Free Republic

Lent approaches, time to remember and indulge!

Whitney Houston died at the age of 48. Most articles about her death said something like, "Houston struggled with drug and alcohol problems for years ..." But Houston also struggled with something else that black Republicans and black non-Democrats can understand: ridicule and ostracism for "selling out," or "acting white," or not being "black enough." Ebony, the black monthly magazine, wrote about the then-27-year-old: "Black disc jockeys have chided her for 'not having soul' and being 'too white.' ... She was booed at the Soul Train Music Awards. ... It's enough to drive a good Christian girl to drink, drugs...

We are new to apple/macs, and our Lightroom software has gone a bit glitchy. Apparently I have the dreaded beach ball spiral of death or something like that. When we try to edit photos we get this beach ball spiral symbol in our software window. It almost acts like it needs reinstalling but some blogs I've read said that does not work. Any suggestions? Thanks.

This is what you call the underwater doggy paddle. Photographer Seth Casteel watched a series of pets diving into the water - many chasing a ball - and the result is lost of gnashers, bubbles and some incredible photographs. ~~SNIP~~ Some dogs looked more menacing as they bared their teeth to grab the balls, but a few of them don't even have a ball to chase and just look like they are posing for the shoot. Some dogs appeared to be better swimmers than others, with a few diving down to the bottom of the pool, while the less adventurous...

Costa-Gavras gripping political film "Z" on TCM tonight (8PM eastern). Whatever your leanings, there's something to infuriate and fascinate you in one of my favorite films. An acquired taste, but I highly recommend it.

A friend has sent me a youtube video of her musical group playing. How can I download the video sound track to my iTunes playlist? Thanks.

What Was Whitney Houston's Best Song? By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper Singing superstar Whitney Houston has died at age 48, her publicist reported Saturday. Few details on the cause or circumstances of the singer's death were immediately available, though her life was troubled by drug use. Whatever the facts of her death, fans are left with memories of some of the most stunning and powerful songs ever recorded by a female artist. Here are some of the songs we will remember Houston by. "Didn't We Almost Have It All?"

Shocking news: Kodak, the company that invented the first digital camera back in 1975, announced today that it is pulling out of the camera market entirely. The phasing out of digital cameras, pocket video cameras, and digital picture frames will likely happen by the end of June. Instead, the company will be focusing on licensing out its patents and brand name

These are the snowy owls attracting quite a crowd of onlookers across America as an ‘unbelievable’ mass migration continues to grow. Bird enthusiasts are reporting rising numbers of the Arctic birds winging into the lower 48 states this winter in a mass southern migration. Some states as far south as Texas are reporting sightings of the bird that is as white as the driven snow.

I have an old photo of men I've been told were some Red Sox baseball players who were dining at a restaurant back in the late 1960's. There are 3 of them in the picture. It was likely 1968 to maybe as late as 1970. It was probably during Spring training because it was taken in central Florida. Does anyone here know how I can track down living members of the team to see if any of them can identify them? I have been told they may be Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Lonborg, and Tony Conigliaro, but when I look at...

These are all the major ones. Do not attempt any of them unless you have professional experience with (a) sleeping and (b) being some kind of a cat.

Hooded Mergansers for the most part. I used to see a greater variety when I was hunting, I can't get far enough off the road these days.

When Brian Shoop’s dad was unexpectedly unable to make it to his wedding because of a sudden illness, the groom’s sister got creative with photoshop to crack him up.

MADRID—Spain’s Prado art museum said Wednesday it had discovered an unusual copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “La Gioconda,” painted by one of the master’s pupils at the same time that the original was being completed. The copy had been on display at the Madrid art museum for years without experts being aware of its importance. A routine restoration led experts to discover that the dark background behind the female figure popularly known as Mona Lisa had been added afterward and that it covered an Italian landscape similar to that in da Vinci’s original.

