Lot of Things :)

Since the last time I wrote something here, at least three topics have passed my mind, which I considered worth writing about. Lack of time kept me from writing.  :( ... Well, I was never in short of topics to talk/write about! ;)

At some point of time every year, I have a Holmes addiction phase. It usually lasts for about a month during which I re-read many/most of the adventures/stories of  Sherlock Holmes and refresh my memory. The stories are so wonderful that every time I read them, I have the same thrill (almost) which I had had in the first read. The wonderful friendship shared by Holmes and Dr. Watson gives me a special feeling too.

The language which Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle has used there is perhaps the best of all the English literature I have ever read.

This morning, I was listening to "The Hound of Baskervilles" (human-read MP3 -- available at project Gutenberg); later I listened to  "The Adventure of Empty House". At the end of this entry, I have added a small passage from "The Adventure of The Greek Interpreter", just to show the beauty of deduction. :) [You could very well avoid to read that]

But sometimes I do want to be able to remove the memories of some books which I've read, so that the re-read can be as pleasurable as the first read. I was reading a classic-of-the-future (Harry Potter part 1 and 2) again, and I felt the need of having forgotten the story to have the fresh-feeling! :)

This is surprising: - For the past two times, when I start to type in the new entry, I don't have the flow which I usually have. It feels like some block. My typing speed is really much above average (I believe) and this much of an entry should be typed in in a couple of minutes. But this time (last time too) I needed longer time than this much text-typing would take. I also hit the backspace a few times.

I believe/hope that this is just temporary. (Well, in fact, knowing the reason for this is really bad.  I have something in my mind which I am dying to write. But keeping from writing, as my readers (nor I) are not really ready for it. It has something to do with the 2-3 year challenge I once mentioned). So I have to get over this background topic, before I come to any other thing. Hence the little trouble.

These last two paragraphs came is with such an ease, that I myself am surprised! :)

Hey, I almost forgot to tell about the famous Oktoberfest. I had been already three (four) times there at the festival. All the time, with some friends. I should perhaps dedicate an entire post to the festival. Let me have my pictures ready, then I might do the post. :)

Before leaving, there is a small quote from one of the books I am reading lately. I have spent lot of time in trying to convince people - about Evolution. Daniel C Dennett sums it up - all that I have to say on that topic.

"To put it bluntly but fairly, anyone today who doubts that the varieties of life on this planet was produced by a process of evolution is simply ignorant - inexcusably ignorant, in a world where three out of four people have learned to read and write"

-- Daniel C Dennett (Darwin's Dangerous Idea).

Not agreeing with evolution: I would compare it with people not having accepted/agreed with heliocentric system - a few centuries ago.

Signing off, Sands.

PS: Below is the excerpt from "The Adventure of The Greek Interpreter". Mycroft Holmes is Sherlock Holmes' brother.

The two [sherlock and mycroft] sat down together in the bow-window of the club. "To anyone who wishes to study mankind this is the spot," said Mycroft. "Look at the magnificent types! Look at these two men who are coming towards us, for example."

  "The billiard-marker and the other?"
  "Precisely. What do you make of the other?"

The two men had stopped opposite the window. Some chalk marks over the waistcoat pocket were the only signs of billiards which I could see in one of them. The other was a very small, dark fellow, with his hat pushed back and several packages under his arm.

  "An old soldier, I perceive," said Sherlock.
  "And very recently discharged," remarked the brother.
  "Served in India, I see."
  "And a non-commissioned officer."
  "Royal Artillery, I fancy,'' said Sherlock.
  "And a widower."
  "But with a child."
  "Children, my dear boy, children."
  "Come," said I. laughing, "this is a little too much."

  "Surely." answered Holmes, "it is not hard to say that a man with that bearing. expression of authority, and sun-baked skin. is a soldier, is more than a private, and is not long from India."

  "That he has not left the service long is shown by his still wearing his ammunition boots, as they are called," observed Mycroft.

  "He had not the cavalry stride, yet he wore his hat on one side, as is shown by the lighter skin on that side of his brow. His weight is against his being a sapper. He is in the artillery."

  "Then, of course, his complete mourning shows that he has lost someone very dear. The fact that he is doing his own shopping looks as though it were his wife. He has been buying things for children, you perceive. There is a rattle, which shows that one of them is very young. The wife probably died in childbed. The fact that he has a picture-book under his arm shows that there is another child to be thought of."

Isn't this great? This example here sounds a little too far fetched. But Holmes would say - "Simplicity itself"