MetaFilter

Currie Ballard, a historian in Oklahoma, has just made what he calls “the find of a lifetime”—33 cans of motion picture film dating from the 1920s that reveal the daily lives of some remarkably successful black communities.

A Find of a Lifetime
Twelve different short excerpts of the film are linked
comment posted at 3:52 PM on Sep-17-06

Artur J's Annotated Lyrics of Bob Dylans Love and Theft has expanded and now features Annotated lyrics for Street Legal, Knocked Out Loaded, Oh, Mercy and Modern Times. And he is already on top of Dylan's quotes of Henry Timrod on the new album. On a related tip, someone waved a lawyer at Eyolf Østrem, so he removed all his tabs from his Dylan tablature site, My Back Pages. But, fortunately there are some mirrors and the blog of this one has a tab page for Modern Times already.
comment posted at 1:32 PM on Sep-14-06

A good book is always a joy, and a good, free online book about The Beatles' Revolver album (PDF) is a real treat for fans of the Moptops at thier most transitional. Paul Ingles has a bunch of audio interviews to peruse. Somehow, everything was just right.
comment posted at 9:45 AM on Sep-14-06

On this day, five years ago, the times changed. In honor of all who perished, just leave a period in the comments, and reflect on that day to yourselves.
comment posted at 6:15 AM on Sep-11-06

Slate's ongoing "Survivalist" series lays out the steps that you can take to prepare for the disasters threatening to snuff out civilization in general (and, apparently, New York City in particular). Find out how to survive nuclear terrorism, an earthquake, a skyscraper collapse, an electronic apocalypse, and global warming.
comment posted at 7:58 PM on Sep-10-06

Louis Moreau Gottschalk - an unjustly forgotten American composer of classical music
comment posted at 9:32 AM on Sep-10-06
comment posted at 7:44 PM on Sep-10-06

No language, just sound: How writer Ned Raggett came to ignore the lyrics.
comment posted at 11:08 AM on Sep-6-06
comment posted at 12:03 PM on Sep-6-06

Donald Rumsfeld's recent speech at the American Legion Convention has revived interest in the 1938 Munich pact between Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler and its use as an analogy in foreign policy debates. Military historian Jeffrey Record weighs in with Appeasement Reconsidered: Investigating the Mythology of the 1930s. Michael Cairo examines how analogical reasoning based on "the lesson of Munich" influenced the first Gulf War and Clinton's intervention in Kosovo. Juan Cole argues against "the crock of appeasement" as applied to the Middle East, whereas MacGregor Duncan claims that the Munich analogy has caused us to underestimate the diplomatic value of appeasement. Finally, Pat Buchanan claims the Islamo-fascist label is historically inaccurate (or is he worried that non-Islamic fascists get a bad rap?).
comment posted at 2:30 PM on Sep-2-06

The new GOP buzzword: Fascism. President Bush in recent days has recast the global war on terror into a "war against Islamic fascism." Fascism, in fact, seems to be the new buzz word for Republicans in an election season dominated by an unpopular war in Iraq. Donald H. Rumsfeld in a speech to an American Legion convention in Salt Lake City said [of his critics, they are] trying to appease "a new type of fascism."

Before it was "cut and run", which was tested using a focus group. On the Senate floor, Sen Hagel earlier decried the tactic: "Focus Group-Tested Buzz Words…Like ‘Cut and Run’…Debase the Seriousness of War." What will they come up with next?
comment posted at 1:50 PM on Aug-30-06

"'It's metallic and bright gold, with whatever that conjures up.'" Louis Menand on the mercurial nature of Bob Dylan's interviews.
"Dylan's sound [is] 'very much like a dog with his leg caught in barbed wire.'" Nat Hentoff's profile of Dylan for the New Yorker from 1964.
comment posted at 12:12 PM on Aug-30-06

