Superb work, dhoe. Many thanks.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 4:48 AM on May 8, 2008

/And yes, I know the title says 'panting'. I am an idiot. Apologies to all who came inside or clicked on the link hoping for something like "When Strangers Thermoregulate: all mystery panting, all the time".
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 5:03 AM on May 8, 2008

I was really moved by a memoir, written by a Croatian-American, describing experiences excavating mass grave sites from the war. It's called The Stone Fields, by Courtney Angela Brkic, although it was written in Elnglish rather than in Croatian, so it's perhaps not quite what you were looking for (although it's excellent, all the same).
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 3:14 AM on May 8, 2008

If you fancy another book about the Congo Crisis and Patrice Lumumba, I would heartily recommend Ronan Bennett's The Catastrophist.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 6:22 AM on March 13, 2008

Thirding Venere.com; it's never let me down booking accommodation in Italy.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 7:09 AM on February 28, 2008

With regards to studies on ruins, probably the best place to begin would be Christopher Woodward's "In Ruins: a Journey through History, Art, and Literature". It's a fairly straightforward general introduction to how ruins have been approached, interpreted, and culturally understood. Similar material is covered from the perspective of cultural biology by Midas Dekkers in "The Way of All Flesh: the Romance of Ruins", from the perspective of art history by Paul Zucker in... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 6:22 AM on February 28, 2008

The Italian band Lunapop released three versions of their single '50 Special'; here's the videos in English, Spanish, and Italian.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 7:46 AM on February 15, 2008

Here's a recent article from The Observer about alcohol abuse in which the journalist mentions some personal experience with using Antabuse.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 2:37 AM on February 8, 2008

B. Traven's The Death Ship begins with the enforced exclusion of an individual from any country at all through the appalling machinations of bureaucracy, and goes on to deal with the result of enforced statelessness.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 4:14 AM on December 3, 2007 marked best answer

Howards End
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 4:22 AM on July 21, 2007

A couple of years ago, I bought a second-hand bike from a place on Mill Road, just near St Barnabas (before the railway bridge). I couldn't remember the name of the place, but Google shows up a Cam Cycle at 92 Mill Road, which looks like the place (as long as it hasn't shut down in the interim). It lasted me okay, and the price was reasonable, but I do remember some time later taking it to get a tune-up from the guys with the second-hand bike stall in the market-place (which, admittedly, wasn't... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 8:34 AM on July 17, 2007

Big Moose Lake, back of Old Forge, is a a little ways to the east of 81, but is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in my life.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 12:30 PM on June 19, 2007

From an archaeological perspective:
Delano-Smith et al. 1986 "Luni and the Ager Lunensis: the rise and fall of a Roman town and its territory" Papers of the British School at Rome 54, 81-146.
Should be in the Sterling, if that'll help any.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 12:18 AM on June 11, 2007

Dammit, the Rock, not the Sterling. Getting my libraries mixed.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 2:29 AM on June 11, 2007

As another post has already mentioned, there’s not too much in the way of hidden gems in Rome these days: guide-books are comprehensive, and there’ll be very few places that you’ll be the mythical ‘only tourist’. Having said that, this is all relative, and there are plenty of places that are going to offer a much better visiting experience than the nightmare of the Vatican museums, and the Colosseum. The first thing to note is that you’ve probably chosen one of the best months to visit:... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 2:41 PM on June 7, 2007

These guys are by far and away the best known in the UK, the biggest in Europe apparently, and were founded in the late sixties. For the Roman stuff in the UK, this group are usually considered to be the most prominent, although there are others.
To add another perspective to your question, whenever I've seen re-enactors in the US, I've always thought to myself "Huh, so it's not just the UK that's into this sort of stuff. Go figure....... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 5:06 AM on May 11, 2007

I'm not going to say 'absolutely do not do this', simply because I know of occasions when something along these lines has happened, and it hasn't always been an unmitigated disaster. People will, inevitably, talk, as you yourself point out. One thing to bear in mind is that if you perhaps got into Grad School assisted by a good reference from the Professor in question, then people will talk smack; they will assume things were going on back then, and that will not be good for his reputation, nor... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 12:47 PM on May 8, 2007

Dialogue in the Crosby/Hope "Road to....." movies frequently breaks the fourth wall for (splendid) comic effect.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 1:29 AM on May 5, 2007

Another vote for Venere. I've used it for locating both hotels and apartments, and it has always been fine.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 1:00 AM on May 5, 2007

Adding my vote for Miss Lonelyhearts and Slaughterhouse-5. Other short fiction that I remember reading in one sitting:
The Dangling Man by Saul Bellow
The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat
So the Wind Won't Blow it All Away by Richard Brautigan
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thorton Wilder
Post Office by Charles Bukowski
Black Dogs by Ian McEwan
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 12:24 AM on May 5, 2007

I'll put a word on for Paul Schrader's Affliction; both the main characters, father (James Coburn) and son (Nick Nolte), are compelling and unpleasant (although perhaps not wholly unsympathetic).
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 12:01 PM on April 27, 2007

