Gridface has an on-going series of interviews as part of its Chicago House music history section. The first interview was with Stacey Collins, aka VERB, who started working security at The Music Box in 1983. Others interviewed include producers Merwin Sanders (discog) and Jamal Moss (aka Hieroglyphic Being, IAMTHATIAM, The Sun God) and Frank Youngwerth (discog), and DJ Leonard "Remix" Rroy. [via mefi projects]
posted to MetaFilter by filthy light thief at 11:33 AM on January 11, 2010 (15 comments)

Games blog Critical Distance presents 99 Free Games from 2009.
posted to MetaFilter by The Devil Tesla at 7:52 AM on December 24, 2009 (8 comments)

How to actually create "Smack My Bitch Up." (previously)
posted to MetaFilter by flatluigi at 11:07 PM on December 23, 2009 (51 comments)

In 1840, book collectors from around Europe flocked to the Belgian town of Binche hoping to buy at auction the late Jean Nepomucene Auguste Pichauld, Comte de Fortsas's collection of one-of-a-kind books. Unfortunately for them, neither the man nor his collection ever existed. More recently, librarian and bibliophile Jeremy Dibbell posted the contents of the Fortras Catalogue to LibraryThing with English translation as well as an introduction to the collection. Scans of the original catalogue can be found on Google Books.
posted to MetaFilter by brundlefly at 11:04 AM on December 8, 2009 (10 comments)

Playing with Fire and Water is a blog by a freelance chef who creates some of the most interesting and delicious looking food creations. The best part? The accompanying science behind it and recipes. Amateur chefs and food nerds, eat your heart out.
posted to MetaFilter by battlebison at 11:58 AM on November 19, 2009 (10 comments)

Dock Ellis & The LSD No-No by James Blagden (SLYT). MetaFilter is no stranger to the late Dock Ellis and the legendary no-hitter he pitched under the influence of everyone's favorite indole phantasticant (previously: 2001, 2005, 2008), but this animation takes the story to a new level.
posted to MetaFilter by solipsophistocracy at 1:50 PM on November 13, 2009 (54 comments)

Norman Centuries is a new podcast by Lars Brownworth, best known for his podcast series 12 Byzantine Rulers (previously). Norman Centuries, as the name suggests, recounts the history of the Normans, those literal vikings who gained Normandy and then England, Sicily, Malta, Antioch and, well, a whole heck of a lot of other places too. They were a conquering bunch. First two episodes are out with more to follow. [iTunes link]
posted to MetaFilter by Kattullus at 8:24 PM on October 15, 2009 (18 comments)

Mark Skillz, hip hop historian of a sort and an occasional writer for Wax Poetics, represents the old school of hip hop and lets others tell their stories on Hip Hop 101A. From Eddie Cheba recalling his time as a top DJ in the small world of hip hop in 1977, to the life of Sparky D, who took up the good fight for UTFO and started the Roxanne Wars, one of hip hop's first rap battles. Read up on the fall of funk and the rise of Planet Rock, and reminisce with Reggie Wells about the birth of hip hop from black club deejays in Manhattan who were refining a slick style of talk over disco records to open hip hop jams in the park. As a bonus, Wells throws out a playlist straight from Club 371 (videos after the break).
posted to MetaFilter by filthy light thief at 3:39 PM on September 18, 2009 (23 comments)

The amazing story of Jan Janszoon van Salee who ended his life in New Utrecht (one of the early nuclei of todays New York). A tale that involves barbary corsairs, the sack of Reykjavik and Baltimore Ireland, slaves, conversion to Islam, capture by the Maltese Knights, escape, etc. etc. and finally New Utrecht.
posted to MetaFilter by jouke at 8:33 AM on September 8, 2009 (16 comments)

The autodidact course catalog. Twenty-two professors at Johns Hopkins propose reading lists for courses of self-study, from "Society Can Be Dangerous To Your Health" to "Higher Mathematics in Nouns and Verbs" to "Biochemistry and Human Evolution (with Rather a Lot about Mitochondria.)" If you're not going back to school this week, why not take on one of these syllabi instead?
posted to MetaFilter by escabeche at 7:30 PM on September 4, 2009 (42 comments)

Coder Girl -- an ode to all the female programmers out there (youtube)
posted to MetaFilter by Afroblanco at 7:51 AM on August 27, 2009 (79 comments)

