This entry does not mark my dramatic return. Indeed, I am actually quite content with my post-LJ existence. I do, however, miss some of you quite keenly. That is not to say that I have plans of once again engrossing myself in my flist. I really haven't the time, to be quite honest. I leave in two days for the East Coast (hence the purpose of this entry) and will once again find myself incommunicado, for at least a few weeks. Upon my return, I doubt very much that I will find the desire/will to pass my summer chained to a keyboard and monitor. The outside air is entirely too sweet.

I do, however, wish to somewhat stay in contact with those here who have enriched my life beyond measure. And so I'm offering post cards from P.E.I. and Nova Scotia, to those that wish them.

I have screened the comments in this entry, so please feel free to reply with your name and address. Be warned, however, that you may fall victim to random Victorian-esque letters from me in the not-so-distance future, as I am occasionally compelled to spend my evenings chained to pen and paper.

Finally, so as not to deviate entirely from what the purpose of this journal once was, I will announce that I have completed my review of Decoding the Subtext. I will announce this in cox_and_co, but for those who do not frequent said community...

Decoding the Subtext.

333 single-spaced Word pages. 153,000 words. 60 essays. 11 months in the making. All in the name of Holmes/Watson subtext. I am, of course, thrilled that it is this project which concludes my time in fandom.

I have yet, of course, to print and bind a copy for myself, so if I have missed any typos/grammatical errors, please do point them out.

I have also completed a very lengthy review of The BBC's Complete Sherlock Holmes, aka, Bert Coules' masterpiece, and a review of the film Without a Clue.

There is entirely too much happening in my own life to touch on even a fraction of it here, so for now I will merely say farewell, not, perhaps, forever, but for a spell.

This, I suspect, should be an interesting week. Let's see...

Today I have a follow up appointment with my NP. Tomorrow I go in for a colonoscopy (fun, yo). Wednesday is doom's day (Mole and I are going to go out to a fancy restaurant and stage a fight, complete with crying --heh). Thursday I may catch up on sleep, provided, of course, Wednesday doesn't land me in jail. Friday I have my work xmas party (that they call a winter party and have in February --and also, I so have nothing to wear). Saturday I shall be hung over (see Friday). And Sunday I'll be driving through a forecasted blizzard on my way to Barrie so that I can celebrate my sister's (belated) birthday.

Huh. Guess I won't be around this week.

Also, I just installed the latest version of Sony Vegas on my machine, so I really won't be around much (except, of course, to post the remainder of my decodings).

( Decoding the Subtext: The Three Gables )

And, what the hell, here's a film review.

( SH and the Deadly Necklace )

I suppose, in addition to sharing some film reviews, I really ought to cast aside my penchant for anti-social behaviour and share some life-related things.

Let's see.

I'm back in to see my naturopath on Monday, but I don't expect anything to change. I still feel utterly fantastic health wise. Someone even commented the other day that I look all glow-y. I suspect this is likely related to the mass quantities of almonds I am eating.

I'm in on Tuesday to see the specialist (this is the appointment I've been waiting for since September --go Canadian health care system!). I can't honestly say I feel the need to see a specialist (as my NP appears to have cured me nicely), but considering how long I had to wait for an appointment, I'm still going to go.

I'm still struggling with the whole quitting fic thing (I'm so serious about wanting to do this, damn it!) but I'm certainly doing better than I was.

On the reading front, I have been slowly consuming Anne of Green Gables stories (I just finished Anne of Avonlea). I'm debating whether to read the entire series (as well as the Emily of New Moon series) simply because I don't think I ever have (I've exhausted the books I own, anyway). I only really wanted to read the first book, but I have this thing about unfinished projects... my brain is my worst enemy.

So, yes, next up with either be Anne of the Island or something new (Bronte? Austen? Collins? Dickens? --I foresee a trip to the library this weekend). I've also come to the conclusion that so much of English literature is derived from the Bible. This, of course, means that I feel the sudden urge to read the Bible. I've read parts, mostly before my excommunication and subsequent conversion to atheism --actually, can an atheist even read the Bible, or is that sacrilegious? What I need, though, is a reading the Bible for dummies, because I'm pretty sure you can't just pick it up and start at page one. Well, you could, but boredom would likely drive you to drink/suicide long before you made it past Genesis.

