PATCHWORKS

2012-03-03T23:21:00.000-02:00

2012-03-02T23:43:00.000-02:00

2012-03-01T22:09:00.000-02:00

2012-02-29T19:59:00.000-02:00

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2012-02-17T13:37:00.000-02:00

2012-02-16T23:41:00.000-02:00

2012-02-15T19:55:00.000-02:00

HAPPY VALENTINE's DAY!!!!!!!!!!

2012-02-14T00:37:00.001-02:00

2012-02-13T23:33:00.000-02:00

WHITNEY...

2012-02-12T13:00:00.000-02:00

2012-02-11T21:21:00.001-02:00

2012-02-10T00:31:00.000-02:00

Helicopter pilot JR Hott captured these breathtaking images, which show low-lying fog swooping over high-rise buildings hundreds in Panama City, Florida.

2012-02-09T20:16:00.000-02:00

2012-02-07T23:02:00.000-02:00

KIM JONG-UN's government ...

2012-02-06T23:38:00.000-02:00

Groups seen by other political groups...

2012-02-05T00:40:00.003-02:00

2012-02-04T14:14:00.002-02:00

2012-02-03T23:03:00.005-02:00

What is ACTA? It is a proposed international treaty called the ‘Anti Counterfeit Trade Agreement’, and it is being described as SOPA’s bigger, meaner brother. What exactly ACTA will mean for the intertubes is a subject of debate, but it’s a big deal! It would be a tool for censoring the interwebs from many countries, not just the USA. Here’s a graph illustrating the potential dangers of ACTA

2012-02-02T20:21:00.001-02:00

Earliest copy of Mona Lisa found in Prado...

2012-02-01T20:33:00.005-02:00

Experts say the painting was completed at the same time as Leonardo’s original...

A copy of the Mona Lisa has been discovered in the Prado which was painted in Leonardo’s studio—created side by side with the original that now hangs in the Louvre. This sensational find will transform our understanding of the world’s most famous picture.

Conservators at the Prado in Madrid recently made an astonishing discovery, hidden beneath black overpaint. What was assumed to be a replica of the Mona Lisa made after Leonardo’s death had actually been painted by one of his key pupils, working alongside the master. The picture is more than just a studio copy—it changed as Leonardo developed his original composition.

The final traces of overpaint are now being removed by Prado conservators, revealing the fine details of the delicate Tuscan landscape, which mirrors the background of Leonardo’s masterpiece. Darkened varnish is also being painstakingly stripped away from the face of the Mona Lisa, giving a much more vivid impression of her enticing eyes and enigmatic smile.

In the Louvre’s original, which will not be cleaned in the foreseeable future, Lisa’s face is obscured by old, cracked varnish, making her appear almost middle aged. In the Prado copy we see her as she would have looked at the time—as a radiant young woman in her early 20s.

Leonardo da Vinci, and particularly his masterpiece the Mona Lisa, attracts endless sensationalist theories. However, the discovery of the contemporary copy has been accepted by the two key authorities, the Prado and the Louvre.

Andrea Salai or Francesco Melzi, Leonardo’s two favourite pupils, could be the painter.

2012-01-31T18:53:00.001-02:00

DEADPOOL

For Sale: Murder House Of ‘American Horror Story’

2012-01-30T07:34:00.001-02:00

Fans of the new serial horror-drama TV series "American Horror Story" who also have $4.5 million to spare can score the Alfred F. Rosenheim Mansion - the residence where the show's pilot was shot.Located in the upscale L.A. neighborhood of Country Club Park, the house is referred to as "Murder House" in the show. ScienceFiction.com assures potential buyers that the mansion is not actually haunted, not one foot of its 10,440 square feet. Here are a few property highlights: 6 bedrooms, 5 baths, a grand ballroom currently being used as a recording studio, "the whole shebang of Tiffany fixtures," 6 vintage Batchelder tile fireplaces, a solarium and a nearly full acre of land. The mansion's property listing says the "residence evokes the quality and grandeur of a bygone era and represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity."The Rosenheim Mansion's current asking price, though steep, can be seen as an opportunity, as the property was listed at nearly twice its current price last year - $8.5 million. : Real estate listing for the Rosenheim mansion was updated recently, with a brand-new asking price of $17 million

2012-01-29T00:28:00.000-02:00

2012-01-28T22:08:00.001-02:00

BAT-HORSE

VAN GOGH CALL...