Jorge Luis Borges: The Mirror Man "This program examines the life and literary career of the charismatic Argentine writer, as well as the thematic, symbolic, and mythological underpinnings of his works. Archival interviews with Borges; his mother, Leonor Acevedo de Borges; his second wife, Maria Kodama; and collaborator Adolfo Bioy Casares provide insights into the private Borges, while readings from The Mirrors, Dreamtigers, The Plot, The South, The Aleph, and other landmarks of Latin American fiction demonstrate his virtuosity as a transformer of experiences." (ubuweb)
posted to MetaFilter by vronsky at 3:51 PM on August 5, 2009 (27 comments)

How Music Works - UK Channel 4 documentary (~180 mins.)
Why do some rhythms get our toes tapping, while others make us feel mellow? How does a love song bring tears to our eyes? What links African drumming to J S Bach?
Part 1 - Melody (alt)
Part 2 - Rhythm (alt)
Part 3 - Harmony (alt)
Part 4 - Bass (alt)
Then: Music producer and neuroscientist Daniel Levitin, author of This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of Human Obsession and The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature, shares some of his thoughts at Google Talk.
posted to MetaFilter by Christ, what an asshole at 11:01 AM on June 4, 2009 (31 comments)

Tarkovsky's Mirror Set to Arvo Pärt's Mirror in the Mirror. [previously]
posted to MetaFilter by MaryDellamorte at 5:02 PM on April 24, 2009 (32 comments)

Meet financial advisor Mike Morgan. He started an anti-Goldman Sachs website to examine "what part Goldman Sachs and their executives played in the current Global Economic Crisis." The investment bank and its lawyers told him to cease and desist. So Morgan sued Goldman (pdf). The response has been overwhelming. Morgan is now organizing volunteers to go after the other banksters. Want to help? There's a webinar scheduled tonight.
posted to MetaFilter by up in the old hotel at 9:59 AM on April 15, 2009 (40 comments)

Novelist Chris Paling diary of his time spent on 'Beirut', a high-intensity hospital ward for the treatment of digestive diseases - where a third of patients are there due to the effects of long term alcoholism.
posted to MetaFilter by fearfulsymmetry at 3:43 AM on April 4, 2009 (58 comments)

Short recipe segments from Gordon Ramsay's "The F Word." Seabass with sorrel sauce::Black Bream on a bed of petite pois with baby onions and pancetta::Escalope of chicken with sautéed potatoes and red chard::Duck breast in gooseberry sauce::Lemon Sole en papillote::Seabass and pepper sauce:: Turkey with truffle butter::Monkfish with a mussels broth::Poached chicken in morel sauce::Pheasant with a smooth bread sauce::Stuffed saddle of lamb with apricot and cumin::Dover sole with shrimp butter::Smoked paprika chicken stroganoff::Brocolli Soup::Brill with a red wine sauce::Tagliatelle with rabbit fricassee::Eggs on Toast::Rib Eye Steak ::Pan Glazed Fillet of Beef::Rack of lamb:: Stuffed chicken legs with sausage meat and marsala sauce::Beef Wellington
posted to MetaFilter by vronsky at 3:21 PM on March 22, 2009 (74 comments)

"I understand you want to make finance entertaining, but it's not a f*ckin game." (parts 1 2 3) After trading blows over the last couple weeks, CNBC's Mad Money host Jim Cramer appeared opposite Jon Stewart as a guest on The Daily Show. While Cramer worked to keep his poise during the awkward exchange, the evisceration may call to mind Jon's appearance on Crossfire.
posted to MetaFilter by Christ, what an asshole at 1:04 AM on March 13, 2009 (273 comments)

Kutiman, the masterful Israeli funk musician and producer, outdoes himself by creating Thru-You: Multiple YouTube clips (mostly instructional and performance videos) edited into slick mega-mashups. They're not just patchwork assemblages, they're sample-based original creations that coud hold their own on anyone's album... Plus they're 100% audiovisual! It's a work of next-level genius.
(sorry for the hyperbole, but my mind has just been blown)
More Kutiman here. Music video here. And for you Pitchfork aficionados, here.
posted to MetaFilter by Silky Slim at 12:58 AM on March 4, 2009 (171 comments)

While the clubs of London are rocking to Lady Gaga and Paul Van Dyk, the dancefloor sounds of the capital are shunned in the north-west of England. Why? Because a whole generation of dance music fans are putting a donk on it. This documentary aims to find out why this genre of fast MC-led hardcore is so popular in one corner of the country whilst being completely unknown in others.
posted to MetaFilter by mippy at 10:21 AM on February 19, 2009 (91 comments)

Kraftwerk and the Electronic Music Revolution. (amazon) A 3 hour long documentary detailing Kraftwerk's influences and career.
posted to MetaFilter by empath at 6:11 PM on February 14, 2009 (33 comments)

