Children of the Stones (previously) is the revolutionary 1977 British children's television drama telling the story of an astrophysicist and his son who arrive in the village of Milbury to study the giant Neolithic stones which surround it, and the community which is held in a strange captivity by the psychic forces generated by the stones. For BBC Radio, writer and comedian Stewart Lee explores the ground breaking television series and examines its special place in the memories of those children who watched it on its initial transmission in a state of excitement and terror.
posted to MetaFilter by Room 641-A at 7:05 AM on March 4, 2016 (69 comments)

Access the library here. From thequietus.com: "The extensive archive was initially opened to the public in 2018, with around 16,000 sounds initially made available online. It has now more than doubled in size to stock over 33,000 samples, which are available to download for free as a WAV or MP3 file. The BBC’s library features recordings dating back to the 1920s, and comprises sounds made in the broadcaster’s dedicated studio for use in specific BBC programmes, as well as field recordings captured out in the world. It’s divided into categories such as ‘Nature’, ‘Transport’, ‘Sport’, ‘Crowds’, ‘Footsteps’ and more." Previously on the blue.
posted to MetaFilter by AlSweigart at 8:02 AM on September 27, 2024 (10 comments)

USC Optical Sound Effects Library Classic movie sound effects on optical and magnetic tape from the 30's to the 80's, all carefully restored, catalogued and posted on the Internet Archive
posted to MetaFilter by Pink Fuzzy Bunny at 4:50 PM on August 31, 2024 (15 comments)

Military contractor Erik Prince started a private WhatsApp group for his close associates that includes a menagerie of right-wing government officials, intelligence operatives, arms traffickers, and journalists. We got their messages. from Off Leash: Inside the Secret, Global, Far-Right Group Chat [The New Republic; ungated] [CW: the quiet part, out loud]
posted to MetaFilter by chavenet at 11:48 AM on June 23, 2024 (40 comments)

BBC Rewind has a collection of freely downloadable sound effects available, as well as a mixer mode you can use to play around with them to your heart's content. For the deep-cut retrotech enthusiasts among us, I call your attention to the Electronics section, but there's a lot here to enjoy.
posted to MetaFilter by mhoye at 12:34 PM on June 19, 2024 (12 comments)

What if you took EVERY DJ break Howard Hesseman ever made, as Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati, and just ...followed his lead? Would it be possible to construct a three hour radio show, with Fever as host?
posted to MetaFilter by Alvy Ampersand at 11:29 AM on February 1, 2024 (38 comments)

Pynchon and Gaddis are “wild talents” not in Fort’s original sense, but in their daring willingness to incorporate such exotic material into their novels, which previously had been confined to science fiction, fantasy, and occult novels. At any rate, it is an extraordinary coincidence that two of the greatest American novels of the 20th century evoke Charles Fort, of all people, despite what he thought of coincidences. from Wild Talents: Pynchon, Gaddis, and Charles Fort by Steven Moore
posted to MetaFilter by chavenet at 4:52 PM on September 7, 2023 (5 comments)

Still mourning the death of Flash, and with it an entire era of online gaming? Enter ooooooooo.ooo (9o3o), the new searchable (and playable!) web frontend for the incredible Flashpoint preservation project. Browse over 145,000 preserved Flash games powered by the Ruffle emulator, and share your favorites with a simple link. Highlights: DICEWARS - Fly Guy - Alien Hominid - Samorost - Crimson Room - Nanaca Crash! - Line Rider - Don't Shoot the Puppy - Bloxorz - Gimme Friction Baby - The Impossible Quiz - Portal: The Flash Version - Feed the Head - Sprout - Achievement Unlocked - QWOP - Cursor*10 - Dino Run - Grid16 - Meat Boy - SHIFT - You Have to Burn the Rope - 6 Differences - Canabalt - Don't Shit Your Pants! - Nevermore 3 - Small Worlds - Don't Look Back - Redder - VVVVVV (demo) - Synopsis Quest - The Room Tribute - The Scale of the Universe - Mitoza - Wonderputt - Bullet Bill 3 - Frog Fractions - Dys4ia - Snakes on a Cartesian Plane - Want (gulp) more? Download Flashpoint Infinity to stream over 156,000 games from 70+ platforms (including Shockwave, Java, and Unity) plus over 27,000 animations... or clear some space for the monster 1.76 terabyte Flashpoint Ultimate to store every single file locally. So much more inside!
posted to MetaFilter by Rhaomi at 12:04 PM on July 14, 2023 (65 comments)

