A while back, I seem to recall telling off someone, it may have been Alex, for watching A Christmas Carol when it was nowhere near Christmas. I'm going to have to take that back, I think. Just recently, it suddenly occurred to me that I should start looking at soundtracks. I'm watching more films these days, and they have good music in them too. Who knew? Anyway, all of this …

My music tastes are quite eclectic really, and_ I_ never know what I'm going to like, let alone anyone else. However, this is a song I probably wouldn't normally enjoy - not a big rap fan, and although I do like a couple of Linkin Park songs, they're a bit angsty for me. This, I absolutely adore.

I've struggled with this one, probably because I took it a bit too seriously. I spent a good couple of hours agonising over lyrics and thinking, well, I do like this song and it is sort of me but that doesn't really fit. I don't want people to get the wrong impression... Then I got over myself, and decided this would do because a lot of the time I am …

Just in case there's any confusion, the subtitles here are obviously the week of the schedule and then the day of the schedule as well. There's no day 15 in a seven day week. But it's day 15 overall. Week 3. Day 15. Argh! And indeed, I repeat ARGH! Today's workout was a daunting one - taking on 8km when my best so far has been not quite 6.5km. It …

I only had a vague idea of a potential place to visit for this letter. I knew what K was, and I knew what M would be, so I needed to find something in between. My one idea seemed less appealing by the time I was ready to go, so I did a quick bit of googling and found this option instead - Landguard Fort in Felixstowe. I was curious …

Lukeh alerted me to the breaking news that Michael J Fox will be making a cameo voiceover appearance in the final part of this five-part game series, and that made me realise that I hadn't checked for new episodes on the iPad for a while. Imagine my surprise, then, to find out that both 3 and 4 had arrived without me noticing. I got right on and started playing - …

I wouldn't go so far as to say I loved this song, but it is an example of the Glee effect. I've talked about Glee before, and I'm still impressed with how it has opened up music of all kinds to a wider audience. But, and it's a pretty big but, it can also ruin songs for you. Now, I cannot hear Gives You Hell, without hearing Rachel Berry saying: …

With this writing lark, I'm sort of at a stage where proofreading comes into play. I'm pretty good at proofreading. I've spent the past several years sub-editing posts on Sidepodcast to check for spelling and grammar and that kind of thing. I've spent plenty of time reading and re-reading posts on here to make sure they at least flow, if not make some kind of sense. I even spent a …

I was seriously dreading this episode. Supposedly a big cliffhanger, a game-changer some have said. I don't know. So far I have not gelled with this series as I would have liked, so the normal trust I put in Moffat over big moments like this has been shaken. It started out well enough. I was glad we didn't have to see Amy in labour. She put her baby, Melody Pond, …

The big news this month is the fallout of David's confession to Elizabeth that it was his idea to take Nigel up on the roof. It was a great idea to make this happen on some random sunny afternoon, rather than at a high-pressure moment such as the inquest or the funeral. Rather, the tension bubbled up inside David, he couldn't take the praise anymore and he just burst. It …

This song has been following me around for the last month or so, and anytime I turn on a radio there it is. Funny, because it has radio in the title too. It gets stuck in my head, going round and round. "Nothing on but the radio, the RADIO!" Apologies if the same happens to you!

There's a new trailer out for the next Tomb Raider game and I have to say, at first glance, I thought it was real. Even if this is not gameplay, it's not live action and I was somewhat flabbergasted! Of course, all the comments I've seen everywhere focus on the most important thing - whether this Lara is more attractive than any of her predecessors. I'm gonna have to say …

If I was doing this the right way round, this category would come immediately after "song you keep hearing on the radio" which has a nice symmetry to it. I have ruined it, of course, by being both contrary and backwards, but still. A song I wish I heard on the radio can only be something live that would never be played, or only in exceptional circumstances. Instantly, that means …

I have never really been a big album person. Right from when I bought my very first one, I was keen to make sure that I liked at least a couple of songs on there so I would be getting value for money. And of course, once again, this is the kind of thing that iTunes has changed. I don't need to buy albums now. I can't remember the last …

I was somewhat loathe to get rid of last month's header. I did so enjoy the purpleness of it. However, a new month means a new design and this is what I have got. My aim with this one was to take something that I attempted to do in the previous batch of headers and do it better. So, last time I used a skyline sillhouette: City Skyline Nice enough, …

Joining David Mitchell in the ChannelFlip stable of celebrity podcast videos is one Richard Hammond. Mitchell has a Soapbox upon which he rants about life, and I've discussed my favourite episodes of that before. Hammond embraces the tech geek with his show Tech Head. In it, he talks gadgets and future technologies, with an overabundance of CGI around him. Whilst less angry than Mitchell, he still has room for a …

I'm not sure this really counts as angry, but when I was struggling in those early days of trying to reach a 5k running distance, I used to listen to this song over and over and it got me through. I can't really explain why, but there's something about it that definitely spurred me on. I've never seen the video before today. That's an odd one.

