Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2007 – Just in time for the holidays, 13 major recording artists have created a musical “Thank You” for the troops. “CD for the Troops” is a compilation of songs from 13 of today’s top music artists. Active-duty servicemembers and veterans with a valid military identification card will be able to download the CD from the Army and Air Force Service Exchange Web site for no cost beginning Nov. 17, 2007.  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “CD for the Troops” will be available for anyone with a valid military identification card to download at no...

Tributes have been pouring in for Ingmar Bergman, one of the most influential film directors of the 20th century, who died on Monday at his home on the Swedish island of Fårö. He was 89. Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt hailed Bergman as "one of the great dramatists in this world," and French President Nicolas Sarkozy paid tribute to "one of the geniuses of our time." "The dream ended, the music went quiet that night on the island of Fårö, where Ingmar Bergman died," Sarkozy said. "France, a land of the cultural exception that was dear to Ingmar Bergman, honours...

In a case that is reverberating in the art world, the New York Police Department said yesterday that a video-game designer and budding filmmaker committed suicide last week and that her companion, a rising art star, has been missing since Tuesday. The filmmaker, Theresa Duncan, 40, who has also drawn attention for her writings on cultural topics, committed suicide in their East Village apartment on July 10, the police said. Her companion, Jeremy Blake, 35, a well-regarded artist known for digital animation that blurs the line between abstract painting and film, has been missing since his clothes were found on...

James Maldonado-Berry  Other Articles by James Maldonado-BerryPrinter Friendly Version   Why We Need Sacred Art April 15, 2007 The great schism that divided Western Christendom into Catholic and Protestant camps had far-ranging consequences. Across Europe, religious and political leaders, at the local and national level, viewed their nation's religious association with Rome as a hindrance toward true independence at a time when nationalism was on the rise. Many political leaders objected to a foreign pope asserting sweeping authority and demanding broad allegiance over all the faithful in their realm.The cultural and religious bonds that had held the Continent together...

Barbra Streisand's politics didn't find a wholly agreeable crowd during her Monday concert at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise. As Babs traded political barbs with a George W. Bush imitator, a fan of the songstress who apparently disagreed with her politics pelted her with a beverage. And as her anti-GOP riff ended, another man in the crowd found himself being escorted out of the center as he shouted at Streisand. Streisand shrugged both incidents off, saying some people would do better to buy her records than come to her shows. A similar scenario unfolded during Streisand's concert earlier this month...

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2006 – Seeing his artistry on the big screen was a bit of a rush, but former Hollywood sculptor Chuck O'Brien said it's nothing compared to the satisfaction he gets using his art to help transform military amputees. Army Spc. Adam Standfuss, a Minnesota Army National Guardsman wounded in Iraq, looks on as artist Robert Rubino paints a new artificial hand for him at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Photo by Michael Dukes  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "You can't go wrong working with heroes," O'Brien said as he sat side by side with two...

WASHINGTON -- Post-9/11 security rules aimed at stopping terrorists from entering America are keeping artists, musicians and others out as well, renowned cellist Yo Yo Ma told a congressional committee Tuesday. With a growing number of foreign artists canceling their U.S. performances -- last week Britain's Halle Orchestra called off its American tour citing prohibitive visa fees and requirements -- Ma said America is in danger of losing meaningful cultural exchanges. "Bringing foreign musicians to this country and sending our performers to visit them is crucial," Ma, a U.S. citizen born in France to Chinese parents, told the House Government...

Is America really FREE? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am asking this to find out how many people actually consider America free. I know that is a very controversial subject but this could be very interesting.

Some of my leftist friends have one thing in common with the Muslims now sacking foreign embassies: a fundamental lack of understanding as to how democracy works, and how precious it is. The leftists have grown up knowing nothing but freedom and opulence, and take things like the Bill of Rights, Federalist Papers, and Constitution for granted (if they have even read these hallowed documents). The Muslim radicals (Islamists) are throwing lit jugs full of gasoline at Danish embassies because they have known nothing except Big Brother (One Newspaper, One Nation, One Religion, One World), and do not even know...

Kevin P. Casey for The New York Times Hope Forstenzer, a glass blower formerly of Brooklyn, at work at the Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle, where she moved two years ago. They may not have the money of the hedge fund managers who line up at bonus time at the open houses for $5 million homes, and their numbers do not equal that of health care workers. But New York City's creative sector - which includes architects, potters, filmmakers and clothing designers - has long helped fuel the city's economy because of its size and its role in...

