Because of the thing, I have been catching the end of random episodes of the Father Dowling Mysteries. The end of one episode this week had thingy who played Ken Molansky, who you know I had the worst crush on when I was wee, playing Sister Stevie's ex-boyfriend. The Sister Stevie who I also had the worst crush on at that age.

Now somehow, despite my grandmother being a detective-show fiend, and liking the aforesaid Father Dowling Mysteries, I had never seen this episode. This is probably for the best, as 10-year old me would probably have spontaneously combusted, but oh ... I was basically *hearts eyes* for the duration. Comment here or on Dreamwidth, wherever you prefer.

Spent the weekend at home, mostly finding out why some of the books on my Mum's "to the charity shop" pile are on there.

I, once again, failed to get into an Elizabeth George. I try, about once every 4 years, to read one of her books to find out what it is that people see in them. And I can't. I legitimately can't. This one wasn't so Lynley-centric, but still had Tottenham man-dem speaking like they were Bristol, blud. And my knowledge of local slang of anywhere south of Manchester is limited, so if I notice the discrepancy, it's pretty bad.

Then there was the author who, due to the American habit of giving male Celtic names to female offspring, I had to reassign from men who can't write women, to women who can't write women. Or historical settings. Which, when both of her books that I read were first person historical krimis is a problem.

Comment here or on Dreamwidth, wherever you prefer.

Y'all have failed me on the actress heads-up front.

Vanessa Ferlito is in NCIS: New Orleans!!!!!

This is not a drill!!!!

She's the new series regular (replacing spoiler). And, get this, the character is canonically a lesbian. Oh Bellisario productions, you are spoiling us.

Comment here or on Dreamwidth, wherever you prefer.

Because I get bored, I was reading online comments about NCIS: New Orleans and people complaining that they had more characters visiting from the original NCIS than NCIS: LA ever had. To me it's obvious why. Donald Belisario actually understands his international audience a lot more than a lot of other US showrunners. Because New Orleans's rep as being a bit different from the rest of the US hasn't percolated through to popular culture in other countries as much as you might expect and the basic gist of NCIS: NO is more or less the same as original flavour, while NCIS: LA at least has its own gimmick.

I was reminded of this when I caught part of an episode of Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour. Because I don't get its purpose. What stories does it tell that couldn't be told by Criminal Minds Original Flavour? And if that's the case, there's no reason for people to watch it.

(This is not a diss against Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour because yay Forest Whittaker on my TV and I fell for Prophet something chronic within half an episode. I'm still not sure what Matt Ryan's accent is supposed to be, mind you.)

It's no secret that I do not like the vast majority of the ITV Miss Marples (to the point that I should probably apologise to my twitter peeps for complaining about them at least once a week). Because they keep changing the story, and I know most of Agatha Christie's work barely hangs together, but it does and there is normally a reason for things and changing everything (including the murderer, the motive, the settings, the characters and/or all of the above) means they tend not to work at all.

Oddly enough, the ones where they mess with the original story the least are the ones that work the best. I'm watching their take on The Mirror Crack'd From Side To Side right now, and in it they barely change anything, and it's the best of the lot.

And Nigel Harman's version of Jason Rudd is probably my favourite take on the character out of all the different versions.

I managed to catch an old Dalziel and Pascoe while I was at home, and I remembered how annoyed I was at how they'd done the later ones, in between writing out Wieldy*, Ivor (who is a woman, despite the nickname) and Hat, screwing up Peter Pascoe in trying to turn him into a cynical lone wolf which he isn't**, and making Dalziel all-knowing and infallible, which he really isn't, and that's sort of the point of the books.

It's most vexing when they take a series of books that most deliberately and determinedly plays with the conventions of the detective story, and then they make adaptations of them that then break that and try to force the characters into conventional roles (Wieldy, Ivor and Hat were replaced by identikit characters straight from dour cop show 101, it was annoying).

