DCML digest #650

[Don Rosa]

> From: Kriton Kyrimis <kyrimis at cti.gr>
> As a non-native English speaker, I confess I interpretted "great uncle"
> as "distant uncle", i.e., something like his father's cousin, several
> times removed. I suspect that Olaf made the same mistake.

Um... I will hafta admit that there may very well be (or not be) a less
precise way to interpret "great uncle". For example, "cousin" is always
assumed to mean the child of one of your parent's siblings, however it also
has a less used definition as being *any* distant relative.
But anyway, the assumptions that Olaf was making that were causing him to
*not* want Quagmire to be the brother of $crooge's grandfather were
incorrect, so that was my main point.

> From: Ola Martinsson <Ola.Martinsson at uab.ericsson.se>
> > It's in the lower part, next to what Donald says, on a greenback. D U
C and K are in the 4 corners of the note.
> Thanks a lot, that I never would have thought of. The letters are so far
> apart. How on earth did you find that ?

The letters are not so far apart, being on the same tiny greenback, but
there *are* other lines between the letters. So, let me describe my own
rules for hiding the dedication: I must make each letter stand completely
apart (not touching) from all other lines. Each letter must have a "."
associated with it... it's never "DUCK", it's always "D.U.C.K.". There can
never be any other lines in between the letters -- *except* in the case
where I place each letter in the 4 corners of a single item, or on any
matching 4 elements of something-or-other. F'rinstance, I once put each
letter in one of the 4 knobby, closely-grouped knees of a camel, and
another time at the tips of the arms of a Gaelic cross, and recently on the
4 fingernails of a Beagle Boy's 4-fingered hand... and in this instance in
the 4 corners of a greenback. But I would never put 3 of the letters in the
corners of one greenback and the 4th on the corner of a separate bill. See?

> From: "Olaf Solstrand" <harryklein at hotmail.com>
>>>By the way, do we know who was
> the first owner of the watch? Was it Quagmire? Or was he just one of the
> owners in the line?

We know it was *not* Quagmire since we know that the watch had been in the
McDuck family for "two hundred years". All we know is that it's from
several generations before Quagmire. When, in the "Lo$" chapter 1, I showed
the watch as being one of the only items that $crooge carried to America
(with his shoeshine kit and the golden false teeth), I'm not sure, I
*might* have said it was Quagmire's... which might be true... but it had
still been some other McDuck's before he inherited it.

> thought about including Ludwig (as a date of Matilda, not
neccessarrily...
> <-- I hate that word... her husband), but after some thinking, I discover
> that I have the same relation to Ludwig as I have to Fethry. I don't
really
> like him, and he was never used by Barks.

Ah, but yes, he certainly was! He was used in one single 1-page gag cartoon
in U$ comics in 1961. Now, you are still free to eliminate him from your
Family Tree, of course, but be sure you know that Barks *did* use him once.

> From: "Fabio Blanco" <longtom at oeste.com.ar>
> The reasons I will do a Family tree:
> 1) To eliminate Fethry
>
> Why?

Well, speaking as an American, I can tell you why I don't like the
character. He has never been seen in American Duck comics... or *virtually*
never, I think he might have popped up once or twice in some incredibly
obscure MOBY DUCK story, unless I'm thinking of Dimwitty Duck, another one
I'd be glad to see eliminated. So, we have never grown up with a stupid,
idiot sidekick Duck character hanging around. Now, we have grown up with
Goofy as the sidekick of Mickey. But I can imagine that if I were a huge
Mickey Mouse fan, and for 60 years Mickey Mouse comics had always involved
a solo Mickey solving crimes and having adventures... and suddenly he was
burdened with a tall moron who would inexplicably be his constant
companion... I would find that very annoying. So, picture how we feel when
we see a story where Donald or $crooge, who always have intelligent
adventures wherein their errors are based on their emotional foibles rather
than a lack of brainpower, are suddenly teamed up with some idiot Duck
character. Not being familiar with Fethry's "finer points", I'm sure I
don't appreciate him (?!), but I know I'm not at all fond of
idiot-sidekicks in general, and losing Fethry would seem very pleasant to
me.

And speaking of idiots, please ignore "message #10" in Digest #650 -- this
was obviously a troll (and I hope we now understand the meaning of that
Internet word). If anyone replies to such a childish message, you'll be
falling into a trap by taking the bait that's being trolled past you.