hailingsweetpotatoes

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Today I went to a farm and got to hold some baby chicks, and I was so delighted when I found out some of them were Buff Orpingtons.

I named them Mr. Puffett and Miss Twitterton (they were both roosters, but it's not like chickens have a sense of gender).

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Rewatched the Gaudy Night TV adaptation tonight for the first time in ages, and I had completely forgotten that they have Harriet in episode one recognizing Annie as having worked on the college staff nine years ago, despite the fact that they then state clearly in episode three that the whole thing with her husband only happened six years ago.

What's your 'favorite' way that adaptation absolutely failed?

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Edward Petherbridge & Suzanne Bertish in Chekhov's Three Sisters (1978)

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RIP Mr. Satterthwaite, you would have loved being a lesbian.

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If I had a nickel for every golden age mystery novel about crimes committed in an all-female academic institution where fears are expressed about a teacher at the school being mentally unbalanced and which have TV adaptations starring Harriet Walter and Carol MacReady...well I'd only have ten cents, but it's still really unjust that the better book has the worst adaptation.

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I love how everything he says is true, but also he's purposefully going hyperbolic and cliche to tease her for expecting (and perhaps wanting) exactly that.

OH

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Three days later, while reading in the morning paper that among the guests at a literary luncheon-party had been seen 'Miss Harriet Vane, the well-known detective authoress,' she was interrupted by the telephone. A familiar voice said, with a curious huskiness and uncertainty: 'Miss Harriet Vane?... Is that you, Harriet? I saw you were back. Will you dine with me one evening?' There were several possible answers; among them, the repressive and disconcerting 'Who is that speaking, please?'

Harriet out there considering giving Peter the 1930s version of "new phone who dis?"

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The Egotists' Club is one of the most genial places in London. It is a place to which you may go when you want to tell that odd dream you had last night, or to announce what a good dentist you have discovered. You can write letters there if you like, and have the temperament of a Jane Austen, for there is no silence room, and it would be a breach of club manners to appear busy or absorbed when another member addresses you. You must not mention golf or fish, however, and, if the Hon. Freddy Arbuthnot's motion is carried at the next committee meeting (and opinion so far appears very favourable), you will not be allowed to mention wireless either. As Lord Peter Wimsey said when the matter was mooted the other day in the smoking-room, those are things you can talk about anywhere. Otherwise the club is not specially exclusive. Nobody is ineligible per se, except strong, silent men.

— Dorothy L. Sayers, "The Abominable History of the Man with the Copper Fingers"

I think a lot of us could benefit from a local chapter of the Diogenes Club

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I am trying to collect all the Lord Peter audiobooks read by Ian Carmichael (which is all of the DLS novels minus Five Red Herrings but including Thrones, Dominations, plus all of the short story collections minus the compendiums). I don't object to paying for them, but frankly I've barely got two beans to rub together and I don't particularly object to pirating material when the author is long dead [I'm sure the DLS Society does admirable works, please don't @ me].

Here are the titles I'm currently looking for: Lord Peter Views the Body (Carmichael) Hangman's Holiday (Carmichael) In the Teeth of the Evidence (Carmichael) Five Red Herrings (anyone good) Murder Must Advertise (I have a terrible tape dub of the Carmichael version, would like a cleaner digital version if one exists)

If you know of a source for getting these cheaply or are willing to share your own copy, let me know!

Tip for others: audiobookstore.com has several of the books, and a deal where you can get your first audiobook for only $10 (and who is to say whether one might not create multiple accounts with multiple email addresses...)

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Them: We're going to fabricate a whole scene at the end of our Have His Carcase adaptation to speed along the progress of Peter and Harriet's relationship

Me: Ok how DARE you--

Them: He's going to kiss her wrist

Me: ... I'm listening.

local bisexual destroyed by dimple + wrist kiss (i promise you i'm very normal)

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Every time I read The Nine Tailors and I get to the part where Harry Gotobed blames Jeff Deacon for *checks notes* the entirety of World War I, I just have to take a moment.

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Someone recently recommended this mystery fiction podcast, Shedunnit, and linked me to their YouTube channel. I haven't listened yet, but I noticed the 'chapter' labels and...I guess now we know what the porn parody of Busman's Honeymoon would be called.

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There's 24 hours left on this, but I would already like the 5 people who said they understood it right away to donate their brains to science. To the 12 other people who also needed to be told: thanks for making me feel better.

Also: if you came up with another explanation for it, please share in the tags! Section below the fold for reference.

"Damn!" said Miss Rossiter, briefly. "There goes my thousand quid! Oh, well, that's life. Thank you, sonnie. Put it on the table. Did you remember the cucumber? Good boy. How much? One-and-five? Lend me a penny, Parton. There you are. Mind out a minute, Mr. Willis, do you mind? I want a pencil and rubber for the new bloke." "What's his name?" "Bredon." "Where's he come from?" "Hankie doesn't know. But Miss Meteyard's seen him. She says he's like Bertie Wooster in horn-rims." "Older, though," said Miss Meteyard. "A well-preserved forty." "Oh, gosh! When's he coming?" "'Smorning. If I'd been him I'd have put it off till tomorrow and gone to the Derby. Oh, here's Mr. Ingleby. He'll know. Coffee, Mr. Ingleby? Have you heard anything?" "Star of Asia, Twinkletoes, Sainte-Nitouche, Duke Humphrey...." "Forty-two," said Mr. Ingleby. "No sugar, thanks. Never been in advertising before. Balliol." "Golly!" said Miss Meteyard. "As you say. If there is one thing more repulsive than another it is Balliolity," agreed Mr. Ingleby, who was a Trinity man. "Bredon went to Balliol And sat at the feet of Gamaliel,"

