Fall of communism:
Adrian Belew/David Bowie's Pretty Pink Rose (at least, that's what I thought it was about at the time)

Nucleary songs:
XTC: I Remember The Sun and This World Over
The English Beat: Stand Down Margaret and Dream Home In New Zealand

Also, the way I heard about the fall of the Berlin Wall was an announcement on MTV that was immediately followed by Elvis Costello's version of What's So Funny... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 6:56 AM on August 6, 2008 marked best answer

I would think you could run fs_usage (as root) in the terminal before starting the installer and then go over the results. You'd want the terminal to have a pretty large buffer for some cases.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 11:35 AM on July 26, 2008

For superheroes with dark and something different, I suspect Planetary and The Authority (the eary stuff, anyway) would be up your alley.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 8:57 AM on July 19, 2008

To what extent are you letting the beard hairs soak up warm water before shaving? I've heard recommendations of up to five minutes before. That should cause them to both soften and expand, so that when you shave them, what's left behind is that much shorter. I would expect this to have the added risk of ingrown hairs, though.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 6:53 AM on July 17, 2008

Pre-packaged for consumption by people who don't already have it on their iPods, I'm guessing: Whatever: The 90s Pop & Culture Box, from Rhino. Their 70s and 80s box sets are decently representative, including both monster hits and mostly forgotten stuff.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 7:22 AM on July 13, 2008

Seconding the nasal lavage; I can smell stuff and breathe better in the hour after using a neti pot than at any other time.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 8:17 AM on June 21, 2008

This is more Valentines Day than wedding day, but here goes:

A Drinking Song
By William Butler Yeats

Wine comes in at the mouth
and love comes in at the eye;
That's all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 4:23 PM on June 16, 2008

I know you say you're not unhealthy, but do you snore, or is there any chance you have sleep apnea? Finally, do you nap in a position different from normal sleeping? I suffer from sleep apnea and before I started using a CPAP machine, I'd wake myself up gasping for air, heart pounding, after not having breathed for a few seconds. If I try to nap without the CPAP, I'll wake myself up from snoring.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 11:55 AM on June 16, 2008

Apparently, Bra burning
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 5:08 AM on May 23, 2008

Just to be clear, was this software that came preinstalled on your MacBook? Your original system disks should allow you to reinstall such software, although I'm not sure what complications you'd have to get past since the installer probably wouldn't want to run on a new OS. Look for custom options, and barring that, check out utilities such as Pacifist, which let you extract just what you want out package-based installers.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 8:24 AM on May 8, 2008

jjg, it came bundled on my MacBook Pro a year ago.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 8:27 AM on May 8, 2008

Along the lines of what rhys said, there's a self-help book and online community for quintessential "nice guys" that you and your boyfriend might find useful. Good luck!
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 9:12 AM on May 5, 2008

I recommend joining Modern Buddy to get answers from actual (or should I say Genuine?) Buddy owners.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 7:56 PM on April 24, 2008

Crap, bingo; that means I actually watched the whole movie but only remember that one scene, which is just like me. Do you care to jog my memory by contextualizing the scene?

Thanks for the quick answer!
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 6:53 AM on March 28, 2008

Thanks, dogwalker!
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 9:34 AM on March 28, 2008

Nobody likes a smart ass, but everybody loves a clown.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 12:57 PM on March 14, 2008

Has Jack Nitzsche's "Lonely Surfer" been used in a Tarentino movie? Howabout Jorgen Ingmann's "Apache"?
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 9:32 AM on March 13, 2008

Oh, Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band's version of Apache would be a good funk/soul track as well.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 9:37 AM on March 13, 2008

Jack Kirby, for western comic books. He wasn't quite the originator that he was hailed as being 30+ years ago, but it pretty much took a generation to realize that.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 11:57 AM on March 5, 2008

If the weather's nice, take a drive on the Foothills Parkway, and if you're up for a mini-hike at the time, walk on up to the Look Rock tower. You'll wanna bring binoculars.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 12:27 PM on March 3, 2008

I'd suggest that you don't rule out Freaks and Geeks; it had a season finale that worked, as I remember it, pretty decently as a series finale.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 7:44 AM on February 12, 2008 marked best answer

Also, check /Library/StartupItems and /System/Library/StartupItems and also, within System Preferences --> Accounts --> Login Items for possible leads. Good luck!
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 4:24 AM on February 12, 2008

One of the domains that concerns itself with this topic is information science. A good starting point might be to google the phrase "anomalous state of knowledge.

