A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day 08-13-02

Billie

[Billie]

A Few of FR's Finest.....
......Every Day

FR is a Treasure Trove of talented, compassionate, patriotic, wonderful people who gather every day to discuss the latest news and issues;  salute
and support our military and our leaders;  tell a few jokes;  learn a new
word;  write poetry;  pray for those in need;  and congratulate those who
are deserving. Thank you, Jim Robinson, for giving us the vehicle in which
we can express ourselves.

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.  I
can remember lurking when there were only a few regulars who posted, and now there are over 60,000 who have registered for posting privileges. The forum is read daily by tens of thousands
of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest November 11, 2001

So many people have written me since my original Veteran's Day Tribute, asking how they, or a loved one, could be included in that tribute. Since I can no longer add the photos to the body of the thread, I've been including them in additional posts as I received enough to make another collage.

Still that doesn't seem to be enough. I think there's never been a better nor more appropriate time to keep the faces of our own Veterans and Active Military in front of FReepers--every day! That's why I wanted to do yet another Daily Thread .....ABOUT FReepers .....and FOR FReepers. But not only about our Military FReepers; for all FReepers! Wouldn't it be nice to get to know a few of the other FReepers as well? That's why, in addition to seeing FR's Finest Military Personnel every day, I thought it might be fun to feature a different FReeper (or FReepers) each day. If you would like to be pictured, or know someone who would, please FReepmail me and we'll turn the spotlight - on YOU - for the day!

And do let me know if you'd like your picture added to the groups of Veterans/Active Military below. I will keep this page updated, and continue to add them to the comment section of the original Veteran's Day thread as well.

TOP:  g'nad, AgThorn's son Justin, SLB, AgThorn's son Brett

MIDDLE:  fish70, razorback-bert, CheneyChick,Leroy S Mort, Mark17

BOTTOM:  Terry's Take, Taxman, DinkyDau

TOP:  ValerieUSA's son Grant, SK1Thurman, kd5cts, RangerVetNam,

dansangel and .45man's son-in-law Tony

BOTTOM:  rangerX, Old China Hand, Trish, Howlin's dad, Mustang

TOP: ohioWfan's son, MamaBear's father-in-law, MamaBear's dad, ladtx

MIDDLE:  The Mayor's niece, M.Kehoe, Beach_Babe's son-in-law

BOTTOM:  deadhead's dad, HiJinx, Severa's hubby, viligantcitizen's granddad.

TOP: Q6-God, Scan59, Mama Bear and JKPhoto's son, ofMagog

MIDDLE:  Big'ol_freeper, JustAmy's great uncle, Prodigal Son

BOTTOM:  JustAmy's husband, JustAmy's brother-in-law, JustAmy's brother.

                     

~~HOME~~
Of Two Of The Last Three Presidents
~~and~~

MeeknMing
FReeper since 06-02-01

Although Meek, a Dallas County resident, spends much of his time online posing articles from the Dallas Morning News, thus keeping a host of Texas issues before us, he still manages to drop in every day on two of his favorite daily threads:   this one and the USO Canteen.

Like many of us, he gets a lot of pings to other articles, but tries to answer and read as many as he can. With Meek's first post each day on FR's Finest, he always brings with him at least one excerpt from another thread that he recommends reading, as well as the link to that thread. He may or may not have been the one who posted it; he just likes to give us a heads-up on some of FR's most interesting threads for the day.

However, that may be where he leaves 'serious stuff' behind him, as he begins his friendly greetings and banter with the others on the thread. Most of his posts will have "Mr. Winky" or "Mr. Smiley" added at the end. Lately, he's added a new one as well....do you know what it is?  I do. :)

Mr. Winky    Mr. Smiley    Mr. NewOne 

Meek's father is retired U.S. Air Force, who worked "Crash Control" on the flight line (a Firefighter), and so growing up, he said their family lived in a lot of different places. You'll see Meek's dad's photo on tomorrow's thread as we post the latest group of FR's Finest Military.

