Welcome to Watercooler Wednesday, where the water is above-average, the topics are bubbly, and the company is sparkling. Since we’re all getting ready for Turkey Day, this post is a quick mash-up of fun and interesting things on the internet to get you in the mood for tomorrow! Thanksgiving Mash-up of Fun (…)
Mystery Monday: the Butler Did It?
How did the phrase “The Butler Did It” come to be such a cliched convention in mystery stories? Did the butler – or another servant in the household of a wealthy murder victim – really “do it”? And in enough mystery novels to deserve the cliche? Any of you mystery readers remember a time(…)
Flashback Friday: Thanksgivings past, part 2
Welcome to Flashback Friday, where we continue our glance back at Thanksgivings past. Last week, we talked about football, and President McKinley’s Thanksgiving proclamation. If you missed it, click here for that post. Today, we’re talking turkey. Here’s a November 25, 1880 New York Times article, which details the abundance for sale – enough to make(…)
Mystery Monday: A Plot Wheel for Perry Mason
Early last month, Robert Downey, Jr. announced that he would produce and star in a new Perry Mason film: Click here for the entire Fandango article. For fans of Erle Stanley Gardner’s lawyer-detective Perry Mason, this can either be exciting or distressing news; it depends on how much of a purist you are. Either way, a(…)
Flashback Friday: Thanksgivings past
Welcome to Flashback Friday. Today and next Friday will focus on snippets of late-19th/early-20th century Thanksgivings, through the eyes of reporters from The New York Times. Enjoy! Even back then, it was all about the turkey: …although Thanksgiving was about generosity, too: Click here for the entire November 26, 1908 article. College football was another(…)
Watercooler Wednesday: More Belly Laughs!
Welcome to Watercooler Wednesday, where the water is above-average, the topics are bubbly, and the company is sparkling. You may have noticed things getting a little gloomy out there lately; early snow, early nightfall, colder temps, bare trees. It seems high time for: Another Round of Belly Laughs! Let’s start with some good news… 1.(…)
Mystery Monday: Chasing the MacGuffin
In terms of puzzle and suspense, most of us consider mystery stories primarily “Whodunnit” in nature. However, a lot of mysteries also thrive on the pursuit of the “MacGuffin.” What the heck’s a MacGuffin? The MacGuffin is an object everyone in the story wants, and are racing around to get. Alfred Hitchcock made the term(…)
They wouldn’t want us to skip Thanksgiving
Welcome to Flashback Friday! Since today is the first Friday in November, it seemed a good time to take a look at our country’s holiday. Some of you might be asking: “Thanksgiving? What Thanksgiving?” - because the stores jumped right from the Halloween decorations to Christmas decorations on November 1st. Be the first to like.(…)
1 2