Whats Your Favorite Case?

[Arcadia]

Oh yeah, hotlinking confused me for the longest time, because so many sites tell you not to do it. So I figured it was Evil.

 

But apparently all it means is to put a link to a photo that's stored somewhere else so that it shows up here. Apparently that's Bad because of reasons I am not qualified to explain. Something to do with bandwidth, I think? ???

 

Photobucket did indeed turn to the Dark Side, and started charging for the privilege of using it. A LOT. And cut off access or deleted the images. Boo! So if you see blank spaces where images used to be, it's likely because those images were stored on Photobucket. Or deleted from wherever they were stored.

 

Which is what will happen if you delete the images you've already stored on this site. But yeah, you should be able to. I've never done it, so I can't explain the process. I'll check it out and get back to you.

 

Oh, and hotlinking's pretty easy to do. At least, on the site I use, you just copy the code they give you (after you've uploaded the photo, also easy) and paste it here. Ta da!

[HerlockSholmes]

Sounds like witchcraft to me. Are you two standing around a large cauldron as you typed those last two posts

[Arcadia]

Uh-oh. Look out Hikari, he's on to us!

 

[Hikari]

Sounds like witchcraft to me. Are you two standing around a large cauldron as you typed those last two posts

[Carol the Dabbler]

As for whether it's possible to delete images that you've embedded in a post (rather than hotlinking to them) -- I don't know.  I likewise ran out of space years ago, before realizing the situation.  Tim has increased everyone's allotment since then, but I'm still leery of embedding.  I'll see if Tim knows.

 

Hotlinking is fine if the image lives on a site that you own or have permission to hotlink to, such as an image-hosting site.  But hotlinking can be "evil" if you do it the easy way -- by hotlinking to the image right on the site where you found it.  I figure it's OK if that's a commercial site such as Amazon (you're sort of advertising for them), or if you hotlink to an image that's already on an image-hosting site, or to a site that says they don't mind.  The case that can cause problems is if you find an image on somebody's blog or whatever, and they're hosted by a site that allows only a certain amount of accessing for free or for a certain price.  If you hotlink to an image on there, they'll all of a sudden be getting way more hits, which could result in the host site either blocking them or charging them more money.

 

That problem is magnified by the way this forum works, bringing up twenty posts at a time.  For example, if you hotlink to something in a post that happens to end up at the top of a page, that other site will be accessed every time someone loads that page, or twenty times more than you might think.  (And it's not just the active members who are accessing the forum -- we have far more members who have never posted, and some of them check for new posts on a regular basis -- and there are even more "guests," non-members who likewise keep up with new posts.)  You could minimize this effect by hiding your image inside a spoiler box, in which case the image will only be accessed when someone actually looks at it, but it's best to hotlink only to sites that you're allowed to.

 

Here's the Photobucket story, as it unfolded last year.

 

 

[Hikari]

I'll be giving hotlinking a wide berth.  Sounds like more trouble than it's worth.  I will have to do without posting any photos here, sadly.

[Caya]

Hotlinking is fine as long as the site that hosts the image is okay with it. The comic xkcd, for instance, has the URL for hotlinking to their comics under each and every one, inviting fans to share them this way. Just try to find out whether or not it's okay before you hotlink an image, and you should be fine.

[Arcadia]

As for whether it's possible to delete images that you've embedded in a post (rather than hotlinking to them) -- I don't know.  I likewise ran out of space years ago, before realizing the situation.  Tim has increased everyone's allotment since then, but I'm still leery of embedding.  I'll see if Tim knows.

 

Okay, gang, I found the answer (bearing in mind that I'm using a PC laptop ... other devices might work a little differently.) (?)

 

Look in upper right hand corner for your name. Click on the down arrow (triangle) next to it, that will bring up a menu. Select My Settings.

 

In settings, on left hand side, select Manage Attachments. And there you will see whatever attachments you have, how much space they're taking up, and on the right hand side, check boxes. Check the ones you want to delete, scroll down, hit Delete Selected.

