So if you're like me sometimes you're running late in the morning and have no time for a decent breakfast. Well, I have now come up with the perfect dish that combines whole grains, protein, potassium, vitamin c and resistant fiber all in one.
I like to call it......
Modified Elvis Toast
You take a piece of whole wheat bread and you drop it in the toaster. Once your bread is nice and toasty you spread it with almond butter (you can use peanut butter but almond butter is a little better for you than peanut butter as it has fewer calories and more of the good kinds of fats and oils and less of the bad kind). Then you take about half a banana, slice it and lay the slices on top of the almond butter.
Munch away!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Grab Bag Reviews: "The Aztecs"
Okay, I'm finally sitting down to work on this one.
And really, the delay has just been delay because it's not like this is a *bad* story. In fact, far from it....
"The Aztecs" was part of the first series but actually part of a kind of second wave of stories.
You see, while the BBC did go ahead and commission Doctor Who it was initially not approved for a full season run. The series original commission of episodes took it up to around the story "Marco Polo". As the show did prove popular, the BBC went ahead and announced to producer Verity Lambert that the Doctor Who team could continue on for a full season. As such, there was a slight scramble to hire writers to produce more scripts quickly to take the show to the end of the season.
John Lucarotti had written the script for "Marco Polo" and really impressed Lambert and the rest of the team. At the time of pitching the script for "Marco Polo" Lucarotti had also pitched a script idea for a story involving the ancient Aztecs. Recalling this pitch, Lambert told Lucarotti to move forward on the idea for that script to fill out the rest of the season.
There is also a somewhat commonly held belief that the costumes were not historically accurate in order to make sure they passed the censor board. This is not true -- the costume design team actually extensively researched Aztec clothing and replicated it very accurately.
And now on with the show....
The Plot: The TARDIS lands at a large, Aztec city and Barbara is quickly mistaken for a reincarnated high priest named Yetaxa -- favored of the gods. Unfortunately, the time traveling team is also cut off from the TARDIS, making them unable to leave until they can find a way back. Barbara sees this as an opportunity, believing that if she can rid the Aztecs of their rituals of human sacrifice then when the Spanish arrive they will not destroy the civilization. The Doctor warns her not to meddle but Barbara is insistent. Soon she finds herself embroiled in intrigues which threaten not only her own life but that of her friends as well!
My Take: It has been noted that, particularly here in the early days of the series, the historical stories tended to have a Shakespearean feel to them if not an actual Shakespearean tone and structure. That is really on display here as the actor playing the Aztec priest Tlotoxl goes into full-on Richard III mode. And it isn't just a viewer's interpretation, John Ringham, the actor in question, was more than upfront about it in interviews.
On the one hand, it makes for a delightfully villainous performance. On the other hand though it also occasionally makes for a performance made of canned ham. At one point Ringham, as Tlotoxl, actually turns and speaks directly into the camera thereby breaking the fourth wall by essentially speaking to the audience. No! No! No! You do not DO that!! Yes, it was a device used by Shakespeare and in Shakespeare it works. On television, however, it immediately reminds the viewer that they are watching a TV show. The cables on the suspension of disbelief bridge instantly snap. And as if that were not bad enough it's repeated in the opening recap of the next installment! Ack!!
Also, as a historian, I have a little problem with Barbara's assessment of the situation. Yes, I know the show was still at least paying lip service to the idea that the stories were supposed to educate children. And since it was aiming for children it didn't want to get too technical on them (although this was more a problem of the times -- the idea that kids needed to be spoon fed information. Nowadays we know we don't have to 'dumb things down' for them quite so much). Still, there is a metric crap ton of holes in Barbara's idea and as a supposed history teacher she really should have known better... And yes, I *am* going to divert here and discuss them. Go scroll down a bit if your eyes glaze over.
First, we'll give the show a pass on why a British high school history teacher would have "specialized" in Meso-American history. Hey, all us historians usually have a favorite field of history and sometimes it has nothing to do with where we live or our background but it has to be acknowledged that it *is* a little weird for Barbara to have this as a specialty.
Second, Barbara's assessment of the Aztec culture being destroyed by Spanish invaders simply because of the human sacrifice element of Aztec religion is simplistic in the extreme. Did the human sacrifice element contribute? Oh, yes, but Barbara's idea that eliminating that one element would save the Aztecs is just ignorant.
For one thing, the Aztec culture was already in decline when the Spanish arrived. There was corruption in high places. It happens. Given enough time if it hadn't been the Spanish the Aztec culture probably would have collapsed under it's own weight and evolved into something different from the rubble.