If you hate how Youtube's home page is lately full of clickbait thumbnails and titles desperate for you to load them, you might want to take a look at DeArrow, written by Ajay Ramachandran (Chrome, Firefox), an extension that can replace them with crowdsourced alternatives, or in their absence provide de-emphasized titles and random thumbnails. Ramachandran also produces SponsorBlock (Chrome, Firefox), a crowdsourced system for skipping past the sponsorship ads in videos, as well as the non-music portions of music videos.
posted to MetaFilter by JHarris at 1:19 PM on June 25, 2023 (92 comments)

Looking for the name of a children's TV show from the early 90s that taught cartoon-style drawing. Details inside.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by aquamvidam at 1:35 PM on June 25, 2023 (9 comments)

A family moves their inn from the Earth to outer space in a failed 1979 TV pilot. Obviously inspired by a certain scene Star Wars, "Starstruck," on YouTube (27 minutes), starring Beeson Carroll, Lynne Lipton and Roy Brocksmith, may remind you of a certain holiday special from the year before.
posted to MetaFilter by JHarris at 8:12 AM on November 26, 2022 (33 comments)

Radio Garden - This is a globe. It has green dots. Each green dot represents a radio station somewhere in the world. This website plays those radio stations. There are a lot of radio stations.
posted to MetaFilter by aniola at 3:58 PM on December 29, 2022 (15 comments)

"The songs and stories on "Free To Be" showed kids that they could question the world they lived in, that parents are just people and that emotions are real. And what's on TV might not be."
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 7:21 AM on November 26, 2022 (53 comments)

Occlusion Grotesque is an experimental typeface that is carved into the bark of a tree. As the tree grows, it deforms the letters and outputs new design variations, that are captured annually. The project explores what it means to design with nature and on nature's terms.
posted to MetaFilter by secretdark at 8:15 AM on May 13, 2022 (31 comments)

I'm looking for songs to fill out a roller-skating playlist. Right now the foundations are: Lizzo's "Juice," Dua Lipa's "Levitating," Megan Thee Stallion's "Sweetest Pie," and Doja Cat's "Kiss Me More." What other self-assured ladies' pop/hip-hop/R&B songs can I skate to?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by fiercecupcake at 12:21 PM on May 6, 2022 (19 comments)

Why is Phyllis so excited? Perhaps because it's time for another broadcast from The Museum of Home Video, a found-footage channel dedicated to unearthing the strangest possible video ephemera for its audience of "stoners, seekers, archivists and drinkers." Over the last year, the channel's hosts have aired everything from Angela Lansbury's Positive Moves workout tape to an entire bat mitzvah, interspersed with the best of local news, public access, cursed commercials, CHiPs freeze-frame supercuts, Richard Lewis' BoKu adult juice box ads, Carol Channing, and much, much more.
posted to MetaFilter by crosley at 2:33 PM on August 30, 2021 (7 comments)

Cinephobe.TV: New York's First & Only TV Channel. Born of the pandemic and out of a shit posting insta account, The Cinephobe is programmed like a television channel, with a set schedule each day posted online guided by a passionate, discerning, and decidedly inclusive approach to movies.

