This is Roadrodent's Executor posting to his account. Please know that he is at peace now, interred at the Marion National Cemetery in Marion, Indiana. If he were here today, he would want me to thank you all for the time he had, and the friendship you all gave--it was what kept him happy in life, in addition to contributing to your happiness as well through his writing and fellowship.

This will be my only post from this account. I wish you all a fond farewell on Richard's behalf.

Friend of mine sent me the link to this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAf0maieLjs

I've heard of this in another video but this version is related by the pilot there.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg73GKm7GgI

I have been studying history since my junior high days in the mid 60s. Military history is a very big part of that.. Over 50 some years I've come across stories and reports of unit and individual bravery that leave me both in awe and humble that there are such men who accomplish things in battle that there are times I wonder if we, and the other nations they are from, can EVER be worthy of them

Until a few days ago the charge attack of the Taffy 3 destroyer and destroyer escorts and a delaying action at a bridge during the early stages of the Battle of the Bulge, plus a single handed attack on a German held town by one nutcase Canadian, were, and still are, the top feats that have my utmost respect. But, when it comes to guys with some serious brass ones it's hard to beat these guys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN2.....3Dw&t=333s

Staying at  esteban's for a bit. I've been working (and completed a few) "Zootopia" fan-fic chapters.

Well, just a bit ago said Mousie One brought up that I needed to do a series involving Herr Wilde as a time traveler.

"You know what you would call it?" he asked.

I 'threw out' several ideas but didn't come up with the one he had in mind.

"Ahh, come on! It's obvious!" he says.

To him, yes. To me, at that moment... At last, he clues me in.

"You name it "Nick of Time"!"  esteban said.

Several months back, a guy I know in Arkansas told me of a little back-and-forth that went on between a couple guys he knew. One was ex-Navy, the other was former Marine and it went like this:

“Now Joe, you know that the Marine Corp. IS a department of the Navy,” says the Squid.

“Jim, I will and do not argue with you on that point. The Marine Corp. is indeed a department of the Navy,” says the Jarhead. “It is the “MENS” department of the Navy!”

“Hail to the Corp.!”

Folks, you want a good visual laugh, here it is.

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2x8QA6CJFE


And yet more EVIL heaped upon poor hapless squirrels!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRWyT_MS2LQ

The SR-71 was retired in 1990 and to this day it is still the King of the skies, the 'gold standard' against all other jets are measured, and found wanting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiVd2Pmw0OA

Visiting  esteban in TX and...

My Freaking GOD!!! He's going HIPPIE!!!

Hi folks.

The film "Zootopia" has, from what I have seen, kicked off one heck of a creative blast in lord know how many people.

Art, comics and text stories that, in the main, involve Nick and Judy fairly abound these days and I for one am more than happy (gleeful) to see all of it.

Art and stories done by

https://e621.net/post/index/1/thewyvernsweaver

and http://kulkum.deviantart.com/

are getting a lot of, in my eyes, justifiable attention.

Over the last few days a couple of other writers and their stories have come to my attention and I would like to direct yours to them and see what you think.

The first is done by an authoress named InHerOwnWorld and is titled "that's what you get for waking up in vegas" and can be found here

http://archiveofourown.org/works/11.....pters/25197057

Currently it consists of two short chapters but with addition author tags of


Increasingly Awkward (hilarious) Situations

A bunch of really bad life choices

Drunken Shenanigans

There is not enough wine in the world for Judy to forget her problems


I think you'll find it pretty amusing.

Heads up; PLEASE read through all of the authoress's notes at the beginning of the first chapter and then keep them in mind as you read.


Other story I have found of interest and amusement is titled "The Conspiracy" done by Zanrok

The story summary reads:

Winter is one of Zootopia's most interesting seasons. It's the time of year when many mammals choose their mate, it's a season with love in the air… except that some are too blind to see it. And others are fed up with those oblivious idiots and are determined to do something about it… at any cost.


and this is a little out take from the third chapter to give an indication of how bad things are between Hopps and Wilde;

"Bogo lifted another file, putting his reading glasses back on, "This is from their interrogation of Mr. Huffins, the house burglar yesterday after they swapped out and let Delgato try," he said before reading from it,

Delgato: 'You ready to talk yet?'

