Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with obscure

Obscure songfilter:

tizzie — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:03:30 -0800

Has the phrase "you so famous" and a list of artists including Willem de Kooning. Thanks.

Hey, Art!

heyho — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 18:26:37 -0800

Please tell me of your favorite art/design/architecture blogs, pages, and websites — the more obscure, the better. I see a lot of art, but I don't see enough art. I'm looking not so much for current-happenings type links, but rather pretty much everything else, including no-longer-updated-but-still-standing art/design blogs that are very well curated.

Or a particular art/design school's website that is brimming with interesting galleries. That sort of thing. Something I'm not likely to find by tripping down a Wikipedia path. An extremely fascinating (amateur) Flickr or Instagram account, even. Or an art or artist fansite that is particularly detailed or otherwise compelling. Or a small-museum website that can't be missed. Or the site of an obscure-but-amazing artist who no one seems to be aware of.

I'd rather not describe which styles, periods, or media I tend to prefer because I'm getting bored with my own direction, so show me what's great!

Recommend me some teen sci-fi TV series!

PhoBWanKenobi — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 15:47:50 -0800

I love serious, obscure TV sci-fi aimed at twelve year olds. Please help me find more of it! Ever since my tween years, I've loved YA sci-fi works for the small screen. I grew up enjoying series like the rebooted Tomorrow People, the rebooted Land of the Lost, Mission Genesis and Space Cases. I also really love adult sci-fi when it has significant plotlines featuring well-developed teen characters--think Buck and Emily in Alien Nation (the flashback eps of Fringe also made me squee). Over the years, I've discovered and burned through the New Zealand show the Tribe and the Canadian series The Odyssey (which isn't technically sci-fi, but has pretty rigorous worldbuilding for magical realism for kids). I'm okay with heavy soap opera and cheesy, Degrassi-esque plotting, but I really hate puns and corny humor; the "Uranus" jokes from Space Cases were just a bit much for me. I'm also not super into Whedonesque cleverness. What I really want is more good YA sci-fi drama that takes itself (perhaps too) seriously. Obscure and/or old are fine so long as there's some way for me to hunt it down and watch it. Current is dandy, too.

Bonus points for aliens.

crazy rockstar interviews

mrmarley — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 07:13:50 -0800

I'm looking for audio and/or video (or otherwise transcripts) of "outrageous" or "far out" interviews or non-music content that more "hard-core" fans of those people would know about, but general fans might not. examples: Noel & Liam Gallagher's "Wibbling Rivalry" or Bob Dylan's conversation with AJ Webberman

Not to be found in Hot Topic

Ndwright — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 17:44:44 -0800

Where to find awesome, funny, geeky t-shirts that most people haven't seen, along the lines of this, this, this, and this. I'm primarily looking for small-scale vendors, diamonds in the rough. They don't have to be from webcomics per se, but they do have to be relatively unknown, so no "Walmart t-shirt with Brian from Family Guy saying 'I'm allergic to stupid people, a-choo'" type stuff.

Hipness is not a factor, they can be incredibly dorky so long as they meet the above criteria of funny, geeky, and awesome.

How the heck can I 'remember' a room of singing Taxidermy...?

~Bert — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 01:14:31 -0800

Does this exist: A music video or scene from a movie/ show in which a room decorated with many taxidermy animals (trophy heads and the like) comes to life and start moving and singing? Definitely originated before 1999, set in a room reminiscent of the Hunter's Room in Ace Ventura.

It is a memory which I haven't been able to place or figure out from my childhood but also from a time when I would often confuse dreams with actual experiences of things I had seen so I don't know if I made it up as a child or if I actually saw it on TV.

It could be a dream I based on a combination of watching Pee-wee Herman and the aforementioned Ace Ventura clip? It was definitely weird nonetheless...

Help me find the name of an obscure mlb relief pitcher?

aviwarner — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 21:57:22 -0800

Trying to figure out the name of an obscure MLB relief pitcher with a unique windup For the life of me can't find this guy. Would have pitched a couple seasons ago. Right handed Journeyman/flash in the pan type. Not particularly good but I remember him pitching in relief against the giants.

