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Yepp… *Hoot!*

Nah, those are not good enough. I want to pluck my eyeball and replace it accordingly. Perhaps change my knees or other joints by taking them off just like a figurine. Spine? Pull it off, or maybe there is some kind of zipper to make it easier. I don’t want to live longer. I just think that living creatures deserve to be healthy until the end of life. Btw, some Japanese scientist have researched a way to block a protein that suppress tooth development. There is hope to get new teeth if bad ones fall off! Silver Braided Sherlockians can be a cool band name.

Yesterday was Caturday.

Wow! Quite an all-star cast. Meaning that I actually recognized most of them, which (given my difficulty with faces) is quite a statement.

It's a rather funny WTF-Moment

Series 2 has now been filmed and will be out sometime later this year. There will be a bit of a Sherlock reunion going on as Rupert Graves is in it although I don’t know if his appearance is as an ongoing character or just a one off. Also appearing are some very familiar names (in the UK at least): Simon Callow; Miranda Richardson, Jason Watkins and Claire Skinner. I’m sure that it will be worth the wait.

Life seems to be pretty much a series of trial and error. In other words, see what works for you -- and what doesn't. During an awkward phase of my life, I had frequent panic attacks and near-constant anxiety, which I assumed were caused by stress. Counseling sessions helped me develop coping techniques, which helped me a lot, just being able to deal with it better, but I still had the basic problem. Some years later, I discovered quite by accident that the panic and anxiety occurred because I had developed a chemical sensitivity to a common household substance. Since then I've avoided that substance, and have been mercifully panic free. Best of luck in learning how to deal with your depression.

To celebrate my 10th anniversary of meeting him for the first time, I've had my first actual, story-like dream with Sherlock. Sadly, I don't remember the story, but we spent a significant amount of time roaming through some ominous backstreets of Frankfurt, Germany. Sherlock was… tall and slightly annoyed, probably by my presence. It's so funny how I never dream about topics (or persons) I obsess about, no matter how I'd love to, but some slight, hardly noticed detail can trigger a dream the following night. Sometimes I'm even able to remember what a detail it was. This time, zapping through the channels, I caught a few seconds of Sherlock on TV. Didn't stop by, as the German version is still a no-go. Brain, you little rascal!

Probably renovation plus Autocorrect.

This revolution could be shorter than Anglo-Zanzibar War

Lovely face! (Though you might consider shaving it.)

I'm a dog person, but sometimes I relate to cats more. I mean, look at that face! That is my face!

Oh FFS! Learning irregular verbs is hard enough the way they are!

Best wishes, Bean. I think the hardest thing about growing old is watching my loved ones growing old.

I was having trouble recalling that scene in detail, so I checked with Ariana DeVere: SHERLOCK You knew about the wedding; more importantly, you’d seen a wedding invitation. Now barely a hundred people had seen that invitation. The Mayfly Man only saw five women. For one person to be in both groups ... could be a coincidence. MYCROFT Oh, Sherlock. What do we say about coincidence? SHERLOCK The universe is rarely so lazy. MYCROFT: So, the balance of probability is ...? SHERLOCK: Someone went to great lengths to find out something about this wedding. MYCROFT: What great lengths? SHERLOCK They lied, assumed false identities. MYCROFT: Which suggests ...? SHERLOCK: Criminal intent. MYCROFT: Also suggests ...? SHERLOCK: Intelligence, planning. MYCROFT: Clearly. But more importantly ...? SHERLOCK (in the Chamber): The Mayfly Man is ... here today. And after giving it a good look, I think your second interpretation is the correct one.

On the other hand, he may be merely *hoping* that's a misspelling.

He is a small/medium size. Long body, short leg. He stays in the front yard of the neighbor. Before they got him, they let our two neighborhood strays dogs inside as and when they feel like it. (the dogs even have beds). They still feed these strays daily, but I notice they are not going inside the fence anymore. I’m dealing with visa problem and have to go back and forth currently. There are probably four houses, including mine (of ten) who help to feed these strays. However, none of them seems to have knowledge about dog training or medication. The strays have skin problems regularly, but they clear up after I medicate them. When I have been away for a while, I always come back to them having their skin issues back. So, it’s one of my concern for Archie. If he stays outside often, he might get skin issue. I’m being judgmental but I hope the owner becomes more knowledgeable now. We did have a conversation back then about the medication for the strays and I had shared what I know. While Archie is playful, he is not destructive as far as I know. He digs my pitiful yard, that’s all. Other than that he mostly chills, plays ball with me. He loves smelling the messy plants, and the neighbor’s yard looks fine to me. I think it’s a training and boundary problem. It will get worse if she can’t get it together, especially because I think Archie is not neutered yet. She indeed always tries to get him inside, to call him, and expresses her worries about Archie’s new habit: chasing cars and motorcycles. We are secluded in a dead end path, but there are still light traffic, and when Archie is outside, he ventures to the bigger neighborhood road. This is very dangerous because of the possibility of him getting hit or harmed by unhappy humans. I definitely have seen him outside at night/early in the morning. I walk my dog around at night and we go to the beach early in the morning. Archie never fails to come and asks for treats that’s why I know how often he is outside (at least 50%). Here are the photos of him. He always spends time with me while I’m outside and has to be enticed to get out of my fence. My mom joked that he tries to adopt us. Here he is all wet after he stuck his head inside my water bucket (that is how he drinks!) Found a tiny ball (maybe belong to cats, my small yard is a free zoo for neighbors' pets)

What is your case of blindly overconfidence? Mine: I swear I wasn’t drunk when I bought this. I haven’t started it.

