A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....12-09-02

Billie and daisyscarlett

[daisyscarlett]

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: Logos, SwedeGirl's hubby, Neil E Wright, FallGuy, 1John, Sneakypete
MIDDLE:  T'wit, COB1, LadyX, Dick Bachert, 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub
BOTTOM:  YankeeinSC, Delta21, JoeSixPack1

TOP:  Bosniajmc, AFVetGal, Archy, A Navy Vet
MIDDLE:  4TheFlag, Aeronaut, 68Grunt, Xinga
BOTTOM:  Codger, AAABest, Clinton's A Liar, Duke809, dcwusmc

TOP:  mc5cents, Norb2569, LBGA's son, VanJenerette
MIDDLE:  Jim Robinson, KJenerette, davidosborne, KG9Kid
BOTTOM:  gwmoore, Equality7-2521, SAMWolf

TOP:  porgygirl, Phil V., MudPuppy, NorCoGOP
MIDDLE:  RaceBannon, OneidaM, rdb3, jwTexian
BOTTOM:  USMC Vet, TheMayor, Vineyard, rhododogma

We now have eleven groups of veterans/active military; we will post each group of three or four twice a week, with thumbnail/links of the remaining seven or eight groups on each thread. Click on any of the thumbnails below to see the group full-size.

         

GROUP 5A: TOP:  spectr17, RightOnline, SERE_Doc, Tet68. MIDDLE:  FutureSnakeEater, RightOnline's wife, CIApilot, Clamper1797. BOTTOM:  usmcobra, onedoug, DiverDave, Joe6-pack.

GROUP 6A: 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.

GROUP 7A: 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.

GROUP 8A: 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.

      

GROUP 9A: 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.

GROUP 10A: TOP: dakine's wife, MeeknMing's dad, Auntbee's nephew, MilitiaMan7, AlasBabylon. BOTTOM:  Joe Brower, Temple Owl, Temple Owl's wife, dutchess' dad, Aomagrat.

GROUP 11A: TOP: ladtx #2 son; DiverDave's twin Don; petuniasevan and husband poorman; Mustard; ladtx #1 son. BOTTOM: AlamoGirl's brother Floyd; AG's dad; AG's brother Jim (inset); WVNan's husband; ladtx' Aunt Eva.

                     

ONE OF FR'S FINEST

Paul Atreides
FReeper since 04-04-02

Northern Alabama

Paul Atreides' favorite science fiction book is Dune and his screen name is the main character in that book. (As El Rushbo would say, For those of you who live in Palm Beach,) Dune is one of the most popular novels in the history of science fiction. It has spawned two film versions, a host of sequels, a fake encyclopedia, and several video games. Published in 1965, it won both Hugo and Nebula awards. Thirty six years on, its popularity shows little sign of waning.

Paul Atreides is a college student who composes humorous photo montages to suit various posts on the FR Forum. He, in fact, composed the above montage of Rush and Daschle. This was posted just about everywhere on FR (including the Finest thread) and delighted many of us. Including Rush Limbaugh, who mentioned the montage and the site (Free Republic) it appeared on. Immediately afterward, FR's servers went down and many attributed it to Rush's listeners trying to check out Free Republic. This montage has also been featured on the Home Page of Free Republic since that time (along with a Welcome to Free Republic to Rush listeners) and was mentioned on Rush's website.

In Paul Atreides' Words:

"It is funny how the Rush/Daschle composite came about; I was on another thread, and someone made the comment that Daschle was acting like a big baby having a temper tantrum. When I thought of a baby kicking its legs and crying, I immediately thought of the Jackson photo that had been so prevalent in the news. I did Google image searches for Rush and Daschle. I used my photo editing software to do cutouts of their heads, and pasted them on the bodies. I painted out some of the areas that weren't needed. I uploaded the photo to my storage site and created a "Caption Rush Limbaugh" thread on FR. Some on the caption thread suggested that the photo be sent to Rush. I didn't have his email, but someone managed to send him the link. The next day was a school day (I had somewhat forgotten the photo) and didn't get a chance to listen to Rush. Imagine my surprise when I came home and saw that the FR server had been maxed out and that Rush had bust a gut laughing over my photo!"

OTHER MONTAGES BY PAUL ATREIDES

"Al Letting it Rip"

One of Paul Atreides' favorites was created after Al Gore made his statement about how he would "let it rip" on this next campaign. That just opened up the floodgates for everyone to laugh at him and make jokes out of the statement. Since Al had gained weight, Paul Atreides took a photo of a sumo wrestler's body and transposed Al's head onto it.

