(no subject)
So apparently Edward Hardwicke died of cancer last week. Edward Hardwicke was the second Watson to Jeremy Brett's Holmes in the Granada Sherlock Holmes series. The first was David Burke, but I was actually introduced to Hardwicke first because that's what happens when youngsters try to get into old, sort of weird television. I love the Granada series with all its quirkiness.
I often see comments on Granada SH vids on Youtube saying that David Burke was the better Watson. I'm sure there are also plenty saying the opposite. The truth is, they're both great, but great in different ways. I disliked Burke as Watson because I didn't like the way he talked, but he was so energetic and brought a lot of life to the series, so he's grown on me a lot. What I loved about Hardwicke's Watson, though, was his kind and gentlemanly manner. He seemed so wise, and the relationship between him and Holmes was very believable. Hardwicke took over for Burke in The Empty House, which takes place three years after Holmes "dies" at Reichenbach Falls. So Burke got to do the death episode, The Final Problem, and Hardwicke was introduced in the resurrection episode. Nice three year gap to explain how Watson went so gray so fast.
Then Hardwicke was with Jeremy Brett up until the very end, and Jeremy Brett was sick and getting sicker. In the last few episodes, he's so visibly ill, but still manages to control the Holmes character. There was a maturity in both men and a strong sense of comfortable familiarity in the way they interacted. Jeremy Brett died not long after the series ended.
Edward Hardwicke also played many other roles in theater and TV that I'm not as familiar with, and it's certainly the Holmes buff in me that drew me to his calm and loyal Watson in the first place. R.I.P., Edward Hardwicke.
In other Holmes-related news, Steven Moffat says about the second season of Sherlock: "The three stories will be called A Scandal In Belgravia, The Hounds Of Baskerville and The Reichenbach Fall."
:D
I can't say I'm especially excited for the first, except that it will presumably include some conclusion of the events in The Great Game. Every Holmes series ever does a version of A Scandal in Bohemia. I like Irene Adler. I liked Rachel McAdams as her a lot in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. But there are so many other great Holmes stories that are rarely talked about. Granada SH did The Dying Detective - and what about Charles Augustus Milverton? Or Devil's Foot? I get that Adler is the obligatory Strong Female Character, but she is only in one story. One. Story. And yet everyone knows her story - people less well-versed in Holmesian lore even think she's a major character, when, again, she's only in one story. Guy Ritchie passes her off as having a history with Holmes in his movie.
On the other hand, this is Sherlock, which is awesome and hilarious and so true to the Sherlock Holmes spirit, IMO, that I don't plan on writing it off just like that. I sound pretty negative at the moment, but I'm not actually that disappointed. Just frustrated because there are so many Holmes stories and yet people always pick this one!
Of course, I could also be saying that about Hound or even "The Reichenbach Fall" since it's an obvious allusion to The Final Problem. These stories are equally popular. And while Problem fits in with a larger scale story (including The Valley of Fear and The Empty House), Hound does not. What Hound has going for it is that it's one of only four Holmes... novels? More like novellas. One of the longer, more involved stories. It's also got a distinctly creepy element and a lot more characterization is given to the secondary characters. Watson and Holmes both get to do some awesome stuff.
(You know, that may be the main reason I'm okay with "The Hounds of Baskerville" and "The Reichenbach Fall" as opposed to "A Scandal in Belgravia" - the scale is slightly tipped towards Holmes in both of the first two cases, but Watson still gets to shine in his own way. He is involved in Scandal but it's much more a Holmes-and-Adler-centric story.
Again, though. I'm not writing it off by any means. I'm sure Sherlock will make brilliance out of it. And, TBH, I love A Scandal in Bohemia in the original story, in the Granada SH version, and in the Guy Ritchie version. I'm just being a pessimist for certain reasons that actually have very little to do with Sherlock Holmes. As long as they don't go overboard with Adler's character, and keep her as a strong female but also a believable one, it'll be fine. (I feel like I'm repeating myself. Did I write about this in another post recently?)
Anyway. YAY. They are filming the new episodes this summer. I wish they would do more than three. But they will do all three excellently, and quality > quantity in most cases. I hope that, as an American, I don't have to wait too long to catch up with the series when it's finally broadcast on British TV.
Unrelated: I got my grades. Two A+ (one in the Arab music research project - I thought an A was likely but I was really surprised and happy to get an A+!), one A, a B+ (American Lit, not surprising, I hated the class and the teacher didn't think my theses were strong), and a B (which was another surprise, I was expecting a B- at least. This was the Gender class, which introduced a lot of interesting topics, but really didn't teach me anything. This class fulfills a gen ed requirement and has no prerequisite class listed. However, it turned out to be so discipline-specific that I know I wasn't the only student who felt totally thrown by all the vocab and high-flying lingo that it has hard to learn anything; beyond that, we were talking about such abstract ideas and one of the main focuses was critiquing them, which I do not have the background to do. It was ultimately a fairly useless class and I can only be happy that I passed.)