For another thing, the Spanish explorers/conquerors were there to bring back wealth for Spain. Gold and other precious metals, gems, etc. They were bound to destroy the Aztecs in the process of getting these items. It was sadly common for invaders to basically end up enslaving the local populace to get what they wanted. Again, all that follows was the times, this is *not* an attack on modern Spain, the Spanish people, or the Catholic church. History is ugly and there isn't a one of us whose ancestors didn't do something horrid at one point in time. Face up to it, deal with it, don't forget it, and move forward. That's what history is about.
And tied to that was the European ideas of superiority. No matter what the Aztecs were bound to be seen as "savages" by the Spanish and the process of "civilizing" them back then meant 'making their culture look like ours'. This, of course, destroyed the native culture in the process.
And finally (at least for this assessment where I hit just a few of the high points), at the time of the conquest Spain was a Catholic nation and they took as one of their duties an idea of spreading Catholicism as the one, true religion. As such, priests were dispatched to convert the native population. So in the context of this story, even if Barbara had managed to eliminate human sacrifice she could not have (and wisely did not try to) removed the Aztecs belief in their pantheon of gods. And no matter what, that belief system would have been targeted by the Spanish invaders as well and the stripping of it would have been another key in the destruction of the culture.
So, from a historical standpoint, Barbara gets a 'D' at least as a history teacher from me.
Okay, you can start reading the rest of the review now if you decided to skip over my historian's rant.
The rest of the story really is Barbara's story and, well, to be honest, I'm a little bit mixed about it.
On the one hand, it is an excellent showcase for actress Jacqueline Hill. That woman proves she was born to play royalty with her turn as Yetaxa. She pitches everything perfectly. She also gets a chance to show off Barbara's steel spine. I've said it before and I'll say it again -- Barbara is a badass. Not only does she verbally put the smackdown on Tlotoxl on more than one occasion, she also physically does so when she saves Ian's life by grabbing a knife and putting it to Tlotoxl's throat.
Let me repeat that. She saves *Ian's* life (that's right, traditional hero dude saved by the chick!) by grabbing the knife off the belt of an Aztec warrior and then holding it to Tlotoxl's throat like she means business. Not a single shake, not a single hesitation, she's ice cold throughout. YES!
On the other hand, however, Barbara comes off as both a bit too stubborn and emotional in her crusade and she is slightly condescended to when both the Doctor and Ian tell her she's wrong to try to change Aztec society and that she is also doomed to failure. So in that way there is a slight whiff of the 'overly emotional female who can't take good advice' trope. And I really hate that trope. Thankfully it's slight and doesn't ruin the rest of the story.
Then, of course, there is the Doctor's "romance". Fans of old have often disliked the merest hint of an idea that the Doctor may have had an actual romance with the older, learned, Cameca but for me, personally, I find it sweet. There are also indications that the Doctor did hold Cameca in some regard and he regretted very much breaking her heart. At the same time there is also no shame in the relationship for, despite Cameca being from a less advanced culture, she is still consistently treated with respect in the script and she is shown to be wise, experienced and insightful.
Really, the script is great on all counts in treating all the characters with a great amount of respect. Sure, Tlotoxl is a bit stereotypical and his motivations are a bit muddied but he is always treated as a genuine threat and never as a joke to be laughed off or discarded. The warrior Ixta who becomes Ian's nemesis is also shown to be a fast learner and a genuine antagonist as he takes Ian's lessons about unconventional fighting and the element of surprise and turns them on Ian himself. And in the end, the audience ends up feeling great remorse for Autloc -- the other priest and the one who accepts Barbara's message. In one way, Barbara succeeds with him in convincing him human sacrifice is wrong but in another way she fails because in doing this she causes the older man to lose not only his belief but also his faith in all his civilization. He gives away his worldly possessions and leaves to wander the wastelands in hopes of finding something to put his trust in. It's very nearly heartbreaking to see.
Kudos must also be raised to the costumers, prop designers, and set designers all. The costumes are exacting and beautiful and really add to the flavor of the story. Likewise the props -- the jewelry, weaponry, and pottery are also well researched and wonderfully executed. And the set designers certainly do a terrific job considering their limitations. At this time the series was still completely studio-bound and not only that but forced to film in one of the BBC's smallest sound stages. Despite this the set designers go all out in recreating an Aztec city. The fakey-ness of the background paintings is detectable today, yes, *but* modern television screens produce a higher resolution than older ones did and the original tape has been cleaned up to provide a clearer picture as well. Taking that into account the backgrounds are still very effective in the story.
