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Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The Big Guns: Thoughts on Sherlock's Second Season
Sherlock's second season is very much of a piece with its first, which is--predictably--both a very good and very bad thing. The things that worked in the first season--Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch, the relationship between Sherlock and John, the witty overlaying of Holmesian tropes and stories over the 21st century--are still very much in evidence (though somewhat muted in that last case). Equally, the flaws that marred the show and held it back from greatness--its messy plots, the unwieldiness of the 90-minute format, the horrible writing for female characters--are back in force (though again, there has been some marked--if, ultimately, insufficient--progress on that last front). The one key differences is in the stories that Sherlock has chosen to tell in its second outing. Though the first season appropriated many of Holmes and Watson's most famous attributes, only a few of Conan Doyle's original stories made it onto the show, and those that did were fairly obscure ones and only faintly referenced--a brief nod to A Study in Scarlet in "A Study in Pink"; "The Bruce Partington Plans" as a subplot of "The Great Game." In its second season, Sherlock has broken out the big guns--the two most famous one-off characters in the Holmes canon, Irene Adler and James Moriarty, what is arguably the best-known Holmes story, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and the most iconic incident in Holmes's career, his confrontation with Moriarty and seeming death alongside him.
It will probably come as no surprise if I say that the results of bringing these stories into the Sherlock universe are mixed, but what's interesting about the ways in which the second season is terrible is that they give the impression that Sherlock is eager for the cachet of its source material, but doesn't entirely trust it. "A Scandal in Belgravia" starts out like gangbusters, cleverly updating the story of a shady woman with damning information about a powerful man who may be more than Holmes can handle. The episode's first half, which is very nearly a play-by-play of "A Scandal in Bohemia," is Sherlock at its best--tense, funny, fast-paced, and peopled with indelible characters. When that story runs out, however, Sherlock appends to it a complication in which Irene Adler's actions go from naughty-yet-understandable to villainous and potentially disastrous, and "Belgravia" devolves into a muddled mess. The sharp, quick-moving plot turns episodic, and the story seems to take forever to come to its close--not least because it has so many false bottoms. (This structural complaint does not address the equally valid, and equally damaging, problem of "Belgravia"'s handling of Irene herself, about which so much virtual ink has been spilled that I could hardly contribute anything to the discussion, certainly not in the face of Steven Moffat's own rather revealing response to the accusation that "Belgravia," and Sherlock in general, are sexist.)
"The Hounds of Baskerville," meanwhile, carries over little from the original novel but its basic premise--the legend of the Hound and the young heir who fears that he is its next target--a few character names, and the theme of pitting Holmes's rationalism against the other characters' superstitions. The story itself is scooped out and replaced with what initially seems like a clever inversion--few people are credulous enough to believe in spectral hounds anymore, but many would be willing to at least consider that the secret weapons lab next door is unleashing its test subjects on the local population--but whose execution is sloppy, rooted in the stupidity of its players (a top secret military facility allows its highest-ranking officers to choose a password as weak as "Maggie"), their inexplicable willingness to accommodate Sherlock (Mycroft just gives Sherlock the credentials he needs to enter Baskerville for the second time), and plain coincidences (John happens to wander into a room where the crazy-making gas is leaking), and whose resolution offers a "rational" explanation to the legend of the Hound that is in fact significantly less plausible than the original, supernatural one.
I don't mean to suggest that Sherlock's problem is that it deviates from its source material, but I do think that the ways in which "Belgravia" and "Baskerville" deviate from their sources are telling, and shed a light on the show's actual problems. "A Scandal in Bohemia" is an interesting story not simply because Holmes is beaten, and not even because the person who beats him is a woman, but because Irene Adler is so thoroughly uninterested in Holmes. She's in the middle of her own story that is far greater than him, and he is but one of the impediments on her path to a happy, private life with the man she loves. What's more important, however, is that by the end of the story Holmes recognizes this, and realizes that his client is the villain in Irene's story and that he, Holmes, is on the wrong side. Irene beats him less because she's smarter than he is--does anyone doubt that he could have tracked her down after she gave him the slip?--than because he's realized that letting her go is the right thing to do. It's a story that shines a light not only on Holmes's appreciation for intellect, but on his fundamental decency, and is thus completely unsuited to Sherlock, which has chosen to recast Holmes as an amoral sociopath. Sherlock is far from the first Holmes adaptation to have reworked Irene Adler into a villain, Holmes's requited love interest, and Moriarty's ally (Guy Ritchie's first Sherlock Holmes movie did all three just a few years ago), but its emphasis on Sherlock's need to be the smartest guy in the room--in the pursuit of which, not justice or the greater good, he humiliates Irene and leaves her to a gruesome fate--makes him seem a great deal crueler and less heroic than I think the episode intends him to be, even taking into account the "happy" ending in which he saves Irene's life.
The Hound of the Baskervilles, meanwhile (which I feel I ought to say is my very favorite Holmes story, and whose mangling at Sherlock's hands I am finding it hard to get over), does two things that Sherlock could never have countenanced. First, it sidelines Holmes for most of the story, sending Watson to gather evidence and meet the various players while Holmes observes from afar, only appearing to solve the mystery in the novel's final chapters. Second, despite its Gothic premise, the novel is in many ways a cozy mystery, driven by the tightly-woven, longstanding relationships between individuals and families in a small village, into which both Watson and Sir Henry Baskerville blunder. The plot is driven and eventually resolved by those relationships--by Miss Stapleton's confused feelings towards Sir Henry, or Mrs. Barrymore's devotion to her criminal brother. Sherlock is too invested in its title character and his antics to spend the bulk of a story away from him (a fact that "The Hounds of Baskerville" amusingly comments on when it has Sherlock pretend that he is about to send John to investigate on his own, then dismiss the idea as lunacy) or root that story in the emotional lives of one-off characters. I'm not enamored of the choice to make Sherlock both a sociopath and the emotional center of the show, but having made those choices, it was surely incumbent on Sherlock's writers to choose stories that would complement them. Neither "A Scandal in Bohemia" nor The Hound of the Baskervilles do, and it's hard not to conclude that they were chosen solely for their name recognition, with very little regard for whether they suited Sherlock's vision of itself and the kind of stories it was trying to tell.
Happily, "The Reichenbach Fall" does a better job of marrying Holmes to Sherlock. It helps that hardly anyone remembers what precedes the ending of "The Final Problem." The salient points about that story are that Holmes is determined to stop Moriarty, that he sends Watson away to keep him safe, and that he realizes that the only way to kill Moriarty is to lay down--or at least pretend to lay down--his own life. All of which is perfectly congruent with the way that Sherlock has built up both Sherlock and Moriarty. The episode itself, though by no means perfect, is probably my favorite since "A Study in Pink." True, the plot relies, like too many Sherlock stories, on coincidences and stupidity--Sherlock entertains, if even for a second, the possibility that a few bytes might comprise a computer program sophisticated enough to break into any computer in the world; the police are said to be stumped by Moriarty's break-ins but apparently never bothered to consider the possibility that he had help on the inside; Mycroft happily chats about his brother with an arch-criminal who has made his animosity towards Sherlock abundantly clear; no one ever explains how the kidnapped children were made to fear Sherlock--but these are in the way of go-homers, the kind of plot holes that only make themselves felt after the credits roll. And the story works, credibly suggesting a threat that could easily get under Sherlock's skin, and tying that threat to a series of well-crafted challenges that only lead him closer to his doom. "Reichenbach" is a sort of cross between "A Study in Pink" (it restores John, at least partially, as our point of view character, bookends the beginning of his relationship with Sherlock, and echoes the question of how a person can be forced to kill themselves) and "The Great Game" (which like it features Sherlock jumping through Moriarty's hoops on the path to his own destruction), and though it doesn't deliver the sort of highs that these (or "A Scandal in Belgravia") do, neither does it plumb their depths. The pacing, which is Sherlock's most consistent bugbear--most of its episodes lose steam around the one hour mark--is kept at a steady clip that obscures all but the most egregious plot holes without shortchanging the characters and their interactions, and the plot handles its high stakes in a way that is plausible and that doesn't veer into melodrama until very near the end.
Something else that "Reichenbach" does, however, is to drive home just how thoroughly Sherlock is committed to its vision of Holmes as the Doctor. That Moffat's Doctor and Moffat and Gatiss's Holmes shared a lot of their DNA was obvious already in "A Study in Pink," and in the intervening two seasons Sherlock has taken a very similar approach to its storytelling and character work as Doctor Who, emphasizing its central character, a superexcited blur of furious, and extremely funny, intelligence over his more recognizably human companions, and using moments of cleverness to distract from an incoherent overarching plot. The two series's most recent seasons even wrapped up in largely the same way, with the main character, who has for a while been aware that he is marching towards his death, faking that death in part in order to get away from the attention that put him in danger in the first place.
Which raises an interesting question: given that I find Who basically unwatchable at this point, why am I still--and despite all the flaws that I've noted in this review, and which have aggravated me over the course of this season--won over by Sherlock? Why, in other words, am I still debating whether Sherlock is brilliant or terrible rather than coming down, as I have in Who's case, on the latter side? Like Who, there's almost always something worth watching for in Sherlock--a particularly funny scene, an especially clever bit of plotting, and of course the two leads--and it could simply be that after a mere six episodes, Sherlock's novelty hasn't worn off yet. But the real reason, I think, that I'm still invested in Sherlock, and that "The Reichenbach Fall" works for me as a whole while "A Scandal in Belgravia" and "The Hounds of Baskerville" do so only intermittently, is Martin Freeman. Freeman is Sherlock's secret weapon--so secret that it sometimes seems that even the show's writers have forgotten about him. With hardly enough screen time or material to work with, he not only constructs a complex character--tough and vulnerable, bumbling and terrifyingly competent, fussy and adventurous, exasperated with Sherlock and deeply devoted to him--but gives the show something that Who lacks, a beating, human heart.
Season two, and especially "The Reichenbach Fall," make much of Sherlock's moments of emotion. These, however, often seem either calculated and cheap--as if, having built up the character's inhumanity to such great heights, even the most basic emotions, such as anger at a thug who beat up Mrs. Hudson or shame at having humiliated Molly, count as major development--or overwrought--not to bring this back to Doctor Who, but the final confrontation with Moriarty has more than a whiff of David Tennant and John Simm chewing the scenery at the end of Who's third season. It's John's emotions, which are on a more human scale--modulated by his awareness of society's conventions, and rarely operatic--that give Sherlock real resonance, especially when he's stripped raw, as he is at the end of "The Reichenbach Fall."
What season two, with its emphasis on the big guns of the Holmes canon, has brought into focus is that what's wrong with Sherlock is, well, Sherlock. Not the character, who is great, nor Cumberbatch, whose showier role makes him easy to dismiss but who handles what is actually a tough job with aplomb, switching easily between funny Sherlock, amazing Sherlock, and terrifying Sherlock and making great meals of all of them. No, the problem is the show's infatuation with Sherlock, and its willingness to set all considerations of plot and character aside in order to let him do his thing. That infatuation is the reason that "A Scandal in Bohemia" and The Hound of the Baskervilles are neutered in their Sherlock versions--because this is not the show whose main character can realize that he is a minor character in someone else's story, or step back to let John drive a story. The problem, however, runs deeper than simply a bad choice of source material, as "The Reichenbach Fall" demonstrates. Sherlock only comes together when it's told from John's point of view, when his normal, ordinary perspective is allowed to mediate Sherlock's extraordinary one. But the show is too in love with Sherlock to ever let that happen.
I think I'd be alright with Sherlock if it were simply a show that sometimes seems brilliant and at other times is just terrible. But it's getting harder and harder to watch the show veer between those two extremes knowing that it has the potential to be consistently great, and absolutely no willingness to fulfill it. That knowledge makes watching Sherlock one of the most nail-bitingly frustrating experiences I've known--it's probably a good thing that its seasons are only three episodes long or I'd go nuts. But hey, if nothing else, whether brilliant or terrible, at least it's never boring.
18 comments:
- Ian Sales said...
There was a lot, I thought, of Michael Kitchen in Freeman's depiction of Watson in "The Reichenbach Fall".
- January 18, 2012 12:35 AM
Great analysis as always, abigail.
One thing that you might have mentioned that strengthens your thesis is Mycroft's role; In the stories, Mycroft is actually the smarter Holmes brother; He's more intellectual, more aloof, less willing to dig into things. but in "Sherlock", Mycroft is yet another ordinary man, an observor of Holmes's genius.
- January 18, 2012 2:14 AM
A side note: The "fear gas" element of Baskerville is taken from a lesser-known Holmes story, The Valley of Fear.
- January 18, 2012 5:15 AM
- ibmiller said...
Er, I think the "fear gas" is actually taken from "The Devil's Foot."
As someone who completely agrees that the first season's casting of Holmes as a sociopath is a major misstep, I actually think the writers and actors tried to distance themselves from that choice significantly. In other words, I found Holmes' moments of emotion (particularly his interactions with Molly in both Belgravia and Reichenbach) a bit more than merely deviations from a pattern, but actual shifting in Sherlock's self-analysis. I think the way Reichenbach in particular deliberately invokes and then subverts Donovan's assertion that Holmes will eventually get bored enough to start creating his own crimes signals that the show is not interested in playing House anymore.
However, there is still Sherlock's claim that though he's on the side of the angels, he should not be mistaken for one of them - but I think that should be weighed against his goodbye to John, and John's evaluation of his character.
All that being said, I completely agree with you that Martin Freeman is the person who makes the show worthwhile. Had the show taken the recent BBC route of making Watson smart but antagonistic (Ian Hart playing against Rupert Everett and Richard Roxborough) or the Ritchie/Downey/Law route of making them basically just buddy superheros, I don't think the show would be at all worth watching. However, by maintaining the original's hero/sidekick heirarchy, but investing John with arcs, relationships, and a strength of will equal or greater than Sherlock's, it manages to create something unmatched since Edward Hardwicke (and Michael Williams on radio) played the character a decade or more ago.
That being said, I was profoundly unamused by the show playing John's split emotional attention between his girlfriends and Sherlock for comedy. I appreciate the original Watson the more because he can balance the two - but to make John henpecked and create even more ugly female caricatures in a show already riddled with them did nothing for anyone in the show or audience.
- January 18, 2012 7:43 AM
- Alexander said...
Excellent analysis that gets at a lot of what I find so frustrating about the show. Including a run through of the two and a half episodes of the second series that I didn't see that seem to match my general issues, as I stopped in frustration in the middle of the premier. In the end I don't share the ambivalence of the post, for better or worse, and find the irksome elements enough to drain any real pleasure from the viewing.
- January 18, 2012 8:52 AM
- Abigail Nussbaum said...
