text:
Systematically and mercilessly disassembling, flushing, greasing, and re-packing the cycling culture.
Wheel of Misfortune: Getting What You Deserve
When you commute by bicycle in New York City (or presumably in any city with heavy car traffic) you see a lot of vanity license plates. In fact, you see even more vanity plates than you would if you were commuting by car, since instead of sitting behind the same idiot contemplating the same plate while you're stuck in traffic for 45 minutes you're weaving through hundreds of stationary idiots and seeing hundreds of plates. It's kind of like watching one of those flipping train station schedules, except you're moving and the digits are not. In any case, since I'm always on the lookout for reading material, I tend to notice vanity plates, and one in particular caught my eye this morning:
I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean, nor do I see the point of ambiguous vanity plates in general. Since the point of a vanity plate is vanity, shouldn't the message be obvious and make sense to as many people as possible? As it is, I wasn't quite sure what this driver was getting at, though the perverse and juvenile AutoComplete in my mind did suggest this:
Maybe that's what he was getting at after all.
Speaking of juvenile references, last Friday I mentioned in passing that I am against urinating in the shower, at which a number of readers took umbrage. (Incidentally, while "taking umbrage" sounds like a way you'd protect yourself from falling urine, it really just means "taking offense.") Indeed, one reader forwarded me this pro-shower urination PSA from Brazil:
Even though I don't understand Portuguese, this video has been sufficient to cause me to reevaluate my stance. Apparently, not only does urinating in the shower save water, but it's also fun. I'm even thinking about installing one of those carnival water pistol games in my shower, only without the pistol. Who says being environmentally-minded has to be a drab affair? Simply turn on the shower, don your cone of smugness, and fire away.
Moving on from pissing to pissing and moaning, Cadel Evans is taking umbrage at the cascade of bad luck which seems to be falling on his head like so much urine in the Vuelta a España:
"I don't deserve this. I do everything right in the fucking sport and I don't deserve this shit," Evans told VeloNews at the Sierra Nevada summit. "(The) wheel change was the problem."
To be honest, I haven't been following the Vuelta, since to me paying attention to a grand tour after Labor Day feels like listening to your teacher keep yammering on after the bell has rung. Still, I was surprised to see how much Cadel Evans has progressed as a rider during the course of the season--and by "progressed" I mean gone from eloquent excuse-making to pure petulance. He's no longer the John Coltrane of Excuses; actually, given all the obscenity-flinging, he's now more like the GG Allin of the General Classification. Perhaps we should just call him "GC Allin."
To me, the most irritating thing about Evans's outburst is his use of the word "deserve," which has absolutely no place in any discussion of competitive cycling. There's more to winning a bike race than simply doing "everything right;" there are also certain intangibles, like passion and luck. If Evans wants to enjoy success simply by following instructions then perhaps he should quit cycling and start building decks, though even then I'm sure he'd get angry at his hammer for hitting his thumb.
That said, I'm sure the whole wheel-change debacle was pretty irritating, especially since it seems he was undone by his own director's confusion over whether or not he was "rocking" Campagnolo's superior 11-speed technology:
That prompted Evans to take a wheel from the Shimano neutral support, but team officials weren't sure if it was a 10-speed or an 11-speed casette, so Silence sport director Marc Wauters made the call to stop Evans again and switch his bike. They later discovered that the neutral support wheel was the correct one.
Still, you can't blame Wauters for being cautious, since Campagnolo only guarantees its 11-speed components if they are used as "part of a complete system:"
Therefore, if Evans was running a Campagnolo 11-Speed drivetrain and the Shimano neutral support had indeed mis-curated his bicycle by giving him the wrong wheel then this could have had the disastrous result of voiding his warranty. And while victory is certainly important, only the most reckless director would allow his riders to use components that are both out of warranty and not designed to work optimally with each-other. I'm sure after poring over the instruction manual in the team car Wauters made the wise decision to order the change. After all, the warranty is truly the centerpiece of any groupo.
Sadly, though, there is no warranty on Evans's morale, which by now is positively riddled with stress fractures. Really, the only thing more fragile than Evans's spirit is the Mavic R-Sys, which is "bulletproof" provided you define a "bullet" as a single diminutive Frenchman:
Well, it turns out that consumer demand for an exploding wheelset that costs well over $1,000 is considerably less than Mavic anticipated. In fact, commenter CommieCanuck recently reminded me that Mavic's parent company is putting it up for sale:
Apparently, while Mavic is still profitable, it's just not profitable enough, so they're sacrificing it so they can protect Wilson, makers of fine anthropomorphic volleyballs:
To date, though, Mavic is just sitting there unsold like a overpriced fixed-gear conversion on Craigslist. If only I had better business sense, I would put together a group of investors and purchase the company myself, and my first order of business as the new owner would be to install serial retrogrouch and uber-curmudgeon (and author of "The Bicycle Wheel") Jobst Brandt as CEO, head of marketing, and chief engineer:
(bkjimmy)
Brandt's first order of business would almost certainly be to resurrect his beloved Mavic MA2 rim. Then, he'd systematically remove every other Mavic product from the line until the MA2 was all that remained. Frankly, in an era of increasing specialization, this might be just what the cycling world needs. Instead of marketing campaigns for rims and wheelsets designed for every kind of road surface, event, and crosswind, I would welcome a single ornery man who refuses to sell me anything else--though eventually it's possible even the mighty Brandt could capitulate to the demands of the marketplace and offer a Mavic putrid milk tire sealant.
But it's a slippery, putrid milk-coated slope from there, as Brandt himself is no doubt aware, and this could lead to his offering novelty wheel accessories as well. For example, Brandt might want to sell spoke cards bearing sayings associated with him, such as "Myth and Lore!" And speaking of spoke cards, someone in New York City seems to be taking pictures of people's bikes and then leaving them in their spokes:
you took a polaroid of my bike & left it in my spokes... - 21 (whole foods bowery)
Date: 2009-09-07, 11:36PM EDT
Sometime between 9:30pm and 10:30pm you photographed my bike outside of the the bowery/houston whole foods, wrote a note on it(that is now barely legible because the pen you used smudges), and put it in my spokes(which I didn't find until around 11:30 pm, at which point i got really excited).
That was extremely cute and sweet and now I'm curious as to who you are.
Hopefully you peruse the personals/missed connections, so I can find out who the mystery polaroid person is so I can personally thank you for cheering me up on this cold fall evening.
I think the note read "I heart your bike from melbourne, australia," however, it could have said something completely different after the i love your bike part.
While the Spoke Card Bandit appears to be Australian, I think it's safe to assume that it is not Cadel Evans, as his message surely would have been much angrier. Hopefully though the Spoke Card Bandit's behavior does not go from charmingly whimsical to frighteningly obsessive. I'm sure the spoke card recipient would have been far less amused if the Polaroid had depicted her in the shower.
Posted by BikeSnobNYC at 8:29 AM
Labels: bicycle marketing, craigslist, cycling in new york city, road racing
Pontius Pilate said...
HAIL CZSR!!
Astroluc (Find me on Tumblr and Instagram @Astroluc) said...
luc2nd?
I'm gonna take a dump in your shower.
PURE WHIN
Seanywonton said...
Smokin'!
well that didn't come out right
Asterisk said...
DZWI NSMO
rezado said...
top 10?!
Aut vincere aut mori. Today has been a good day. Perfect weather for cycling and crucifixions.
mikeweb said...
All Hail PP and Astroluc!!
HANGN Physical Education?
A possible Gym teacher?
Nah, couldn't be - the cars a BMW.
yippee!!!
db said...
If Evans wants to enjoy success simply by following instructions then perhaps he should quit cycling and start building decks, though even then I'm sure he'd get angry at his hammer for hitting his thumb.
Daaaaamn. Awesome. I am going to use this* on a co-worker in the next 48 hours.
That's "GC Ailin'".
*(with proper attribution)
GLDN SHWR
YELO JRSY
bikesgonewild said...
...could be the "spoke card bandit" was really aussie's own nicole kidman, the original 'bmx bandit', which was her first starring role...
Paul Bowen said...
GC Allin - genius!
the hammer/thumb comment is pure truth; I've actually seen it happen on more than one occasion.
SHWR URN8
OK, ads on the blog I can deal with.
Blinking ads that distract from reading are just fucking rude.
Anyway to stop this Snobby?
shmaltz herring said...
Sheets of urine.
lar said...
wheel of misfortune:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bike/76039319/
Mavic makes great rims. Doesn't it seem crazy that the division can't be profitable?
In the world of music equipment the same things happen. Right now, Ampeg (once THE maker of bass amps) is causing the parent company (LOUD) to go into bankruptcy. If Ampeg just made the same old stuff that everyone wants (perhaps the equivalent of the MA-2 or Open Pro) instead of dorking around with "exploding wheels," maybe they could turn a profit.
Of course I'm just being a blacktop living room couch professor....
HANGN PE = Hanging Phallic Excess
I would happily void urine in other peoples' showers, but not in my own.
GC Allin. Dont get it.
hillbilly said...
I don't know what this means, but the google machine came up with this:
"A hanging PE indicates hardware problems"
Commie Canuck:
Woodward and Bernstein all rolled into one.
Or maybe the Perez Hilton of the bicycle world.
Anon@ 2:21 PM: If you're palping Firefox, install the free add-on 'Adblock'.
...just 'magic markered' clown faces on the shower wall...havin' me a couple a' extra cups o' tea & i'm headin' in for some bsnyc/rtms inspired fun...
...& pissin' in the shower is better n' 'pissin' in the wind'...
...just sayin'...
donotfollowmike said...
Aloha and thank you. I can go deal with my day a little better now.
Hanging Professional Engineers
Mad Jack McMad said...
SPQR INRI
sufferist said...
Bandit implies a theft of some type and unless this person has stolen the owners heart, there is no grounds for such a moniker.
Mavic = yellow = peeing in the shower?
Or is it the other way around?
leroy said...
Well no wonder BSNYC is on Transportation Alternative's celebrity studded panel of Public Service Announcement judges.
Today's post proudly puts the P in PSA.
But isn't it enough that some of us just sing in the shower?
...strangely enough, of the clown faces i inked on the shower wall for my "pissin' contest" one looks like a certain "diminutive frenchman" & another bears a resemblance to the pedantic jobst brandt...
...the third ???...the third somehow came out resembling a certain "obscured face", unnamed cycling blogger, at least from descriptions i've heard...
How many millions is a brazilian?
JClev19 said...
WILSON!!!!!
SL Palin said...
I'm going to fill up an innertube with milk today, leave it out in the sun for a few more days then step into the shower, give it a nick with the gut hook on my foldign knife, blade and let' er spray.
And then I'll puke on myself, clogging the drain.
Then I might as well defecate and smear that around.
All while cranking the GG Allin on the milk-proof speakers in in the shower stall..
DAMMIT!
I missed his birthday by two weeks!
Maybe next year.
red neckerson said...
whats all this shower crap you is talking about sounds like something for sissies and queers
jest stand outside when it rains you saves on yor water bill and you can pee at the same time
Perhaps the comma smeared, because as it is written, the bike smitten Polaroid bandit seems to be under the impression that the lady's bike is from Melbourne Australia. My main shock was that anyone still has a Polaroid camera. Though these were the preferred choice of the DIY pornographer up until the invention of the digital camera, they are rarely seen these days.
grog said...
pee in the woods,
off the trail.
SAVE WATR
make a photo,
make a friend.
SPOK CARD
epic ride,
shower with a friend.
MYTH LORE
i would think PE is Professional Engineer. But i still dont get the HANGN part? maybe its an abbreviation of his last name, such as...
Name : HANIGAN PETER G
Address : NOT ON FILE
Profession : PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING
Date of Licensure : 04/12/37
http://www.nysed.gov/coms/op001/opsc2a?profcd=16&plicno=016845
or HANGN PE = HANH NGUYEN, PE?
Name : NGUYEN HANH GIA
Address : MIDDLETOWN NJ
jolene said...
jethro done took a picture of his dick in the bathroom at the perch and put it under the wiper of my eagle summit
i didnt care like that cragslist person cus i new hew dit it and ricky beat his pervy ass
...jolene, honey...is it true you told jethro it looked like a penis, only smaller ???...
i see a few good vanity plates. even more exciting are the cars being driven off car lots with the writing on the windshield. you that guy can't see shit.
Men pee in the shower; women lie about peeing in the shower.
BikeSnobNYC said...
Anonymous 4:20pm,
That was my second guess after "hanging penis."
--RTMS
Meccanico di Veno said...
Our cluster goes up to 11.
Peter Hanigan must be 90 years old, judging from his date of licensure. I'm sure his penis only hangs, if it even does that.
Anon 4:38--Heaven help me but I'm just curious what the basis is for your statement?
Frilly: I think that in this context there could be a double meaning interpreted to the word "lie".
#1.) to not tell the truth
#2.) as in to lay down
See how the joke works?
If it's this dude:
He'd likely be over 100 years old!
ant1 said...
I think snobby's hanging penis explanation is the best one so far.
HANG NPNS
So women lay down when they pee in the shower? Weird... If that's the case, you would think they would just pee on the potty - much easier...but then I don't know much about women. They frighten me...
Sufferist, I'm not passing judgement just wondering cuz sometimes I like to go to the gym in the morning before work. I take a shower after whatever activity I've been doing. 4:38 has hit on a fear of what goes on in there & how often do they disinfect those things. Not that I obsess on it but since this has become a topic, well y'know. And not directly related cuz I'm not cycling to work, but I can't help but think perhaps I should go to work just a little sweaty per Snobbie's seal of approval on NPR.
Pee isn't too bad, it's the bacteria and fungi that grow in showers that are bad. Peeing just gives the nasties a little food. And you thought you were getting clean in the shower...
BadBeard said...
Hey RTMS.
Our Danny has sold out to the local slave traders.
http://www.s1jobs.com/dannymacaskill/
It's both cool and a shame at the same time.
HEY ASSHOLE, RIDE A BIKE
I cannae believe nobody commented about the fixie/bmx mutants I posted earlier.
Frilly- you have this cool thing called an immune system. It protects you from a lot of the stuff you can't see. Fret not.
I think it's a reference to that last drop that just won't come off...
hangin' PEE
pre-cursor to incontinence
Yokota Fritz said...
Hey @BGW, I heard Jobst Brandt and Tom Ritchey actually worked at the same place in Palo Alto at one time. I'm sure there was some interesting fireworks that ensued. True?
kale said...
Thank god it's not David Carradine's BMW, otherwise it would be:
HANGN PEople
cheva said...
hangn price earning? Not sure why it's hanging though. PE on a BMW (as opposed to Pee on a BMW) makes me think it's price earning. pee on a bmw makes me think a show model at an auto show missed her break.
Aaah Melbourne Australia, home of the whimsical street arty fuckwit. He's lucky they didn't stencil art a picture of his bike on his downtube. It's probably part of some art project there doing in their time off from their graphic design job so they can become the next Banksy.
Just for information purposes - toilet traps are designed to completely empty their contents when flushed and then refill with water. Not so with shower traps, the pee stays right there, slowly being diluted while you scrub your rear end.
Kurt Vonnegut is King said...
Timely article from Reuters today: you might be getting your daily dose of bacteria not from the shower drain, but rather the head:
http://tinyurl.com/r44oaz
HANGN PE(TRI DISH)
GOLD SHWR
bikesgonepsychotic said...
...I must be free... ...to pee as I please... ...to pee in the breeze... to pee when I sneeze...
...I must be free... to pee in a stream... ...to pee when I dream... ...to pee when I cream...
...I'm sorry... ...but Sheldon Brown was a douchebag... ...I don't give a damn if you like that or not... ...fuck you too...
www.yehudamoon.com
I found another closet RTMS fan... check out the strip from 9-11
As a liver innerer of Melbourne i feel i should defend it, at least slightly. Though it does have its share of arty fuckwits, its nothing compared to Sydney's jock like fuckw wits. That being said, taking pictures of fixed gear bikes and then putting the image in said bikes spokes, screams 'RMIT photograhy course'
So long as they were palping a front brake in their travels
Am I wrong in thinking Evans is the latest in a long list of entertaining poor-sportsman sportsmen?
I find his whining just as enjoyable as the earnest, teeth-gritting effort as the champions who just suck it up and win.
AngryBikeWrench said...
Douchebag Will and The Milf. Only at Angry Bike Wrench
RIP Bodhi
...fritz...
...i've never heard of this tom ritchey...
All: here is a learning moment for every one of us. Please review the wiki article on urine and come to know our yellow friend a little better. Thanks....
Udder said...
I work in advertising, so it's clear to me that Mavic's financial troubles are the result of inconsistent product development and branding.
They clearly need to integrate the equity and incendiary characteristics of their flagship exploding wheel into their line extensions of pedals, bike computers, shoes, gloves and apparel.
Imagine the buzz an exploding jersey could generate!
Lucky 07--No doubt! The day Millar threw his bike over the barrier, I became a fan.
more signs that the dutch commuter has hit uber gay fashionista status -
http://racked.com/archives/2009/09/14/street_scenes_fashion_week_peter_at_milk_studios.php
kill me now
Redneckerson:
you spelt Jobst wrong.
"jest stand outside when it rains you saves on yor water bill and you can pee at the same time"
"Bat" Guano. said...
Mavic lost everyone after they started changing model numbers, with only difference in product from previous model number being lesser standards on QC. That and too many acronyms for "proprietary" technologies.
DT look like they might be taking that line now. Torx nipples no less. Like we always have problems in not being able to tighten our wheels up enough.
Surprised it's not sold as "EU standard" wheelset.
SaDE said...
Even "Mavic" is an acronym.
There are places in Brazil that you wouldn't find any place else, that's one reason why people travels here in Brazil and if you don't have any place to stay, here's the perfect place for you.
Hostels in Olinda
"The Greatest Cycling Manual Ever Written"--Eben Weiss, author of "Bike Snob"
BikeSnobNYC
While I love cycling and embrace it in all its forms, I'm also extremely critical. So I present to you my venting for your amusement and betterment. No offense meant to the critiqued. Always keep riding!
Blog Archive Jan 03 (1) Jan 02 (1) Dec 24 (1) Dec 20 (1) Dec 19 (1) Dec 18 (1) Dec 17 (1) Dec 16 (1) Dec 13 (1) Dec 12 (1) Dec 11 (1) Dec 10 (1) Dec 09 (1) Dec 06 (1) Dec 04 (1) Dec 02 (1) Nov 26 (1) Nov 25 (1) Nov 22 (1) Nov 20 (1) Nov 19 (1) Nov 15 (1) Nov 12 (1) Nov 11 (1) Oct 29 (1) Oct 28 (1) Oct 25 (1) Oct 18 (1) Oct 11 (1) Oct 09 (1) Oct 05 (1) Oct 01 (1) Sep 27 (1) Sep 23 (1) Sep 20 (1) Sep 19 (1) Sep 18 (1) Sep 17 (1) Sep 15 (1) Sep 13 (1) Sep 11 (1) Sep 10 (1) Sep 06 (1) Sep 04 (1) Aug 27 (1) Aug 15 (1) Aug 13 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (1) Aug 04 (1) Jul 29 (1) Jul 26 (1) Jul 18 (1) Jul 15 (1) Jul 08 (1) Jul 04 (1) Jul 03 (1) Jul 01 (1) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (1) Jun 25 (1) Jun 21 (1) Jun 19 (1) Jun 16 (1) Jun 13 (1) Jun 10 (1) Jun 06 (1) Jun 04 (1) May 31 (1) May 29 (1) May 28 (1) May 24 (1) May 22 (1) May 20 (1) May 16 (1) May 15 (1) May 14 (1) May 09 (1) May 08 (1) May 06 (1) May 03 (1) May 02 (1) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (1) Apr 25 (1) Apr 23 (1) Apr 19 (1) Apr 16 (1) Apr 15 (1) Apr 11 (1) Apr 09 (1) Apr 08 (1) Apr 05 (1) Apr 03 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 20 (1) Mar 14 (1) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 04 (1) Mar 01 (1) Feb 28 (1) Feb 26 (1) Feb 25 (1) Feb 21 (1) Feb 15 (1) Feb 13 (1) Feb 12 (1) Feb 08 (1) Feb 07 (1) Feb 05 (1) Feb 04 (1) Jan 31 (1) Jan 30 (1) Jan 29 (1) Jan 28 (1) Jan 25 (1) Jan 24 (1) Jan 23 (1) Jan 17 (1) Jan 14 (1) Jan 11 (1) Jan 10 (1) Jan 08 (1) Jan 04 (1) Jan 03 (1) Jan 02 (1) Dec 21 (1) Dec 19 (1) Dec 17 (1) Dec 14 (1) Dec 13 (1) Dec 12 (1) Dec 11 (1) Dec 10 (1) Dec 07 (1) Dec 06 (1) Dec 05 (1) Dec 04 (1) Dec 02 (1) Nov 27 (1) Nov 21 (1) Nov 19 (1) Nov 16 (1) Nov 09 (1) Nov 08 (1) Nov 07 (1) Nov 06 (1) Oct 30 (1) Oct 29 (1) Oct 25 (1) Oct 22 (1) Oct 18 (1) Oct 17 (1) Oct 15 (1) Oct 10 (1) Oct 09 (1) Oct 05 (1) Oct 04 (1) Oct 02 (1) Oct 01 (1) Sep 25 (1) Sep 24 (1) Sep 21 (1) Sep 19 (1) Sep 18 (1) Sep 17 (1) Sep 14 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 11 (1) Sep 10 (1) Sep 07 (1) Sep 06 (1) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (1) Aug 31 (1) Aug 27 (1) Aug 23 (1) Aug 22 (1) Aug 20 (1) Aug 17 (1) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 03 (1) Aug 02 (1) Aug 01 (1) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (1) Jul 27 (1) Jul 26 (1) Jul 24 (1) Jul 23 (1) Jul 19 (1) Jul 17 (1) Jul 16 (1) Jul 13 (1) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (1) Jul 10 (1) Jul 09 (1) Jul 03 (1) Jul 02 (1) Jun 29 (1) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (1) Jun 26 (1) Jun 25 (1) Jun 22 (1) Jun 21 (1) Jun 20 (1) Jun 19 (1) Jun 18 (1) Jun 15 (1) Jun 14 (1) Jun 12 (1) Jun 08 (1) Jun 06 (1) Jun 05 (1) Jun 01 (1) May 31 (1) May 30 (1) May 25 (1) May 24 (1) May 23 (1) May 22 (1) May 18 (1) May 16 (1) May 15 (1) May 09 (1) May 08 (1) May 07 (1) May 03 (1) May 02 (1) Apr 27 (1) Apr 25 (1) Apr 23 (1) Apr 19 (1) Apr 17 (1) Apr 16 (1) Apr 11 (1) Apr 10 (1) Apr 06 (1) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (1) Mar 31 (1) Mar 29 (1) Mar 27 (1) Mar 24 (1) Mar 22 (1) Mar 20 (1) Mar 15 (1) Mar 14 (1) Mar 13 (1) Mar 09 (1) Mar 07 (1) Mar 06 (1) Mar 05 (1) Mar 02 (1) Feb 28 (1) Feb 27 (1) Feb 25 (1) Feb 21 (1) Feb 18 (1) Feb 15 (1) Feb 13 (1) Feb 09 (1) Feb 07 (1) Feb 06 (1) Feb 05 (1) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (1) Jan 31 (1) Jan 30 (1) Jan 29 (1) Jan 24 (1) Jan 23 (1) Jan 22 (1) Jan 19 (1) Jan 17 (1) Jan 15 (1) Jan 11 (1) Jan 09 (1) Jan 08 (1) Jan 05 (1) Jan 04 (1) Jan 03 (1) Jan 02 (1) Dec 22 (1) Dec 15 (1) Dec 14 (1) Dec 13 (1) Dec 12 (1) Dec 11 (1) Dec 08 (1) Dec 07 (1) Dec 06 (1) Dec 05 (1) Dec 04 (1) Dec 01 (1) Nov 30 (1) Nov 29 (1) Nov 28 (1) Nov 27 (1) Nov 21 (1) Nov 14 (1) Nov 13 (1) Nov 10 (1) Nov 09 (1) Nov 08 (1) Nov 06 (1) Nov 03 (1) Nov 01 (1) Oct 30 (1) Oct 27 (1) Oct 25 (1) Oct 24 (1) Oct 23 (1) Oct 20 (1) Oct 19 (1) Oct 18 (1) Oct 17 (1) Oct 16 (1) Oct 13 (1) Oct 12 (1) Oct 11 (1) Oct 10 (1) Oct 06 (1) Oct 05 (1) Oct 04 (1) Oct 03 (1) Oct 02 (1) Sep 29 (1) Sep 28 (1) Sep 26 (1) Sep 25 (1) Sep 22 (1) Sep 21 (1) Sep 20 (1) Sep 19 (1) Sep 18 (1) Sep 15 (2) Sep 14 (1) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 11 (1) Sep 08 (2) Sep 07 (1) Sep 06 (1) Sep 05 (1) Sep 01 (1) Aug 25 (1) Aug 18 (1) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 11 (1) Aug 10 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 04 (1) Jul 31 (1) Jul 28 (1) Jul 27 (1) Jul 26 (1) Jul 25 (1) Jul 24 (1) Jul 21 (2) Jul 20 (1) Jul 19 (1) Jul 18 (1) Jul 17 (1) Jul 14 (1) Jul 13 (1) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (1) Jul 10 (1) Jul 07 (2) Jul 06 (1) Jul 05 (1) Jun 29 (1) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (1) Jun 26 (1) Jun 23 (1) Jun 22 (1) Jun 21 (1) Jun 20 (1) Jun 19 (1) Jun 16 (1) Jun 15 (1) Jun 13 (1) Jun 09 (1) Jun 07 (1) Jun 06 (1) Jun 05 (1) May 26 (1) May 25 (1) May 24 (1) May 22 (1) May 19 (1) May 18 (1) May 17 (1) May 16 (1) May 15 (1) May 12 (1) May 11 (1) May 10 (1) May 09 (1) May 08 (1) May 05 (1) May 04 (1) May 03 (1) May 02 (1) May 01 (1) Apr 28 (1) Apr 27 (1) Apr 26 (1) Apr 25 (1) Apr 24 (1) Apr 19 (1) Apr 18 (1) Apr 17 (1) Apr 13 (1) Apr 12 (1) Apr 11 (1) Apr 10 (1) Apr 07 (1) Apr 06 (1) Apr 05 (1) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (1) Mar 31 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (1) Mar 27 (1) Mar 22 (1) Mar 20 (1) Mar 16 (1) Mar 15 (1) Mar 14 (1) Mar 13 (1) Mar 09 (1) Mar 07 (1) Mar 06 (1) Mar 03 (1) Mar 02 (1) Mar 01 (1) Feb 28 (1) Feb 27 (1) Feb 17 (1) Feb 16 (1) Feb 15 (1) Feb 14 (1) Feb 13 (1) Feb 10 (1) Feb 09 (1) Feb 08 (1) Feb 07 (1) Feb 06 (1) Jan 31 (1) Jan 30 (1) Jan 27 (1) Jan 26 (1) Jan 25 (1) Jan 24 (1) Jan 23 (1) Jan 19 (1) Jan 12 (1) Jan 11 (1) Jan 09 (1) Jan 06 (1) Jan 05 (1) Jan 04 (1) Dec 21 (1) Dec 19 (1) Dec 13 (1) Dec 12 (1) Dec 09 (1) Dec 08 (1) Dec 06 (1) Dec 02 (1) Dec 01 (1) Nov 30 (1) Nov 29 (1) Nov 28 (1) Nov 23 (1) Nov 22 (1) Nov 21 (1) Nov 18 (1) Nov 17 (1) Nov 14 (1) Nov 11 (1) Nov 10 (1) Nov 09 (1) Nov 08 (1) Nov 07 (1) Nov 03 (1) Nov 02 (1) Nov 01 (1) Oct 31 (1) Oct 28 (1) Oct 27 (1) Oct 26 (1) Oct 25 (1) Oct 21 (1) Oct 20 (1) Oct 18 (1) Oct 17 (1) Oct 12 (1) Oct 07 (1) Oct 05 (1) Sep 30 (1) Sep 29 (1) Sep 28 (1) Sep 27 (1) Sep 26 (1) Sep 23 (1) Sep 22 (1) Sep 21 (1) Sep 20 (1) Sep 19 (1) Sep 16 (1) Sep 15 (1) Sep 14 (1) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 09 (1) Sep 08 (1) Sep 07 (1) Sep 06 (1) Aug 31 (1) Aug 25 (1) Aug 24 (1) Aug 23 (1) Aug 22 (1) Aug 16 (1) Aug 15 (1) Aug 12 (1) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Aug 03 (1) Aug 02 (1) Aug 01 (1) Jul 27 (1) Jul 25 (1) Jul 22 (1) Jul 21 (1) Jul 20 (1) Jul 19 (1) Jul 18 (1) Jul 15 (1) Jul 14 (1) Jul 13 (1) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (1) Jul 08 (1) Jul 07 (1) Jul 06 (1) Jul 01 (2) Jun 30 (1) Jun 29 (1) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (1) Jun 24 (1) Jun 23 (1) Jun 22 (1) Jun 14 (1) Jun 13 (1) Jun 10 (1) Jun 09 (1) Jun 08 (1) Jun 07 (1) Jun 06 (1) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (1) Jun 01 (1) May 31 (1) May 27 (1) May 26 (1) May 25 (1) May 24 (1) May 23 (1) May 18 (1) May 16 (1) May 13 (1) May 12 (1) May 11 (1) May 10 (1) May 09 (1) May 06 (1) May 05 (1) May 04 (1) May 03 (1) Apr 29 (1) Apr 28 (1) Apr 25 (1) Apr 22 (1) Apr 21 (1) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (1) Apr 18 (1) Apr 15 (1) Apr 14 (1) Apr 13 (1) Apr 12 (1) Apr 11 (1) Apr 08 (1) Apr 07 (1) Apr 06 (1) Apr 05 (1) Mar 23 (1) Mar 22 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (1) Mar 16 (1) Mar 15 (1) Mar 14 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (1) Mar 09 (1) Mar 08 (1) Mar 07 (1) Mar 04 (1) Mar 03 (1) Mar 02 (1) Mar 01 (1) Feb 29 (1) Feb 26 (1) Feb 25 (1) Feb 24 (1) Feb 23 (1) Feb 22 (1) Feb 12 (1) Feb 11 (1) Feb 10 (1) Feb 09 (1) Feb 08 (1) Feb 01 (1) Jan 29 (1) Jan 28 (1) Jan 27 (1) Jan 26 (1) Jan 25 (1) Jan 22 (1) Jan 21 (1) Jan 20 (1) Jan 19 (1) Jan 15 (1) Jan 13 (1) Jan 12 (1) Jan 11 (1) Jan 08 (1) Jan 07 (1) Jan 05 (1) Jan 04 (1) Dec 17 (1) Dec 16 (1) Dec 15 (1) Dec 11 (1) Dec 10 (1) Dec 09 (1) Dec 08 (1) Dec 01 (1) Nov 30 (1) Nov 20 (1) Nov 19 (1) Nov 17 (1) Nov 16 (1) Nov 13 (1) Nov 12 (1) Nov 10 (1) Nov 09 (1) Nov 05 (1) Nov 04 (1) Oct 29 (1) Oct 28 (1) Oct 27 (1) Oct 26 (1) Oct 23 (1) Oct 22 (1) Oct 21 (1) Oct 20 (1) Oct 19 (1) Oct 15 (1) Oct 09 (1) Oct 08 (1) Oct 07 (1) Oct 06 (1) Oct 05 (1) Oct 02 (1) Sep 30 (1) Sep 29 (1) Sep 28 (1) Sep 25 (1) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (1) Sep 22 (1) Sep 21 (1) Sep 18 (1) Sep 17 (1) Sep 16 (1) Sep 15 (1) Sep 14 (1) Sep 11 (1) Sep 10 (1) Sep 09 (1) Sep 08 (1) Sep 04 (1) Sep 03 (1) Sep 02 (1) Sep 01 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 13 (1) Aug 12 (1) Aug 11 (1) Aug 10 (1) Aug 06 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Aug 03 (1) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (1) Jul 29 (1) Jul 28 (1) Jul 27 (1) Jul 24 (1) Jul 23 (1) Jul 22 (1) Jul 21 (1) Jul 20 (1) Jul 17 (1) Jul 16 (1) Jul 13 (1) Jul 02 (1) Jul 01 (1) Jun 30 (1) Jun 29 (1) Jun 26 (1) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (1) Jun 23 (1) Jun 22 (1) Jun 19 (1) Jun 18 (1) Jun 17 (1) Jun 16 (1) Jun 15 (1) Jun 12 (1) Jun 11 (1) Jun 08 (1) Jun 05 (1) Jun 04 (1) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (1) Jun 01 (1) May 29 (1) May 28 (1) May 27 (1) May 26 (1) May 15 (1) May 14 (1) May 11 (1) May 08 (1) May 07 (1) May 06 (1) May 05 (1) May 04 (1) May 01 (1) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (1) Apr 28 (1) Apr 27 (1) Apr 24 (1) Apr 23 (1) Apr 22 (1) Apr 21 (1) Apr 14 (1) Apr 13 (1) Apr 02 (1) Mar 31 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 27 (1) Mar 26 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 24 (1) Mar 23 (1) Mar 19 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (1) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (1) Mar 09 (1) Mar 06 (1) Mar 05 (1) Mar 04 (1) Mar 03 (1) Mar 02 (1) Feb 27 (1) Feb 26 (1) Feb 25 (1) Feb 24 (1) Feb 23 (1) Feb 19 (1) Feb 13 (1) Feb 11 (1) Feb 10 (1) Feb 09 (1) Feb 06 (1) Feb 04 (1) Feb 03 (1) Feb 02 (1) Jan 30 (1) Jan 29 (1) Jan 28 (1) Jan 27 (1) Jan 26 (1) Jan 20 (1) Jan 16 (1) Jan 15 (1) Jan 14 (1) Jan 13 (1) Jan 12 (1) Jan 09 (1) Jan 08 (1) Dec 19 (1) Dec 18 (1) Dec 17 (1) Dec 16 (1) Dec 15 (1) Dec 12 (1) Dec 11 (1) Dec 10 (1) Dec 09 (1) Dec 08 (1) Dec 04 (1) Dec 02 (1) Dec 01 (1) Nov 21 (1) Nov 20 (1) Nov 19 (1) Nov 18 (1) Nov 17 (1) Nov 14 (1) Nov 13 (1) Nov 12 (1) Nov 11 (1) Nov 10 (1) Nov 07 (1) Nov 06 (1) Nov 05 (1) Nov 04 (1) Nov 03 (1) Oct 31 (1) Oct 30 (1) Oct 29 (1) Oct 28 (1) Oct 24 (1) Oct 23 (1) Oct 22 (1) Oct 21 (1) Oct 20 (1) Oct 16 (1) Oct 10 (1) Oct 09 (1) Oct 07 (1) Sep 30 (1) Sep 29 (1) Sep 26 (1) Sep 25 (1) Sep 24 (1) Sep 22 (1) Sep 19 (1) Sep 16 (1) Sep 15 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 11 (1) Sep 10 (1) Sep 09 (1) Sep 08 (1) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (1) Aug 28 (1) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (1) Aug 25 (1) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 13 (1) Aug 12 (1) Aug 11 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Aug 01 (1) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (1) Jul 29 (1) Jul 28 (1) Jul 25 (1) Jul 24 (1) Jul 23 (1) Jul 22 (1) Jul 21 (1) Jul 18 (1) Jul 17 (1) Jul 16 (1) Jul 15 (1) Jul 14 (1) Jul 11 (1) Jul 09 (1) Jul 08 (1) Jul 07 (1) Jul 02 (1) Jul 01 (1) Jun 30 (1) Jun 27 (1) Jun 26 (1) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (1) Jun 23 (1) Jun 20 (1) Jun 19 (1) Jun 18 (1) Jun 17 (1) Jun 16 (1) Jun 13 (1) Jun 12 (1) Jun 11 (1) Jun 10 (1) Jun 09 (1) Jun 06 (1) Jun 05 (1) Jun 04 (1) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (1) May 30 (1) May 29 (1) May 28 (1) May 23 (2) May 22 (1) May 21 (1) May 20 (1) May 19 (1) May 16 (1) May 15 (1) May 14 (1) May 12 (1) May 09 (1) May 08 (1) May 07 (1) May 06 (1) May 05 (1) May 02 (1) May 01 (1) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (1) Apr 28 (1) Apr 25 (1) Apr 24 (1) Apr 23 (1) Apr 17 (1) Apr 16 (1) Apr 15 (1) Apr 14 (1) Apr 11 (1) Apr 10 (1) Apr 09 (2) Apr 08 (1) Apr 07 (1) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (1) Mar 31 (1) Mar 28 (1) Mar 27 (1) Mar 26 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 24 (1) Mar 21 (1) Mar 19 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (1) Mar 14 (1) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (1) Mar 10 (1) Mar 07 (1) Mar 06 (1) Mar 05 (1) Mar 04 (1) Mar 03 (1) Feb 28 (1) Feb 27 (1) Feb 26 (1) Feb 24 (1) Feb 21 (1) Feb 20 (1) Feb 19 (1) Feb 18 (1) Feb 14 (1) Feb 13 (1) Feb 12 (1) Feb 11 (1) Feb 10 (1) Feb 07 (1) Feb 06 (1) Feb 05 (1) Feb 04 (1) Feb 03 (1) Jan 30 (1) Jan 29 (1) Jan 28 (1) Jan 27 (1) Jan 24 (1) Jan 23 (1) Jan 22 (1) Jan 21 (1) Jan 17 (1) Jan 16 (1) Jan 15 (1) Jan 14 (1) Jan 13 (1) Jan 10 (1) Jan 09 (1) Jan 08 (1) Jan 07 (1) Jan 06 (1) Jan 02 (1) Dec 20 (1) Dec 19 (1) Dec 18 (1) Dec 17 (1) Dec 16 (1) Dec 13 (1) Dec 12 (1) Dec 11 (1) Dec 10 (1) Dec 09 (1) Dec 06 (1) Dec 05 (1) Dec 04 (1) Dec 03 (1) Dec 02 (1) Nov 22 (1) Nov 21 (1) Nov 20 (1) Nov 19 (1) Nov 18 (1) Nov 15 (1) Nov 14 (1) Nov 13 (1) Nov 12 (1) Nov 11 (1) Nov 08 (1) Nov 07 (1) Nov 06 (1) Nov 05 (1) Nov 04 (1) Nov 01 (1) Oct 30 (1) Oct 29 (1) Oct 28 (1) Oct 25 (1) Oct 23 (1) Oct 21 (1) Oct 18 (1) Oct 17 (1) Oct 16 (1) Oct 15 (1) Oct 11 (1) Oct 10 (1) Oct 09 (1) Oct 08 (1) Oct 07 (1) Oct 04 (1) Oct 03 (1) Oct 02 (1) Oct 01 (1) Sep 30 (1) Sep 27 (1) Sep 26 (1) Sep 25 (1) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (1) Sep 11 (1) Sep 10 (1) Sep 09 (1) Sep 06 (1) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (1) Sep 03 (1) Aug 22 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (1) Aug 19 (1) Aug 16 (1) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 13 (1) Aug 12 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 02 (1) Aug 01 (1) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (1) Jul 29 (1) Jul 26 (1) Jul 25 (1) Jul 24 (1) Jul 23 (1) Jul 22 (1) Jul 19 (1) Jul 18 (1) Jul 17 (1) Jul 16 (1) Jul 15 (1) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (1) Jul 10 (1) Jul 09 (1) Jul 08 (1) Jul 03 (1) Jul 02 (1) Jul 01 (1) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (1) Jun 26 (1) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (1) Jun 21 (1) Jun 20 (1) Jun 19 (1) Jun 18 (1) Jun 17 (1) Jun 14 (1) Jun 13 (1) Jun 12 (1) Jun 11 (1) Jun 10 (1) Jun 07 (1) Jun 06 (1) Jun 05 (1) Jun 04 (1) Jun 03 (1) May 31 (1) May 30 (1) May 29 (1) May 28 (1) May 24 (1) May 23 (1) May 22 (1) May 21 (1) May 20 (1) May 17 (1) May 16 (1) May 15 (1) May 14 (1) May 13 (1) May 10 (1) May 09 (1) May 08 (1) May 07 (1) May 06 (1) Apr 25 (1) Apr 24 (1) Apr 23 (1) Apr 17 (1) Apr 16 (1) Apr 15 (1) Apr 12 (1) Apr 11 (1) Apr 10 (1) Apr 09 (1) Apr 08 (1) Apr 05 (1) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (1) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (1) Mar 26 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 22 (1) Mar 21 (1) Mar 20 (1) Mar 19 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 15 (1) Mar 14 (1) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 08 (1) Mar 06 (1) Mar 05 (1) Mar 04 (1) Mar 01 (1) Feb 28 (1) Feb 27 (1) Feb 26 (1) Feb 25 (1) Feb 22 (1) Feb 21 (1) Feb 20 (1) Feb 19 (1) Feb 18 (1) Feb 15 (1) Feb 14 (1) Feb 13 (1) Feb 12 (1) Feb 11 (1) Feb 04 (1) Feb 01 (1) Jan 31 (1) Jan 30 (1) Jan 29 (1) Jan 28 (1) Jan 25 (1) Jan 24 (1) Jan 23 (1) Jan 22 (1) Jan 21 (1) Jan 18 (1) Jan 17 (1) Jan 16 (1) Jan 15 (1) Jan 14 (1) Jan 11 (1) Jan 10 (1) Jan 09 (1) Jan 08 (1) Jan 07 (1) Jan 04 (1) Jan 03 (1) Jan 02 (1) Dec 21 (1) Dec 20 (1) Dec 19 (1) Dec 18 (1) Dec 17 (1) Dec 14 (1) Dec 13 (1) Dec 12 (1) Dec 11 (1) Dec 10 (1) Dec 07 (1) Dec 06 (1) Dec 05 (1) Dec 04 (1) Dec 03 (1) Nov 30 (1) Nov 29 (1) Nov 28 (1) Nov 27 (1) Nov 26 (1) Nov 21 (1) Nov 20 (1) Nov 19 (1) Nov 12 (1) Nov 09 (1) Nov 08 (1) Nov 07 (1) Nov 06 (1) Nov 05 (1) Nov 02 (1) Nov 01 (1) Oct 31 (1) Oct 30 (1) Oct 29 (1) Oct 26 (1) Oct 25 (1) Oct 24 (1) Oct 23 (1) Oct 22 (1) Oct 19 (1) Oct 18 (1) Oct 17 (1) Oct 16 (1) Oct 15 (1) Oct 12 (1) Oct 11 (1) Oct 10 (1) Oct 09 (1) Oct 08 (1) Oct 05 (1) Oct 04 (1) Oct 03 (1) Oct 02 (1) Oct 01 (1) Sep 27 (1) Sep 26 (1) Sep 25 (1) Sep 24 (1) Sep 21 (1) Sep 20 (1) Sep 19 (1) Sep 18 (1) Sep 17 (1) Sep 14 (1) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 11 (1) Sep 10 (1) Sep 07 (1) Sep 06 (1) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (1) Aug 24 (1) Aug 23 (1) Aug 22 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (1) Aug 17 (1) Aug 16 (1) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 13 (1) Aug 10 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (1) Aug 03 (1) Aug 02 (1) Aug 01 (1) Jul 31 (1) Jul 27 (1) Jul 26 (1) Jul 25 (1) Jul 24 (1) Jul 23 (1) Jul 20 (1) Jul 19 (1) Jul 18 (1) Jul 17 (1) Jul 16 (1) Jul 13 (1) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (1) Jul 10 (1) Jul 09 (1) Jun 29 (1) Jun 28 (1) Jun 26 (1) Jun 25 (1) Jun 22 (1) Jun 21 (1) Jun 20 (1) Jun 19 (1) Jun 18 (1) Jun 15 (1) Jun 14 (1) Jun 13 (1) Jun 12 (1) Jun 11 (1) Jun 08 (1) Jun 07 (1) Jun 06 (1) Jun 05 (1) Jun 04 (1) Jun 01 (1) May 31 (1) May 30 (1) May 29 (1) May 25 (1) May 24 (1) May 23 (1) May 22 (1) May 21 (1) May 18 (1) May 17 (1) May 15 (1) May 14 (1) May 11 (1) May 07 (1) May 03 (1) May 02 (1) May 01 (1) Apr 30 (1) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (1) Apr 18 (1) Apr 17 (1) Apr 12 (1) Apr 11 (1) Apr 10 (1) Apr 06 (1) Apr 05 (1) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (1) Mar 27 (1) Mar 20 (1) Mar 19 (1) Mar 16 (1) Mar 15 (1) Mar 14 (1) Mar 13 (1) Mar 08 (1) Mar 07 (1) Mar 02 (1) Mar 01 (1) Feb 29 (1) Feb 28 (1) Feb 27 (1) Feb 24 (1) Feb 23 (1) Feb 22 (1) Feb 21 (1) Feb 20 (1) Feb 17 (1) Feb 16 (1) Feb 15 (1) Feb 14 (1) Feb 13 (1) Feb 10 (1) Feb 09 (1) Feb 08 (1) Feb 07 (1) Feb 06 (1) Feb 03 (1) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (1) Jan 31 (1) Jan 30 (1) Jan 20 (1) Jan 19 (1) Jan 18 (1) Jan 17 (1) Jan 13 (1) Jan 12 (1) Jan 11 (1) Jan 10 (1) Jan 09 (1) Jan 06 (1) Jan 04 (1) Jan 03 (1) Dec 23 (1) Dec 22 (1) Dec 21 (1) Dec 20 (1) Dec 19 (1) Dec 16 (1) Dec 15 (1) Dec 14 (1) Dec 13 (1) Dec 12 (1) Dec 09 (1) Dec 08 (1) Dec 07 (1) Dec 06 (1) Dec 05 (1) Dec 02 (1) Dec 01 (1) Nov 30 (1) Nov 29 (1) Nov 28 (1) Nov 18 (1) Nov 17 (1) Nov 16 (1) Nov 15 (1) Nov 14 (1) Nov 11 (1) Nov 10 (1) Nov 08 (1) Nov 07 (1) Nov 04 (1) Nov 03 (1) Nov 02 (1) Nov 01 (1) Oct 28 (1) Oct 27 (1) Oct 26 (1) Oct 25 (1) Oct 24 (1) Oct 21 (1) Oct 20 (1) Oct 19 (1) Oct 18 (1) Oct 17 (1) Oct 14 (1) Oct 13 (1) Oct 12 (1) Oct 11 (1) Oct 10 (1) Oct 07 (1) Oct 06 (1) Oct 05 (1) Oct 04 (1) Oct 03 (1) Sep 30 (1) Sep 29 (1) Sep 28 (1) Sep 27 (1) Sep 26 (1) Sep 23 (1) Sep 22 (1) Sep 21 (1) Sep 20 (1) Sep 19 (1) Sep 02 (1) Sep 01 (1) Aug 31 (1) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (1) Aug 24 (1) Aug 23 (1) Aug 22 (1) Aug 19 (1) Aug 18 (1) Aug 17 (1) Aug 16 (1) Aug 15 (1) Aug 12 (1) Aug 11 (1) Aug 10 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Aug 03 (1) Aug 02 (1) Aug 01 (1) Jul 29 (1) Jul 28 (1) Jul 27 (1) Jul 26 (1) Jul 25 (1) Jul 22 (1) Jul 21 (1) Jul 20 (1) Jul 19 (1) Jul 18 (1) Jul 15 (1) Jul 14 (1) Jul 13 (1) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (1) Jul 08 (1) Jul 07 (1) Jul 06 (1) Jul 01 (1) Jun 30 (1) Jun 29 (1) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (1) Jun 24 (1) Jun 23 (1) Jun 22 (1) Jun 21 (1) Jun 20 (1) Jun 17 (1) Jun 16 (1) Jun 15 (1) Jun 14 (1) Jun 09 (1) Jun 08 (1) Jun 07 (1) Jun 06 (1) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (1) Jun 01 (1) May 31 (1) May 27 (1) May 26 (1) May 25 (1) May 24 (1) May 23 (1) May 17 (1) May 16 (1) May 13 (1) May 12 (1) May 11 (1) May 10 (1) May 09 (1) May 06 (1) May 05 (1) May 04 (1) May 03 (1) May 02 (1) Apr 29 (1) Apr 28 (1) Apr 27 (1) Apr 26 (1) Apr 15 (1) Apr 14 (1) Apr 13 (1) Apr 12 (1) Apr 11 (1) Apr 08 (1) Apr 07 (1) Apr 06 (1) Apr 05 (1) Apr 04 (1) Apr 01 (1) Mar 31 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 24 (1) Mar 23 (1) Mar 22 (1) Mar 21 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (1) Mar 16 (1) Mar 15 (1) Mar 10 (1) Mar 09 (1) Mar 08 (1) Mar 07 (1) Mar 04 (1) Mar 03 (1) Feb 22 (1) Feb 21 (1) Feb 18 (1) Feb 17 (1) Feb 16 (1) Feb 15 (1) Feb 14 (1) Feb 11 (1) Feb 10 (1) Feb 09 (1) Feb 08 (1) Feb 07 (1) Feb 04 (1) Feb 03 (1) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (1) Jan 31 (1) Jan 28 (1) Jan 27 (1) Jan 26 (1) Jan 25 (1) Jan 24 (1) Jan 21 (1) Jan 19 (1) Jan 18 (1) Jan 17 (1) Jan 14 (1) Jan 13 (1) Jan 12 (1) Jan 11 (1) Jan 10 (1) Jan 07 (1) Jan 06 (1) Jan 05 (1) Jan 04 (1) Jan 03 (1) Dec 22 (1) Dec 21 (1) Dec 20 (1) Dec 17 (1) Dec 16 (1) Dec 14 (1) Dec 13 (1) Dec 10 (1) Dec 09 (1) Dec 08 (1) Dec 07 (1) Dec 06 (1) Nov 24 (1) Nov 23 (1) Nov 22 (1) Nov 19 (1) Nov 18 (1) Nov 17 (1) Nov 16 (1) Nov 15 (1) Nov 12 (1) Nov 11 (1) Nov 10 (1) Nov 09 (1) Nov 08 (1) Nov 05 (1) Nov 04 (1) Nov 03 (1) Nov 02 (1) Nov 01 (1) Oct 29 (1) Oct 28 (1) Oct 27 (1) Oct 26 (1) Oct 25 (1) Oct 22 (1) Oct 21 (1) Oct 20 (1) Oct 19 (1) Oct 18 (1) Oct 15 (1) Oct 14 (1) Oct 13 (1) Oct 12 (1) Oct 11 (1) Oct 08 (1) Oct 07 (1) Oct 06 (1) Oct 05 (1) Oct 04 (1) Oct 01 (1) Sep 30 (1) Sep 29 (1) Sep 28 (1) Sep 27 (1) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (1) Sep 22 (1) Sep 21 (1) Sep 20 (1) Sep 17 (1) Sep 16 (1) Sep 15 (1) Sep 14 (1) Sep 13 (1) Sep 10 (1) Sep 09 (1) Sep 08 (1) Sep 07 (1) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (1) Aug 25 (1) Aug 24 (1) Aug 23 (1) Aug 20 (1) Aug 19 (1) Aug 18 (1) Aug 17 (1) Aug 16 (1) Aug 13 (1) Aug 12 (1) Aug 11 (1) Aug 10 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 06 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Aug 03 (1) Aug 02 (1) Jul 23 (1) Jul 22 (1) Jul 21 (1) Jul 20 (1) Jul 19 (1) Jul 16 (1) Jul 15 (1) Jul 14 (1) Jul 13 (1) Jul 12 (1) Jul 09 (1) Jul 08 (1) Jul 07 (1) Jul 06 (1) Jul 02 (1) Jul 01 (1) Jun 30 (1) Jun 29 (1) Jun 28 (1) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (1) Jun 23 (1) Jun 22 (1) Jun 21 (1) Jun 18 (1) Jun 17 (1) Jun 16 (1) Jun 15 (1) Jun 14 (1) Jun 11 (1) Jun 10 (1) Jun 09 (1) Jun 08 (1) Jun 07 (1) May 28 (1) May 27 (1) May 26 (1) May 25 (1) May 24 (1) May 21 (1) May 20 (1) May 19 (1) May 18 (1) May 17 (1) May 14 (1) May 13 (1) May 12 (1) May 11 (1) May 10 (1) May 07 (1) May 06 (1) May 05 (1) May 04 (1) May 03 (1) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (1) Apr 28 (1) Apr 27 (1) Apr 26 (1) Apr 23 (1) Apr 22 (1) Apr 21 (1) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (1) Apr 16 (1) Apr 15 (1) Apr 14 (1) Apr 13 (1) Apr 12 (1) Apr 09 (1) Apr 08 (1) Apr 07 (1) Apr 06 (1) Apr 05 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (1) Mar 31 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 29 (1) Mar 26 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 24 (1) Mar 23 (1) Mar 22 (1) Mar 19 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (1) Mar 16 (1) Mar 15 (1) Mar 12 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (1) Mar 09 (1) Mar 08 (2) Mar 05 (1) Mar 04 (1) Mar 03 (1) Mar 02 (1) Feb 26 (1) Feb 25 (1) Feb 24 (1) Feb 23 (1) Feb 22 (1) Feb 19 (1) Feb 18 (1) Feb 17 (1) Feb 16 (1) Feb 12 (1) Feb 11 (1) Feb 10 (1) Feb 09 (1) Feb 08 (1) Feb 05 (1) Feb 04 (1) Feb 03 (1) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (1) Jan 29 (1) Jan 28 (1) Jan 27 (1) Jan 26 (1) Jan 25 (1) Jan 22 (1) Jan 21 (1) Jan 20 (1) Jan 19 (1) Jan 18 (1) Jan 15 (1) Jan 14 (1) Jan 13 (1) Jan 12 (1) Jan 11 (1) Jan 08 (1) Jan 07 (1) Jan 06 (1) Jan 05 (1) Jan 04 (1) Dec 29 (1) Dec 28 (1) Dec 23 (1) Dec 22 (1) Dec 21 (1) Dec 18 (1) Dec 17 (1) Dec 16 (1) Dec 15 (1) Dec 14 (1) Dec 11 (1) Dec 10 (1) Dec 09 (1) Dec 08 (1) Dec 07 (1) Dec 04 (1) Dec 03 (1) Dec 02 (1) Dec 01 (1) Nov 30 (1) Nov 25 (1) Nov 24 (1) Nov 23 (1) Nov 20 (1) Nov 19 (1) Nov 18 (1) Nov 17 (1) Nov 16 (1) Nov 13 (1) Nov 12 (1) Nov 11 (1) Nov 10 (1) Nov 09 (1) Oct 30 (1) Oct 29 (1) Oct 28 (1) Oct 27 (1) Oct 26 (1) Oct 23 (1) Oct 22 (1) Oct 21 (1) Oct 20 (1) Oct 19 (1) Oct 16 (1) Oct 15 (1) Oct 14 (1) Oct 13 (1) Oct 12 (1) Oct 09 (1) Oct 08 (1) Oct 07 (1) Oct 06 (1) Oct 05 (1) Oct 02 (1) Oct 01 (1) Sep 30 (1) Sep 29 (1) Sep 28 (1) Sep 25 (1) Sep 24 (1) Sep 23 (1) Sep 22 (1) Sep 21 (1) Sep 18 (1) Sep 17 (1) Sep 16 (1) Sep 15 (1) Sep 14 (1) Sep 11 (1) Sep 10 (1) Sep 09 (1) Sep 08 (1) Aug 28 (1) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (1) Aug 25 (1) Aug 24 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (1) Aug 19 (1) Aug 18 (1) Aug 17 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 13 (1) Aug 12 (1) Aug 11 (1) Aug 10 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (2) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Aug 03 (1) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (1) Jul 29 (1) Jul 28 (1) Jul 26 (1) Jul 24 (1) Jul 23 (1) Jul 22 (1) Jul 21 (1) Jul 20 (1) Jul 17 (1) Jul 16 (1) Jul 15 (1) Jul 14 (1) Jul 13 (1) Jul 10 (1) Jul 09 (1) Jul 08 (1) Jul 07 (1) Jul 06 (1) Jul 02 (1) Jul 01 (1) Jun 30 (1) Jun 29 (1) Jun 26 (1) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (1) Jun 23 (1) Jun 22 (1) Jun 19 (1) Jun 18 (1) Jun 17 (1) Jun 16 (1) Jun 15 (1) Jun 12 (1) Jun 11 (1) Jun 10 (1) Jun 09 (1) Jun 08 (1) Jun 05 (1) Jun 04 (1) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (1) Jun 01 (1) May 29 (1) May 28 (1) May 27 (1) May 26 (1) May 15 (1) May 14 (1) May 13 (1) May 12 (1) May 11 (1) May 08 (1) May 07 (1) May 06 (1) May 05 (1) May 04 (1) May 01 (1) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (1) Apr 28 (1) Apr 27 (1) Apr 24 (1) Apr 23 (1) Apr 22 (1) Apr 21 (1) Apr 20 (1) Apr 17 (1) Apr 16 (1) Apr 15 (1) Apr 14 (1) Apr 13 (1) Apr 10 (1) Apr 09 (1) Apr 08 (1) Apr 07 (1) Apr 06 (1) Apr 03 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (1) Mar 31 (1) Mar 30 (1) Mar 27 (1) Mar 26 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 24 (1) Mar 23 (1) Mar 20 (1) Mar 19 (2) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (1) Mar 16 (1) Mar 13 (1) Mar 12 (1) Mar 11 (1) Mar 10 (1) Mar 09 (1) Mar 06 (1) Mar 05 (1) Mar 04 (1) Mar 03 (1) Mar 02 (1) Feb 27 (1) Feb 26 (1) Feb 25 (1) Feb 24 (1) Feb 23 (1) Feb 20 (1) Feb 19 (1) Feb 18 (1) Feb 17 (1) Feb 16 (1) Feb 09 (1) Feb 06 (1) Feb 05 (1) Feb 04 (1) Feb 03 (1) Feb 02 (1) Jan 30 (1) Jan 29 (1) Jan 28 (1) Jan 27 (1) Jan 26 (1) Jan 23 (1) Jan 22 (1) Jan 21 (1) Jan 20 (1) Jan 16 (1) Jan 15 (1) Jan 14 (1) Jan 13 (1) Jan 12 (2) Jan 09 (1) Jan 08 (1) Jan 07 (1) Jan 06 (1) Jan 05 (1) Dec 31 (1) Dec 30 (1) Dec 23 (1) Dec 22 (1) Dec 19 (1) Dec 18 (1) Dec 17 (1) Dec 16 (1) Dec 15 (1) Dec 12 (1) Dec 11 (1) Dec 10 (1) Dec 09 (1) Dec 08 (1) Dec 05 (1) Dec 04 (1) Dec 03 (1) Dec 02 (1) Dec 01 (1) Nov 24 (1) Nov 21 (1) Nov 20 (1) Nov 19 (1) Nov 18 (1) Nov 17 (1) Nov 14 (1) Nov 13 (1) Nov 12 (1) Nov 11 (1) Nov 10 (1) Nov 07 (1) Nov 06 (1) Nov 05 (1) Nov 04 (1) Nov 03 (1) Oct 31 (1) Oct 30 (1) Oct 29 (1) Oct 28 (1) Oct 27 (1) Oct 24 (1) Oct 23 (1) Oct 22 (1) Oct 21 (1) Oct 20 (1) Oct 17 (1) Oct 16 (1) Oct 15 (1) Oct 14 (1) Oct 13 (1) Oct 06 (1) Oct 03 (1) Oct 02 (1) Oct 01 (1) Sep 30 (1) Sep 29 (1) Sep 26 (1) Sep 25 (1) Sep 24 (1) Sep 22 (2) Sep 19 (1) Sep 18 (1) Sep 17 (1) Sep 16 (1) Sep 15 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 11 (1) Sep 10 (1) Sep 09 (1) Sep 08 (2) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (1) Sep 03 (1) Sep 02 (1) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (1) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (1) Aug 25 (1) Aug 22 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (1) Aug 19 (1) Aug 18 (1) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 13 (1) Aug 12 (1) Aug 11 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (1) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (1) Aug 05 (1) Aug 04 (1) Aug 01 (1) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (1) Jul 29 (1) Jul 28 (1) Jul 25 (1) Jul 24 (1) Jul 23 (1) Jul 22 (1) Jul 21 (1) Jul 18 (1) Jul 17 (2) Jul 16 (1) Jul 15 (1) Jul 14 (1) Jul 02 (1) Jul 01 (1) Jun 30 (2) Jun 27 (1) Jun 26 (1) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (1) Jun 20 (1) Jun 19 (1) Jun 18 (1) Jun 17 (1) Jun 16 (2) Jun 13 (1) Jun 12 (2) Jun 11 (1) Jun 10 (1) Jun 09 (1) Jun 06 (1) Jun 05 (1) Jun 04 (2) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (1) May 30 (2) May 29 (1) May 28 (1) May 27 (1) May 23 (2) May 22 (1) May 21 (1) May 20 (2) May 19 (1) May 14 (2) May 13 (1) May 12 (1) May 08 (1) May 07 (1) May 06 (1) May 05 (1) May 02 (1) May 01 (1) Apr 30 (1) Apr 29 (1) Apr 28 (1) Apr 25 (1) Apr 24 (1) Apr 23 (1) Apr 22 (1) Apr 21 (1) Apr 18 (1) Apr 17 (1) Apr 16 (1) Apr 15 (1) Apr 14 (1) Apr 11 (1) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (2) Apr 08 (2) Apr 07 (1) Apr 04 (1) Apr 03 (1) Apr 02 (1) Apr 01 (1) Mar 31 (1) Mar 28 (1) Mar 27 (1) Mar 26 (1) Mar 25 (1) Mar 24 (1) Mar 21 (1) Mar 20 (1) Mar 19 (1) Mar 18 (1) Mar 17 (1) Mar 07 (2) Mar 06 (1) Mar 05 (1) Mar 04 (1) Mar 03 (1) Feb 29 (1) Feb 28 (1) Feb 27 (2) Feb 26 (1) Feb 25 (1) Feb 22 (1) Feb 21 (1) Feb 20 (1) Feb 19 (1) Feb 15 (1) Feb 14 (1) Feb 13 (1) Feb 12 (1) Feb 11 (1) Feb 08 (1) Feb 07 (1) Feb 06 (1) Feb 05 (1) Feb 04 (1) Feb 01 (1) Jan 31 (1) Jan 30 (1) Jan 29 (1) Jan 28 (1) Jan 25 (2) Jan 24 (1) Jan 23 (2) Jan 22 (2) Jan 18 (1) Jan 17 (1) Jan 16 (1) Jan 15 (1) Jan 14 (1) Jan 11 (1) Jan 10 (1) Jan 09 (1) Jan 08 (1) Jan 07 (1) Jan 04 (1) Jan 03 (1) Jan 02 (1) Dec 31 (1) Dec 21 (1) Dec 20 (1) Dec 19 (1) Dec 18 (1) Dec 14 (2) Dec 13 (2) Dec 12 (1) Dec 11 (1) Dec 10 (1) Dec 07 (1) Dec 06 (1) Dec 05 (1) Dec 04 (2) Dec 03 (1) Nov 30 (1) Nov 29 (1) Nov 28 (1) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (1) Nov 21 (1) Nov 20 (1) Nov 19 (1) Nov 16 (1) Nov 15 (1) Nov 14 (1) Nov 13 (1) Nov 12 (1) Nov 09 (1) Nov 08 (2) Nov 07 (1) Nov 06 (1) Nov 05 (2) Nov 02 (2) Nov 01 (1) Oct 31 (1) Oct 30 (1) Oct 29 (1) Oct 26 (1) Oct 25 (1) Oct 24 (1) Oct 23 (1) Oct 22 (1) Oct 19 (1) Oct 18 (1) Oct 17 (1) Oct 16 (1) Oct 15 (1) Oct 12 (1) Oct 11 (1) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (1) Oct 08 (1) Oct 05 (1) Oct 04 (1) Oct 02 (2) Oct 01 (1) Sep 28 (1) Sep 27 (1) Sep 26 (1) Sep 25 (1) Sep 24 (1) Sep 21 (1) Sep 20 (1) Sep 19 (1) Sep 18 (1) Sep 17 (1) Sep 14 (2) Sep 13 (1) Sep 12 (1) Sep 11 (1) Sep 10 (1) Sep 08 (1) Sep 07 (1) Sep 06 (1) Sep 05 (2) Sep 04 (1) Aug 31 (1) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (1) Aug 27 (1) Aug 24 (1) Aug 23 (2) Aug 22 (1) Aug 21 (1) Aug 20 (1) Aug 17 (1) Aug 16 (1) Aug 15 (1) Aug 14 (1) Aug 13 (1) Aug 10 (1) Aug 09 (1) Aug 08 (2) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (2) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (1) Jul 24 (2) Jul 23 (1) Jul 20 (1) Jul 19 (2) Jul 18 (1) Jul 17 (2) Jul 16 (2) Jul 13 (1) Jul 12 (2) Jul 11 (2) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (2) Jul 06 (1) Jul 05 (2) Jul 03 (2) Jul 02 (2) Jun 29 (1) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (2) Jun 26 (3) Jun 25 (2) Jun 22 (2) Jun 21 (1) Jun 20 (1) Jun 19 (1) Jun 18 (2) Jun 15 (1) Jun 14 (1) Jun 13 (1)
Sponsored Linkway:
Sponsored Linkway;
The First Three Books! (And the journal!) Buy them now!