At the moment, I'm busy, busy trying to write the most lengthy thing I have ever written. No specifics, you know how it is, but writing something like this is a process I've read about so often and never really got this far with. Things that help: Being in a different place. I was writing whilst I was off on my alphabet adventure and at the end of the day, …

The last few days have been a tough criteria for me. I don't really think, oh I am in this particular mood, I will listen to this. I suspect iTunes and the shuffle feature have ruined that for a lot of people. Still, I know this song is mostly quite cheerful and it makes me happy to hear it, which is almost the same thing. The Chain is not the …

First we have to come to terms with the fact that there are two Doctors. The Ganger Doctor has to burn through some worrying moments before stabilising - moments where other doctor voices come out of his head, talking of jelly babies and the like. Then you get two Doctors talking to each other. "It's just so inspiring to hear me say it," one of them says to the other. …

Week 2. Day 8. There's quite the story behind this one. Was meant to run this one on Sunday, but it turns out F1 Sundays are quite busy for me. I probably could have squeezed it in first thing but there was some wicked wind happening outside, so I told myself I didn't have time. Then I stayed up til 3am editing a podcast, so today, I was feeling generally …

Technically, I should probably put the entire Parachutes album from Coldplay here, because I listened to that A LOT when I was going through tough teenage times. Because of that, though, I can't bear to hear it, so it would be a bit of a waste of time. Instead, I'll go with this. It makes me think of my BFF. It was one of those songs, for her, that is …

The iPad 2 Smart Cover is all kinds of genius, yes. The hidden magnets allow it to snap automatically onto the side of the device. How on earth it does that waking up when you lift just one tiny bit, I don't know. It's a cover, that is smart. However, as the owner of one, I realised a pretty serious flaw. You cover the iPad, and then roll back the …

Well, of course, I have kind of missed the boat on this one. Or more correctly, I got on the boat and got married already, with just some silly music to walk in the room to. Songs were not important, it was about being married and getting our hands on the champagne. However, let's say that I was going to do the wedding again (shuddering at the thought), and do …

I'm not so good at formal events like this, and I don't particularly want a fuss at my funeral. Although, of course, I'm hoping not to be conscious of what's going on when it does happen, so the organisers could make as much fuss as they want. Music isn't something I'd particularly given thought to at a funeral, but eventually, I found something I'd like. Imagine the scene, the coffin …

On his Facebook page, Franck takes questions from his fans and answers them. I'm not sure how long it's been going on, because I don't like Facebook very much and I'm annoyed that it's the only place FKM seems to exist anymore. However, in this month's Q&A, there are some startling (to me) revelations! Give or take dodgy translations: How are your baby already? It's not too hard to get …

Ahh, Tim Minchin. There aren't many of his songs that are lacking in swear words, although it's worth a warning that there's a bit of a swear before this one gets going. Take my wife. Plink!

Well, sort of. When Garageband became available on the iPad, I made a good effort at the best bit.

I've been to Oxford a couple of times, and it seems only fair that, as a Boat Race fan, I visit the other half of the rivalry as well. Cambridge was the first stop on my Alphabet Minibreak, in which I visited three other letters as well. King's College was first, and to avoid having to drive into the centre, I took the Park & Ride. Now, me and Park …

I'm not 100% sure what I was expecting from this episode, but I was mildly surprised by what I found. It was pretty good. The writer, Matthew Graham, had already expressed that he wanted this two-parter to be a lot darker and have more of an impact than his previous outing - the 2012 Olympics based Fear Her. So, what do we find? A very beautiful former-monastery on an island, …

I can play the piano a little, and the guitar even less. I've always wished I was better at the piano, but I don't really have the patience to put the effort in. I had this track in one of my many music books, and I tried to play it many times before eventually I gave up, and mostly stopped playing altogether. Not because of this song, I might add. …

With my Runkeeper Fitness Class all signed up and paid for (about £6 for 16 weeks training), I had to wait to get started. I tried out the first run a little early to get used to how it all worked, and although just a simple run, it was fun. (Also, it was hard, but that comes from only running once in a week.) Week 1. Day 3. I find …

I'm not sure there is any song that makes me feel guilty. Isn't that a weird emotion to be related to a song? Happy, absolutely. Sad, yup. Even angry occasionally. But guilty? I thought about it for a long while, but this is an odd concept. Nevertheless, I have come up with something. You know, as an F1 fan, it's difficult to like Ms Scherzinger, but I do very much …

When the Spice Girls first came out, when there were five of them and before they started dating footballers and having babies, I was a big fan. I like a good bit of pop music, and with all that Girl Power stuff, these ladies spoke to me. So much so that I remember having a special compilation video, taping all appearances by the Spice Girls on Top of the Pops …

