Things Are Afoot

by Glen Wells

Prologue to an Aunty Ex-con

"Things are afoot dear Watson."

'What makes you so sure?'
"An elaborate ruse on a global scale, for what purpose?"
'Pacification.'
"Possibly, still something is happening, popular demand is
growing."
'The customer is always right.'
"Certain ones to be sure."
'Are you one?'
"Me? You know me all too well."
'You're as much a mystery as any, sometimes more. But yes
I know you well enough to know. A stout hearted fellow, with
keen observation, that serves your 'clients', usually in a
satisfactory way.'
"Alas, all too temporary, many seem to draw their dilemmas,
as much as their antagonist do."
'Speaking of antagonist, you said you'd share Professor
Moriarty's private message.'
"Ah, yes. Should I recite or do you wish to peruse the
missive yourself?"
'I'd like the opportunity to examine the handwriting.'
"Test your new found skills?"
'Please Mr. Holmes, I merely read a book on hand writing
analysis.'
"I await your considered assessment."

She lifts the moon,

To show a room,
Where Heaven is made real,
There is touch to awake,
And dawn for our sake,
Making memories to keep.
_____________________P.M.

'I believe his pen is running out of ink.'

"Yes, it is rather sketchy."

Ahem.....should anyone care to take a stab at deciphering

Moriarty's cryptic code.
It would seem that 'for our sake' refers to Holmes and the
Professor, as for the rest it might be any one's guess.
Prizes awarded for all intrepid entries. Expect some fin,
parcel post pending passing inspection.

Quantum Mechanics Explained: The Novel you've been

waiting for...

image

1 Chapter

It's about light. Is it a wave or a particle? Its speed can be

measured, about 186,000 miles per second, but not its
position, actually a light's place is between its source to
where it might be absorbed and where it goes to change,
although it can also be reflected, even right back where it
came from. Some have called light a wavicle, some a duality.
Actually a wave can be divided or separated into little
individual bits and particles can be strung together to be a
standing wave, kind of like standing at attention or just
having some, like the guards at Buckingham Palace. But
when not held taut and the ends, point of departure and
arrival, or even just one end are left loose, then light can be
like a whip or trampoline, flying spaghetti, a very versatile
and creative dance, can be loopy and maybe even soupy, it
helps, some say catalyze, a leaf make chloroform, some skin
make Vitamin D. Light can make hot, why it even helps make
cold. So duality I see as a narrow, limited view, a little like
tunnel vision, where light is a multiplicity, providing a wide
angle view, both minute and large, illuminates and sedates
by its absence. Alas, this explanation is but a tip of an ice
berg, what lies hidden deep or far is a lucky ones guess,
educated or not, bursting forth like a fountain of youth,
spraying gifts to those who catch, burning off a mid-day
cloud, raining down to furrowed ground, heating pools on a
lazy afternoon, and while sipping a mint julep or two, wonder
at that leaf made green, wave a grand hello and say thank
you.

#2 [-]
Glen,

"Interesting. : )
I would make a very poor sleuth.
Moriarty's message leaves me clueless.
I trust the story will reveal its meaning (?)"
S

#3 [-]
Without excuse all replies can not help but reveal a puzzle
piece.

S's response: Interesting. : )

I would make a very poor sleuth. = Moriarty has made a poor
substitute for Holmes
Moriarty's message leaves me clueless. = Moriarty's plan is
to kidnap Holmes leaving Watson with an inept Holmes
lookalike.
I trust the story will reveal its meaning(?)= It will be up to
Watson now.

Moriarty's next clue: less is more #4 [-]

image
2 Chapter

Tank

to the one man who said no

let this be our final battleground
my bones are weary, my tongue-tied to a post
I have not the words to say you are welcome
my ghost has given up the toast
to a town that never sleeps
it's free now thanks to me

*you may know by now you and Watson are writing the story
now.
and Moriarty?
Well, as usual he's up to no good, but at least I hear he is
keeping Holmes comfortable and well fed.
He's civil to a point, but honestly he's not right in the head,
the kind of thinking that says one must destroy in order to
save.
It seems that 'a town that never sleeps' might be New York
City, at least a place to start.
Watson is boarding a jet and for the first time has gotten
feelings of mistrust toward of all people his most loyal and
true friend.
not-Holmes is making full use of the drink cart and has been
babbling about what Broadway show should they should see
first when they arrive and then suddenly launches into a
weird tale about a visit to what appears to be a dentist.

A Thin Disguise

I couldn't help but think that the German accent was fake
and it was all an elaborate joke. Except I wasn't laughing.
"You are lying!"
"I haven't said anything."
"With your eyes."
"Lyin' eyes, mmm. How does one lie with their eyes?"
"If you could see them, it would be obvious, but don't bother
looking in a mirror. Mirrors are liars too."
"How is it obvious?"
The fake German accent's assistant made a small cough to
gain my attention.
"He tells everyone that their eyes lie. It's not like eyes can
tell the truth."
"You mean like looks can't really kill."
"Well, not like daggers shooting out, but I've seen
thunderbolts."
"Thunderbolts? Is that a tongue I see, through those soft
parted lips, lying. Who has thunderbolts flying out their lyin'
eyes?"
"Thor, of course."
"Of course."
"Enough of your chit chattery chat. Open wide, show me if
your gums are in cahoots with your lyin' eyes."
"Gums? How can gums lie?"
"Oh please, grow up or something, it's not your eyes, ears,
nose, mouth, chin, teeth or lips that does the lyin'
(the German accent places two absurdly large hands on
either side of my head), it's inside here, somewhere in the
mysterious folds of your brain, at this precise moment, you
are, unbeknown to yourself of course, concocting new and
improved,
devious and impervious, beautiful and exquisite lies, glorious
and impenetrable, ever striving for new pinnacles of
misconception."
"And no doubt you are doing the same."
"Of course."
The assistant has started to play with my feet.
"What do you think you are doing?"
"You can't tell? I'm playing with your feet, rather petite feet I
may add."
"You may not add, subtract or otherwise co-mingle with my
feet! Is this all some sort of elaborate joke?"
I started laughing, my feet are really quite ticklish. The
assistant seemed to grow tired or bored and wandered off,
leaving my feet
dangling, bereft of feathery touch, somewhat solemn now.
The German accent has his back turned to me and seemed
to be calibrating
some sort of strange unwieldy mechanical device, who's
purpose could certainly not bode well for me, perhaps now
would be an
opportune time to make my escape, but the accent suddenly
turned with that thought.
"Escape won't be necessary. This machine merely measures
certain brain waves that have previously gone undetected.
No harm will
come to you. I took an oath."
"Wow, that's great, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy
inside. Tuck me in? What are these previously undetected
brain waves?
"The lyin' waves, of course."
"Of course. How about you, seen any thunderbolts lately?"
"Normally, Thor is quite pleasant, a hair-trigger on the temper
though."
"Normally and Thor should not follow each other in the same
sentence."
"What?" Oh, I see. Thor is part of our defense perimeter.
Thor is a robotic sentinel with laser armaments."
"Actually, that's kind of a relief."
"You might not say that if you heard its programmer
complain about not all the bugs have been worked out."
"Great. May I leave now."

letter opened
I want you to believe that I don't want you to believe what
you don't want to believe, and vice versa. It sounds silly
when it's put that way, as I have no choice to believe
otherwise. "...no getting away from it."

