Second attempt at The Whole Ten Yards. I didn't think it was as good as the first one, and was disappointed with the way it started, but I got into it about halfway through. With that achieved, I settled down to watch Strictly Dance Fever, which was brilliant, and has, of course, bumped my old favourite dance, to be replaced by the Charlston. And I've narrowed down my favourite couples …

I've been looking into some interesting software for helping people get the most out of their writing. Whilst mine has very much taken a back seat for the last year or so, it's still something I think about from time to time. I note down ideas, plan chapters, scribble out some dialogue, that sort of thing. I downloaded a nifty little piece of software called Writer's Cafe, and I really …

I'm often told that if I'm going to watch television so much, I should take the time to watch educational programmes instead of Emmerdale and ER and such. I'm all for learning about stuff. I thought Journey Of Life was excellent, although some might think that a TV vet should probably stick to what he knows best and not try to be a presenter. I also started to really enjoy …

I've been thinking about this a lot and I have a question. At the end, it turns out that he was frozen, awaiting the time when he could be unfrozen and medicine will have progressed far enough to fix his face, and in that time he was having the Lucid Dream treatment. This meant he thought he was living but really he was dreaming and he could choose how the …

Michael Schumacher breaking down for the first time in about three years. Mr C was over the moon and you could actually feel the happiness radiating from him for the rest of the day.

...and then ruin it with an annoying Irishman in a ridiculous suit. I'm probably not the only one who's going to comment on this but I just wanted to mention how funny it was that the BBC finally got their brand new Doctor Who series up and running, after much hype and speculation, and they managed to ruin the tension of the first five minutes by fading up and down …

Me: What's that smell? Dad: What? Me: It's really strong, fragrance, soap, something like that? Dad: Oh, yes, it's probably that candle shop. Me: No... it smells like Lush. Dad: Never heard of it. Me: It's a really cool soap shop. They make handmade soaps and shampoos and things in big blocks and you can go in and just grab a chunk. Like the cheese counter, only not edible. Dad: …

I was expecting Secret Window to be a slasher horror type, which is why I didn't watch it with Mr C, and I was mystified as to why Johnny Depp would star in such a film. But of course, this is no such film. It's actually a really intense, clever, psychological thriller with a huge twist at the end. I did not see it coming. Followed by The Incredibles which …

How unpredictable is the weather at the moment? This time last week it was pouring down with rain. Two days ago, it was so windy that I actually wanted to stay in the office rather than risk going outside. Today, it's sunny as hell. In fact, I've been watching for signs of spring, but forget that, summer looks like it's here. I would be happy about this if it weren't …

The light above my head started flickering at work yesterday. It started with just the level of the light dipping. Then there was a rhythmic flickering, then it started flashing on and off. The guy in charge of repairs and other such things was in the middle of something important, and would be a while, so we were left working with a disco light atmosphere. I thought it would give …

We stayed up (well I was woken up in the wee hours of the morning) to watch the first Formula 1 race of the season, starting at 3am. It was worth every yawn though, Michael Schumacher started from the back of the grid. And just as I figured out his ridiculously clever strategy and thought we were doomed to face another Schumacher win, he went and crashed and had to …

I'm a bit late with these this year, but you know how it is. My diary has quotes on the bottom of each page and I like to share the best ones with you. "Going to church no more makes you a Christian than sleeping in your garage makes you a car." Garrison Keillor "Love thy neighbour as yourself, but choose your neighbourhood." Louise Beal "Politicians are the same everywhere. …

A conversation with my technophobe colleague. Him: "I really want to get the Jungle Book on DVD, isn't that a great film?" Me: "Yes... it's a great one." "I've been round all the shops, and I can't seem to find it anywhere." "Oh." "Did you know that Disney only release them in batches, every now and again?" "God, they're so awful. That means they can keep re-releasing it as a …

A disappointing week this week. Starting with Resident Evil 2 and The Talented Mr Ripley (which was recorded off the television, not rented), both of which left me feeling I'd missed something. Resident Evil suffered from the fatal "sequel disease", the symptoms of which include trying too hard to come up with a story that doesn't really work thus include much more shooting and monsters to try and make up …

Oh my god, just four days left to the first Grand Prix weekend!!! How excited?? To celebrate, I thought I would join in the fun (and make it extra exciting in case Schumacher decides to dominate again) by participating in a Fantasy F1 competition. You pick the elements, driver, tyres, etc, and score points depending on how well they do. But all the ones I looked at just weren't quite …

Some useless facts for you... Typewriter is the longest word that can be made using the letters on only one row of the keyboard. Walt Disney was afraid of mice. More people are killed by donkeys annually than are killed in plane crashes. In Michigan, it is illegal to chain an alligator to a fire hydrant. If the population of China walked past you in single file, the line would …

