Arcadia

To get back ... sort of ... to the topic... I think I've told this story before, but I once painted a scene of the local train station, and included a pedestrian that happened to be walking by as I was painting ... mostly because I felt that, being a city scene, a human should appear somewhere in it. Here it is: Sometime later I met the person who bought it, who began telling me what "deep meaning" it had. Something about the figure representing my father and the bird having some significance or other. My response was similar to Frost's; it's a picture of a guy walking past a train depot. But he was convinced there was something more to it. Which is fine if he wants to read something into it for his own enjoyment. But if he'd published a blog about it and insisted I meant to say such-and-such, I would've been a bit put out. It's the fruit of my labor, I think I get to say what I did or didn't mean. So I have a lot of sympathy for Moftiss when people insist they were writing a gay romance, or whatever. If you want to see it that way, fine. But when the creators say what they meant, it's pretty rude, imo, to keep insisting your interpretation is the "correct" one. I've seen plenty of Johnlockers -- and others -- do just that. I may even have done it myself for all I can remember. Still doesn't make it okay, though. I do think ambiguity was built into the scripts from the start ... but I take Moftiss's word for it that it was all in fun, they weren't seriously suggesting much of anything. Although if that's true, it's amazing that the character of Sherlock seems to have resonated so deeply with so many of us. Although now that I think on it, I've always attributed that more to Ben's performance than the writing. *sigh* I miss Sherlock........

Was it Foundation, by any chance? I think I took a look at it, and decided to pass. I'd read something else by Asimov (The Gods Themselves, I believe) and found his prose rather dry. My tastes ran more to Heinlein and Bradbury, altho Heinlein's "adult" novels eventually drove me away; too weird for my still-forming tastes! I should probably go back and try one again, just to see if I have the same reaction.

I loved most of my English classes and English teachers. I don't feel like any of that stuff interfered with my reading enjoyment. Of course, it didn't hurt that I was good at it. What did do me in, however, was some of the books themselves; in particular Main Street, the most joyless, boring excuse for a novel ever written. Imho. Spoiled me for "fine literature" for ever after. I'd happily take quizzes and parse sentences all day if it meant I never had to read another word of "those" kinds of books. 😛

Just in case... I think the MCU has been surprisingly good so far. I wasn't expecting much; after all, it's based on comic books! But the actors, the stories and the visuals have been uniformly well done. The Captain America series in particular has been excellent, which really surprised me as I was never fond of the character. But they found a fresh way to approach him. I think most of the credit goes to the excellent casting, though. They had a roster of super charismatic leads. I think they will be hard to replace. Certainly I was not that impressed with the actress who played Captain Marvel, for example. But again ... we'll see!

I really enjoyed that book. How lengthy is the TV adaptation? That is something I'd be very much interested in seeing, especially if it doesn't require weeks of binging..... I tried to get my book club to read it, not a single one of them finished it. Phooey on 'em.

I think I meant diverse in both of the senses you described above, Carol. At first the MCU was about super-strong Western white guys ... Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Cap. Then, as in the comics, they began introducing supporting characters that were women, people of color, non-super, non-Western, and non-human. Now it appears the white strongmen are largely gone, and the front line is becoming people like Captain Marvel (super strong but female), Dr. Strange (white guy, but intellectual with Eastern-ish philosophy), Black Panther (I can't remember if he's super strong or just very athletic, but he's foreign, and a black leader, not a black sidekick), Spiderman (super strong white kid, but emphasis on kid) and now Shang Chi (Asian-style martial arts with an Asian cast.) And those are just a) the cinematic characters and b) the ones I know about. Also I gather Dr. Strange's next film is supposed to be more in the horror genre (alas). And I would say martial arts is its own genre. And apparently future stories are planned to be less earthbound ... which to me means more sci fi-y and less superhero-y. So they're obviously throwing out different stuff to see what sticks. The question is, as you say, are they doing this for the sake of good storytelling ... or are they doing this just to look more politically correct, and will be rehashing the same old themes? Have to wait and see, I guess.

Why would anyone.... oh never mind. 😵 😄 Oh yes! Back when I had access to PBS, I quite enjoyed that one. I didn't see it from the beginning so I never understood why Pullman was with them, so thanks for that! Great cast. I'd watch it again if I could, although I don't think it would ever transport me to the level of adoration I felt for Sherlock. It's more of an ensemble piece, for one thing. But hey, nothing wrong with that!

Hello Ali and Asal! Nice to meet you. Hope you enjoy your time here!

Actually, that's what I looked like too. But a cute boy, of course. Oy. I think I might, too.

Yeah, I tried to watch that a few times, but too grim for me. I like my crime leavened with a bit of humor, apparently.

I wonder if that could be a reference to the person known as "Deep Throat" (who later turned out to be Mark Felt of the FBI.) He provided, it is said, some of the key information that helped the reporters expose the Watergate scandal. I'm sure the Nixon White House thought he "talked too much"! However, the reporters were already investigating the Watergate break-in when they contacted Mark Felt, so his information didn't "start" the scandal. It just led them to the Oval Office. Still, he would be the most famous "talked too much" person, methinks. In any case, I don't think it would be an American event that 1972 refers to. Much more likely for it to be one of the other two events mentioned, imo.

