Well, I'm here, I kept checking in at the old jediknight.net location and kept getting bounced.
Somebody already took Zanzibar :)
Anyways, freeware? Not many that I know of. If you want a really good CHEAP modeler, try Hash -
www.hash.com) - it has AMAZING capabilities for modeling organic creatures.
Rhino3d is another good alternative. I currently am using Maya for our game character development, but you can't go wrong with Max for architectural and machinery.