Happy Birthday to Miss Phryne Fisher! (21 Dec)

If Hercule Poirot had a fun sexy cousin from Australia, that would be Phryne Fisher.  Miss Fisher (only remaining daughter from a rich Melbourne family) returns to her home in Australia after traveling the world. Cultured and oh-so-liberated, she becomes a "lady detective," solving crimes and brandishing a gold-plated revolver. 

I'm not normally one for historical fiction myself, but these stories (novels-turned-TV-series) that take place in 1920's Melbourne have me hooked.  Like a mackerel! The storylines are completely engaging--dealing with people recovering from WW1 and experiencing culture-clash of every kind (Melbourne was very cosmopolitan) and embracing new technologies like radio and (gasp!) the telephone. And don't forget the place of women. Oh, yeah, and people murder each other, so there's always that.  

But if all that isn't enough, the characters positively shine.  Every single one is three-dimensional, compelling, and has great chemistry with the others involved in the story.

How to Commemorate:

• Speak in an Australian accent all day.
• Pose for a painting.
• Sleep with somebody. (Ok, we normally don't advise this (and please act responsibly), but seriously, Phryne sleeps with someone in almost every episode. Gymnast, musician, actor who played an Ancient Egyptian soldier... Girl Power!)

Works Cited    

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (tv series)

Amazon         Barnes & Noble        Public Libraries

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (book series)

The books are harder to come by in stores, but you can always find some at your public library.

It's not Christmas Until you Stalk your Best Friend's Wife. Or fly to Wisconsin. Or...

It's not Christmas until you stalk your best friend's wife. Or fly to Wisconsin. Or fall in love in love with someone who doesn't speak your language. Or flirt with your boss. Or get the attention of a girl who doesn't know you exist.

Yup. That's Love, Actually. Love comes in all shapes and sizes and flavors and textures.

How to Commemorate:

• Learn how to profess your love in another language.
• Dance in an empty house.
• Play drums.
• Go to a concert or Christmas pageant. 
• Dress like an octopus or lobster.
• Pick someone up at the airport.

Works Cited    

Love, Actually

Amazon         Barnes & Noble        Public Libraries

It’s not Christmas until Shaun Spencer guesses what his dad got him for Christmas.

Psych is maybe my all-time favorite tv show, and they made some excellent Christmas episodes.  The series (if, you know, you live in a cave or you've neglected first-rate comedy for the last ten years)  is about a guy named Shaun who has super-exact vision, and he passes off his perceptions as psychic phenomena.  Shaun's dad Henry was a policeman who tried to raise Shaun to follow in the family career, but it didn't take. At all.  Well, maybe it sort of did.  I've heard it both ways.

Anyway, Shaun and Henry have a tradition of making each other guess or deduce what they got each other for Christmas.  The result is one of my favorite sketches of all time.  (Which I couldn't find online to link or I would have!)  It occurs in "Christmas Joy" (Season 3 Episode 9).

How to Commemorate:

• Bet someone you can guess their present.
• Stage a scene where 2 or three people go in and out of doors in the same hallway.
• Pineapple.  Eat it, wear it, give it, whatever.

 

Works Cited    

Psych (season 3)

Amazon         Barnes & Noble        Public Libraries