Lou Rawls dies You'll never find... A "velvety baritone" like Lou Rawls, who died Friday of lung cancer at Cedars-Sinai in LA. He moved with his mother from Chicago in the 1950s, was a friend of Sam Cooke, and sang the National Anthem at Game 2 of the 2005 World Series in Chicago. Rawls sang with Sam Cooke, was awarded three Grammys, sold one platinum and five gold albums. He said: There are no limits to music, so why should I limit myself?"
posted by SeeAych4 on Jan 6, 2006 - 31 comments

What have you told your children about Muhammad Ali? "I was frequently left with tingling all over because I had been in the presence of such a great man and still humbled by his compassion, tolerance and understanding." Inspired by this weekend's airing by ESPN Classic of most of Tyson's fights, I started thinking about the difference between these two men. Ali obviously transcended his sport and has become more than just a boxer while Tyson is clearly a lost and troubled soul. And yet Tyson's story still inspires reflection. Nietzche's statement that "What someone is, begins to be revealed when his talent abates, when he stops showing us what he can do" is perfectly illustrated by the twilight years of these two legendary boxers.
posted by spicynuts on Nov 27, 2005 - 47 comments

The Haunted Nintendo "On one occasion, the arrow icon moved down to the 2 player icon without me touching the controller..."
posted by AMWKE on Mar 14, 2005 - 18 comments

404 Research Lab . Not that I'm sorry for the double post, but I was inspired by this 404 and went searching for some more. Some of them are funny, some let you play games, some are just creepy. What's everyone else's favorites?
posted by daHIFI on Jan 27, 2005 - 19 comments

Athletes... Steroids... blah blah blah.. Only this time it's the pigeons. Poor birds.
posted by Lizc on Nov 11, 2004 - 7 comments

open debates is a nonprofit that's working to reform the presidential debate process for the american election. they have some pretty big names on their board from across the political spectrum, including john b. anderson, angela "bay" buchanan, and randall robinson.

From the website:
Currently, the presidential debates are secretly controlled by the major parties, through the private bipartisan corporation called the Commission on Presidential Debates, resulting in the stultification of format, the exclusion of popular candidates, and the avoidance of pressing national issues.
The major party candidates never pay a political price for their antidemocratic practices; posing as an independent sponsor, the Commission on Presidential Debates shields the major party candidates from public criticism and public accountability.
posted by christy on May 26, 2004 - 9 comments

Pictures from Iraq Allegedly from someone who served in Iraq.
posted by turbanhead on Apr 24, 2004 - 35 comments

Hey Joe! Jimi Hendrix, right? Unless it's one of the 599 others. Do we have any idea of what the real standards are; i.e., the truly most-covered and most-coveted songs? [Via LinkFilter.]
posted by MiguelCardoso on Mar 2, 2004 - 25 comments

Violet Books catalogs Antiquarian Supernatural Literature, including literary ghost stories, Victorian science fiction, Yellow Nineties Decadence, H. Rider Haggard & haggardesque "Lost Race" novels, Marie Corelli & other occult romancers, Rafael Sabatini & Jeffery Farnol & all vintage swashbuckling historical romances, Yukon adventures, jungle tales, Sax Rohmer & all weird thrillers, classic detectives, vintage children's & young adult fantasies & series books, vintage westerns, and all things old, fictional, adventurous, and weird. Make sure to check for the titles that have dustjacket scans.
posted by Pinwheel on Dec 15, 2003 - 3 comments

Pictures from the Bloggers' stand in the first Web festival of in Tehran, Iran, include some photos of Iranian female bloggers.
posted by hoder on Nov 30, 2003 - 7 comments

Boudicca (also known as Boadicea) was the queen of the Celtic Iceni tribe in eastern Britain in 60 AD. As recorded by Tacitus and Cassius Dio, she led a brutal revolt against the Romans and razed London and Southwark. There's a famous statue of her at Westminster Bridge, and Masterpiece Theatre has produced a new historical drama about her, Warrior Queen.
posted by homunculus on Oct 12, 2003 - 23 comments

Cold enough yet to warm yourself by a fire? Why not add some interesting color to the flames? Chemicals to make a fire with blue, red, green, and other-colored flames are readily available, and there are a variety of methods to get the ingredients into the fire. You can also buy ready-made stones and sprinkles if you're not much of a home chemist.
posted by beth on Oct 7, 2003 - 5 comments

The real meaning of Mothers Day: it's not just for hallmark anymore. "Mother's Day was started after the Civil War by women who had lost their sons. The following excerpts from the original Mother's Day Proclamation by Julia Ward Howe in 1870 are a timeless reminder of the profound loss and pain war creates for all mothers..." What I foolishly thought was a cheap ploy to sell greeting cards and flowers turns out to be a big day for peace (started by the writer of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, no less), and history backs this up [via oaktown].
posted by mathowie on May 8, 2003 - 15 comments

An article in the Independent newspaper reports that pests have started thriving on poisons genetically implanted in crops.

It seems that before, the organic pesticide used, was effective because it was only sprayed occasionally (once or twice a year) and the pests didn't have time to develop resistance.

