#*christie carr
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mmonetsims · 2 months ago
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the sims are backkkk
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cobycobsy2k · 9 months ago
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After a long time!! i finished the makeovers of these guys, honestly it was so fun to do, bcs these townies are really cute to me (Speacially Tank and Christy 😜💖)
Tank Grunt was requested by @fwaldorf (Love U so much My friend <33)
Tosha Go was requested by @profesionalpartyguest (Sending a lot of hugs to you Bestieee!!)
Joe Carr and Christy Raha were requested by @strawhatpidge
Meadow Thayer was requested by @xwhitepolar
I HOPE YOU LIKE IT GUYS!!🥺💖✨
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o-uncle-newt · 5 months ago
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I guess the only person who can really be trusted to describe the greatness of Agatha Christie is Dorothy L Sayers...?
A while back, the always-sharp @thesarahshay sent me an ask that caught me up on something that I'd carelessly written in some tags- I said that Agatha Christie was good at writing romance into her detective fiction, without really elaborating. I then spent multiple paragraphs attempting to elaborate, I'm not sure with how much success. Essentially, and you can click above to see for yourself, my thesis was that while Sayers was a much better literary stylist (and certainly better at writing romance) than Christie, when writing a detective novel, her seams show; Christie had a natural talent for knowing exactly what belongs in a detective story and creating and fitting all the right pieces together that create a seamless detective story, including motivations drawn by romance (though I think the actual romances are among the weaker elements- still MUCH better than those written by most of her peers, for the record).
I'd had trouble putting into words what I wanted to say (there was a convoluted metaphor about Barbies and Lego in there), and I'm not sure I was too convincing; but turns out that the person who said what I wanted to say the best was, in fact the great DLS herself.
There's a fabulous book that I 100% recommend called Taking Detective Stories Seriously, which is a compilation of about two years' worth of detective story reviews that Sayers wrote. I hadn't heard of most of the authors, and even when I had heard of the authors I'd rarely read the books, but it didn't matter, frankly. She's just such a great writer, so thoughtful and incisive and passionate about both the genre and good craftsmanship (not to mention good English), that everything she has to say including on novels that haven't been in print since the 30s is worth reading. She has generally great taste, though she has a much higher opinion of Margery Allingham than I do and doesn't like Ellery Queen's The Siamese Twin Mystery as much as I'd thought she might (though the fact that a character in it insulted Unnatural Death may not have helped lol); but she also likes, to pick two very different writers who I too enjoy, HC Bailey and Mignon G Eberhart, and so she clearly has a good eye. (It's also entertaining to see her slowly force herself to admit that she likes Perry Mason...)
BUT ANYWAY.
She has three reviews of Agatha Christie books in the volume: Murder on the Orient Express, Why Didn't They Ask Evans, and Three Act Tragedy. She reviews all of them very positively, but it's her review of Three Act Tragedy (in my opinion, funnily enough, the weakest of the three) that she really gets to the core of Christie's genius. And it's actually fitting that it's for a book of hers that's on the more meh end of the scale- because it just shows how even meh Christie has an element of genius that other authors have to work hard for even in their best works.
She says:
Some time ago this column contained the statement that Hercule Poirot was "one of the few real detectives." It was a well-sounding phrase, and I have no quarrel with it, except that I am not quite clear what it meant. What I meant to write and what I thought I had written and what I now propose to write clearly with no mistake about it was and is this: Hercule Poirot is one of the few detectives with real charm. Plenty of authors assure us that their detectives are charming, but that is quite another thing. I don't know that Mrs Christie has ever said a word about the matter. She merely puts Poirot there, with all his little oddities and weaknesses, and there he is- a really charming person. And it is true, too, that he is "real," in the sense that we never stop to enquire whether his words and actions are suited to his character; they are his character, and we accept them as we accept the words and actions of any living person because they are a part of himself. Le style c'est l'homme. Indeed, when Mrs Christie is writing at the top of her form, as she is in Three Act Tragedy, all her characters have this reality. She does not postulate a character- retired actor, West End mannequin, family retainer- and put into its mouth sentiments appropriate to its station in life. She shows us character and behavior all of a piece. However surprising or enigmatic the behavior, we believe that everything took place just as she says it did, because we believe in the reality of the people. Poirot is charming, not because anybody says so, but because is is, and all her other people exist for us in the same objective manner. This is the great gift that distinguishes the novelist from the manufacturer of plots. Mrs Christie has given us an excellent plot, a clever mystery, and an exciting story, but her chief strength lies in this power to compel belief in these characters. [emphasis mine]
Sayers then proceeds to compare another author (or rather authors, the husband and wife pair GDH and M Cole) to Christie in this regard, moving on to another review. But in these three paragraphs she has, I think, said it better than anyone- that Christie's skill is in her naturalness, and how that naturalness compels us to believe in and immerse ourselves in her world. She is effortless and seamless.
To be clear, Sayers praises a lot of people in this book, and a lot of people's writing; but mostly she is praising their skill and ability to create what they have created. Here, she isn't quite praising that- she's praising the fact that the final product is so good that you can't even see the craftsmanship behind it, and that's, I think, what separates Christie from her peers. It's a power, and not one that can be broken down by a critic. She just has it.
I've said before that I don't think Sayers had this as a mystery writer, and I think she'd probably be the first to agree with that assessment; she certainly had a seemingly effortless skill as a prose writer (as these reviews show), but as a novelist she took construction seriously and wanted us to know this. That said, another person who I don't think has this, who I mention because he's someone who a lot of people compare Christie to (often negatively), is John Dickson Carr.
I've seen plenty of people say that Carr is a more sophisticated version of Christie, not just in mystery construction but in writing style, and equally prolific, creative, and versatile. I don't agree with this on most counts, but I think, honestly, that Carr is fine- but you can see the seams easily. He might have been prolific but his formulae are visible and his writing required intentionality on his part. By which I mean- Carr when he's trying to be funny is generally hilarious. Carr when he's trying to be scary is generally spine-tingling. But Carr when he's just trying to get to the next good bit is dull and mechanical. He needs to be paying attention and making an effort in order to be good, and we notice him doing this. Christie never has this problem; even when the actual stuff she's writing isn't high quality, she's never dull. Everything feels purposeful and organic, somehow.
Obviously, all of this is fundamentally subjective, and if there's one redeeming element it's that an incredibly smart lady agrees with me (by my interpretation, at least) and says it extremely well. But I'll be holding on to this one, if nothing else.
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georgestraitpridemonth · 5 months ago
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knives out fans read/reference a classic mystery novelist that isn't agatha christie please
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phireads · 2 months ago
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。𖦹°‧ 𝐌𝐲 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭 ‧°𖦹。
⏾ Witchfinders: A Seventeenth-Century English by Malcolm Gaskill
⏾ The Alienist by Caleb Carr
⏾ The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
⏾ A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
⏾ The Last Seance by Agatha Christie
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witchee1014 · 2 years ago
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Blogging A to Z: Day 12 - Locked Room Mysteries: Cozy mysteries where the crime occurs in a locked room
This blog post explores the tantalizing world of locked room mysteries, a subgenre of cozy mysteries where the crime occurs in a locked room. From the characteristics of these whodunits to famous examples and tips on how to write your own, this post is a
Photo by Jonathan Petersson on Pexels.com Welcome, fellow mystery lovers! Today, we’re diving into the fascinating world of Locked Room Mysteries. These are the cozy mysteries where the crime happens in a locked room – which, let’s be honest, is basically the ultimate party foul. But for us mystery enthusiasts, it’s the perfect setup for a brain-teasing puzzle that’ll have us scratching our…
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hotvintagepoll · 5 months ago
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THE TOURNAMENT IS OVER! Eartha Kitt lounges in her deck chair in the sun, dipping her toes in the pool with Toshiro Mifune and sipping a brightly colored fruity something with an umbrella in it.
