Crap!

What the fuck? I thought the ereader I bought supported MP3 files for music or audiobooks. After all it has a jack for headphones, albeit a 2.5 mm jack instead of the normal 3.5 mm one. However, when I loaded audio files onto the device, they refused to play. I went on the Astak website, and found this on their FAQ:

Q: Does the MENTOR support MP3 files?
A: No, currently the MENTOR does not support MP3 files or audiobooks.

Cushing's SIGN and BLUE

This version of SIGN was dramatized by the Sherlockians Michael and Mollie Hardwick. The episode begins with Bartholomew Sholto dead, holding a Sign of Four paper in his lap. Next, Mrs. Hudson announces Mary Morstan in Baker Street. (Thereby cutting out the cocaine scene, as well as the deductions from Watson's watch.) Oddly, Miss Morstan says that she is a companion, not a governess, for Mrs. Cecil Forrester. She is also dressed rather too garishly, in my opinion.

Mary Morstan explains about her father's disappearance first and then shows them the pearls. Her letter is dated November 7th, defying both the July and September dates. Instead of meeting at the Lyceum, the carriage picks them up at Mrs. Forrester's house. During the carriage ride, we see Watson begin telling the story of the double-barrelled tiger cub, but he is so lovestruck that he zones out in the middle of it. Holmes visibly rolls his eyes, and is glad when they arrive.

Cushing's STUD and BOSC

Now I have watched the Peter Cushing versions of STUD and BOSC, which both coincidentally feature women named Alice. STUD is dramatized by Hugh Leonard. Because it is not the first episode in the 1968 TV series, and the actors are not young, this version omits the scenes with Stamford, and the case is not treated as an origin story about how Holmes and Watson met.

The episode begins with Lucy Ferrier's open coffin, and a man takes the ring off her finger. After the credits, we see Drebber and Stangerson checking into Halliday's hotel after missing their train. They argue, then Drebber returns to the Charpentier boarding house.

Whitechapel Vampire and Two Hounds

I watched the other two Matt Frewer films I have, The Whitechapel Vampire and The Hound of the Baskervilles. Then I watched the Peter Cushing version of HOUN for contrast. This is not the 1959 Hammer film with Christopher Lee as Sir Henry; this is the BBC TV version from 1968, where Cushing replaced Douglas Wilmer.

Crucifer of Blood and The Royal Scandal

Now there have been 1000 downloads of Prelude on Feedbooks. Even with the available statistics, there's no way for me to know who downloaded the 1000th ebook, but thanks, whoever you are. If I had used a pay book service instead, I might have made some money off this, but it doesn't matter. My goal was not to make a profit; I just wanted to see slash be available even in the ebook world. I wonder if Rohase Piercy or anyone who's ever been published in print, will ever go digital? They're probably holding off because of DRM issues. I'm just glad that my ebook has been downloaded at an average rate of 5-6 downloads a day for months now. Now if somebody on Feedbooks would just leave a comment about it, I'd know how it was viewed by mainstream fans who are presumably not Sherlockians.

Got an E-Reader

Well dang it! I'd heard rumors that Barnes & Noble was going to release a WiFi only Nook this summer, but what I heard from Engadget made it sound like this Nook lite wouldn't be out until July or August, and that it would cost $199.

That's why I recently pulled the trigger and bought an Astak Mentor reader for $129, in an unusual, out-of-the-blue sale at Newegg. The price difference just looked to be so large, and I was sick of waiting. But then B&N just had to release the WiFi only Nook for $149, and now I'm upset. I have to keep telling myself, though, that the Nook doesn't come with a case at that price, and I'd still wind up spending at least $179. Plus the Nook doesn't support organizing your books into folders, as far as I know. So I'll just have to be happy with what I got until I can save up enough money for a new e-reader. But maybe by then the color e-ink screens will finally be out. I don't know.

A-Team movie

In other news, I saw the A-Team movie, and was quite disappointed. And yet I so loved seeing Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Quinton Jackson, and Sharlto Copley playing their characters. The first half hour or so was enjoyable, and I got a wave of excitement and nostalgia every time I heard the old TV theme song. So what was wrong? I think it's the fact that the action sequences were so confusingly cut that I couldn't tell what was going on. Also, I couldn't hear a lot of the dialogue because of the various explosions and other sound effects, so that limited my ability to pick up the jokes or to fully understand the plot.

I think I may enjoy the movie more on DVD, if it's sufficiently subtitled, and I can fast-forward through some of the endless CGI sequences. But I'm not sure.

Fanfic recommend: Fragility

Wow, this story by Enkidu has a really great Mycroft. Fragility is a ten-part fic based on the 2009 movie. It skillfully weaves in missing scenes that show off Mycroft, Constable Clark, as well as the Irregulars. Irene Adler is treated somewhat harshly, though the story does provide some information on her last husband (not Godfrey Norton) whom she divorced.

I really like this story, even though it's so angsty and sad. I hope there's a sequel that covers what happens in FINA and EMPT, but maybe Enkidu will wait until the second movie to see how Guy Ritchie handles everything.

STUD comic

Here's a short comic by feriowind based on Chapter one of A Study in Scarlet. Unfortunately, the artist won't be able to continue with the whole book, but it's nice to see young Holmes and Watson meeting.

comic - Mr. Sherlock Holmes

Feedbooks and Holmes sketch

I've been checking the downloads for Prelude on Feedbooks, and I've got over 900 downloads now. Feedbooks also has a new feature for authors called Analytics, which gives you various statistics about your book. I'm not surprised that two-thirds of my downloads are from the US, but I am surprised that a small percentage are downloaded from far away places like Malaysia and Ukraine. It's nice to see that there are Holmes slash fans all over the world.

I also saw a prompt on the SHkinkmeme for a Holmes/Watson retirement fic, so I thought I'd post a relevant sketch that I wrote last month.

Private Life, part 7

Okay, here's another chapter of the Private Life "Love Story" fic. We begin with the same hip bath that was seen in the movie. It appears that they don't have any running water in the house.

Mrs. Hudson really should have servants, you know, to do heavy lifting jobs. Yet none are seen in the movie. Maybe they got rid of any servants because they installed the dumb-waiter, and she didn't need any help now? I don't know. More reason to update their plumbing, huh?

Sick of Israel

Well, so the Rachel Corrie was seized without violence and is being towed to Ashdod. So that's somewhat of a relief, but Israel still refuses to end the blockade, and we don't know that they'll actually let all of the aid through. What's annoying and petty of them is that they kept calling the Rachel Corrie by its former name of Linda. Why be so trivial? Does it harm you to acknowledge that they named the ship after an American protester who died?

Really, it's ironic that this was an Irish ship, given the long history of civil war and "Troubles" that Northern Ireland went through. If they could resolve their differences, in spite of acts of terrorism, why can't Israel?

Juan Cole on the Hypocrisy

Really great article on Israel, and how they broadly paint everyone as terrorists. He also points out that some of the released photos have been debunked as having been from years ago.

The Israeli spin about how the flotilla was provocative is terrible. It's like the Southern racists during the Civil Rights movement saying that the activists who did the Freedom Rides, sit-ins, and marches were being provocative, and so deserved to be knocked down by water hoses and such.

Flotilla passengers

This post on Daily Kos seems to gather together the accounts of several of the Flotilla passengers who were released. I mean, if one of the Israeli parliament members says that the ships were fired on before the soldiers boarded, how can Israel seriously keep up their self-defense claim?