Sherlock Holmes

I love mysteries. When I was younger, I was obsessed with the Encyclopedia Brown books. The thought that a kid could be so smart, and he could help his friends, and even the police sometimes -- I thought it was awesome. Also, the EB books made you turn to the next page for the solution, so it gave you a chance to solve it yourself. I loved that, too.

When I got older, I read the Hardy Boys, and when I got older still, I read the Hardy Boys Casefiles, which was Hardy Boys for adults, with Frank and Joe, but they were grown.

When I got into middle school, I started reading the Sherlock Holmes books, and my love of mysteries grew to a whole new level. I had never encountered a character like Sherlock before. He was maladjusted, you didn't always like him, and he was rarely nice. Being so smart left him being somewhat of a social outcast, and his only friends was Dr. Watson, the only person who was patient enough to put up with his moodiness.

I started watching Sherlock Holmes movies -- a few of the ones with Basil Rathbone, the movie Young Sherlock Holmes, The Great Mouse Detective, the show Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century, anything really. I was intrigued by the surely detective. I wasn't always happy with the TV and movie adaptions of Sherlock though -- many adaptions had reduced a lot of his character flaws down, thereby making him a friendly, happy, well-liked, but extremely smart guy. That's just not Holmes. A few good recommendations that were pretty good but weren't by Conan himself would be The Baker Street Irregulars, and the movie Young Sherlock Holmes.

Then, I saw the TV show House. I had avoided it, because I don't normally watch much TV -- a lot of them seem to be the same crime investigation shows with a different cast -- but after a few episodes I knew where'd I'd scene Dr. Gregory House before. He was Sherlock Holmes!! He walked with a cane, he had one really good friend who was patient enough to put up with his characer flaws, he was addicted to drugs, he was maladjusted and cynical, and he was extremely smart and solved cases most people were stumped by.

Now it seems they're gonna try to bring back Sherlock Holmes to the modern public. I saw on Yahoo news, where there's two new Sherlock Holmes movies in the works. One of them is a Columbia pictures comedy that is supposed to star Sacha Baron Cohen and Will Ferrel that I'm hoping will be as good as The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother, and not totally stupid. The other one fills me with hope, though. It's a Warner Bros. film, and when I saw who they got to play Sherlock, I thought, Wow, if they couldn't get Hugh Laurie, that guy could definitely do the part justice. They got Robert Downey, Jr. His smart alleck, cynical personality is perfect for the crabby detective, and with what I've heard about Iron Man, this movie will be fantastic, and hopefully be a box office smash.

I'm daring to get my hopes up. Don't let me down Hollywood!

Muses and Inspiration Revisited

Remember my post about the muse? Well, Maureen Johnson had a post on the fifth that answers my question in a very interesting way, and I didn't even ask her. You can find it here. Go check it out. It's a good post.

Parallel Universes

One story idea that has always been a favorite of mine is parallel universes. Stories where the heroes travel to worlds are mirrors of eachother. I love to read stories where the worlds may resemble something close to what we know with minor differences, and stories where the alternate world has been wrecked because of some catastrophic event where Johnny McBoogernose was elected mayor in Hicksville, USA instead of Timmy Straightentrue.

When I was a freshmen in highschool, I discovered Stephen King's series The Dark Tower, and they remain some of my favorite books. I love how they explore alternate worlds and alternate time lines and the idea that the universe is like an onion in reverse -- there are layers of worlds stacked on layers of worlds and each one may only differ slighly, while some may be enormously different.

Well, oh denizens of the SoaM universe, I have invented a machine that will let you explore alternate dimensions. The diagram of my invention can be seen below, although it may be too technical for most of you unscientifical folk. Just trust me that I spent many hours perfecting this design.You may question the morality of this. "Jason," you may protest, "couldn't even glancing briefly at another world throw ours into chaos, much like messing with the time stream." "What is this, freakin' twenty questions?" I would reply with anger. Seriously, why in the world would you be questioning me anyway, I just invented a freakin' transdimensional portal generator. When my findings are reported to the International Scientists Organization and Recreational Center -- or I-Soars -- I'll be able to buy and sell you guys like goldfish anyway....

...anyway, until the boys in white coats recognize my excellence, I will offer free rides to anyone who wants to visit a few alternate dimensions. Remember, these things may frighten you, but just remember that this is only a demonstration and a real ride will cost you your first born child -- so, basically, cheaper than a full tank of gas.

Without further ado, SoaM of the Other Worlds: SoaM Beta, SoaM Gamma, SoaM Delta, SoaM Epsilon -- (this world calls their site "The" Scribblings of a Madman. Everyone knows that my scribblings are "THE" scribblings, all others are imitators. I'm SoaM Alpha.)

I hope you all enjoyed your trip. Please watch your step and thank you for travelling.

Randomosity

I don't have much to say at the moment. I'm home for the weekend, and this weekend will be the mother of all cramming weekends, because finals start next week. Talk about pressure. On the plus side, I did well on my Biology test, and that always makes me happy.