Nikon has unveiled a new superzoom compact camera called the P510 that offers a ridiculous 42x optical zoom — the highest zoom ratio ever seen in such a camera. In 35mm terms, the lens goes from a 24mm on the wide-angle side to a 1000mm on the telephoto end. The 16.1MP camera also boasts a 3-inch LCD screen, 1080p video recording, GPS, 5fps continuous shooting, and ISO 3200. It’ll hit store shelves later this month with a price tag of $430.

Most of these are in my front yardIt's sort of wild, just cleared enough to walk around a bit. I'm not the type to push a lawnmower around.I'm far enough into the woods that no one has to see it but me anyway. action=view&current=FROG_ANIM.jpg" target="_blank">

No new stuff, these are from the archives, some going back several years.Various cameras, I've worn out several. I believe they were made to be used

Even a century since his birth, American "splatter artist" Jackson Pollock still provokes heated debate about the very definition of art. Was a man who placed a canvas on the floor and dripped paint straight from the can actually creating a work of art? "It's very hard if you try to build the paint up to this extent with this many colors and not achieve mud," says National Gallery of Art curator Harry Cooper. "He didn't achieve mud here — I think he achieved something quite beautiful," Cooper tells weekends on All Things Considered host Guy Raz. "And in the...

I got out for a while yesterday, a nice sunny day. I was riding with a friend who just isn't in to lurking around mud holes so I really couldn't get serious.I got these pretty little Hooded Mergansers moving down a pond.

Watch as a WW2 Colt 45 is melted into useless "art". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtFX3JBYsIg

How I Became A Downton Abbey Addict Yes, I know it's just a glossy drama about the idle rich and their servants, but these idle rich are so classy compared with ours Lizz Winstead 22 January 2012 1 I was in a year and a half into a self-imposed sequestration trying to finally make a book deadline – and panicking because I was endlessly derailed by obsessively following the race to the bottom-feeders better known as the Republican nomination process. I should not have allowed another shiny object into my life. But what harm could streaming a little British show...

I've done a bit of looking for a camera for my 12yo son, with little success. Hopefully some more knowledgeable FReepers can give me some good advice. I want a camera that he can use to actually learn about photography, not just use to take pictures. I'd like a camera that has the capabilities to manually set shutter speed and aperture, not just one with a lot of snazzy automatic features. Actually, I'm afraid all those features will just get in the way. At the same time, I'm not looking to spend more than a couple hundred dollars. I have...

Cherubic cheeks framed with gentle ringlets - they are the faces of innocence and beauty. But with cigarettes lingering between their fingers or pipes perched between their lips, their images are repulsive. In an attempt to play the attractiveness and vulgarity of smoking off each other, Belgian photographer Frieke Janssens has captured 15 eerie images of children puffing on cigarettes, cigars or pipes in a collection entitled 'The Beauty of an Ugly Addiction'.

Forty-five years ago, sixteen states still prohibited interracial marriage. Then, in 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court considered the case of Richard Perry Loving, a white man, and his wife, Mildred Loving, a woman of African American and Native American descent, who had been arrested for miscegenation nine years earlier in Virginia. The Lovings were not active in the Civil Rights movement but their tenacious legal battle to justify their marriage changed history when the Supreme Court unanimously declared Virginia's anti-miscegenation law—and all race-based marriage bans—unconstitutional. LIFE magazine photographer Grey Villet's intimate images were uncovered by director Nancy Buirski during the...

San Francisco Chronicle 01/19/2012 Lady Gaga and ‘Glee’ Lead GLAAD Awards Nominations List Pop superstar Lady Gaga and hit show “Glee” are among the nominees for this year’s Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Awards. The “Poker Face” singer has been named as a contender for the outstanding music artist category alongside MEN, Girl in a Coma and Beverly McClellan. “Glee” is in the running for outstanding comedy series, and goes up against other shows including “Modern Family” and “The Big C,” while “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Shameless” have been nominated for outstanding drama series.

JANUARY 17, 2012 1 Yes to Downton Abbey Americans don’t secretly long for aristocracy; they appreciate a good story. By Mona Charen Simon Schama holds a place of honor in our home. Preparing for a trip to London in 2005, we watched his video series “A History of Britain,” over the course of several weeks. Our boys loved it so much that they would chant “Britain! Britain!” after dinner. His history of the French Revolution, Citizens, was masterful. So it’s with the greatest respect that I disagree with him about Downton Abbey, the first television series to keep my interest...