Overall, (because I've already gone on too long) if you want to see one of the highlights of the First Doctor's era then this is the story to see. There is action and when there isn't action the drama keeps one on the edge of the seat. There are great performances by all of the regular cast but William Hartnell and Jacqueline Hill in particular shine here. Even where there is padding in this four parter it never really feels like padding. Arguably the best story of the show's first season.
Monday, March 14, 2011
What I'm Watching
Still busy with other stuff BUT....
Over the weekend, on a trip to the local library, I spotted a DVD box set of a series called New Tricks that looked interesting so I checked it out... and was really delighted (although I shouldn't have been surprised because it came out of the BBC....)
New Tricks stars Amanda Redman as Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, James Bolan as Jack Halford, Dennis Waterman as Gerry Standing and Alun Armstrong as Brian Lane.
The plot is perhaps a bit contrived but genius nonetheless...
Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman is a driven Scotland Yard detective on the fast track to a high administrative position when a mission goes wrong. Heading up a team to rescue a high-profile kidnap victim Pullman accidentally shoots a dog and fails to prevent the kidnap victim from getting injured.
Scotland Yard then creates a new unit called the Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad and places her in charge as both a punishment for her failing and as a way of burying her for a while until attention dies down, at which point her career may be salvageable. The UCOS is designed to utilize retired police officers to help close Cold Cases when new evidence appears.
Unfortunately for Sandra Scotland Yard retirees do not seem to have a long lifespan post-retirement and so she finds herself with a rather motley and strange bunch that she is forced to try to corral.
Jack Halford, a former Detective Chief Superintendent is Sandra's former mentor and she turns to him to help organize the team. Halford is something of a "detective's detective" and is never willing to sacrifice the truth for expediency.
Gerry Standing is, on the other hand, an aging 'macho' detective type. He was forced out of the police department under a cloud of suspicion that he was on the take -- although he claims he never took a bribe. He has friends on both sides of the law, however. In addition, he tends to like to operate in a more old-school style of bending the rules in order to get a conviction and thinking that 'roughing up' suspects is all in a day's work in order to get a confession or information.
Brian Lane is, well, kind of like the character Monk only not quite as dysfunctional. Lane has a photographic memory, an exacting eye for detail, and is a walking filing cabinet. He was let go from Scotland Yard when, while suffering from depression, he was inattentive and allowed a drug dealer to die of overdose while in his custody in the holding cells.
As if all of the above were not enough, each one of the characters has to deal with their own personal emotional dysfunctions. Sandra has a string of failed relationships behind her and actively seeks out therapy to try to learn why she seems to self-destruct on these relationships. In addition, she is trying to deal with her compulsive drive to be the best while she has been sidelined and is unable to advance. She also must deal with the fact that she has been thrust into a "mother hen" role when it comes to these men -- a role that sits uneasily on her.
Thankfully, she has Halford to help her in this. Halford has a keen insight into the human heart and psyche and often acts as a mediator between Sandra and her modern way of doing things and the old ways that the other retirees are are set in. He also acts as a kind of 'father confessor' for Sandra, Gerry and Brian and tries to give them sage advice in dealing with their personal relationships.
Halford is not without his own scars, though. He left the force to care for his wife who was severely injured by a hit-and-run driver and her injuries eventually contributed to her death. Somewhat bereft without her, he keeps a memorial to her in his back garden and often talks to her in order to try to work out cases and problems.
Gerry has three ex-wives, three grown daughters and a string of one-night-stands behind him. He continues to live as an aging Lothario -- clinging desperately to his mid-life crisis long after mid-life. He does have some sense of responsibility, though, as he is determined to financially help out when his oldest daughter becomes a single mother (making Gerry a grandfather).
Brian is probably the most damaged -- the death of the drug dealer in his custody leading to a nervous breakdown. He takes medication to control his depression and he is a recovering alcoholic and manages to function despite having a low level of obsessive-compulsive disorder and a certain amount of social awkwardness. As he says of himself, he is too much "head" and not enough "heart" but he is truly devoted to his wife, Esther.
The series encapsulates what a lot of British drama does so well -- balancing genuine humor with serious drama and pathos. The characters are also flawed but never seem to be all about their flaws. They are not "pretty", they are far from young, and they don't fit the usual "hot" demographics that American TV shows chase so blindly. And, against the stereotype of the wise, sage, oldster, this show instead shows these older men as being terribly human -- prone to making mistakes, not always having the right answers, and still getting through life one day at a time just like the rest of us. It really is refreshing. The mystery plots are also really quite good and absorbing.
So check out New Tricks, you'll find that this series proves that 'old dogs' really can learn new tricks as well as using a few old tricks that, with the passage of time, have become new again.
Over the weekend, on a trip to the local library, I spotted a DVD box set of a series called New Tricks that looked interesting so I checked it out... and was really delighted (although I shouldn't have been surprised because it came out of the BBC....)
