You are seated amongst thousands of your compatriots waiting for the spectacle to begin. Inside, two bodies prepare for the inevitable fight to the death, for your pleasure. They know it won't be easy, but they are prepared to pay the price. Some are condemned to die, others are slaves fighting for their freedom, and yet others (Christians and Jews) branded as heretics; deserters who have fled the field of battle; and some who are even of noble blood are amongst the many who find themselves in the arena. But, there is one more addition yet, and it has been the subject of much controversy. [more inside]
posted by hadjiboy at 10:03 PM PST - 41 comments

Positive Exposure is a beautiful photographic portrayal (pdf)of people with genetic disorders. via [more inside]
posted by hortense at 9:53 PM PST - 7 comments

Ever wondered what life is like on the International Space Station? Wonder no more. [more inside]
posted by oxford blue at 8:59 PM PST - 25 comments

How to Lawfully Reset Your Credit History. A fascinating true story of how Max successfully deleted thousands of dollars of debt from his credit history. The follow-up, Why Max Won, has some interesting insight into removing emotion from the credit equation. (Previous Make Your Nut appearances on MetaFilter here and here.)
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 8:06 PM PST - 23 comments

Multi-instrumentalist on the reeds, arranger for Woody Herman's band, pioneer of chamber jazz and free jazz, musician and teacher, Jimmy Giuffre (wiki) died yesterday at the age of 86 (NYT obit). [more inside]
posted by ornate insect at 4:48 PM PST - 18 comments

After the president of Mexico introduced his bill, legislators stormed and barricaded the podium in the House; Senators began fasting in protest. The occupation continues after 2 weeks, with opponents camping out and padlocking the doors of Congress, aiming to run out the clock until adjournment on April 30th. Mexico's top electoral body ordered a TV ad (comparing opposition leader Lopez Obrador to Hitler) off the air. Here in the U.S., little notice: the WSJ calls this "heated debate." [more inside]
posted by msalt at 4:42 PM PST - 18 comments

Bush V. Gore: Scalia, "It's old news, get over it."
posted by Xurando at 4:10 PM PST - 65 comments

An introductory piece on the Art Ensemble of Chicago. [more inside]
posted by sleepy pete at 3:58 PM PST - 16 comments

Humphrey Lyttelton has died. Musician, cartoonist, journalist and chairman of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
posted by verisimilitude at 3:45 PM PST - 33 comments

Beer & Books: Authors pair their work with the appropriate beverage.
posted by carsonb at 2:47 PM PST - 19 comments

Real nerds use HP calculators with RPN (Reverse Polish Notation) [more inside]
posted by Rafaelloello at 2:41 PM PST - 75 comments

Blake's Back! British science fiction classic Blakes 7 is getting the Battlestar Galactica treatment. [more inside]
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:09 PM PST - 45 comments

Songwriter and producer Bob Crewe is one of those behind the scenes guys who was seemingly everywhere during the rock era. Records written and/or produced by Crewe charted over a twenty year period, including My Eyes Adored You and Lady Marmalade, both in 1975. [more inside]
posted by Herodios at 1:56 PM PST - 12 comments

An Illustrated History of Digital Cameras until 1998. [more inside]
posted by carter at 12:24 PM PST - 26 comments

A Preview Of Tomorrow’s Olympic Torch Relay. Japan Probe has posted a few computer-generated examples of what the relay should look like, and links to a news report that states 10,000 Chinese will be in Nagano (location) (cuddly mascots) tomorrow to watch the torch relay. Japan had already canceled plans to stage the start of the torch run at Zenkoji Temple in the city; the temple was then mysteriously defaced. Previously on Japan Probe I II. Meanwhile, a tulip vandal who has been terrorizing Japan has been caught on tape. [more inside]
posted by KokuRyu at 12:18 PM PST - 14 comments

Terminator Kama Sutra
posted by joe defroster at 12:05 PM PST - 31 comments

What happens if you put three professional musicians in a recording studio and have them watch porn movies? You get porno soundtracks, of course. [NSFW] [more inside]
posted by dhammond at 12:02 PM PST - 23 comments

Koro, previously, has gripped the streets of Kinshasa, Congo. Unlike the 1967 Koro Epidemic in Singapore, which was blamed on tainted pork, the afflicted men in Kinshasa have blamed the psychosomatic penile shrinkage on witchcraft by a rival sect, and responded with attempted lynchings. In order to prevent bloodshed of the kind seen in Ghana a decade ago, police have responded by apprehending the alleged sorcerers. [more inside]
posted by Navelgazer at 10:51 AM PST - 36 comments

Some advice for Mefites who want to run for Congress: It is probably not a good idea to give a speech at a birthday celebration for Hitler. It is also generally considered tacky to discuss segregation in a positive light. Also, posting anti-Semitic comments, links to David Duke's website, and other scary but interesting articles to your official campaign website is probably not a good idea, even if you actually seem to be a reasonably competent lawyer.
posted by cerebus19 at 10:04 AM PST - 126 comments

Britain's Maunsell Sea Forts [wiki] were built during WWII as part of the coastal defense system. They were decommissioned in the 1950's, but many of them remain in use for non-military purposes (this is arguably the most famous). Some great photos here. [previously on metafilter]
posted by dersins at 10:04 AM PST - 13 comments

Silver Bookmarks is a collection of images of over 1000 antique silver bookmarks. They can be browsed by category (e.g. shape, origin, style) all of which are divided into myriad sub-categories (e.g. Art Deco, cat, Shakespeare, Iceland, Tunbridgeware, knife). Stevengraphs has pictures of the famed bookmarks made by the firm of silk weaver Thomas Stevens as well as other products. Among my favorite Stevengraphs are Ye Faire Ladie Godiva and Peeping Tom, The Apostle of Free Trade, John Bright, MP, Assassinated at Washington 14 April 1865 - The Late Lamented Lincoln, Speed Well Remember Me and for cheap laughs there is the glorious duo of Ride the Cock Horse and I Love Little Pussy.
posted by Kattullus at 10:01 AM PST - 2 comments

It's official, Del Torro is on board for the new Hobbit move and it's...um..sequel. Anyway, he seems to be adamant in keeping the as much as the original creative team on board which is a encouraging sign, roll on 2010?
posted by Mintyblonde at 8:35 AM PST - 91 comments

Steve Carrell on how to act brilliant:

I've learned to appear scintillatingly intellectual by asking people questions ("Do you like pizza?"). Then I just look at them, nodding and saying "Hmmm" and "Um hmmm" every few seconds. Try and keep one or two things in your head to regurgitate later. After all, what is knowledge, really, but high-resolution regurgitation?

posted by beaucoupkevin at 8:29 AM PST - 64 comments

North Brother Island has cool birdsand old buildings. It used to be a quarantine zone for victims of infectious disease. [more inside]
posted by owhydididoit at 8:10 AM PST - 14 comments

The Office of Government Commerce has an unfortunate new logo, but it looks like Dinosaur Comics beat them to the punch.
posted by OverlappingElvis at 7:38 AM PST - 37 comments

With the grounds it was built on having hosted the first demonstration of airplane flight in 1909, Tempelhof International Airport, the world's second-oldest working commercial airport, was officially opened in 1923. Also known as City Airport, it takes its official name from the Tempelhof neighborhood of Berlin, itself named for the Knights Templar who owned its land in the Middle Ages. [more inside]
posted by Your Time Machine Sucks at 5:12 AM PST - 36 comments