemned across the globe including disapproval from the AU whose members refuse to recognise his governance, and by the west" - and obviously, we can develop "west" to mean what it needs to. It's long-winded but nobody on this world can dispute it or call it POV. What do you think? Evlekis (Евлекис) (argue) 18:10, 27 August 2011 (UTC)

Church of the Holy Mother of God, Donja Kamenica

Hi! I've followed your advice and renominated Church of the Holy Mother of God, Donja Kamenica at WP:GAN, with all images removed (because they were all from the same source). Thanks very much for offering to do that, I'd be glad if you can review the article once more! Best, — Toдor Boжinov — 06:35, 2 September 2011 (UTC

David Jones

Thanks for your kind comments and very informative articles on Madagascar: I've learned a lot from them! Philip.marshall (talk) 14:22, 20 September 2011 (UTC)

Matangi

Thanks for the GA review. Please take a look. I have made a few changes. --Redtigerxyz ^Talk 05:40, 1 October 2011 (UTC)

Have replied on GA page. --Redtigerxyz ^Talk 04:40, 2 October 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the pass. --Redtigerxyz ^Talk 16:26, 4 October 2011 (UTC)

re:Merina Kingdom vs Kingdom of Madagascar

In my opinion we should rename the Merina Kingdom to Kindgom of Madagascar (Fanjakan'i Madagasikara), because the article only covers the unification of the island till the end of the Monarchy. Actually the kindgom of Imerina is much older that stated in the article : it's written that it was established in 1787 whereas first known Kings of Imerina reigned in the 16th century. We can keep the article name but then we will need to change the date of the establishment and add more details about pre-unification epoch.

I am not opposed in creating a separate article about the Merina Kingdom and the Kingdom of Madagascar. But you will have to rename Merina Kingdom (a small Kingdom established in the 15th century which will become more and more extended) by Kingdom of Madagascar which will be about a "modern" Kingdom (officially recognized by European powers). Respectfully yours, --Jagwar - (( talk )) 19:02, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Talk:Antoni Gaudí

Hey, I noticed that one edit you made severely truncated the talk page. I don't know if you intended to do that or not. Should we attempt to recover and archive the old discussions? I am afraid the old Spanish vs. Catalan identity thing is going to come up again. Elizium23 (talk) 19:50, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

Re: Antoni Gaudí

Hi Lemurbaby, thanks for your note. I was very pleased to see other sensible people were taking an interest in this article, and I congratulate you on your diligence! I'll take a look and see if there's anything more I can do. By the way, please let me know when you actually pass it as GA. Thanks. AdeMiami (talk) 17:31, 19 October 2011 (UTC)

RE: Madagascar

Hello, I am not in any way a qualified expert on pre-colonial Madagascar but I can't remember dealing with migration in any way. It's proably very correct that I didn't take enough care with quotes and references, but as you can see between my edits and the latest before me (18:12, October 15, 2011‎) by Jagwar, most of what I have done is clarifying certain links to imperialist-era great powers, and the one fact I did edit was at the end regarding when the protectorate respectively annexation as colony took place, which I supported with a source I believe. //Gotipe (talk) 10:07, 30 October 2011 (UTC)

• No problem, :) //Gotipe (talk) 11:57, 30 October 2011 (UTC)

Main page appearance: Rova of Antananarivo

This is a note to let the main editors of Rova of Antananarivo know that the article will be appearing as today's featured article on November 6, 2011. You can view the TFA blurb at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 6, 2011. If you prefer that the article appear as TFA on a different date, or not at all, please ask featured article director Raul654 (talk · contribs) or his delegate Dabomb87 (talk · contribs), or start a discussion at Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests. If the previous blurb needs tweaking, you might change it—following the instructions at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/instructions. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. The blurb as it stands now is below:

The Rova of Antananarivo is a royal palace complex in the central highlands of Madagascar. It served as the former residence of the sovereigns of the Kingdom of Imerina from the 17th to the 19th centuries. The Rova occupies the peak of Analamanga hill in the capital city of Antananarivo. Merina king Andrianjaka (ruled 1610 to 1630) is believed to have captured the hill from a Vazimba king and erected the site's first fortified royal structure. Successive Merina sovereigns continued to rule from the Rova until the fall of the monarchy in 1896. The largest palace within the complex, called Manjakamiadana, was built from 1839 to 1841 for Queen Ranavalona I. A fire on the night of 6 November 1995 destroyed or damaged all the structures within the Rova complex shortly before it was due to be inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Reconstruction of the Manjakamiadana exterior is scheduled for completion in 2011. (more...)

