Just a question?

[Carol the Dabbler]

Ooh, yeah -- I love that one!

[SherlockedCAMPer]

It's always been ochre to me instead of ocher. The latter does look odd. I paint (acrylic not oils) and the yellow ochre is spelled re not er.

[Hikari]

I have a question for the Administrators--whoever is in charge of the banner ad at the top of the home page.

 

You are currently advertising "Sherlock's Home".  I've only been here since Halloween, but that ad has been in place since then and probably quite a while before.  As I mentioned in my post about Undershaw, the copyright on this book is 2012 and represents one of the Undershaw Preservation Trust's very first fundraising efforts on behalf of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's former estate.  Jeremy Brett looks really adorable in a deerstalker but may I suggest possibly changing the ad to a more recent MX publication?  David Marcum is up to Volume 8 in his ongoing MX New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes anthology (2015 -  )  If this is in your realm to do, may we consider a change of ad?  The current one is not up-to-date viz. the status of Undershaw.  "Sherlock's Home", the building, has risen like a phoenix from the ashes thanks to the efforts of the Trust and MX and others, and is in its second year as a fully operational and beautifully renovated school for young people with developmental disabilities.  All author royalties from the sale of the MX books continue to go for the benefit of Undershaw's new life as the Stepping Stones school.

 

Respectfully submitted.

[Carol the Dabbler]

That's an excellent point, Hikari.  I have no idea who supplied the ad and/or what the forum's agreement with them is, but you're right, it's outdated.  I will bring your post to Tim's attention.

 

[Hikari]

That's an excellent point, Hikari.  I have no idea who supplied the ad and/or what the forum's agreement with them is, but you're right, it's outdated.  I will bring your post to Tim's attention.

 

Thank you, Carol. 

 

I mentioned this book to my Sherlock guru David Marcum, and it was he who informed me that 'Sherlock's Home' was an MX publication as well.  I know he would be gratified if some of his extensive bibliography were featured in that space, and Undershaw/Stepping Stones will benefit.

 

Doesn't have to be one of his, but I thought with the New Year coming, we could rehang fresh wallpaper as it were.

[Boton]

When I finally started making my own money (during college) one of the first purchases I made was one of those big boxes of crayons. And a handmade leather key fob. I still use both, although the crayons are used rather sparingly. My favorite color is still "Cornflower Blue."

 

My favorite was always Cornflower Blue too.  :-)

 

Oh, the smell of those crayons!  That's still the best smell on earth.  

[Arcadia]

I quite like the texture of them, too.   

[cavaradossi]

Hikari

I finally found the Tin Dispatch Box Lounge after almost coming to the point of dispair over stumbling onto it.  Help came when I decided to leave off searching for it on this site and Googling it instead.

i don't know what's going on over at William Smith's movies website, not least because he hasn't posted anything since last year.  I hope he's alright. I also hope you're doing better than the last time I heard from you. Have you managed to avoid this flu going around? 

I'm about to start season three of Game of Thrones, but I'm also fighting over my growing inclination to shuck the whole thing at this point. I just can't get turned on to it. I think it 's that old thing that I need to bond with at least one character in a movie or TV series, and not necessarily a lead, to get into these things. After all these hours of viewing that hasn't happened yet with GoT. Well, the baby dragons are kind of fun, but that's not something I can say about the rest of the characters or the storylines.

I keep forgetting to see if Netflix is carrying Elementary, because I am somewhat curious to see where that show has gone since the first season, the only one I've seen of the series. 

I've just finished watching Victoria & Abdul. I knew vaguely about that friendship, but not to the detail this film displayed. Excellent performance by Judi Dench, but that wasn't a surprise, since when has she ever not given one?

i paid absolutely no attention to the Oscars this year. I don't  even think I've read who won what, nor do I care. I think I may have mentioned that I finally found my copy of the complete Sherlock Holmes, but I've got several books clamoring for my attention before I divee back into it. Still, it's nice to know where it is if I get the urge.