Shortly before his cancer diagnosis, Peter Jennings started work on a one-hour documentary devoted solely to the issue of AIDS in Black America. ABC News has now finished his work in a one-hour Special Edition of "Primetime," reported by Terry Moran. "In America today, AIDS is virtually a black disease, by any measure," says Phill Wilson, executive director of The Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles. Black Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population but account for over 50 percent of all new cases of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. That infection rate is eight times the rate of whites. Among women, the numbers are even more shocking—- almost 70 percent of all newly diagnosed HIV-positive women in the United States are black women. Black women are 23 times more likely to be diagnosed with AIDS than white women, with heterosexual contact being the overwhelming method of infection in black America.
comment posted at 9:51 AM on Aug-25-06

Would YOU lie to save your life? The Doctor said that I needed a keyhole operation called a coronary angioplasty to clear the blockages, but the waiting list on the NHS was nine months. I couldn’t believe my ears. I knew that I would struggle to survive the next nine days, so nine months seemed an impossibility. What the doctor had just handed me was a virtual death sentence. He must have seen the look of horror. He said that if I paid for the operation, he could fit me in for the angioplasty within the week. The cost privately, he told me, would be around £8,500. I looked at him, my head a whirl as I tried to make sense of what he was telling me. As far as I could see, the choice was clear — if I paid I would live, if I didn’t I would probably die. I’m a pensioner living on £150 a week. And no bank would have given me a loan. But in that split second my survival instinct kicked in and I realised I had to convince the doctor that I had the money. ‘Well, you can’t take it with you,’ I said cheerily. ‘I’ll go private.’ The following morning, I gave the administrator the cheque before I was discharged from the hospital. Some people would say this was fraud, because I knew it would bounce. But there was nothing else I could do — I wanted to live.
comment posted at 9:24 AM on Aug-21-06

Piddle Around Slovenia. The country's tourist board has released this online game, allowing players to virtually wander around the tiny Alpine country, visiting popular sites while chatting with others.
comment posted at 10:23 AM on Aug-16-06

Graphic novels without words are the silent movies of the printed page. Now, the inestimable and erudite vacapinta first directed us to the father of the genre, one Frans Masereel.    Up to recently, the most notable of Masereel's successors was Lynd Ward, whose most famous work was God's Man, subtitled A Novel in Woodcuts. Here are some more plates from God's Man for sale. Yet more plates can be found, along with a bad midi, at the Texas based Woodcuts - Lynn Ward: Gods' Man. And here are some illustrations from Georgetwon University's Lauinger Library September 2001 exhibit Lvnd Ward as Illustrator. Here, also, is Graphic Witness: visual arts & social commentary - Lynd Ward. And here is his Madman's Drum in its entirety.  But now we have a contemporary working in the same vein--Eric Drooker.   More inside
comment posted at 1:39 PM on Aug-4-06

Motor City Rock 1980-1990 A great archive of Detroit's most overlooked and ignoble musical era. Highlights include Bittersweet Alley, The Trash Brats, Vertical Pillows, The Dick the Bruiser Band, and many more. Great to listen to while you read the relauched (and vaguely sad) Creem.
comment posted at 1:47 PM on Aug-4-06

"F*****g Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." The ugly truth about Mel Gibson's drunk-driving arrest oozes out, with exquisite timing. (Enter his name on linked form.) Apple/tree, etc. (via tmz)
comment posted at 2:10 PM on Jul-30-06

The internet has been hailed as a great media equalizer; no longer do you have to have the huge budgets & backing of major news outlets, record companies, movie studios, etc.. One attempt to formalize that process, IMince seems to be a bit of a YouTube/Project Greenlight combination, where users submit their funniest/most compelling (five minute max) digital video in the hopes of being discovered. I assume the site will be community content driven & user voting (digg like?) to separate the good from the bad, but until they start getting/posting content, it's hard to tell.
comment posted at 9:51 AM on Jul-27-06

