Good afternoon. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. As you may know from last week, Artemis, Madeline, Edison, Bruiser, Ruffles, Charlotte, Titus and Tyler, the twin dachshunds and I were all camped out in Ruffle’s owner’s van across from the kidnapper’s yellow house. We were waiting to see who was coming to purchase our dear Demeter from this monster or worse yet, who was coming to sell her on the black market. We were sitting with bated breath when a huge orange Hummer pulled up into the cul-de-sac. We all pressed our noses to the window to get a better look. Ruffles had a pair of binoculars and gave us the play by play. I also brought along a pair of opera glasses which seemed to work rather well.

We witnessed a woman in a silky camo print dress and a big orange fluffy faux fur coat, and a man with so many tattoos he had no more places to ink… at least none that were visible, disembark and head up to the house. When the kidnapper came to the door we noted he was carrying a can of cat food in his hand which implied Demeter must still be inside. We knew this because Edison and Madeline had overheard, he was selling “the Persian” on the black market when they were trapped inside. Which brings us to tonight.

“Do you think they’ll bring Demeter to the door?” Artemis asked nervously. “Do you think we’ll see her? What if we see her? What should we do?

“Calm down,” Edison told her. “You need to relax and not panic.”

“I can’t help it. It’s been so long since I’ve seen my sister.”

“Don’t fall apart on us now, Artemis. You and Gigi were brave enough to come rescue Madeline and I.”

“Yes, we were,” I said. “Keep calm and kick this kidnapper in the kisser.”

“Kick him in the kisser, kick him in the kisser,” the twins barked causing Bruiser to start jumping up and down again.”

“Kick him in the kisser!” he shouted nearly hitting his head on the ceiling. “Kick him in the kisser!”

“Will you calm down,” Charlotte said. “Or they’re going to notice us.”

“I think the kidnapper is heading back inside,” Ruffles said peering through his binoculars.

I looked out my opera glasses and sure enough the kidnapper, the woman with the camo dress and the tattoo man were all heading into the house. “Alright, everyone, remain quiet,” I said. The van became so quiet you could hear a loose rabies tag drop.

Several minutes passed and Titus and Tyler started getting restless. Charlotte and I gave them a stern growl. Suddenly, we saw the door to the yellow house open, and the tattooed man came outside. He swung open the rear hatch of the Hummer blocking our view. The woman in the silky camo dress sashayed out of the house carrying what could be a crate when I peered through my opera glasses.

“Does it look like a crate to you, Ruffles?” I asked.

“I am not sure. The rear door is in the way.”

“Drat.”

The man closed the back door of the Hummer and marched towards the driver’s side.

“Hold my binoculars,” he told Charlotte. “Let’s get ready to roll.” We all waited, our eyes on the Hummer.

Suddenly, something landed on the hood of the van. We all jumped and turned our heads to find a visibly shaken and distressed Bernard D. Bunny! Until next week, I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and all five installments of the Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, Musicology: Volume Three, Twist!, Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! and Musicology: The Epiquad on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will win Musicology!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: SHERLOCK (2010)-HULU

This week’s pick is a modern take on the beloved classic stories of Sherlock Holmes. Now, because I am a fan of personality types, I should note that in the original book series, Sherlock Holmes is considered an ISTP, likely because Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was himself an ESTP. Thus, it wasn’t a huge stretch for him to create an ISTP character which is often a personality type that would naturally go into police work of various types. This explains the books’ centuries long popularity and why Sherlock has been likeable to a large audience. Because approximately 40% of the general population is SP and 40% of the general population is SJ and these personality types are complimentary to each other. That’s why television has always been sickeningly slathered with cop shows, doctor shows and game shows. SPs and SJs eat this stuff up.

However, in the modern version Sherlock is likely an INTJ and the phenomenal actor who plays Sherlock happens to be an INFJ. Why is this important to note? Because INTJs and INFJs have Introverted Intuition or in other words, “a perceiving cognitive function that allows individuals to process information internally, seeking patterns, trends, and hidden meanings rather than focusing on immediate sensory input.” And INTJs and INFJs take up a whopping 2% of the population…combined. I am an INTJ. And yes, INTJs and INFJs to varying degrees can do these things. So, when fans of the show say it is not believable that Sherlock can pick up on as many clues as he can…they are wrong. Especially since Sherlock in addition to having introverted intuition also has HPI or “high potential” which would indeed make him capable of picking up on a variety of clues others would not.

The show also points out he is not well liked by many of the people who work with him. This is accurate. People who really know what they are doing are often disliked. Especially if they are introverted and even more so if they are intuitive. Why? Because intuitive personality types take up only 20% of the world population. And only about 4% of the world is made up of introverted intuitive personality types. So those of us who are introverted intuitive personality types live in a world where the odds are always stacked against us. We constantly find ourselves engulfed in a sea of garish colors, bright lights, loud troglodyte-appealing noises and vapid television shows and movies.

A great example of this conflict is tension featured in the classic film The Flight of the Phoenix. The characters must realize they are going to die unless they trust the knowledge of the one guy they don’t like. And I believe that despised character is an INTJ. We INTJs and I imagine INFJs can’t always explain how we come to correct conclusions, but we do. And everyone hates us. Maybe because of this ability. But you’re not getting that broken plane off the ground without our help.

The modern incarnation of Sherlock was created by Mark Gatis and Steven Moffit. And although the show falters in its final season for breaking the carnal rule that television show that don’t end well always do which is they refuse to Give the Audience What They Want, it is an exciting, energetic, thrilling ride throughout and well worth the watch.

The show stars the excellent Martin Freeman, known for playing Tim on the original BBC The Office , as Dr. John Watson and the highly talented Bennedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes. The chemistry they have is superb. Characters from the book also are in the show such as landlady Mrs. Hudson (Una Stubbs), Lestrade (Rupert Graves), Mary Morstan (Amanda Abbington) and of course Professor James (Jim) Moriarty (Andrew Scott). Some characters which aren’t in the book have been added to the cast such as Mycroft, Sherlock Holmes’s brother, well played by Mark Gattis and Molly Hooper, a forensic pathologist who has a crush on Sherlock played by Louise Brealey.