Literary Darwinism: A relatively new field of evolutionary psychology / literary theory. What has recently been written in argument against it?
posted to Ask Metafilter by 0bvious at 6:45 AM on June 3, 2008 (8 comments)

I'm looking for websites that analyse the work of successful or well known photographers in the art genre (as opposed to documentary or portraiture styles).
posted to Ask Metafilter by b33j at 6:55 PM on April 23, 2008 (5 comments)

The financial turmoil of 2007-?: a preliminary assessment and some policy considerations (pdf) "All episodes of financial distress of a systemic nature, with potentially significant implications for the real economy, arguably have at their root an overextension in risk-taking and in balance sheets in good times, masked by the veneer of a vibrant economy. This overextension generates financial vulnerabilities that are clearly revealed only once the economic environment becomes less benign, in turn contributing to its further deterioration." A scholarly, sane, relatively brief, accessible-to-the-layperson, and mostly apolitical look at the current turmoil.
posted to MetaFilter by Kwantsar at 3:31 PM on April 23, 2008 (36 comments)

What is the best way to set up a photography website?
posted to Ask Metafilter by names are hard at 2:03 PM on April 17, 2008 (16 comments)

What is the scariest horror movie scene - but taken out of context?
posted to Ask Metafilter by markovich at 12:32 PM on April 16, 2008 (82 comments)

Remember Me. A multimedia documentary about one family's struggle to deal with the loss of a parent. This series is the 2008 Pulitzer winner for feature photography.
posted to MetaFilter by chunking express at 1:18 PM on April 10, 2008 (27 comments)

AskMe #4 in Q&A site visits in the US according to Hitwise. Download the rest of the doc + chart here. Interesting news but I must say I've never even heard of Answerbag.
posted to MetaTalk by jessamyn at 11:34 AM on March 19, 2008 (185 comments)

The Amen Break and the Golden Ratio by mathematics educator and author, Michael S. Schneider. Schneider, having already researched and written about the golden ratio extensively, noticed it right away when hearing the the amen break for the first time (amen break previously on the blue). While some composers have been known to intentionally incorporate fibonacci numbers and the golden ratio into their works, perhaps this is just another one of the many instances of the ratio showing up in nature.
posted to MetaFilter by p3t3 at 7:09 PM on March 12, 2008 (27 comments)

Since 1993, Pete Tong has been hosting the Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1. A group on imeem seems to have uploaded them all. Tracklistings here. Some of the best of all time: Carl Cox - 1996 (tracklisting), Paul Oakenfold - 1994 - (The Goa Mix) (TL), Leftfield - 1994 (TL). A few good ones from the last couple of years: Justice, (TL), Soulwax (TL), Eric Prydz (TL). And one of my personal favorites -- Scott Bond - 2000 (TL)
posted to MetaFilter by empath at 11:48 AM on February 23, 2008 (61 comments)

Word Into Image: Writers on Screenwriting {youtube}
William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) (1 2 3)
Robert Towne (Chinatown) (1 2 3)
Carl Foreman (High Noon) (1 2 3)
Neil Simon (The Odd Couple) (1 2 3)
Paul Mazursky (An Unmarried Woman) (1 2 3)
Eleanor Perry (The Swimmer) (1 2 3)
posted to MetaFilter by dobbs at 7:48 AM on February 22, 2008 (9 comments)

Stephen King, literary genius? "That they could believe that there is any literary value there or any aesthetic accomplishment or signs of an inventive human intelligence is simply a testimony to their own idiocy," says Harold Bloom. Mr. King to be awarded an honorary National Book Award for lifetime achievement, joining the likes of Roth, Updike, and Bellow.
posted to MetaFilter by _sirmissalot_ at 1:12 PM on September 16, 2003 (81 comments)

The images produced by today's ordinary amateur astrophotographer rival those produced by the big observatories only a decade or two ago. (This "Two Comets" image alone is worth a look. <-Rollover for close-ups of the comets.) You can get very good results with far simpler equipment, however - even with "old-fashioned FILM". Looking for the BEST skies for astrophotography? If you aren't a weenie, you might try Dome C, Antarctica.
posted to MetaFilter by spock at 7:16 AM on January 3, 2008 (19 comments)

WWI-era aviation photos (page 2): Biplanes and triplanes and Zeppelins-- oh my!
posted to MetaFilter by dersins at 8:16 AM on October 16, 2007 (27 comments)

Alexandra Boulat, one of the world's top women photojournalists has passed away. Her work will continue to inspire (quicktime slideshow+audio).
posted to MetaFilter by ig at 9:21 AM on October 9, 2007 (13 comments)

Brian Dettmer is an artist/surgeon who carves books into intricate, astonishing & precise new pieces of art.
posted to MetaFilter by jonson at 10:06 AM on August 31, 2007 (35 comments)

The abstract Polaroid photography of Grant Hamilton.
posted to MetaFilter by nthdegx at 6:58 AM on August 29, 2007 (15 comments)