Jack Jackson, writing as Jaxon, may have created the first underground comic, God Nose, in 1964. In 1969 he was one of the founders of RipOff Press. Jackson's work at that time included horror stories (in Skull Comics, RipOff's tribute to EC) and political fare. Jackson returned to his native Texas in the 70s and began work on a series of comics on Texas history. In 1979 he published Comanche Moon, the story of the abduction of Cynthia Ann Parker and of her son, the great Comanche chief Quanah Parker. Jackson was influenced by Texas History Movies, a 1920s comic strip by Jack Patton and John Rosenfeld that was compiled into booklets and used in Texas schools until the 1960s. Other works by Jackson included the story of Spanish-Americans in the war for Texas independence, the Alamo as seen from both sides, and a look at Sam Houston's relationship with the Cherokee. The subjects of Jackson's comics tended to be history's dispossessed and, in 1998, he published Lost Cause, a look at post-Civil War white Texans. Accused of racism, Jackson replied that he intended to show history as it was, not as people wanted it to have been. The Comics Reporter: "Jackson's Texas was capable of grotesquery and atrocity because Jackson's art was able to communicate extreme, transcendent moments without hesitation or shame." Aside from comics, Jackson wrote a number of books on Texas and other history, including the award-winning Los Mestenos, a study of Spanish ranching in Texas. He was a lifetime member of the Texas State Historical Society. Jackson's health deteriorated as he grew older and he suffered from diabetes and prostate cancer. On June 8, Jack Jackson committed suicide near the Stockton, Texas cemetery where his parents are buried.
comment posted at 1:07 PM on Jul-26-06

The National Potrait Gallery held a competition for new entries into the gallery. The winner is a fabulous painting by David Lenz. There is a great deal of focus in the exhibit of imagery that is truthful, but not necessarily flattering. The winner is both truthful and flattering. Lenz's subject is is his son, who has Down syndrome. The title, "Sam and the Perfect World" is quite poignant. There is a long NPR program covering the entire topic of portaiture in general and this portrait specifically.
comment posted at 10:57 AM on Jul-18-06

Every state must have its enemies. Great powers must have especially monstrous foes. Above all, these foes must arise from within, for national pride does not admit that a great nation can be defeated by any outside force. That is why, though its origins are elsewhere, the stab in the back has become the sustaining myth of modern American nationalism. Since the end of World War II it has been the device by which the American right wing has both revitalized itself and repeatedly avoided responsibility for its own worst blunders. Indeed, the right has distilled its tale of betrayal into a formula: Advocate some momentarily popular but reckless policy. Deny culpability when that policy is exposed as disastrous. Blame the disaster on internal enemies who hate America. Repeat, always making sure to increase the number of internal enemies.

Stabbed in the Back !
comment posted at 10:00 AM on Jul-15-06

Biro-art - fantastic ballpoint drawings.
comment posted at 5:33 AM on Jul-15-06
comment posted at 9:52 AM on Jul-15-06

Dr. Peggy McIntosh wrote a paper in 1989 titled White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences through Work in Women’s Studies (later released as White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack), which she wrote because, "...have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets which I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was 'meant' to remain oblivious." Since then the lesson she sought to teach has inspired other lists, such as The Male Privilege and now The Daily Effect of Straight Privilege.
comment posted at 2:28 PM on Jul-10-06

Screamin Jay Hawkins got around. Over the course of five decades, he put out dozens of albums, which were fairly hit or miss. Though he would never top his 1956 hit "I Put A Spell On You", which would years later land him a roll in the Jim Jarmusch film "Strangers in Paradise", he was well known for his live act where he would jump out of a coffin with a variety of skulls he named Henry. I got bored and looked him up on the youtube today, and lo and behold, instant fun. Bonus: here's a video of Diamanda Galas performing his oft-covered hit, it's better than the limp Marilyn Manson version, but I kinda wish she'd done "Constipation Blues" instead.
comment posted at 9:45 AM on Jul-7-06

Ralph McQuarrie is a fabulous conceptual artist best known for his work on the Star Wars films. His new webpage showcases his art from the past 25+ years. He now has Parkinson's and cannot draw anymore, but it is an amazing site.
comment posted at 1:15 PM on Jul-6-06

Ann Coulter on the Grateful Dead, "I fondly remember seeing the Dead when I was at Cornell. It was the day of the fabulous Fiji Island party on the driveway “island” of the Phi Gamma Delta House. We'd cover ourselves in purple Crisco and drink purple Kool-Aid mixed with grain alcohol and dance on the front yard."
comment posted at 8:30 AM on Jul-6-06

