TV review: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

I only realised yesterday that I had missed out on a major reviewing opportunity. For the last 13 weeks I have been obsessed with a TV show and I haven’t mentioned it to anyone! I haven’t even tweeted about it. For 13 weeks Friday nights were about me, a glass of wine, the couch and Miss Phryne Fisher.

The Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries (formerly of ABC1 Fridays at 8:30pm) are set in late 1920s Melbourne. Based accurately on the novels of the same name by Kerry Greenwood, it follows the adventures of lady-detective Phyrne Fisher as she moves effortlessly between Melbourne’s high society and criminal underbelly. Assisting (or hampering) Detective Inspector Jack Robinson in his investigations, Phryne collects along the way a band of waifs and strays including a companion with a lot to learn about life, an impeccable butler, a daughter and a couple of proper Aussie blokes with their hearts in the right place.

I read the first novel in the series – and the TV series – many years ago. I enjoyed it and I considered buying other Phryne Fisher mysteries but I’m not much of a mystery reader. I’m not even much of a mystery watcher. I’m so fussy and particular about my murder mysteries; I only like historical TV series like Miss Fisher and all of the Miss Marples, set pre-1960s. It might have something to do with the PG violence and the clothes. 

There is so much to love about Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. On a purely practical level, it’s well-researched and shot immaculately in and around period Melbourne. Essie Davis as personifies Phryne Fisher and she is supported by a wonderfully Australian cast who are surely enjoying every minute of the production. It’s also delightful to get involved in an Australian TV series. I don’t watch as many as I should. I still regret that I never got into Offspring, I think I would have loved it. 

Back to Miss Fisher. For pure entertainment, it’s a brilliant show. The first word that springs to mind to describe it is Fun. The costumes, sets, characters, writing, all of it is terrific fun. Phryne Fisher is a modern heroine in a modernising time. I would argue, an excellent role model for young women. Having had her fair share of worldly experiences, she’s not going to be stuck in any dull female stereotypes. She’s independent, feisty and not about to be bossed around by anyone. She also has immense style, from her immaculate coiffeur to her crisp white trousers and her pearl-handled gun. I have a little bit of character-envy, if I’m honest.

Sadly, Miss Fisher has ended. There is talk of a second season but I can find no firm information on that. The show was re-played on ABS2 and may still be if you wanted to do some catching up. Otherwise, the DVD of the series is on sale at the ABC shop. 

This is a great Australian series based on novels by a local writer. It is an absolute delight to watch and I would recommend it to anyone.

All images courtesy of the ABC and Kerry Greenwood.

Apparently it's edible...?

This is one of the weirdest things I've ever seen...

Mid-week silliness: the birthday scenario game

It’s so simple – match up your birth months and day to see what your ‘scenario’ would be. I feel like February kind of lucks out with the action ‘married to’. August has ‘sword fight with’! So much more scope for the imagination. 

 

 

So for my birthday – 11 February – I would be married to Pacman. That’s terrifying! He’s hungry ALL THE TIME! I’d be making pies constantly. Plus, that would make me Mrs Pacman! Though I suppose that might be the one saving grace – I get to be a video game character.

I also don't imagine Pacman as a great conversationalist. I think it really stops at 'nom nom nom'.

It could be worse. I could have ended up married to Voldemort, Sarah Palin or *shudder* Justin Bieber.  I think the only people on that list that I would want to be married to are Harry Potter and my best friend.

What's your scenario?

Sadly this image does not belong to me...

Monday infographic: How common is your birthday?

Haven't you ever noticed how birthdays seem to come in a rush?

Well, some clever people got together and analysed birth data between 1973 and 1999 and came up with this great chart showing the commonness of certain birth dates.

The data is for North America so some of the stats would be a little different for us but I still think it's pretty interesting. For example, September births in Australia don't signal all the winter / christmas snuggling people get up to in December. However it seems to me that I know an awful lot of September babies, so maybe we do still enjoy a bit of extra holiday 'cheer' even in the heat.

Not surprisingly, 29 February was the least common date. Valentine's day sticks out like a sore thumb as the most popular day in February as does 30 December. Looks to me like April and November babies might be the rarest. And first of October? That's all those people getting frisky at New Years ...

Happy blog-i-versary to us!

On 22 April, Jane and I shared a momentous occasion and we didn’t even notice it. It was our one-year blogiversary. We have been doing this random, who knows what the hell we’re on about blog for over a year now. This is a Big Deal! And we didn’t even know! 

To be honest, that’s kind of indicative of our lackadaisical attitude to this blog in general but we are getting better at it. In the 8 months we were blogging last year we posted 115 times. Now, in the first 5 months of 2012 we’re up to 108 posts and counting. So we may not be up to a-post-a-day level but we’re getting there!

The original purpose of this blog was to force us to read all the books on our bookshelves and then review them as proof that we have done so. Looking at my original list:

One of our Thursdays is Missing – Jasper Fforde
The Alchemaster’s Apprentice – Walter Moers
In Defence of Sin – edited by John Portman
The Heart has its Reasons – the Duchess of Windsor
The Diviners – Rick Moody
Sophie’s World - Jostein Gaarder
The Flaneur – Edmund White
The Subterraneans and Pie – Jack Kerouac
The Group – Mary McCarthy
The Book of Revelation – Rupert Thompson
Soul Mountain – Gao Xinjian
Guns, Germs and Steel – Jared Diamond
Twelve Bar Blues – Patrick Neate
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
Dangerous Liaisons – Pierre Choderlos De Laclos
The Inheritance of Loss – Kiran Desai
The Red and the Black - Stendhal
Turkestan Solo - Ella Maillart
Man of My Dreams – Curtis Sittenfeld
Harry Potter und die Heiligtumer des Todes – J.K. Rowling

I have read 6 of those and started but not finished 7. I’m thinking that this is a sign and I should just admit defeat and get myself some new books to not read. I might hold a book-swap party and cleanse myself of all the randomness on my shelves, thus completing my challenge in our cheating master-stroke.

We don’t have many followers, though I have been told that people do look at our blog, even if it is just to read the moustache puns. If you are a regular looker but not follower, please consider ‘following’. It will give us a warm glow inside and we might gift you a book to say thank you! 

I have been debating whether or not to continue with this blog. It takes a lot of time and does distract me from writing that best-selling novel I keep putting off. I've been saying to myself that I would wait until we'd done it for a year and then re-evaluate. Well, a year passed without my noticing and here I am, still prattling on.  I suppose I'll keep going. For now, at least.

Five for Friday no.20

Household tips from great writers. Use Jane Austen's recipe for eggs with tarragon or Proust's tiramisu.

Dresses made out of beautiful city maps.

 A list of top 10 Shakespeare characters. You'll be surprised who is listed. 

A typographic dating game.

Cakes inspired by Spring Runway looks. I would eat the hell out of Louis Vuitton.