Conrad is perfectly equable tonight, as First managed to turn up on time this morning and deliver your modest artisan to work early enough for him to get a caffeine crank in the form of a Double Espresso. The cafe staff are so used to him that they already have it waiting to go by the time I reach the till. Being predictable has fringe benefits.
Not only that, the 24 turned up on time tonight and made good time. This is important on a Thursday as I have a narrow window of opportunity between arriving home and departing for the (woefully sober) Pub Quiz at 9:00, having to cram a bit of baking in there. The Chocolate and Orange cake is a-baking in the oven as I type, tented with tinfoil to prevent burning.
Back to murder.
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| One of the most read authors in the world*. |
In one sense there's the murder which grue and gore fans love, with detailed descriptions of the dismembered corpse and the axe in a corner and the room ankle deep in blood and offal - oh and I've now seen the unedited NCIS scenes that don't get broadcast for pre-watershed audiences - and did I mention ankle-deep in BLOOD, a gratuitous description that lasts for half the novel. The detective work gets summated in a single sentence, the very last line of the book: "Then the police caught him."
In contrast there's the English Drawing Room murder, with the victim politely being part of the furniture alongside the anti-maccassars and the aspidistra, no blood visible anywhere and everyone has a nice get-together at the end to socialise. Oh, and to catch the murderer. Not "killer". Never "killer". We're British, don't you know!
| Look at this seething hotbed of bloody passions and tragedies. With a duckpond. |
I suppose because it's the ultimate crime that you or I are ever likely to encounter and anyone can commit a murder - large-scale insurance fraud or armed bank robbery require skill, tools and experience. Er - so I'm told. Besides - insurance fraud - it doesn't quicken the blood, does it?
Hello Coincidence And Yes That Is My Seat
Today we have the Curiosity Rover, still busy exploring the Martian surface. Where is it now?
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| Right here |
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| Highlighted for your clarification |
Ralph later went on to study and analyse sand dunes, gaining sufficient reputation in this field to be invited to lecture on it at NASA.
"The Man In The High Castle"
The television mini-series. Danger Will Robinson, in a way. Conrad approves of what he's seen so far (35 minutes) but there are 12 episodes, which is an awful lot of television and with a product like this you can't have it on in the background as you type - you need to pay attention, unlike that popcorn-for-the-eyes "NCIS". So, yet another diversion for your humble scribe. Sigh. Life is hell.
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| Times Square as you never want to see it |
Now, it's not a slavish reconstruction of the novel, which, after all, is over 50 years old. Television, you see. "Vision" is important, so "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy" is now film rather than literature - more visual punch that way.
O! The Irony
Cast your mind back to yesterday, and all the bother that Conrad had with buses and public transport in general.
What did he see as a bus poster on the side of a First PSV today?
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| O! The irony - it smarts |
The Metro: 60 Seconds - Tim Roth
The prose comic redeems itself a little on occasions, such as this one. Tim is characteristically forthright, admitting (but not naming!) some films he's done purely for the money as he has kids and a mortgage. Also, he's been resident in South Canada for 25 years, which is a surprise.
And he's rather dismissive of his television series "Lie To Me", surprise surprise, which might be what most people over in South Canada are familiar with. There you go.
Okay, we've hit the target. Now to post and scoot - gotta see to that cake and get ready for Pub Quiz!
* Don't "Who?" me - it's Agatha Christie!
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