HerlockSholmes

I suppose that we could put Holmes belated solution down to it being unlikely that he would have spent much time nature watching. Far too busy with his bees and his magnum opus. I have James Lovegrove’s God’s Of War but it’s been a long time since I read it. I also have The Thinking Engine. He’s also written a book called Sherlock Holmes And The Shadwrll Shadows which mixes Doyle and HP Lovecraft. I don’t have this one but it sounds interesting. It’s listed as one of the Cthulhu Casebook which seems to suggest that he may be considering writing more. I quite like McKellen as an older Holmes but I agree with you about the nose! I didn’t notice Nicholas Rowe at the time I must admit. A friend told me about it just after I’d told him about Douglas Wilmer’s cameo in Sherlock. I’ve just googled a picture of Alan Cox. Quite a change.

Yeah, I recognise the ‘zup, Homes?’ thing. Only a bit less irritating to me because we don’t hear it over hear though many of our teenagers aspire the ‘gang’ lifestyle. I’ve heard them called Plastic Gangsters! A good description.

The Lion’s Mane did exist and it’s common in the English Channel. I’d love to pretend to be clever but I just googled it

Any story with Holmes in is better than one without him for me but of course I have to admit that some are weaker than others (although I hate to say it☹️) I’d add The Norwood Builder to a list of favourites. I like the way that Holmes is on the brink of defeat, Watson steps in to encourage him, then he sees the bloody fingerprint which unlocks the case. A fingerprint of course that Lestrade thinks is the final nail in MacFarlane’s coffin. I haven’t read the whole thread but The Greek Interpreter is always worth a mention for introducing Mycroft.

Every single story is a work of imperishable genius! I’m not biased at all

Just a pointer to Doyle’s wealth (and I’m working from memory here). He contributed to a spiritualist publication called, I think ‘Light,’ or something like it. It’s been discovered that he contributed over £400,000 (possibly nearer to £500,000) ! I’m unsure of the comparisons with today’s cash but Doyle died in 1930! It would have been millions of pounds!

Apparently one little old lady harangued him by shouting ‘ you brute!’ at him. The Ma’am had told him not to kill off Holmes. Apparently in his diary for that day he simply wrote ‘killed Holmes.’

Just to add that he carried on writing Holmes stories up until 1927. After writing The Hound in 1901 he went on to write one more full length story and 33 short stories. 34 in 26 years! Just think how many more stories he could have written if he hadn’t have wasted his time messing around with spiritualism☹️

I agree Carol. He’s a bit of a star in this one.

I agree Carol. He’s a bit of a star in this one.

That's interesting, I never knew that. Why did he eventually resurrect Holmes when he could have written all his subsequent Holmes stories as "previously unpublished"? Was it purely public pressure? He held out for so long, I would have thought he could have stuck with it. Public pressure came into it. The circulation of The Strand plummeted by over 100,000 when Holmes ‘died.’ Doyle said that he didn’t really want to write more but was pressured. He also must have thought about the money. He finally named a ridiculous figure and they bit his hand off! Doyle died a very wealthy man but he never achieved his ultimate dream of being seen as a great historical novelist like Sir Walter Scott. He’s remembered more than Scott though, which is ironic.

Yrsa, I meant to say that I hope there is no howling dog outside while you are reading at night

Hi yrsa, In English it’s called The Hound Of The Baskervilles and it’s Conan Doyle’s most famous Holmes story and a classic. No spoilers here

I don’t want that to sound like a sexist ‘women are better suited to shopping than men’ thing?

I prefer to delegate my Christmas duties. I hate buying presents as I have a bit of a complex (although complex is probably too strong) about buying people presents that they don’t like but politely tell me that they do. So for a female relative I’ll give the cash to another female relative to buy the gift for me. Then I drop hints about what I’d like

I admire you for shrugging it off but I tend to get a bit Victor Meldrew about it (there’s a name that will confuse our American friends.....he was a tv comedy character old man who was always moaning.) I also hate it when you do something like open a door for someone or pick something up that they’ve dropped and they can’t even be bothered to say thank you!

Yup, the ‘innit bruv’ brigade tend to wind me up. They’re the same people who pronounce the word ‘like’ as ‘lake!’

Artemis mentioned in an earlier post about not liking ‘introductory hugs.’ I have to agree but what I hate most is the more modern ‘shoulder bump.’ There’s probably a correct term for this and I’m unsure whether it’s just a ‘uk ‘let’s-pretend-that-we’re-LA gangster rapper’s-thing?’ It’s basically where two people shake hands and at the same time bump their shoulders together. Why the need to invent a new greeting? What next? Perhaps a simultaneous knee to the groin? Or maybe a head-butt? It’s as pointless as people who wear their jeans almost around their knees! Grrr, don’t get me started

Hi Pseudonym, As you’ve never seen dolphins, here you go https://youtu.be/qz4gcO7Q9DE Hang on......perhaps you meant....oh....err....oops, sorry

I wonder how long it will be before someone writes a biography of ‘Sherlock’ just like the various biographies of Holmes (like Baring-Gould for eg) ? Isn’t it strange how we have to talk about ‘Sherlock’ and ‘Holmes?’

Sounds good to me Hikari

Whenever I think of Sweden I think of Surstromming ! (I know that there is supposed to be two little dots over the ‘o’ but I don’t know how to do it.) Welcome to the Forum from me too Yrsa

The new series on The History Channel called Zodiac: Case Closed is worth watching. I’ve seen 3 episodes so far. Much better than the HH Holmes ripper one.

Mycroft: I'll be Mother.Sherlock: And *there* is an entire childhood in a nutshell. J., This little exchange may appear nostalgic when it's written down, but believe me, Sherlock's English tone is completely sarcastic as well. It's not that he changes his tone in a particular way; it's a matter of emphasis. I'm pretty sure the face that went with it was sarcastic, too. In that scene Sherlock is being what we call 'a brat'. This is the behavior exhibited by an immature, annoying child. We see continually that Sherlock Holmes reverts to a mental age of about 12 (or less) when he is in the presence of his elder brother. That's why I believe that Mycroft was forced to become his legal guardian when Sherlock was a young teen. Sherlock acts more like Mycroft's child than his (fully-adult) sibling at those times. So, what is French for 'brat'? Maybe we even stole that word from you! Le brat! Hi Hikari, I just used an online translator and typed in ‘brat’ which came up as ‘gosse.’ Janyss can tell us if it’s correct. I’m wary of translations after seeing a Monty Python sketch many years ago. It was about a guy who wrote a Hungarian Phrase book but the translations were all wrong. So you see a guy entering a shop, checking his Phrasebook and saying things like ‘please fondle my buttocks.’ Or ‘my hovercraft is full of eels.’ All things considered, 'my hovercraft is full of eels' would earn some funny looks, but is less damaging than 'Please fondle my buttocks'. Because you know that some unscrupulous persons would take advantage of a foreigner to do just that. And in this day and age, God knows, you can find plenty of folks willing to fondle your buttocks without your intentional permission in one's own country! Congratulations on your promotion Hikari