Far below in the shadow realm, however, the fallen hotties dance in the dark—let's take a minute to look back at them under the cut.
PRELIM PRETTIES:
Claude Gensac, Silvia Pinal, Ewa Aulin, Rita Tushingham, Annette Funicello, Norma Bengell, Catherine Spaak, Brigitte Auber, Micheline Presle, Nanette Fabray, Libertad Lamarque, Vera Miles, Martha Raye, Catherine McLeod, Virginia Mayo, Elizabeth Allan, Belle Bennet, Virginia Cherill, Mary Brian, Ruth Chatterton, Agnes Ayres, Merna Kennedy, Marie Prevost, Corinne Griffith, May Allison, Virginia Brown Faire, Alice Brady, and Jetta Goudal
ROUND ONE WONDERS:
Angie Dickinson, Thelma Ritter, Geraldine Chaplin, Evelyn Preer, Vanessa Brown, Betty Blythe, Susan Hayward, Mae Clarke, Sally Ann Howes, Ossi Oswalda, Adrienne La Russa, Hermione Gingold, Barbara Bouchet, Melina Mercouri, Anna Karina, Edwige Fenech, Charmian Carr, Pina Pellicer, Marlène Jobert, Tsuru Aoki, Alice Roberts, Leila Hyams, Lady Tsen Mei, Geneviève Bujold, Dolores Hart, Anita Berber, Bonita Granville, Vonetta McGee, Claire Windsor, Zizi Jeanmaire, Tuesday Weld, Grace Darmond, Carol Channing, Deanna Durbin, Laraine Day, Mariette Hartey, Wendy Hiller, Candy Darling, Hermione Baddely, Valeria Creti, Ella Raines, Ann Miller, Dana Wynter, Dalida, Martine Beswick, Gale Storm, Simone Signoret, Cristina Gaioni, Mabel Normand, Stéphane Audran, Ruth Weyher, Anna Wiazemsky, Ann Sheridan, Sandhya Shantaram, Alice White, Anne Francis, Gena Rowlands, Lyda Borelli, May Whitty, Cathleen Nesbitt, Jessica Walter, Virna Lisi, Barbara Shelley, Iris Hall, Heather Angel, Anne Shirley, Joanna Pettet, Virginia O'Brien, Joan Collins, Greer Garson, Gracie Allen, Peggy Ryan, Frances Dee, Shirley Maclaine, Geraldine Farrar, Kathleen Byron, Margaret Hamilton, Eva Gabor, Francesca Bertini, Julie Adams, Olga Baclanova, Misa Uehara, Yvette Vickers, Milena Dravić, Jenny Jugo, Madeleine Carroll, Benita Hume, Olive Borden, Shirley Jones, Miyoshi Umeki, Dorothy Lamour, Gale Sondergaard, Mary Anderson, Charlotte Greenwood, Sybil Seely, Mona Barrie, Kathryn Grayson, Katharine Ross, Madge Bellamy, Rhonda Fleming, Sally Gray, Jana Brejchová, Debra Paget, Madame Sul-Te-Wan, Evelyn Brent, Zelma O'Neal, Marie Laforêt, Türkan Şoray, Beatriz Costa, Irene Zazians, Eleanor Powell, Susan Luckey, Patsy Kelly, Lil Dagover, Norma Talmadge, Dorothy Mackaill, Madge Evans, Virginia McKenna, Amália Rodrigues, Mamie Van Doren, Valerie Hobson, Isabel Jeans, Beata Tyszkiewicz, Claire Luce, Aleksandra Khokhlova, Nieves Navarro Garcia, Janet Leigh, Carmen Miranda, Jean Harlow, Aud Egedge-Nissen, Nina Foch, Jean Simmons, Piper Laurie, Katy Jurado, Jayne Mansfield, Anita Garvin, Frances Farmer, Lizabeth Scott, Joan Greenwood, Una Merkel, Arlene Francis, Ethel Merman, Doris Day, Suzanne Pleshette, Ruta Lee, Carolyn Jones, June Richmond, Eva Nil, Diana Dors, Anna Chang, Colleen Moore, Alexis Smith, Yvette Mimieux, Ruby Keeler, Viola Dana, Dolores Grey, Marie Windsor, Danielle Darieux, Jean Parker, Julie Christie, Acquanetta, Leatrice Joy, Ghita Nørby, Julie Newmar, Joanne Woodward, Sandra Dee, Eva Marie Saint, Simone Simon, Katherine Dunham, Birgitte Price, Lee Grant, Anita Page, Flora Robson, Martha Sleeper, Elsie Ames, Isabel "Coca" Sarli, Glenda Farrell, Kathleen Burke, Linden Travers, Diane Baker, Joan Davis, Joan Leslie, Sylvia Sidney, Marie Dressler, June Lockhart, Emmanuelle Riva, Libertad Leblanc, Susannah Foster, Susan Fleming, Dolores Costello, Ann Smyrner, Luise Rainer, Anna Massey, Evelyn Ankers, Ruth Gordon, Eva Dahlbeck, Ansa Ikonen, Diana Wynyard, Patricia Neal, Etta Lee, Gloria Stuart, Arletty, Dorothy McGuire, Mitzi Gaynor, Gwen Verdon, Maria Schell, Lili Damita, Ethel Moses, Gloria Holden, Kay Thompson, Jeanne Crain, Edna May Oliver, Lili Liliana, Ruth Chatterton, Giulietta Masina, Claire Bloom, Dinah Sheridan, Carroll Baker, Brenda de Banzie, Milú, Hertha Thiele, Hanka Ordonówna, Lillian Roth, Jane Powell, Carol Ohmart, Betty Garrett, Kalina Jędrusik, Edana Romney, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Kay Kendall, Ruth Hussey, Véra Clouzot, Jadwiga Smosarska, Marge Champion, Mary Astor, Ann Harding, María Casares, Maureen O'Sullivan, Mildred Natwick, Michèle Morgan, Romy Schneider, Elisabeth Bergner, Celeste Holm, Betty Hutton, Susan Peters, Mehtab, Leslie Caron, Anna Sten, Janet Munro, Nataša Gollová, Eve Arden, Ida Lupino, Regina Linnanheimo, Sonja Henie, and Terry (what a good girl)
ROUND TWO BEAUTIES:
Evelyn Nesbit, Thelma Todd, Tura Satana, Helen Gibson, Maureen O'Hara, Rocío Dúrcal, Mary Nolan, Lois Maxwell, Maggie Smith, Zulma Faiad, Ursula Andress, Musidora, Delphine Seyrig, Marian Marsh, Leatrice Joy, Sharon Tate, Pina Menichelli, Teresa Wright, Shelley Winters, Lee Remick, Jane Wyman, Martita Hunt, Barbara Bates, Susan Strasberg, Marie Bryant, Diana Rigg, Jane Birkin, Rosalind Russell, Vanessa Redgrave, Brigitte Helm, Gloria Grahame, Rosemary Clooney, Bebe Daniels, Constance Bennett, Lilian Bond, Ann Dvorak, Jeanette Macdonald, Pouri Banayi, Raquel Welch, Vilma Bánky, Dorothy Malone, Olive Thomas, Celia Johnson, Moira Shearer, Priscilla Lane, Dolores del Río, Ann Sothern, Françoise Rosay, June Allyson, Carole Lombard, Jeni Le Gon, Takako Irie, Barbara Steele, Claudette Colbert, Lalita Pawar, Asta Nielsen, Sandra Milo, Maria Montez, Mae West, Alma Rose Aguirre, Bibi Andersson, Joan Blondell, Anne Bancroft, Elsa Lanchester, Nita Naldi, Suchitra Sen, Dorothy Van Engle, Elisabeth Welch, Esther Williams, Loretta Young, Margueritte De La Motte, Ita Rina, Constance