I know a lot of Paul Auster's novels are, uh, 'out there' (or at least contain plot devices that depend on a small suspension of disbelief), but his first (full) novel In the Country of the Last Things is way, way, way 'out there'. I'd classify it as 'speculative fiction', without a doubt.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 12:31 PM on April 22, 2007

These are both older examples, but in terms of speculative fiction, rather than strict sci-fi, there may be a case to be made for G.K. Chesterton's The Man who was Thursday: a Nightmare, and Jack London's The Iron Heel. At the very least, both play with the boundaries of genre, and both authors are more well-known for other types of literature.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 1:46 PM on April 22, 2007

Yeah, as it's just in Emilia-Romagna, I guess it's got to be technically in the northern third of the country, but because of the ways that the borders of the Regione work out, it's further south than some places on the other coast that are in the nominal 'central zone'.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 6:12 AM on April 19, 2007

In the late forties, Borges wrote a series of pieces on Dante, one of which was entitled The False Problem of Ugolino, in reference to the poet's encounter with Count Ugolino Gherardesca, who he finds imprisoned in ice in the ninth circle [Canto XXXII-XXXIII]. Before his death, and as a capital punishment, Ugolino had been walled up inside a tower along with his children; Dante wonders if Ugolino had devoured any of them, in order to perhaps delay his own death from... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 12:00 AM on April 19, 2007

Seconding dobbs for Burnt by the Sun: absolutely brilliant film.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 11:39 PM on April 18, 2007

Raoul Walsh remade his own 1942 noir-ish crime film High Sierra as a western, Colorado Territory, seven years later.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 11:32 PM on April 15, 2007

It's a still from the 1952 Nick Ray movie, On Dangerous Ground.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 2:30 PM on April 13, 2007 marked best answer

[And to answer the second question, the woman is Cleo Moore].
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 2:39 PM on April 13, 2007 marked best answer

Yeah. I had to use IMDb to dig out her name though. It's a very good film, but I hadn't seen it for a long while.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 2:52 PM on April 13, 2007

It depends somewhat on the route that you're taking. If you go along the coastline, there are plenty of small places to stop along the way. If you're going inland, then the one place that is a must [if you like ecclesiastical architecture] is Anagni: the 13th c. frescos in the crypt under the Cathedral are simply some of the most astonishing things I've ever seen. Also, just after you leave Rome (and it doesn't really matter if you're going coast or in-land here), Lake Albano and Lake Nemi are... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 10:28 PM on April 3, 2007

On a completely subjective level, I really liked Hugh Brogan's single-volume Penguin History of the United States of America. It takes the full stretch of American history and politics, from the colonial settlements to the 1970s, and so has a certain air of superficiality at times because of its broad remit; having said that, if you're looking for a place to start (as I was), before going on to delve further into specifics, then this might be it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 12:33 PM on April 2, 2007

The oculus is indeed parallel to the ground. Yes it does rain inside the structure; any air pressure/stack effect issues are negligible considering the size of both the building and the diameter of the opening. Don't believe everything your guide tells you. I should know. I used to be one.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 11:09 PM on March 31, 2007

I think you're right languagehat; the only place he visited was Russia. Plus, he was in prison from '26 till he died in '37.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 1:15 PM on March 28, 2007

zamboni nails it. Riccardo Illy is an active politician (twice elected mayor of Trieste and now the president of the Regione which the city is the capital of); politically, he is broadly of the left, although as is often the case in Italy, this is more a case of being loosely aligned with either one of the two blocks (Berlusconi of the right [Casa delle Libertà], Prodi of the left [L'Unione]). The accusation of communism baffles me, as Italy is a country that has a number of active working... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 11:24 PM on March 26, 2007

In terms of getting to your hotel from the airport, I'd also recommend taking the train: it's simply easier all round, especially when you've just got off a long-haul flight. Check this site for times and prices. It seems that the journey from Birmingham International to Worcester will take you just over an hour, with one change (at Birmingham New Street, which is the city's main central station), and a return shouldn't set you back more than twenty bucks or so. You can even buy the tickets with... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 12:37 AM on March 23, 2007

Hell yeah, essexjan: I forgot Warwick Castle. It is splendid indeed, with tonnes to see (but slightly steep at £16, unfortunately).
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 2:42 AM on March 23, 2007

There's also "Untitled (Donkey)" by Paolo Pivi.
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 7:06 AM on March 18, 2007

The archaeology of historical periods is pretty much a constant back-and-forth between the material evidence and the textual record. When, for example, something hitherto unknown pops up in excavations in Rome, if it's without anything that may immediately identify it (like monumental epigraphy), the first route to identifying a structure or monument will be to the texts the Romans themselves wrote when they were describing their city. This may help, as perhaps Cicero or Suetonius as an aside... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by hydatius at 10:24 AM on March 15, 2007