Adventures with Agatha

I found a new TV show on PBS called Alan Carr's Adventures with Agatha Christie. He's apparently a British comedian and a big Christie fan, so he presents a 3-part series exploring places in Agatha's life and discussing her two great detectives, Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. It's different than Lucy Worsley's series from last year, because it's more of a fun romp, and they go to touristy places like the fabulous Art Deco hotel on Burgh Island, the inspiration for the setting of And Then There Were None. I love the trips to the Cosprop store in London too. It's weird that my PBS station was airing the show in the middle of the night, though. I guess they didn't think enough Americans would know Alan Carr or enjoy his cheeky humour.

Speaking of Lucy Worsley, I realize that I didn't comment on the third episode of Holmes vs Doyle yet. This one covered the Edwardian Age, WWI, and the later Sherlock Holmes stories. Worsley didn't mention the Cottingley fairies at all, mainly concentrating on Doyle's spiritualism and his friendship with Harry Houdini. I agree with Worsley's opinion that Doyle cosplaying as a soldier in WWI is a bit sad and desperate; he so wanted to be a war hero since the Boer War, but war is not a game or grand adventure to enjoy. He should have learned this, but I guess he still had imperialist tendencies plus masculinity issues from Sandow's fitness regimen. He wanted to be an action man.

Freezy and Breezy

Damn, winter came back with a vengeance. It'll be freezing for several nights, and there may be snow later in the week. Glad I took care of my errands this weekend.

Anyway, I saw the new French Count of Monte Cristo and it was good. The plot is not quite the same as the novel because they have cut some subplots and characters to simplify the story. Also they combine and alter some characters. For example, in the book, the prosecutor Villefort had a Bonapartist father, but this scandalous relative instead becomes his sister Angele in the film, and she also rescues the illegitimate child that Villefort attempts to kill. This will be the boy that Dantes will adopt and make part of his revenge schemes.

The lead actor Pierre Niney is amazing, able to act well even while in disguise. Edmond Dantes not only adopts his Count of Monte Cristo persona, but also pretends to be an Abbe Busoni as well as a crass Lord Halifax from England. In the story he's supposed to be wearing some kind of fabricated mask but I'm sure in practice it probably needs to be prosthetics and makeup that allow his face to still move naturally. There's a great scene where the Count has the purchased the house where the illegitimate child was buried, and he invites his victims to dinner there. He pretends the house is haunted by the ghost and that the spirit led him to a chest buried in the garden. The Count presents it as a spooky ghost story, and the women are frightened but one of the men is obliviously enjoying the tale as pure entertainment. The diners dismiss the whole thing as a magical parlor trick, but of course two of the guests know about the real baby.

I liked the film overall, though it is almost 3 hours long and I had to miss a scene to run to the bathroom.

Eek

What sad news about the tragic attack in New Orleans. So much for a Happy New Year. Already in mourning for Jimmy Carter's passing. 

I missed other various news happening over the holidays. The government shutdown was avoided, but there was some anti-trans poison pill in the NDAA. Something happened about a transgender athlete policy that I don't understand; there was speculation that Trump could use it somehow for bad? It's like Biden cancelling more judges because he knew Trump would pack the courts with bad judges. 

Some Russian ship cut an undersea cable in Finland, and is being detained for the sabotage. I don't know if that's how Russia's conducting its war now? Musk continues to be insane. Some athiests went on transphobic rants and then resigned from a Freedom from Religion foundation. Fucking asshats. I stopped respecting those athiests when I found out they were racist and anti-Muslim too. Way to ruin your reputations just like J.K. Rowling. That's why I describe myself as agnostic. Everybody can believe what they want to, as long as they don't try to attack other people or impose their morals as laws on everyone else. Just look at Jimmy Carter to see what a devout person can do if they spread love instead of intolerance.

In lighter news, apparently there will be a Bluey movie in 2027; I would celebrate, except the movie will be CGI. Do we have to do that? Why can't it be flat 2-D animation like the TV show? I love the cartoon dogs the way they are. Movies overall are meh lately. I want to see the new Count of Monte Cristo movie, but it's in theaters 25 miles away so I'll have to make a special trip to catch it before it disapears. At least there's Love Hurts in February starring Ke Huy Quan. It even has Marshawn Lynch, a football player I only know from Will Arnett's Murderville show, but he's fun.

Rainy Holidays

What a week! I worked through Christmas, but that's fine. I'm not Christian and I need the holiday pay. I'll get together with my family this weekend. But it's been raining a lot lately and I feel I'm getting another cold. So annoying. Maybe I should get a flu vaccine?

