There’s Nothing Like a Good Old Country Song, whether it's The Great Speckled Bird, I Am Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes, The Wild Side of Life, or It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels. All I know is, There's a Grand Old Opry Show Playing Somewhere.
posted to MetaFilter by Miko at 2:55 PM on February 4, 2012 (19 comments)

Dolly Parton is two amazing singers. You've already heard her unforgettable voice at normal speed. But as John Oswald and others show, slowed down, it becomes something hauntingly lovely.
posted to MetaFilter by Mchelly at 1:11 PM on January 31, 2012 (71 comments)

"A secret crafty gift from a stranger (from the internet)..."
posted to MetaTalk by torisaur at 6:10 PM on January 25, 2012 (70 comments)

Tobar an Dualchais will keep you busy for awhile. It's a collection of over 26,000 oral recordings made in Scotland, from the 1930s onward. Folklore, songs, music, history, poetry, oh my. Includes some fascinating material from Belle Stewart, the McPake Sisters of Peebles and John the Bard.
posted to MetaFilter by RedEmma at 10:43 AM on January 14, 2012 (5 comments)

If you've changed the default fonts on your profile, what have you changed them to?
posted to MetaTalk by crunchland at 3:19 PM on January 12, 2012 (89 comments)

In the great tradition ("Bring to our attention that which we may have glossed over" and "Best overlooked comments of 2010") of finding overlooked gems on the blue, green and grey, please share your favorite finds of 2011.
posted to MetaTalk by MonkeyToes at 12:43 AM on January 1, 2012 (103 comments)

Here is the Shep of the Day podcast: bringing you something that Jean Shepherd said this day on the radio. (Actually, sometimes a whole show.)
posted to MetaFilter by JHarris at 8:37 PM on December 27, 2011 (17 comments)

What disaster befell the Asch House? Where do a few surviving hedges keep alive our lost Elysium? Where is there a fully clothed life-sized wax effigy of Sarah? These questions and more in the One Hundred and Seventh Issue of the King William's College General Knowledge Paper! [PDF]
posted to MetaFilter by Iridic at 8:30 AM on December 22, 2011 (153 comments)

A decade on, the Coen brothers' woefully underrated O Brother, Where Art Thou? [alt] is remembered for a lot of things: its sun-drenched, sepia-rich cinematography (a pioneer of digital color grading), its whimsical humor, fluid vernacular, and many subtle references to Homer's Odyssey. But one part of its legacy truly stands out: the music. Assembled by T-Bone Burnett, the soundtrack is a cornucopia of American folk music, exhibiting everything from cheery ballads and angelic hymns to wistful blues and chain-gang anthems. Woven into the plot of the film through radio and live performances, the songs lent the story a heartfelt, homespun feel that echoed its cultural heritage, a paean and uchronia of the Old South. Though the multiplatinum album was recently reissued, the movie's medley is best heard via famed documentarian D. A. Pennebaker's Down from the Mountain, an extraordinary yet intimate concert film focused on a night of live music by the soundtrack's stars (among them Gillian Welch, Emmylou Harris, Chris Thomas King, bluegrass legend Dr. Ralph Stanley) and wryly hosted by John Hartford, an accomplished fiddler, riverboat captain, and raconteur whose struggle with terminal cancer made this his last major performance. The film is free in its entirety on Hulu and YouTube -- click inside for individual clips, song links, and breakdowns of the set list's fascinating history.
posted to MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 11:35 AM on December 22, 2011 (107 comments)

All across the world you'll find different varieties of dumplings. However, starting in Eastern Europe and spreading across central Asia and into northeast Asia, you'll find a remarkably similar variety featuring a thin skin and a meat filling. Variants can be found all the way from Poland (Pieorgies) to Korea (Mandu), a distance of nearly 5,000 miles (more than 7,500 km).
posted to MetaFilter by Deathalicious at 9:45 AM on December 19, 2011 (64 comments)

