I am a mass murderer...

 ...of saucepans.

The latest one didn't even last a week before it was ruined. 

Yesterday, as I was working late, I smelt something and thought that something was on fire in the kitchen. I rushed over there, but there were no flames, just my newest small pan, with no water in it any more. 

It's not just the pan I use to boil water for my hot drinks (the electric kettle died about a month ago). I can kill larger pans which I use for boiling rice or making soups or vegetable stews, too.  I just completely forget about the fact that there is something on the boil in the kitchen. Frozen spinach, boiled eggs... I've forgotten them all. And then the bottom of the pan is ruined beyond all recovery.

I'm at my wits' end. I really don't know what to do. Only eat sandwiches and salads?

Series recommendation: Murdoch Mysteries

Probably the best thing ever to come out of Canada. (Mind you, to be honest, I've not tried maple syrup, so who knows - I might change my opinion if I do.)

Murdoch Mysteries is set in Montreal in the late 19th century. The main characters are as follows:

- William Murdoch, a detective. Estranged father was a fisherman, his mother died when he was a child. Worked as a lumberjack, but then joined the police. A bit of a nerd. He's Catholic and rather repressed. What I like about him is that he is always trying to learn and do good. And he uses the latest scientific facts to solve his crimes.

- Inspector Brackenried - Murdoch's boss. A blunt-speaking man from Sheffield. Often says, "Bloody hell!" (As I often do.) I like his accent and his bluntness.

- Constable George Crabtree - a bit of a bungler, but he does grow over time. Not stupid, he just has to learn. Another one with a good heart. I follow the actor, Johnny Harris, on Facebook. As nice in real life as on the screen.

- Dr Julia Ogden - the coroner. Very down-to-earth. She is amused by Murdoch's uptight nature.

As for the series itself, the crimes are intriguing, the sets and costumes very good. Sometimes, I like to believe that they went back in time to film the episodes.

And best of all, they weave people who really existed into the stories. The first episode includes Nicola Tesla - yes, the electricity guy. The first series has two episodes with Arthur Conan Doyle. Other episodes include  Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, H G Wells, Nikola Tesla, Wilfrid Laurier, Jack London, Arthur Conan Doyle, Queen Victoria, Theodore Roosevelt, Oliver Mowat, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Henry Ford, Sir Winston Churchill, Bat Masterson, Alexander Graham Bell, Emma Goldman, H. P. Lovecraft, Harry Houdini, Thomas Edison and Helen Keller

If you don't know where to find the series... here they are:

https://primewire.mx/watch-tv/watch-murdoch-mysteries-online-39235.4921123

All 16 series so far! No need to sign up; no need to pay. Just sit back and enjoy!

A cyclist's weird logic

Yesterday, I walked into town to stretch my legs. Standing at a traffic light waiting to cross a broad street in the centre, I noticed that a young man on his bike had ignored the bike lane and was in the part for pedestrians.

"That's the bit for cyclists," I said, pointing to his right.

"Habe ich Sie überfahren?" he asked. ("Have I run you over?")

What kind of logic is that? "I can cycle wherever I want so long as I don't run you over."

The swankiest street in this town has a sidewalk that is broad enough for two cars to pass. Should we allow cars to do that - so long as they can claim that they've not run us over?

I'm beginning to wonder if cyclists aren't allergic to bike lanes. 

Series recommendation: The Charles Paris Mysteries

Charles Paris is an actor who always seems to stumble across corpses in his working life, whether he's on stage, filming a corporate video or doing voiceovers. In that respect, he's rather like Miss Marple.

The books are written by Simon Brett, who has also written some excellent comedy series for BBC Radio 4, such as After Henry, No Commitments and Smelling of Roses, all with very strong roles for women. 

However, the best way to enjoy a Charles Paris Mystery is to listen to the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the 20-book series. Adapted by Jeremy Front, brother of actress Rebecca Front, they star Bill Nighy. And I mean 'star'. Bill Nighy's voice on this series illustrates the meaning of the word 'louche' (verrufen, berüchtigt). If lounge lizard (Salonlöwe) were a paid profession, I'm sure Bill Nighy would have been top of the heap of lounge lizards. And the repartee (schlagfertige Antworten) between Charles and his agent Maurice are a sheer delight. Who cares about the plot when you've got these two people to listen to? 

