A Fuzzy Parrot

I got seriously hooked on Stephen Fry's "QI" show, a (British, obviously) show in which the questions are designed to be ones that the celebrity guests not only will generally not know, there will also be a common misconception or urban legend or myth on the topic that the guests are likely to say, and lose points. Guests get points for knowing anything really about these obscure things, or for saying anything remotely interesting. They are mostly comics and actors, so their reparté is hilarious.



Alan Davies is the perpetual "guest" who is on every show, and his role is more or less to not know most things, and get answers wrong and complain amusingly about the questions. When I found out he had had a starring role in Jonathan Creek, one of those British "Oh look! There goes the MURderer!" shows, I decided to check it out. It's on YouTube. It's pretty good for a mystery show. It's like a modern Sherlock Holmes, Poirot or Miss Marple. Maybe Peter Serafinowicz will do a spoof of it too. He had Holmes buggering Watson whenever he solved a case, and Poirot and Marple sneaking off for quickies when they were supposed to be investigating. Jonathan Creek is a "set and illusion designer" for a famous stage magician, and as such, he specializes in improbable murders in which the whole thing takes place in a locked bunker with no windows or the like. Unlike an American show, he has a somewhat fat, extremely shrill, obnoxious ear ring-wearing female sidekick for comedic effect who is not particularly hot, and there is occasionally sexual tension, but it isn't "going anywhere" and both date other, more attractive people.



My computer sends a video signal to the TV in the living room. The only bad part (well, good in terms of minor exercise) is that for shows on YouTube, you have to keep jumping up and going into the next room to click on each new part, as YouTube has a 10 minute limit on videos. It's better than watching commericals, I emphatically maintain. Life's too short to watch even a single commercial, in my opinion. My goal is to spend LESS money, and allowing people to take up my time trying to tempt my wallet open isn't on the agenda for me.



Syd (previous cat) was trained to leap off my chest whenever he felt my stomach muscles tighten to sit upright to go click "part two" on the computer. Roger (current kitten) hasn't got this down, and on one occasion clung to my shoulder happily like a fuzzy parrot while I walked into the other room and changed the YouTube page. Arrr. Piracy.