These are some mystery series that manage to be interesting, not very gross and keep an underlining story throughout their episodes, whilst adding some humor or rather satire to the action:
New Tricks
full episode NT
(interesting plots, nice strong characters, catchy theme song)
Death in Paradise
full episode DiP
(nice setting, humorous character, intelligent intuitive policing methods)
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
edited episode
(similar to DiP, beautiful exotic setting, picturesque cases and an overall humane view over the life situations presented)
Rosemary and Thyme
episode of RT
(British setting, a darker shade of the cases presented, but the "older women detective" touch)
as for
Life on Mars, a bit different altogether, the USA version is different in the end, and I like that best (well, I have only seen bits and bobs from the English series, anyway). The travel in time trick gives a whole lot of liberty in showing the old policing style in bright modern images and the supplementary mystery tied to the personal life of the central character is awesome:
trailer Life on Mars USA
Mention for Murder in Suburbia, in the same category. Unlike Midsomer Murders, which got gruesomer by each new season.
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Friday, 8 March 2013
A day from the 80s - naive essay
The spring brought a lot of excitement, a kind of flutter in the air. Less clothes to carry around, new shoes, the flowers...
The first urban flowers I remember were the Forsythias
http://www.wunderground.com/wximage/viewsingleimage.html?mode=singleimage&handle=NodWag&number=27
Not the most spectacular, but when in out park the bushes turned yellow, it was spring for sure. We always brought back three small flowered branches- and always talked about how it was not allowed to take flowers from the park... yet the flowered branches lighted up the room and the winter had to leave the house.
Spring cleaning meant that is warm enough to take the carpets out and wash the thick window drapes - they would dry and catch the fresh air of the outside in between their fibers. March was tricky and it could always turn a bit colder, so we hunted down the best day for spring cleaning and changed the atmosphere in the house.
The parks were the main attraction. From one day to another the leaves would push through their buds and the flowers would fill the trees. They competed with one another to flower, yet they lasted longer that today, once blossomed...
The sky was clear, and the next destination was the farmers' market. Green onions, red radishes, lettuce and spinach... the market was wet and noisy and brought the smells of the earth into the city. I did not particularly like some of the edible spring signs, but there could be no discussion about it... Even more exotic salads like the ones made from baby daffodil leaves were on the table. Then the new spring potatoes, boiled, salted, prepared with butter and dill. Then the new tomatoes, heavenly with the salted shepherds' cheese, if there was any left from the winter.
The fruits were more like the beginning of the summer.
The sweet smell of linden flowers was the month of May.
The long walks in the warm sun, the feeling of being new altogether, like the entire nature.
The afternoons were not so happy, they reminded us of the winter, still a bit too close. In the house, the rooms were almost in the dark, yet it was light enough for eating... it was a bit cold too, compared with getting out in the sun during the day. the room had an echo.
The ladybugs and another red and black bugs invaded the paths in the park.
It was spring and no one was in a hurry - not even nature.
The first urban flowers I remember were the Forsythias
http://www.wunderground.com/wximage/viewsingleimage.html?mode=singleimage&handle=NodWag&number=27
Not the most spectacular, but when in out park the bushes turned yellow, it was spring for sure. We always brought back three small flowered branches- and always talked about how it was not allowed to take flowers from the park... yet the flowered branches lighted up the room and the winter had to leave the house.
Spring cleaning meant that is warm enough to take the carpets out and wash the thick window drapes - they would dry and catch the fresh air of the outside in between their fibers. March was tricky and it could always turn a bit colder, so we hunted down the best day for spring cleaning and changed the atmosphere in the house.
The parks were the main attraction. From one day to another the leaves would push through their buds and the flowers would fill the trees. They competed with one another to flower, yet they lasted longer that today, once blossomed...
The sky was clear, and the next destination was the farmers' market. Green onions, red radishes, lettuce and spinach... the market was wet and noisy and brought the smells of the earth into the city. I did not particularly like some of the edible spring signs, but there could be no discussion about it... Even more exotic salads like the ones made from baby daffodil leaves were on the table. Then the new spring potatoes, boiled, salted, prepared with butter and dill. Then the new tomatoes, heavenly with the salted shepherds' cheese, if there was any left from the winter.
The fruits were more like the beginning of the summer.
The sweet smell of linden flowers was the month of May.
