Loveday Brooke

Lately I've been reading the detective stories of Catherine Louisa Pirkis. Loveday Brooke is one of several fictional female detectives created in the Victorian era, long before real women were hired as police detectives. I don't like Miss Brooke as much as I liked Judith Lee, but she's an interesting character all the same. I wonder if the unusual name "Loveday" was supposed to indicate a Cornish ancestry or if it was just to echo Sherlock's unusual first name.

Anyway, she seems to work for a private detective agency owned by Mr. Dyer, but from the first story, she feels free to argue spiritedly with Mr. Dyer, and he never scolds her in sexist terms. He admits that she's a great detective, and his praise for her reminds me of how Allan Pinkerton often praised Kate Warne in his accounts of the cases they worked together. I do notice that the stories don't always give the clues that you need to solve them. For example, the narration will say that Brooke spent 15 minutes closely examining a room, but not tell you any of the clues she found there, until the end of the story when she explains her solution to Dyer. Then you'll suddenly find out "I found long blond locks in the fireplace, meaning somebody cut their hair and burned it to disguise themselves." So that's not entirely fair to the reader trying to figure out the mystery.

Also, I noticed in one of the tales the phenomenon of Church vs. Chapel. (I also came across this in one of the Daisy Dalyrmple mysteries.) Not being Christian myself, I thought the main religious divisions were between Catholics and various Protestant denominations. But it seems that, in England at least, religious people also make the distinction between High Anglican Church and the so-called "low" dissenters from the Church of England, who nevertheless are still Protestants sneering at the "papists". The so-called nonconformists call themselves "chapel" or by the specific name of their sect, such as the Wesleyans. It's a weird quirk for someone like me who doesn't know that there's any difference between church and chapel. Weird how religious people are so insistent on their tiny differences in doctrine. Oh, and the Loveday Brooke mystery features end-of-the-world cultists known as millenarians. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Holmes & Watson

I finally got to see this movie today after trying to avoid all spoilers and reviews. I liked it as a silly spoof, and I would rate it 2.5 out of 5 stars. I don't know how on earth it got 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. One reviewer complained about the actors' bad English accents. They were bad on purpose. That's part of the parody. Do you not get that? It's supposed to be broad and outrageous like a Mel Brooks movie or a Blackadder farce. You can love the original characters in the books, without taking them so seriously that you can't enjoy an irreverent romp like Without a Clue.

The story starts out with young Holmes being bullied at school, to the point where he "uncries" a tear and decides to be an emotionless automaton devoted to solving crimes (initially for revenge). He also meets young John Watson, a "janitor's son" and deduces that he will become a doctor one day. The movie then skips through years of Holmes's growing fame as a detective and Watson's admiration in his writings. I mean, it's not canon, but this revisionism about their first meeting isn't any more outlandish than the backstory shown in Young Sherlock Holmes.

I laughed at many jokes, and I loved Rebecca Hall as Dr Grace Hart. She became the love interest to Dr Watson while her sidekick character had a much shallower courtship with Holmes. And though the movie makes both Holmes and Watson heterosexual, their friendship becomes an important element in the movie. Grace encourages Watson to ask to be "co-detective" with Holmes, as a sign of real respect and trust between them. So we actually get Watson being a little less adoring and showing some spine, and Holmes eventually learns to value Watson in a heartfelt musical number, similar to a rom-com. I've seen far worse depictions of their friendship, reducing Watson to a servile and stupid puppy taking all the abuse of his callous master. In this film, Holmes is just dismissive and emotionally dumb about Watson, but when he gets better, it's nice. There are some points when the Moriarty plot gets a little frustrating and Holmes's ego becomes unbearable, but it's not long enough to make it unwatchable.

Yes there's low-brow potty humor, but also other kinds of satire. The movie spoofs Guy Ritchie's Holmes movies, Victorian medical quackery, American love for guns, Trumpian politics, and even the Titanic, for this exists in an anachronistic world where Victoria is still alive for the Titanic's maiden voyage. (I worried that Dr Hart wasn't going to survive the voyage, but then we get a brief glimpse of a newspaper headline saying "Lady Doctor saves 700" which I think is a good sign.) If you're willing to suspend your disbelief for improbable antics like Mycroft and Sherlock being able to have a telepathic conversation with each other at Diogenes, then this movie will be to your taste.

Happy Endings

Mary Poppins was fun nostalgia, and Emily Blunt was perfect in the role. Jane Banks was great too. I think that the opening credits were a little long, though, stopping the momentum and likely making children restless waiting for the magic to begin. Once the story started proper, we finally picked up the pace. Michael Banks's sad "Conversation" with his late wife was touching, and I loved the bathtub underwater fantasy. The writers tried to set up a romance between Jane Banks and Jack the lamplighter, but didn't push it too hard. Incidentally, I didn't think there were that many gaslit streetlamps left in 1930s London, but I read that there are still some left today, as part of a Heritage Foundation, so I guess there were more back then.

