Displaying post 1 to 50 of 347
I'm looking for some books on European history during the 1800s. I'm specifically interested in Russia from the Decemberists to the 1917 revolution, and the French student revolution of 1848.
posted to Ask Metafilter by pombe
at 10:33 PM on April 26, 2007
(8 comments)
I enjoy literature with a dystopian and/or post-apocalyptic bent to it. I want more. Recommendations?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Autarky
at 2:07 PM on October 5, 2008
(60 comments)
In the early days of the occupation of Iraq, a "gathering of antagonists to capital and empire" known as the Retort Collective published
Afflicted Powers, a contentious analysis of September 11th and its aftermath grounded in the Situationist concepts developed by
Guy Debord in
The Society of the Spectacle. Two lengthy excerpts can be read online: an
introduction to the war as a "struggle for mastery in the realm of the image", and a
critique of the "Blood for Oil" argument.
posted to MetaFilter by stammer
at 9:00 PM on September 24, 2008
(26 comments)
Spiegel TV has tracked down
rare Nazi TV footage, complete with everything from bizarre cabaret acts to interviews with people like Albert Speer.
Pop culture done by Nazis, the banality of showbiz evil.
posted to MetaFilter by hortense
at 11:43 PM on August 28, 2008
(29 comments)
Executed Today offers "each day the story of an historical execution that took place on this date, and the story behind it."
posted to MetaFilter by Knappster
at 10:04 PM on August 12, 2008
(19 comments)
Please recommend me some day/weekend trip destinations from NYC, especially if they involve trains and don't require renting a car.
posted to Ask Metafilter by doift
at 4:39 PM on April 30, 2008
(20 comments)
Last night, I spent an hour reading the crazy, hilarious stories
posted here. One hour was not enough. I need more davesecretaryatwork - or at least, more like him.
posted to Ask Metafilter by yeoja
at 9:49 AM on May 19, 2008
(23 comments)
TOTALLY clueless here. Can someone give me step-by-step directions for getting a good deal on an apartment in New York City (preferably with a timetable of when each step should be accomplished relative to "move in day")?
posted to Ask Metafilter by liberalintellect
at 4:08 PM on May 2, 2007
(22 comments)
What neighborhood should I move to in NYC?
posted to Ask Metafilter by spaghetti
at 9:19 AM on April 11, 2005
(23 comments)
Wearing an
old-fashioned diving suit,
William "Diver Bill" Walker worked in 14 feet of murky water beneath
Winchester Cathedral, digging out the old timber and peat foundations and replacing them with bags of concrete cement and concrete blocks. Staying
underwater six hours per day for five years (1906-1911), Diver Bill moved 25,800 bags of concrete and laid 114,900 concrete blocks, saving the Norman building from certain collapse.
posted to MetaFilter by chuckdarwin
at 2:40 PM on April 9, 2008
(38 comments)
French
Theory. "This is drivel about drivel — “metadrivel” as some stucturalist, post-structuralist or deconstructionist might say."
posted to MetaFilter by Xurando
at 8:25 AM on April 7, 2008
(132 comments)
I'm starting to learn German, and I love it- I find everything about the language fascinating, and making my flashcards and doing my speech exercises about how Jan liebt Sara and how das Madchen ist glucklach is the funnest part of my day. I'd like to get good at it. Really, really good. Can you help me?
posted to Ask Metafilter by foxy_hedgehog
at 9:37 AM on February 11, 2008
(31 comments)
The 400 Million 四萬萬人民 - China, 1938 (53 minutes / sound / black&white / 35mm) Directed: Joris Ivens. Camera: ROBERT CAPA. Parts:
1
2
3
4
5
6
"The Japanese aggression against China in 1937 forced the Chinese communists and Chiang Kai-shek's Kwomintang to take up the joint battle against their common enemy. With modern weapons the Chinese are pursuing their struggle behind enemy lines. This film shows all aspects of a war: the battle, the preparations, refugees, casualties and victims, the fear and distress, the human misery and the courage, and the land under fire."
posted to MetaFilter by vronsky
at 1:13 PM on March 20, 2008
(8 comments)
Polyglot
Michel Thomas came to prominence through his work for the French resistance and the
successful interrogation of Nazis (who had formerly imprisoned him). After the war he started to develop (and eventually
patent) a method for teaching languages that eschewed notes, books, writing, memorisation and homework. Instead, words and phrases would be built up in lego-like constructions to provide “confidence in hours not years”. He gave private lessons to
a long list of A-list celebrities including Woody Allen, Natasha Kinsky, Tony Curtis and Grace Kelly. A BBC documentary from 1997 told his story and tested him out with the less exalted audience of 16 year old London school kids pre-selected to be “incapable of learning a foreign language” by their teachers [YT pt
1,
2,
3,
4]. He was secretive about how his methods worked until the end of his life when he finally made his
courses available as audiobooks.
posted to MetaFilter by rongorongo
at 7:00 AM on March 20, 2008
(24 comments)
I went to a liberal arts school, and am ashamed to say that my knowledge of world history is depressingly lacking. I want to learn at least enough about world history to have the “highlight reel” clear in my head. Could anyone recommend a collection of works that would help me out?
posted to Ask Metafilter by nushustu
at 2:35 PM on March 7, 2008
(23 comments)
Paradoxically, the power of the Chinese intellectual is amplified by China's repressive political system, where there are no opposition parties, no independent trade unions, no public disagreements between politicians and a media that exists to underpin social control rather than promote political accountability. Intellectual debate in this world can become a surrogate for politics—if only because it is more personal, aggressive and emotive than anything that formal politics can muster.
