Boromir’s Bloggish Bebotherments

Boromir’s Bloggish Bebotherments is an on-going series of top tier whining by me, myself, and I why the internet is a shit place to find relevant information, how curating a Tolkienian newsletter is a nightmare of work, and running a blog in this day and age feels like slogging throug trollish smelling mud.

And why it’s still fun to do.

What are the BBB?

On May 22, 2020, I asked my then Patreon supporters:

Would you be interested in hearing about the workings “behind the curtains” when it comes to blogging?

TheTolkienist.com is a Word-press based, self-hosted blog with a dedicated provider in Germany and I could talk to you about:

– ideas, concepts, coorporations
– the daily grind of running a blog
– themes
– plug-ins
– promotion & social media
– things you never thought a blog owner would need, and more.

Asking my supporters about the BBB.

Did I know what I was setting myself up for? 😅 The list so far.

I started blogging when people did not even call it that. I believe the first thing I did back in the day was open up an account for the German Tolkien Society with GeoCities (ca. 1997) and I am not talking about early Netscape attempts for the English literature and linguistics’ students’ union at the University of Cologne mwahahahahaha. Good grief, this year I’ll be thirty years on the net. groan

Anyway. BBB 1 talked about the early starts and that you do need to check on your WordPress-powered blog from time to time. Plugins may be discontinued, the programming lingo behind the server and WordPress will be upgraded, sometimes things seem to break for no good reason etc.

BBB 2 was about the first 50 reworked and updated posts with thetolkienist.com and what working with almost ten year old material did for me.

Some of the posts are very much outdated but hilarious when you consider how quickly things may come and go on the internet. I once did a post on the social media analysis service Klout which for a few years single-handedly decided what importance you had on the net – the precursor to our modern time influencers, of course. Today it is only of a historical interest and I needed to add a short update to the post; this was also one of The First 50.

BBB 2 and what I needed to do

BBB 3 talked about reaching #100 – of over 200 posts – and went through one thing in particular: I had listed 11 sites you need to visit before watching the Desolation of Smaug. Rechecking those for the post I noticed that 5-6 out of those 11 were either fully lost or had lain dormant since the release of DoS. Which holds true for almost any website that existed in 2013 – most of the Tolkien-related stuff really is gone. Almost nothing from the original film trilogy times still exists.

Then I got stuck for over a year on the BBB for a number of reasons and it was only when I moved from Patreon to (the much better) Steady that I realised – I had written a draft in 2022 on this. And forgotten about it.

So this year I did BBB 4+5, talking about having written the draft on Sept 27, 2021, and having restarted it on Sept 27, 2022 – well, then my 50th birthday at Oxonmoot happened… Ah, well. Let’s not forget the Xittastrophe. But I had reached post #114. And was working on getting the move to Steady done, writing new material while updating and correcting the old one.

You may have noticed there some of these things may come across as quite acerbic. And you would be right in assuming so. Why is that?

Google sucks (at times) – let me give you an example

One of the many sources I am using to curate the Roving Ranger is Google Alerts.

Its tagline is: Monitor the Web for interesting new content. And that is why I do have alerts for:

fantasy literature -site:pinterest.* || George R R Martin -site:pinterest.* || Hobbit -site:pinterest.* || J K Rowling Harry Potter -site:pinterest.* || Lord of the Rings -site:pinterest.* ||Lord of the Rings on Prime -site:pinterest.* || Middle-earth -site:pinterest.* || Neil Gaiman -site:pinterest.* || Star Trek -site:pinterest.* || Star Wars -site:pinterest.* || Tad Williams -site:pinterest.* || Terry Pratchett -site:pinterest.* || Tolkien -site:pinterest.* || Tolkien Herr der Ringe Hobbit -site:pinterest.* || Ursula K. Leguin -site:pinterest.*

And yes, you may have noticed I am EXCLUDING Pinterest on all Alerts. Because the search results of Google are rather mediocre now and Pinterest had very much spammed them back in the day; with Alerts it is still an issue.

And no, do not worry – I have tons of other places I check on a regular basis to get you the best stuff out there. 😂

But this is what I received for December 19, 2023, on the Alert: Tolkien -site:pinterest.* (I will comment all entries.)

