Absolutely amazing claymation video of Charlie Daniels' "The devil went down to Georgia".
posted by rageagainsttherobots on Jan 8, 2009 - 60 comments

Tampa Bay Rays beat Red Sox, head to World Series - The Tampa Bay Devil Rays began the 2008 season having never made the playoffs and or finishing the season above .500. Motivated by skipper Joe Madden's mathematically questionable slogan "9 = 8" ("9 players going hard for 9 innings means 1 of 8 playoff spots") but not considered a competitor for the AL East top spot by most fans and analysts, the Rays used their new name, uniforms and confidence to slowly emerge as one of the best teams in baseball this year. [more inside]
posted by null terminated on Oct 19, 2008 - 115 comments

The Devil's Tramping Ground is a barren circle in the forest in North Carolina. As a result of nothing having grown within the circle for at least the last hundred years, it has become the subject of some of that state's oldest legends. John Harden, a journalist, newspaper editor and author said of that place "... the story is that the Devil goes there to walk in circles as he thinks up new means of causing trouble for humanity. There sometimes during the dark of night, the Majesty of the Underworld of Evil silently tramps around that bare circle; thinking, plotting, and planning against good, and in behalf of wrong. So far as is known, no person has ever spent the night there to disprove this is what happens.". No person until you came along and played this neat interactive flash movie, that is.
posted by Effigy2000 on May 29, 2008 - 21 comments

Did you ever hear the story / of Belinda O'McHugh / She was courted by the Devil / And she didn't know what to do / He came a courtin' ev'ry evenin' / So Belinda got to thinkin' / She would be the Devil's wife / It was better far than bein' / An old maid all her life
posted by Astro Zombie on Dec 26, 2007 - 4 comments

Satan is dead. Police are seeking a Jewish male in his early thirties in connection with the killing.
posted by EarBucket on Dec 4, 2006 - 47 comments

Long before Robert Johnson ever went down to the crossroads, violinist & composer Niccolo Paganini was rumored to have sold his soul to the devil in exchange for musical ability. Evidence against this theory: Paganini's 5th Caprice actually prevented the devil from stealing The Karate Kid's soul (the devil settled for stealing Ralph Macchio's career instead). Evidence in favor of this theory: When played on acoustic guitar, the virtuosity in his 24th Caprice really seems supernaturally inspired. For my money, however, the perfect storm of ominous music & stringed instruments comes together in this version of Carmina Burana (mp3 direct download), arranged for solo banjo.
posted by jonson on Sep 27, 2006 - 35 comments

After nearly 70 years, blues legend Robert Johnson's guitar has recently surfaced. It's up for sale, but you may need to sell your soul to afford it. Maybe Legba will lend you the purchse price. [more]
posted by madamjujujive on Jul 26, 2006 - 119 comments

Who travels with St. Nicholas? Most of us didn't learn about Krampus in elementary school, but apparently Santa Claus doesn't just rely on positive reinforcement. Gather the kiddies around and teach them about the "Christmas Devil."
posted by Citizen Premier on Dec 8, 2005 - 12 comments

Mr. Fastfinger cuts heads with the devil (whos on accordian) and allows you to take part in the fun. Practice with the master for some serious keyboard riffage.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Aug 2, 2005 - 11 comments

POLITENESS, n. The most acceptable hypocrisy. On this day Ambrose Bierce was born in 1842 in Ohio. The author famous for The Devil's Dictionary was a Civil War vet who despite being wounded in the head moved to San Francisco where he began a successful career in journalism, writing cynical columns, fighting publisher William Randolph Hearst, and ultimately serving the first blow upon the railroad industry whose political muscle had grown obscene. A decade later, the family man whose wife was from one of the most well-to-do families in the City, dissapeared probably in Mexico never to be seen or heard from again.
posted by tsarfan on Jun 24, 2005 - 13 comments

Devil Worship: The Sacred Books and Traditions of the Yezidiz , by Isya Joseph, 1919. 'This is one of the only public domain sources of information on the religious beliefs of the Yezidi, a small group originally from the northern region of Iraq. Although they speak Kurdish, they are a distinct population from the Kurds. The Yezidi are notable because they have been described as devil-worshippers, which has naturally led to constant persecution by the dominant Islamic culture of the region ... They have many unique beliefs, such as that the first Yezidi were created by Adam by parthenogenesis separately from Eve ... ' New on sacred-texts.com.
posted by plep on Sep 17, 2004 - 4 comments