 

 

[cavaradossi]

Hikari

 

i meant to ask you if your library offers graphic novels. Since they have been so popular for years now and so many big and successful films have been based on them, I wondered if libraries have them,  

have you been able to fix your television situation yet? I'm without cable myself right now since their Box went dead on me. I just haven't been too inclined to get it replaced as I'm, surprisingly, not missing it at all, I have years and years of collecting of video tapes recorded off tv, and purchased ones, Laserdiscs, DVDs, and now Blu-rays, not to mention Netflix rentals, that I'm scarcely aware I'm missing live television. I get my news from the radio and internet, along with TIME, and since that consists of mostly anti-Trump diatribes I don't feel I'm missing much, other than the sight of all those politicians and news anchors having at each other. They have an over inflated sense of sense of self importance if they think we're all held in thrall by their performances. 

BTW, I've been surprised at the poor quality of news on the internet, both the visual and written kind. The video clips are too short and convey almost no information, while the writing, while longer than the clips, is almost invariably not any more enlightening. Disappointing. Umm... soon I'll be sounding like TAS!

[Hikari]

Hi, Cav, so glad to see you back here!

I dropped by Wm.'s room the other day and saw you'd hailed me, but I didn't have time to respond.  I was going to direct you to the Tin Dispatch Box(room); glad you found it on your own.  My other thread dedicated to 'Other Detectives' is in the 'Miscellaneous Musings' area.  Sherlock made me put it there so it would be obscure.  He says, 'Why do you need Other Detectives when you have moi.'  He was somewhat mollified when I said I wanted to feature only those Others who were copying him (imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.) 

I did manage to avoid the flu, though I did catch the Mother of All Colds early in January.   We are still a mournful duo at my house, my remaining cat and I.  I had to take her to the vet this week due to an upper respiratory infection.  She probably picked it up from me since she doesn't go outside.  Two shots of antibiotic and she's herself again.

It's unlike Mr. Smith to be so silent for so long, and I haven't heard from him, either.  He might be in too much pain for computer work.  It's been a rough winter everywhere . . even in Atlanta. 

Re. Game of Thrones--do me a favor and stick with it through the S3 finale.  If you still want to stop after that, it's an excellent stopping point.  The show does not get better than it was in its first three seasons, and the S3 finale is quite a topper.

[Caya]

*gg* Mostly unrelated derail, but know what I like about Game of Thrones fans? These days, spoilers are anywhere and everywhere on the web, and it's hard to watch even a brand-new movie without having run into some spoiler or other beforehand without ever intending to ... but GoT fans, as a rule, encourage you to go find out for yourself and keep silent about the plot in the meantime. I'd never have believed possible how a certain event in S1 was able to shock so many people, with the first book having come out in ninteen-freaking-ninety-six. But everybody just kept mum and smiled, and I appreciate that in this day and age.

[Carol the Dabbler]

13 hours ago, cavaradossi said:

I finally found the Tin Dispatch Box Lounge after almost coming to the point of dispair over stumbling onto it.  Help came when I decided to leave off searching for it on this site and Googling it instead.  [.....]

I'm about to start season three of Game of Thrones, but I'm also fighting over my growing inclination to shuck the whole thing at this point. I just can't get turned on to it. I think it 's that old thing that I need to bond with at least one character in a movie or TV series, and not necessarily a lead, to get into these things. After all these hours of viewing that hasn't happened yet with GoT. Well, the baby dragons are kind of fun, but that's not something I can say about the rest of the characters or the storylines.

I keep forgetting to see if Netflix is carrying Elementary, because I am somewhat curious to see where that show has gone since the first season, the only one I've seen of the series.

 

Glad to see you back, Cav (if I may be so familiar with you)!

Google is a perfectly valid way of searching this forum (I've done it myself when we had the old software, which refused to search under certain conditions), but the forum provides a couple of helpful ways to find threads.  If the thread belongs to an obvious category, you'll probably be able to find it via the main index on the forum's home page (which can be reached by clicking on the big photo at the top of any page), then clicking on the most appropriate subforum, and so on till you reach the thread you're looking for.  That would, alas, probably not have gotten you to Hikari's Other Detectives, but it is the most effective method to use if you don't know the name of the thread, or are simply looking for whatever threads may exist in a certain category.