Also, if you're not a professionally trained answerer-of-obscure questions, you might want to learn about the art of the reference interview. Hope that helps, and my apologies if this info is old hat to you!... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 1:03 PM on February 11, 2008 marked best answer

I love almost all the music off of Indestructible Beat of Soweto, Vol. 3, especially the Mahlathini & the Mahotella Queens contributions.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 4:05 PM on February 9, 2008 marked best answer

I'm inclined to suggest that you're not an alcoholic (yet, and possibly never) but that you may be self-medicating for depression, which for some people, can be relatively mild and manifest as boredom or being stuck in a rut. I would specifically suggest that you ask your doctor about that as a possibility to discuss, if only to rule it out. Good luck!
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 9:42 AM on February 1, 2008

Hah, the earliest example of this I remember noticing at the time was Michael Jackson's "She's Out Of My Life."
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 2:58 PM on January 30, 2008 marked best answer

I don't think it pretends to be comprehensive, but if you're mostly looking for a checklist, I know where I would start....
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 10:23 AM on January 24, 2008

The one time I heard a bus full of college students spontaneously break out into song, it was, of all things, the Pure Prairie League's "Amie."
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 5:33 AM on January 24, 2008

I Wanna Be Rich by Calloway
Money (That's What I Want) by Barrett Strong and covered a bunch
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 6:24 AM on January 14, 2008

When I saw Kevin Kline as Douglas Fairbanks in "Chaplin," he became my second example (after Nicholson) of an actor who pretty much plays himself.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 5:03 AM on January 11, 2008

Oh, and would Christian Slater count?
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 5:04 AM on January 11, 2008

I just checked out Amazon's recommendations based on going to their page for Freakonomics, and the ones I know about seem pretty much like what you're looking for, so there are some leads for you.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 8:50 AM on January 10, 2008

Is there anything you can anticipate her needing to use daily during this time? I'm thinking along the lines of giving a Swiss Army knife to someone going into the Peace Corps, that sort of thing. It'd be utilitarian, sure, but she'd remember you each time she used it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 5:57 AM on January 7, 2008

In addition to what's already been said, you might be able to apply Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies as an alternative 'little voice'. Good luck!
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 9:55 AM on December 28, 2007

I would expect your graduate program to have a study guide of sorts explaining what works/authors/topics are covered on their comprehensive exams; have you already checked for that?
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 12:55 PM on December 27, 2007

"Let's Go" by Trick Daddy?
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 9:51 AM on December 19, 2007

Scooterworks for Vespa and Genuine parts.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 7:13 AM on December 18, 2007

My brother did this, years ago: buy him a hardbound (you know, "nice") edition of The Scarlet Letter.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 7:36 AM on December 9, 2007

"One must imagine me happy."
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 9:17 AM on November 27, 2007

I spent my post-adolescence trying to find people to look up to who had their shit together, who were 'mature,' and waiting for the day when I felt grown up. Then I saw the movie Matinee, which is entirely forgettable in many ways, except for a line John Goodman delivers, "You think grown-ups have it all figured out? That's just a hustle, kid. Grown-ups are making it up as they go along just like you. You remember that, and you'll do fine."

That helped a lot.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 6:18 AM on November 20, 2007

What sorts of errors are showing up when you run the Console application?
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 9:11 AM on November 16, 2007

Try launching the various Office applications and while having the System and Console logs open. If the applications are reporting any errors to the OS about their problems, they should show up there and potentially give you decent leads on how to fix.

Another thing to try: create a new user in OS X, log in as that user and see if the apps launch okay.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 10:50 AM on November 16, 2007

Ceci n'est pas une iPod
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 11:29 AM on November 12, 2007

iconomy, I think you're thinking of "Young Turks."

canoehead, I think I'm hearing a hint of Spanish guitar in your snippet. Is that deliberate, or incidental?
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 10:39 AM on November 12, 2007

Listverse has the audio of a Russian exorcism as well as other extraordinary (not always morbid) stuff.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 9:34 AM on October 25, 2007 marked best answer

Something Wicked This Way Comes
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 7:32 AM on October 21, 2007

I would break up with any woman who wanted me to go as "Detachable Penis."

I think your boyfriend should go as himself, but with a T-shirt with print on the back: ...and you're gonna be in trouble." (There's even an Angels reference there!)
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 2:29 PM on October 18, 2007

If I ever have kids of my own, one of the primary lullabies will be the Beatles' "Goodnight."
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 11:01 AM on October 16, 2007

Do you know about Modern Modular? (Check out some of the examples of various architects' work under the "what" option.)

Modern Cabana is probably smaller than you had in mind, but might give you some ideas.

Fab Prefab is a good resource for this kinda stuff.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 10:50 AM on October 16, 2007

Ah, finally found the one link I was really trying to provide for you: Modernist Modular Homes.

Mind you, my links are all for roomy, naturally-lit, modern stuff. "Interesting features" will probably require an architect, as Chris4d mentions.
posted to Ask Metafilter by kimota at 10:55 AM on October 16, 2007