I'm really not sure how the show intends for us to see Mycroft. In most of the series he does seem to be quite clever - Sherlock says that "he is the British government" in "A Study in Pink" (which echoes Conan Doyle's version of Mycroft) and he's the person who came up with the plan that Sherlock exposes in "A Scandal in Belgravia" (which was actually quite silly and implausible, but was treated as clever by the show). Then you have "The Reichenbach Fall," where his failure with Moriarty is something far worse and more damning than being ordinary - it's simply inconceivably that a person as highly placed and influential as Mycroft is supposed to be could be that stupid. I'm inclined to read it less as a sign of stupidity than as a psychological issue - an unconscious desire to hurt Sherlock that Moriarty played on - but the show hasn't done enough to build up either Mycroft or his relationship with Sherlock to justify that reading.
I've seen theories that Sherlock was on to Moriarty's plan from the start and that Mycroft selling him out was part of his plan. Which, if true, would mean that Sherlock has taken one further step on its path to becoming Doctor Who, sacrificing the plausibility and emotional coherence of its current story in order to lay groundwork for a future one, which will, in turn, be just as implausible and emotionally incoherent.
I don't actually have a problem with the concept of "fear gas" - if anything it's a more plausible idea in the 21st century than it was in the 19th, and I wouldn't be surprised if something like it actually exists. My problem was first with the coincidence of John wandering into a room where the gas happened to be leaking (at just the time that Sherlock was observing him in the belief that the fear reaction was caused by something that turned out to be innocuous), and more than that, with the idea that someone could mine a bit of countryside with pressure pads that release the gas, and that no one would notice this despite the fact that there are tours to that area. The show even tells us that prolonged exposure to the gas causes long-term psychosis, and yet the tour guide Sherlock talks to seems perfectly normal.
As I said, I found the exchange with Molly in "Belgravia" calculated - a deliberate attempt to make the audience go "aw, he does care!" I was more moved by the exchange with John at the end of "Reichenbach," though given that Sherlock staged large portions of that scene, I wouldn't be surprised if his distress was an act as well (after all, we've seen him sham emotion quite successfully in the past).
That said, I do agree that season 2 has been hinting that Sherlock's assessment of himself as a sociopath is mistaken, and I think that that could be a very fruitful and interesting story. But I think that it would work better if it were told from John's perspective and gave us more access to his emotions, which so far the show does only intermittently - I don't agree, for example, that Sherlock has given John arcs and relationships, or at least not any away from Sherlock.
- January 18, 2012 12:02 PM
- Catherine Hill said...
"using moments of cleverness to distract from an incoherent overarching plot"
Thank you! This is exactly the thing that has been bugging me about Who for a while. I just haven't been able to express it nearly so coherently.
You make many good points about Sherlock. I find I mostly enjoy it while watching, but it doesn't always completely hold my attention. Plus I keep stumbling over the fact that Sherlock is so damn unlikeable and fail to understand why the other characters don't punch him more.
- January 18, 2012 7:18 PM
- Aishwarya said...
Freeman's Watson is by far my favourite thing about Sherlock. But I think the show has stepped away from the thing I found most compelling about the first episode - Watson's own issues, and his reasons for joining Holmes, make him interesting in his own right. Since then, though, I feel like they've used him almost entirely as a humanising (and human-emotion-translating) device for Sherlock (and I think you're absolutely right that the show's crush on Sherlock himself is its fundamental flaw).
Oddly enough I think the only sign of that character we've seen in season 2 is in his apparent inability to tell his own girlfriends apart - though as another commentor said above, I'm not a fan of this being played for comedy.
- January 18, 2012 8:16 PM
You make many excellent points. I find Moffat also uses quite a lot of telling instead of showing, especially for emotional connections and plot points which are present in the original stories but not obvious beyond lipservice in Sherlock.
- January 18, 2012 11:04 PM
- Abigail Nussbaum said...
Yes, that's very much how I feel too. As you say, there's a sense that the show is edging around these issues in season 2 - the characters who wonder why, given that they're not and apparently don't want to be lovers, John is so devoted to Sherlock, to the extent of neglecting other relationships or potential relationships. But instead of reflecting on what this says about John and the ways in which he is almost as weird as Sherlock, the show most often uses this as fodder for jokes about John and Sherlock being a couple.
- January 19, 2012 11:32 AM
- Simon Coward said...
"She's in the middle of her own story that is far greater than him, and he is but one of the impediments on her path to a happy, private life with the man she loves"
No, the impediment in her relationship with her current partner is her unwillingness to let go of her previous relationship with the King of Bohemia, and her vindictiveness in threatening to wreck any future relationship the King enters in to. If all she wants is "a happy, private life with the man she loves", then threatening the King is pretty stupid way of achieving it, and one which quite seriously calls her supposed intelligence into question.
Quite why this combination makes her such a feminist icon in so many people's eyes - particularly when compared to her TV counterpart - is beyond me. Her partner's thoughts in this are unclear and, as his position in society is never revealed, we don't know whether or not Irene's relationship with him would withstand the publicity she initially intends to visit on the King.
As to her victory over Holmes, it's not really anything of the sort. Holmes' task is to prevent the scandal and that's precisely what his actions accomplish. If they had not, and the story had still stopped where it did, the spoils would undoubtedly be with Irene, but he's got what he wants and so it's not a question of "letting her go is the right thing to do". He's solved the problem and, having done so, has no reason to follow it up.
- January 21, 2012 5:56 PM
- Abigail Nussbaum said...
No, the impediment in her relationship with her current partner is her unwillingness to let go of her previous relationship with the King of Bohemia, and her vindictiveness in threatening to wreck any future relationship
We mostly have the King's version of his relationship with Irene, but even that is suggestive. In her letter to Holmes Irene says that she was "cruelly wronged" by the King. Given that the King twice remarks that Irene would have made a magnificent queen if not for the accident of her birth it's pretty easy to guess what that cruel wrong was, which rather inclines me to sympathy with Irene's vindictiveness. However, by the time the story starts this is clearly no longer her motivation. She's been receiving the attentions of Mr. Norton (whose social status, by the way, is that he is a lawyer of the Inner Temple) for some time, and she marries him quite literally within hours of Holmes taking the case. So I do think it's fair to say that, whatever her motivations at the outset, by the time she and Holmes match wits all she wants is to be with her husband. She keeps the photograph as protection, which given that, according to the King's account, "Twice burglars in my pay ransacked her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice she has been waylaid." seems like a perfectly sensible precaution, and again, doesn't incline me to sympathy towards the King.
Holmes' task is to prevent the scandal and that's precisely what his actions accomplish.
No, Holmes's task is to retrieve the photograph and he fails. The scandal is prevented by Irene's own change of heart, which Holmes himself admits when he tells the King that they must hope that Irene loves her new husband and will thus be satisfied with her life with him, rather than returning to pursue the King. In the meantime, Irene not only spots Holmes and realizes that he has tricked her, but tricks him so thoroughly that despite her brazenly bidding him goodnight the keen observer of humanity fails to distinguish a man from a woman. Which to the best of my recollection is the only occasion in the canon in which Holmes is so thoroughly undone by an opponent. And that, in a nutshell, is why she's a feminist icon.
- January 22, 2012 10:22 AM
Having just this second breathlessly finished watching Reichenbach Falls, I agree with a fair bit of this in its detail, but oddly, not the overall conclusion (that Sherlock is just as terrible as it is wonderful) - perhaps simply because, like a high percent of the UK population , I find myself, rationally or not, as much in love with Sherlock as the series is - not because of the sensibleness of the plot of otherwise but because , unlike in Who, the lead actor is someone whose charisma could practically power the national grid. (As sad for the Who franchise as this is, you can only congratulate Cumberbatch on picking the right horse, when you see what Who and "being on lunch boxes" appears to have done for the next-as-good actor in the UK, Smith's predecessor Mr Tennant ..)
I am really surprised though at your implication that one of the major plot flaws of Reichenbach is that Mycroft is too smart to blab his baby bro's life to Moriarty. Surely the whole point here is that Mycroft is not stupid but ruthless - willing to namedrop his own brother's secrets to a known psychopath in the hope of political, patriotic or whatever it is that drives him advantage, and then with fractional remorse asking his bro's best mate to watch out for him after.
This seems to me not just a minor plot point but significant in terms of the whole season arc, which is surely, as you yourself kind of point out, about Sherlock;s growth from self-perception as psychopath to almost-human, via a waft of sexual desire and a growth of caring for his friends ; at the start Mycroft was clearly presented as the far better adjusted Holmes brother, clever too yes, but also socially performative , able to small talk, empathise, all that stuff - but this at a stroke paints Mycroft as as unfeeling/inhuman/Aspergers as we have been induced to believe (or in ep 2, by far the weakest and most obviously written episode, explicitly told) Holmes to be. Whereas Holmes, who repeatedly claims to operate best alone, to have no feelings or need for friends, etc etc, (one of the huge nailed-in Emotional Points of ep 2 in fact) is the one who is in the end actually willing to die for his friends.
*Except* he isn't: as we all half know from canon , it turns out Holmes is faking his death (no matter how), and in so doing, torturing his friends just as much as saving them (and audience acceptance that Moriarty's story is true and not delusional is important here; significantly we are given external shots of the disarming gunmen to objectively prove that part, in a storyline which mostly remains frustratingly ambiguous) So who in the end is the real Aspergest? Holmes, Moriarty or Mycroft? The greatest turnabout this show could have - and which I would have adored as a stroke of Alan Moore like retcon genius - would be if it turned out Sherlock really WAS a high-functioning fraud; a real leap away from Conan Doyle canon into 21st century po-mo ; and the one moment where i thought maybe we were really there and Sherlock was really not the Holmes of print updated, was his phone "suicide note" to John: for how could it make John feel happier to be told his beloved friend was dying a fraud rather than a self sacrificing hero ? *That's* the bit which to me doesn't make sense at all.
But sadly as you say, Moff and co are far too much in love with Sherlock to contemplate such a revolutionary rewrite. Shame..
- January 23, 2012 1:43 AM
- Abigail Nussbaum said...
Surely the whole point here is that Mycroft is not stupid but ruthless - willing to namedrop his own brother's secrets to a known psychopath in the hope of political, patriotic or whatever it is that drives him advantage
That's an interesting reading, though to my mind it still doesn't excuse Mycroft from the charge of stupidity - surely it's never a good idea to play into Moriarty's plan, much less to do so and then let him go. I also would have had an easier time accepting it if Mycroft had been defiant in the face of John's accusations, and simply admitted that he'd knowingly traded his brother for intelligence. Instead he seems genuinely surprised that his actions have had this effect - "I never thought". Which is not to say that the writers didn't intend for us to read Mycroft as ruthless, but the stupidity with which he's saddled in "Reichenbach," coupled with the fact that in "Belgravia" he's actually shown to be averse to collateral damage, bring me back to my observation to Omer, that Mycroft is too inconsistently and faintly drawn a character to be anything but yet another of the show's flaws.
The greatest turnabout this show could have - and which I would have adored as a stroke of Alan Moore like retcon genius - would be if it turned out Sherlock really WAS a high-functioning fraud
It would have been interesting, certainly, but as my brother pointed out after watching "Reichenbach," for Sherlock to have pulled off this elaborate fraud on so many people for such an extended period of time would make him just as extraordinary, and just as much of a genius, as being the great detective does.
As for the suicide note, I absolutely do think that it's kinder to let someone believe that you're killing yourself because of your own failures, rather than that you're doing it in order to save their life. Imagine the guilt John would have to carry if he'd known what Sherlock's true motivation was.
- January 23, 2012 12:15 PM
Please, never stop writing. :)
- January 24, 2012 12:19 AM
- George Pedrosa said...
Also, the fact that Adler's lack of interest in Holmes is usually taken by less talented writers to mean that she's cold, manipulative and, deep down, deeply in love with him is, I think, quite revealing.
- January 24, 2012 12:44 AM
- Dan Hemmens said...
I gave up on Sherlock after series one and I haven't quite convinced myself to go back to it, but all the problems you describe here are pretty much what put me off at the end of the first series.
I think the ambivalent relationship with the source material is a real problem. It seems unwilling to tell any story that isn't totally turned up to eleven.
- January 31, 2012 1:26 AM
- buddy2blogger said...
Nice review of 'A Scandal in Belgravia'.
For a different look at this episode, check out my review .
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Steven Spielberg is no stranger to docudramas. When the three-time Academy Award winner gears up to bring a true story to the big screen, he tends to have his pick of talent in front of and behind the camera. For his latest dive into docudrama, Spielberg is reuniting with Tony Kushner, who penned Spielberg's Oscar-winning Lincoln as well as his critically praised Munich.
Variety reports Spielberg and Kushner will collaborate on The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, a religious drama which will be produced by DreamWorks and the Weinstein Company. The film will follow the story of Edgardo Mortara, a Jewish boy who was taken from his parents by the Papal State of Italy in 1858 so he would be raised as a Catholic. Kushner will be adapting the screenplay from the nonfiction book The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, written by David I. Kertzer. Read the book's Amazon synopsis below:
"Bologna: nightfall, June 1858. A knock sounds at the door of the Jewish merchant Momolo Mortara. Two officers of the Inquisition bust inside and seize Mortara's six-year-old son, Edgardo. As the boy is wrenched from his father's arms, his mother collapses. The reason for his abduction: the boy had been secretly "baptized" by a family servant. According to papal law, the child is therefore a Catholic who can be taken from his family and delivered to a special monastery where his conversion will be completed.
It seems an interesting story, as well as one that seems likely to rattle some chains. But Kushner has never been afraid of a little controversy. After all, his play Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes dealt with homophobia, religion, and politics. It drew the world's eye to Kushner, winning him the Pulitzer Prize.
Watch a trailer for the Angels In America mini-series below:
Reportedly Spielberg is itching to get back in the director's chair to complete a follow-up to 2012's Lincoln, but insiders are saying The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara won't be his next film. For one thing, Kushner is only early on in the drafting process of this complex drama. Spielberg's next will either be Robopocalypse or Montezuma. Some insiders are saying the legendary director is leaning toward Robopocalypse as its pre-production is further along, with a budget nearly set and Chris Hemsworth attached to star.
Based on the novel by Daniel H. Wilson, Robopocalypse is a science-fiction thriller about what happens to mankind after our reliance on technology allows artificial intelligence to take over the planet and wipe out much of the human race. Alternately, Montezuma would be a historical drama that would explore the relationship between the titular Aztec King and Spanish explorer Herman Cortes, whose travels to Mexican territory spurred waves of new explorations that brought an end to the Aztec empire. Schindler's List scribe Steve Zallian is revising a script written by Dalton Trumbo 50 years ago for the film. Javier Bardem has shown an interest in starring as Cortes.
For now, we wait for Spielberg to make his move between these three, then make a movie that will blow us away.


