It's getting to that time of year when the inevitable will happen. It's unavoidable, you will be sucked in. It's that dreaded period of indulgence known as: Christmas TV. Actually it's not all that bad. This is the one time of year that I buy a TV guide to help keep track of what is on and when. Most of the year I can rely on perusing the iPlayer and …

How to write this in a few sentences? Basically, Robert Langdon is framed for murder and to prove his innocence has to chase around France and Britain and discover the real story behind The Holy Grail. Robert Langdon is pretty brave and clever, a Harvard professor and Sophie Neveu, although not striking as an agent of the French police, is just as smart and the granddaughter of a major part of the puzzle. I love this as a brilliant thriller that keeps you reading from beginning to end. I really enjoyed reading this one, and the story behind it, likely with no truth in it at all, really fascinating.

Bill Bryson moved to England and on returning to his home country he was asked to write a weekly column about what life was like in the big country. The results, combined here to make a book, are funny and insightful, making you snigger. Full of descriptions and statistics. Bill is very funny, gets his point across in a humourous, sarcastic way and can laugh at himself and his own home town. It's very good, some of the statistics started to get wearing but it was amusing to read about some of the American characters.

I had a few minutes to spare, so I browsed to the App Store on the iPad for a new game to play, and there was iPad Jenga - a featured game just pleading for me to buy it. So I did. It's brilliant. For £2.99, you get to play Jenga without having to stack up the bricks every time, without the noisy clatter when they fall down, without having …

I thought I was doing really well following the whole thing, but I think I can pinpoint it going wrong when the winter dream started to fall apart. I couldn't quite get to grips with the ending, and I think I'd need to watch it again to have another stab at it. I'm not sure I could sit through another two and a half hours though. I did say to Mr C at the time that it was a long old film but I wasn't bored, however I don't think that would hold true for the second viewing!

This really wasn't a very good film at all, but I do have to give it props for not being completely and utterly predictable. It wasn't all about the big giant crocodile, there was a lot of human vs human angst going on as well, and the added problem of the killer croc was just there to make things that much harder. I can't say I would recommend this onwards but it was a good way to spend 90 minutes.

It wasn't scary in the end because it was good! Phew. I can't say I liked all of the characters, and there were a few of them I could barely understand anyways, but Kevin Spacey was excellent as per usual. The story was good and fascinating, but as you might have gathered from above, I was slightly bemused by the ending. The twist and then double twist was excellent, but after that it didn't quite add up. Nevertheless, it was good stuff.

Thomas of Hookton's village was ravaged by the French so to take revenge, he travels with the King's army and takes part in several battles, becoming very popular in Will Skeat's band of archers. Oh, and he has his own score to settle as well. Thomas is a regular guy who turns out to be a bit of a hero. I rather prefer Will Skeat, though. There's a lot of history, very inclusive, typical Bernard Cornwell. I really enjoyed this book and when I'd finished I was keen to read the second one. Recommended if you want to see historical justice prevail in the end, and lots of clever archers winning battles for their army.

Remember last week I told you about the Natural World Special that was to be shown on BBC Two on Tuesday? Well, I watched it and here are my findings. "We have pushed the symbol of conversation to the brink of extinction." Hehehe, he said International Rescue. Around 2000 giant pandas remain. How can it be a carnivore but only eats grass? Founded with just six pandas. AWWWWW. That woman …

Rachel is a bright and likeable heroine, Michael Tolland the gallant and heart-wrenching hero. They're predictable but nice enough characters who keep you wanting more. But you don't really mind if something bad happens to them - which it doesn't. A thriller of the highest kind, there's lots of cliffhangers and moments when death seems inevitable, except you know it won't happen otherwise the nasty people will get away with their plot. A good read, but a little too formulaic. I did like this book, but after the brilliance of The Da Vinci Code, I was left a little disappointed by this one. It's hard to be irritated by the lack of realism, especially after the DVC, but it was too obvious that all was going to turn out good.

A really interesting little book, in a sort of Agatha Christie style, it tells the story of a murder and a detective who just happens to be there to solve the mystery that the inadequate local forces can't fathom. There's a variety of romantic fiction writers, who are very over the top and the author makes fun of them in a very funny way. The detective is not really an interesting fellow, but he solves the mystery well enough. It's comedic writing, the way he can poke fun at the situations he is writing about and the characters that he portrays are amusing. Overall it was good, if not spectacular.