UcuchaBot (talk) 00:01, 4 November 2011 (UTC)

History of Madagascar

Hi Lemurbaby,

First of all, I am enchanted and honored you came on my talk page and let these kind comments about my modest (and apparently vandal) contribution on Madagascar History : I have browsed your contributions on WP and Youtube and let me say that you are an extraordinary person. Your many realisations are, not only of the higher quality, but always show a certain (and rare) sense of balance and aesthetic (the colors, pictures, and audio files chosen, etc.) : they give off something undoubtedly beautiful… One cannot be indiferent about Madagascar, Music of Madagascar and Madagascar cuisine after reading/watching what and how you have written/done about (just three examples). But above all, your deeds, because of the time and energy you obviously spent on them, show a deep passion about Madagascar and I rarely encountered such a Malagasy (no matter who you are, to be Malagasy is for me a matter of loving Malagasy people and Madagascar country)

That being said, let me answer you point by point, but before all, please be indulgent with my English and keep in mind that I am a “wikibaby”, not a pro like you, so I still have a lot to learn  :

"1. Hi Kaluvau, Thanks for contributing to the History of Madagascar page. It's an article that needs lots of attention and while it's on my radar "

I totally agree with you, I am convinced that the multiple crises that have succeeded there have been, at the base, due to a lack of knowledge and/or bad interpretations of History by those involved in politics (it is a long debate and I will stop here)

"(I've been doing most of the Madagascar culture and history pages here),"

I discovered it, and was flabbergasted about the culture behind

"it's still a bit far down on my list and I appreciate seeing someone else take some interest in it."

"Les beaux esprits se rencontrent" (I don’t know the equivalent expression in english : "the great mind meet" ?)

"That being said, much of the content you've added is unsupported. Some of it looks like it may be too close to source language."

I am sure you are right, but can you please tell me precisely what part of the article you have in mind by telling that (so that I can modify/improve it) ?

"As it is after your edits, there is an even stronger emphasis on the Austronesian immigrations and subsequent migrations but not much discussion about the actual history of the people living on the island - what they did, how they lived, and why."

You are right it lacks the settlement mode of the ntaolo (how/why they lived on coastal regions (Vezo), how/why some of them penetrated in the forests inland (and became the Vazimba), etc : it is the next step. I have to add it but I have no more time (!) : if you can help me, I will give you some references on your demand (see examples below). I am sure you will do it far better than me.

"Are you planning on adding references to substantiate your changes? It's become a bit confusing because you've added new information where an old citation exists, and that gives the impression that the new information you included is substantiated by the old citation when it may not in fact be so. I encourage you to keep with your edits but be sure to add the citations with page numbers"

Again, can you help me please ? What citations ? How to add page numbers on English WP ? Is there a model ? (I used the simple «  < ref name = ….. / > for practical/time economy reason)

There are a couple of ways to do this. Some people like to use the Harvard Cite style, and supposedly it's preferable because it's easier for people to click through to see all the information about a given reference, but I stick with the first one I learned. You can see examples of Harvard on the article about Ralambo (an editor who works on Malagasy wildlife, Alex Dunkel, helped convert the refs into that style) and the style I usually use, which you can see on Rova of Antananarivo. If you've got to learn to do this, I'd encourage you to try to master the Harvard style. Take a look at the coding and see if it's clear or if some clarification is needed. Inserting page numbers requires setting up a Notes and a References section. Full reference information for books would go in the reference section, while page numbers for books go in the notes section along with almost everything else (full journal cites, website cites, newspaper cites etc). Lemurbaby (talk) 03:56, 9 November 2011 (UTC)

"and expand further on the aspects of the article not related to the migrations to the island. Also, this distinction between Vezo and Vazimba is one I haven't seen argued in any other source materials, so it will definitely need to be substantiated. Traditionally it's argued that the Vazimba who were pushed out of the Highlands settled on the coast where they took the name Vezo."

Thank you very much for this. I like the Harvard style: it seems simple and elegant, and I will learn it, following your advice. Kaluvau (talk) 12:21, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

I also have thought the same thing for a very long time (and also because all the books / articles I read supported this Grandidier thesis he stated more than a hundred years ago), until I discovered a book (from a “recent” doctoral thesis in linguistics history) which for me is the most important ever written on Madagascar, I let you discovering it : « Fitenin-drazana » of P. Simon (in French) (this e-version is not complete but you can browse the essential by key word, using the research windows at left)

it supports the opposite view (the first who dared), and genetics , archeology does not contradict him (see references in the WP article) : the Vazimba (va-yimba –“those of the forest”) where with a high probability the first Austronesians who settled on West coastal regions between 350 BC – AD 500 and first settled inland (in forest) from the 6th century.

