The entire country went crazy for the recent BBC drama The Bodyguard, featuring Richard Madden and Keeley Hawes as a bodyguard and cabinet minister respectively. I came to this show late, as always, so was almost completely spoiled in terms of who did what, who died when, and what the outcome of it all was. That being the case, it wasn't quite as intriguing for me as I imagine it …

I'm surprised that I haven't written about the Cormoran Strike novels before, but as I've just wrapped up reading the fourth installment in the series, I figured now was as good a time as any. As I'm sure everyone is aware by now, Cormoran Strike is the central figure in the series of novels by Robert Galbraith, which is a pseudonym of JK Rowling. The first book picked up decent …

The second series of Hidden Britain by Drone aired on Channel 4 recently, and I just wanted to take a moment to say how brilliant this programme is. I watched the first series and loved the concept - Tony Robinson introduces film footage taken by drones that fly over areas that are inaccessible or, at the very least, not open to the public. Now, let's be clear from the start, …

The last time I talked about Doctor Who, I was pondering the news that Peter Capaldi would be stepping down from the show. I talked about the rumours that there might be a female Doctor and how I wasn't sure that's where I wanted the show to go. Well, that's where the show is going and I have completely changed my mind. I'm on board. I can't wait to see …

Like many others, I recently finished watching Sharp Objects, the HBO mini series starring Amy Adams and based on the book by Gillian Flynn. I'll be honest and admit I only watched this because it has the lovely Amy Adams in it, I didn't particularly enjoy Gone Girl the book or the film, and whilst I did like Sharp Objects as a novel, I was worried how it would unfold …

Mr C and I are on a bit of a health kick at the minute - nothing crazy, just trying to make better choices - and that means ditching the share bags of Cadburys for something a bit more refined and, dare I say it, grown up. I've been perusing the dark chocolate aisles in awe and wonder, there's such a wide selection, flavours, percentages and choices, it can be …

A while back, I talked about how I was just starting to figure out how awesome Manic Street Preachers were, and that I felt I'd missed out on a significant chunk of their career. On the flip side, good friend Lukeh is an absolute expert on the subject and should be considered a super-fan. So, Mr C plied the man with mango-flavoured beer and demanded that he concoct an incredibly …

There are all sorts of weather apps available out there, from the quirky Carrot forecasts to the more staid Met Office offerings. Their use very much depends on how you like your weather forecasting – long range and high level, a broad overview of the country at large, or as I prefer, very localised to-the-minute weather predictions. That’s where Rain Today comes in. It’s a great app for one purpose …

I love Julie Adenuga’s Beats1 show, airing in the UK between 2 and 4pm every weekday. I try and listen to as many as I can, usually on demand, and there’s often little snippets of conversation that make you laugh or make you sit up and take notice. On Friday’s show, where Example and Rebecca Judd joined Julie in the studio to take a look at the new releases that …

I was lucky enough to get a chance to see Pressure, a play by David Haig that is currently in the West End. The play tells the incredible true story of James Stagg, a meteorologist who was tasked with predicting the weather conditions for the D-Day landings. With Stagg predicting severe storms and Irving P. Krick - Hollywood's meteorological movie consultant - predicting beautiful weather, the future of Britain, Europe …

My obsession with the South West Coast Path has only been steadily growing since we found the beginning and the end of the long distance trail. I bought a guide book and I've been plotting and planning how, when and where we can walk the different sections. Because although, just recently, I managed to get Mr C to finally admit he might have an inkling (albeit with great reluctance) to …

I’ll admit, my podcast listening habits these days are like a rollercoaster. Some weeks I listen to barely anything, other weeks I am re-subscribing to shows and listening non-stop. It’s an adventure. One show that has been with me for a while, though, is NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour. I’m a little way behind on it, but actually that works in my favour, because I’m also quite far behind on …