Here is a YouTube account with quite a few of the BBC Radio 4 adaptations:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMDaP-lICHU&list=PLt7u2F9iZsrn0w1_npLWDQpllita6DPzs

If you want to hear them in order of book publication, take a look at this Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Charles_Paris_Mystery

If you want to give  your ears a real treat, I urge you to listen to these wonderful radio series. Great fun.

Here's a pic of Bill Nighy (Charles - to the left) and Jon Glover, who plays his agent Maurice.

Series recommendation: Spooks

If you're tired of cosy crime, try this series that ran between 2002 and 2011. Also known in the US as MI-5 (Military Intelligence 5), this series revolves around a team that defended the UK against home-grown terrorist attacks and the likes. Spooks is a term that means 'ghosts' and 'spies'. The spies or secret agents work 'invisibly' (to the general public) in the background, keeping everyone safe.

Eighty-four episodes in total, and each one meant that I held my breath for 45 minutes at a time - that's how exciting they were. 

A lot of very good actors that went on to become even more famous afterwards. 

But beware: it is definitely in the 'gritty' (knallhart) category. And if memory serves me, the first episode starts with a violent scene that's best not viewed. Be ready to close your eyes fast.

However, if you want excitement and a break from cosiness, this is a good series. I was gutted when it stopped.

Matthew McFadden and Keeley Hawes (the two on the left in the lower photo) are now married to each other.

Swimming pools are missing a trick

High temperatures have finally come to Germany again and I've been to the outdoor pool three times now, hitting the water some time between 8.15 and 8.30 a.m.

It's sooo good to be outdoors and in water again. This year, the outdoor swimming pool complex will have to substitute for Mallorca and my beloved Bad Orb, which has the best outdoor swimming pool facility of those that I've experienced so far in my life.

However, despite the recently refurbished swimming pools looking all nice and shiny, clad as they are now not with tiles but with stainless steel panels with studs on them, they are still relatively boring places to swim in.

What's missing is something nice to look at, as you swim with goggles on and your face in the water. What's missing are interesting depictions of life on the sea bed. Why don't they have paintings of sea creatures or coral reefs on the sides and the bottoms of swimming pools.

Bad Orb even has a pool that's filled with natural, unchlorinated water, water that is cleaned by a nearby reed pond, and what's missing - in my opinion anyway - are a few trout. That would definitely make swimming there more interesting. 

So why don't pool designers do that? Enliven the chlorinated pools by displaying images of underwater life, whether from tropical water or temperate. That would surely draw a few more people to the pools, wouldn't it?

This is my place to be in the early hours:

Followed by a flask of coffee and a bit of reading on the grass under a tree while drying off.

Series recommendation: Sister Boniface Mysteries

Yet another slightly cheesy and twee series set in the not-so-distant past of Great Britain, and an off-shoot from the Father Brown series, this is a feel-good cosy crime series that picks up on a different part of life in a small village and/or the 60s: prize vegetable shows, a children's TV show in the vein of the real, long-running Blue Peter series, pirate radio stations, chess championships, thin supermodels, and a band reminiscent of the Beatles. Basically, there's a bit of everything in this crime series. Two series have been made so far.

The heroine of the series is a sister, a nun, who lives in a convent. As she is a Cambridge science graduate and by far the cleverest person in the entire area, she assists the local police whenever crimes (usually murders) occur. The ensemble cast members are all very pleasant: there are two young good-looking male police officers, their boss (who is not a complete buffoon), a young woman police officer, and the landlady of the two young male police officers. After Sister Boniface, the landlady is my favourite character: she has the perfect face for her role. As do Sister Boniface's two fellow nun helpers.

It seems to me to be rather strange that so many UK crime series are set in the post-war era, but if you follow the news that comes out of the country, maybe it is no wonder that so many people hanker after the past. The world today is scarier than it's ever been - and than includes the decades when people lived 'under the shadow of the bomb' during the so-called Cold War.

If you like Father Brown and/or Grantchester, then you should like this series. What I like best about this series is that there are no 'tortured' or constantly unhappy main characters. They may not be always full of the joys of spring, but they're not raging alcoholics, unhappily married or wrestling with their past. Each episode is a little snapshot of that time with a neat puzzle to solve and everyone goes home happy. Pure escapism.

I do love her round face and twinkly eyes: