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Monopoly killer - how The Settlers of Catan redefined board games.
posted by Artw at 10:47 PM PST - 160 comments

Perhaps the most apt instrument to use to perform The Imperial March - in response to the Dr. Who theme on the singing tesla coils. From Faraday suited DJs at ArkAttack. [more inside]
posted by Smedleyman at 9:44 PM PST - 33 comments

Billy Jean from Winter Play, Can't get you out of my head from W & Whale, Karma Chameleon from 이장혁 (Lee Jang Hyuk) with 검정치마 (Black Skirts), Personal Jesus from Yi Sung Yol and 서울전자음악단 (Seoul Electric Band), Nobody does it better (+ Wonder Girls' Nobody) from Yi Sung Yol [more inside]
posted by needled at 7:19 PM PST - 53 comments

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street, let's take a few moments to honor those Sesame Street humans overshadowed by their Muppet counterparts. Check out Bob (Bob McGrath) singing Danny Boy in Japanese on a 1966 broadcast of To Tell The Truth or singing a Japanese ballad. Watch Gordon (Roscoe Orman) as the big pimpin' title character in this original trailer for the film Willie Dynamite. See Maria (Sonia Manzano) as a lady trucker on B.J. & the Bear or getting menaced by Jeff Goldblum in the movie Death Wish. And Mr. Hooper (Will Lee) plays Pac-Man in an Atari commercial. Meanwhile, the Muppet stars of Sesame Street have gone some interesting evolutions as well in their career. [more inside]
posted by jonp72 at 6:32 PM PST - 41 comments

PersonRatings.com lets you rate and review millions of Americans. Anyone can post a profile and anyone can leave a comment. It's like Hot or Not for the new Web 2.0! Except, in what seems guaranteed to result in an eventual lawsuit, there is apparently no way to opt out. Here's the profile for PersonRatings CEO Jeremy Stamper. (via)
posted by 6550 at 6:28 PM PST - 63 comments

The recession has hit the theatre world (and the arts scene in general) very hard - but some argue that theatre practitioners aren't doing themselves any favours when seeking funding. The main question insufficiently addressed is "who is the funding for?" - hint: it's not about you. Approaching theatre as a product isn't working, not when MFA acting programs don't often allow its graduates to earn enough to earn back their debt. So now the question is: how can the economics of theatre be changed?
posted by divabat at 5:11 PM PST - 60 comments

The Tree Of Childhood is a debut animation produced by young Russian director Natalia Mirzoyan. Now tell me - have you ever fallen in abyss in your childhood dreams?
posted by Surfin' Bird at 3:19 PM PST - 16 comments

Barcelona 1908 [more inside]
posted by various at 3:02 PM PST - 23 comments

A German researcher accidentally jabbed her finger with a hypodermic loaded with the deadly Ebola virus. 48 hours later, she was injected with an untested, experimental vaccine, developed by an international team of virologists and biologists. Though she may never have been infected, she was certainly in danger; in 2004, a similar incident caused the death of a Russian scientist at a former Soviet biological weapons lab.
posted by permafrost at 1:54 PM PST - 40 comments

A map of the top 50 craft breweries in America by volume. State map of per capita beer consumption. [more inside]
posted by baphomet at 1:53 PM PST - 119 comments

mid-70s proto-punk band, Death, have finally gotten a real disc out. unearthed in crates lost for decades, their founder dead before seeing it happen, their children never knowing the shadowy past of their forebears, the sound of black pop-punk-politi-metal-wave is finally here. [more inside]
posted by artof.mulata at 12:44 PM PST - 20 comments

EU Profiler: the authors of Kieskompas, a "Vote-O-Mat"-style tool for the undecided Dutch voter, following up on their adaptation for the US Presidential election (previously on MeFi), will launch an EU-wide version for the European Parliament elections upcoming in June. So Europeans, urge your political parties to register! The tool itself will launch in May.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 12:37 PM PST - 6 comments

Stunning Underwater Photography A website filled with incredible underwater photography. Particularly impressive shots of a sardine bait ball being attacked by dolphins, sharks, whales and birds.
posted by srboisvert at 12:06 PM PST - 19 comments