*Wieldy, incorruptible, kind, efficient Wieldy is everyone in the family's favourite.

** although I do adore how the writer of the original novels tried to stop them from doing that, by making Ellie Pascoe (the wife of Peter Pascoe) intrinsic to the plot of the rest of the novels so they couldn't write her out.

I have given Endeavour a go. I have tried to like it. I have tried to appreciate its production values. I do appreciate them employing Roger Allam and Anton Lesser.

It's just, and I don't know if it's the writing or Shaun Evans, they don't convince me that this person grows up into the Morse we know and love.

Part of the problem is that Endeavour lack the fierce intelligence of Morse, and he's always had that. They don't convince me that this is the boy who, not more than 10 years before the film is set, wrote a list of ways to kill himself and then decided that, since he was clever enough to do that, he had too good a mind to waste*, while John Thaw did convince me he was that character 30 years on.

I don't know how much of that is John Thaw's iconic performance rather than the writing because I've tried to read the books and I've bounced off them (except the Wolvercote Tongue, which might not be called that).

So yes, I'm sure Endeavour is perfectly well made but I think I'd like it a lot more if it was called something else and didn't keep dropping references to Inspector Morse.

*In Cherubim and Seraphim, which might not be the best mystery but is great for Morse background.

Re-read it on Friday.

This is not my favourite Christie, it's not even my favourite Poirot, but it's definitely a masterwork. This is where Poirot gets to show he doesn't need the cigarette ash and bits of cloth to solve a mystery as he re-investigates a murder that occured 16 years before. It's also a nice antidote to those mysteries where the detective is given more information than the reader. Here we are given exactly the same information as Poirot and allowed to try to figure out whodunit along with him.

It's not perfect, I found the characterisation of Philip Blake a bit flat, but I love all the little character details for Poirot, like when he tells himself off for thinking in nursery rhymes (again) and how he chooses to present himself to the five people present on the day of the murder.

Definitely worth a read.

( LibraryThing SuggestionsCollapse )

Not unexpectedly, I have read several of these. :)

( LibraryThing UnsuggestionsCollapse )

Rather more unexpectedly, I have read one of these. Hunter S. Thompson would be proud that he breaks algorithms :)

When I saw the adverts for this I thought I'd give it a try. And then missed the first three episodes because I was busy.

So I started on episode 4 which while it's a non-traditional point to start watching the series at least made me think that it would have settled down and got it's early season bumpiness out of the way. Having now seen episodes 1 and 2, I think it had and unfortunately they all share the same major weaknesses.

( Spoilers for episodes 1,2,4 and 5 of Ripper Street beneathCollapse )

Just wondering whether nitrous oxide (or whichever NO-variant it is) has suddenly become a party drug in the US, because after many years of hearing it's name in the past tense for that usage, suddenly three krimis in a row have had it as the drug of occasion (Miami, SVU and then New York).

NCIS is back in my good books because the wildly right wing military krimi is the one that pointed out how wrong it is was that it's so much easier to get a warrant to raid a mosque than it is for any other religious building.

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The uptick in US drama has had a good effect on UK drama, and even better, they've realised that British TV doesn't have the money to outslick US TV so they're going back to the kitchen sink. Score one for realistic drama. It's even more fun when it's the fantasy dramas that are doing kitchen sink (a la 'The Fades').

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I know it doesn't need saying, but Danny Houston (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0404111/) can act. Just seen 'The Proposition' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421238/) and yes, well, it plays exactly how you'd imagine an Aussie based Western written by Nick Cave would run.

Enjoyed is the wrong word, but it's good.

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Adverts:

The adverts have been doing some fun things again.

I particularly like the new Guardian one, even if I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be getting from it.



One of the Aldi ones is class too - http://aldi.co.uk/uk/html/service/23225.htm although they're all quite fun (http://aldi.co.uk/uk/html/service/7232.htm), I particularly recommend the tea one.

