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"What we have here is a Cabinet of Wonders, a place where things of interest are set out, in possibly bizarre, possibly fetishistic presentation, for perusal by the discerning, who understand that presentation, and scientific interest, are all a form of magic." [via Neil Gaiman]
posted by Kattullus at 10:43 PM PST - 15 comments

Robbery American Style. Robbery French Style. Robbery Italian Style. Classic Soviet animation from Soyuzmultfilm.
posted by TrialByMedia at 10:17 PM PST - 26 comments

You know who else liked Xbox Live?
posted by EarBucket at 8:28 PM PST - 49 comments

Sicilian chef Filippo La Mantia has sworn off garlic. La Mantia says that garlic is a "leftover from when Italians were poor", and feels it is overplayed and unnecessary. Others disagree, like chef Antonello Colonna: "eliminating garlic is like "eliminating violins from an orchestra".
posted by rossination at 8:19 PM PST - 93 comments

Millions of tax dollars melting away... guess Katrina victims didn't need ice after all.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:57 PM PST - 40 comments

The Ayn Rand Institute held their yearly confab in Telluride, CO, near the purported location of the fiction Gault's Gulch of Atlas Shrugged, celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of the most turgid novels of all time. Part of the program included a panel of academics discussing their experiences "as objectivists." The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on the state of objectivism in academe. Rand Grants are up, tenure is tendentious, and a for-profit Founders Institute appears to be foundering. (more inside)
posted by beelzbubba at 7:39 PM PST - 111 comments

Elvis Lives.
posted by sgt.serenity at 6:20 PM PST - 35 comments

Is Neo-tribalism [rand.org, PDF, 297 KB] humanity's future? An ideology influenced by the Ishmael series by Daniel Quinn and that predicts the collapse of society and the necessity of ”walking away”, it's growing globally with neo-tribes already established. The Anthropik Tribe's goal is to ultimately form a "functional hunter-gatherer tribe in the future". Anthropik is part of The Appalachian Confederation, a /neo-tribal league/tribe of tribes/rhizome/ with it's own council, annual festival and plans for an army. Also, check out this movie about modern tribalism.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 4:57 PM PST - 167 comments

The Center for Nursing Advocacy seems like your typical professional advocacy group—the group's mandate is "to increase public understanding of the central, front-line role nurses play in modern health care." While often the group does its work by highlighting serious issues facing the nursing profession, the Center also keeps a watchful eye on portrayals of nurses in popular culture, both good and bad. And then there are the reviews that, frankly, seem to be stretching things just a bit.
posted by chrominance at 4:25 PM PST - 17 comments

This is the best news my moley ears have heard all day!
posted by (bb|[^b]{2}) at 2:55 PM PST - 20 comments

"Idyllopus is J. M. Kearns...a kind of catch-all folder on the side of the desk." A few sub-folders: Art | Cartoons | Hanford
posted by sluglicker at 2:47 PM PST - 2 comments

The Most Curatorial Biennial of the Universe has nearly 450 local, national and international artists and curators (pdf) participating. Individuals place bids on the works of art in increments of $10. Online art auction to benefit the Robin Hood Foundation of NYC.
posted by RMD at 2:40 PM PST - 3 comments

One day while crossing an empty field, fifteen-year-old Tim Masters happened to see a dead body. Twenty years later, he remains in prison, serving time for a crime that he almost certainly did not commit. A haunting, bizarre tale of a murder investigation gone wrong.
posted by william_boot at 2:11 PM PST - 44 comments

How Sassy Changed My Life: The book blog and an essay by the authors.
posted by Anonymous at 2:08 PM PST - 24 comments

How to build a Giant Squid kinetic sculpture out of found materials. Step by step instructions provided.
posted by jonson at 12:43 PM PST - 12 comments

Suicide bomber kills 24 Pakistani soldiers amid fears of holy war Following the storming of the Red Mosque, Islamic militants launched a deadly suicide attack, detonated a roadside bomb and fired rockets in Saturday as thousands of Pakistani troops deployed to the northwestern frontier to thwart the launch of a holy war. A Pakistani blogger writes about the political situation in Pakistan. A timeline of the incidents leading up to the storming of the Red Mosque.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:55 AM PST - 46 comments

Sean Smith spent two months embedded with US troops in Baghdad and Anbar province. His harrowing documentary exposes the exhaustion and disillusionment of the soldiers.
posted by jouke at 1:53 AM PST - 152 comments

So you've gone and made a baby! A father of two provides some helpful advice to friends about what to expect from their newborns.
posted by Ljubljana at 1:41 AM PST - 51 comments

Cat-Scan.com is one of the strangest sites I've seen in some time. I have no idea how these people got their cats wedged into their scanners, or why.
posted by Stan Chin at 12:43 AM PST - 111 comments

In honor of the 8th Anniversary of MetaFilter, here are 8 YouTube links to... CAT SCANS
Oh, what heck, here are 8 more... LOL SCANS
posted by wendell at 12:00 AM PST - 23 comments