I know I am late to the complaining party regarding the latest iOS upgrade on the iPad, but I have to get my rant down in black and white, otherwise it will just swirl around in my head forever more. The iPad used to enjoy the luxury of a volume switch on the side, alongside an on/off toggle that would lock the orientation of the screen. If you're swinging the …

Bill Bryson is always learning and when he's not travelling around the world, or compiling a book about the history of the world and all the science that goes along with it, he's correcting all us writers on our grammar. Just Bill, 26 letters of the alphabet, a bookful of words and several grammatical theories. It's written as a dictionary but each section has varying amount of information along with it, from how to spell particularly tricky words to a whole interesting concept behind grammar. I read it as a book but it will also sit on my shelf alongside the dictionaries as a reference work.

I don't know how die-hard A-Team fans feel about this, but it certainly didn't ruin anything for me. The relationship between the guys was amazing, and even though I got a tiny bit confused in the middle of the story (hush up Mr C, please), it really didn't matter. The CGI was amazing, all those fireworks and the containers at the end. And I STILL can't believe he said Call of Duty. Just brilliant.

I'd forgotten actually how much I enjoy this film, from the very opening credits. It's just slightly too sentimental for my tastes, which is why I have knocked a point off, but there is so much good stuff in there, it's hard to know where to start! The acting is great, and I'm always amazed at how diverse Robin Williams can get. Even Pierce is good, when you see those little moments of him humouring Mrs Doubtfire just so he can get close to the family.

I didn't think I'd like it, given that it's not really writing, it's more a hotch potch of messages telling a story, but it's actually really interesting. Sometimes the format seems a bit forced, and it can be hard to know who is saying what. It is quick and fund to read, though. I liked it, didn't take long to get through.

This one started when I was investigating the Quartz Composer, and found the option of radiating circles outwards. I can't quite remember which one it is, but once I had that and I added in some of the best colour in the world - purple - I had it set. Made with: Pixelmator Font: Didot Brushes: Nature (I think these came with Pixelmator)

Dirk Pitt is loveable, if a little too able to escape death James Bond style. But he's joined by his good friend Giordino who finds love in this novel. There are plenty of bad guys to boo at as well. I find that he tends to put in details that are unnessesary, just because he knows them, like boat engine sizes and things, not essential to the plot. I really enjoyed this book, although it seemed to go on a little bit after the disaster had been averted, and by then you're too relieved to concentrate.

A fascinating month in Ambridge this time out, with lots and lots of little bits and pieces helping to set things up for Christmas, and keep the longer storylines bubbling along nicely. I have no idea how I'm going to cover this all in a reasonable space, but let's just dive right in. Ed, Emma, Will and Nic What used to be a complicated love triangle has now become more …

I just don't know where to place this film. They say it will do for skiing what Jaws did for swimming, but that's wrong. The silly people got themselves into the situation by being idiots, so I have no fear that going on a ski lift would see that happen to me. There are so many plot holes that you can't really buy into it fully, but I have to say that what you could see on screen was good, the reactions and conversations drew you into the predicament, some of the acting was great. Sadly, the story and the situation let it down.

Now, I'm going to have to be upfront and honest here, it's not proper whisky. It's a whisky and cola, pre-made and sold to me in a can. I'm sorry in advance. I was browsing in the supermarket and stumbled across this whole section of alcohol that I hadn't noticed before - the sort of pre-mixed cans as pictured above. There's everything from rum to Jack Daniels to gin and …

There are a lot of people throughout history detailed in this book but my favourite are the crazy scientists, one who likes to taste a little of each chemical he experiments with and is so found dead at his desk. Another, who discovered something immensely important to the world as we know it, and then kept it secret for a decade. It's written in a very people friendly way, each sentence is understandable and fun to read. But after about six chapters, your brain is spinning with facts and details. Not good bedtime reading.

