Why do the Brits do mysteries so much better…

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

If you use a VPN to go into the Dark Web, the suspicion will always be you’re seeking illicit drugs or accessing kiddie porn.

That’s all most people would know about the Dark Net. I don’t care if people are suspicious. Nobody knows I go there to shut down scammers, try to do deals with ransomware scammers if companies are forced to pay to get their data unblocked, or help setup secure data channels between Ukrainians in Ireland and Ukraine.

Using the Dark Web is also a secure way to surf the net as you are not tracked. I have shown people in certain countries how to safely  search for (say) atheist content so they can read it safely. When their Islamic brothers demand to see their search history, they find that their sister(s) like “cute puppy dogs” and “poetry about Muslim heros”.

• This reply was modified 4 months, 3 weeks ago by  Reg the Fronkey Farmer.

[_Robert_Participant]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

If you use a VPN to go into the Dark Web, the suspicion will always be you’re seeking illicit drugs or accessing kiddie porn. That’s all most people would know about the Dark Net. I don’t care if people are suspicious. Nobody knows I go there to shut down scammers, try to do deals with ransomware scammers if companies are forced to pay to get their data unblocked, or help setup secure data channels between Ukrainians in Ireland and Ukraine. Using the Dark Web is also a secure way to surf the net as you are not tracked. I have shown people in certain countries how to safely search for (say) atheist content so they can read it safely. When their Islamic brothers demand to see their search history, they find that their sister(s) like “cute puppy dogs” and “poetry about Muslim heros”.

Nice!

[UnseenParticipant]

While I don’t think any British detective series comes even close to Midsomer Murders for longevity, the Vera series is a long one with 11 seasons. I’ve watched the first four and can’t figure out what the appeal is. I didn’t expect it to be as dark/gruesome as it is. And I don’t hold that against it. After all, I absolutely loved Wire in the Blood, which is far far darker (and better, if you ask me).

I’m watching Annika, which I think is much better and far more creative because Annika frequently breaks the imaginary “fourth wall” to talk directly to the viewer.

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

Unseen wrote:

the Vera series is a long one with 11 seasons. I’ve watched the first four and can’t figure out what the appeal is.

My friend comes from Northumberland where Vera is set, so that’s why he watches it.  He quite often spots places from his childhood, so the settings are authentic.

[UnseenParticipant]

Aside from the inspect0r Lynley series, another  nearly perfect series is Wire In The Blood (don’t ask me to explain the title). Here is the first episode of the first season, The Mermaids Singing. If the first two minutes or so don’t draw you in, then this series probably isn’t for you. One drawback for many people is that it’s from the early 2000’s and it looks it. If you can get past that, I think you’ll find the series absolutely addictive, unless you don’t have a strong stomach for Silence of the Lambs level gruesomeness.

[UnseenParticipant]

A couple observations on some cultural difference between the UK and the USA from comparing their mystery/detective series with American cop shows.

First, almost invariable when UK cops visit someone while gathering information, they are offered tea or tea and biscuits. Even substituting coffee for tea, that never happens in American shows.

Second, it’s hard to ignore the omnipresence of whisky/whiskey (Scotch or Irish, presumably) and the fact that many cops, at least at the management level, keep a bottle and a glass or two in their desk drawer. In the US, I think that would be a major breach of standards. But it’s not just that. So many times, the first thing they do after taking off their coat is break out the bottle. Also, in many shows, as the work day ends, most of the cops meet at a nearby pub/bar. I’m sure that sometimes happens in the US, but in the British TV series, it seems like much more of an established habit.

BTW, for the Americans, what’s the difference between a pub and a bar?

Atmosphere and Tradition: Pubs (Public Houses) tend to have a more community-focused atmosphere and older demographic, often serving as a gathering place for locals, with a strong emphasis on British tradition and heritage. Bars, on the other hand, may have a more modern and cosmopolitan vibe, appealing to a younger set.
Food and Beverage Focus: Pubs typically offer a wider range of traditional British pub food, such as fish and chips, shepherd’s pie, and Sunday roasts, alongside a selection of beers and ales. Bars, by contrast, often specialize in liquor and may not serve food or have a limited menu.

Of course, those are generalizations with all the caveats that attach.

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

Unseen wrote:

BTW, for the Americans, what’s the difference between a pub and a bar?

A pub is a public house – a whole building dedicated to meeting and drinking.  A bar is technically a counter with a rack of bottles behind it.  A bar is more like a facility where they serve you drinks, than a public house, a comfortable home from home full of potential friends.

The pub has always been the traditional place where work colleagues would meet at the end of the day or at lunchtime (in the old days).

[UnseenParticipant]

@ Simon

I think originally a pub was an establishment run by a brewery as a way of marketing its products. So, if you went to an ABC Brewery pub, you wouldn’t have a choice of various ABC products. Was it that way and is it still that way in today’s pubs?

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

Before pubs, in the middle ages or whatever, there were ale houses run by individuals who may have been brewing their own beer.  I don’t know, probably a number of brewing companies started their own pubs.  Apparently these are called tied houses, but we don’t call them anything.  The opposite of a tied house is a free house where there is no restriction on what beer they serve.  If you go to different parts of the country, you get different breweries supplying the pubs and different beer, if it’s not completely standardised.

The thing with pubs is they’re closing at a high rate since the pandemic.  People aren’t going as much, they can get beer for a third of the price in supermarkets.  In the old days, your house was probably overcrowded and cold with nothing to do, so the pub was an attractive option where everyone (at least, men) hung out.  These days they have to do extra things like live music to survive.

Here’s one of my locals:

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Before pubs, in the middle ages or whatever, there were ale houses run by individuals who may have been brewing their own beer…

God made Guinness. Guinness drinkers make beer. Beer drinkers make lager.

An Irishman, an Englishman and an American walk into an Irish pub for the first time. The fronkey farmer raises his hand to the barman with 3 fingers showing. The barman drops 3 pints of Guinness to our table. I thought you said you were never in here before? I wasn’t, I replied.

[UnseenParticipant]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:

I thought you said you were never in here before? I wasn’t, I replied.

Was that the barman or the Englishman or the American who asked?

[Simon PayntonParticipant]

In this situation, if Reg says “3 please”, the barman knows he means Guinesses.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

My American friend. This was his first evening in Ireland after a long day walking and we went into a busy “tourist” pub. My English friend thought it would take too long to be served food as he really wanted a steak dinner. I asked the server in Irish (Gaeilge) to get him one, without waiting for the menu. Ten minutes later he was eating the “best steak I ever had”. This year my friend from California arrived with 2 other families (9 people in total) to stay here.

[_Robert_Participant]

I worked with a guy who had lunch in the same pizza ristorante every day. Being the huge tipper that he was, he had the wait staff trained to scan the parking lot for his car and have his ice-cold beer sitting on his table every day.

[UnseenParticipant]

We’ve wandered into asides from the main question so I’ll contribute another…

Years ago I watched all the seasons of The Midsomer Murders available at that time and was amazed that Midsomer (a fictitious county, apparently, not a village as many seem to think) was such a dangerous place to live, comparable in some ways to Murder She Wrote’s Cabot’s Cove. A recent count I saw was 334, which is probably not even up to date, which if true would make Midsomer a very crime-ridden place, considering it’s a sparsely-populated rural county.

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