 

Then listen to the wails as other members wonder what happened to that wonderful picture you posted explaining the Secret to Understanding Sherlock Holmes. :p

[Hikari]

 

As for whether it's possible to delete images that you've embedded in a post (rather than hotlinking to them) -- I don't know.  I likewise ran out of space years ago, before realizing the situation.  Tim has increased everyone's allotment since then, but I'm still leery of embedding.  I'll see if Tim knows.

 

Okay, gang, I found the answer (bearing in mind that I'm using a PC laptop ... other devices might work a little differently.) (?)

 

Look in upper right hand corner for your name. Click on the down arrow (triangle) next to it, that will bring up a menu. Select My Settings.

 

In settings, on left hand side, select Manage Attachments. And there you will see whatever attachments you have, how much space they're taking up, and on the right hand side, check boxes. Check the ones you want to delete, scroll down, hit Delete Selected.

 

Then listen to the wails as other members wonder what happened to that wonderful picture you posted explaining the Secret to Understanding Sherlock Holmes. :P

 

 

Thanks Arcadia.

 

I may have to remove the Christmas kitties I posted in December.  It's on the Cute Animals thread in Misc. Musings 'round about mid-December  . . our BBC Sherlock cast as cats, if you haven't seen it.  I saved all the pics to my desktop for my own amusement . . but if I want to ever post anything else, the kitties will have to go from here. 

 

Staying will be David Robb as a WWI-era John Watson in the Tin Dispatch Box thread.  Because he's so perfect for it.

 

[Douglas]

I'd have to say that my favourite "Case" is THE SPECKLED BAND! 

[Hikari]

2 hours ago, Douglas said:

I'd have to say that my favourite "Case" is THE SPECKLED BAND! 

Hi, Douglas, it's been a while . .!

I posted several earlier replies to this thread but it appears that most of them  have been eaten by the the Glitch (computer version of the Grinch) that surfaced when we did the upgrade.

I love many of the cases but if pressed for a *favorite* I will have to say THE BRUCE-PARTINGTON PLANS.  The second (and final) appearance of Mycroft is not the only reason, but he helps.  

I have always been partial to espionage stories, and in this case, we find SH engaged on a case which is essential for the security of his country.  This case has the requisite heft for SH's mightly instrument in the way that so many of the jewel heist cases, or romantic entanglements of the nobility for  two examples, do not.  

The Speckled Band is most definitely a crowd-pleaser and it's probably the story, apart from HOUND, that most people recall best from the Canon.  I myself am more cool toward Conan Doyle's adventures in sub-continental exotica.

Anyway, the best part of *any* case for me are the bits where SH and Watson are sitting around their bachelor pad bickering.  It appeals to my comedy writer side. 

[Douglas]

8 hours ago, Hikari said:

Hi, Douglas, it's been a while . .!

I posted several earlier replies to this thread but it appears that most of them  have been eaten by the the Glitch (computer version of the Grinch) that surfaced when we did the upgrade.

I love many of the cases but if pressed for a *favorite* I will have to say THE BRUCE-PARTINGTON PLANS.  The second (and final) appearance of Mycroft is not the only reason, but he helps.  

I have always been partial to espionage stories, and in this case, we find SH engaged on a case which is essential for the security of his country.  This case has the requisite heft for SH's mightly instrument in the way that so many of the jewel heist cases, or romantic entanglements of the nobility for  two examples, do not.  

The Speckled Band is most definitely a crowd-pleaser and it's probably the story, apart from HOUND, that most people recall best from the Canon.  I myself am more cool toward Conan Doyle's adventures in sub-continental exotica.

Anyway, the best part of *any* case for me are the bits where SH and Watson are sitting around their bachelor pad bickering.  It appeals to my comedy writer side. 

