Still doing little except slumping in a chair and regularly stretching my seized neck. Snapped this on the way back from lunch, just a little postcard shot.

No shit indeed, in fact Sherlock Holmes turned out to be remarkably good entertainment. “A Guy Ritchie film” should be enough to sound warning bells. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was fun. Snatch was a little less fun and often incomprehsible. Swept Away was a turd on the fabric of humanity, and RocknRolla was just weird, although it did offer some redemption in the shape of Thandie Newton.

Hard to imagine how the frenetic cinematography of Mr. Ritchie would translate to the measured world of Mr. Holmes; but it worked well; zooming into detailed clues which meant nothing to the audience until the very clever Sherlock revealed all later in the movie. There was also a substantial amount of hand to hand fighting which suits Ritchie’s style; consistent with the books but not with the smoking jacket, pipe and silly hat with which many associate with the character.

With the UK blanketed in snow, it is inevitable that those of an artistic bent will venture out and create magnificent snow sculptures. If Michelangelo were still alive today, one can’t help thinking that he would produce something like this:

Further to the recent educational post regarding birds and planes, here is the less elegantly titled “I know it’s a car but what sort of tree” challenge, which again highlights my total ignorance regarding flora and fauna.

Here’s the car I spotted a couple of days ago:

I am lying on the sofa getting a massage. “It’s very hard” the young lady observes, “let me work on it and see if I can help”. I let her and the relief is almost immediate. Then suddenly the door opens and in walks she who must be obeyed.

Could this trigger a rush to acquire a kitchen knife and the swift removal of my genitals? Fortunately, no; because the hard object is a seized up muslce in my neck, and the lady doing something about it is the very wonderful Khun Pinkul, my favourite physio, and she has been tracked down by she who must be obeyed and persuaded to come and help me.

January is as good a time as any to have a look at progress, or otherwise, of some of the property projects in the area.

The Tropical Dream Previously discussed here and here. I seem to get frequent hits regarding this project, probably because the developer’s website has disappeared.

The good news is that it is now being constructed:

She who must be obeyed, now sated with grapes, expresses her desire for a new photo of Guan Yin that she can have as her desktop image. As we have a Guan Yin statue near our house, and I welcome any chance to take a photo; I only express mild disgruntlement and a slight slamming of doors to show my displeasure at this huge imposition (not really).

Used the GF1, I managed to screw things up by choosing the wrong white balance setting; but the result was quite pleasing, at least to my eyes. Gives the background a rather sad, stormy look and makes the statue stand out. You mileage may vary, as indeed may the mileage of she who must be obeyed who is probably expecting something much more cheerful.

How time flies, it’s the 4th already.

Following my new year’s resolution to relax and enjoy retirement more, I find that all I have done this year so far is:

Taken 1,923 photographs Processed 835 of those photographs Been windsurfing Spent a couple of hours at the radio control track in a fruitless attempt to get better. Watched The Hurt Locker which is a very tense movie about a bomb disposal squad, and A Perfect Getaway which isn’t, but it does have a cute twist. Cleaned up some cat vomit. Bought some seedless grapes for she who must be obeyed which will earn me monster hugs when she gets home ‘cos she loves them.