On the SH front, I have a couple of essays to type, and then a couple more stories to decode, and then I'm done with that project (save the edit). I'm now on my second listening of Bert Coules' SH Radio Dramatization, which means I'm writing reviews for each of the episodes. I anticipate completing this mid summer. I'm not reading anything aside from Canon, but that will likely change after my trip to the library. Oh, yes, and then there are films. Speaking of which...

( Rathbone in Terror by Night, and Massey in The Speckled Band )

There are only 7 stories remaining at this point (although I've finished 2 and those I will type up and post on Monday), and I am quite deliberately dragging my heels.  It's so heartbreaking to think about finishing (even though there are so many things I want to do once I've completed this project).  Still, I've been working on this for months now, and so it's going to be really difficult to walk away from what has been one of the most enjoyable fanish projects I have undertaken.

Anyway.  I simply adore this story.  It's so classically Holmes and Watson (and Holmes/Watson).  The story is interesting, the subtext is rich and plentiful...  it's all around fantastic.  Plus, Holmes totally gets his ass kicked and Watson gets to play *cough* doctor.  Heh.

Decoding the Subtext: The Illustrious Client

( The Illustrious Client, who, btw, is apparently King Edward )


I'm going to also try to post a few film reviews over the next few days, because I've been watching entirely too many of these.  We'll start with A Study in Scarlet, because it was the most disappointing of all the films I've seen.

( A Study in Scarlet, with Reginald Owen )

Gah. This week has been hell. I can't remember the last time I was so busy. It's never-ending, and it's driving me crazy.

Finally, though, I was able to set aside some time to type up some subtext reports. I'd completely forgotten how slashy The Priory School was, so I'm going to post it on its own. There will be a film review, too, because Rathbone and his crazy pimp hat make me happy.

Decoding the Subtext: The Priory School

( The Priory School )


Next up, we have a review. Sadly, I am still missing a single torrent to complete my Rathbone collection, and I do still want to re-watch some of the earlier films, but both of those things will have to wait for another day.

( The Scarlet Claw )

So today is the last day in 2006.  Huh.  I suppose Happy advanced New Year is in order.  I'm going to be doing some mass posting over the next few days, because I have several subtext reports and film reviews to put up.  We'll start with one subtext report, and three Rathbone films (I'm now two shy of the entire series, but damned if I can find torrents for them).  I may re-watch the first few that I hated before I fell in love with Rathbone.  We shall see.

I know a lot of you could care less about these things, and to be honest, I couldn't really care less about spamming you with things that don't interest you, but I thought I should at least warn people that 2007 is going to be more of the same.  All Sherlock Holmes, all the time, because I never do anything half assed.  Be forewarned, and feel free to run screaming.

In non SH news, every xmas holiday Mole and I sit down and re-watch the LOTR movies, and every xmas holiday I find myself craving Gimli/Legolas movie slash (because oddly, I don't so much ship them in the books).  Anyone have a rec or two?

Decoding the Subtext: The Veiled Lodger

( The Veiled Lodger )

Next up, we have several Rathbone SH film reviews, ordered from worst to best.  Behind the cut you will find:

SH and the Secret Weapon (1/5 pipes)
SH in Washington (2/5 pipes)
SH Faces Death (4/5 pipes --and man, did it want that fifth)

( film reviews )

I am officially a moron. I woke up at 6:30 this morning so that I could make it in for my NP appointment that is scheduled for tomorrow. ::headdesk::

It meant finding time to type this up, though, so I suppose I shouldn't complain too much.

Decoding the Subtext: The Bruce Partington Plans

This story makes me all sorts of gleeful. It marks the shifts from 'completely in love and sleeping together but too chicken shit/uncertain to actually tell one another' to 'completely in love and no longer able to hide the fact from one another so yay let's celebrate by having sex'. This is, of course, my favourite moment in any relationship. It's made all kinds of better because it's Holmes who first breaks.