text:
The Big Sleep Analysis
Dark, Cynical, Sarcastic
We know that working as a private detective has made Marlowe disillusioned by all the corruption he sees, so it's no surprise that the tone of the novel is primarily dark and pessimistic. Let's take a look at the opening of Chapter 6, a classic example of Marlowe's voice. He's staking out Geiger's bookstore, waiting to see if and when Geiger makes an appearance:
Rain filled the gutters and splashed knee-high off the sidewalk. Big cops in slickers that shone like gun barrels had a lot of fun carrying giggling girls across the bad places. The rain drummed hard on the roof of the car and the burbank top began to leak. A pool of water formed on the floorboards for me to keep my feet in. It was too early in the fall for that kind of rain. I struggled into a trench coat and made a dash for the nearest drugstore and bought myself a pint of whiskey. Back in the car I used enough of it to keep warm and interested. I was long overparked, but the cops were too busy carrying girls and blowing whistles to bother about that. (6.1)
This passage has many of the typical characteristics we expect to find in a Chandler novel: rain, booze, sketchy cops. The tone in this passage is definitely gloomy, and Marlowe doesn't sound like he's having such a great time.
Plus, check out the unusual word choice he uses as he takes a drink of his whiskey: he drinks just enough to "keep warm and interested." The "warm" part makes sense since he's probably cold and wet sitting inside his rain-soaked car. But why "interested"? How would numbing his senses with alcohol help keep Marlowe interested in what is happening at Geiger's store?
It's a classic example of Marlowe's cynicism. He sees so much corruption while on the job that alcohol becomes a way for him to cope with his disillusionment, to stay "interested" when he mostly just feels disgusted. And of course Marlowe's characteristic dark cynicism also comes through in his portrayal of the cops, who are too busy flirting with giggling girls to notice that he has been overparked.
Okay, so it's pretty obvious that The Big Sleep falls under the genre of mystery since it's about a detective trying to solve a crime. We have many of the standard elements found in a good mystery story: blackmail, murder, gambling, gunfights and sex (or at least sexual situations).
But The Big Sleep isn't exactly your typical mystery story. For one thing, Marlowe doesn't have the superior intelligence of a Sherlock Holmes when solving the case. He makes blunders, some of them costly, and he's portrayed as a flawed, vulnerable person. And when Marlowe finally succeeds in solving the crime, we're not left with that warm and fuzzy feeling of exhilaration that the criminal has been caught and justice has been served.
On the contrary, The Big Sleep ends on a pretty bleak, cynical note, and Chandler doesn't tie all the loose ends neatly together in a big red bow (for example, we never know for sure whether Owen Taylor was murdered or committed suicide). So while The Big Sleep certainly belongs in the mystery genre, it's also a novel about a man named Marlowe who just happens to be a detective, and we spend just as much time figuring out what kind of person Marlowe is as we do piecing together all the clues.
Normally when we think of a detective novel, we'd associate it more with the genre of popular page-turners that tend to focus primarily on plot. But Chandler wanted to do more with the genre by bringing it closer to the realm of literary fiction, which emphasizes style, character development, and psychological depth. To pull this off, Chandler spends less time worrying about the plot (much to many critics' chagrin), and more energy developing the psychological complexity of his characters.
When we hear the word quest, we usually think of works like the Odyssey or The Lord of the Rings, where there's a whole lot of traveling involved. But quest stories don't necessarily have to include crossing endless miles of land and sea. In The Big Sleep, the idea of the quest is used more subtly. Marlowe has to navigate the seedy streets of L.A. to reach a goal (solving the blackmail case and the disappearance of Regan). He's gotta overcome numerous obstacles in his search for the truth. And most importantly, Marlowe sees himself as a knight-figure, and we all know that knights are constantly out on quests, looking for new adventure.
The Big Sleep isn't exactly the catchiest of titles. It's not as blood curdling as Murder, She Wrote or as hair-raising as Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles. We don't even find out what "the big sleep" even means until literally the very last page of the novel.
For a discussion of the title's literal meaning, check out our "What's Up With the Ending?" section. For now, let's chat about why in the world Chandler would wait until the very end of the novel to (a) mention the title, and (b) tell us what it means in the first place.
What are some of the things you thought "the big sleep" might represent as you were reading the novel? Did you think it had something to do with the act of sleeping? Is it just an extra long nap? To be sure, a whole lot of the novel does take place at night when people ought to be in bed catching some Zs. So the title seems to emphasize the nocturnal quality that is present throughout the novel. Plus, Marlowe seems to get very little sleep in the novel. He's always staying up late to track down leads or getting drunk.
And what might the adjective "big" signify? Does it have something to do with being in a big city? Are there more sleepless nights in a big city like Los Angeles? And if it's a sleep that's bigger than a usual sleep, then does that mean it's a sleep you wouldn't wake up from? Maybe, as you read, you realize that the title seems to be hinting toward death (spoiler alert: it is). But by waiting until the second-to-last paragraph of the novel to tell us what "the big sleep" is, Chandler also creates a little suspense. He's prolonging our anticipation until the last possible minute.
The ending of The Big Sleep doesn't have the same wow factor of a Sherlock Holmes novel, where Holmes ties together all the loose threads in a virtuoso display of intellectual superiority over his adversaries. On the contrary, there are still plenty of loose ends in The Big Sleep, most notably what happened to Owen Taylor. Was he murdered or did he commit suicide?
Chandler hated the expectation that all detective stories needed to tie up every loose end. He also didn't want to have perfectly rational explanations for human behavior because in real life nothing is tied up neatly with a big pretty bow. Life is messy and sometimes things are unexplainable.
Sure, in the final pages of The Big Sleep, Marlowe has solved most of the case. He figures out who killed Rusty and how his murder was covered up. But in many ways the ending of the novel leaves things unresolved and open-ended. Mars doesn't get any prison time, even though he was behind many of the murders and crimes. The secret of the Sternwood family won't be made public, and Carmen will (in theory) be cured, not punished. Vivian also won't have to pay for covering up the truth. And the General may have been spared the painful knowledge of Regan's murder, but he'll also die without ever learning the truth.
Case Closed?
All of this raises the question of how successfully Marlowe has performed his job. Is it even possible for Marlowe to ensure that justice has been met in such a depraved world? Has Marlowe himself been able to keep his own hands clean while trying to dig up the truth behind the Sternwoods' sordid family history? At the end of the novel, Marlowe contemplates the events that have unfolded, and we finally learn the meaning behind the novel's title
What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble tower on top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not bothered by things like that. Oil and water were the same as wind and air to you. You just slept the big sleep, not caring about the nastiness of how you died or where you fell. Me, I was part of the nastiness now. Far more a part of it than Rusty Regan was. But the old man didn't have to be. He could lie quiet in his canopied bed, with his bloodless hands folded on the sheet, waiting. His heart was a brief, uncertain murmur. His thoughts were as gray as ashes. And in a little while he too, like Rusty Regan, would be sleeping the big sleep. (32.77)
Okay, so there's a lot that Marlowe is saying in this moment of reflection. Keep in mind that the guy's at his most cynical right now. He has just left the Sternwood mansion knowing that no one will pay the price for the crimes that were committed. Justice shmustice.
So what's his takeaway from all this? Marlowe thinks that the only way to escape the nastiness of life is through death. In fact, only the character of Regan (who we never get to meet) is left untarnished since he's already dead when the novel begins. He doesn't have to care about the "dirtiness" of life. Similarly, when General Sternwood dies, he'll also be at peace. Marlowe realizes that as long as he is still alive, he'll always be mixed up in the "nastiness" of the Sternwood case. Ironically, Marlowe's moment of supreme pessimism is also a moment of optimism in that death is portrayed here not as the gruesome murders we've witnessed previously, but as a gentle sleep.
We leave Marlowe as he attempts to come to grips with what has happened, to make sense out of everything. But he can only reach a partial understanding. As a detective who does his best to act as a modern-day knight, Marlowe can only be so successful in his quest for truth. He's able to solve some mysteries and partially expose certain crimes, but he ultimately realizes how little control he actually has over things. In the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles, Marlowe must resign himself to the fact that the immoral standards of modern society will remain.
Los Angeles and Hollywood, California in the 1930s
The Big Sleep is set in 1930s Los Angeles and Hollywood during the Depression. Even though we usually associate Hollywood with sultry palm trees and sunny skies, Chandler instead portrays L.A. as a rain-soaked city that is dark, dirty, and depraved. L.A.'s a dangerous urban jungle that Marlowe has to struggle through in his journey toward the truth.
And in this jungle, we encounter a wide variety of settings that range from the wealthy Sternwood mansion to Mars' illegal gambling joint to Marlowe's sparsely decorated office. As a detective, Marlowe is the only character who is able to access all these different social settings and he passes judgment on each place he visits. So at the Sternwood house, we can feel Marlowe's contempt for the rich as he looks around at the expensive furniture. And it becomes important that Marlowe's own office isn't lavishly decorated; it's a sign that he doesn't put up any false pretenses. What you see is what you get.
In The Big Sleep, the grittiness of L.A. makes for a dark tone and emphasizes the fact that chivalrous Marlowe feels out of place in this modern world. For example, let's take a look at the scene when Marlowe and Vivian leave Eddie Mars' club and drive through the streets of Los Angeles:
We drove away from Las Olindas through a series of little dank beach towns with shack-like houses built down on the sand close to the rumble of the surf and larger houses built back on the slopes behind. A yellow window shone here and there, but most of the houses were dark. A smell of kelp came in off the water and lay on the fog. The tires sang on the moist concrete of the boulevard. The world was a wet emptiness. (25.117)
When we read this passage, it made us want to curl up next to a warm fire. All the dark and damp imagery used: "dank" beach towns, "dark" houses, thick "fog," "moist" concrete, "wet emptiness"? Yeah, it's a pretty bleak world out there for Mr. Marlowe. We get the sense that in the sprawling expanse of Los Angeles, it's easy to feel lost and alone. And the constant rain sure doesn't help either.
Traditionally, rain symbolizes some sort of cleansing, but Chandler seems to use the rain for the opposite effect. Los Angeles is never purified of its sins, no matter how much rain pours down on its dirty streets. Much of Marlowe's cynicism arises from his realization that he'll never be able to rid the city of its deep-seated corruption. This cynicism is ultimately a mark of Depression-era Los Angeles when honest jobs were scarce and the streets were filled with crime.
(6) Tree Line
How hard can it be read a detective novel, right? The Big Sleep is definitely a page-turner, but don't be fooled into thinking it'll be a walk in the park.
You might not believe it, but Chandler's famous for saying that he doesn't care a lick about plot. But how can you write a detective story and not care about plot? Isn't a detective story all about the plot? Well, as you read The Big Sleep, you'll find that the events of the novel are pretty hard to follow. In fact, about three-quarters of the way through the novel, Marlowe appears to have solved the original case which he had been hired to solve, so the story should be about over. And yet there's still fifty pages left to read because a second plotline takes over. What does it allow Chandler to accomplish? Mainly, it allows him to further develop Marlowe's psychology, as well as the motives of the other characters, even if it totally confuses the plot.
Bottom line, you may get more than a little befuddled when trying to piece together the different puzzle pieces in The Big Sleep, but the true challenge lies in understanding what makes Marlowe tick. And it can get pretty tricky unpacking the complexity of his character. But we know you're up to the challenge.
Hardboiled, Witty
Chandler is most known for his contributions to the development of what is usually referred to as a "hardboiled" writing style. Marlowe never minces his words or beats around the bush. He is blunt, terse, direct, sometimes dismissive and frequently rude. He talks tough and he talks smart. Throughout The Big Sleep, talking tough becomes a way of asserting power. So what are some of the characteristics of tough talk? Allow Shmoop to elaborate:
The Wisecrack
Marlowe's a wise guy, or at least he wants people to see him as a wise guy.
A wise guy is someone who talks too much, asks too many questions, and talks back when he should keep quiet. A wise guy goes against authority figures and is contemptuous of the rich and powerful. A wisecrack is any "wise" (i.e. smart-alecky) remark from a "wise guy." In Marlowe's case, his wisecracks also tend to be extremely witty and clever. And Marlowe uses his wit as a kind of weapon to expose people for what they really are.
For example, when Marlowe confronts Brody about the nude photos of Carmen, Marlowe tries to see if Brody had any involvement in Geiger's death by saying, "You shot Geiger to get it. Last night in the rain. It was dandy shooting weather" (14.69). In that third sentence, Marlowe's playing the part of the smart-aleck to test Brody's reactions and control the situation. Chandler drops in these witty wisecracks throughout the novel to make the writing more vivid and lively. And on a thematic level, these wisecracks also show how Marlowe acts as the voice of reason by pointing out people's follies.