New Tricks stars Amanda Redman as Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, James Bolan as Jack Halford, Dennis Waterman as Gerry Standing and Alun Armstrong as Brian Lane.
The plot is perhaps a bit contrived but genius nonetheless...
Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman is a driven Scotland Yard detective on the fast track to a high administrative position when a mission goes wrong. Heading up a team to rescue a high-profile kidnap victim Pullman accidentally shoots a dog and fails to prevent the kidnap victim from getting injured.
Scotland Yard then creates a new unit called the Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad and places her in charge as both a punishment for her failing and as a way of burying her for a while until attention dies down, at which point her career may be salvageable. The UCOS is designed to utilize retired police officers to help close Cold Cases when new evidence appears.
Unfortunately for Sandra Scotland Yard retirees do not seem to have a long lifespan post-retirement and so she finds herself with a rather motley and strange bunch that she is forced to try to corral.
Jack Halford, a former Detective Chief Superintendent is Sandra's former mentor and she turns to him to help organize the team. Halford is something of a "detective's detective" and is never willing to sacrifice the truth for expediency.
Gerry Standing is, on the other hand, an aging 'macho' detective type. He was forced out of the police department under a cloud of suspicion that he was on the take -- although he claims he never took a bribe. He has friends on both sides of the law, however. In addition, he tends to like to operate in a more old-school style of bending the rules in order to get a conviction and thinking that 'roughing up' suspects is all in a day's work in order to get a confession or information.
Brian Lane is, well, kind of like the character Monk only not quite as dysfunctional. Lane has a photographic memory, an exacting eye for detail, and is a walking filing cabinet. He was let go from Scotland Yard when, while suffering from depression, he was inattentive and allowed a drug dealer to die of overdose while in his custody in the holding cells.
As if all of the above were not enough, each one of the characters has to deal with their own personal emotional dysfunctions. Sandra has a string of failed relationships behind her and actively seeks out therapy to try to learn why she seems to self-destruct on these relationships. In addition, she is trying to deal with her compulsive drive to be the best while she has been sidelined and is unable to advance. She also must deal with the fact that she has been thrust into a "mother hen" role when it comes to these men -- a role that sits uneasily on her.
Thankfully, she has Halford to help her in this. Halford has a keen insight into the human heart and psyche and often acts as a mediator between Sandra and her modern way of doing things and the old ways that the other retirees are are set in. He also acts as a kind of 'father confessor' for Sandra, Gerry and Brian and tries to give them sage advice in dealing with their personal relationships.
Halford is not without his own scars, though. He left the force to care for his wife who was severely injured by a hit-and-run driver and her injuries eventually contributed to her death. Somewhat bereft without her, he keeps a memorial to her in his back garden and often talks to her in order to try to work out cases and problems.
Gerry has three ex-wives, three grown daughters and a string of one-night-stands behind him. He continues to live as an aging Lothario -- clinging desperately to his mid-life crisis long after mid-life. He does have some sense of responsibility, though, as he is determined to financially help out when his oldest daughter becomes a single mother (making Gerry a grandfather).
Brian is probably the most damaged -- the death of the drug dealer in his custody leading to a nervous breakdown. He takes medication to control his depression and he is a recovering alcoholic and manages to function despite having a low level of obsessive-compulsive disorder and a certain amount of social awkwardness. As he says of himself, he is too much "head" and not enough "heart" but he is truly devoted to his wife, Esther.
The series encapsulates what a lot of British drama does so well -- balancing genuine humor with serious drama and pathos. The characters are also flawed but never seem to be all about their flaws. They are not "pretty", they are far from young, and they don't fit the usual "hot" demographics that American TV shows chase so blindly. And, against the stereotype of the wise, sage, oldster, this show instead shows these older men as being terribly human -- prone to making mistakes, not always having the right answers, and still getting through life one day at a time just like the rest of us. It really is refreshing. The mystery plots are also really quite good and absorbing.
So check out New Tricks, you'll find that this series proves that 'old dogs' really can learn new tricks as well as using a few old tricks that, with the passage of time, have become new again.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
What I've Been Reading
Still don't have a review of "The Aztecs" done -- I've been being lazy on that one. Plus I've started a new knitting project which has a definite time deadline and I need to meet that deadline.
Anyway, when I've not been knitting I've been taking a little break from the Nero Wolfe books in order to explore another mystery series.... Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey books.
It's actually kind of an eerie coincidence because someone mentioned having read one of the books in an online discussion a bunch of us were participating in about good mystery books series. Shortly after that discussion I was bopping around the BBC Radio 7 website* and found a full-cast dramatization of Sayers' Strong Poison and started listening to it. Both of these things spurred me to go back to Wimsey.
