Displaying post 1 to 46 of 46
Looking for an issue of "Seventeen" Magazine from the 1980s, probably 1982-1987. The only thing I remember about it was that it had a multi-page advertorial that purported to be a diary by the niece of Lynda Carter ("Wonder Woman"). The "plot" of the diary was that the niece was visiting her famous aunt. I'm pretty sure in one entry she surprised her aunt by making chocolate-chip pancakes for breakfast. It was almost certainly a makeup advertorial, maybe Cover Girl? I would LOVE to buy this issue on eBay or wherever if I can just figure out which month and year it was. Thanks for any help.
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 5:50 PM on June 4, 2008
(8 comments)
How do I get Blogger to show more than 20 posts with the same label?
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 9:33 AM on March 13, 2008
(3 comments)
Looking for online newspaper and magazine articles about people who've lost homes to the recent mortgage issues, whether it's because their rates skyrocketed, they were somehow defrauded, or they bought more house than they could afford for whatever reason (even stupidity or naivete). Articles from any city are great, but I'm seeking those that tell very personal stories, where the homeowner really opened up to the journalist about how they got into their situation. Anyone seen any lately? Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 6:46 PM on October 4, 2007
(16 comments)
Random question about some 1980s bank checks, probably called the Windjammer series.
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 1:37 PM on September 14, 2007
(1 comment)
Help me find a new (I think) nonfiction book about Germany in World War II. All I know about it: It MAY have been recently mentioned in the NY Times (a search there failed) and one memorable scene. In the scene, a German pilot writes about flying over Normandy on D-Day, seeing the sheer mass of the Allied force, and knowing right then that the war was lost for his country. I know it's not much to go on, but can anyone help?
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 11:13 AM on June 25, 2007
(8 comments)
What do you do with extra pillows? We were on a kick for a while where we just couldn't find bed pillows of the right thickness, so we bought a bunch that didn't work and now we don't want. Can they be recycled? Donated? Is it considered unhygenic to donate them, even to shelters? Do shelters want them? (We're in Seattle.) Most are barely used or never used. The only thing I can find on Google suggests cutting them apart and using the stuffing as packing material.
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 10:17 AM on May 2, 2007
(13 comments)
Is the famous "Bus Stop" episode "A Lion Walks Among Us" available anywhere? "Bus Stop" was an ABC show in 1961, and singer Fabian played a psychotic killer in the "Lion" episode, which was directed by Robert Altman. Many affiliates banned it and it reportedly hurt Fabian's career for a while (apparently he kills an old man with an axe). I'm wondering how tame the show would appear to our jaded eyes of 2007, but since it's so old and was so controversial, figure it may not be available at all.
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 6:21 PM on February 23, 2007
(3 comments)
I'm looking for the lyrics to the song "In My Own Lifetime," from the 1970 Broadway musical, "The Rothschilds." I know lyrics sites are spotty at best, pop-up and virus havens at worst, and probably all illegal...but maybe someone even knows the lyrics? Or can give me a line or two I can search on? The title, musical name, etc, pulled up nothing useful for me. Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 4:14 PM on December 8, 2006
(6 comments)
Help me find the cool, colorful luggage we saw at a luggage shop in Tokyo Station and are now regretting not buying. It was a small, wheeled case with a purse/makeup bag included. The case was decorated with colorful squares of alternating hue, like the Patridge Family bus or what I think of as Mondrian design. Blue, white and pink were definitely involved, maybe also red. I think it was $140 American, but may have been 140 Yen. There are so many luggage stores there, though, and we didn't take note of either the store name or the designer. Likely a Japanese maker/designer, but unsure. Any tips would be much appreciated!
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 12:56 PM on September 15, 2006
(2 comments)
Three Americans heading to Japan and want to visit one of the atomic bomb sites. Which city, Hiroshima or Nagasaki, has more to do in addition to peace-museum and bomb-site related things?
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 4:08 PM on June 10, 2006
(8 comments)
Any Weblogs out there for or by the World War II generation? I know not everyone of that age group is computer savvy, but my mom is, and since there seem to be Weblogs for every other subgroup, I'd love to find her a few good links. If not, she may have to start her own...
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 4:09 PM on April 4, 2006
(13 comments)
Help me create fun trivia questions about 1967 for a friend's upcoming birthday party. The crowd will be very international (he's from Scotland, his wife is from Japan, they now live in the US, at least one friend is from Germany) so I need to come up with questions of a global bent. (more inside)
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 12:20 PM on March 1, 2006
(8 comments)
You know how in "Peanuts," Lucy and Snoopy (disguised, of course, as the Masked Marvel) had an endless wrist-wrestling match that ended only when the MM, desperate, kissed Lucy on the nose? (Uh, did I need a spoiler alert there?) I need an image from that epic match, somewhere online. Ideally of them wrestling, locked in eternal combat, before the kiss. It's just for a personal joke on a friend who loves "Peanuts" and I won't be republishing it anywhere or anything like that. Endless Google Images and other searches turn up discussion of the strip, but no images. I'm thrilled that everyone is respecting Charles Schulz's copyright, but man, would I love to find one image of it for just five minutes. A book cover, anything...
