Well All, things seem to be cooking along, and looks like I am slated for deployment to Haiti (Humanitarian Aid Mission with the UN) around 29 March.

Report to Ft Benning. by 4 April I will be in Chrystal City Virginia, and then around the 1st to Haiti for a year. Not sure how much Internet connection I will have (Will definately have e-mail though if anyone wants to keep me company that way)

Anyways, one of the things I am doing, to keep my mind off things, is reading some of the "classics" of Literature, I started with Moby Dick (steady, any of you perverts) in all fairness; talk about a book chock FULL of homosexual innuendo...

Where I am going is I am currently reading Rudyard Kipling's "the Jungle books' and am THOROUGHLY enjoying them, however it occurred to me I get to take another shot at all the so called moralistic people who feel that playing a famous or canon character, is some kind of copy rights violation.

I am sure most people are familiar with "Walt Disney's Jungle Book" man, if role playing a canon character is a copy rights violation...Disney is in BIG trouble...

In the Disney version, Kaa (the Python) is on the side of Sher Kan (the tiger). In the actual book, Kaa and Mowgli (which means Little Frog) are BEST friends! Kaa SAVES Mowgli several times and is fond of making a cushion of his coils for Mowgli to sit in.

In the Story Sher Kan is a LAME tiger and Mowgli uses buffalo to trample him to death and skins the tiger..(he does not tie a burning branch to his tail, nor does Baloo come to his rescue.

As you look at more of these so called "Classic movies" you discover that Disney and many OTHERS, got INSPIRATION for their production FROM an author, and then CHANGED the Canon characters to suit the film and audience they choose to appeal too....

Hmmmm Sounds a LOT like role playing, (only Disney got RICH off it)

Now I can ALREADY hear the groans of "oh i do not think it is copy right,I just do not feel RIGHT playing someone elses character"

ok you have me there fine, but remember...when YOU take on a character and change it slightly so you use the background but it is NOT the same character..it BECOMES YOUR character.

In keeping with NOT stealing other people's characters I end with this...

Remember Skunks have feelings too!