Amazon, Tolkien Estate Win ‘Lord of the Rings’ Copyright Lawsuit – Variety Variety Demetrious Polychron filed a suit against Amazon and the Tolkien estate alleging ‘Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ infringed on his … [Comment A Variety summary on the funny law suit of this year; useful]

Gaynor Lord: Body confirmed as missing Norwich mother Yahoo News Ms Lord, 55, disappeared after leaving work in Norwich early on 8 December. Her belongings were later discovered in a city park. Specialist divers … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Gaynor Lord: Body found in river identified as mother who went missing in Norwich Sky News A post-mortem examination of Gaynor Lord’s body found “no indications of any third-party involvement”. [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Elijah Wood Net Worth (2023) – Parade Parade Find out Elijah Wood’s net worth in 2023, how much he made in the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) franchise, what he got paid for The Hobbit and more. [Comment Crappy celebrity post; useless]

How Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Married Hollywood’s Past and Future Gizmodo As Return of the King turns 20 this weekend, we look back at how Peter Jackson heralded the end of one Hollywood age—and the beginning of our … [Comment Harking back to the RotK premiere; rehashing of material done to death, useless]

Tolkien estate wins two lawsuits against author of unauthorised Lord of the Rings sequel The Bookseller The Estate of J R R Tolkien has won two lawsuits against author Demetrious Polychron over his book The Fellowship of the King, which he published … [Comment Another post on the law suit; however, from a decent publication; usefl]

A brutal satire with a pantomime feel: Lord Wood reviews ‘Pandemonium’ – Politics Home Politics Home Very angry, frequently vicious and sometimes moving, Armando Iannucci’s new play is an excoriating lampoon of those who rule us. [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Triyuginarayan Temple: Know All About Lord Shiva and Parvati’s Wedding Venue Times Now According to many folklores, Shiva and Parvati chose this peaceful spot for their wedding. Inside the temple, there’s a silver statue of Lord Vishnu … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Gaynor Lord: Identification confirms body is missing mother | Worcester News The Worcester News A body that was found in the River Wensum in Norwich has been confirmed as the missing mother-of-three Gaynor Lord. [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Body found in Norwich river identified as missing mother Gaynor Lord, police say Evening Standard Ms Lord was formally identified on Sunday, Norfolk Police confirmed on Monday. A formal inquest will take place in due course. [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

‘The sky has gained another star’ – Flowers left at Norwich park for mother Gaynor Lord ITVX Ms Lord, 55, was last seen walking towards the park after finishing work early at Jarrolds department store in Norwich on Friday, 8 December. Her body … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

As Return of the King turns 20 watch an EXCLUSIVE look at Peter Jackson making LOTR The One Ring .net Twenty years after the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, fans continue to celebrate the monumental achievements of Peter … [Comment On all things films TORn is a good place to visit; useful]

Hindu temple in Canada’s Brampton boosts security after complaints against 55-ft Lord … Business Today The Hindu Sabha Mandir in Brampton, Canada, is in the process of constructing a 55-foot-tall statue of the Hindu deity Hanuman, scheduled to be … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Gaynor Lord: Body found in river confirmed as missing mother – GB News GB News Norfolk Police have confirmed that the body of a woman found in the River Wensum in Norwich on Friday, December 15 has been formally identified as … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Gaynor Lord’s cause of death appears to be ‘consistent with drowning’ – police The Irish News Gaynor Lord missing Gaynor Lord disappeared after leaving work early in Norwich city centre on December 8 (Family Handout/PA). [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Body found in river identified as missing woman Gaynor Lord – iNews iNews Police say there were no indications of any third-party involvement and the death is not being treated as suspicious. Mother-of-three Gaynor Lord, … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Gaynor Lord’s cause of death ‘consistent with drowning’ as police say ‘no indications of… – LBC LBC The body of a woman found in the River Wensum on Friday has been formally identified as Gaynor Lord as police say early indications are that the … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Lincolnshire Fantasy World Map creator Chris Birse quit his job at Aldi to make Lord Of The … LincsOnline Lincolnshire has been given a makeover in a fantasy-style map reminiscent of the Lord Of The Rings. [Comment Although any decent Tolkien fan loves maps and mapmakers and their work people saying they are doing “Tolkien-inspired” are a bit of a pet peeve for me; might end up under miscellaneous]