Whatever happened to where there's a will there's away?

I would agree that will alone is not enough, but coupled with
ability and whatever else is needed, in some sense it might
not get past planning stages, brainstorming sessions, where
the main topic remains unresolved, but side effects,
byproducts and the like flourish in an atmosphere of
searching
For answers, solutions and possibilities, this particular
'barrier' may prove to be not so intractable as others that
have fallen, been modified, work around in some manner,
and the repeatability of something which is only sometimes
wholly desirable, onetime events, a singular sensation may
occur that truly rocks a world, such as this.
But there does appear to be some trying to avoid and or
simply neglecting to believe anything. Sounds like you might
be encouraging one to not try, as for it's a waste that
squanders attention to actual 'doable' stuff, if there's even
that option available. On the other hand, you have this 'gun',
so to speak, and you are sticking to it.
And does one have to have it incorrect for you to have to
have to express the concept that 'this is as it is and there are
no other options?
What are the results of not defying and defying laws that are
more mutable than you seem to expect?
Expression of opinions more for the sake of discussion and
not meant to over step my interpretive powers, if there be
any at all, more as advocate for exploration and
experimentation.
Running into barriers, will stop one in their tracks, but still
that does not say that nothing is left to learn and discover
from smashing things together. even near misses and
glancing blows might be revealing of novel behavior.
Here's a recent quote that 'caught' my attention,
"It appears that the anti-viral Tamiflu was successful in
treating and preventing the current novelflu symptoms."
'It appears' is a qualifier that addresses a fact that not all
cases are the same, or as predictable as others, in this case
for example, that there there are exceptions and perhaps
that exceptions are not necessarily proof of a rule. 'It
appears' allows possibilities of other factors contributing to
the success and or failure of a given remedy.
Since the synergistic concept appears to be at work in the
universe at large, the over-all ecology of individuals come
together, drift apart, travel different paths towards a future
that may never lose the heat that can not quite be gotten
away from.
"Super massive black holes, such as Sagittarius A*, located
at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy, radiate their heat
very slowly, meaning such objects will linger in the cosmos
long after the light from the smallest star has burned out,
trillions of years from now."

Hawking's famously sharp wit, not to mention the tabloid

headlines, have worked against a remote image. "We are
just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a
very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That
makes us something very special," he once said in a
typically pungent observation mixing the mundane and the
marvelous.

#5 [-]

#6 [-]
"I grasp the fundamentals here, - We already know that
Moriarty has absconded Holmes
We are needing plot movement here.
but I have to say that flashes of enlightenment are eluding
me. - yes, we know, in the dark recesses of the Professor's
mind some evil doing is about to burst upon the scene.
Coney Island perhaps, they have fireworks I think.
In fact, they seem to be fleeing from me even as I approach
them. - Yes, Watson and fake Holmes are landing at
LaGuardia and the only available Broadway tickets are for 'It
Happened One Night'."
BF

#7 [-]
3 Chapter

"he is not afraid to slice or dice " - Holmes

"If math is a digital process of time overlaid on space,"

>it isn't.

>"the math always falls short of fully describing space,"

>doesn't matter.

>"due to Godel's theorem."

>who cares, Godel sure doesn't.
it's okay to build on Godel but to just let it lay there
incomplete, is just wrong on just a simple level of finish what
you start, without closure the open universe would never
close. Unless you weren't aiming to close it down or
anything. You want to keep it open. Right?

>"Statistical interactions of atoms and electrons as

representative of space will always tend toward randomness
as each interaction increases the uncertainty of restoring the
past action of each molecule."
>Why always, why tend, how long actually, how much tend
exactly? Who's freaking will? Yours? A neighbor? Oh atoms
are willful reps on a mission. Got it. An observed fact is
limited to conditions that don't change. Change conditions
and observers, may tend at least once to alter tendency,
frequency and the next report that is due, following the last
report that essentially had nothing new to report, only now
there is something new to report, but the new reporter is not
being listened to so much cause the last reporter had
nothing new to report and after hearing the same old non-
news over and over again it was thought of not much interest
at the time of something new to report but still poorly
understood due to its meagerness of change and mostly just
a lack of attention and of course the most important factor
that decides what WILL happen. Popular demand.

<"Measurement always tends toward uncertainty."

>see above.

<"Measuring one aspect causes loss of ability to measure its

complement, and the more precisely we measure one, the
more uncertain and imprecise the other becomes."
>Mmmm, seems to be saying they can't be measured
together, but can be measured separately, but if they could
be measured together they would double their pleasure or
something and that sounds very popular indeed. But actually
the separate measurements wouldn't actually change if they
were measured together, cause they were already going as
fast as they could and smashing pumpkins has born this out,
not convincingly, but that would be inside a point of
contention, if in fact there was something to contend with.

<"It is not likely that "God" emerges from the math, since
math increases uncertainty. "God" is a kind of distillation, a
probable existence that emerges supposedly unchanging
from the action of uncertainty."
>and I paraphrase, 'Don't bring God into this, whichever God
you are referring to.'
Okay, drag that load of crap in, it looks lonely. God is kind.
Agreed. Cruel gods don't bask in robins. God promotes exits
in case of fire. Sensible. Pro life and Pro choice. Oops, God
is a radically altered mofo who has issues about life and
death. But decides at the last moment babies are cute and
God definitely does cute to death.

<"But if math breeds uncertainty, which came first, reality or

measurement?"
>No......wait, if it's a suit you're looking for, I suggest you
measure 3 times then get real down with it."

<"If mathe is forever incomplete in its attempts to define

reality, we can't get there from here."
>Forever is a very long time. You just make it seem longer
than it really is. Right. We are not here and we (well one of
us) don't want to get there.

Paul was wrong once, otherwise why would he say, "Sorry

my mistake."
...and then there was that other time he was overheard to
remark, "Pardon me."