Was Shang Chi a comic? Somehow I missed this one entirely. Although given that it's martial arts, perhaps that's not so surprising. I got into Jackie Chan lonnnnnnnng after I stopped reading comix, and I'm entertained more by his humor than his fighting skill. Will be interesting to see how the new crop of Marvel films fare. So far I haven't seen anything to suggest that any of them will have the same impact that RDJ had as Iron Man. That was an inspired bit of casting and set the tone for the whole MCU. Now they seem more interested in diversity, which is not exactly a bad thing. Wonder if it will pay off.

Since that was addressed specifically to Carol, I shall be a big hairy chicken and leave it to her to deal with. You two have made me glad I never really "binge watched" Sherlock ... not that I didn't intend to a couple of times, I just never could put enough days in a row to pull it off. But now you've made me more curious than ever to discover how I would react to this show all these years later. Lessee ... first I have to finish that, and that, and get ready for that, and do that over there, and follow up on that.... okay, I'll get back to you with my response in about 5-10 years...............

Pretty much what I said.

In which case I shall beseech you to restore my memory to pre-Covid levels. I knew I'd seen that information somewhere, but had no memory of where to look for it!

Hi Herlock! I believe the 1,007 has something to do with the number of likes you've received, and I'll have to look up the other one. Just wanted you to know I'm not ignoring you. Back soon. ETA: Okay, the 1,007 is the number of responses you've received overall, not just "likes". (1010, now. :smile:) Alas, I cannot find the answer to your second question. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the number of posts you've made, but I can't find anything that says "when" your rank changed. If I had to guess, I'd guess it's when you made your 1500th post. I suspect The Dabbler will know for sure.

Yeesh. I'm the one who's been largely absent from this forum for the past two years and yet I remember more about the show than you two chatterboxes. Tsk tsk. I think that's from canon, so don't blame our John. I don't think he did it to Sherlock's face (or with such vehemence!) in canon though, did he? At any rate, I never blame anything on John; it's all Moftiss's fault.

Why do you think we get along so well? Well, I phrased it poorly, because I never have time these days to figure out what I'm really trying to say, but I see you understood what I was asking anyway. You must dread living near lots of humans too!

I'm sure glad you said that, for a minute there i thought I was losing my grip on reality.....

I'm tempted, 😉 but I'll be merciful ... they reconciled with a hug and birthday cake at the end of TLD. In TFP they were lovey-dovey at every moment, as I recall. I.e., they were only on the outs for one episode. I could argue they were also on the outs for most of both TRF and TEH, but I won't. At least John wasn't physically attacking Sherlock in TRF, although I'm not sure calling someone a "machine" is much better.......

Is that an actual statistic, or a generalization? And what is the life expectancy of a cat these days, anyway? I seem to remember when I was a kid they were never expected to last very long, but of course back then they were always tossed out at night. Seems rather barbaric now, doesn't it? 😞

All of my childhood photos are currently in storage. So you'll just have to take my word for it that I was adorable.

Uh oh, Artemis, watch out, I sense a trap!

I have to admit, even though I know it puts them at greater physical risk (including the risk of annoying the neighbors ) I think it's better for a cat's mental health if they're allowed outside. My current roommate has two cats that are allowed to roam; whereas my indoor kitty isn't, for reasons. I think the two roaming kitties, in spite of the occasional tick and being chased by dogs etc etc, are much more content with their lives, judging by their behavior. My kitty's a little more uptight and requires more attention. Which I'm happy to give her, but sometimes she clearly wants something besides me and string. And the roaming kitties are inside most of the time anyway, because it's comfy. But they choose to be inside, instead of being forced to be inside, and I think that makes it more pleasant for them. If I ever get my own place to live, I hope I can start letting my indoor kitty go out. She'll be supervised, and it will be daytime only, but I know there's still a risk that wouldn't exist if I kept her indoors exclusively. But I think the contentment she will achieve will offset the risk. If the neighbors complain about her, though, I may have to reset my thinking. But it's never been an issue in the past with any of my other (roaming) cats, I doubt if it will be now. I have the option to live in a less crowded area, though. If I had to live in close proximity to other people, I might change my thinking. I might also go mad; I can't think of anything that sounds worse than living near a bunch of humans!

Yep. Same here. You thought they weren't getting along in TFP? Interesting. I thought they were the closest they'd ever been in that episode. I can't remember either of them saying a single unkind thing to the other, or being anything but supportive of each other, which is certainly not true in any other episode. Aha, maybe that's why I find it somewhat boring! At any rate, it is uncomfortable when they're not getting along, although I would argue that's rather the point; too comfortable is Dullsville. But I would never have watched the show if that was all it had consisted of, that's for sure.