Talmadge, Margaret Lockwood, Barbara Bedford, Josette Day, Stefania Sandrelli, Jane Russell, Doris Dowling, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Donna Reed, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands, Billie Burke, Kyōko Kagawa, Françoise Dorléac, Hend Rostom, Monica Vitti, Lilian Harvey, Marjorie Main, Jeanne Moreau, Lola Flores, Ann Blyth, Janet Gaynor, Jennifer Jones, Margaret Sullavan, Sadhana, Ruby Myers, Lotus Long, Honor Blackman, Marsha Hunt, Debbie Reynolds, Michèle Mercier, Irene Dunne, Jean Arthur, Judy Holliday, Tippi Hedren, Susse Wold, Vera-Ellen, Carmelita González, Nargis Dutt, Purnima, Harriet Andersson, Yvonne De Carlo, Miroslava Stern, Sheila Guyse, Helen, Margaret Dumont, Betty Grable, Joan Bennett, Jane Greer, Judith Anderson, Liv Ullman, Vera Zorina, Joan Fontaine, Silvana Mangano, and Lee Ya-Ching
ROUND THREE ELECTRIFIERS:
Jean Hagen, Sumiko Mizukubo, Mary Philbin, Ann-Margret, Margaret Rutherford, Claudia Cardinale, Eleanor Parker, Jessie Matthews, Theresa Harris, Brigitte Bardot, Alla Nazimova, Faye Dunaway, Marion Davies, Anna Magnani, Theda Bara, Myrna Loy, Kay Francis, Fay Wray, Barbra Streisand, Bette Davis, Hideko Takamine, France Nuyen, Claudine Auger, Miriam Hopkins, Maylia Fong, Samia Gamal, Maude Fealy, Machiko Kyō, Sharmila Tagore, Lucille Ball, Ginger Rogers, Juanita Moore, Anna Fougez, Waheeda Rehman, Ruan Lingyu, Nina Mae McKinney, Ethel Waters, Nadira, Olivia de Havilland, Abbey Lincoln, Louise Beavers, Agnes Moorehead, Lana Turner, Norma Shearer, Maria Falconetti, Reiko Sato, Marie Doro, Clara Bow, Margaret Lindsay, Catherine Denueve, Madhabi Mukherjee, Rosaura Revueltas, Hu Die, Mary Pickford, Fredi Washington, Louise Brooks, Leonor Maia, Merle Oberon, Paulette Goddard, Vivien Leigh, Francine Everett, Savitri, Tita Merello, and Meena Kumari
ROUND FOUR STUNNERS:
Judy Garland, Dorothy Dandridge, Yoshiko Yamaguchi, Marilyn Monroe, Irene Papas, Lupe Vélez, Pola Negri, Gene Tierney, Barbara Stanwyck, Gina Lollobrigida, Lena Horne, Nutan, Jean Seberg, Kim Novak, Gladys Cooper, Tallulah Bankhead, Linda Darnell, Julie Andrews, Carmen Sevilla, Gloria Swanson, Glynis Johns, Anne Baxter, Angela Lansbury, Anita Ekberg, Toshia Mori, Deborah Kerr, Hazel Scott, Chelo Alonso, Cyd Charisse, Nancy Kwan, Devika Rani, Shima Iwashita, and Anouk Aimée
ROUND FIVE SMOKESHOWS:
Setsuko Hara, Pearl Bailey, Joan Crawford, Madhubala, Marpessa Dawn, Keiko Awaji, Rita Hayworth, Veronica Lake, Ava Gardner, Greta Garbo, Grace Kelly, Xia Meng, Suraiya, Natalie Wood, María Félix, and Mbissine Thérèse Diop
ROUND SIX SEXY LADIES:
Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, Vyjyanthimala, Jane Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, Josephine Baker, Elizabeth Taylor, and Ingrid Bergman
QUARTER FINALIST GLAMAZONS:
Audrey Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich, Anna May Wong, and Lauren Bacall
SEMIFINALIST ICONS:
Rita Moreno, Diahann Carroll
FINALIST FABULOSITY:
Hedy Lamarr
ULTIMATE CHAMPION OF THE HOT & VINTAGE MOVIE WOMAN TOURNAMENT:
Eartha Kitt
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billboard-hotties-tourney · 5 months ago
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Okay, folks, the mini-tourney is inching closer to the finals, so I'm going to give a list of the competitors in the Miss Billboard Tourney in order to give everyone a chance to submit more propaganda. The nominees are:
Lale Andersen
Marian Anderson
Signe Toly Anderson
Julie Andrews
LaVerne Andrews
Maxene Andrews
Patty Andrews
Ann-Margret
Joan Armatrading
Dorothy Ashby
Joan Baez
Pearl Bailey
Belle Baker
Josephine Baker
LaVern Baker
Florence Ballard
Brigitte Bardot
Eileen Barton
Fontella Bass
Shirley Bassey
Maggie Bell
Lola Beltran
Ivy Benson
Gladys Bentley
Jane Birkin
Cilla Black
Ronee Blakley
Teresa Brewer
Anne Briggs
Ruth Brown
Joyce Bryant
Vashti Bunyan
Kate Bush
Montserrat Caballe
Maria Callas
Blanche Calloway
Wendy Carlos
Cathy Carr
Raffaella Carra
Diahann Carroll
Karen Carpenter
June Carter Cash
Charo
Cher
Meg Christian
Gigliola Cinquetti
Petula Clark
Merry Clayton
Patsy Cline
Rosemary Clooney
Natalie Cole
Judy Collins
Alice Coltrane
Betty Comden
Barbara Cook
Rita Coolidge
Gal Costa
Ida Cox
Karen Dalton
Marie-Louise Damien
Betty Davis
Jinx Dawson
Doris Day
Blossom Dearie
Kiki Dee
Lucienne Delyle
Sandy Denny
Jackie DeShannon
Gwen Dickey
Marlene Dietrich
Marie-France Dufour
Julie Driscoll
Yvonne Elliman
Cass Elliot
Maureen Evans
Agnetha Faeltskog
Marianne Faithfull
Mimi Farina
Max Feldman
Gracie Fields
Ella Fitzgerald
Roberta Flack
Lita Ford
Connie Francis
Aretha Franklin
France Gall
Judy Garland
Crystal Gayle
Gloria Gaynor
Bobbie Gentry
Astrud Gilberto
Donna Jean Godchaux
Lesley Gore
Eydie Gorme
Margo Guryan
Sheila Guyse
Nina Hagen
Francoise Hardy
Emmylou Harris
Debbie Harry
Annie Haslam
Billie Holiday
Mary Hopkin
Lena Horne
Helen Humes
Betty Hutton
Janis Ian
Mahalia Jackson
Wanda Jackson
Etta James
Joan Jett
Bessie Jones
Etta Jones
Gloria Jones
Grace Jones
Shirley Jones
Tamiko Jones
Janis Joplin
Barbara Keith
Carole King
Eartha Kitt
Chaka Khan
Hildegard Knef
Gladys Knight
Sonja Kristina
Patti Labelle
Cleo Laine
Nicolette Larson
Daliah Lavi
Vicky Leandros
Peggy Lee
Rita Lee
Alis Lesley
Barbara Lewis
Abbey Lincoln
Melba Liston
Julie London
Darlene Love
Lulu
Anni-Frid Lyngstad
Barbara Lynn
Loretta Lynn
Vera Lynn
Siw Malmkvist
Lata Mangeshkar
Linda McCartney
Kate McGarrigle
Christie McVie
Bette Midler
Jean Millington
June Millington
Liza Minnelli
Carmen Miranda
Joni Mitchell
