MetaFilter posts tagged with culture

Peak Rock was reached in 1965

acb — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:20:26 -0800

US Crude Oil Production vs. Rock Music Quality, by year. Is Rockism the cultural equivalent of Hubbert Peak Theory?

Commie Ball

reenum — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:08:05 -0800

Cuban players have long been a mainstay in baseball. After Fidel Castro made it impossible for people to leave the island, the flow of players stopped to a drip. That changed with the defection of Rene Arocha in 1991. The potential to make big money has led to more defections. Joe Cubas is the most prominent agent working with these players. Michael Lewis recently wrote a great article in Vanity Fair about the lives of baseball players in Cuba and looks at the saga of defector Yuniesky Betancourt and his agent, Gus Dominguez. Players are still defecting.

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

jaduncan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:34:59 -0800

The Gecko Wears A Tiara [via mefi projects] Sumarian proverbs. Compare those with the 1600BCE Ashubanipal proverbs and Proverbs From the Ancient Egyptian Temples and indeed, modern Iraq and Arabic more generally. Enjoy, culture geeks. Added bonus proverb pages: Aboriginal Australian proverbs, Afghan proverbs, African proverbs, Albanian proverbs, Altay proverbs, American proverbs, Arabic proverbs, Aramaic proverbs, Armenian proverbs, Azerbaijani proverbs, Balochi proverbs, Basque Proverbs, Bauernregeln (humorous), Bengali proverbs, Bhutanese proverbs, Bible Proverbs, Bosnian proverbs, Breton proverbs, Bulgarian proverbs, Cambodian Proverbs, Catalan proverbs, Proverbs commonly attributed to be Chinese, Chinese proverbs, Corsican proverbs, Croatian proverbs, Cypriot proverbs, Czech proverbs, Danish proverbs, Dominican proverbs, Dutch proverbs, Egyptian proverbs, English proverbs, Faroese proverbs, Filipino proverbs, Finnish proverbs, French proverbs, Frisian proverbs, Galician proverbs, German proverbs, Proverbs from the game of Go, Greek proverbs, Gypsy (Romani) proverbs, Haitian proverbs, Hebraic proverbs, Hindi proverbs, Honduran proverbs, Hungarian proverbs, Icelandic proverbs, Indian proverbs, Indonesian proverbs, Ingush proverbs, Irish proverbs, Italian proverbs, Japanese proverbs, Jewish proverbs, Kannada proverbs, Kashmiri proverbs, Khakas proverbs, Klingon proverbs, Korean proverbs, Kurdish proverbs, Latin proverbs, Latvian proverbs, Macedonian proverbs, Malay proverbs, Malayalam proverbs, Maltese proverbs, Manx proverbs, Maori proverbs, Mesopotamian Proverbs, Mexican proverbs, Mongolian proverbs, Native American proverbs, Nepal Bhasa proverbs, Nepali Proverbs, Nigerian proverbs, Norwegian proverbs, Pakistani proverbs, Pashto proverbs, Persian proverbs, Polish proverbs, Portuguese proverbs, Proverbs, Punjabi proverbs, Romanian proverbs, Russian proverbs, Russian proverbs from the USSR, Sanskrit proverbs, Scanian proverbs, Scottish Gaelic proverbs, Scottish proverbs, Serbian proverbs, Sinhala proverbs, Slovak proverbs, Spanish proverbs, Swahili proverbs, Swedish proverbs, Swiss proverbs, Tamil proverbs, Telugu proverbs, Thai proverbs, Tuareg proverbs, Turkish proverbs, Tywa proverbs, Urdu proverbs, Venezuelan proverbs, Vietnamese proverbs, Vulcan proverbs, Welsh proverbs, Yiddish proverbs, Yoruba proverbs, Zen proverbs.

What Bogan is that?

awfurby — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:23:14 -0800

Someone has started publishing a handy guide to the Australian bogan. One bogan is not amused. (Previously)

Bank Notes - a collection of bank robbery notes

nthdegx — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:43:20 -0800

Bank Notes - a collection of bank robbery notes, successful and otherwise.

