Slublog brings us the Declaration of Independence.

See-Dub brings us an appropriate prayer.

And Allah brings us a Scot who knows exactly what to do about those who seek to discontinue our liberty.

Julian Beever, amazing artist. Rick Lee, amazing photographer, captures Beever at work.

I heart Purdue University.

Via Fark.

Hugh Laurie gets the Order of the British Empire from Queen Elizabeth.

If by “tension,” you mean the members of the church threatened to picket if the speaker used the church space.

If by “speaker” you mean “anti-war mom” Cindy Sheehan.

If by “anti-war mom” you mean “crazy nutty loon.”

If by “crazy nutty loon” you mean “somebody who is being ‘talked into’ running for a seat in congress.” (Via the rock star at Hot Air.)

Seriously, how great is it: This is a California church, one that a friend told me his in-laws left because it was getting too liberal and “creepy.” No wonder the pastor “didn’t anticipate” his congregation’s unrest. Emphasis mine:

[Veterans for Peace guy] Swann said he understood [Pastor] Green’s position, especially when parishioners threatened to form a picket line.

The church didn’t invite Sheehan to speak there, Green said. Veterans for Peace just asked if they could use a space for the event and he approved, he added.

“I didn’t anticipate it was going to be as big a deal as it was,” Green said.

I’d take a flier on the idea that there’s probably more than a quiet minority at that church who are almost as anti-war as Sheehan is. I’m betting it’s less about that than about her general lunacy, her cozying up to dictators like Chavez and her fantasy of killing G.W. Bush in his cradle. When you’re too outspoken for “the greater good” for a church in California, you’ve officially wacked off the charts.

Fortunately for Sheehan, there are still places in California more welcoming to her particular brand of folk-rock-loony charm. After the church pulled her platform, she landed at … City Council.

H/t: My friend with the in-laws opposed to creeping creepy in their church.

Christopher Tolkien’s master-stroke of editing and piecing together his father’s fragmentary work was released yesterday to much “fan”fare. TORn covered and assisted the line at a Manhattan Barnes and Noble where fans lined up to buy copies signed by both C. Tolkien and illustrator Alan Lee. Andrew O’Hehir, who’s been covering matters Tolkien for Salon for a long time now, has a thoughtful, in-depth review, focusing largely on the startling difference in tone between this tome and The Lord of the Rings.

“The Children of Húrin” will thrill some readers and dismay others, but will surprise almost everyone. If you’re looking for the accessibility, lyrical sweep and above all the optimism of “Lord of the Rings,” well, you’d better go back and read it again. There are no hobbits here, no Tom Bombadil, no cozy roadside inns and precious little fireside cheer of any variety found here. This is a tale whose hero is guilty of repeated treachery and murder, a story of rape and pillage and incest and greed and famous battles that ought never to have been fought. If “Lord of the Rings” is a story where good conquers evil, this one moves inexorably in the other direction.

Readers of The Silmarillion, which seemed at the time of its publication the end of all things Tolkien but proved to be merely the beginning of Christopher Tolkien’s work of editing his father’s legacy, know that LotR notwithstanding, Tolkien was very occupied with themes of hubris, falls from grace (or characters without grace altogether), and dark, inexorable destinies. The jagged yet constantly descending roads these characters take in their slides toward doom are indeed startling, but though as O’Hehir says the darkness will “surprise almost everyone,” the surprise for those left out by “almost” is more and more coming to be that Tolkien had it in him to write the happy-ending stories of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings at all. He could only do it by omitting utterly one of those occupying themes, hubris, from his three central characters of Frodo, Aragorn, and Gandalf, thus avoiding for them the dark destiny but reserving for them nevertheless places in grey twilight as their reward. When all’s said and done, Lord of the Rings is not a happy story, but at most grimly optimistic, to use Andrew’s word. In the end the individual matters only insofar as he or she did duty in the larger battle against evil, or failed in that duty.

Judging by the reviews, it looks as if The Children of Hurin will be a stark illustration of how to do your duty and fail miserably in life all at the same time. In a phrase, it’s Tolkien, painfully aware of the human condition, to the core.

I’ve known some cute gaming geeks in my time. Representative sample, serving in Iraq:

Any good commander knows that to stay sharp, the boys and girls have got to get their game on from time to time. Hence Ziggurat Con.

Ziggurat Con, being held June 9 from 1200 to 2100 hours at Camp Adder/Tallil Airbase, is open to all allied military personnel and civilian contractors in Iraq.

“Here in Iraq, we do many things on the different Forward Operating Bases to help keep our spirits up,” said SPC David Amberson, the Con’s organizer. “Here at Camp Adder/Tallil Airbase, we have lots of sports activities — baseball, football, dodgeball, kickball — and we work with many marathons across the US like the Boston Marathon. This is a great way to improve morale among the troops, but what about those who prefer Role-Playing Games?”

But of course these gamers can’t go down to the local Wizards and Warriors and pick up books, dice, or figures.

The largest problem with running a Con in Iraq, of course, is that there are no local stores or game publishers, and few game books on the post. Even dice are in short supply, with many soldiers breaking the unwritten taboo held by many gamers and (gasp!) sharing dice. Thankfully, many game publishers have also lent their support, and have agreed to supply game products to help the Con along. aethereal FORGE, Sovereign Press, Final Redoubt Press, Goodman Games, Paizo Publishing and Steve Jackson Games are among those that have thrown in their support for the convention. But Amberson indicated that the soldiers could definitely use more

Good for the publishers. But if you’ve got some game stuff lying around and care to use it to support the troops, ship it!

For more information, contact SPC David Amberson at the following address: david.amberson (at) iraq.centcom.mil

Donations can also be sent to SPC Amberson directly at the following address:

SPC David Amberson
A Co 86th Sig Bn
APO, AE 09331

“We thank you all back home for supporting us, and we promise that we will try to come back home safe and sound,” said Amberson.

Via Bonus Ace, via Yeah, Right, Whatever.

She’ll never be a liberal because she knows what left-wing collectivism did to her native Russia. She listens to hip-hop. She uses MySpace. She lives in New York City. Altogether politically savvy and hip. Must be one of those meddling kids. The best part?

She’s only two years younger than me. Happy birthday, Karol!

Bonus Karol: Check out the cute lil’ brand-new American citizen.

My two sisters comment here as Anwyn’s Sister and Thelmajoy. Apparently it’s Link to Hot Air Night here at Chez Anwyn, so this one’s for littlest Sister, who loves her some Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood. Okay, I like ’em too. They did their schtick with Karl Rove tonight at the Radio and TV Correspondents’ Dinner in DC.

Even more than Mochrie, though, I like to see President Bush relaxed and sounding good. And funny. He brings the funny.

No Elite Eight for my Butler Bulldogs, though they gave Florida a heart attack or two. Gators took it in a defensive slugfest, if such is an appropriate phrase to use about basketball, 65-57. Query, sportswriters: If a five-seed doesn’t exempt a team from being called “scrappy” despite their small school size and rare tournament bid, what would?

“We didn’t come here just to give them a scare,” [Butler player] Mike Green said. “We wanted to win. A loss is a loss. It hurts.”

Auf wiedersehen, Dawgs.

Quote of the Day: “The girl next door is a crack shot.”

It’s official: Mary Katharine Ham is too cute for color TV.

A photo by Terry Prather, on staff at the Ledger Independent of Maysville, Kentucky, shows what happened to a few of those wakeful trees that surrounded the orcs at Helm’s Deep:

(H/t: thelmajoy.)