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 6:08 PM on October 17, 2005
(9 comments)
The hurricane has my mother remembering a saying from back in the 1930s or 1940s. She says men who were trying to show off their muscles (flexing, striking a pose) would commonly say "Powerful Katrina!" Somewhat in the way I guess we might make a Popeye joke. Try Googling "Powerful Katrina" today of course and I get only hurricane news. Does anyone know: Is the phrase from an old comic strip, radio show, an opera, or did my mom dream the whole thing?
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 7:08 PM on September 1, 2005
(8 comments)
I'm looking for a poster from the movie "Fargo," but not
the one that's commonly available. It's easy to find the one that looks like a cross-stitched sampler and says "A homespun murder story." But instead I want the one that says "A lot can happen in the middle of nowhere." (Actually, as long as it says that, I don't care what the image looks like.) I believe it may have been to promote not the movie, but the DVD, or a DVD special edition. I've searched various movie-poster stores, eBay, etc, but they all have the sampler one. Any ideas? Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 9:30 AM on July 18, 2005
(9 comments)
Help us Find That Flick! It's a scary movie from the 1970s that may in fact have been a TV pilot for a show called "Ghost Story." (Open the creaking door, come inside...)
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 10:37 AM on January 31, 2005
(6 comments)
Is there a free online NFL playoff pool that will let you create private groups and control who plays? We had a
regular-season Pick Em group through Yahoo, but they don't seem to offer a similar thing for the playoffs. Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 3:52 PM on January 6, 2005
(4 comments)
My husband and I want to take a vacation in Japan. He's been there once and speaks some Japanese, but I was wondering if there is a kind of guided tour where they don't babysit you everywhere, but do help organize English-speaking tours of things that might be hard to do on our own (Fuji, Hiroshima, possibly even Okinawa). We really don't want to sign on for the traditional guided tour, but would love to be able to have some guidance when needed. Any companies like this out there? thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 1:27 PM on December 16, 2004
(2 comments)
After School Specials.
Is that a Trapper Keeper in your locker or are you just happy to see me? Next month, two volumes of
ABC's "After School Specials" will be released on DVD (in DVD sets designed to look like Trapper Keepers). After the first two sets, at least four more will follow. TV Shows on DVD has the names of many the specials ("Schoolboy Father," "She Drinks a Little," "Did You Hear What Happened to Andrea?") to jog your memory. Of course,
Jump the Shark has plenty of memories of them, too. And anyone who saw Helen Hunt host "SNL" knows that in at least one (possibly two), she jumps out the window. Those were the days.
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 11:18 PM on September 22, 2004
(19 comments)
"Al Gore...lives on my block."
Humorous song by one of Al Gore's neighbors (warning: audio starts up right away when you go to the site). See this week's New Yorker for
the full story, but the song itself is quite entertaining with no background at all.
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 12:18 PM on September 10, 2004
(19 comments)
My high-school freshman niece has a cool assignment: She has to read a non-fiction book related to an event that happened in the U.S between 1850-1929. Could also be about events that occured outside of the U.S. but that are of significant national importance. Must have at least 150 pages. Biographies OK but not preferred. I sent her a couple of ideas (Triangle shirtwaist factory fire, Titanic, women's suffrage), but would love any other ideas, especially specific book titles that would engage a young girl. Thanks for any ideas!
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 4:43 PM on September 2, 2004
(30 comments)
Blog Interrupted.
The Wash Post Magazine does a freakishly in-depth feature on ex-Senate staffer Jessica Cutler and the Weblog she once kept, which detailed her supposed romantic entanglements with various and sundry Capitol Hill types. Excerpt: "The messages warning Jessica that her private little joke had just gone very public came from a girlfriend over on the House side. Reading it, Jessica says, she was too stunned to wonder how Wonkette had discovered her blog. Instead, the portion of Jessica's brain that had evolved to help humans survive marauding mastodons screamed: Kill the blog! Kill the blog!" (Via
Obscure Store.)
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 10:45 AM on August 16, 2004
(69 comments)
Looking for a special present for a Beatles fan. I seem to remember some really cool handwritten framed lyrics and the like for sale in the old public radio Wireless catalog, which does not seem to exist anymore. Anyone have a line on a similar thing, or another Beatles-related gift that's kind of special?
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 11:05 PM on May 5, 2004
(5 comments)
What does the term "Chicago brick" mean? I Googled and found plenty of references, but no definition. I have heard that it refers to houses done in multi-colored brick, but it may also refer to a certain type of brick. Interested in photos, any info about derivation of the term. Thanks!
