The Mehterhane or Mehter, as they are often known, are thought to be the oldest military marching band in the world. Starting around the 13th century, the band accompanied the Ottoman empire troops (Janissaries, or yeniçeri, roughly meaning "new troops" and were comprised mostly of young men from the Balkans) into battle, spreading their music along the way and influencing western classical composers like Mozart and Beethoven.
posted to MetaFilter by sleepy pete at 10:44 AM on July 19, 2008 (14 comments)

I'm looking for a single that was popular on college radio during 1987 or 1988. The refrain was "I'm still waiting for you to realise that I'm alive," sung by a young female voice
posted to Ask Metafilter by freshwater_pr0n at 11:19 PM on May 21, 2008 (7 comments)

Some advice for Mefites who want to run for Congress: It is probably not a good idea to give a speech at a birthday celebration for Hitler. It is also generally considered tacky to discuss segregation in a positive light. Also, posting anti-Semitic comments, links to David Duke's website, and other scary but interesting articles to your official campaign website is probably not a good idea, even if you actually seem to be a reasonably competent lawyer.
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19 at 10:04 AM on April 25, 2008 (126 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)

What are some good combinations of ingredients for stir-fry? The fewer ingredients and shorter prep time, the better.
posted to Ask Metafilter by jasminerain at 11:06 AM on January 5, 2008 (24 comments)

Award-winning ad exec Rich Silverstein (Goodby, Silverstein, and Partners) who is known for creating the "Got Milk" campaign -- among many -- has created three posters designed with input from the public to depict "The Bush Years". The results - Events, Slogans and People. Of the project Silverstein said: "Here is my thinking. What if we could TiVo the last six-plus years and play them back - without comment -- for the American people, and let them connect the dots?"^* Republicans respond with posters of their own: Posterizing the Democratic Party.
posted to MetaFilter by ericb at 10:06 AM on December 9, 2007 (141 comments)

Borderline personality disorder described firsthand. A very personal look at BPD - including the implications of sharing the news in a public setting - his blog.
posted to MetaFilter by 2shay at 11:17 AM on August 6, 2007 (155 comments)

Our own fandango_matt, of Metafilter design contest and multiple pissing elephant fame, has come up with his own Boy Scout inspired Metafilter safety guide.
posted to MetaTalk by Krrrlson at 10:25 AM on July 16, 2007 (188 comments)

The Super-K is a neutrino observatory in Japan; it is 1000 meters underground, contains a lake of 50,000 tons of pure water & every inch of the the 41 meter high walls are lined with over 11,000 photomultiplier tubes. It is also one of the most amazing man made objects I've ever seen images of. Super high res photos available here. More photos of the construction & recent restoration. Via.
posted to MetaFilter by jonson at 10:51 PM on July 3, 2007 (49 comments)

Need suggestions for a grown-up bar/lounge in Boston
posted to Ask Metafilter by Flakypastry at 2:55 PM on June 25, 2007 (12 comments)

I got a girl coming to stay with me in London (England) and I want to show her a good time. Where should we go and what should we do there?
posted to Ask Metafilter by pollystark at 6:21 AM on June 15, 2007 (14 comments)

This might make you smile.
posted to MetaFilter by brittney at 7:50 AM on June 12, 2007 (138 comments)

I'm in the fortunate/unfortunate positon of having to rent out my one-bed flat in Shepherds Bush, London. So I've got a few questions to ask:
posted to Ask Metafilter by electriccynic at 6:03 AM on June 11, 2007 (9 comments)

Crescendos. I love them. Help me find more.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Mach3avelli at 12:01 AM on May 31, 2007 (67 comments)

I have just started taking Wellbutrin. What should I be feeling?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Anonymous at 9:40 PM on May 14, 2007 (30 comments)

I have a girlfriend I'm in love with. But I'm also in love another girl. She's leaving town, and I want to sleep with her. Why shouldn't I?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Anonymous at 9:27 PM on May 7, 2007 (108 comments)

My boyfriend is on the verge of a psychotic breakdown and I don't know how to help him.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Anonymous at 4:01 PM on May 3, 2007 (76 comments)

Broke up with her over a year ago; we're still good friends; I never got over her; now I think she might be "the one." What the hell do I do?
posted to Ask Metafilter by CommonSense at 12:32 PM on April 20, 2007 (34 comments)

Have you ever stopped to listen? I do, when it's not bad, always. I've missed trains, I've been late. I've given all the money I had on me. I've been reminded of - X -. I wish I had been there; I fucking love that Chaconne. It's like the perfect prayer.
posted to MetaFilter by From Bklyn at 12:42 PM on April 7, 2007 (105 comments)

Who prays like this? (loud & aggressive)
posted to Ask Metafilter by Pasa la bola chetu at 7:56 AM on April 5, 2007 (15 comments)

How involved should I be in my 8-year-old’s friendship woes?
posted to Ask Metafilter by BluGnu at 8:40 AM on March 23, 2007 (31 comments)

