The second episode of Sherlock sees us entering the shadowy world of Far Eastern criminal gangs and smugglers. Several acts of vandalism see Holmes and Watson called to a major bank where they are hired to find out how the vandal got into a building with lots of high-tech security.
The opening scenes however are of a beautiful Asian girl making tea with an ancient teapot, an act that actually preserves the pot from drying out and cracking. Her connection to the vandalism and the murders that follow is explained over the next 45minutes or so and we are led, via a Chinese circus to which Watson takes his new girlfriend, to a dingy alley under a viaduct where the same girlfriend is fighting for her life.
Needless to say Holmes arrives in the nick of time allowing Watson to save the girl.
I like this one as I have always liked ciphers and this had a really neat one, and also we find out that Holmes is certainly infallible as he fails to spot something that Watson's girlfriend points out, a nice touch.
Only one more episode to go and it is a good un, then I have the extras to watch as well, can't wait :-)
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Thursday, 29 March 2012
Sherlock Series 1 - A study in Pink
The story is very well structured as we are introduced to the recently returned from Afghanistan Dr John Watson who has a walking stick and a limp and a pistol in his bedroom drawer. He needs a place to live and is introduced to the brilliant but annoying Sherlock Holmes, a Consulting Detective who has a habit of annoying the Police by generally insulting them and making them look stupid. A good example is in the opening scene where he hijacks a press conference about a series of suicides by sending texts to all the people there contradicting anything that the Police state as fact.
The murders are dealt with in the usual Sherlock way leaving us to figure out what has happened by giving us a few clues but nothing more than the other characters in the story.
Needless to say the final scenes are with the murderer where Holmes puts himself in danger to prove a point only to be saved at the last second by Watson.
The maniac side of Holmes comes out at this stage as he tortures the dying villain to find out the name of his 'sponsor' and is rewarded with a cry of 'Moriarty'.
Que our heroes walking off into the night briefly interrupted by Sherlocks brother Mycroft who watches them walk away and introduces Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.
The other two spisodes await me and I cannot wait to reacquaint myself with them.
Sunday, 18 March 2012
Australian GP 2012
The first race of the 2012 season has now come and gone and it was a really interesting one.
We came into the season not really knowing who would be on top. Red Bull had looked the best in pre-season testing but only just, with McLaren and Mercedes very close behind and then the Lotus and Ferrari teams with everyone apart from Marussia and HRT looking like they will make the midfield race a big one.
In the end it was McLaren that looked fast, especially in the hands of Jenson Button, with the Red Bulls looking a bit slow in qualifying trim but developing some speed in race trim. Ferrari looked well out of it in Qualifying but proved usefully fast and consistent in race trim.
The suprise of the race had to be the pace of the Williams cars which, although they didn't finish, did show real potential.
The Saubers were also very racy mixing it up with Ferrari and Lotus in the mid field.
Disappointment was found in the Caterham camp who did well in the practice sessions but could not match that in the race.
So it was a good result with Button winning, Vettel in second and Hamilton rounding out the podium. After them came Webber, Alonso, Kobayashi, Raikkonen, Perez, Ricciardo and Di Resta rounding out the top 10.
The Malaysian GP is next weekend and I hope it will be as entertaining as this one was.
We came into the season not really knowing who would be on top. Red Bull had looked the best in pre-season testing but only just, with McLaren and Mercedes very close behind and then the Lotus and Ferrari teams with everyone apart from Marussia and HRT looking like they will make the midfield race a big one.
In the end it was McLaren that looked fast, especially in the hands of Jenson Button, with the Red Bulls looking a bit slow in qualifying trim but developing some speed in race trim. Ferrari looked well out of it in Qualifying but proved usefully fast and consistent in race trim.
The suprise of the race had to be the pace of the Williams cars which, although they didn't finish, did show real potential.
The Saubers were also very racy mixing it up with Ferrari and Lotus in the mid field.
Disappointment was found in the Caterham camp who did well in the practice sessions but could not match that in the race.
So it was a good result with Button winning, Vettel in second and Hamilton rounding out the podium. After them came Webber, Alonso, Kobayashi, Raikkonen, Perez, Ricciardo and Di Resta rounding out the top 10.
The Malaysian GP is next weekend and I hope it will be as entertaining as this one was.
Thursday, 8 March 2012
Dirk Gently - Episode 1
I loved the books of the late lamented Douglas Adams and the initial pilot episode of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency was brilliant. So I was really looking forward to the new series starting but was it any good?
