by the sea

Channeling Sherlock today, are we? I'm afraid I'm right there with you..... Well, some people can be a bit insensitive, tend not to think before they speak, want everybody to subscribe to their personal philosophies and work hard at putting down those who don't and the least tolerant often seem to have the largest ... or maybe loudest ... platform. STUPID is a good word, though. BTW, how can Julius Caesar be performed now that that there aren't any ancient Romans left ? Debbie

The topic could be discussed forever, but here is one definition of "actor" : "An actor (alternatively actress for a female) is a person portraying a character in a dramatic or comic production." He .. or she .. portrays or interprets the character in their production. Doesn't mean he .. or she .. has to be anything like the character in reality. That's the actor's art .. to make audiences believe the actor is the character. Fortunately for his fans, Mr. Cumberbatch excels at his art and while we're watching him interpret a character, we can believe his gay mathematical genius, menacing villain from the future or high functioning sociopathic detective without him having to be any of those things when he goes home at the end of the day. Debbie

Well, I think the "yummy-ness" thing kind of threw him and where he made a decent recovery, he does seem to go on when he's flustered. Who can blame him ? It was disrespectful and I'm happy, based on the accent of the questioner, that she wasn't a Canadian, as I'm hoping the majority of us have better manners. People will do the dumbest things to be noticed. Debbie

LOL ! I'm just glad he shaved. Debbie

Here's more TIFF stuff with some good shots of His Cumberbatchness in the middle ... just keep scrolling along ! http://arts.nationalpost.com/2014/09/10/tiff-red-carpet-diary-day-6-photos-of-benedict-cumberbatch-lesser-stars/ Debbie

Ah ... once more into the fray. I agree with T.o.b.y. on this ... this part is purely Mycroft but you have to drop the "now" from his question ... "oh Sherlock, what have you done ? " It sounds to me almost like a question asked in anguish, as we see his little brother ... this little boy ... caught in this terrible drama ... something with the potential to prevent even Mycroft from saving the day. It strikes me as a tiny bit of insight into Mycroft's ... dare I say it ? ... humanity. Debbie

Mr. Cumberbatch is in Toronto ... alas, so near and yet so far away ! http://www.torontosun.com/2014/09/08/tiff-2014-benedict-cumberbatch-wishes-he-could-see-more-of-Toronto Debbie

LOL ! To each his (or her) own, I guess. Debbie

May the Powers That Be bless PBS ... even if the Buffalo channel does bleep the swear words on the British shows. At least they have the British shows and not too many people shoveling muck ! Their travel shows are great, too ! I'm currently in conflict with Netflix, I'm afraid ... it would require really bad language to describe it. Debbie

My solution as well, Carol. My bookcases floweth over ! The trend towards "reality" shows has me scratching my head daily. I see advertisements for shows about storage lockers and pawn brokers and people shoveling mud and more and I can't for the life of me figure out who would watch them. Everybody does, of course, so, once again, it's me who's out of step. Raising Asia ... YIKES ! Duck Dynasty is a special favourite where I work. One of my colleagues is getting married this month and her fiance is incorporating elements of this show into his wedding attire. And I say ... what ??? I've never watched it, though ... so I know I shouldn't be pointing a finger at those who do. I've never watched Survivor or anything of that sort either. I watch TV to get away from reality, I guess. If I want to watch people bitching at each other I can take a walk in the mall. Debbie

LOL ! I love it ... road rage as a trip down memory lane ! I'm not especially mild-mannered but I am pretty conservative ... but I learned to drive near a BIG city and road rage was part of the experience and nothing is sacred when I'm behind the wheel. My colleagues frequently comment they're surprised I'm still alive ... amazed than another driver hasn't taken exception to my outbursts and tried to shut me up ! I whacked a car with my umbrella once while I was standing on the sidewalk ... the driver went right through my pedestrian crossing light just as I was bout to step out onto the road. I didn't yell at him, though ... just the whack. To paraphrase my old friend Buffy ... often cars and Debbie are un-mixy things ! BTW, I didn't know him very long, but I don't remember my granddad ever swearing. Can't say the same for my dad ! Debbie