So, how to explain the oral traditions you reminded above ? When neo-austronesians (Malay, Javanese, Bugis) of the second millenium (about 1200-1300 if calculated on the basis of the oral traditions collected by Révérend Père François Callet) came in turn inland, they met those first Austronesians Vazimbas (less evoluated/civilised than them who probably came from indianised/”hinduised” indonesian thalassocraties regions) and sometimes pushed them out, not necessarily on coastal region, but just further. But may be did not I manage to show clearly this idea ?

"It's common knowledge that the Malagasy language is derived from Barito with loan words from several other languages (other Austronesian, lots of Arabic, French, English etc) so identifying the source of the names Vezo and Vazimba as evidence of something leans toward "original research" (not permitted here) and doesn't necessarily substantiate the arguments made in the article either. You might consider putting some of the information about the Vazimba into the actual Vazimba page if you can cite your sources and represent the information objectively."

The etymology of Vazimba and Vezo names I presented are not mine, they have been proposed by specialist P. Simon (cited above), after years of linguistics researches (just tape « Vazimba » in the research window). And yet it is an « original thesis » (but not mine!). May I precise that this very work of this Malagasy researcher is today considered as a reference and is always cited by giants of austronesian languages like K.A. Adelaar (Asian Institute, Melbourne, Australia). May be you can help me « representing this information objectively » after reading it ?

About the Vazimba page, I will not have any more time in the three next months, but you can eventually browse the French page on the subject : (Vazimba) and use/translate it if it interest you…(Anyway, if you lack time for translating, you can copy/paste it within a Google tranlsation page and then just rearrange it)

"It's really important to include your references as you're writing so we can have Madagascar articles that are accurate and objective. Much of the early history of Madagascar is not factually known but rather part of oral history and there are conflicting accounts, so we need to be careful not to present original research or state theories as facts." Lemurbaby (talk) 10:00, 30 October 2011 (UTC)

In fact, there is an important available mass of factual datas and articles about these early times, but in majority written in French, and may be not dug enough by english-speaking researchers... On archaelogy, you can, for example read the brilliant (late) David Rasamuel synthesis article about « Madagascar archaeology » in (French) Encyclopedia Universalis (the last paper vesion). But you can also find some good synhesis in english, like this one (yet old) by W.G. Solheim II (one of/if not the greater specialist of SEA archaeology), or this one (more recent) by P. Verin & Wright. (as you may know, Pierre Vérin has initiated archaeology researches in Madagascar) : they give answer about the how/when on the Vazimba settlement…

FYI, if it interest you, I started recently some articles I wish to be translated in english :

• 1. « Ancient hebraic/jewish migrations in Madagascar »
• 2. (under my old french WP pseudo)« Jazz in Madagascar » (may be too long and lack illustrations, but it is complete regarding datas)

Finally, I would tell you that I also love malagasy music (I’m myself a musician), so I will read carefully what you have written about it and, if necessary, will contribute (but, as I told you above, not immediately). Best regards. Kaluvau (talk) 04:54, 4 November 2011 (UTC)

• Hi Kalovao, I'll write you back in more detail shortly. First let me thank you for taking the time to write such a thoughtful response to my comment. I am very excited you've decided to start contributing to the English Wikipedia on Malagasy topics. It's true that sometimes it's harder to consult foreign-language texts, and in the case of Malagasy I barely know enough to get by, let alone interpret academic-level historical works, so I'm very glad you are able to draw on those resources. (I do have the full text of the Tanara, though, which is helpful).

Hi Lemurbaby,

I supose you mean the Tantara : me too, I don't have it now, but I remember to have read the full texts in Malagasy and in French a long time ago -along with the Firaketana encyclopedia of Ravelojaona et alii- because it is a part of my personnal history, so I have it well in memory. But for the whole Madagascar (I mean all the regions, because the Tantara just deal with the Merina, and even just the nobles in fact), another important and more recent book in Malagasy will be useful for you, if you can get it : Randriamamonjy, F. (2001) Tantaran'i Madagasikara isam-paritra a great synthesis, 30 years of bibliographical researches by an ex-Ambassador, foreword by "Sir" Ratsimamanga himself. Along with the Pierre Vérin (2000) "Madagascar" (I don't know if there is a more recent version), they are very useful for WP (but may be have you already read them): I think that because of their importance, they shoul be translated in english...

I'll be happy to show you how to insert page numbers into cites etc and work with you to tighten up and balance some of the material you're introducing into English Wikipedia, all of which is very valuable and needed.

