Shakespeare Sunday🎭 #11

“The wheel is come full circle: I am here.”

— Edmund in King Lear

– Snowanna of 221B

221B methodology #8

• Take note of how a person’s fingers and hands curl as they walk. People that have been carrying things lately generally continue to ‘carry’ them for hours lately.
• If someone has scars only or mostly on the right side of their body, they are left-handed and vice versa.
• You can  tell the keys most used on a personal computer keyboard by looking at which ones are the most smooth – they have been worn down the most.
• Slight diagonal creases in the corner of a piece of paper suggests that whoever has been writing on this paper keeps the paper on a slant to write, and the paper has been pressed between their arm and the edge of a desk. If the creases are on the left side of the paper, the person is right-handed. If they are on the right side, they are left-handed. The more vertical the creases are suggests the paper is more tilted.
• An avid fencer will usually have visibly uneven muscle tone in their legs.
• If a person uses a cane and pushes off of it slightly when they walk, they most likely have a joint injury where putting weight on the joint is painful. If they don’t push off of it with each step, they most likely use it to aid balance, due to a problem that is more likely to be muscular or nervous.
• Light fixtures are almost always centered to a room or to a piece of furniture. If the lighting in the room is not centered to either, the room was recently redone.
• Gender means very little in the area of Deduction. Men and women are very evenly matched in ability and capability.
• People who would love to prove a point just to be perceived as smart would use big words and unlikely adjectives in their explanation. People who know the subject at heart would use simple words. A person’s uncertainty or defensiveness shows through picking out big words to buy themselves time to think about their explanation and to trick their listeners into thinking about the word’s meaning, instead of the subject at hand.
• You can tell if someone has hearing problems in one ear if their head is more inclined to a certain angle.

Disclaimer: These are taken from the “A Guide to Deduction” numbered pictures that can be found on Tumblr.

– Snowanna of 221B

Memories from a past life #7

25 October 1938: Hyde Park Corner.

Fox Photos/Getty Images

– Snowanna of 221B

Shakespeare Sunday🎭 #10

“April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.”

(Sonnet XCVIII)

― William Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s Sonnets

– Snowanna of 221B

221B methodology #7

• A person who danced as a child, especially in ballet, will stand and walk with their feet pointed slightly outwards as an adult.
• If a person has had injury that caused any amount of trauma, they will subconsciously touch the part of the body that was injured, even if it has long healed.
• When at a shared meal, a person who comes from a large family will look at the quantity they are allowed compared to the number present, instead of just diving in and taking as much as they need.
• People who have long fingernails on one hand and short ones on the other are guitarists. They use the hand with shorter fingernails to press the strings on the frets and the longer fingernails to strum or pick the strings.
• If a person, when falling, automatically does a roll fall (a forward roll to protect them from falling) it indicates that they are practising karate, parkour and similar sports regularly.
• Dust becomes visible on the surface of liquids left standing indoors after a day or so.
• If a person’s right thumb is crooked, they are likely to play a woodwind instrument like clarinet or saxophone.
• A person who has recently dyed their hair will often have trace amounts of the dye on their skin, mostly at the hairline. Typically more so if they dyed it themselves instead of having a professional dye it.
• In America, a tan on the left arm is a good indicator that an individual has done a great deal of driving recently in a sunny area.
• One can tell which adaptation of Sherlock Holmes a person prefers based on what they call the characters. Fans of more traditional series tend to call the two main characters Holmes and Watson, whereas fans of the modern television adaptation refer to them as Sherlock and John.

Disclaimer: These are taken from the “A Guide to Deduction” numbered pictures that can be found on Tumblr.

– Snowanna of 221B

Bulgarian clerk vs Sherlock Holmes

If you’re a Sherlock Holmes fan you’ve probably heard of (or own) the book “The Sherlock Holmes Puzzle Collection: 150 enigmas for you to solve, inspired by the world’s greatest detective”. Well, guess what? It turns out there’s a very similar (but still very different) Bulgarian book by author Nikolai Penchev. It’s called “Старобългарски загадки” (“Bulgar mysteries”) and it’s actually part of a book series by the same name. You can check out the rest of the series here: Старобългарски загадки series.

The book follows the adventures of the royal clerk Clement, whom the readers may already know from the eponymous “Bulgar mysteries” series, as he unravels some very complex cases. Unlike the other books from the series this one feels more like a game as it challenges the reader to solve the mysteries alongside the protagonist. It is by no means a textbook – some of the “facts” are not historically true and are simply a fruit of fiction. Nevertheless, the book is a great way to spark young readers’ interest towards the chronicles of the First Bulgarian Kingdom. A huge contribution to this has the beautiful artwork of illustrator Boyan Yanev and the perfect polygraph execution. The book is hardcover and has 248 pages.

Виолета Цветкова, AFISH.BG

The third part of the new mystery novel deserves a special attention as it is dedicated to the rescuing of the magnificent ceramic icon of St. Theodore Stratilat. Drawn by the talented illustrator Boyan Yanev, it resembles perfectly one of the most valuable artifacts in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum in Sofia. Of course the story of the abduction of the icon is fiction. In the novel the icon is stored in a monastery – a former fortress surrounded by a three-meter ditch in the center of a wiry fence maze. In order to get to St. Theodore Stratilat one must pass through a divided by squares hall where every misstep can trigger some kind of hidden mechanism.