With the pesticide being accessible throughout the whole crop-cycle, the pests have adapted, and now thrive on the poison, which they now regard as a food source, growing even larger than normal, and rendering a weapon in the arsenal against pests, entirely ineffective.
posted by Blue Stone on Apr 18, 2003 - 15 comments

Odden's Bookmarks: The Fascinating World of Maps and Mapping.
posted by hama7 on Mar 25, 2003 - 6 comments

The good news? My Comics Page is hosting the great "Bloom County" strips in order, six daily strips one day and a Sunday strip the next (that's a week in two days, kids). The bad news? You have to pay $10.00 to see them.
posted by Mr_Spook on Mar 17, 2003 - 21 comments

How to Speak and Write Postmodern. Here is an etymology of the word postmodern--it begins with Walter Toynbee. Who'd athunk? All of this comes from Contemporary Philosophy, Critical Theory and Postmodern Thought . The names lead not to essays but thorough links pages, like Ludwig Wittgenstein or Edmund Husserl. All the usual suspects are here--your Adorno, Baudrillard and the infamous Frankfurt School. *spooky ghost voice* Whoo-oo-oo! */spooky ghost voice* Well, there is Edward Said, but that one confuses me--I mean I read Edmund Husserl, and he, sir, is no Edmund Husserl. He actually makes sense. Which is more than I can say for Edmund Husserl. And it's all one huge page so you can scroll on down. Even I can do that. Hope I didn't brain my damage! To trump the smarty-pants who's going to link the Postmodernism Generator, I'm upping the ante--here's your Postmodern Mr. T.
                                                             Hey man, This time we're gonna do it my way!
posted by y2karl on Feb 21, 2003 - 39 comments

3 Feb '03 Word of the Day: Blog. Pronunciation: [blahg] Definition 1: A clipping of "weblog," blog is internet jargon for what is basically an online journal or diary. Yes, blogs are going mainstream. Will businesses discover uses for blogs & blog software? Will (mobile-phone) "moblogging" catch on? This link says ...the first Web logs consisted largely of links to sites on the Internet that the author found interesting. Early bloggers were presurfing the Web for people, in a sense [sound familiar?]. About 1999, as free software came on the scene -- making it easy to create Web logs -- the content began to shift. Blogs became more personal, less link-driven. But what is a blog to you? And what is the future of the "blogosphere"?
posted by Shane on Feb 3, 2003 - 25 comments

"and then beowulf, hero of the hairy peoples of upper-earth, cut the hand from the evil lord grendel... afterwards, they hung it above the mead hall door..."

okay. maybe not. but a "yellowed manuscript" containing a translation and analysis of the venerable beowulf has been found in an oxford library. the author? none other than the late j.r.r. tolkien. with all of the interest in anything even remotely hobbit-esque, this is quite a find.
posted by grabbingsand on Jan 8, 2003 - 40 comments

The National Religious Partnership for the Environment is preparing a grass roots campaign linking fuel economy to morality. The group includes members from the Catholic, Jewish and Evangelical faiths.

Why is this important? With BIG religion vs BIG Oil, where does this leave the Republicans?
posted by CrazyJub on Nov 19, 2002 - 21 comments

Regime change required for a rogue nation? In a soundbite disseminated by the White House and duly picked up by the media, Bush the younger asserted that "the world's worst leaders" will not be permitted to "harbor and develop the world's worst weapons." With the U.S. hinting at a new, unilateral war effort abroad and suspending constitutional rights at home, Adrian Hamilton writes in the Independent (U.K.), "The government which is spending by far the most on weapons of mass destruction, and is now planning to raise its budget by an increase greater than the total defence spending of Europe, is, of course, based in Washington."
posted by xian on Aug 10, 2002 - 27 comments

The Big Book of Sign Language (from rotten.com). Have you ever wondered how to sign phrases such as "I shovel shit all day long", "I want to pull the shrieking voices from my head and smoosh them", and "Unlock my legs and get it over with"? The Big Book shows you how. Inappropriate? Yes. Hysterical? Yes. (Portions may not be safe for work. Link via Magnetbox. Thanks, ben.)
posted by moz on Jul 9, 2002 - 29 comments

Australia and Europe incensed over U.S. lies on free trade Bush: "The final provisions of the farm Bill are also consistent with America's international trade obligations, which will strengthen our ability to open foreign markets for American farm products". In other words, free trade good when we sell to you, bad when you sell to us.
posted by magullo on May 3, 2002 - 10 comments

The tendency toward euphemism, catchwords, bites and labels displacing description of uniquicity. Battles of rhetorical titans!
posted by semmi on Apr 18, 2002 - 5 comments

The US Bobsled Team has a very good chance to win an Olympic medal in 2002 for the first time since 1956, thanks to a strong group of people, and a bobsled designed by an unlikely person: NASCAR driver Geoff Bodine. Yeehawwww!!! (quicktime)
posted by machaus on Nov 28, 2001 - 10 comments

The Virtual Autopsy is great fun for those of us who grew up watching too much Quincy. It's also a lot more interesting than playing Operation. Caution, graphic images of internal organs!
posted by MrBaliHai on Nov 23, 2001 - 3 comments

You... are... all... in....my ...thrall.... soon my pretty ones, soon.
posted by Spoon on Oct 26, 2001 - 54 comments

Great Scot! Who are the 100 greatest Scots of the 20th century? Vote, then come back here to post your choice, justify it, and discuss. (What is a "great Scot" anyway?)
posted by feckless on Sep 5, 2001 - 31 comments

Donald Woods, the South African writer, editor and anti-apartheid activist has died after succumbing to a two year illness. It feels right that MeFi too should mention it and pay its respect.. [...]
posted by Kino on Aug 21, 2001 - 3 comments