CRIME FICTION FROM CROATIA

 Nov 2020, I am watching "The newspaper" (Novine) a Croatian crime series on Netflix. I am hooked to it and cannot understand why! Below is a bit of self-analysis for me to figure out myself.

1)It has no humor and I love humor

2)I am going by subtitles as I don't know the language

3) There is no fantastic natural scenery, etc.

4)I want to reach the end ASAP but am managing to get over my ADHD and am forcing myself see every episode..it's a bit of a torture for me!

5)The names are difficult for me to remember and so 90% of the time, I don't know whom they are talking about! However, I know all the faces. I can rightly link about 4 names to 4 characters (that is I recognize whom they are talking about even when they absent from the scene and only  their name is mentioned). For the remaining, that is the majority of the characters, I recognize who they are, if present mentioned.                                                                                                                                                      I am simply going with the flow.  

I know the story only broadly and not in minute details...but am sticking to it till the end!

I think the reasons I am hooked to this show are: a)It's realistic 2)Though several characters have ugly character traits...greed, corruption, hedonism, no conscience, opportunistic, etc...it's not grating on my nerves as much as it would, if I were seeing all this in an Indian serial. 

Yes, these are the 2 core reasons I am hooked to "The newspaper". It's like seeing the ugly side of Indian politics and bureaucracy....which I want to see in a TV show but cannot as I suffer too much while watching because it's too close to home for comfort.

As I watched this show I Googled for crime fiction from Croatia. I am an avid crime fiction fan, yet have not read one book from or set in Croatia. (I have read Alistair Maclean's Force ten from Navarone, set in the Balkans but before Croatia became an independent country and so...I am not sure if that counts! Also the focus of that novel  was more on three characters from Greece, New Zealand and UK than on the locals)

I found these four books which are Croatian crime fiction in  the Toronto public library and will be reading them shortly.

Alen Mattich's 

Zagreb Cowboy (book 1) I read this...it was nice and I recommend it..it's got humor, history, likeable characters. Though life must have been terrible for ordinary people at the time of the novel, this author has thankfully, kept the tone light and not depressing.

Killing pilgrim (book 2) Booked this and waiting to read it.

The heart of hell (3rd and last book)

and 

Ivan Srsen's  (editor)

Zagreb Noir

I will let you know  whether I enjoyed them or not once I have finished.

Discovered Daphnique Springs on Facebook and love her comedy!

 Daphnique Springs brief comical skits are hilarious.

Please check them out.

I wonder if people are being more creative now due to the free time they have due to convid or these comedies already existed and I am discovering them only NOW as I seem to have time to browse through the internet.

To WATCH these videos and of course the videos of my beloved 1.5 year old nephew give me a reason to roll out of bed these cold dull dark mornings of Covid Lockdown November.

I can smile instead of sigh these boring, lifeless Covid days thanks to these hilarious artists on Youtube and the other places on internet. Below is a list of the comedy youtube I discovered recently. I will be adding to this list as and when I find new comedians whom I like. I pray there are more out there...I cannot take this Covid Lockdown anymore! My attention span for books is zero and the only thing I seem to have the patience for is comedy.

Daphnique Springs

Liza Koshy

Lilly Singh

Raghu Vinestore (Kannada comedy)

Jordindian (Kannada comedy)

Discovered Liza Koshy today on Youtube and loving it!

 Discovered Liza Koshy on youtube (season 2, episode one Naked) today...21st Nov, 2020

I love her and the entire cast!

Looking forward to watching her shows on youtube for the next few weeks of lockdown in Toronto.

I wish the stuff on Netflix was better OR

I wish I could learn to appreciate the stuff which Netflix has on currently.

My interest and attention for all activities, even pleasurable ones like watching TV and reading fiction has waned during these days of  'Covid-work-from-home' and 'Covid-no-vacation' and 'Covid-no-meeting-friends' . I don't even have the mood to read the thriller books I am borrowing from the library these days. 

Someone should do a study on increasing listlessness with life during this terrible Year of Covid and check out the mental health of humans like me. I honestly don't know how so many of my friends got into so many 'self-improvement' and 'home improvement' activities over the last many months with such enthusiasm. I know of a person who has been drawing (pencil sketches) of her cat daily; another who has started Yoga and aerobics; another who has built his backyard deck, etc; 

 Now that the days are shorter, colder and the mornings darker...literally darker (I don't mean figuratively!), I don't seem to have the mood to do anything.

Hamilton waterfront by Lake Ontario

 

It was a lovely day by the lake, Sunday 7th November, 2020. We had a lovely picnic lunch here (bought chicken biryani, up the mountain at Mahal restaurant, 527, Upper Sherman Avenue; drove to the lake and ate here).

We also saw a protest going on by the lake.

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When we were exploring downtown Hamilton, later we saw another protest against Covid! One of the persons was carrying a sign which said, "The earth is flat. Covid is a hoax"! What can I say ?

We ended the day with coffee and a delicious cake in the patio of some restaurant downtown before driving back to Toronto. It was a pleasant relaxing day and not at all like fall or winter!

Hamilton street graffiti and art

 I feel really bad about Bryant above. I wish things were different.

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VISIT TO HAMILTON, Dundurn Castle. 7 NOV, 2020

 Wanted to enjoy the beautiful unexpected warm weather in November and so visited Hamilton, a town close to Toronto but one, we have never visited to sightsee. Here are a few photos.

Below is the Dundurn castle which we saw as we entered Hamilton.

Above is the dovecot on the roof.

I love the rough and various textures of the wall above...

Below is the Hamilton Military Museum on the Dundurn Park grounds.

Above three photos are the Dundurn Castle from other sides