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We all nurse private ambitions. Essam Ahmed Eid, a 53-year-old Egyptian man living in Vegas and dealing poker at the Bellagio, dreamed of becoming a hit man. He longed to take off the casino clown suit, the Nehru shirt and simpering smile — and replace them with a gun and a grimace. So Eid did what any enterprising 21st century contract killer would: He created a Web site — www.hitmanforhire.net —
and waited for the clients to come.
posted to MetaFilter by PeterMcDermott
at 12:38 PM on July 23, 2008
(30 comments)
What does it take before a song becomes a
pop standard? Does a recording by four different generations of performers count? When originally recorded, Rolf couldn't play digeridoo, so the instrument was simulated with eight bass fiddles. On release it made number 2 in the charts and was kept from the number one spot by Elvis Presley's Return To Sender.
posted to MetaFilter by PeterMcDermott
at 9:36 AM on February 28, 2008
(12 comments)
Q. Everyone tells me how great The Wire is, but I've missed the first four seasons. Should I bother with Season 5?
A. Yes. Ultimately, you'll want to buy the DVD's, but until then we've got
The Wire: four seasons in four minutes. (Single link U-tube)
posted to MetaFilter by PeterMcDermott
at 2:38 AM on January 10, 2008
(61 comments)
During the latter half of the twentieth century, Liverpool writers made an enormous contribution to television drama. Writers like
Willy Russell and
Jimmy McGovern have been hugely influential. But the daddy of them all was unarguably
Alan Bleasdale, whose television dramas dominated our screens during the latter half of the 20th century in a manner that was unmatched by anybody besides the late
Dennis Potter.
posted to MetaFilter by PeterMcDermott
at 1:27 AM on December 14, 2007
(30 comments)
His father was a minister in the Apostolic Church, but, after a series of arguments about his son's womanizing and heavy cocaine use he ended up
shooting his own son down.
The biggest of
Motown's solo artists.
Marvin Gaye often struggled with his brother-in-law,
Berry Gordy over his desire to pursue different creative choices rather than following the tried and tested commercial formula.
posted to MetaFilter by PeterMcDermott
at 9:00 AM on September 18, 2007
(32 comments)
In the early seventies,
Northern Soul was divided between two great cathedrals.
Wigan Casino got most of the attention, but the
Blackpool Mecca attracted the purists, due to DJ
Ian Levine's enormous collection of rare records.
During the 80's, Levine went on to DJ at some of the major
gay venues and became a notable
Hi-Energy producer, but he always maintained his first love. Over the years, he has recorded and filmed many of the Northern icons, people who were ignored in their home country, but deeply loved in soul circles. These included
Bob Brady,
Frank Wilson,
Tobi Lark,
Bobby Paris,
Lou Johnston,
Tobi Legend and
many,
many more.
posted to MetaFilter by PeterMcDermott
at 1:43 PM on June 30, 2007
(12 comments)
Went to a dance, looking for a man, found John McCain, he was
singing Bomb Iran. (Warnings: Single link YouTube Newsfilter)
posted to MetaFilter by PeterMcDermott
at 9:33 AM on April 22, 2007
(44 comments)
What is a wikipedian?
Every so often a Wikipedian comes to their senses, sees a problem with the way things are operating, and tries to do something about it. Tired of seeing articles carelessly deleted, censored, and then cherry picked as to what is "encyclopedic enough", several Wikipedia members formed
"Wikipedians against censorship".
posted to MetaFilter by PeterMcDermott
at 4:57 AM on April 17, 2006
(40 comments)
Community photography
projects abounded during the 1970's, but the most influential was the
Half Moon Community Workshop. Besides the workshop, this group also ran a gallery and a journal,
Camerawork that introduced many British photographers to a theoretical and politically engaged aesthetic practice.
Much of the theory espoused in Camerawork might seem naive or overly polemical for today's jaded post-Marxist intellect, but one thing that came out of the collective that does
stand the test of time is the work of
Jo Spence.
posted to MetaFilter by PeterMcDermott
at 8:08 AM on March 24, 2006
(1 comment)
Could this be the first ever blogging drama?
The World of Margaret has been running all week on Radio 4's Woman's Hour. An extremely funny play about a retired couple who take up blogging in their retirement, it is serialized and will be online until the end of the week.
Each day's episode is listed at the right hand side of the page.
posted to MetaFilter by PeterMcDermott
at 3:08 AM on October 13, 2005
(15 comments)
