Collage is an online image database from the collections of the City of London Libraries and the Guildhall Art Gallery. Images cover the last five centuries. You can search by key word or browse by theme, artist/engraver, person or place.
posted to MetaFilter by paduasoy at 12:13 PM on December 22, 2007 (7 comments)

VADS is a resource for visual art, a huge range of things from students' work to collections of historical art and design.
posted to MetaFilter by paduasoy at 7:56 PM on January 4, 2008 (6 comments)

The World's 50 Best Works of Art (and how to see them) in the opinion of critic Martin Gayford.
posted to MetaFilter by paduasoy at 4:20 AM on March 9, 2008 (39 comments)

Happysad is a 2 year old web cartoon from Belgium (in English) by Jeroen.
posted to MetaFilter by derMax at 6:51 AM on April 17, 2008 (8 comments)

• "Please don't beat me. I'm having my period." ~ Mama Wangari
• "It is being both black and gay [which is problematic]." ~ Zanele Muholi (Nehanda Nyakasikana) [NSFW]
• "Sisters at heart, these women are: from Kibera to Loresho." ~ WM
• "My vagina wants an Uzi" ~ Larissa Klazinga (Amanda Atwood)
• "You are from Kenya? So are you Kikuyu or Luo?" ~ Wangui

Blogs of women from Africa. That is all.
posted to MetaFilter by hadjiboy at 6:29 AM on April 17, 2008 (25 comments)

Seattle to Boston in 15 minutes. Katja Suletzki drove the full length of Interstate 90, the longest interstate highway in America, from Seattle to Boston. Thanks to a webcam, a modified version of Flix, and a laptop, the journey was recorded for posterity as a 15 minute film.
posted to MetaFilter by dw at 8:02 AM on August 31, 2007 (29 comments)

ObitFilter: Madeleine L'Engle, Newberry-winning and banned author, died Thursday aged 89.
posted to MetaFilter by dw at 11:03 AM on September 7, 2007 (145 comments)

Dramatic footage of golden eagles hunting mountain goats. (alerts: rather gruesome; voiceover in Spanish)
posted to MetaFilter by madamjujujive at 4:29 PM on April 16, 2008 (46 comments)

My-work-is-stressing-me-out filter: What are simple techniques for ratcheting down the anxiety level during the day? Tips on how to combat the physical symptoms of anxiety especially appreciated!
posted to Ask MetaFilter by iminurmefi at 8:20 AM on November 19, 2007 (18 comments)

I posted this thread on coming out of the closet several months ago and I've updated it a couple of times since. I left a final update at the end of the thread for those who might be interested.
posted to MetaTalk by GardnerDB at 9:50 PM on April 13, 2008 (57 comments)

... I served my time I can speak on it. Fuck this War. American soldiers' latrine graffiti in Kuwait and Afghanistan. A photo essay. [Note: most text and one drawing NSFW]
posted to MetaFilter by amyms at 9:48 PM on April 15, 2008 (29 comments)

Goat Mountain appeared on my radar screen last September.
posted to MetaFilter by quonsar at 4:38 PM on April 16, 2008 (29 comments)

The stark, modal banjo and achingly poignant, weathered voice of the great Dock Boggs [previous] are the perfect aural accompaniment to a slideshow of William Gedney's [previous] powerfully intimate photographs: Kentucky, 1964.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite at 6:14 AM on April 15, 2008 (11 comments)

Then and Now presents works from 8 South African documentary photographers - each contributes 10 photos taken during apartheid and 10 made since the democratic elections of 1994. (On display at Duke University through July 27.)
posted to MetaFilter by madamjujujive at 6:24 PM on April 13, 2008 (12 comments)

What is the iconic (or just "your favorite") dead-tree product catalog (listing of merchandise for mail-order sale) for your hobby, industry, or trade?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by cadastral at 9:23 AM on April 1, 2008 (72 comments)

"Curse Tablets are small sheets of lead, inscribed with messages from individuals seeking to make gods and spirits act on their behalf and influence the behaviour of others against their will. The motives are usually malign and their expression violent, for example to wreck an opponent’s chariot in the circus, to compel a person to submit to sex or to take revenge on a thief. Letters and lines written back to front, magical ‘gibberish’ and arcane words and symbols often lend the texts additional power to persuade. In places where supernatural agents could be contacted, thrown into sacred pools at temples, interred with the dead or hidden by the turning post at the circus, these tablets have survived to be found by archaeologists."
posted to MetaFilter by amyms at 12:47 AM on April 12, 2008 (20 comments)

No doubt about it, that old midnight hour has long served as a potent muse for songwriters, as this sampling of live performances will attest: In The Midnight Hour ---- Walking After Midnight ---- Midnight Rambler ---- Midnight Rider ---- Midnight Special ---- Midnight Train To Georgia ---- Midnight Confessions ---- Midnight At The Oasis --- 'Round Midnight ----
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite at 1:12 AM on April 12, 2008 (70 comments)