Thank you in advance :-)

An initial observation is that we have to be careful to maintain objectivity and not overreach beyond what the sources can support, even when we know it personally to be common knowledge etc. It's considered "original research" when we connect dots between source information that others have not already connected. It's frustrating sometimes, especially for people with a strong research background (I hold a Ph.D.). It was very frustrating for me when writing the Malagasy Cuisine article especially because anyone who's lived in Mada would know that the Highlands sauces tend to have a tomato base, and coastal sauces sometimes have coconut milk in them - but I could not find that quoted in any books. Fortunately, the section I wrote on Malagasy Cuisine was published in the latest Bradt travel guide, and I put that information into the piece, so in the end I was able to cite myself as a "legitimate source" in the end article here! :D

You made me laugh. It is a very fun example of compliance with the rules which lead us sometimes in awckward situations. I agree that it is frustrating, but you are right that we should keep it like that (because of WP anonymity).

But that story also highlights another issue. We can't always count on what's been published as fact; we have to weigh the evidence presented and make up our own minds, or else triangulate it against a number of other sources when there is some cause to doubt (such as when numerous other sources make a different claim). That's especially the case when talking about the origins of the Malagasy - it's still a field that's evolving, and researchers are putting forth theories but even they haven't stated them as facts, so we can't restate their findings here as fact either.

You are absolutely right that we are facing theories here. I see what the article need (and what I've court-circuited): we should present the state of the art, the terms of the debate, the opposing theories (at least the two main) about Malagasy origins and settlement (we should see it for example in Ottino, Vérin or, more recently, in some Blench an Adelaar articles). I just focused on the end (my prefered theory) and hidden all the history (of the mystery of this History)...

A good example would be this piece you added to the History of Madagascar article:

"According to oral tradition,[28] new Austronesian clans (Malays, Javanese, Bugis, and Orang Laut),[29] historically and globally - regardless of their native island- referred to as the Hova[20] (of uwa-"commoner", in old Bugis]), have landed in the North West and East coast of the island. Linguists observations about Old Malay (sanscritised), Old Javanese (sanscritised) and Old Bugi borrowings in the initial proto-SEB languages, point out that the first hova vawes came probably in the eighth century at the earliest.[30]"

First, reference 29 does not seem to mention all four of those Austronesian groups when I performed a quick search of the article. Second, the authors of the paper propose the content as a theory and not a fact but this is not clarified for the reader of the WP article. Third, I don't recall reference 30 providing support for the translation of uwa from old Bugis, and if it did I would have expected to see it as a cite for the Bugis inclusion after "new Austronesian clans" - the main point here being it's not clear for me that you're consistently placing the reference at the end of the material it supports. Maybe most importantly, if all of this is according to oral tradition (cite 28), it should be put at the end of all the material it supports (e.g. the end of this paragraph); otherwise it's unclear what oral tradition does or does not support. By implication it suggests that oral history supports all the assertions in the paragraph that follows, when in fact it does not support all the points, only some, but we don't know which. And finally, it would be good to either link or spell out "jargon" like "proto-SEB languages" and limit the frequency of providing linguistic evidence because we're not trying to argue a point in the same way that the authors of that research were doing - we are only supposed to present what is known fact about the History of Madagascar. We summarize the evidence when needed but don't have to provide details because it will weigh down the article and also make it extremely long and un-encyclopedic in style. That general guidance might help you to recraft some of the content you added and insert support where it's needed; I could help with copy-edits along the way and more specific feedback en route.

OK I see, thank you very much for this very detailed and useful guideline. It's clear that my paragraph is totally confused. I was too fast. I am modifying it when possible and will see all the others who need the same clarification/wikification. I would just say to you that, for instant, researches on Madagascar prehistory seems for me to lack coordination, and when you reed the genetics, linguistics, archeology articles, each took apart, you can see that the authors often (but not always) ignore what have been done in other disciplines. So the theories are sometimes condradictory. How to present them ? I succumbed (I shouldn't) to temptation of a synthesis but you are right that we just have to present the problematic here.Kaluvau (talk) 13:08, 5 November 2011 (UTC)

Music of Madagascar

You mentioned you're a musician... what do you play?

Almost all traditional and modern instruments used in malagasy music except brasses, drums and violin (but I'm not a pro, it is just a hobby) and you ?

It will be great if you can help expand the Music of Madagascar article as long as it remains balanced and factual. - Lemurbaby (talk) 10:55, 4 November 2011 (UTC)

It is almost perfect like that (the GA is well deserved). If I add something, it won't be substantial. I just have a urgent technical question about it : how to upload an audio file ?Kaluvau (talk) 02:59, 5 November 2011 (UTC)