It was so good to see some side characters back, like Admiral Boom and Binnacle. (But if the sequel is set 25 years after the original, you'd think that those guys would have aged more or died in that time. I can handwave it away, for the sake of Admiral Boom's pleasure when Big Ben finally matched his time.) I do think that the movie went overlong on some songs like "Trip a Little Light Fantastic" and also the Big Ben sequence, when Mary Poppins could have flown the whole time. Great to see cameos from Angela Lansbury and Dick Van Dyke at the end. Even the original Jane Banks actress appeared briefly as the woman who asked for directions on Cherry Tree Lane. I wasn't quite sure it was her until she said "Thanks, most sincerely" like in the kids' letter advertising for a nanny. I loved the balloons at the end.

On TV, the Timeless finale was great. I loved that Rufus came back after the first half hour. I'm glad the writers wasted no time about the love triangle with Jessica, even writing out her pregnancy. No time for those soap opera hijinks anymore when you need to wrap the show in two hours. (God I wish Mitch Hurwitz would have learned that lesson and killed the stupid Rebel Alley storyline in season 5.) Losing Flynn was hard, though, and the North Korea episode was somewhat aimless until we got back to Flynn to make the show come full circle to the pilot. Even though they hinted at a new time machine in the final scene, the writers still wrote a satisfying end, and that's all I'm asking for. No real cliffhanger to frustrate fans endlessly. Just hope, which everybody needs lately.

Politics

Meanwhile, some Democrats this weekend called for closing the Tornillo detention facility; Beto O'Rourke was one of them. I'm glad that, despite people constantly talking him up for 2020, he still knows he has a job now. He's not neglecting his responsibilities to Texas, or humanity. Of course we still have the problem of what to do with all those children being held in such awful conditions. Hopefully the House Democrats might be able to do something next year, along with all the other issues they have to tackle.

Also in Texas, a woman was fired for refusing to sign the new anti-BDS pledge in her contract. She's suing the school district now, and I hope she wins for this violation of her freedom of speech. Republicans and Israel hardliners like to claim that any criticism of Israel's government is a anti-semitic, but it's not. There are plenty of Jewish people who don't support Israel's treatment of Palestinians, and boycotting Israel is the only thing we individuals can do as long as US policy remains to support Israel and fund them and coddle them about their war crimes. It's political protest, to try to economically punish Israel, since we can't get Congress to do anything. Fuck this awful anti-BDS law!

Mary Queen of Scots

The movie was excellent drama, and I enjoyed the diverse casting too. (It's been common in theatre, which is the director's background.) Both actresses were great, and Margot Robbie really did commit to playing Queen Elizabeth as she aged and hardened. I did sometimes miss dialogue due to whispering or accents, but I was able to keep straight most of the various characters even though I've forgotten a lot of British history. There's the usual complaints about historical accuracy, but I'm fine with dramatic license and simplification of complex issues about the Reformation so that we can concentrate on the royals as people.

Yes there is a feminist viewpoint on the political machinations, with the men often plotting around the queens and derisively talking about women's "whims" and "passions" that supposedly make them unfit to rule. Particularly egregious is John Knox, who doesn't care about Mary's religious tolerance for Protestants in Scotland, and keeps denouncing her as a papist and a sinful woman who does not deserve power. He gets more misogynistic as time wears on, calling her a harlot and murderer who needs to be overthrown.

Shows and Cinema

The CW crossover turned out to be a dud, a mere pre-advertisement for next year's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" which was a big to-do in the comics. So plenty of stuff was left unresolved, including whatever promise/sacrifice Green Arrow might have made with the Monitor for the lives of Barry and Kara. Still don't know what that Hammer in the Fortress of Solitude was. At least the Batwoman part was good, with knowing chats with Supergirl, and some sisterly bonding with the alternate Alex Danvers. Then after returning to their home dimension, Superman decided to move to Argo City with Lois, leaving Earth to his cousin to protect. Lois's pregnancy neatly explains Superman's absence for a while, and we even saw a proposal.

Meanwhile, Black Lightning is picking up the pace, with Jenn using her powers more and trying to run away with Khalil. I hope the family will reconcile, and Jenn will start wearing her costume. Tobias seems to be recruiting new henchmen with that assassin and the tech genius he bought. He was getting so tiresome bullying Khalil, but it does seem like he conveniently forgot about the reverend he wanted to kill.

