MetaFilter

Given to the Oxford Union, I submit a lecture on the nature of celebrity by one Jack Gleeson, best known as "Little Boy" in Batman Begins, but also for his role in HBO's "Game of Thrones".
posted by TheNewWazoo at 9:57 PM PST - 38 comments

Older RVs aren't that hard to come by, and when you look past the rotting polyboard, aluminum and melmac 'home' really all you're left with is a motor. Usually a big motor, one that's attached to a gigantic sturdy frame and heavy-duty axles. No surprise then that it's crossed the minds of mechanics and/or the slightly insane to do something crazy with a crappy old motorhome. [more inside]
posted by saguaro at 8:46 PM PST - 22 comments

In which Kings of Leon covers Robyn's "Dancing On My Own", complete with unchanged pronouns.
posted by dry white toast at 7:51 PM PST - 29 comments

This is what a dying sport looks like. For decades, the Miami fronton was known as the “Yankee Stadium of jai alai,” a temple to the game, the site of the largest jai alai crowds in American history. Since the 1920s, the best players in the world have gathered here every winter. Jai alai used to be a very popular spectator sport in this country, with frontons up and down the Eastern seaboard. Presidents watched jai alai with their wives. Ernest Hemingway bragged about getting to hang out with jai alai players. In fact, during World War II he concocted a scheme in which jai alai players would somehow lob grenades down the open hatches of unsuspecting German U-boats. Now, the sport seems like a relic, a vision into the past. It’s vestigial, like an appendix.
posted by jason's_planet at 7:40 PM PST - 62 comments

The All-American Life and Death of Eric Harroun. Eric Harroun, a U.S. Army vet on disability labeled "The American Jihadist" until the case against him unraveled, has passed away at home in Arizona.
posted by blue suede stockings at 7:11 PM PST - 20 comments

I bet Telly Savalas drove one of these! The collection has recently been sold to the East Coast, so the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation is now closed to the West Coast. Sad. Tesla's just don't quite match up with mobility or fire power. What protects Portola Valley now?
posted by breadbox at 6:20 PM PST - 20 comments

As part of the ongoing Periodic Video series (previously and more previously), Martyn Poliakoff takes us inside Johnson Matthey, where he shows us some "Super Expensive Metals" — a few of the rare platinum group metals — as they are refined and processed from raw ore into finished products.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:17 PM PST - 11 comments

Well, it has finally happened: The The Irwindale (California) City Council has ruled that a factory that produces the popular Sriracha hot sauce is a public nuisance. The factory has 90 days to better contain its fumes The resolution, issued this past Wednesday evening, enables city officials to make changes if the smells continue after the factory's deadline has past. In other Sriracha news: The Oatmeal provides a (somewhat) illustrated guide to the utility of the sauce. Of course, Sriracha deserves its own movie. Bon Appetit proves that there are (at least) twenty-five uses for Sriracha. Do you like to drink Sriracha? Out of a mug (not advised)? Think Geek has got you covered. If the worst-case scenario happens, fear not! Nom nom paleo teaches how to make your own Sriracha.
posted by 4ster at 2:44 PM PST - 186 comments

Popular font designers Frere-Jones and Hoefler split, with one claiming the other was his "employee". "For 15 years, Frere-Jones and Hoefler seemed charmed. They made typefaces that rendered the stock charts in the Wall Street Journal readable and helped Martha Stewart sell cookbooks. They created an alphabet for the New York Jets, based on the team’s logo. And they saw their lettering chiseled into stone as part of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center. Last year, the duo won the AIGA Medal, the profession’s highest award. It seemed to be one of those rare situations whereby two successful soloists had combined to make an even better supergroup. Hoefler was asked if there were any troubles in their working relationship for a video produced for the AIGA in 2013. “We do have a longstanding disagreement over the height of the lower case t,” he said. “That is the only point of contention.” Not quite. An interesting story about a business partnership of supposed equals - or were they? - going very, very sour.
posted by mitschlag at 1:35 PM PST - 31 comments

Web comic artists Ryan North and David Malki have been "discovering" obscure books "written" by each other, and posting their finds at BOOKWAR. [more inside]
posted by scatter gather at 11:39 AM PST - 30 comments

Aspiring writers often ask established authors, "How did you do it?" The truth is that there is no single path to literary success. We sent a nonscientific survey to writers participating in the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books: Did they keep a diary as a child? Did they ever have a book rejected? Did they earn a living from writing? We tabulated more than 200 responses to make the board game below. Roll a die and see where the writing life takes you.
posted by shivohum at 11:27 AM PST - 28 comments

Writer David Dickerson tells the first time he used the word "homeless" to describe his situation to a stranger, and what effect that stranger's kindness had on his life. Now he's trying to reach out with an open letter of gratitude in hopes that he can find the amazing person who helped him. [slyt | via]
posted by quin at 11:03 AM PST - 10 comments

