The Week in Entertainment

DVD: Murder on the Orient Express - the good one. Also two Peter Ustinov movies where he played Poirot, Death on the Nile and Evil under the Sun. It's true the latter two changed some things in the books, but at least they kept the plot! Several episodes of The Chief, which is interesting - a look at the politics of policing. Plus it stars Tim Pigott-Smith, who I really like. Also, a fairly funny Russian comedy in two parts, Pokrov Gates - made in the 80s about the 50s, it's probably much funnier if you know Russian, but the hospital scene is hysterical.

TV: Psych - I love John Michael Higgins. And this episode had some funny stuff in it. ("You misspelled your name." "Yes, I was in a hurry and didn't use spell check." "You need to spell check your own name?") Leverage - I adore Tom Skerrit (it's been a good week). And Parker was so funny, running those banks down. "What do you guys do on your weekends?" Nathan is not a nice man. Not. A nice. Man. No matter what Sophie says. And Futurama - very good. "Your place or mine?" "Both... but first, this place."... "What do cats need with that much yarn and cobalt?" ... "So you called my thesis a bag of barf and stole it?" "Welcome to academia."

Read: Finished Burn, an excellent Nevada Barr novel. Mind Changer, the last James White Sector General novel. Emyr Humphreys' A Man's Estate, a look at individuality, family, and country, and how they intersect and overlap.