I just wanted to write a couple of thoughts down in praise of the TV series State of the Union. It aired earlier in the year in the US, I believe, and has just been shown on the BBC and via iPlayer and I absolutely drank that show up. Written by novelist Nick Hornby, the show consists of ten episodes of only about ten minutes each dipping into the lives …

I’ve been a podcast listener for a long time and have talked often about them, from my evolving listening habits, to being a bit of a hoarder, and even picking out some of my favourites on occasion. Recently, I’ve been more obsessed with Beats 1 and streaming music and letting my podcast backlog creep up and up, but that has all changed. My podcast app of choice has previously been …

One of the things Apple is renowned for, and also vilified for, is their unified approach to technology. They make the software and they make the devices which helps to have a more seamless experience as a user (although not at the moment!) and now they’ve added content to their list as well. When I wrote the post about enjoying the new reading goals in association with Oprah’s book club …

Hey, remember when I wrote about buying a Soda Stream to replace the endless bottles of sparkling water I was wasting? Well, I just had to change the gas canister and it got even more awesome. Firstly, that’s lasted just over three months, which is longer than I’d expected and has saved a really significant number of plastic bottles. Secondly, the replacement canister I bought was just a bit more …

This week, I was not very well and had to watch Strictly without a glass of wine in hand which was a different experience. Although I was a bit delirious from the cold meds, so it probably added up to the same thing. It was movie week, of course, and full of drama during the week of build up and on the night itself. Craig and the teeth! Katya falling …

In the latest iOS release, Apple have got a lot wrong. Many things that used to function now no longer do so, and everything is just that little bit more flaky. I’ve never restarted my devices quite so much as I have these past few weeks. However, one thing that I have enjoyed is the new reading goals. The Books app, or iBooks as I can't help but keep calling …

Just a quick update on my previous post about the launch of Apple Arcade. I listed five games that I played when they first came out but since then I've tried a couple more that are worth a mention. We also investigated the new ability to pair a Playstation controller to the Apple TV and play games on the big screen - which can make a big difference depending which …

When I go Strictly, I like to go all in and whilst I have drawn the line at listening to the podcast this year, I'm keen to keep up the It Takes Two habit. I only just managed to fit them all in with a couple of hours to spare before we set about watching week 2's show, but it got done. And what did I make of week 2? …

I'm behind the times on this, but I'm glad I waited to watch Aisling Bea's new comedy This Way Up. I bought the entire series to binge on the Apple TV and got through it in super quick time - it was wonderful and heartbreaking and genuine and lovely and inspirational and sobering all in equal measure. The two areas it particularly shines in are the portrayal of struggling with …

You know how people often say that technology can fix problems they didn’t even know they had? Well, Apple have fixed a problem that I definitely didn’t have – not enough access to games. Their recent launch of Apple Arcade is interesting and exciting for many reasons, but more than anything, when am I going to find time to play all of these titles? On the one hand, I never …

So, we've all seen the first episode of this year's Strictly Come Dancing competition and what an extravaganza it was. Immediately, I have to go back on two things I said in my previous post: That I didn't know any of the contestants this year and was more likely to want to get on with my life than get to know them. But no, no, one show in and I …

I'm sure you've seen this by now, but Jennifer Lopez gave a bit of a dancing masterclass on Jimmy Fallon's talk show this week, as the pair of them demonstrated the evolution of dance in music videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJQOajIxXrk I particularly like the bit for Waterfalls, which I didn't know what an iconic dance but must be, the Wrecking Ball space hoppers, and the Bad Guy hoodies. What I most enjoyed …

Having gotten through the Avengers Endgame ordeal with only minor spoilers, attention now turns back to Agents of Shield. Previous seasons, we have paused watching this show because there are links to the big bad Marvel world and we didn’t want to go around spoiling ourselves as that would just be silly. Turns out, we needn’t have worried. There aren’t any spoilers in season six of Agents of Shield, due …

Of the wide variety of museums to visit in London, for some reason, I opted to go to the London Transport Museum. I say for some reason, as though I am not actually a total nerd for trains and the underground and the history of both. It’s really a wonder I haven’t been before. The museum is situated near Covent Garden and claims to let you "discover London's history at …

When the sun's been out, we've been sneaking quick trips to the South West Coast Path at various points along its length. None of them have been particularly exciting trips but there are enough now to make a quick scrapbook. This batch includes a walk returning by train, a walk returning by bus, a walk that was stopped by a massive hill that we just couldn't face, and a trip …

Actually, not an elephant, but the unique selling point of Dudley Zoo is that it's also a castle. The animals are milling around the ruin walls and you get the experience of visiting a zoo but also visiting a castle. There's a variety of animals in the castle grounds, and the zoo does a good job of offering up some good views and some things I'd not seen before - …

Some of the recent Marvel news that has been filtering out of Hollywood has made me feel like this is a film series I just don't want to follow anymore. Combine that with how much I didn't enjoy the two-part Infinity War and Endgame story, and I was losing interest by the second. I was confident that every single film that went by was getting lower and lower scores from …

So the new trailer for Apple TV+ series The Morning Show looks gooood. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA7D4_qU9jo I didn’t want it to be good because I have too much TV to watch as it is, but trust Apple to dive in with some quality TV straight from the off. It’s some of my favourite people and it looks dramatic and interesting and dammit… gonna have to clear some time in my schedule.

