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Tired of politics? Set aside some time, get a glass of what you like and settle in. Brian Shul is the real McCoy. He crashed at the end of the Vietnam War in Cambodia, with very little chance of survival... and beat the odds. He is funny and informative; he did it and lived to tell the story. There are very few around like him. There are good public speakers, and then there's Brian Shul. He talks about life's choices and outcomes, but laced within his message are incredible stories of his years as an SR71 Blackbird pilot. The SR...

New art exhibit will trace humans' captivation with cats throughout history Thanks to the Internet, it can sometimes seem like cats have taken over every aspect of popular culture. Funny videos and goofy photos may be firmly under their furry paws, but now not even fine art seems to be able to resist their feline allure. Now, Massachusetts' Worcester Art Museum is hosting a new exhibition dedicated to cats in art from ancient Egypt all the way up to the modern day. Cat memes might seem like a modern phenomenon, but the expressive animals have intrigued artists for thousands of...

Click on the link to watch the movie.

Just east of the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, Florida, is a lake. In the middle of Bay Lake is an island that Disney won't let anyone set foot on. That's because Discovery Island is home to an abandoned park that they'd rather nobody saw. Just across the water is another deserted park, River Country. These images show nature reclaiming what Disney left behind. These are the only Disney parks to close permanently. Discovery Island was a nature reserve open between 1974 and 1999 and River Country, a water theme park, operated from 1976 to 2001.

Today is National Puppy Day, which means that across the country -- and maybe in other parts of the world -- men and women, boys and girls, are spending quality time with their little dogs, or enjoying cute gifs on the Internet. National Puppy Day was founded in 2006 by "Celebrity Pet & Home Lifestyle Expert and Author" Colleen Page, who also founded National Dog Day and National Cat Day. Paige intended National Puppy Day to celebrate "the magic and unconditional love that puppies bring to our lives," according to the day's official website. "More importantly, it's a day to...

Some of Bettwieser's recovered film includes photographs from World War II.  (All Photos: Courtesy The Rescued Film Project)It’s happened to everyone. You’re rifling through a bin at a thrift store, or a garage sale, or an unmarked box in your attic, and you find an undeveloped roll of film. The thought crosses your mind: should I get this developed? See what’s on it?But who has time these days to find a convenient place to develop it, let alone pay for the process.That question, and that obstacle, are exactly what led Boise, Idaho-based photographer and video producer Levi Bettwieser to...

We lost a man

March 3, 2016 - As I drove home from work, I noticed a sandhill crane on her nest. March 5 - The first opportunity to photograph the crane on her nest. March 11 - Momma crane checks her eggs before settling in for the night. March 17 - The eggs have hatched. They are receiving parental instruction on what and how to eat. Crashing for the night! March 20 - The twins. Poppa crane was not happy to see me today!

A cross discovered by an amateur Danish archaeologist may "change history" according to an expert, who believes the cross may date from before Christianity is thought to have reached Denmark. An amateur archaeologist on the island of Funen made a startling discovery last week – a necklace resembling Jesus on the cross. But after posting a picture of the discovery on Facebook, Dennis Fabricius Holm quickly found that the item may have a lot more significance than he had initially thought. “I finished work early last Friday, so I decided to spend a couple of hours searching with my metal...

A man has been charged with hacking the Apple iCloud and Gmail accounts of celebrities and stealing nude photos and videos from them.The US authorities say Ryan Collins has agreed to plead guilty to the offence. Prosecutors have recommended that he face a jail term of 18 months, although a judge could extend that to five years.The 36-year-old is alleged to have stolen usernames and passwords via a phishing scam.The Department of Justice said that the Pennsylvania-based Collins had admitted to breaking into more than 100 accounts between November 2012 and September 2014. < He is said to have achieved...