Some family members have gotten involved with a cult/pyramid scheme called Psi Seminars. They've been spending money they don't have (up to $4000/seminar, for which they travel to another state and have to stay in hotels) and it's wreaking havoc on their lives. One has lost his home, two are threatening to end their marriages and are alienating their grown children. They are demanding that our relationships with them be within the context of us paying them to attend these seminars as well.
posted to Ask Metafilter by Anonymous at 3:05 PM on March 21, 2007 (14 comments)

Bye, Ze. Zefrank, the very fine video blogger, who in a single year created a massive and devoted web community by asking his audience to dress their vacuums, whip ass with Ray, and make an Earth sandwich, has decided to call it quits and head off to Hollywood. Perhaps the resources will bring him a bigger audience. But I'll miss the hearts and flowers, even the occasional lecture. To think it all started with dancing lessons. [Previously]
posted to MetaFilter by Toekneesan at 4:20 PM on March 18, 2007 (36 comments)

Why did this credit card swiping trick work?
posted to Ask Metafilter by baphomet at 2:50 PM on March 5, 2007 (24 comments)

From Human Rights Watch:

...He had spent a year and a half in captivity without even a glimpse of natural light. One day the Americans opened up a skylight in his building. “They brought me a chair and let me sit under the skylight,” he remembered. “I was so happy. I joked with them, pretending to call outside, ‘Help! Someone help me! Let me out!’” ...One photo that surprised Jabour was of a boy named Talha, who appeared to be nine or ten years old. His father was said to be Hamza al-Jofi, a militant leader in Waziristan. When Jabour saw the photo of Talha, who was apparently in custody, he expressed amazement that the United States was holding someone so young.

The Case of Marwan Jabour
US: Secret CIA Prisoners Still Missing
posted to MetaFilter by y2karl at 8:28 AM on February 27, 2007 (71 comments)

I'm looking for an old post that was like a three link post to customized in-flight safety cards that described an office revolution back to garden of eden-esque... Have no clue how to find it..
posted to MetaTalk by dobie at 7:37 PM on February 17, 2007 (21 comments)

Does bread ever get too stale to be useful for something?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Caviar at 11:15 AM on February 19, 2007 (19 comments)

Cassidy Curtis is responsible for the best overnight homework any teacher has ever received in any course at any level at any place in any subject at any time, ever, ever, ever. If being able to hand-draw Torus in 3-Space renderings isn't enough for you (on skin too) then would you believe a Flash based Graffitti Archaeology application or a Telestereoscope and even a pretty normal blog. (couldn't find his myspace page though...)
posted to MetaFilter by DragonBoy at 9:15 PM on February 5, 2007 (25 comments)

You will be thoroughly beaten. Zimbabwe, in economic decline for years, may be accelerating towards collapse. Its inflation rate recently hit 1281%, the highest in the world, and a strike by public doctors that began six weeks ago has now spread to nurses, electrical workers and (today) teachers. Those that aren't allowed to strike, like police, are quitting. Last month, Zimbabwe's top judge warned that underfunding had (possibly intentionally) left its judiciary largely unable to function, the nation's electricity provider recently announced that it's broke, its sewage plants started breaking down and polluting urban water supplies, and international observers warned (based on satellite photos, since the government won't allow them in) that famine is looming. In the past, President Robert Mugabe's response to the growing destitution has been to forcibly evict poor urban slum residents into the countryside and bulldoze their homes, to prevent them from organizing politically and to make it difficult for rights organizations to monitor them. Now, he's canceling the 2008 presidential elections (for now, saying that they'll be held in 2010, in conjunction with parliamentary elections, to save money) and ordering security forces to jail and torture political activists. The situation may be approaching a breaking point.
posted to MetaFilter by gsteff at 2:21 PM on February 5, 2007 (49 comments)

How can I transform chess from a solitary to a social activity?
posted to Ask Metafilter by gregb1007 at 4:16 PM on February 4, 2007 (26 comments)

"I didn't know I couldn't speak until I tried to speak out loud. I could still hear in my mind myself saying 'this is Jill, I need help'...so when I tried to speak I went wvur wvur wvur and so I sounded like a golden retriever."

In 1996 neuroanatomist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor had a rare kind of stroke (an AVM) that allowed her to maintain consciousness and analyze the effects of half her brain shutting down over the course of four hours. She was interviewed today (mp3) on Sound Medicine and discussed losing her language abilities and the ability to differentiate between herself and the outside world while gaining control over the rebuilding of her mind.
posted to MetaFilter by ztdavis at 5:06 PM on January 28, 2007 (36 comments)

What's behind Niagara Falls? Some dudes investigate.
posted to MetaFilter by davebush at 11:04 AM on January 14, 2007 (71 comments)

Fuck You Baltimore! (NSFW) If you're a jackass in Baltimore who wants to buy a car, then Big Bill Hell is the guy who's gonna screw you.
posted to MetaFilter by dhammond at 1:50 AM on January 13, 2007 (35 comments)