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After Elysia's remarks giving me at least some idea of the reasoning behind these precompiled headers, I just started exploring these a little and have some questions.
First, VS also creates a file called targetver.h, which contains simply this:
I'm running this on an XP computer, and VS didn't put #include "targetver.h" into the file containing main. How does this file work? Do I need to put #include "targetver.h" in main in order to activate the macros that this file is somehow calling up?Code:#pragma once // The following macros define the minimum required platform. The minimum required platform // is the earliest version of Windows, Internet Explorer etc. that has the necessary features to run // your application. The macros work by enabling all features available on platform versions up to and // including the version specified. // Modify the following defines if you have to target a platform prior to the ones specified below. // Refer to MSDN for the latest info on corresponding values for different platforms. #ifndef _WIN32_WINNT // Specifies that the minimum required platform is Windows Vista. #define _WIN32_WINNT 0x0600 // Change this to the appropriate value to target other versions of Windows. #endif
Second, rather than the int main() that I have been using, VS supplies:
int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
Just to see how (that) it works, I ran a "Hello, World" from there, and it worked fine. I'm just wondering what the parameters are doing here. It looks like it's giving you the opportunity to pass an int and an array of pointers to C-strings into main if you need to ... (?)


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Hi all, :o
I'm a teen self-learning Java (Book I am using is Java in 24 hours - By Sams), I started about a week and a day ago ;D. And its going great! However i got one simple problem,just something i couldn't figure out. Here is a link, Click here.


