A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....03-03-03....Pippin's Thoughts

Billie and Mama_Bear

[Mama_Bear]

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.

................

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW

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

[LadyX]

Sunshine in abundance here today, Mama_Bear-Who-Shares-so- Wonderfully!

I am indebted to you for assisting in the reconstruction of my Profile Page that mysteriously developed 'sinkholes' full of red 'x's!!

Someone had pulled out the subsurface without telling me.

To the new photographs, I added text and a graphic or two.

{{{{{{{{{{{{ Dozen Hugs for Da Mama_Bear Person !!!

[nicmarlo]

Saddam and OBL would have other plans for you, me, and all the rest of us! Thank God GW is in the White House, and not Algore....who surely would have helped them by being an appeaser, like Chirac, and being more concerned about the Lock Box or Dingle Norwood . . . : )

[Mama_Bear]

Mornin' Meek. Here's hoping spring arrives in Dallas soon. Can't arrive too soon for me here in the Central Valley. It has been a long winter.

A rose for your lovely Ming.....

[Mama_Bear]

It was 0 degrees at 7:00 a.m.....

My goodness! So, I guess our current 42 degrees would feel like a heat wave about now? LOL.

[nicmarlo]

Oh, yes, we had that heat wave for about 2 days last week! : )

[Mama_Bear]

{{{{{{{{{{{{ Dozen Hugs for Da Mama_Bear Person !!!

Awwww......thank you! And, you are very welcome for the assist with your PROFILE PAGE. I am happy that I could help slay the dreaded red x's. :-)

[Mama_Bear]

Any day I'm alive is a good day! :)

ABSOLUTELY!

[LadyX]

Ah, yes, Captain, the crew is present, but we need not discuss what effects are hung left over.
Per usual, Nan is below decks administering the necessary palliatives to Scuttlebutt and razorback-bert.

I do hope they will not mistake our Fred Mertz for a whale, since he, too, is rather bloated from the shore leave.

All is well - for the moment, at least - - -
By your leave, Sir, I will go below decks to fix the short-sheets on my bunk.
I was not amused, and the culprit vil pay...:))

[LadyX]

Mornin' Mud!!
Keep us in tune...:)))

[Mama_Bear]

Top-O-The-Mornin' to you Captain!

[LadyX]

"Any day I'm alive is a good day!"

Because of your enthusism and joy, echoing ours, this scene is posted especially for you, bearing up in liberal D.C. Land...:))

[Angelwood]

Congratulations, Pippin. Great letters. Thank you for sharing your "Thoughts" with the rest of us.

Please call me at the number on our website contact page.

FReep On!

[Diver Dave]

Good Mornin' Hostesses with the Mostest.

'Tis a great day to Support our Troops and our nation's leaders with prayers and words of encouragement. May God bless and protect each one.

Pipster, great letters today. Thank You for your never-ending support. Now it's time to step forward and take a bow...

Atta Girl, Pippin!!!

[MeekOneGOP]

There are TWO comments on this thread by two FReepers that knew Hank Ballard ...

Hank Ballard, singer and writer of 'The Twist,' dies

Excerpt:

LOS ANGELES - Singer and songwriter Hank Ballard, whose hit "The Twist" ushered a nationwide 1960s dance craze, has died.

Ballard, who was suffering from throat cancer, died Sunday at his home, friends said.

Friend and caretaker Anna L. Ayala remembers him for his spirit. "He was just a very good man and loved by so many people," she said.

Ayala said Ballard's birth records indicate he was born in 1927, but biographical information on the Internet and Rock and Roll encyclopedias lists his birth date as 1936.

Ballard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. He was discovered in the early 1950s by writer-producer Johnny Otis. He was lead singer for the Royals, which changed its name to the Midnighters and was signed by Federal Records.

In 1958, Ballard wrote and recorded "The Twist," but it was released on the "B" side of a record.

One year later, Chubby Checker debuted his own version of "The Twist" on Dick Clark's Philadelphia television show. It soon topped the charts, eventually selling over a million copies.

The song launched a dance craze that prompted the creation of other Twist songs, including "Twist and Shout" by the Isley Brothers and "Twistin' the Night Away" by Sam Cooke.

Peppermint Lounge, a defunct club in New York, became the center of the Twist dance craze in the early 1960s.

Ballard's songs were sometimes banned from 1950s radio for their sexually suggestive lyrics.

By the early 1960s, he'd charted 22 singles on the rhythm and blues charts, including "Work with Me Annie" - the biggest R&B hit of 1954, selling more than 1 million copies. The song was part of a well-known trilogy of risque rhythm and blues numbers that included "Annie Had a Baby" and "Annie's Aunt Fannie."

Ballard and the Midnighters didn't suffer from Checker's version of "The Twist." By the mid 1960s, the group had three simultaneous hits in the pop top 40: "Finger Poppin' Time," "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go," and their original version of "The Twist."

"He was an all-around entertainer. He was dynamite on stage," said friend and business associate Chuck Rubin.

Click here for the entire article.

---

Rest in peace, Hank Ballard ...

Hank Ballard & The Midnighters

[MeekOneGOP]

Thank you for the rose. I will make sure Ming gets that ! ...

[Billie]

Thank you both for today's thread, Lori and Pip! Always enjoy reading a piece of your mind, Pip, and what a nice presentation you did, Lori!

[Billie]

Last night I received a Freep Mail from Brad'sGramma, and she asked me to pass it on, for a prayer request. Please remember Starwise' mom in your prayers today. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

From STARWISE:

"Sure would appreciate your help with prayers .. my 84 yr. old Mom had to go to the ER this afternoon .. I'm in FL .. she's in MA .. with feelings of faintness .. and they're not sure what's going on. I'm very worried. My nephew was at her bedside and I spoke to him there .. they're now talking about a CAT scan .. he's indicating she's doing some hallucinating .. which does not sound good and still feeling faint. My heart is heavy .. God be with her and thank you. ;-)"

[The Thin Man]

Good morning, ladies.

Very good letters, Pippin. Sadly, your reasonable arguments would likely fall on deaf ears to irrational people like Saddam, or liberals for that matter.

[LadyX]

Thank you for making this prayer need known.

Lord, we lift up the precious mother of STARWISE to You, the Great Physician.

Hold her, her children and family and friends in Your hands, and send the Holy Spirit to comfort them in the trials ahead.

Thank You, Father, for hearing all prayers, and for the unlimited love and grace you give us.
Amen.