I was listening to podcasts while working today and happened to listen to Pottercast #227, "Pundits Play the Name Game," which I had just downloaded at random from what was available. This the podcast put on by the fan site "The Leaky Cauldron" and the broadcast was three of the regulars analyzing the names Rowling used in the series.

This was particularly interesting because one of the panelists was John Granger, who has written several books about meaning in the Potter series, but is most well known for Looking for God in Harry Potter. Granger is a practicing Christian who initially forbade his children to read the books, having been turned off by the witchcraft themes. However, he didn't feel he could forbid his children to read them without reading them first to be able to tell them why they were unsuitable. Upon reading the books, he was pleased and surprised by the good v. evil themes in the books and changed his mind about them. I saw Finding God several times in Borders, but never bought it.

This was a delightful show, as they examined the literary derivations of the names, which they noted came heavily from Dickens and Victor Hugo, and even Thackeray, not to mention Latin derivations and inside jokes. Of course Harry's sacrifice parallels that of Christ and Voldemort is a clear Satan-figure (he even parallels Lucifer as being rather a "fallen angel," rescued by Dumbledore from his sterile orphanage and shown kindness, being elevated to prefect and a promising future only to betray those who helped him)—these are all rather obvious. I was, however, surprised when they noted things like the names of the other players on the Quidditch team were all related to churches. When they explained it I was quite amused: [Katie] Bell, Angel[ina] Johnson, [Alicia] Spinnet (piano), and [Oliver Wood] olivewood! Plus the game has a "seeker" who must attain "the light," a.k.a. The Golden Snitch. There were dozens of fun or thoughtful analyses of this type, and it was great fun to listen to.

I also had on BBC 4X and was listening to their adaptation of Gaudy Night. I became aware that Ian Carmichael's voice sounded rather husky and older, so checked out the production. Carmichael had recorded almost all the Lord Peter Wimsey stories in seven- and eight-part radio productions back in the 1970s, about at the same time he was doing the television versions of five of the books. They had done at least three of the Harriet Vane stories, but not the Oxford story, Gaudy Night, about sinister goings-on at Harriet's university reunion. But Ian Carmichael had always wanted to do that one, to complete the set as it were, and in 2005 BBC audio books recorded this five-part adaptation. Ian Carmichael was 85 when he did the story; it's no wonder he sounds older!

It's a bit of a static production, as a lot of it is Harriet's narrative, but so good to hear! Hopefully they do the end properly!

[Later: they did! Oh, and Lord St. George is in the story, too, unlike the Petherbridge/Walter version.]

Labels: books, Harry Potter, mystery, podcasts

----------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 1:51:00 PM

(0) COMMENTS

I ordered Strong Poison, the first in a series of three 1985 Lord Peter Wimsey novel adaptations, from Netflix last week, watched it, and am now on the second, Have His Carcase. (I'd seen these when they were first broadcast, but wanted to see how they held up.)

My first encounter with Lord Peter Wimsey was in the 1970s, when Masterpiece Theatre showed "Murder Must Advertise" (previous Wimsey stories had been shown, but I hadn't seen them). I found the combination of advertising agency murder, Bright Young Things, and the appealing Lord Peter intoxicating. In short order I had raided my college textbook fund to buy all the paperbacks (they were only $1.25 back then). "Nine Tailors" followed on television and became my second favorite of the series. I eventually saw all five of the original stories, which starred Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter. Carmichael was a bit old to play Wimsey—he was 52 when the first one aired—who ranges from his 20s to his 30s in the five stories that were filmed (Clouds of Witness, Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Murder Must Advertise, The Nine Tailors, and Five Red Herrings, but he fully captured (at least to me) the contradiction that was Peter Wimsey—aristocratic, clever (while acting the silly ass), devoted to his mother and later to Harriet Vane, with a puckish sense of humor and strong sense of justice.

Fifteen years later the BBC did three further adaptations of Lord Peter Wimsey stories, those featuring Peter's love Harriet Vane, a stubborn, indepedent "new woman" who is also a writer of mystery stories. For these stories, Edward Petherbridge was cast as Lord Peter Wimsey. While Petherbridge was also in his early 50s when he was cast in the role of a younger Wimsey, he also did look more like Dorothy Sayer's description of her investigative hero, with blond hair and a long face.

Since then there have been debates (many quite strident!) over who was the better Wimsey. Some people cite Petherbridge as being "younger" than Carmichael along with looking more like the description, although they were almost the same age when they filmed the stories. I've always leaned toward the Carmichael camp, as you might tell by my description above. While Petherbridge looked the part, he was a very Byronic Wimsey, all troubled looks and hollow eyes. Even when he is trading quips with Harriet, he is so very sober. One cannot imagine Petherbridge's dour Wimsey doing several of the things Wimsey does in the books: diving into a fountain dressed as a Harlequin, bantering with his delightful and unconventional mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver, taking his young nephew on a treasure hunt in a rowboat, going to the Soviet Club with Marjorie Phelps, playing a mischievous prank with his young son Bredon in the very last Wimsey story ever written.