Huffins (suspect): 'Why the **** would I ever **** talk to the **** fuzz?'

Delgato: 'Because I can simply let Wilde and Hopps back in here to continue questioning you.'

Huffins (suspect): '**** **** for the love of ****. That's got to be against some **** law. Cruel and unusual **** punishment! You can't **** do that!
'
Delgato: 'I don't see why not, they were mostly arguing with each other and they didn't do anything to you.'

Huffins (suspect): '****, those ******* idiots need to get a **** ******* room and just **** each other. Making me watch them is **** torture!'

Delgato: 'Not in the eyes of the law, we checked. So, you gonna talk or do I bring them back in?'

Huffins (suspect): '****, **** ****** *** **** and ****! **** fuzz, **** *** *****!

Delgato: 'Okay, if you want to deal with the rabbit and the fox that's fine by me,'

Huffins (suspect): '****, wait a **** second! I'll ******* talk!'


Story is found here:

http://archiveofourown.org/works/96.....pters/21747881

See what you think.

People, if you're a sucker from a hell of a battle scene, with a darned good music score to go with it, I think this is your cup of tea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWXZlIwAoYY

BTW, being retired military I do have to admire these folks formations, battlefield adaptation, and unintended combat teamwork.

In the early 1980s I was based at Eglin AFB, FL with the 33rd Tac Fighter Wing.

One day I was in a discussion with a guy about the morals/ethics of pols (in my case, the lack of, his too, as it turned out) when he asked the following;

“Rich, if you chucked all of the moral and religious restraints on yourself and went EVIL, how bad do you think you could get?”

He told me to take some time to think it over. A few weeks later I collared him and said I had an answer.

“Okay, what is it?” he asked.
“I figure I could be number 18,” was my reply.
“Huh? What’s is that?!”

“I have this fantasy RPG game called “Chivalry and Sorcery” and in it one of the character attributes is Alignment; a mix of your upbringing, experiences, and outlook on life, the Universe, and everything. The table is numbered from 1 to 20. Level one is you are so good that most other folks throw up around you, level 20 is that you are so BAD that the Devil himself is ashamed of you. I figure that I could get to level 18 on that table.”

Any ideas/thoughts on that subject involving yourself??

Okay folks and furballs. I just spent nearly four hours this morning sorting through my collection of art and, as far as I can figure, I'm barely half way through all of it (I had expected it to originally to be a two hour job, tells you how good I am at time estimates). Frankly, I am astonished a two things; one is the sheer volume of stuff I collected over 22 plus years of attending conventions and commissions. The other thing that is "hitting" me is the amount of stuff I'm turning up that I have not scanned and posted ("AVALANCHE COMING!!"). This is going to take some days, likely longer, to get the scans done and I'll post now and then in the process to get things rolling on that "front".

Also, I've found a good bit of art show stuff I've purchased over the years and there is some of it I DEARLY want to scan and post. So, I'm going to be contacting the artists and see about getting their okays to do so.

Now, to the core of this journal:

A lot of people out there have been buying ant (at cons and through commissions) for years. What I want to d is advise that these people, if they have not done so in the last year or so, pull out their collections and carefully sort through them. See what you have, see if you want to scan and post it if you haven't already done so.

To all Artists willing to do so, I'd like to recommend that you do the same thing; pull out those binders, folders, sketchbooks, etc. and go through them. You might be surprised at what is all there and, hopefully, want to post some (a LOT?) of it that isn't up on any site, as yet.

Well, back to scanning. Hope my poor Canon LiDE 110 is up to doing the load.

John Glenn, first American to orbit the Earth (three orbits) dead at 95 yo.

