Sherlock Holmes and The Dreaded Case of Public Domain

So it's finally happened. What we all feared. Well, maybe some of us. According to a Chicago Judge, Sherlock Holmes is apparently in the public domain.

For some this is a travesty. How can such a limitless character with hundreds of stories be shoved in the public domain?

For others, it really isn't that big of a deal. Sherlock Holmes still holds his weight in relevance today. Why else would we continue to depict him in tv shows as well as movies? There are many books that you can get on Kindle which are public domain which are still classics.

I guess the only thing I hope would happen is that whoever reads whatever stories get put up under public domain will walk into a bookshop and buy a physcial copy of the book to contribute to the Doyle Estate. After all, they carried this character through over a hundred years. I think they deserve some compensation for their efforts.

And who knows? What with the advent of streaming television shows, I deduce (see what I did there) that a whole new generation of Sherlock fans will emerge. I mean, take a look at the BBC and what they've done to utilize the character in modern day London. If you listen closely, you will find that a good eighty percent of the dialogue they use from that show are pulled straight from the stories themselves.

So go forth, my young lad and pick up a copy of this bloke's adventures.

The game is afoot...and you're sure to be Sherlocked. ;)

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Black Books

So I'm on my vacation from work. Usually on my vacations I tend to veg out, gorge on a little sleep, do a little writing, catch up on tv shows.

And one show, I'm delighted to say, has caught my attention. It's called Black Books. It stars Dylan Moran, Simon Peg's nemesis in Shaun of the Dead and also his fitness motivator in Run, Fatboy, Run. With him is a long haired sidekick who embodies a weirdo Curly sensibility and a short haired woman on the lookout for Mr. Right or even Mr. Right-now-will-have-to-do. This British comedy series is unlike anything I have seen so far. It takes place in a small bookshop where Bernard Black, the owner, is much like a tyrant to his customers. He hates life, traffic, idiots, skinheads, books, customers and people. People are the worst for him. Not only that but he gives off the air like he's always recovering from a bender. His turns of phrase and one-liners are the best, often producing stomach aches of laughter from both me and my wife.

The show ran from 2000 to 2004 and only has 18 episodes. Which is kind of tragic when you think about it that there are so few episodes but, I guess, when you nail it down, it was better that they quit on a strong note. The show is driven largely by his friends, Manny and Fran, who try to get Bernard to be more sociable as he is kind of a stick in the mud.

The antics are endless. Sometimes he pays the customers to take certain books out of the shop. He invents a wine bottle lollipop. He often finds himself in situations that get him into a bit of trouble. With a screwball comedy like this, I love the duality. While Bernard is surrounded and sometimes confounded by books, his friend, Manny, loves them. Manny often recommends books, handles book orders, does the accounting, opens up shop, and yet he and Bernard are complete opposites from each other. It's funny to think that this whole show came about because of a Little Book of Calm.

That's another thing. The fake book titles are hysterical. With titles such as The History of Screaming, Blue Sands and Tempopocalypse, how could this bookstore not thrive?

Now that I know about this one, I might just check out Spaced, which is considered the sister show to this one and done by the same guys, starring Simon Peg.

Don't believe that a show could be this funny? Well take a gander at the first episode below. I was smitten with the first three minutes.