I recently decided I wanted slightly more control over my news intake than occasionally looking at a news site, randomly perusing Apple News, or constantly being a day behind on Twitter. I thought, ah remember the good old days when you could subscribe to whatever RSS feeds you liked and follow the news straight to your RSS inbox? Why not try that again? Turns out, it’s really difficult. People don’t …

Add this app to the pile of really useful things that I didn’t know I needed. Hindsight app’s sole goal is to give you a countback timer from the last time you did something. So it might be that you are trying to break a habit – the last time I smoked a cigarette – or that you are trying to keep to a goal – visit my friend every …

If I’m being honest with myself, I’ve already drifted away from Strictly Come Dancing. There was a time where I would blog about my thoughts several times through each series – at one point the BBC included a link to one of my posts on their website. That saw views skyrocketing, let me tell you. But last year, I didn’t watch the show at all. None of the celebrities particularly …

Dark Mode has been available on macOS for a while now but Apple are bringing it to mobile devices when iOS 13 is released in September. In preparation for this, I've added support for Dark Mode on this blog, and it's soooooo pretty! This is a huge step for the site, not just because Dark Mode is a nice feature, easier on the eyes, and a great option to have …

Tennis tournaments quite often gather their sports stars together to do small promotional stunts to promote the event. You know the kind of thing, holding koala bears in Australia, or visiting the Great Wall in China. The Rogers Cup in Canada has a different take on this - getting a selection of WTA players to try and guess which of four cups is proper maple syrup. This seems like a …

When choosing an album to listen to each week, I often end up pondering what are the rules of the game and does the potential offering fit? As Monica will tell you, rules are good, rules control the fun! Most of the rules of my album adventure have been in play since the beginning – one album choice each per week, old versus new, no greatest hits, etc, etc. Back …

What a weekend of sport that was! I’ll admit my focus was pretty much exclusively on Wimbledon, but it was hard to miss the fact we were doing well in the cricket, and there were a handful of motorsport events to also catch the eye. But the tennis held me in thrall for the full weekend. I’m not a huge fan of the men’s game anymore, it’s too whippy and …

I've talked about Zac Efron's YouTube channel before because I do applaud people opening up and sharing their workout insights - and it's fun to see Zac win and lose against his celebrity friends. In his most recent video, he pairs up with Alexandra Daddario and they have a mega workout with medicine balls and generally kill their cores. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wJLKKZMxPc One bit that stood out to me was Zac admitting …

The best kind of podcasts are those that have a simple premise that can run and run. Encyclopedia Womannica is exactly one of those. Hoping to give some attention to those women from history that have either been overlooked completely or have not had the attention they should have had. Over the course of a year, the hosts aim to feature the profile of a historical icon, as the podcast …

I've recently started catching up on podcasts again, and this time I've discovered Rene Ritchie's Vector. It's officially a YouTube show, covering the latest news and insights into the world of Apple and technology, but there's also an audio-only podcast which is my preferred method. As I'm a little behind, I was listening to the shows released around WWDC, and this episode about the new tvOS caught my attention. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky4lfo6GQNI …

When I was a kid, I'd go to my grandparent's house and as a special treat, you could make a drink with their SodaStream. It was kept out in a utility room or conservatory because it was a noisy machine, putting carbonation into the beverage of your choice. The only things I particularly remember about the experience is that it was a) a lot of fun and something to look …

If you're ever reviewing your finances, it's easy to look at the bigger picture: current accounts, savings, mortgages. But as the saying goes, it's useful to look after those pennies as well because they can start to add up to more meaningful numbers. The Pennies app helps you do just that, with a super simple and clean interface that sets up a budget and tries to ensure you stick to …

Feeling a little the worse for wear from our weekend at two music concerts, we decided the ideal remedy was to head to the Edgbaston Priory Club for a spot of tennis. It's the second year in a row we've attended the event, and was just as good this time round. There's a nice relaxed feeling at Edgbaston, in fact when you walk in it feels more like a summer …

My write up of our outing to see the Spice Girls at Wembley mentions the fact that I had previously not been a concert-going person. I had practically no experience of seeing music live and in person, but that was all set to change that year. My realisation that I could now probably cope with it all coincided nicely with the Backstreet Boys going on their huge DNA World Tour. …

The Spice Girls recently wrapped up a short UK reunion tour with three dates at Wembley Stadium and I was at the middle one. It turns out that Mr C saw them live way back when and when he got his hands on tickets for the Spice World 2019 Tour, he somehow convinced me to go with him. Now I've previously not been a concert-going person. I've been to one …