If you look to the left of the screen under the "Toolbox" section you'll see "Upload file". Click on that, then in the middle of the screen you'll see a number of choices, including one that says something like "Upload an audio sample from a song." Click on that one, and it will take you through the rest. But be sure to be familiar with the copyright rules. I already encountered some resistance from experienced WP editors regarding the number of audio files I'd uploaded to that article, because they are not "free audio", meaning audio for which the copyright has expired or does not apply. All of the files I uploaded are still copyright protected. It's permissible to load copyright-protected music clips under certain conditions, but even then there is no guarantee the editors during the review process (e.g. at GA or FA reviews) will find the clip adequately justified to keep it there. The audio file needs to be lowest quality, which means running it through a piece of software to reduce the quality. It needs to be no longer than 30 seconds or 10% of the total duration of the song, whichever is shorter. It needs to be discussed in some way within the body of the article or otherwise tied in adequately to the written content. It's not permissible to use non-free audio when a free-audio clip exists that could illustrate the same style/sound/instrument etc. All copyright information needs to be provided in the file description page. You can look at the description pages for my audio samples (and even copy and paste, then make edits as appropriate) if you want to make it easier. If you are considering uploading audio to that page, would you mind running your choices past me, so we can have a defensible position if/when we want to bring that article to FA status and need to get all these audio clips past the reviewers. I'm hoping to get it up to that level, but I think there's still much more that can be said about Malagasy music - especially the vocal styles and more detail on what distinguishes the various highlands and (especially) coastal musical styles. Lemurbaby (talk) 04:51, 5 November 2011 (UTC)

Hi Lemurbaby,

Thank you for your answer above,

I have read more carefully your beautiful article and wrote a short reviewed in the discussion page behind it : you will see there notably a short list of Youtube links which is an invitation to travel in music throughout Madagascar, in the manner of Selma Lagerloffs' Nils on his wild gooses, but here on the back of (wild?) music notes: enjoy (may be you already know most of them)...

I have also just read the "non free material" debate related to your comments and recommendations above (thank you for the details of the format required), and, if you want, I propose you to provide mp3 audio files of my own realisations on each instrument (except the exceptions). Just tell me please what instrument, genre and melody you would like to display in? As I see you would prefer to upload it yourself, then tell me where can I upload it? (the simplest way would be in the article then you will just have to change the place, I will just prevent you here that I've done an upload)

Reply: What a gift it would be if you could make some recordings we can use! I think we could use samples of the bamboo valiha and steel-string valiha for sure, as well as the kabosy, lokanga, jejy voatavo, possibly the marovany and any of the other more obscure or regional traditional instruments. I think we don't necessarily need a sample of the accordion, percussion, acoustic guitar, sodina etc because I think we can legitimately justify keeping recordings of people like Rakoto Frah, D'Gary and Regis Gizavo! Feel free to upload the audio to the article page directly, and keep in mind if the tunes are not copyrighted then there isn't a limit on the length! As far as styles... I have total faith in your own judgment about the most representative folk tune that you could play on that instrument. It would be good to aim for a broad range of styles from across the regions if possible. I like where you're going with the idea of interpreting one song on each instrument, but then I think we'd miss an opportunity to demonstrate various styles at the same time. One thought that occurred to me would be to have certain clips be composed of two short samples of contrasting musical styles played on the same instrument, when appropriate (e.g. when that instrument is used in distinct ways for different musical genres in various places on the island). If you'd like to bounce ideas here we can talk about the possibilities in more detail. Lemurbaby (talk) 17:18, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

Reply: Noted. Wow, you confront me with a real challenge because I don't currently have all those instruments! So be patient, please. I will start with the ones I have. For the uploading, I'd prefer doing it in the discussion page and, then, let you putting it at the right place within the article, gradually as your redaction advance. I like your (fun) idea of "certain clips (to) be composed of two short samples of contrasting musical styles played on the same instrument, when appropriate", it is, for example, the case for marovany (South style-Vezo&Antandroy, Center style-Merina&Betsileo, East style-like Rakotozafy who is from the Sihanaka tribe), perhaps also the kabosy (South style-Bara, Center-Merina and Betsileo, Western style-Sakalava), and also the guitar (I can provide a ba gasy sample contrasting with the South style of D'Gary). As I told you above, I don't play the lokanga (I have notions of violin, but lokanga style is sincerely very difficult for me, I admire the Malagasy players of it). As far as the valiha (which became specifically a Center instrument, not because the other regions didn't played it-they replaced it by marovany-, but because of the lacks of bamboo in other regions): as you suggest, it would be interessant to show the different sounds of it (torotenany-bamboo, etc.). Ultimately, it's a very big challenge.Kaluvau (talk) 20:26, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

PS1: a simple idea is that we choose just one typical Malagasy melody (the Rakotozafy-marovany or the Randafison I put in link in my review, for example, which for me summarize everything) and show how it sounds on each instrument. But I let you making your choice...

PS2: It will take a little bit time to answer you (may be 2 or 3 weeks, even more), but I keep in mind the urgency of the recordings for your FA review, and I'm trying to do it as quick as possible once I get your preferences (here or in my talk page).