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5 More SEO Essential Social Marketing Sites
Your SEO Social Marketing Arsenal: It's Expanding
A few days ago I compiled a list of 5 social marketing sites I felt were a must for any SEO to have in their back pocket. And, while there is some negative press circulating around social bookmarking/media/networking sites lately, I still think they are indispensable if you are going to build brand recognition and awareness. Not to mention a great way for people to discover you in the abyss of the web. (Hey, it's a big place and you don't want to be in the trapped in the black hole of the nether-web). And, if you can produce some good content, you can also build some solid links to your sites to help out with your organic ranking.
5 More Social Marketing Sites:
1) Delicious (del.icio.us)
A popular social bookmarking site around since 2005. Even though all the links are "nofollow" from del.icio.us, it's a great spot to build more backlinks to your site (you just don't get the linkjuice). And, if you use SEO for Firefox (a nifty tool you should have in your arsenal already) these are listed in the "look up" function. The trick to getting your URLs bookmarked enmasse in del.icio.us is to build up a huge network. This is great place to get deeplinks back to pages that you need to boost in organic rankings. What's really nice about delicious is you can add a toolbar to your browser (I.E., Firefox, Safari, Opera) to bookmark as you're going through the web. I certainly recommend adding this toolbar to your browser; it will save you tons of time.
2) Stumble Upon (SU)
Another social bookmarking site that's a little bit more visually pleasing than del.icio.us and more accessible in my opinion. SU has a toolbar as well (for I.E. and Firefox), that let's you "stumble" onto other people's bookmarked sites and vote them "thumbs up" or "thumbs down". When you stumble, you get sites from people with like-minded interests. Another site you need to be on and build up a fan base to increase the backlinks to your site. And, again, all links are "nofollow", so you don't get the linkjuice, you just get the link back to the page. Another great way to get deeplinks to deep pages in your site.
3) Propeller
This is AOL News' social media site. You can submit your articles here after you create a profile. If you can get your article/story on the homepage, you can get some excellent juice back to your site; however, unlike other social media sites, there "What's New" page doesn't have any juice. So you'll need to create some dynamite content and have a big network backing through a social sites to see PageRank benefits from this site. All stories are followed on Propeller.
4) Mixx
A newer social media site that still in BETA (read: fully functional, but can't be blamed for bugs and hiccups) It's not very crowded at the moment, and there is some pretty spammy stuff on there, but with the right content, you get all votes you'll need and transfer some decent linkjuice back to your site. I debated about putting this site in the Must Have list, as it was fairly uncharted territory, but my better judgment kicked in.
5) Mahalo
It's a human-powered search engine created by Jason Calacanis. It's sort of like an online directory, but not really. I recommend creating a profile and submitting some links. It's another way to get good backlinks to your site and some deeplinks if the MODS (moderators) think they're worthwhile. So there it is: the 5 more social marketing tools every SEO/SEM can add to their social marketing arsenal. If you know of anymore that you've found particularly helpful, drop me a line.
Comments are closed.


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Xbox 360 4 GB – Standard Kinect Description
This is a Refubished Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 Console with Kinect. Kinect brings games and entertainment to life in extraordinary new ways – no controller required. Easy to use and instantly fun, Kinect gets everyone off the couch moving, laughing, and cheering. See a ball? Kick it. Control a HD movie with the wave of the hand. Want to join a friend in the fun? Simply jump in. Wi-Fi is built-in for easier connection to the world of entertainment on Xbox LIVE, where HD movies and TV stream in an instant. Xbox 360 is more games, entertainment, and fun.


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Former U.S. Army medic indicted for fighting in Syria
A former Army medic from Arizona was indicted Thursday for fighting in Syria in coordination with the Al-Nusra front, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group working to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's regime.
The indictment handed up in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va. charges Eric Harroun, 30, with conspiring to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization and with conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction overseas. The weapons, according to the indictment (posted here), were rocket-propelled grenades and grenades. He faces up to life in prison if convicted.
However, Harroun's lawyers contend that their client didn't join with Al-Nusra and that an image presented to a federal magistrate in April as evidence of Harroun's affiliation with a terrorist group doesn't show what prosecutors contended.
"The government claimed in its Affidavit in Support of Criminal Complaint that Mr. Harroun broke the law by fighting with Jabhat al Nusra, a designated terrorist group, and by conspiring to use rocket propelled grenades in support of the Syrian opposition without lawful authority. The government is wrong," federal defenders Michael Nachmanoff and Geremy Kamens wrote in a motion Wednesday seeking release of Harroun. He's been in custody since his arrest in March as he returned from the region.
"Jabhat al-Nusra would not allow an American who had not been extensively vetted to fight with its members," the lawyers said, citing declarations from experts on the militant group, which is an offshoot of Al Qaeda in Iraq. The defense filing (posted here) appears to concede that Harroun admitted to fighting with Al-Nusra, but that he was mistaken.
"The video [of the press conference] makes clear that the group is not Jabhat al Nusra, but instead announces the formation a military force called the al Nasser (Victory) brigade, which is affiliated with the al Aqsa Islamic brigades near Raqqa in the northern area of Syria....The video is consistent in style with groups that are affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, and is inconsistent with the conclusion that the group is part of Jabhat al-Nusra," the defense filing says.
At a hearing in April, prosecutor Carter Burwell said it would be illegal for an American to travel to Syria and take up arms against Assad's regime with any opposition group--even though the Obama Administration has been calling for Assad's ouster and is backing forces like the Free Syrian Army. Indeed, the indictment filed Thursday suggests that any American using a grenade overseas "without lawful authority" has committed a serious felony carrying a potential term of life in prison—or even the death penalty if the government can prove that death resulted.
But the defense lawyers say in their filing that cases from the 1800s establish that there is no general prohibition on Americans traveling overseas to fight in military combat.
A spokesman for prosecutors did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
Harroun is set to be arraigned on the indictment on July 1.