December 07, 2005 Cave paintings reveal Ice Age artists By Norman Hammond, Archaeology Correspondent BRITAIN’S first cave art is more than 12,800 years old, scientific testing has shown. Engravings of a deer and other creatures at Creswell Crags, in Derbyshire, have proved to be genuine Ice Age creations, and not modern fakes, as some had feared. The engravings were found in 2003 at two caves, Church Hole and Robin Hood’s Cave, which lie close together in the Creswell gorge. Palaeolithic occupation deposits dating to the last Ice Age were excavated there in 1875-76, but the art remained unnoticed. Although the...

Salvation: Homemade or Vintage? Wine, being both beverage and nourishment, is (along with water) the perfect drink for human beings. In terms of savor, health benefit, and psychological effect, wine reigns as the king of cups at the finest tables in the world. Yet many people do not care for wine, citing its "bad taste" as the reason they do not partake. I have always suspected that for most oenophobes this distaste for the fruit of the vine is the result of a bad first impression. For many people, their first taste of wine comes as a child, when their...

CMT, MTV and VH1 Launch Hurricane Katrina Relief Campaign Wilson and Mellencamp Among Performers Scheduled for Sept. 10 TV Special   CMT, MTV and VH1 have announced the first stage of an ongoing Hurricane Katrina relief campaign -- a multi-artist, multi-genre, multi-platform live performance special set to air across all three networks on Sept. 10. Gretchen Wilson and John Mellencamp are among the artists scheduled to perform from locations in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Nashville. The special will seek to raise much-needed funds for the American Red Cross and similar organizations as they continue their relief efforts. The...

MY STRAIGHT LINE LEARNING CURVE Learning can be a slow process for me. It never ceases to amaze me how amazed I can still get when some factoid finally manages to bore a hole in my skull and jump in. I mean, not to sound too self-congratulatory or anything, but when you're nearing the end of your sixth decade, you start thinking there aren't too many surprises left. So imagine my surprise when one of those surprises that had been lagging for 58 plus years decided to finally show up. The occasion was the Monday morning writers' group I regularly...

It is always amusing when extremely wealthy entertainers stage a concert to eradicate poverty. They appear on stage, and do interviews, before and after the concert, criticizing other wealthy people and politicians. What is never mentioned is that they arrived at the venue by private jet or helicopter, lodging at five star hotel suites that cost several thousands of dollars per night. What is even more amusing is when the liberal mainstream media proclaim – as the Philadelphia Inquirer did the next day - that the concert did not communicate the message properly because they did not speak with moral...

Using bits of garbage and flotsam and finding their roots in voodoo, poverty and the urban Haitian experience, a group of men in Port-au-Prince is pushing Haitian art's boundaries. At the end of a twisting dirt alleyway crowded with tin shacks, a large metal man with hair made of shredded tires and feet of wheel spokes sits in a small clearing. According to its creator, who goes by the name Guyodo, he and other local artists are inspired by their daily surroundings. "We use all that society throws away, all that is not going to be used again that we...

I wrote this letter to send to Ani DiFranco, after her most recent music catalog made very anti-Bush comments. Please feel free to copy and send to your favorite liberal entertainer: Righteous Babe Records P.O. Box 95 Ellicott Station Buffalo, NY 14205 To Whom It May Concern: Please remove me from your mailing list. After reading your latest letter on the catalog, I think I’ve had enough. I have been very fond of Ani DiFranco’s music, but I cannot tolerate another musician who deems it necessary to force their politics down my throat. I really wish that just once I...

A New Week....Well, almost....Will the Wall Street jitters continue??Will, FINALLY, steps be taken to end the judicial log jam in the Senate??Will the Dems, under Dr. Dean, begin to control their wacko elements??Just a few questions to ponder....We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail!

ART MARKET BIDS BRITAIN FAREWELL, PUSHED OUT BY FRANCE AND EUFebruary 16, 2005I have a strong sense of déjà vue about the travails of the art market in the wake of the introduction of droit de suite. I first wrote about it about ten years ago, when the legislation was being discussed and the British Government swore blind that it would protect the flourishing British art market. So much for promises. The droit de suite is a sliding-scale levy paid by the vendor of a work of art to a living artist or to an artist's family for 70 years...

MIAMI (AP)-Will Eisner, the artist who revolutionized comic books, helped pioneer the graphic novel and taught generations of soldiers how to maintain their equipment with the "Joe Dope" series, has died. He was 87.