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IMDB has movies and TV now

The IMDB is hosting movies and TV. If the expanding collection doesn't yet do it for you, there's always http://www.moviesfoundonline.com/, or, for your silent film needs, plain old youtube.
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 9:50 AM on September 30, 2008 (13 comments)

Soviet Jazz

When people think of Soviet culture in the Stalin era, jazz usually isn't the first music to come to mind. But it was there, and some of it was pretty good, whether adapting Western standards, partying with a Russian twist, or just being adventurous. If that's a little too old-school for you, try some Soviet funk.
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 10:54 AM on June 9, 2008 (14 comments)

Got a stiff neck while playing...

Monday Flash Fun: Alpha Assault
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 5:38 PM on April 28, 2008 (26 comments)

Urban Agriculture...it's in our backyard

City Farmer is a Vancouver-based organization that's been promoting urban agriculture since 1978. If you dig around their sprawling website, you can find everything from this feel-good news story, to a series of links leading to a nice deep free book. Alternatively, their new blog has cool pictures.
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 9:21 PM on January 20, 2008 (4 comments)

Too long since the last flying car post.

A newer, slightly more plausible flying car project. Some people take it more seriously than the king of vaporware skycars, whose designers are now working on a vaporware landspeeder(PDF). If you want something more available, keep your car and check out the Cessna SkyCatcher, no assembly required.
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 2:23 PM on November 30, 2007 (29 comments)

Global Development By The Numbers

The new UN Human Development Report is out. Lots of interesting stuff on climate change. But for me, nothing beats the Human Development Index, a number that means different things to different people.
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 7:26 PM on November 28, 2007 (8 comments)

Free books, but not just any free books

Munseys, formerly Blackmask, still my favorite free book site.
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 8:04 AM on November 12, 2007 (7 comments)

Stem Cells Today

Stem Cell Treatment in China. A site showcasing Beike Biotech, a company that seems to be getting more attention nowadays, with a very straightforward approach. Meanwhile, some recent hard science.
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 9:22 PM on November 1, 2007 (14 comments)

Outsourcing Permutations

Indian company to outsource its outsourcing. Outsourcing in Ghana, where the government takes English very seriously indeed. Finally, Native American outsourcing.
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 6:42 PM on September 24, 2007 (8 comments)

The Long War

The Long War Journal. Regardless of your politics, the aggregation of info is useful, and the chief blogger doesn't seem to have been mentioned on MeFi before.
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 8:09 AM on September 6, 2007 (4 comments)

Robot Post Mk. II

A better article about robots. More interesting robots than I posted about last time. Cute, tiny transforming robots. And for those of you less interested in real robots, 2-XL, the toy that got me obsessed with the whole thing as a kid.
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 7:54 PM on August 5, 2007 (14 comments)

Mixed Messages?

This strange mixture of meanings and symbols confuses me. maybe it's just that some of the ideas are confusingly named.
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 3:03 PM on August 4, 2007 (34 comments)

Carlos Gardel and the Tango

Carlos Gardel was a singer who became a national icon of Argentina. He sang the tango among other styles, but would now be most famous for this, which was originally this. (Lyrics here.) For those of you who think this is all too romantic, listen to another side of tango...(Translation here.)
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 1:29 PM on August 1, 2007 (10 comments)

Don Edrington

He's a computer tutor for seniors, who also seems to have a giant collection of music that's rare these days. Shortly before leaving to fight in Korea, he was kissed by Celia Cruz in 1951, among other adventures.
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 9:42 AM on July 19, 2007 (12 comments)

Robots: Where Are They Now?

Bots've come a long way, baby. So everybody knows about Honda's flashy ASIMO, and the sadly canceled QRIO, but now Wakamaru, Mitsubishi's entry into the field, seems to have been first among semi-autonomous humanoid robots to find a job. I wish it luck, but it might need to grow up a little. Maybe it can learn from Domo, son of Cog, robot of yore.
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 11:44 PM on July 17, 2007 (15 comments)

Cossacks, Balalaikas, and Martial Arts

The Cossacks, a proud people with a long history, are famous nowadays for their dancing, whether of the mass spectacle variety, or the slightly lower-key celebration of actual Cossacks. They have some pretty famous music, too, often featuring balalaikas. (Behold, the real lyrics to "Tetris") But dancing and singing is not enough for some, apparently, who seek to refine Cossack martial arts.
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 10:21 PM on May 23, 2007 (37 comments)

Great Russian Voices

Giants of Soviet opera are little known in the West. But Victor Han has taken it upon himself to keep their memory alive....my personal favorite is Mark Reizen, a deeply nuanced bass, who was powerful enough to carry on singing into his ninth decade. If you'd care to follow along with some of the songs, you can use Emily Ezust's massive archive of lyrics, to which Victor contributes. Or, try listening in English first. Too much music? Here's some reading.
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 5:27 PM on May 13, 2007 (9 comments)

Nyahh. It sounds better than it reads.

Joe Heaney told lots of stories, and sang pretty well too. His style of music, Sean-Nós out of Connemara is rare indeed nowadays, but there are songs like Úna Bhán that stand on their own poetic merit, and others like Cunnla that are altogether less stodgy than one might think. If it's too Irish for you, how about meeting the language halfway?
posted to MetaFilter by StrikeTheViol at 7:19 PM on April 17, 2007 (7 comments)