Well, I grew up in the Navy and, as previously mentioned, I live in New Brunswick ... so 4-letter words, particularly the one starting with F, are very commonplace. I believe it's time we started cleaning up the way we speak, although I admit to having used what we affectionately call "swear words" since I can remember talking ... although my mother insists my first word was "cookie" ... forget that MaMa DaDa stuff ! I got into the elevator at work one day with a young man and his buddy and his conversation was an exercise in trying to use the F word as every other word in his sentences. He managed to do this quite well and I would have been rather impressed if it hadn't been so f---in' stupid ! What is language coming to when what serves well (perhaps) as an expletive (defined as: an interjectory word or expression, frequently profane; an exclamatory oath) becomes the main course of your discourse ?? And, T.o.b.y. ... are you familiar with FUBAR ? It gets used a lot around here. Debbie

I know it's off topic, but can you tell me why the more mainstream networks in the US are still deleting three and four letter words ? Something like jack--- can hardly be offensive at this point. My HD PBS channel is WNED (Buffalo NY ... although I don't know why we don't get WGBH in Boston which is geographically much closer to us) and I've recorded British shows that have lost all sense because of the bleeping. One might argue that means there's WAY too much swearing going on, but what the h--- ?? It's the way a lot of people talk. Debbie

Oh ? I had no idea. I must listen more ... up to now, I've mostly been reading. Not that it'll make much difference to me. I live in New Brunswick and we all talk like that ! Debbie

Well, sometimes he almost seems too good to be true, so it's interesting to see he can be like the rest of us. He's so busy, maybe he felt the need to relax and got a little carried away ! Debbie

And he answered the challenge: http://time.com/3160643/benedict-cumberbatch-als-ice-bucket-challenge/ Debbie

He does dispense some good advice, our Greg ... when asked by the reporters how to prevent the suicides in ASIP, he says, quite sensibly "don't commit suicide" ! Gotta appreciate a man who doesn't complicate things.

He's Gavin .... er Greg !! I see that they call him small and rat-like in the books, but I think he's rather handsome ... our Greg. Debbie

You're right, Arcadia ! This furry fella should be up for an Emmy !! Debbie

Thank you, Carol. I was in Walmart yesterday and they had The Hobbit for $10 CAD ... unfortunately, it was sold out. I've heard nothing but good things about Fargo and have no objection to "the dark side". I think I was looking at The Office as something else, so I'll see if I can get my hands on it first maybe. I'm hoping I don't have Mr. Freeman so firmly planted in my mind as John Watson that I won't be able to see him as somebody else. He's such a wonderful actor, I'm sure that won't happen, though. Debbie

Thank you all for the viewing advice. I admit to having an odd sense of humour and tend not to find most "comedies" particularly funny but I'm sure I can track down the shows noted and take a look. I'm especially interested in The Hobbit. Don't know how I've managed to have it slide under my radar for so long . Debbie

I've got to thank you for the Zooborns site, Martina. I check it out almost every day. Just love those critters ! This is a Pygmy Hedgehog. Who new they had such creatures ?? Look at his little face ! Debbie

No, Carol, I haven't. Is there any show you'd recommend for my first venture into the performances of Martin Freeman away from Sherlock ?? Debbie

Ahhhh ... Firefly ! Nathan Fillion would make a wonderful partner with Elmer Fudd, he's such a beautiful Canadian guy !! I love Castle, my PVR overfloweth ! But, to me, the romance of the partnership ... the definite sparkage ... overshadows the partnership of the partnership ... if you see what I mean. House and Wilson are kind of close to Sherlock and John ... and I'm a big fan of Mr. Leonard ... but towards the end, House was so annoying, I couldn't watch anymore. I can't seem to get enough of Sherlock and John, however ... I know it'll probably wear off. It's my nature ! But for now, I can't really get distressed about HLV ... except that we have to wait so long until we get some new Sherlock drama. Debbie

No, Carol, I haven't seen The Hobbit ... nor have I read the books, so I'm not familiar with the Bilbo character at all. I agree that over-the-top performances are not my favourites and find that the intensity of Mr. Freeman's Watson is just about what I appreciate the most about Sherlock ... you can see his struggle to hold onto his emotions, to keep things logical and in perspective, even when they make no sense. That's a lot of the fun of TEH ... the early parts where John just loses it when he sees Sherlock alive and well and living in London. Sherlock's appearance unleashes all that pent-up anger. We know that John will fall in line because he really does enjoy being Sherlock Holmes' Dr. Watson, but, for a brief while, his wall of reserve was broken. And you feel it with him ... he's a joy to watch. Debbie