Sometimes, when I load Google Reader, it turns Turkish. It's been happening for a long time, and I have no idea why. All the settings I can see are set to English, but I must have hit a button at some point in the distant past that pointed it towards Turkey. It happens on all different types of browser, on various gadgets, and on various internet connections, so it's definitely …

You can't blink without seeing talk of WikiLeaks at the moment, and I have little to say on the political side of things. Mr C, though, pointed out this video of where the controversial site is now hosted - deep in the heart of Sweden. It really looks like the kind of spy bunker you will see in James Bond films, take a look. I particularly like the moon room, …

If there are tales I like as much as time-travel, then it is those that are set in a distant future - post-apocalyptic or just plain society-gone-wrong, they all make for good reading. I wasn't really sure where this Brave New World one was going, it starts out with such a long description of how babies are made in this modern era. Eventually, we start to get glimpses of the underlying story though.

It looks as though FKM has disappeared again, after his win in Zhuhai. His website has not been updated, and the only place to go for any Franck related goodness is Facebook. There are a couple of cool (but old) videos that were posted recently, but as they are in Facebook, I can only share the links. Here is one, and here is another one.

Next week, there is a programme on the BBC all about the Chengdu Research Base in China. I will definitely be watching the programme - although probably not as it goes out live, which is Tues 7th at 8pm on BBC Two. iPlayer all the way! I'll report back my findings next week. Meanwhile, in advance of the programme going out, the BBC offered up three super cute videos of …

I have tried to read this book several times before, but now that it makes an appearance on my list of books to read (along with many Terry Pratchett ones - argh!), I thought I would give it a real proper attempt. Actually, on this reading, it was nowhere near as bad as I had thought. Some of the satirical moments are amusing, and I particularly like the conversations between Rincewind and Twoflower - I can almost picture them in my head, and the relationship between the two is excellent.

I was determined to read this one, as the follow-up to the first book that I reviewed here previously. I got this book for free at the same time as the first, but it looks like the price has now gone up to a very reasonable £1.99. I'd say that comparatively speaking, the prices are very reflective of the source material. This second book was a lot less depressing than the first, and whilst still giving a lot of in insight to how idiotic both humankind, and the NHS bureaucracy, can be, it was a tiny bit more uplifting.

You know, I did not remember this episode at all. The only bit I could recall ahead of viewing was that Rose touched the Dalek and that's when all hell broke loose. Otherwise, the rest was a blank. Sometimes those are the best ones! Sometimes. The concept of an alien museum is so good. I wish we had one of those. Actually, if the Doctor ever gave up his time-travelling …

Last night, Mr C introduced me to some of his children's TV purchases from iTunes. What you watched as a child is a conversation that is always popular, everyone has good and bad memories of things they used to consume via the tellybox, and nostalgia is often a good thing. This also reminded me of a post by Alex, where he pondered each generation thinking the next is going to …

I wanted to do something with the image of the giant maze from Longleat, but it didn't come out as well as I'd hoped, and wasn't interesting enough for a header. Instead, I upped the green colour, and used a kaleidoscope tile effect. It's not what I was going for at all, but I find it intriguing. Made with: Pixelmator Original Image: Maze Font: Apple Chancery

Here I am with another list, and I can tell you that this one came about solely from my desire to talk about the first item mentioned below. These are my top five songs with brand names mentioned in them. It's not really product placement in the "money for saying our name" sense, but more where reality clashes with culture. Let's get right on with the list. Arctic Monkeys - …

Now, remember I told you before about Cutest Food? I just adore this Panda Gummy Bear picture. Who would ever eat that? It's far too cute for consumption. And, the always excellent ZooBorns has a whole host of baby panda goodness - photos taken at a research base in China. I particularly like this quote from the comments on that post: I am surprised that the intense concentration of so …

I've not been sleeping well for the past week or so, nothing major to complain about, but just a lot on my mind. I downloaded an app (as recommended by Eric the Baker) called Sleep Machine. I've always been skeptical about the idea of white noise helping you to drift off, but if there's an app for something, I am usually curious to test it out (see: running a 5k …

I still haven't quite figured out what the theme of Show Your Spots meant this year, unless it had to to do with John Barrowman's suit, which is very likely. Anyway, remember I mentioned I'd be Factbyte Factboxing the Children in Need charity telethon spectacular? It happened, and I did! Seven long hours worth of glitz and pop and cheese and a bizarre cross of Eastenders and Coronation Street. It …

I found the gradient tool under Quartz Composer, and whilst you can easily make a gradient with the required colours in the toolbar, this purple one was too good not to use! After pondering some new brushes, this header was conceived. Made with: Pixelmator Font: #PCMyungjo Quartz Composer - Generator - Gradient Brushes: Glowing Stars