He had a really specific windup though. Before every pitch, he would grip the ball with a claw hand and 'show' it to third base and make a kind of horrible gremlin growling face. Then he would continue his windup. Face he made almost reminded me of a japanese demon mask.

Ring a bell to anyone? I know it's a shot in the dark!

Anyone know the name of this painting at the Louvre?

BadgerDoctor — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 21:47:28 -0800

Anyone know the name of this painting at the Louvre? It's an eighteenth-century work of two aristocratic ladies, young and not terribly attractive, standing side by side and wearing nothing at all but their jewels and sly smiles. One of them has her finger plugged casually--one might almost say absentmindedly--into the other's butt. I just told my fiance about it, and she refuses to believe that so august an institution as the Louvre would display such a painting, much less that it even exists. If I can prove I'm not making it up, I won't have to dishes for a week. Thanks

Lesser known amazing foreign phrases?

jitterbug perfume — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:39:10 -0800

I'm looking for obscure but beautiful or amazing sayings or phrases or words in languages or dialects other than American English. That's basically it. I'm looking for them to connote amazing wonder, fear, love, beauty, bittersweetness, excellent observation or excellent articulation of the un-articulatable - to be beautiful, funny, or wise. As I said, I would like them to be on the lesser known end of things. If you have a really good one, I can loosen up on the obscure thing - I just don't want a bunch of "Home is where the heart is"-level stuff.

Will Lonesome George ever find a mate?

CharlieSue — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:15:30 -0800

What are some publicly available prizes or rewards for solving really obscure / awesome problems? Over the years, I've heard of a variety of publicly available prizes or rewards being offered for solving certain problems or finding certain things - for example:

- The "Millennium Prize Problems" which offer $1 million for solving 7 outstanding problems in Mathematics - sure, the average person might not have the mathematical knowledge right now to solve them, but the prizes are available to anyone who presents a verified solution

- "Lonesome George", who is apparently a turtle who is hypothesized to be the last of his species, with a $10k prize offered for anyone who finds a female for him to mate with

The former I always thought was pretty cool (especially as they've been being solved) but the latter is really what sparked this for me - I just am curious what other obscure prizes are available for somewhat random tasks / activities / problems.

As a note, by publicly available I just mean that any person would be able to claim them - eg you don't have to be part of a special club - not that any person would be capable of claiming them.

This record what is it

solarion — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 02:58:07 -0800

Random obscure record filter: Band was "The Delta *something*", 70s (synth?) cover album, abstract jacket. Was out op-shopping today, recall seeing a record which I didn't pick up (being $4 and I didn't know it, I don't take the chance unless it looks really quite good); was going to look it up and possibly catch it a few days later, but now can't quite remember the band or album.

But there are things I do remember. It looked like a synth covers album to my crate digging eye, given the info on the jacket. The cover was rather abstract, coloured squares forming a semi-circle of sorts. The band was "The Delta *something*" - obviously I can't remember the something - and they were playing covers of a particular artist whom I also don't remember.

Help, Metafilter! You're good at this thing.

extended metaphor

leibniz — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 03:24:22 -0800

Please help me find a short story or poem that functions as an extended metaphor. Preferably one as obscure or ambiguous in its meaning as possible. Please no stories longer than 10 pages, and obviously as good quality as possible. Classic examples will also be welcome.

What books am I thinking of?

esereth — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:26:54 -0800

What two obscure books am I thinking of? One about ships, one about an outsider. The first one: A ship, hundreds of years ago, caught in the doldrums alongside (I think) a rocky inhospitable island. No one can swim. (except maybe one guy) Water is running out. It was a slim, artsy book, possibly foreign in origin, prettily written. Probably published about 10-15 years ago.

The second: Unreliable narrator book. About a college boy, he's in love with a girl. They go to (Scotland?) with a bunch of other college kids to film an art movie. The girl is murdered (something to do with a bicycle...) possibly by the narrator. And we learn that even though he told the story as if he were part of it, in reality no one knew who he was and he was just a weird hanger-on. Possibly british book. Written also about ten- 15 years ago.