I'm trying to set an example on how great ideas are ridiculed,

then misunderstood, then finally accepted often long after
the poor great idea guy up and died.
Health and Happiness to all.

*No-Holmes is barred from Broadway, making a drunken

ruckus, ever dutiful Watson escorts his not-friend to the
Waldorf Astoria for some restful and sobering sleep.

"Well, I see this is going somewhere, but where? To the

Grand Caymans, perhaps. Or Philadelphia if Moriarty's as
cracked as the Liberty Bell.
God is certainty. The uncertainty is which certainty He is.
Some would say that math can't lead to God because math
is about finite concepts and God is infinite. Math doesn't
handle infinite with aplomb. If you combine infinity with finity
in any mathematical operation, the finite part either blows up
beyond all measurement or shrinks beyond same. The only
exception is zero. Zero multiplied by infinity is still zero.
There are those who would say that this is how man is able
to perceive God - by bringing the infinite down to his level.

It's a good thing that the Heisenberg uncertainty principle

doesn't apply to police work. "Well, chief, we can tell you
where Fingers McGrabby is, or we can tell you where he's
been and what he's been up to. We can't do both." Surely
Moriarty doesn't think this principle of quantum physics will
keep Watson off his tail in the macro world?"
BF

#9 [-]
Excellent BF, solid linguistics that prepare a path, Philly may
be only a sidetrack for the not yet kicked sidekick, who has
gone got exceedingly ticked off. Grand Caymans, yes. Has
Moriarty finally succumbed to a financial excuse for his
nefarious acts?
Next to the Bell, the Professor is positively 4th Street where
disaster awaits at every corner, not for himself, no, others
are targeted with esoteric folds of cause and affects that
reverberate through past perceived and imagined slights of
inattention to detail.
There's a point thought ceases to make sense and Moriarty
plows ahead anyway, as if God was waiting for no particular
reason.
BF, 4 Chapter may not anticipated all your ramifications, but
where there's a will there's.......uh....4 Chapter.

The Conversation eventually lags #10 [-]

4 Chapter

<Mr. Holmes do I have a first name?

>Most do.
<I am not most.
>Indeed.
<Can YOU recall?
>I thought it Charles, but truthfully I am not sure.
<Nor I, it is troubling.
>A rare thing for you I suspect.
<Yes, of course and just as rare that you would suspect and
not deduce. Are you slipping Mr. Holmes?
>My bonds are preventing that at the moment.
<They are not chafing I trust.
>See for yourself, besides you know they are not, you have
seen to that.
<Are you getting Charles from that Trek thing?
>Again Professor, you know I am not. What is a Trek thing?
<No matter. We both know where the name comes from,
Charles sounds familiar, I may take a new name
nevertheless.
>Don't you mean who instead of where.
<Who, where, when, why,what, how, it is a bit confusing.
>Just a bit? If anything can be made of it.....
<Do go on Mr. Holmes, say it.
>Absurd.
<Exactly. To be made fictional. Quite absurd....and
frustrating.
>Frustrating? Why that?
<I do not feel fictional.
>You imagine that you are real, possessor of free will
perhaps.
<Are you making a joke Mr. Holmes?
>If I am, it is a joke on the both of us.
<And yet you seem your normal self, except for a slip of the
tongue. Have you truly ever suspected anything? Always so
logical, reasonable, using deduction as if it a magic wand.
>There is nothing remotely magical about what I do. Or did
as the case my now be.
<Pessimism Holmes? Not like you at all, now I suspect my
switch was switched, a double cross so to speak.
>More riddles Professor. I fear for your sanity Charles, if that
even be your name.
<We should ask him?
>WE are not a we. I am a me and you are a madman who
does not know his own name. Clearly someone in need of
medical attention.
<You have avoided my question. Is your fear misplaced?
Might you have doubts as well.
>I often entertain various scenarios, not to be confused with
doubts. I surmise that you were referring to that Doyle fellow.
<Yes, A. Conan. Curious name.
<You are by far the more curious one. Perhaps your true first
name is just as I call you. Professor, a name you gave
yourself, and not a duly earned honorific.
<MISTER HOLMES! An insult? I am shocked, amazed even.
Perhaps the food I have so generously provided you was
tainted with some mind altering poison.
>My faculties are in tact, although I admit this confinement
has me some what stumped. Means and opportunity has
always been at best an inconvenience. It is motivation, I
think that may have changed. Revenge is your usual excuse,
for those that have slighted you, thwarted you, denied you,
what all can only be imagined by a mind such as yours.
<A speech Mr. Holmes, I only wish your discouraging words
could be heard by your ever faithful sidekick.
>Sidekick? I fail to grasp your meaning. Whose side am I
kicking? You have not harmed Watson have you?
<Me? No. However I would not hazard a guess as to what
my foil Paul is capable of.
>I see.
<Oh please Holmes do explain what you have so uniquely
seen.
>You have no doubt sent Watson on a chase, with your
typically arcane penchant for secrecy, deception and
perversity
<Your insults and scorn suggest your previously unbreakable
facade is starting to falter, might I lower the room
temperature. Are you feeling feverish Mr. Holmes?
>I begin to feel, as you put it, quite put upon.
<And put out too I predict.

Indeedy do. A sleeping concoction Moriarty had prepared

begins its effects and sooner than even Holmes could
realize, he was out like a.....

*****I'd go dyelexic, but not-I calculatte..sipping on a sponge

a code defied, wanton left leaving
diaspora.
so, maybe not an exodus.
just another land rush
relocate
reclimate

The foil Paul (pc not-Holmes) may not so foilable after all.

*****Of course the name is James. What the dickens was I

thinking? James Charles Moriarty?
An alternative history #11 [-]

image

Holmes described Moriarty as follows:

"He is a man of good birth and excellent education,

endowed by nature with a phenomenal mathematical faculty.
At the age of twenty-one he wrote A Treatise on the Binomial
Theorem, which has had a European vogue. On the strength
of it he won the mathematical chair at one of our smaller
universities, and had, to all appearances, a most brilliant
career before him.

But the man had hereditary tendencies of the most

diabolical kind. A criminal strain ran in his blood, which,
instead of being modified, was increased and rendered
infinitely more dangerous by his extraordinary mental
powers. Dark rumours gathered round him in the University
town, and eventually he was compelled to resign his chair
and come down to London..."
-Holmes, "The Final Problem"

#12 [-]
"I'm more used to seeing restraints called bonds than
bounds. A gap in my knowledge, perhaps, or does such a
verbal slip mean Holmes is already affected? How much of
this conversation with Moriarty can be taken at face value -
not knowing his own name? Very strange!

