Free Republic

Debbie Harry of Blondie [1st crossover new wave to hip-hop artist with “Rapture”-remember!]

I feel so old ...

Islamic State terrorists advanced to the gates of ancient Palmyra on Thursday, raising fears the Syrian world heritage site could face destruction of the kind the jihadists have already wreaked in Iraq. As it overran nearby villages, IS executed 26 civilians - 10 of whom were beheaded - for 'collaborating with the regime,' the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Irina Bokova, head of the UN's cultural body UNESCO, called on Syrian troops and extremists to spare Palmyra, saying it 'represents an irreplaceable treasure for the Syrian people, and the world.'

Brazilian artist Henrique Alvim Corrêa’s career was cut short when he died at only 34 years old. But the illustrator left behind a small science-fiction legacy thanks to his 1906 artworks detailing the Martian invasion of London in H. G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds. Wells’ tale preyed upon turn-of-the-century fears about the apocalypse and other Victorian superstitions (and social prejudices) about the unknown. Corrêa’s fantastical, murky style is fitting of Wells’ dark themes. The Martian fighting machines resemble frightening legions of massive spiders. There were only 500 copies of the Belgian edition of Wells’ story with Corrêa’s...

Astronomers have been arguing over just how many spiral arms our galaxy exhibits. Is the Milky Way a four or two-armed spiral galaxy? Astronomers had often assumed the Milky Way was potentially a four-armed spiral galaxy, but comparatively recent observations from NASA's Spitzer telescope implied the galaxy had two spiral arms. In 2013, astronomers mapped star forming regions and argued they had found the two missing arms, bringing the total number of arms back to four. The case for a four-armed Milky Way may have just gotten stronger. A team of Brazilian astronomers used star clusters embedded in their natal...

Looks like it's legitimate, but I never saw this one before .... anyone ?

A vibrant, multi-hued painting from Pablo Picasso set a world record for artwork at auction, selling for $179 million in New York on Monday night. "Women of Algiers (Version O)" was part of a sale at Christie's auction house that also featured Alberto Giacometti's life-size sculpture "Pointing Man," which was poised to set a record as the most expensive sculpture sold at auction. They were among two dozen masterpieces from the 20th century Christie's offered in a curated sale titled "Looking Forward to the Past." The Picasso price included the auction house's premium. Experts say the prices are driven by...

Natalie Portman will play Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in On the Basis of Sex, EW has confirmed. Deadline.com was first to report the news. The film will follow Ginsburg’s life as she fights for equality in her career as the second (and first Jewish) female justice. Marielle Heller (The Diary of a Teenage Girl) is in negotiations to direct, with a script being written by Daniel Stiepleman.

The Gibson Chris Kyle Commemorative Les Paul Standard Special—a.k.a the American Sniper—sold at auction for $117,500 on Tuesday, May 5. The company created the one-off custom guitar and auctioned it to raise funds for U.S. veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Is this the face of Jesus as a boy? Italian police reverse the ageing process on image taken from the Turin Shroud to create photo-fit of Christ as a young child This is the face of Jesus Christ as a child – according to Italian police. Detectives used computer forensic techniques that have helped to catch mafia bosses to generate the image. First, they created a photo-fit picture from the facial image in the Turin Shroud, which many believe to be that of Jesus. They then used a computer program to reverse the ageing process by reducing the jaw size,...

Some mangled mosaics have been causing controversy in Turkey's southern city of Antakya. At least ten of the precious artifacts, which were badly damaged during restoration works, are now "caricatures of their former selves," according to mosaic craftsman Mehmet Daşkapan, Hurriyet Daily News reports. The pieces, which were to be displayed at the Hatay Archaeology Museum and include famous panels depicting the sacrifice of Isaac and a mosaic of Narcissus, are thought to be beyond repair. “Valuable pieces from the Roman period have been ruined," Daşkapan said. "Some are in an especially poor condition and have lost their originality and...

The critically lambasted musical from composer Lucy Simon, lyricists Michael Korie and Amy Powers and book writer Michael Weller, will shutter Sunday, May 10 at the Shubert-owned Broadway Theatre, having played 26 preview and 23 regular performances. The show is staged by Tony winner Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys, The Who’s Tommy) and choreographed by Kelly Devine.

This High-Res Moon Photo Was Made by a Self-Taught Astrophotographer May 04, 2015 · Michael Zhang     It’s amazing the kinds of space photos that amateur photographers can create from their own backyards these days. Case in point: the high-resolution moon photo above was captured last week by Polish photographer Bartosz Wojczyński. It was stitched together using 32000 separate photos. Wojczyński tells us that he used “advanced image acquisition and processing techniques,” mapping violet and infrared images of the moon to blue and red channels in the final shot. It took him about 28 minutes to shoot 32000 photos...

Monkey Temple would be a honeypot for professional art thieves hoping to sell artifacts on the international art market. Along with a group of volunteers and experts, he is photographing and cataloguing all the artifacts as quickly as possible to thwart them. He also hopes to persuade the Nepalese authorities to block the trade of Himalayan art globally, particularly through prestigious international art houses like Christie's and Sotheby's. But amid all of the destruction there has also been some good news. The site's striking centrepiece, a white-domed stupa topped with the painted eyes of Buddha survived the quake. And inside...

A couple of funny videos from Cracked. See below. Also, like to Vanity Fair article about upcoming Star Wars movie with photos by Annie Leibovitz.

Somehow this just struck me.....the government is attempting to FORCE believers in Jesus to celebrate a perversion of their DEEPLY HELD religious beliefs. Why aren't Muslims being forced to celebrate and/or create depictions of their prophet? I wouldn't want the government to do that, just like I don't want it inflicting anti-Christian beliefs upon Christians.

Star Wars 7 - Coming December 18th.

Though the past winter was the hottest on record, it was chilly enough on the East Coast to send seasonal sheets of ice creeping across the Great Lakes. Now that that ice has cleared with spring, Lake Michigan is clear enough that shipwrecks lying on the lake bottom can be seen from the air. The U.S. Coast Guard Air Station in Traverse City noted the crystal clear water conditions and the lost ships during a routine patrol. Last week, they posted a handful of pictures to their Facebook page. The images come from the area near Sleeping Bear Point known...

One of the first Spitfires ever made has gone up for sale for a staggering £2.5 million after spending 40 years buried in sand at the French beach it crashed on. The iconic Mark 1 plane was among the first built in March 1940 as Britain scrambled to ready itself for the epic battle that took place in the skies just a few months later. But Spitfire P9374 never made it to the Battle of Britain as it crash-landed in May 1940. The fighter plane was being piloted by Flight Officer Peter Cazenove over Dunkirk when it was hit by...