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What? Skeleton of the most famous Musketeer, D'Artagnan, possibly discovered in Dutch church closet.
Dumas picked four names of real musketeers out of a history book, D'Artagnan, Athos, Aramis, and Porthos. So there was an actual D'Artagnan, though he made most of the story up. (Or, you know, all of it.)*
Charles de Batz de Castelmore, known as d'Artagnan, the famous musketeer of Kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV, spent his life in the service of the French crown.
The Gascon nobleman inspired Alexandre Dumas's hero in "The Three Musketeers" in the 19th century, a character now known worldwide thanks to the novel and numerous film adaptations.
D'Artagnan was killed during the siege of Maastricht in 1673, and there is a statue honoring the musketeer in the city. His final resting place has remained a mystery ever since.

A lot of Dumas's stories are based on bits of real history. The plot of the >Three Musketeers, about trying to recover lost diamonds from the queen's necklace, was cribbed from the then-almost-contemporaneous Affair of the Queen's Necklace. And the Man in the Iron Mask is based on real accounts of a prisoner forced to wear a mask (though I think it was a velvet mask).
* Oh, I should mention, Dumas says all this, about finding the names in an old book, in the prologue to his novel. But authors lie a lot. They frequently present fictions as based on historic fact. The twist is, he was actually telling the truth here. At least about these four musketeers having actually existed and served under Louis XIV.
Fun fact: You know the beginning of A Fistful of Dollars where the local gunslingers make fun of Clint Eastwood's donkey and Eastwood demands they apologize to the donkey? That's lifted from The Three Musketeers. Rochefort mocks D'Artagnan's old, brokedown farm horse and D'Artagnan is incensed.
A commenter asked which should be read first, The Hobbit of LOTR?
Easy, no question -- read The Hobbit first. It's actually the start of the story and comes first chronologically. It sets up some major characters and major pieces in play in LOTR.
Also, the Hobbit is Beginner-Friendly, which LOTR isn't. The Hobbit really is a delightful book, and a fast read. It's chatty, it's casual, it's exciting, and it's funny. In that dry cheeky British humor way. I love that the narrator is constantly making little asides and commentary, like he's just sitting next to you telling you this story as it occurs to him.
LOTR is a very long story. Fifteen hundred pages or so. The Hobbit is relatively short and very punchy and easy to read. If you don't like The Hobbit, you can skip out on LOTR. If you do like it, you'll be primed to read LOTR.
Oh, I should say: The Hobbit is written as if it's for children, but one of those smart children's stories that are also for adults. Don't worry, there's also real fighting and violence and horror in it, too.
LOTR is written for adults. (It's said that Tolkien wrote both for his children, but LOTR was written 17 years later, when his children were adults.) Some might not like The Hobbit due to its sometimes frivolous tone. Me, I love it. I find it constantly amusing. Both are really good but there is a starkly different tone to both. LOTR is epic, grand, and serious, about a world war, The Hobbit is light and breezy, and about a heist. Though a heist that culminates in a war for the spoils.
The Hobbit Challenge: Read two more chapters. I didn't have much time. Bilbo got the ring.
I noticed a continuity problem. Maybe. Now, as of the time of The Hobbit, it was unknown that this magic ring was in fact a Ring of Power, and it was doubly unknown that it was the Ring of Power, the Master Ring that controlled the others.
But the narrator -- who we will learn in LOTR was none of than Bilbo himself, who wrote the book as "There and Back Again" -- says this about Gollum's ring:
"But who knows how Gollum had come by that present [the Ring], ages ago in the old days when such rings were still at large in the world? Perhaps even the Master who ruled them could not have said."
In another passage, the ring is identified as a "ring of power."
I don't know, I always thought there was a distinction between mere magic rings and the Rings of Power created by Sauron. But this suggests that Bilbo knew this was a ring of power created by Sauron.