Sweet! Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories has made a 3D printer that forms objects out of sugar.
posted to MetaFilter by exogenous at 1:02 PM on May 9, 2007 (36 comments)

MIT World (not the same as OpenCourseWare). And don't miss LSE, CMU, and Connexions. Still bored? Don't forget ResearchChannel, Vega, and Wikiversity. Do you care for psychology, biology, geology, or math? Or maybe you prefer journals, papers, textbooks, or podcasts? Knowledge is useful and wonderful.
posted to MetaFilter by foraneagle2 at 10:11 AM on February 23, 2006 (27 comments)

In 1958, Ezra Pound, after being released from a mental hospital, became a foreign correspondent for the Richmond News Leader. All but one of his dispatches were deemed unprintable by the editor and the one that was printed ran as a letter to the editor. The Virginia Quarterly Review has put scans of the dispatches up on their site.
posted to MetaFilter by Kattullus at 9:45 AM on April 11, 2008 (44 comments)

The fifty greatest comedy sketches of all time from Nerve and IFC. All with video. Some highlights: SNL's consumer probe & word association; Mr. Show's pretaped call-in show, Upright Citizens Brigade's ass pennies, The State's porcupine racetrack, lots of Monty Python, some classics, and the inevitable winning sketch.
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 8:20 AM on April 10, 2008 (117 comments)

Henry Miller Bathroom Monologues, part 2, part 3, and follow on - Miller takes us on a tour of the art in his bathroom. And a few years later, we have Dinner with Henry, 1979 .
posted to MetaFilter by madamjujujive at 12:24 PM on April 6, 2008 (13 comments)

Carl Zimmer's Science Tattoo Emporium - "Underneath their sober lab coats and flannel shirts, scientists hide images of their scientific passions. Here they are revealed to all." From the science journalist and writer responsible for The Loom and numerous other published works.
posted to MetaFilter by Blazecock Pileon at 2:06 AM on April 8, 2008 (33 comments)

This is a cool game you can download. Here are some rule books for it.
posted to MetaFilter by orthogonality at 2:45 AM on March 28, 2008 (21 comments)

The Burning Crater of Darvaza. [Via.]
posted to MetaFilter by homunculus at 1:00 PM on March 26, 2008 (30 comments)

Dreams and Songs of the Noble Old, a film by Alan Lomax, takes a loving look at the talents and wisdom of elderly musicians, singers, and story-tellers from southern American folk traditions. All the musicians featured in the film have soul and musical energy to spare: great, great performances and engaging reminiscences make this film a real treat. Please see the [more inside] for a collection of links to several of the outstanding performers featured in the film.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite at 2:02 PM on March 25, 2008 (14 comments)

Thou art no Romeo
It turns out that the beloved pair of swan's in Boston's Public Garden are a same-sex couple.

Tests have shown that the pair, named Romeo and Juliet, are really Juliet and Juliet. The city's Parks and Recreation Department conducted the tests months ago, but didn't announce the results for fear of destroying the image of a Shakespearean love story unfolding each year in the Public Garden.

'If these two swans are happy together, they shouldn't have to have a guy," said Emma Stokien, a 15-year-old from New York. 'It's good to have the swans as a symbol of the acceptance in Massachusetts."
posted to MetaFilter by ericb at 4:16 AM on August 12, 2005 (53 comments)

Quamut — learn how to write cover letters, crochet baby booties, make a home, how to self-medicate, and do other stuff.
posted to MetaFilter by Blazecock Pileon at 10:06 AM on March 24, 2008 (12 comments)

Ilike2learn.com has a series of simply-wrought yet wonderfully mind-bending Map quizzes: check out North America if you're looking for a confidence booster, relive forth-grade geography by going through state capitals or impress friends with your knowledge of the European Peninsula. Find out how little you know about Africa and Asia, then peruse the mind-fuck that is Oceania. Heck, they even have capitals, oceans, lakes, rivers and mountains for the truly adventurous. The world's a big place!
posted to MetaFilter by ignorantguru at 11:07 AM on March 22, 2008 (24 comments)

The 21 Steps is a spy thriller short story that is told using Google Maps. [via mefi projects]
posted to MetaFilter by brain_drain at 10:34 PM on March 20, 2008 (20 comments)

Labor of Love : when a married couple wanted to start a family and the wife was unable to conceive or carry because of previous surgeries, her husband, who is transgendered and legally male, stopped taking his testosterone and was inseminated.
posted to MetaFilter by FunkyHelix at 6:21 AM on March 20, 2008 (118 comments)

A Day in the Death of Donny B is a 1969 short film/docudrama following the life of a junky.
posted to MetaFilter by snsranch at 4:56 PM on March 12, 2008 (6 comments)

Noel Black's first project after graduate film school at UCLA was writing and directing Skaterdater, a short subject cinematic romance without dialogue, which used only music and sound effects to advance its plot. It won nine international film awards.
posted to MetaFilter by snsranch at 5:24 PM on November 1, 2007 (11 comments)