Gaynor Lord: Body confirmed as missing Norwich mother – BBC BBC Ms Lord, 55, went missing after leaving work in Norwich early on 8 December. Her belongings were found in a park later that day. Specialist divers … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Lord Selkirk of Douglas obituary | Conservatives – The Guardian The Guardian Former Conservative MP, MSP and Scottish Office minister who had an unshakeable commitment to the idea of public service. [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Brendan Fraser As Star-Lord Is The Ultimate 90s Avengers Casting In Stunning MCU Art Screen Rant Brendan Fraser might have joined DC rather than Marvel; however, a throwback fan art imagines the actor as the perfect 90s version of Star-Lord. [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Lord Cameron calls for ‘sustainable ceasefire’ | Israel-Hamas War – YouTube YouTube Lord Cameron has called for a “sustainable ceasefire” in the escalating Gaza conflict, adding to growing global pressure on Israel. [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Can Sean Gunn’s Maxwell Lord Redeem the Former Justice League Ally? – CBR CBR Sean Gunn is playing Maxwell Lord in James Gunn’s DCU, and this offers the chance to better portray the former Justice League ally on the big … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

A young family’s Mumbai home reminds them of Tolkien’s idyllic Rivendell Architectural Digest India Founders of (de)CoDe architecture converted a 4.5-bedroom Worli apartment to an expansive three-bedroom home to accommodate the homeowners’ needs. [Comment Almost every post dealing with real estate / hobbit holes etc. is a bunch of bollocks; useless]

I came to the UK after fleeing Nazis. Government hostility towards today’s refugees is inexcusable The Big Issue The welcome that desperate and vulnerable refugees receive in the UK today is a far cry from that which greeted Lord Dubs 85 years ago. [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Israel-Hamas War: Lord Cameron calls for a ‘sustainable ceasefire’ – Sky News Sky News Sky’s Military Analyst Sean Bell explains that a ceasefire would mean a “positive outcome” for Hamas, as Israel has not achieved its aims of … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

What Max’s 20th Anniversary ‘Lord of the Rings’ Collection Is Missing – PopCulture.com PopCulture.com The new movie collection on Max reminds fans of the trilogy’s 20th anniversary, but it’s missing some features for those that want to dig deep. [Comment If you are a user of the (former HBO) Max streaming services and a film fan you might be interested; useless]

Lord Cameron calls for release of pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong Hackney Gazette In a significant intervention, Lord Cameron condemned the charges against Mr Lai, who faces a possible life sentence if convicted under a national … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Lord Cameron calls for release of pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong The Independent The trial of the 76-year-old British citizen is being watched closely around the world. [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Lord Cameron urges China to release Jimmy Lai – The Times The Times Lord Cameron has demanded China release journalist Jimmy Lai as he said that he was “gravely concerned” about prosecution under Beijing’s … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Analyst Makes Bold Claim About Lakers Star LeBron James: ‘Oh Lord Have Mercy’ Heavy.com LeBron James in his 20th season isn’t done: still playing the game at elite level which begs the question: should he be considered for MVP? [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Letter believed to show UK naval hero Lord Nelson was a racist supporter of slavery is … – Daily Mail Daily Mail Chairman of the Nelson Society Chris Brett argued the letter was created by opponents of the abolition of the slave trade who used the reputation … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

December 23, 2023 – [Late Advent Weekday] – Catholic Diocese of Wichita Catholic Diocese of Wichita Malachi prophecies that the Lord’s coming is about more pure sacrifice being offered to God. He foretells that “the Lord whom you seek” “will purify … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

What Classic Villain Maxwell Lord Brings to James Gunn’s DCU – MovieWeb MovieWeb With Maxwell Lord arriving to the new DCU through Superman: Legacy, let’s take a look at this sinister villain’s history through the comics. [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

9 Financial Literacy Lessons From ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ – Forbes Forbes Diversify Your Investments. The titular Lord of the Ring, Sauron poured all his power into the One Ring to rule all else in Middle-earth. His over- … [Comment A very silly (read: absurd) piece using LotR as clickbait but fun enough to make it into the newsletter; useful]

Fresh murder charge over drug-lord’s brazen shooting | St George & Sutherland Shire Leader St George & Sutherland Shire Leader A man has been charged with murder, accused of sourcing a tracking device and phones used to co-ordinate the shooting of convicted drug lord Alen … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Ex-Lord’s Resistance Army commander ruling on December 18 – New Vision New Vision The International Crimes Division of the High Court is scheduled to deliver a ruling on a case where the former Lord’s Resistance Army Commander … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

Ayodhya: Nihang Sikh Community to organise langar on Jan 22 to celebrate consecration of … The Economic Times On the occasion of the consecration of Lord Rama on January 22, 2024, in AYodhya’s Ram Mandir, Nihang Sikh Community will be organizing a langar … [Comment Obviously, GA seems to think the word ‘Lord’ is so essential in combination with Tolkien (see: Lord of the Rings) all things ‘Lord’ are included; useless]