I have a lot of cotton t-shirts, of the medium-to-heavy weight kind that usually have something printed on them. There seem to be two distinct kinds of cotton fabric in the shirts: Good: After a few washes, the shirt becomes soft and kind of broken in. Bad: the shirt never really becomes soft or broken in, and worse, inevitably comes out of the dryer with (clean) lint and cat hair all over it. So I have two questions about this:
1. What accounts for the different outcomes for two 100% cotton shirts?
2. Is there any solution, ASIDE from using fabric softener? Any non-nasty alternatives to fabric softener?
posted to Ask Metafilter by everichon at 8:29 AM on March 15, 2005 (9 comments)

One of the worst and best hockey plays you will ever see - all within fourteen seconds. Former first overall pick, Patrik Stefan of the NHL's Dallas Stars, gets an open shot at an empty net with fourteen seconds left in the game...and misses. The Edmonton Oilers regain control of the puck, make a long pass down the length of the ice and score to tie the game with two seconds left!
posted to MetaFilter by Jaybo at 5:42 PM on January 5, 2007 (96 comments)

A multimedia exhibit on the Nazi persecution of homosexuals, Wikipedia on gays under the Nazis, Paragraph 175 - a documentary profiling gay survivors of Nazi era policies, and memorials of the gay Holocaust. A few Nazi-era gay and lesbian figures of note:

- A Berlin intellectual and pioneer in sexuality research, and an early advocate for gay rights, (controversial in part for his early support of outing) Magnus Herschfeld died in exile after Nazis destroyed his Institute of Sexual Science.
- The butch orchestra conductor Frieda Belinfante and gay artist William Arondeus were part of the same resistance group that first falsified papers for Dutch Jews, and then when Nazi's began to compare these falsified papers with city records, set fire to the Amsterdam Registry building.
- Lily Wust, the wife of a German soldier, fell for a Jewish woman at the wrong time. Their story became the subject of a book and film.
posted to MetaFilter by serazin at 11:58 AM on December 15, 2006 (27 comments)

Making an emergency car kit for road trips, especially in winter conditions.

How to travel safely in winter.

What to do if you're lost.

How to survive in the wilderness, according to the US Army. How to build an igloo. How to make emergency snowshoes.

equipped.org reviews personal survival kits, provides the story of five people stranded within sight of one of the US's largest cities, and blogs on the topic of emergency survival. And, last but not least, the equipped.org forums weigh in on the Kim emergency.

Requiescat in pace, James Kim.
posted to MetaFilter by scrump at 7:49 AM on December 7, 2006 (57 comments)

Sexual Fables. Western philosophy, literature, and thought from a distaff point of view. Full of multidisciplinary goodness, and the intertextuality is pretty neat. The art's pretty good, too.
posted to MetaFilter by John of Michigan at 6:14 PM on November 27, 2006 (3 comments)

I used to be a devoted catholic. I quit the church years ago, but still miss the spirituality. Buddhism should fit me, but I feel like such a poser.
posted to Ask Metafilter by davar at 3:26 PM on November 25, 2006 (37 comments)

The Night Andy Kaufman Sabotaged After Michael Richards flipped out at the Laugh Factory, some speculated that Kramer had an "Andy Kaufman moment" gone horribly wrong, but did you know that Richards was once a target of Kaufman's humor himself? On February 20, 1981, Andy Kaufman hosted ABC's late night comedy show, Fridays , but refused to stay on script during the live Broadcast. After deliberately blowing lines in several sketches, Kaufman instigated a fight during one sketch, by pouring water on Fridays cast member, Michael Richards. The next year, ratings for Fridays were so low that they asked Kaufman to host a second time to boost ratings. (More inside.)
posted to MetaFilter by jonp72 at 10:56 AM on November 23, 2006 (60 comments)

How can we make sushi?
posted to Ask Metafilter by elvissa at 8:11 PM on November 9, 2006 (20 comments)

Emacs under OS X: I installed Aquamacs a while ago, and my dotemacs file received a "thumping" royale. What should I do?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Gordion Knott at 11:53 AM on November 9, 2006 (4 comments)

My 20 year old son came out to my wife and I this morning. I want to support him and understand his lifestyle and decisions better. Where do I go from here?
posted to Ask Metafilter by Anonymous at 6:17 PM on October 23, 2006 (41 comments)

Blaster Master ... Solid NES Gold. Those who remember the game do so with fondness. Though critically lauded on release, and later spawning several sequels, the game was never as big a hit as its its spiritual predecessors, Metroid and Legend of Zelda. Like Super Mario Bros. 2/Doki Doki Panic, Blaster Master was based on an obscure Japanese game, in this case Chōwakuseisenki Metafight although the differences in this case are limited to the story. Blaster Master was also the first (and only "canon") book in the Nintendo Worlds of Power series, in which various authors novelized third-party games using the pseudonym "F.X. Nine." Download the Blaster Master book here (MSWord zipped, "enhanced" by a fan). Lastly, some bonus links: one, two, and three (!)
posted to MetaFilter by BlackLeotardFront at 1:33 PM on October 24, 2006 (36 comments)