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More than a year ago, MetaFilter discussed a petition to bring "Spirited Away," the newest full-lenth animated movie by Hayao Miyazki, to the US. Released in Japan as Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, it is the most popular movie ever released in Japan and has it's US limited release this weekend. Do you think "Spirited Away" will "break through" to a wider American audience when Princess Mononoke didn't? What a wonderfully fantastic movie!
posted by gen at 10:11 PM PST - 32 comments

Dave's Art Nouveau page - Very cool Art Nouveau themed sketches and paintings by comic and fantasy artists. My faves are Batgirl, Cherry Poptart, and Vampirella. (Some of these aren't safe for work.)
posted by RylandDotNet at 8:54 PM PST - 13 comments

"Fundamentalism is the Enemy of All Civilized Humanity". The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), an organization fighting against the Taliban for the past ten years, commemorates Sept. 11 and describes Afghanistan one year later. What they describe ain't pretty: "With their second occupation of Kabul, the 'Northern Alliance' thwarted any hopes for a radical, meaningful change. They are themselves now the source and root of insecurity, the disgraceful police atmosphere of the Loya Jirga, rampant terrorism, gagging of democracy, atrocious violations of human rights, mounting pauperization, prostitution and corruption, the flourishing of poppy cultivation, failure of beginning to reconstruct, and a host of further unlisted evils, too many to enumerate."
posted by talos at 5:18 PM PST - 26 comments

Sand Art: it's everyone's favorite preschool art activity, now on your PC! Go sand art! Still, with this version you can't get into sand throwing fights with your friends...
posted by unreason at 4:07 PM PST - 5 comments

Your Appetite For Death And The Taste Of Its Mouth* With Seville's World Flamenco Fair coming up on October 3, I was astonished to find, thanks to the samples [MP3 and Real Audio req.] offered by the Flamenco World website, how revitalized it's recently been by eclecticism and sheer, uninhibited imagination. And here's an interesting collection of essays and links to pour over while you're listening...
*Nobody knows you. No. But I sing of you. For posterity I sing of your profile and grace. Of the signal maturity of your understanding. Of your appetite for death and the taste of its mouth. - Federico Garcia Lorca
posted by MiguelCardoso at 3:36 PM PST - 3 comments

A new chapter in the nigerian letter fraud most recently discussed here. Yes, someone actually fell for it, and cost her employer $2.1 million in the process. via fark.
posted by Grod at 3:32 PM PST - 24 comments

Why a Duck? The most comprehensive Marx Brothers site on the Interweb. Thrill to their collection of sound clips! Learn what happened today in Marx history! Play a ton of Marx Brothers related games! Kill an entire morning reading about their career! Warning: Not to be confused with these Marx brothers.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:55 PM PST - 9 comments

Holocaust survivors with Alzheimer's are forced to relive Auschwitz. "At Baycrest's Apotex Centre, Jewish Home for the Aged in Toronto, 50 per cent of patients with dementia are Holocaust survivors for whom the loss of short-term memory condemns them, once again, to the death camps."
posted by mcwetboy at 2:12 PM PST - 20 comments

It seems that Pakistan is back in business "Officials from three Pakistani militant groups said in interviews this week that the government of Pakistan has allowed Islamic guerrillas to resume small-scale infiltrations into Indian-controlled Kashmir. " (NYTimes - regd' required)
posted by nish01 at 1:27 PM PST - 1 comments

Audio's next big thing? The American Technology Corporation proudly (and finally) presents a bug free Hypersonic sound system! No more unwanted interference! (Hat tipped in jonmc's direction.)
posted by soundofsuburbia at 12:21 PM PST - 8 comments

Robert Smithson is probably best known for his 1970 earthwork, Spiral Jetty, a massive piece that juts into the northern arm of Utah's Great Salt Lake. It's been hidden from view for decades by high water levels, but it's recently reappeared, and it's a mess out there.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:10 AM PST - 10 comments

Church of Scientology rewrites history. Archive.org, a site which archives the Internet for historical purposes, has been forced to block ALL archived material for Xenu.net, which contains "copyrighted" church information. The DMCA requires an immediate takedown of this kind of content, but it can be restored rapidly if the content owner (xenu.net? Archive.org?) appeals the decision and decides to fight the ruling. If so, it could be the undoing of the CoS, whose copyrights are highly suspect. Until now, the cost of fighting the CoS has forced defendants to settle, but there are good people out there who might see this as the perfect opportunity to act. Anyone up for a little pro bono work?!
posted by insomnia_lj at 8:18 AM PST - 27 comments

Somewhere in Australia, Black Mountain beckons the intrepid adventurer. Who knows what kind of dastardly creature(s) could be hiding in there! If you go there and come back alive, make sure you tell everyone about your experience.
posted by titboy at 6:01 AM PST - 9 comments