Is there such as thing as engineer-vs-craft hardhat etiquette, and if so, what should I expect if I stray outside the lines?
posted to Ask Metafilter by TheManChild2000 at 8:39 PM on July 9, 2008 (21 comments)

The Goon Show was a popular and influential radio comedy produced by the BBC from 1951 - 1960, starring Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe. Here, you can listen to it whenever you like.
posted to MetaFilter by louche mustachio at 3:04 AM on April 5, 2008 (37 comments)

"Of all the various types of optical objects known to exist, far and away the most magnificent and attractive are the optical fans." These sly spying devices, now rare collector curiosities, were once a more discreet and chic alternative for spying on your neighbors in fashionable gatherings than opera glasses, spyglasses, or jealousy glasses.
posted to MetaFilter by madamjujujive at 8:07 AM on February 6, 2008 (19 comments)

Puzzled about what to get the history buff, throwback or Luddite on your holiday shopping list? Explore the sutler's wares in the world of historic reproduction clothing! Strut your eighteenth-century style with Jas. Townsend & Son, or dress for the Lewis & Clark expedition with Smoke & Fire. USHist.com provides the finest in Mexican War and Cavalry/Indian War apparel, as well as fashion to end all wars in theWWI collection. Don't forget the ladies (and weak-minded gents) left at home - Blockade Runner offers fine Civil War civvies.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 9:20 AM on December 11, 2007 (22 comments)

The bearer of this letter is an old friend of mine not quite the right side of the blanket as they say in fact he is the son of a first rate butcher but his mother was a decent family called Hyssopps of the Glen so you see he is not so bad and is desireus of being the correct article.

The Young Visitors, or, Mister Salteena's Plan (written 1890, published 1919) is a remarkable little novel that offers an atypical perspective on the recreations of the late Victorian upper classes and boasts some of literature's most comprehensive descriptions of clothing. Its author was Daisy Ashford, a nine-year-old girl.
posted to MetaFilter by Iridic at 10:13 PM on November 4, 2007 (14 comments)

What's the best mail-order digital photo printing service for Australians at the moment?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Jimbob at 5:45 PM on April 28, 2007 (4 comments)

Georgette Heyer is my favourite novelist - she writes what have been classified as 'historical romances' by the fodder market that inspired this post but is in fact an observant writer of social mores and customs on par with any of the Austens. Her drawing room farces, her subtle humour and the amusing pranks that the characters play or the 'scrapes' that they get into, all the while ending up in love - never talked about directly but always indirectly implied, as per the customs of the late 18th century whence her novels are set, make her one of the most outstanding authors [yet sadly misclassified] of the past century. Don't miss Devil's Cub or These Old Shades...
posted to MetaFilter by infini at 1:32 AM on March 12, 2007 (17 comments)

What's your favorite watering hole? Link to a real watering hole. In Africa. Live. With video and sound. And real animals. Best viewing times are dusk and dawn, Africa time (It's +8 hours from CST). Learn more about the feed here; click on "Nkorho Stream" in the upper left corner. Second link mentioned previously in a MeFi comment here. First link via; second link via.
posted to MetaFilter by Doohickie at 1:11 PM on November 25, 2006 (38 comments)

I'm very interested in learning to compose electronic music, but don't know where to start.
posted to Ask Metafilter by p3on at 7:34 PM on January 24, 2006 (14 comments)

"When you walk into a house that was sealed in the last couple of years of the plague, you can crack the door or window and it pops like a vacuum seal, and you walk in and there's surprisingly little dust..."

Among the quotes from "Ever Since the World Ended," a fake documentary about the 186 survivors left in SF following a slate-wiping pandemic. No idea if it's any good, but the documentary approach makes it creepy, because it doesn't feel far from home.
posted to MetaFilter by cloudscratcher at 11:27 PM on November 13, 2006 (61 comments)

What are some good examples of gifts that are anything but? I know the obvious classics--drums for a 2-year-old, liquor for an alcoholic--but am looking for ones that are more insidious. Oh yes, there's
posted to Ask Metafilter by sfkiddo at 5:37 PM on November 2, 2006 (79 comments)