I watched the launch of his Mercury capsule on black and white TV.

In the mid 1970's I did a short stint at Thule AB, Greenland. Ten of us from the Third Mobile Comm. (Third Mob/Third Herd) were sent there to set up a temporary communication link from the P Mountain site to Thule while they moved some comm. gear around. We were supposed to be there some six to eight days but ended up staying for three weeks. The shot was set up, active, then took down during our second week. Due to some scheduling foul up we ended up stuck there for another week (our third one).

One day, during that third week, I returned to the single story barracks we were staying in and noticed that the break room, set at one end of the building, was dark and that there was a dim light flickering in the room. Went to see what was going on. Several of my guys were in the room as well as some others stationed at Thule. There was a Super 8 mm projector on a table and a film running on it, on a projection screen set up on the far wall. The guys were all quiet, had popcorn, and their attention was totally glued on the screen. I watched for several minutes than asked a couple of my guys if the show material was all the same. They said "Yes." (and not once did they look away from the screen). Next, I asked how long the films had been running:

"Oh, maybe, two hours," was the answer.

I saw that there were few more film cans (I'd guess around another hour and a half to two hours of film) on the table and asked if those had already been shown.

"Nope, they haven't."

I shook my head and left the room.

The subject of the films that sooooo held these guys attention was arctic foxes laboring mightily at making the next set of fox kits. You got it, over four hours of arctic fox "blue movies/"stag films"!

A two strip story that I think is worthy of calling attention to.


https://e621.net/post/show/921734/c.....y-feline-fox-l

https://e621.net/post/show/921735/c.....e-disney-fox-l

How does one feel when they come up against "something" that only regards them as food or, worse(?), something to kill just for the joy of killing?

http://imgur.com/a/zaf4e

Hi folks:

They had a 7:00 PM showing of "Zootopia" at the theaters last night so I decided to go have a look-see.

Visuals are very good and music is as well.

It's quite interesting that in spite of all of the trailers out there that they managed NOT to give away all that much of the storyline (Judy and Nick's encounter with "Mr. Big" does not go quite the way that many people are/were no doubt thinking it does).

Story does get into the "ideal vs. reality" mode that I find a bit of a surprise in this and think it a bit refreshing.

There is a twist in plot at the end of the case (I should have picked up on who was behind things when I saw who the villain perpetrating things was but didn't) and then there is a twist within that twist (God, Judy can be such a Drama Queen!). Ending has a few comedic bits, especially who is the driver of one SERIOUSLY souped up car.

There are a couple of plot "holes" in the storyline; one minor (can be worked around) and one major (someone knows something that there is no way they could know it).

Personally, it's worth going to see. I intend to go see it another time or two this weekend in order to catch details I missed of the first time.

Little, very little, spoiler:

Judy has 275 brothers and sisters when she leaves for the city. Talk about bunny parents SERIOUSLY living up to a rabbit stereotype!!!

My last seven years I was in the Air Force I was based at Holloman AFB, NM working on my F-15s. In my later years there they had me running the dispatch van for the maintenance specialists.

One day a couple of my guys came out of the hanger to the van I was in and stopped to talk to me.

"Hey, there's a phone call for you inside," one said.

"A call? From who?" I asked.

"From Webster's Dictionary!"

"Huh? What do they want?"

"Well, they said that they are looking for a better, more detailed, definition of the term 'sick puppy' and they heard you were an expert on the subject!" he answered with a big grin.


Yeah, he "got" me.

In the mid-80s I was based at Bremerhavan Germany in my old mobile comm. slot. My barracks was at a place about mile outside of the city proper but the site where all our equipment was was located just north of little town called Wanna. My unit was the 626th Tactical Control Flight and we shared the site with a "sister" unit the 636th TCF.

Our sister flight's commander (Capt.) insisted that his guys do the AF 1.5 mile aerobics run twice a week that was about 7 laps around the road inside the parameter fence (now, he was there with them every time so he did lead by example).