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In case there was any doubt whatsoever, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller isn't planning to go anytime soon.
Miller, the nation's longest-serving Senate president, said in an interview Wednesday that he will seek re-election in 2014 to what would be his 11th term in that chamber. He said his wife has given him the green light to run again.
"I think she would just as soon I was down here instead of bothering her," said Miller, a Calvert County Democrat who also represents part of Prince George's County.
The Senate president said he has been raising money toward re-election and would not want to let down his contributors.
Miller, who recently turned 70, flirted with the idea of retirement after four years of struggles with Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Shortly after Ehrlich was defeated by Democrat Martin O'Malley in 2006, Miller said he would hang it up after one more four-year term.
By 2008, Miller had backed off his retirement plans, which had been met with considerable skepticism in Annapolis because the Senate president so clearly relishes his job. Now he's setting no sunset date on his long tenure.
The Senate president said he hopes to stay around at least until the Chesapeake Bay is cleaned up and Maryland's K-12 and higher education systems are the best they can be -- goals that could keep him around a long time.
Miller still has a long way to go to match the tenure of Sen. Norman Stone, a Baltimore County Democrat who will end his current term with 52 years in the Senate after the 2014 election.
That would take Miller up to 2026, when he would turn 84.


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ProsEasy-add router system covers your entire house with Wi-Fi. Very simple setup.
ConsCan get expensive for larger homes. App and router customization options are very limited at the time of this writing.
Bottom LineFocused on exhaustive coverage and super-simple setup, use, and expandability, Eero is worth a look if you have a house where all-area Wi-Fi connectivity is a problem.
With their easy installation and whole-house Wi-Fi coverage, Wi-Fi mesh systems are all the rage in the wireless networking market. Eero, founded three years ago, is one of the manufacturers hoping to shove the traditional router aside in favor of a streamlined, cloud-based approach. As with other Wi-Fi systems we've reviewed, including the likes of Google Wifi, Luma, and the Netgear Orbi, the Eero Home Wi-Fi System ($399 for the 3-Pack we tested) emphasizes ease of use and can be managed from your iOS or Android smartphone using a well-designed mobile app. It's a solid choice, though it's no match for our top pick, the Linksys Velop, in terms of range, features, or overall performance.
Why Get a Wi-Fi Network?
If you have a large home, Wi-Fi systems provide an easy way to install a far-reaching wireless network in your abode without the need for range extenders, access points, or additional wiring. Most systems, including the Linksys Velop, the Luma Home WiFi System, and Eero , utilize satellites and employ mesh technology that allows those satellites (which are actually individual routers) to communicate with one another and with wireless clients throughout your home (the Netgear Orbi, another top pick, is a bit different; it uses a dedicated 5GHz Wi-Fi radio band to communicate with its satellites). The main benefit of a Wi-Fi system is roaming connectivity; each satellite is part of the same network and provides seamless Wi-Fi from one point to another. That means you don't have to worry about logging in to a range extender or an access point as you move from room to room. And unlike a router/range extender or router/access point combination, a Wi-Fi system doesn't require much management or configuring.
The Eero 3-Pack we tested goes for $399, but you can purchase a 2-Pack for $299 or just a single router (which Eero refers to as a box) for $199. The company recommends one box for every 1,000 square feet. By way of comparison, each Luma node also covers 1,000 square feet, while the Linksys Velop and Netgear Orbi nodes each provide 2,000 square feet of coverage.
Design and Setup
The Eero name is a tribute to iconic designer Eero Saarinen, and when you see the product and its packaging, it's clear that some serious thought has gone into its design. The 4.75-inch square router looks like it's fresh off the Apple assembly line, with a high-gloss, white-plastic surface on top and a matte finish around the edge and rounded corners. The box measures 1.34 inches high, has a small LED indicator light at the front, and is stamped with the sleek Eero logo on top. Unlike traditional routers that are large and have several external antennas, the flat profile of Eero easily blends in wherever you place it. Each Eero has a connector for the bundled power adapter, two Ethernet jacks, and a USB 2.0 port, which is currently only used for diagnostics. Under the hood are a 1GHz dual-core CPU, five internal antennas, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of flash storage, and AC1200 Wi-Fi circuitry.
The packaging is no less stylized. The 3-Pack we tested contains a power cord (also stamped with the logo), an Ethernet cable, and three boxes. Installing your first Eero is as easy as sliding the cardboard sleeve off the box and downloading the free Android or iOS app, plugging Eero into a power source, connecting it to your modem using the accompanying Ethernet cable, and then waiting for the indicator light. Once the light blinks blue, you follow the on-screen instructions on your mobile device. Adding more boxes is just as easy; I placed one box in my living room (approximately 30 feet from the main router) and another in my basement (approximately 30 feet from the first box). The entire process took around 10 minutes.
Inside the Eero App
The thoughtfully designed mobile app lets you test your internet speed, and shows you how many devices are connected to the network, along with their IP addresses. But network customization is limited. For example, you can't change security settings or assign network priority (for Quality of Service) to devices like you can with the Linksys Velop, and parental controls are limited to an Internet Pause button and the ability to schedule internet access times for each family member. You can't block websites or filter content like you can with the Amped Wireless Ally Plus and Luma systems. However, you can change passwords, create guest networks, configure Port Forwarding and DHCP settings, and set up Eero to work as a bridge to another network. If you have an Amazon Echo, Dot, or Tap, you can use Alexa voice commands to pause access to the internet and turn off the LED light.
Eero was a solid performer in our throughput tests. Like almost every Wi-Fi system we've tested, Eero uses automatic band steering to provide the best possible performance. As such, these scores are based on the system's band-steering capabilities. In our close-proximity (same-room) test, the main Eero router (the one connected to my modem) delivered 469Mbps, which was a bit faster than the Luma router (457Mbps) and just slightly slower than the routers for Google Wifi (491Mbps) and the Amped Wireless Ally (508Mbps). The Linksys Velop router led with a score of 556Mbps.
The Eero box in the living room managed 139Mbps in the close-proximity test, and the basement box scored 93.8Mbps. The Luma nodes had a throughput of 106Mbps and 101Mbps, respectively, and the Google Wifi nodes garnered 182Mbps and 111Mbps. The Linksys Velop nodes performed much better, with scores of 328Mbps and 257Mbps, as did the node for the Amped Wireless Ally (326Mbps).
In our 30-foot test, the Eero router's throughput speed of 244Mbps beat the routers for Google Wifi (175Mbps) and Luma (76.1Mbps) handily and was right up there with the Amped Wireless Ally (234Mbps) and the Linksys Velop (236Mbps) routers. The Eero living-room box scored 151Mbps in this test, besting the Google Wifi (141Mbps) and Luma (77.2Mbps) living-room nodes, but not the Amped Wireless Ally (226Mbps) and Linksys Velop (238Mbps) living-room nodes. The Eero basement box's score of 84.6Mbps was a bit faster than the Luma basement node (75Mbps), but trailed the Google Wifi (117Mbps) and Linksys Velop (286Mbps) basement nodes.
The Eero Home Wi-Fi System is a good choice if you're looking for an easy way to blanket your home with Wi-Fi coverage without having to configure range extenders or access points. Installation is quick and painless, and its user-friendly mobile app makes it easy for even the most technically challenged user to schedule access times, pause access to the internet, and create a guest network. That said, its parental controls lack website and content filters, and you can't prioritize network traffic or separate the two radio bands. While throughput performance was generally good in our tests, Eero could not keep pace with our Editors' Choice for Wi-Fi mesh systems, the Linksys Velop. Granted, the Linksys Velop 3-Pack costs $100 more than the Eero 3-Pack, but it covers twice as much area, and the Velop 2-pack, which covers 1,000 feet more than the Eero 3-pack is $50 less at $349. The Velop is the best all-around performer we've seen, and it offers device prioritization and robust parental controls, as well as support for Multi-User Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) data streaming.


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Where is information on NYSA's Select program - NSC?
NYSA's select program is called NSC (Northshore Select Club) and is a club within NYSA. The select program is for multi-sport athletes U11-U19, who wants to play soccer from June to mid-December.
Click the arrow to view the NSC's program guidelines pdf document.