Want more streaming movies?
posted to MetaFilter by latkes at 7:33 PM on August 28, 2021 (11 comments)

May I interest you in a moment of mechanical joy? George Rhoads, the man who designed delightful kinetic sculptures made of twists and turns and gears and track, died on July 9, 2021. His audio-kinetic ball machines can be found across the United States, from the New York Port Authority (42nd Street Ballroom; YT), to the Radys Children's Hospital in San Diego, California, and beyond. He spoke about his life's work in an interview in 2015.
posted to MetaFilter by MonkeyToes at 7:55 PM on August 11, 2021 (18 comments)

In 1977 at a science fiction convention in Metz, France, Philip K. Dick delivered a lecture about his concept of orthogonal time titled "If You Find This World Bad You Should See Some of the Others". The audience was described as leaving the auditorium looking like they'd been hit with a hammer. The event was filmed, and you can see the whole thing complete with French interpretation (except for a sentence or two at the end) or a version with the translator cut out (and missing a bit of the intro). Or you can read the longer, unexpurgated essay online. On an episode of their podcast Weird Studies, J. F. Martel and Phil Ford put the lecture in context of Dick's life, and larger currents of thought. Finally, a comparatively normal interview with Dick was filmed in Metz (transcript here).
posted to MetaFilter by Kattullus at 8:36 AM on August 10, 2021 (27 comments)

In the late 90's and 2000, YTV aired Freaky Stories, an animated series using a diverse variety of art styles to depict 140 urban legends across its 35 episodes. Not all countries to which the show was exported got to see the host segments, live-action puppet sequences which starred a bug and a maggot living in a greasy-spoon diner. Much of the show was lost until the entire run was rediscovered in 2020. Note: contains - hoo boy - death, gross-out humor, insects, spiders... everything they could get away with in a kid's show, basically. And remember: just because they never happened doesn't mean they ain't true! [MLYT]
posted to MetaFilter by BiggerJ at 7:34 PM on July 17, 2021 (8 comments)

Sure, if I went to the drive-in in 1978 I'd likely see Grease and perhaps a re-release of Star Wars and if I was lucky (unlucky depending on one's point of view) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but what are some deeper cuts?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Senor Cardgage at 3:33 PM on July 16, 2021 (50 comments)

Shields and Yarnell, Captain and Tennille, The Carpenters, Donny and Marie. One toke over the line.... Why? I don't know. It just seemed important for some reason. That kinda day
posted to MetaFilter by GernBlandston at 1:36 PM on March 16, 2021 (129 comments)

The Republican Party’s most Pro-Trump members have been elected by higher income white homeowners in the fast-growing exurban fringe. They feel the social status traditionally associated with their identity as white Christians is being degraded and that left wing political movements pose a threat to their livelihoods and political power.
posted to MetaFilter by latkes at 9:58 PM on January 16, 2021 (151 comments)

The Creatures of Yes
I can't explain it, so I'm not going to. Puppets. That's all you really need to know…puppets.
posted to MetaFilter by cjorgensen at 11:41 AM on May 2, 2016 (17 comments)

The Brain Radio is a long-running music podcast hosted by Eva and Pascal Lebrain and (probably) doesn't sound like much else you've heard...
posted to MetaFilter by deeker at 2:12 PM on September 3, 2020 (7 comments)

Produce your very own infinite stream of lofi hip hop beats (previously) with a little help from magenta.js. More info and the nitty gritty.
posted to MetaFilter by theodolite at 7:23 AM on September 2, 2020 (7 comments)

LIKELIKE ONLINE, the online games... space? neo-arcade? museum? is going 3D with an exhibition of six games experimenting with the first person perspective. From diaristic stop motion to abstract soundscapes, all the pieces are playable in just a few minutes and from the comfort of your home. Opening Friday September 4th!
posted to MetaFilter by adrianhon at 1:35 PM on August 29, 2020 (3 comments)

Listen to the dawn chorus in an old growth Bornean rain forest. Sit beside a river in a forest preserve at noon. Hear the sun going down in a logged and regrowing forest patch. Wake up in the middle of the night during a rainstorm in an old growth forest.
posted to MetaFilter by ChuraChura at 6:45 AM on August 26, 2020 (3 comments)

The Flicker is a legendary 1966 experimental film by Tony Conrad that uses alternating black and white frames to produce digital stroboscopic effects. (The Flicker at archive.org)

Noisefields is a 1974 experimental video by Steina and Woody Vasulka that visualizes the deflected energy of an analog video signal. (Noisefields at archive.org)