Sad news this week, when the world's oldest panda died aged 34. Ming-Ming lived in Guangdong Province, and passed away from kidney failure. But, she had lived a long life - the average for a panda in captivity is just 22 years! Credit: suemoff/Flickr

I blogged about the 30 Day Song Challenge, pondering whether I would be able to do it or not, and after giving it far too much thought, I'm going for it. One thing to note. I'm doing it backwards. I don't like that it starts out with your favourite song. That should be the culmination of 30 days hard work. Thus, today, I begin with my favourite song from this …

Last night, on something of a whim, I downloaded the Glee app for the iPad. Don't stop reading yet! Regardless of what you think of Glee, it's making some incredible changes in engaging people with music. The app itself is pretty clever, and a genius money-spinner at the same time. You pick a song (a couple are free but most cost about £1), it comes up with karaoke style lyrics, …

Whilst on my recent alphabet travels, which I will begin blogging about soon, I found myself in the vicinity of Melton Mowbray. You may or may not have heard of the place, famous for it's most excellent pork pie recipe. The Melton Mowbray pie actually has protected origin of status designation, essentially meaning that if a pie says Melton Mowbray on it, you know it's the real deal. So, being …

I don't know enough about space, and wish I knew a lot more. What I do know is that when the shuttles are retired, we're going to miss out on some fantastic sights.

A conversation on Sidepodcast briefly touched upon the subject of the best-selling business book Who Moved My Cheese? I remember reading it a while ago and being fascinated by the subject matter but having it suddenly brought to my attention, I thought reading it again would be a good idea. Luckily, Mr C owns a physical copy of this book, and you know why I say luckily? Because the thing …

I'm sure you've seen it by now, but the best way to avoid a zombie attack has been doing the rounds on the internet for a while now. A concept house designed to withstand any form of attack but specifically the undead kind, this fortress looks incredible. I call it the Zombie House, but officially, the title is The Safe House, and you can see why. When opened up, it …

For me, it's been a rocky start to the series so far. Nothing so bad I'd stop watching, but that unsettling feeling that this series is not quite what I signed up for. Thankfully, this episode puts us right back on track. I'm impressed, really, because the sneak peek at the end of the last one wasn't that inspiring to me. I can only begin by saying how much I …

This episode was more like the Doctor Who that we know and love. Less of the endless questions, and more of a self-contained story. It wasn't quite back on top form, but there was plenty to like about this pirate-themed episode. Lily Cole played a non-speaking ethereal type creature, who would capture anyone with a slight injury. Cue smart little anecdotes about her sending notes before she arrived, the human …

A great video of highlights from the race this weekend. Plenty of dramatic music, some Eau Rouge action, and even a Michelin Man or two. Fun Franck-spotting as well. I particularly like the helmet shot at the beginning of the race, and the champagne afterwards. I may have misjudged him, as it seems FKM was happier than I first thought. Yay!

After all that worry, Franck came second: I didn't watch much, if any, of the race, but that seems rather incredible. From 50th to 2nd? Still, everyone said it was a long race, and I guess it must have been so. As usual, Franck was his incredibly happy self: My stint was complicated because I had to overtake a lot of people. I couldn’t drive at the same pace as …

Here it is, the final week! Drum roll please. Week 10, Day 1 Run 22 min/walk 1 min. Repeat x2. Two runs ago I would have given anything to get under 9:25, and today I was disappointed when I got to 9:04. How things change, and how quickly! Still, I had enough in the tank to speed up again towards the end. The distance isn't so good, because the total …

So, this happened: Ortelli/Makowiecki Krohn/Jonsson Montagny/Sarrazin/Minassian Belicchi/Boullion Peugeot were trying to be tactical, leaving it late before attempting a flying lap. And then there was an accident and red flags and Sarrazin didn't set a time. Boo. Just boo. People say it's a long race and Franck is starting and he'll overtake half the field on the first lap anyway, but still, it's not as good as starting in the …

Two practice sessions complete, with the results looking a bit like this. Practice 1 Practice 2 The second practice session came to an end when Pedro Lamy smashed up the other Peugeot. Boy am I glad that he's not sharing with Franck this weekend. Although they were faster than FKM's car in both practices, which isn't so great. And now, drum roll please, Franck speaks! I was surprised. It's strange …

Well, my goodness, it's time for more racing, is it? The 1,000km of Spa takes place this weekend, with two practice sessions today. There's another practice on Friday, plus qualifying, and then the race itself gets underway on Saturday. Franck is in the number 8 once again, and teamed up with Stéphane Sarrazin and Nicolas Minassian (phew, Lamy is in the other car!). Good luck Mr Montagny.

A couple of weeks ago, Google featured pandas in their doodle for Earth Day. They were interactive and moved about a little when you hovered over them, but even stationery, they were still little cutsies. I do approve of the penguins, too, but this is not Baby Penguin Thursday.