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The Biography Channel is (for some reason) regularly showing the celebrated Grenada Television adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes canon. I haven't knowingly seen them before, and they are a delight. While some of the episodes are marred by annoying cinematography (one I watched this morning was really woozy with "clever" framing and closeups, and had an insane soundtrack) the acting is fine. I was put off, at first, by Jeremy Brett's portrayal of Holmes as a somewhat antisocial neurotic, but after a couple of viewings more complete character portrait emerges, and I like it. His Holmes, basically, is a sort of savant with few social graces, and part of Watson's job as his constant companion involves helping fill in the basic interpersonal skills he lacks.

There's a great scene in one of the first shows I saw where Holmes is interviewing a serving woman whose boss had been shot to death early that morning. She is clearly rattled but trying hard to maintain composure and dignity before a social superior like Holmes, who meanwhile is completely blind to her ordeal, thinking of her only as an information source. When it becomes too much for him to bear, Watson interrupts Holmes, whispering a suggestion into his ear. Holmes pauses, casts his eyes down, then quietly asks the poor woman if she'd care to sit down; she accepts with relief. This brief scene sketches so much of Holmes, the role of Watson in his life, and the stratification of the Victorian society they live in. I knew then that I actually really liked this show.

I didn't know that the Holmes stories were, uh, whatever the literary term is for an alternate present; that is, they have the conceit that the stories, written by Dr. Watson (and not this Doyle chap), are being published in the England that Holmes inhabits, and Holmes' growing personal fame comes about in large part from the popularity of these stories about him. (I seem to recall that Cervantes played the same trick with his Don Quixote stories.) In the stories I'm watching now Holmes is getting frequent calls to action from the highest echelons of British government and royalty, so I'm guessing it's a fair way into the canon.

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For the benefit of the half of my friends list who hasn't already mentioned it themselves, I'll note that there's a trailer to the new hitchhiker's guide movie on the Amazon front page.

• I am amused by some friends seeing the two seconds of Arthur being worried about Trillian and concluding that this means they'll be played as mutual love interests (which is contrary to the novel? I can't remember). Of course, they have a point, because as jadelennox recently wrote, the MSM typically decrees that men and women can't have any sort relationship except for romantic ones, so it's unfortunately reasonable to see one second of footage of a male character showing concern for the welfare of a female one and concluding that either she is his lover or he is hoping to make it so.


• So Arthur is actually British, then? I had it in mind that that he was made American for the movie... maybe it's Constantine bleeding across my Hollywood-adaptations-of-British-fantasies mental partitions.
  
  Ford seems to have an American accent, but that's OK, he's Ford. (OTOH, I can't not think of a pointed monologue I once heard from an Angry Comic about how black guys are often playing either aliens or people with alien qualities in SF shows, pointing to ST:TNG's Worf and Geordi as examples, so I squirm a little to see yet another example here. But OTGH, someone has to be Ford, and I think Mos Def will be a treat to see in the role; I loved him in The Italian Job.)


• Yes, Zaphod does have two heads, just not arranged like you think. They're both in the trailer, if you watch carefully. This could actually be played well. (Oh no, they put it on his ass or something! No, it's not that bad.)


• I hate depictions of the Earth blowing up. It always makes me really sad, even in a silly context. (A lesser reason I can't watch the new Battlestar Galactica series. The greater reasons being things like feeling deeply insulted that I'm expected to take deadly fembots seriously.) Basketball is a peaceful planet

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My relationship with these books is strange. I discovered them though their Infocom game, which I loved even though it was way too hard for 10-year-old me and I had to play with the Invisiclues booklet in hand. I then read the books even though I was really too young & stupid to fully appreciate them when I read them, but I could still tell they were good. They're probably the only examples of the (cough) "geek canon" that I actually read as a kid (outside of those books that are also childrens/YA lit). Really, I was more into Hardy Boys-level stuff at the time.

Something random

I have been, for several years, spending around $0.00 on new comics every month. This despite my oft-professed love for the medium.

I walk past one of the greatest comics stores on the ever-loving non-exploding planet several times a week. I also use the internets a lot.

So, to those who know me at all (or even think they do): recommendations?

Sounds like a tasty appetizer

Actually I thought this quiz was a pretty clever idea, if you're into this sort of thing. (Be careful if you take the quiz yourself; the site contains ads with audio.)


You're a Ravenpuff!: You are a very analytical and
ingenius person, someone that likes to invent
new things. The way you look at life is with
wonder, and sometimes you're even a little
naive. But people love you for that trait and
they feel the need to protect you from the
harsh facts of life so that you can retain your
innocence. You are very capable person and when
there is trouble people turn to you because
you're able to stay calm and collected. You
like balance in your life and you try not to
make many waves. Even still, if there is
something that you believe strongly in, you
will commit yourself totally to that cause.
Your weakness is that sometimes you can be
indecisive and perfectionist, especially about
little details and you drive people crazy
sometimes with these traits. With the
innocence of a Hufflepuff and the calm of a
Ravenclaw you will be loved in life!


Which Mix of the Hogwarts Houses are You?
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