TIL in the last years of his life, J.R.R Tolkien, a devout catholic, resisted the liturgical … – Reddit Reddit 4.8K votes, 268 comments. 34M subscribers in the todayilearned community. You learn something new every day; what did you learn today? Submit… [Comment Reddit is such a huge website that Google has to crawl it as well, obviously; however, given the fannish nature of it 98% of the stuff there is nonsense or simply blind to the fact that there is something else but Reddit out there; useless]

JRR Tolkien Day – Fantasy Literature Presentation – Slidesgo Slidesgo Free Google Slides theme and PowerPoint template. Download the “JRR Tolkien Day – Fantasy Literature” presentation for PowerPoint or Google Slides. [Comment If you are a user of services under the Freepik umbrella this might be useful for you; free slides’ templates with a Tolkien twist; but as I cannot spend enough time on judging the validity of services offered I would not include it; useless]

What did elves actually look like? : r/lotr – Reddit Reddit But to be fair, I don’t think J.R.R. Tolkien would have liked any movies about Lord of the Rings.” And at the end of the interview he says: “I think … [Comment See Reddit comment above; uselss]

JRR Tolkien Day, 2 January – Hays – AllEvents.in AllEvents.in J.R.R. Tolkien Day Hosted By Hays Public Library. Event starts on Tuesday, 2 January 2024 and happening at 1205 Main StHays, KS, United States, … [Comment Website listing events; can be useful at times when local libraries, museums, schools etc. do something tolkieny; useful]

How Italy’s hard-right claimed JRR Tolkien – Stories of our times – Acast Acast Listen to How Italy’s hard-right claimed JRR Tolkien from Stories of our times. This weekend, Rishi Sunak was in Rome meeting Italy’s prime … [Comment Podcasts may be an interesting source on all things Tolkienian; unfortunately, if they take an hour or two to listen to I cannot always guarantee their quality and will exclude them from the newsletter or note any possible bias; the Times has made its position clear but in this case the podcast is actually: useful]

JRR Tolkien History – Bed Bath & Beyond – 24411401 Bed Bath & Beyond Shop for JRR Tolkien History. Free Shipping on Everything* at Bed Bath & Beyond – Your Online Art Gallery Store! – 24411401. [Comment Crap sales link; useless]

6 Tolkien Drive, Mambourin VIC 3024 – Domain Domain Vacant Land for Sale at 6 Tolkien Drive, Mambourin VIC 3024. View property photos, floor plans, local school catchments & lots more on … [Comment Real estate crap links; useless]

The Modern Tolkien: The Keys to the Enduring Appeal of Middle-Earth – YouTube YouTube VII International Conference on MYTH IN THE ARTS – The Modern Tolkien: The Keys to the Enduring Appeal of Middle-Earth Martin Simonson (UPV/EHU) … [Comment A Youtube video by Tolkien scholar Martin Simonson from a recent Tolkien conference; useful]

The Lord of the Rings a book by J. R. R. Tolkien. UK Bookshop.org – Bookshop Features the definitive edition of the text, fold-out flaps with the original two-colour maps, and a revised and expanded index. Sauron, the Dark Lord … [Comment Bookshop.org is considered a pro-indie bookshop website; sale link; useless]

Collecting the scholarly works of Tolkien – TCG Tolkien Collector’s Guide Then you’ll see Gawain Pearl and Orfeo in both the British and American versions. The last book is the Liflade, a thesis written by one of Tolkien’s … [Comment Anything by Tolkienguide.com should have your attention, one of the few truly good websites on all things Tolkien; usefl]

Let’s Talk About Middle-Earth as if It Is Real. | Page 2 – The Tolkien Forum The Tolkien Forum Anyone heard the Bermuda Triangle is actually the Straight Way? That’s why the ships disappear in that location. Either those are Elves sailing to … [Comment The ‘Tolkien Forum’ is one of the very few spaces that has survived since the film trilogy; given the nature of today’s internet interactions any site using a forum software will not have the success they used to have twenty years ago; might be of interest, in this case: useless]

Then – why are you doing this?

Well, Google Alerts is one of those ancient Google services that surprisingly still exist and still work, at least to a certain extent. As you can see from some of the comments there are limitations to it but there are usually always gems among the lesser interesting things. Also, it does not scan social media which helps immensely in finding material from online publications/ websites only.

And – if you end up in any of these news alerts you can be sure that Google Search is considering your website a reliable source – or at least of importance and/ or of enough impact in your field.

For your information Researching and writing this post has taken me about five hours.