Book · August 10, 2014
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Book · August 8, 2014
The Long Walk by Sławomir Rawicz
Book · August 7, 2014
Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Film · August 6, 2014
A Long Way Down
Book · August 6, 2014
Z 2134 by Sean Platt
Blog · August 5, 2014
Saving the mascot
When I got back from the US, I was very enthusiastic to be a new baseball convert. Watching that game up close and personal was quite the revolutionary experience. Except, I'll be honest, I haven't watched more than about an hour or two since I've been back. I'm never sure when it's on TV and I don't really have the same time to focus on it as you do when …
Book · August 5, 2014
The Con Man by Ed McBain
Book · August 4, 2014
The Boys from Brazil by Ira Levin
Blog · August 3, 2014
Not so mysterious after all
I love that game where, you're listening to a song and it sounds just like another song and you compare and contrast. In this day and age, there aren't a lot of new things in music left to be discovered - almost everything has been done before and can be picked up as "copying" a previous artist. Whilst driving, I was listening to Return of the 90s, a surprisingly cheap …
Blog · July 31, 2014
Sharing photos online - is Flickr still relevant?
I've stumbled across an interesting problem that hasn't bothered me for a while. The past few months have been hectic, with all the travelling and working and stuff, but it has resulted in me actually leaving the house and taking a handful of pictures here and there. When I got back from Houston, I suddenly remembered that I had a Flickr account. I hadn't checked in for a very long …
Book · July 31, 2014
The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Film · July 29, 2014
The Monuments Men
Film · July 29, 2014
Happy Christmas
Book · July 26, 2014
Sleepovers by Jacqueline Wilson
Book · July 25, 2014
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Book · July 20, 2014
The Pusher by Ed McBain
Blog · July 19, 2014
Across the pond, cinemas still fail to impress
Whilst I was in Houston, I went to the cinema. I haven’t been to a cinema in years, and have pretty good reasons for not doing so, but I thought hey, why not see how the Americans do it? Alright, in all honesty, I just wanted to see how big the popcorn was. It was huge. You can’t really tell because there’s no scale, but the drink is twice the …
Film · July 19, 2014
Last Vegas
Blog · July 18, 2014
Creativity by John Cleese
When it comes to getting creative, particularly with writing, we all know the key is to just get started. You’re not going to come up with anything by going about your normal day to day routines and hoping it is somehow getting done, you actually have to put the effort in and begin. There's an old video doing the rounds on Twitter at the moment, a talk by John Cleese …
Book · July 17, 2014
North and South by John Jakes
Film · July 14, 2014
Edward Scissorhands
Film · July 14, 2014
That Awkward Moment
Film · July 12, 2014
The LEGO Movie
Blog · July 11, 2014
Ghost of an idea
Recently, I sat down and wrote a draft in Ghost about Ghost. Meta. It was an update on my experiences so far, which ended up as a bit of a complaint. I'm still in love with the concept of Ghost, but the gist of my dissatisfaction was two-fold. 1) On Film Watch, I miss the comments. Moving to Ghost meant either switching on Disqus or going without comments. I opted …
Book · July 11, 2014
Just for One Day by Louise Wener
Book · July 10, 2014
One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis
Book · July 9, 2014
Lockdown by Alexander Gordon Smith
Blog · July 8, 2014
In the sky with diamonds
I'm not a huge fan of fireworks, but even I can appreciate a close up view of some pretty lights in the sky. This video was taken in Florida with a quadrocopter helping the camera get close to the action. The legality of flying drones is in question at the moment, but until that's decided, we can revel in the joy of videos like this.
Film · July 8, 2014
Delivery Man
Film · July 8, 2014
Her
Film · July 8, 2014
Non-Stop
Book · July 4, 2014
The Dinner by Herman Koch
Book · July 2, 2014
Girl, Missing by Sophie McKenzie
Book · July 1, 2014
The Good Doctor by Damon Galgut
Film · June 30, 2014
Cuban Fury
Blog · June 29, 2014
Adventures with Netflix abroad
When I stepped off the plane in Houston, I didn’t think Netflix was going to work. I have a UK account, obviously, and I figured that it just wouldn’t function across the pond. That was crazy thinking and when I opened the app I was overjoyed to see not only my current shows but also a selection of new and exciting things that we don’t get in the UK. Now, …
Blog · June 28, 2014
One step closer to colonising the moon
Continuing my space-mad theme at the moment, before I disappeared for two weeks, I was most excited to read this story about wifi on the moon! MIT have been experimenting with beaming things off multiple satellites in an attempt to reach the moon, and they reckon it’s possible, if a little tricky. Communicating at high data rates from Earth to the moon with laser beams is challenging because of the …
Blog · June 27, 2014
Twiggy, the water-skiing squirrel
Watching a bit of Vevo TV on the Nashville channel (it’s more entertaining than it sounds), I stumbled across this video from Brad Paisley. It’s a terrible song but a great video, have a peek! It’s a water-skiiing squirrel! At first I thought, jeez, some animals must have been harmed in the making of this video, but a little closer investigation revealed it’s an actual squirrel that has been trained …
Book · June 25, 2014
Fifteen Days Without a Head by Dave Cousins
Blog · June 24, 2014
Space Center, Houston
My interest in science and space has grown exponentially over the last few years. Science was one of those subjects that was beaten out of me at school and it’s taken a long while for me to really give it the time of day. Since I have, though, I’ve been fascinated, particularly developing a fledgling obsession with the moon. Over on Sidepodcast, we live commented some of the launch and …
Book · June 24, 2014
Under the Dome by Stephen King
Blog · June 15, 2014
Major League Baseball - Let's go Astros!
When the chance to watch a baseball game in Houston came up, I jumped at it. Experiencing something so traditionally American, as well as enjoying an afternoon of entertainment made for an enticing invitation. It wasn't until I was sitting in my seat, snapping pictures of the highly manicured green field that I realised it counted towards my Life List goals as well - watching sports live. The thing about …
Film · June 2, 2014
Meet Joe Black
Film · June 2, 2014
Charlie's Angels
Blog · May 29, 2014
Tennis on tap
When we signed up for BT Sport, I figured it would be one of those things that would be exciting for a week or so, and then eventually become a forgotten about channel – or in this case, set of channels. I couldn’t have been more wrong. We’ve watched endless hours of content from the telecommunications broadcaster, and although not all of it appeals (ultimate fighting is not my cup …
Blog · May 28, 2014
No need for a designated driver
Google have finally taken the plunge and announced they will be building their own self-driving cars, rather than attempting to adapt existing machinery to be self-sufficient. It makes sense, after testing out the viability of the concept, to then start from the ground up and create a new vehicle. The design is a bit bubble car, but if it serves the purpose, there’s always room for improvement on that front. …
Blog · May 27, 2014
Man over board
Whilst pounding the streets of Dublin, we stumbled across a section of disused quay that was being redeveloped. An impressive theatre sits on the waterfront, whilst out on the waves, a rig has been set up to allow enthusiasts to wakeboard. I love these little spots where there would otherwise be no particular use for the water, and there’s not enough room to get up to speed with a boat. …
Blog · May 26, 2014
App idea - Daily Bibendum
Whilst avoiding the internet over the last week or so, I was very heartened to see this pop up in my Twitter mentions. I love Bibendum, with his endless smiling face and happy, happy wave. It really cheered me up, and thus it occurred to me that what the world is missing is an app that sends you a daily Bibendum greeting. Just a different picture delivered direct to your …
Film · May 24, 2014
All is Lost
Film · May 24, 2014