Yes, I said go back to Wimsey. In another odd little coincidence just as with Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe I had tried to get into Sayers' Peter Wimsey books back in my college days. Unlike with the Wolfe oeuvre, however, I clearly remember when I first tried to cut my teeth on Sayers' writing. I can clearly remember seeking her work out in my college library (it was housed on the top floor of the building which was a lovely place to read because there were a lot of tables and chairs near the windows so one could have a sweeping panorama of either the campus or the town depending on which side of the building you chose to sit on. But I digress...). As with Stout, however, I just couldn't get into it. Wimsey left me cold as I found Sayers' depiction of his drawl-y way of talking annoying and I thought him rather overly flippant to boot.
But I chose to go back and take another look at the books -- again, something that I rarely do -- and this time found that time and age and experience had weathered me to see a little more deeply. For their time period, Sayers' stories have a bite to them that is surprising.
For one thing, the Wimsey stories usually get classified as "Cozy Mysteries". A cozy mystery usually involves a murder which is often (but not exclusively) not described in gory detail so that it seems rather bloodless. For example, the victim may be shot at his desk and the description is just that -- that the victim is found shot and slumped over his desk. There is no description of the size of the bullet hole and no discussion of the wound bleeding out, etc. The suspects are a closed group -- a limited number who were either present at a secluded location or who would have had access to the murder victim. The victim and the pool of suspects are also often (but not exclusively) people who are of the upper crust (in the British tradition) and/or wealthy or famous in some way. In other words, the sort of people one wouldn't suspect of committing crimes or people who have honor or prestige to lose if they are suspected of murder.
Agatha Christie's stories are some of the most prominent of the cozy genre but there were others such as Margery Allingham with her early Albert Campion stories and Ngaio Marsh with her Roderick Alleyn mysteries. And Sayers is usually included in the bunch.
Sayers' work, however, distinctly breaks from the cozy tradition in several ways. For one thing, Sayers is not afraid to throw a little blood and a little suffering into the deaths of her murder victims. In fact, the description of the death of the murder victim in Clouds of Witnesses makes a point of the amount of blood involved.
For another thing, in a cozy mystery things such as extramarital affairs are usually handled discretely but with a slight overtone of shame -- usually towards the man who is stepping out on his wife. Sayers, however, doesn't care. Again in Clouds of Witnesses Wimsey's brother is found out in an affair but Wimsey's feelings on it are rather matter-of-fact. He acknowledges that it is a blow to his sister-in-law but at the same time he understands why his brother did it, respects his brother for trying to be a gentleman about it, and feels sorry for all those involved. Later on in the series Wimsey falls for a woman who had lived openly with a man without benefit of marriage -- something scandalous in Wimsey's aristocratic circles but something that doesn't bother Wimsey at all.
Sayers also tackles some more serious subjects. Also in Clouds of Witnesses one character suffers physical and emotional abuse from her husband. Sayers doesn't flinch from the depiction -- showing it in all it's horror and also condemning it. Then there is Wimsey himself. A veteran of World War I Wimsey suffers from "shell shock" -- or as we would call it today, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Sayers' depiction of one of Wimsey's flashbacks is heart-wrenching but also reads as very true-to-life. Unlike many of the other stoic heroes, Wimsey's war experiences have left scars on his psyche.
Wimsey is also not the traditional detective in other ways. The cozy mystery usually (but again not exclusively) features a non-professional detective -- someone not a part of the police force but usually friendly with officers of the law. Wimsey is the same in that regard but in most cozy mysteries the detective hero solves the mystery and never looks back. Wimsey actually ponders his part in things. He worries that he treats solving mysteries like a game and is not prepared for the consequences. He often shows remorse when his actions lead to the real killer being caught and convicted but knowing that his actions have condemned someone to death on the gallows (since at the time Sayers was writing England still had the death penalty. They have since abolished it).
The Lord Peter Wimsey stories are not, however, for the easily annoyed. Sayers herself was quite the scholar and sometimes her own scholarship sneaks into the books which make them seem a bit pedantic. Wimsey, as a character, can be rather an obnoxious idiot from time to time (although in a way that is part of his charm and what helps humanize him) and sometimes the plots drag on a bit too long.
If one is interested, though, in some mysteries which are a bit outside the ordinary for their time period and a detective hero with some fascinating flaws then Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey stories are well worth a look.
Oops, forgot to add....