2012-01-27T19:44:00.000-02:00

2012-01-26T20:01:00.000-02:00

SOPA Was Only the Beginning...

2012-01-25T22:19:00.002-02:00

2012-01-23T21:50:00.000-02:00

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2012-01-19T20:45:00.000-02:00

Costa Concordia Tragedy: Italians Rage Against Shamed Captain With 'Get Back On Board, For F***'s Sake' T-shirts

2012-01-18T22:08:00.003-02:00

Italians are venting spleen against Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino with T-shirts, Facebook pages and Twitter hashtags urging him to “Get Back On Board, For F****’s Sake”.

The command, made via telephone by a furious Italian Coast Guard official has come to symbolise the entire disaster which has seen 11 people lose their lives, the Telegraph reported.

Gregorio De Falco shrieked the order – “Vada a bordo, cazzo” – as Schettino scrambled to safety, leaving his passengers and crew to fend for themselves.

2012-01-17T19:36:00.000-02:00

2012-01-16T22:58:00.004-02:00

Hypselodoris kaname

2012-01-15T21:54:00.004-02:00

Habitat: Western Pacific - Japan to New Zealand

2012-01-14T22:30:00.001-02:00

2012-01-13T23:48:00.000-02:00

2012-01-12T23:18:00.000-02:00

Renew Wedding Vows After Husband's Sex Change ...

2012-01-11T20:36:00.001-02:00

Anne and Barry Watson Renew Wedding Vows After Husband's Sex Change

A couple have renewed their wedding vows after the husband underwent a sex change. Anne and Barry Watson tied the knot nine years ago and celebrated their anniversary by renewing their vows. The ceremony took place last year following Barry’s sex change – and ‘rebirth’ as Jayne. The couple had hit a rocky patch earlier in their marriage, with Anne believing her husband had been cheating on her, the Mirror reported. But the 43-year-old explained: “She thought I’d been cheating on her with another woman. I just wanted to be one.“At first Anne was furious when I told her I wanted a sex change.”Anne, 53, confirmed: “I grieved for the loss of Barry, but there were sides to Jayne I enjoyed getting to know. Now we sit and giggle and talk about hair, clothes and make-up.“To me, our second wedding was more special than the first as I knew Jayne was finally comfortable with who she was.” Former bus driver Jayne, who is taking female hormones, said: “People might think I’m weird or a freak. But all that matters to me is that my wife loves me.” Anne added: “I still love the same person whether they’re called Barry or Jayne… even though she does drive me mad when she steals my clothes without asking me!”

2012-01-10T00:25:00.000-02:00

Unusual defence...

2012-01-09T21:44:00.006-02:00

Drinks giant Pepsi says man who claims he found a mouse in his can of Mountain Dew must be wrong... because it would have dissolved...it's a disturbing thought - could you drink a mouse without even knowing it?

Pepsi appears to have raised that question after issuing an unusually stomach-churning response to claims a rodent's body was found in a can of Mountain Dew.Ronald Ball, from Illinois, was told he would never have known the mouse had been in his can of soda - because it would have dissolved into jelly.

Mr Ball is suing the drinks giant claiming the Mountain Dew he drank made him violently ill, and he began throwing up.

Mr Ball is seeking damages in excess of $50,000. Pepsi, represented by lawyers Steven Danekas and Cassiday Schade, denies his claims

BEHIND THE MASK

2012-01-07T23:36:00.002-02:00

Dean Norris

John Leguizamo

Nelson De la Rosa

Kevin Peter Hall

Katherine Helmond

2012-01-06T01:10:00.001-02:00

Rare Moon mineral found in ... Australia?....mmmmmm...