Now I don't remember when Bilbo wrote the Hobbit. In the movie, he shows Frodo the book in Rivendell, and I guess he wrote it after he left the Shire. I guess he might have added in the part about the ring being a ring of power created by "the Master" after Gandalf appraised him of his research into the ring.
I never noticed this before. I know Tolkien re-wrote this chapter while he was writing LOTR to make the ring important from the start. And also to make Gollum more sinister and evil, and also to remove the part where Gollum actually offers Bilbo the ring as a "present" -- Bilbo had already found it on his own, but Gollum was wiling to give it away, which obviously is not something the rewritten Gollum would ever do.
But I had no memory of the ring being suggested to be The Ring so early in the tale.
Finish the job, Mr. President!
Melanie Phillips lays out the case for the total destruction of the Iranian government and armed forces. [CBD]
TJM acts like he knows anything about John Wick and screenwriting. It's embarrassing, really.
CJN podcast 1400 copy.jpg
Podcast: Sefton and CBD talk about how would a peace treaty with Iran work, Democrats defending murderers and rapists, The GOP vs. Dem bench for 2028, composting bodies? And more!
Oh, I forgot to mention this quote from Pete Hegseth, reported by Roger Kimball: "We are sharing the ocean with the Iranian Navy. We're giving them the bottom half."
Batman fires The Batman
Batman is disgusted by the Joachim Phoenix version of Joker
Batman tries to fire Superman
Batman is still workshopping his Bat-Voice
Forgotten 80s Mystery Click: Red Leather Suit and Sweatband Edition
And I was here to please
I'm even on knees
Makin' love to whoever I please
I gotta do it my way
Or no way at all
Tomorrow is March 25th, "Tolkien Reading Day," because March 25th is the day when the Ring is destroyed in the book. I think I'm going to start the Hobbit tomorrow and read all four books this time.
The only bad part of the trilogy are the Frodo/Sam chapters in The Two Towers. They're repetitive, slow, and mostly about the weather and terrain. But most everything else is good. Weirdly, the Frodo-Sam chapters in Return of the King are exciting and action-packed and among the best in the trilogy. (Though the chapters with everyone else in Return of the King get pretty slow again. Mostly people talking about marching towards war, and then marching towards war.)
Sec. Army recognizes ODU Army ROTC cadets for their bravery and sacrifice in private ceremony
[Hat Tip: Diogenes] [CBD]
TJM gives you a brief tour of his movie collection.
Forgotten 80s Mystery Click
One day I'm gonna write a poem in a letter
One day I'm gonna get that faculty together
Remember that everybody has to wait in line
Oh, [Song Title], look out world, oh, you know I've got mine
US decimation of Iran's ICBM forces is due to Space Force's instant detection of launches -- and the launchers' hiding places -- and rapid counter-attack via missiles
AI is doing a lot of the work in analyzing images to find the exact hiding place of the launchers. Counter-strikes are now coming in four hours after a launch, whereas previously it might have taken days for humans to go over the imagery and data.
Robert Mueller, Former Special Counsel Who Probed Trump, Dies
“robert mueller just died,” trump wrote in a truth social post on march 21. “good, i’m glad he’s dead. he can no longer hurt innocent people! president donald j. trump.”
TJM has thoughts on Superheros and Iconography
Canadian School Designates Cafeteria And Lunchroom As "No Food Zones" For Ramadan
Canada and the UK are neck and neck in the race to become the first western country to fall to Islam [CBD]
Chuck Norris, Action Icon and 'Walker Texas Ranger' Star, Dies at 86
CJN podcast 1400 copy.jpg
Podcast: Sefton and CBD have a short chat about Iran, the disgusting SAVE Act theater, Mamdani's politicizing of St. Patrick's Day, and more!
warthogportrait.jpg

Official confirmation from the Joint Chiefs of Staff: the Warthog is now strafing Iranian fast attack boats
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« Italian Sources: France Forged Niger-Uranium Docs to Embarass Bush and Protect Saddam | Main | Economy Grows, Budget Deficit Falls »
September 07, 2004

New Blogroll Additions: A Ginormous Update

A lot of people say they're happy to add new additions to their blog rolls. Personally, I think that's a lot of bullshit.