* The BBC not only operates TV stations in Great Britain but radio stations also. The BBC radio stations tend to be divided by type with some stations devoted only to news, some to different types of music, etc. BBC Radio 7 is the station that is devoted to audio dramas. One of the great things about BBC Radio is that, unlike the TV programs, many of their radio programs are available to listen to online internationally. You can check out BBC Radio 7 HERE
Anyway, when I've not been knitting I've been taking a little break from the Nero Wolfe books in order to explore another mystery series.... Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey books.
It's actually kind of an eerie coincidence because someone mentioned having read one of the books in an online discussion a bunch of us were participating in about good mystery books series. Shortly after that discussion I was bopping around the BBC Radio 7 website* and found a full-cast dramatization of Sayers' Strong Poison and started listening to it. Both of these things spurred me to go back to Wimsey.
Yes, I said go back to Wimsey. In another odd little coincidence just as with Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe I had tried to get into Sayers' Peter Wimsey books back in my college days. Unlike with the Wolfe oeuvre, however, I clearly remember when I first tried to cut my teeth on Sayers' writing. I can clearly remember seeking her work out in my college library (it was housed on the top floor of the building which was a lovely place to read because there were a lot of tables and chairs near the windows so one could have a sweeping panorama of either the campus or the town depending on which side of the building you chose to sit on. But I digress...). As with Stout, however, I just couldn't get into it. Wimsey left me cold as I found Sayers' depiction of his drawl-y way of talking annoying and I thought him rather overly flippant to boot.
But I chose to go back and take another look at the books -- again, something that I rarely do -- and this time found that time and age and experience had weathered me to see a little more deeply. For their time period, Sayers' stories have a bite to them that is surprising.
For one thing, the Wimsey stories usually get classified as "Cozy Mysteries". A cozy mystery usually involves a murder which is often (but not exclusively) not described in gory detail so that it seems rather bloodless. For example, the victim may be shot at his desk and the description is just that -- that the victim is found shot and slumped over his desk. There is no description of the size of the bullet hole and no discussion of the wound bleeding out, etc. The suspects are a closed group -- a limited number who were either present at a secluded location or who would have had access to the murder victim. The victim and the pool of suspects are also often (but not exclusively) people who are of the upper crust (in the British tradition) and/or wealthy or famous in some way. In other words, the sort of people one wouldn't suspect of committing crimes or people who have honor or prestige to lose if they are suspected of murder.
Agatha Christie's stories are some of the most prominent of the cozy genre but there were others such as Margery Allingham with her early Albert Campion stories and Ngaio Marsh with her Roderick Alleyn mysteries. And Sayers is usually included in the bunch.
Sayers' work, however, distinctly breaks from the cozy tradition in several ways. For one thing, Sayers is not afraid to throw a little blood and a little suffering into the deaths of her murder victims. In fact, the description of the death of the murder victim in Clouds of Witnesses makes a point of the amount of blood involved.
For another thing, in a cozy mystery things such as extramarital affairs are usually handled discretely but with a slight overtone of shame -- usually towards the man who is stepping out on his wife. Sayers, however, doesn't care. Again in Clouds of Witnesses Wimsey's brother is found out in an affair but Wimsey's feelings on it are rather matter-of-fact. He acknowledges that it is a blow to his sister-in-law but at the same time he understands why his brother did it, respects his brother for trying to be a gentleman about it, and feels sorry for all those involved. Later on in the series Wimsey falls for a woman who had lived openly with a man without benefit of marriage -- something scandalous in Wimsey's aristocratic circles but something that doesn't bother Wimsey at all.
Sayers also tackles some more serious subjects. Also in Clouds of Witnesses one character suffers physical and emotional abuse from her husband. Sayers doesn't flinch from the depiction -- showing it in all it's horror and also condemning it. Then there is Wimsey himself. A veteran of World War I Wimsey suffers from "shell shock" -- or as we would call it today, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Sayers' depiction of one of Wimsey's flashbacks is heart-wrenching but also reads as very true-to-life. Unlike many of the other stoic heroes, Wimsey's war experiences have left scars on his psyche.
Wimsey is also not the traditional detective in other ways. The cozy mystery usually (but again not exclusively) features a non-professional detective -- someone not a part of the police force but usually friendly with officers of the law. Wimsey is the same in that regard but in most cozy mysteries the detective hero solves the mystery and never looks back. Wimsey actually ponders his part in things. He worries that he treats solving mysteries like a game and is not prepared for the consequences. He often shows remorse when his actions lead to the real killer being caught and convicted but knowing that his actions have condemned someone to death on the gallows (since at the time Sayers was writing England still had the death penalty. They have since abolished it).