The other method, if you do know the name of a thread, or even if you want any thread with a certain word or phrase in its title, is to use the Advanced Search.  Click in the Search box at the top of any forum page.  The box will extend itself and offer a down-arrow for other options.  Click on that and one option is Advanced Search, where all sorts of searches are possible.  One option is to restrict the search to the titles of threads, which can be ever-so-helpful if you know (or hope) that a certain sort of thread exists, but may not even know the exact title.

Regarding your need to bond with at least one character before you can enjoy a show, I'm the same way.  I don't even need to like the character very much, just to be able to relate to him/her.  Which I assume is why I was never able to enjoy the Seinfeld show (other than his monologs).

And as for Elementary, do be sure to take the seasons in order!  Subsequent ones are less about the cases and more about the characters -- so if you try to skip around, you're likely to feel a bit lost.

I hope you stick around and join in more of the discussions!

[Hikari]

P.S. Cav,

I tried to message you just now and realized I can't until you post 6 times and get promoted to Detective Constable.  So, get postin'!

If you ever wanted to know what it felt like to be part of the Met ranking structure, now's your chance.  I am now at the rank of DCS, just like Morse's boss, but you need not address me as 'Ma'am'.  In fact, please don't.

Please go to the 'Introduce Yourself Here' thread and do that.  It's not that often we get new members, and I'm sure people are very curious about you and your distinctive user handle.

In GoT, don't tell me you haven't bonded with 'Bronn' because I won't believe it.  What a shame they use my boy Jerome Flynn so seldom.  Over in the East, we've got Ser Jorah Marmont, ie, 'the Golden Bear', Iain Glen.  I realize you are not bonding with these actors in quite the same way I am bonding with these actors (or, wish I could be bonding with these actors, if I'm completely honest) . . but these are worthy gentlemen.  GoT would no doubt be a better show if these roles were leads rather than supporting characters.

Elementary is that rarest of television birds:  a show that actually improves with every subsequent season.  I can't speak to the latest ones, but I've seen up through Season 4.  I bailed on S1 about the halfway point the first time, but if you can power through it, S2 perks up considerably.  In S2, we get Mycroft (Rhys Ifans); S3 is devoted to Sherlock's Muse & his Nemesis, Adler & Moriarty, and the show takes a singularly economical stance on these essential characters from the Casebook.  We also meet Kitty Winter, a new protégé for Holmes.  S4 features Holmes pere, Morland (John Noble).

I owe showrunner Robert Docherty an apology, because though I at first believed him to be just an American dilettante who was hitching his ersatz caboose to the BBC Sherlock train . . in actuality, Mr. Docherty has turned out to be a more genuine Sherlockian and better writer for a modernized Holmes update than They Who Shall Not Be Named Because I'm Sick of Them.  His scripts contain tons of references to the ACD stories, and many of Sherlock's dialogues are lifted verbatim right from Conan Doyle.  Though I don't care for the external presentation of Jonny Lee Miller's Holmes much, JLM does excel at reeling off these chewy lines pensively, as though he had just thought of them himself.   I also love his resident tortoise, Clyde.  The whole show could be about Clyde and it would still be better TV than 'The Final Problem' as rendered by TWSNBNBISoT.  The problem with Elementary is not its Sherlock or its setting or any of its supporting cast.  For me the Final Problem with Elementary is the Watson Problem.  To wit:  Lucy Liu's Joan Watson is about as appealing a presence as a cheese grater on metal.  Lucy seems like a sweet woman and is a talented episode director, having done half a dozen or more.  Whether it's the writing for Joan or the delivery of it that's at fault . . I really can't stand this Holmes's sidekick.  That makes it problematical for a yuge Watson (in other guises) supporter like me.  But it's not very often that I can say that a show which I had at first dismissed as drivel actually improved in my estimation to the point where I want to see more.  We could say the same about Game of Thrones. 

[cavaradossi]

Hikari

Unfortunately, I haven't bonded with either Flynn's or Ian Glenn's characters on Game of Thrones, though they both have a decidedly enigmatic aspect to them, Glenn's more than Flynn's I would say. Those enigmatic qualities should have given them extra interest for me, but, alas, not enough. I think my real problem with the show is that I'm really not a fantasy fan, that is if it's not The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. George R. R. Martin was once a favorite of mine, but that was when he was writing very good science fiction.  As with another favorite SF writer of mine, Robert Silverberg, I dropped Martin when he took up fantasy writing.  I did once give one of Silverberg's later fantasy novels a read just out of curiosity, but found it dull. I lament the loss of these two fine writers to one of my favorate fields of fiction, SF.  Yeah, yeah, I can hear that little wagging voice in the back of my mind saying "Cav, you're an idiot. All fiction is fantasy on some level."  I not so kindly tell the voice to shut up and stop intruding on my reality! 