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KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – Minutes after Florida State University quarterback Jameis Winston led his team to victory in the Bowl Championship Series championship game on Jan. 6, 2014, he was conducting a post-game interview with a reporter on national television.
During the interview, with cameras and reporters surrounding him, Winston gave a shout out to his cousin, Army Spc. T'Ola Winston, a 4th Infantry Division soldier currently serving at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan.
"My cousin in Afghanistan [is] watching this game -- T'Ola Winston," he said.
Thousands of miles away, T'Ola, who indeed was in Afghanistan watching the game, smiled in joy. It was joy not for herself -- after all, not everybody gets a shout-out on national television immediately following one of the biggest sports events of the year -- but joy for her cousin Jameis, or "Jaboo" as she calls him.
"In that moment, it's beyond words," T'Ola said. "You can't even explain the joy I felt for him, knowing how hard he works."
T'Ola is a signal support systems specialist who joined the U.S. Army in January 2011. She is currently stationed at Fort Carson, Colo., with Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, and she deployed to Afghanistan -- her first deployment -- as an orderly room clerk.
She was originally scheduled to leave Afghanistan in January -- making for about a six-month deployment -- but when the need for a reliable soldier to work in the Regional Command South command group arose, T'Ola's name entered the discussion as a candidate.
At the time, T'Ola, who had previously wanted to stay in Afghanistan longer and serve as an orderly room clerk for another company in the battalion, was prepared to return to Colorado. When she was later notified about the possible position with the command group, she was hesitant at first.
After talking to her family and praying about it, T'Ola decided to take the job as the administrative assistant for Army Command Sgt. Maj. David M. Clark, RC(S)and 4th Infantry Division command sergeant major.
"She was one of the names that popped up," said Army Staff Sgt. Patrick Young, T'Ola's supervisor. "After talking to her, the boss decided she would be the one we would bring up here."
T'Ola has been in the job for only about three weeks, but Young, who also works for the RC(S) command group, believes she was the right choice for the job.
"I have a junior soldier with a lot of potential," Young said, adding: "She's been helping the division command sergeant major out greatly."
T'Ola, who considers Hueytown, Ala., and Bessemer, Ala., as her hometowns, is also an athlete; she played basketball at Bevill State Community College.
After she received her associate degree at age 22, she considered joining the military -- something she says had been a big desire.
After her friends and family talked her out of it, however, she later became a substitute teacher and an assistant basketball coach for Hueytown Middle School -- at the same time Jameis Winston was a student there.
Years later, in 2011, she finally decided to join the U.S. Army.
"I was 28, and it was a now-or-never type of deal for me," she said. "I decided to follow my desire."
It is a decision she is glad she made. She even added an extra year of service to her contract during the deployment and would like to serve in the military for the long term, she said.
"We live in the greatest country in the world, and serving in the military is a good thing to do," T'Ola said. "The military has been a great experience for me. I've enjoyed it."
She is also thankful for the opportunity to continue serving in Afghanistan as she supports the International Security Assistance Force mission of training, advising and assisting Afghans as they continue to lead security missions protecting their country.
Before she started working for the command group, T'Ola served as the orderly room clerk of Company C, HHBN, 4th Infantry Division. She helped maintain accountability of the soldiers in her company, managed the company's awards system and prepared the personnel status report every day.
Now, as an administrative assistant for Clark -- who is the senior enlisted adviser for RC(S) -- she organizes his calendar, schedules appointments, and is in charge of his administrative duties. It is a job important to the daily management of Clark's schedule.
"Being in the command group has been a great experience," T'Ola said. "I'm glad I made the decision to stay."


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When Will The Transit Drive-In Open?
Even though the weather may not seem like it, spring is finally, officially here. That means it's almost drive-in season.
We hope that the weather certainly does turn around, because tentatively, the Transit Drive-In Theatre in Lockport will open on Friday, April 5.
Due to the operation of the drive-in highly depending on the weather, visit the Transit Drive-In Theatre Facebook page to check for updates and make sure opening night will remain the same instead of being pushed back.


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I'll take September 2006 in the JD.com SW Death Pool. I don't expect ther to be ANY new Star Wars figures in the back-to-school Toy aisle resets that indicate we are heading into the start of the Christmas 2006 shopping season. I wonder though what the next big thing will be? Cards to Comics to Action Figures to ? Jeff
I said it before, I'll say it again - I'll take September 2006 in the JD.com SW Death Pool.
Honestly, I think that Hasbro is purposely sabotaging the line so they can quit making the toys that probably get them more ill will from collectors in this day and age than any of their other lines. I'm beginning to believe that the only reason that they renewed the license for so many years is not because they wanted to keep making toys themselves, but to KEEP SOMEONE ELSE FROM MAKING MONEY. I think they renewed the license out of spite.The last 12 figures of the ROTS are all repaints, and several of those are completely unnecessary (Wookiees and Neimoidians, I'm looking right at you), and the figures that everyone was anticipating (Cody and other Padmes) are nowhere to be found. With the glut of Wookiees, Neimoidians, and Clone Pilots on the shelves, Hasbro SHIPS MORE. Retail is not going to like this one bit, and with WM already pissed off about the EB fiasco, that's nail number one.The Unleashed line, which has turned into Hasbro's second most popular line and undoubtedly the best "comeback" story of any SW line done, is suddenly cancelled out of thin air so Hasbro can "reboot" in a new scale that they already have at least three other lines in the same scale to compete with. There is NOT A SINGLE ORIGINAL SCULPT amongst anything we have seen thus far. Meaning Hasbro had this planned out at least a year in advance (remember how they kept saying that they were busy all last year developing ROTS stuff?) and kept it under wraps that they were essentially going to try and bury the line with endless rehashes.It's just plainly obvious to me that Hasbro doesn't give a flying **** about the line at this point and is doing everything in the world that they can do to intentionally sabotage its performance at retail, so they can quit making them altogether. And like clockwork, they'll blame retailers and collectors for the line failing, never admitting that it was their fault that they repainted and reshipped that goddamned Neimoidian Warrior.**** Hasbro.
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November 8, 2013
Hermann Rorschach's 129th Birthday
Today we celebrate the 129th birthday of Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach who created the iconic inkblot test. Subjects are presented a pattern and asked to give their interpretation. Interpretations can aid in the examination of a person's personality and emotions.
I took the test; here are my responses:
I see a travel pillow.
I see a space invader. A sad space invader, he wants to move back to Los Angeles because everyone he loves is there.
I see an angry large bear clenching his teeth. He ate too many berries and is having a bad day.
I see a shape dynamically generated with Perlin Noise, mirrored, and overlaid on an inkblot texture using additive blending.
Thanks to Corrie Scalisi for engineering support.
posted by Leon Hong, Doodler


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The iceBar moves the party stereo from the poolside into the pool, securely holding your iPod in a waterproof polycarbonate case. It floats, too, though it has a wrist strap if you're worried about it drifting off. The nano's clickwheel, power and mute functions are all accessible with the case on. The iceBar does have one drawback, though.
Sounds like it's a little bit of a battery hog since it burns through three AA batteries after 18 hours of continuous play. Still, if you have either the first- or second- generation nano and often find yourself poolside (and with people who share your taste in music), the iceBar might help get through the summer—that is, if developer Atlantic didn't have plans for their speaker case to be released this holiday season. The iceBar should cost around $70. [iLounge]


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Terms & Conditions
O365 free trial program: Qualified individuals may receive a free Jabra Evolve 40 headset, SPEAK 510 speakerphone, or Stealth UC headset to evaluate for their organization subject to the terms and conditions below.
Eligibility: The O365 free trial program is open to "Qualified Individuals" in the United States and Canada. A Qualified Individual is defined as an individual who is either a decision maker or has a high degree of influence over purchasing decisions of audio communications products and solutions for his or her organizations. Organizations must have a minimum of 25 employees or have a minimum of 25 potential headset users.
To request a free trial unit from Jabra, Qualified Individuals must fill out a request form at www.jabra.com/sfb_GBH and must speak with a Jabra representative in order to be qualified. It is at the discretion of Jabra to award free trial units to Qualified Individuals. Not all applicants will receive a trial unit.
- The offer is subject to availability. Jabra reserves the right to cancel the promotion or vary the terms and conditions without notice.
- Jabra products are strictly not for resale. Any trial units identified for resale will result in legal action by Jabra.
- The offer is available to organizations with 25 employees or more.
- The offer is valid for companies piloting, deploying, or using Microsoft Office 365 or Microsoft Skype for Business.
- The offer is limited to one trial agreement per company location per country and not valid for partners and resellers.
- The offer is valid until December 31, 2016.
- Your choice of one of the following audio devices:
- At Office Desk: Evolve 40
- Perfect for Meetings: SPEAK 510+
- On the Go: Stealth UC
- Submission of false, incorrect, misleading, or fraudulent information may result in disqualification.
- This is a North America offer and is governed by applicable laws in the country of the regional Jabra sales office. The free trial offer is currently available in the following countries:
- Canada
- United States
- By participating in this program Qualified Individuals accept and are bound by these terms and conditions.