The Lord Peter Wimsey stories are not, however, for the easily annoyed. Sayers herself was quite the scholar and sometimes her own scholarship sneaks into the books which make them seem a bit pedantic. Wimsey, as a character, can be rather an obnoxious idiot from time to time (although in a way that is part of his charm and what helps humanize him) and sometimes the plots drag on a bit too long.
If one is interested, though, in some mysteries which are a bit outside the ordinary for their time period and a detective hero with some fascinating flaws then Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey stories are well worth a look.
Oops, forgot to add....
* The BBC not only operates TV stations in Great Britain but radio stations also. The BBC radio stations tend to be divided by type with some stations devoted only to news, some to different types of music, etc. BBC Radio 7 is the station that is devoted to audio dramas. One of the great things about BBC Radio is that, unlike the TV programs, many of their radio programs are available to listen to online internationally. You can check out BBC Radio 7 HERE
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Knitted Stuff... Yet More!
I'm working my way through the Doctor Who serial "The Aztecs" but I've been busy so the review isn't ready yet.
In the meantime, here's more knitted stuff that makes me wonder... WHY?
The description of this states that it is a "perfect" addition to a sleeveless outfit.
Ummmm Dear Description Writer -- in case you haven't noticed.... this... "shrug" (seriously, they say this is supposed to be a shrug)... IS sleeveless!
Really, what is this piece keeping warm? It doesn't come up high enough to keep your neck warm, it's split in the middle so if you're wearing a top with a deep scoop neck or a v-neck (as the model is) it isn't keeping your chest warm, and it's sleeveless so it isn't going to keep your arms warm either.
It isn't long enough to be called a vest and in point of fact it ends up just kind of looking like... well... a bib.
The thing of it is that this design would actually make a rather nice vest. If it were longer and then worn over a shirt or blouse it would work rather well. As it is... why would you bother to knit this?
In the meantime, here's more knitted stuff that makes me wonder... WHY?
The description of this states that it is a "perfect" addition to a sleeveless outfit.
Ummmm Dear Description Writer -- in case you haven't noticed.... this... "shrug" (seriously, they say this is supposed to be a shrug)... IS sleeveless!
Really, what is this piece keeping warm? It doesn't come up high enough to keep your neck warm, it's split in the middle so if you're wearing a top with a deep scoop neck or a v-neck (as the model is) it isn't keeping your chest warm, and it's sleeveless so it isn't going to keep your arms warm either.
It isn't long enough to be called a vest and in point of fact it ends up just kind of looking like... well... a bib.
The thing of it is that this design would actually make a rather nice vest. If it were longer and then worn over a shirt or blouse it would work rather well. As it is... why would you bother to knit this?
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The Nero Wolfe Reviews: "The Silent Speaker" 1946
Rex Stout came roaring back from the war years with a full-length book as opposed to the short story collections he had been producing for the past few years.
The post-war situation obviously inspired this story with the Bureau of Price Regulation standing in for the real Office of Price Administration and the National Industrial Association standing in for any number of business organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce.
You see WW II brought about many governmental controls over industry in the name of mobilization for the war as well as a country which was still recovering from the Great Depression. As such, the government had taken over a number of industries and switched them to the production of items necessary for the war and the government had also set prices for many goods and services during this time in order to prevent gouging on items which had become more scarce or difficult to produce.
Of course, after the war was over many of these governmental controls remained in place in order to help ensure a smooth transition from a wartime economy to a peacetime one. This led to a certain amount of friction between the government and business as many businesses now wanted the government out of their hair.
It was this conflict which inspired Stout's story here.
The good news is that you don't have to be a history major to enjoy the story. Although if do have a background in history (as I do) it adds a little extra layer of satire to the story which is really enjoyable. That's right, *better living through history!*
Anyway, let's get on to the meat of the matter....
The Plot: Wolfe's funds are getting low so for a change he goes fishing for a case rather than accepting one that has dropped into his lap. In this case Cheney Boone, the Director of the Bureau of Price Regulation is murdered right before he is scheduled to give a speech before the National Industrial Association. There is certainly no love lost between the BPR and the NIA but who would resort to murder and why? Wolfe sets out to solve the mystery to earn his fee but along the way the killer strikes again and proves to be elusive -- much to Wolfe's anger. With a reputation and a big, fat paycheck on the line Wolfe is determined to solve the case... even if he has to drag both organizations through the mud in the process.
My Take: As I said before, you don't have to be a historian to get this story. The rivalries and conflicts are as old as time and readers will probably see some echoes in the modern struggle between businesses and government regulation.
At heart, though, the story is about the personalities involved and, as always, Stout creates strong, memorable personalities for his characters. In particular is Phoebe Gunther -- Boone's secretary and one of the few women who win the open respect of the misogynistic Wolfe. Not only is she a match for Wolfe's intelligence she is also a match for Archie's razor sharp tongue -- giving back as good as she gets.
