TIDBITS 06/18/06

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Musketeer

His grandfather was a French nobleman. His paternal grandmother
--Marie-Cessette--was an Afro-Caribbean who had been a black slave
in a French colony in Santo Domingo (now Haiti). His name was
Alexandre Dumas and he wrote such famous novels as The Count of
Monte-Cristo and The Three Musketeers. His background is by way
of explaining the popularity of his works among the 19th century
African-Americans ... due partly because of the false imprisonment
of Edmond Dantes in The Count of Monte-Cristo which some see as
a parable of emancipation.

Which brings us--via an extremely subtle segue--to D'Artagnan ...
the greatest of the Three and the one who made them four. Coming
into Paris one fine day D'Artagnan meets Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.
And the adventure begins. But here is the question: Which actor was
it that played the greatest D'Artagnan ever played? In my mind it's
that dancingest dude ever to come out of Pittsburgh, PA ... Eugene
Curran Kelly ... aka Gene Kelly for thems what hark that far back.

What a cast for ye harkers. Gene Kelly, Lana Turner, June Allyson, Van
Heflin, Angela Landsbury, Vincent Price, Keenan Wynn and on and on. I
remember Kelly on the back of that big Clydesdale or Belgian Draft
horse ... (not sure which it was) plodding into the city ... the proud
farm lad with the deft blade heralding the beginning of his great
adventures.

It was his dancing ability and his athleticism that towered over
other D'Artagnan's that followed in his footsteps. Of course ...
as many of you may have realized by now ... all this is related to
jewelry. I bring Gene Kelly up because of his role as a Musketeer ...
for as the fates would have it ... the piece of jewelry you are all
about to see is also that of a Musketeer. Can you imagine such
happenstance?

Kelly leapt and bounced and flew over large boulders in his first
encounter with one of the Three. My little fella--on the other
hand--sits on a page ... sword drawn ... at the ready ... a cabochon
emerald vest adorning his 18 karat gold bod ... twisted gold wire hat
and feather ... pearl face ... diamond eyes ... a vision of virility
ready to pounce upon the first neer-do-well to cross his well-honed
blade.

This is an image to visit ... but when you do ... tread carefully ...
because one look at his fearsome visage should forewarn one and all
that this is no guy to mess with.

For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits...may
I direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where
you will scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area
that says Current Tidbits ... and then click on it in order to
view Le Mousquetaire ... the bejeweled personification of Dumas'
creation ... worth $2500.00

And there ya have it.
That's it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark

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