On use vs. exchange value: we must be careful about what we pretend to be

kliuless — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:24:13 -0800

Asset inflation, price inflation, and the great moderation
Economists ~~as penance~~ have been trying to locate the origins of the great chain of causation that has led us to our present situation -- the worrying conclusion is that problems remain -- imbalances precipitated by a labour supply shock [1,2] and/or (the rise of) machines [1,2] have not gone away and continue to persist in decimating the ('developed world's) middle class, as evidenced by high and rising unemployment, which has led to a crisis in central banking itself. moreover, paraphrasing george washington, "the government's entire strategy now is to cover up how bad things are." iow, if there isn't a middle class 'civil rights' movement already, there should be...

I say potato, you say...potato!

Gyan — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:46:09 -0800

Would it be inherently evil if there were not 6,000 spoken languages but one?

Goodbye, "Leih Hou Ma," Hello "Ni Hao Ma!"

zarq — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:57:09 -0800

"Chinatown" communities across the United States (New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco) are undergoing a shift in linguistic identity, as recent immigrants are more likely to natively speak Mandarin (the official spoken language of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan,) instead of Cantonese. Also see these anecdotal reports about similar changes in Vancouver and Oakland, CA. Good news for the tri-literate: signs like this may soon become commonplace. :) The Language Atlas of China The PopUp Chinese Podcast and Arch Chinese site provide basic Mandarin lessons. Also see: Mango, ZhongWen and LiveMocha

The Struggle For the Soul of Islam

reenum — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:29:06 -0800

Back in 2004, the Chicago Tribune published an investigative series about the state of Islam after 9/11. They hit many prescient topics, such as: - Islam's origins and how militant groups developed within the faith. - An anecdote about how hard line fundamentalists won over the congregation at a mosque in Bridgeview, IL. - The Saudi financing of militant groups. - Egypt's shift from moderate Islam to fundamentalism. - Tensions in Iran between hard liners and people yearning for greater freedom in society. - The growth of the International Muslim Brotherhood within the United States. - The story of Ismail Maasawabi, a Palestinian youth who became a suicide bomber in Gaza. - How Turkey has remained a moderate Muslim state. - The influence of madrassas in the growing fundamentalism in Pakistan. - The conflict between moderate and fundamentalist groups in Indonesia. - The spread of Islam in Europe. - An anecdote about an Islamic school in France. - How the children of Muslim immigrants to the U.S. balance these two cultures. -The role American foreign policy has played in the rise of fundamentalism.

The Victims of Pornography

psmealey — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:14:59 -0800

"Porn films are not about sex. Sex is airbrushed and digitally washed out of the films There is no acting because none of the women are permitted to have what amounts to a personality.The one emotion they are allowed to display is an unquenchable desire to satisfy men, especially if that desire involves the women’s physical and emotional degradation." In his most recent book, Chris Hedges navigates our culture of narcissim, from porn (in the linked segment), to the WWE, to Ivy League graduation ceremonies and reality tv — exposing, according to his publisher "an age of terrifying decline and heightened self-delusion". Hedges is a former foreign correspondent for the New York times, has previously gone to war with Christian Fundamentalists, The New Atheists, War itself and his own employer, resigning from his job rather than submit to the Times's reprimand over his outspoken opposition to the Iraq War and the press "cheerleading" that preceded it.

Breastfeeding in Mongolia.

five fresh fish — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:40:04 -0800

Breastfeeding in Mongolia The author describes the ubiquity of breastfeeding and breast milk in Mongolia, and her experience over a three-year period of breastfeeding her infant in Mongolia and in the West.

Without using the words “man” or “good,” can you please define what it means to be a good man?

Non Prosequitur — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:36:10 -0800

War Dances: “I wanted to call my father and tell him that a white man thought my brain was beautiful”. Sherman Alexie doing his thing in The New Yorker, excerpted from his upcoming book (early review; interview 1, 2.)

IMMD

allkindsoftime — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:19:37 -0800

It Made My Day: Little moments of WIN.

The Terrorist Within

reenum — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:32:10 -0800

The Terrorist Within is an in-depth look at the story of Ahmed Ressam. There's an interesting look at the lives of Ressam and other would-be jihadis and the way the authorities dealt with the information obtained about Ressam's activities.

The future of the news business

reenum — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:48:00 -0800

The newspaper industry is facing challenges, and what might be done to ramify the situation Newspapers have been an institution for over a hundred years, but are now under threat of being undermined by the Internet and other sources. This article gives a decent background of the current crisis faced by the industry and how the industry might respond to the threats the printed paper faces.