The long walks in the warm sun, the feeling of being new altogether, like the entire nature.
The afternoons were not so happy, they reminded us of the winter, still a bit too close. In the house, the rooms were almost in the dark, yet it was light enough for eating... it was a bit cold too, compared with getting out in the sun during the day. the room had an echo.
The ladybugs and another red and black bugs invaded the paths in the park.
It was spring and no one was in a hurry - not even nature.
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
Work
Via the same site quoted in my last post : "hard work is simply the refuge of people who have nothing to do" (Oscar Wilde).
I would say these words are witty. I would also add that I used to know and still do know quite a few persons to whom these apply.
Moreover, I would extend this nugget of truth to a present truth: after decades of brainwashing people into the idea that work is a must, a natural requirement and a duty, even if it turns out not to be the right work for a person, not the activity sprung out of his or her talent, we now live in a society that for the masses is made by workaholics and creates workaholics.
Maybe the link is a simple psychological step: an empty life pushes a person towards an unhealthy addiction for work, after which, by a mean, robotic effect, the standards of time spent working are set by this type of persons, thus leading to empty lives for those who would not have had such alienations.
What do I mainly remember about my working parents? That usually they were... not there. Time went by, and they were working and working, until my feelings of something missing turned into indifference. And it was the same for many of my friends.
Why are some hating so much what makes people better? Spending time with one's family, getting bored sometimes, celebrating through the year, taking a walk in the park, slowing down the hectic crazy rhythms of today's life...
It is a huge lie that people should be extremely busy while working because there is no alternative. There are professions which require a presence per time duration, indeed. one cannot do his job and then go home because he fulfilled his duty for that day, even if he managed to be very skilled and did what one had to do quickly - in some jobs. In these positions the full days of work should be compensated by free days, by alternating with a job partner.
But most of the jobs, the huge mass of the less qualified jobs, presume tasks that can be completed quicker by certain individuals. An average worker would do the standard amount of work in X hours. but if one does it in X minus t, why not let him go home for the day, if the job is well done?
Because it would create a precedent in flexibility and freedom. I read somewhere that the Nordic countries are actually trying such different approaches to work. But such news are unpopular, they are barely seen in the spotlight, they might give ideas to the people so hardly forged by the evil twins: socialism and capitalism.
Better make fixed amount of work per fixed number of hours, and if someone is managing to get everything done quicker, keep him at work to get bored and to use his time in vain, or (the modern management idea) throw some more work at him, taking advantage of vague contract provisions and of the power position the employer is in in such "crisis" times...
Thus the personal life is turned into dust permanently, the classes are kept separated by falsely created privileges (the mere worker is glued to his post so many hours, while the manager is mobile, yet has to account - officially- for his whereabouts). The rich dad can, if he makes a mentality effort - spend more time with his kids, the poor dad barely has quality time to spend with them. The firm has to consume electricity and space to cover for all the exaggerated task-time work dynamics.
Some, giving more freedom to their employees, give them work to do wherever, if the activity permits: at home, in the park and so on. Not supplementary work, just work. As long as you deliver on time, you can choose where you function better. Reciprocal advantage. You use your home electricity to power the computer, but you can watch your kids playing in yard in the same time.
Caring for people and growing intelligent future generations apparently is labeled as a luxury. Not many states are bothering to try human approaches to work. Most just apply the street rules and push around some paperwork to pretend they are supporting the human rights. And the "human rights" package, actually mocked enough in the modern society aka counting in the bigger more developed states and being just a prop in the less powerful ones, should be a minimum, not something for granted, never to be surpassed...
Why bother to even talk about state policy - some think. A new decoy is trendy nowadays, the idea that the state is expected to do nothing because the citizens have taken it upon themselves to manage their problems, individually or in smaller communities. I would say it is a nice idea for a theory, yet a very transparent excuse for the faults of the state and those who are "milking" the state's budget remains... and the purpose is to make it seem like it is the wish of the people.
Who knows, soon the people will be convinced it is their idea, considering that this mantra of "managing ourselves" is repeated with the same dedication with which the socialist and corporatist ideas were repeated, straight into the minds of everyone.
Work should be healthy, in equilibrium with free time, and with family time. For family time is not quite free time, it is a separate type of work, forging the future through the new generations. And free time gives adults energy for both.