That's her problem! Oh -- hi, Arcadia! Didn't see you lurking standing there!

I don’t owe this book, this is not my picture, but I have checked, this is a real book! Tell me, how did the author do their research? Did they have to get peer review? How do readers check the accuracy? Should anyone get to the bottom of it? How do we crack the case? Why is this so cheeky? Should we get behind this book???? Or should we laugh our asses off????? (Arcadia would kill me if she read this!)

Wait, with Locky, right? Right? They ‘belong’ to a beach vendor. In here, everyone helps to raise these dogs because they might not get enough food or proper medications/vaccination from the owners alone. At the very least, they have a ‘place.’ Good news. One of the challenges of befriending strays is never knowing for sure if they are well at all times. I used to patronize this stretch of beach and do regular feeding, but when this beach’s authority forbade the activity (long, stupid story), I vowed not to go there as long as the stupid regulation was at place. Thankfully it didn’t last long, but with Covid etc, it’s not my regular beach anymore and I only come here once in a while. This was three/four days ago. The visit was great, because I still met some surviving regulars. These two seniors were well and they still remembered and greeted us. Of course, I brought them something special. The younger ones were great as well and now we have new puppy friends.

I kinda hope that guy asked the last guy who he was.

We were bombarded by five puppies yesterday morning. I swear they are not my kids and my dog Locky also swears they are not his kids.

Not exactly new but YouTube suggested it to me and I had to share and didn't know where else to put it:

That was posted a while back, as you can see. Lately I've been noticing British people saying things that I thought were Americanisms (e.g., "pants" in the sense of trousers) and vice versa (e.g., I think "gone missing" or "went missing" is originally British, but it's a very succinct way of expressing a specific concept). This has been going on for hundreds of years, of course. A few hundred years ago, if a character in a British play was supposed to be an American (quite probably played by a British actor, since the accents hadn't had time to diverge much), the first words out of his/her mouth would be "I guess" in the sense of "I suppose" -- but I'm pretty sure that expression started being used over there a long time ago.

Awh! Thanks so much. Yeah, I am on AO3 actually! Wouldn't say I'm a particularly skilled writer (actually rather new to the hobby) but I sure do like having fun with it. My AO3 account is here! I mostly specialize in little vignettes, but sometimes I write chapter-by-chapter stuff.

Thank you for the welcome! Delighted to be here. Our cats names are Kiba, Graverobber (we just call him Graves), and Nova! They're delightful little beasts. My avatar is a picture of a little black rat! I love rats. Used to keep a small mischief of my own, once upon a time. Been considering doing that again someday, once I've got space to keep them separate from the cats of course.

Riiiight, thanks for all that info. Apparently, the software we use to host the forum displays that message to inform users that their identity is hidden, meaning they won’t appear in online lists and their last visited time and other details are not visible to standard users of the forum. This is designed to enhance privacy, and was likely introduced in recent years and I didn’t notice it being introduced, that is why I was baffled. So it’s not a bug, it’s a feature Your posts will still show your username and all that, so you can fully participate in the forum. However your fellow members won’t be able to see all that info (mods and admins can see it cos we need to mod and admin, and that’s why we were puzzled!) Hope that explains it

OK, was wondering if that sunshine had anything to do with whatever the joke was. I shall now laugh.

Only in that the sunspots look like the charge level display of a battery.

Today is the 138th anniversary of the visit of the King of Bohemia to 221b Baker Street which touches off A Scandal in Bohemia. Watson writes: >> One night—it was on the twentieth of March, 1888—I was returning from a journey to a patient... <<

I read a famous novel in China called "法医秦明”(Forensic Doctor Qin Ming), and I found the stories very interesting. It's about a forensic doctor named Qin Ming who solves cases, each one is all very mystery (at least, that's how it was in the ones I read). They generally delve into the human element, for example, in the first story I read, a husband, driven by jealousy and gambling addiction, impoverished himself and murdered his wealthy wife to inherit her fortune. However, in the end, the husband regretted his actions. BUT, his regret wasn't because of any moral, but because of stemmed from not having fully exploited his wife… At the end, I found the cases very interesting and recommend them to everyone.

Been watching through “Sherlock” again for the first time since about 2018. It’s been fun to revisit, also a little sad. I miss it, and those early years.