PS3: what is your PhD domain? (no don't tell me, let me guess)

I don't see any guesses, so I'll tell you. :) I have a doctorate in International Education Policy. Writing things on Wikipedia satisfies my passion for teaching and sharing knowledge. :) Lemurbaby (talk) 17:18, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

You shouldn't tell me, I have already eliminated "History of Madagascar" and "(Ethno)Musicology"... So we share the same passions (teaching and sharing knowledge is my job), and I'm preparing a PhD (I will never tell you in what, and will leave you to "really" guess it :)

See you

Kaluvau (talk) 12:33, 5 November 2011 (UTC)

Hmmm, history seems like a good guess, or anthropology. Is it in the humanities at least? You need to give me some hints here. :D Lemurbaby (talk) 05:41, 27 November 2011 (UTC)

Free Audio Files

Hi Lemurbaby, I started the uploads. Kaluvau (talk) 02:47, 22 November 2011 (UTC)

Thank you Lemurbaby for the barnstar and the award, but I don't deserve them! In comparison with you, I still haven't done anything. And I'm just starting to contribute. But I take them as encouragement to continue, so thank you very much. Kaluvau (talk) 12:17, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

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Rainilaiarivony and Rainivoninahitriniony

Why did both Rainilaiarivony and Rainivoninahitriniony never left any children with either one of the three queens of Madagascar that they married? Were they infertile or homosexual?--KAVEBEAR (talk) 02:03, 5 December 2011 (UTC)

Good question! I'm not 100% sure that there were never any children, although if it happened I've never seen it mentioned anywhere. But I suspect the relationships were largely if not entirely asexual. Rasoherina would hardly consent to bed with the man who murdered her husband, and he (Rainivoninahitriniony) had his pick of women (he reportedly engaged in drunken orgies). Rainilaiarivony was already married and fathered 17 children with his first wife, whom he only divorced (reluctantly) when Ranavalona II converted to Christianity. Ranavalona II already had children by her first husband, and again their marriage was more political than physical. When he married Ranavalona III, he was very much older than her, and I have a sense from the sources I've read that they also lived a fairly celibate lifestyle together. He was attracted to her but the women did have the choice not to bed with their husbands and I have the sense that this choice was exercised in all these cases. Lemurbaby (talk) 02:58, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

Interesting. I'm learning everyday.--KAVEBEAR (talk) 06:00, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

"Around 1848—the exact date of his marriage is not recorded—Rainilaiarivony, then around 20 or 21 years old and having adopted the name Radilifera, concluded a marriage with his paternal cousin Rasoanalina. She would bear him no fewer than sixteen children over the course of their marriage. In addition, a one-year-old son that Rasoanala"

Just want to point out the two different spellings of Rainilaiarivony's first wife, which is correct?--KAVEBEAR (talk) 06:00, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for catching this. I'll correct it now. Lemurbaby (talk) 11:56, 8 December 2011 (UTC)

Ahalya

Hi Lemurbaby. I was lucky to have you as a GA reviewer for this article. Now I am planning for a FA. I will request you to take a look at the article and give constructive criticism on the talk, as you did in the GA review. The article would benefit more if you improve it further like you did Matangi. Thanks a lot. --Redtigerxyz ^Talk 10:04, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

Orphaned non-free image File:Jaojoby - Mbola Velono.ogg

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Feologild

Hi there, just to let you know I've mentioned you at Feologild. Don't feel you have to reply; don't feel you have to have any further part in the issue, if you don't want to- let me know if that's the case! J Milburn (talk) 02:53, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

Ratings of national cuisines

Hey, sorry to take so long to get back to you about importance of cuisines. In regards to national cuisines you have to look at them on a scale of 1 to 4:

• 0 - n/a
• 1 - low
• 2 - mid
• 3 - high
• 4 - top

The way I use this scale is how the cuisine affects global cuisines, for example French, Italian, Indian and Chinese cuisines all have had a significant global impact on how people eat and rate at the top level of importance. On the other end of the cuisine scale you have examples such as Eritrean and Luxembourgian cuisine which would rate low because of the almost negligible impact on global eating habits and would be assessed as low importance. Malagasy cuisine would rate low because it really isn't that globally important to how people eat. Its agricultural impact would actually rate higher because of the impact Madagascar has one of the most important staples in the spice world, vanilla. So I would rate the agriculture in Madagascar article as being of high importance.

