Tag: books
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Helen Baxendale in Poirot, Marple, and P.D. James
Most non-UK viewers likely remember actor Helen Baxendale from her unfortunate role as Emily, the Englishwoman so unsuitably affianced to the appallingly selfish and immature Ross in Friends. David Schwimmer is a terrific actor, and I enjoy his portrayal of the worst person in the series: an academic who dates his student (oof–well past the…
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Writers and Scams in the Era of AI
(My first-ever AI-generated image, courtesy of Gemini 3. Why do all these AI tech products sound like space missions, or satellites? The image shows a robot typing a manuscript, which was my prompt. Rather worryingly accurate.) If I were to launch a profitable and efficient scam, which is beyond both my capacity and my interests,…
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When Authors Tire of Their Characters (But Can’t Just Kill Them Off)
Holmes and Moriarty, 1893 illustration by Harry C. Edwards in McClure’s I’ve been enjoying Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes in “The Final Problem.” That’s the one, you’ll recall, based on the famous story where Holmes is tossed over Switzerland’s Reichanbach Falls by Moriarty, his arch-nemesis. Watson is left to re-trace his steps and mourn his…