It was a little disappointing after getting straight As the past three semesters, but whatever... I upped my GPA past 3.7, so there may be a chance of graduating with a 3.9 if I can do the same the next two semesters. I realize that's unlikely, especially since I'm taking less credits - I'm sure part of the reason it improved noticeably this semester was because I maxed credit hours. It might hopefully be a 3.8. But we'll see.
More important than improving grades, though, I must improve my social abilities. I need to have enough confidence after graduation to get into the work scene. It's already got me nerve-wracked because I'm not good at making friends and I'm just gonna be missing my school friends so much. If I get to go work in Japan, I might have a buffer of two years because the other students will likely be people I know or people I at least have something in common with. But if not, I will have to start from scratch. Being liked, much as I hate to admit it, is essential to surviving in a place where people have to work together. Even if you're a great team player, if people don't like you, you won't rise far. Unless you're really awesome and just happen to be rather antisocial. I'm neither antisocial nor awesome, but getting to know people has always been a struggle for me. Sometimes I feel like there are big walls that separate me and even people I know and like pretty well, and I don't know why. When I was a kid, my friends and I used to spill our hearts to each other. My best friend and I talked about everything under the sun that we could think of, and often fought too. Those kinds of things happen pretty rarely nowadays, which may also have to do with people being older and more private or restrained about their emotions, but I keep feeling like while there's a level of comfort and mutual liking between me and my friends, the trust factor doesn't go quite as far, and it's probably mostly my fault. So this is the last year before jetting off into the unknown, so I have to make changes now.
I asked Friend Keith about his plans after coming back from Japan, and he said:
"First, I think I'll eat a hamburger, and then throw the carton in the non-recycle trash can. After that, I'll move on to this awesome Mexican restaurant near my home, maybe hit up a Skyline Chili later in the day. Next, I think I'll get in my car and just drive around in circles somewhere while cackling maniacally (is it possible to cackle in a fashion that is not maniacal?). At some point, I'll settle down and actually get to work finding a job, as I have only the foggiest idea where to start. I've toyed with the idea of getting a teaching degree and a license to teach..., but I'm not sure if anyone could pay me enough to teach in an American school system after being in Japan's for so long."
I'll admit it, I sportled. I feel better about feeling unsure about the future now, mwahaha. And I think all problems can be solved by eating hamburgers (or veggie burgers since non-meat eaters can feel insecure too) and cackling maniacally.
Live long and prosper!
I often see comments on Granada SH vids on Youtube saying that David Burke was the better Watson. I'm sure there are also plenty saying the opposite. The truth is, they're both great, but great in different ways. I disliked Burke as Watson because I didn't like the way he talked, but he was so energetic and brought a lot of life to the series, so he's grown on me a lot. What I loved about Hardwicke's Watson, though, was his kind and gentlemanly manner. He seemed so wise, and the relationship between him and Holmes was very believable. Hardwicke took over for Burke in The Empty House, which takes place three years after Holmes "dies" at Reichenbach Falls. So Burke got to do the death episode, The Final Problem, and Hardwicke was introduced in the resurrection episode. Nice three year gap to explain how Watson went so gray so fast.
Then Hardwicke was with Jeremy Brett up until the very end, and Jeremy Brett was sick and getting sicker. In the last few episodes, he's so visibly ill, but still manages to control the Holmes character. There was a maturity in both men and a strong sense of comfortable familiarity in the way they interacted. Jeremy Brett died not long after the series ended.
Edward Hardwicke also played many other roles in theater and TV that I'm not as familiar with, and it's certainly the Holmes buff in me that drew me to his calm and loyal Watson in the first place. R.I.P., Edward Hardwicke.
In other Holmes-related news, Steven Moffat says about the second season of Sherlock: "The three stories will be called A Scandal In Belgravia, The Hounds Of Baskerville and The Reichenbach Fall."
:D
I can't say I'm especially excited for the first, except that it will presumably include some conclusion of the events in The Great Game. Every Holmes series ever does a version of A Scandal in Bohemia. I like Irene Adler. I liked Rachel McAdams as her a lot in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. But there are so many other great Holmes stories that are rarely talked about. Granada SH did The Dying Detective - and what about Charles Augustus Milverton? Or Devil's Foot? I get that Adler is the obligatory Strong Female Character, but she is only in one story. One. Story. And yet everyone knows her story - people less well-versed in Holmesian lore even think she's a major character, when, again, she's only in one story. Guy Ritchie passes her off as having a history with Holmes in his movie.
On the other hand, this is Sherlock, which is awesome and hilarious and so true to the Sherlock Holmes spirit, IMO, that I don't plan on writing it off just like that. I sound pretty negative at the moment, but I'm not actually that disappointed. Just frustrated because there are so many Holmes stories and yet people always pick this one!