"This statue proves that Jesus Christ is Lord over America, he is Lord over Tennessee, he is Lord over Memphis."
comment posted at 8:02 AM on Jul-5-06
comment posted at 10:18 AM on Jul-5-06
comment posted at 10:31 AM on Jul-5-06

[T]his pattern, grade for the sake of a grade, work for the sake of work, can be found everywhere. Ladies and gentlemen, the spirit of intellectual thought is lost. I speak today not to rant, complain or cause trouble, and certainly not to draw attention to myself. I have accomplished nothing and I am nothing. I know that. Rather, I was moved by the countless hours wasted in those halls. Today, you should focus on your child or loved one. This is meant to be a day of celebration, and if I’ve taken away from that, I’m sorry. But I know how highly this community values learning, and I urge you all to re-evaluate what it means to be educated.

- from a graduation speech by the valedictorian of Mainland Regional High School, Kareem Elnahal, critiquing his school's education process.

The principal's reaction? “My hope was they did not hear or understand what he was saying. ... He was belittling the diplomas of every one of those kids.”.
comment posted at 7:53 AM on Jul-5-06

In early 1777 Gen Burgoyne assumes command of the northern Redcoat column marching from Canada. On June 20, 1777 he issues his infamous Proclamation of how & why he's coming down to kick Rebel behind. History records one unknown patriot's snark-filled reply that July. By October, Burgoyne's flying column is bottled up and defeated at Saratoga. Here ends the history lesson. Have a great 4th, peeps.
comment posted at 12:28 PM on Jul-4-06

Spirit was an American jazz/hard rock/psychedelic band founded in 1967, based in Los Angeles, California. Their 1970 album Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus is highly regarded for originality and uniqueness and is considered by many to be one of the best albums made by a Los Angeles group [source]. Among the many bits of fascinating rock trivia surrounding the group: founder and frontman Randy California jammed with a pre-fame Jimi Hendrix. Curious fans can also peruse unofficial sites for original members and founders Randy California and Jay Ferguson.
comment posted at 7:26 AM on Jul-4-06
comment posted at 7:51 AM on Jul-4-06
comment posted at 8:12 AM on Jul-4-06
comment posted at 12:24 PM on Jul-4-06

Pete Seeger on Democracy Now!
comment posted at 12:47 PM on Jul-3-06

Is George Bush to Stalin as Irving Kristol is to Trotsky? When will we start hearing these sorts of claims from the right?
comment posted at 10:57 AM on Jul-3-06
comment posted at 11:22 AM on Jul-3-06
comment posted at 11:55 AM on Jul-3-06
comment posted at 1:37 PM on Jul-3-06

Harry and the Potters was the first wizard rock band but inspired other wizard rock bands such as Draco and the Malfoys, The Whomping Willows, The Dark Markers, Cousin Wizardface, The Hungarian Horntails, Bella's Love, The Prisoners Of Azkaban and Ginny and the Weasleys." also check out this, this, this, and this.
comment posted at 6:58 AM on Jul-3-06
comment posted at 9:32 AM on Jul-3-06
comment posted at 10:40 AM on Jul-3-06
comment posted at 11:50 AM on Jul-3-06

I found ljc while researching bamboo fencing for the backyard. She's got loads of kickass DIY home improvement projects and it's so well documented that I want to cash in my 401k and blow it all at Home Depot.
comment posted at 6:36 PM on Jul-1-06

Strange Statues From Around the World
comment posted at 6:33 PM on Jul-1-06

90 years ago today, whistles blew around the river Somme in France as British troops prepared for an attack on German trenches. By the end of the day they had suffered 57,470 casualties. By the battle's end in November, there were over 600,000 Allied casualties, with perhaps the same number of German casualties. The Imperial War Museum has launched an online exhibition, where you can find out more about how the battle was planned, personal stories of those involved, and myths about the attack. Elsewhere you can find copies of Army reports on the first day, look at film of the attack, diaries and letters home from the troops, go on tours of the trenches, listen to contemporary songs and music inspired by the battle, and see some more modern responses.
comment posted at 6:02 AM on Jul-1-06

How Doctors Got Into the Torture Business
An Interview with Steven Miles: The torture-endangered Society
comment posted at 10:18 AM on Jun-28-06