Today's Jefferson Davis' heavenly birthday, so here's some shit I did. His middle initial F stood for nothing, like Harry S. Truman.

Don Bluth-style portrait of him done through Google Gemini:



Also a great quote by Thomas Sowell, who is by the way black:



I have Discrimination and Disparities on my iPad and will eventually read it.

Some more stuff I did with my badass Confederate Navy otter:







An old article that's a good read about secession relating to the Confederacy and Scotland.

This is also what I think another civil war would be like, akin to the Russian Revolution, the American bourgeoisie, which the Democrats overall represent since they get most of their support from the highest-income Americans, versus the American proletariat, which the Republicans overall represent since they more represent the working class today:



Bill Maher made a video comparing Democrats today to an incestuous royal family that I thought I was funny.

For the record, Karl Marx actually supported gun rights and opposed personality cults, which are a problem in politics today Left and Right. Similar to how America's Founders would hate America today, Marx would also hate what communism and socialism would become. I know conservatives like to bitch about shit they don't like as Marxist, but that's no different from the Left beating the word fascist to death, and things like the transgender movement actually wouldn't fly in countries like China and North Korea. I'm still the "from each to his ability, to each to his needs" types, which appeals to me as an autistic.

Walt Disney Productions sort of fell into disarray after the death of its namesake founder, with the studio's Robin Hood being their first animated feature following his demise. Walt's interest in adapting the tale went back to his interest in the tale of Reynard the Fox after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with the idea coming to full fruition albeit with an all-anthropomorphic animal cast when the film released in 1973.

The minister Alan-a-Dale, depicted as a rooster and voiced by musician Roger Miller, narrates the story, with the opening credits being notable, using the theme "Whistle Stop," which would inspire the "Hamster Dance" that would become an early internet meme. He performed the subsequent track, "Oo-De-Lally" that introduces Robin Hood, depicted as a fox and voiced by English actor Brian Bedford, and Little John, voiced by Disney regular Phil Harris, who coincidentally had previously voiced another bear, Baloo in The Jungle Book.

The film pretty much follows the standard "rob from the rich, give to the poor" story of Robin Hood, although it can be interpreted either way ideologically since the "rich" are government officials and the "poor" are taxpaying citizens. Prince John, depicted as a lion, is sitting in his brother King Richard's throne as he fights in the Crusades, his henchman the Sheriff of Nottingham depicted as an obese wolf and having a hillbilly southern accent.

Robin Hood is overall one of Disney's underrated classics, with the mix of American and English voice actors being a nice touch and preventing the dialogue from feeling too stuffy if the studio had hired performers solely from Britain. The animation is good as well, even if the studio recycled from previous films like Snow White--which is really visible during "The Phony King of England--The Aristocats, and The Jungle Book. It's also blatant the film was made in the 1970s, with some other oddities like vixen Maid Marian having lion relatives, but otherwise, it's a fun movie worth seeing.

The Good

• Good anthropomorphic cast and interpretation of tale of Robin Hood


• Nice mix of American and English performers


• Some catchy music

The Bad

• Obviously made in the 1970s


• Reused animation from previous Disney films


• A few minor oddities

The Bottom Line
One of Disney's underrated classics.

From thefridayfive:

1) Who are you appreciating in your life right now?
My downstairs neighbor helping me assemble my electric trike.

2) What's something you've done this year that other people appreciated?
Furry gift art.

3) What's a good way to show gratitude?
Not being a total dick and actually listening.

4) Do you write thank you notes?
I do say "thank you" to people who do good things for me, but to me, if they're only doing said things to get their asses kissed, I don't see the need to write formal notes to them.

5) What can you use help with these days?
Definitely being more productive and accumulating money in quicker time.

The Legend of Whomper, Book 4: Tanuki Island by Chris Farrington
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The fourth and (thus far) final entry of furry artist Chris Farrington's Whomper graphic novels begins with a tanuki named Tengoku sending off a carrier pigeon that is eventually received by the series protagonist, the pudgy fox Whomper, who charters Ororos, a giant bird, to take him across the ocean to Komodo Island. He reaches the village of the tanukis, whom the ruling komodos hold as slaves, and rescues them after a battle. The villagers tell Whomper of their history of problems with slime and their ultimate conflict with the komodos. Tengoku, who becomes Whomper's main ally among the tanukis, is in training, with mythical raccoon dog abilities like shapeshifting mentioned.