Виолета Цветкова, AFISH.BG

The puzzle-like novel contains over 100 riddles – riddles, brain teasers, puzzles and mazes whose logical reasoning and answers can be found at the end of the book. The characters embark on a search for a missing gospel, a lost treasure, an abducted icon and  a murder investigation in a sacred temple. The adventure requires wisdom, insight, resourcefulness and vigilance so as not to destroy their own lives. The solving of the mysteries is key to the development of the plot, so if you cannot solve them alone you can always look at the answers at the back. All of the sketches, maps and drawings help the reader to vividly imagine the world of the novel. Some of the mysteries may sound quite abstract but their purpose is to teach you to ponder beyond stereotypes and beyond the literal condition of the presented tasks.

As the story of St. Theodore Stratilat’s icon is so enticing and exciting here are some facts and conundrums about the original ceramic icon – exhibit at the National Archaeological Museum that inspired the kidnapping story in the third part of “Bulgar mysteries”:

• It was created in the workshop of the Patleina monastery “St. Panteleimon” and 11 centuries later it is still considered  one of the highest achievements of Preslav ceramic production, a cultural value of national and global importance.
• The icon is composed of tiles (with 12×12 cm measurements) made of purified clay with multicolored glaze decoration.
• It was discovered in 1909 by Yordan Gospodinov during archaeological studies two kilometers southeast from the inner town of Veliki Preslav.
• The icon was badly damaged when it was found – there were many fragments in “bulk” state. Its founder was the first to assemble the saint’s image from about 20 tiles back in 1911. Still, there are some elements that remain a mystery – much like the characters from the book, the real life scientists are trying to find the right place of all the pieces. The very last addition of fragments was done digitally in 2008 when archaeologist Georgi Maistorski published the name of the saint with Greek letters – by the time it was already positive that the image is of St. Theodore, but there are two saints with very similar characteristics: St. Theodore Tyron and St. Theodore Stratilat, both honored as warriors and martyrs, and (in addition) the second one – as a healer. So far, most researchers tend to agree that the icon of Patleina displays the image of St. Theodore Stratilat whose cult originated in the IX century.
• There is no evidence that the real icon was ever an object of abduction like its  counterpart in Nikolay Penchev’s book. The real icon, however, has been repeatedly endangered because of the unprofessional restoration done back in 1912 and then again in the 70s, as well as the numerous exhibition trips outside of the country.
• On the recommendation of experts who evaluated the state of the icon as critical, it was decided, in 2013, that it must be restored and reinforced by all rules of modern science. The process was completed successfully at the end of 2015.
• It is worth noting the original decision of prof. Ivana Eneva who helped the production of ceramic tiles with the same dimensions as the original ones using a technology very similar to the medieval one. Mounted on an aluminum base they repeated the modular rhythm of the original and integrated the preserved fragments. With the returning of the icon in the exposition of the National Archaeological Museum a special glass with UV protection was mounted to the supporting base.

For any Bulgarians who might stumble upon this blog post here’s a short video material about the book from the Bulgarian National Television’s (BNT) archive: VIDEO.

Also, here’s some music to get you in the mood:

P.S. HAPPY EASTER, FOLKS!!!

Weird long-legged-hopping rabbit gif but I felt that it somehow doesn’t entirely ruin the aesthetic of this blog post…

P.P.S. Long time no see. This was not a very easterly easter post, don’t mind me, I love you, bye.

Now lets entirely ruin the aesthetic of this non-easter blog post and treat ourselves with THE SHERHOP. *Bunnydict Carrotpatch* I mean…

– Snowanna of 221B

Memories from a past life #6

26 October 1938: The sun comes through at the Pool of London.

H. F. Davis/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

– Snowanna of 221B

Shakespeare Sunday🎭 #9

“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”

― William Shakespeare, The Tempest

– Snowanna of 221B

221B methodology #6

• People who recently started wearing a new jewel usually touch it (and adjust it) a lot. The same goes for recently removed jewels.
• Dark rings under the eyes and no other signs of lack of sleep may indicate the person has allergies which have been troubling them lately.
• The letter E is the most used one in the English language. When cracking a secret code, the one symbol that appears the most is most likely an E.
• People who were in marching bands for a long time usually start walking with their left foot when they hear music playing.
• Nail biting can be an indication of low esteem or self-destructive tendencies.
• A pianist’s hands have well-developed muscles and the middle finger tends to curve towards the ring finger.
• When looking at a person’s handwriting, you can tell how much they like being noticed. Large, bold handwriting indicates that the person enjoys being the center of attention, while small handwriting indicates a desire to be unnoticed. Medium sized handwriting can indicate that they prefer to just “fit in”.
• A person is more likely to be actually listening to you if their eyes are roaming about your face, or even watching hand gestures, and not staring into your eyes or at one feature the entire time.
• Just because a person doesn’t look tired, it doesn’t mean they aren’t. Losing trains of thought, being unable to articulate what they mean to say, staring off into space, or a general lack of interest in things all strongly indicates that the person has not had enough sleep. So the next question is, what were they doing last night to prevent sleep?
• There are a few ways you can tell if someone has had martial arts training in the past: 1st: if you can see them walk around barefoot they will walk more on the blades (outsides) of their feet (heel-blade-toes); 2nd: the way they move their hands when they are talking – martial artists have thumbs slightly tucked in towards the palm, the fingers are never really straight and will have a slight bend in the middle knuckles; 3rd: depending on how dedicated they were, the outside or ridge of their hands and their proximal phalanges on their index and middle fingers (base knuckles) could be slightly calloused from repetitive striking of objects.

Disclaimer: These are taken from the “A Guide to Deduction” numbered pictures that can be found on Tumblr.

– Snowanna of 221B

Sherlock Medley on Violin – Taryn Harbridge