Liz Mitchell
Marion Montgomery
Lee Morse
Nana Mouskouri
Anne Murray
Wenche Myhre
Holly Near
Olivia Newton-John
Stevie Nicks
Nico
Laura Nyro
Virginia O’Brien
Odetta
Yoko Ono
Shirley Owens
Patti Page
Dolly Parton
Freda Payne
Michelle Phillips
Edith Piaf
Ruth Pointer
Leontyne Price
Suzi Quatro
Gertrude Rainey
Bonnie Raitt
Carline Ray
Helen Reddy
Della Reese
Martha Reeves
June Richmond
Jeannie C. Riley
Minnie Riperton
Jean Ritchie
Chita Rivera
Clara Rockmore
Linda Ronstadt
Marianne Rosenberg
Diana Ross
Anna Russell
Melanie Safka
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Samantha Sang
Pattie Santos
Hazel Scott
Doreen Shaffer
Jackie Shane
Marlena Shaw
Sandie Shaw
Dinah Shore
Judee Sill
Carly Simon
Nina Simone
Nancy Sinatra
Siouxsie Sioux
Grace Slick
Bessie Smith
Mamie Smith
Patti Smith
Ethel Smyth
Mercedes Sosa
Ronnie Spector
Dusty Springfield
Mavis Staples
Candi Staton
Barbra Streisand
Poly Styrene
Maxine Sullivan
Donna Summer
Pat Suzuki
Norma Tanega
Tammi Terrell
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Big Mama Thornton
Mary Travers
Moe Tucker
Tina Turner
Twiggy
Bonnie Tyler
Sylvia Tyson
Sarah Vaughan
Sylvie Vartan
Mariska Veres
Akiko Wada
Claire Waldoff
Jennifer Warnes
Dee Dee Warwick
Dionne Warwick
Dinah Washington
Ethel Waters
Elisabeth Welch
Kitty Wells
Mary Wells
Juliane Werding
Tina Weymouth
Cris Williamson
Ann Wilson
Mary Wilson
Nancy Wilson
Anna Mae Winburn
Syreeta Wright
Tammy Wynette
Nan Wynn
Those in italics have five or more pieces of usable visual, written, or audio propaganda already. If you have any visuals like photos or videos, or if you have something to say in words, submit it to this blog before round one begins on June 25th!
If you don't see a name you submitted here, it's because most or all of their career was as a child/they were too young for the cutoff, their career was almost entirely after 1979, or music was something they only dabbled in and are hardly known for. There are quite a few ladies on the list whose primary career wasn't "recording artist" or "live musician," but released several albums or were in musical theater, so they've been accepted.
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panelshowsource · 1 year ago
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britcom comedians & panel show personalities who share your sign
AQUARIUS ♒ dara ó briain • frank skinner • glenn moore • guz khan • hugh dennis • lucy porter • maisie adam • mark watson • phil wang • vic reeves
PISCES ♓ aisling bea • alan davies • dave gorman • ed gamble • jenny eclair • katy wix • michael mcintyre • rose matafeo
ARIES ♈ andy parsons • desiree burch • ed byrne • gary delaney • jamali maddix • john kearns • josh widdicombe • josie long • roisin conaty • romesh ranganathan • rory bremner
TAURUS ♉ al murray • alex brooker • catherine tate • greg davies • joe wilkinson • john robins • mae martin • milton jones • morgana robinson • rhys james • rob brydon • sally phillips • sandi toksvig • sean lock • stephen mangan
GEMINI ♊ alan carr • bob mortimer • david baddiel • fern brady • judi love • julian clary • london hughes • mel giedroyc • noel fielding • paul sinha • rich hall • richard ayoade • sara pascoe • sarah millican • shappi khorsandi • sindhu vee • tom allen
CANCER ♋ adam hills • alice levine • david mitchell • katherine ryan • harriet kemsley • ian hislop • jack whitehall • joe lycett • paul merton • peter serafinowicz • phill jupitus • rosie jones
LEO ♌ bridget christie • cariad lloyd • chris ramsey • daisy may cooper • frankie boyle • isy suttie • lee mack • jo brand • nish kumar • victoria coren mitchell
VIRGO ♍ alex horne • dane baptiste • darren harriott • ivo graham • jimmy carr • johnny vegas • lolly adefope • miles jupp • nina conti • stephen fry • sue perkins • tim key
LIBRA ♎ diane morgan • harry hill • jack dee • jon richardson • limmy • nick helm • rhod gilbert • robert webb • tiff stevenson • zoe lyons
SCORPIO ♏ angela barnes • chris addison • elis james • ellie taylor • holly walsh • liza tarbuck • jonathan ross • kerry godliman • kevin bridges • matt forde • mike wozniak • sofie hagen • susan calman
SAGITTARIUS ♐ adam riches • david o'doherty • jessica knappett • larry dean • miranda hart • richard osman • seann walsh • simon amstell • steven k. amos
CAPRICORN ♑ ahir shah • angus deayton • bill bailey • claudia winkleman • james acaster • mark lamarr • paul foot • rob beckett • suzi ruffell
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alwaysalreadyangry · 3 months ago
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my comfort listening while Tom is away in Edinburgh seeing shows and I’m trying to cut out the caffeine because it’s making my OCD worse again: the Bodies from the Library anthologies, made up of otherwise forgotten/unpublished stories by writers from the era of classic crime fiction.
cannot express enough how wild these books are. i finished 2 tonight and am now a good chunk of the way through 3, after previously having listened to 4? i think? and a spinoff called Ghosts from the Library which is actually the best so far because it’s ghost stories and related spooky stories by writers of classic crime. they’re all weird and fun. but i digress.
what’s great about these anthologies is that like so in each one if you’re lucky you’re going to get an agatha christie story and a dorothy l sayers story. will they feature their famous detectives? maybe! maybe it’ll just be a fantasia about some guy getting drugged and arranging for a mysterious agency to murder his wife!