Whomper's love interest Skyla ultimately flies to Tanuki Island from the School of Magicking, seeking to rescue him when he is kidnapped by the reigning komodos. Remmy, a celestial rabbit from previous entries with healing powers, appears throughout the story as well. The graphic novel occasional breaks to the characters Dextrose and Taffy, with the first substory involving their visit to a pirate lair and an encounter with crabs. Back to the main story, the tanukis disguise themselves as komodos to infiltrate the Komodo Queen's lair, with the wicked monarch using slaves to rebuild Warmachine with help from Skyla's former master Gizmondo.

When battle erupts within the komodo lair, warriors from the Brotherhood of the Axe come, although slavers entrap them in bottles so they can be turned into soup. As the komodo chef starts to cook the axmen, Remmy confronts him, entrapping him in a nightmare and taking the liquid warriors to the Dreamspace to restore them. After another brief adventure with Dextrose with Taffy where they encounter a strange statue and tanukis, Tengoku confronts the Will Breaker with his transformational skills while Whomper and Skyla seek Gizmondo, the latter battling the dragon scientist.

Whomper himself fights the Komodo Queen, with a surprise entrance by Dextrose and Taffy influencing the action. The Brotherhood of the Hammer enters as well, and the tanukis' conflict against the komodos is resolved. Afterward, Whomper returns home and strategizes with his father against the looming threat of Goddesszilla, who is combated, the story ending afterward. Overall, the fourth Whomper graphic novel is as enjoyable as its predecessors, given its adorable and endearing characters and action. However, features like a visual depiction of dramatic personae and their species would have been welcome, as the races are often vague, given Farrington's style. Regardless, I would easily recommend this entry to those who enjoyed its precursors.

View all my reviews

From thefridayfive:

1. Have you gotten everything done that you had hoped to do during the first half of 2024?
I did, which mostly involved trucking along in my coding bootcamp, but then that crap with the government terming my disability benefits and the neverending appeal process happened, and continues to this day.

2. Did anything exciting or unexpected happen to you during the first half of 2024?
Yes, said government fuck-up regarding my disability benefits, but also moving into my new apartment.

3. What big plans do you have for the second half of 2024?
Getting medically discharged from said coding bootcamp, and going to Texas Furry Siesta.

4. Have you taken, or are you planning, a vacation this year?
Yes, to Texas Furry Siesta in August.

5. Have you ever wanted to be one of the people writing and posting these questions?
No.

A decent article written in March last year.

I do believe injustice exists everywhere in the world, as I can attest to as an autistic. However, regardless of demographic, I think no group has clean hands regarding being perpetrators of said injustices, even those that are allegedly "oppressed." I've had negative experiences online with other autistics, chiefly in the furry fandom; as I've seen as well, many nonheterosexuals and nonwhites can be just as big bigots as homophobic Christians and white supremacists.

She also makes an excellent point about selective reporting in the mainstream and social media (an issue in all news outlets, not just a select few), and this had frequently happened regardless of ideology during the time I used to pay attention to regular news, for instance, the media having a circus when Matthew Shepard was killed for being gay in 1998, but not giving a shit when gay men raped and killed Jesse Dirkhising in Arkansas the following year.

I'm fucking fine with Roe being overturned (and "Roe" herself since then changed her mind, another inconvenient fact the press loves to bury) since the issue is sensitive to me as the autistic son of an ableist, neurobigoted pro-choice mother who continues to mistreat me to this day (though I may be moving out soon). I fear that if she had prenatal screening for autism before I was born (1984), she would have exercised her "constitutional right" on me. I do believe there is a legal middle ground on the issue and think at least all forms of prenatal screening should be outlawed to end discrimination in the womb. Also, I believe opposing the legal anarchy of any industry is perfectly reasonable.

People on the far left and right need to stop fucking acting like everything's black and white and cooperate. Compromise is a sign of strength, never weakness.

Decided to go with a park ranger mammoth theme this month for my AI Days in review (since the nearest National Park to me is the Waco Mammoth National Monument).

Had fun doing this one as well. The first image on the first row from the bottom is a reference to the Postman API Platform I've been studying and using in my coding bootcamp, and not spying on an actual postal worker.

Except it occurs during the 1910s. Note the inconsistency of the character designs.