( Bruce Partington Plans )

And, of course, no post would be complete without more Rathbone squee. Don't worry, I will be moving on from him soon, and then you can anticipate months worth of Clive Merrison squee. Muhahaha.

( Voice of Terror and Dressed to Kill )

It would appear as though I have lost time. Literally. Where the hell did yesterday go? Or this morning, for that matter. I'm really looking forward to this week/weekend being over (and not just for my vacation days). I am so exhausted from all this pre-holiday running around. I just want it over with already.

Let's not even get into the depression of the forecasted green Christmas. Blah.

In more positive news, we have decodings, and film reviews, and lots and lots of Sherlock-squee.

Decoding the Subtext: Black Peter and the Norwood Builder

( Black Peter and the Norwood Builder )

And finally we have even more Rathbone squee, because my god, people; the gay.

( SH and the House of Fear )

And yes, I will attempt to answer comments/read my flist tomorrow. Until then I'll just be over here trying to find the bottom of my desk.

I have been uber productive this weekend.  First up, we have one of my favourite stories.  Not only is it exceedingly slashy, but it also features Violet Smith, who is easily my favourite of Holmes' clients.  She's feisty and aggressive and doesn't take shit from anyone.  She also rides a mean bicycle, and for that she instantly becomes one of my literary girl crushes.

After that, we have 2 Rathbone SH films, both of which I rather enjoyed.  Consider this me doing my part to make the season gay.

Decoding the Subtext: The Solitary Cyclist

( The Solitary Cyclist )

Film Reviews: Basil Rathbone as SH in the Pearl of Death ('44) and Pursuit to Algiers ('45)

( Pearl of Death and Pursuit to Algiers )

I know what you're thinking. It's been two days and I haven't commented on the Liberal Leadership race. I am a bad politicking fangirl. Technically, I'm not a Liberal, so who they elect as leader shouldn't matter much to me. Still, they will (although, possibly not anymore) eventually rule this country again, so it probably should matter.

And no, I don't think Stephane Dion was a good choice. Personally, I have nothing against the guy (although he's certainly no Bob Rae --and no, I'm not NDP biased, really), but he's an old guard Liberal, and the Conservatives are going to have a field day with that. He can't beat Harper (he can't) and I would have preferred they elected someone capable of doing that. I don't want a Conservative majority in the next election. I don't even want another minority. I want the Liberals back in power (with a strong NDP showing) and I don't think the country is going to vote Dion's Liberals back into power. I just don't.

I didn't like Ignatieff, but he's capable of beating Harper. Rae would have been my choice, and he's respected enough across the country that he could have done it (depending on Ontario's mood, of course). For purely personal reasons, my second choice would have Brison, but I don't think Canada's ready to vote in an openly gay Prime Minister. The final tally, then, left me feeling rather bleak about the future prospects of politics in Canada. I suppose I could be wrong. I rather hope I am, actually.

Anyway... In other unpopular news, look, it's a SH review.

( SH and the Spider Woman )

First, I owe emails. I do not anticipate getting to these tonight, so please be patient.

Second, why is it not time for House? Why? Oh, Tritter.

Third, a SH film review.

( The Adventures of SH, with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce )

First, Heroes?  Still rocking like whoa.  And I didn't even hate whathisname this time.  I did, however, still hate whatshisothername.  Don't worry.  I'll get it.

Second.  I have finally, finally finished my Granada review.  It is, of course, way, way too large to post in livejournal.  So, instead I will post a link for anyone who might be interested.  Don't feel obliged, but if you do check it out, and happen to notice any code issues (particularly with my anchored links) please let me know.

Granada Television's Sherlock Holmes

Hello. Long time no see. Let's talk about television, shall we?

( Heroes, Jericho, Veronica Mars )

Speaking of Sherlock Holmes; I promised a review and a review you shall have. Things seem to be cumulating rather quickly, so I anticipate a sudden surge of Sherlockian things in the coming weeks.

( Harrison's: In the Footsteps of SH )

I had promised to talk about fanfiction, and the impact my recent venture in SH slash has had on my enjoyment of fanfiction, and we will get to that.  First, however, some random comments and a review.