Hi Hikari,

Yes, THE BRUCE PARTINGTON PLANS was also a very good story; Yes,  HOLMES and WATSON's arguments can be very funny indeed!! 

[HerlockSholmes]

I can never answer that question. Or at least I rarely give the same answer twice. The Speckled Band is often near or even at the top of lists of ‘best’ Holmes story’s. The Bruce Partington Plans is usually up there too; it’s certainly one of my favourites. I’d always put The Hound up there too because it’s such an iconic story. I’ve always loved The Red-Headed League too and The Naval Treaty and Silver Blaze and The Norwood Builder and The Empty House and........I think you get the picture😃

[Carol the Dabbler]

I suppose it's a matter of "de gustibus non disputandum est," but could someone give me an idea of why you like Speckled Band so much?  Or Red-Headed League, for that matter?  I would place those two near the bottom of my personal list.

[Douglas]

2 minutes ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

I suppose it's a matter of "de gustibus non disputandum est," but could someone give me an idea of why you like Speckled Band so much?  Or Red-Headed League, for that matter?  I would place those two near the bottom of my personal list.

Hi Carol,

How are you?

Well, with THE SPECKLED BAND, at least, I just found it to be a very interesting, and well-told story; all the way through; but then again: all the stories are good!! So as you say: it really is a matter of taste; and taste is something which is hard to rationalise or explain, I suppose! 

[Hikari]

Carol,

I suppose the appeal of 'The Speckled Band' has to do with the innate fear and repulsion for snakes that most people possess . . .BAND has more of those horror elements that draw people to scary movies--reading about the snake slithering down the bell rope to attack an unsuspecting sleeper provides a delicious vicarious thrill.  Unlike many of the other cases whose solution proves to be more cerebral, this case is a true boys' adventure in every sense, showcasing Holmes and Watson doing their gritty detecting work in truly creepy, sinister conditions.  It appeals on a primal level, and contains all those elements of Holmes which are so associated with him.  It's consistently ranked as readers' favorite story, though Conan Doyle himself rated it somewhat lesser, though still in his top 5.  Wonder if Sherlock would deem it his favorite?  The scientific elements of the story do not hold up to scrutiny, of course--an exotic pit viper that lives in an airless safe and drinks milk is a fantastical creation, as is the idea that person's hair could turn completely white overnight.  That ploy wasn't convincing when Victor Hugo tried it on in Les Miserables.  

As one of the fairly early Adventures,  and probably the one Holmes story that even non-readers of Holmes might have read (it's featured in English textbooks for middle graders as a prime example of the locked room mystery), BAND is one of the more accessible stories for young readers, being high on the thrills.  Those images are indelible.  It's exciting and horrifying, but I don't think in the end it challenges Holmes very much.  It appealed to the Victorian craving for the Gothic, and doesn't seem to have lost its popularity since.  It's always been a bit too recherche for my taste.

*******

Of these two, I prefer Red-Headed League, on account of the extremely humorous character of Mr. Jabez Wilson & his extraordinary commission . . Dr. Watson is practically cracking up as he narrates the encounter at Baker St. with Mr. Wilson, and the Granada series cast rose admirably to the occasion, featuring one of the best scenes of domestic humor between David Burke and Jeremy Brett, and the crackerjack guest turn by Roger Hammond as Jabez Wilson.  Then the tone shifts abruptly as we encounter the villain of the piece, John Clay (played superbly by a young Tim McInnerney), who is revealed as a Moriarty henchman.  I would have liked LEAGUE better if Prof. Moriarty had actually been in it, but as the story of a humorous con turned into a deadly serious bank heist, I do think this is one of Conan Doyle's better ones.  I'm not sure it's in my top 10 but it's probably in my top 20.  

[Carol the Dabbler]

I've been downgrading "The Red-Headed League" because I could scarcely believe that anyone would be as gullible as Mr. Wilson, but perhaps I should reconsider.  After all, laughably blatant scams like "This is Melinda from your credit card company," and "I'm calling from Windows support" seem to be fooling enough people to turn a profit.  And as you point out, what's actually going on in that story is interesting enough.

