BOOJUM!: World Shakespeare Day? GO FAR AWAY!

O Delicious Irony
NO! that's not something on the menu at Beefeaters, it's Conrad being satirical and sarcastic in print. If you read the blog with any frequency, certainly during 2016, you will know that your humble scribe HATES Shakespeare, with a passion, and has done since the age of 16, when he was first tormented with compulsory study of "MacBeth" for English O Level. Then it was "Measure for Measure" and "King Lear" for A level.

http://comsatangel2002.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/yes-we-are-late-tonight.html

And that above is an example of the bile thrown at Bill, should you care to seek evidence. So, today is World Shakespeare Day. Gah. I feel a bit of slander coming on.

"Full fathom five thy father lies*"

I'm afraid he's dead - is this a surprise?

He lies defunct at the bottom of the drink.

Though be reassured - down there he won't stink.

This is what's known as "Burial at sea",

And is good for the marine ecology.

You can hallow the spot with a marker buoy

And have it placed by a Tempest called Troy.

Boom boom. Or, perhaps, splash splash.

WHAT A STUPID QUESTION!

NO! No he did not, it was George Lucas you utter dimwits!

Now that's out of the way, shall we continue with the being who certainly believes that the world ought to revolve around her, even though it doesn't?
NO! Not Katie Hopkins. Edna. Edna the Wunderhund.

A Short Character Study
You can call the photograph below the "Before" picture, when both cat and dog hang around hopefully at the breakfast table, waiting for your humble scribe to turn his back or knock an item to the floor. Art?

Don't let the lack of direct staring fool you

Edna gets to lick the plate, which isn't much of a victory as all it contained were a few crumbs. That bowl is another matter, and she effortlessly beats the cat to it when placed on the floor. Jenny, very much the runner-up, gets to lick the spoon.
You may recollect the phrase "To dog one's heels", and here is an example:

More around the ankles

Edna, sticking close to Conrad, in fact directly under the pocket that contains the dog treats. Pure coincidence, surely?
And the photo below can be entitled "Aftermath", a compound of weariness at the walk and condescension enough to lie near - not upon, that would be a statement of weakness - to lie near the Human-Shaped Cushion.

Despondent or dozy? Only you can decide!
(Unless you're Wonder Wifey in which case by default it's "Dozy")

More Character, Except Of Conrad
Yes, I confess to liking baroque music, which is around the late 17th and early 18th Century I believe - reckoned without Googling - for it's arithmetical symmetry if nothing else. Think Rockin'-It-With-Harpsichords and you're on the right track. What did I hear last week but "La Poule", French for "The Chicken", and here a link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZV-0gqvKak

It's quite a bonkers little piece, perhaps the harpsichord equivalent of "Cappricio Cuckoo", which is also baroque, except played on an organ.
I was also somewhat relieved to read the title of the album it's from correctly: "Festliche Barockmusic", and not "Fetischliche Barockmusic", or "Festival" as opposed to "Fetish".
Although, now I come to think about it ...

L.A. Pool. Close enough

"Houdini And Doyle"
I have been threatening to deliver my musings on this for a while, and - you lucky people! - here we are. Oh, and for today's coincidence, check out that link to a blog post of a month ago, which features Stephen Mangan. Who's he? We shall see!

Stephen Magnan and Michael Weston

The date for the setting is fudged rather, as Steve himself admits, Ninteen <COUGH COUGH HACK!> as opposed to Eighteen Ninety Three. I did notice a few dates given - a person had been married in 1893 and 1895, so we're obviously after that date. Plus, one of the self-penned works that Conan Doyle has on a shelf is "The Great Boer War", which ended in 1902. So, 1903 at a guess.
The problem with filming in 2015 is that the 21st Century has intruded, rather. Unlike "Poirot", however, which was filmed before CGI existed, C&D has the luxury of being able to erase the unwanted. Or, add in the wanted.
Okay, now a warning - SPOILER AHEAD! Several of them, in fact.

Giving you fair warning!

Okay, you chose to read this. The explanation given in the first pilot, "The Maggie's Redress" is that of infrasound - vibrations below the threshold of human hearing, which trigger feelings of profound distress and unease. Give the scriptwriters props, this is actually a functional theory, except not discovered until the late 20th Century. This state of mind also explains why witnesses (including H&D) see a ghost - the infrasound also causes perturbations in the eye's aqueous humour, which is interpreted as Ghosts. This, again, is a functional explanation, going by the name of "Pareidolia" - the entirely natural tendency of the human mind to impose or see patterns or order on random stimuli - q.v "Nun in a Bun" or The Man In The Moon (NOT Andy Kaufman, ta).