MetaFilter

"We know one another, we Marvel boys." Jonathan Lethem, author of DC-referencing "Fortress of Solitude" ponders recent novels inspired by comic books and notes more allusions to the "iconographic" superheroes of DC even though Marvel, with its messy, never-ending, teen angst plots and imperfect schlub heroes, was always somehow cooler. Why? [Thx to Not the Beastmaster]
posted by Slagman at 11:15 PM PST - 66 comments

Are You Ready To Be Heart-Broken? Sounding like the sprightly spawn of Radiohead, Coldplay and (yes) Queen, Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know" is, imho, an enchantingly romantic song, lovely and over-ambitious in the tradition of, say, very early Aztec Camera, Ash or Travis. Thing is: their first album, "Fears and Hopes" (so appropriately named for those inured to pre-first-album-jitters) will be released in May and already I dread the disappointment I just know awaits me. Early promises in Pop music have so often been cruelly broken by follow-ups, "sloppy seconds", maturity, whatever, that I put to you that musical competence, technique and general "production savvy" are inimicable to good, dirty teenage songs such as Keane's. [Be sure to listen to the other three songs on the web site, although only the gist of the wonderful "Somewhere Only We Know" is offered. They're quite good!]
posted by MiguelCardoso at 11:06 PM PST - 31 comments

Known by the ladies as The Kingpin. Thorne Peters is a Prophet, Author, Publisher, Composer, Troubadour, Producer, Provocateur, Pontificator, Raconteur, Hedonist. He is the Poet Laureate of Planet Earth. He truly lives a life to be envied (galleries showing his hedonism are NSFW).
posted by sciatica at 9:05 PM PST - 16 comments

West Virginia: it's all relative: or is it? Looks like those hucksters of overpriced clothing at Abercrombie & Fitch have done it again. The spokesman for A & F claims to "love West Virginia". Oh well, it's not like they have much of a presence there anyway.
posted by calwatch at 8:24 PM PST - 23 comments

Listen To The Future. We hope you like his new music. It's hard to believe, but every note, every instrument, EVEN EVERY SINGING VOICE on Brandon's new CD was played on a keyboard by just one person...Brandon Trinity.
posted by grabbingsand at 6:47 PM PST - 27 comments

Being Charlie Kaufman : Screenplays, Articles written for National Lampoon, Unproduced TV Scripts, and Discussions of his Films.
posted by ColdChef at 6:10 PM PST - 37 comments

"The people of Dogville are proud, hypocritical and never more dangerous than when they are convinced of the righteousness of their actions" (NYT link) "The movie is, of course, an attack on America—its innocence, its conformity, its savagery—though von Trier is interested not in the life of this country (he’s never been here) but in the ways he can exploit European disdain for it." (The New Yorker). Lars Von Trier's new movie, Dogville, is under attack from critics who consider it anti-American. Von Trier, of course, has never been to the US but he counters that he knows more about U.S. culture through modern media than, say, the makers of "Casablanca' knew about Morocco. Kafka hadn't been to Amerika either. Should non US-ian artists leave America alone if they've never been there? Von Trier says that "in my own country, I'm considered anti-Danish - again, that's more about politics than issues of nationality." (more inside)
posted by matteo at 5:40 PM PST - 42 comments

The world's greatest humanitarian crisis is happening in the Darfur region of Sudan. The US special envoy, John Danforth, asks, "Is the US engagement in Sudan worthwhile? There are so many issues in the world that need out attention."

Maybe he should ask some of the refugees.
posted by john at 5:26 PM PST - 13 comments

How We Got Homeland Security Wrong -- If all the federal homeland-security grants from last year are added together, Wyoming received $61 a person while California got just $14, according to data gathered at TIME's request by the Public Policy Institute of California, an independent, nonprofit research organization. Alaska received an impressive $58 a resident, while New York got less than $25. On and on goes the upside-down math of the new homeland-security funding. The TIME article uses AIR Worldwide Corp.'s Terrorism Loss Estimation Model.
posted by amberglow at 5:25 PM PST - 20 comments

Buy His Future $59,965.90 owed, $245.75 donated.
"In exchange for your donation, I will from time to time write to you about what I've done with the life you've made possible. Make a gift, and free me to do good things with my life for this world."
It struck me as funny: have we come to a point in society where a man's future is worth the amount of his student loans?
posted by cjoh at 2:26 PM PST - 42 comments

Review of the weekends two top Zombie flicks "Now it’s thousands of years later and the being-a-zombie thing that Jesus started has caught on."
posted by yeahyeahyeahwhoo at 8:13 AM PST - 38 comments

Donors Choose "Public school teachers use Donors Choose to propose resources for their students. Concerned individuals like you can then select a proposal to fund."
posted by FunkyHelix at 7:57 AM PST - 14 comments

Anonymous midlist author tells horror story (Salon: viewing of annoying ad required, but it's well worth it) "In the 10 years since I signed my first book contract, the publishing industry has changed in ways that are devastating [...] to midlist authors like me. [...] What once was about literature is now about return on investment. What once was hand-sold one by one by well-read, book-loving booksellers now moves by the pallet-load at Wal-Mart and Borders -- or doesn't move at all." (more inside)
posted by Prospero at 6:45 AM PST - 117 comments

F-word now a word, as well as : twelve-incher, sheepshagger, and old man of the woods! The newest real English words now in the OED.
posted by mfoight at 5:27 AM PST - 10 comments

Oh so cute products you wish you'd invented. From the Niff Institute comes a limited range of now sold-out products. Sorry.
posted by meech at 2:18 AM PST - 8 comments

Worldbuilder (no relation to the old Mac adventure game toolkit) is an excellent way to start off the week by completely crippling productivity. I've played many games from these guys before, and they're always great. I envy the independent game designer that gets to work with Lego so often. Via GTA.
posted by majcher at 1:59 AM PST - 3 comments