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 9:46 AM on March 31, 2004
(6 comments)
The Man Who Loves Spam
"[Orlando] Soto routinely comes home to some 150 e-mail pitches, and he loves getting them all. The 45-year-old grandfather opens most of them. He answers spam questionnaires. And he buys stuff pitched in spam e-mail -- again and again." Ugh. Thanks a lot, Mr. Soto. You're keeping this industry alive. (WSJ link, via
Obscure Store.)
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 12:57 PM on March 15, 2004
(25 comments)
I want to put together a family recipe book. Has anyone done this, and do you have any advice? Are there kits out there to help with this, or software? Or have you gone to Kinko's and bound it yourself? (If so, details would be welcome on what services they offered.) Spiral-bound would be fine, but I'm open to other styles. I want to be able to make a dozen or so copies without breaking the bank, and I have a good home computer setup if I can figure out how best to take advantage of it. I've already got the recipes typed in in MasterCook, a recipe format program. Thanks for any help!
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 3:13 PM on February 7, 2004
(12 comments)
I know I saw a feature in a recent magazine, which I thought was Entertainment Weekly, but now I can't find it again. It was a full page of photos of regular people from around the nation, and they had asked each person to name the movie they most wanted to see that never came to their town -- "Capturing the Friedmans" was named, among others. Has anyone seen this feature, and if so, can you tell me which magazine it was in? We get a LOT of magazines, so if not EW it could have been in Esquire, People, Vanity Fair, etc. Any help will be much appreciated!
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 1:35 PM on January 22, 2004
(5 comments)
Wondering if there's a book about the history of LA restaurants. For my December birthday, a friend gave me
"Minnesota Eats Out," a fun, colorful book from the Minnesota Historical Society Press. As a former Minnesota restaurant editor and critic, I loved it. Now I'd like to find a similar book about Los Angeles-San Fernando Valley restaurants for my California in-laws, who have many fond memories of LA restaurants, some gone, some still serving today. Does anyone know of such a book?
posted to Ask Metafilter by GaelFC
at 9:43 AM on January 15, 2004
(8 comments)
Would you like fries with that?
Saturday's Washington Post has a touching story about a 58-year-old grandmother who thought she'd be retired by now, but instead finds herself popping four different prescription medications at 4 in the morning while beginning her shift at Hardee's. As a journalist, I found this incredibly detailed story an example of newspaper writing at its rare best.
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 2:00 PM on October 6, 2003
(44 comments)
Breaking up is hard to do.
U.S. Senate intern sends an ill-advised email to a young woman he calls his "intellectual, moral, social, and emotional" inferior. Unclear if he sent it from his senate.gov address or not, but it quickly finds a wider audience.
Here's the WashPost article mentioned on the Snopes page.
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 10:26 PM on July 15, 2003
(64 comments)
After 'The Bell Jar,' Life Went On.
Sylvia Plath immortalized the guest editor program at Mademoiselle Magazine in her famed book, "The Bell Jar." A photo of the 20 young guest editors was taken back in 1953, and they were all lined up in a star -- with Plath, unsurprisingly, at the top. Plath killed herself in 1971, but the other women in her program reunited recently, to discuss their experiences, how they've changed, and their famous classmate. A fascinating read for anyone who's read "The Bell Jar." (NY Times reg required)
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 5:48 PM on June 23, 2003
(24 comments)
Hey Jude, what does that song mean?
The Beatles Discography lets you
look up almost any Beatles song, and find out about its history and meaning. According to this, one of my favorite Beatles songs,
"Paperback Writer," was written after Paul's aunt challenged him to write a song that wasn't about love. And
"She's Leaving Home," another favorite, was based on a newspaper article about a runaway 17-year-old girl. and supposedly was attacked in the U.S. as being somehow pro-abortion. I always wondered if there was a real "Polyethene Pam," but I had no idea
her name was really Pat, and that she ate plastic. Fascinating stuff.
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 3:23 PM on March 30, 2003
(25 comments)
Losing the memories of a life.
A staff writer for the Washington Post Magazine tells what it's like to watch his mother slip away to the unknown world of Alzheimer's disease. There's a little bit about possible causes and the science of the disease, but mostly it's a very personal story, and it's stayed with me since I read it. Excerpt:
"He changed the subject before the fury came. When she became angry or terribly disoriented, she sometimes told him he needed to go home; that her husband would be arriving soon, and that he better be gone. I am your husband, he would say, smiling. She would yell: Go. Go home."
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 1:54 PM on January 15, 2003
(19 comments)
Merry Christmas from Scandinavian Airlines!