I hear what you're saying about Lucy Liu's Joan Watson. Even in that first season, the only one I've seen so far, I had trouble accepting a woman as SH's Dr. Watson. It's certainly not that I have a problem with women doctors (I see two of them and get along great with them), but having a woman Dr. Watson undercuts the fraternal, friendly bond between Sherlock and John so essential to their appeal as a duo. The other thing is, as I watched that first season, I wondered what in the world was the matter with Mz. LIu, who was portraying the good doctor in an almost somnolent manner. I was used to seeing her much more lively in her previous TV and movie outings, so I had to believe the character was either written that way or LIu was directed to perform like that. Whatever the reason, her acting combined with my inmate problem with a lady Watson was an ungoing annoyance throughout the season. I get the impression that she kind of takes a back seat in the upcoming seasons, not an ideal solution to a misguided problem from the show's very conception. 

They Who Shall Not Be Named Because I'm Sick of Them... Love it!!!

[cavaradossi]

Carol the Dabbler

Thanks for the tips on finding topics here on the Sherlock forum. I was truly lost there for a while.

It's great to hear I'm not the only one who needs to bond (or, as you put it, relate to) at least one character in a show to enjoy it. The one exception to that I can recall was, curiously, Seinfeld. In that case, it wasn''t any of the characters that amused me especially,  but the show's actual premise, a group of NYC snobs who didn't like anyone or anything. I don't know why that worked for me, but it did. It entertained me season after season until the end, and when the series came out on DVD way back when, I bought the whole thing. Then an odd thing happened. I began watching season one and discovered to my dismay that Seinfeld no longer worked for me. I stopped watching and have never gone back. The season sets, other than #one, sit on the shelf still in their cellophane wrapping. I don't even notice they are there anymore. I think that Seinfeld is a prime example of a series that was so of its time, that it no longer works in a later context. In contrast, Frazier, like I Love Lucy, is as gloriously funny as it ever was.

[cavaradossi]

I see I'm ranked as a Trainee Detective Constable. Just call me Gavin Troy!

[cavaradossi]

Caya

i, too, appreciate when people don't post spoilers. One has to develop almost a sixth sense when one is reading a post that is likely to contain some, or even a lot. When I find I'm reading one of those, I hastily bail. 

I am a bit curious about trying the first book of Game of Thrones, if only to see if it might appeal to me more than the TV series.  I've been a voracious reader my entire life, and that sort of thing has happened before, though it usually concerned movies rather than TV series. The big exception to that was HBO's True Blood, a show I truly enjoyed. After the fourth season, I decided to giive Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire Mysteries a try, and was hooked before I had even gotten to the bottom of the first page of the first book, Dead Until Dark. The TV series decayed  in its final season, but Harris's books continued to entertain me almost to the end. That end was a real letdown though; the 13th novel, Dead Ever After, displeased many of the series' long time readers, me included. I later came to terms with it, but I still wonder what the author was thinking when she wrote it. 

[Hikari]

Hi, Cav,

I don't care for Watson as a femme, either, but that is not the chief complaint I have with Ms. Liu's portrayal.  You are right in saying that this actress is usually a lot more lively--sprightly, even, with a kick-butt edge.  Her Joan Watson seems almost like a case of (sleepwalking) depression . . though initially I had chalked that up to too much Botox or some plastic surgery that was just a bit too tight.  Lucy is 50 this year, and she looks great . . albeit, apart from Watson's too-Zen energy levels and demeanor, my other issue with her is the wardrobe.  Lucy may have the body for Watson's gauzy minidresses, tights and silly little boots that Joan wears in all seasons, even in January in New York City, but should a woman of firmly middle years who is an accomplished professional dress like a not-terribly-successful 25-year-old coffeehouse singer from Seattle?