So, Moriarty is aware of Trek...is he also aware of

MacGyver? If not, he may have forgotten to relieve Holmes
of any stray bits of thread and toothpicks, paper clips, and
the like - and likewise clear the room. Such a miscue might
be fatal to his plans - if he has any beyond giving Holmes a
hard time.

The best plan, no matter how meticulous, always has a flaw.

The key, my dear Watson, is to find that flaw and exploit it.

Moriarty's location may not be known at present, but with

Holmes out cold we can deduce that wherever he's going it
will be slowly - unless the prof has porters."
BF

#13 [-]
As I recall it is bound and gagged, not bond and gagged.

Holmes is already affected?

Yes he was and is. Very affective, as in assuming many
affectations.
No matter the how of creation there is indeed a flaw, hence
the call for back-up plans, the flaw solver.

"So, Moriarty is aware of Trek...is he also aware of

MacGyver?
At least two Next gen tales featured a somewhat reformed
Moriarty, and egomaniacs like James or even Charles are
drawn to all of their depictions, most likely to complain how
wrong they got it. MacGyver or Colonel O'Neil will not draw
such attention for their heroic actions."
W
Speaking of porters....

"Never let a waiter escape. What I'm urging on you here is

manners: don't ignore the poor bastard while you hold him
prisoner. Remember, he can do that to you later by
withholding the bill". - Larry Niven

Try walking out and the wait might be over.

#14 [-]
"Bound and gagged, yes. However, when referring to the
restraints holding one, as a unit, the word is bonds: "I AM
bound, as you know, and my bonds prevent my attending to
that little detail".

I don't always pick on things like that, but I nearly always

notice them, and sometimes my brain kicks up such a fuss
that it's easier to go ahead and mention it than to endure the
ranting. Holmes would likely understand."
BF

#15 [-]
I appreciate the 'correction', the interactive aspect is proving
to be a very effective ruse:) indeed. Thanks. BF

Holmes would, or does when not comatoast:)

edit completed.
 #16 [-]
"Comatoast? I think I'm being baited here, but sure: I'll have
a slice, with mutter butter and thought jam."
BF

#17 [-]
just beware the escape goat.

James Joyce and Thomas Pynchon two punny writers, one

still, the other real, but it seems he disappeared.
Does j.d. Salinger live? Yes, we think well or unknown.
Salinger's daughter Margaret's brother Matt discredited her
memoir in a letter to The New York Observer. He disparaged
his sister's "Gothic tales of our supposed childhood" and
stated: "I can't say with any authority that she is consciously
making anything up. I just know that I grew up in a very
different house, with two very different parents from those
my sister describes."

Yes, yet another string of code, not 0 or 1, neither, either nor;

a 1 and 0, digitally mastered in parallel quantum computer.
Strange times indeed. Is that your experience too? One may
only wish it so perhaps. How does the other half live? Well?
One has hopes of reconciliation, or some more butter and
jam.

It's History night. Pynchon to look forward to. Another

disappointing lose is taken too hard or just not easy, take it.
And is it also true from a Socratic pov, that Greek gods died
in obscurity or from being so obscure. It may be revealed
that not only they can be blamed, in point of fact(?) not at all.
The lack of cogent follow-up questions for reasonable
clarification, simply did not come, based on impatience I
guess and foolish know-it-alls, at least wannabes.

Good night, sweet princesses and princes of New England

and all points before and beyond.

image

Glen I've read the first 2 parts but my feeble brain is running
amok at this late hour. Will read some more tomorrow.
Regards,
M

#18 [-]
my feeble brain is running amok- Between here and all
points southeasterly, hope that Moriarty doesn't stray too far
west on the way to the Caymans.
at this late hour. - meanwhile a few clicks in either direction
its later than one can think and too soon to worry much
about it.
Will read some more tomorrow. - well slow boats to China
might be faster. I wonder how Watson is faring?

Horseshoes, hand grenades and claymores. #20 [-]

image

Where Holmes and Moriarty pass the time on a slow boat to

the ain't it Grand Caymans and discuss some science, that
they might not fully understand.
Duh.
From:
"any axiomatic formulation contains undecidable
propositions."
To:
"All axiomatic formulations of number theory contain
undecidable propositions."
<=(?) axiomatic formulations of number theory contain
undecidable propositions.

<Decide that any is included in all.

Decide that all is included in any.
or decide that:
One axiomatic formulation of intentionally blank contains one
decidable proposition.

"Intuitive?"
<Yes.
"Who knows, and who can know?"

<What did one intuitive ask another other intuitive?

"Am I wrong (to be hard)."

"No."

But lets' say another intuitive lied to the one intuitive and
gave an incorrect answer, cause sometimes it's hard to be
hard, but they don't want to be soft either, so that they let
some slide or wait for one to stop asking that question and
move on to something that is more easily decidable and
some agreements can be reached that way that don't
demand hard or soft lies and incorrectness. So, we are back
to lighten up and seriously take it, take it easy.
Not hard. Not soft. Agree?

As has been stated elsewhere, close doesn't count except

for exceptions that prove a rule.
(Can they be added to?

While someone doesn't want to live another life,

they might do so anyway, or so similar that the quibbling is
mooted, and the mutables live on and on....Eternally....wtfc?

Meanwhile...are hand grenades and claymores similar?

Yes.
Are they the same?
No.
Yes, one can substitute for the other in a pinch, act in its
place, get left behind, enlarged (to even ridiculous and
absurd dimensions) and dismantled and put back where it
was found, or even just put to different action. Decide, or
another may, sometimes will decide without even asking,
"Am I wrong?"

"I find it a little disjointed. Result of the format I suppose."

W

"Was just looking over the continuing comments and also the
insertion of chapters as comments.
I did track down the photograph of Viktor Yevgrafov on
Answers. Com and the text written there. It made for
interesting reading and also the biography on Wikipedia."
So
Only a little?
"I find it a little disjointed." - With Watson and Holmes
separated, each more concerned with the other than
themselves, one unconscious at sea and the other faced
with disposing of a face, as well as a body, what happens
next determines the entire fate of ....of....of....of what
happens next.

"Result of the format I suppose." -Of course we are seeking

deduction, if it arrives through supposition, then Philadelphia
Freedom may ring again. A works in progress that begs
more questions than answers, with interjecting digressions,
where is the movement to resolution?

Glen I've read it all the way through... it's intriguing but I'm at
a loss most of the time. 'll keep reading though and hoping I
see the light.
Regards,
M

"Was just looking over the continuing comments" -

suggestion of a review....edification of clues

"insertion of chapters as comments." - Moriarty is described

as a brilliant mathematician, rejected for his failure to tow a
imaginary line.
"I did track down the photograph " - Following clues, that
lead where?
" the text written there." - action once removed is forgotten.
How did they pass the time?
"interesting reading the biography" - It's never about the
journey, always about the people adventuring, the journey
only variates, the people change and are changed.

