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One needs to be careful walking on the grounds outside the Hunter Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This sculpture is of a very beautiful dancer cast out of metal....yet she is quite nude and very detailed. The Hunter Museum has a free audio recording which explains the art piece and the artist. I shot this myself earlier today with my new Ipad!

The time is now to see bobcats and other wildlife. In some cases, they might be as close as your own backyard. In response to last week’s story about the surge in bobcat sightings this spring, Chronicle readers reported many new encounters, including bobcats with newborn kittens. Four Chronicle readers, Carl Skornik, Jeff Dauber, Bart Selby and Dan Fredrich were able to capture photographs of the animals and contributed them for this gallery. Dauber’s photos came from his brother’s backyard in Cupertino, adjacent to Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve. The photos were taken from inside the house looking out,...

Years ago I read a novel in which men become extinct and society falls solely to women. One of the few male characters left in the world is a retired US Navy admiral. At the end of the novel, several women stand before a glass case, in which this guy -- now dead -- has been stuffed and mounted as an exotic specimen. The text is something along the lines: '(name), Vice-admiral, US Navy -- old style.' And the legend upon his glass case is, "It Served Us." I have been trying to relocate a copy of this book but...

Congratulations to Big Fur Hat and Chris Cassone on a beautiful tribute to a beautiful life lived. Watch it at iOwnTheWorld.

You could've guessed it was a Beach Boys show by the shirts the men in the audience wore: Collared, short-sleeved and oversized, with palm trees, hibiscus flowers and nautical gear printed on them.It wasn't until midway through the second set that Mike Love acknowledged what the people in the audience must've been thinking: "It's, uh, been a little while since we've all been on tour together." This year, the Beach Boys turn 50. Until the Grammys this February, Brian Wilson hadn't been on stage with them since 1996. The tour kickoff last night at the Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater in Tucson...

Urban street artist Norm Maxwell, whose pieces are prized by European collectors and sell for thousands of dollars, unveiled his latest work Saturday night at his studio gallery in L.A.’s Fairfax District. Maxwell, a native of Philadelphia, began his career as a graffiti artist in 1979, and merged his street art with classical aesthetics at the Hussian School of Art. He later went to become a renowned art director for artists like Missy Eliot and Madonna, and companies like Revlon. The reception, attended by Maxwell’s family, friends and admirers, was for “Rising Soul,” featuring three surreal canvases entitled “By Dawn’s...

All looks kosher to me... Don't mess with Israel! Miss Edri was granted special leave by the IDF to attend the Miss Universe pageant in Brazil Video/more at Reaganite Republican Global Beauties   Missology   DanTre   Terra.es   ImageShack   Miss Universe (official)

'I will never complain about my job again!' and the Gran Finale (sorry)... Via email/thx Speedunque

A Denver artist has created a portrait of Florida shooting suspect George Zimmerman using more than 12,000 Skittles _ the candy that 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was carrying when Zimmerman fatally shot him. The 3-by-4-foot portrait was done by 31-year-old Andy Bell, an art student about to graduate from Metropolitan State College in Denver. Bell titled it "Fear Itself."(continued)

Well, she's got the look in my book: Video/more at Reaganite Republican Starting an RR/FR ping list, any interested pls FReepMail @ 'Reaganite Republican'  Have a safe and blessed weekend, FReeper patriots! _________________________________________________________________ Missology   ShinyMeteor   Miss Universe (official)   StaroMeter  IBT   Twitter   India Times   Allvoices

le this under “There (almost) goes the neighborhood.” Lucasfilm announced this week that despite many years of planning and investment, the continuing regulatory delays and furious opposition of neighbors has led the company to abandon efforts to build a large production studio in Marin County, north of San Francisco. “We have several opportunities to build the production stages in communities that see us as a creative asset, not as an evil empire, and if we are to stay on schedule we must act on those opportunities,” Lucasfilm said it a statement . . .

ELMWOOD PARK — Just as the killing of Trayvon Martin is seen in differing ways, so is a mural created as a tribute to the Florida teen. Artists call the mural in Elmwood Park an expression of solidarity for the young shooting victim, while some neighbors oppose the display, saying it promotes gang activity. Now town officials say the mural at Messina deli on East 54th street must come down. "We got multiple complaints from residents in the area," said mayor Richard Mola. "What they told me is they just don’t like what’s up there." Mola, who said he has...

Here's a link to my latest oil painting. You can go to my homepage and see some of my other works! Not trying to sell anything and nothing's for sale anyway. Just sharing my artwork. Thanks for looking! MichaelLeKitesArtBlog

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"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America 's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure.  It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies.  Increasing America 's debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, "the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.  America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans...

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Today is the birthday of one of the most popular singers during the Second World War...Dame Vera Lynn, DBE (born Vera Margaret Welch arrived on 20 March 1917). Lynn is an English singer-songwriter and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular with the Allied troops and the Brits on the homefront. Continue reading on Examiner.com There'll Always Be an England's Vera Lynn is 95 today - National Swing and Big Band | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/swing-and-big-band-in-national/there-ll-always-be-an-england-s-vera-lynn-is-95-today#ixzz1pfuF6evT

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I never made a conscious decision to eschew digital in favor of the bygone days of simple machines and media. It’s just who I am. I don’t see the printed word as an anachronism in a world of Kindles and iPads. As an editor, books are my livelihood and my earliest and most prevalent passion. Vinyl is not the latest craze; it is the way I listen to music, a physical way of experiencing the auditory. And I still receive and send greeting cards to my grandmother in Mississippi. I am not alone. This analog lifestyle has caught on in...