2012-01-05T20:13:00.002-02:00

SYDNEY: A mineral brought back to Earth by the first men on the Moon and long thought to be unique to the lunar surface has been found in Australian rocks more than one billion years old, scientists said Thursday.
Named after Apollo 11's 1969 landing site at the Sea of Tranquility, tranquillityite was one of three minerals first discovered in rocks from the Moon and the only one not to be found, in subsequent years, on Earth.
Australian scientist Birger Rasmussen said tranquillityite had "long been considered as the Moon's own mineral" until geologists discovered it, by chance, in rock from resources-rich Western Australia.
"In over 40 years it hadn't been found in any terrestrial samples," Rasmussen, from Curtin University.
When the Moon samples first came back Rasmussen said they were considered to be "extremely precious" and had been subjected to intense, detailed study when - ironically - their contents were "right here all the time."
"They were always part of Earth, they haven't come from the Moon," he said of his work on the discovery, published in the journal Geology.
"It tells you that broadly overall you have similar chemistries and similar processes operating on the Moon as on Earth."
As well as being "quirky and surprising" Rasmussen said the discovery also had important practical applications, with the mineral proving to be an excellent dating tool which had allowed scientists to pin down the rocks' age.
"We used this mineral ... to date the dolerite which has previously been undated, so that helped us understand the geological history," he said

2012-01-04T22:50:00.000-02:00

Darth Vader stand-in Bob Anderson dies

2012-01-03T00:14:00.002-02:00

LONDON -- Olympic fencer and movie sword master Bob Anderson appeared in some of film's most famous dueling scenes -- though few viewers knew it.Anderson, who has died at age 89, donned Darth Vader's black helmet and fought light saber battles in two of the three original "Star Wars" films, "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi."Anderson, who worked with actors from Errol Flynn to Antonio Banderas during five decades as a sword master, fight director and stunt performer, died early New Year's Day at an English hospital, the British Academy of Fencing said Monday.

Vader, "Star Wars" intergalactic arch-villain, was voiced by James Earl Jones and played by 6-foot-6 former weightlifter David Prowse, but Anderson stepped in during the key fight scenes."David Prowse wasn't very good with a sword and Bob couldn't get him to do the moves," said Anderson's former assistant, Leon Hill. "Fortunately Bob could just don the costume and do it himself."The scenes worked beautifully, although Anderson, then nearing 60, was several inches shorter than Prowse.Few knew of Anderson's role until Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, said in a 1983 interview that "Bob Anderson was the man who actually did Vader's fighting." "It was always supposed to be a secret, but I finally told George (Lucas) I didn't think it was fair any more," Hamill told Starlog magazine, referring to the legendary director and producer. "Bob worked so bloody hard that he deserves some recognition. It's ridiculous to preserve the myth that it's all done by one man."Robert James Gilbert Anderson was born in Hampshire, southern England, in 1922, and was drawn to fencing from an early age."I never took up the sword," he said in an interview for the 2009 documentary "Reclaiming the Blade." "I think the sword took me up."Anderson joined the Royal Marines before World War II, teaching fencing aboard warships and winning several combined services titles in the sport.He served in the Mediterranean during the war, later trained as a fencing coach and represented Britain at the 1952 Olympics and the 1950 and 1953 world championships.In the 1950s, Anderson became coach of Britain's national fencing team, a post he held until the late 1970s. He later served as technical director of the Canadian Fencing Association.

His first film work was staging fights and coaching Flynn on swashbuckler "The Master of Ballantrae" in 1952.