Slap! Sir, I demand satisfaction

reenum — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:31:46 -0800

Few things in history are as compelling as the duel. Refined and barbaric at the same time, this practice has had a checkered history. The rules of dueling were codified by the Irish in 1777 in the Code Duello (summarized here), which was codified at Clonmel Summer Assizes in 1777. As evidenced by these documents, dueling was in practice prior to the Irish rules being drafted. The procedure and philosophy behind duels is illustrated in this article. Dueling gained some traction in America in the 19th century, culminating in the famous Burr-Hamilton affair. There are many more resources to find out more here. For a list of famous duels, you can check out this list. Lest you think men were the only ones dueling, here are a few short anecdotes of women dueling. Reportedly, dueling is still legal in Paraguay, as long as both parties are registered blood donors.

Advertising in the public interest

Rhaomi — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:54:54 -0800

"What if America wasn't America?" That was the question posed by a series of ads broadcast in the wake of the September 11th attacks, ads which depicted a dystopian America bereft of liberty: Library - Diner - Church. Together with more positive ads like Remember Freedom and I Am an American, they encouraged frightened viewers to cherish their freedoms and defend against division and prejudice in the face of terrorism (seven years previously). The campaign was the work of the Ad Council, a non-profit agency that employs the creative muscle of volunteer advertisers to raise awareness for social issues of national importance. Founded during WWII as the War Advertising Council, the organization has been behind some of the most memorable public service campaigns in American history, including Rosie the Riveter, Smokey the Bear, McGruff the Crime Dog, and the Crash Test Dummies. And the Council is still at it today, producing striking, funny, and above all effective PSAs on everything from student invention to global warming to arts education to community service.

Additional resources: A-to-Z index of Ad Council campaigns - Campaigns organized by category - Award-winning campaigns - PSA Central: A free download directory of TV, radio, and print PSAs (registration req'd) - An exhaustive history of the Ad Council [46-page PDF] - YouTube channel - Vimeo channel - Twitter feed

My Gypsy childhood

acb — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:37:52 -0800

Roxy Freeman was born into an Gypsy family. For years, her family travelled around Ireland in a horsedrawn wagon, without electricity or formal schooling, getting by on picking fruit and selling horses they bred, before settling in Norfolk. Roxy taught herself to read, devoured books, and, after travelling the world for a number of years, decided to go to university, a move which would require her to completely change her way of life. Living in a flat in Brighton, a way of life which she finds bizarre and alien, she has written about her childhood, her family's culture and the difficulties and prejudices she encountered, for the Guardian. The shift to a fixed, urban lifestyle wasn't an easy one: "I can't see or feel the change from one season to the next, I crave greenery, and I constantly wrestle with the emotion of feeling trapped. I spend half my life opening doors and windows, trying to get rid of the airless, claustrophobic feeling that comes with being inside. I get woken up by bin lorries, the rush-hour traffic and my neighbours shouting, instead of birdsong and the wind in the trees. I can't sense when it's going to rain because I can no longer smell it in the air, and when it does rain I can't hear it landing on the roof."

On this labour day...