I’ve long been intrigued by the UK’s National Trails. They are long distance footpaths scattered around the UK that follow historical or geographical patterns, like Hadrian’s Wall, the Thames, or the best of the lot, the South West Coast. The South West Coast Path is the best of the lot because, as it says in the title, it follows the coast – and the sea is the best geographical feature …

I've long been of the mind that AR is a far greater useful tool to humanity than VR will ever be - particularly since I had a go on the PlayStation VR equipment for just a couple of minutes and subsequently had to lie down for half an hour. That being the case, I'm trying to keep an eye out for awesome developments in AR apps, and PeakFinder is one …

In my adventures with Swift programming, I mentioned the R2-D2 toy/gadget that you can bring home and programme yourself. When I wrote about it, it was a delicious want rather than a need, but somehow over the course of a sunny few days off, I ended up with the very same Artoo bluetoothing himself to my iPad. I've only been playing for a little while but first impressions are: This …

I have, during the course of writing on this blog, mentioned many times the ways and means I am enjoying Wimbledon - whether that is indulging in endless TV and radio streams, analysing what options are available on various app stores, or even being lucky enough to attend the tournament itself. This year, I am firmly back in my armchair, and have even indulged in a couple of days off …

So, I mentioned Swift Playgrounds recently and thought I would share more of my experience with the app. I tweeted a summary that basically covered my history with trying to learn Swift. I have tried, several times, to engage with this app. It’s totally up my street, after all – learning new things, in a fun and engaging way that is more like a game than an education. Getting ticks …

I'm writing this post in the Ulysses writing app which, I just learned, can connect to Wordpress and publish posts directly without having to interface with the awful Wordpress app. This is potentially the final stage in the "using the iPad for pretty much everything you need to do", for which I have written a post previously and intend to write an update on very soon. And just to fully …

We watched the Westworld edition of Carpool Karaoke yesterday, and thought "Yea, I know there's a Paul McCartney one out but it can't be as good as this." Evan and James had great chemistry, great fun and got up to some fab antics with bonus Westworld memes thrown in there for good measure. So, we turned to the Paul McCartney and James Corden episode and... well, we couldn't have been …

I'm currently working my way through the various options for learning how to code via Swift Playgrounds, and branched out recently to the standalone session that lets you adapt a version of the well known game Rock Paper Scissors. The demo first lets you play the game so you can see how it works, then it asks you to personalise the game with a variety of options. I think it …

I was all ready to write a glowing post about how much I love the Apple Design Awards that take place during WWDC week, but it turns out I have already done this, two years ago! Back then, I was looking for more from the Apple crew in terms of discoverability of the best apps out there and their update to the app store to include a great Today tab …

In direct contrast to my post this week about struggling to care for the Westworldian robots, now I’m all over-excited at the thought of this Transformer’s spin-off featuring the one and only Bumblebee. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAIX12F6958 Of course, part of that is because Haiz is in it, but equally, it’s hard not to love that big yellow beast, isn’t it? I wonder why I care more about the machine with headlights for …

I started watching West World after a recommendation from a colleague. The last time this happened, Mr C and I became totally and thoroughly obsessed with The Big Bang Theory and this time looked set to be no different. We both sat down to watch it and loved it. The intriguing concept, glossy visuals, great cast, musical puzzles, twisting narrative and never-ending feeling of wondering where it was all going, …

Credit: Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock.com I'm pretty in love with Tina Fey as it goes, but watching her episode of the David Letterman Netflix interview show only served to make me love her more. She talks sense, she's eloquent, confident but modest and a bit of a comedy genius, what's not to like? Two highlights from the show, but make sure you watch the whole thing if you can. On being a …

The BBC hosted their replacement for the absent Glastonbury festival this weekend, putting on four huge shows across the UK and welcoming the great and the good of the music world to play at them. There was far too much content to enjoy in one weekend, so I'll be perusing the iPlayer for at least the rest of this week and maybe longer. One performance that did stand out, however, …