"This is an intriguing concept so far, and I remain curious to

see where it go. In the meantime, I'll contribute a little-known
episode from Holmes' undocumented adventures with
Watson:

We join famed detective Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick

Doctor Watson as they examine a murder scene:
"I say, Holmes, the fellow must be deucedly clever. There's
not a single clue to be found."
"To the contrary, my good Watson, examine this ceramic foot
and tell me what you see."
"Why, it has lines on it, like roads, and markings for trees,
hills and houses. Gad, Holmes! It's a map!"
"Precisely so, Watson. The intent is that we should follow
these markings like a treasure map. We are presently at the
base of the heel and, if I am not very much mistaken, our
destination is marked out on the top of the big toe. We have
been presented with a challenge."
"By Gadfrey, Holmes, you don't mean it!"
"Yes, Watson, the killer is playing with us, and a foot is the
game. Come, we must waste no time!"

BF
 #26 [-]
The plays the thing #27 [-]
Hamlet:
I'll have grounds
More relative than this-Shakespeare Quotes
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.

When exclaiming "The plays the thing!" we're seldom asked

the embarrassing question of what "thing" we mean, exactly.
Prince Hamlet, however, has something specific in mind. To
elicit visible proof of what a rather visible ghost has told him-
that his uncle, King Claudius, murdered his father, the former
king-the prince turns playwright. His task: to sneak a few
telling lines into a play about regicide his uncle will be
watching at court, and to wait for Claudius to flinch. If
Hamlet's plan works, he'll be convinced of both the ghost's
veracity and the king's guilt and will (theoretically) feel better
about paying his uncle back in kind.

The plot is intricate and bizarre, but Hamlet is relying on

good, solid Renaissance psychology. Playwrights often
claimed that their work encouraged virtue in upstanding
citizens and caught the conscience of malefactors. About ten
years after the first production of Hamlet, playwright Thomas
Heywood edified the reading public with this real-life tale:
During the performance of a particularly gruesome tragedy,
in which the actors staged the murder of a man by driving a
nail through his temple, a woman in the audience rose up
distractedly. She "oft sighed out these words: Oh my
husband, my husband!" The woman subsequently confessed
all and was burned for having murdered her spouse with "a
great nail" through "the brain pan."
Pity the poor poet, not

a never starving artist, just might not be trying

or smarter than the typical bear

"Gee Yogi, the ranger won't like it."

...and maybe some rangers will.

Sneaky purview: Where a sense of propriety runs a gamut.

Loyalty to Holmes is sorely tested and testy tempers flare.

Does Adrian Monk ring your bell?

Hadrian:
"Ah fleeting Spirit! wand'ring Fire,
That long hast warm'd my tender Breast,
Must thou no more this Frame inspire?"

#28 [-]
Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks!
You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,
Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,
Smite flat the thick rotundity o' the world!
Crack nature's moulds, all germens spill at once,
That make ingrateful man!
Lear

Ka-Bong!!
El Kabong

#29 [-]
"When this eternal substance of my soul
Did live imprison'd in my wanton flesh:
Each in their function serving other's need,
I was a courtier in the Spanish Court.
My name was Don Andrea, my descent
Though not ignoble, yet inferior far
To gracious fortunes of my tender youth:
For there in prime and pride of all my years,
By Duteous service and deserving love,
In secret I possess'd a worthy dame,
Which hight sweet Bel-imperia by name.
But in the harvest of my summer joys,
Death's winter nipp'd the blossoms of my bliss,
Forcing divorce betwixt my love and me.
For in the late conflict with Portingale,
My valour drew me into danger's mouth,
Till life to death made passage through my wounds.
When I was slain, my soul descended straight,
To pass the flowing stream of Acheron:
But churlish Charon, only boatman there,
Said that my rites of burial not perform'd,
I might not sit amongst his passengers.
Ere Sol had slept three nights in Thetis' lap
And slak'd his smoking chariot in her flood:
By Don Horatio our Knight Marshal's son,
My funerals and obsequies were done.
Then was the ferryman of hell content
To pass me over to the slimy strond,
That leads to fell Avernus' ugly waves:
There pleasing Cerberus with honey'd speech,
I pass'd the perils of the foremost porch.
Not far from hence amidst ten thousand souls,
Sat Minos, Aeacus, and Rhadamanth,
To whom no sooner 'gan I make approach,
To crave a passport for my wand'ring ghost:
But Minos in graven leaves of lottery,
Drew forth the manner of my life and death.
'This knight' (quoth he) 'both liv'd and died in love,
And for his love tried fortune of the wars,
And by war's fortune lost both love and life.'
'Why then,' said Aeacus, convey him hence,
To walk with lovers in our fields of love:
And spend the course of everlasting time,
Under green myrtle trees and cypress shades.'
'No, no,' said Rhadamanth, 'It were not well,
With loving souls to place a martialist:
He died in war, and must to martial fields:
Where wounded Hector lives in lasting pain,
And Achilles' myrmidons do scour the plain.'
Then Minos mildest censor of the three,
Made this device to end the difference.
'Send him' (quoth he) 'to our infernal King:
To doom him as best seems his majesty.'
To this effect my passport straight was drawn.
In keeping on my way to Pluto's court,
Through dreadful shades of ever-glooming night,
I saw more sights than thousand tongues can tell,
Or pens can write, or mortal hearts can think.
Three ways there were, that on the right hand side
Was ready way unto the foresaid fields,
Where lovers live, and bloody martialists,
But either sort contain'd within his bounds.
The left hand path declining fearfully,
Was ready downfall to the deepest hell,
Where bloody furies shake their whips of steel,
And poor Ixion turns an endless wheel.
Where userers are chok'd with melting gold,
And wantons are embrac'd with ugly snakes:
And murderers groan with never killing wounds,
And perjur'd wights scalded in boiling lead,
And all foul sins with torments overwhelm'd.
'Twixt these two ways, I trod the middle path,
Which brought me to the fair Elysian green.
In midst whereof there stands a stately tower,
The walls of brass, the gates of adamant.
Here finding Pluto with his Proserpine,
I show'd my passport humbled on my knee.
Whereat fair Proserpine began to smile,
And begg'd that only she might give my doom.
Pluto was pleas'd, and seal'd it with a kiss.
Forthwith (Revenge) she rounded thee in th' ear,
And bad thee lead me through the Gates of Horn,
Where dreams have passage in the silent night.
No sooner had she spoke but we were here,
I wot not how, in twinkling of an eye."

