Markhor - The Wild Goat

Kingdom : Animalia

Phylum :  Chordata

Class :  Mammalia

Order :  Artiodactyla

Family : Bovidae
Genus : Capra

Protection status : Endangered

Diet : Grasses, Leaves, Flowers and Fruits

Habitat :  Cliffs and Grassy foothills

Life span : 12-13 years

The name is derived from the Persian word Mar - Snake and Khor - Eating. Both Males and female Markhors have horns. Markhors are usually active during morning and late afternoon. They are excellent climbers. 

Markhor is the national animal of Pakistan.

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Photo was taken at Columbus Zoo, Ohio.

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TV Review: Sherlock - "The Blind Banker"

Zoe Telford with our dynamic duo in 'The Blind Banker'

This episode is not a direct adaptation or a modern update of any of the Canonical stories by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) is asked by one of his classmates, Sebastian to investigate a case of office break-in.

Soon, Sherlock and Watson (Martin Freeman) discover that one of the bank employees is murdered in his apartment.  The police force is puzzled, as all the doors and windows are bolted from inside. Sherlock deduces that the man was being threatened and the break-in at the bank was done to send him a coded message.

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A journalist is murdered shortly and the killer’s modus operandi is quite similar to the previous one. Sherlock notices that the killer has to be extremely athletic to be able to commit both these crimes in high-rise buildings.

The trail leads to an international gang of smugglers called "The Black Lotus". The action-packed climax befits an action movie more rather than a Sherlock mystery.

The mystery itself is not upto the usual standards of Arthur Conan Doyle. But this drawback is offset by Freeman and Cumberbatch's excellent on-screen chemistry. Zoe Telford plays Sarah, Watson's boss. Her sense of humor makes her a perfect choice and she is a joy to behold on the screen.

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Image Sources: Cumberbatchweb, AustenProse

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Komodo Dragon - The Giant Lizard

The large, curved claws are used in self-defense as well as to eat food

Phylum :  Chordata

Class :  Reptilia

Order :  Squamata

Suborder : Lacertilia

Family : Varanidae
Genus : Varanus

Protection status : Vulnerable

Diet : Carnivore 

Habitat :  They live in hot and dry places, open grasslands and mostly in lowlands.

Komodo dragons are the  largest and heaviest lizards in the world. They are native to Indonesia and inhabit just four islands: Flores, Pandar, Rintja and the Komodo island. The scientific name of Komodo dragon is Varanus komodoensis. Komodo dragons are also called as Komodo monitors, Giant monitors, Land crocodiles and Oras. Their life expectancy is upto 20 - 40 years. Their sense of smell is the primary method of detecting food.

The Komodo dragon's saliva contains different strains of toxic bacteria that cause deadly infections in the prey. When it bites the prey, it injects the victim with a venom. Though the prey may not succumb to its injuries right away, the patient Komodo keeps following the animal with its immense sense of smell and eventually claims its victim.

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Photos were taken at Columbus Zoo, Ohio.

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TV Review: Sherlock - "A Study in Pink"

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman share excellent chemistry

The opening shots establish Dr Watson (Martin Freeman) as a man haunted by his war memories. As a result of his war injuries, Watson is aided by his walking stick. Compounding his already traumatized existence is the boredom and loneliness, which John tries to dispel by blogging. All this is about to change shortly, when he runs into an old friend, Stamford.

Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch), as we meet him, is whipping a corpse with a riding crop to find out if it is possible to inflict bruises on a dead body. His colleague, Molly Hooper (Loo Brealey) has a crush on him that appears to be completely unrequited.

No sooner than Sherlock and Watson have moved into 221B Baker Street that Watson starts noticing some truly bizarre things about his roommate. Holmes had already deduced a lot of information about Watson in their very first meeting and the presence of a human skull in the living room only serves to pique Watson’s interest even more.

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Soon Inspector Lestrade (Rupert Graves) visits them asking Sherlock for assistance in solving what appears to be the latest in a string of apparent suicides. The resulting investigation restores the much needed excitement and action back into the soldier’s life.

In addition to the investigation, Watson meets up with a stranger, who offers to bribe him in exchange for information on Sherlock. His powers of observation and deduction seem to exceed those of even Sherlock. Watson is convinced that he has met the archenemy of Sherlock.

This episode is based on A Study in Scarlet and has some significant deviations from the canon. While the modus operandi of the killer remains the same, his motivations are vastly different. What was originally a story of revenge has been modified to suit the story arc of this modern adaptation, which is to introduce Moriarty as a devious mastermind and the one man hell-bent on a mission to destroy Sherlock.

