Monday, with Fannish Stuff

[nightdog_barks]

Partly cloudy and cooler, with that hazy autumn sunlight. 68 degrees (20 degrees Celsius) and a breeze out of the north.



I did enjoy it, but it reminded me very much of a Sax Rohmer novel -- I almost expected our Steely-Eyed Heroes to assume a Manly Pose and spit out some lines like "You devilish Chinee heathen!" or "By God, your fiendish plans will never succeed!" But. From what I understand, this was considered something of a weaker episode, and next week's is supposed to be awesome.

Apparently there was a live net-interview with Benedict Cumberbatch this morning -- the transcript of that chat is here.



Not much else at the moment, but here's an awesome time-lapse video of the American Southwest from the astronomy photographer Tom Lowe (via Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy). This is really gorgeous.

TimeScapes: Rapture from Tom Lowe @ Timescapes on Vimeo.

Comments

[pwcorgigirl]

I kept waiting last night for mention of the Tong Wars and for Sherlock to be found in an opium den. :D But I loved it when John saved both Sarah and Sherlock from being shot.

That video is just amazing, particularly the sections with the belt of stars passing over the bare tree. You see something like that and think it is how the world looked when it was new -- so beautiful.

I've been out doing errands, and bought a cane, which is not black or House-like cool but because it feels better walking with one now that I'm off the crutches.

[nightdog_barks]

The Tong Wars and opium dens, yes! It all felt very Dr. Fu Manchu-ish, to some degree. Something else I found very interesting was that apparently PBS has been editing/cutting the series for the American audience. I'm still excited and happy about it overall, though, and Mr. N gave it his seal of approval last night (*g*) because it's a show with a smart hero.

Isn't that a great video? Some of the shots are just breathtaking!

I need to fold and put away clothes and do other housely stuff -- I took a Cornish hen out of the freezer for dinner tonight. Last night we made a nice pork roast and braised it with apple cider, cane syrup (we didn't have any molasses), and Worcestershire sauce.

[pwcorgigirl]

I knew they cut Masterpiece stuff a little to fit the time slot because LJ or YouTube would have tiny bits of things we hadn't seen.

Corgiguy, who generally disapproves of any attempt to modernize Sherlock Holmes, also likes this one because they've managed to keep so much of the original plots and spirit intact.

[felis]

Ohhh, I sometimes like to be reminded that we are on a planet which is moving all the time and that we are at the edge of this huge galaxy and there is this whole wide universe out there and probably half the stars we see have already gone out and ... Well, awesome. :-)
Also, that is one spectacular lenticularis cloud there. Beautiful.

Re: Sherlock. I'm afraid I already told you last week that I wasn't all that impressed after the first episode. But. Cutting one of the best scenes of the second episode takes a special kind of genius, PBS. Just saying.

[nightdog_barks]

That cloud is just incredible, and the whole thing with the starfields ... yowza. Awesome is a good word!

... I wasn't all that impressed after the first episode.

:-D

That's cool! And I totally agree -- cutting what sounds to have been a really terrific scene is just not on. Boo.

[felis]

In case you want to know: here, about 0:50 in.

Also, I was just wondering about my phrasing - I was intrigued and impressed by the first one, just not by the second and third. Is that what I said?

[nightdog_barks]

FELIS, THANK YOU!!!!!!

Yep, that whole little sequence was cut, from the point where John backs up as he looks at the marks on the wall, all the way to where he shows Sherlock the photo on his phone. PBS may have also snipped the bit where John's falling asleep while Sherlock looks at the blown-up photo with his magnifying glass, but I can't remember.

It sounded (to me) as if you were saying after you'd watched the first episode you were not impressed. *g*

[felis]

You're welcome. :-)

And yes, on second thought it sounded like that to me, too. That's why I asked. *g* I was actually rather surprised, because I fully expected the second one to be just as good as the first and instead I was pretty much bored and a bit annoyed (aside from some Sherlock&John gems), and the cliché Chinese stuff didn't help either.

[taiga13]

That video was beautiful!
I watched Sherlock for the first time last night. I really liked the interpretations of Holmes and Watson, but also raised an eyebrow at the evil Chinese henchlady threatening Sara with a circus crossbow thingy. (I'm afraid that the actor who played Watson also did not convince me that he believed he was about to die - yes he was a soldier, but he didn't look stoic. He looked annoyed.) Armchair Elvis kindly gave me links to watch the previous episodes and I'm looking forward to doing that.