It was a simple and crazy idea: to celebrate her 28th birthday by renting a hotel room, cover it in paper and spend a week drawing on the paper. Welcome to Molly Crabapple's Week in Hell with photos of work in progress and panoramas of the completed room.
posted to MetaFilter by Brandon Blatcher at 5:36 AM on December 3, 2011 (56 comments)

Leka I Zogu died November 30, 2011 at the age of 72. When he was less than 48 hours old, Mussolini's troops invaded Albania and drove out his father, King Zog I of Albania, and the rest of the royal family. He spent the rest of his life fleeing invading armies, stockpiling weaponry, trading commodities, attempting coups, returning to Albania (three times), and eventually settling into a quiet life in the very country where he refused to relenquish his claims to the throne.
posted to MetaFilter by Eyebrows McGee at 9:12 AM on December 2, 2011 (39 comments)

THNK U, QUONSAR!!!!
posted to MetaTalk by sonika at 2:11 PM on December 1, 2011 (269 comments)

Graphic designer Susan Kare was responsible for much of the look of the original Mac operating system. Now, you can take a peek inside the notebook where she sketched out on graph paper the icons for cut and paste. (previously)
posted to MetaFilter by Horace Rumpole at 4:03 PM on November 22, 2011 (38 comments)

Over 40 million Americans move in a year, creating a huge amount of internal migration. In this wonderful interactive map you can see the flows of population by county and year in America. Four experts comment on the map ("The Human Capital Swap-meet," "Vibrant Flux," "Reversing Flows," and "New Patterns?"). In more detail, the Census has a report on the latest geographic flows, and the Migration Policy Institute has terrific data on the population flows of immigrants. And, for a more international view, the map of cities that attract the most outside residents is also really interesting.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 10:54 AM on November 21, 2011 (23 comments)

So, four mefites collaborated on a Metafilter-themed panel last month at at the Association of Internet Researchers's 12th annual Internet Research conference, and we thought we'd go ahead and share our presentation notes and such. Come on in!
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 3:55 PM on November 18, 2011 (58 comments)

In Tonsberg, Norway, they are building a Viking Ship. By hand, using the same tools and processes the vikings used.
posted to MetaFilter by Chrischris at 6:34 AM on November 17, 2011 (49 comments)

Ozark Giraffe Rock architectural exteriors are a common sight along Route 66 in the Ozarks region of the United States, as they were a popular building choice between 1910 - 1940. The construction materials for giraffe rock exteriors were inexpensive and produced locally from materials found in plentiful supply in the Ozark Mountains, and the style was most predominant on small houses, usually bungalows.
posted to MetaFilter by aabbbiee at 6:59 AM on November 15, 2011 (30 comments)

Today we're introducing a new way to find travel questions at Ask MetaFilter: Travel Locations.
posted to MetaTalk by pb at 8:27 AM on September 7, 2011 (113 comments)

What People in 1910 Thought the Year 2000 Would Be Like?
posted to MetaFilter by VikingSword at 7:58 PM on August 28, 2011 (111 comments)

Jugend was a German Art Nouveau magazine published from the 1890s to the 1930s. The articles are in German, but every issue features spectacular Art Nouveau art and design. The entire archives are online. Other Art Nouveau magazines included Pan and the The Studio (archives),
posted to MetaFilter by empath at 5:06 PM on August 7, 2011 (9 comments)

Lost Hitchcock film partially recovered. Starring Betty Compson as twins, three reels of The White Shadow have been discovered; Hitchcock was credited as the writer, but is considered by some to have been the co-director. It becomes the oldest extant Hitchcock film, and is part of a partially-explored cache of nitrate film help by the New Zealand Film Archives.
posted to MetaFilter by rodgerd at 5:26 AM on August 3, 2011 (16 comments)

The Carter Family Project [via mefi projects] To quote the original post: "We're recording every single song the Carter Family ever cut. In order. One per day. In one or two takes. And we've got some real good guest stars, too."
posted to MetaFilter by Paul Slade at 2:58 PM on July 25, 2011 (14 comments)

74 years ago today, Nazi officials debuted an exhibit of "degenerate art" in Munich made up from pieces among the over 5,000 works of art the government had confiscated, including works by Paul Klee, Marc Chagall, Piet Mondrian, and Wassily Kandisnsky. Most of the pieces the Nazis confiscated were later publically burned, although some was auctioned off or kept by prominent Nazis. Last year, a few of the confiscated sculptures were recovered from a bombed-out basement and exhibited. Today, you can view images from the exhibition catalogue as well as an unfinished recreation of the exhibit.
posted to MetaFilter by Copronymus at 1:57 PM on July 19, 2011 (33 comments)

‘In 1912, Scotland Yard detectives bought their first camera, to covertly photograph suffragettes. The pictures were compiled into ID sheets for officers on the ground.’
posted to MetaFilter by The Whelk at 9:33 AM on July 18, 2011 (50 comments)

"We certainly cannot follow the example of Odysseus and, going down to Hades, tempt with a bowl of blood a representative sample of native speakers to label particular areas of the standard Munsell color continuum ..."

David Wharton's Latin Color Bibliography collects quotations from ancient literature and modern research on how languages classify colors, and tries to work out the meanings of color words in classical Latin.
posted to MetaFilter by nangar at 1:00 PM on July 18, 2011 (14 comments)

July 17th 1959: "Billie Holiday died in a New York City hospital from cirrhosis of the liver after years of alcohol abuse, aged 43 (while under arrest for heroin possession, with police officers stationed at the door to her room). In the final years of her life, she had been progressively swindled out of her earnings, and she died with $0.70 in the bank." Still, the world remembers her for her music, her voice that changed lives. Some of her best: Nice Work If You Can Get It, Fine and Mellow, Strange Fruit, I'll Be Seeing You, Good Morning Heartache, Summertime, I'm A Fool to Want You, As Time Goes By, Solitude, Come Rain or Come Shine and The Man I Love.
posted to MetaFilter by pleasebekind at 9:50 AM on July 17, 2011 (30 comments)

The Wren's Nest, so named for the birds that took up residence in the mailbox, is the former home of author Joel Chandler Harris, the man behind the Uncle Remus tales. Located on the west side of Atlanta, the house--now a museum--was neglected, in disrepair and in debt until 2006, when Harris' great-great-great-grandson Lain Shakespeare took over as executive director.
posted to MetaFilter by Maaik at 1:50 PM on July 7, 2011 (19 comments)

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Margaret Herrick Library today launched its latest online research tool, the Production Art Database. The database contains records for more than 5,300 items from the library’s collection, including motion picture costume and production design drawings, animation art, storyboards and paintings. Nearly half of the records include images, making this an invaluable online resource for researchers interested in motion picture design.
posted to MetaFilter by Trurl at 7:56 PM on July 2, 2011 (7 comments)

Someone used to great responsibility, and responsible in his authority. Someone too-conscientious...He had that incommunicable, that indescribable look that childhood suffering leaves behind it; less positive than the look on a cripple’s face, but as inescapable. This the artist had both understood and translated into terms of paint...He turned the portrait over to look for a caption. On the back was printed: Richard the Third.

From Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time, "a book of singular originality, ingenuity and humanity" often cited as one of the best of all mystery novels.
posted to MetaFilter by Iridic at 9:48 AM on July 1, 2011 (31 comments)

Can anyone recommend a non-chemical lotion mosquito repellent?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Mavri at 8:10 AM on July 20, 2007 (19 comments)

Archaeologists from Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History have used a remote-controlled microcamera to explore a 1500-year-old sealed Mayan burial chamber at the Palenque archaeological site in Chiapas, Mexico. Story in English from the Guardian but be sure to click on "Fotos" at the first link.
posted to MetaFilter by Horace Rumpole at 11:05 AM on June 24, 2011 (19 comments)