but along with the writers you’ve actually heard of, my other fav actually good writer from this era is edmund crispin and he turns up here too, you’ll get a whole load of stories by totally forgotten writers and they’re mad. my favourite so far is one about somebody dressing up as a scarecrow to commit murders. it’s called something like the scarecrow murders. they’re all titled something like that and you wonder if it’s a bit of whimsy referring to a motif. no. the scarecrow did it.
and then there are the writers with a very specific niche. like oh yes this woman worked as a doctor and wrote eight novels about murders in hospitals. yes she was a horrible racist. yes this story is about how criminality runs in families. yes there’s a reason why nobody reads her now. but also it’s about weird pranks at a hospital and how if a nurse is too conscientious everybody will hate her and it’ll get her killed.
then there are the stories by your john dickson carrs of this world; the writers you may or may not have heard of (he’s the most famous but there are others like this) whose whole thing is constructing the MOST labyrinthine and incomprehensible mysteries you’ve ever come across. oh what you thought the maltese falcon was too simple? sit down while john dickson carr makes you read a list of characters and their various different names, all french for some reason, so he can unravel a locked room mystery that involves layers of impersonation and disguise so byzantine that at the midway point you’ll feel like you have to start again so you can even understand who it is that’s been murdered.
it’s making my brain melt and it is scratching the same kind of itch that x-men comics do in that like. does this plot make sense? no. can i explain it to you? also no. but i am having a LOT of fun.
oh and shout out to christopher cauldwell who has a story in here very much in the niche of mysteries about planes written by somebody who had written books about planes so he’s kind of making his niche interests everybody else’s problem, but he’s got the best and maybe most moving bio of all the writers in these books that i’ve come across so far as it’s like. he joined the communist party, took an ambulance to spain in the civil war, and was killed in battle as he stayed with his machine gun to cover his retreating comrades. is his story “good”? i mean it’s fairly middling in terms of these anthologies. but what a life!
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popculturebrain · 6 months ago
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mariacallous · 1 month ago
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So I need some book recommendation help, my nephew's birthday is coming up, he'll be 14 and I like to get books so I asked if there was anything he was looking for or genres he enjoyed, and he came back with "murder mystery" and name dropped The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell as one he enjoyed. Now thrillers, police/detective, crime novels, murder mysteries, are all totally outside my wheelhouse, the only things close to that I've ever read are Rivers of London and The Yiddish Policemen's Union which clearly I was reading for reasons that don't really have to do with police/detective stuff, but you love an Agatha Christie, soooo what in your view are great crime/detective thriller/mysteries because I want to aim high and get something good.
It depends on how many Agatha Christie's or other murder mystery novels he's read, but if he likes The Family Upstairs, he may enjoy Christie's Crooked House or Ordeal by Innocence or The Sittaford Mystery or Dumb Witness or Sad Cypress or Sleeping Murder
Francis Iles's Before The Fact would be another one I might recommend, as well as Ethel Lina White's Fear Stalks The VIllage, E.C.R. Lorac's Post After Post-Mortem and These Names Make Clues, Ngaio Marsh's Surfeit of Lampreys, A Man Lay Dead, and Light Thickens. Dorothy L. Sayer's Unnatural Death, Strong Poison, and Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club.
Lucy Foley's The Guest List and The Hunting Party, John Dickson Carr's The Case of the Constant Suicides.
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miscellaneousjo · 17 days ago
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Introducing my OC: The daughter of General Hux and Captain Phasma! I haven't gotten to this part of my fanfic universe yet, but I wanted to show people my awesome OC.
Quotev Link:
Full Name: Brienne Gwendoline Hux (yes, she was named after Brienne of Tarth and Gwendoline Christie. In my AU the characters and the actors are separate people and they're all good friends with eachother, almost to the point of being siblings. Hux and Phasma also thought the name had an air of strength and sophistication to it, so yeah).
Nickname: Bri
Sex: Female
Species: Human
Homeworld(s): Arkanis, Parnassos (in my AU, at this point they're working on making Parnassos habitable again, and had made significant progress by the time she was born, so she considers both planets her home planet, even though she mostly only goes to Parnassos for family functions and vacations).
Time Period: Post-Sequel Era.
Family: Armitage Hux, Phasma (Parents), Brendol Hux(Grandfather, and yes, he's alive, unfortunately), Rae Sloane (Grandmother-figure), Keldo (Uncle), Frey (cousin), Torben, Siv, Gosta, Carr, Ylva (Aunt and Uncle figures), Torbi (Cousin-figure), Rey Skywalker, Ben Solo, Finn, Rose Tico, Poe Dameron, Zorii Bliss (Aunt and Uncle figures), Other Sequel-Squad kids (Cousin figures).(Yes, the Scyre Clan is alive and well in this AU. The people of Parnassos are very good at faking their deaths, I guess, lol. Also, as I always say, THE POWER OF FANFICTION!!!).
Relationship With Family: 
Parents: Bri loves her parents very much, and strives to make them proud, but this pressure can sometimes get to her head (This makes her similar to her cousin-figure, Hope). Her father doesn't want her to be pressured, and doesn't need her to be the best at anything in order to earn and maintain his love. Hux doesn't want his daughter to end up like him, and doesn't want her to resent him like he resents his father. Bri knows this, and doesn't resent her father one bit, but still feels pressured to be the best. Phasma spoils Bri a little, but makes sure she doesnt take it for granted: after all, Phasma didn't have any of the luxuries Bri has growing up. Phasma makes sure Bri knows how to protect herself, and Hux is always happy to help her with her homework. They're both very protective of her, as she is their only child and they don't want to lose her (they dont exactly baby her, but sometimes it can feel that way). They're not the 'rub some dirt in it' kind of parents when she gets hurt. Instead they make sure she's okay and patch her up (or if Auntie Siv is around, have her patch her up), always reminding her that what doesn't kill her only makes her stronger. 
Grandfather: Bri resents her grandfather for bullying and abusing her father. She wishes he stayed dead after her parents killed him the first time. Brendol keeps trying to insert himself into her life so he can manipulate her, but Bri and her family are having none of it. 
Grandmother-figure: ​​​​Bri looks up to Rae Sloane, and aspires to be strong and confident like her and Phasma. She also appreciates her for looking out for her father. Rae is more of a grandmother to Bri than both of her father's biological parents combined.
Uncle Keldo: ​​​Keldo is a lot more cautious and less violent than Phasma, and tries to instill these values in Bri. However, he must acknowledge that it is better to be prepared for violence, and have it not occur, than naively assume it won't happen. This is something he has learned from Phasma; its better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war (I saw that quote on Pinterest somewhere). 
Other Aunts and Uncles: Bri is very close with the entire Scyre clan, and they all dote on her, like they did for Frey. The rest of her aunts and uncles love her, and Finn especially loves telling Bri the story about how he threw her mom in the trash compactor. Phasma jokes that Finn is actually Bri's brother, which Finn hates (Bri also jokes about Finn being her brother, just to mess with him, but Finn definitely takes on a more Uncle role for her). Torben would give her piggy back rides when she was little, and can still pull it off as she gets older. Siv was usually the one to patch her up when she scraped her knee or got other injuries while visiting Parnassos.