But this involves going outside. Although I am anti-outside almost all the time, today is worse than usual. It is windy. I hate the wind. I don't actually know why, except that it just makes me edgy. When I was walking out of work and bumped into a colleague a while back, he said, "Windy isn't it?" and I replied, "Yes, it makes my hair go everywhere." Not really the …

The guy that rattles his change in his pockets incessantly. I don't care how much money you have or haven't got on you so please find a less irritating nervous habit. The people in Holby City that use their mobile phones all the time - even the doctors! This is not a good message to send out to your viewers. In ER, the only time I've ever seen reference to …

You've spent so much time working on your website that during the day at work, you realise that you've been writing a letter at work and have escaped all the &'s.

Cost Of War - a website that is constantly telling you how stupid George Bush is. And the comparisons are pretty mind-blowing.

The Bourne Supremacy was a disappointment but only because my memory doesn't stretch as far back as the previous film. The Terminal was the complete opposite: a surprise hit. Funny and heart-warming, even if some people didn't recognise Catherine Zeta-Jones until we got to the end of the film and I said "It was good, but Catherine Z-J was a bit annoying." He was astonished. My main gripe about her …

I went to Bournemouth today. It was a dull day and not really one for paddling, so instead, I journeyed into the Oceanarium - a sort of Sea Life Centre. There will be plenty of photos to peruse in the Photo Blog soon enough, although it's hard work getting a fish that's still for long enough to take its photo. A little boy was having the time of his life …

The fire alarms went off at work today, but stopped after about five seconds. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at each other. An authoritative voice boomed, "Everybody out, please, that was the fire alarm." Nobody moved. We weren't questioning the authority, we just didn't know whether it truly was a fire drill or not. It didn't sound again and someone trotted downstairs to ask reception what was …

This article tells us that every single team lined up for this year of F1 is happy to limit their testing time throughout the season. All, that is, except Ferrari. Surprise, surprise, the boys in red have decided that they're above the rules that apply for everyone else and will test whenever and wherever they feel like it. Whilst they're not actually breaking any ruling, some may call this an …

Each day, 1 in 4 Americans visits a fast food restaurant. In 1972, we spent 3 billion a year on fast food - today we spend more than 110 billion. McDonald's feeds more than 46 million people a day - that's more than the entire population of Spain. French Fries are the most eaten vegetable in America. You would have to walk for seven hours straight to burn off a …

Today involved Super Size Me, The Whole Ten Yards and a plateful of nachos. Unfortunately, Mr C hasn't seen The Whole Nine Yards and given the amount of time we needed to spend at our computers this weekend, watching three films was just asking a bit too much. But never mind, there's always next time. Super Size Me was a real eye opener, and I think it's a good job …

Today I'm having a solo DVD Day, which only involves one film - Open Water. I was not a fan of Blair Witch, so the cover advertising it as the next best thing was not really something that made me want to watch it. But Mr C definitely didn't want to see it and I was curious, so while selecting DVDs for DVD Day #5 (you can read about that …

Back in the days when Mr C and I first began spending quite a lot of time together, we went to London several times, and on one of these journeys, I was introduced to the phenomenon that is "Underground Bridges". I have mentioned them briefly before but not in too much detail. Basically, entering London on the M4, you travel through what any normal person would call a tunnel. But …

I'm glad I live in a world of heaters and electricity and extra thick cuddly jumpers and soft slippers. And I'm glad I live in a world of air conditioning and ice cubes and cold showers. Can I decide which world I like best? Um, no. When I get cold, I really get cold - my hands turn to blocks of ice and my nose is always colder than the …

Today, I managed to actually enter my pin number whilst paying for something. Up until now, I've managed to say that I don't know it, or go to Sainsbury's who have yet to implement it in their stores. But today, I took the plunge, bought the goods and typed the number, and you know what? I kinda liked it. At first I was opposed to the idea, and it makes …

I got kicked by a pony yesterday. Don't laugh. We wanted to make the most of our last day of freedom before I return to the drudgery of the workplace, so we decided to go to Beaulieu. Mostly to see the cars, but the other stuff looked interesting as well. Here are some photos - they're not great, I'm saving the best for the Photo Blog: Once we'd done at …

The judges on Strictly Come Dancing Champion of Champions saying that they wanted Denise & Ian to win when we could all see that Jill & Darren were the best by miles. Harry Potter VI topping the best-sellers chart when it's not even out for another seven months. I'm looking forward to it too, but I'm not that crazy. That having got bored of the Christmas songs we were allowed …

My father has been in the habit of buying himself a new camera for his birthday every year, and he passes his old one to my mother who then passes her old one to me. It works pretty well, and I've just recently become the proud owner of a snazzy silver number, with a great zoom in facility. I hate getting my films developed at a counter. I do not …

Electric 6 have covered Radio Ga Ga. It’s awful. Enough said.