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Creed is fantastic. Ryan Coogler is an exceptional director. So he proves whilst taking beautiful and perfect long uncut shots. The best ones are the ones where he gives an impeccable follow up to Jordan by constantly staying behind him and during the fights wherein he changes perspective by dangling right next to the fighters. Knockout shots are gorgeous too as they have been given an abrupt closure and a splendid follow through.
"I am not a mistake."
The Plot of Creed Movie
A brilliantly written plot which also runs into a sub-plot at one point. But the bottom line of the tale is that the Creed son is bent on proving himself to the world and he wouldn't stop at anything to prove his genes. Period. Melodramatic scenes are brilliantly shot. The drama is deep. Screenplay outstanding! So many great words in there that are worth listening to. A little bit of humour has been thrown in to make the product look complete and to keep everyone interested. Fight scenes are arresting. A perfect take of how things really work in today's boxing arena. The way the boxers enter into a mobile lit backdrop with a piece of super-rad music is breathtaking. Watch out for the Conlan entry!
Rocky Balboa
The nicest trainer one could have ever asked for. Jordan's walk towards the arena has been complemented endearingly by Balboa, as not even for a second he removes his hand from Jordan's shoulders. Talk about support eh! His refined pep talks and soothing words constantly keep Jordan in game. His legacy isn't lost at all. There are moments wherein praises are showered and things have been hinted from the past. Every bit subtly shown, not elongated to capture the new.
Adonis Johnson
He has surprised us all. From the trailers, it was hard to tell, but somewhere inside we were feeling he wouldn't be enough to fill them large Rocky shoes. But boy did he prove us wrong! With marvelous acting and striking diligence Johnson was forever on his toes filling the voids and holes that could have possibly been arising due to Rock's retirement.
The Rocky franchise isn't gonna die after all. With Creed in the vanguard things have gone into safe hands. Now we can die in peace!
- Diligent and marvelous direction
- Exceptional acting
- Great screenplay
- Brilliant boxing scenes
- Great uncut follow ups and throughs
- Some bits could have edited
- Could have used some gut wrenching drama too
- Sub-plot needed a proper depiction


text: +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | TPWD News Release 20190711a | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | This page contains only plain text, no HTML formatting codes. | | It is not designed for display in a browser but for copying | | and editing in whatever software you use to lay out pages. | | To copy the text into an editing program: | | --Display this page in your browser. | | --Select all. | | --Copy. | | --Paste in a document in your editing program. | | If you have any suggestions for improving these pages, send | | an e-mail to email@example.com and mention Plain Text Pages. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [ Note: This item is more than five months old. Please take the publication date into consideration for any date references. ] [ Media Contact: TPWD News, firstname.lastname@example.com, 512-389-8030 ] July 11, 2019 Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Season to Open July 15 AUSTIN -- The Gulf of Mexico commercial shrimp season for both state and federal waters will open 30 minutes after sunset Monday, July 15, 2019. The opening date is based on an evaluation of the biological, social and economic information to maximize the benefits to the industry and the public. In making its determination, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Coastal Fisheries Division used the best available scientific information including samples collected by using trawls and bag seines in TPWD routine data collection. The purpose of the closed Gulf season is to protect brown shrimp during their major period of emigration from the bays to the Gulf of Mexico until they reach a larger, more valuable size before harvest and to prevent waste caused by the discarding of smaller individuals. Federal waters (from 9 to 200 nautical miles offshore) will open at the same time that state waters will open. The National Marine Fisheries Service chose to adopt rules compatible with those adopted by Texas. -30-


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Today I write what may be the final post for Samuel Dawson. Last year, I visited Swords and found Samuel's headstone at St Columba's Church of Ireland at Swords, Co Dublin. Unfortunately, I couldn't read the date of his death.
|Headstone of Samuel Cuming Dawson - St Columba's Swords.
Today I have been using my NLA card and have been trawling the Irish Newspaper Archives with great success. (However, it's a shame the site is so slow to move to the next result page.)
A search for Dawson and Cloghran has come up with 598 results and one of the first ones was an obituary for Mr Sam C Dawson.
Of course, his obituary invites further research. His brother R.C. Dawson warrants more work as does the horse Blandford. Fortunately most of this has been done and will feature in future blog posts.


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Download Free Excerpts from Calcium Signaling: Download Preface and Contents Download Index
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Calcium ions play a critical role in signaling in a wide variety of cells and tissues, including muscle, immune cells, neurons, the liver, and oocytes. They can enter the cytoplasm from the extracellular environment or from intracellular stores and control the activity of numerous enzymes, other signaling molecules, transcription factors, and cytoskeletal components.
Written and edited by experts in the field, this collection from Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology explores the channels and pumps that transport calcium between different compartments and the regulation of calcium fluxes. The contributors discuss calcium buffers and sensors and how these produce distinct spatiotemporal calcium signals in different circumstances.
Including discussions of calcium signaling during development and normal physiology, as well as perturbed signaling in diseases such as diabetes, neurodegeneration, and atherosclerosis, the volume is an indispensable reference for biochemists, cell and developmental biologists, and physiologists seeking a comprehensive treatment of calcium biology.
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Program assists patients with HIV, AIDS
A program is helping those living with HIV or AIDS pay for their medication.
Dr. Rudolf Kotula with Methodist Physician's Clinic said the Ryan White Program helps those with HIV or AIDS who don't have insurance.
"They are young. They may not have a job. They may not have enough money for office visits or medications," Kotula said.
Aaron Flott was diagnosed with HIV in 2009 at the age of 19.
"At first I thought I was going to die. That's your first thought," Flott said.
Flott said his medication cost about $2,000 a month. After losing his job and his benefits, Flott turned to the Ryan White Program.
"You can live a healthy life like everybody else. You just have to find the way to deal with this," Kotula said.
Flott said he is feeling good. He got a new job, has his condition under control and is looking toward to his future.
"I take my medicine, but other than that, it's not in my head all the time. I'm not like, 'Oh my God I have this disease,'" Flott said.
The Nebraska AIDS Project is hosting its annual Night of a Thousand Stars fundraiser on Dec. 1, which is also Worlds AIDS Day. Proceeds from the event go toward helping people and families affected by the disease across the state.


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Chronicle Sealing Wax
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Chronicle Wax is a beautiful, traditional sealing wax. Etched with
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January 21, 2011
Big Brother telescreens at more than 9,000 locations. Naked body porno radiation scanners. PSA propaganda cranked out by the DHS spreading paranoia and the insidious proliferation of a high-tech Stasi state. Militarized police teams armed to the teeth patrolling subway platforms and bus stations as goons in latex gloves rummage through backpacks and briefcases without probable cause and in total disregard for the Fourth Amendment and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
This is a snapshot of America, circa 2011, as the outside foreign banker cartel increases its stranglehold.
In response to this unfolding police state, Alex Jones announces the launch of The Answer to 1984 is 1776 Contest. The contest is intended to counter government media propaganda assaulting the American people on all levels. It is designed to keep the Web free and resist Big Brother and Big Sis. It is a delivery vehicle for the message of liberty.
We have realized victories against the TSA and on other fronts. We can do it again.
Alex Jones invites you to produce videos defending our natural rights against the onslaughts of the New World Order.
The Alex Jones Show – 1/21/11 – V for Victory Resistance Campaign Launched
Rules for the contest follow…
Although we want contestants to have complete creative freedom in the interpretation of this contest, there are some very simple rules which must be followed to ensure a valid entry.
• Contest ends: Monday, February 28. Which means you have to have your completed video uploaded to the web and have the link to that video submitted to us by that date. Late and/or incomplete entries will not be accepted.
• The video must address the police state and the disappearance of our liberties.
• "INFOWARS.COM" must be included in the titles/credits of each submission.
• All contest entries must be posted on YouTube or another public video hosting site and the URL sent to [email protected]
Winners will be determined by Alex Jones and announced on Monday, March 7, 2011.
Prizes: 1st Prize = $7,000
2nd Prize = $2000
3rd Prize = $1000
Related: You Are The Resistance Against The DHS Occupation Of America


text:
ThePaleMan wrote:Been a while since I participated in a contest here. Are off-brand or modified parts allowed?
Either case is fine.Automaton Pictures wrote:Are we allowed to do either the Uppercase or the Lowercase variant of the letter, or are we limited only to the uppercase?
Nope:ThePaleMan wrote:Been a while since I participated in a contest here. Are off-brand or modified parts allowed?
rules wrote:No modified parts or cut stickers.
No unofficial elements.
crazybirdman wrote:is it alright if it only looks like the letter in flight mode, or attack mode, like the x-wing?
You're allowed three photos as described above, but if you want to use the profile shot as the poll image that's fine too. The first image will be used for the poll unless you specify otherwise in your posts. Also if you have more shots you want to share just link to them in your submission post.In every submission thread I wrote:Include one photo you'd like to use as the polling image, one photo demonstrating the letter, and one showing your pilot in the cockpit.
Mmmmnope. Gonna have to view all those threads to vote anyways. That's as easy as you can do it in a forum like this. Hopefully everyone will add their ships to the flickr group though.JackJonespaw wrote:Solo, is there an easier way to check entries out than clicking on all these links?
Two G fighters. viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9989Olymprix wrote:Which two have already come up?
Return to Contests & Community Builds
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Tuesday's LA Times had a funny story from North Korea on how no one there is talking about Kim Jong Il's health, and also about how venerated Kim and his late father are. Their images are considered sacred and people must hang portraits of the two in their homes: "People who fail to dust them regularly are fined."
But here's what grabbed my attention:
"Foreign visitors are advised upon their arrival in Pyongyang not to throw away any North Korean newspapers lest they despoil a photo of the leaders," the story notes.
" 'Don't tear or crumble the newspapers. Don't throw it in a dustbin. Don't wrap something with it or use it for some other purpose,' warned guide Gil Hyun Ah, who said offenders would have to write formal letters of apology before being permitted to leave the country."
When I rule the Inland Valley — it will be a benevolent tyranny — I expect to apply the same rule upon the populace regarding the Daily Bulletin. Do not tear or crumble it, don't toss it away and for goodness' sake don't wrap any fish or coffee grounds in it. You might despoil my image.
If my image isn't in that issue, do whatever you like. Let Blackstock or Sholley set up their own regimes, if they're concerned about their images. See how much freedom I'll allow you?