Cousins/Cousin Figures: (Also for AU info Frey got reset to 5 when she was resurrected and Torbi got set to 3, because idk fanfiction logic). Bri looks up to Frey very much, and admires her greatly. Frey, in turn, admires her Aunt Phasma, so it's a familial zig-zag of admiration (that probably sounds stupid, lol). Frey teaches Bri how to stand up for herself and how to be confident. Bri and Torbi would play a lot with Frey growing up (or for Frey and Torbi, growing up again) and would go on 'adventures' exploring the woods surrounding the Hux estate on Arkanis, or the rocky spires of the Scyre Territory on Parnassos. They never went too far, though, at least not without an adult. Frey knew better than to wander too far from the safety of adults, and she wasn't about to put her little cousins in danger. At least, not on purpose.
-There was one incident where, while exploring the woods surrounding the Hux estate, the girls lost track of time, and before they knew it, it was dark. They got lost, and Frey ended up starting a fire to keep everyone warm while they figured out how to get back. Thankfully, they weren't gone too long, as Phasma went out and rescued the girls. She wasn't mad, but told all three girls to keep better track of time next time.
Anyway, Bri is also really close with the rest of the Sequel Squad's kids, espscially her older cousin-figure Hope Solo. They both feel they have a lot to live up to with their parents being who they are, and as they grow up, they learn from experience and eachother to not let the pressure get to them.
Friends: Frey, Torbi, all the Sequel-Squad kids. They grew up together, so it only makes sense.
Enemies: Snoke, Palps, Grampa Brendol (as she calls her paternal grandfather), Captain Cardinal.
Reason for being enemies: Snoke and Palps should be a no-brainer, for all the stuff they did to the galaxy and her family and friends. Brendol because of all the horrible things he's done to her father. Cardinal because of all the stuff he did to her mother's family as 'revenge' against Phasma (I'd recommend reading my fanfic "Star Wars Academy" to get more context, not just for this but the whole AU:
Lover: N/A (Hux and Phasma joke that she's not allowed to date until she's 30).
Appearance: Curly red hair (because any Hux must have red hair, IT'S THE LAW) that goes to about her shoulder blades. Usually she leaves it down or in a low ponytail. Sky blue eyes, with a very intense stare (like her mom). Pale skin with freckles sprinkled across her cheeks. She's about 6'2, right between her parents in height, so she's pretty tall. She's got an Amazonian build, much like her mother.
Usual Clothes: Black tanktop, fingerless gloves, armband with Norse runes (to call back to the Scyre Clan being partly inspired by viking culture). Gray camo pants with lots of pockets (to fit all your weapons, of course!), Black Combat boots. Belt with a holster for a blaster and pockets for knives (her mother taught her there's no such thing as too many weapons). On cooler days she'll wear a long sleeve black shirt and/or a black sweater. 
Accessories: Chromium cuff bracelets (think Wonder Woman's bulletproof bracelets). Pearl earrings. 
Tattoos/Birthmarks/Freckles/Moles/Scars: Freckles sprinkled across her cheeks, a few stray scars from various childhood adventures, mostly on/around her elbows and knees, with a few on her hands as well. One notable scar is on the side of her lower right leg, from scraping it really bad on one of the rocky spires on Parnassos (it ended up needing stitches, thankfully Siv wasn't too far). She has another faint one on her left cheek from falling face-first on the ground, also on Parnassos. Later on she sustains some more scars on other parts of her body from the occasional skirmishes. Phasma calls Bri's scars her 'battle scars'. 
Abilities: Bri has been trained in a variety of weapons by her mother, and seems to be best with knives. She's very skilled with blasters as well. She's also skilled at hand-to-hand combat to the point where she can break bones with her bare hands if her opponent isnt careful. She's also fairly academically smart, thanks to her father, and well-versed in battle strategy.
Personality: Bri is a very loud and bold person, and is very confident and sassy. She's quick-witted and headstrong. But deep down, she is also insecure about her abilities, and is a major perfectionist. She is always striving for perfection, and can burn herself out if she isn't stopped. She'll spend all night studying or practicing or working out, and one or both of her parents have to get her to go to bed. Sometimes her desire to prove herself can lead her to be reckless and bite off more than she can chew, and either her parents or some other family member need to come rescue her, which only furthers her insecurity. But as she and her cousin Hope grow older, they both learn to overcome their insecurities, partly from eachother. 
Introvert/Extrovert/Ambivert: Extrovert. 
Good Traits: Confident, quick-witted, headstrong, independent, smart, proud, reliable, brave, loyal, observant (especially in combat, i.e. scanning for weaknesses), hard working, 
Bad Traits: Insecure, perfectionist, a bit reckless, overly-independent, loud, sassy (sometimes coming off as sarcastic), a bit impulsive, impatient, can sometimes come off as aggressive when she's angry, overworker.
Likes: The outdoors, rock-climbing, exploring, boxing (she ends up on her school's female boxing team in her teenage years, and later becomes captain of the team, and yes, that is a reference to her mother's rank in the war), being independent and self-sufficient, action movies, history books, especially war stories, seafood, shiny things.
Dislikes: Losing her independence, failure, being not good enough, bullies, stormtrooper helmets (they block her vision, she doesnt understand how her mom could work in them), needles (not necessarily a fear, just a dislike),
Strengths: Being physically fit, she is skilled in both armed and hand-to-hand combat. She's also well-versed in battle strategy, and fairly academically intelligent.
Weaknesses: Her need to prove herself can cause her to be reckless, which can get her into trouble. Her overconfidence is her weakness (yes, that is another reference), leading her to take on more than she is capable of. She overworks to the point of being harmful.
Hobbies: Hiking, rock and tree climbing, boxing, target-practicing (blasters, throwing knives, bow & arrow, you name it), reading,
Fun Facts:
-Rumor has it her first word was 'murder'. She and her parents neither confirm nor deny this.
-When she was little she called Frey 'Frey-Frey', which everyone finds super cute.
-She's inherited her mom's appreciation for shiny things.
-She's also a major cat person (of course).
-When she was first brought home from the hospital, Millicent looked at her curiously, and then did that super cute forehead-touch thing. Immediate connection, and it's adorable.
So yeah, that's Brienne :)
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o-uncle-newt · 11 months ago
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Cabin Pressure Advent Day 16: Paris
PAAAAAARRRRRRIIIISSSS!
There are not words for how much I love this episode, there really aren't. I actually listened to it early this morning because I was so excited, and then had to deal with a difficult personal situation and was like "oh dang I wish I hadn't listened to it yet so I could cheer up from it now!" But I had, so I listened to Hot Desk (from Double Acts) instead. Also very effective.
Anyway- I love everything about this episode, because I LOVE Golden Age mysteries! I'm not super well read on all the different authors, but I've had a lot of fun over the years reading Conan Doyle (and Poe and Wilkie Collins, if we're going that far back), Chesterton, Christie, and more recently Sayers, and even more recently have read a smattering as well of John Dickson Carr, Margery Allingham, Anthony Berkeley, and a bunch of others. To digress a little, I highly highly recommend Martin Edwards's excellent book The Golden Age of Murder and his wonderful short-story anthology compilations and reprints- it really got me on a kick of trying to read a bit more broadly in the genre after discovering how much I loved reading a few specific authors growing up. It's been really rewarding and I highly recommend it!
