I'm halfway through my 30 Days of ShadowDraw challenge and really enjoying the chill vibes this month is giving me. The app allows you to pick a drawing and then effectively guides you through tracing how the picture comes together, so you end up with the finished result. I'm loving getting some use out of my Apple Pencil and occasionally feeling like I'm actually making some progress. Occasionally, I have …

Recently, I’ve become obsessed with reducing waste. Although, I suppose it’s not that much of a recent phenomenon, it’s something that I’ve been mindful of for the past few years, with an increasing focus on our planet. I’ve made sensible changes where possible - sourcing toilet rolls from a paper-based subscription service, scrapping all physical mail and magazines where possible (Christmas Radio Times excluded, obviously!), and choosing glass options over …

I had some leftover bananas that were quickly ripening and sure, I could have just eaten them, but where's the fun in that? No, instead, I dug out a Mary Berry recipe for banoffee pie - something I have never made before and to be honest, haven't eaten that often either. But biscuits, bananas, caramel, cream and chocolate can't really go wrong, can it? Hooray, it didn't go wrong! I …

The thing about breaking down the year into 30 day chunks is that February does a bit of a number on the pattern, whether it's a leap year or not. That's why on the second of March, I'm launching challenge three - drawing. I wrote previously about enjoying the app ShadowDraw, in fact when I first mentioned it, I was eyeing up a daily challenge they had launched to tie …

The good news is my second attempt at a thirty day challenge was more successful than the first, in that I actually managed to do the thing every day for the full thirty days. In case you missed it, February's task was to do the 30 Day Core Challenge that Apple Fitness+ had very kindly put up I suspect especially for me. And I did it! The first fifteen days …

Although I claim not to be someone who can watch a lot of different TV shows at the same time, I do seem to have plenty of different series on the go at the moment. There's just so much good stuff out there! But alongside the new stuff, there's always a spot in my day for something a bit older and a bit more relaxing... something to switch off to …

The Book of Boba Fett has been a ride, hasn't it? The reaction to this show has been so fascinating right from the start, with claims that it's boring, that it has robbed people's joy of a beloved character, that it relies too heavily on Mando, that it spends too much time on Tatooine... if there's an aspect of the show you can name, you can also find people loving …

My second thirty day challenge of the year takes things away from the mental side of life (language learning) and more into the physical (health and fitness). Don't worry, I'm sure not all the challenges will fit into the Crystal Maze categories. Almost as if they were listening to me, Apple Fitness+ released some updates this year that included a handful of curated collections - workout schedules to help you …

Like the best people, I'm completely obsessed with Inside the Factory - the TV show where Gregg Wallace, Cherry Healey and Ruth Goodman go behind the scenes in various factories to show us the history, the present and the future of how things are made. A recent episode featured the nation's favourite tortilla chip (or better known as Doritos) and I was surprised at the lengthy process to get sweetcorn …

I set myself the January challenge of getting a thirty day Duolingo streak, concentrating on their French language course that I've been dipping in and out of for as long as I can remember. I ALMOST made it. If I'm being honest with myself, for the first thirty day challenge of the year, and as a means to getting back in the habit of checking into Duolingo every day, I'm …

Since The Grand Tour became more of An Occasional Jaunt, the three presenters have been trying their hand at other things, usually turning their hobbies into business ventures. James May learned to cook and bought a pub, Jeremy Clarkson got into farming in a big (tractor) way, and Richard Hammond ploughed all his time and money into a classic car restoration business. All of them have made TV shows along …

Back in November, I wrote a post/whinge about how difficult it was to track down the Marvel One Shot shorts that complement the main series. They were all over the place, some as film extras, some their own thing on Disney+, some not appearing anywhere official. Well! Disney must have been listening because they've just released all the One Shots as their own special episodes on the Disney+ streaming service. …

Halfway through the first month of the year, and that means halfway through my first 30 day challenge. It was a deliberately easy one - not having to go too far out of my way to make it happen, and something I have done before and know I can do. But even with that, resuming my Duolingo streak has meant remembering to do it each day for the fifteen days …

The new year is always a good time for new dramas to start appearing on TV, and the big bang for 2022 was Around the World in 80 Days, a big budget drama starring David Tennant as the hero in this Jules Vergne adaptation. The eight episode series followed Tennant's Phileas Fogg as he attempts that circumnavigation of the globe all for a simple bet with the others at his …

In 2021, I managed to read and review about 150 titles in my Books section, which has to be an all-time record. I say titles, rather than books, because some of them were shorts, some reference, some audiobooks, there's a mish-mash of stuff I've enjoyed all year long. But even so, that's still a lot to have managed to get through. Partly that's because of the ongoing efforts to Hibernate …

Over this holiday period, I've finally managed to listen to series nine of John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme. If you're not aware of it, this is a fantastic radio sketch programme featuring John and friends covering everything from social awkwardness, new twists on old classics, incredible storytelling and every now and again some really moving stuff. Series nine was different, there were the logistical implications of recording during a pandemic and …