Perhaps in the future the BBC might try to do a new Wimsey series with someone closer to the proper age who blends the best physical attributes of Petherbridge and the mixed intensity and humor of Carmichael.

(Incidentally, Harriet Walter, who plays Harriet Vane, comes in for a great deal of criticism in the role. Complaints range from her voice being too high [???] to her haircut being terrible. I always imagined Harriet having darker hair, but I don't mind Walter so much in the role. I do notice she is involved in the new Law and Order: UK series as the police superior.)

The Petherbridge Wimsey stories also cast Peter's faithful manservant Mervyn Bunter as a young, handsome fellow. I'm so used to an older Bunter—Glyn Houston is quite charming as Bunter in three of the five Ian Carmichael stories—that the use of a younger man was a bit startling. However, Bunter always was a bit of a ladies' man, and the younger face certainly does work better with that image!

Labels: books, mystery, television

----------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 9:34:00 PM

(0) COMMENTS

The amassed mail has arrived. Half of it went into the wastebasket, but my thyroid medication has arrived, several magazines, and—woot!—my box from Amazon: the second book in the Time Unincorporated series and the DVD set of Ellery Queen. Watching Ellery pilot; had completely forgotten this was an NBC Mystery Movie special, and used the same music. That was a great theme song.

There is a cute bit in this movie (set in 1947) where Ellery is spending the day with his cousin Penny, a little girl who attends a private school. She is dark haired in pigtails, with glasses, and is kind of a streetwise city-kid version of Addie Mills. And she's played by Franny Michel, who played Addie's best friend in The Thanksgiving Treasure (set in 1947). :-)

Speaking of mysteries, has anyone read the Bryant and May books? I had a great time with the first one, Full Dark House. Don't usually laugh aloud at books like this, but it had great bits of humor along with an eerie mystery taking place during the Blitz.

The laundry is done and piled on the bed for sorting. Still waiting for the insurance guy to call.

Never mind, he just called as I printed this. Next the adjuster will call to arrange to look at the car.

Labels: books, chores, mystery, television

----------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 3:05:00 PM

(0) COMMENTS

A quiet weekend here at Chez Young (well, except for the visit to Kroger this morning, which I don't want to talk about...not Kroger's fault, ours). We went to the Hallmark Ornament premiere yesterday, out at Betsy's Hallmark at Merchant's Walk. Got their lovely Father Christmas and a few others, and a Great Pumpkin ornament: "I got a rock." My favorite scene; I couldn't resist! Also found some pretty gifts. James bought three different ornaments for his airplane tree, and also the new Enterprise.

Today we did the usual grocery shopping, then grabbed a bite at Wendy's and went to Cumberland Mall to walk around. It's pretty much a dead loss as a real mall anymore; it doesn't even have one bookstore, or anything like an FYE, and places like Kirklands or Yankee Candle or Brookstone, or any kind of housewares place. Game Stop is still there, the Radio Shack, a Bath and Body Works, a GNC, a Hallmark and an American Greetings, a couple of eyeglass places, and a Spencer Gifts, but everything else is clothing, shoes or jewelry. Bore.

Found a nice bargain at American Greetings: they had many things on sale, including Christmas cards and gift tags. These were 90 percent off. I got a lovely set of Christmas cards, and also about 260 tags for only $1.10.

Any money I saved had to be invested in hideously overpriced soy isoflavones at GNC, since I can't find them anywhere else anymore.

Had some good video watching the past two nights. Last night we watched a new (to us) British mystery series that we got from Netflix, Pie in the Sky from the 1990s. This stars Richard Griffiths, now notorious for being Uncle Vernon in the Harry Potter films, as Henry Crabbe, a 25-year police veteran who is seven weeks away from retirement, a gourmet who is looking forward to opening his own restaurant (the "Pie in the Sky" of the title). However, on a case involving a highly-sought criminal, someone tips the man off and he gets away. Later Crabbe's officious boss, Fisher (a right arsehole), whose only goal in life seems to be to do things that are "politically" right to keep him in the correct circles (this appears to be a motif of the series), blackmails Crabbe into working "occasionally" as a consultant or he will be prosecuted for taking a bribe. So the stories are about Crabbe's juggling of the running of the restaurant along with criminal investigations he is dragged into.

Griffiths is charming as the curmudgeonly Crabbe, whose traditional cooking—he makes a mean steak-and-kidney pie—charms more than one "savage beast." As a humorous counterpoint, Crabbe's wife Margaret, an accountant, not only has no interest in food, but she loves crisps and junk food. His assistant and ally in the police department is detective sergeant Cambridge, who both admires and is bemused by him.