The best work scheme turns talent and skill into activity and rewards efficiency instead of punishing it, on all levels. An unskilled worker can come up with a new solution as much as a boss, each in his own way, and each good thing should be rewarded. And the option of taking free time should be right there, available as a reward.
Where do the ideas of "one is normal to hate his work" or "one has to suffer professionally if he if he has a family" come from? Why are they so viral? Why nowadays it is non important if someone is a drunk or an immoral person, but it is a problem if one has family obligations, in the sense that many jobs are fit with "socially free" persons rather than parents or grandparents?
Maybe the legal frame tells a different story, but when one feels ashamed to ask for some time off work because one's kids require it, while others are proud to take free time to go to the concerts or to go shopping or cure drunken headaches, the position of society over the private life via the work regime seems to tell in fact quite another thing, scripted by the people who really have nothing to do at home or in the middle of their families.
I would say these words are witty. I would also add that I used to know and still do know quite a few persons to whom these apply.
Moreover, I would extend this nugget of truth to a present truth: after decades of brainwashing people into the idea that work is a must, a natural requirement and a duty, even if it turns out not to be the right work for a person, not the activity sprung out of his or her talent, we now live in a society that for the masses is made by workaholics and creates workaholics.
Maybe the link is a simple psychological step: an empty life pushes a person towards an unhealthy addiction for work, after which, by a mean, robotic effect, the standards of time spent working are set by this type of persons, thus leading to empty lives for those who would not have had such alienations.
What do I mainly remember about my working parents? That usually they were... not there. Time went by, and they were working and working, until my feelings of something missing turned into indifference. And it was the same for many of my friends.
Why are some hating so much what makes people better? Spending time with one's family, getting bored sometimes, celebrating through the year, taking a walk in the park, slowing down the hectic crazy rhythms of today's life...
It is a huge lie that people should be extremely busy while working because there is no alternative. There are professions which require a presence per time duration, indeed. one cannot do his job and then go home because he fulfilled his duty for that day, even if he managed to be very skilled and did what one had to do quickly - in some jobs. In these positions the full days of work should be compensated by free days, by alternating with a job partner.
But most of the jobs, the huge mass of the less qualified jobs, presume tasks that can be completed quicker by certain individuals. An average worker would do the standard amount of work in X hours. but if one does it in X minus t, why not let him go home for the day, if the job is well done?
Because it would create a precedent in flexibility and freedom. I read somewhere that the Nordic countries are actually trying such different approaches to work. But such news are unpopular, they are barely seen in the spotlight, they might give ideas to the people so hardly forged by the evil twins: socialism and capitalism.
Better make fixed amount of work per fixed number of hours, and if someone is managing to get everything done quicker, keep him at work to get bored and to use his time in vain, or (the modern management idea) throw some more work at him, taking advantage of vague contract provisions and of the power position the employer is in in such "crisis" times...
Thus the personal life is turned into dust permanently, the classes are kept separated by falsely created privileges (the mere worker is glued to his post so many hours, while the manager is mobile, yet has to account - officially- for his whereabouts). The rich dad can, if he makes a mentality effort - spend more time with his kids, the poor dad barely has quality time to spend with them. The firm has to consume electricity and space to cover for all the exaggerated task-time work dynamics.
Some, giving more freedom to their employees, give them work to do wherever, if the activity permits: at home, in the park and so on. Not supplementary work, just work. As long as you deliver on time, you can choose where you function better. Reciprocal advantage. You use your home electricity to power the computer, but you can watch your kids playing in yard in the same time.
Caring for people and growing intelligent future generations apparently is labeled as a luxury. Not many states are bothering to try human approaches to work. Most just apply the street rules and push around some paperwork to pretend they are supporting the human rights. And the "human rights" package, actually mocked enough in the modern society aka counting in the bigger more developed states and being just a prop in the less powerful ones, should be a minimum, not something for granted, never to be surpassed...
Why bother to even talk about state policy - some think. A new decoy is trendy nowadays, the idea that the state is expected to do nothing because the citizens have taken it upon themselves to manage their problems, individually or in smaller communities. I would say it is a nice idea for a theory, yet a very transparent excuse for the faults of the state and those who are "milking" the state's budget remains... and the purpose is to make it seem like it is the wish of the people.