( random SH related comments )

Now that that's out of the way, we can now turn to our review.  Having finally managed to find a torrent for one of the original (Fox) Rathbone films, I must confess, I am utterly impressed.

( The Hound of the Baskervilles, 1939, with Rathbone and Bruce )

And, of course, no entry would be complete without some fanfiction inspired rambling.  Also, as it is a rare occasion for me to admit my faults, it may interest several of you to know that, yes; I am, on occasion, wrong. ;)

( My Ten Commandments of Fanfiction are no more )

Things are... better today. This largely based on spending the majority of yesterday typing up Decoding the Subtext reports. Actually, this is largely based on reading my notes and stumbling across the following:

Booty call?

Because, really, all Sherlock Holmes stories should involve booty calls.

So apparently last night belonged to the Emmys. And apparently I had no idea. Well, I never claimed to be in the know. So, did anyone I care about win? Actually, is there even anyone I care about? Probably not, actually.

Anyway. I promised reviews, and reviews you shall have. I squeed about this book before I left, and I'm squeeing about it now. Man alive do I love it when old school Sherlockians see the gay.

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

Author: Vincent Starrett
Published: 1933, revised 1960
Publisher: George Allan & Unwin Ltd.

( Private Life )

Well, it took some doing, but it's finally done. Or started, perhaps I should say, as I anticipate I will now spend the rest of my life updating it.

With love, S.H.

With Love, S.H. is where I will be archiving all of my SH related reviews and my series, Decoding the Subtext.

Speaking of reviews. Despite my insanely busy weekend, I did find time to watch a few movies.

The first is Murder at the Baskervilles, with Arthur Wontner as Holmes, and Ian Flemming as Watson.

( Murder at the Baskervilles )

Next up we have Arthur Wontner in The Sign of Four.

( the sign of four )

On that note, I'm going to go have dinner, and then see about catching up with my flist, and the many stories that popped up over the weekend.

It was entirely too hot to do anything useful last night. I'd considered doing some reading and then writing the next segment of decoding the subtext, but it was entirely too hot to focus on words, so instead I passed the night watching SH film adaptations.

I've mentioned before that my SH obsession will last me a lifetime, and I realized last night how true that was. There are literally thousands of adaptations (film/television/radio), pastiches, scholarly works, monograms; you name it, and I haven't even begun to scratch the surface. SH is a 'life work' fandom, and I love that about it.

First up, we have The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes, starring Arthur Wontner as Sherlock Holmes, and Ian Fleming as Dr. Watson. Filmed in 1935, I managed to download an original version, filmed in hazy black and white, and complete with film scratches.

( The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes )

Next up we have Sherlock Holmes and the Woman in Green. This is actually the first Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce film I have seen. It was filmed in 1945, and again I managed to download an original black and white, grainy version.

I will warn you now, before you bother with the review, that I had some serious issues with this film. My dear and much beloved Watson is the Elena of Watsons in this adaptation. Yes. The Elena! You can imagine the ranting contained within.

( Sherlock Holmes and the Woman in Green )

I honestly don't know how many people are bothering to read these things; if I should just stop posting them here, finish that website I was making, and limit these reviews to an offsite location. I like talking about Holmes, though, and while I'm certain a large number of you are rolling your eyes and wishing I'd get back to posting about WaT, I really don't think I'm capable of stopping. I am working on several WaT projects, so hopefully in the coming weeks I'll actually be able to post something of interest.

You'll have to forgive me for my recent bout of organizational posts. I suspect the need to organize my life each summer stems from my many years of schooling. With September fast approaching, I am conditioned to want to have every other aspect of my life tidied before the month approaches. I suspect this is why my fanfiction output increases in September (I'm used to course-loads starting then, and so, without them, I need something else to fill my time).