Unfortunately for "Speckled Band," however, the implausible stuff is real enough in-universe.  And I must admit that I don't care for the title.  I'm trying to tell myself that the woman who uttered that phrase was dying and groping for words; maybe that'll help if I give it enough time.

[Juggler]

Just been looking through the Sherlock Holmes cases and i just cant pick one! Its like choosing an episode from my dvd collection to watch, i find myself in the mood for a particular case. SORRY wasnt much of a contributor 🙄

As for Granada,s Speckled Band,  (i cant remember if this is in the short story) the mention of the saucer of mik and what it was used for makes me shake my head in disbelief EVERY TIME 😖

[Carol the Dabbler]

36 minutes ago, Juggler said:

As for Granada,s Speckled Band,  (i cant remember if this is in the short story) the mention of the saucer of mik and what it was used for makes me shake my head in disbelief EVERY TIME 😖

Maybe the snake had previously swallowed a cat?    Yes, it's in the original.

 

[Hikari]

20 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

I've been downgrading "The Red-Headed League" because I could scarcely believe that anyone would be as gullible as Mr. Wilson, but perhaps I should reconsider.  After all, laughably blatant scams like "This is Melinda from your credit card company," and "I'm calling from Windows support" seem to be fooling enough people to turn a profit.  And as you point out, what's actually going on in that story is interesting enough.

Unfortunately for "Speckled Band," however, the implausible stuff is real enough in-universe.  And I must admit that I don't care for the title.  I'm trying to tell myself that the woman who uttered that phrase was dying and groping for words; maybe that'll help if I give it enough time.

As with the much later "The Lion's Mane", the murderer is an exotic zoological specimen and it's hiding in plain sight in the title.  I need to re-read the story, but I'm thinking that since Holmes possessed Helen Stonor's dying declaration as to the identity of her killer, all that remained was to figure out how it got into her room to kill her.

The true villain of this story is, of course, the evil stepfather, Dr. Grimsby Rylott.  The snake did the deed, but it was only an animal behaving according to training and nature (well, the behavior of this snake is somewhat unnatural for its species).  But we can't really blame the snake for the death of the women any more than we can blame the gun that delivers the fatal bullet.  For that we have to blame the shooter, and this snake was the gun under the control of Rylott.  As a method of homicide (pseudo infanticide, since the girls were under the alleged care and protection of their stepfather) it's definitely inventive.

[HerlockSholmes]

I can’t help recalling an episode of the Russian Holmes series starring Vasili Livanov which is based on The Speckled Band. It’s worth watching if anyone hasn’t seen it by the way. The subtitles were a bit sub par though and often humorously so. So in this episode Stoke Moran became Stock Moron!

With Doyle we have to turn a blind eye to the fact that there’s no such snake as a swamp adder but I don’t mind doing that. We have a classic ‘evil step-father’ as Hikari said added to the creepy house with dangerous animals roaming the ground and even a few potentially sinister gypsies thrown in.

I think that the first thing that attracted me to The Red Headed League was the outlandish idea of the league itself. I can always picture Brett describing Athelney Jones as “an absolute imbecile at his profession...”

[Hikari]

28 minutes ago, HerlockSholmes said:

I can’t help recalling an episode of the Russian Holmes series starring Vasili Livanov which is based on The Speckled Band. It’s worth watching if anyone hasn’t seen it by the way. The subtitles were a bit sub par though and often humorously so. So in this episode Stoke Moran became Stock Moron!

With Doyle we have to turn a blind eye to the fact that there’s no such snake as a swamp adder but I don’t mind doing that. We have a classic ‘evil step-father’ as Hikari said added to the creepy house with dangerous animals roaming the ground and even a few potentially sinister gypsies thrown in.

