The Royal Shakespeare Company presents King Lear, starring Ian McKellen, directed by Trevor Nunn, adapted for broadcast and available in its entirety online. [more inside]
posted by Ndwright on Jun 5, 2009 - 36 comments

Is Swine Flu Captain Trips? Probably not. But Mother Abigail's following is growing all the same.
posted by tylerfulltilt on Apr 28, 2009 - 84 comments

"Early morning April 4..." Memphis. 1968. Life reveals the aftermath of the assassination Of Dr. Martin Luther King in photos never before revealed and not an easy click. MLK May your dreams be realized. [more inside]
posted by will wait 4 tanjents on Apr 3, 2009 - 68 comments

In April, an extraordinary auction will provide an unprecedented look into the private world of Michael Jackson. More than 2,000 items, ranging from personal effects and costumes to pieces from Jackson's private art collection as well as fittings and furnishings from his Neverland ranch, will be up for sale. The auction is so extensive, a six-volume book was printed just to detail every lot. [more inside]
posted by Ugh on Feb 15, 2009 - 36 comments

For all which Treasons and Crimes, this Court doth adjudge that the said Charles Stuart, as a Tyrant, Traitor, Murtherer, and a public enemy, shall be put to death by the severing of his Head from his Body. On January 30, 1649, King Charles I was beheaded on a scaffold at Whitehall. [more inside]
posted by Horace Rumpole on Jan 30, 2009 - 50 comments

Gee, boss, I'm feeling a cold coming on. I definitely won't be in to work tomorrow. What's that? You saw me at Gamestop and/or Best Buy at midnight? I, er, well, I was dealing with a nasty bug. No, not that one, the other one (no worries, I'll be compensated!). I'm quite talented, you see. If I was in Europe, they'd already be showing me the way to Northrend. Alas, I'm not, and I have to wait until 9pm PST. In the meantime, there are those who've been where I'm going, and have nicely posted a review already.
posted by thanotopsis on Nov 12, 2008 - 68 comments

Thank You Mario But Our Princess Is in Another Castle. John Darnielle (of the Mountain Goats) and Kaki King perform a song, sung from the point of view of Toad from the Super Mario Brothers video game franchise.
posted by PM on Sep 11, 2008 - 59 comments

Nils Olav has been a member of the Norway's King's Guard since 1972. Today, in a grand ceremony, he was knighted, becoming Sir Nils Olav. [more inside]
posted by Alex404 on Aug 15, 2008 - 34 comments

So, there was this little rock band from England, and they got pretty famous and all, so famous that they initiated the era of stadium concerts, back in '65, at a little place in Queens called Shea. But there was an opening act that night, led by a sax-blowin' fellow name of King Curtis, and he kicked total muhfukkin ass, and it wasn't even with his baddest band! You can hear them here. Jump Back! [more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Aug 15, 2008 - 25 comments

Jonathan "King of Hits" King is a former pop impresario now best known for his conviction and imprisonment for having sex with teenage boys. He has turned his experiences into a satirical musical, Vile Pervert [NSFW], and released the film for free online. In one number, adopting the persona of Oscar Wilde, King asserts that "there's nothing wrong with buggering boys".
posted by jack_mo on May 9, 2008 - 71 comments

Stephen King weighs in on the videogame debate.
posted by P.o.B. on Apr 9, 2008 - 116 comments

"In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it's perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in." Robert F. Kennedy on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., killed 40 years ago today.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Apr 4, 2008 - 17 comments

Gravelter Skelter [video, WTF content].
posted by digaman on Apr 1, 2008 - 20 comments

Lyndon Johnson believed that his withdrawal from the 1968 presidential campaign would free him to solidify his legacy—but four days later, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
posted by veedubya on Mar 31, 2008 - 8 comments

Beatrice Coron is a paper cutting artist, who has a wonderful collection of paper cutting links, including images of her own work, the extraordinary cut paper art of Hina Aoyama, Kako Ueda, Masaaki Tatsumi, Virginia Rose Kane, Drew King, Rick Jones, Andrea Dezsö, Bette Burgoyne, Justine Smith and papercutting art from around the world. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Sep 30, 2007 - 12 comments

The Shah of Iran talks about torture, his own popularity, and corruption.
posted by BuddhaInABucket on Jul 19, 2007 - 23 comments

Yolanda King, daughter of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., dies at 51
posted by BostonJake on May 16, 2007 - 27 comments

Youtube banned in Thailand.
posted by gman on Apr 4, 2007 - 57 comments

A year to the day before his death, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered this speech at Riverside Church, New York City. In the last years of his life, King moved beyond anti-segregation activism to a broader indictment of American class structure and foreign policy. This is The Martin Luther King You Don't See on TV.
posted by Mister_A on Jan 15, 2007 - 56 comments

Dora McDonald, Martin Luther King's private secretary from 1960 until his death, has died at age 81. While few have heard of Ms. McDonald, she was a very important figure in King's work, and was the one who had to tell Coretta Scott King that her husband had been murdered.
posted by cerebus19 on Jan 14, 2007 - 6 comments

Is King Tut's tomb cursed? On February 16, 1923, Egyptologist Howard Carter, his financier George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, and Herbert's daughter Lady Evelyn Herbert entered the just-discovered tomb of the Egyptian boy-king Tutankhamen. Newspapers sensationalized the discovery, and told of a curse. Herbert dies in a Cairo hospital at 2 AM on April 5, 1923, only several months later. Supposedly, right at that moment, lights in Cairo go dark, and his dog at his estate back home in England howls and also drops dead.

