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Brian Holmes

@mrbrianholmes.bsky.social
184 followers 135 following 1.3K posts

International male. Reader, writer, biscuit eater. NE OH | LA/OC | LDN 🇺🇲 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 🏳️‍🌈

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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 4h
The whole premise is that Marple is a viciously brilliant woman who ever politely blends in. Someone usually asks her to help, but others see her as a fragile old lady who gossips over her knitting. Too many, she's an annoyance, a nobody, a fluffy old dear.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 4h
People think of the Miss Marple stories as cosy crime about genteel village life, but they are actually broadly realistic about the village through different eras. There's a grittiness to them that's inherent to Christie's vision - and how Marple herself fits in.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 5h
Worse, you end up with versions that are extremely sentimental about Miss Marple, while also making her both excessively twee AND a dogged detective, eager to root out the murderer and get to the bottom of the crime. That's a totally different character.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 5h
TV adaptations take great liberties - understandable with such a popular character. But giving us lots of Miss Marple through each very long episode is the opposite of Christie's approach.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 5h
But remember - Agatha Christie was a master storyteller. She knew exactly what she was doing with Miss Marple. Totally different approach to having a detective present through most/all of the story who chases clues and questions suspects.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 5h
That's why the Miss Marple short stories are more satisfying - there's a relatively smaller amount of each story without her. The novels have long stretches where you're waiting for her. Then she pops in for a bit, then it's another long wait.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 5h
My super hot take: Miss Marple works best in the short stories, since Christie's whole narrative conceit with her is that she is tangential to the mystery but wildly entertaining and perceptive. But she doesn't chase clues - she's a master of human nature and psychology.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 5h
Having a protracted conversation about Miss Marple with an old friend and may have just said "See, I'm a Joan Hickson gay." #IYKYK
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 11h
Angel tube station is absolutely cooked and might have to close, Transport for London's maintenance backlog is causing big trouble. (And other stories.)
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Leah Reich @leahreich.com · 13/10/2026
Ah yes, perhaps the most beloved literary trope of all: the classic McMuffin
A screenshot that reads: Moore throws in a Hitchcock-style McMuffin in the shape of a secret tape recording which will reveal just who has been betraying the gangsters.
The problem is that no-one has a machine on which to play it.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Kentish Town is one tube stop north of Camden Town. Both in zone 2. They acted like it was out in the Home Counties or beyond the M25.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Extra funny because the flat before that - which the husband liked because it was hip and central - was in Camden.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Just watched a House Hunters International where an American couple was deciding between 'city and suburbs' and the suburban option was...Kentish Town.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
could you do like a two screen simulcast - one for them, one for you
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Martha, but like, super spooky @mostlymartha.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
This is possibly the worst thing I have ever read. It should be the only headline on every news source. It won't be. If you've experienced sexual assault, maybe don't read the details.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Very different positioning of the Americans, obviously, as well. Avoiding any and all spoilers...but yeah. Watch The Bureau!
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Currently available on Paramount+. The Agency is a broadly faithful adaptation, in terms of major plot points. But the sound design is more subdued/effective in the French show. And it works better to have French agents at home/abroad.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
But it's fundamentally about bureaucratic culture vs. fieldwork and the compromises people make, professionally and personally, in the name of national security - and to save a life.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Is it perfect TV? As close as it gets. Second season is certainly a top season of just about any show. And each season builds to obligatory scenes where characters make key choices and get - or don't get - what they want. Often, with life or death consequences.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Finished The Bureau - French TV show currently being adapted into The Agency - last night. An all-time favorite series. A stark, fitting finale for beloved characters. It's very French, but can't recommend highly enough.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
They're getting perms, right? This must include some kind of perm.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
teenage boys across England want to BE you
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Short answer: no one knows. Became very prevalent by 2018; can confirm it is still massively popular based on seeing it everywhere on my recent trips to London. metro.co.uk/2018/02/23/c...
metro.co.uk
Why is it called a Meet Me At McDonald's haircut?
Short back and side of fries please
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
The "Meet me at McDonald's" (very popular in the UK)
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Tom & Lorenzo @tomandlorenzo.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Farewell to Eva Marie Saint, the sharpest and sexiest of the Hitchcock blondes who got to wear one of the best dresses in cinema history