I think that the first thing that attracted me to The Red Headed League was the outlandish idea of the league itself. I can always picture Brett describing Athelney Jones as “an absolute imbecile at his profession...”

Herl,

Re. Athelney Jones (another of Conan Doyle's inventive monikers . . .he came up with 'Athelney' but failed to give Holmes's favorite Yarder, G. Lestrade, a first name . .somewhat quizzical, no?) I was surprised to see him given a starring role in Anthony Horowitz's Moriarty.  He is described in the Canon as being antagonistic to Holmes . . . but Horowitz amplifies this character,  giving us a touching portrait of a man who has dedicated his life to emulating the methods of Sherlock Holmes, to an obsessive level, so much does he admire the Great Detective.  Any animosity in their exchanges is due to the inferiority which Jones feels in the presence of his idol.  Jones's hero worship of Holmes is creating tensions in his marriage and his work.  We pick up with Jones post-Reichenbach, and he's gone a bit to pieces thinking that Holmes is dead.

This has come to me just now as I was typing the above, but I can't help but wonder if Mofftiss were inspired by Athelney Jones when creating 'Phil Anderson'.  I'm pretty sure of it.

[HerlockSholmes]

6 hours ago, Hikari said:

Herl,

Re. Athelney Jones (another of Conan Doyle's inventive monikers . . .he came up with 'Athelney' but failed to give Holmes's favorite Yarder, G. Lestrade, a first name . .somewhat quizzical, no?) I was surprised to see him given a starring role in Anthony Horowitz's Moriarty.  He is described in the Canon as being antagonistic to Holmes . . . but Horowitz amplifies this character,  giving us a touching portrait of a man who has dedicated his life to emulating the methods of Sherlock Holmes, to an obsessive level, so much does he admire the Great Detective.  Any animosity in their exchanges is due to the inferiority which Jones feels in the presence of his idol.  Jones's hero worship of Holmes is creating tensions in his marriage and his work.  We pick up with Jones post-Reichenbach, and he's gone a bit to pieces thinking that Holmes is dead.

This has come to me just now as I was typing the above, but I can't help but wonder if Mofftiss were inspired by Athelney Jones when creating 'Phil Anderson'.  I'm pretty sure of it.

Here I go cursing my memory again but I once read something in an article concerning Athelney Jones but I can’t recall where. I think the gist of it was that Athelney Jones might have been a double barrelled name. Wasn’t there a Holmes story which involved an officer called Peter Jones? I think that the writer was suggesting that Peter Jones And Athelney Jones might have been one and the same ie Peter Athelney Jones. If only I had a memory☹️

Yes it is strange that Lestrade was never given a Christian name. In pastiches George has been used more than once. The same with Sholto for some reason,

From the way that you describe Athelney Jones in Horowitz book you could be describing Anderson too. He started out as antagonistic but ended up an acolyte obsessed with guilt over his death. Someone needs to ask Moftiss if they read Horowitz? 

[Carol the Dabbler]

4 hours ago, HerlockSholmes said:

Here I go cursing my memory again but I once read something in an article concerning Athelney Jones but I can’t recall where. I think the gist of it was that Athelney Jones might have been a double barrelled name. Wasn’t there a Holmes story which involved an officer called Peter Jones? I think that the writer was suggesting that Peter Jones And Athelney Jones might have been one and the same ie Peter Athelney Jones.

Seems to me there are a goodly number of double-barrelled names in ACD canon, and even though it's my impression that police officers are not typically drawn from ranks elite enough for such nomenclature, well, that could explain a lot about -- may I call him AJ?  Maybe he always wanted to be a policeman, so Daddy bought him an inspectorship?  Or perhaps he's not actually elite, merely snobbish enough to affect a double surname (perhaps, as you hint, appropriating his middle name -- as his author did).

I was attempting (but failing) to track down another double-named character that I faintly recalled, when I came across this quote from The Illustrious Client:

Quote

“I know no more than this message tells me.”