AskMe #4 in Q&A site visits in the US according to Hitwise. Download the rest of the doc + chart here. Interesting news but I must say I've never even heard of Answerbag.
posted to MetaTalk by jessamyn at 11:34 AM on March 19, 2008 (179 comments)

Running The Numbers. This new series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. [via]
posted to MetaFilter by Armitage Shanks at 8:32 AM on February 28, 2007 (20 comments)

Queens of Carnatic singing: Nithyasree Mahadevan: 1, 2 and 3. Sudha Ragunathan: 1, 2, 3 and 4. And the legend of the legends, M.S. Subbulakshmi, in her film appearances from decades past: 1, 2 and 3, and as an elder stateswoman of Carnatic vocal artistry: 1, 2, 3 and 4.
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite at 7:39 AM on March 15, 2008 (13 comments)

One of the most amazing user-led projects out there, CHDK firmware turns cheap Canon cameras into photography powerhouses. You can take take time-lapse movies as in this stunning sunset example; automatically photograph lightening; easily make pretty HDR images and stereograms; have unlimited depth-of-field; and, perhaps most impressively, take photographs with shutter speeds of 1/60,000 of a second!
posted to MetaFilter by blahblahblah at 8:18 AM on March 13, 2008 (69 comments)

Sandals, socks, and dudes
posted to MetaFilter by Blazecock Pileon at 10:31 PM on March 12, 2008 (164 comments)

I've agreed to put some money down on the milk challenge. My boss has bet me that I can't drink a gallon of milk in one hour. Do I have a chance? How?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Telf at 2:34 PM on November 9, 2006 (64 comments)

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. [25 min Google Video.]
posted to MetaFilter by homunculus at 3:18 PM on March 27, 2007 (37 comments)

Captain America started Metafilter in 1999. Maybe not, but Defective Yeti is a consistent source of one-man-band goodness. Who can best The 30 least hot follow-ups to the 30 hottest things you can say to a naked woman or approach the caustic, laser-like wit of a would-be screenplay that begins with"CHENEY sits behind a desk. He is playing NINTENDOGS on his DS, but, instead of trying to teach them tricks, he is STABBING the puppies with his STYLUS." See the favorites page for a quick tour. Previous work from Matthew Baldwin has been here before.
posted to MetaFilter by donovan at 11:49 PM on March 24, 2007 (31 comments)

A hoax that embarrassed the art world: Pavel Jerdanowitch and the Disumbrationist School of Painting . This "joke on the art critics" was perpetrated by Paul Jordan-Smith, a former pastor who had left his calling after being charged with heresy. He went on to become a writer, editor and journalist, and in 1924 he decided to commit blasphemy against "the strange gods of modern art." The Pavel Jerdanowitch Painting Contest was inspired by the hoax. "The challenge is to produce the worst painting every painted." It's not too late to submit your own entry for 2007. You can check out last year's entries, including the "loser" (winner), for inspiration.
posted to MetaFilter by amyms at 10:34 PM on March 24, 2007 (35 comments)

So everyone's already seen regrettable food over and over, but this chick makes, eats, and reviews it according to the original documentation.
posted to MetaFilter by pieoverdone at 8:36 AM on March 23, 2007 (28 comments)

Heaven's Gate Cult pre-Suicide Videos (via, wiki)
posted to MetaFilter by bardic at 6:39 AM on March 23, 2007 (35 comments)

You really shouldn't miss the snazzy ukulele stylings of the great Roy Smeck, strummer and showman extraordinaire, who was not only fast as greased lightning, but for whom the ukulele also occasionally functioned as a wind or percussion instrument. The man was indeed a wizard of the strings: just give him a slide and watch him lay down that Hawaiian sound. And as you'll see here, he was still going strong in his later years. [most links to YouTube]
posted to MetaFilter by flapjax at midnite at 5:30 AM on March 23, 2007 (15 comments)

The 10 Most Magnificent Trees in the World.
posted to MetaFilter by homunculus at 10:30 PM on March 21, 2007 (60 comments)

The Queer, the Quaint, the Quizzical (1882). A Cabinet for the Curious.
posted to MetaFilter by stbalbach at 11:33 AM on March 21, 2007 (18 comments)

Map of Science. Science is the most interconnected of all human activities and requires a series of maps to chart its changing landscape. Scientific method: relationships among scientific paradigms.
posted to MetaFilter by nickyskye at 5:55 AM on March 20, 2007 (15 comments)

Options for (re)building my credit...how best to re-build my credit history with an eye towards home ownership...
posted to Ask MetaFilter by richter_x at 5:53 PM on March 20, 2007 (13 comments)

Shorpy is an unusual photoblog; billed as "the 100-year-old photography blog," it focuses on found images from many, many decades gone by. Some favorites, so far.
posted to MetaFilter by jonson at 2:35 PM on March 19, 2007 (26 comments)