Hi. Of the letters, D stands for Demosthenes, so D is the first letter of the last word of the name of one of Thomas Anson's garden follies: the Choragic Lanthorn of Demosthenes: this is one part of the key. After deciphering the remaining letters, each letter is the first letter of the last word of each of Thomas Anson's garden and parkland follies. The dots are geometric alignment points. Combined with the carving of Poussin's Et in Arcadia Ego, the Shepherd's Monument represents a map of Shugborough estate. But these are just three of the 43 steps required to solve the mystery. A hint or three never hurts. Best wishes, Frank. PS: I think SH is great, but is that Sherlock Holmes or Shugborough Hall? Certainly the former. 🤠

That only works with selected sites that the forum recognizes, like YouTube. In which case, just paste the address in.

I don't know how to post video, hope the link works. I don't know how to embed it. https://sendvid.com/vh4lapgk I don't know the actual context. These are Belgian Malinois, one of the smartest and most discipline dogs. They are seriously amazing. I assume this is a training.

I don’t know if it makes you feel better, or worse. From what I know, having children doesn’t guarantee this wouldn’t happen and that is, imho, a wrong reason to have children, whether it’s your own or someone you take responsibility with. I have seen many parents abandoned by their children or scammed for life only to be dumped when their money ran out. To me, it’s one of the most heartbreaking things that can happen, and this happened in a traditional culture setting while family is still a big part of life and kids are expected to take care of their parents and vice versa. It was in the news not long ago, that a banker had a hunch not to authorized a transaction because she noticed this elderly man’s reluctancy to sign on the paper to empty his bank account. His daughter stood next to him and kept saying her father had dementia and they had agreed on that and she kept answering questions on his behalf etc etc. The banker decided to write the question down and asked the man to pick the answer about whether he wanted it to happen and he kept picking no. They had a talk and her daughter was arrested because she had been stealing his money. He was of sound mind, but never reported her because… she was his daughter. Another elderly parents were locked out of their own house after being tricked to sign a paper. All those shit. Granted, good children exist but you know what I’m trying to say. On the other hand, not everyone is fit to be a parent, it’s a crazy responsibility and a forever commitment. I applaud those who do it well, I think they are angels on earth. I really admire them. I don’t think I am capable to take that responsible of raising another human well and that was one of my reasons not to. I spent my youth deflecting annoying questions of people asking me why I decided not to have children and their argument was who would take care of you when you are older? I told them to piss off and stick it when the sun don’t shine which I have learned it’s not real place because I was confused why people keep asking me to store stuff there when I live around equator. Again, not sure if it’d make you feel better or worse, I believe this is an unspoken worries of everyone. Even those with loved ones. I stayed alone and apart from my spouse for 12 years now and there were times when I thought if I died he wouldn’t know and nobody would find me for a while because I don’t have close friends here. If I was in an accident on the road, who would feed my dog and rescue him? So, I made my preparation like telling my dog’s original grandma where I hide my key in the garden and his water bowl is always filled to the brim whenever I am out etc and I try not to think about it anymore. For me, it’s not a problem if I’m gone, I don’t think I will care when it happens, as long as they are well. My favorite saying is death and stupidity wouldn’t be felt by you, but people around you.

Things will presumably pick up again next time VBS has internet access. (And certain other members also tend to be sporadic.) So don't forget to check in occasionally.

All ducks and pussy cats please stay!

You've already taken the first step -- simply realizing that you have some control over your own future. Having kids is no guarantee, of course, but it's one good possibility. Even having younger friends can be helpful, especially once you get to the age when people 20 years younger than you are adults. It's easier to think of the internet as your community, but that's no substitute for flesh-and-blood people in your neighborhood. I need to take that advice more often myself.

Hey, that's great work!

I hate my government, I hate the austerity they're implementing. Case in point: the fact that the unemployment benefits are being cut after two years. And of course some keyboard warriors say that they just need to find a job, but some of those people are 60, it's harder for them to find a job. Some of them do not qualify for government benefits, they are not the people who are too lazy to work! People are going to get evicted and end up homeless! And that is "the law" as an actor said in a play "the law is not human." And the law said during our history: owning slaves was legal, harbouring jews was illegal, homoseksuality was illegal. The law is not a good indicator of what is right and wrong!

Is that what you were making with his brushed-out fur? In any case, it's just adorable -- though not as much so as the real guy!

Gah -- I know what you mean! My "favorite" is when they're doing a full-mouth impression. The lower half isn't so bad, but when the assistant puts the upper goo-filled tray against the roof of my mouth, I feel like I'm suffocating. Fortunately for me, this is apparently a common reaction, because the assistant will gently remind me to breathe through my mouth -- which always comes as a bit of a surprise to me: Oh, right, I could do that!!!

It looks amazing!

Although I mostly use Google maps, sometimes they're not adequate. Not all businesses are shown, for example (presumably there's a fee), and what is shown may not be quite up to date. Plus I came across one case where the map was wrong -- or at least very misleading, due to inadequate detail. So I walked the short distance cross-country to our destination and asked how to get our car into their parking lot. Then of course you need to have the correct address. One time our insurance agency phoned us to make an appointment, but didn't bother to mention that their office had recently moved. We had to phone them from their old parking lot to get their new address.