The Simile
In addition to Chandler's famous wisecracks, another stylistic device that's unique to Chandler's style is the simile. Chandler's similes are usually exaggerated or overstated (often for comedic effect) and this quality is a defining aspect of Marlowe's voice as a narrator. Let's take a look at some of the wittiest and most unusual similes in The Big Sleep:
(1)	The heat […] made me feel like a New England boiled dinner. (2.46)
(2)	Her eyes became narrow and almost black and as shallow as enamel on a cafeteria tray. (12.56)
(3)	She was as limp as a fresh-killed rabbit. (14.72)
(4)	The boy stood glaring at him with sharp black eyes in a face as hard and white as cold mutton fat. (18.10)
(5)	You leak information like a radio announcer. (23.29)
(6)	Her eyelids were flickering rapidly, like moth wings. (25. 125)
(7)	I was as empty of life as a scarecrow's pockets. (25.1)
(8)	There was a dry click, like a small icicle breaking. I hung there motionless, like a lazy fish. (26.9)
(9)	The purring voice was now as false as an usherette's eyelashes and as slippery as a watermelon seed. (30.44)
Notice how most of the similes here are negative. They help to emphasize just how jaded Marlowe is, sure, but they also show a sharp and clever mind at work, and Marlowe never runs out of biting remarks to say. Pay attention to how, in each of these examples, Chandler uses the simile to make really unexpected comparisons. What if Chandler had simply written "as limp as a wet noodle"? Sure, that's a pretty good image, but it's also very common. We've all heard that comparison being made many times before. But the simile "as limp as a fresh-killed rabbit" is a much more startling comparison.
Plus there's the vividness and its precision. Take the simile "as false as an usherette's eyelashes." Why is this such an effective comparison? Why not say "as false as a $3 bill"? Because for Chandler, that would be too obvious. Too boring and predictable. Instead, Chandler chooses the more unusual image of an usherette's eyelashes, which has greater comedic effect. Chandler's dedication to perfecting his writing style is what ultimately separates The Big Sleep from the mass of cheap pulp stories and elevates it to the status of high literary art.
The Stained-Glass Panel
Let's set the scene, shall we? The Big Sleep opens with a description of the Sternwood mansion and the first thing that catches Marlowe's eye is a stained glass panel:
The main hallway of the Sternwood place was two stories high. Over the entrance doors, which would have let in a troop of Indian elephants, there was a broad stained-glass panel showing a knight in dark armor rescuing a lady who was tied to a tree and didn't have any clothes on but some very long and convenient hair. The knight had pushed the vizor of his helmet back to be sociable, and he was fiddling on the ropes that tied the lady to the tree and not getting anywhere. I stood there and thought that if I lived in the house, I would sooner or later have to climb up there and help him. He didn't seem to be really trying. (1.2)
We're not sure about you, but Marlowe's sarcastic sense of humor in this passage had us laughing out loud. Now in terms of symbolic importance, this panel ranks pretty high up there. It is the perfect visual encapsulation of how Marlowe understands his role as the knightly detective in modern society. So what's wrong with the stained glass panel, according to our new favorite detective? Well, the knight in "dark armor" is taking his good old time untying the lady. In fact, Marlowe thinks that the knight doesn't even really seem to be trying to loosen the knots in the rope. Not very chivalrous. At least, not in Marlowe's eyes.
This image of the knight not getting very far in the task put in front of him also contains a note of cynicism. Is Chandler perhaps making fun of this knight—notice that his armor is "dark"—and turning the whole "knight in shining armor" myth upside down? And what exactly is Marlowe's relationship to this knight?
Marlowe jokes about eventually having to go up there and give the knight a hand, which indicates his dedication to being chivalrous. But he also gets caught up in the corrupt family history of the Sternwoods, so is he the upright "knight in shining armor" or is he closer to this not-so-awesome knight in dark armor depicted in the stained glass? The symbolic importance of this stained glass, as well as the motif of the knight, will resurface constantly throughout The Big Sleep, so keep a weather eye out, Shmoopers. What other moments can you spot?
In the very first sentence of The Big Sleep, Marlowe tells us that, "It was about eleven o'clock in the morning with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills" (1.1). Of course, there's nothing unusual about mentioning the weather in a novel—especially at the beginning—but in this novel, it seems to be doing a bit more work than just setting the scene.
When it's about to rain, that means something is about to happen. Usually something bad. That's when we'll hear the sound of distant thunder. If you've ever lived or spent time in Southern California, you probably know that it doesn't rain that much. Sure there'll be some drizzly days here and there in the later months of the year, but the constant downpour that occurs in The Big Sleep is pretty implausible for the dry, desert-like climate of L.A.
So for Chandler, the motif of rain is used less for realistic purposes and more for adding symbolic value. And to figure out that value, we'll have to ask ourselves, what does rain traditionally symbolize? Dark clouds usually symbolize that something bad is coming round the bend, and rain is often associated with some sort of cleansing or purification. The washing away of sins and whatnot. So as you read the novel, try to keep track of when Marlowe mentions the weather and try to keep those themes in mind.
For this one, turn to Chapter 24 when Marlowe finds Carmen lying naked in his bed. Trying to be the chivalrous knight, Marlowe asks Carmen to get dressed and leave. He looks down at his chessboard and moves the knight piece, but a few minutes later, he realizes that it was the wrong move, and puts the knight back to its original square, saying that, "Knights had no meaning in this game. It wasn't a game for knights" (24.29).
Is your symbol alarm going off? Ours certainly is. Marlowe claims that knights have no place in a world like modern-day L.A. He lives in a society run by more powerful chess pieces like the king or queen. He feels that knights are not valued in such a world, and that they rarely end up the winners. Marlowe chooses not to sleep with Carmen, which maintains his knighthood—sortakinda. But eventually he'll have to ask himself why he bothers. Does his effort to remain a chivalrous knight in a corrupt world mean that he'll ultimately lose the game?
Marlowe tells us that inside the Sternwood greenhouse, "the plants filled the place, a forest of them, with nasty meaty leaves and stalks like the newly washed fingers of dead men. They smelled as overpowering as boiling alcohol under a blanket" (2.1). This is one of Chandler's most famous descriptions because of all that vivid imagery. Check out Chandler's word choice in this passage. The orchids have "nasty meaty" petals that look like human flesh. Pretty gruesome image, right? We normally think of orchids as beautiful exotic flowers, but here they appear corrupt and disgusting. They're associated with death and decay. They even give off a strange, sickening odor that is "overpowering." Basically, these orchids are nasty pieces of work, and we might think of them as a symbol for the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles in the thirties. On the surface, L.A. has a certain sensual attractiveness with its luxurious mansions and high-end casinos, but the city's opulence quickly gives way to a deeper sordidness as Marlowe uncovers murder and corruption.
If the Orchids are the Underbelly, What's the Greenhouse?
Marlowe describes the orchid greenhouse as a "jungle" (2.2), saying,
The air was thick, wet, steamy and larded with the cloying smell of tropical orchids in bloom. The glass walls and roof were heavily misted and big drops of moisture splashed down on the plants. The light had an unreal greenish color, like light filtered through an aquarium tank. (2.1)
Chandler uses a ton of adjectives to describe the humid atmosphere of the greenhouse. Check out that string of adjectives in the first sentence: "thick, wet, steamy and larded" and "cloying." What's the effect of reading this quick series of words? For us, we started to feel like we were running out of oxygen, slowly suffocating in the damp, moisture-filled air. The "unreal greenish color" of the light has a sickly quality to it, and of course the image of the aquarium tank again emphasizes the water-soaked imagery of the entire passage.
So what might this jungle-like greenhouse be a symbol of? Well, all the water imagery reminds us of Chandler's constant use of rain throughout the novel. In this case, the dampness in the greenhouse is oppressive and harsh, just like the environment of Marlowe's rain-soaked L.A. Marlowe has to fight his way through the "urban jungle" of Los Angeles with its corrupt "cloying" around him like vines in a jungle.
The Oil Pumps
First things first: the oil pumps serve as the burial ground for Rusty's murdered body. Now there's all kinds of symbolic baggage there. But let's look beyond the obvious for a second, and take a look at two important descriptions that Marlowe gives us of the Sternwood oil pumps. The first description comes at the very beginning of the novel, as Marlowe is leaving the Sternwood mansion after meeting with the General. Standing outside on the front doorsteps of the mansion, Marlowe gazes past the fence surrounding the house and looks down at the oilfield:
[…] far off I could barely see some of the old wooden derricks of the oilfield from which the Sternwoods had made their money. Most of the field was public park now, cleaned up and donated to the city by General Sternwood. But a little of it was still producing in groups of wells pumping five or six barrels a day. The Sternwoods, having moved up the hill, could no longer smell the stale sump water or the oil, but they could still look out of their front windows and see what had made them rich. If they wanted to. I didn't suppose they would want to. (3.18)
So you've heard of the phrase "filthy rich," right? Well, this description gives it a whole new meaning. The oilfields are what made the Sternwoods richer than their wildest dreams, but we get the sense here that Marlowe thinks that no one can get that rich without getting their hands dirty. We know that Marlowe is pretty contemptuous of the wealthy upper class, and as the novel progresses, we learn that the Sternwood family is mixed up in some very corrupt stuff.
See, having money means having power in the world of The Big Sleep. And Marlowe recognizes that the Sternwood family thinks they can buy their way through life without having to look down at the dirty oilfield where they got that money from. Put simply, the Sternwoods tend to turn a blind eye to their own corruption, living in denial that their money is tainted.
The second description of the oilfield comes at the very end of the novel when Marlowe drives Carmen out to the oilfield to teach her how to use a gun. As they approach the foothill ranch, Marlowe sees the oil pumps:
Then the oil-stained, motionless walking beam of a squat wooden derrick stuck up over a branch. I could see the rusty old steel cable that connected this walking-beam with a half a dozen others. The beams didn't move, probably hadn't moved for a year. The wells were no longer pumping. There was a pile of rusted pipe, a loading platform that sagged at one end, half a dozen empty oil drums lying in a ragged pile. There was the stagnant, oil-scummed water of an old sump iridescent in the sunlight. (31.32)
In this description, there is a much clearer connection made between the oil sumps and the corruption of money. Notice the dirty imagery that Chandler uses: the "oil-stained" beam," the "rusty" steel cable and "rusted" pipe, and the "oil-scummed water" of an old sump. Everything here is falling apart and decaying. The beams don't function anymore and the wells are no longer pumping oil. This scene reeks of death and filth, which is of course appropriate since this is where Rusty is buried. Marlowe can sense the nastiness of the oilfield when he says, "the smell of that sump would poison a herd of goats" (31.35). For Marlowe, the oilfields are the ultimate representation of the idea that money corrupts.
First Person, Philip Marlowe
Exactly what kind of narrator is Marlowe? Technically speaking, the type of narration in The Big Sleep is called a first person limited point of view. It's first person because Marlowe is the "I" who's telling his own story. And it's "limited" because Marlowe doesn't have access to the inner thoughts and feelings of other characters in the story and he doesn't know everything that's going on. That kind of total access is reserved for what we call an omniscient narrator.
Obviously, giving the narrator omniscience would be a disaster for a detective story, right? If the detective already knows everything's that's going on, then there wouldn't be any mystery to solve. A detective has to have a limited point of view because his job is to infer, deduce, observe, and piece together clues. So that means that a typical detective story is always working its way towards omniscience. Towards total knowledge.
In The Big Sleep, Marlowe's task is to acquire knowledge about the blackmail scheme and Rusty's disappearance. In the end, Marlowe does achieve omniscience since he solves the crime, but when he arrives at the knowledge he was seeking, he's not exactly pleased. In fact, he becomes extremely disillusioned (maybe we should tell Mr. Marlowe that sometimes ignorance is bliss). And this sense of disillusionment brings us to the second important feature of The Big Sleep: Marlowe's distinctive narrative voice.
Marlowe's Voice
Since we're in Marlowe's head the entire time, we get to know the guy pretty well. His personality shines through in every sentence we read. The way that Marlowe narrates is a combination of sarcastic asides, objective commentary, and cynical observations. And what makes his voice so interesting is his unusual way of describing things. For example, read his description of the stained glass panel at the beginning of the book, and while you're at it, we want you to pick the funniest word:
Over the entrance doors, which would have let in a troop of Indian elephants, there was a broad stained-glass panel showing a knight in dark armor rescuing a lady who was tied to a tree and didn't have any clothes on but some very long and convenient hair. The knight had pushed the vizor of his helmet back to be sociable, and he was fiddling on the ropes that tied the lady to the tree and not getting anywhere. (1.2)
When you read this passage, which funny word jumped out at you most? We at Shmoop chose the word "convenient." Why might this word be both so funny and so fitting at the same time? By itself, the word "convenient" isn't all that interesting. But in this particular sentence, he's using it in a new, surprising way. He definitely doesn't mean convenient in the literal sense, as something that involves little trouble or effort. Anyone with long hair knows that there's nothing convenient about it. It gets tangled easily, it gets in your eyes, it takes longer to wash.
So why does Marlowe use the word convenient here? Well, we think it's because by using this one simple word, Marlowe is able to create a very vivid image. What did you picture in your head when you read that the lady was naked except for "some very long and convenient hair"? What we pictured is long flowy tresses of hair cascading down her naked body, and "conveniently" coiling around and covering up her nakedness.
Why are we making such a big deal out of this one word? It's because this is what makes Chandler stand out so much as a writer of detective fiction. There's more going on in this novel than just predictable plot twists and cheap payoffs. What makes The Big Sleep different from you're your plain old, run-of-the-mill detective stories is Marlowe's ability to find the mot juste—the "right word" to describe something perfectly, with just the right combination of humor and cynicism. It's a hallmark of the hardboiled narrative voice that made Chandler so famous.