Yesterday Meek asked if I would like to include a photo of Ming, the other half of his FR screenname. Silly question! Of course I wanted to! And here she is....here they BOTH are! Isn't she pretty? I want to thank you, Ming, for sharing him with us! He is such an asset to FR, and know you must be very proud of him, too. :)

Meek and Ming



Have a Super day, Meekie! You are
~~One of FR's (AND Texas') Finest!~~

THIS WEEK'S THREADS

08-12-02 backhoe

[lodwick]

August 7, 1970, Eddie Wilson opened the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin. On New Year's Eve, 1980, Kenneth Threadgill played the last concert. These pictures were taken the following day, January 1, 1981. During its ten year run, the Armadillo was the venue to play in Texas, hosting many local and national acts, including Taj Mahal, Leon Redbone, Asleep at the Wheel, Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen, Steve Fromholtz, BB King, Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie Nelson, Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, Greezy Wheels, Edgar and Johnny Winters, the Pointer Sisters, Bonnie Raitt, Chuck Mangione, and many others. It was also the home of the Austin Ballet Theatre and the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar. There was a beer garden outside, and inside it was a huge cavernous place, where you had to sit on the carpeted floor with the smell of beer and ashes from previous performances.

...and oh the source of those ashes. Thank you so much for these memories. Nice.

[backhoe]

I'm not ignoring you guys- this old PC does a weird hang-up trying to access your comments to me- I'll try later!

[MeekOneGOP]

Thank you.

I feel kind of guilty but DID change liberal brotherinlaw's screensaver to a picture of GWB. He won't catch it until he is back home and far from here LOL!

ROFL !

[MeekOneGOP]

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks for all the nice pics today, lodwick. Really nice !

[JulieRNR21]

My four sons loved those cute little armadilloes when we lived in Houston....they always wanted one as a pet.

One of our most memorable camping trips was to Big Bend National Park......we kept driving & driving and wondered if we'd ever get there.....that was when we really noticed just how huge Texas is.....Here's a pic of the cliffs by the Rio Grande in Big Bend:

[COB1]

Texas fact:

The first bloodshed of the Texas Revolution came for the same reason as the first shots fired at Lexington.
There was an effort made by General Cos and his men to seize all the arms of the settlers to avoid trouble.
One of the settlements had been issued a small six pound cannon for use as defense against the Indians.
When the word reached this settlement that the Mexican army was coming for the cannon, it was mounted on a wagon and someone painted the words on a white piece of canvas that has been a rallying cry for Texans ever since:

"COME AND TAKE IT!"

When the Mexicans arrived, there was a brief skirmish and the cannon was fired once.
The Mexican commander asked for a parley.
He asked the Texan commander why he was being fired upon.
Receiving no satisfactory answer, he returned to his men.
The Texan commander returned to his men and ordered them to open fire.
These were the first shots of the battle for the Independence of Texas, and there is no doubt who fired first.

[ValerieUSA]

Texas state dinner -- chicken fried steak at George's in Waco

[ValerieUSA]

This is a new picture (last year), but I made it look old.

[ST.LOUIE1]

Good afternoon...

I'll be back later.

[ST.LOUIE1]

Congrats, Meekie! Enjoy your special day!!

You deserve it!

[lodwick]

You and Ming are more than welcome. It was my pleasure to get to know you guyz a little bit better. Perhaps we'll be able to say Hi face to face in Crawford TX later this month. ;-)

[lodwick]

Wow - very cool. Thanks.

[MeekOneGOP]

....your were born.

LOL ! Thanks. You have a great humor, and great jokes!

I'll be back later, folks. I'm gonna get the ice pack on my jaw for
just a little while....

[COB1]

Boy!
That makes me homesick!
I used to set trot lines across the Rio Grande at the base of the Chisos Mountain when there was nothing there but a sand bar where I could pitch a tent.

[JustAmy]

That is a great picture.
I took some on my visits to Texas but they are just snapshots (mostly cemetaries and family members). I need to go thru and see if I can find any that might be interesting to others.

[COB1]

Val, to me that's the state food instead of chili!
'Course I like white gravy slathered all over it!

If you're ever on your way to Brownsville, stop at Riveria at the Brush Country Inn, and get a chicken fried.
DON'T get the big one unless you want to eat it for three days!

[lodwick]

Texas, it's like a whole other country!

[lodwick]

Filmed in Texas 1927 - 1979

Wings, 1927
San Antonio area Paramount Pictures
William A. Wellman, Dir.

Viva Zapata!, 1951
San Ygnacio, Roma, Dolores 20th Century Fox
Elia Kazan, Dir.