Who knows, soon the people will be convinced it is their idea, considering that this mantra of "managing ourselves" is repeated with the same dedication with which the socialist and corporatist ideas were repeated, straight into the minds of everyone.
Work should be healthy, in equilibrium with free time, and with family time. For family time is not quite free time, it is a separate type of work, forging the future through the new generations. And free time gives adults energy for both.
The best work scheme turns talent and skill into activity and rewards efficiency instead of punishing it, on all levels. An unskilled worker can come up with a new solution as much as a boss, each in his own way, and each good thing should be rewarded. And the option of taking free time should be right there, available as a reward.
Where do the ideas of "one is normal to hate his work" or "one has to suffer professionally if he if he has a family" come from? Why are they so viral? Why nowadays it is non important if someone is a drunk or an immoral person, but it is a problem if one has family obligations, in the sense that many jobs are fit with "socially free" persons rather than parents or grandparents?
Maybe the legal frame tells a different story, but when one feels ashamed to ask for some time off work because one's kids require it, while others are proud to take free time to go to the concerts or to go shopping or cure drunken headaches, the position of society over the private life via the work regime seems to tell in fact quite another thing, scripted by the people who really have nothing to do at home or in the middle of their families.
Monday, 4 March 2013
Could have...
http://thisisnthappiness.com/post/44516026387/i-could-have-done-something-with-my-time-today
This is not a positive site, starting with the title. There is a long line of advice stating that one must run away from negativity, renounce pessimist friends and toss the lost-in-translation-feeling-sites, movies or music. I partially agree with this.
But then, what if, when we return to reality, to the daily chores and urban or rural life around us, the feeling that strikes back is exactly the feeling of a site like this?
It is a vicious circle: go to reality to get a feeling that makes one turn to the virtual reality that after a while throws one back into reality looking for happiness and getting a feeling that...
Where in this circle of things have many of us lost the genuine sentiment that we are living a life, our life, as it was meant to be?
I think blaming the digital world is a fake blame, since many years I did not have a computer, and yet I used to feel year after year how people grow apart from each other ant the outdoors landscapes become uglier and more like an enemy of well being than a friend.
Of course, there are the other type of people, who do not actually care much for the outside: they base their perception on their inner world, be it for the good or the bad. They seem not to notice how the cities have grown and became uglier, how the people are more distant, how friendly plant species have retreated from the urban zone or even the rural spaces... they are mostly driven by what they think or what they are fooling themselves to think. And the most important means of protection for them is to stop whomever is stating the obvious, the nostalgic truth...
The freedom of expression is punished lately when it is a non-happy non-self help expression. Maybe it is not very obvious sometimes, maybe it is not a phenomenon spread all around. But if some feel like being happy is not a fake-able thing, that it must be genuine... that their current state is of nostalgia, of being lost in an unfriendly surrounding, must others ban them for such a feeling?
I wonder.
This is not a positive site, starting with the title. There is a long line of advice stating that one must run away from negativity, renounce pessimist friends and toss the lost-in-translation-feeling-sites, movies or music. I partially agree with this.
But then, what if, when we return to reality, to the daily chores and urban or rural life around us, the feeling that strikes back is exactly the feeling of a site like this?
It is a vicious circle: go to reality to get a feeling that makes one turn to the virtual reality that after a while throws one back into reality looking for happiness and getting a feeling that...
Where in this circle of things have many of us lost the genuine sentiment that we are living a life, our life, as it was meant to be?
I think blaming the digital world is a fake blame, since many years I did not have a computer, and yet I used to feel year after year how people grow apart from each other ant the outdoors landscapes become uglier and more like an enemy of well being than a friend.
Of course, there are the other type of people, who do not actually care much for the outside: they base their perception on their inner world, be it for the good or the bad. They seem not to notice how the cities have grown and became uglier, how the people are more distant, how friendly plant species have retreated from the urban zone or even the rural spaces... they are mostly driven by what they think or what they are fooling themselves to think. And the most important means of protection for them is to stop whomever is stating the obvious, the nostalgic truth...
The freedom of expression is punished lately when it is a non-happy non-self help expression. Maybe it is not very obvious sometimes, maybe it is not a phenomenon spread all around. But if some feel like being happy is not a fake-able thing, that it must be genuine... that their current state is of nostalgia, of being lost in an unfriendly surrounding, must others ban them for such a feeling?
I wonder.
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