Who will bell..?

Marionettes Petting Cats Ver. 1 from Krista McGuigan on Vimeo.

If you're held up by strings, I'm pretty sure getting in a cat's face counts as living dangerously.

And yeah, I know, cat videos on the Internet, dime a dozen. Still I loved some of the expressions in this.

White outside, dark inside

Today was the first big - really big - snowstorm of the winter. I had a couple of things I was going to pick up at the library. Couldn't of course. The library never opened, as I was pretty sure they wouldn't. In fact nearly anything that required leaving the house was out. But by now I know the signs, so I'm at least not particularly disappointed.

(Header explanation: White outside because of the snow, while a lot of places have the lights off because they're closed. Just in case you were wondering.)

Surprises

Watched an old Veronica Mars tonight. Having to do with the theft of Troy's car and some steroids another guy had stashed away in it. Quite good.

And I thought Troy was such a nice guy. Well, actually I thought he was a complete and utter simpleton, but the harmless kind. Guess you shouldn't assume.

Easy as...

While I do read mysteries on a fairly regular basis - among other things, as variety is the spice of life - I don't gravitate that often to Agatha Christie. And when I do read her it's more often Miss Marple than Hercule Poirot. Nonetheless I did read her Poirot novel The ABC Murders and was glad I did. Notable things about it:

* It was published in 1936 and concerns an apparent serial killer, although not described in those terms. Christie was well ahead of the curve here in terms of cultural obsessions. Classic detectives like Poirot don't generally look into serial killings, although Ellery Queen did in Cat of Many Tails.

* But the case isn't quite what it appears to be. Christie changes things up in the eleventh hour, momentarily getting the reader off-balance perhaps.

* While Christie might have a reputation as something of a snob, that doesn't really come through in this novel. The victims cut across class lines and all are taken seriously. All the families have complex reactions, too.

Sly

I have to think it must be pretty fascinating - breathtaking at times - to see foxes in your backyard. They've evolved for stealth and speed, and in a way they're the most catlike of wild canines. City life is more my speed than the country, but spying the occasional fox would be one of the better compensations.

Ave

I just watched Hail, Caesar, which as far as I know didn't open in theaters around here. When you watch a newish movie on DVD there's likely to be a bunch of ads/trailers at the start, and so it was this time. Without the fast forward button I would have been stuck another 20 minutes.

The movie? Not bad, although not the Coens' best either. It meanders at points Alden Ehrenreich is one of the best things about it as a hickish but wise cowboy actor transferred to urbane roles. Jonah Hill's dry performance as a surety agent is also good, albeit very short.

Dry

According to the Google doodle, Friday (today or tomorrow, depending where you are) is the anniversary of Charles Mantosh's birth. MacIntosh was a Scottish chemist credited with the invention of waterproof fabrics, this being why in Britain a raincoat is called a "Mackintosh." And yes, I can see why he'd be in mind around this time of year.