Any bells?

seeking the playlist of a compilation cassette

germdisco — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 00:04:23 -0800

Can someone locate the complete playlist of a cassette that was included with the purchase of a Mercury Marquis station wagon in 1984? In the second half of 1984, a new Mercury Marquis station wagon was purchased in upstate New York. The owner received a cassette, which I believe was simply titled "1984" or "1985". The title was prominently displayed on the cover, and I believe the cover background was dark blue. The artwork might have included

I don't know if the cassette was the result of a Ford promotion, a local dealership promotion, or something else. My understanding was that it was supplied with the car as a demo for the cassette deck.

The cassette featured some current top-40 songs, with artists like Hall & Oates and Michael Sembello. "Maneater" was likely the Hall & Oates song on the compilation, and "Maniac" seems like a good candidate for the Michael Sembello song.

I tried discogs.com's "Appearances" feature for both Michael Sembello and Hall & Oates, and didn't find the compilation listed. If I went through my entire 1980s music collection, I might be able to come up with other artists and tracks that were on this compilation, but it would take a while and would be error-prone. There's also the possibility that the cassette was a repackaged version of a compilation already listed on discogs, so that's another avenue I can pursue.

Is this compilation familiar to anyone? How could I go about tracking this down? I could probably identify the car dealership where the auto was purchased, but that seems likely to be a dead end. Is there another way to investigate this, such as finding out all of the companies/labels that had distribution rights to particular songs?

I'm mainly interested in photos of the cover, and the complete track listing. I'm not interested in purchasing it.

Obscure, weird, sui generis books

twirlip — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 05:02:42 -0800

Please recommend obscure, weird, sui generis books -- the more unique and obscure, the better! I'm looking for examples of unusual, one-of-a-kind literary works, especially ones that nobody has heard of. For example:

In Sara, Mencken, Christ and Beethoven There Were Men and Women by John Barton Wolgamot (as seen on MetaFilter!).
Musrum by Eric Thacker and Anthony Earnshaw.

Anathema! by Benjamin de Casseres -- imagine if Howl was a tract on nihilism by H. P. Lovecraft.

Books like Hypnerotomachia Poliphili or Locus Solus would be perfect, but they're too well-known. If it doesn't have a Wikipedia page, that's a good sign. If it's just an experimental novel with a cult following (like House of Leaves), it's probably not what I'm looking for.

Best little known or obscure love songs?

The Whelk — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 05:30:55 -0800

Kiss Kiss Kiss Fun Fun Fun: What are your favorite little known or obscure love songs? The stuff that makes you go "Oh you have to hear this it is great?" Funny is nice, catchy is better, catchy and lively is bestest. I have a deep fondness for the kind of deep-cut 50s novelty songs Jon Waters like to use, so I'm biased toward that.

Ancient Krell music

reynaert — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 12:50:03 -0800

Louis and Bebe Barron were famous for writing the first all-electronic movie soundtrack, for Forbidden Planet. I'm looking for more of their music, but the only thing I can find is this poor quality copy of Bells of Atlantis on YouTube. Help? I wouldn't be surprised if some of their early music is simply lost, but Bebe Barron's final composition, Mixed Emotions, was created in 2000. That shouldn't be that hard to find, right?

Obscure Authors, Later Famous?

estlin — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 19:03:49 -0800

Who are now-famous authors who died while they were still obscure? Note: I'm not looking for then-famous people who are NOW obscure, nor do I want authors whose best-known works were flops during their lifetimes. (For instance, The Great Gatsby and Moby Dick sold terribly initially, but Fitzgerald and Melville were already well-known authors for other works.)

Channeling Larry Levan.

blackcatcuriouser — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 21:16:03 -0800

Seeking somewhat obscure '80s dance songs that are in the vein of Sheila-E and Exposé in terms of '80s sound, beat, female vocals and danceability. At a party recently, the DJ (who I really should have talked to) played several (very awesome and fun) songs like this - many of which featured higher-pitched girl vocals. I hadn't heard them before, anywhere, ever. I wouldn't necessarily classify them as freestyle or disco. They seemed to be more dancey pop songs with beats and vocals comparable to "Glamorous Life" by Sheila-E. I know finding the exact songs I heard is a long shot, given my lack of information, but I'd like to create a playlist of songs like this, or know where I can find some.