Rant first: Dear various estate agents but one in particular. I'm not a mind reader, if you're thinking of a property for me but don't tell me about it, I will not know about it.

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The TV has been remarkably good recently.

Channel 4 had one of their 15 minute 'Coming Up' shorts called 'Hooked', which probably had too much material for its run time, but what it was was golden. 4 on Demand link is here - http://www.channel4.com/programmes/coming-up/episode-guide/series-6/episode-7

( SpoilersCollapse )

ITV3 is reshowing the second Whitechapel, which is always better than I remember it. Mostly because they don't try and sell Rupert Penry-Jones as anything other than a tweedy (if deeply principaled) geek. And they give Phil Davis something to do. If you want me to like your show, giving Phil Davis something to do is a really good way.

( I also like (spoilers)Collapse )

Despite the better efforts of the Christmas break, I'm catching up with Covert Affairs.

( Episode 1 x 9 - The One In London (official name 'I can't quit you, baby')Collapse )

( Season 1 FinaleCollapse )

I've seen the advert for 'This Means War' (the Pine vs Hardy for Reece Witherspoon film), I can see why you all hate it. I'm also stuck with the problem that I find neither leading man attractive. However, I will say that Chris Pine seems to suit rom-com more than Kirk. (Yes, I'm being mean, yes, I'm a horrible, stuck-in-the-mud reactionary.)

I'm a hoarder (I really can't help it), so, you know, most things get kept, particularly newspapers. When it comes to things I particularly and definitely collect include stamps (pretty, pretty stamps) because I'm lucky enough that my Mum has friends all over the world and lots of places have astonishingly pretty stamps and because one of my Mum's penfriends does to and they have a sort of exchange going on. I also collect coins, a habit I picked up from my Opa. Not valuable coins, just ones with pretty designs. At the minute I'm focused on the 2012 Olympic design 50ps. I have, unfortunately, dragged my mother into the madness because she drags Colin in and he likes investigating things. So I'm a magpie, my Mum's interested and Colin likes to put things in order. We're a terrible 3-headed collecting hydra.

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( TNA spoilersCollapse )

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Ah the Numbers episode I haven't seen but wanted to. The one where Edgerton is a murder suspect. ( SpoilersCollapse )

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I'm going through my yearly WIP sorting, and I'm doing some serious pruning and shoving of things into the 'never going to be finished' folder. One WIP though, an AU, has gone so far OOC that I'm thinking of reworking it and turning it into an original fic and seeing if I can sell it on. Not entirely sure where to, mind, although that can wait until I've finished writing it.

First of all ( Poirot:Hallow'een Party (spoilers inside)Collapse )

Good job on all fronts.

Thorne:Sleepyhead was less well done. I managed to catch the end through use of the V+ box.

Part of the problem is that they totally got Thorne wrong. Not totally wrong, but the feel of him was off. In the books he's well aware he's mildly ridculous, and several other characters point that out to him too. ( (Spoiler) they also changedCollapse )

They kept Alison, who is the most wonderful character in the book, and the one I was most scared of them changing, but they turn the interesting, spikey, short-cropped grey-haired Anne Coburn into someone far more traditionally comforting (and cast long, blonde-haired Natascha McElhone). None of that should be taken as a diss on the actress, who played the now somewhat under-written part as well as it could be.

They also changed the plot. Now I grant the book's plot made sense only in the book but it made sense, and was part of the whole thing that our lead character and his hunches are not always right and the great male hero complex is not a good thing, and the tv show lost all that.

However, I shall be the first to admit that I was watching this for Aiden Gillen. I was intrigued when he was cast, especially since the Radio Times made such a thing of him being in it so I watched the first episode and all he got to do was be background pathologist guy/best friend/mildly suspicious.

I did wonder why he'd taken the part, and then I remembered that this is a man who was in a WWE film, he has no sense or shame.

( Then I saw the 3rd part (mostly squeaking about Aiden Gillen below)Collapse )

So yes, I'll be watching more of it, but still for the wrong reasons.