With no aspersions cast on Ms. Liu's own actual intelligence (because to all appearances she is a very proficient TV director), Joan emphatically does not come across as half as intelligent as we are supposed to accept her as being.  Lucy herself seems like a very vital person . .warm, smart, a philanthropist, artsy, with a lot of friends.  No one disparages her work ethics or the camaraderie she brings to the set . . so why is Joan Watson such a colossal pill?  This JW comes across as not terribly self-confident (look how rapidly she bailed on the surgical career after one admittedly grievous mistake) . . until she decided to become a detective in her own right, she was just kind of drifting around as a babysitter, wasting all that incredibly expensive education.  She cannot stand up to her mother.  She lets Sherlock Holmes steamroll over her to a large degree and will move out to avoid confrontation.  Despite low self-esteem and something of a victim mentality, she is also pretty self-absorbed & tuned into what Joanie wants/needs/should have, especially when it involves money.  I wouldn't seek her out for a confidante or even a cocktail party conversationalist, because she can be incredibly judgmental and quite arrogant.  And she's boring.  Zero on the personality meter for me.

Joan should retrain as a pathologist and that way she can still practice medicine, but she won't have to worry about killing any more patients.  She can solve medical mysteries like the girl Quincy of Manhattan and keep her interactions with living clients to a minimum, because frankly the bedside manner is missing in this one.

You may have heard that Japan TV is launching Miss Sherlock next month, featuring Holmes and Watson both as femmes. Miss Sherlock's sidekick is Miss Wato, (Wato-san, actually if we are being formal.  Since the Japanese language does not contain the letter or sound of L, it will be pronounced as 'Sherrock', which is a tiny bit masochistic on their parts, I think.)  I think the same-sex pairing works better in terms of translating the dynamic from the all-male traditional pair.  Though based on homoerotic hints in the trailer, this version will be decidedly JohnLock, femme edition.  That is bound to make all the guys really want to tune in! 

P.S.  Just two more posts and then you will be officially off probation, and I can send you a private message.  So get busy, bruh!

[Hikari]

6 hours ago, Caya said:

*gg* Mostly unrelated derail, but know what I like about Game of Thrones fans? These days, spoilers are anywhere and everywhere on the web, and it's hard to watch even a brand-new movie without having run into some spoiler or other beforehand without ever intending to ... but GoT fans, as a rule, encourage you to go find out for yourself and keep silent about the plot in the meantime. I'd never have believed possible how a certain event in S1 was able to shock so many people, with the first book having come out in ninteen-freaking-ninety-six. But everybody just kept mum and smiled, and I appreciate that in this day and age.

Caya,

That 'certain event' gutted me so bad, I wasn't sure I could continue with GoT.  But I did.  Then I guess I got too complacent, or maybe I just wasn't attached to anybody else in particular because they went and *did it to me again* at the end of S3.  I listened to the audio commentary track that accompanied the S3 final episode, after I'd watched it.  It was just Michelle Fairley and Richard Madden speaking. 

Suffice it to say that those two actors *made each other cry*.  Seriously, open weeping from Michelle and a more manly kind of quiet sobbing from her onscreen son.  I was like, "Oh, yeah, you guys?  So how do you think *we* feel out here, huh???!"

[Carol the Dabbler]

3 hours ago, Hikari said:

Elementary is that rarest of television birds:  a show that actually improves with every subsequent season.  I can't speak to the latest ones, but I've seen up through Season 4.  I bailed on S1 about the halfway point the first time, but if you can power through it, S2 perks up considerably.

Oddly enough, my reaction was the exact opposite.  I lapped up Season 1, and liked Season 2 well enough.  But my interest quickly evaporated when it became clear to me that the writers didn't know the difference between a Big Reveal and an Actual Plot.  YMMV, obviously!

28 minutes ago, Hikari said:

Joan should retrain as a pathologist and that way she can still practice medicine, but she won't have to worry about killing any more patients.  She can solve medical mysteries [....]

Now that would be a brilliant solution! 

[Caya]

19 minutes ago, Hikari said:

Caya,

That 'certain event' gutted me so bad, I wasn't sure I could continue with GoT.  But I did.  Then I guess I got too complacent, or maybe I just wasn't attached to anybody else in particular because they went and *did it to me again* at the end of S3.  I listened to the audio commentary track that accompanied the S3 final episode, after I'd watched it.  It was just Michelle Fairley and Richard Madden speaking. 