Thanks, guys!

Checking availability of titles on eBooks

divabat — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 23:13:48 -0800

I'm starting to consider getting an e-reader, mainly because the books I'm really keen on are unavailable in my local library system and are hardly available in Australian bookstores (and are too expensive otherwise). However, I'm not sure if the books I'm after are actually available in any eBook format. Is there a way to find this out? The books I'm after tend to fall into categories of performance art, feminism, gender and queer theory, sexuality, cultural theory, and activism. They run the gamut in terms of release years, though I'd posit that most of them come from the early 90s onwards.

From what I understand, most eBooks tend to be shop-specific, so just because you can find a certain book as an eBook on, say, Amazon doesn't mean you can find it on Sony. But is there a way to find out which titles have eBook versions available, and what format they're in? And perhaps what prices they go for?

Also apparently just because something is an eBook in the USA doesn't mean it's available as one in Australia. How likely is that to happen with the sort of books I mean?

Unsung Heros of the 70s/80s

fatty magoo — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 08:20:50 -0800

Who are the unsung heroes of the 70s and 80s? i.e. recommend some good non-mainstream bands from then. Looking to expand my music collection, but I am too young to know anything about these decades other than what my parents like.

By analogy, in 30 years, nobody is going to remember good bands from the 90s/2000s, like Fastball, Ben Folds Five, Augustana, The Shins. The "oldies" stations are all going to play Green Day, Kanye West, and (God forbid) Lady Gaga.

I already like a lot of music from that period. So, please be no less obscure than, say, Elvis Costello or the Pretenders. Don't even think about mentioning Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, etc.

For the benefit of us 20-somethings, leave some listening suggestions. I'm up for anything but disco.

Trying to ID a song about a sweater from the 80s

southpaw — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 11:10:29 -0800

help me ID this song from the 80s: This is a song about a sweater, how it possibly unravels, or involves a boy and a girl, and would have been played on the radio as a new release in the 1980s. Not Weezer's Sweater Song, something different! It was odd (maybe a novelty song?), involving more spoken language than actual singing. King Missile's Detachable P*nis always reminded me of this earlier song for some reason. I've been trying to figure out this song for years, and any searching I do turns up Weezer, and that's not it. I remember it getting a lot of radio play in Knoxville, TN where I grew up, some time during the 1980s.

Who are the best athletes nobody has heard of?

Fireland — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:37:36 -0800

Who are the absolute legends of obscure sports? I realize even the most popular sports in one part of the world are unknown in another. But I'm generally looking for, say, the best female badminton player ever or the greatest Buzkashi champion, as opposed to, say, Michael Jordan.
(Clips of them doing their thing would also be cool).

What are the great life changing books no one has ever heard of?

champthom — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:02:51 -0800

What are some underrated but mind altering books? It's hard to explain what I'm looking for but the best I can describe is "the best books they don't want you to know about."

I'm curious in finding books that are relatively obscure yet so profound and mind altering. I'd like to try and find some books that come close to the Necronomicon or some book L Ron Hubbard supposedly wrote which are suppose to drive the readers to the point of insanity because they have such an impact.

I say obscure because I'm pretty familiar with the list of books that change people's life - The Bible, The Book of Mormon, Atlas Shrugged are a few that come to mind. I'm more looking for a list of books that have the same effect but you never see on any sort of list like that. While not the best example, for me personally, Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning had a profound impact and I only found out about the book from a co-worker. Another case I found while looking in books about life changing books is this book which apparently had a tremendous influence on some guy's life.

So, what are the most personally influential books, the books that change lives, that are relatively unknown?

Where No Man Has Gone Before...

Avenger — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:22:07 -0800

Give me some ideas on some exotic and "remote" places to vacation. Remote as in, obscure, sparsely populated areas. I've already considered Greenland. Anything similar?