Your example of the the saffron articles as being high importance is a little off because the rating is not for WP:Food but for WP:Spices, a current task force and former WikiProject. Saffron is one of the most important spices in the world, but its food importance is a bit less - probably simply mid to high. Does this help explain my rationale for downgrading the importance of Malagasy cuisine to low? --Jeremy (blah blah • I did it!) 20:23, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

Good topic

Hello Lemurbaby; your incredible work on the Madagascar articles is a credit to you as an editor. May I suggest that you consider nominating them for Good topic once you have finished. If you get them all to Featured article status, you should definitely nominate them for featured topic. Keep up the hard work, and this below:

Your GA nomination of Eusèbe Jaojoby

The article Eusèbe Jaojoby you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold . The article is close to meeting the good article criteria, but there are some minor changes or clarifications needed to be addressed. If these are fixed within seven days, the article will pass, otherwise it will fail. See Talk:Eusèbe Jaojoby for things which need to be addressed. ♫GoP♫_T^C_{N 16:22, 14 January 2012 (UTC)}

Passed :)!--♫GoP♫_T^C_{N 15:09, 19 January 2012 (UTC)}

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Re:Appreciate your comments/edits on Madagascar

I'll do my best to have a look through the article in the next few days. J Milburn (talk) 20:08, 25 January 2012 (UTC)

I've made a few tweaks which will hopefully make the discussion of the politics a little more neutral. I'll hopefully find some time to look through the rest of the article in detail, after which time I'll hopefully be able to comment regarding the depth/breadth issue. J Milburn (talk) 16:29, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

Signpost interview

I'd like to do an interview with you for the Signpost, but you don't have an "email this user" link on the side. As the interviews are usually done by email (to avoid spilling the beans), could you email me if you are willing to do the interview? Use the "email this user" link on my user page. Crisco 1492 (talk) 13:54, 28 January 2012 (UTC)

GAN Madagascar

Hi,

I have begun reviewing your GAN and left some comments at Talk:Madagascar/GA1. It's a little hard going because the page is soooo slow to load. The article appears well written, but the sources don't seem up to par. There are sections that are under sourced. I don't think the Encyclopedia Britannica or a travel guide are good sources for most items.

The images are wonderful. I would like to see this article pass. It's very interesting.

Regards, MathewTownsend (talk) 21:23, 29 January 2012 (UTC)

Hi sorry just saw your post! Yes looks good for GA. FA I haven't had much experience of in recent years as it can be extremely demanding but I'll give it a thorough read later and highlight anything I think an FA should have. Naturally being an FA on a country it has to be very comprehensive and cover a wide range of topics.♦ Dr. Blofeld 16:47, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

Sorry for the delay. Looks great! Maybe you could add a section on law and order and crime (e.g crime figures, the Malagasy police force and court systems etc) the Media, (what are the main television/radio channels and newspapers etc?), Heraldry (e.g some information about the flags coat of arms and other flags used in the country) and also add something about Malagasy cuisine?. Also, how about a section on Palaeontology, extremely important on the island of course? ♦ Dr. Blofeld 17:31, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

• Congratulations on getting Madagascar to GA! Best wishes, MathewTownsend (talk) 22:06, 16 February 2012 (UTC)

Peer review limits changed

This is a notice to all users who currently have at least one open peer review at Wikipedia:Peer review. Because of the large number of peer review requests and relatively low number of reviewers, the backlog of PRs has been at 20 or more almost continually for several months. The backlog is for PR requests which have gone at least four days without comments, and some of these have gone two weeks or longer waiting for a review.

While we have been able to eventually review all PRs that remain on the backlog, something had to change. As a result of the discussion here, the consensus was that all users are now limited to one (1) open peer review request.

If you already have more than one open PR, that is OK in this transition period, but you cannot open any more until all your active PR requests have been closed. If you would like someone to close a PR for you, please ask at Wikipedia talk:Peer review. If you want to help with the backlog, please review an article whoe PR request is listed at Wikipedia:Peer review/backlog/items. Thanks, Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 01:31, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

Rwanda - testing waters for second FAC

Hi Lemurbaby

You left a message on my talk page back in August, regarding the Rwanda article. I have recently shortened and rebalanced the history section somewhat, following comments made during the first FAC and I'm considering putting it up for FAC again. Just wondered, if you have time to look, whether you think the article is ready for that, and if not what work I should do on it.