chanted Mr. Garrett, closing his book. "And just as he ought He cared for nought"

added Miss Meteyard. "I defy you to find another rhyme for Balliol." "Flittermouse, Tom Pinch, Fly-by-Night...." "And his language was sesquipedalial." "It isn't sesquipedalial, it's sesquipedalian." "Bother!" "Twist those papers up tight, duckie. Put them in the lid of the biscuit-tin. Damn! that's Mr. Armstrong's buzzer. Stick a saucer over my coffee. Where's my note-book?" "....two double-faults running, so I said...." "....I can't find the carbon of that Magnolia whole-treble...." "....started at fifty to one...." "Who's bagged my scissors?" "Excuse me, Mr. Armstrong wants his Nutrax carbons...." "....and shake 'em up well...." "....hail you all, impale you all, jail you all...." "Mr. Ingleby, can you spare me a moment?" At Mr. Hankin's mildly sarcastic accents, the scene dislimned as by magic.

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For the record: it's Jerry, not Gerry -- Gerald (and Gherkins) with a G, Jerry with a J. Also, for what evidentiary value it has, Ian Carmichael pronounces Saint-George like the word "saint" and the name "George" in the audiobooks, so I always assumed it gained popularity at a different time or for a different reason than Saint John, so that it was not influenced by the French pronunciation.

What I've always wondered is what made her change the spelling from "St. George," as it is in Clouds (and "The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head") to "Saint-George" in Gaudy. Was it just another example of her forgetting what she'd done before, or did she change it because she learned something new about viscounts or whatever?

Also if anyone knows more about how these courtesy titles work, like whether there's an age at which they are generally gifted or if they'd still legally be 'owned' by the father while the son is a minor, I've always wondered that as well. The Duke is referred to as St. George in Clouds, but in "The Learned Adventure," ten-year-old Jerry has the title -- and as far as I can tell, the story was first published in 1926, the same year as Clouds.

(Some quotes to support what I and others have said in this thread below the fold.)

In Clouds:

"Things begin to look a bit more comfortable for old Jerry," said Lord Peter.

(Why isn't it Gerry? idk, for the same reason that Mary is also Polly; nicknames aren't based on logic.)

The Jurors for our Lord the King upon their oaths present that the most noble and puissant prince Gerald Christian Wimsey, Viscount St. George, Duke of Denver, a Peer of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...

(This shows that, at least in an extremely formal legal setting, the Duke is still Viscount St. George at that time)

"Some way below the blots the Duke has signed his name two or three times—or, rather, his title. The inference is that his letters were not to intimates."

(This shows that the Duke would sign letters as "Gerald" [or possibly "Jerry"] to intimates and "Denver" to people he did not know as well)

"He's a rummy old bird," said the Hon. Freddy tactlessly, "but he oughter be here, what? What I mean to say is, if anything happens to old Denver, don't you see, he's the head of the family, ain't he—till little Pickled Gherkins comes of age."

(This is the only time in the book that Young Gerald is referred to by any name. Good old tactless, chaotic Freddy, calling the kid by his silliest nickname while referring to his father by his title.)

In "The Learned Adventure":

...His ten-year-old nephew, Viscount St. George, more commonly known as Young Jerry, Jerrykins, or Pickled Gherkins...

It was about two in the morning that Gherkins—who had not slept very well...

..."Oo—er!" said Viscount St. George.

(In this story, Peter only ever addresses his nephew as "Gherkins," whereas the narrator frequently calls him "the viscount" or "Viscount St. George" [probably mostly for comedic effect, as in the last quote], but also occasionally calls him Gherkins. Aside from that first statement, he is never called any other name for the rest of the story.)

Very long and random question re Lord Peter Wimsey books:

Do you know how one is meant to pronounce "Saint-George"? I know from Jane Eyre that St John="Sinjin" but perhaps that linguistic tendency only applied to certain names and/or changed over the next 60-70 years?

On that note, while trying to answer the above question, I saw a comment to the effect that Saint-Geroge is a title, akin to calling Peter's brother "Denver", and his given name is Gerald. My impression was that Gerald was a nickname/middle name, since Gherkins introduces himself to Harriet by saying "My name's Saint-George", but then again the way in which names/titles/nicknames are used by the Wimsey family seems to be pretty fluid so this may not mean much. (Also, I can see him not caring to introduce himself by his father's first name!)

PS- I think the Meet Cute between Harriet and Saint-George is one of the most delightful scenes in the series so if you have any further random thoughts on it I am HERE for them.

...Occasionally I am reminded that I apparently have a vaguely transatlantic accent even while typing. I've always pronounced Gherkins' name "Sin-GEORGE," but I don't know how accurate that may be.

I agree with you that the scene with him and Harriet and the fountain and all the little oojahs is a delight.

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Confession: My favorite part of The Nine Tailors is the flood, because I love a story where people are really efficiently dealing and coping with a bad situation. It scratches the same itch as in Howl's Moving Castle, when Sophie enters the castle and just ties up her skirts and starts cleaning. I don't know why, but it's very soothing.

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Me, reading Whose Body: Hmm, I wonder how much Parker's £1 a week rent would be today?

15 minutes later: How am I JUST learning that there was an unsolved double murder at Parker's address the same year that Gaudy Night came out??

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AITA for letting my husband cane our 7-yo?

I (39F) allowed (though that's hardly the right word) my husband (52M) to cane our 7-year-old son for stealing peaches from a neighbor's tree. Our houseguest (60F) claims that punishment of any kind warps a child's mind irrevocably, but my husband and I think that hitting a child with a stick is fine and normal. Who is right?