Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with underground

Who bombed the statue?

puckish — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:48:29 -0800

In response to this post: did the Weather Underground actually claim responsibility for the Cleveland Rodin bombing? The Cleveland Museum page claims it was the Weather Underground; Wikipedia doesn't mention it. Google results are thus far inconclusive. Where would I go to find the official word?

Underground, overground...

Artw — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:16:09 -0800

Half remembered short story identification filter: A story in which scientists discover grids underground which might be the cities of beings who live at a greater density, and then at the end scientists from the underground city are looking through the documents, having wiped out humanity accidentally just by coming to the surface.

I'm going underground...

ghost dance beat — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:48:20 -0800

It's time for another round of 'name that childhood story'! Please help me identify a novel about a society that (literally) lived underground... From what I remember, it was a sort of futuristic/sci-fi story. Humans lived underground and believed that they couldn't go up above the earth's surface or something terrible would happen. Eventually, one boy decided to go and gathered a group that was willing to leave with him. They were warned that they couldn't return once they left, but they still went. It may have ended with them standing in a field? I've been wondering what this book was for years, so I hope this rings a bell for someone!

Looking for interesting London Underground Stations

still_wears_a_hat — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:58:04 -0800

I'm in the middle of my extended vacation in London, and am enjoying the Underground, especially how much personality some of the stations have. Which ones should I not miss while I'm here? I'm looking more for interesting design elements - things like all the Sherlock Holmeses at Baker Street, the lamps on the escalators at Swiss Cottage, the balloons at Finsbury Park, the elaborate mosaics at Tottenham Court Road, the series of alcove murals on some of the stations along the Victoria line - more than stations of particular historical or architectural interest, but those are OK too.

Perforating Mexicans

ljshapiro — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 17:49:04 -0800

I'm researching the La Mexicaine De Perforation (aka the Perforating Mexicans), who are connected to the Untergunther and Les UX. Does anyone have any knowledge of or contact to these groups? (Check out the links if you don't know who/what these group are - very interesting.) I'm very good at googling and searching the net, so I don't need help there. I'm looking for direct knowledge or connections. Thanks!

introduce me to the dark shadowed underbelly of London

crazylegs — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 05:02:02 -0800

Where are the best cheap used book shops and cheap used clothing shops in London? Heading into London tomorrow. Would like to find cheap used books, especially books on art, radical politics, sociology, etc. Also looking for funky used clothes shops and/or charity shops. I've got holes in my boots so wouldn't mind finding some new ones, or used, new-to-me ones. Help me to avoid Starbucks, chain stores, and all the other crap that is ruining London. Anything weird, underground, not advertised, and cheap would be of interest to me.

Underground Website?

cell divide — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:25:32 -0800

Trying to find a site first linked on Metafilter about underground and forbidden places. It may have been years ago, but I remember a site about underground/secret places that people would get into, photograph, and share.

Can you help me find where my edgy target market shops for jewelry?

Redruin — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:27:18 -0800

Help me find places in the Washington, DC Metro area to sell edgy men's jewelry, and discover where my target customer shops. I have recently decided to start an high quality silver jewelry brand to cater to an upscale but "edgy" underground or indie crowd, and now I need to figure out where to sell it. Can't start my own (brick and mortar) store yet, so I would love advice on shops/boutiques that might sell this kind of thing in the DC metro area.

The aim of the brand, which will become more evident as the designs mature, is to offer fashionable non-boring jewelry that men can wear, and that rises above the cliche of skulls and/or snakes that dominates the biker/rocker jewelry tradition. I think I can provide a higher-class and higher-quality alternative without being cheesy, bringing more of a luxury fashion experience to those with less straightforward tastes.

So does anyone know where the slightly more affluent and discerning eccentric would shop in DC? I would love any info on the process of how selling in someone elses shop works, though I'm sure I'll learn along the way. Also any especially good places to advertise would help, like niche magazines, websites, etc. I am somehow out of touch with this demo in the area where I now live.

I'm sure it's not an easy question, but I will love any info you can give me! Feel free to buy the stuff too =)

Shove off, potato features!

cooker girl — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:41:04 -0800

AdCampaignFilter: Poster in the London Underground that read "Shove off, potato features!" My google-fu has failed and I really want to know what the product was. Bonus points for a poster I can get my grubby little paws on. It was mid-1999 and I don't remember anything else about the poster. Sadly, I did not take a picture of the poster. Help!

Books about underground locations?

highfidelity — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:06:26 -0800

I'm looking for books set in subterranean locations. Caves, sewers, underground cities, hollow earth, etc. Non-Fiction or fiction. I've recently developed a fixation with everything related to life underground. I'm not too picky about the subject matter of the book, I prefer Sci-Fi or non-fiction topics, but really any recommendation is welcome. Anything goes as long as it takes place underground.

I wouldn't mind some movie suggestions either, I just prefer book choices as I have access to a wide selection of books for free.

