Summer’s here. In need of amazing novel recommendations. Particulars within. [more inside]
posted by xenization at 7:37 AM - 1 answers

International MeFites can you recommend great hip-hop either entirely in non-English language, or featuring mainly non-US English dialects? previously
posted by roofus at 3:20 AM - 24 answers

Contact by Daft Punk supposedly "contains audio from the Apollo 17 mission used by courtesy of NASA and Capt. Eugene Cernan". The sample says: "Hey Bob, I'm looking at what Jack was talking about and it's definitely not a particle that's nearby. It is a bright object and it's obviously rotating because it's flashing, it's way out in the distance, certainly rotating in a very rhythmic fashion because the flashes come around almost on time. As we look back at the Earth it's up at about 11 o'clock, about maybe ten or twelve diame...Earth diameters. I don't know whether that does you any good, but there's something out there." When I Google this I find only Daft Punk references. Is it a genuine soundbite from the Apollo 17 mission or did those wacky French robots make it up?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:33 PM - 6 answers

What is the sample used in the original "99 Problems" by Ice T? I always thought it was great because I could swear it was the sound of an alien being killed in "Aliens". My friend who just listened to it, however, says "duh, it's a seagull." Anyone? Thanks mefiters! : )
posted by bitterkitten at 8:04 PM - 6 answers

I love Jane's Addiction. They are the sound of the Devil telling me about sin and what you can get away with in the darker corners of a spiritual life. So the question is: who else is out there who can bring it like they do? I'm looking for the next Three Days jam in this Askme - thick, coiling, roiling, powermad music that is as much about drugged-up incense-laden crunch as it is about tuneful, stuck in your head like an icepick melody? Release the hounds.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 3:50 PM - 37 answers

Can you please suggest a blog or resource that will tell me what under-the-radar science fiction movies I should go see? [more inside]
posted by rebent at 12:11 PM - 5 answers

I'm looking for sitcoms with three or more children where a middle child was the breakout star. [more inside]
posted by Chrysostom at 12:06 PM - 26 answers

Are there big advantages to buying Lightroom if I already have advanced Photoshop skills? [more inside]
posted by critzer at 9:51 AM - 13 answers

Long story short. Girlfriend of 2+ years cheated on me. We broke up, but this is right before I'm going to be spending a few months moving back home and doing a whole lot of nothing. I'm looking for recommendations for books to help keep me from dwelling on this, specific tastes below. [more inside]
posted by aleatorictelevision at 10:09 PM - 22 answers

I want to read nonfiction about ritualistic/magical/occult/religious practices or events in a historical/cultural context that will learn me real good without sacrificing the fun factor. More interested in things like druid sacrifice or the Salem witch trials than modern-day ghostbusters or psychics, but all cultures are welcome.
posted by goosechasing at 7:58 PM - 22 answers

I am a member of a largish (7 folk-fusion ensemble. We've been gigging on and off using traditional forms of promotion and we'd like to look into online promotion. [more inside]
posted by faethverity at 7:39 PM - 2 answers

I read this sometime in the 80s. It was a chapter book, just shy of YA. And it's title was something like "The 45th Thing I Love About Amelia" or "The 45th Best Thing I Love About Anastasia" (wrong number, wrong name). Oh, and at the end, the mom opens a closet door and there's a dead dog inside or something. [more inside]
posted by hmo at 12:38 PM - 2 answers

I read something in the past 5-30 years that had a story about the value of a sacrificial, superficial distraction that was something along the lines of leaving an apple on the dashboard of your car when crossing the border between the US and Canada if you have something bigger to hide. I use the phrase 'apple on the dashboard' from time to time and not only does no one else get the reference, I've forgotten it, too. Anyone? [more inside]
posted by you must supply a verb at 11:15 AM - 7 answers

In Michael Palin's "Around the World in 80 Days", there's a shot of a building with an interesting sign. It says "EARTH SPACE SCIENCE ART FACT FICTION FANTASY". [more inside]
posted by dubold at 2:48 AM - 12 answers

I'm in London for a visit and now it's my last week. Yesterday I was down by the BFI Film Centre and there were a couple of amazing street musicians (an accapella trio and a dude named Flaming Moth). On Holborn Friday evening there was a kickass drummer. So where else in London can I find great street musicians?
posted by storybored at 1:54 AM - 6 answers

How do I get Inkscape files ready to be worked on in Illustrator? [more inside]
posted by Biblio at 4:01 PM - 5 answers

Among other things, I enjoy books by Jane Austen (and films of such books). I also enjoy "fish out of water" stories where someone finds themselves in a totally foreign/alien place or time and has to figure it out. I discovered the miniseries Lost in Austen, which combines these interests perfectly. What else might I enjoy? [more inside]
posted by ohio at 2:10 PM - 18 answers

I'm looking for a collection of children's poetry that contains "Lord Bateman." Complicating factor: I am not convinced the one I'm looking for is "One Thousand Poems for Children." [more inside]
posted by handful of rain at 9:34 AM - 1 answers

I stumbled across a producer who has had 720,659 listeners to one of her tracks. It has also been favorited 12740 times. Yet she has 12 tracks, is following 404 people and is followed by 114 people. Why doesn't she have a lot of followers? I thought I understood it and the thinking of how and why people use it, but I must not.
posted by CollectiveMind at 8:33 AM - 11 answers

Noah Gallagher Shannon has a piece in Sunday's NYT about an emergency landing at Philadelphia. Something about the story makes me think that it might be fictional. Can anybody prove that the story took place as he describes it? [more inside]
posted by crazy with stars at 11:08 PM - 34 answers