Spirit of the River

When I first heard of Sherlock (kind of when I learned more about Martin Freeman due to my interest in the Hobbit), I never thought I would turn into someone who actually likes the series. At some stage this year, I had the chance to watch episode 1 of season 3. I only watched a few minutes, and then gave up on it. It seemed like the kind of series where you needed to watch everything right from the start to understand everything. I just didn't have the motivation - and simply didn't want to spend money on it (and I also don't do illegal downloads). A few weeks ago, however, when I volunteered in an organic garden, I was accommodated in a static caravan, and the DVD collection included season 1 and 2 of Sherlock. One evening, I thought I might as well give it a real chance. After all, Smaug and Bilbo were the main characters! I enjoyed the episodes more than I expected, and was disappointed that they didn't have season 3 in their DVD collection. So a few days ago...

Why I was dreading the movie and at the same time looking forward to it For many years, Christoper Lee has been my one and only Dracula. I never was attracted to any of the new vampire movies. When I heard that Luke Evans would be Dracula in an origin story of Dracula, I was on one hand very hopeful, and on the other hand I was worried it would destroy my image of Luke Evans as a good actor. He had come into my spotlight with his portrayal as Bard the Bowman in "The Hobbit - Desolation of Smaug". I had not expected to be so impressed by Bard. Luke Evans portrayed Bard in a way that turned him into one of my favourite characters. During one scene, with one look that put so much raw emotion into it, he gave me hope that there are indeed still good young actors out there.  But when I heard he would be Dracula, my thoughts were: "Oh, oh. Wow. That will either make him or break him." When I went to the movies today (in Aberdeen, Scotland), I was very excited. An...

Writing letters with pen and paper - a dying art? Do you remember a time when you still received handwritten letters in your mailbox (no, not your virtual mailbox, but the physical mailbox in front of your house)? If you are like me, then you might have had quite a few pen pals when you were younger. I started writing letters at the age of 9 or 10, and the older I got, the more pen pals I had, also quite internationally. After I came home from school, I always checked whether there were any letters on the table, and on a Saturday or during school holidays, I always went to the mailbox right away after the mail man (or woman) was there. Receiving a letter, opening it, reading it - it was quite special to me. After all it meant that someone somewhere else on this planet has taken the time to sit down and write to me. It was not only a letter but also a gift of time - something you can never get back. But then the internet became more easily available for the general public, a...