The answer to that has to be yes. Lots of apparently random things coming together in a nice holistic manner at the end of the story. And of course Mr Gently still doesnt get paid!
The episode had some really nice moments especially Dirk pulling a sledgehammer from his trousers and smashing a computer server with it although the one that made me laugh out loud was when the agencies client jumped from a window straight onto the accountant standing on the pavement below, a real laugh out loud moment as it would have been in Adam's books.
If you havn't seen a Dirk Gently story then try to catch this one on the BBC catch-up service before it goes.
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Holiday Time again
Tomorrow see's me doing my last shift for 10 days as I am on my Spring break.
The time will be spent DIYing and visiting London and a few local attractions that I have never got around to visiting.
The garden needs a good tidy and I really want to get a bit more of my garden railway built (see my Blog on the railway at sittonwatchet.blogspot.com) and perhaps get some work on some model kits that I have had for some time.
Two places I will be visiting are the Mill Green Museum and the Roman Baths both at Welwyn Garden City, pictures and my views on these places will appear here next week. I pass the Mill Green Museum, which is a working water mill, every working day on my bus and the Roman Baths I found out about whilst researching the museum on-line.
The Wife wants to visit London to do a few touristy things and also wants to visit the M&M shop at Piccadilly! Don't know exactly where we will be going but will have a good look at a few websites to decide, again pics and visit report will follow.
Need to go to sleep now as I an on a 3:30am start which does mean a 10:30 am finish but it is a shock to the system!
The time will be spent DIYing and visiting London and a few local attractions that I have never got around to visiting.
The garden needs a good tidy and I really want to get a bit more of my garden railway built (see my Blog on the railway at sittonwatchet.blogspot.com) and perhaps get some work on some model kits that I have had for some time.
Two places I will be visiting are the Mill Green Museum and the Roman Baths both at Welwyn Garden City, pictures and my views on these places will appear here next week. I pass the Mill Green Museum, which is a working water mill, every working day on my bus and the Roman Baths I found out about whilst researching the museum on-line.
The Wife wants to visit London to do a few touristy things and also wants to visit the M&M shop at Piccadilly! Don't know exactly where we will be going but will have a good look at a few websites to decide, again pics and visit report will follow.
Need to go to sleep now as I an on a 3:30am start which does mean a 10:30 am finish but it is a shock to the system!
Sunday, 4 March 2012
F1 2012 - Pre-season testing
The last day of pre-season testing has just finished and for the first time in many years there has not been a clear winner of the 'off season championship'.
Almost all the teams have managed to head the times on at least one session and they all have looked good when compared to the top teams. However it would seem that McLaren have a car that is much easier to set-up than their rivals but it is not as quick as the rest once they have got a handle on the set-up. The Red Bull looks to be the best all rounder with the Lotus and Mercedes cars looking like they may well spring a suprise or two as the season gets going.
Behined them, I believe, comes Ferrari who despite setting some good times appear to be struggling to get their rather radical car to work consistently.
The rest of the field, apart from HRT, do seem to have closed the gap with the new Caterham team setting some good and consistent times.
My current predictions for the year are that McLaren and Red Bull will still dominate the season with Lotus, Mercedes and Ferrari snapping at their heels. Force India will be slugging it out with Sauber and Williams with Caterham, Torro Rosso and Virgin once again joining battle for the best tail end charlies. HRT will be in a race of their own far off the back of the field.
Champion? I want Button to do it but I do believe that, given a dominant car as he did last year Vettel will probably make it 3 in a row.
Roll on Australia, March 18th.
Almost all the teams have managed to head the times on at least one session and they all have looked good when compared to the top teams. However it would seem that McLaren have a car that is much easier to set-up than their rivals but it is not as quick as the rest once they have got a handle on the set-up. The Red Bull looks to be the best all rounder with the Lotus and Mercedes cars looking like they may well spring a suprise or two as the season gets going.
Behined them, I believe, comes Ferrari who despite setting some good times appear to be struggling to get their rather radical car to work consistently.
The rest of the field, apart from HRT, do seem to have closed the gap with the new Caterham team setting some good and consistent times.
My current predictions for the year are that McLaren and Red Bull will still dominate the season with Lotus, Mercedes and Ferrari snapping at their heels. Force India will be slugging it out with Sauber and Williams with Caterham, Torro Rosso and Virgin once again joining battle for the best tail end charlies. HRT will be in a race of their own far off the back of the field.
Champion? I want Button to do it but I do believe that, given a dominant car as he did last year Vettel will probably make it 3 in a row.
Roll on Australia, March 18th.
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