Keeping track of what films are coming out when has been pretty difficult over the last couple of years, partly because of delays to release dates for obvious reasons, but also because it's never quite clear how something is going to hit our screens. With a deep desire not to go to the cinema, I'm reliant on streaming options instead, and whilst it's getting better all the time (Disney+ early …

It's become a tradition for me to write a new year post on this site, setting out what goals I'm going to try and fail at over the coming twelve months. Last year's post was a little bit different, as we were all worn down by a pandemic that didn't seem to be ending any time soon. I finished that post with the optimistic thought: "So here's to 2021, and …

Somehow another year of music has flown by, I've banked another 100 albums, both new and old, and now I have to decide which were the cream of the crop and which weren't worth the download speeds. Each week, for fifty weeks, I've listened to one new album (usually from this year, or 2020 at a push), and one older album (any time before that), and have listened to each …

Unless you've been deliberately avoiding it (and you might have, because it's troublesome these days), you'll know there's a Harry Potter celebration on New Year's Day. The stars of the movies are getting back together to celebrate the 20th Anniversary ready to reminisce about what must have been a huge part of their childhoods. I'm interested to see what is revealed. But I was also super interested to see a …

It's fair to say, I watch a lot of movies. Since starting the Film Watch process back in 2009, as of yesterday, the total is 1273 and rising fast. Initially, the goal was to simply increase my knowledge of films, but soon it became bigger and bolder than that. The aim became to watch 100 movies a year, and then to try and beat the previous year's total, and that …

I finally managed to watch the latest James Bond installment last month, having already had a few spoilers before managing to get it on screen. And then I read a post that sparked an interest in me that I kept meaning to write about... but then Christmas happened and now this terrible year is almost over and everyone has moved on, but hey. I'm still thinking about 007! This Guardian …

Last year, I wrote about the top five Christmas television specials, featuring such gems as the wonderful Vicar of Dibley, the ever-engaging Doctor Who and of course, my complete obsession with The Goes Wrong Show. Looking back at this now, I'm a bit annoyed that I called it the top five because... I don't know how much thought I put into it actually being the BEST five. They were certainly …

It's no surprise that as this year's Strictly Come Dancing drew towards its conclusion and more and more focus was paid on the finalists, particularly Rose Ayling-Ellis, that the number of people interested in sign language increased time and time again. There were several stories on this topic through the series, but by the end, the BBC were reporting that: The director of one firm offering BSL courses told Radio …

If we rewind six months of so, and ask my former self if the upcoming Hawkeye TV show would have been my most anticipated of the new MCU TV outings, I would have laughed long and hard. But then they signed up Hailee Steinfeld, then they set it at Christmas, and then they made all the artwork and superhero uniforms purple. Tick, tick, tick. The season finale was released yesterday, …

I, like many other people, found myself crying for the full two hours of the Strictly final - for the second year in a row. But this year did feel different. The 2020 final was a celebration of joy and glitter and sparkles and fun after a dreadful year. We needed that release. This time, although we still need that in our lives, it was more about the couples taking …

Four years ago (!) I published a Christmas playlist, having taken offence at some of the collections various streaming services had pulled together. Their festive mixes included party songs that really had no business being on a Christmas-related playlist, other than being good for the office get-together. They got you in an uplifted spirit but were they really true to the name? No. Since then, it seems like Christmas has …

Semi-finals!! Somehow it feels like it's come round really quickly but at the same time, when you watch the opening credits featuring all the participants of 2021, some of them seem like such a long time ago! I really think this is one of the closest competitions we've had in a long time, every one of the semi finalists has topped the leaderboard, so how can we possibly predict? Anything …

It feels like we've been waiting for this short Doctor Who series for a long time but somehow, even though I was keen to see what happened, I didn't feel the normal hype that I usually would. I can't put my finger on why, although I'm wondering if at this point I just want to get on to the second Russell T Davies era and see what that brings. However, …

It may just be the corners of the internet I dwell in, but Acapulco feels like a recent Apple TV+ offering that's been slightly overlooked by the more high profile Foundation, Invasion and films with Tom Hanks. I'm here to say, if you haven't watched it already, you absolutely should. It follows the story of a Mexican family and how their lives intertwine with a celebrity resort in Acapulco... in …

We were greeted with two group dances by the professional this week, one at the start of each day's show, but I much preferred the first one. Oti and Graziano portrayed a great story, I love it when the dance is completely mesmorising and even more so when the leads hug at the end. Good to see all the judges back in action, a full house of our favourites, but …

I’ve been a fan of Miranda since her sitcom first came out (2009, can you believe that?) and her unwavering dedication to joy and acceptance has been wonderful to follow. Recently, the lovely lady tweeted about some Christmas items for sale on her shop, with an element of the price going to charity, so it seemed rude not to snap up some of the goodies. I’ve long been searching for …

I’ve been a Les Mills subscriber for a good few years now, and love their output, but I’ve always had a niggling feeling in my head that I needed to write a post about representation. They have super-fit, fabulous presenters and do a great job at having that global feel with international trainers alongside the cosy consistency of a family business. My fitness journey is at the ambitious but rubbish …