The Timeless movie is coming soon! I can't wait to see Rufus live again. I'm finally gonna see the Mary Queen of Scots movie now that it's come to my area. The Mary Poppins sequel is coming soon, so I'll see that too. Yes it may be openly derivative and relying on cloying nostalgia about childhood, but at least it's about fictional characters and not real people, like that recent Christopher Robin movie exploiting the same emotions.

Nobody's Safe

Now he wants to deport Vietnamese refugees who came here before 1995. Not just the ones after the cutoff in the 2008 deal. Fuck. Like I said before, being here for 40 years doesn't count for them. Being naturalized citizens doesn't count for them. We're still unwelcome foreigners to them. They're trying to kick out any non-white immigrants and make us all afraid to be next. Fucking bastards! The only hope is that Vietnam doesn't want these deportees, and that maybe a court will rule against the administration again.

At the same time, Trump was demanding his border wall again, threatening a government shutdown. Chuck and Nancy got him good during that press meeting, though. Nancy sure proved that she still has the chops to be Speaker of the House. This is why I'm so sick of stupid infighting among Democratic factions. Everything I've heard about Pelosi's priorities for the new Congress sound good to me. It's not either her or the younger generation. They can work together, to stop this madness and investigate the shit out of him. Don't waste the blue wave.

There's still talk of Beto running in 2020, and Julian Castro is considering a run too. But why can't they run for Governor or Cornyn's Senate seat? Why can't they stay and help Texas? We've been hearing about both Castro brothers for a long time being groomed for higher office. Maybe Wendy Davis will try again? I don't know. It just seems like everybody keeps talking about the Presidential election while ignoring other offices we need to win.

Slow Going

I found a cardigan with buttons on it! They've become so rare these days, when stores only carry those fake cardigans that have no buttons. Not even zippers! Some of those so-called cardigans are so flimsy and thin too, making them totally useless in keeping you warm, which is the whole point of a sweater. But at last I found a comfy cardigan with buttons and pockets. Even better, I found a pretty dress with pockets too. Fashion styles can be so weird. I prefer clothes to be classic, easy, and practical.

Anyway, tonight the CW apparently started the three-way crossover. I guess it's slightly better than last year, with a different villain than the generic alternate world Nazis, and I am curious to see this Batwoman that they intend to build a show around. Supergirl's plotlines are so depressing lately that I guess I could use a break with this crossover.

I watched the new Netflix movie called Dumplin' because of the good reviews and the love of Dolly Parton. I was hoping it would be sweet and charming like All the Boys I've Loved Before, but I was disappointed. From the trailers and the premise, I thought that the beauty pageant stuff would be a fun comedy romp, and that Willowdean would be sassy and confident. But she spends a lot of the movie grieving her aunt, fighting with her mother, arguing with her best friend Ellen, and rejecting her love interest. People say this film is body-positive, but Willowdean is so insecure about whether Bo really likes her, and even when he tells her so, she still thinks that's not something that happens in the real world. All her confidence is gone, and it takes her quite a while to rediscover her positive Dolly spirit.

Fake Allies

I've read that Al Franken wants to make a comeback to politics. Why won't he just go away? There's still left-wing idiots who are mad that he resigned, saying it was "feminism run amok" when #MeToo exposed him. Fuck those hypocrites. Letting Franken back in shows that you don't have any principles, that you'll overlook transgressions as long as the guy is in your party. That's fucking ugly. So many people kept minimizing the accusations from the start, saying "that photo was just a joke" and "touching women's butts is not the same as rape." Well of course it's not the same, but it is harassment! If it's seriously creepy when you hear that George H.W. Bush kept touching women who took photos with him, then why isn't it seriously creepy if Al Franken did it? And no, it's not "just a joke" if she was asleep and didn't find out about the "joke" until later. It was without her consent. She wasn't allowed to be in on the joke. Fuck anybody still defending Franken.

The sheen has also worn off on Michael Avenatti, considering the shady stuff he's done, and his ego-driven hinting that he'll run for President in 2020. For awhile he said he was taking cases about the families being separated at the border, but after a time, there was nothing more. So did he actually do anything? Did he drop the cases or hand them off to other lawyers? Maybe he was just an attention whore and we fell for it. But our eyes are opened now.

We need real allies, not these people pretending to help. I still say fuck Bernie Sanders too, who went back to being an Independent but continues to try to lecture Democrats on what they should do. If you don't want to help, then get out of the fucking way.

ETA: Just read that Bush senior died late Friday night. I don't necessarily believe in "don't speak ill of the dead." It was creepy hearing that he took advantage of being in a wheelchair to cop a feel on various women; people wanted to excuse it as dementia or something like that. Anyway, he's gone now, so we'll probably get the usual eulogizing of a former President. Given how the Bushes disliked the Trumps, I wonder if they'll be disinvited from that funeral too.