(Bit late posting this one, but the heat! When you get to read about this week's running adventures I already know it will say TOO HOT TO BE ALIVE! But that is for the future.) I don't know. Each week I start with the best intentions and they just get brushed aside as quickly as I can snap my fingers. Instead of whining on about when I did and didn't …

So good! Hard to know what else to say. Mr C demands I give it ten out of five. Not possible, but it really does deserve it. There were so few plot holes compared to the other, and so much more to love - big explosions, funny one-liners, Simon Pegg was fabulous, even Cruise was good. There were breathtaking stunts, the stuff on the Burj Khalifa was incredible.

Hard to come up with any definitive conclusion for this - there wasn't anything wrong with it, there were a couple of amusing moments, and it was nice and short. I wasn't offended by Heigl, actually I thought she did okay. The story was entertaining enough but it wasn't spectacular. The start of the franchise may also be the end of the franchise!

At the beginning of the month, when I was catching up with the Radio 5Live Wimbledon podcasts, I was intrigued by this snippet of conversation between John McEnroe and Pat Cash. McEnroe was hosting one of those 606 listener call in specials, but Cash had to share a sudden irritation of his that wasn't in relation to any question in particular. Pat: Something that annoys me a little bit, people …

This was recommended to me, actually twice I think, by the Olympics-mad Amy. I added it to my Wish List the first time round, but with the Olympics just around the corner, the second recommendation saw it downloaded onto my Kindle straight away. It's an invaluable guide to each and every event that the coming sporting extravaganza has to offer, and although it was useful to read and digest, I think its real use will come as a tool to refer to during the Olympic period.

The second series of Episodes came to an end a week or so ago and already it has left a bit of a gap on my Friday night schedule. (Not really, we tended to watch it late anyway, god bless the iPlayer!) Thankfully, the second series lived up to the promise of the first and was a fantastic way to end the working week - laughing all the way. Overall, …

It's an acquired taste, for sure, but I do so love this video that's been doing the rounds this week. A compilation of heaps of unboxing videos, with the hosts desperately trying to get their hands on the Nexus 7 tablet. Stick through the introductions, the good stuff comes later. How is it possible that Google or Asus or anyone didn't try and open this box? Where's the box-opening focus …

In a weird turn of events, this series seems to me to be getting better with each sequel - and that's not just because of Tom's hair. This third film was so much better than the second - mostly because all the story was there and we weren't left with massive gaping plot holes staring us in the face.

It was fabulous! So much better than I'd thought. Of course, you might have noticed, I had something of the Judi-love through the film, but each character was so well done and perfectly portrayed that they were all great. Dev Patel's character in particular was fun, and by the end, I was rooting for him more than any of them!

I knew very little about this before I started reading, and after the first couple of chapters, I was expecting it to be another 'wild child tamed by good home' story. It was that to a certain extent, but there was quite a lot more to it. One of the most astounding things about the book is the degree of chatter there is, all from Anne's own mouth. I adore her ability and enthusiasm for imagination - allowing her an endless optimism that her mind can carry her away from tough situations. All those speeches that she makes, you get out of breath just reading them.

When we were watching Mission Impossible II, Mr C and I were very taken with the fort that featured at the very end of the movie. Whilst we were meant to be enjoying the big motorcycle sequence, we were busy saying "Where is that? We need to live there." Because, whilst an underground bunker is the ideal, there is also a lot to be said for living on a bit …

There are plenty of ways and means of getting things onto your Kindle that don't come from the Amazon store. Emailing to yourself (although I've never managed to get that to work) and using the experimental browser, and other such methods allow you to read things that don't take the form of a book. I am enjoying a site recently recommended to me, though, that combines the best of both …

When I read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, there was a feeling of relief because so many people like it, and I had liked it too! Once that was out the way, many said I had to read on to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe because it was even better. Thus the pressure was right back on again.

I had to take it easy the week after my first ever 10k as I wasn't feeling too good, and then the weather began to turn. It worked out okay, because the rest did me some good. Last week, things were a lot better, and I went out on Monday and Wednesday. Finally, I was seeing 30 minute runs with average paces under 8:30 again. Phew! I thought I'd forgotten …

The thing I remember most about the first film is that it had a very dark, and quite confusing start, an awesome middle and a completely preposterous ending. The end ruined the rest. For this sequel, things seemed a lot calmer. There were plot holes galore, I mean some real simple and quite important things, but it all seemed to be on the same level, rather than watching two completely different films.

This is another book that I had mixed feelings about. I really quite enjoyed the style of writing, and telling a story by meandering through memories. It was great to visit characters in such detail, and see how they reacted to mundane situations – things that weren't necessary to the story itself. However, there was a bit much of that, in the end. The book was very long with not a massive story to go with it. Also, there was a lot of foreshadowing that ended up being a bit annoying.

