My life in pictures...

[annwfyn]

Yesterday was a lovely day. The sun was shining, I was on top of my college work, and I had an adze visiting from Hatfield, which was fabulous. We went out to Greenwich, and I brandished my digital camera at anything which would stand still. Which was mostly a series of large buildings, admittedly, but I think it was the thought that counted.

I was happy, and now I share this happiness with you.

First of all I offer...



The stinging nettles which are currently mounting an aggressive action against the house.



A slightly photoshopped picture - I fiddled with the picture a little bit to get the incredible glowing green

I think the triffids are taking over. My garden is looking crazy, and I really need to get the lawn mower out and hack it back into shape.

Secondly I offer...



Huge building!





Fantastic and vividly colourful displays at the museum. Photography was not allowed inside the museum, so I only have a few stolen pictures, taken when no one was looking.





Views from the windows



Greenwich Market, which I love

Neill and I wandered around the Maritime Museum, and then went down to the Market, which is one of my favourite places in the world. I poked at cameo brooches, and gazed with interest an antique photographic equipment. Twas a lovely day, only marred by my brutally evicting Neill at 6 pm in order to write an essay, which them proceeded to stick in my brain in a most frustrating manner, until I gave up at 11 pm and watched 'Cold Case'.

Jeremiah loathes 'Cold Case' with a passion, and I can see why. His main issue with it is that he feels it is deeply unrealistic. The format of 'Cold Case' is that the detectives are given an old case, ranging from one which happened a year ago, as was the case last night, or many decades old. They go around. They interview the witnesses. The witnesses tell them stuff, stuff they haven't told anyone before for some obscure reason. They make some guesses. They confront the killer. The killer then normally confesses, for reasons which also remain obscure.

Jeremiah's issue with the show is that the evidence is normally entirely based on out of date eye witness accounts, and little else. He is also entirely sure that all a killer would have to do is say "prove it. I'm saying nothing" and all their great detective work would fall apart, and I've got a lot of sympathy with that. In a lot of cases they seem to be trying to bring a case for murder based on some guesswork, circumstantial evidence and 20 year old eyewitness reports. I'm sure any competent defense lawyer would pull that apart, and I don't understand why someone who has avoided being charged with murder for decades would suddenly crack.

*sighs*

It makes me yearn for Gil Grissom. Or, sadly, any of the Law & Order franchise which I suspect may be the most realistic of my current crop of muchly loved cop shows on TV at the moment.

And so I come on to today. The sun is still shining. I'm watching my cats play in the sun (which is always interesting - I wonder what their world looks like to them. I wonder if they think of it as a great kingdom of uncut grass forest and fencewood towers) and I'm pottering about hacking at my museology essay. I am happy, and I am content.

And that will do for now...

Comments

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Cold Case isn't about realism, though. It's a detective story with the 'what happens twenty years on' bit built in. What's fascinating about it is seeing how the people involved have developed after the murder, like a tree growing around something embedded in its trunk, and what it means when that bit is finally pulled out.

That and the detective bit seems to be quite fun :) I was really happy when I managed to work out that the fireman-type must have been the murderer because the clip of the paralysed woman showed that she could feel her legs before he used the Jaws of Life...

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I personally am quite fond of it - partly for the reasons you mention, partly for the visuals of it (the music, the flashback sequences with the colour and stylists being used to try and replicate the film/TV visuals of the time, the fast cutting between past and present), and partly because I can nearly always guess whodunnit now.

I'm just aware that as a detective story it is a bit simplistic, and as a police drama it is deeply deeply flawed, and I was musing on that tonight.

It must be said, none of the characters grab me quite as much as the CSI: Las Vegas mob, let alone Law & Order: SVU which is my favourite character based cop show.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't have telly, so I've only seen it a couple of times, which I imagine helps...

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

I loathe Cold Case. I hate it for the bit at the end when the wet woman sees the ghosts of the murdered people look happy and move on to the tune of something by cold play or snow patrol.

Also it follows the CSI pattern of "there's no reason for this person to be in the story - therefore they are the murderer".

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I usually assume that the person who seems to be nice, well adjusted, has grown as a person since the murder and still seems to care about the victim is the murderer. They really like the last scene to involve them pulling someone down from their perch. It isn't as satisfying if the murderer is someone who's grown into a crack whore since the crime.

CSI kinda does that too, I've got to admit, tho the recent series have gotten better.

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

Though if CSI did the ghosts of dead people, it would be Grissom watching the ghosts of dead cockroaches spelling out "thanks" for him, which would be amusing.

[elethiomel.livejournal.com]

It makes me yearn for Gil Grissom

Oh, CSI is just as bad, just in a different way. I really shouldn't watch it. I throw things at the screen and shout things. Usually things like:

"That's not possible", "Oh my God you've just destroyed the forensic integrity of the whole case" and
"Okay, that is possible, but the results'll take six months and it'll cost $30,000"

One of my pet hates is the chemical they use to show up blood (you know, they spray something and the blood trace glows pink?) Well there is a chemical that does this (Luminol, although it glows blue) but (a) the reaction is incredibly faint, (b) it can take around 24 hours to develop and (c) it glows in the presence of quite a few other things too - why do the CSI teams never, ever, get false-positives?

</rant>

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I don't know nearly as much about this stuff as you do - I do occasionally peer at the stuff they do with DNA and feel mildly astonished at how they extract usable DNA from next to nothing (but then, they are working with fresh material. All my DNA know how is 'how to get DNA from very old samples) and how quickly they get the results back. I know how long it takes to get results from the DNA lab at Oxford - it normally takes upwards of a month, with a couple of weeks for rush cases. I figured they just telescoped the time frame for dramatic purposes. Ditto the budget - they do have a LOT of tech to play with.

*ponders*

Yet I still like the show. Not knowing too much about such things really does help at times, I feel.

[adze.livejournal.com]

Was a great day yesterday - muchly enjoyed hanging out and chatting with you, and wandering round what is probably my favourite area and museum in London was a bonus.

I've not seen any Cold Case, although I really enjoy Waking The Dead, which is largely the same thing, but sounds like it's done slightly better...

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

We shall do more museum adventures another time!

[astro-dust.livejournal.com]

I think the thing i find most pithy about Cold Case is the whole "soundtrack is based on the era that the crime occurred" thing. I hear it's part of the show's success and people can bliss out with some 60's revolution music, or bop to 80's hits, according to whenever the person kicked it. But for me it smells highly of a schtick to rake in the 30-something crime TV addicts who've seen it all.
(it's ok Sally, you're still too young to be under that umbrella)

P.S. Do you school on Monday? I have the day off and the delightful boy will still be home in Chesham for Mother's day festivities

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I think I fall under that umbrella. I'm just sliding in there quite young. I'm a sad sad woman who's been hooked on TV shows in which people die for a long time.

Sadly, I am in school today, and jez is in work. :( Otherwise I would love to see you. Curse timetabling!

[astro-dust.livejournal.com]

Well, for tuesday, wednesday and thursday i finish at 6pm so you name which day be good for you kittens and a date it shall be.

Snuffle