Loo Brealey as Molly Hooper with Benedict Cumberbatch

The series has always been marked by sharp wit and humor and this is apparent nowhere more than in this season (and series) opener. With a spot-on performance from Cumberbatch and a smart update of the Canon, this episode is just the right start to the series that would soon become a worldwide hit.

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Image Sources: Cumberbatchweb, three hares

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Arthur Wontner as Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Wontner as Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Wontner (1875 – 1960) starred as Sherlock Holmes in a total of 5 productions from 1931 to 1937: The Sleeping Cardinal, The Missing Rembrandt, The Sign of Four: Sherlock Holmes’ Greatest Case, The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes, and Silver Blaze. One of them The Missing Rembrandt is officially a lost film.

Wontner made a very stately Holmes and has a striking resemblance to Sidney Paget’s portraits. Wontner was 56 when he starred in his first Holmes adaptation and despite his advanced age, Wontner’s Holmes has a great sense of humor. Even while reading the Canon, I was always enamored by Holmes’s levity that came to the fore time and again in so many of Arthur Conan Doyle’s works.

A discussion of Holmes is never complete without Watson. Ian Fleming (not the author) played Dr Watson in all the productions excepting The Sign of Four, where Ian Hunter replaced Ian Fleming. Fleming plays Watson as nice but little bit dense. Thankfully he stops short of making his Watson a laughing stock a la Nigel Bruce.

Ian Fleming as Dr Watson

I have seen couple of Wontner’s movies: The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes and Silver Blaze. A noticeable feature is that Holmes’ archenemy Moriarty is the recurring villain in almost all of these movies.

In Silver Blaze, he engineers the disappearance of Silver Blaze in order to ensure the success of his client in winning the lottery. This adaptation takes a liberty, by setting the story 20 years after The Hounds of Baskerville. Henry Baskerville still resides at the Baskerville hall and has a young daughter, about to be betrothed. Tragedy strikes as the famed horse, Silver Blaze is missing and his trainer is found murdered. Inspector Lestrade suspects the prospective son-in-law of Baskerville. As luck would have it, Holmes and Watson are visiting Baskerville and Holmes solves the case. The rest of the plot is pretty faithful to the canon.

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Silver Blaze is my all-time favorite among the 56 short stories. The story contains 2 of my favorite lines of all time, regarding “The Curious incident of the dog at night” and “The sudden epidemic among the sheep”. Both of these lines appear verbatim in this adaptation much to the joy of the Holmes fan inside me!

Holmes and Watson decipher the message in 'The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes'

The “Triumph of Sherlock Holmes” is based on The Valley of Fear. Next to The Hound of Baskervilles, The Valley of Fear is my favorite novel. Holmes’s deduction of the identity of the victim and the murderer is in my humble opinion, one of the best works by Sir Doyle.

I have seen many different adaptations of Sherlock Holmes and unfortunately, there are very few adaptations of The Valley of Fear so far. Other than this one, the only others I have seen are the one with Ronald Howard in the 1954-55 series (titled “The Case of the Pennsylvania Gun”) and an animated adaptation in 1984 with Peter O’Toole voicing Holmes. Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (Christopher Lee and Thorley Walters) as Holmes is also very loosely based on The Valley of Fear.

The adaptation with Wontner is probably the best of the lot and Professor Moriarty makes a direct appearance at the end. In the Canon, he sends a letter to Holmes instead.

This series is highly recommended for fans of Sherlock Holmes. Wontner is an excellent Holmes on-screen!

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Image Sources: The Baker Street Blog, Aveleyman, Mystery Movies Online

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Lemurs

A Lemur in contemplation

Phylum :  Chordata
Class :  Mammalia
Order :  Primates
Suborder : Strepsirrhini
Protection status : Endangered
Diet : Nuts, Fruits, Leaves, Insects and Flowers
Habitat : Most Lemurs lives in trees and only Ring-Tailed Lemur spends most of its time on the ground.

The word “Lemur” is Latin and means spirits of the night. Lemur is a very intelligent primate. There are many different species of Lemurs including Aye- Aye Lemur, Red Ruffled Lemur, Indri Lemur, Alatron Gentle Lemur, Black, White Ruffled Lemur and Ring Tailed Lemur. Female Lemurs are dominant. Lemur troops have one dominant female who leads the group, controls and has the first choice of food and mates.

