My Current Interest

                I’m a little hesitant to write about this show.   It’s not because there is anything wrong with it.   My hesitancy is all about the fact that I have not seen the episodes in order.   That is a hang up of mine.   I like to watch and read series from the very beginning and not start in the middle.   However, when I find a show because of weekly marathons on TV, being able to begin at the beginning is out of my control.   My only option is to watch the show out of order until I decide to get the DVDs.   Then I can see each episode as I would like.   Until then, I’m going to enjoy CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in any order it arrives.                 Even though this show has been on for years and there are plenty of episodes to air, the ones I have seen most frequently are the re...

                  I don’t know why, but I have a tendency to find some of my favorite TV shows by accident.   The Doctor Blake Mysteries is a show I happened to find because I left PBS on.   I can’t remember what I was watching before it, but the little I saw when Dr. Blake came on made me intrigued and I didn’t change the channel.   Instead I fell asleep not far in.   It’s not that the show was boring, I was tired.   So the next week, when Doctor Blake was on again, I decided to give it another try.   This time I stayed awake and ever since I have looked forward to every single episode.   Unfortunately, since I don’t have a source to rent this show on DVD, the only way I can watch it is when it airs on PBS.   If I miss an episode, I have to try and find a re-airing if there is one.   This is not always easy, but it is definitely worth it.   ...

                  I did not come across Garden of Lies on my own.   My mother gave it to me.   She had read it and thought I might like it.   I certainly did.   The book mixes two things I really enjoy: historical fiction and mysteries.   Set in Victorian London the book definitely got the historical fiction part down.   As for the mystery, it is probably one of the best I have read in quite awhile.                                   Ursula Kern does not believe her friend commit suicide.   Anne made a good living working for Ursula’s secretarial agency and always came into the office happy.   There’s nothing to lead one to think she would take her own life.   At least not anyone that really knew her. ...

                   If for some odd reason Eddie Redmayne had not been nominated for the Best Actor Oscar this year (this would have been a travesty, by the way), I fully believe the award should have gone to Benedict Cumberbatch.   His work in The Imitation Game is absolutely fantastic, and had this film not come out the same year as The Theory of Everything , I’m sure Mr. Cumberbatch would have won quite a few awards.   He, and the rest of the cast, did such a beautiful job with this story.   They easily could have taken the story of a man who has long lived in the shadows and either glorified or vilified him, but instead did neither. They made him simply a man.   A genius, but a man all the same.                   It’s World War II and the British military is desperately trying to figure...

                 I will admit, I am torn about this series.   The mysteries are fantastic.   When I get to that part of the novel, all I want to do is push everything aside and read.   Nothing is more important than solving the mystery and figuring out who the culprit is along with Inspector Armand Gamache and his second in command, Jean Guy Beauvoir.   Gamache and Beauvoir are great characters.   They remind me of Barnaby and Troy from Midsomer Murders , which so far is still my favorite combination of detectives.                 Then we move on to everybody else.   While there are a few other characters in these novels that I like, I can’t say there are many.   This makes it hard to read the novels, but I keep finding myself reserving the next book because the mysteries are so good.   I ...

             I don’t know why, but I have always felt some odd connection to London; to England in its entirety, as a matter of fact.   The reason I say “odd” is because I have never set foot anywhere near England, much less London, so this feeling does not come from personal experience.   It’s just there and has been for as long as I can remember.   I don’t recall ever not wanting to go to England, but as I’ve become older that feeling has grown stronger.   It’s probably why I have such an interest in British television and movies.   They bring me closer to a place I so dearly want to visit.   It’s also most likely the reason for my picking up the book London Style Guide: Eat Sleep Shop .   Let me tell you, that while this book may look innocent, it is very dangerous.   As I read, all I wanted to do was jump on a plane or train and get out of town.   Each page made we want to go ...

               If you had any doubts about Eddie Redmayne winning the Oscar this year, all you have to do is watch The Theory of Everything for a few minutes and you’ll understand why.   He does an incredible job portraying Stephen Hawking from the early stages of his illness to the advanced point it has become.   Such a debilitating disease must have been extremely difficult to portray and taken great acting ability to do so.   Mr. Redmayne’s performance, however, is not the only noteworthy performance of this film.   Felicity Jones, who plays Jane Hawking, also did an incredible job.   The difference is so much of what Ms. Jones did was subtle.   Her emotions and thoughts were shown with a small gesture, the tone of her voice, or a look that came across her face.   So much of what her character went through was internal and it was those little things that let the viewer know wh...