June, June, June. The month in Ambridge has been completely overshadowed by the terror at Brookfield, but before we talk about that, let's discuss some other bits and pieces. First up, Jill says she'll pay for some or all of Kenton and Jolene's trip to New Zealand. That's pretty flipping generous. Then she goes on to intervene between Ruth and David when it's clear the strain between them is getting …

We've got in the habit of looking at the Reception bit on Wikipedia for films after we've watched them, just to see how much we disagree with the world at large. This one appeared to be universally hated, so it won't come as a surprise to find that we quite enjoyed it! It was absolutely ridiculous, plot holes and flaws galore, but it was funny and had some charm to it at the same time. The banter between the boys was excellent, I wasn't as keen on the girls stuff.

It was exactly what I thought it would be up above in the introduction - an interesting premise, and an unusual delivery. The method of telling the story through character camerawork was both fabulous and sometimes something of a hindrance. Sometimes things felt a bit shoehorned in, and by the end battle in the sky, I wasn't sure what camera was doing what. It probably didn't really matter, but when you combine it with the issue of his first camera being buried... you end up with a massive plot hole (quite literally!)

Yesterday's Goodwood debacle caused an emotional rollercoaster, and as I was speeding home - enjoying being out of first gear for the first time in hours - I listened to only songs that would cheer me up. Some were just infectiously happy, others were rousing in an angry kind of way, and all helped just a little bit. In the interests of rescuing future moods, here's my playlist of 20 …

Oh, it was as good as I thought it'd be. Even the slightly cheesier moments won me over by the characters never taking themselves too seriously and even getting some digs in at the filmmaking process. It made me laugh, it made me aww, it was fun spotting all the cameos and guest stars. Jack Black was great, and they managed to introduce a new muppet without it being awkward at all. Fabulous stuff.

I recently wrote about the cyclical nature of my feelings towards podcasting and how I am currently losing interest in many of the subscriptions I used to listen to. (As an aside, after years of listening to Leo Laporte talk about it, I finally signed up to Audible. The new-member special of £3.99 a month is great but when that goes away and it heads up to £7.95, I'm going …

I think I owned a copy of Black Beauty as a child, but I must never have read it. When I sat down to read this, I realised I don't know anything about the story - except the concept of Black Beauty. I had thought it was going to be more like Skippy, you know, horse showing super-animal intelligence and saving the day. Aside from the occasional fast gallop, it wasn't really like that.

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World It's a bit of a long title, but the trailer looks reeeally good. My only question is - where is Bruce? Also this week, a new Paddington poster has been revealed. The bear we know and love on the big screen. Hard to know how to feel about this, but the poster looks like a good enough start. Poor little lost …

I have mixed feelings about this book. It took me a while to get into it and to slow down to the pace of the story. Aside from the initial action - getting Ayla from her own home to the Clan via an earthquake and a lion attack - the story moves at a snail's pace. Initially, I found it frustrating but then I realised that the writing just reflects what life would have been like back then anyway. The unfolding relationships would have occurred at a much slower pace, because cave people (presumably) only needed to get hectic when under attack.

This week, I did good. I ran on Monday and Wednesday and Friday. I didn't do anything in between, which isn't really sticking to the plan, but hey, running more. Go me! I had Friday off work, which meant I had some time to do a longer run. I also needed to do a longer run due to some over-indulgence during Film Watch the night before. So, I started slow, …

This was good, action packed, full of intrigue, flip-flopping sides, and some good dialogue along the way. My only complaint is that it was actually too full of all that stuff. There was never a moment to take stock of what you were seeing. At the end, Mr C and I thought we needed to discuss it to figure out what had gone on - but it actually only took two sentences. It wasn't complicated, it's just there hadn't been any time to process.

It's no secret that I like whiteboards. I used to scrawl on one during live shows of Sidepodcast, and I was quick to nab one going spare at work. The trouble is, wherever I go, there seems to be a fundamental inability to stick things on walls. Whether it is because I am in rented accommodation, or because my desk is not near a wall, these small boards are always …

I turned my nose up when I heard about the Monsters Inc sequel idea. Not a sequel at all, but a prequel looking back at the monsters when they were at university together. Bah! What nonsense. What cashing in. But a teaser trailer is out, and I laughed out loud. Twice! I forgot how much I love Mike.

My knowledge of this book was simply that I knew it had been made into a TV programme and possibly a film. One of those that is adapted for the screen, I thought, it can't be too bad. When I first started reading it, I thought it was going to be another Great Gatsby - an enigmatic individual, those around him desperate to be acknowledged, things go a bit awry, etc, etc.

I really rather enjoyed it. I wasn't expecting much, to be honest, but it was entertaining. It was a bit clunky in places, particularly at the beginning as it found its stride. 'Most people would struggle with prison, especially a cop.' Oh right, he's a cop then. Clunk. It also took us a while to recognise anyone in the film, but it was quite fun to see them all revealed gradually. Isn't that Billy Elliot? Yes! Isn't that the woman from the The Next Three Days)? Yes! Etc, etc.

Recently, an underground house in the Swiss Alps started doing the rounds on the web. The house has one side facing out to the world, similar to the property in the Grand Designs episode I live-blogged about previously. The rest is buried underground so as not to prove an eye-sore in the beautiful landscape. Apparently, Swiss planning laws say you have to have a timber frame version of the building …

My weekly updates are more often than not becoming fortnightly, but that's okay, there has been so little to report of late. This week has been a complete washout because back pain has stopped me doing anything more than walking like a robot and sitting. I don't really know what happened, I thought at first I had just slept funny. I went for a run that first day but then …

It's not a secret that I don't buy into the birthday card thing, I only just about buy into the birthday thing! However, sometimes there's a card that is just about perfect. This, from my mum and dad. So true, Mr Goose, so very true.

