The Vernacularist

Back and watching the Sopranos

So are we supposed to feel bad for Tony Soprano and his family? Are we supposed to sympathize with Carmela and worry about how she feels while Tony is dying? He's murdered lots of people and his whole family knows. So we should worry about them?

Tony was shot by the violence that hits families every day. From the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence:

For every time a gun is used in a home in a legally-justifiable shooting [note that every
self-defense is legally justifiable] there are 22 criminal, unintentional, and suicide-related
shootings

As a viewer, you have to suspend disbelief and allow the plot to wisk you away. There are great shows that take me away like Alias (when it was good) and Star Trek, but the Sopranos doesn't keep me in the state of disbelief. I think they went on hiatus for too long. And these stupid dream sequences seem tired, especially the music. Did they hire a low budget Enya? The singer actually sounds like Annie Lennox.

Thank god Grey's Anatomy is on next or else I would go to sleep in a bad mood. I'll write about my vacation in another post. I don't want to acknowledge it's over until I have to.

I want a wall projection tv

Emily and I agree, a wall projector television would be IDEAL for my apartment. (Emily had advised me not use ALL CAPS, but I had to overrule her based on my excitement for the idea.)

I found this link, which might make this affordable.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/howto/20041113/

Now Emily is making fun of me for using the word "link." I hate her. It's true.

Anyone have some advice about how to best do this?

A Night with Basil Rathbone

If you aren't part of the 221b Baker Street and The Baker Street Boys, then let me introduce you to one of the one and only Sherlock Holmes. I'm a devoted Sherlock Holmes fan. There have been many players to adopt the cool stare and determined walk of Holmes, but the best was Basil Rathbone.

First, who is named "Basil"? And is there a freakin' cooler last name than "Rathbone"? The guy was a british version of Humphrey Bogart. Another great name...

Tonight, the Turner Classic Movie channel is playing a full day of Basil Rathbone movies including 3 of his 10 Shelock Holmes movies. Nigel Bruce played the ever-disbelieving but always loyal Dr. Watson.

I was first introduced to Sherlock Holmes in the 9th grade. I went to Eaglebrook Boarding School and the graduating year for that school is 9th grade. Therefore, I was a "senior" by their standards. We had electives in English and I chose Sherlock Holmes because I really liked the teacher, Paul Cyr-Mutty.

The entire class was given The Complete Sherlock Holmes. We read about half the stories in a semester. Our final project was to write our own short mystery story. My story was terrible. I pushed the mystery too hard and forgot that you have to build to tension. You can't just make it appear when you want.

These works by Sir Authur Conan Doyle (another great name) created such a vivid, eccentric character that I couldn't help but race through all the stories for the class. Dr. Watson, one of the best sidekicks in literature, spoke for all of the readers. Or, at least, the realist in all of us. No one could be that smart and perceptive and deductive. Doyle wrote a convincing hero that delicately tetered between super hero and believeable.

What made Sherlock remain of flesh and bone was his cocaine addiction. What's funny is that cocaine was not considered a harmful drug when Doyle wrote the stories nor for the setting of the Holmes stories. Read now, this addiction seems like an achiles heel for the mastermind, not to mention a good reason to keep the good doctor around.

I haven't seen many othe Basil Rathbone films, but he is famous for his Robin Hood. I think I might have to catch up on my Basil Rathbone filmography.

Do you have a favorite Sherlock Holmes story or actor who played Mr. Holmes?