Of course, I could also be saying that about Hound or even "The Reichenbach Fall" since it's an obvious allusion to The Final Problem. These stories are equally popular. And while Problem fits in with a larger scale story (including The Valley of Fear and The Empty House), Hound does not. What Hound has going for it is that it's one of only four Holmes... novels? More like novellas. One of the longer, more involved stories. It's also got a distinctly creepy element and a lot more characterization is given to the secondary characters. Watson and Holmes both get to do some awesome stuff.
(You know, that may be the main reason I'm okay with "The Hounds of Baskerville" and "The Reichenbach Fall" as opposed to "A Scandal in Belgravia" - the scale is slightly tipped towards Holmes in both of the first two cases, but Watson still gets to shine in his own way. He is involved in Scandal but it's much more a Holmes-and-Adler-centric story.
Again, though. I'm not writing it off by any means. I'm sure Sherlock will make brilliance out of it. And, TBH, I love A Scandal in Bohemia in the original story, in the Granada SH version, and in the Guy Ritchie version. I'm just being a pessimist for certain reasons that actually have very little to do with Sherlock Holmes. As long as they don't go overboard with Adler's character, and keep her as a strong female but also a believable one, it'll be fine. (I feel like I'm repeating myself. Did I write about this in another post recently?)
Anyway. YAY. They are filming the new episodes this summer. I wish they would do more than three. But they will do all three excellently, and quality > quantity in most cases. I hope that, as an American, I don't have to wait too long to catch up with the series when it's finally broadcast on British TV.
Unrelated: I got my grades. Two A+ (one in the Arab music research project - I thought an A was likely but I was really surprised and happy to get an A+!), one A, a B+ (American Lit, not surprising, I hated the class and the teacher didn't think my theses were strong), and a B (which was another surprise, I was expecting a B- at least. This was the Gender class, which introduced a lot of interesting topics, but really didn't teach me anything. This class fulfills a gen ed requirement and has no prerequisite class listed. However, it turned out to be so discipline-specific that I know I wasn't the only student who felt totally thrown by all the vocab and high-flying lingo that it has hard to learn anything; beyond that, we were talking about such abstract ideas and one of the main focuses was critiquing them, which I do not have the background to do. It was ultimately a fairly useless class and I can only be happy that I passed.)
It was a little disappointing after getting straight As the past three semesters, but whatever... I upped my GPA past 3.7, so there may be a chance of graduating with a 3.9 if I can do the same the next two semesters. I realize that's unlikely, especially since I'm taking less credits - I'm sure part of the reason it improved noticeably this semester was because I maxed credit hours. It might hopefully be a 3.8. But we'll see.
More important than improving grades, though, I must improve my social abilities. I need to have enough confidence after graduation to get into the work scene. It's already got me nerve-wracked because I'm not good at making friends and I'm just gonna be missing my school friends so much. If I get to go work in Japan, I might have a buffer of two years because the other students will likely be people I know or people I at least have something in common with. But if not, I will have to start from scratch. Being liked, much as I hate to admit it, is essential to surviving in a place where people have to work together. Even if you're a great team player, if people don't like you, you won't rise far. Unless you're really awesome and just happen to be rather antisocial. I'm neither antisocial nor awesome, but getting to know people has always been a struggle for me. Sometimes I feel like there are big walls that separate me and even people I know and like pretty well, and I don't know why. When I was a kid, my friends and I used to spill our hearts to each other. My best friend and I talked about everything under the sun that we could think of, and often fought too. Those kinds of things happen pretty rarely nowadays, which may also have to do with people being older and more private or restrained about their emotions, but I keep feeling like while there's a level of comfort and mutual liking between me and my friends, the trust factor doesn't go quite as far, and it's probably mostly my fault. So this is the last year before jetting off into the unknown, so I have to make changes now.
I asked Friend Keith about his plans after coming back from Japan, and he said:
"First, I think I'll eat a hamburger, and then throw the carton in the non-recycle trash can. After that, I'll move on to this awesome Mexican restaurant near my home, maybe hit up a Skyline Chili later in the day. Next, I think I'll get in my car and just drive around in circles somewhere while cackling maniacally (is it possible to cackle in a fashion that is not maniacal?). At some point, I'll settle down and actually get to work finding a job, as I have only the foggiest idea where to start. I've toyed with the idea of getting a teaching degree and a license to teach..., but I'm not sure if anyone could pay me enough to teach in an American school system after being in Japan's for so long."
I'll admit it, I sportled. I feel better about feeling unsure about the future now, mwahaha. And I think all problems can be solved by eating hamburgers (or veggie burgers since non-meat eaters can feel insecure too) and cackling maniacally.
Live long and prosper!