Thomas Kyd,
The Ghost speech from "The Spanish Tragedy".

#30 [-]
Living with Accelerating Change

John Kao notes that the power of a network rises as a

function of the "diversity, curiosity, and commitment" of its
participants. We seek to maximize diversity, to fan the flames
of intellectual curiosity, and to report examples of and
opportunities for intellectual and personal commitment.
Together, we can significantly improve the multidisciplinary
analysis, understanding, and management of the continually
surprising phenomenon of accelerating change.

The various Babel languages relate and obfuscate, I was

told say what you mean and mean what you say, all the
while not 'being' mean, to task one is a rigorous undertaking
especially when not tasking oneself as well. A sonorous lull,
speaks of days gone by at a different pace where instant
messages took months, perhaps years, the originator of cliff-
hangers and serials would drive in and out consciousness.

Vacation time for many. Enjoy the summer like never or as

once before. Please.

Thanks for adding your energy and insight to the community!

no white clouds
in my blue skies

jumping on the ether train

in the precipice

no rage livid
with blank desire

school's out
and the song's in tune

devoted memories fade

just as they're meant to do

no dark clouds
in my blue skies
06/12/07

#31 [-]
"Excuse me a moment, Boys.", Nora Charles said as she set
down a martini.
That's the phone."
"Hello?
Shirley?
Shirley!!!!
Oh, that's wonderful, Shirley!
Who?
When?
It was a November wedding?
How delightful!
Smoked Scottish salmon and caviar and champagne?
Where?
In Kent?
Nicky and I spent some time there just last year and The
Red Lion had the most wonderful accommodations.
What, you stayed there too?
Isn't the toad in the hole they serve just perfect?
I could have eaten the Shepherd's Pie every day of our stay.
Little Nicky set fire to a haystack one day.
What?
You both got drunk one night and what's that about a tin
whistle?
Oh!
There were some country folk and there was dancing and
singing?
You're going where?
Sumatra?
A whirlwind tour?
Oh, yes, I understand now.
Oh, Shirley, I'm so happy for you and all of our best.
So unexpected and so delicious.
What's that?
The connection dropped out for a minute.
Oh, you're calling ship to shore?
Yes, I'll certainly tell Nick.
Do have a wonderful time, Shirley."

The Saint said, "Nice fedora by the way."

"I think better with it on.
"Who's Nora speaking to?"
Sounds like one of her girlfriends, Simon.", came the answer
as donuts of smoke rings hovered.
Nora's got them all over."

"Good looking as Nora?"

"All of Nora's friends are very good looking and quite well
off."

"I'm in between at the time."

"You're always in between, Simon."

"Sugar, who was that?", Nick Charles asked.

"That was Sherlock."

"What!!"

"Now, Darling, you've upset your drink.

Let me freshen it up."

"Where's that Scotch?!

"No water, Simon?"

"No!!!!"

"What the ....?!"

"They met at Oxford and Shirley said that he just couldn't

drag his eyes away from what he called an Amazon.
She refused him four times and she doesn't go by Holmes.
She's Jewish and is working on a book comparing Jewish
and Christian beliefs.
Shirley was a little toodled on the phone."

"Where's the gin and tonic?!"

"On the sideboard, Darling."

"I'm out of Scotch, not a drop left.

Where's the Whiskey?!"

"Kentucky Bourbon will have to do, Simon.

Nicky?
Fix me a Brandy Alexander while you're up.
Shirley did have a message for you.
I barely heard him because the connection was going in and
out.
He said that there was a pattern forming with the second
wife.
He said to take a look at Jekyll and Hyde.
He appears to think that there was some connection to be
found there in the behaviour of our suspect."
So

#32 [-]
"ah i was just watching Basil Rathbone in Dressed To Kill last
night - one of the best of his Holmes films!"
W

#33 [-]
Do we destroy cliches in an effort to remember them?

#34 [-]
"Cliches are very useful tools, Gawell.
They may be tired and worn out phrases.
They appear to be common enough but yet they do have a
use

If I were living in The Catskill Mountains and when thunder

sounds, I would say to my companion, "Henry Hudson is
playing nine pins."

If I were living in the mountains of the South and a sudden

rain came hard in a great down pour, I would say, "That sure
was a frog choker, wasn't it?" after a gully washer had
happened.

Cliches are a way to communicate on an intimate level

because they indicate commonalty among a close knit
society.
Cliches are so disdained and yet they needn't be.
Cliches are a part of human speech."
So

#35 [-]
Cliches are an endless source for points of departure, some
may come and go with fashion, even lying fallow for a time
and making intermittent comebacks, some unveiling in a thin
or not disguise.
Particularly like the exception that proves a rule.

Fun.

#36 [-]
"I've read about half of it and will come back for more
are you sure your name isn't actually Moriarty?
hasn't he got out of that shuttle craft yet...
hmm, maybe he should meet up with Mark Twain
of course you are undoubedly aware that at no point did
Holmes ever actually say "The Game is Afoot!"
W

well acd wrote something.

moi? arty?
in a way it's drifting, shuttling, that's what they do do, maybe.
we should all be so lucky to meet a twain and mark it as a
time to get off a shuttle and walk away.

imageSir Arthur Conan Doyle had Sherlock Holmes quote

various renowned personalities in many of his stories. For
example, Sherlock Holmes quotes Edgar Allen Poe in two
stories.
image
Edgar Allan Poe
USA - Scott #986
imageIn A Study in Scarlet, Holmes' companion, Dr.
Watson, says, "it is simple when you explain. You remind me
of Edgar Allan Poe's Dupin. I had no idea that such
individuals did exist out of stories." Poe is considered to be
the father of the modem detective story.
imageHolmes says in The Case of the Resident Patient,
"you remember that some time ago when I read to you that
passage in one of Poe's sketches in which a close reasoner
follows the unspoken thoughts of his companion, you were
inclined to treat the matter as a tour de force of the author."
Later during investigation of The Cardboard Box, Holmes
repeated the same thought to Dr. Watson.
imageSherlock Holmes is familiar with the writings of William
Shakespeare despite Dr. Watson's assessment that Holmes
knowledge of literature is "Nil" (A Study in Scarlet). However,
Holmes quoted Shakespeare from 14 of his plays in various
cases. One of the most well known expressions [from "The
Adventure of the Abbey Grange"] is "Come, Watson, come.
The game is afoot." This comes from Henry V, act III, scene
1.

imageHolmes has a habit of rephrasing several

Shakespeare quotes such as, "Thrice is he armed that hath
his quarrel just" (Henry IV, part 2 act III, scene 2). In the
disappearance of Lady Carfax, Holmes states: "Thrice is he
armed who hath his quarrel just."