kliuless — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:13:11 -0800

Social mobility, income inequality and wealth disparities. BONUS

After a 30-Year Run, Rise of the Super-Rich Hits a Wall: Over the last two years, the rich became poorer, and they may not return to their old levels of wealth anytime soon.
Household Debt to Net Worth Ratio Spiking - "While the richest were impacted the most in $ terms, the lower to middle class tend to have more of their net worth stashed in real estate (i.e. their home). Thus, while the financial markets rebounded in 2009, it is likely that the lower to middle class didn't reap the reward (housing has continued to fall). Thus, when data is updated for 2008 and 2009 (though too early to judge where we'll end up this year), expect the discrepancy to be even wider."
Poverty, growth, and sustainability - "Getting out of poverty means, among other things, having access to more of society's resources for the sake of consumption: better diet, healthcare, education, transportation, housing, clothing, and other goods... Now consider the environmental side of the coin."
Thin Value, Thick Value - "Profit through economic harm to others results in what I've termed 'thin value'. Thin value is an economic illusion: profit that is economically meaningless, because it leaves others worse off, or, at best, no one better off. When you have to spend an extra 30 seconds for no reason, mobile operators win -- but you lose time, money, and productivity. Mobile networks' marginal profits are simply counterbalanced by your marginal losses. That marginal profit doesn't reflect, often, the creation of authentic, meaningful value. Thin value is what the zombieconomy creates."
Life Inc. - "about money as a medium, and the way centralized currency and corporate capitalism were accepted as given circumstances of business, rather than inventions of particular people at a particular time... how the world became a corporation"
The Size of the Bush Tax Cuts vs. the Cost of Health Care Reform - "Tax cuts for the wealthy come before health care for the uninsured."
Health Care That Works - "Until the mid-19th century, firefighting was left mostly to a mishmash of volunteer crews and private fire insurance companies. In New York City, according to accounts in The New York Times in the 1850s and 1860s, firefighting often descended into chaos, with drunkenness and looting. So almost every country moved to what today’s health insurance lobbyists might label 'socialised firefighting'. In effect, we have a single-payer system of public fire departments... Throughout the industrialised world, there are a handful of these areas where governments fill needs better than free markets: fire protection, police work, education, postal service, libraries, health care. The United States goes along with this international trend in every area but one: health care."
Professor Paul Krugman at war with Niall Ferguson over inflation - "One of them is a 'poseur'. The other is 'patronising'. One suffers from 'verbal diarrhoea'. The other is a 'whiner'... Those accusations were slung round in an increasingly bitter public row between two of the world’s most distinguished commentators on global finance and economics, professors Paul Krugman and Niall Ferguson, of Princeton and Harvard, respectively. It started as an argument about bond prices. But last week it blew up into a row about racism, printing money, spending our way out of recession, and the fate of the global economy." [1,2]
Why the Growing Level of U.S. Debt May Not be Inflationary - "The future level of the debt in the U.S. is not a worry if we get effective health care reform (rising health care costs are the major source of projected future deficits)."

btw, labor day (American) "originated in Canada [...President Grover] Cleveland was also concerned that aligning a US labor holiday with existing international May Day celebrations would stir up negative emotions linked to the Haymarket Affair."

It doesn't matter who's wrong or right. Just beat it.

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:23:44 -0800

Beatin' it in Seattle

Stuff Christian Culture Likes

Blazecock Pileon — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:49:53 -0800

Stuff Christian Culture Likes - A preacher's daughter marries another preacher's son and offers an insider's perspective about youth leaders, tips and hawks, sexual jewelry, hot wives, drama teams, video games, Jumbotrons, coffee, graphic design, typography and more.

Dominick Dunne 1925-2009

reenum — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:00:06 -0800

Dominick Dunne died yesterday at the age of 83. was well known for his chronicling of the follies and crimes of the rich. You can read some of his pieces from Vanity Fair here.

Culture Jamming and Reality Hacking

netbros — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:07:43 -0800

The Art of the Prank offers insights, information, news and discussions about pranks, hoaxes, culture jamming and reality hacking around the world. Includes topics such as The History of Pranks, The Prank As Art, and the Sociology and Psychology of Pranks. Get pranking. Recent posts include: Mexico 17 Brazil 0 soccer match, The Pynchon Hoax, and a Microsoft Viral stunt.

Salsa has always outsold ketchup.

resiny — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 05:36:27 -0800

For these students, Martha Graham, Pan American Airways, Michael Landon, Dr. Seuss, Miles Davis, The Dallas Times Herald, Gene Roddenberry, and Freddie Mercury have always been dead. Each August since 1998, Beloit College has released the Beloit College Mindset List. It provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college. It is the creation of Beloit’s Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride and Emeritus Public Affairs Director Ron Nief. It is used around the world as the school year begins, as a reminder of the rapidly changing frame of reference for this new generation. The lists on the website go all the way back to the class of 2002 (that is, 1998). Class of 2012 thread Class of 2011 thread

Ben Stiller and walking dino skeleton not included.

FunkyHelix — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:13:27 -0800

Saturday, September 26th, the Smithsonian museum family and their affiliates will be hosting a free admission event, if you go to their MUSEUM DAY site and print out the admission coupon. One coupon = 1+ admission. Which museums across the nation are participating? I'm glad you asked. Because there are three ways of finding a participating venue. This is free culture being thrown at you for free and is free. Did I mention free? TAKE IT AND RUN. Introduce your kids to something other than the television. They may like it. Take your boy/girlfriend on a romantic date though the ages. Impress out of town guests with an excellent field trip. Teachers, force your kids to go and bring back a pamphlet or report as extra credit in your class.