JANUARY 2012 Leave it to Downton Abbey to bring out everybody’s inner dowager. “Lady Mary,” a British reporter recently swooned over the show’s leading female character. “Those fabulously arched brows, the porcelain features...the dark-eyed sensuality of her tryst with the Turk. There was surely not a dry eye in the land when she was spurned by cousin Matthew at the end of season one, for snootily, foolishly dithering over his marriage proposal.” Pass the smelling salts, old girl! Then again, it’s tough to discuss the work of Michelle Dockery, who revisits the role of Lady Mary Crawley for a second...

JANUARY 2012 Julian Fellowes is as English as Earl Grey and clotted cream. As an actor, director and writer, he has continually peeked under the petticoats of British mores and conveyed the details with relish to audiences. His writing of the upstairs-downstairs whodunit Gosford Park won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2002, and his subsequent films Vanity Fair and The Young Victoria established Fellowes as the class-fixated Anglophile’s Anglophile. His two novels, Snobs and Past Imperfect, mined the same dishy blueblood vein, and both were Sunday Times bestsellers. A lifelong Conservative, Fellowes was made a Peer of...

Miss America Contestant Pictures 2012

What happens when Hollywood director David Zucker unleashes his wacky humor on the historic Riverside Theater and the renowned Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra? You get a little something we're quite familiar with in Wisconsin: fun. You might remember David Zucker as the director of classics like Airplane! and The Naked Gun. But you might not know that David was born and raised right in Shorewood, Wisconsin! This is David's first Wisconsin project in over 40 years, but he sure hasn't forgotten one thing: Wisconsin is fun in every season. See for yourself! Start planning your Wisconsin vacation with accommodations, attractions, and...

“In day time, in winter, it averages 60 degrees. That’s perfect weather for hiking and rock climbing,” said Cynthia LaSala, who oversees the park’s campgrounds as a supervisory visitor use assistant. “Tent campers prepare for that cold weather at night so they can experience the beautiful days. Part of people wanting to be here during the winter is that there are no crowds. Through December and January, there’s hardly anyone here. You can get your choice of a campsite.”

As celebrity scandals go, it’s probably second only to the O.J. trial: Woody Allen leaving Mia Farrow, his girlfriend and muse of 14 years, for her adopted teenage daughter Soon-Yi. That was way back in 1992, and what was unthinkable then has long since come to pass: Woody Allen has been forgiven by the public at large. His most recent film, “Midnight in Paris,” has made over $56 million at the US box office to date — his highest-grossing film ever. Along with Elaine May and Ethan Coen, he contributed a one-act play to Broadway’s “Relatively Speaking,” which opened this...

They that go down to sea in ships, that do business in great waters: These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. 107th Psalm

Trenton, NJ (left) and Santa Monica, CA (right)

Program: Masterpiece Episode: Downton Abbey 2: The Critics Can't Stop Talking The critics can't stop talking about Downton Abbey season 2 on MASTERPIECE! Watch the season premiere, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012 at 9/8C. See why USA Today's Robert Bianco said "Lightning can strike twice" and US Weekly declared "With six Emmys and an endorsement from Will and Kate, the delicious period drama returns, and is even more grandly addictive." Duration: (1:00) Premiere Date: 01/08/2012 Episode Expires: Never TV Rating: NR

It just occured to me that although I've been enjoying this site for a long time I've never passed on the link.This site has owners manuals for many older cameras and flashes.It's free to download but the site is supported by donations, so kick in a couple of bucks.If you've ever tried to hunt down an old manual the value of this collection is obvious.SUPPORT FREE REPUBLIC BEFORE YOU SEND MONEY TO ANYONE!!!

Photography related ads from 1880 into the 1990s.