Full shot of Eva Marie Saint in NORTH BY NORTHWEST wearing the red roses dressSide mid shot of Eva Marie Saint in NORTH BY NORTHWEST wearing the red roses dress, sharing a drink with Cary GrantThe open back of the red roses dress
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Jack Mendel @mendeljack.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
‘Next stop, the gas chamber’: London bus adverts to be removed www.jewishnews.co.uk/next-stop-ga...
jewishnews.co.uk
‘Next stop, the gas chamber’: London bus adverts to be removed - Jewish News
EXCLUSIVE: TfL acts after Jewish passengers criticise vegan group’s campaign targeting methods used to slaughter pigs
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Did you see the video of her a few years back when she pronounced microwave in a... distinctive way?
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
British side? But I'm only ethnically British (English/Scottish) on one side. The challenges of binational life...
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Finally caved and betrayed my British half by turning on the heating. It was down to 65F in the house. Hands and nose too cold to deal. 🧣
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
If you live/stay in the city centre, there are no bus lines (all terminate there). So unless you want to go somewhere along the tram line - you walk or get cab/Uber.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Half surprised it's not 'forward slash' true 90s style
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Happy birthday! Hope you wished big 🕯️
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I also learned that prescription bottle lids (in the US) come with two sides. One is non-child safety. Much easier to open!
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Ended up with a sinus infection after whatever happened in France (cold? environmentally triggered nasal drainage?) never really cleared up, then got worse over last few days. Thanks to the excellent nurses at urgent care saw me quickly and arranged for antibiotics. 💊
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The worst is when you're at the airport in Europe and the plane is still on the way to the UK from 2 flights earlier. 🧐
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“For months, Anthropic has been hosting private meetings like this one, shuttling in dozens of religious scholars from across the world, papering them with nondisclosure agreements and demanding that key aspects of many conversations remain confidential.“ www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/u...
nytimes.com
Is Claude Conscious? Inside Anthropic’s Quest to Instill Morality Into Its A.I. Models (Gift Article)
In a series of private meetings, the company consulted religious scholars to help instill morality into its A.I. models — and make the case that Claude could be conscious.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
positively unhanged
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
What was the moment you realised you had no grasp of the world anymore? This did it for me www.ft.com/content/f109...
Many creators seek to ride more shortlived waves of internet popularity. Shira
Jeczmien, founder of viral marketing agency Screenshot Media, points to a brief trend of people eating whole cucumbers that led to shortages of the vegetable in supermarkets.
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Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"Lord does the Park not have any brains these days? WHAT WERE THEY ACTUALLY DOING NEAR RAF FAIRFORD" "Dogging?" "Thanks for the offer Diana, but I'll pass if it's all the same to you, my knees aren't up to it and the citroen's gear stick makes me nervous. NO, THEY WERE ROBBING DIESEL."
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Just had to explain the concept of "cuck chair" to a close relative, leading to me citing this specific example and then having to dig up the story. www.reuters.com/investigates...
reuters.com
Business partner of Falwells says he had affair with the power couple
Giancarlo Granda said he had sex with Becki Falwell while Jerry Falwell Jr, head of Liberty University, looked on.
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
These sound like non-trivial problems.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
cannot overstate the number of tourists over the years who I've overheard in the British Museum thinking they were at the British Library (or vice versa)
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Julie S. Lalonde @julieslalonde.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
- À la carte living conditions where everything is hyper personalized and you get what YOU want delivered to YOU when YOU want it. And therefore, you don't have to think beyond yourself, so you assume everything is either for you *specifically* or it's wrong.
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 26/09/2026
great piece. man social media is a cancer themomoftheyear.substack.com/p/im-the-mom...
themomoftheyear.substack.com
I’m the Mom in That Viral Giants Clip. Let Me Tell You About My Husband.
You saw me carrying our baby and food. There was more happening in our family that night.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Thank you! It's not bad, it was just rough when I got very ill in France a week ago Wednesday and then flew home early a week ago yesterday. But seem to have mostly recovered from it 🤧
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
That awkward moment when you cut off the Dayquil and Nyquil but then the cough comes back (a bit) as you have no more suppressant. 😷
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I just think certain shows are better enjoyed on a larger screen. Like a laptop or tablet (big one).
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Must avoid any view of it. Don't want a single spoiler.
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The lady next to me is watching Slow Horses (first episode of the new season) but ON HER PHONE
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Brian Holmes @mrbrianholmes.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
When your thumb bumps an adjacent emoji by mistake and you have to quickly delete the WhatsApp 🤦🏻‍♂️
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