Joe Bussard has a podcast called "Country Classics," (mostly old bluegrass, but there's also a couple featuring old-time jazz) ... also available over the air on WREK (91.1 Atlanta, GA) every Friday afternoon.
posted to MetaFilter by crunchland at 9:31 AM on June 18, 2011 (11 comments)

The much-beloved Arrested Development was characterized by its complex, multilayered narrative jokes; here the A. V. Club analyzed a 50-second-long clip and tried to map out all its references (including one very subtle three-part joke about eggs). Luckily for you, there’s a very exhaustive web site, The Balboa Observer-Picayune, which documents the show’s obscurest jokes (H. Maddas, Blackstool, GOB’s ice obsession), its cleverest callbacks (Hello’s revenge, ”Mom says”, pilot/finale callbacks), its visual gags (yearbooks, newspapers, cartoons, Amazon), and its longest-running gags (I’ve made a huge mistake”, “Her?”, Cloud Mir, ”Hey, brother!”, and the chicken dance). Complete index of references at the Bluthcyclopedia. Complete transcripts of every episode. Bonus songs! All You Need Is Smiles. Yellow Boat. Big Yellow Joint. Hot Cops. It Ain’t Easy Being White. Discipline Daddy. Motherboy. Balls in the Air. You Here With Me. I Get Up. Finally, Fonzie jumps the shark again.
posted to MetaFilter by Rory Marinich at 7:59 AM on June 16, 2011 (291 comments)

Say, you wanna hear a sad song? Eddie Hinton was a guitar player, vocalist, and songwriter from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Co-writer of one of the tenderest, sexiest hits of the late 60s, Dusty Springfield's Breakfast in Bed, Hinton was a key member of the world-famous Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section from 1967 to 1971 (turning down an invitation from Duane Allman to be a member of the Allman Brothers Band) who worked as a studio musician on albums by Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge, the Staples Singers, and Toots Hibbert, but his early success was sidetracked by mental problems, booze, and drugs.
posted to MetaFilter by BitterOldPunk at 2:40 PM on May 31, 2011 (22 comments)

What follows is a D.I.Y. cooking starter kit: small kitchen projects that any cook can tackle. What they all have in common is that they are simple, season-less and a clear improvement on the store-bought version. Includes: Chinese Chili-Scallion Oil, Chocolate-Hazelnut Paste, Corn Muffin Mix, Crème Fraîche, Cultured Butter, Fresh Cheese, Horseradish Beer, Mustard, Kimchi ,Maple Vinegar, Preserved Lemons, Tesa (Cold-Cured Pork Belly), Tomato Chili Jam, Vin d'Orange
posted to MetaFilter by AceRock at 12:31 PM on May 25, 2011 (43 comments)

Leafsnap is a free field guide for iPhone (Android coming soon) that uses the phone's camera and some biometric processing to identify trees by the shape of their leaves. Development was financed by the National Science Foundation (NYT article), and includes research by Columbia University, University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institution.
posted to MetaFilter by swift at 1:36 PM on May 19, 2011 (44 comments)

Christian Schallert transformed his tiny 258 square feet apartment into a much more usable space by creating a vast wall of clickable furniture, and a spring-loaded door swings.
posted to MetaFilter by gman at 8:51 AM on May 11, 2011 (61 comments)

What is half of a deviled egg? This is a serious question.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by churl at 2:52 PM on May 5, 2011 (89 comments)

The Corning Museum of Glass (previously), not to be confused with the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington (previously), has named 60 favorites of their own collection and campus. The choices range from ancient, like the glass "portrait" of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep II, to the scientific, like the initial 200-inch disk intended for the Hale telescope at the Mt. Palomar observatory, to modern sculpture, like Family Matter by Jill Reynolds.

posted to MetaFilter by knile at 9:14 AM on May 3, 2011 (17 comments)

