#An Exercise in Fatality

[fern-spotting]

Columbo S4E1 “A Friend in Deed” (1974)

Boston fern spotted at 2:59!

There are some other fun plants in this fitness-themed episode. First, a fiddle-leaf fig (probably fake).

Then, this veritable copse of tree philodendrons. Nice!

[scholarofgloom]

[ashleybenlove]

Columbo gets this guy because of the way he tied the vic's shoelaces.

[the-richie]

Indictment on the wrestling industry, Columbo (1974)

[fleshmonger]

[columboscreens]

[olivesribbons]

Sunday reset so good I want to kiss somebody!!

[fatal-blow]

having some thoughts on stretching...certainly the way most people stretch might not be as helpful as it could be, verging on mildly harmful if done spectacularly wrong but

okay. so the purpose of a stretch is to lengthen a muscle that has spent too much time being clenched. the second, secret purpose that i think should be attributed to stretching is to exercise the muscles that oppose the muscle you are stretching, which typically are underused (on account of the target muscle being overused)

for example, take the biceps and triceps on the upper arm. in simplest terms, these two muscles oppose each other: the biceps fold the arm, while the triceps straighten it.

now lets say that the biceps are overused and need a stretch. traditional wisdom says to straighten the arm and hold a stretch--not for long, just less than ten seconds. repeat a few times. done.

its not wrong, per se, but i think it could be tweaked to get better results.

the way ive been stretching, is i do short bursts. i dont hold stretches for longer than a second, i do it a few times in succession. every time i do it, i pay attention to A) the sensation that the stretch gives me and B) how far i can push the stretch, trying to go a little further each time.

which this technique, i have a better handle on what i'm accomplishing with the stretch, and it also gives me an idea of where i need to massage as well.

firstly, the sensation you feel when stretching, whether its painful or just uncomfortable, generally matches triggerpoint patterns (the stuff in my pinned post)! so you can do the stretch, take note of what you feel, and then look for the closest match. massage that spot, try again, and generally the stretch will be easier/actually have results.

secondly, by doing short bursts where you try to push a little further each time, you can see how much range of motion you can regain with each tiny stretch, and therefore be able to measure your own progress.

and with these two things, you can gain a pretty solid idea of when a stretch ISN'T working. if you aren't able to push further, it's too painful, or if massage doesn't make the stretch easier, this can be a sign that you're in the wrong spot. usually this means that you need to A) move closer to the body and/or B) move further down the body. going back to the tricep/bicep example, moving from stretching the bicep to the shoulder, or to the pectoral, will allow you to make progress again. you can take this further, all the way down the body to the legs, allowing you to sniff out the true culprit.

its a method ive grown very fond of, because even with the guidance of physiotherapists i never had any sort of sense that i was making progress with stretching. i didnt understand what it was meant to do for me, and had no idea how to tell if it was doing what it's supposed to do. im also hopeful that it can be of use to people who don't know muscle anatomy the way i do, because there's no way i'm going to expect people to learn all that just to get better!

[columbosmile]

[tvsnationalgeosapphic]

I know nobody talks about the Rockford Files on here but I don’t care because I love Beth Davenport the Baddest Lawyer in LA so you’ll just have to live with that.

[mrs-luigi-vargas]

Fainted Memories

Rating: Teen And Up Characters: Peach, Mario Tags: Sickfic, Sick Princess Peach, Implied/Referenced Violence, Angst, POV Second Person

Summary: Peach wakes up in her bed feeling incredibly disoriented. It takes her a bit to fully remember what had happened to get her there.