He went on to become one of the industry's most sought after stunt performers, fight choreographers and sword masters, working on movies including the James Bond adventures "From Russia With Love" and "Die Another Day"; fantasy "The Princess Bride"; Banderas action romps "The Mask of Zorro" and "The Legend of Zorro"; and the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.Fencing academy president Philip Bruce said Anderson was "truly one of our greatest fencing masters and a world-class film fight director and choreographer."Hill remembered him as "a splendid man, a great man who gave so much to fencing that can never be repaid."Anderson is survived by his wife Pearl and three children. Funeral details were not immediately available.

2012-01-02T00:35:00.002-02:00

HAPPY 2012!!!!!

2012-01-01T15:22:00.000-02:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

2011-12-31T10:30:00.000-02:00

2011-12-30T23:49:00.000-02:00

Cheetah the chimp from 1930s Tarzan flicks dies...

2011-12-29T01:06:00.002-02:00

The death at 80 years old of the Mona Chita, the tireless companion of Tarzan in a primate reserve of Florida (USA) has caused large number of reactions and expressions of affection toward this chimpanzee, although there are some who doubt their true identity.While the website Suncoast Primate The Sanctuary in Palm Harbor (Florida East Coast) announces the death "of the star of the Tarzan movies," which occurred on December 24, although it has always been those who have doubted its true identity and have even argued that this Chita never appeared in any film.They have also ensured that was 50 and not 80 as stated in the Suncoast Primate Reserve. Some doubt fueled by the fact that chimpanzees live an average of between 40 and 50.

What is certain is that there wasn't a single chimpanzee that starred Chita in the film "Tarzan." Several monkeys alternated shooting and usually had at least two in the set of recording.In the Twitter account enabled in its name, the "movie star" is only recognized as "one of the chimpanzees used in the film 'Tarzan' of the 30".

Chinese Army Hand Grenade Fail

2011-12-28T00:11:00.000-02:00

A world without eyebrows...

2011-12-27T23:03:00.001-02:00

Harry Potter vs. Star Wars

2011-12-26T22:51:00.002-02:00

2011-12-25T02:17:00.000-02:00

2011-12-24T10:07:00.001-02:00

2011-12-23T20:12:00.000-02:00

Kim Jong-Il dies at 69...

2011-12-22T00:12:00.003-02:00

...leaving an impressive list of egotistical titles ...

North Korea officially announced the death of "Dear Leader" Kim Jong-Il today, two days after he passed away at 69. Kim's youngest son Kim Jong-un was named his successor and given a four-star general ranking despite being hidden his whole life. Here's hoping the son of "Dear Leader, who is a perfect incarnation of the appearance that a leader should have" can out-do his father in the naming department.

