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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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, …

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …