All This Is That

Friday, February 04, 2011

Did Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa actually own a penis?

Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece, La Joconde, a/k/a the Mona Lisa, is a 16th-century portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of the wealthy Francesco del Giocondo, a local merchant. At least that was what we thought. However, some Italian researchers, specializing in solving art world mysteries, call that hokum.

At a press conference in Rome yesterday, one Silvano Vincenti, the head of the National Historic Commission in Italy, said that the model for the painting now known as The Mona Lisa was, in fact, probably Leonardo da Vinci's boyfriend Gian Giacomo Caprotti (nicknamed “Salai”). Salai was one of da Vinci’s male apprentices (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gian_Giacomo_Caprotti_-_Salai.jpg).

Caprotti started working as a model for da Vinci at the age of 10, and worked for him for more than 20 years. Silvano Vincenti also talked about many other paintings by da Vinci that look quite similar to the Mona Lisa.

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Thursday, February 03, 2011

Jack Brummet painting - The first wave of robots

click to enlarge

painting by Jack Brummet

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How to spot a hidden handgun - Robert T. Gallagher's two-minute gun-spotting school

By Jack Brummet
Social Mores Editor

A cop once told me that I would be surprised at the number of people who carry guns around with them wherever they go. He also said that virtually every leather fanny pack he had ever searched contained a handgun (of course, just the fact that he selected them to search probably widened the odds of finding a gun astronomically). A former NYPD detective from the Anti Robbery Tactical Unit--Robert T. Gallagher-- created this sheet showing how to spot a concealed weapon.

click to enlarge

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Wednesday, February 02, 2011

More Hosni Mubarak sacrilege--new defacement photos in the streets of Cairo

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Hosni Mubarak says he is stepping down (whether on his own timetable remains to be seen) - 8 photos from the Cairo protests

click images to enlarge

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Monday, January 31, 2011

More fun in the streets of Cairo with Hosni Mubarak photos

click to enlarge

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"It's All About Me!" -- Sarah Palin inserts herself into another news story

By Pablo Fanque, National Affairs Editor
Illustrations by Jack Brummet

In a speech in Reno last weekend, Ex-Governor Sarah Palin said she thinks a recent media boycott of her is a good thing. . .because she won't be "blamed" for the uprising in Egypt.

Palin, of course, became a flash point during the national debate following the Tucson, Arizona shootings earlier this month. Many people (and the criticism was bi-partisan) accused her of fanning the flames of intolerance, and some even said she was the catalyst for the Arizona murders/assassination attempt.

Ex-governor Palin said that the boycott on writing about her "sounds good, because there's a lot of chaos in Cairo, and I can't wait to not get blamed for it--at least for a month."
Citizens and media--old and new-- discussed her use of the phrase "don't retreat, reload!" and her use of targets (which her office called surveyor's symbols) on a map of congressional seats. She took the bait and struck back with her ridiculous and now infamous "blood libel" video. She appears to not want to get herself mangled in the wringer one more time in January.