2011-12-21T23:24:00.000-02:00

2011-12-20T21:56:00.003-02:00

2011-12-19T23:55:00.000-02:00

Mohammed Bouazizi

2011-12-18T01:30:00.003-02:00

The Muurish Tunisian Martyr Who Toppled the Tunisian Government

Since a young man named Mohamed Bouazizi poured petrol over himself on December 17 and set himself, alight in front of the office of the Governor of his region, life turned upside down in Tunisia and the fires that he lit has burned until it engulfed the entire country from town to town.Mr Bouazizi an indigent, indigenous, black Tunisian university graduate had no job in what was suppposedly an enlightened and prosperous African country. He could not find employment anywhere much as he tried, and he had body and soul and family to cater for.His plight echoed the hapless fate of so many thousands and thosuands of young Tunisians, seduced by the promises of western education, yet frustrated and thwarted by a visionless, un-productive, corrupt power structure which dominated the country and suffocated creativity and innovation.The power-elites of Tunisia are indeed guardians and door keepers for the elites of the vampires of the western society. They manage the plantation on behalf of the absentee landlords who own the bonds, the shares and the all other wealth generating resources.So Mohammed Bouazizi became an itinerant vegetable and fruit vendor in other to keep body and soul together without resorting to criminality. This was despite his university degree. That is like working as a flea-market trader after graduating with an M.B.A. from an elite university.But the powers of the vampire system entrenched in Tunisia would not let him be. The law demanded that he needed a license in order to pursue even so lowly a livelihood. He could not hawk fruits and vegetables to keep body and soul together unless he was able to pay a ridiculous sum of money to corrupt city officials as administrative fees for the license he was required to have.All that sounds good and fine until one asks where the supposedly indigent, unemployed, penniless university graduate was supposed find this money for this license. A catch-22 situation.So he took a chance, and began hawking his wares which he had bought on credit from kindly neighbours. He had also taken out loans from his friends and family to buy the used fruit-cart that was to serve as his place of business. He might have hoped perhaps to begin paying down his loans as well as the license fees after making some sales and saving up cash.Alas that was not to be. The police accosted him on his first day out working. He was told that even that business outlet he was hoping on, was denied to him as he did not have a vendor’s licence. He begged for time from those officials but they laughed after him.They then took all his wares, and took down his cart and hauled everything away. The fruits would be shared by the Police thugs, the cart would be kept until reclaimed upon the payment of a penalty as well as the license fee. Bouaziz stood there and watched his livelihood destroyed in a twinkle of an eye.And they slapped him and beat him up when he bothered to voice his protest. Maybe because they thought, he was just another faceless black Tunisian.And they took his cart away. What was he to do, in the land of his birth, the home of his Muurish ancestors. No food, no job, no buying or selling without the license of the beast, just hunger, cold and despodence. Of course there was always the prison, with its violation of the human spirit waiting for those youths who dared to turn into criminality.Then the angel of judgement who had been watching this whole incident possessed the heart of Mohammed Bouaziz. And outrage became incensed, and a fire was kindled in his heart. A fire so strong it would burn down everything….So Mohammed went home and got a gallon of gas. And he went and stood in front of sumptious mansion of the rich, fat governor of his home region, he doused himself with petrol gas and set himself on fire.And passerbys captured the image of this young man buring in a raging fire of mental and spiritual frustration… It was on youtube and Tweeter, Google and ten thousand blogs. And the world saw the unseen fires, daily destroying the youths of Tunisia and Africa as a whole. Mohammed incidentally did not die in the fire. After suffering third degree burns to 98% of his body, he survived another gruesome three weeks in hospital before succumbing to his wounds.And the youths of the world were enraged. But the youths of Tunisia got caught by the blaze set by Mohammed Bouaziz. The fires lit by Mohammed began to grow.At first the youths of his home town protested in rage and began burining cars and tyres and buildings. The police tried to stop them. Mohammed finally died an agonizing death after three weeks in the hospital.During his burial in his home town of Sidi Bouzid, the youths chanted chants of war and vengenace. This government shook, the fire kept on burining. There were more protests.

2011-12-17T22:18:00.001-02:00

Inhuman and brutal

2011-12-16T17:27:00.003-02:00

Brutality against women is as old as the history of male domination in society.But the cool-blooded chopping off the hand of an HSC second year student allegedly by her husband, for no offence of her own, seems to have surpassed many such brutalities. She had to meet this tragic incident just because she wanted to continue her study. This act of extreme brutality has once again brought to light how women are subjected to the vilest forms of repression in a male dominated society.
According to media reports, the victim Hawa Akter Jui was left to bleed for about three hours after her husband cut off all the five fingers of her hand with a machete. The brutality did not stop there, the beast in human face also dumped the detached fingers into a dustbin. By the time the fingers were discovered, it was too late to attach them to the hand as all the cells of the fingers had become inactive.
It is really stupefying that when the government has been giving much emphasis on women’s empowerment, we still have to receive such shocking reports at regular intervals. There are laws for the protection of women, but for lack of strict enforcement, repression of women is going on in Bangladesh without any sign of abatement. The fact is, if the perpetrators are given exemplary punishment, then nobody will dare to commit such crime with impunity. However, the problem is also deeply rooted in the very social outlook towards women. Therefore, establishment of a society free from male domination is undoubtedly the ultimate solution of women repression.
We came to know that despite losing all the fingers of her right hand, Jui is very much determined about carrying on her studies. So we hope that apart from ensuring justice to her, the government will also extend all other necessary helps to enable her to fulfil her dream.

