Comments on: Bill's Top Secret Autumn

Bill's Top Secret Autumn

rubin — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 16:14:43 -0800

I know MeFiltopians have likely found more diverse samplings of images for their desktops than the default windows samples... but have you ever wondered where this image was taken? vanity fair has.

By: speug

speug — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 16:22:30 -0800

Cool story - thank you!

By: Citizen Premier

Citizen Premier — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 16:31:42 -0800

That was a pretty neat story. Sometimes you have to invent your own adventures, and this guy did a good job of it.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 16:34:49 -0800

Okay, anybody want to help me to find all the stories he mentions in this paragraph: It's a lead-pipe cinch, I figure. I'm a good detective. I've found opium dens in Vientiane; been granted interviews by cardinals, mafiosi, and sheikhs; discovered the meaning of "half-and-half" in the old song "Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee"; conned the Vatican into bestowing a doctorate on me so that I could gain access to hiddenmost archives; deciphered the cryptic message Ezra Pound scrawled in his own copy of the Cantos while in the bughouse; tracked down and interviewed Phil Spector's first wife, long presumed dead; charted my way to the sacred stone of the Great Mother, in Cyprus; gotten Charlotte Rampling's cell-phone number; even come close to understanding the second page of my Con Ed bill. Finding out where a picture was taken—a picture plastered on millions of computer screens—seems a shot away. We can call ourselves... Team Tosches

By: SmileyChewtrain

SmileyChewtrain — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 16:39:13 -0800

Wow! This was great and unexpected. I've wondered about that (and some of the other defaults) myself.

By: Zephyrial

Zephyrial — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 16:42:18 -0800

Great article, thanks!

By: retronic

retronic — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 16:48:37 -0800

I love these kinds of tiny detective tales--thanks for the link.

By: meech

meech — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:03:00 -0800

Joining the masses in saying love the story. Kind of reminds me of The Secret Parts of Fortune by Ron Rosenbaum which I loved.

By: djfiander

djfiander — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:04:01 -0800

Of course it was in Canada. It's the most photogenic country in the world.

By: Chinese Jet Pilot

Chinese Jet Pilot — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:06:52 -0800

Am I the only one who's bothered that the meadow in the "Bliss" wallpaper image is mowed? You don't need to scrutinize the image too closely to see the ruts that the mower left in the grass. Does a mowed landscape reveal anything about Microsoft?

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:12:47 -0800

Nick Tosches. Discovering the meaning of "half n half" would be found in his Jerry Lee Lewis biography, Hellfire.

By: Cyrano

Cyrano — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:16:52 -0800

Needs more shemale porn.

By: SmileyChewtrain

SmileyChewtrain — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:17:29 -0800

Wait, so, uh... What's the meaning of "half n half"?

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:28:55 -0800

MeFiltopians?! Bleh.

By: grapefruitmoon

grapefruitmoon — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:47:50 -0800

Huh, I could have sworn I had seen this on MetaFilter before, but my searching the archives is proving me wrong. Now I'm just sad I didn't post it first because wherever I saw it, it was decidedly awesome.

By: gummi

gummi — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:54:01 -0800

I thought the same thing, grapefruitmoon. Fun story nonetheless.

By: R. Mutt

R. Mutt — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:54:33 -0800

I always get my wallpaper images locally.... from peacay's BibliOdyssey. Peacay's book based images are so much more than just wallpaper! They are the best... you'll never go back!

By: languagehat

languagehat — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:57:16 -0800

By "vanity fair has" you mean Nick Tosches has, and if you'd said that I wouldn't have run the risk of missing out on that great article. But I forgive you, because after all, for whatever reason, I did click on it and greatly enjoyed the ride. Discovering the meaning of "half n half" would be found in his Jerry Lee Lewis biography, Hellfire. I doubt it. Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll is much more likely.

By: R. Mutt

R. Mutt — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 18:23:21 -0800

I happened to see Jerry Lee Lewis on tv the other day. He was still playing the piano, but just barely... in an old man, evil, kinda extra creepy way.

By: Eekacat

Eekacat — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 19:00:02 -0800

I bought a Nick Tosches novel in the remaindered stacks at Tattered Cover in LoDo. It's just about the only book I've ever bought that I couldn't read.

By: washburn

washburn — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 19:44:40 -0800

Pretty lame. He never even *went* to the place, did he? Seems like he settled for another picture from the photographer. Who owned the barn? Who built it? What was its story? (Also: so, who's gonna be the first to find this on Google Satellite?)

By: breezeway

breezeway — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 20:33:44 -0800

I bet Nick Tosches could get into college with that essay.

By: kanemano

kanemano — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 20:56:02 -0800

washburn (Also: so, who's gonna be the first to find this on Google Satellite?) 43.428992,-79.925258 The kids on Digg looked it up from the location of the Harris homestead.

By: isopraxis

isopraxis — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 21:06:32 -0800

I prefer to live under the classification of Mefiltrate.

By: CynicalKnight

CynicalKnight — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 21:21:25 -0800

That's half an hour away from where I live - the Niagara escarpment runs past there, right around the end of Lake Ontario. Good rock climbing and mountain biking too.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 23:11:49 -0800

washburn: Didn't read to the end of the article I see. So here I sit at dawn this winter Sunday morning, a cheap black mug of coffee in my hand instead of a crystal tumbler, smiling more serenely.

By: darkripper

darkripper — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 01:48:51 -0800

Someone should really use this post to link some good photografic wallpaper: I'm tired of the defaults of Mac OS and XP.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 02:13:01 -0800

The absolute best and only wallpaper site you need is Pixel Girl Presents. This stuff is die (or kill!) for.

By: Flashman

Flashman — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 03:46:33 -0800

Wow that's really cool. It's right below the crags (Rattlesnake, BUffalo, Nemo) where I learned to climb. I'm surprised nobody has uploaded the desktop picture to Google Earth. By coincidence I think somebody has put up one called 'Fall' taken just down the road a couple hundred metres - I wonder if they realise the proximity of this iconic autumn picture?

By: popkinson

popkinson — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 03:59:43 -0800

Thanks for the Pixel Girl link Brandon. And for ruining my productivity for the day...

By: debralee

debralee — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 05:02:50 -0800

One of my favorite wallpaper sites is VladStudio.

By: unknowncommand

unknowncommand — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 05:18:39 -0800

Great article.

By: DenOfSizer

DenOfSizer — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 05:54:04 -0800

Is that really Bill Gates' email address? billg@microsoft.com ? Cool, I have some suggstions for him.

By: rubin

rubin — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 06:04:36 -0800

Here is a link to the satellite image on google maps using the coords posted above by kanemano. Too bad they didn't do a higher rez pass on that area.

By: Vindaloo

Vindaloo — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 07:07:50 -0800

Nice article.

By: rubin

rubin — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 09:35:56 -0800

The same source who tipped me to the autumn story also pointed http://www.stellastarr.net/2007wallpaper.html out to me.

By: Secret Life of Gravy

Secret Life of Gravy — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:49:52 -0800

We have been using this as a source for fine art wallpaper. Having the same classical work of art on your desktop for a month or so really gives you a chance to get familiar with the painting.

By: cgc373

cgc373 — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:04:16 -0800

Sweet link, Secret Life of Gravy. Thanks.

By: saucysault

saucysault — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 08:27:30 -0800

I drive past that farm all the time. Tomorrow morning when I go past I'm gonna have to stop and take a photo. I'm glad the beauty of this area has been enjoyed by so many around the world.