Now, the thing with Paris is that the popular backstory is "John Finnemore had Benedict Cumberbatch on the show, he became famous as Sherlock on Sherlock, Finnemore thought it would be funny to do a mystery themed one as a result, and so we have Marin Crieff as "Miss Marple." Which is apparently not UNtrue per se, but JF himself has said that he always planned to do a mystery episode. Which makes sense, as in the first link just now JF makes clear that Golden Age mysteries are his "trashy fiction of choice," about which I can only say amen!
Which is what makes the episode so great- because it's super clear what kind of love for the genre he put into the episode as a result. There's the Christie- obviously the Miss Marple references but also the "gathering everyone together in the parlor" thing (which she doesn't do ALL the time... but she does PRETTY often lol). There's obviously the Conan Doyle reference, which is "snappily put," as Douglas says. There's a fun reference to Raffles- who may not be a detective himself but is definitely a cousin to the whodunnit genre (or shall we say brother-in-law, as he was Conan Doyle's...), and there's "Crieff of the Yard," which is a phrase that I'm confident has a basis in detective writing but that I'm not able to pinpoint, which is annoying. Arthur's example of the monkey at the circus also evokes a few stories of MASSIVELY varying quality involving unlikely murderous animals, which is always fun. (And parenthetically, while there are no Sayers references that I can find, I will say that I continue to be confident that the dog-collar plotline in Here's What We Do from Double Acts is a reference to the dog-collar plotline in Gaudy Night. He has never confirmed it but like, how could it not be? Or at least so I tell myself.)
But all of that is window dressing- the episode itself is a beautifully written impossible crime mystery, and I love that about it. JF has mentioned that he likes John Dickson Carr, who was big for locked room mysteries/impossible crimes- though loads of writers wrote them (including, incidentally, AA Milne, who you likely know better from Winnie the Pooh, who wrote a fun early example of the genre that you can read here for free because of that magical phenomenon, copyright expiration). And this episode is just such a good example of one that it makes me wish that JF would get into the whodunnit-writing game more broadly (beyond his Cain's Jawbone sequel). If Richard Osman can do it...!
In one of the above-linked blogposts, JF mentions that it's "pleasing how naturally my main cast fitted into familiar roles from the detective fiction genre - the meticulous detective, his devoted assistant, his no nonsense boss… and his nemesis, the Napoleon of crime." Which is awesome, but I think there's even more there. I particularly love that it's an impossible crime mystery in a closed circle. While there's a genre of whodunnit where you have the corpse or whatever and have to cast a wide net to find witnesses and clues, writers there often either have to make the potential dead ends in the detective work REALLY interesting or rely a lot on coincidence. Closed circle crimes (like ones at a country house or within a workplace or somewhere with guards at all the doors or something like that) can help mystery writers focus in on the story without having to worry too much about the logistics of "why these people?" and it's why you get so many mysteries set on trains or ships or islands or whatever. And an airplane is one of the best closed circles there is, because unless you're DB Cooper you're not getting out. Agatha Christie did an early one in Death in the Clouds which is a lot of fun, and this episode is a great example.
The fun thing about closed circle whodunnits and impossible crime mysteries is that the whole point of them is that usually, the author is just straight up lying to you. There's a vent for a snake to go through, or a secret doorway to the outside, or the time when the door was locked or the circle was closed isn't actually when the crime took place, but a fake gunshot makes you think it was. And that's why I love this so much- because the author/liar of the mystery is Douglas. He's the genre savvy one. He's the one who's lying, he's the one who's turning it all into a whodunnit, and he's waiting to see if he can get away with it. He's the Napoleon of Crime- and a Columbo villain setting up the false trail that he hopes Columbo will fall for.
Because... and JF notes this in both blog posts... there's no mystery here! Obviously Douglas did it. The point here is that this episode is like if Columbo was as dumb as he seemed and the criminal managed to lead him down the garden path and got away with it. It's "what if Poirot were a moron but still had to solve the murder of Roger Ackroyd." Douglas is the one who creates an impossible crime scheme, anticipates that he'll still be suspected because, well, he's him, and manages to come up with alternative scenarios- including ones that open the seemingly closed circle of the crime- that are convincing enough to throw Martin off the scent. Without him, it would just be "so how did Douglas do it this time?"
Now, the impossible crime is still important, because while we all kind of know that Douglas did it, we still don't know how he did it. And from that perspective alone, JF's impossible crime puzzle is genius. The clues that he drops are really interesting (I'm not 100% sure I see the nail polish bottle as being fair play, but plenty of whodunnits aren't so I don't really care) and it's something that, even as we see Douglas writing a whole separate decoy mystery (reminiscent of his decoy apple juice?) on top of his own scheme, keeps us intrigued throughout even once it becomes pretty clear that Douglas has been snowing all of them. So all of that is fun- but it's far more fun with all the other tropes and schemes and false trails laid on top of it, giving it so many more dimensions.
And then, at the end, nobody solves it- the detective's reveal, after all the carefully left false trails, comes from the thief himself.
It's just... so beautiful. Ahhhh.
I feel like (and one of the blog posts mentions this) that there's a question of whether Douglas actually pulled it off, particularly in the context of whether Martin would really need to pay Carolyn at the end. My opinion is: practically, yes, Douglas stole the whiskey. If Birling hadn't offered them the cufflinks, he'd never have revealed his trick and he'd have had ample opportunity the rest of the trip to empty his decoy apple juice in the sink, replace it with whiskey, and fill up the bottle with cheap whiskey from the plane's bar or the Paris airport duty free. (Or whatever his plan was- but that seems plausible.) Carolyn would have never known once they returned. And the episode leaves open whether practically speaking Martin actually does have to pay Carolyn, but thematically... yes, of course he does, the whole question here is "is Douglas the organ grinder" and the answer is that he obviously is. The monkey's gotta pay up!
I love, incidentally, so many more things about this episode- the humor, Mr Birling, the ways in which everything is so true to character, basically everything about Arthur... but I've already gone on long enough.
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sixofravens-reads · 5 months ago
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Finished The Decagon House Murders!
It was...okay. Like the mystery was all right (pretty sure it was an Agatha Christie ripoff tho), but I didn't really feel any connection with the characters. Van, Carr, and Leroux kept getting confused in my mind because we learn a couple small facts about them but other than that, they don't really behave distinctly (except Van at the end I guess). Poe was a doctor. Agatha and Orczy were total pretty girl/ugly girl stereotypes. Ellery was obnoxious. Literally NONE of them mentioned the girl they supposedly murdered* until near the end, except Orczy who dies first. It seems like "hey, that girl who died had the same last name as the people who owned this house, maybe this is some weird revenge since people think we were responsible" should have occurred to them earlier.
(*apparently she died after drinking too much even though she had a heart condition. which like, it seems a bit much for multiple characters to blame the people at the party with her because they egged her on. they're all dumb college kids but also they probably didn't know about her condition and if she didn't speak up for herself how can they be held accountable? anyway.)
The mainland scenes with Kawaminami were all right, and provided backstory and context, but I think some of that heavy lifting should've been done by the island crew. They basically do nothing except drink coffee and die, minus a couple walks to the ruins.