“People said they’ve had enough”

2011-12-15T01:16:00.001-02:00

“Is there a global tipping point for frustration? Everywhere, it seems, people said they'd had enough,” -Time Editor Rick Stengel

“In North America and most of Europe, there are no dictators, and dissidents don't get tortured. Any day that Tunisians, Egyptians or Syrians occupy streets and squares, they know that some of them might be beaten or shot, not just pepper-sprayed or flex-cuffed. The protesters in the Middle East and North Africa are literally dying to get political systems that roughly resemble the ones that seem intolerably undemocratic to protesters in Madrid, Athens, London and New York City,” said the front article at Time magazine

“No one could have known that when a Tunisian fruit vendor set himself on fire in a public square, it would incite protests that would topple dictators and start a global wave of dissent. In 2011, protesters didn’t just voice their complaints; they changed the world.”

2011-12-14T20:48:00.001-02:00

2011-12-13T23:54:00.000-02:00

2011-12-12T22:03:00.000-02:00

2011-12-10T22:55:00.001-02:00

2011-12-09T00:18:00.000-02:00

Facebook embarrassed as founder Mark Zuckerberg’s private photos are leaked

2011-12-08T00:43:00.002-02:00

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s own private photos have been leaked onto the Internet by hackers seeking to highlight an embarrassing security flaw in the social networking site.

As the result of a Facebook glitch that lets users view recently uploaded photos regardless of security settings, 14 of the billionaire’s photos were posted on the web.

The photos of 27-year-old Zuckerberg included shots of him holding a chicken, making food with his girlfriend and meeting US President Barack Obama.

To exploit the bug, people could repeatedly report a user’s public photos as inappropriate until Facebook presented a gallery of other photos from that user to offer a chance to report those as well.

Directions to exploit the bug had reportedly been circulating on the Internet for two weeks before Facebook addressed it.

“Earlier today, we discovered a bug in one of our reporting flows that allows people to report multiple instances of inappropriate content simultaneously,” Facebook said in a statement.

2011-12-07T21:16:00.002-02:00

2011-12-06T23:09:00.003-02:00

Da Vinci 'zoo' code cracked after amateur artist discovers hidden animals in the Mona Lisa

An artist claims to have cracked a 500-year-old mystery surrounding the Mona Lisa - by spotting a series of zoo animals hidden in the painting.

Ron Piccirillo believes it is possible to see the heads of a lion, an ape and a buffalo floating in the air around the subject's head along with a crocodile or snake coming out of the left hand side of her body.

The amateur oil painter and graphic designer based in New York says he followed a series of instructions set out by the artist Leonardo da Vinci to decipher the image and claims his discovery cracks open the meaning of the work, painted in 1519.

That the Mona Lisa is actually a representation of envy.

ANDY SERKIS

2011-12-04T23:24:00.003-02:00

Andy Serkis is known to millions of fans for his portrayal of the depraved creature Gollum in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, as the giant ape Kong in Jackson's King Kong and as Ian Dury in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll. For his portayal of the revolutionary chimpanzee Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Andy has been nominated for the 2011 Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor. He is now on-screen as Captain Haddock in Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin.

2011-12-03T21:47:00.001-02:00

EIFFEL TOWER WILL TURN INTO A GIANT TREE

2011-12-02T23:11:00.004-02:00

A group of consultants in Paris has hatched a plan to turn the Eiffel Tower into a giant tree by covering it with 600,000 plants. Their dream is to literally plant the 324 meter tall aesthetic symbol of Paris with 12 tons of rubber tubing, and gradually add bags planted with greenery all over it to turn it into a growing tree. The group says the project would cost 72 million Euros (that’s around 97 million US dollars) and would remove 87.8 tons of carbon dioxide from the air in the city of lights.