Greetings once again, fellow Rangerphiles...

One hour ago, I finished up my four-hour retake on my qualifying exams. Theology went very well. I aced that for sure--home run, cha-ching, etc. Comm Theory tested my mettle. I had to write for every second of the two hours alloted to me and still I didn't get to say everything I wanted to. Still, I just missed passing that part by a hair last time so I think I jumped that hair and then some ;-)

My thanks to you all for your patience and kind words of support. I've still got the oral followup on my responses on the 21st (unless they decide I've handled things well enough now) so one more time into battle and it'll be done. I feel I've passed both sections now, and hopefully my professors will echo that sentiment. What? Where's the week's summary? Oh yeah, this is the Artifacts article. Well, let's get caught up...

Rachel dropped in! It's good to see our dramatist back in the fold. I'll have to drop you an e-mail now that I've got a little time and catch you up on things. Glad to hear everything's going good with Hardy and tell him Indy says hey!

Mr. Pi brought up the issue of the educational Ranger films. I must admit to a curiosity about seeing these films, though they are probably simplistic. Still, they're the Rangers in something we haven't seen! I think 80 bucks is a little steep for 15 minutes though--now if we were talking the movie for that...

Yay, the Foxglove Feature is back! That jaunting, jolly place of Jaleel's has returned, and it's great to see it again. Thanks for all your efforts, Jaleel, and whatever praise you receive is well-earned.

Wildfire had a birthday last Monday. Happy late birthday wishes!

Matt Pearman started an interesting conversation on the topic of the difference between the classic Chip and Dale and their RR incarnations--in this case, that that previous were unclothed. That led into a discussion on the properness of putting clothes on toons. I think it's more for our sakes than theirs, knowing our own social values and that we still (occasionally) advocate decency.

The part of this discussion that interested me was the scene from "Double-O-Dale" where Gadget and the guys are tied up and flung upside down. Now you and I know that Gadget wasn't wearing her coveralls under that dress. The thing that gets me is, why did they put themselves in such a knotty situation in the first place? All they had to do was tie up Gadget separate and have that part of the scene with the guys. That they did cover her up in the close-up suggests to my mind that they do at least think of Gadget as, shall we say, a functional female, even if she isn't. But then why didn't they cover her up in the previous shot as well? Suffice it to say, Disney boo-booed on that one.

Hey, Nelson came back too! Good to have you back, pally!

Ruslan introduced us to a short animation he did of Desiree de Lure, which I thought was well-done. That sparked a conversation on the idea of making new Ranger episodes. There were opinions both ways, but the idea of making our own episodes strikes me as more than slightly precarious--as in Disney copyright lawsuit precarious.

Loneheart asked us what classic story would you choose to recast the Rangers with? I think I'd do the Count of Monte Cristo, my favorite classic novel. Dale would be perfect in the role of Edmond Dantes, the innocent and likeable young man who is wrongfully imprisoned in the Chateau D'If and escapes to become the wealthy count. Monty would be the Abbe Faria, the wise prisoner who serves as Edmond's father figure and gives him the secret of the great Spada treasure.

Zipper would be the Count's mute servant Ali--what typecasting. Chip would be Albert de Morcerf, the young man who suffers the shame of his father's exposure as a traitor by Monte Cristo but in the end happily marries the beautiful Valentine de Villefort, played by Lahwhinie (hey, it's my fantasy after all). Gadget would play Haidee--the beautiful, intelligent and talented Greek slave of the Count-- who is secretly in love with him and sails off with him at the end of the book.

Fat Cat would play the greedy banker Baron Danglars, Mepps would play the simpleton Caderousse, Nimnul would play Monsieur de Villefort, Bubbles would be the traitor Count de Mondago--Chip's father, but I figure Chip was adopted ;-) Desiree de Lure would be the pernicious Madame Danglars. Rat Capone would be the thief Luigi Vampa. Hey, I might just to write this one! A Rangerized version of a classic book. Interesting.

Oh yeah, back to the posts. MChet gave us a great sketch of Dale. It's reminiscent of Matt Plotecher's work, and I like the shading and the effect the hood gives him. Great work!

Man-Child did a great job of reminding us all to remember Deborah Walley, the voice of our beloved Foxglove. If you have thoughts you'd like to share or a picture or story, please pass it on to Jaleel at the Feature. You'll be glad you did.

Matt Pearman posted again, wondering if people had bought Ranger items on E-bay. Some of us have--not me, personally--and most of us are willing to take the risk of a bad buy for a rare item. I think that E-bay's pretty safe these days, with the checks and balances built in. It's always wise to check a person out through E-bay's system and also pay attention to the other items they're selling. That can also give you a clue as to whether you want to buy from them or not.

All right, a newbie! Welcome in, CD. You're our first Rangerphile from the Netherlands as far as I know. I also know you won't see this message until next Sunday if then, so I'll have to remember to say my greetings to you again then. Another dot on the Ranger map, if you please!

Well, that about sums things up. This adventurer's pretty tired now, so I think I'll take a nap. After all, even fedora-clad obtainers of rare antiquities need their sleep. What about an artifact? Maybe later in the week. Certainly next Monday. Right now, I'm just too exhausted. Until next time, remember to check stone-laden floors for booby-traps!