Por el camino del desierto, cool wind in my hair. Sube el aroma de colitas, rising up through the air. As I logged into Bloomberg, j'ai vu une lumière toute petite. My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim; I had to stop for the night. There she stood in the doorway; I heard the mission bell, and I was thinking to myself, "This could be Heaven, or this is Hell". Then he lit up a petromax, muttering "No power today". There were voices down the corridor. I thought I heard them say,
posted to MetaFilter by the cydonian at 2:30 AM on November 2, 2007 (27 comments)

Supra-terranean Homesick Blues: Somewhere up there in the clouds, there exists a town called Shillong (wiki), a quaint picturesque town that is often called India's rock-capital. Every year, they celebrate Bob Dylan's birthday with a big bash, a splash that evokes nostalgia, piety, devotion and hard cash. This year though, they'll celebrate Bob Dylan with an even bigger bash, the world's largest strumming session.
posted to MetaFilter by the cydonian at 2:00 AM on October 26, 2007 (21 comments)

La Cumparsita Reputedly the most famous tango in existence, La Cumparista isn't just elegant, exquisite and sublime, it also once raised significant copyright concerns, a debate to which this collection doesn't add anything at all. Been ninety years _(Spanish) since the tango was written.
posted to MetaFilter by the cydonian at 11:00 AM on June 2, 2007 (9 comments)

This is not your regular twister. The strange weather formation we saw yesterday off Singapore's coasts _(YouTube) was a waterspout _(wiki), a water-based tornado that occurs usually in tropical areas, Florida Keys _{(great pic!)}, for example. The last tornado that happened in Singapore was in 1950.
posted to MetaFilter by the cydonian at 9:40 PM on May 25, 2007 (20 comments)

The Problem of the Rupee. Starting off as a silver-based unit of currency by the 15th century ruler, Sher Shah Suri, the Rupee (wiki) has had a long and chequered history encompassing most of Asian and East-African colonial history. Issued by the British, the French, the Dutch, the Japanese, the Portuguese, the Germans and even the Danish, the rupee as a brand-name existed far beyond India, Pakistan, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka Seychelles or the Mauritius. _{(more inside)}
posted to MetaFilter by the cydonian at 11:47 PM on March 27, 2007 (15 comments)

Robam Apsara: The dance of celestial nymphs, classical Khmer dance is the single greatest link between the ancient Angkor civilization and contemporary times. Reputed to follow the ancient percepts laid down in the Natya Sastra, Khmer dance is sensual but spiritual, time-less and yet, so very reconstructivist _{(all YouTube videos)}. It is such a delight to watch that a single performance will keep you enthralled for months. Extremely saddening, then, when you realize that it survived only by the barest of history's strands. more inside
posted to MetaFilter by the cydonian at 10:05 AM on August 3, 2006 (10 comments)