Marebito is a strange, strange film. It's definitely something you should check out. I don't want to say too much about it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 7:40 PM on October 9, 2008

Lady Hamilton. Also, Oscar Wilde was famous before he'd done anything. He turned out to be a genius, but that wasn't why he became famous.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 9:54 AM on October 5, 2008

ikkyu2: There was plenty of attention directed at Emma Hamilton, whose chief claim to fame seems to be sleeping with a variety of wealthy/famous people.

Today she is famous for bonking Lord Nelson but she did gain genuine fame of her own, though it morphed into notoriety pretty quickly. Her first brush with fame was from being an extremely popular artist's model. Lots of artists employed her, the most famous being George Romney and Joshua Reynolds. She... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 7:54 PM on October 5, 2008

Well yes... I'm sure she boinked a-plenty, but that's not what she first became famous for. I suggested Emma Hamilton myself, upthread, and I still think that she's a very close analogy to Paris Hilton. Incidentally, Paris Hilton became a fixture in fashion and celebrity rags before the sex tapes made her a household name. She and her sister Nicky were in a ton of them, especially fashion magazines, appearing in the sections that are filled to the brim with socialites, heiresses and progeny of... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 10:04 PM on October 6, 2008

You'll be fine. Iceland is still a 21st Century society. People will be happy for your custom. If you're going to Iceland Airwaves enjoy the music and don't forget to check out the MeFi meetup.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 9:16 PM on October 6, 2008 marked best answer

You could go as Dan Ackroyd's Julia Child. Y'know, just go around telling people to save the liver and bleed all over herself (I love that sketch so much). She could also go as the Super Bass-o-matic salesman. I love SNL era Dan Ackroyd's so much!
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 10:29 PM on October 4, 2008

Or, in fact, as the woman who loves bass. The good thing is that she'd just have to go around with a drink, take a sip and say: "Wow! That's terrific bass!"
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 10:31 PM on October 4, 2008

Intromental (could also be the fake song/album name).
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 11:09 AM on October 3, 2008

Crunchy on the Outside
Credit Crunchy on the Outside
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 9:41 PM on October 1, 2008

Meta Market Digest sounds most professional and memorable to me. Digest is the least common of these words (according to Wordcount) and therefore would stand out more than the somewhat more generic Weekly, Analyst and Report. I also think that Digest has a kind of serious air about it and finally, I just goshdarn like the word.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 10:53 AM on October 3, 2008

I have little to add except that the latest Cat and Girl comic strip, titled Hysteria, deals with this very issue.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 3:32 PM on October 2, 2008

One thing that might be important, most chapters in the book are named after the point-of-view character of that chapter and most of the chapters marked with this Chinese character are from the point of view of the protagonist of the novel (but not all).
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 3:25 PM on September 30, 2008

Oh, one thing, the main character's two names are Jack Moon Szeto (assumed) and Yuo Seen Leung (real) if that provides any clues.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 9:30 PM on September 30, 2008

Thanks, hellopanda! That makes perfect sense in the context of the novel.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 9:41 PM on September 30, 2008

Warren Wilson College has a well regarded low residency MFA program which may or may not be what you're looking for. I have a friend who graduated from their and she loved it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 3:17 PM on September 30, 2008

There is a poem by an Icelandic poet, Birgir Svan Símonarson, that may be the kind of poem you're looking for. It's not a translation by any means. I think in Hollywood terms it would be referred to as an "adaptation" of the original. It's called Geggjaður ástaróður til Stínu frá töffaranum á 18555 which means, roughly: Crazy Serenade to Stína from the Cool Guy in 18555

18555 is an old style car number plate (the poem was published in 1976)... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 10:54 PM on September 26, 2008

It wasn't the Kondratiev Wave because it was very specifically an 80 year cycle, the big economic shock happened at the end of the first decade of the 21st Century.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 7:19 PM on September 22, 2008

Could have been Rama II, from about the same era, both for Clarke and for when I was reading those stories.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 8:48 PM on September 22, 2008

Ah, but Dent published his theories after The Ghost from the Grand Banks (published 1990) and Rama II (published 1989) the two main contenders for where the hell I read this stuff. So while it does include the 80 year cycle thing it can't be what Clarke was writing about (unless I'm completely off mark as to what book it was that I read this in).
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 9:36 PM on September 22, 2008

I think I know what you're talking about, but I can't find it. However, that said, are you thinking about this image from Metropolis?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 6:51 PM on September 22, 2008

This one? Not quite what I see in my minds eye, but it's closer.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 7:11 PM on September 22, 2008

I GoogleChatted with a friend who spent 2 months in New Hampshire for Dean, where, among other things, he met his only really serious long-time girlfriend. Here's what he had to say:

me: What was the social life like?

friend: It is crazy. Before an election you are working your ass off. I think Dean campaign was particularly crazy, but it is quite an experience. You meet a lot of people -- tons of hookups. It even happened to me! I think 5 weeks... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 7:01 PM on September 22, 2008 marked best answer

No one better than rec.arts.sf.written for finding random SF novels.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 2:22 PM on September 19, 2008

Okay, let's take this apart:

Hús = house
stjórn = command, control, rule, management (stjórnar is the genitive form)
skólinn = the school (the -nn part is the article)
hússtjórn = housekeeping, the management of a household, formed in the same way as bústjórn, which means stewardry.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 8:49 PM on September 18, 2008 marked best answer

Well, I didn't go but my mom was sent there back when she was a teen and a friend went there recently. Back in the day you were basically taught all the basic household tasks a housewife was expected to know, ironing, mopping, cooking, knitting, sowing etc. Today you're taught pretty much the same except, y'know, modernized, with more emphasis on creativity and healthiness. Also, now some males go there, but it's rare. The curriculum hasn't been expanded much, for instance students don't learn... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 9:12 PM on September 18, 2008 marked best answer

Oh, and if the interview mentions Ragnar Kjartansson's alter ego Rassi Prump the name means Buttie Fart.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 10:30 PM on September 18, 2008

Oops! The "one random example" link was supposed to go here.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 11:37 PM on August 21, 2008

While I'm not very good at recognizing dog breeds I'm nearly positive that the dog in the painting in the NGA isn't a King Charles Spaniel. It looked like a whippet of some sort. The only reproduction I've found of The Interior of the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam is this and in it the dog just kind of looks like a blur. I might swing by the NGA today if I have time and snap a picture of the dog.