Having seen how long this entry has gotten, meme later.

Appointment with Death was so so, they changed too many details of the original story, but if they're building up to what I think they're building up to, they will be forgiven. Even more than that, I think they've been plotting this.

UK shows don't do arcs all that often, or at least not until recently, the seasons are a bit too short for that. This is especially true of things that are only occasional treats like the later Poirots have been. But I think they're planning to do it properly.

Basically, because of budgets and the like, they've had to leave the big hitters of the Poirot canon till later, such as Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express. They've also started doing to Ariadne Oliver stories so you can tell we're getting quite close the the end (counting the ones in the can but not shown yet, we've got 10 stories before Poirot is done). And they're going to do it properly.

( Spoilers for all of PoirotCollapse )

If ITV are doing this deliberately, and if they manage to pull it off, I exempt them from a year of my criticism.

I hope nwhyte got to the UK safely, not just because it's a pain in the neck not being where you want to be at Christmas, but because I'd love to know if he's as boggled as I am over one of the bonus rounds on University Challenge.

Other than that, also on a TV tip, I am very annoyed that the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures have been shunted off on to More4. No, Channel 4, and the rest of the broadcasters, you don't get to abdicate your responsibilities like that. Am I more cheesed off than I might otherwise be because it's a biology year and it's on a topic I am very interested in [botany], yes, but really, given the state of science education in the UK, we need all the help we can get to get children interested in it, and this year's, so far, has been so very good.

On a tv making me happy tip, I get a new Poirot on for Christmas, An Appointment With Death, the Ustinov version of which was one of the first Poirot's I saw. It also features Mark Gattiss, John Hannah and Tim Curry. I am watching it, even if it clashes with Dr. Who. My little grey cells require it.

There's also the Tennant version of Hamlet, which I am still iffy about, except Gregory Doran is the director and I loved Coriolanus when I watched, so I'm booked on Boxing Day as well, or the video is, anyway, as Mother dearest is videoing it for me.

I don't collect Hamlets in any way (whistles) but he's going to have to go some to beat Kenneth Branagh, who is still my favourite.

I also don't collect Holmeses, and was therefore in no way embarrassingly excited by seeing a Holmes I hadn't seen before, when I saw Murder By Decree (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079592/) last night. Christopher Plummer's Holmes was a little too soft but he made a good fist of it, and I'm mildly in love with James Mason's Watson, because he got it that it's not that Watson is not clever, it's just in comparison to Holmes.

The story itself wasn't up to much, but the atmosphere was very good.

So I'm bored and watching the TV, and see that a Poirot is coming on (it turns out to be After the Funeral, which is the one with Michael Fassbender in) so I turn it on. Anyway, I catch the end of the news.

So 100 years ago, West Auckland played Juventus in what is held to have been an almost forerunner of the World Cup. http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/tees/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8173000/8173881.stm

Back then there was a huge gulf and the story generally goes that they were only invited there by accident, but some how they won.

Now the gulf is even greater with West Auckland being an amateur club, average attendence 100, and Juve being baby-eating, cheating Juventus. Despite the baby eating, they agreed to a rematch. Now, yes, it was mostly a junior side, but they put 3 of the first team out.

It would be so much cute but so what if it wasn't for who they interviewed afterwards. Gianluca Pessotto.

He's alive and well and functional and I spent the next five minutes crying.

For those that missed the history a full version can be found here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pessotto

The longer is that after the match fixing scandal before the 2006 World Cup, Juve having been caught red handed, he threw himself off a building in disgrace (he'd played with them for 11 years and was moving into the management/admin side). It was decidedly touch and go, but thankfully the doctor's said he'd be fine. In fact, the Juve contingent of the 2006 winning team brought the cup to him. So I knew he was not dead, but I didn't realise the recovery had been complete and he's team manager now and ... well, it makes me happy to see him alive and well.