Before I go any further, I officially admit I am now too old for bouncy castles. I'm not sure whether it was because we were on there for longer than last year, whether it was because there were more kids, or whether they were just much more violent, but we definitely came away with more aches and pains than last year. It goes something like this: "Did you have a …

With Christmas fast approaching, people are really beginning to struggle with the idea of me skipping it. They don't seem to understand. So, to help out any who are still a little confused, I've laid out some of the rules here: I do not wish to celebrate anything to do with Christmas, however, I will not ruin anyone else's fun. For example, a colleague said he would sulk and not …

Quality Street I Like: Orange Chocolate Crunch, Country Fudge, Toffee Penny, Noisette Triangle, Toffee Finger, Coconut Eclair, Malt Toffee. Quality Street I Don't Like: Milk Chocolate Hazelnut, Caramel Cup, Hazelnut in Caramel, Strawberry Dream, Orange Creme.

I forgot to write about DVD Day #2, which included Spiderman 2 (not as good as the first) and Garfield (not as good as the trailer), so it wasn't really worth talking about. Today, whilst partaking in popcorn, Pringles and dips, we've seen I, Robot and King Arthur. I, Robot was brilliant, funny and unusual, and I didn't find myself picking many holes in it at all. Plus, Will Smith …

In accordance with some websites that I have been perusing recently, it appears to be important where you fare on a search in Gooooooogle. Woke Up This Morning is way too far down the list to make it worth my while searching, but "101 Words" (without the quotation marks) is around about 63. Check it out for yourself - how cool am I? Of course, if you search for "101 …

I was going to sit down and think of something intelligent to write, but when I arrived home after a stressful day, Mr C had purchased me the new Zoo Tycoon 2. That’s distracted me for the next century!

I'm not watching X Factor anymore, due to its descent from a decent talent contest into what is essentially a forum for Sharon Osbourne and Simon Cowell to bicker with each other. Not good television. And Kate Thornton is just too strict, making sure everyone is in their place - sometimes with live TV, you just have to just go with the flow - take a leaf out of Davina's …

I'd just like to say that although I appreciate the sentiment of the Girls Aloud Children In Need single "I'll Stand By You", they just shouldn't do it. They're too happy about it, they don't have the emotion in their voices and they don't appear to understand what they're saying - they may as well be singing about candyfloss. As I have been saying all weekend - It's just wrong.

This Boycotting Christmas thing is much harder than you'd think. It started with me just saying I wouldn't go to the Christmas Meal. Then a colleague said that if I didn't go, he wouldn't go and then he'd have a miserable Christmas and it would be all my fault. Well, I have principles, but they don't stand up to that kind of pressure, so I agreed to go. But now, …

We so should have called our film festival DVD Day. Anyway, we watched The Day After Tomorrow and Troy. During the week, Mr C purchased Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure and Live Aid 4 Disc Special Edition. He'd previously seen Dave Gorman live on stage, and laughed so much that DG actually stopped and looked at him, so my expectations were pretty high. I only managed to watch half of it …

I bought some Pop Tarts today but it wasn’t until I got them home that I realised – we don’t yet own a toaster. D’oh!

When I was younger I used to do 24 Hour Famines for World Vision, and it used to be really difficult. These days, I don't blink if I forget to eat all day and when I do eat, I don't really appreciate what I'm taking in. I was never very good at the sponsorship side of the fund-raising, I detest asking people for money, especially the people who would put …

I so desperately wanted to call it "Film Fest Friday" for alliteration and general coolness reasons, but unfortunately it takes place on a Sunday. Following a complaint from me about the amount of Quality Time we were spending together, Mr C made a special effort and we are now taking part in our second Film Fest Sunday. This involves me renting us two films, us digesting the first along with …

We had an email at work today, with an Excel spreadsheet attachment, inviting us to select our Christmas Meal Menu. I have a slight problem with this, as I am not participating in Christmas this year. Call me a Scrooge, a Bah Humbug, a grumpy old woman, all you like, but I have legitimate reasons and they are five-fold. Christmas is first and foremost a Christian festival. I am not …

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in what oredr the ltteers in a word are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is that the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it wouthit a porbelm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. …

I'm not very well today, a lot of coughing and stuff, it's not very nice. Wrap up warm in front of the telly, that's the advice I've been given, so that's what I'm doing. At work, there's a contact we have at a branch, and she is always, always rude to me. She's sometimes rude to my boss but never rude to my colleague who happens to be a man. …