[Cats-starring-in-fake-HTML-TV-Show-Filter] It's time for... CAT TOWN! ...brought to you by MeFi's Own® Spatch! Starring El Guapo, J. Wellington Cat III, ... and Angel. Filmed in ALL CAPS! Tonight's exciting episode: THE BIG GAME!
posted by not_on_display at 10:22 AM PST - 20 comments

We made a mistake. That is the simple, undeniable truth of the matter, however painful it might be. The flaw was not in our Observatories, for those machines were as perfect as we could make, and they showed us only the unfiltered light of truth. The flaw was not in the Predictor, for it is a device of pure, infallible logic, turning raw data into meaningful information without the taint of emotion or bias. No, the flaw was within us, the Orchestrators of this disaster, the sentients who thought themselves beyond such failings. We are responsible.
posted by aheckler at 9:33 AM PST - 51 comments

The smell of Scarlet Johansson is art.[slyt]
posted by geos at 9:24 AM PST - 114 comments

Time to reconsider the traditional campus computer lab? The University of Virginia has begun a three-year process of shutting down its public computer labs to shave costs, citing 99% laptop ownership of incoming 2007 students and the predominant usage of free software in their computing facilities. Issues such as printing and software distribution have yet to be ironed out. [/. thread]
posted by porn in the woods at 9:10 AM PST - 73 comments

Information Age Prayer: Too busy to pray as often as you'd like? No Problem! IAP will pray for you using text-to-speech software for a small fee. Available in Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Other. Via
posted by The Whelk at 8:53 AM PST - 14 comments

"If you’re given a choice between money and sex appeal, take the money. As you get older, the money will become your sex appeal." Katharine Hepburn rarely granted interviews, and when she did, she wanted them under her terms. When she agreed to appear on the Dick Cavett Show in September 1973, they went in the studio a day early so she could get the feel of things. They ended up doing the interview right then and there, without an audience. Kate Hepburn: The Full Cavett Interview. [more inside]
posted by netbros at 8:39 AM PST - 14 comments

To Sleep Perchance to Dream : an exhibition of 17th century sleep-related paraphernalia at the Folger Shakespeare Library offers insight into attitudes towards sleep and dreams. Insomnia? Try eating some lettuce.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 8:18 AM PST - 2 comments

Two galleries of photos of China in 1957 and 1978 by Robert Carl Cohen, "the first American to film China since the 1949 Communist victory." My personal favourite set is these street scenes from 1957, but Cohen captured a diverse range of images from Chinese lives. His (? I presume) site Radical Images has plenty of other interesting stuff too.
posted by Abiezer at 5:04 AM PST - 14 comments

So the legendary Throbbing Gristle have regrouped and are touring this spring. Here's a short video of Chris Carter testing out some new gear. Cosey has some new toys as well. Sadly, the original Gristlizer died awhile back. But it is being cloned.
posted by peewinkle at 2:37 AM PST - 25 comments

Bhay ho phir bhi jai ho! Be afraid, and then be victorious! Jai Ho, the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire song, was adopted by the reigning Indian National Congress Party as it's theme song. In response, this parody was released by supporters of the violently Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. And you thought the Pussycat Dolls' version was bad.
posted by Methylviolet at 2:36 AM PST - 15 comments

Some wiseacres slip in risque prank-call names to a local TV station for its "Happy Birthday" segment, and whaddyaknow! It works.
posted by zardoz at 12:15 AM PST - 65 comments

Frank Zappa was renown for his quality band members and even more for his legendary audition process. The Drum Channel has a 7 part video series which brings together Zappa's drummers from his previous bands (Ralph Humphrey. Chester Thompson, Terry Bozzio, Chad Wackerman and Ruth Underwood) to discuss the behind-the-scenes process of these auditions(Pt1, Pt2, Pt3, Pt4, Pt5, Pt6, Pt7). It also culminates in a drummer jam. [more inside]
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 12:03 AM PST - 30 comments