Giant, 1955
Marfa
Warner Bros.
George Stevens, Dir.

The Last Command, 1955
Brackettville area Republic Pictures
Frank Lloyd, Dir.

The Alamo, 1959
Brackettville area
United Artists
John Wayne, Dir.

Home From the Hill, 1960
Paris area
MGM
Vincente Minnelli, Dir.

Two Rode Together, 1961
Brackettville area Columbia Pictures
John Ford, Dir.

State Fair, 1962
Dallas area 20th Century Fox
José Ferrer, Dir.

Hud, 1963
Claude
Paramount Pictures
Martin Ritt, Dir.

Bonnie and Clyde, 1967
Dallas area
Warner Bros.
Arthur Penn, Dir.

Bandolero!, 1968
Brackettville area
20th Century Fox
Andrew McLaglen, Dir.

Midnight Cowboy, 1968
Big Spring, Sweetwater
United Artists
John Schlesinger, Dir.

Hellfighters, 1969
Houston area
Universal Pictures
Andrew V. McLaglen, Dir.

The Andromeda Strain, 1970
Shafter
Universal Pictures
Robert Wise, Dir.

Brewster McCloud, 1970
Houston
MGM
Robert Altman, Dir.


The Last Picture Show, 1971
Archer City area
Columbia Pictures
Peter Bogdanovich, Dir.

The Getaway, 1972
San Marcos, Huntsville, San Antonio, El Paso
Warner Bros.
Sam Peckinpah, Dir.

The Legend of Boggy Creek, 1972
Texarkana
Howco International Pictures
Charles B. Pierce, Dir.

Lovin' Molly, 1972
Bastrop
Columbia Pictures
Sidney Lumet, Dir.

Benji, 1973
McKinney
Mulberry Square Productions
Joe Camp, Dir.

The Great Waldo Pepper, 1973
Austin, San Antonio areas
Universal Pictures
George Roy Hill, Dir.

Sugarland Express, 1973
San Antonio area, Del Rio
Universal Pictures
Steven Spielberg, Dir.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 1973
Round Rock, Austin
New Line Cinema
Tobe Hooper, Dir.

Austin City Limits, 1975-present
Austin
LickonaVision for PBS/KLRU

Leadbelly, 1975
Austin area
Paramount Pictures
Gordon Parks, Dir.

Logan's Run, 1975
Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth
United Artists
Michael Anderson, Dir.

Futureworld, 1976
Houston (NASA)
American International Pictures
Richarad T. Heffron, Dir.

Outlaw Blues, 1976
Austin
Warner Bros.
Richard T. Heffron, Dir.


Big Wednesday, 1977
El Paso
Warner Bros.
John Milius, Dir.

Semi-Tough, 1977
Dallas
United Artists
Michael Ritchie, Dir.

She Came to the Valley, 1977
Mission
Rio Grande Valley Productions
Albert Bland, Dir.

The Swarm, 1977
Houston
Warner Bros.
Irwin Allen, Dir.

The Bermuda Triangle, 1978
Galveston, Harlingen, Brownsville
Schick-Sunn Classic
Richard Friendenberg, Dir.

Centennial, 1978
Brackettville, Del Rio
Universal Pictures for NBC
Harry Falk and Paul Krasny, Dirs.

Cotton Candy, 1978
Dallas
NBC
Ron Howard, Dir.

Dallas, 1978-1991
Dallas
Lorimar Productions for CBS

Piranha, 1978
San Maracos, Wimberley, Austin
New World Pictures, Inc.
Joe Dante, Dir.

The Whole Shootin' Match, 1978
Austin
Maverick Films
Eagle Pennell, Dir.

The Long Riders, 1979
Palestine
United Artists
Walter Hill, Dir.

Middle Age Crazy, 1979
Houston, Dallas
20th Century Fox
John Trent, Dir.

Honeysuckle Rose, 1979
Austin, Corpus Christi
Warner Bros.
Jerry Schatzberg, Dir.

Roadie, 1979
Austin
Vivant Productions
Alan Rudolph, Dir.

Urban Cowboy, 1979
Houston, Pasadena
Paramount Pictures
James Bridges, Dir.

[ru4liberty]

That looks delicious, but what good is a chicken fried steak without gobs of gravy?!?