Strange Things Are Happening . . .Hee Hee, Ho Ho!

Exhume Leonardo???!!!

The remains of Leonardo da Vinci are to be exhumed by a group of scientists who plan to reconstruct his face to discover whether his famed masterpiece, the Mona Lisa, is a self-portrait in disguise.

A team of art historians and scientists from Italy's National Committee for Cultural Heritage, has requested that his tomb at Amboise Castle in the Loire valley be opened.

Anthropologist Giorgio Gruppioni, hopes the project will throw new light on the Renaissance painter's most celebrated portrait.
'If we manage to find his skull, we could rebuild Leonardo's face and compare it with the Mona Lisa' he said.

Da Vinci was originally buried in a church that was destroyed in the French revolution of 1789 and his remains were then reburied in the castle's smaller chapel of Saint-Hubert in 1874. They lie beneath an inscription that describes them as 'presumed' to be the master's.

The head of the Italian team, Silvano Vincenti, said the first step would be to ascertain if the remains are Leonardo's. The team will use carbon dating and compare DNA samples from bones and teeth to those of male descendants in Bologna, Italy.

Discussions between French cultural officials and the owners of the chateau have resulted in an agreement in principle and the plans could receive a formal go-ahead this summer.

Mystery has surrounded the identity of the Mona Lisa for centuries. Scholars have implied that Da Vinci's presumed homosexuality and love of riddles led him to paint himself as a woman.

Speculation on the sitter has also ranged from Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine merchant to Leonordo's mother.

Nicholas Turner, a former curator of drawings at the Getty Museum, said: 'It sounds a bit fanciful, slightly mad, as if the Leonardo bug has taken hold too firmly in the minds of these people.
'If Leonardo heard about all this, he'd have a good chuckle'.
The project has also aroused controversy from Leonordo scholars who believe his remains should be left alone and the self-portrait theory is a myth.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1245667/Leonardo-da-Vincis-exhumed-bid-prove-Mona-Lisa-self-portrait.html#ixzz0xU8zaw7f

Madness

So, if the skull fits, it still could be a portrait of his mother.
Ai yi yi.

That's funny!

So, anyone else have a strange news story?

this title reminds me of the dr. demento staple the funny farm

They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa
To the funny farm.

"Strange Things" - Written and performed by Randy Newman

I was on top of the world
it was right in my pocket
I was living the life
things were just the way they should be
When from out of the sky like a bomb comes some little punk in a rocket
now all of a sudden some strange things are happening to me

I had friends,
I had lots of friends
Now all my friends are gone
And I'm doing the best I can to carry on

I had power (power)
I was respected (respect)
But not any more
And I've lost the love to the one whom I adored

Let me tell you about the strange things are happening to me
Strange things
Strange things are happening to me...
Ain't no doubt about it

You got someone you think you know well
It turns out a stranger
The minute you turn your back
You're in it all by yourself

They laugh at your jokes,
You think you're doing well
But you're in danger, boy
You end up alone, forgotten, way up on the shelf

Strange things are happening to me
Strange things
Strange things are happening to me
Ain't no doubt about it

Strange things are happening to me
Strange things
Strange things are happening to me

Strange things
Strange things

Thanks, bbb, for that song.

Here is the one Buttons did, which is not as skillfully written as Newman's but few people can match Randy Newman:

Red Buttons Strange Things Are Happening Lyrics:
[Applause.]

[Buttons/(Audience):]
Ho-ho. (Ho-ho.)
He-he. (He-he.)
Ha-ha. (Ha-ha.)
Strange things are happening.

[Spoken with echo effect:]
Strange things are happening.

[Sung:]
I once had a teacher,
Who flunked me in History.
She asked, "Who shot Lincoln?"
I answered, "Don't blame me!"

[Laughter.]

[Buttons/(Audience):]
Ho-ho. (Ho-ho.)
He-he. (He-he.)
Ha-ha. (Ha-ha.)
Strange things are happening.

[Spoken with echo effect and exaggerated accent:]
Strange things are happening.

[Sung:]
I gave golden earrings,
To someone who's sweet sixteen.
Now I'm so embarassed,
Her ears are turning green.

[Laughter.]

[Buttons/(Audience):]
Ho-ho. (Ho-ho.)
He-he. (He-he.)
Ha-ha. (Ha-ha.)
Strange things are happening.

[Buttons dances and audience applauds.]

If it walks like a duck...
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-australia-58476891