How to run collective no-budget underground studio?

yoHighness — Sat, 31 May 2008 12:24:19 -0800

RecordingStudioFilter: Advice sought on how to run a collective no-budget underground (literally) studio; starting immediately. lots Affectionately nicknamed the "cave flat", two stories below the center of a largish UK city dwell five musicians, the emissions of their drumkits, amps, PA's (and occasionally, 100's of partygoers) shielded from the ears of neighbours or police through several feet of 1700's sandstone wall. The landlord is cool with it. Loads of bands come to practise as there is a lot of cavernous space. We have now raised enough £££ to rent cavernous space for a recording studio. As luck would have it, the "music room" cavern and what is to be the control cavern already have a room-to-room window between them. The latter is also much less echo-y and could be treated for echoes (I've been looking up related ask-me's).

We have all the musical gear and recording people, but on the recording gear side there's only:

Adequate silenced Dual-Core PC with 22" TFT (mine)
M-Audio USB interface with 4 preamps and 2 additional ins, 6 outs
Bunch of Shure SM-58 and some low-budget "studio" mikes (100£)
Nice Neumann KM-140's, AKG 414's I get to borrow from Uni, studios I get to mix in at Uni

We're gonna start on the 1st of June and run it for three months or so at first, and see if something happens. I've got three months of free time on my hands, collaborators, and many musicians are already on a waiting list to be recorded with a no-budget approach. There's few other studios around town and none central.W e might not have the sound gear, but the place is very cool. Decisions about running the studio will be voted on by the collective, and it is not linked to any commercial interests. We would never pass fire & safety regulations anyway, though.

The idea is to put out as many live sound low-budget demos, myspace tracks as possible, as well as some low-budget actual studio recordings with more work on overdubbing. And for all the flat's bands to be able to record their practise sessions in a jiffy.

If you have been in a similar situation, I would very much appreciate any advice you've got about how to pull this off. My apologies for lengthy posting.

Looking for London Underground Diagram Resources

Sevenupcan — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 06:00:08 -0800

I'm looking to create a variation of the London Underground Map/Diagram. Are there any resources ie, tutorials or .ai templates that I can use to give me a head start?

NYC subway secrets

UnnotciedTypo — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 13:42:47 -0800

Most visually interesting parts of the New York City subway system? So, I'm throwing around a project idea that will involve compiling a brief list of the most visually interesting sights that can be seen, specifically, in the tunnels of the NYC subway, from the windows of moving trains. In general, I'm hoping for interesting architecture in tunnels, where tracks of different elevations cross underground, or remnants of prior platforms or connections between systems are apparent. My criteria are simply that such features must not be located in stations, or on elevated or ground-level tracks, and that they be visible during casual travel (not on semi-restricted stretches, like the old City Hall station).
A couple examples that I've thought of include:

- The 145th Street trainyard on the 1 line.

- The abandoned 91st Street station on the 1/2/3 line.

- The stretch on the A train at 103rd Street, where both levels of the station can be seen at once (my favorite so far).

Any additions to this list, especially in boroughs outside of Manhattan, would be enormously helpful to me! Thanks!

What kind of network cable to run underground?

chillmost — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 06:37:07 -0800

I want to network 2 buildings about 15m apart with CAT6 cable through an underground 100mm PVC conduit. What could go wrong? We will upgrade our telephone system soon. This will entail connecting the two buildings with said conduit at a depth of 1m. The smaller building is currently connected to our network via wireless bridge. This presents the perfect opportunity to connect the network with a physical cable and eliminate some stability problems and increase transfer speed. I plan on using CAT6 because of the extra shielding and outer jacket that seems to be a bit thicker than usual. Will this suffice? If it is laying safely within the dry conduit, do I need to use a special kind of cable? What if condensation builds up in the pipe after a while? I know there are some cables rated for underground use but I am unsure if this is only for cable being directly buried in the dirt a few feet below the surface or if this includes conduit runs as well. Also, if there are telephone cables running alongside the CAT6, will it still be safe from interference?

We did consider using fiber but it was a bit cost prohibitive and we need to have a connection up and running sooner than we can get technicians out here to do it. Maybe we'll do it later. The conduit will be laid with pull wires so we can pull additional cable in the future if we need to.

Can anyone remember this book?

jtoth — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 04:26:51 -0800

Lost childrens book! I'm trying to find this sci-fi book I read in 1978 but don't remember enough details to turn up anything useful on a web search. I keep coming back to "the city underground" as the title, but it's not bringing me any results in web searches. The story is about an underground city (not Logan's Run) in which the residents are bald. The main characters are 2 kids who go off exploring and find an air shaft that brings them a glimpse of the outside world. They emerge in the woods of Canada or upstate New York area (don't ask why I think this). It's something to that effect anyway. I know this description sucks but honestly, in my head I can't help but merge all of the details with Logans Run. It was a 5th grade book so maybe 50-75 pages of large type. Not part of a short stories collection either. I'd love to find it for my son but I'm drawing blanks.