Something odd is happening to my taste in audio entertainment. Since the dawn of podcasting, I have stockpiled episodes - subscribing to everything I might take an interest in, listening to make sure it's my kind of thing, and then not worrying if I don't get round to listening again for months. For me, the content had to be good, it didn't necessarily have to be timely. My life has …

Unfortunately, for the first half of this book, I wasn't sure that Howard Pyle's version of the legend was going to deliver. Every story seemed to be about one or other member of the band going for a walk, finding someone else, challenging them to a duel, losing and thus inviting them to be part of Robin Hood's group. For a while, I thought the band were going to swallow up the whole county!

It looked very stylish and had all the makings of a good spy film, but I just didn't get it. I thought I was following okay, but about halfway through things started to unravel and then I lost the plot completely. It had some great conversations when things were a little more relaxed - Leo and the two boys talking about the food, and some of the amusing moments with Ed and Roger - but they were lonely bright spots in a really heavy going movie.

The final book in the original Inspector Frost series is just as captivating as the previous novels, but keeps on going down the path of getting darker and more horrifying. I'd saved this one for ages, after reading the previous five books in the series - perhaps I didn't want to say goodbye to the character just yet. I know there is another book or two written by a different author, which I will probably cast an eye to, but it's not going to be the same.

After the last edition of my tea tasting adventure, my dad emailed me about the Twinings website, which offers you the chance for some free samples. You get to choose two different flavours and they'll be sent to you in the post. I opted for two flavours that I thought I wasn't going to like - thinking that if they were as I expected, I wouldn't have an entire packet …

When the Kindle Fire initially came out, we saw ebooks the way they should be - nice layouts, gorgeous pictures, crisper graphics. The fact-filled and informative Pocket F1 book made use of the new table designs and looked all the better for it. Sadly, the Kindle desktop apps and the original devices were left behind with less snazzy tables, but that has all changed thanks to Amazon's latest Kindle update. …

Part of the big website overhaul of 2012 includes a lot of my time doing some rather mindless admin/housekeeping tasks - reformatting posts, moving information around, checking lists, etc, etc. That is my excuse for having managed to watch five seasons of the US version of The Office in an embarrassingly short space of time. I've managed to catch up with all that Netflix have on offer, and I enjoyed …

There have only really been two main topics of conversation over the past few weeks in Ambridge. First up, Amy and Usha. What on earth is going on in that house? The relationship between Amy and Alan seems wholly too smothering for comfort, and Alan's inability to stand up to his daughter to support his wife is quite shocking. In one of the last episodes of the month, Usha finally …

It seems that O is a letter that is destined to cause me trouble. After the thwarted attempt to visit a previous O-shaped destination, I selected another. This did not go completely smoothly either, but I'm going with it, because I am running out of Os (and I want to get to P!). During our recent heatwave in the UK, I took a day off work and opted to head …

That E3 stuff is going on right now, and with it comes a bumper crop of Tomb Raider goodies. Except, I'm not finding them so good. Watch this trailer for the actual gameplay (I watched the trailer, and then muted the rest to ogle the goodness without the commentary). Is it me or is this just too realistic? I don't get how you can play it. I was watching the …

The Jubilee concert was a real mixed bag, as these things are, but at one point, it did make me stop and think. Many of the acts are from yester year - Elton John, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox, Cliff Richard, and Shirley Bassey. These are artists who are all still incredible (give or take a Cliff Richard or two), but can't possibly claim to be anything but sliding …

The latest phenomenon in reality TV, The Voice UK, came to an end this week, crowning a winner and dishing out a record deal. I stopped watching these talent shows after Hear'Say and Will Young, but for some reason this edition captured the attention of Mr C. The opening rounds - blind auditions and battle duets - certainly were more interesting than other audition shows I've seen, but once it …

I didn't post an update last week because there was very little to report. We've been in the midst of a heatwave - probably the only summer that Britain will see this year - and it was just awful. I could hardly keep the motivation to stay upright, let alone go out and exercise. The beginning of this week was similar, although I did think it was cooler on Monday …

It took me a little while to get into this, but a few chapters in, I was suddenly really engaged with the characters. It helps that it's nice and short, which limited the amount of people involved. Some of the classics are so long and sprawling, it's hard to keep track of who's who.

Thankfully, I really enjoyed reading this one. I was actually expecting it to be more madcap than it was, it had far more story to it than I had anticipated. I really enjoyed the satire, the imagination, and seeing things as they originally were (42, thanks for all the fish, etc).

I'm sure you've all seen this by now, but the teaser trailer for the new James Bond looks gooood. Whilst I appreciate these new James Bond films for what they are, part of me does miss the silly Pierce Brosnan ones. Die Another Day was on TV yesterday and I didn't get to see it but I wanted to. That was one of the few DVD's I owned and I …