I am going to get to that review, but I first wanted to mention two things:

1) Sherlockian related research:

I have started reading Baring-Gould's The Annotated Sherlock Holmes. This amounts to re-reading Canon, so I imagine it will be a while before I'm able to review it. That being said, I have plans of commenting on each of the stories as I read them (please note: Baring-Gould's annotated Canon lists the stories in order according to his chronology. As such, I'd recommend first time readers begin with a complete collection listed in order of publication, and save Baring-Gould's collection for a second/third/fourth reading of Canon). I want to touch on the slash elements in each of the stories, so over the coming months, you can anticipate finding something that I will simply call: decoding the subtext. This is a huge project, which will likely consume a good portion of my time.

2) Fanfiction:

I have never been one to write mass amounts of fanfiction in the summer. For one, real life is exceedingly busy, and for another, it is simply too hot to sit at my computer and type away. I have always preferred to write fanfiction in the fall and winter. That being said, I do have several dozen plots and outlines and ideas, and I will eventually get around to writing them all. A good number of these are Without a Trace related, but I also have several Sherlock Holmes fics I want to write. I wouldn't count on a lot of fic showing up during the month of August, but as the weather begins to cool, and my life begins to calm, you can anticipate the frequency of fic in this journal to increase exponentially.

Now that that's out of the way, I am finally going to get around to my latest SH review. The book is called Baker Street By-ways, by James Holroyd.

( Baker Street Byways: a book about Sherlock Holmes )

This might actually be my final entry today. I was anticipating being bored and the day dragging, but it's been oddly busy, so I'm finding myself with less time to fill than I anticipated.

I do, however, have enough time for one final SH review before I leave (and I imagine there will be several when I get back, as I'm planning on using my flights to do some reading/movie watching.

Yesterday, I sat down and watched the 1983 version of The Hound of the Baskervilles (with Ian Richardson as Holmes, and Donald Churchill as Watson). You will undoubtedly have noticed that I have reviewed television/movie adaptations of the Hound before (several times, in fact). I haven't even scratched the surface.

For some reason (possibly because it is one of Doyle's more interesting stories, or possibly because it resolves itself well on film) the Hound is one of the most frequently filmed of Doyle's stories. As such, there are literally dozens of version. I intend to review them all, and am actually focusing on Hound at the moment, mostly because it seems like a logical thing to do, particularly for comparison purposes.

I will try, however, to limit any bias I may have regarding the previous versions.

It should also be noted that, despite the numerous versions, each version is unique enough that I have yet to become bored while watching one.

( The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983) with Ian Richardson and Donald Churchill )

I should probably start by wishing a very happy birthday to nehellania. Hope your day has been fabulous and your evening proves even better.

I'm going to do some topic jumping now.

1) My Canada does not include Stephen Harper. I confess, I have never been a fan, but he's sunk to an all new low in my book. There are Canadians stuck in Israel and Lebanon right now, and the only thing that Harper seems capable of doing is telling the press that Israel has a right to defend herself (never mind the fact that this entire situation could have been solved through diplomatic means, without the need for violence, or the fact that Israel's response is extremely aggressive, not to mention offensive. Innocent people are dying, on both sides, all because of bad government decisions and all Harper can do is shrug his shoulders and echo whatever comes out of Bush's mouth. Shame, Mr. Harper. Shame. At the very least, get our citizens the fuck out of the region.

2) My god is it hot. Like condemned to hell hot. I think I might actually be melting. I'm not even sure I'll be able to find the energy to eat tonight. What's worse? It's supposed to be like this for the next 3 days --longer, actually, but only the next three days matter to me.

3) I am, mostly, ready. My list is entirely checked off, anyway, so aside from some last minute things, I think I'm good to go. Squee!

4) Today I took a trip to the UW library to take back some books and take out the next set in my Sherlockian adventure. I managed to snag a copy of Baring-Gould's Annotated SH -- there's 2 volumes, right? Because that's what the library had. I also picked up the SH Scrapbook, which looks utterly fascinating, The Private Life of SH, and Baker Street Byways. Expect reviews (I'm going to start with Baring-Gould, but each volume is a tome, so I'm not going to take them with my to England, hence, I'll likely start with reviews for BSB and PL).

5) Speaking of reviews, I finished reading The West End Horror.

( Sherlock Holmes, Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker walk into a bar )

Countdown: 3 days