I read this book in 1978 and my older brother had read it 5 years or so before me so it's probably a late 60's or early 70's publication. I want to say it was for environmental reasons that the underground habitat came to pass but I am at a sheer loss for specifics. Surely someone else can at least recall the title or some detail of significance? I think if the right detail trigger is brought up I might remember more - I'm probably way off in my description as 30 years have washed away the details from my memory.

Help me hive mind, you're my only hope!

Why do Central Line trains sometimes jolt as they're leaving the station?

chrismear — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 15:16:01 -0800

On the London Underground, on the Central line, why does the train sometimes jolt as if it's lost power for a second as it's leaving the station? Sometimes it happens just once, sometimes it happens two or three times. It doesn't seem to happen consistently at particular stations, and it feels like it's more likely to happen when the train is crowded (although that might just be my own confirmation bias). My hunch is that it's a safety feature of some kind, but if so I can't figure out what might be triggering it. Anybody in the know?

Do it again

mwhybark — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 11:16:59 -0800

In the Velvet Underground song 'Foggy Notion,' the narrator notes, "Got my calamine lotion." Among other things, the narrative concerns a shooting, S&M and heroin. Why does the narrator carry anti-itch medication?

Lets Pool Our CollectiveKnowledge About Underground Theatre !

elr — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:34:32 -0800

Is there a theater underground in Chicago? Perhaps I should elaborate. The city is full of underground and alternative spaces, but the ones I know about specialize in music, parties and visual art.

Places like Reversible Eye and Enemy have websites, places like the Jerkstore have been able to exist with just a Myspace account, and then there are places like Transamoeba, 6ODUM, and the Albion House use just flyers and word-of-mouth to advertise. All of them are varying degrees of legal and all of them exist almost entirely outside of the realms of The Reader and Centerstage Chicago.

I'm wondering if there's a similar underground for theater, puppetry, comedy, improv, burlesque, drag, dance, acrobatics and circus-type performances.

The closest things I can think of are Redmoon and Collaboraction (which have grants and news coverage out the wazoo), the Mary-Arrchie (which has been around forever) and the long-defunct Charybdis Arts.

Please tell me I'm missing something and that this city is as wonderful and exciting as I think it is.

What's beneath DC?

moonshine — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 21:43:12 -0800

Is there anything below Washington, DC? I mean other than the subway.

I tried to do a search which turned up Mount St. Sepulchre and its catacombs. Is there anything else? Preferably places that a civilian could access. I'd like to go exploring.

Where to view London tube posters online

gfrobe — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 11:42:40 -0800

On the London tube there are posters called "Above Ground" that show an above ground view of the route of the train you're riding in relation to various landmarks, museums, major streets, etc. Does anyone know if these posters can be viewed online somewhere? Also, are there separate posters for every train line or just the ones that pass through central London? Here is a link to a small jpg of one of them.

Are there any underground houses left in South Jersey?

Orb2069 — Thu, 23 Mar 2006 19:43:48 -0800

Any ideas on how to see an underground house in South Jersey? One of the big architects of the '70's underground-housing movement, Malcolm Wells, built several underground homes in this area - I believe other 'earth sheltered' housing has been built in the area as well.
I found a reference to an Architectual Office in Cherry Hill, for example, but I can't find an address, or find anything that looks apropriate on maps.google.com (In Cherry Hill, NJ, someplace between a six-lane highway(mentioned elsewhere) and a stream(mentioned on drawing)) Did somebody just buy the lot and fill the place in?

Buried street in London

cillit bang — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 14:54:02 -0800

There's a preserved street in the basement of one of the London department stores. Where is it? I saw it on TV once. It's a preserved street that was once outdoors but somehow the store was built right on top of it. It's definitely London (I've found info on similar places elsewhere), and it's not open to the public. Any ideas?

What are the digital not-clocks on the Budapest Metro all about?

jack_mo — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 03:08:02 -0800

On the Budapest Metro there are signs hanging from the ceiling that show train times - they have analogue clocks at one end and, at the other end, a digital display counting upwards, apparently in minutes. They're not minutes past the hour and they're not minutes since the last train arrived, so what the devil are they for?

London Underground Church Ad

adrianhon — Fri, 17 Dec 2004 07:46:32 -0800

Does anyone know where that curiously preserved and unintentionally hilarious church advert on the London Underground is? Everyone seems to have heard of it - it's a large ad, on one of the stops, and is styled is a page out of a comic book, with various mustachioed characters with leather jackets saying stuff like, 'Leave us alone, man, we just want to have some groovy fun,' and a nun replying 'The true way to fun is through Jesus' teachings', etc. I can't remember what stop it's on or find any information on the web about it.

Finding underground poker clubs (assuming they exist)?

o2b — Sat, 25 Sep 2004 14:20:39 -0800

Thinking of Rounders, how does one go about finding underground poker clubs (assuming they exist)? I'm wondering about NYC in particular, but is there a place you go in any random city to ask around?