"Gephardt and Daschle as Dr. Evil and Mini-Me"

Remeber the James Cagney movie, in which Cagney smashes the grapefruit-half in a woman's face? Well this is what happened when PaulAtreides put Bill and Hillary's heads on the bodies. (Hee hee, one of my favorites...ds)

THANK YOU, PAUL ATREIDES, FOR SHARING YOUR TALENTS WITH US
YOU ARE ONE OF FR'S FINEST

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 12-07,08-02 Weekend Thread

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me an FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

Time's Running Out! ~ Billie

[daisyscarlett]

I have to confess that Mo1 posted that hug yesterday and Lori announced that she loved it and was going to use it again and I said "me too".

[daisyscarlett]

Did you eat all those muffins Maggie made on Sat...Surely you have some leftovers to share with us...lol...

[EternalVigilance]

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret, "Just tell us you love us, and never forget To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone. To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead, to know you remember we fought and we bled is payment enough, and with that we will trust. That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.

Sheesh, Mud...::wiping eyes:: I've read that before, but it gets me every time anyhow.

[dansangel]

{{{{{{{{{{{{jwfiv}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Always so wonderful to see you! Yes, daisy and PA put together a very attractive and entertaining profile today! It's so nice to wake up to something like this on a (blah!) Monday!

Hope your day on the "left coast" is a great one! :-)

[daisyscarlett]

Good morning, jwf the 4th. Always good to see you and your cheery a.m. posts.

[Billie]

Good morning! Great job today, daisy, and loved reading more about you, Paul! Your graphics are SO COOL!!!! Have always admired that Pledge graphic, and your montages are something else! Welcome to Our Finest Family!

[daisyscarlett]

Yikes, more Santas than the eye can see and for charity, too!!

Is this near Caribou Maine?

Skiers and snowboarders dressed as Santa Claus head down the slope, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2002 at Sunday River in Newry, Maine. About 250 skiers turned up dressed as Santa to ski and raise money for the Bethel (Maine) Rotary Club's Annual Dinner for Families in Need. (AP Photo/Joel Page)

[daisyscarlett]

"Have always admired that Pledge graphic,"

Paul Atreides, do not take that compliment with a grain of salt as Billie has created lots of beautiful Pledge graphics for our Finest thread, so if she admires yours, well....

Billie, nice holiday Welcome graphic. May we hostesses add it to our repertoire?

[lodwick]

LOL - those SantaGuys just cracked me up for some reason. Thanks.

[MeekOneGOP]

Tara Tucker
Miss Alabama

Whoo-Whee, Deputy Dawg !!

[daisyscarlett]

[MeekOneGOP]

She deserves to go home to China and visit with her friends and family, of course. I'll miss her, but I'll be happy she's getting some time off and doing some fun things.

We'll have to be your surrogate family for those three weeks! :-)

Thanks !!

[Billie]

Please do add the Welcome Graphic and USE IT!!

Also, have revised the graphic I sent you last night and will send you the link via FReepmail in just a bit. Please replace the other with this one, ok?

Cute snowman. :) I get in a hurry and forget to post cute little gifs when I try to catch up on the thread. :)

[daisyscarlett]

Good morning. Here are some photos from both the left and right coast of zoos celebrating Christmas with their animals...

Jandy, a polar bear, carries his present, a festively wrapped packed of fish. at the San Francisco Zoo Saturday, Dec. 7, 2002. The animals were given presents for Christmas. (AP Photo/Susan Ragan)

A snow monkey sits next to a Christmas tree in New York's Central Park Zoo, December 7, 2002. The parks annual 'Presents to the Animals' event provided the snow monkeys with a Christmas tree strung with cranberries, oranges and other tasty decorations. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

[MeekOneGOP]

I was used to working out at Bally's 4-5 times a week. For over SIX weeks I was able to slide in for ONE workout. I worked out yesterday and this morning. WOW ! That was great!

Yes, it's really good to be home again, thanks !

[Aquamarine]

Magic of Christmas Day
by Celine Dion

Click on the pic

[daisyscarlett]

What a nice medley of Holiday tunes you have brought us...Everyone, do click on all the graphics, even the bar at the bottom, for lotsa music.

[daisyscarlett]

"Cute snowman. :)"

Actually, as has been demonstrated from time to time, I have a propensity to swipe ideas. I got the snowman idea from your bluebird...would love to have my name and holiday greeting added to it if "someone" has time or the inclination to do it for me...hee hee...How's that for putting you on the spot....lol...

[Pippin]

No, I'm afraid I can't go this weekend as I am moving into my new apartment. I hope I can go next year to the Christmas party. :^)

[nicmarlo]

"Joy to the World. The Left is Dead."

Welcome to FR's Finest and Congratulations, Paul; and I love that Rush/Daschole pic!