Prompt: 6. Dizziness/Vertigo

Word Count: 675 words

A/N: Thanks to @vulpixfairy1985 for letting me borrow her “Mario and Luigi have matching dog tag pendants (with matching affirming catchphrases)” headcanon for a (small) detail here! 🙂

[AO3 Link]

~~~

When you open your eyes, memories come back to you in bursts and fragments.

Running, shouting, red-red-red on off-white stones. A glint of silver, darkened green; a searing light, copper and bile on your tongue; your ears ringing, your world twisting, fading, hands on your shoulders fading with it. And something beyond the memories, something important; a missing link that both brings them together and gives them meaning, yet stubbornly hovers just out of reach.

But now it’s the gray of your ceiling, the dark pink of your bedsheets, the light pink curtains over your bed. You turn your head, a throbbing behind your temples. A spot of brown rests by your pillow, pillowed itself by a red arm.

You sigh, air through a dry throat. The spot moves, and drowsy blue eyes rise to meet yours, snapping into focus and fragility all at once. Your gaze drifts from them to catch the frayed edge of a white glove. You blink, and it's gone, tanned hand reaching for your cheek.

The touch grounds you, and you come back to yourself enough to feel the echoes of an absence inside you, on inhale, on exhale, an ache stretching out and wrapping around bone and muscle and marrow. You look down at your own chest, at the cavernous void you expect to see instead of your nightgown. You try to raise your arm to prod at it; not even your fingers respond to your attempt. Your hand is moved for you, to press against your sternum, to feel your intact heart beating beneath.

A voice passes through your mind, old and weathered and familiar, though its words are too muddy to parse. Its tone, however, feels scolding, and you frown. The warmth at your face pulls away, and you raise your head to see where it went.

There’s a face staring back at you. Round, with shiny eyes and a large nose and a messy mustache and — Mario. You say the name aloud, to punctuate the realization. The sound doesn't make it past your throat. Mario’s lips twitch.

His hand strokes your hair, lulling you into a doze. Through half-lidded eyes, you see him reach beyond your head and come back with something clutched in his hand. It’s green. He shakes it out and something silver falls free with a jingle; it swings from where it's tied around his wrist, catching the sunlight and flashing it into your eyes. When you blink the spots away Mario's removed his hand from your head to juggle both the silver and the green — the pendant and the hat — and he twists his arm and there's a faint discoloration above the hat’s brim, a darkened spot that's bloomed from its emblem, and at the same time the pendant is wrangled and tucked back under his sleeve — red — which is pulled up to his glove — off-white — and something in between your ears rings as memories tug at you, and the missing link between them snaps into place all at once and —

— and you’re sitting upright, and the world is twisting around you; hands on your shoulders keep you from twisting along with it. Bile and copper on your tongue, you struggle against your body to stand, to go, to draw from the well of magic inside you and push it —

The well is empty. The discovery sends echoes of agony through your skull, your chest, your bones and muscles and marrow; you dig deeper still for something, anything, and hands cover yours, snuffing out the remnants of what you're able to gather. You struggle against it all, breaths turning ragged, desperate, clawing at the consciousness slipping through your fingers faster than you can hold it — you can't lose it now; you need to stay awake, you need to gather every last drop of magic you can and go beyond your limits and give everything you have up to and including your own lifeforce if you don't if you can't if you fail then he’ll — he’ll — you can't — you won't —

...

...

...

(you lose consciousness.)

[tinkertoysdamn]

I'm watching a video essay on the fall of Quiznos and coincidentally, the guys who owned Quiznos pulled the same crap as a Columbo villain. I literally watched the relevant episode last night.

[ashleybenlove]

Lewis Lacey giving the info to the murder victim's widow (though they were separated at the time of his death, so I guess you can still call yourself a widow) instead of Columbo.

COLUMBO'S BEEN TRYING TO TALK TO YOU, BUD!!!!!

[1day1movie]

Columbo: An Exercise in Fatality (1974) Bernard L. Kowalski.

[vvelegrin]

i love walking the line when i consume caffeine of "this will give you a boost to make it through the day without sleeping and it's fine and good" as a person with tired person disease that needs things to fill in in the times i don't have access to my stimulant and "this will not wake you up but will make you be unable to sit still even worse and you will feel like you are dying" as a person with can't sit still disease and also bad heart rate and bad balance disease

[columboscreens]