Trying to Get Lost in the City of Love, Part 2: Making Music

Rewind now; not far, just to the night before.

The scene: a restaurant not far from Notre Dame, Paris, owned by a friendly, if overenthusiastic Portuguese man. There is a row of tables set up outside, brought together to seat eight people, but for now all the seats are empty. Piano music emanates from inside - Simon sits at the little upright in the cramped quarters of the lower floor bar, while Molly sings "I got Rhythm" accompanied (partially) by me. We'd met Molly and her friends earlier that day, at breakfast in the hostel. It was their first day there, and our last full one, and it being the fourth of July it seemed like a good reason to get together for a drink. She was there with Waller and Chiara, all the way from Rome where they'd been studying.

The Great Gatsby: Glitzy and glamorous, but it's no Oscar bait...

Last night I was in a packed cinema, staring up from one of the lower seats at a party which would rival anything a modern celebrity could put together. Glitter cannons in the shape of champagne bottles throwing sparkling confetti over everyone, people throwing themselves fully-clothed into the pool, everyone dancing the Charleston to remixed jazz - it's the classic scene where Nick Carraway first meets Gatsby, and it's one of the best things I've seen on the silver screen to date. Forget fight scenes, forget daring rooftop chases and steamy kisses; the highlight of Luhrmann's Gatsby is the fabulous backdrop of lavish, roaring twenties parties.

Sherlock vs Sherlock: The Great Game

I'm sure this whole topic has been pretty much exhausted by now, but hey. Here goes nothing.

This year we've had two television shows, one from either side of the Atlantic. In the blue corner, representing tradition, story and people who want to write gay slash fiction, we have Sherlock. In the red corner, representing pandering to audience expectations, Hollywood values of making everything bigger and more American, and strict heterosexuality in their fanfiction, it's Elementary. And which is better?

There's only one way to find out.