Longtime fans have speculated for years, but a producer of the upcoming Xena: Warrior Princess reboot has confirmed: Xena is gay in the new series. In a post on Tumblr, the reboot’s screenwriter and executive producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach confirmed that Xena (played in the ’90s by Lucy Lawless) would finally fully explore the not-so-subtle lesbian relationship she had with her sidekick Gabrielle (played in the original series by Renee O’Connor). “[T]here is no reason to bring back Xena if it is not there for the purpose of fully exploring a relationship that could only be shown subtextually in first-run syndication...

Director Steven Spielberg and star Harrison Ford will make a fifth “Indiana Jones” film, to screen July 19, 2019, Disney announced Tuesday. The release from the studio describes “a fifth epic adventure in the blockbuster series,” adding: “Steven Spielberg, who directed all four previous films, will helm the as-yet-untitled project with star Harrison Ford reprising his iconic role. Franchise veterans Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall will produce.” Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn called the Jones character “one of the greatest heroes in cinematic history,” adding, “It’s rare to have such a perfect combination of director, producers, actor and role,...

WHITE — The only thing bigger than his grin was that car. The wife and kids ran out to look. What a sight they beheld: 3,000-plus pounds of steel and iron and glass. And chrome! Chrome on the bumpers, on the hood, along the side and coming to an exquisite point on those finned rear fenders, chrome! In 1957, the Bel Aire was one of Chevy’s marquee machines. The family that sat in its plush seats had arrived. For untold years — a decade maybe, or perhaps longer — their four-door behemoth did it all. Trips to Panama City, church,...

Nicholas Meyer, who directed one of Star Trek’s most-popular films “The Wrath of Khan”, has announced that the film will receive a 4K/Ultra HD release.

I stopped by the lake on my way home from work yesterday for a little mental health break. Watching the activity of birds, turtles and other critters going about their business as they have for eons melts the work-a-day stress. All is well with the world. The bigger picture continues to unfold. My little problems are placed in their proper perspective; now for the weekend! ENJOY!! Glossy Ibis - Check out the colors in those feathers! Sandhill crane checks her eggs before settling in for the night. Whited winged dove. Male I think.

A woman from Sardinia, NY, was arrested after police noticed her license plate was less an official marking and more of a bad art project. Deputies spotted the poorly plagiarized plate on Amanda Schweickert's car as she drove through Springville, NY, WIVB reported. As far as fakes go, this one was hardly convincing. It appears that Schweickert took a stack of Crayola markers to a license plate-ish size slab of cardboard and thought 'good enough.' She at least stopped at hot gluing macaroni to it. How she thought this would fool authorities is anyone's guess. Naturally, the cops arrested Schweickert...

A Russian architect has designed a skyscraper shaped like a cobra, predicting that his snake-like tower to be built in a prominent Middle Eastern city. The majestic design features a round base to appear like a serpent's body, as well as an open-mouthed head, set to house a terraced 'restaurant or nightclub'. The aptly named 'Asian Cobra Tower' has been designed by Monaco-based architect Vasily Klyukin, from Moscow.

Here are few pictures from my walk along Lake Jackson today. Hope you enjoy. Sand hill crane on her nest. Pine warbler (I think) Purple grackle Cat bird

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has married actress-model Jerry Hall in London.Mr Murdoch, whose News UK company publishes The Times and The Sun newspapers, and Miss Hall married during a ceremony at Spencer House. It is the fourth marriage for Mr Murdoch, 84, and the first for Miss Hall, 59, although she lived with singer Sir Mick Jagger for many years.Australian-born Mr Murdoch, who now has US nationality, split up with his third wife Wendi Deng in 2013.The pair will hold a private ceremony of celebration on Saturday at London's St Bride's Church, in Fleet Street, which proclaims itself as the...

When you look back across the history of art, things go missing. Interesting things. For example, it seems ancient people didn't have a word to describe the color of the sky. The "b" word-blue? They didn't use it. That’s the argument, anyway...... It wasn't until much later, when blue paints were invented (which happened in Egypt), that "blue" became a descriptor—when you could buy or sell it..... The Newest Missing Thing That was our guess. And now-ta-da-I've got another one, a second thing that ancients saw all the time but failed to describe. And this one is even more basic....