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In 1984, Chicago TV's Channel 66 went to a 24-hour music video station. One video they played regularly seemed to show a robotic assembly line for paint cans. The entire 2-3 minute video was purple-tinted and had the coolest industrial music soundtrack. Does anybody remember this, and more importantly, what was this video? [more inside]
posted by Cremcraw at 10:17 PM - 1 answers

For someone who has played acoustic guitar for a long time but is new to electric guitar, what new skills need to be learned that are specific to the electric guitar? [more inside]
posted by straight at 9:35 PM - 5 answers

I like songs with heavy bass. Lots of heavy bass. There's something about it for me that's like one of those weighted anxiety blankets; I actually find it extremely relaxing to listen to (go figure). So I'm looking to make a playlist of songs with heavy bass. [more inside]
posted by O Sock My Sock at 12:18 PM - 30 answers

I owned this book as a child growing up in the mid-1980's. It was about Abraham Lincoln; at least part of it was specifically about his childhood. I would guess it was written for kids between 6-9. It definitely had a turquoise cover, was paperback, and was presented in landscape orientation. Beyond that ... [more inside]
posted by phonebia at 9:26 AM - 4 answers

I'm looking for books set before 1950 where the A or B plot follows queer characters who live, work, fall in love etc. and where I am better able to understand what being queer would look like in this historical context and where NOTHING SUPER TERRIBLE HAPPENS TO THE CHARACTERS. [more inside]
posted by jeszac at 7:30 AM - 22 answers

Does anyone have experience of using Reedsy (particularly writers looking at self-publishing, but other angles welcome).
posted by Segundus at 6:41 AM - 1 answers

Nearly every queer character in every work of art I've experienced seems to figure out that they're queer easily and effortlessly. They fall in love or are hopelessly attracted to someone of the same gender, and quickly settle on a label (bi or gay or pan) to match. It's assumed that the romantic orientation matches the sexual orientation. Asexuality doesn't seem to exist. "Questioning" your sexuality is really just the process of coming to terms with the fact that you're not straight. But I want to experience works, in any medium (film, novels, comics...), fiction or nonfiction, where a character doesn't find it all so simple. [more inside]
posted by perplexion at 9:27 PM - 15 answers

This week, about twenty of my friends will head for a vacation together on an annual trip. We try to replicate a famous work of art or two while we have everyone together. Any ideas for good paintings/photographs or sculptures, once the easy candidates have been accomplished? [more inside]
posted by lauranesson at 3:43 PM - 40 answers

My dad is trying to track down a half-remembered Don Knotts sketch, in which a barbershop trio never quite get started on their song for numerous physical comedy reasons, finishing with one guy swallowing the pitch pipe. Does this ring a bell with anyone?
posted by clipperton at 3:24 PM - 3 answers

Hivemind brainstorm needed! I'm putting together a party where I want to have a screening of a horror film that ENCOURAGES people to interact. All suggestions accepted, even if never done before. [more inside]
posted by Unsomnambulist at 2:36 PM - 7 answers

Help me win an argument with my boyfriend! Is the phrase, "Not great, Bob!" from the season 6 finale of Mad Men, anachronistic? [more inside]
posted by merriment at 8:03 AM - 23 answers

Hivemind, I come to you begging for your kind help now that Google's failed me. Circa 1940-60s, obscure, black and white, low budget film about a *female* psychopath/serial killer with a knife and hypersexual personality, almost NO dialogue! Not being able to remember the name of this movie is driving me bonkers. Help! [more inside]
posted by nightrecordings at 8:03 PM - 6 answers

I intend to interview somebody for an article through a cell phone and wonder what are the best tools to record the conversation. I have an iPhone.
posted by Yiba at 12:33 PM - 9 answers

Looking for music recommendations! But the bands have to be ONLY a bassist and drummer or a keyboard/synth player and drummer. No guitars (or other instruments) in the band, though the occasional appearance of another instrument can be excused. Bands that are a synth player, bassist, and drummer are okay but not ideal. Multiple bassist/synth players okay. [more inside]
posted by everybody had matching towels at 11:08 AM - 25 answers

Yesterday's Tripods thread made me think about the sixties and seventies children's science fiction and fantasy that I read as a kid in the eighties/early nineties. I've listed a few things I remember below but I was wondering - what stands out to you among children's and YA books of the sixties and seventies? [more inside]
posted by Frowner at 10:26 AM - 40 answers

I'm looking to find or generate a list of movies whose official title includes at least one symbol replacing a letter or word. For instance, David O. Russell's 2004 film 'I ♥ Huckabee' uses a heart symbol in its official title. Punctuation symbols like dollar signs ($$$) or other non-letter punctuation does not count. 'I ♥ Huckabee' can't possibly the only one, right?
posted by mediamelt at 7:50 AM - 21 answers

I enjoyed Critical Role, the 5e episodes from How We Roll, and I’m enjoying High Rollers so far, but I’d like to put more in my queue. Unfortunately, I seem to bounce off of a lot of streams because they either have pretty awful sound quality (Dice, Camera, Action), or the people at the table are really unfocused (The Adventure Zone, Force Grey). Any suggestions? Bonus points for having at least one woman at the table.
posted by tautological at 5:59 PM - 4 answers

What kind of things can leverage one's chances of success when switching career lanes from design to news/media production in their mid 30s? [more inside]
posted by omar.a at 3:11 PM - 7 answers

For a project I'm working on, I'm looking for examples of a very specific type of storytelling in film/tv. A character recounts a stressful/scary event, and the camera work changes/becomes more intense while the story is being told. [more inside]
posted by lizifer at 6:52 AM - 7 answers

Do you write an article before pitching or you pitch before writing?
posted by Yiba at 1:44 PM - 8 answers