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Here is a video playthrough of The Legend of Zelda without a sword. It is possible to get right up to the last boss without one, although it requires knowing a lot of tricks. That is exactly what mev1978 does in his playthrough, without dying. And then he does it again in the second quest. First quest (1:61:31) - Second quest (1:13:18) [more inside]
posted by JHarris at 8:34 PM PST - 33 comments

So if I'm thinking about this talk, I'm wondering, of course, what is it you take away from this talk? What story do you take away from Tyler Cowen? One story you might take away is the story of the quest. "Tyler came here, and he told us not to think so much in terms of stories." That would be a story you could tell about this talk. It would fit a pretty well-known pattern. You might remember it. You could tell it to other people. "This weird guy came, and he said not to think in terms of stories. Let me tell you what happened today!" and you tell your story. Another possibility is you might tell a story of rebirth. You might say, "I used to think too much in terms of stories, but then I heard Tyler Cowen, and now I think less in terms of stories!" That too, is a narrative you will remember, you can tell to other people, and it may stick. You also could tell a story of deep tragedy. "This guy Tyler Cowen came and he told us not to think in terms of stories, but all he could do was tell us stories about how other people think too much in terms of stories." Tyler Cowen's TED talk on the danger of storytelling. (transcript here)
posted by storybored at 8:15 PM PST - 50 comments

How to Ace a Google Interview
posted by Artw at 7:15 PM PST - 146 comments

The New Dealers : For some time, I'd been hearing stories from my sources in the interstate marijuana racket about law-abiding "civilians" turning to the game because of the recession, and so, armed with introductions, I hit the road to meet some of these unlikely criminals face to face. That's how, on a hot evening in June, I found myself in Dan's Northern California kitchen.
posted by desjardins at 6:47 PM PST - 55 comments

Who is Supergirl? It's complicated. It's really complicated. [more inside]
posted by Trurl at 5:36 PM PST - 61 comments

If you've browsed some of the many year-end Best Album Lists, you might have seen AraabMUZIK's Electronic Dream rank highly. If his name means nothing to you, check an interview with the then 19 year old Hispanic kid from Rhode Island, who had recently graduated high school and connected with Dipset, or the 20 year old drummer-turned-producer whose performance was copied by Kanye (and other information on his life and times). Or maybe you follow producers, and knew he made the beat for Cam'ron's track I Used To Get It In Ohio, or cuts on the Dipset Trance Party mixes (DatPiff has volume 1, 2, and 3). If you want to know more, you can check a mini AraabMUZIK documentary (6:38 on YouTube), or just watch him work the MPC. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 5:03 PM PST - 12 comments

Euclid James "Motorhead" Sherwood, 1942-2011. Motorhead Sherwood from the Mothers of Invention passed away on Christmas Day. He was one of the original Mothers, appeared in 200 Motels and Uncle Meat, and was on all of the albums with the original Mothers line-up. (He even showed up again with Jimmy Carl Black, the Indian of the Group, on 1981's You Are What You Is.) An immensely talented saxophonist, Motorhead played on both Cruisin' With Ruben & The Jets AND the album For Real! by the real Ruben & The Jets.
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 3:18 PM PST - 18 comments

Bane Facts: You've seen Tom Hardy look awesome as the character in posters and promos, but who exactly is Bane? Don't worry about shelling out cash for graphic novels and back issues, we'll teach you all about the villain that will appear in The Dark Knight Rises.
posted by troll at 1:12 PM PST - 44 comments

"In all other circumstances we praise non-violent activities and when people, for whatever personal reasons, enjoy sexual violence even in a consenting context I think we shouldn't just say “whatever turns you on”. We should say “There's something wrong here”. But people on the left are so terrified of being accused of moralising and therefore of being oppressive that they've abandoned their critical faculties in this area." Clive Hamilton on God, Sex, and the Left (Part 2).
posted by daniel_charms at 12:59 PM PST - 359 comments

The Browser has been mentioned before on Metafilter as a website that collects the best writing around the web. Over the past 3 days they've been posting their year end list of the best essays from 2011. The full annotated list is after the jump. [more inside]
posted by codacorolla at 12:56 PM PST - 20 comments

Grierson believed strongly that the filmmaker had a social responsibility, and that film could help a society realize democratic ideals. His absolute faith in the value of capturing the drama of everyday life was to influence generations of filmmakers all over the world. In fact, he coined the term "documentary film." [more inside]
posted by infinite intimation at 12:26 PM PST - 4 comments

The EPA's 1971-1978 Documerica project (at Flickr, at the National Archives) set out to 'photographically document subjects of environmental concern.' Last month, The Atlantic put up a gallery of 46 of the photos (here are three more curated galleries, from Wired, Colorcubic and the Mother Nature Network).
posted by box at 11:07 AM PST - 9 comments

DJ Earworm's United States Of Pop 2011, entitled World Go Boom, mashes up the 25 most popular songs from the past year into one infectious song, just like we've come to expect from his previous efforts. [more inside]
posted by hippybear at 11:03 AM PST - 53 comments

Danny Trejo IS Epic Beard Man IN Bad Ass (trailer - imdb). [more inside]
posted by Countess Elena at 10:16 AM PST - 63 comments

Navigating Love and Autism - When kissing feels like "mashing your face against someone else’s" and you experience mindblindness, how do you build a relationship? Is it even possible?
posted by tomswift at 7:45 AM PST - 73 comments

Daniel Lopatin is a Brooklyn-based electronic music composer who records under the name Oneohtrix Point Never. In a recent New Yorker article he confessed to Sasha Frere-Jones a desire to score Ridley Scott's upcoming "Blade Runner" sequel. His new album -- combining shades of Vangelis with tiny samples pulled from a web site featuring '80s TV commercials -- can be heard in its entirety here.
posted by Work to Live at 6:49 AM PST - 37 comments

“Jingle Rock Bell”? How 2008. Here is a video of a transvestite playing “Silent Night” on a theremin. [more inside]
posted by joeclark at 6:25 AM PST - 17 comments

When my mother whipped up a mixture of fresh milk, gram flour and turmeric in her kitchen today, to use as a herbal face pack, my curiosity led me to find out more about this ubiquitious yet medicinal spice. What is turmeric, the bright yellow powder common in Indian spice boxes that gives such a characteristic colour to everything from dhal to aloo to bhajis? What is its provenance and history? Is it simply a spice or a medicine? What happens when you try to patent it? (previously) Turmeric turned out to be far more romantic than you'd imagine - a prosaic kitchen spice immortalized in idiom, song and double entendre - all courtesy of amche Bollywood.
posted by infini at 6:14 AM PST - 23 comments

Viewable in its entirety at YouTube, Ballou is an engaging, inspiring, funny and entertaining documentary film about inner city Washington DC's Ballou High School band.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:32 AM PST - 1 comments

Click the photo at the top of the linked page to view The Voyagers, a rumination on the universe, love, a golden record and two small space probes.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:17 AM PST - 4 comments

This dog won't play dead... 39 Degrees North gives us a new mythology for Christmas - Gundog! [SLVP]
posted by Samizdata at 12:45 AM PST - 4 comments