Anyway, I finally listened to the first 2 cases of the Sherlock & Co podcast and am greatly disappointed. It's not at all like the Bert Coules Radio dramas I like. I don't mind the modern setting but the whole "I'm a podcaster who carries my microphone everywhere" premise is stupid. Like seriously, he was going to bring his podcast to his date in the Criterion bar? Why? And the scenes are so disjointed. If Watson just actually functioned as a narrator, saying, "And then later that day" or, "I volunteered in Ukraine, even though it's illegal" that would help a lot. But he doesn't narrate and he doesn't edit his podcast for clarity. He just throws random scenes at you and he doesn't describe visuals that we need to be imagining. I seriously did not understand what was happening and had to check the Fandom page to clarify the plot. Holmes is even worse, interrupting a conversation with a third person so that he can deduce why Mary stood up John on his date due to a medical emergency. Why the fuck do you use that moment to explain that to him? And in general, he doesn't even explain the logic of many of his deductions, so they come off like arrogant opinions based on magic. I also hate that Watson apparently left his medical training at Sandhurst early (no explanation given) and Holmes teases him for not being a real doctor. That's apocryphal based on Conan Doyle flubbing the medical history in a parody short story. In the actual first novel he makes clear that Watson got his full Doctor of Medicine degree. It's Sherlock who left school without a degree because his studies are so eclectic. They fucking did Watson wrong.

I'm also disappointed that the first episode entirely ignores the Study in Scarlet mystery, and then the second episode rushes to the "Illustrious Client" so they can use the enormous amount of money to set up a business. I mean I know the Mormon backstory in Study in Scarlet is problematic, but at least modernize the "Brixton mystery" part of it so we can meet Lestrade and/or Gregson maybe. In the "Illustrious Client" I don't understand why the client thinks John is in business with Sherlock based on one previous podcast he released where he didn't even accompany Sherlock on the Brixton mystery. It makes no fucking sense! I mean, maybe I'll continue with other mysteries just to see how they modernize the plots, but if it wasn't free with advertising, I wouldn't even bother. And they are clearly liars when they say they will cover all canon stories, because they fucking biffed the first story.

Holidaze

US news is a dumpster fire lately, and it depresses me. But at least there's some good news in France, because Gisele Pelicot's husband (and her other rapists) were found guilty. This horrific case hasn't been reported in America at all, but Gisele Pelicot waived her right to anonymity to make the trial more public and shame the rapists. I hope more women in the world get more wins, even though America's women are in dire straits now.

Meanwhile, Amazon union workers are on strike. Good luck to them!

In lighter news, I've been finding out about various Sherlock Holmes stuff since I've been on Bluesky. There's a new holiday play called "A Sherlock Carol" which melds Holmes with Dickens's Christmas Carol. I'd like to see it, but it appears to be playing in London and some other places in the US, but not near me in DFW. Maybe in the future it will come to Dallas.

Also there's a weekly podcast called "Sherlock & Co" which seems to be a modern-day adaptation of Watson's stories. I don't normally listen to podcasts, but I did like Bert Coules's BBC radio dramas of Holmes. I'll have to see if I can find time to download and listen to the podcasts. I hope they do Speckled Band.

I've been thinking of watching the Wicked movie since so many people like the songs, but then I think, why is everyone praising Glinda when she's bad and on the opposite side of her friend? I don't get the love for a "friendship" that sounds so toxic. More like frenemies.

Ugliness of War

The second episode of Holmes vs Doyle covered The Hound of the Baskervilles and the George Edalji case. Also, in discussing the Boer War, Lucy Worsley correctly pointed out that Doyle is pro-imperialism, and that he blamed the war crimes on the Boers' guerilla warfare, thereby "forcing" the British to go scorched-earth in retaliation. It's exactly how Israel justifies genocide because of October 7th, nevermind that most people suffering are innocent Gazans, not terrorists.

But back to Doyle. Worsley did finally surprise me with the details about Doyle getting into the fitness regimen of body builder Eugene Sandow. The Sandow expert also explained that British people were race-panicking about how white people need to become strong perfect specimens so that the dark people in their colonies wouldn't overpower them. You'd think that the Brits would at least idolize a fellow Brit, rather than a German just because he was white. Shades of eugenics and white supremacy I guess.

I am glad that Worsley doesn't romanticise Doyle too much. I think I made that mistake when I was a young Sherlockian teen, but now I can see the darkness in Doyle clearly. Yet Worsley is right that Doyle is complicated and contradictory, able to see that Edalji was a victim of racist policing, yet able to write racist characters in his books. Able to write the sympathetic mixed race child in the "Yellow Face" story, yet at the same time writing Steve Dixie in "The Three Gables." Sometimes on the right side of history and sometimes on the wrong side. That's Doyle all right.