For Roland Barthes, the Death of the Author came on March 23, 1980, in the form of a car speeding down the Rue des Écoles (perhaps that car has become, like wrestling or detergent, another myth); though the Author is gone, his works--texts--remain; they are about history, about fashion, about love, about chopsticks, but fundamentally, they are about signs--as Barthes, once interviewed, said, "Each of us speaks but a single sentence, which only death can bring to a close"--rapidly approaching the end of his sentence, Barthes thought about living together, but the period would be found on his tombstone: écrivain. [more inside]
posted to MetaFilter by nasreddin at 10:28 AM on August 27, 2007 (19 comments)

A lovely free online text on the Fundamentals of Piano Practice. (Tuning, too.)
posted to MetaFilter by Wolfdog at 7:36 AM on June 25, 2007 (18 comments)

TV Shows | Cartoons | Anime | Movies | Music Videos | Sports
posted to MetaFilter by carsonb at 9:14 PM on May 19, 2007 (49 comments)

“Academic Economics: Strengths and Faults After Considering Interdisciplinary Needs” (.pdf)
posted to MetaFilter by Kwantsar at 2:44 PM on May 17, 2007 (12 comments)

Woodstock^ (YouTuner)
Day ☼ { Richie Havens ♪ Country Joe McDonald ♪ John Sebastian ♪ Sweetwater ♭ Incredible String Band ♪ Bert Sommer ♭ Tim Hardin ♪ Ravi Shankar ♭ Melanie ♪ Arlo Guthrie ♪ Joan Baez ♪ }
Day ☼☼ { Quill ♪ Keef Hartley Band ♭ Santana ♪ Canned Heat ♪ Mountain ♪ Janis Joplin ♪ ♫ Sly & the Family Stone ♪ Grateful Dead ♪ Creedence Clearwater Revival ♪ The Who ♪ ☻ ♫ Jefferson Airplane ♪ ♫ }
Day ☼☼☼ { Joe Cocker ♪ Country Joe & the Fish ♪ Ten Years After ♪ The Band ♪ Blood Sweat & Tears ♪ Johnny Winter ♪ Crosby, Stills & Nash ♪ ♬ ♫ Paul Butterfield Blues Band ♪ Sha-Na-Na ♪ Jimi Hendrix ♪ ★ ♫ }

posted to MetaFilter by pruner at 6:20 AM on May 15, 2007 (50 comments)

Inspired by this post about playing pi to 1,000 places on the piano, I thought I'd print out the notes and see if I could improvise something a bit more musical (if cheesy).
posted to MeFi Music by chrismear at 7:56 AM on April 29, 2007 (12 comments)

The International Music Score Library Project. PDF downloads of public domain classical music scores. From solo piano to full symphony orchestra. 2,762 works and counting.
posted to MetaFilter by chrismear at 6:34 PM on April 18, 2007 (12 comments)

Going back to my roots: Here's a techno-diddley straight outta Air Deutschland.
posted to MeFi Music by ageispolis at 2:35 PM on March 22, 2007 (9 comments)

In Our Time Faced with a wet weekend indoors, I realised it's time to dig into the archive of In Our Time, the most unashamedly intellectual radio discussion series every produced. Broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and hosted by Melvyn Bragg (sorry, make that Lord Bragg), the show's format is simple: Take a topic that's shaped our world, invite a handful of academics who specialize in that field, and chat. But remember: Commercially suicidal program(me)s like this wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for the unique way the BBC is funded.
posted to MetaFilter by humblepigeon at 8:28 AM on March 24, 2007 (25 comments)

Create Digital Music has two pieces on the making of Doctor Who's theme song. The second is an introduction to Delia Derbyshire, who is considered to be the "woman behind the men" behind the notability of the song. She pioneered techniques of synthesizing sounds, sampling and looping in the sixties. One WFMU blogger waxes on about Delia, who "was an inspiring collaborator" working behind the scenes of the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop. BBC Four produced a documentary about the workshop called Alchemists of Sound which aired in 2005, ten years after the workshop closed due to budget cuts.
posted to MetaFilter by boo_radley at 10:04 AM on March 21, 2007 (19 comments)

SAW II-ish experiment.
posted to MeFi Music by jchgf at 9:45 AM on February 19, 2007 (2 comments)

At the beginning was the noosphere. The existence of a "sphere of ideas", beyond the "sphere of life" (biosphere) and the "sphere of matter" (geosphere) was apparently first postulated by the pioneering Russian-Ukrainian geochemist V.I. Vernadsky. Vernadsky thought not only that the biosphere had entirely reshaped the geosphere, but that the burgeoning noosphere of interconnected thought would ultimately change the biosphere just as much. French jesuit and paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin took the concept and ran with it...(more inside)
posted to MetaFilter by Skeptic at 12:24 PM on November 28, 2006 (24 comments)

Partituras - Hundreds of perfectly scanned "classical" music scores (and parts) in PDF. Chose a composer from the pop-up menu in the middle of the page to browse the available works by that composer.
posted to MetaFilter by persona non grata at 10:52 PM on September 21, 2006 (19 comments)