The savings and loan’s decision not to settle the lawsuit made no economic sense for a solvent institution, but it made perfect sense if their principle objective was to maintain the false appearance of solvency for as long as possible. The savings and loan was undoubtedly inflating all of their assets, including my homely little lawsuit, to postpone the inevitable.
What reminded me of that incident from my late, unlamented law practice was the persistent failure of financial institutions to modify mortgages voluntarily. It makes perfect economic sense for a safe and sound institution to avoid the ruinous costs of foreclosure by agreeing to reduce the principal and monthly payment for homeowners who can pay a mortgage, but not the one they’ve got. But according to the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, fewer than ten percent of mortgage modifications in November reduced the principal. About half added late payments and penalties to the principal, and either increased monthly payments or added payments at the back end of the mortgage. If a borrower was in default already, what’s the chance the borrower can make a higher monthly payment?

Brad Miller, US Congressman for the Thirteenth District of North Carolina advances a possible motivation for the apparently illogical behavior of US banks.
posted to MetaFilter by orthogonality at 11:25 AM on February 5, 2009 (74 comments)

It is the central, most eyecatching feature of the modern Oval Office. But for over a year, abandoned by a captain said to be harsh and venereal, it drifted slowly, its huge frame creaking, locked in ice, in the land of endless night.
posted to MetaFilter by felix at 9:56 AM on January 27, 2009 (122 comments)

The Letter of Last Resort. At this very moment, miles beneath the surface of the ocean, there is a British nuclear submarine carrying powerful ICBMs ... there is a safe attached to a control room floor. Inside that, there is an inner safe. And inside that sits a letter. It is addressed to the submarine commander and it is from the Prime Minister. In that letter, Gordon Brown conveys the most awesome decision of his political career ... and none of us is ever likely to know what he decided.
posted to MetaFilter by veedubya at 10:30 AM on January 22, 2009 (64 comments)

By request, this has been played through this. Unmodified or post processed in anyway, it sounds a little like a bad dub. But I thought I would post it as an example for other folks to see what is possible.
posted to MeFi Music by mrzarquon at 11:43 PM on January 8, 2009 (106 comments)

I am interested in phrases used during sex in various languages in dialects.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by idiopath at 7:39 PM on January 9, 2009 (29 comments)

Everything you know about Alternate Reality Games is wrong
posted to MetaFilter by nthdegx at 4:13 PM on December 27, 2008 (31 comments)

I work as a film location scout in New York City. My day is basically spent combing the streets for interesting and unique locations for feature films. In my travels, I often stumble across some pretty incredible sights, most of which are ignored every day by thousands of New Yorkers in too much of a rush to pay attention. As it happens, it's my job to pay attention, and I've started this blog to keep a record of what I see.
posted to MetaFilter by grumblebee at 4:30 PM on December 26, 2008 (44 comments)

The United States Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 — Authorized and funded by the U.S. government, six ships sailed with 346 men (including officers, crew, scientists, and artists) on a four-year scientific and surveying mission, logging 87,000 miles around the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. Two ships and 28 men were lost, and the Expedition's contentious commander Charles Wilkes was court-martialled for his erratic behavior, and was sued by former officers and crew members. During the Civil War in 1861, he boarded a British ship, seized two Confederate agents, and nearly provoked military retaliation by England (he was court-martialled once again in 1864 for insubordination.) Wilkes' 1845 Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition and the Ex. Ex.'s journals were published by Congress, and some 40 tons of Expedition specimens and artifacts became the foundation of the Smithsonian Institution's collections. [Nathaniel Philbrick (video lecture) chronicles this almost-forgotten voyage in his 2003 book Sea of Glory (NYT review).]
posted to MetaFilter by cenoxo at 3:26 AM on October 25, 2008 (21 comments)

Looking for a song online? Use Muxfind to search Muxtape (previously) for tracks.
posted to MetaFilter by Korou at 11:40 AM on May 27, 2008 (30 comments)

Sierpinski Cookies. Also: Fimo Fractals.
posted to MetaFilter by signal at 6:21 PM on April 12, 2008 (8 comments)

303, 909, FX, MIXER = ACID VARSITY. In other words, two virtual 303s, a 909, effects and a mixer running for free right in your browser.
posted to MetaFilter by 6am at 9:16 AM on April 4, 2008 (35 comments)