So, what's going on in the Blogosphere?

PBW has a link to a free download of a story she wrote once.

S William Shaw has a contest to get free books for Christmas. Definitely check it out, he's a great writer.

S. M. Duke makes a really interesting point on criticism on religion and on anything in general.

So, that's all I have right now. Tomorrow I'm going to see The Golden Compass, and then celebrate with my friend. It's his birthday. Have a good weekend, all.

It's Been A While

Whoo, it's been a serious while, hasn't it? I opened up this thing and I swear, it was like opening one of those old boxes in the attic that you keep because you want to look back later and reminice. You know, every now and then, you add something new before you bury it in boxes and dust. Just a second ago, I think I saw a virtual spider attacking a helpless family of flies.

Sorry, I'm feeling rusty. I've disappeared, because college life is not as easy as it looks on TV (who would have thought?), but I think things are gonna work out okay. It was a rough ride, though.

Damn it all, I missed Halloween. Here, there was nothing, but this coming weekend my friends are having a very belated Halloween party, and that should be fun. Nothing like Halloween in November. I wonder if that's like Christmas in July? Thanksgiving is coming soon, the perfect chance to eat a whole hell of a lot and spend the next three days suffering from the side-effects of making yourself look like a pig. I can't wait. It will be the first Christmas with my best friend, and I'm sure he'll get a kick out of my uncle, he's quite the character.

Let's see, what comes after Thanksgiving? New Years Eve, April Fools Day, Groundhog Day...oh yeah, CHRISTMAS! Oh, I can't wait for that one. I've already started shopping, ha ha. I'm definitely NOT one of those last minutes shoppers.

If I used to go to your blogs, I'd love you to post the link to them in the comments. Both my laptop and my desktop at home had to get wiped out, and I lost all my links that I've been collecting for the better part of four years. *sigh* I was sad to see it go. That was a nightmare. My laptop was littered with errors that brought up a pretty striped screen of death. It turns out it was the graphics card, but that was before we wiped out my computer. It probably needed it, but I would have liked to have had a backup record of links and files that are now spiraling into the abyss.

Then, my desktop got a pretty worm virus on it and I had to wipe out the entire thing. That pissed me off a little, because that computer was the dumping ground. It had EVERYTHING I loved on it. All my old stuff, old stories from the sixth grade, essays I wrote to get into college, songs lyrics, music sheets, drawings, lots of stuff, gone in an instant. But that'll teach me. I should back up my stuff.

Oh, and in other news, it's NaNoWriMo! For those of you who want some fun, Lynn Viehl has some great stuff on her site in the archives, and she usually posts every year. More news on NaNoWriMo when I get some. I never participate because I never have the time to dedicate that it requires. I barely have time to write as it is.

Anyway, that's all my catching up for now. How's everyone else?

Tied to the Tracks

I was over at Rantings and Ravings of an Insane Writer when I found a link to this: Rosina Lippi is spreading the word about her new release, Tied to the Tracks. The meme looks absolutely fun, and even though there's a prize, I didn't know it when I found the meme. I'd have done it anyway, just because it's fun.

Five Reasons the Best Writers Come From Hogwarts

1. With all the ghosts you always have reliable research.
2. It's the deadliest safest place in England
3. The constantly changing staircases would make visitors finding your writing room rare.
4. Bogarts are perfect for getting scary ideas.
5. If your muse is in a particularly bad mood, you can always find what you need at the Room of Requirement.

Remember to check out Rosina Lippi's new release. And the meme is just plain fun!

Tied to the Tracks by Rosina Lippi. July 3, 2007. ISBN: 0425215326

"[This] is a hilarious, smart, sexy novel with a heart of gold." -- Susan Wiggs

"[Lippi] turns her buoyant creative talents to the romantic comedy genre with an effervescent tale of a trio of offbeat Yankee filmmakers plunked down deep in the heart of Dixie." -- Booklist

Read an excerpt. (Adobe Reader required) Watch the book trailer

You can find Tied to the Tracks at Amazon , Barnes & Nobel, Borders, Powells, or at your local independent bookseller.

This meme has been entered in the Tied to the Tracks contest, originating on Rosina Lippi's Storytelling2 weblog. If you'd like to enter the BUCKS & BOOKS meme contest, get the rules here.

Update!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to pop in a let everyone know that I'm adding two links to the Links page. One is to a website called The Seven Stones. The other is called The Silent Woods. Both are awesome sites run by authors my age. Aurelen and her friend, Annie Bananie, are both working on novels and they post updates every now and then about how it's going so far. If you like finding out about people who write, you'll think these sites are cool. It's interesting to see how they come up with ideas and how they get work done. Check out their sites--it's worth the look. Well, that's all for now. I've got to hammer down some details in my characters' religion and language and go to the store for food.
Oops, forgot to mention I updated my profile and fixed my age. Now it's right!