Do not watch these if you have photosensitive epilepsy.
posted to MetaFilter by Johnny Wallflower at 9:14 PM on August 15, 2020 (12 comments)

The National Film Board of Canada's 5 Shorts Project "explores the short documentary genre by working with artist-run centres or production centres throughout the various regions of Quebec," and the fourth edition consists of films "created by a filmmaker-sound artist duo: Attuned (Steve Verreault and Sébastien Dave Tremblay) [NFB | YouTube], Mounds (Nicolas Paquet and Tom Jacques) [NFB | YouTube], It'll Be Nice Out Tomorrow (Guillaume Lévesque and Antoine Létourneau-Berger) [NFB | YouTube] and Night Fair (Cynthia Naggar and Gueze) [NFB | YouTube]."
posted to MetaFilter by mandolin conspiracy at 12:24 PM on August 7, 2020 (2 comments)

Ever wanted your very own 1991 Macintosh Quadra running Mac OS 8? macintosh.js is here for you: a free Mac OS 8 virtual machine running in an Electron app for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Even better, it comes with games, apps, and demos preinstalled including Oregon Trail, Duke Nukem 3D, Civilization II, Photoshop 3, Premiere 4, Illustrator 5.5, StuffIt Expander, the Apple Web Page Construction Kit, and more.
posted to MetaFilter by adrianhon at 12:32 PM on July 29, 2020 (66 comments)

The kids in the playground whirled faster and faster around each other. By the time Eric and Sandra caught a break in the traffic and made it across the street, the game had turned ugly. They were moving almost too fast to see, but from the glimpses he got, the kids had already begun catching one another. Each had sunk at least one arm into the back of the child in front of them, their bodies fusing haphazardly. One poor girl’s leg seemed to have melted into that of the boy she followed, and their stumbling gait made the whole kid-circle wobble unevenly. "Everything's Fine": a short story by Matthew Pridham to encapsulate a year of collapse.
posted to MetaFilter by Lonnrot at 10:36 AM on July 27, 2020 (9 comments)

There are a lot of old corporate training videos on Youtube, but only one stars Joan, the demon checkout clerk of Elmhurst, Illinois.
posted to MetaFilter by theodolite at 10:57 AM on July 12, 2020 (48 comments)

MetaFilter favorite Cyriak (previously) is back, and teaming up with legendary band Sparks for their newest music video: "The Existential Threat".
posted to MetaFilter by SansPoint at 11:16 AM on July 3, 2020 (25 comments)

Ei Wada and collaborators make delightful musical instruments by hacking familiar, analog consumer electronics.
posted to MetaFilter by eotvos at 8:03 AM on June 28, 2020 (8 comments)

24/7 Bob Ross, 24/7 Food Shows, 24/7 Iron Chef Japan, 24/7 Anthony Bourdain, 24/7 MST3K, 24/7 Public Domain Copyright Free Films, 24/7 Most Extreme Elimination Challenge MXC!, CritterVision: deer, raccoons, geese, possums, foxes, squirrels, etc., 24/7 Eagle-cam, 24/7 Choppertown: chops, trucks, cars, etc., 24/7 PokerStars.
posted to MetaFilter by Fizz at 10:09 AM on April 26, 2020 (44 comments)

My daughter wants to make her own video game but has no idea what kind of game she wants to make. She is not into plaformers but really enjoyed some smaller games like World of Goo and Donut County. She knows how to do Scratch style gui coding. We are on Win10 or Android. What are the best all in one game creation systems? I don't care if they are pay or open source, only that they are age suitable and don't require everything to be hand crafted. She is not very into LEGO or Minecraft.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by benzenedream at 12:48 AM on April 7, 2020 (9 comments)