You also mentioned that you were about to move to Rwanda for two years... Hope that is going well, if indeed you are there! Many thanks  — Amakuru (talk) 13:38, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Archiving links

There's one minor thing with archival links that I recently learned about myself: If you archive a link that is still active, use the parameter |deadurl=no. If the original links have died, use |deadurl=yes. It's a minor thing that can be fixed by searching for citations with the archiveurl parameter. Just something for the future and FAC. – VisionHolder « talk » 18:20, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

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Images of Ranavalona III

Hey, I've uploaded many other images of Ranavalona III here. Please use them and incorporate some of them into the article or where you find they best belong. Thanks.--KAVEBEAR (talk) 07:41, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

Rwanda again

Hi, just to let you know that I have put Rwanda back up for FAC. Please check it out and comment at WP:Featured article candidates/Rwanda/archive2. Thanks!  — Amakuru (talk) 10:45, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

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FAC

OK, I'll have a look either today or tomorrow. I also have an FAC, Common Tern which could do with more reviews Jimfbleak - talk to me? 06:40, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

Speaking of your FAC, I will try to take a look at it tonight. (FYI, one of photos from your article is at WP:FPC—Wikipedia:FPC#Andafiavaratra Palace. If you feel it qualifies and you feel qualified to vote, please do.) If I have time, I will also have a look at Common Tern for Jimbleak. – Maky ^« talk » 01:06, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

I will also take a look though it may take me a few days (longer). Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 20:59, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

A brownie for you!

Hey - just wanted to say thank you for your support at the Stephen_Hawking FAR - it was the first FA support I've ever had and I'll treasure it appropriately :) Fayedizard (talk) 21:55, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

Congratulations and image comments

Congrats on the FA!

I would be fine with File:Rainilaiarivony funeral PS.jpg as a fair use image in the Rainilaiarivony article - it is a unique historic image and I think it adds to the reader's understanding of the reaction in Madagascar to Rainilaiarivony's death. As fair use it would have to be transferred to / hosted on the English Wikipedia.

I also wondered if an image of or related to the French invasion / takeover could be added to the article? File:LaGuerreAMadagascar.jpg is very striking and free. Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 14:07, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

I agree about File:Rainilaiarivony funeral PS.jpg. We have so little information on places like Madagascar, and "a picture is worth a thousand words." It's not as if anyone's ability to earn royalties etc. will be harmed by fair use of the image. Rather, the opposite, as it brings added visibility to the island and conveys the ambiance of place that can't be described in words.

And congratulations from me too on the FA! I know how hard you worked on it. Best wishes, MathewTownsend (talk) 14:38, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

Your Madagascar article messages

Hello Lemurbaby, i took a small Wiki-break during the last months - sorry for missing your requests for reviews on Madagascar articles. Congratulations on the latest FA, great work and an interesting read. GermanJoe (talk) 19:38, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

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Rwanda

Hi Lemurbaby

Just to say thank you for your detailed review and criticism during the Rwanda peer reviews and FAC. Feels like it was quite a long road, but I think the article is much better for your input, and I'm glad to be finally celebrating its promotion! All the best  — Amakuru (talk) 12:05, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Old image

Hi Lemurbaby, I uploaded File:Royal Palace and Courts of Justice.png as you requested a while ago - hope it is useful for an old free image of the Rova. Ruhrfisch _><>°^° 20:49, 21 April 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, Ruhrfisch. I'll find a good place to use it soon. Lemurbaby (talk) 07:54, 22 April 2012 (UTC)

Main page appearance: Rainilaiarivony

This is a note to let the main editors of Rainilaiarivony know that the article will be appearing as today's featured article on April 29, 2012. You can view the TFA blurb at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 29, 2012. If you prefer that the article appear as TFA on a different date, or not at all, please ask featured article director Raul654 (talk · contribs) or his delegate Dabomb87 (talk · contribs), or start a discussion at Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests. If the previous blurb needs tweaking, you might change it—following the instructions at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/instructions. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. The blurb as it stands now is below:

Rainilaiarivony (1828–1896) was the Prime Minister of Madagascar from 1864 to 1895. Named Commander-in-Chief of the Army by King Radama II upon the death of Queen Ranavalona I in 1861, Rainilaiarivony played a key role in transforming Madagascar's government from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. He was promoted to Prime Minister in 1864 and remained in power for the next 31 years by marrying three queens in succession: Rasoherina, Ranavalona II and Ranavalona III. As Prime Minister, Rainilaiarivony modernized state administration and legislated the Christianization of the monarchy. His diplomatic and military acumen preserved Madagascar's sovereignty from colonial interests until the French capture of the royal palace in September 1895. Although holding him in high esteem, the French colonial authority deposed the prime minister and exiled him to French Algeria, where he died less than a year later in August 1896. (more...)

UcuchaBot (talk) 23:01, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

madagascarian cuisine

I totally agree with your point. I have noted several examples of what can only be described as a kind of culinary imperialism on wiki. Irondome (talk) 05:42, 13 May 2012 (UTC)

Robert Drury (Sailor)

Hi, thanks for the message. That Ranavalona III article is amazing! I'm trying to get back into Wikipedia editing after a long hiatus. I'm really impressed at how much the Madagascar related articles have improved since 2007. I'll try to stay in the loop and contribute where I can. Fanoman (talk) 14:31, 15 May 2012 (UTC)