Deborah and I stayed up late, going backwards in this narrative, watching Wake Up Dead Man. This is a “Knives Out Mystery” and now on Netflix, and was the first true who-dun-it I think of in the series, I think. As the show goes forward in the storytelling (the slow reveal of an excellent mystery), it calls out many of the books on locked-room mysteries (one I am reading now).
These are my favorite type of murder mystery, and I direct you, dear reader, to Tom Meade, who writes excellent new versions (though set in the 1920s UK). I also thought it was the first time that Daniel Craig fit into his character. Glen Close was excellent. The acting was superb, and the camera work showed what the main character, the “killer” priest, saw. Deborah believes it is the best of the series. Recommended.
Before this, we were at Ernie’s for dinner, a new place with a Greek direction. We sat at the bar, having two drinks each (starting with Spanish Coffees). We had some flash-fried thin-cut veggie slices with tzatziki sauce that were to die for. We enjoyed our visit to the bar, and our table was ready just short of the promised hour wait.
A high-top table and hard chairs make the bar louder but more comfortable. Hmmm. Our waiter was attentive, and we had a wonderful dinner with Deborah going for chicken and me lamb chops. Greek lemon potatoes cannot be beat (see this video), and their version was great. We shared a cream cake dessert that was wonderful, too.
Before this, we were at a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert, and I am sorry to say it is unlikely I will return. The friendly Christmas story is now a confused mess, with one wondering if ChatGPT wrote the story, or worse, it did not. The music was sifted, lifted, and reformatted to fit a more Christian theme, and references to war and discrimination were removed from the original versions I have seen. The imagery is now AI-generated, as the original artist has passed away and was replaced, according to their band’s information, with AI, and it shows all the awful hallmarks of poor AI generation (hands like claws and illogical and Cartoon-like structures that would embarrass Disney to use). Their music, when they returned to their older material, was excellent, and you could sometimes feel the original pulse and edginess of the old TSO shows. A real mixed bag now, and seemed heavily “laundered” for a selected audience. Souless. Not recommended, sadly.
Little Caesars Arena in Detroit was excellent, and they had a screen showing folks walking in and hockey players skating onto it. This is the home of Detroit Hockey. While we just did popcorn and a pretzel, the food looked good. The staff was excellent, with everyone friendly and helpful, always with a smile.
We parked after looping around some closed roads and had pre-paid parking. We were with a crowd when we learned we needed to join the outside line, since it was for box seats and the like. We tried the other staircase to find locked doors and no easy access. We were worried at first that we were locked in the stairs, but the door on the second floor does not even have a lock. We soon walked to the wrong line, and then finally to the usual person line (we had regular tickets). We waited only a few minutes outside after getting more steps!
Before this, Deborah and I had lunch at Panera Bread to keep things simple. The amount of sugar and holiday cheer has accumulated. Just soup and half a sandwich was a relief.
I tried to get up early, but rolled over and managed to start and finish the blog with the industrial breakfast. On many days (not always, I was told with an eyeroll by the gal who did the breakfast today), as the breakfast closes, the cleaning staff finishes the food. Something I have seen at many IHGs.
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