There was quite a lot of excitement surrounding the recent release of a new Harry Potter game on iOS. It was your chance to attend Hogwarts, learn lessons, immerse yourself in the magical world that we've grown to love. It was even touted as Harry Potter meets The Sims, which, as you can imagine, immediately got my attention. Early reviews of the game weren't so positive though, suggesting that whilst …

Here’s a piece of advice for anyone starting a new project or challenge or adventure that requires a little bit of structure: DON’T FOLLOW THE ALPHABET. It seems like such an obvious and fun choice. I’m going to set myself a baking challenge, why not a cake for every letter of the alphabet? I’m going to write a book of short stories, why not start each title with the next …

Last weekend, my good friend Lukeh ran his first marathon, completing the incredible 26 miles in the first event held in Newport city centre. He was raising money for a mental health charity and was aiming to complete the marathon in about 4 and a half hours. I'd been watching his progress as he shared training updates on Twitter, and reading along as the nerves kicked in once the marathon …

I’ve been wanting to write about Masterclass for a while but didn’t really want to shout its praises until I had sampled some of the merchandise. Unfortunately, time has not been my friend but now there are two developments with the online learning provider that I have to talk about. Firstly, if you’re not familiar with Masterclass, they offer exceptionally high quality courses from incredibly big names with ridiculous amounts …

I'm due an album update on the site but in the meantime, let's just say I've been totally loving George Ezra's Staying at Tamara's. It's unfortunately timed, really, because it would work so much better in glorious sunny weather and we've only been lucky enough to have a day or two of that. In a couple of months though, I'm hoping this album will totally come into its own because …

I know what you're thinking. Bletchley Park doesn't begin with an X. Thankfully, it's a destination that is also known as Station X so I can sort of get away with it (mostly because it's my challenge and I make up the rules). Turns out it's quite hard to find places to go that begin with an X, but thankfully I've been wanting to go to Bletchley for a while …

2018 is all about self-improvement (and waiting for the weather to sort itself out for further adventures), and this month I wrapped up a new qualification that encompassed several exams and a lot of time staring at Microsoft applications. Is it wrong that I have mostly put in the time and effort for this award just because it makes me a master? Mastermind. The Master. Jedi Master. Take your pick, …

Recently, I discovered that NOW TV had six series of Gladiators available to watch on demand. I'm such a huge fan of Gladiators (bigger than I even realised, as a couple of episodes in, the theme tune made me a bit weepy!) and although I've seen clips and odd episodes over the last decade or so, this is potentially the first time I've been able to watch a concentrated batch …

I love Apple's activity badges, I've talked about them a few times here already. I find them incredibly motivating, particularly with the recent upgrades that have made the programme more personalised and more responsive to your performance. Rather than your standard "get your move goal every day of the month", you now have specific calorie, kilometre, or time goals measured in absolutes or averages, with a new and different challenge …

Soon, Film Watch will reach its ninth birthday, having catalogued over 800 films so far and still going strong. More than anything, for me, it’s a handy reminder of what’s been viewed and an easy way to settle arguments between Mr C and myself about a) whether we have watched a film before and b) what we thought of it. The actual live blogging of the film is less important …

U2 made an appearance at the Grammy's last night, playing in the apparent freezing cold grounds of New York's Statue of Liberty. Now, I'll be honest, Adam Clayton isn't exactly one of my bass heroes, but I'm rapidly rethinking that after seeing his instrument of choice for this performance. I'm still not clear on how one plays guitar with gloves on - fingerless or not. But I don't blame them, …

I love Dawn French enormously. She recently released a new book/diary, wherein she shares her thoughts and feelings and lists and photos throughout the year, and you do the same. It’s an interactive sort of book, where there are plenty of spaces for you to add your own notes and doodles, over and above the actual space for diary entries. I love Dawn French so much that I have done …

