Swim away, Fugu fish, swim away! The epic sequel to the original classic, Charlie the Unicorn. Chaaaaaaaaarrrrlllllliieeeeeeeeeee! (Previously. I'm not even sorry. YouTube links.)
posted to MetaFilter by disillusioned at 1:23 AM on April 17, 2008 (19 comments)

A world-class comedian, Victor Borge could please a crowd with his Phonetic Punctuation or Inflationary Language bits. But he was also a brilliant pianist, as showcased when he improvised an impressive encore to a piece he had only heard and never played before, much to his apparent delight. Still better was when he'd merge the two passions, like in Page-Turner or The Minute Waltz. He entertained for more than 75 years, performing up to 60 shows even at 90 years old. He died peacefully in 2000, just two days after performing a concert in Denmark, on the blue here, before dots were all the rage.
posted to MetaFilter by disillusioned at 2:39 AM on February 18, 2008 (29 comments)

Everyone knows how seriously Italians take their food. So a debate about the origins of a humble pasta dish isn't any real surprise, though an appetizing read. Made with (formerly hard to find, state-side) Guanciale, (cured, unsmoked pig jowl), at least one proper recipe exists if you can find some to try your hand at it with.
posted to MetaFilter by disillusioned at 11:59 PM on January 15, 2008 (19 comments)

One man's song for his daughter [m3u] hits the interweb and, in the hands of zefrank's rabid fanbase, is remixed over 100 times in a little over a week. This [mp3] short and sweet techno mix quickly evolved into a 5-minute extended version, [m3u] (allegedly scoring radio play in SC) that's now being used as the basis of a collaborative video for Ray [mov] that ze wants to give as a thank you. But only after a manhunt of metafilter-detective proportions tracks Ray down. (ZePreviously.)
posted to MetaFilter by disillusioned at 4:29 AM on September 29, 2006 (30 comments)

"The trick to education is to teach people in such a way that they don't realize they're learning until it's too late."
Fluorescein-dyed water appears suspended in midair, only to "flow" upwards moments later. The careful dance of a splashing drop is frozen and taken for granted, painstakingly analyzed in a brilliant defiance of how water should behave. Such is the wonder of what modder Nate True calls his Time Fountain (YouTube embedded & worth it)—a well-documented, DIY version of classic science center favorite, the Water Piddler. MIT's own Strobe Alley is lined with photos created using the same technology, pioneered by Harold Eugene Edgerton, a professor whose work you're almost certainly familiar with. Naturally, some beautiful pieces have followed under the same ideal, courtesy Martin Waugh.
posted to MetaFilter by disillusioned at 7:57 AM on August 8, 2006 (14 comments)