China's New intelligensia
posted to MetaFilter by anotherpanacea
at 8:47 AM on March 6, 2008
(22 comments)
What are your favorite things to put on pasta (besides tomato sauce)?
posted to Ask Metafilter by rev-
at 12:14 PM on March 3, 2008
(74 comments)
Flirting with the Forbidden,
for centuries, Romans and French have enjoyed the pleasures of a unique songbird. Once caught,
this tiny bunting is kept in a small cage, where its eyes are poked out. It is then force fed oats, millet, and figs until it's plumped up to four times its size. It is subsequently drowned alive in cognac, roasted at high heat, then served as an
exquisite - and illegal - meal. Traditionally the diner enjoys this delicacy - approximately the size of a human thumb -
underneath an embroidered napkin. The head is bitten off, the entire body eaten in one crunchy bite. Said to embody the "
soul of France," it was, reportedly, the
last meal of Francois Mitterrand. Writer Michael Paterniti
recreates the experience of dining on
l'ortolan, superbly told in an episode of "This American Life."
posted to MetaFilter by Dr. Zira
at 7:04 PM on February 20, 2008
(141 comments)
What can I do with a 100mbps internet connection?
posted to Ask Metafilter by phaedrus441
at 8:55 PM on February 15, 2008
(23 comments)
People with a History
is "an online guide to lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans history." Ranging from
the first stirrings of civilization to the modern day, People with a History gathers together original sources and academic articles dealing with queerness throughout history. To give you a feel for the wealth of material on the site, here are a few pages that caught my interest:
The Vikings and Homosexuality,
Coptic Spell: Spell for a Man to Obtain a Male Lover,
an acount of a gay marriage ceremony described by Michel de Montaigne,
But Among Our Own Selves (an 18th Century gay ballad),
a chapter from The Life of St. Theodore of Sykeon, a 7th Century Byzantine monk and bishop, which mentions
adelphopoiesis, or the
rite of brothermaking,
Wu Tsao, 19th Century Chinese lesbian poet, and finally
Polari: The Lost Language of Gay Men.
posted to MetaFilter by Kattullus
at 12:20 PM on February 2, 2008
(15 comments)
The Scots voice of the Spanish revolution
[Embedded DivX video 1hr15m; also downloadable] Ethel MacDonald was a young working class Scots woman who hitch-hiked to Barcelona to do her part in the
war. There she became
the English-language voice of the anarchist movement as a radio station announcer. Newspapers at home dubbed her the "Scottish Scarlet Pimpernel" for her role in helping comrades escape the crackdown that followed the May Days. Her remarkable story is told in this recent
drama-documentary.
posted to MetaFilter by Abiezer
at 12:46 AM on February 1, 2008
(12 comments)
"The "
American Intervention in Northern Russia, 1918-1919," nicknamed the "Polar Bear Expedition," (
wikipedia) was a U.S. military intervention in northern Russia at the end of World War I." The ostensible purpose was to open an Eastern Front following the Russian withdrawal from World War I, but in practice the unit stayed to fight Bolshevism. An archive of the expedition, which gives wonderful insight into early Bolshevik Russia as well as war-weary United States, is
online.
posted to MetaFilter by Rumple
at 1:19 AM on January 25, 2008
(23 comments)
Kin-Dza-Dza! is a Soviet sci-fi cult classic that has managed to go largely unnoticed outside of Russia. Bizarre, funny, and at times surprisingly deep. Truly one of the unknown sci-fi greats.
Part One. Part Two. [Google Video, with embedded English subtitles]
posted to MetaFilter by pravit
at 11:43 PM on January 20, 2008
(14 comments)
A good friend just received a brain cancer diagnosis with an estimated one year survival time. She wants to talk about death and time. She thinks I have something to teach or tell her worth hearing. I'd like to be helpful, but have no confidence in my ability to say or do anything meaningful. What I've said so far she appreciates.
What can I read that might help me frame discussions. I don't need pop psychology stuff, or advice dealing with the health care system or funeral arrangements. I like the idea of Zen notions of letting go but am too ignorant to know what to say.
Advice, experience, suggestions for gathering information please.
posted to Ask Metafilter by NorthCoastCafe
at 3:12 PM on January 7, 2008
(65 comments)
As part of my work for a client I've begun researching online privacy, cryptography, and other sundry ways of protecting oneself online. And I'm now completely creeped out and must switch NOW to uncrackable passwords, multiple email accounts, encrypting the crap out of everything I do, and generally making sure that only the things I want public on the internet are publicly accessible. But we run into the question - how do I do that without driving myself nuts trying to remember my passwords, convince everyone I know to use encrypted communication, and maintain a reasonable amount of privacy in my web surfing? And how do I do that after 8 years of webwhorage where I wasn't too concerned who knew what about me?
posted to Ask Metafilter by saysthis
at 7:29 AM on December 28, 2007
(15 comments)
Melodic, slightly exotic, wistful surf music from Hell.
posted to MeFi Music by Brainy
at 11:38 AM on December 31, 2007
(6 comments)
"
It will no doubt be deemed a strange circumstance that an African negro should attempt to write a book, and that he should presume to offer his production to the enlightened people of Great Britain."
The Life and Adventures of Zamba, an African Negro King; and His Experience of Slavery in South Carolina. Written by Himself.
posted to MetaFilter by borkingchikapa
at 1:28 PM on December 11, 2007
(16 comments)
