Work for Idle Hands: January 2024 Archives

Archive Entries for January 2024

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Wednesday January 31, 2024

Books in January

Death in a Lonely Place by Stig Abell
An excellent follow-up to Death Under a Little Sky, having accepted the premise of our hero Jake managing to live off-grid, subsisting only on his small inheritance, and without a "proper" job. Once again, Jake manages to make up for the lack of the latter by embroiling himself in uncovering a major criminal enterprise - albeit not without a considerable amount of help in the shape of a useful (though slightly bordering on criminal) neighbour, ex-colleagues in the police, slightly implausible tech wizards, and Jake's veterinarian girlfriend, Livia. [It could be argued that Livia and her daughter are more of a liability than a help but...].
The plot moves at a good pace and culminates in tense action scenes, with an unexpected twist of an ending. Once again, the descriptions of the English countryside are a delight to read, and provide a peaceful counterpoint to the sinister atmosphere and sense of anxiety which pervade the plot.
I remain less than keen on the allusions to sex in the novel - from reading the author's acknowledgements, I think he should listen to his teenage sons... Less is more. [Don't get me wrong here - there is not "a lot" of sex in the novels - just .... basically, maybe it's not romantic enough...]

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle [Read by Stephen Fry]
I have read this collection and I'm a huge fan of the Jeremy Brett TV series, so I am well familiar with these stories. However, Stephen Fry is an excellent narrator and I chose some of my favourites to hear again.
I think my overall top story - I admit, based mainly on the TV adaptation - is The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle. The drama includes a delightful character performance by Frank Middlemass (love him), as well as that slavish attention to detail, where, for example, we see "The Pink 'Un" peeking out of the pocket of the poulterer (a betting man), even though - unlike on the written page - the referencing dialogue has been cut (not vital to the plot). In addition, the TV story is full of Christmas nostalgia, and thus there is more focus on the fate of the wrongly-arrested chimney sweep and his family - Holmes and Watson abandoning their evening meal on Christmas Eve to ensure he is released back to his wife and kids, which they do not do in the original as written. Again I salute the staging of this TV series - the sweep/wife/kids are depicted as a very ordinary working family and they do not attempt to over-glamorise them, (or the reverse!).
[I downloaded The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes from my local library, as opposed to buying the whole collection from Audible.]

Posted on January 31, 2024 at 9:16 AM. Category: Books of the Month. | Comments (0)

Wednesday January 10, 2024

Noises Off

I've seen a couple of productions of this play (plus the film) and - despite reports from others of "rolling in the aisles" I never found it very funny.
This production at Chichester, however, did indeed see me laughing out loud, and it really does need to be seen on stage - the film can never give you the same delightful live view of the backstage mayhem that ensues while the play-in-the-play continues to be delivered on cue to the imaginary audience with all cast and crew dealing with personal crises.

I did feel that some of the reviews rather missed the point in suggesting that it is a play that would appeal to an audience of "a certain age". [Although they were spot on apparently as I and most of the matinee audience were of that certain age and did seen to be enjoying it!] The play-in-the-play ("Nothing On") is a farce, and I suppose that along with the slightly slapstick humour might drive you to a conclusion about the demographic - but really it's a play about staging a play... with slapstick humour...

Anyway - splendidly staged with immaculate timing all round. The run at CFT is now over but you may be able to catch it at other venues on tour.

Posted on January 10, 2024 at 9:06 PM. Category: Art and Culture. | Comments (0)

Monday January 8, 2024

Shark Attack!

Deborah's bag from 2013 (was it really that long ago?) has been in storage for a bit and suffered the consequences - she thinks moth but probably mostly mice. Sad to see it in this state but gratifying that it was obviously well-used before being stored, and that she wants to use it again now!
I had only a tiny morsel of tweed left from that project but was able to order a new piece from The Harris Tweed Store on the Isle of Lewis, with which I replaced one entire side of the bag. The rest of the (minimal) damage I darned and reinforced with patches glued invisibly on the inside.

In case you've forgotten, this is how it looked all those years ago - and now does once again.