However, Carter and Lady Evelyn contine living healthy lives, and examination shows that on average, everyone associated with the discovery lived normal-length lives. Herbert was not in good health even before the discovery, and died of blood poisoning from an infected mosquito bite. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, among others, thought it was fungus.

So now, when scientists perform a CT scan of the body, strange stuff happens: “one researcher's vehicle nearly hit a child. Then a huge storm hit. The CT machine, usually reliable, wouldn't work at first. And when researchers finally began the CT scan, one scientist came down with such a violent coughing attack he had to leave.” Discoveries made? King Tut was 5'10' an 18-20 years old when he died. He probably died of gangrene from a broken femur, not with a blow to the head as previously thought. His head is cut off, his body is cut in two, and his wrist, shoulder, and elbow joints are disconnected. Oh, and his penis is missing.
posted by bkudria on Nov 29, 2006 - 52 comments

For those following the situation in Nepal (previously mentioned here, here, and here), the King has relented and reinstated parliament, though it's not clear whether the new Prime Minister has long for this world. The Maoists have declared a ceasefire, though they aren't happy about the development. Everything is still awaiting a constituent assembly...
posted by graymouser on Apr 27, 2006 - 3 comments

Coretta Scott King passes away at age 78.
posted by googlebombed on Jan 31, 2006 - 51 comments

Is it too early to start throwing out the phrase "Kong Bomb?" Is Peter Jackson the next Michael Cimino?
posted by JPowers on Dec 16, 2005 - 162 comments

The *Original* King Kong Model is Animated One Last Time (large Quicktime video).
posted by JPowers on Oct 22, 2005 - 16 comments

The family trees of American politicians - There are those with very long blue blood pedigrees, and there are those with very short and unknown pedigrees. There are also some surprises, like a certain Democratic senator and possible '08 Veep pick being somewhat closely related to the current Veep, or that certain ex-mayors have family trees that were apparently a bit inbred back in the old country. Other fun tidbits: Newt Gingrich's father was illegitimate, John Kerry is related to the rabbi who created the Golem of Prague, Pat Buchanan is related to both FDR and Marilyn Manson, Wesley Clark's father was a Kohan, Martin Luther King was born Michael Louis King, and Gary Hart was born Gary Hartpence, which was in turn derived from an ancestor named James Eberhart Pence. (more non-politicians here)
posted by Asparagirl on Oct 3, 2005 - 18 comments

Steuard Jensen for Prom King! Three nerds get the resident high school science geek on the ballot for Prom King, and...well, you'll have to read the story to get the answer. Like in fiction, sometimes in real life the protagonist/hero comes from the most unexpected position.
posted by Kickstart70 on Jul 22, 2005 - 14 comments

The Brill Building , located at 1619 Broadway in the heart of New York's music district, is a name synonymous with an approach to songwriting that changed the course of music. Housing legendary songwriters like Carole King, Jerry Leiber, Neil Sedaka, and Burt Bacharach, the Brill Building created some of the greatest hits of the rock'n'roll era. [more inside]
posted by rocket88 on Dec 29, 2004 - 11 comments

From a theft at the U.S. Mint to a scam artist in Philly, from a playboy Egyptian king to a Secret Service sting at the Waldorf-Astoria, ending up at a record-breaking $7.59 million auction: the fascinating history of a coin. (via BoingBoing)
posted by Vidiot on Mar 8, 2003 - 10 comments

Ah, the world cries out for an updated Jonathan website. The Abominable Lesbian Vampire Cappuccino Bar in Cyberspace has withered on the vine, links almost all dead--damn, I should've copied that tab!--but some of the music's not firing blanks. The Jonathan Richman Project only posted one issue of their xerox zine--jeez, remember zines? Mail art? Man, those were the days--but they're nice enough to print Lester Bangs 1976 Creem diss of the Twerp King At The Summit. God, I remember reading that Bangs piece new and running out and buying The Modern Lovers, trusting as I did in his taste or maybe just his gonzo stylings? Little did I know...(inside)
posted by y2karl on Jan 27, 2003 - 32 comments

You're the king of a small african nation. You have an annual health budget of $15 million. Two-thirds of the people in your nation are HIV positive, and two-thirds are living below the poverty line. What do you do? Why, you buy a $31 million private jet, of course!
posted by Reggie452 on Jul 8, 2002 - 27 comments

Elvis: a sign of the coming of the Messianic Age? Yup, Elvis Memphimus Rex Rocandrollus. He has his own shrine in Jerusalem. And now Schmelvis resurrects the King. (Not to be confused with Schelvis , though, a tasty treat of a different order).
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen on Apr 1, 2002 - 11 comments

So, has Stephen King lost it? This guy seems to think so. Some would say he never had it. I think that while this guy makes a few valid points, he goes overboard, and brings up many things that just seem petty and silly, like he's trying to over-prove his theory, and increase the word count of the article. What do you think? (Side note: I wouldn't be surprised if "Richard Blow" becomes the name of a victim in a future King novel...).
posted by sassone on Feb 19, 2002 - 23 comments

"Thank you James Earl Ray for keeping the dream alive"
posted by stbalbach on Jan 16, 2002 - 26 comments

Tonga's Court Jester Loses US$20M of King's Trust Fund in Viaticals Scandal
Jesse Bogdonoff, the manager of Tonga's ever-shrinking trust fund and official court jester to the King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV (the reports of whose death have been exaggerated), has admitted to losing $20M in investing in viaticals, an often fraudulent form of speculation on life insurance policies of cash-strapped terminally-ill people. Court jesters? Viaticals? It's like a Ziggy cartoon run amok.
posted by rschram on Oct 23, 2001 - 9 comments