"A federal appeals court Friday reversed and vacated the conviction and sentence of hacker and Internet troll Andrew "weev" Auernheimer." weev is free!
posted by zscore at 10:42 AM PST - 113 comments

The Persian Version is the latest video release by Patrik Wallner, from the description: Skating has taken root all over the world for decades now. Except in Iran. This is an incredible first-look at a country essentially experiencing skating for the first time. [more inside]
posted by lawrencium at 10:39 AM PST - 4 comments

Soccer Broke My Brain [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:26 AM PST - 52 comments

Rarely do we associate Windows XP with Bliss. Charles O'Rear is the photographer who took Bliss, the image that became the desktop of every single Windows XP computer in the world. Billions saw it and probably think the photo is so perfect and colorful that it is computer generated—or at least Photoshopped. O'Rear, known for his photographs of Napa Valley, discusses the origin of the video.
posted by analogue at 8:34 AM PST - 61 comments

Enough About Me. Like My Portrait? [New York Times]
posted by Fizz at 8:21 AM PST - 27 comments

Back in 2006, students at Xavier High School in New York were given the assignment to write to their favorite authors and ask them to visit the school, only one replied. This is Kurt Vonnegut's letter to those students, made into a film by the folks at Dogtooth Films.
posted by HuronBob at 8:03 AM PST - 22 comments

Homeopathy awareness can make the world a healthier, happier place
posted by figurant at 7:36 AM PST - 79 comments

"Bottom line: if you're successful in landing a player who is in turn successful on the field, and you can't abide people not knowing you had a hand in the process, you're in the wrong field of athletic support."
posted by jeather at 7:33 AM PST - 17 comments

"Pssssttt! What does the yellow light mean?"
"Slow down."
"What... does... the... yellow... light... mean?"
"Slow down!"
"Whaaaaaat... dooooeeees... theeeee... yeeeelllllllllllooowwww... liiiiight... meeeeeeaaaaan?"
"Slow down!!!"
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat…." [more inside]
posted by zarq at 7:22 AM PST - 56 comments

In case you haven't hert / Lil Jon is back / with a new track / about getting turnt / and a video so cray / it may make you lose your shirt // [& needless to say / its NSFW].
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:16 AM PST - 45 comments

"It gets pretty lonely working in the freezer on my own." A beautiful portrait of Anne Marie Taberdo, the only female ice sculptor in the UK.
posted by secretdark at 6:50 AM PST - 1 comments

At the 2014 Game Developers' Conference, Jim Crawford (creator of Frog Fractions) gave a talk (transcript).
posted by a snickering nuthatch at 5:40 AM PST - 14 comments

Cod Liver Oil And The Orange Juice.
posted by sidra at 5:11 AM PST - 5 comments

Five years ago, Alfred Weisberg-Roberts, aka Alfred Darlington (more widely known as Daedelus) finally released an album with his wife, Laura Darlington, under the group name The Long Lost. And it's beautiful, light and airy orchestral pop that owes a greater debt to Caetano Veloso than Coldcut, the style of music that might not out of place being played live in a knitting shop, which could seem a bit strange for a group releasing their music on Ninja Tune. For further fond words, The Gaslamp Killer considered their album one of his top picks for 2009, and here's a nice interview with Alfred and Laura. But we're really here for the music, so here's their self-titled album, streaming on Grooveshark. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief at 4:38 AM PST - 4 comments

Eat24 explains why they're done with Facebook. They're not the first to notice problems with Facebook' business model. (previously). But it's not just businesses affected. people have been noticing a drop in their friends posts for a while. Facebook limits the users reach, and asks them to pay to ensure your friends see it.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 4:11 AM PST - 136 comments

"And the amazing part is, it works, her thing. It does. In a place that expects a woman to prepare for marriage and motherhood "from the moment she is given her first baby doll as an infant," as Hutsol has put it, Valeria has gotten a degree of power, a degree of control, and a major say in her own destiny. It could be that the world and I have misjudged the Human Barbie in a fundamental way. Her steady drift from reality and into the twenty-first dimension is not about submissiveness, fame, or snagging a husband. It could be about finding a way out, however random, bizarre, and costly the route appears from the outside. It could be about gaining some measure of freedom." -- Russian GQ editor in chief Michael Idov visits human Barbie doll Valeria Lukyanova (previously).

GQ also aks the question, can what Valeria Lukyanova has made herself into be called feminist, considering the background culture in Ukraine?
posted by MartinWisse at 4:06 AM PST - 28 comments

Four women have had new vaginas grown in the laboratory and implanted by doctors in the US. "A tissue sample and a biodegradable scaffold were used to grow vaginas in the right size and shape for each woman as well as being a tissue match. They all reported normal levels of "desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction" and painless intercourse. Experts said the study, published in the Lancet, was the latest example of the power of regenerative medicine. "
posted by marienbad at 1:41 AM PST - 44 comments