Daniel Manus Pinkwater is an author of mostly children's books and young adult titles of the wonderfully weird and punny sort, and is an occasional commentator on National Public Radio. Goodreads lists 128 distinct works, and from this extensive library, he's made 24 titles into audiobooks available to freely download from his website [via Mltshp]. Want even more audio adventures? Webmaster Ed and Daniel collaborated on the Pinkwater Podcast between 2007 and 2017, producing over 500 episodes of recorded books, short stories, interviews, skits, and other random nonsense [Ducks! previously].
posted to MetaFilter by filthy light thief at 3:28 PM on March 18, 2020 (28 comments)

mr. sandman
man me a sand
make him the cutest man car door hook hand
give him the sand that i'm not a hander
then tell him that his sands and mans are handses

A full and quite lovely vocal rendition of an old Tumblr shitpost.
posted to MetaFilter by Countess Elena at 5:49 PM on March 17, 2020 (25 comments)

A YouTube playlist with dozens upon dozens of made-for-TV movies from ABC's Movie of the Week series (1969-1975).
posted to MetaFilter by Iridic at 8:38 AM on March 4, 2020 (27 comments)

Eleven years ago, Aqua Teen Hunger Force characters invaded Boston and the city was shut down (YouTube, 4 minutes) in the 2007 Boston Mooninite panic (Wikipedia). If the whole thing is a blur, here's a 14 minute video (Vimeo), capturing the media mania, and the subsequent press conference on haircuts in the 70s (YT, 6 minute Fox News clip), and looking back, 10 years later (YT, 10 minutes), with more context to the events.
posted to MetaFilter by filthy light thief at 3:16 PM on February 1, 2020 (35 comments)

I'm going to play a bit dumb here, I've been using Docker extensively. I have an environment that requires Windows and Linux containers, things have been evolving very fast and I want to reaffirm things. Some of these questions can be answered more broadly, "how do large organizations like Amazon use microservices and prove their code works?" and i do not mean so much in an integration test/unit test way but presenting to someone in upper management or other stakeholder that doesn't realize that passing integration tests / using proxies should work. Sorry for the broad nature of the topic, it will make more sense inside.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by geoff. at 12:21 PM on December 26, 2019 (7 comments)

The Far Side has a new website, Gary Larson explains why now in a letter. While the website is in its beginning stages, there is a daily selection of comic strips, plus sections for themed collections and scans from Larson’s sketchbooks.
posted to MetaFilter by Kattullus at 1:28 PM on December 17, 2019 (80 comments)

"Songs for Lines/Songs for Waves" (1977), an early performance work by Laurie Anderson is on YouTube thanks to MinimalEffort. The performance showcases Laurie's work with film and tape manipulation, including her tape-bow violin, with compositions that would become parts of her landmark United States I-IV. The video also includes At the Shrink's (a fake hologram).
posted to MetaFilter by SansPoint at 4:34 PM on December 17, 2019 (6 comments)

I like throwing the occasional anachronistic slang into my speech to throw a bit of outdated folksiness into the modern world. What's your favorite under-used slang from the 60s or before?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by gregoryg at 3:11 PM on December 6, 2019 (91 comments)

My husband and I have a nine year old daughter. The three of us all have great 2-way relationships, but I find it hard to feel a sense of cohesion as a family. When the three of us are together, it's hard to all feel connected. Do other families of 3 find this? What has helped develop a sense of cohesion for parents with a single child?
posted to Ask MetaFilter by beccyjoe at 1:29 PM on November 29, 2019 (14 comments)

A short French documentary (Part 1). (Part 2). on the making of the classic platformer, Another World (released in the US as Out Of This World).
posted to MetaFilter by mediocre at 2:56 PM on March 4, 2013 (45 comments)

Equinoctial PDF by John Varley

Old Hundredth by Brian Aldiss

Roog by Philip K. Dick

Liane the Wayfarer by Jack Vance
posted to MetaFilter by y2karl at 12:37 AM on September 23, 2019 (17 comments)

The Christmas Shoes: A Great Movie That Makes No Sense (SLYT)
posted to MetaFilter by all about eevee at 10:10 AM on September 20, 2019 (15 comments)

Three songs by 100 gecs: “money machine”, “800db cloud”, “stupid horse” (Album review)
posted to MetaFilter by Going To Maine at 9:56 PM on July 30, 2019 (20 comments)