Not to disparage the King Charles association but while it my... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 10:41 AM on August 22, 2008

Huh... well, then it was a popular theme among the Dutch masters, dogs pissing. Thanks's for that, lucia__is__dada.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 11:43 AM on September 18, 2008

Oh, and in the van der Heyden that lucia__is__dada linked to there's another dog attacking a beggar in the lower left corner. What's with all those unruly dogs!
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 11:52 AM on September 18, 2008

Ah, well... in case you like this lyrical theme I was going to suggest Lazy Sunday by the incomparable Small Faces.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 9:35 PM on September 14, 2008

No need to buy it, it's right here on Google books. I didn't find anything about Napoleon's comments on a quick scanthrough, though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 11:06 PM on September 13, 2008

From The New York Times:No one has been more important to the revival of public art than Jeff Koons, contemporary sculpture’s genius lightweight, whose up-and-down, hellbent-on-perfection career is the subject of an illuminating if rather crowded survey at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. It was Mr. Koons’s giant “Puppy” — a West Highland terrier covered with dirt, planted densely with flowers and first shown 16 years ago — that broadcast most loudly and clearly that public sculpture... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 6:04 PM on September 11, 2008

Well, nobody's pointed this out yet but all the songs are about women. Of course that goes for well more than half of all pop songs, but I figured it couldn't hurt to mention.

Oh, and any chance of scanning in the pictures? Perhaps with information about where the party is blacked out.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 9:27 PM on September 10, 2008

Oh Christ! I saw "Band on the Run" but thought "Jet." Never mind me, I'm just silly.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 4:59 AM on September 11, 2008

Okay, before I talk about what I'm here to talk about let me mention that Woody Allen and John Waters made some great films even if they're overshadowed by the earlier films of both directors. I recommend Sweet and Lowdown, Deconstructing Harry (both Allen), Serial Mom and Pecker (both Waters).

I can't stress too much how disturbing The War Zone is (mentioned by the.carol.baxter.experience above). I have never been traumatized by any other movie (Requiem for a Dream... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 6:18 PM on September 10, 2008

The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal already kinda linked to it, but not directly, so I direct your attention to this blogpost which has a ton of such covers.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 9:24 PM on September 9, 2008

I never knew such wonders existed on community access! Thanks el_lupino and razzoid for bringing Star Crash to my attention.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 11:55 PM on September 7, 2008

I second pretty much everything mentioned but also bring Will Oldham to the table. His I See a Darkness album is phenomenal. A lot of his other stuff is great too, but that album is the living bomb. Here are the title track and Knockturne from the album.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 11:43 PM on September 7, 2008

There was a great thread on the Blue about Japanese hip hop that included a lot of links to examples of hip hop from other parts of the world.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 8:09 PM on September 7, 2008 marked best answer

I've written a novel (currently working on third revision) and it's taken me nearly three years. I write very, very slowly. The only way I've written as much as I have is that I go to cafés and just sit there, staring at pieces of paper (or reading source material) until I've gotten some words down.

I'm not saying that you necessarily need to go to a café but you should find a type of place you like to go for a few hours and write.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 12:25 AM on September 7, 2008

Check out the following books:

The Ball is Round by David Goldblatt
How Soccer Explains the World by David Goldblatt.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 9:37 AM on September 4, 2008

If you fly Icelandair you can do a free stopover in Iceland (generally 2 nights) so you could get Iceland and another nordic country.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 2:06 PM on August 27, 2008

While I happily second several of the mentions (e.g. Wind-up Bird, Savage Detectives and Sacred Games which have all got me through variously lonely times) based on your preferences I'd say try bringing Ibsen along, a big book with a bunch of his plays. He'd fall inside several venn diagrams which include the authors you mention.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 10:15 AM on August 22, 2008

I'm an immigrant in the US in a similarly arcane situation. If I need to travel the Immigration Service will stamp my passport. Call the UK equivalent and find out if they do the same or something similar. You may not need to hire a solicitor.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 12:16 PM on August 4, 2008

Justin B. Rye theorizes how English will become American over the course of the next 1000 years.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 1:25 PM on July 31, 2008

Call out sick. I've suffered from pretty bad insomnia during parts of my life and when I haven't slept during the night no good can come of the day. Just call out sick, try and sleep, but no more than 5 hours so that you can fall asleep at your regular time in the evening.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 7:43 AM on July 31, 2008

I feel like I should mention that I once saw a particularly bad staging of Hamlet (by an otherwise very good director) where, at the end, Fortinbras comes in at the end of Hamlet with stormtroopers and machineguns everyone on stage, including the dead bodies.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 11:43 AM on July 30, 2008

Thanks, pised, for setting me straight. In retrospect my theory's pisspoor. I suppose I could save it with some tortured arguments (Fortinbras was added later, or some such guff) but consider me back on square one as what the hell Fortinbras' purpose is.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 2:14 PM on July 30, 2008

The Economist had a correspondent's diary recently about MassMOCA, The Clark and the effect it and other such institutions have had on the Berkshires, an area in Western Massachusetts.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Kattullus at 10:12 AM on July 28, 2008