We really enjoyed this and are looking forward to more episodes.

Tonight we didn't see anything of interest on and I just put on the I Love Lucy marathon which Hallmark Channel was broadcasting; at this point they were showing the European episodes. They still make me laugh.

Labels: errands, mystery, shopping, television

----------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 10:17:00 PM

(1) COMMENTS

Caught a glimpse of the female cowbird today; haven't seen them around this season, but I'm sure they're out there, tricking the other birds into raising their young. The downy woodpeckers have been back since I finally put some suet out again. I had to clean the feeder this afternoon because the rain had made the seeds stick inside. I gave it a good shake and a wipe-out, and I had barely put it back in place when a hungry titmouse flittered over and grabbed a seed before he noticed me and fled. A brown-headed nuthatch followed, however, and remained munching.

We watched the first disk of Rosemary and Thyme tonight. This isn't a "heavy" mystery series, very much the definition of "cozy." Laura Thyme and Rosemary Boxer are two fifty-ish women who have been dealt blows: Laura's husband left her for a twenty-something sylph and university botanist Rosemary has been made redundant. In the first adventure, they meet for the first time and solve the mystery of a friend of Rosemary's who is suffering from a painful skin disease—or is he? By the second episode, the women have teamed to start a gardening business. Although the mysteries are serious, the mood is light, and Pam Ferris and Felicity Kendal, as Laura and Rosemary, respectively, are delightful to watch; they look like they're having such fun with the roles. If you're a gardening fan, the settings are a plus: some of the most gorgeous gardens I've ever seen.

Labels: birds, mystery, television

----------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 10:28:00 PM

(0) COMMENTS

Summer continues to drain as the heat stands in the 90s. I remember all the energy I had when I first started working at home! Now, of course, that I need it at the end of fiscal year, it has all bled away.

We spent yesterday morning tidying up the kitchen and vacuuming for our games night, then dropped in at the hobby shop and also went to Fuzziwig's candy store. I picked up a few more Jolly Rancher watermelon candies—the bin is mixed, so I really can't get many—and James bought about a quarter pound of sugar-free malted milk balls, which he had been looking for.

We finished up at Trader Joe's, which disappointed us by being out of the chicken apple sausage that we like so well. We did get some brownie bites and chocolate chip cookies for the games night.

This went quite well, although Sue was ill and could not come. Jerry did come and the guys spent a bunch of time shmoozing about politics, although James showed off his "Dogfight" game (he was able to obtain a copy of this board game that he loved as a child). I was a bit disconcerted by the fact that I was unable to concentrate on the game we played as well as I wanted. I was a bit torn by other interesting conversations in the room, but lately this distraction factor has been a problem, as well as recurring bouts of depression.

Later we had the Little League playoffs on. The Warner Robins team was in the finals, so several people were interested in the outcome.

This morning we had a sleep-in as we stayed up late—my excuse was the third Maisie Dobbs book; I am parceling them out, reading a book in between each one, as I am enjoying them so much! When the new one comes out next year I am buying it in hardcover!—then had a light breakfast. We went for a good long walk around Town Center Mall before stopping at BJs for milk and eggs, then came home to read the paper. (At the mall we were passing "It's About Time," the clock/watch store and I suggested we go in as James' old watch, the self-winding Seiko his dad gave to him as a gift many years ago, is no longer winding properly and losing time. He was reluctant to buy as these are usually very expensive, but found a very nice one on sale, the same size as his old one. I also looked at a watch, but passed on it for now. It was a very nice Criterion with a click second hand as I like them. Ironically, my watch that gave up the ghost was given to me by my dad as well.) As a cheer-up, I put on The Best of Dave Allen as well as the "Backs to the Wall" episode of The Good Life.

Television was absolutely miserable tonight, but they advertised a fascinating-looking special for Thursday night that I don't remember ever seeing, JFK: Breaking the News, how news coverage changed with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I remember all the coverage about JFK and still have the TV Guide special edition about it. The archival footage should be fascinating. There is also a new History Detectives this week as well as next week, and more Inspector Lynley mysteries starting next Sunday on Mystery. I don't like Lynley as well as Foyle's War, but they're solid, literate mysteries. (I do wish BBC America would rerun all the existing seasons of Waking the Dead!)

There's a hint in the question-and-answer afterward of Pardonable Lies that the Maisie Dobbs books might be adapted for television. I hope the British do them! If Hollywood does it it will just be dumbed down and tarted up.

Labels: books, friends, history, mystery, television, weather

----------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 10:25:00 PM

(0) COMMENTS

About the BBC series Waking The Dead, starring Trevor Eve and Sue Johnston.

Very enjoyable crime drama ala CSI with wonderfully convoluted plots. BBC America is showing it on Mondays at 8 p.m. EDT with a repeat at eleven.

Labels: mystery, television

----------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 9:08:00 PM

(0) COMMENTS