Marlowe lives in the corrupt, crime-ridden streets of the City of Angels, and he's hired by General Sternwood to dig up information on a blackmailer named Geiger. Usually when we think of stories featuring a quest, books like the Odyssey or The Lord of the Rings come immediately to mind. Chandler's Big Sleep definitely isn't what we would typically describe as a quintessential quest tale.
But even though there's no life-affirming ending, Marlowe does have to go through numerous trials to reach his end goal. And there are many key elements that make this novel what we'd see as a modernized quest story. For one thing, Marlowe's a bit of a modern-day knight. Plus, Marlowe's search for clues can be described as a quest for knowledge as he tries to find all the pieces to solve the puzzle.
As Marlowe proceeds to follow up on every lead that comes his way, he has to face many life-threatening situations. He's placed at gunpoint when he confronts Joe Brody about his scheme to blackmail Vivian. He has to resist many temptations, most of which come from Carmen, who flirts with him constantly.
Even though there are too many twists and turns in The Big Sleep to list all the stages of Marlowe's journey, notice how Marlowe's goals change as the novel progresses. His initial goal is only to track down Geiger, but after he is killed, Marlowe's journey develops into a search for Joe Brody, which then leads him to Eddie Mars.
In all of this, Marlowe is also trying to find out information about the General's son-in-law, Rusty Regan, who has disappeared without a trace. Suffice it to say, the more Marlowe becomes involved in the lives of the Sternwood family, the greater the dangers that he faces.
Marlowe has finally discovered a lead that takes him straight to the hideout of Mona Grant, who had apparently run off with Regan. But when Marlowe finds her, he learns that she had never left with Regan.
Marlowe seems to have finally reached his goal when he is able to speak face to face with Mona and ask her where Regan is. But upon learning that she never ran off with Regan, Marlowe's forced to go back to square one. No one seems to know the whereabouts of Regan, or else they're all hiding it from Marlowe. Poor guy, he just can't seem to catch a break.
Marlowe goes to tell General Sternwood that he's off the case. As he's leaving the Sternwood mansion, he runs into Carmen, who asks him to teach her how to shoot. But when Marlowe's back is turned, Carmen fires at him. Luckily, the gun is loaded with blanks.
Marlowe's final showdown with Carmen may not be as life-threatening as his previous experiences of being held up at gunpoint, but Marlowe definitely wins points for outwitting the femme fatale. Putting blanks into her gun was a stroke of genius and it allowed him to finally tie together all the loose ends of the Sternwood family history.
Marlowe tells Vivian he knows the secret that she's been trying to cover up, and he gives her three days to put Carmen into a mental institution and to leave town.
Marlowe has finally solved the case, but he leaves the Sternwood residence feeling pretty down in the dumps. Unlike a typical quest tale where the hero returns home with a more positive outlook on the future, Marlowe knows that he's now a part of the corruption behind Rusty's death and the novel ends on a dark note with Marlowe feeling disillusioned.
Exposition (Initial Situation)
Marlowe Takes a Case
We find out in the opening pages that Marlowe, as a private detective, faces a ton of difficult, moral decisions on how to best serve his client at every turn. Does he do everything in his power to perform his job to the best of his ability? How much does he protect his own safety while on the job? To what extent is he allowed to break the law in order to better serve his client's interests? We'll see that Marlowe has a rough job as a private dick, but he seems to always make a point of upholding his moral beliefs.
Rising Action (Conflict, Complication)
Marlowe Finds a Stiff
Geiger's been shot to death and now Marlowe has to deal with another blackmail scheme involving nude photos of Carmen. Sheesh, this novel is just one series of blackmails after another.
The first blackmailer (who was playing the General) Geiger is bumped off, and when Marlowe identifies the second blackmailer (the one after Vivian) as Joe Brody, Marlowe tries to blackmail the blackmailer. But then Brody is also knocked off, and the cycle of blackmailing continues with the introduction of Eddie Mars and his crew. If you're scratching your head in confusion here, just try to roll with the punches.
Climax (Crisis, Turning Point)
Marlowe Gets KO'd
We already mentioned the deaths of Geiger, Taylor, and Brody, each climax-worthy in our book. But then there's also the sad death of poor Harry Jones. He dies drinking water poisoned with cyanide, in an effort to protect Agnes. His death leads Marlowe to the information regarding the hideout location of Eddie Mars' wife, Mona. All of this culminates in Marlowe being knocked out cold by Mars' gunman, Canino.
After recovering consciousness, Marlowe finds himself handcuffed, sitting next to Mona. With Mona's help, Marlowe manages to shoot Canino and make his escape. Chandler does a masterful job here of making us hold our breaths as Marlowe sneaks out of the house to make his escape. And the real suspense that closes this scene is the fact that as Marlowe drives away unscathed with Mona sitting beside him in the car, we're left asking: If Mona didn't run off with Rusty Regan, then where could Rusty possibly be hiding? Better yet, is he even still alive?
Falling Action
Marlowe at the Wrong End of a Gun Barrel (Again)
The scene between Carmen and Marlowe probably doesn't sound like your typical falling action. In fact, it sounds more like the climax, right? But in The Big Sleep, it's almost impossible to clearly distinguish between complications, climaxes, and denouements since they're all closely tied together. And of course, everything happens incredibly fast (again, imagine that you're on a roller coaster).
The reason we think this scene can be read as falling action is because Marlowe knew in advance to load the gun with blanks. This means that he suspected Carmen and was setting up a test for her. And when Carmen confirms Marlowe's suspicions, he's then finally able to put together all the pieces of the puzzle.
Resolution (Dénouement)
Marlowe Contemplates The Big Sleep
After Carmen's attempt to kill him, Marlowe is certain that she's the one who murdered Regan. Like Marlowe, Regan rejected Carmen's advances and Carmen's response was to flat out shoot the poor guy.
The novel comes to end at breakneck speed and we're left practically gasping for breath as we realize that Carmen is the murderer, or should we say murderess. Marlowe leaves us on a note of cynicism as he contemplates the unfairness of life and how death is the only escape from life's cruelty.
Marlowe is hired by General Sternwood to discover why Geiger is blackmailing him. As Marlowe follows the trail of clues, he stumbles on Geiger's dead body and finds out that Carmen is somehow mixed up in the blackmail scheme. When questioned by the police about what he knows, Marlowe leaves out Carmen's involvement, and from then on, he is committed to digging to the bottom of the secrecy surrounding the Sternwood family.
Marlowe follows up on one lead after the next, each one bringing him to yet another murder, from Owen Taylor to Joe Brody to Harry Jones. In the midst of trying to uncover the motives behind the various blackmail threats directed at the Sternwood family, Marlowe's also trying to find out what happened to Vivian's husband, Rusty Regan, who has disappeared without a trace after apparently running off with Eddie Mars' wife, Mona Grant. But no one seems to know where Rusty is or whether he's even still alive.
All the clues finally lead Marlowe to a hideout, where he finds Mona and learns that that Rusty never actually ran off with her. When Carmen attempts to kill Marlowe (using a gun loaded only with blanks), Marlowe finally pieces together the puzzle: Carmen was the one who killed Rusty because he rejected her, and Vivian had been forced to ask for Eddie Mars' help to cover up the murder and protect her father from discovering the truth.
Marcel Proust (11.2)
Sherlock Holmes (30.74)
Philo Vance (30.74)
Pinkertons (11.10)
The Quints (11.7)
Ben Hur (5.23)
Charlie Chan (5.31)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Rachel McAdams Cast in "True Detective"
Mean Girls actress Rachel McAdams has been cast in the second season of HBO's hit police drama True Detective.
McAdams will play Ani Bezzerides, a by-the-book Ventura County, California Sheriff's detective whose unyielding ethics cause conflict with her contemporaries.
McAdams will join Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows star Kelly Reilly, who will play Jordan, a washed-up D-list actress who's married to a criminal entrepreneur called Frank Semyon, who is played by Vince Vaughn.
Friday Night Lights and John Carter star Taylor Kitsch has also been confirmed as one of the show's male leads. Kitsch will portray a character named Paul Woodrugh, a war vet and a California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer with a past.
Colin Farrell was cast as Ray Velcoro, a corrupt detective with conflicting allegiances between his crooked bosses and the mobster who has him under his thumb.
True Detective season one starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, and concerned a hunt for a supernatural serial killer named the Yellow King across Louisiana for 17 years. McConaughey's popular character, Detective Rustin Spencer "Rust" Cohle, has been parodied:
Here is a trailer for True Detective season one:
The second season of the series will will feature eight episodes, all which will be written by series creator Nic Pizzolatto.
HBO's official logline for season two of the show reads, "Three police officers and a career criminal must navigate a web of conspiracy in the aftermath of a murder." Production on the season has commenced, with HBO shooting for a summer broadcast.
In related McAdams news, the had once dated her The Notebook costar Ryan Gosling. Though, director Nick Cassavetes told VH1 in July, that things weren't so easy on set between the two.
Cassavetes remarked, "Maybe I'm not supposed to tell this story, but they were really not getting along one day on set. Really not. And Ryan came to me, and there's 150 people standing in this big scene, and he says, 'Nick come here.' And he's doing a scene with Rachel and he says, 'Would you take her out of here and bring in another actress to read off camera with me?' I said, 'What?' He says, 'I can't. I can't do it with her. I'm just not getting anything from this.'"
Tags colin ferrell HBO matthew mcconaughey Rachel McAdams Taylor Kitsch Television true detective Vince Vaughn yellow king
Bill Cosby Accuser Says She Was 17 When He Raped Her
Julianne Hough Shows Off Dress For "Dancing With the Stars" Finale


text:
Rookie Brissett, Blount lead Patriots to 3-0
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Another week, another new quarterback, another win for the New England Patriots.
Jacoby Brissett had a 27-yard touchdown run in his first NFL start, LeGarrette Blount added scoring runs of 1 and 41 yards, and the Patriots beat the Houston Texans 27-0 on Thursday night.
It was the Patriots' first shutout win since 2012 and the first time the Texans have been shutout since 2003.
Brissett began the season as the third-string quarterback behind Tom Brady, the franchise cornerstone who is serving a four-game suspension for his role in "Deflategate," and Jimmy Garoppolo — inactive after injuring his right shoulder last week against Miami. Brissett's start on Thursday was the first time that New England had started a rookie quarterback since Drew Bledsoe in 1993.
The Texans (2-1) entered the game with the NFL's third-ranked defense and nine sacks through two games, but they struggled to put pressure on the 23-year-old quarterback.
Brissett was steady throughout, moving the chains on offense with a diet of short passes and scrambles. The Patriots (3-0) also mixed in lots of pre-snap motion and shifts that helped create both throwing and running lanes for Brissett. He finished the night 11 of 19 for 103 yards, and ran eight times for 48 yards.
Houston didn't help itself on special teams either, turning the ball over twice on fumbled kickoff returns. Houston quarterback Brock Osweiler was 24 for 41 for 196 yards and was sacked twice. He also had a promising drive in the second quarter thwarted by Jamie Collins' interception . The Texans had a chance to get on the board just before halftime, but that drive stalled at midfield.
Lamar Miller rushed 22 times for 84 yards.
Brissett on his first NFL touchdown: "It was crazy. It was awesome. Definitely great to see all the players just run up to you. I got a headache from all the head bobbing and head bumping. But it was definitely worth it."
Osweiler on the loss: "I felt like we had a great week of preparation, very focused. The game plan was solid and we worked hard. So this is hard to take. But the bottom line is that New England had a great game plan. They deserve all the credit. But we'll bounce back from this one."
BLOUNT FORCE: Blount ran 24 times for 105 yards and two touchdowns, including the 41-yarder in the fourth quarter to give New England a 27-0 lead. It's the third time in his career he has had back-to-back 100-yard games, and the first time since 2011. Blount also had a 1-yard TD run in the third quarter.
GRONK RETURNS: Tight end Rob Gronkowski made his season debut after sitting out the first two weeks with a hamstring injury he sustained during training camp. Gronk was used sparingly and mainly as a blocker, appearing in just 14 snaps, and three in the second half.
RUNNING QBS: Brissett's 27-yard touchdown run was the longest for a Patriots quarterback since Steve Grogan went 41 yards for a score in 1976. The longest run of Tom Brady's career is 22 yards.
CHALLENGE: The Patriots' first touchdown was set up by a successful coach's challenge by Bill Belichick. After Stephen Gostkowski's 24-yard field goal put New England up 3-0, Houston's Charles James fielded the ensuing kickoff from just inside the end zone. James ran it out, and was tripped up at the 17. But the ball squirted out on a hit by Brandon Bolden. Duron Harmon recovered for the Patriots, but James was ruled down on the field. Belichick challenged, and the call was reversed.
STREAK ENDS: The Texans entered Thursday having not allowed a touchdown in six consecutive quarters. That streak ended in the first quarter with Brissett's 27-yard touchdown run.
INJURIES: Houston tight end Stephen Anderson left the game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury and did not return.
MOVING ON UP: Belichick tied Curly Lambeau for fourth place on the regular-season wins list with 226. He is now only behind Tom Landry (250), George Halas (318) and Don Shula (328).


text:
""" Tool for quickly setting up repositories for development """
try:
    from ._version import *  # pylint: disable=F0401,W0401
except ImportError:
    __version__ = 'unknown'

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub