This and that, Saturday edition

by chuckofish

Another week has flown by, and I confess that I have little to show for it. Perhaps that’s what made it so pleasant. I avoided the office, puttered around the house, and read bits of everything from Alan Furst and P.G. Wodehouse to a new study of the Peloponnesian War, a book on world funerary customs, and the Oxford Book of Death. Sometimes it’s impossible to settle on one thing.

Though I spent a lot of time absorbed in the activities just mentioned, I did get out a little. The DH and I drove to Plattsburgh to turn in our old CRV and get a new one. We got exactly the same model and color (“obsidian blue pearl”) as the last one.

Can you tell which is which? Believe it or not, the new one is on top. The main “upgrade”, other than the protruding tail-lights, is the absence of a CD player. Apparently such things are now obsolete. Sigh.

On another note, I did find a good TV show to watch on Amazon Prime. It’s a 2011 BBC mystery called Case Histories, starring Jason Isaacs as a private-eye, who specializes in finding people.

The premise is nothing new: haunted ex-cop struggles to deal with his traumatic past, his recent divorce, and his current case load. Some elements may remind you of Ian Rankin’s Rebus novels and J.K. Rowling’s Cormoran Strike series. Case Histories’ main character, Jackson Brodie, isn’t an alcoholic or drug addict, and he just deals with his problems as best he can. How refreshing. Though the show naturally entails some violence, its depiction isn’t particularly graphic. Filmed and set in Edinburgh, the locations are stunning. If you want good characters (by which I mean admirable and interesting), and plots that tie everything together, give it a look. I give it two thumbs up.

And finally, a blast from the past. I discovered that YouTube has complete episodes of the 1960s TV show, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, starring Hope Lange, Edward Mulhare, Reta Shaw, and Charles Nelson Reilly! I remember watching the show and admiring both handsome Edward Mulhare and lovely Hope Lange, who had perfect clothes and hair.

Check it out here.

Have a mellow weekend!