I've done Top Ten lists before, but thought I would bring back the idea in a shorter form - half, in fact. This is not for every Friday, but if I feel like I might have a list to share, this would be the place to do it. I haven't been to the cinema for years. I know the last time I approached one with the intent of going in, …

11 weeks ago, a zoo in Vienna, Austria welcomed a little baby panda. Now they're trying to decide on a name for the youngster, and are asking for people to vote. His brother is called Fu Long, and the choices they've come up with are Fu Hu, Ao Kang and Wei Xing. Does anyone else think Fu Hu sounds like boo hoo? Sadly that name is winning at the moment. …

A while back, I talked of time spent at my first official job - messing about with stationery. It was a mundane job, and one which I was quite good at, which meant as long as the work was done, slacking off was a bit more acceptable in the eyes of the bosses. Back then, I casually mentioned that we used to doodle things on post-it notes. There was a …

Over on Sidepodcast, we quite regularly live blog the practice, qualifying and race sessions, in something we have called the Factbyte Factbox. Essentially, I gather all the information I can from the screen, from Twitter and from other sources, and keep everyone updated, in what I hope is both an amusing and useful style. Now that the off-season has begun, we are looking for more ways to use the Factbyte …

I was just messing around with some filters for this one, and really loved the dotty effect. Then browsing through fonts found this one which just seemed to fit really well. Also, the turquoise/green colour sets the effect off. It was simple to make, but I think it's quite effective. Made with: Pixelmator Font: Desdemona Quartz Composer

Oh dear oh dear. I felt like this could have been a good film. They had a great idea, albeit a little bit Mr and Mrs Smith. They had a pretty good cast, with the exception of Ms Heigl who was far too screamy and just a tad too annoying. There were moments of humour. None of it was enough though. I can't really put my finger on what was wrong with it. For the entire time, I was sitting, eager to see what happened next, but ultimately disappointed with what was offered up. Very strange. Ashton was kinda cute though, so bonus points for that.

One side done! I should have posted this a while ago, because it's dangerous having a Rubik's Cube just sitting about on the desk. First, I managed to get the white side complete but the edge pieces didn't match the ones they were supposed to. After a bit more fiddling about, I got the white side done correctly. I don't quite know how I did it, and I don't remember …

Oh dear. I bet I'm not the only person to use that pun. Terrible. When Microsoft first announced the Kinect, did anyone else think it would never see the light of day? It seemed far too magical, a technology far greater than what we currently had, a step beyond what anyone would want in their homes. Think: Microsoft Surface. But here it is, launched in the States, and ready to …

At least that's the way it seems. An experiment to move I Heart Franck off Wordpress led me to Posterous, which is really good, but not for blogging. It's great for uploading a picture or some kind of media and sharing it, which is what it is ultimately designed for. As you know, dissatisfied with Wordpress I made the transition to Squarespace, and have found it mostly good, but there …

So, last time I was here, we discussed the Thursday test, in which Peugeot dominated. The weather turned against the drivers during Friday practice, and the first session saw Bourdais' car on top again, with Franck and Sarrazin finishing slightly further down. # 1 Team Peugeot Total – Peugeot 908 HDi FAP – 1:28.751 # 7 Audi Sport Team Joest – Audi R15 TDI – 1:29.389 # 8 Audi Sport …

Franck was out and about today, as he and teammate Stephane Sarrazin took to the track at Zhuhai for two test sessions. These are pre-practice sessions for the weekend, which seems a bit odd, but any testing time is good. The first session had Peugeot on top, but it was the other one, with Bourdais and Pagenaud. Franck's car was third, with a pesky Audi splitting the two of them. …

The conclusion of a two-part story that I started watching ages ago. For once I was grateful for the "Previously on..." montage. There are some excellent Doctor moments in here, starting with his unique ability to escape pretty much anything. I particularly enjoyed him being backed up against a lift and then using it to escape, but that's because little things please me. He's also smart enough to know that …

Not much to report this week, as Thursday appears to be behaving itself so far. However, via ZooBorns, I learnt that the one and only baby panda cub born in the US in 2010 has made it's appearance at Zoo Atlanta. Not sure referencing the size of a cell phone is particularly helpful when they vary so much! I don't really like the scrawny panda cubs, they normally get cuter …