Suffice it to say that those two actors *made each other cry*.  Seriously, open weeping from Michelle and a more manly kind of quiet sobbing from her onscreen son.  I was like, "Oh, yeah, you guys?  So how do you think *we* feel out here, huh???!"

That S3 (well, book 3) scene was easily the most intense reading experience I ever had. I swear I could *hear* that damned music somewhere in the background.

[cavaradossi]

Hikari

it's good I took your advice to continue into season 3 of Game of Thrones because the show has really come alive during it. I've seen the first seven episodes of season 3 so far and am deeply invested now. What's that young "Mother of Dragons" up to really  (don't answer that!), and what outrage will that head of the Lannister clan impose on his adult children next? I would say I'm having fun with the show, but, well, you know...all that violence and unspeakable cruelty... If I closely examined how I'm responding to the show right now I'd feel dirty. 

One of the continuing surprises of GoT is all the amazing visuals done on a TV series budget. Much of it doesn't come off as the CGI it has to be, but looks real. I'm also taken not just with the big moments and events, but much of the small things as well. Who would have thought just how powerful and heartwarming one character irritatedly sticking a fork in a piece of meat so a one-handed man could cut a slice for himself. Since this woman and man are ostensibly enemies at this point, the unexpectedness of the action gave me a catch in my throat and had me danged near to tears. As it was, I let out a spontaneous cry of "yeah"! 

The way the show is going is making it look awfully like I'm going to have to buy the series after all some time in the future. For the first two seasons I doubted I would even be interested in seeing it again. Clearly, things have changed.

[Hikari]

Cav,

Clearly.  I will refrain from uttering the phrase "I told you so."  But I will invite you to cast your mind back to a little project on ITV I browbeat convinced you to stick with despite your initial objections and it ended up becoming dear to your heart.  I am speaking about Foyle's War.  So picture Michael Kitchen's face, and then ask yourself this question:  "Has Hikari ever steered me wrong about a TV show?"  Okay, then.

I myself am not up on the latest season(s)--Season 5 is the last one I finished, but that's around the time I started having my TV issues.

Sir Charles Dance is head of the Lannister clan, and I agree, he is compelling.  Sir Charles is now 71 years old but has the vigor of a guy 30 years younger, easily.  Partly it's his commanding height (6'3") but he just looks really strong and not like anybody you fluff with.  Very well cast as Lannister, Sr.   His scenes with his dwarf son are particularly touching.  Tyrion has the best brains in the family bar none, and just wants to be loved and accepted by his father, but due to his physical deficiencies, that ain't ever gonna happen.  Tyrion is going to really have it out with Dad one of these days . . (S4 finale, so keep your seatbeat on!)  There is a lot of gruesome violence in this show, yes.  Blood and boobies and some truly horrific cruelties.  I think of it like a medieval court intrigue of history, and those were brutish and nasty, too.  The Lannisters are like the Medicis.  The Starks I guess are like some Viking warlords.

Charles Dance could easily do a Sherlock Holmes in his vigorous senior years, oh yeah.

[cavaradossi]

Hikari

Re Charles Dance as Lannister Sr.  Another impressive aspect of his performance is how ramrod straight is his posture. Not many people of his age can bring that off, and it certainly adds to the powerful effect he makes in the role. Also, those steel cold eyes. Lannister Sr. is not a man on whose bad side you want to get.  His icy rage when he told his dwarf son Tyrian exactly why he despised him was shattering.  Even that little monster, the teenaged king, was clearly nervous around his grandfather.  His fear was the first sane moment I've seen from him. 

In this third season I was wondering who that old queen was whose granddaughter is to marry the young Lannister king, whose name keeps eluding me.. Even though elderly, she looked so familiar. She turns out to be DIana Rigg! I haven't read anything about her in so many years that I thought she might no longer be with us. A check on IMDb.com shows she's been pretty active in recent years. Good news, and she is very effective in her role on GoT. The old energy that lit up her performances in the past is still there, not to mention her beautiful face, though no longer what it once was, is still striking. Talk about aging gracefully!