The site had a decent sounding outside PA setup so, just as they were grouped up someone would snap in a cassette tape with a lead delay on it and started the player up. Usually they were a quarter to one-third of the way through their first lap when the music would kick in.

One day they got going and when the music started it was NOT the normal tune they were used to! Instead, it was this


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoAfb3f04mo



The 636th Capt. was more than a little peeved and even accused us of doing it! The tape they used was unmarked and this one was the same coloring as the other one.

To this day I have no idea who did that one.

Okay folks, if you could be him/her/it which villain (or "questionable" person) would you be?

Many, many, MANY Moons ago, I was based at Bitburg AB Germany working on F-15s in the late 70's. About two-thirds of the two years I spent there I was on second (1600 to 0000 hours) shift or on mid (0000 to 0800 hours) shift. Mid shift got particularly boring and, not surprisingly, "odd things" happened at times. In two cases it was over the radio comm. net. My shop shared a frequency with two other shops. We hardly heard anything from them most of the time but...

One night the guys were doing some odd noises and sound effects over the radio. This went on for some 15-20 minutes until someone from Job Control called out:

"Hey, how about some radio discipline!"

The second this guy got off the key someone keyed up and COMMANDED:

"Radios, 'TENHUT!!"

I was glad I had the dispatch van I was driving stopped as I, like many others, I'm sure, was on the floor rolling around losing it laughing! A couple of days later I hit up a guy I know who worked at Job Control and asked him who was to poor smuck who called for the "radio discipline". He told me it was one of our full colonels.

"Okay, what happened when the 'Radios, 'TENHUT!!" bit came back at him?" I asked.

"Well, he stared at the mike with this absolutely stunned expression on his face while the rest of us were dyin' laughing!" he told me.



The second "incident" came weeks later. Again, a boring night and the guys decided to go with making various animal noises over the air (I really did kind of wonder what the Soviet radio intercept types thought of our "antics") and after some time of this going on all of a sudden someone came on and called out "AAH AHH, EEH EEH, TOOKY TOOKY!"

For the next half an hour, at least, all you heard over the radio was:

"George, George, George of the Jungle strong as he can be!" and so on.

Ahhh for the days of odd military humor.

Mike Curtis related a story to me about someone interviewing a couple of super powered women (villainesses) who wear the skimpiest costumes. When asked why they showed so much skin one replied:

"It's a lot more difficult for guys to hit you when their dicks are so hard."

Hi folks.

Okay, what is it that makes a story, written or "visual", interesting? Is it the "heroes" who struggle through thick and thin to achieve their goal(s)? Is it the "struggle" itself? Or is it the "villain(s)"?

Let's face it, without "struggle" (natural disaster[s] and the like) and/or opponents, read "villains", stories would be about as interesting as watching paint dry and sand blow about in the middle of a desert.

Villains range from "pains in the tail" to absolutely "soulless" killers/destroyers. The greater number of them falling somewhere between the two ends of the spectrum.

To me, there are two villain "types" that are the most fun to work with/have in a story:

One: the villain(s) who are there as the villain(s), no "excuses. no "product of society", they are what they are and are PROUD of it! Ming the Merciless of "Flash Gordon" and Oil Can Harry of the old "Mighty Mouse" cartoons come to mind as examples.

Two: the villain(s) who you have little to no idea which "side of the fence" they are on. At times they work with the heroes, other times not. Long John Silver of "Treasure Island" comes to mind as a real good example of this type.


I've had a few people ask how to determine if one has an "good/interesting" villain and I say that is determined by how many hate/despise/have a REAL interest in said villain. The more disliked the better, in most cases, the villain is.

And when you have such a villain you do NOT ever kill them off! They may appear to have died but....


So, this ole Squirrel says to those who write "Be not afraid to make villains, especially interesting ones!"

Was driving around a few days ago and saw this on the sign in front of a church

"A closed mouth gatherith no foot."