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In America we have RV's, donut-wheeled motorized trikes, and dirt-bikes. We have jeeps and all sorts of pickups. Well, you know what? So does China. The Chinese love the sport of going "off road" and exploring China. Here we are doing to have a brief review of this most awesome pastime. Just make sure that your trunk is filled with ice and a fine beverage of your choice. Myself, I prefer a nice icy-cold beer, but wine, VSOP, XO and whiskey are fine alternatives. The Chinese love to travel in groups The Chinese love to travel in groups. They really...

This is the full text of the Ray Bradbury story "All Summer In A Day". If the illustrations and micro-videos are not loading properly please kindly refresh your browser. ALL SUMMER IN A DAY By Ray Bradbury "Ready?” "Now?" "Soon." "Do the scientists really know? Will it happen today, will it?" "Look, look; see for yourself!" The children pressed to each other like so many roses, so many weeds, intermixed, peering out for a look at the hidden sun. It rained.

Yesterday, Tomb Guards from the US Army’s 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) were presented with 4 ceremonial M17 pistols at Arlington National Cemetery. These works of art were created by SIG SAUER specifically for use by the Guards. ... This ceremony marks the first use of the M17, which will accompany the Sentinels of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers they stand guard 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. ...

After Georgia lost out to Louisiana on the production of Ray (the film about Georgia native Ray Charles) in 2008, then Georgia governor -- now U.S. Secretary of Agriculture -- Sonny Perdue, a Republican, signed tax-incentive legislation that was intended to lure the film industry to Georgia. It worked, and in a big way. Georgia is now often referred to as “the Hollywood of the South.” However, the way things are trending in film production, California may soon seek to become “the Georgia of the West.” Just a couple of weeks ago, a report by Atlanta’s NBC News affiliate “11-Alive”...

This is from the Martian Chronicles. Which is a great collection of stores about Mars. Ray Bradbury is one of my personal heroes and his writings greatly influenced me in ways that I am only just now beginning to understand. Here is a story that discusses new starts when the world is Hell-bent on self-destruction. Indeed, it seems quite appropriate today. When I read the crazy American “main-stream” news, I am often reminded of this story. It offers me solace. I think that it is beautifully written and very “delicious”. I love the way that Ray Bradbury brings advanced concepts...

Anne Trickey lied in a complaint filed in US District Court on February 1, 2019. Trickey claimed a former street artist in SF stole 1-3 images from a social media page and is selling them on a unspecified web site. Trickey filed worked on this case during office hours; using CCSF time; computers and mail supplies. As a self represented litigant, she used CCSF time to personally file the documents with the court. Trickey lied in her filing claiming she served the defendant when proof was shown that Trickey did not serve the defendant or comply with Federal Rules of...

There was a time, long before compartmentalized special access programs, that other people created their very own secret organizations. These programs operated outside of government control, and oversight. In fact, during the last century, the United States was full of these “fraternal” organizations. Most of which operated with a secret side. And most, of which, were men-only membership and required rituals to join, and tasks to complete. All in secret. Here we look at one of them; the Dellschau flying machine project. Secret Organizations… These other people, and these other organizations, created societies with membership, and worked those programs to...

The song's called "I Robbed a Liquor Store (but I Feel So Sad)". My band is called EMS and it consists of my daughter and I. It's edgy satirical indie pop. Thanks for comments! https://soundcloud.com/roger-shouse-1/i-robbed-a-liquor-store

The Covered Wagon, a movie dedicated to the memory of Theodore Roosevelt, was the first feature length western. It was released on March 16 in 1923, long before the modern Nanny State robbed us of our sense of who we are. And long before merciless third wave feminism infiltrated the souls of western nations to strike at the very heart of societies where men and women WERE once partners. As Roosevelt said, when accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo in 1910, "No nation deserves to exist if it permits itself to lose the stern and virile virtues; and this...

Starring: Robert Walker Gwynn Gilford Richard Stahl Richard Webb Larry Hagman Randy Stonehill Larry Norman

I just finished watching "A star is born" Streaming on Google $5:99 rental and I'm kinda steamed a bit. No Spoilers I can handle some of the editing decisions that struck me as odd -- probably cost a few people some oscars as well, and I can even handle the ending. But what bothers me is the crappy stunt the pos agent (rez) pulled at his last scene. I gather he was at one time an agent for Jack but then went with Addy because she was the new star, but the audience deserved to see some sort of karmic...

Another day to celebrate a President who loves America, fights for We the People, and is as smart a sea captain as they come! Seems like more than a few FReepers love the landscape art from the Hudson River School painters.  Here's another one.  Enjoy... and contemplate how lucky we are to have this fine, conscientious and wise man WORKING FOR US! MAGA, my FRiends.   William Stanley Hazeltine (1835 — 1900) was an American painter associated with tbhe Hudson River School, a mid-19th century art movement of landscape painters influenced by Romanticism. Born in Philadelphia, he studied at the...

I don’t know why this little story made me smile so bigly. Maybe I’m world weary in general or, more likely, just tired of condescending elitists. In any event, how bad can things be when a class of middle school art students stage a Paint-Like-Bob-Ross flash mob? The class donned baby blue button down shirts and curly wigs and followed along with a soothing Bob Ross instructional video on how to paint happy little trees.  The schtick was the idea of their Madison Middle School art teacher Brady Sloane.Her pre-Advanced Placement eighth-grade students had been stressing about projects and...

Dear Fellow FReepers, I'm probably the only person in America who still faithfully listens to Classic Rock on terrestrial radio, specifically a Washington, DC-based station - BIG 100.3 FM. This morning, I noticed that they took away my favorite DJ, El Duave, and in his place put on a national show titled "The Real Deal", which mixes automotive, music, politics, etc. I'm upset about this because I tune to BIG 100 to escape from politics and all that stuff, and to listen to my favorite tunes as I run my errands, cook and do housework on weekends. During the week...

All 3D printing tends to get lumped together, but there are actually two specific styles with some pretty significant distinctions. Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is a faster, but less accurate, method achieved by layering melted plastic into a shape. Stereolithography, (SLA), sacrifices speed for precision by using an ultraviolet laser to harden a liquid resin. That trade-off limited 3D printing’s potential: You could either slowly print actually useful parts and objects, or rapidly print mostly useless trinkets. But thanks to a recent breakthrough from tag team of researchers, SLA has now become equally as fast as its counterpart. Before this...

My father served under Douglas MacArthur in World War Two when Indonesia was liberated from Japan and became an independent republic after centuries of colonisation. MacArthur was a complex and powerful figure with monumental self confidence. He was a brilliant innovative strategist and a master of the English language. What do other people think of him?

Charlie Chaplin was one of the pioneering film making greats in Hollywood but could no longer live in America in the time of Joe McCarthy. The scale of things in America as opposed tp Chaplin's country of birth, England, may have helped him to get the star power that enabled him to do things like establish United Artists and thereby be independent. Not possible now? (Some bid stars can become producers but only as part of a team of producers not as sole producer/director.) To some people in America Chaplin was a communist. When forced to leave America he went...

Would stuffy British culture have made Charlie Chaplin's film career impossible if he had stayed there? Is American freedom the key to Chaplin’s greatness?

Has the sexual revolution been abandoned and replaced by loss of freedom for men?