I've just finished reading a copy of Larson's Devil in the White City sent to me by a relative who heard of my love for Isaac's Storm. Devil is a biography of two men who were central to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. One, Daniel H. Burnham would become one of the most influential architects and city planners of the early 20th century. Burnham organized a crew of the architectural, engineering and artistic elite including landscape artist Frederick Law Olmstead (famous for Central Park and Biltmore) in an effort to better the Paris world's fair of 1889. The Chicago exposition would be profoundly influential for American culture introducing Arabic Dance (the tune for "There's a place in France/where the naked ladies dance" was created in Chicago), the Ferris Wheel, Shredded Wheat, and helping to settle the Battle of the Currents between Edison and Tesla. The fair drew a large variety of larger than life figures including Archduke Ferdinand, Elizabeth B. Anthony, Buffalo Bill Cody and the mostly forgotten master of self promotion Citizen Train.

Devil is also a biography of the man given credit for America's first recognized serial murders, the self-named H. H. Holmes. At the start of the fair, Holmes changed his modus operandi from marrying and killing women as part of insurance and real estate scams, to running a hotel from which an unknown number of his female tenants never checked out. Although information on Holmes's activities is scanty, he serves as a mirror of the utopia of civic safety created by Burnham. Larson makes the argument that the contrasts between optimisim and pessimism, well-intentioned virtue and depravity, urban utopia with a few blocks from slums, would set the tone for the 20th century.
posted by KirkJobSluder on Aug 7, 2004 - 13 comments

You probably remember him best for his famous green devil, tempting you with the esoteric delight of evil absinthe^*, or the familiar image of the jester pushing the pleasures of Bitter Campari. Called by some the "father of the modern poster", and even the "father of advertising", Italian-born Leonetto Cappiello created over 1,000 memorable posters during his 40-year career in belle-epoque and fin-de-siecle Paris, and a quick look at a collection of his work quickly reminds us how enduring both his images and his basic concepts have been. (more...)
posted by taz on Nov 4, 2002 - 15 comments

The Devil's Bridge. For Halloween, tales of bridges where the devil took a hand in the building: "If I help you, I'll have the soul of the first who crosses the bridge!" But the devil gets fooled... [more]
posted by languagehat on Oct 31, 2002 - 9 comments

New gender-neutral bible planned... It seems there is a lot of controversy surrounding the revised bible known as "Today's New International Version," or TNIV. The Council on Bibllical Manhood and Womanhood has released a statement on what is wrong with a gender-neutral bible translation while admitting there are a few improvements regarding changing the word men (which isn't specified by Greek text) to all people, a faithful rendering of the Greek pronoun pas According to some, this is the work of the devil and feminist groups everywhere. There have been outright denouncings of the gender-neutral bible by several Christian groups... but really, what do you think? Is it really the big deal people make it out to be? How can the church teach that man and mankind in the Bible refers to all of God's human creatures and yet, not support a genderless translation???
posted by gloege on Jan 28, 2002 - 64 comments

German satanic couple held after ritual murder Nothing better to create hits than this.
It has: devil-worshipping, satanic killing, with 66 machete and hammer wounds, "The victim was no longer recognisable", DNA analysis to discover his identity, black oak coffin, upturned crosses, Nazi SS rune stones, Count Dracula's castle, walls were covered in black cloths, "When Satan Lives", July 6, a date supposedly chosen for the satanic symbolism of number six, The shaven-headed, body-pierced Daniel and his pink-haired, leather-clad bride Manuela, occult chat-line....

I'll stop now, but there's more....
posted by nonharmful on Jul 26, 2001 - 11 comments

Speaking of hell, the Seattle Weekly has an exclusive interview with the Prince of Darkness, but you can just call him Mephisto. "Forget about 666, our new watchword in the wired world is 24/7!"
posted by endquote on Apr 15, 2000 - 0 comments

What is it with Time and images of the Devil? A few years ago they give Clinton horns on their cover, and now they invite Beelzebub to the Democratic presidential debate.
posted by sandor on Feb 26, 2000 - 1 comment