It was from the Carlton Club and dated the evening before.

I'd read the story, but never noticed that club name before.  I suppose it's merely a coincidence, but the house used for exterior shots of the Diogenes Club in Sherlock is actually located at #10 Carlton House Terrace, not too far from the Diogenes Club's canonical location on Pall Mall.  And while I was verifying the canonical address, I inevitably came upon this quote in The Greek Interpreter:

Quote

We had reached Pall Mall as we talked, and were walking down it from the St. James's end. Sherlock Holmes stopped at a door some little distance from the Carlton, and, cautioning me not to speak, he led the way into the hall.

There's that name Carlton again!  (Is "the Carlton" the Carlton House that the street's named for?  Or is the Carlton Club real?)  And I haven't even mentioned Benedict Cumberbatch's (second) middle name (or his father's, or his son's).  This is just a bit spooky.

OK, here's some info from Wikipedia:

Quote

Carlton House was a mansion in London [....]. It faced the south side of Pall Mall [....]. The location of the house, now replaced by Carlton House Terrace....

So that apparently explains both "the Carlton" and "Carlton House."  Wonder if the Carlton Club was named for the mansion?  And what about the Cumberbatch connection?

This started out to be a brief post....

Added:  There really is a Carlton Club (very exclusive!), which got its name by having its first location on "Carlton Terrace" -- which is presumably not the same as Carlton House Terrace, because that apparently did not yet exist in Holmes's time.  There seem to be a number of Carlton Terraces in greater London.

[HerlockSholmes]

12 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

Seems to me there are a goodly number of double-barrelled names in ACD canon, and even though it's my impression that police officers are not typically drawn from ranks elite enough for such nomenclature, well, that could explain a lot about -- may I call him AJ?  Maybe he always wanted to be a policeman, so Daddy bought him an inspectorship?  Or perhaps he's not actually elite, merely snobbish enough to affect a double surname (perhaps, as you hint, appropriating his middle name -- as his author did).

I was attempting (but failing) to track down another double-named character that I faintly recalled, when I came across this quote from The Illustrious Client:

I'd read the story, but never noticed that club name before.  I suppose it's merely a coincidence, but the house used for exterior shots of the Diogenes Club in Sherlock is actually located at #10 Carlton House Terrace, not too far from the Diogenes Club's canonical location on Pall Mall.  And while I was verifying the canonical address, I inevitably came upon this quote in The Greek Interpreter:

There's that name Carlton again!  (Is "the Carlton" the Carlton House that the street's named for?  Or is the Carlton Club real?)  And I haven't even mentioned Benedict Cumberbatch's (second) middle name (or his father's, or his son's).  This is just a bit spooky.

OK, here's some info from Wikipedia:

So that apparently explains both "the Carlton" and "Carlton House."  Wonder if the Carlton Club was named for the mansion?  And what about the Cumberbatch connection?

This started out to be a brief post....

Added:  There really is a Carlton Club (very exclusive!), which got its name by having its first location on "Carlton Terrace" -- which is presumably not the same as Carlton House Terrace, because that apparently did not yet exist in Holmes's time.  There seem to be a number of Carlton Terraces in greater London.

Carol, you’ve certainly been doing some detective work👍

The Carlton Club was originally in Pall Mall from 1832 but it’s now in St James Road. It was the original headquarters of the Conservative Party and is still associated with the party although they now have new more modern headquarters. As you said it’s a very exclusive club.

I looked this up (I won’t try and claim I knew it all😃) Carlton House Terrace was original part of St James Palace grounds which had a house on the site. It was owned in the early 18th century by a man called Henry Boyle who became Baron Carleton, hence the name (although the spelling changed.) The Palace and grounds were demolished in the 1820’s when the Royal Family moved to Buckingham Palace. Carlton House Terrace is still a Crown Property.

An interesting suggestion on the double-barrelled name.