TLDR: decent mystery, but don't go into it expecting fully fleshed out characters or a particularly sensible plot. It did make me want to read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie though. The only Christie I've experienced so far is seeing The Mousetrap last fall, but I found that much more engaging than this book.
Now, onto Sorcery of Thorns! Started that one in 2021 when I last rented it, but had to send it back half finished because I rented too many books at once and stressed out too much (alas, history repeats itself). Hoping to finish it this time, though!
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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 6 months ago
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I’ve overlooked some stuff to get into the Perfect Brains podcast, with Lucy Beaumont and Sam Campbell. Only little things, no hardline dealbreakers. But I do find Lucy Beaumont funny enough so I’m willing to put some work into pretending I haven’t heard her explain, in a non-jokey interview where she was not “in character” and being completely serious, that she genuinely believes a bunch of the weirder shit about great works of art being secretly made by ghosts. Stuart Goldsmith gave her so many opportunities to say she meant it metaphorically or it’s part of her comedy persona, and she swore up and down that it’s a sincerely held belief. Normally knowing that would be enough to make it hard for me to take seriously anything someone says – this is why I’ve never got into Lou Sanders’ stand-up even though I enjoy her on panel shows. I’m not a hypocrite about it, picking and choosing what sincerely-held wild beliefs will put me off someone – Frank Skinner’s hard line on Christianity would be enough to make it hard for me to take him seriously, even if the “marrying a teenager thing” hadn’t already ruined him for me. (This is a tangent on a tangent, but it’s not like I have a problem with every religious comedian, Bridget Christie made a fascinating radio series about how she tries to reconcile her doubts and questions about the literal truth of her Christian beliefs and I can well understand how someone would have that mentality. I just have trouble connecting any of my own thoughts to those of someone who seems to believe stuff like that uncritically. Also Frank Skinner’s a dick.)
This is a way in which comedy is different from something like music or acting or some other category of celebrity. I find it difficult to connect a comedian’s material if I feel like there is too much of a massive, fundamental gap between their worldview and mine. I don’t need to agree with a comedian on everything to find them funny. Some of my favourite comedians are nothing at all like me, live very different lives and believe very different things. But there are some issues that I consider foundational, and if I differ from someone on those issues, it’s hard to get into their comedy. Obviously that depends on the type of comedy too – I can watch someone act in a surreal sketch even if they think they moon landing was faked, and it won’t bother me. But if that person is going to stand at a microphone and tell me their observations about dating sites or whatever, I will spend the whole time thinking, "Yeah but you think the moon landing was faked, how much stock can I put into what you think about anything else? I don’t need to hear what amusing connections your mind has made, because I don’t think your brain operates on the same plane of reality as mine." Whereas a person who thinks the moon landing was faked could make great music and I’ll enjoy that with no problem.
But Lucy Beaumont is very funny, and because of that, I’ve been willing to take those two things – Lucy Beaumont is very funny and Lucy Beaumont genuinely believes things on a different plane of reality from me – lift them both above the cognitive dissonance, and put them next to each other my mind, allowing me to enjoy the thoughts that come from her brain anyway.
I’m overlooking some other stuff too, in order to enjoy the Perfect Brains podcast. Like SamCam being friends with/generally venerating, as a person and as a comedian, Jimmy Carr. I don’t even know which of those two things are worse. I mean, I do, obviously venerating a guy like Jimmy Carr as a person is worse than just having bad taste in comedy. But it is weird to me that a comedian as funny as Sam Campbell can think Jimmy Carr’s comedy is funny, even if you ignore him being a terrible person in real life. But again, I’m looking past it, because someone liking Jimmy Carr is not not quite bad enough to be a complete dealbreaker (but if he comes out in favour of Ricky Gervais I’m done), and Campbell is very fucking funny.
Having said all that. The most recent episode of the Perfect Brains podcast was very funny, it’s impressive that they’re still meeting their high standards even after seven episodes (I’ve found maybe two of the episodes fell a bit below, but given how very fucking high that standard laugh rate has been, keeping it up for five of seven episodes is impressive), I’m enjoying it a lot. But in that most recent one, Lucy Beaumont did pull out a conspiracy theory that in this case isn’t just harmlessly kooky, it’s actively racist (the one about aliens building pyramids, and she even threw in a little comment about those aliens providing a civilizing influence). If I heard that bit of the podcast out of context, I’d probably assume Lucy was making a joke, when she said she believes that. But having heard her say in other contexts that she truly believes this stuff, I’m pretty sure she meant that one too.
It'd be good if she’d stop that. I’m trying to enjoy a comedy podcast, it’s requiring a certain amount of compartmentalization and turning down the cognitive dissonance, and she is making it harder when she pulls out the actual racist ones. Please stop it, Lucy. Don’t ruin this for me.
Having said that, I do feel a bit hypocritical for taking issue with anything else while I listen to The Ray Peacock Podcast at the same time. Enjoying that one does mean I lose the high ground to criticize most other things on the grounds of being offensive (I can still think Jimmy Carr is both a dick and not funny, though, as he is both more offensive than that podcast, and, crucially, much much much less funny).
I will say that if there’s anyone out there who has a problem with current Frankie Boyle because of some shit he said in 2007, then that’s understandable, but if you hold that view while being fine with current Ed Gamble, there are some flaws in your internal logical consistency. I say this as someone who’s a big, unapologetic fan of current Frankie Boyle, and an apologetic, guilty pleasure fan of Mock the Week-era Frankie Boyle (also an apologetic, guilty pleasure fan of Frankie Boyle-era Mock the Week). I’m not saying you’re wrong if you have a problem with this – in fact you’re absolutely right and you have better principles than I do. I’m just saying you should hear some of the shit that wholesome food podcasting Ed Gamble was saying in 2007, if you're going to hold 2007 against Frankie Boyle.
You cannot hold people to everything they said in 2007. Believe me, I wish you could. But you can't.
I am also a big fan of both 2007 and 2024 Ed Gamble. It was fucking jarring today to go straight from listening to Ed on The Ray Peacock Podcast to the latest Taskmaster podcast, but I greatly enjoyed both. His current stand-up isn’t really for me; as I’ve said before, there must be some middle ground level of edge in between the stuff with Ray Peacock, and his current stand-up about weddings and drag brunches. The middle ground is probably the sweet spot, but personally I prefer the 2007 stuff. Having said that, I still hugely enjoy Ed Gamble as the Taskmaster podcast host, think he’s incredibly entertaining most times he turns up on other people’s podcasts or panel shows, I love getting to virtually/vicariously/parasocially spend time with him even if I don’t love his actual material. As I’ve also said before – of the two Off Menu guys (a podcast I don’t listen to despite liking both guys, because I just don’t want to hear that much about food), I’d much rather have a ticket to James Acaster’s stand-up, but I’d much rather be friends with Ed Gamble. And James does come out on top there, because neither of them want to be friends with me, but I'm sure they'd both like me to buy tickets to their stand-up.
This post has rambled quite a lot, and I'm not entirely sure what the point was. But I think the point was that I'd like to hear less about Lucy Beaumont's belief in conspiracy theories that are grounded in racism, even though of course I know Lucy Beaumont is not personally subscribing to them for racist reasons. And Jimmy Carr can fuck off for a multitude of reasons. That's the other point.
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