A Colorado woman dropped her pants at a museum and rubbed her rear end all over a painting valued at $30 million, according to police. Carmen Tisch, 36, was arrested after scratching, punching and, well, rubbing her butt against Clyfford Still's "1957-J no.2" and causing an estimated $10,000 damage to the artwork at the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver. Police believe she was drunk during the late December incident. "You have to wonder where her friends were," a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office told the Denver Post. Tisch was charged with felony criminal mischief on Wednesday and has been...

AP Photo/Heather Deal, Cornell University Scientists demonstrate how they have have created a new invisibility technique that doesnt just cloak an object -- like in Harry Potter books and movies -- but masks an entire event by briefly bending the speed of light around an event. In this illustratio, an art thief walks into a museum and steasl a painting without setting off laser beam alarms or even showing up on surveillance cameras. WASHINGTON – It's one thing to make an object invisible, like Harry Potter's mythical cloak. But scientists have made an entire event impossible to see. They have...

PayPal is feeling the wrath of the viral web yet again, fresh off of a spat with Regretsy that unleashed a wave of negative PR. What did it do this time? An eBay seller named Erica sent a letter in to Regretsy outlining a recent experience with PayPal that cost her what is apparently a $2,500 antique violin. According to Erica, she sold the violin to a buyer in Canada, who disputed the label. PayPal declared the violin "counterfeit" (which Erica says there's no such thing in the violin world), and told the buyer to destroy the violin if he...

College kids may choose to spend their campus days studying the glories of Plato, Shakespeare and Le Corbusier. But, as a new study points out, there may be a steep price to pay. Recent college graduates with bachelor’s degrees in the arts, humanities and architecture experienced significantly higher rates of joblessness, according to a study being released Wednesday by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce. Among recent college graduates, those with the highest rates of unemployment had undergraduate degrees in architecture (13.9 percent), the arts (11.1 percent) and the humanities (9.4 percent), according to the study. The recent...

I was unintelligent and posted an item on Craig's List for an amount that I thought it might move. I get a bite immediately and the guy haggles further to get me to include the shipping. My wife then hears what I've done and looks up on the internet a similar item listed for oh, say, 35 times more. How obligated am I to go through with the deal? The guy knows the true value of this item, where I did not. Now that I do, is it too late to renegotiate or am I obligated to receive his money...

New 'silent camera' apps cause plague of voyeurism in Japan - and some are on sale in West 60 per cent rise in illicit photography Apps let users take photos - but only show innocent-looking emails on screen Silent camera apps already on sale in West By Rob Waugh Last updated at 12:55 AM on 3rd January 2012 Most smartphone cameras have a built-in shutter noise to prevent the camera being used to take pictures without people's consent. But a new wave of 'silent' apps - some specifically designed for voyeurism - have been blamed for a huge rise in...

RIP Bob Anderson, 1922-2012. Who, you say? You may not know him, but I can almost guarantee you've seen his work. The swordfight in "The Princess Bride"? Bob choreographed it. All the swordplay in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy? He supervised and taught all of the cast about it. The epic lightsaber duels in "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi"? It was Bob in the Vader suit, not David Prowse. Not to mention his work in "Highlander", "The Three Musketeers", "The Mask of Zorro" & "The Legend of Zorro", "Die Another Day", and even on the...

New Year's London Fireworks 2012 in full HD

No words. Sadly, not attributed, but worth a look see.

Kevin Hayes feels like the luckiest man alive. Three years ago, the 43-year-old Melbourne man was in Canberra and lost the $5000 Canon EOS 5D Mark II DSLR camera his wife bought him for his birthday, and he had all but given up hope of getting it back when he found out about the website stolencamerafinder.com M The site helped him track the lost or stolen camera to a man who works at a Sydney tattoo parlour a few weeks ago and NSW Police have since collected it. Hayes expects to have his camera back any day now, and NSW...

I'm getting a little peeved at the liberal use photo/article pairings that are not contextual -- and it's becoming more commonplace than anything. The issue is: Notice the current drudge headline Obama wants another 1.2 Trillion, then there is a picture above the headline that shows a smug Obama on the telephone. Last week it was Gingrich not making it on the VA primary with a picture above it of Gingrich burying his head in his hands. It's visual propaganda.