2011, you were a hard teacher, I'll tell you that. I'd say you were the year I felt the most of everything I ever have had to feel: the most regret, the most joy, the most sadness, the most pride. If there's a year I'll look back on that changed and taught me the most it will be you.

Who would have thought partings would  be so painful? How could I have known how deep friendships could go? And yet when I think about it, everything seems to have come full circle and more, like endless circles around a wheel.

To break the cycle it's me who needs to change. To whine less - like what I'm doing now, to empathize less, and to rely less on others to be happy.

2012, I don't think you'll be the end of the world, but I hope you'll be a good beginning for me.

 

I've read every Sherlock Holmes novel and short story ever written, so I guess I'm right up there in the pile of literary snobs, in a world where "singular" meant "remarkable" and a sovereign was still currency.

Yes I know purists can come off as annoying sometimes but I think it all comes down to balance. I count myself among the "Hans shot first!" base for example, but I don't have a problem with Episodes I-III in general. The spirit was there, those were indeed Star Wars movies.

Which is more than I can say for Hollywood's second Sherlock Holmes film headed by Robert Downey Jr. Between the sprawling brawls, train chases, and slapstick moments, the Hollywood-ization of Holmes is jarring. Downey looks like he's fresh off an Iron Man set, Jack Sparrow-ish swagger and all. His Sherlock is much more brawn than brains, which I suppose I should have guessed from the poster (Holmes with a machine pistol? Really?). Those "mental fight" scenes are a guilty pleasure though.

Jude Law does a good job as Watson, as he did in the previous movie, infusing the often bumbling sidekick from the books into quite the debonair doctor, holding his own against Holmes. Jared Harris plays a serviceable menancing Moriarty, and as for Rachel McAdams' Irene Adler, she might well have had "token female" stamped on her forehead.

(Spoiler alert )

Praises are due where deserved though, and the (second to last) scene is worth the price admission for its homage to the iconic fall into the icy abyss from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and the immortal eulogy by a sober Watson to "him who I shall ever regard as the best and wisest man I have ever known". The drama of it all is, however, broken by Hollywood's insistence on having a Happy Ending, the bane of this generation (here's looking at you, Wall-E!).

 

I know I may come across as pretentious, but I am merely critical because I do know what a good portrayal of the great detective would be like, and no, I don't mean Basil Rathborne coming back from the grave. Karen introduced me to the BAFTA-winning BBC mini-series Sherlock last year, and now that is how to portray Holmes. Benedict Cumberbatch captures the essence of Holmes perfectly - eccentric, borderline manic, and above all, cerebral. If you want to watch Sherlock Holmes on film, watch that. The good news is a second series of Sherlock is now running, which will be a much better use of your time.

Rating: 6/10

 

 

 

Giving this another try. I've always been surprised with myself - given how much I read, how strong my opinions are and how much I love being a grammar Nazi, you'd think I'd absolutely love writing.

Maybe it was the platform? Wordpress was very... Immobile. The iOS app didn't work very well, and I was spending too much time tweaking pictures and alignment. And I never did find a minimalist theme I liked. Perhaps the move to the more nimble, flexible Posterous will bode better (Considered Tumblr, but didn't find the whole reblog thing up my alley).

Maybe it was the hassle of uploading pictures and finding the time to sit down and write? I have the iPhone 4S now - sold off my nearly-new S95 when I heard how good the camera would be, and I definitely have no regrets. Pictures are a tad noisy, but there tons and tons of apps that more than make up for any limitations of the 4S camera.

Maybe it was the apathy that set in. Malaysian politics has been in the doldrums for a while now, and the euphoria of 2008 is wearing off. The opposition has made its own share of screwups, and there isn't that sense of urgency now that people are much more politically aware (I'm glad to say that after Bersih 2011, most of the girls in the office marched down to get themselves registered!). And my own meanderings on faith and freethought have blunted somewhat, now that I'm more settled and confident. But the next GE is just around the corner, and I think the passing of Christopher Hitchens affected me somehow. I want to be able to look back in another 20 years and laugh at how cynical and aloof I was, dammit!

Hopefully with those issues out of the way, I'll be blogging regularly this time!

Tried importing my old blog to Posterous, but comments wouldn't show up properly, and line breaks disappeared. So the old posts are now at http://archives.timthinksthat.net instead.

Here's to my third try at blogging! Watch this space.