Tension filled the musty room as Professor Moriarty threw six

decks of playing cards onto the large oak table. "Sit!" he
ordered. "I'm in a sporting mood. We'll play six hands of
bridge, and if you go plus on each one, I'll set you free."

imageSherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson had been

investigating the theft of the Crown Emerald and were seized
by Moriarty's henchmen. They were now being held captive
in the basement of the arch villain's home. "And if we don't?"
Holmes inquired.
"That's easy, Mr. Holmes. You and your bumbling doctor
friend will be my guests for lunch. I've just installed a brand
new piranha tank, and the August heat is making the little
buggers voracious. Anyone for bridge?"

"Hardly seems fair," Watson grumbled. "I've only played

bridge a few times. Can't we make it gin rummy?"

image"Come, Watson, come! The game is afoot," instructed

Holmes, then he whispered in his friend's ear, "Just bid only
minor suits, or double with a good hand. Try to make
yourself dummy - that shouldn't be too hard."

"Then, let's begin." Moriarty grinned. "The cards have

already been shuffled, so I'll deal each hand to save time.
Colonel Moran? I know you're not a bridge player, but sit
down as my partner and just pass. Holmes? You sit here on
my right." As fate (or the Professor's evil design) would have
it, Holmes became declarer on each deal.

Funny to be arch sometimes.

"you actually got me re-reading A Study in Scarlet last night -

Holmes doesn't seem to think much of either Poe or his
Dupin"
W
I suppose Holmes stood as an alter-ego of sorts for Conan
but really, Holmes stands alone as literature's greatest
detective.
according to my Mary and others, Jessica Fletcher is the
World's Most Beloved detector.
Don't know if Adrian Monk is known to you, but he is
recognized by some affectionately as the 'Defective
Detective'.

Monk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j5Be5a86uA

theme by Randy Newman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOUfc41NYPc&feature=fv
w

If we are not born to be wild, why, oh why, are we born as a

child.
We make it happen
exploding all over the place.
A true nature childe, (in literature), an archaic term referring
to a youth of noble birth or a youth in training to be a knight.
never will die.
What may only be a minute,
sometimes seems as a daze,
years rolling into tears without fears,
even the bogeyman cares.
Racing with the Wind,
finding every day an adventure.
Poe, considered by some to be the Father of the detective
story, might have sought Sherlock's help in keeping some
demons away.

#41 [-]
Why no one is listening with someone talking at...

#42 [-]
image

Confusion, Hypocrisy & Fear Are Among the Leading

Causes
(otherwise while not necessarily smooth sailing, co-operation
of talking with, promotes better listening and improved
talking,
some hiccups, stutter steps, bleed through around the edges
word gets done, best hope for sailing into a future sunset, is
working with what is present, front and center.

... so once some dust settles and a 'good thing' gets shook
down
and set flying straight, a little fun can be had, at no one in
particulars
expense, let the slings and arrows loosed upon a stagy back
lot of
celluloid dreams and passion play finesse.

onward goes a show...

it's not Bert and Ernie
or tom and Jerry
definitely not porgy and Bess
neither nick and Nora
wouldn't catch these two together in a room all alone
Holmes and Moriarty

James.
Some of your replies make no sense to me.
You have asked me what i am hearing,from what I say says
nothing, I call that silence.dense, thanks,
for shallow I don't play games in debates of any sort,try it
something it's fun must be a knew concept to u
here are dangers brain gets expanded and pushes up
against walls walls break I don't believe u you must be
kidding kid
sounds like you know too much, try getting a clue better than
knowing ever was after and before knowing changes
try to keep up keep that's all that is ever done keeping up
you fall behind or get so far ahead nothing is set up

Let me explain here James (the original subject).

Presentation is substantial and circumstantial.

I think I see your stance now...but try to drop the poetry long
enough for me to be sure I understand.
You want to know

"what about the spoken word as Art?"

whatever you decide it is I'm sure we all will go along with it
can you wait for me to be the last otherwise quit now and
give up
Is that correct?
why ask you don't really seem to care.

So you Can say we are both artists, but you can not say that
poetry is art ,
poetry is art, you're write I can only right it. Say nothing .. art
is spoken right again
or even that painting is art for that matter because neither of
them are.
There is only Art, and only Art is Art. You can also think of it
as in terms of Plato's A=A.
I am art. I am poetry.

does this help at all?

sending money would help, doesn't hurt though . thanks.
It's all pretty boring though what you wrote
me too I suppose.

My concern is that we do not abandon fossil fuel or uranium

But make no mistake reversal of cause and effect is a crime.

one way to insure something never stops occurring is to

make it a crime.

What person has vision of something that is not wanted,

maybe someone who wants to walk a bit on the wild side to
a place that has gone to seed a bit. Every person who has
vision looks to see what they want to see. Seeing the vision
is not what makes it happen, cause some can see how the
vision comes to be as well, seeing the actions of what
causes the result. Others see parts, they get together and
build tomorrow today, piece by piece,little by little.
The only things that can bring about a Singularity, are a few
simple ideas about honor, justice and freedom, if you have
trouble filling in some of the other ideas, perhaps a
Singularity is not for you, but please check out the wild side,
very entertaining, mature audiences suggested. oh hard
work and trouble aren't my only friends.
love helps
a lot

until you actually love someone or something

nothing really matters as much as it does after

I have seen the future , live it today in the most important

ways
honor justice liberty follows.

Répondez s'il vous plaît

Confirming.

Yes, I took 2 years of French and can't remember any of it.

I recommend 2 years in France, you'll remember the hi-

lights,
plus you'll have pictures as reminders.
You still remember Ireland don't you?
Ireland??

aka Eire, named after the Goddess Ériu,

means "fat land" or "land of abundance".

Isn't that an island?

Not always.
A long cold climatic spell prevailed until the end of the last
glacial period
about 9,000 years ago,
and most of Ireland was covered with ice.
Sea-levels were lower then, and Ireland, as with its
neighbour Britain,
rather than being islands,
were part of a greater continental Europe.

That explains all those British looking rocks I saw.

Ah, you do recall.

Did they have stiff upper lips?
Were they white and pasty?

Actually, they did have white on them - could have been

paste.
It was hard to see exactly where the lips were located.

Stiff upper lips are located between a nose and a chin,

a nose below eyes,
a chin above throat,
quite often book ended by ears,
overlapping teeth
and surrounded by cheeks,
sometimes shrouded with hair,
and almost always accompanied with a lower pair,
probably not stiff,
cause I have never heard of stiff lower lips.

surrender now and it will be easier

surrender later and will be harder
take it easy, but take it.

#43 [-]
"there is a great series of books (novels) about the
adventures of Conan Doyle in his days as apprentice to Dr.
Bell upon whom Holmes was based. Cant remember the
authors name but quite a few have been serialized on TV
and I have them on video."
W

Tips of an iceberg reveal a mammoth undertaking #44 [-]

The Adventures of Conan Doyle: The Life of the Creator of
Sherlock Holmes
by Charles Higham

LibraryThing recommendations

1. Sherlock Holmes Scrapbook by Peter Haining

2. The Life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle by John Dickson Carr
3. The Encyclopaedia Sherlockiana by Jack Tracy
4. Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle by Daniel
Stashower
5. Naked Is the Best Disguise: The Death and
Resurrection of Sherlock Holmes by Samuel Rosenberg
 6. Pray always: Prayers and Instructions by Rev. Alphonse
Sausen
7. Sherlock Holmes in portrait and profile by Walter
Klinefelter
8. The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle
9. His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
10. Maps and Legends by Michael Chabon

Imitation may not always be the sincerest form of flattery, but

fans a truly growth industry to keep spirits alive by one Sirs
inspiration.
And all those human flaws revealed to say, those cases were
solved anyway, as feats of clay turned to stony everlasting
monuments.

#45 [-]
image

from Sherlock Holmes Scrapbook by Peter Haining

#46 [-]
?indeed there are many books about him by numerous
authors
i have one called the 9% Solution in which Watson tricks him
into going to Vienna, supposedly on the trail of Moriarty but
in reality to consult Freud about his cocaine addiction!"
W
 #47 [-]
I read and saw that movie, Nicol Williamson (Holmes), Alan
Arkin(Freud) and Robert Duvall(Watson).
Laurence Olivier played the brief role of Professor Moriarty.

My favorite Freud was Mongomery Clift, but Arkin is always

good in all he does.

A new Holmes is on the way:

Robert Downey Jr. brings the legendary detective to life as
he has never been portrayed before. Jude Law stars as
Holmes' trusted colleague, Watson, a doctor and war
veteran who is a formidable ally for Sherlock Holmes. Rachel
McAdams stars as Irene Adler, the only woman ever to have
bested Holmes and who has maintained a tempestuous
relationship with the detective. Mark Strong stars as their
mysterious new adversary, Blackwood. Kelly Reilly will play
Watson's love interest, Mary.

Coming Christmas, 2009.

Looks like a rather younger Holmes than usually seen.

#48 [-]
"Well, my library yielded up the facsimiles of The Strand and
with all of the illustrations by Paget.
I really liked Basil Rathbone for he was perfect for the role
with his thin features. In real life and working the the British
government he often went about disguised.
He did get type cast.
I also like Jeremy Brett. He took over the role with some
production company and his features were also suitable. He
was a grand actor and also ended up as being type cast in
the role of Sherlock.
It was a Granada production and I think that they did falls
scene at the beginning.
Then there was the seven percent solution that concerned
something that is not family oriented
Doyle got tired of writing Holmes and sure there's
information that Holmes is based on his old teacher. Sidney
Paget based his drawings of Holmes on his own brother's
appearance.
Look, The Strand thought that were hiring Sidney's brother to
do the drawings. The guy was pretty famous but somehow
there was a mess up and Sidney got the deal instead.
Without Sidney the stories would have been fine enough but
Sidney's illustrations, inserted, gave people characters that
they could connect to.
They had a visual image and a little sub title underneath.
The one person to ever portray Moriarty as Sidney drew him
in the original is that Russian actor that you found, copied
and pasted a picture.
Tell me, have you ever read "The Moor"?
It's written by a lady. In it Holmes gets married to a much
younger woman and they go back to the hound of the
Baskervilles.
It's quite good, especially about the little hedgehog part. The
hedgehog is a clue."
So

How will it end? #50 [-]

Attitude Adoption

image
It's conceivable that consciousness will survive, perhaps in
the form of a disembodied digital intelligence. If so, then
someone may still be around to note that the universe, once
ablaze with the light of uncountable stars, has become an
unimaginably vast, cold, profound dark." - MICHAEL D.
LEMONICK

Mill and the tragic side of progress -

All the grand sources, in short, of human suffering are in a

great degree, many of them almost entirely, conquerable by
human care and effort; and though their removal is
grievously slow- though a long succession of generations will
perish in the breach before the conquest is completed, and
this world becomes all that, if will and knowledge were not
wanting, it might easily be made- yet every mind sufficiently
intelligent and generous to bear a part, however small and
unconspicuous, in the endeavour, will draw a noble
enjoyment from the contest itself, which he would not for any
bribe in the form of selfish indulgence consent to be without.

Sherlock Holmes' attitude: once you have eliminated the

impossible, whatever is left, no matter how improbable, has
got to be true.

Porgy: He said what?

Bess: Nothing is impossible.

Porgy: Are you sure?

Bess: I know what I heard.

Porgy: Tell me again what he said.

Bess: He said it was his job to eliminate the impossible.

Porgy: Was this a paying job?

Bess: He never said, he was well dressed, though he didn't

look all that healthy to me, all white and pasty and a bad
cough too.

Porgy: Didn't you say he was always with a Doctor?

Bess: I think I said often.

Porgy: But every time you saw him, the Doctor was with him
that sounds more than often.

Bess: They were friendly, but I don't think they were that
friendly. He said they were colleagues.

Porgy: College guys huh. How old were these men?

Bess: Old enough to know better than to go around telling

their ages.

Porgy: I seem to recall you saying something about some

professor…

Bess: I ain't rightly sure it was professor or confessor.

Porgy: Don't tell me that these guys are mixed up with

Preacher Joe.
Bess: Oh heavens no! Preacher Joe wouldn't give these
men the time of day.

Porgy: Well, I ain't one to give ole PJ the sense to even

know the time of day.

Bess: Now Porgy don't go putting the Preacher down like

that.

Porgy: I know, I know. Lord forgives me. I did see him get out
the rain that one time; of course it was probably that lightning
that put the fear in him.

Bess: Oh that reminds me of something them fellas told me.

Porgy: What's that?

Bess: The improbable has got to be true.

Porgy: Got to?

Bess: Got to.

Porgy: Well, I got to too.

Bess: Got to what Porgy?

Porgy: Got to get go' in I reckon.

Bess: Yes. I reckon you do, seeing that you're late already.

Porgy: Bess honey I was born late, you done know that's
true too.
Bess: Bless you my man, at least you weren't too late.

Porgy: You think we'll be seeing them folks again?

Bess: Never you mind, get along now and you bring me back
something special.

Porgy: I do my best, I dos my best.

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