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What is the name of the following sorting method?
It seems to be the opposite of bubble sort, with lighter elements going in their proper positions first. However, this one does not compare a[j] with a[j+1], as the normal bubble sort does.Code:for (i=0; i<n-1; i++) for (j=i+1; j<n; j++) if (a[i]>a[j]) swap(&a[i], &a[j]);
Looks very simple, and I wonder why I couldn't find it anywhere on the net!


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OXO Mango Pitter
- Free Fast Shipping
Easy, hassle-free returns online and in-store for eligible items.Learn More
Earn 5% Back in rewards4 plus free standard shipping3every day when you shop with your Williams Sonoma credit card at Williams Sonoma.Apply Now Learn More
- Summary
Remedy the single hurdle to enjoying one of the most delicious fruits: removing the mango's odd-shaped pit. The stainless-steel corer of this tool slices a mango down the center and cuts the pit free, making it easy to prepare your favorite mango recipes.
- Heavy-duty plastic frame protects fingers from the stainless-steel blade.
- Soft ergonomic handles provide a comfortable nonslip grip.
- Dishwasher safe.
- A Williams Sonoma exclusive.
- Dimensions & More Info
- 5 1/4" diam., 2" high.
- Made in China.
- Use & Care
- Dishwasher safe.
- Shipping
Shipping Information
UPS can deliver most in-stock items within 3–5 business days. UPS is unable to deliver to P.O. boxes.
Shipping Rates
The shipping rate varies depending on your order total and shipping destination. View Shipping Options and Charges.
Next Day Delivery
For an additional charge of $26 per address, we can expedite delivery to most destinations. This service is not available for some oversize items, items shipped directly from the supplier (including perishable and custom-manufactured items), out-of-stock items and items to be shipped outside the contiguous 48 states.
Orders received by 9:00 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday will arrive the next business day; orders placed Friday through Sunday will arrive on the following Tuesday.
Return Policy
At Williams Sonoma, we take great pride in the quality and craftsmanship of our products. Attention to design, materials, safety and construction are our priority. Upon receipt, please inspect your purchase and notify us of any damage; we will arrange for a prompt replacement.
If within 30 days, you are dissatisfied for any reason, you may return your purchase for a refund of the merchandise value. An original receipt or gift receipt is required for all returns and exchanges. Returns with a gift receipt will be refunded in the form of a Merchandise Credit for the amount indicated on the gift receipt. Returns with original receipt will be refunded in the original form of payment, cash and check refunds over $100 will be issued as a company check (may take 14 business days from time of request).
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Made to Order and Final Sale Furniture items are non-returnable and cannot be cancelled once the order is placed.
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Rated 5 out of 5 by CarolMonty from My favorite tool Eat a lot of mangos, but always hated pitting it. This tool is great and easy to use.Date published: 2016-01-08Rated 5 out of 5 by treasuredfavors from Super product! I recently found that I love, love, love mangos! After trying to pit them by using a knife and making a huge mess, I discovered this mango pitter. I can't be more satisfied with this product! I have used it on 6 or 7 large mangos so far and I have never had a problem with it fitting over the pit. There is still some flesh on the pit which I have to clean off, but no two fruits have exactly the same size pit, so that is to be expected. No more juicy mess - going out to buy more mangos!Date published: 2015-09-10Rated 4 out of 5 by JessRecipe from A Practical Fruit Tool I think most fruit tools are silly because I can complete those tasks easily with a paring knife. This is an exception and well worth the money. The blades on this are sharp enough to pierce the skin and perfectly pit a medium sized mango. I would give this 5 stars except that it's really only ideal for medium sized mangoes. Anything too small and it will still pit it, but a lot of the fruit remains attached to the pit. Too large and the tool does not fit around the fruit.Date published: 2015-07-15Rated 5 out of 5 by goodcook24 from useful food prep tool This is a very useful and helpful kitchen accessory. It makes a breeze of the chore of pitting mangos. Just peel the mango and line it up with the pitter and push. Lining up the mango with the pitter is intuitive and simple. Pressing down on the pitter leaves a perfectly pitted mango that is ready to use or eat. I've seen this mango pitter for a while, but feared it would not really work. It works perfectly.Date published: 2015-02-24Rated 1 out of 5 by nopriors from Waste of money and time I haven't found a mango this will work on. So hard to believe, after it's good review, that I had several people try, and it just doesn't fit over the pit and makes a juicy mess.Date published: 2013-05-01Rated 4 out of 5 by nwegener from Makes having a Mango more enjoyable Really glad I purchased this item. Saves time and I do not waste so much of the fruit.Date published: 2012-12-06Rated 5 out of 5 by lilitalia from Great tool! This little tool takes the time and hassle out of cutting a mango by easily removing the pit. I purchased this out of curiosity to see if it would actually work, and it works much better than I had expected. I will be cutting mango's a lot more often now!Date published: 2012-08-01Rated 5 out of 5 by Shirlaine from Best Gadget Ever I've been wrestling mangoes for years, trying to figure out the best way to cut the pit out. I bought the mango pitter because I just thought it was too good to be true. Well, it is! I love it. Easy to use, easy to clean, and it gets the job done!Date published: 2012-07-17


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According to CBSnews, Airbnb says New York City has reversed a $2,400 fine for a man who rented out a room in his apartment through the Airbnb vacation rentals site.
Nigel Warren, who was fined in May when a New York judge said he violated a state law prohibiting short-term rentals, appealed the ruling and this week the Environmental Control Board took his side. The board declared that short-term rentals are in line with the law so long as a permanent occupant is present. (Warren was obviously out when his room was rented, but his roommate was not.)
The law in question is meant for large companies trying to convert entire apartment buildings into illegal hotels. New York lawmakers say they are not targeting individuals.
Sen. Liz Krueger (D-N.Y.), who sponsored the 2010 law that outlaws apartment rentals less than 30 days in New York State, has said that companies like AIrbnb aren't making the consequences clear to their users.
In a statement, AIrbnb says the incident illustrates how unclear the law actually is, and that it will "work to clarify the law and ensure New Yorkers can share their homes."
Read the full story on CBSnews.


text:
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Does business matter to God?
The Almighty is not an anti-capitalist, as some have argued, but his big-picture goals extend beyond maximizing profit margins and increasing shareholders' investments.
That biblical truism remains an eye-opener for many believers who possess only a faint idea of what God intends businesses to accomplish, said Jeff Van Duzer, dean of the School of Business and Economics at Seattle Pacific University and professor of business law and ethics.
"By and large, Christians in business have a well-developed business worldview but an impoverished Christian worldview," said Van Duzer, who spoke during Calvin College's January Series. "It's Wall Street's interpretation of scripture, interpreting business."
From some startups and multi-national corporations, changing the rules of the entrepreneurial game is at full throttle and is known in business circles as creative capitalism or conscious capitalism, whose distinguishing feature includes doing good as a way of doing business, a notion business magnate and philanthropist Bill Gates has brought to the forefront.
But change is slow and many still don't fully grasp God's intent for business, other than they believe they've done enough if they contribute to their houses of worship or missionary endeavors, said Van Duzer, author of "Why Business Matters to God: And What Still Needs to be Fixed."
God challenges people to take the vision for business to a deeper level, said Van Duzer. It starts with asking two "big" questions he referred to as "The Grand Narrative." Why does business matter to God, and how should business be practiced?
The answers are important, partly because of an entrenched undercurrent in Christian circles that says those who are truly called of God should work primarily in full-time ministry or the helping professions, and "maybe a few in business to help fund the ministry," said Van Duzer.
"They feel like second-class citizens," continued Van Duzer. "Actually, business matters to God."
To get a bead on what God originally intended for work, Genesis chapters 1 and 2 provide the requisite insight, said Van Duzer, which includes that humans were created to work, even before the fall of humanity. He said he realized this after he discovered the Garden of Eden had not reached perfection, even before the fall.
"My picture of perfection was static," he said. "Look at Genesis 1 and 2, and the garden was intended to flourish. There were no crops yet, because God had not sent the rain and there was no humanity to work the ground. God's purposes on earth are to be advanced through our work."
So in essence, businesses exist to provide goods and services that enable a community to flourish, said Van Duzer.
"We don't let profits, cost of investments and ROIs be a means to an end, but a means to attracting capital to serve those two aspects of profit maximizing: to provide good products and to provide good jobs," said Van Duzer.