And Stout's Archie and Wolfe are at the top of their game here -- Wolfe, for once, even more so than Archie as Wolfe presents one of the most hysterically funny and terrible displays of a "nervous breakdown" ever committed to print. Again, Stout proves masterful at throwing in bits of humor among the seriousness of the investigation.
The investigation in question takes many twists and turns and, interestingly, it stalls out for Wolfe and Archie yet Stout manages to make even no new information seem tension-filled. Wolfe being blocked at every turn, missing the last crucial piece of the puzzle, leaves the reader waiting with baited breath as the pressures mount for Wolfe to solve the case. Will this be the first time Wolfe loses?
This story also has the benefit of being one of those adapted for the A & E TV series. As with the previous outing, Over My Dead Body, the adaptation is almost ridiculously faithful to the book. There are a few slight changes but none of them are jarring and, again, dialogue is lifted pretty much whole from the book -- proving (as if proof were needed) that Stout could write just as well if not better than any Hollywood script writer.
There isn't a foot put wrong here and The Silent Speaker is Stout weaving a book-length tale in his inimitable fashion.
Favorite Quote:
"Who's Wolfe working for?"
"There is never," I told him, "any question about that. He is working first, last and all the time for Wolfe."
The post-war situation obviously inspired this story with the Bureau of Price Regulation standing in for the real Office of Price Administration and the National Industrial Association standing in for any number of business organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce.
You see WW II brought about many governmental controls over industry in the name of mobilization for the war as well as a country which was still recovering from the Great Depression. As such, the government had taken over a number of industries and switched them to the production of items necessary for the war and the government had also set prices for many goods and services during this time in order to prevent gouging on items which had become more scarce or difficult to produce.
Of course, after the war was over many of these governmental controls remained in place in order to help ensure a smooth transition from a wartime economy to a peacetime one. This led to a certain amount of friction between the government and business as many businesses now wanted the government out of their hair.
It was this conflict which inspired Stout's story here.
The good news is that you don't have to be a history major to enjoy the story. Although if do have a background in history (as I do) it adds a little extra layer of satire to the story which is really enjoyable. That's right, *better living through history!*
Anyway, let's get on to the meat of the matter....
The Plot: Wolfe's funds are getting low so for a change he goes fishing for a case rather than accepting one that has dropped into his lap. In this case Cheney Boone, the Director of the Bureau of Price Regulation is murdered right before he is scheduled to give a speech before the National Industrial Association. There is certainly no love lost between the BPR and the NIA but who would resort to murder and why? Wolfe sets out to solve the mystery to earn his fee but along the way the killer strikes again and proves to be elusive -- much to Wolfe's anger. With a reputation and a big, fat paycheck on the line Wolfe is determined to solve the case... even if he has to drag both organizations through the mud in the process.
My Take: As I said before, you don't have to be a historian to get this story. The rivalries and conflicts are as old as time and readers will probably see some echoes in the modern struggle between businesses and government regulation.
At heart, though, the story is about the personalities involved and, as always, Stout creates strong, memorable personalities for his characters. In particular is Phoebe Gunther -- Boone's secretary and one of the few women who win the open respect of the misogynistic Wolfe. Not only is she a match for Wolfe's intelligence she is also a match for Archie's razor sharp tongue -- giving back as good as she gets.
And Stout's Archie and Wolfe are at the top of their game here -- Wolfe, for once, even more so than Archie as Wolfe presents one of the most hysterically funny and terrible displays of a "nervous breakdown" ever committed to print. Again, Stout proves masterful at throwing in bits of humor among the seriousness of the investigation.
The investigation in question takes many twists and turns and, interestingly, it stalls out for Wolfe and Archie yet Stout manages to make even no new information seem tension-filled. Wolfe being blocked at every turn, missing the last crucial piece of the puzzle, leaves the reader waiting with baited breath as the pressures mount for Wolfe to solve the case. Will this be the first time Wolfe loses?
This story also has the benefit of being one of those adapted for the A & E TV series. As with the previous outing, Over My Dead Body, the adaptation is almost ridiculously faithful to the book. There are a few slight changes but none of them are jarring and, again, dialogue is lifted pretty much whole from the book -- proving (as if proof were needed) that Stout could write just as well if not better than any Hollywood script writer.
There isn't a foot put wrong here and The Silent Speaker is Stout weaving a book-length tale in his inimitable fashion.
Favorite Quote:
"Who's Wolfe working for?"
"There is never," I told him, "any question about that. He is working first, last and all the time for Wolfe."
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