On the 29th January 1942 the first ever Desert Island Discs was broadcast. Surpassed only by the Grand Ole Opry it is the second longest running radio show in history. Beautiful in its simplicity - each castaway is asked to choose eight pieces of music, a book and a luxury item for their imaginary stay on the desert island. For those who have not come across it before aquaint yourself with its iconic theme tune 'By the Sleepy Lagoon' here. Then for newcomers and old hands aquaint yourself with the wonderful new BBC website with searchable archives of 2852 episodes detailing castaways choices, and now with more than 500 episodes available for free download.
posted to MetaFilter by numberstation at 1:11 PM on May 3, 2011 (23 comments)

The Big Map Blog – Five-hundred enormous historical maps; all downloadable in their highest resolution. With a new map every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and 1,700 to go! [via mefi projects]
posted to MetaFilter by carsonb at 4:07 PM on April 4, 2011 (43 comments)

Natalie Barney was a muse for her age. A chance encounter with Oscar Wilde when only six years old ( she would later have an affair with his niece Dolly) helped change her outlook on life.
She moved to Paris and in 1909 started her famed salon at Rue 20 Jacob, with its Temple de l'Amitié (Fr.) sometimes called the Sapphic centre of the Western World and which ran for 60 years.
This was where Ezra Pound met Olga Rudge. Although polyamorous Natalie had a 50 year relationship with Romaine Brooks.
In 1927 she started an Académie des Femmes (Women's Academy) to honor women writers. The cast of females involved in Natalie Barney’s Fridays is vast and includes: Sylvia Beach, Djuna Barnes, Mina Loy, Colette, Nancy Cunard, Janet Flanner, Radclyff Hall, Hadine Hwang, Zita Jungman, Marie Laurencin, Toupie Lowther, Liane de Pougy, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Renee Vivien, and Virginia Wolff.
Here are a couple of brief interviews with her biographer; and some photos.
In 2009 Dayton got around to honoring her but by July 2010 the marker had been vandalized.
posted to MetaFilter by adamvasco at 8:05 AM on March 27, 2011 (13 comments)

Ola Belle Reed came down from the mountains and carried that old-timey sound with her. Her voice and her banjo took her from family sing-alongs to rubbing elbows with some of America's best-known country and bluegrass musicians. Radio stations played her work, and with a little help from friends like Marty Stuart and Del McCoury, her musical legacy lives. Or, as Reed herself sang, "I've worked for the rich, I've lived with the poor; Lord, I've seen many a heartache, there'll be many more; I've lived, loved and sorrowed, been to success's door; I've endured, I've endured."
posted to MetaFilter by MonkeyToes at 6:56 PM on February 20, 2011 (7 comments)

What is your favorite, actually tried and tasted, whoopie pie recipe? Any tips for a first time whoopie pie baker?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by nadawi at 11:44 PM on August 16, 2010 (12 comments)

Amy Sedaris has a YouTube channel where she demonstrates how to craft objects from her new book Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People. So far she's made hot dogs on a rake, potato ships, a donut bird feeder, a Thanksgiving centerpiece, pompoms and a rabbit treat called Dynamite Stixx.
posted to MetaFilter by Kattullus at 10:23 AM on January 17, 2011 (48 comments)

guide to housecat coat colors and patterns Just what it says....
posted to MetaFilter by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 12:13 PM on January 15, 2011 (104 comments)

250-year-old birch bark canoe found in barn to be returned to Canada. While we are on the subject, you could do worse than to spend an hour today watching this fascinating 1971 documentary on a Birch Bark Canoe builder. (Not terribly often you come across a video captioned in Cree.) More YouTube Birch Bark Canoe building goodness.
posted to MetaFilter by spock at 8:51 AM on December 13, 2010 (27 comments)

I would like to thank my Secret Quonsar and invite others to as well and bask in the schmoopy.
posted to MetaTalk by miss-lapin at 12:23 PM on December 1, 2010 (143 comments)

HINDSIGHT IS ALWAYS 20/20 is an information art piece. Artist/composer R. Luke DuBois [previously] manipulated the text of individual State of the Union addresses from each presidency, sorting the words according to frequency of use, to generate a Snellen eye chart for each President.
posted to MetaFilter by Herodios at 2:14 PM on November 20, 2010 (24 comments)