During mating season, Male Lemurs battle for dominance by trying to outstink each other. Lemurs communicate through sound and smell. They make a variety of sounds to communicate with each other. They are able to identify family members through their scent. Lemurs can live up to 18-20 years.

Photos were taken at Cincinnati Zoo and North Carolina Museum of Life and Science.

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TV Review: Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking (2004)

Rupert Everett as Sherlock Holmes  

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking is a very good adaptation starring Rupert Everett as Sherlock Holmes and Ian Hart as Dr Watson.

As the movie opens, we meet a much drugged Sherlock languishing in what looks to be an opium den.  Soon he meets up with Dr Watson, who implores him to return to London to take up the case of a murdered young woman.

Holmes soon finds himself on the trail of a Jack Ripper-like serial killer with a foot fetish and who preys not on the destitutes and prostitutes, but on the rich and mighty. As is his wont, Inspector Lestrade (Neil Dudgeon) finds himself clueless, even as Holmes works out the case to a successful conclusion.

Rupert Everett is quite a revelation as Sherlock Holmes. At 6’4”, Everett is one of the tallest actors ever to portray Holmes. In addition to having the necessary physicality, Everett’s Holmes has the same cold & analytical mind, sharp wit and the laidback and masterly deportment that have made Holmes such an enduring character.

Everett's Holmes is pretty close to the canonical Holmes and I would have loved if he had continued his work further. It is quite unfortunate that Everett's turn as Sherlock Holmes is so criminally under appreciated.

Ian Hart as Dr Watson

Ian Hart makes a superb Watson. He is not the bumbling Watson as portrayed famously by Nigel Bruce. His Watson is the competent ally and long suffering friend, Holmesians and Sherlockians all over the world have come to know and love.

Neil Dudgeon plays Lestrade who remains dim as ever. Jonathan Hyde gives a delightful performance as George Pentney, the put-upon husband of the imperious Mary Pentney (Eleanor David).

I cannot reveal any detail about the actor(s) playing the serial killer(s), in order to avoid spoiling the fun.

The costumes and sets add to the atmosphere and keep the viewers entrenched in the mystery unfolding onscreen. The direction by Simon Cellan Jones is solid. Special mention must be made of the background score by Adrian Johnston, especially during the scenes in which Holmes makes his observations and deductions.

Rupert Everett as Sherlock Holmes

Highly recommended to fans of Sherlock Holmes.

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Image Sources: BBC, Tiger Aspect Productions, WGBH Boston

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How to Improve Your Vocabulary

As the world becomes a Global village, a strong command in English can be a great asset. Irrespective of whether we are using English in spoken or written form, strong vocabulary is the main weapon in one’s arsenal to compose and convey his/her thoughts in an easy-to-understand style. In addition, studies indicate that people with an impressive vocabulary enjoy greater respect among their peers.

I am sharing some tips with the readers to increase their vocabulary.

• One of the most common and effective ways to improve vocabulary is to use the all-present Dictionary. Make the Dictionary your friend and spend some time every day to learn at least 3 new words. In addition to learning the meaning of the word(s), readers should try to understand the correct context(s) in which these words are used. It is also recommended that the reader use the words in their everyday conversations, as I am a firm believer in the adage: “Practice makes Perfect”.
• Use only an English-English dictionary. Avoid a dictionary that gives the meanings in a language (probably the reader’s mother-tongue) other than English. While it might help in the short term, the reader unwittingly starts thinking in his/her mother-tongue and this invariably will hinder the reader from developing fluency in English.
• Vocabulary Builder at Number2.com is an excellent resource to build one’s vocabulary. Users are provided with a word and 4 choices. Before you write off this as another one of umpteen websites that has a bunch of multiple choice questions, here is the clincher. When we click the wrong answer, Number2 provides the meaning for that as well. Readers can keep going through as many words as possible, the only limitation being their time and interest. Registration is free.
• Dictionary.com is another excellent online resource that I find highly useful when I am browsing online and need to quickly look up a word. The site also provides a free ‘Word of the Day’ service that the readers can sign up for with a valid email id.
• Start reading books. This is the single most effective way to improve vocabulary. I would not recommend that the reader start reading Shakespearean works right away. The reason being, they might contain outdated words and the reader will be stuck up with words not in circulation right now. I recommend books by John Grisham and Thomas Hadley Chase, as these authors use words that are used in everyday conversations.
• Read Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis.  It is an extremely effective book that teaches the reader how to use the correct words in the appropriate context. I learnt quite a bit from this book and thoroughly enjoyed the process.

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Image Sources: GGI, Link, Link 

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