I've been meaning to write about Les Mills for a while now and have a lot to say, but for now, I wanted to give a quick shout out to the new, free workout they've released featuring Nina Dobrev. They built up to it for a few weeks, with a new challenge each week such as completing as many burpees or lunges as you can in a minute. I didn't …

We’re a week into 2018, and if you made New Year’s Resolutions you will either be celebrating one week down, 51 more to go, or you will be disappointed that you’ve let them slide already. Either way, I thought it was a good time to share the tips that motivate me to stick to habits. New habits are hard, they don’t always stick, I’m not perfect, and that’s why this …

I've never been a coffee drinker. I've enjoyed the smell, but never liked the taste. For a long time, I just never had coffee, but I must admit to occasionally being pressured to find something to drink in a coffee shop and opting for the sweetest, most caramel-enhanced, beverage the menu has to offer. I have a feeling that's all about to change, as the festive period brought with it …

It’s this time of year that people start talking about making resolutions. I’m guilty of it too, and I always have those thoughts rolling around my head for New Year: eat less, move more, write more, do more, be better. This year I was all ready to get specific again, and then I realised, it’s not about those measurable goals. Sure, I have plenty of things I want to achieve …

This annual tradition has had its ups and downs. Initially, Mr C enjoyed the process of selecting his top five songs and films of the year gone by. Then he started agonising over the choices and gradually began to hate this time of year. But I care not! It's a tradition and we're doing it for 2017 just like all the years gone by. This time, to appease him and …

I’ve been dreading this moment pretty much from the second I hit publish on last year’s round-up of my musical adventures. Now it’s time for me to pick not only my top five albums of the year just gone but also update my top ten albums of all time. Naturally, this only includes the ones I have listened to in the course of this album adventure nonsense, so it’s actually …

I post the majority of my book reviews to my Goodreads profile, but occasionally like to hand-pick those that have earned five stars to share here. I haven't been as voracious in my reading appetite this year, and have indulged in some books that I've read before, but still there were some great highlights along the way. Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick I love Anna Kendrick a lot, so …

I previously wrote about potential Christmas jumpers for those not looking for mainstream products, but this is the one I opted for: Most Wonderful HAIM of the Year. Naturally, I wanted to show this off with a photo, but it's harder than you think when you're in a particularly good mood at Christmas. Eventually, after too many photos where I obscure the genius of the shirt, it was demanded that …

It's been a bit of a busy year, so expeditions and adventures have been few and far between, but every December we are obliged to leave the house. The brilliant Giggles Advent calendar features jokes from many contributors of which I'm honoured to be one, and to make a fun and interesting video, Mr C and I look for new places to explore. This year, it was Drayton Manor - …

So, I was in between TV shows, eagerly awaiting the arrival of series two of The Crown. I had a few days to spare and Mr C suggested, based on a random tweet he’d seen, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, available on Amazon Prime. I’d sort of forgotten I even had access to Amazon Prime content, but looked this one up. It only took maybe half an episode before I was …

This is such a great idea. I don't read many physical books anymore, but the concept of picking up a random book whilst browsing, truly random, wrapped in brown paper packaging and literally tied up with string, is inspiring. From the website: A Blind Date with a Book is a hand wrapped book, carefully curated from a wide range of popular genres that is tagged with intriguing clues alluding to …

We've been working on a Christmas playlist for a Sidepodcast friend, and finally have come up with the goods. As I say over there: During the past week, I listened to Apple Music's attempt at a Christmas playlist that had one or two classics but for the most part featured party songs, tangential festive tunes, and those slowed down advert covers that are so very popular these days. That didn't …

It’s that time of year, when offices start going a bit crazy with decorations, Christmas lunches, office parties and goodness knows what else. A trend I have noticed is the Christmas jumper competition, and whilst your snowmen and santas are all well and good, I’ve found a couple of Christmas jumpers that might be slightly more fun to wear. There are loads of good Star Wars ones out there. “I …