You'd probably have to have been living under a rock to have missed that there was a docu-drama programme telling the story of the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor disaster and what happened afterwards. It has been very well received and widely considered one of the best things on TV so far. I'm not going to add too much to the overwhelming level of support this TV series has got, because I …

Two recent conversations about movies have made me realise there's a key component of the digital rental process that is missing and would make life so much better. At the moment, on Apple in particular, you can buy a film for a high price initially that drops the longer a film has been in the world. Or you can rent a film for a slightly lower price but only keep …

Every year, Mr C and I sit down and watch the Apple Design awards. Every year we download several of the apps that we've missed over the months. And every single year, Mr C says: "They should do more with the design awards, a podcast, a TV show. You should blog it." I was confident I already had, and looking through the archives proves me right, but I can't quite …

I’ve been watching Apple WWDC keynotes for a few years now, and they’re often quite interesting with bits and pieces that make a difference to me and how I use my devices. This year seemed different – perhaps because I made strides towards learning Swift and being a developer myself, but perhaps also because they announced such a lot of things. I was hooked, and afterwards my brain was buzzing. …

I suspect I have talked before at length about how fun I find the Apple Watch activity badges, and how they encourage me to keep moving. Recently I've been less obsessed with them, getting on with my own plans and seeing what badges fall my way without forcing it. However, this month, something weird happened and I wanted to get the monthly badge so desperately despite the odds being significantly …

I've never really got on that well with Siri. Apple's voice activated assistant can do some cool things but she never really listens to me and I find it easier just to swipe and tap to get what I want. I'm not alone in getting frustrated with Siri, but I've long been complaining to Mr C that she just doesn't listen to me. He's not experienced the same level of …

Well, that escalated quickly. From testing out a random Cornish beer in a bottle, now I'm faced with a 5 litre keg of the stuff. Despite being called a mini keg, this thing is so big we had to dismantle the lower third of our fridge. Which in turn means we now have no food to eat, but five litres of prime Cornish ale will see us through, I'm sure. …

Game of Thrones spoilers within! Hey people, we did it! I mean, I can't pretend that I have joined you all on an epic eight year long journey to find out who would finally be sitting on the Iron Throne, but it has been a pretty intense ride for me too. I think the fact that I binge watched all eight series in about six weeks means that I've a …

Backstreet Boys have been celebrating the launch of their new tour, 20 years of their best album Millennium, and a host of other things. Lots of content, tweets, videos, competitions, the works. I really liked the recent videos they released featuring their videos from the Millennium album with added information. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6HAK-aZFX0 It's like the good old days when MTV was actually comprised of music videos, and you could sit all …

Late last year, restaurant chain Frankie & Benny's launched an initiative to ban families from using their mobile phones whilst having dinner. As in, handing over your phone to the restaurant while you ate, and then getting it back at the end if you were a good family and ate up all your greens. It was an initial trial for a month in 2018, and the company said: "We've found …

I've been up and running with this new website structure for about two weeks now and I'm still loving it. I don't know if it's just the novelty of it all or if the effort gone into simplifying everything has paid off, but I want to blog more and when I do, I write more too. The film and album review process is more immediate which means I have more …

Just a bit of inspiration from an old episode of Radio 1's Screen Time podcast with Ali Plumb. As I've said to people on Instagram and Twitter quite a lot lately, don't be ashamed of your opinions. If you happen to, for example, not like The Favourite, and everyone's saying how amazing it is, but you're like, I don't like it. Don't feel ashamed, don't be like, oh I've got …

Today I managed to earn this award on my Apple Watch - 1,000 move goals. I don't quite know how that's possible, especially since a burst of energy a month or two ago sent my move goal sky high. But I've got a good relationship with the goals on my watch now - not over-taxing myself to try and reach them and then burning out, but using them as motivation …

I'm currently listening to the audiobook Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez. It's focus is on the gender data gap - the ways in which the world is often unthinkingly designed for men and how that affects women in real and unexpected ways. I'm finding it hard going, not because of the book itself - it's well written, researched and read - but because the unintended and far-reaching consequences of …

Okay, Game of Thrones fans, look away now because I know you’re just enjoying some of the best episodes ever (apparently), but I am still miles behind you. Yes, that’s me, one of those people that gets caught up on the hype train at the very last minute and then has to watch seven seasons in about six weeks. I’m doing pretty well actually. I tried watching Game of Thrones …

It's been a long time since I made any significant changes to my blog and the system it runs on, and now, seemingly overnight, everything has completely changed. This isn't the work of a moment though. This is something I've been thinking about for at least three years. The problem I've used Wordpress for many, many moons now and whilst I've always thought it was functional in a way that …

Recently, I was given a handful of Cornish beers, the spoils of a trip to the South West coast, and one of them was Doom Bar. I know you can buy this in plenty of places around the country, but still, it's always a little bit more special when something comes to you from where it's actually made, isn't it? I'm not a big beer drinker really, but I wanted …