It's the time of year where everyone, including me, starts posting top ten this and top five that, highlights and lowlights of the year gone by. The Guardian have kicked things off with the first part of their top 50s, specifically top books, albums, films and TV shows. Reading this list made me wonder if I need to think about what TV shows would make an end-of-year list. Pulling together …

Having previously tried a bit of gardening this year and not done very well, I'm more interested in the successes and failures of other people than I might have expected. Combine this interest with an enjoyment of gorgeous time lapse videos and you get Boxlapse - a YouTube channel that focuses on growing various veggies and showing how they evolve over time. I discovered these videos via Kottke, who recommended …

I'm always keen to try an indoor hobby, and usually around the time of the Apple live events and keynotes, I suddenly have a craving to make maximum use of my iPad. I've previously been dipping into coding, making apps, learning Swift, etc, which I love, but the last few weeks I've been looking for something a bit more relaxing, a bit less taxing. Step forward then - drawing and …

I'll be honest with you here: yes, there were a couple of things I wanted to point towards on the subject of the recent Marvel movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. But the real reason for this post is an excuse to talk about Simu Liu, who I have become somewhat obsessed with ever since watching the film first time round. That's the good thing about having …

The show was only just over an hour this week, and it was really clear how few people are left when they were all waiting at the bottom of the stairs for the action to begin. Just six couples left and three spots in the final. Things are getting tough! Poor Motsi had to miss this show so we had the wonderful Cynthia Erivo back again, and it was very …

It feels like you can't move for seeing good press about The Outlaws, the recent comedy from Stephen Merchant. I finished watched it a week or so ago, and it was so good, I just wanted to add to the celebration of such a good show. Here are five things to love about it: The cast. From relative unknowns to the supremely famous Christopher Walken (how on earth did that …

Musicals week has arrived, and it's one of those that all the couples say they were desperate to participate in... but we're getting to the sharp end now and the good have to be even greater to get through. Also, this is the first week in Strictly history that Craig Revel Horwood wasn't on the judging panel, replaced by Cynthia Erivo. It was fitting, as she's a superb theatre star …

Recently, I watched Shang-Chi, the latest Marvel movie, and it was really good but I couldn't have predicted the road it would lead me down. After watching the movie, I dug into the behind the scenes documentary that also popped up on Disney+ at the same time. It was a great look at how the movie came together, the thoughts behind updating the character and bringing some legendary martial arts …

Just your regularly scheduled week this time, with plenty of excitement building up to musicals week next time out. My only thought from the intro sequence is to pity the colour balancing people, Motsi's dress was something else entirely. On with the show, predictions this week have to return to Dan, unfortunately, and perhaps Tilly following last week. Talking of which, Tilly opened the show! Tilly & Nikita - Quickstep …

Much is made of us being at the halfway point of the series, presumably because they can't make a big deal about going to Blackpool anymore. The montage of contestants talking about how much the series means to them at the start of the show was using footage from two weeks ago (I'm assuming so that no one was painted green) but it really confused me. Going into the show, …

Woohoo, Halloween! Actually, if I'm honest, I'm not normally that bothered about Halloween week - the costumes are always exceptional but as a holiday, it's not that interesting. The only prediction I had coming into this week was that someone would definitely be painted green. I wasn't expecting that to happen right in the opening Pro number, but there it was! We also had someone painted red, but hey, I'm …

It's not the best time to get obsessed with maps and walking, given that the autumn and winter weather is starting to kick in, but I recently discovered the Get Outside section of the Ordnance Survey website. As the official mappers of the UK, they have plenty to peruse on the atlas and map side of things, but they've also made a big effort to encourage people to leave the …

The drop out rate this week was somewhat reduced, but sadly Judi and Graziano weren't able to perform due to testing positive for Covid. I'm sure it's not outlandish to suggest they might have been in the bottom two this week after a couple of weeks in that position, so that left things a little bit more wide open in terms of who might perform well and who might be …

Coldplay have always been a divisive band, one of those who for some reason it's cool to dislike them. I'm not sure if I've fallen either side of the debate, although their debut album Parachutes got me through some difficult times, so does have my esteem. I haven't really thought about Coldplay for a while, but two things in the news recently have made me think about what this band …

It was a bad week for Strictly drop outs leading up to Saturday's show. First, Robert and Dianne had to withdraw, which was a shame but totally understandable - health comes first! I hadn't realised Robert had been through the heart surgery two years ago, so definitely the right thing to do. And then Ugo had to take a week out (hopefully!) due to a back issue - I'm guessing …

It always surprises me how quickly a theme week arrives but here we are with Movie Week, and boy it was such a colourful collection of characters that gathered at the bottom of the stairs as the show began. We were also treated to a gorgeous pro dance opening the show with the wonderful Johannes and Kai taking centre stage - it made me warm to Kai a little bit …

The second season of supremely popular comedy Ted Lasso came to a close yesterday with the final episode wrapping up lots of open threads but also derailing everything for a cliffhanger to lead us into season three. I loved this series just as much as I loved the first one, but it can’t be denied that they are two very different beasts. As I mentioned when I wrote about the …