Captain America started Metafilter in 1999. Maybe not, but Defective Yeti is a consistent source of one-man-band goodness. Who can best The 30 least hot follow-ups to the 30 hottest things you can say to a naked woman or approach the caustic, laser-like wit of a would-be screenplay that begins with"CHENEY sits behind a desk. He is playing NINTENDOGS on his DS, but, instead of trying to teach them tricks, he is STABBING the puppies with his STYLUS." See the favorites page for a quick tour. Previous work from Matthew Baldwin has been here before.
posted by donovan at 11:49 PM PST - 32 comments

There are lots of cool animations at mytoons.
posted by owhydididoit at 11:23 PM PST - 12 comments

A hoax that embarrassed the art world: Pavel Jerdanowitch and the Disumbrationist School of Painting . This "joke on the art critics" was perpetrated by Paul Jordan-Smith, a former pastor who had left his calling after being charged with heresy. He went on to become a writer, editor and journalist, and in 1924 he decided to commit blasphemy against "the strange gods of modern art." The Pavel Jerdanowitch Painting Contest was inspired by the hoax. "The challenge is to produce the worst painting every painted." It's not too late to submit your own entry for 2007. You can check out last year's entries, including the "loser" (winner), for inspiration.
posted by amyms at 10:34 PM PST - 35 comments

Lord (and MetaFilter), forgive me, but Dog Chases Virtual Ball. [A one-link youtube post. 44 seconds long. That is all.]
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:20 PM PST - 30 comments

"Hey Man!" America's most beloved pothead is vlogging. He's also still doing stand-up, he's still funny as ever, his wife Shelby is still hot, and he still drives himself around, though he really shouldn't cuz... damn! He drives like some old guy! You think this is a precursor to him getting his own reality tv cable show? Tommy Chong has been mentioned previously in the blue.
posted by ZachsMind at 9:01 PM PST - 39 comments

Betrated: The Iraqis who trusted America the most. George Packer on the dangers facing Iraqis who cooperate with the US. [more inside]
posted by kirkaracha at 6:40 PM PST - 38 comments

Construction of the largest embassy on Earth will shortly be completed in Iraq. Roughly the size of Vatican City, and previously estimated to cost nearly 1 billion, (later reduced to a mere 592 million ), this remarkable feat of engineering "...will have its own water wells, electricity plant and wastewater-treatment facility, 'systems to allow 100 percent independence from city utilities,' says the report..." .
posted by Avenger at 5:53 PM PST - 116 comments

The Architect of the United States Capitol, offers a comprehensive website on the Capitol and grounds. Check out its art and architecture, as well the neighboring Congressional office buildings. There's also the new Congressional Visitor Center with weekly reports on the progress of construction. Not to be forgotten is Constantino Brumidi, a man who spent a lifetime painting in the Capitol (index to PDF biography).
posted by Atreides at 5:34 PM PST - 4 comments

$40 A Day: The Money Shots [Quicktime]
posted by rxrfrx at 4:13 PM PST - 91 comments

YOU'RE DOING GREAT [YouTube; German rap; mind implosion]
posted by Sticherbeast at 3:10 PM PST - 59 comments

Better living through Smallistry at Smallist. Gadgets, spaces, beverages, fetishes: ultra-niche blogging at its finest. [via mefi projects]
posted by cortex at 2:51 PM PST - 19 comments

Phil Foglio, old school RPG comic artist, is publishing online his classic What's New (D&D nerd humor from the pages of Dragon Magazine), Buck Godot (Zap Gun For Hire), and Girl Genius (as discussed earlier).
posted by CrunchyFrog at 11:45 AM PST - 27 comments

A Mediaeval Burglary (alternate formats, wikipedia) is a 24-page lecture transcript from 1915 about a little known burglary of King Edward I's treasure room in 1303. It is a real-life medieval mystery with interesting characters, scandal, cover-up, and an accurate feel of the times from a ground-up perspective, as told in a smoky Victorian library about 100 years ago. Entertaining, includes a hand-drawn map and two relevant manuscript pages.
posted by stbalbach at 10:16 AM PST - 35 comments

One Pancake at a time. I don't think pancakes get much more ridiculous than this.
posted by blasdelf at 9:03 AM PST - 57 comments

Naughty Needles Knitting. Knit yourself a Pony Hood or become a Furmaid. If you're in Kansas City, you can stop by for the all-knitted burlesque show. [Some images on the site NSFW]
posted by jacquilynne at 8:47 AM PST - 13 comments

In Our Time Faced with a wet weekend indoors, I realised it's time to dig into the archive of In Our Time, the most unashamedly intellectual radio discussion series every produced. Broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and hosted by Melvyn Bragg (sorry, make that Lord Bragg), the show's format is simple: Take a topic that's shaped our world, invite a handful of academics who specialize in that field, and chat. But remember: Commercially suicidal program(me)s like this wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for the unique way the BBC is funded.
posted by humblepigeon at 8:28 AM PST - 25 comments

Some movie villains aren't necessarily bad, they're just accented that way. But what criteria do we use to determine a truly, uniquely bad film accent? Obviously, it helps if an actor or movie annoys you to begin with, but some bad accents are simply indisputably painful to watch. Kind of like a mashup of everything in The Speech Accent Archive with a little bit of Received Pronounciation thrown in here and there. Yes it's true, even the average American enjoys trying to rock a ridiculously fake British tone once in a while (there are dialects?). But believe it or not, there are average people in this world actually trying to learn how to sound American too! OK well, on second thought, it's more likely that they're just trying to sound less "foreign" while they're here so we don't mock them.

Now here's the obligatory Fun Quiz portion of the post: what American accent do YOU have? Previously.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:41 AM PST - 96 comments

THIS IS CAKETOWN!!!!!!!
posted by empath at 6:50 AM PST - 35 comments