Basically, linking other bloggers means giving attention to your direct competitors. When I go into a GM dealership, the salesman doesn't walk me over the Toyota lot and suggest that I check out the new Camry. And yet, in blogging, I'm supposed to just graciously deflect away all the attention and validation I so desperately crave to some other dude.

Oh, well. Just another one of those crazy "rules" our so-called "society" imposes on us, like the requirement that keep their pants on in mixed company. On this one point, I'm in perfect agreement with Ted Kennedy. It's not always a sexual thing-- sometimes it's just about comfort.

And convenience.

All of the new bloggers get the Ace of Spades HQ stamp of approval. They've got good links and interesting ideas. Some are analysts; some are humorists; some are incorrigible rapscallions. Unless I'm mistaken, there's even one or two ribald jackanapes on the list.

And some are Hugh Hewitt who, apart from being a fine commentator and an important voice in the conservative movement, could probably also finagle me Ann Coulter's phone number.

A few of these bloggers already are getting a lot of attention; others are going to garner attention. Some of these people might even wind up as beloved television hosts. Meanwhile, I -- long-suffering I -- will languish in unrewarded obscurity; the closest I'll ever come to celebrity will remain the time I inadvertently received a cable bill addressed to Tacklebury from the Police Academy movies.

If I didn't link you and you think I should have, drop me a line. I'm sure I missed people here and there. Also, some of the people I "welcome" below have actually been on the list for a couple of months, but I never actually welcomed them, so I'm welcoming them now.

For one blogger -- Sydney T of Sydney T's Weblog -- I offer both a welcome and an apology, for, although I've had her "linked" for months, I had a non-working link in the blogroll, which is sort of like having an Orbitrek in your apartment-- it looks nice and all, but it's utterly useless, except perhaps as a poorly-conceived towel-rack.

At any rate: I'm now pleased (not really) to welcome the following new additions to my blogroll.



Garfield Ridge

Qur'an Project

Eternity Road

Random Birkel

Total Vocabulary Failure

Chris Matthews' All-Star Hardblogging Celebrity Cocksuck-O-Rama

The Unpopulist

The Bastidge

Crushing Dissent

Fish or Man

The Sandwich Shop

Bluemerle

Texsanity

Keith Olbermann: How to Not be Funny (An Advanced Guide)

Digger's Realm

VanSantos

International Capitalist/Starbanker

Daily Lunch

It's Newz to Me

No Pundit Intended

Thoughtomation

American Barbarian

But What About Da Gay Boyzzzz?: Margaret Cho's GLBT Booster-Blog

Hugh Hewitt

Alpaca Burger/New Counterculture

Prestopundit

Peppermint Patty

Resurrection Song

Bad Stated of Gruntledness

Blog of TSL

Ocean Guy

Attu Sees All

It's Newz to Me

Grim's Hall

The Unabrewer

Demure Thoughts

Beautiful Atrocities

The Llama Butchers

Mind of Mog

I am Curious (Pink): Kathleen Van den Heuval's Erotic Newsletter for Committed Socialists

Adeimantus

Memeorandum (Metablog)

Dummocrats.com

Armies of Liberation

Enjoy Every Sandwich

Geek Empire

George Gaskell

Horrors of an Easily Distracted Mind

Mean Mr. Mustard

EduWonk: Education

Semi-Intelligent Thoughts

QandO

The Questing Cat

I Shit You Not: The Collected Wisdom and Witticisms of Psycho Giamboni

Cranial Cavity

tBlog-- Are You High?

Velociworld

Antidisestabilshmentarianismesque

Sydney T's Weblog

Thought Mesh

Breakdown Lane

Susskins Central Dispatch

The Corndog Blog

Dave's Not Here

Win a Dream Date With Robert Reich!

A Beleaguered Conservative in Nor Cal

South Park Pundit

The Fat Guy*

(Musings of a) Fat Kid**

* Not who you think it is. A different Fat Guy. One who's actually worth reading.

** Also not who you think it is. A different fat kid, with better musings. Fat Kid has known relationship to Fat Guy, except perhaps that the first lives in Metropolis while the latter remains in Smallville.

posted by Ace at 02:09 PM