Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Celebrating World Elephant Day today


World Elephant Day 2013 Save Elephants from Extinction

Elephants are gentle giants. There are 2 species of elephants surviving today: the African Elephant and the Asian Elephant.

Elephants are social beings and lead very emotional lives. Elephants live in herds, led by a matriarch. All the female elephants in the herd work together to care of their young.

Elephants, like most other species of animals, have been hunted down to near extinction. The reason is again, sheer human greed and arrogance: The tusks are used as status symbols in certain parts of the world.

Please visit The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to learn more about Elephant Conservation and how YOU can help save this magnificent species.

Elephants need our help now more than ever.

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Photos were taken at Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.

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Monday, August 12, 2013

CBS Elementary - Cast and Crew - First Season


Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes in CBS Elementary
Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes
With the second season of CBS Elementary debuting about a month away, I decided to do a rundown of the first season. Before getting to the episodes, here is a look at the cast.

I enjoyed Miller's performance in the earlier episodes, Child Predator and Flight Risk  But as the season progressed, Miller's version became more and more distant from the Canonical version. By the time, the season reached its end in episodes Risk ManagementThe Woman and Heroine, the only thing common to Miller's Holmes and the Canonical Holmes was the character name and nothing else.

Click on the link below to buy your copy of Season 1:


I feel that the lesser knowledge one has of Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories, the more is his/her enjoyment of Miller's performance.


Lucy Liu as Joan Watson in CBS Elementary
Lucy Liu as Joan Watson
I find Lucy Liu's Watson the better performed and the most consistent character of the show. Despite the gender and racial swap, Liu's Watson is not only one of the best acted Watsons, but also one of the smartest.

Unlike the Canon and most of the other adaptations, Joan herself is a Consulting Detective and is treated as Holmes' equal. In the season finale, she continues Holmes' detective work, when he is too love struck with Irene Adler (aka Moriarty) to be of any use to the NYPD and the general public.

Aidan Quinn as Captain Toby Gregson in CBS Elementary
Aidan Quinn as Captain Toby Gregson
Named after Inspector Tobias Gregson from the Sherlock Holmes Canon, Quinn's character remains one of the least developed recurring characters in the show.

Jon Michael Hill as Detective Marcus Bell in CBS Elementary
Jon Michael Hill as Detective Marcus Bell
Marcus Hill's character is a tribute to Dr Joseph Bell, the real life mentor of Arthur Conan Doyle. Even after an entire episode (Details) was focused on him, the fact that he remains an uninteresting character speaks volumes about the quality of writing behind the show.

Candis Cayne as Miss Hudson in CBS Elementary Episode 19 Snow Angels
Candis Cayne as Miss Hudson
Yet another main character in the Canon undergoes a change - Elementary's Miss Hudson is a transsexual. This character is the best example of the both the strengths and weaknesses of the show writers. Just like Lucy Liu's Watson, Candis Cayne's Hudson is one of the best developed characters, but disappeared out of the show after that single episode appearance in Snow Angels.

Jonny Lee Miller and Natalie Dormer as Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler Moriarty in CBS Elementary Episode # 23 The Woman
Natalie Dormer as Irene Adler/Moriarty
The show took the lazy route of combining the classic characters of Irene Adler and Professor Moriarty. Natalie Dormer did her best with the roles and gave one of the more interesting performances in the show.

Vinnie Jones as M in CBS Elementary Episode 12 M
Vinnie Jones as M
As can be expected of a character played by Vinnie Jones, M is a hulking brute and one of the many agents employed by Moriarty. M is one of the most memorable characters, thanks again to Jones' charismatic screen presence.

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Image Source: CBS