Scandinavian Airlines has offered a special online-only deal for each day of December. You go to the site and open the day's date (like an Advent calendar) and a new European city is offered--you can then fly to that city roundtrip from the US for about $250 US. The catch? You have 24 hours to book, you must travel between January and mid-March, and you must depart from Seattle, Newark, DC or Chicago. It's a neat deal, but today's the last day, and so as a great holiday surprise they've opened up all the past cities. Pick any of the previously offered destinations, get thee to one of the four departure cities, and enjoy a great airfare deal! London, Paris, Madrid, Oslo, Stockholm, Milan and other cities are offered. (Not a plug--I don't work for or have any connection to SAS.)
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 4:14 PM on December 24, 2002
(19 comments)
Roadside memorials.
Every so often you'll catch one out of the corner of your eye--a makeshift cross on the side of a highway, or flowers tacked to a highway sign, marking a life that ended in that spot. Gives me chills--realistically, probably every single day we pass places where someone breathed their last, but we don't know it. Photographer Bill Sampson takes photographs of roadside memorials--called "descansos" from a Spanish word meaning rest--and collects them on his site. Loved ones are invited to submit memorials of their own. (Link via
USA Today Web Guide.)
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 10:57 AM on November 5, 2002
(39 comments)
100 scariest movie moments
Retrocrush is listing their top 100 scariest movie moments, and so far, the quality is pretty high -- well-chosen scenes, and interesting writeups. And one exploding head. You've been warned. Happy Halloween!
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 8:41 AM on October 31, 2002
(80 comments)
Ryan Leaf retires from NFL at 26
This article calls him one of the biggest busts in NFL history. When signed in 1998, he said "I'm looking forward to a 15-year career, a couple of trips to the Super Bowl and a parade through downtown San Diego." Instead he got interceptions, fights related and unrelated to his job (for which he blamed everyone but himself), and a lot of disappointed fans. What happened?
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 8:01 PM on July 26, 2002
(23 comments)
The Most Gruesome Toy Ever
Well, maybe not, but Retrocrush does make a good argument for this Aurora Monster Model kit of the Girl Victim. Check out the comic book ad, featuring Vampirella and Frankenstein's monster. Do kids still play with monster dolls and monster models, or have they been shelved as un-PC? Never had the models, but as a girl in the '70s, I loved my cousin's monster dolls (uh, action figures?). (Link via
Cruel Site of the Day.)
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 11:09 AM on July 12, 2002
(16 comments)
The eight worst TV dads, according to EW.
Just in time for Father's Day. Tony Soprano is #1, Ozzy #2. Aw, Ozzy is a bit mad, but at least he wants to do right by his kids. I make no excuse for Tony Soprano. He'll buy Meadow whatever she wants, but then again, he offed her boyfriend. Any bad (or good) TV dads to discuss?
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 9:30 AM on June 14, 2002
(27 comments)
Wonder Twin powers, activate!
Form of...an upcoming live-action Wonder Twins movie. Shape of...my disbelief. Does no one get that even "SuperFriends" fans hate these
space losers, and their little Gleek, too?
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 2:53 PM on June 6, 2002
(43 comments)
As always, the Brunching Shuttlecocks nail it, with their
Weblog FAQK (spelling theirs.) Excerpt: "Weblogs cover a wide range of topics, such as other weblogs, what the mainstream media are saying about weblogging, new weblogs, advances in weblog publishing, books about weblogging, the future of weblogging, and that one naked guy painted up like Spider-Man."
posted to MetaTalk by GaelFC
at 9:28 AM on June 6, 2002
(3 comments)
Everybody Vogue. Well, really just the thin people.
Vogue Magazine gets a tongue-lashing from Slate. Seems the fashion mag attempted a "body diversity" issue, but their idea of a large-size model is a size 8. Excerpt: "If "tall" and "short" and "pregnant" are body types, and Minnie Driver is "curvy," there's no need to admit the existence of the bottom-heavy, let alone try to dress the poor bastards."
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 5:36 PM on April 2, 2002
(21 comments)
Bringing up Adultolescents
Newsweek has a fascinating article on adult children who're still living with their parents after graduating from college. It's hardly a new concept, but this is a good piece. (Especially noteworthy: The parents who spend away their own retirement savings providing for grown kids.) And if you've priced a supposed "starter" home recently, you know as well as I do that this trend isn't going away any time soon.
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 5:29 PM on March 19, 2002
(13 comments)
It's D-Day
Someone at work shared this Ernie Pyle column published just 10 days after the 1944 invasion of Normandy. It put a lump in my throat. Maybe it'll do the same for you. Excerpt: "I took a walk along the historic coast of Normandy in the country of France.
It was a lovely day for strolling along the seashore. Men were sleeping on the sand, some of them sleeping forever. Men were floating in the water, but they didn't know they were in the water, for they were dead."
posted to MetaFilter by GaelFC
at 8:11 AM on June 6, 2001
(14 comments)