Matthew: For a long time, I have been sad at the loss of HypotheticalFilter. When AskMe was young, such questions would arise. But those days are gone now, as the site matured. It's simply not done, you'd say. It floods the page with nonsense. It makes the real questions get lost. Still, I thought, I want to know how to dispose of a body, or how long we'd survive without the sun. Who would win in a fight? A squirrel, or a squirrel's weight in ants?
posted to MetaTalk by John Kenneth Fisher at 8:46 AM on April 3, 2008 (96 comments)

ABC3D is an elegant pop-up book featuring the letters of the alphabet. Plus: a flip book that generates a rainbow.
posted to MetaFilter by tepidmonkey at 4:13 PM on March 24, 2008 (16 comments)

Ico did not sell very well. Though critics loved it, the simple third person puzzler failed to capture an audience on the PS2. (youtube trailer) Fast forward a few years to Shadow of the Colossus, and desiger Fumito Ueda struck gold. Earning tons of critical praise for his story of a young boy out to bring his love back from the dead.
posted to MetaFilter by tylerfulltilt at 2:53 PM on March 1, 2008 (74 comments)

Food Fight [Youtube, History of War done with food]
posted to MetaFilter by Lord_Pall at 1:14 PM on March 1, 2008 (22 comments)

It may lack the hilarity of an unaccompanied David Lee Roth crooning to himself like a lunatic, but surely someone has a use for twenty three unaccompanied John Bonham drum tracks.
posted to MetaFilter by The Straightener at 6:25 PM on February 14, 2008 (71 comments)

1,780 Cult Movies Online ~ A huge repository of online movies described as cult classics.
posted to MetaFilter by Dave Faris at 5:51 AM on February 10, 2008 (35 comments)

Some skaters blowing shit up.
posted to MetaFilter by loquacious at 1:50 AM on January 27, 2008 (59 comments)

Basic Concepts in Science: A List A regularly updated list of blog entries explaining the basics of science and mathematics.
posted to MetaFilter by LeeJay at 1:27 PM on January 25, 2008 (16 comments)

Faithful live-action recreations of "classic" Garfield comic strips. (Quicktime required.)
posted to MetaFilter by Prospero at 1:57 PM on January 14, 2008 (78 comments)

Let's pause for a moment to view the best part of any gameshow -- the stupid contestants.
posted to MetaFilter by flatluigi at 8:44 PM on January 13, 2008 (36 comments)

The solution to the Mystery of the Face on the Cake (via BoingBoing).
posted to MetaFilter by cerebus19 at 8:05 PM on January 3, 2008 (36 comments)

Smile - a very creepy short student film.
posted to MetaFilter by loquacious at 8:08 PM on November 17, 2007 (40 comments)

Carbonated watermelon. Gelatin spheres with liquid centers. Broths and sauces whipped into foams. When the world's best chefs want something that defies the laws of physics, they come to one man: Dave Arnold, the DIY guru of high-tech cooking. Want to turn your kitchen into a science lab? Check out 25 extreme kitchen gadgets. Related, previously on Mefi: molecular gastronomy.
posted to MetaFilter by madamjujujive at 10:00 PM on October 10, 2007 (50 comments)

Co-creator of Spider-Man, Steve Ditko is famous for weird, distinctive art, his 1966 departure from Marvel Comics, and granting very few interviews in the course of his decades-spanning career, preferring to let creations such as The Creeper, the Objectivism-inspired Mr. A, and Squirrel Girl speak for him.
Okay, Squirrel Girl not so much.
Jonathan Ross turns the spotlight on the artist in the BBC4 documentary, In Search of Steve Ditko. Did they find him? Well, that's The Question, isn't it?
posted to MetaFilter by Alvy Ampersand at 1:03 PM on September 23, 2007 (26 comments)

What is the most effective way of reducing the sound of other people: voices, music, traffic, all the stuff that encroaches on silence. Is there a really efficient earplug or headphone that will work or some external machine that will counter noise effectively?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by jennydiski at 6:24 AM on July 29, 2007 (16 comments)

WTF[triple youtube links with more goopy goodness in the related videos section]
posted to MetaFilter by Cat Pie Hurts at 7:31 PM on July 21, 2007 (41 comments)

Our own fandango_matt, of Metafilter design contest and multiple pissing elephant fame, has come up with his own Boy Scout inspired Metafilter safety guide.
posted to MetaTalk by Krrrlson at 10:25 AM on July 16, 2007 (184 comments)

"What we have here is a Cabinet of Wonders, a place where things of interest are set out, in possibly bizarre, possibly fetishistic presentation, for perusal by the discerning, who understand that presentation, and scientific interest, are all a form of magic." [via Neil Gaiman]
posted to MetaFilter by Kattullus at 10:43 PM on July 14, 2007 (15 comments)