Being an F1 fan, it would be impossible not to want to read a book by the legendary commentator. I managed to get my hands on a copy and settled down with interest. Unfortunately, I found it quite slow going. Half the book is taken up with his previous life as an advertising executive, which is somewhat interesting. The rest is a whistle stop tour through his life as an F1 broadcaster.

I’m not sure what compelled me to read this book, other than I found it at my mother-in-law’s house, picked it up and never put it down again. I didn’t think I’d seen the film, but later I described a couple of scenes to Mr C, who confirmed they were from the film. I did not recall the story though, or how the scenes linked together - I was sure it was all about Lector, but really there’s a whole other crime to be investigated.

Some more pretty graphics to display those lovely new media stats. This time, the iPlayer and how it is growing: Read more and view the full image here.

I enjoyed this film a lot, and even though it broke the two hour mark I wasn’t bored at any point. I don’t know much about karate, and I don’t think I really learned a lot either, but next time I wash my car, I’ll know I’m in training.

I’ve been hearing about the Microsoft Courier but not really been paying attention. It first came to my attention as a competitor to the still-fictional-at-the-moment Apple tablet, but from what I’ve read, it’s not meant to be a tablet computer, it’s something different. I recently saw a video of the potential uses for the Courier and was blown away. There are also pictures and more info here.

You’re all very well aware that I am marginally obsessed with pandas, but it’s become increasingly obvious recently that I am also fond of a few other animals… and they all begin with P! I don’t know why it is, but animals that begin with that letter seem to have more of a chance of getting my adoration. There are exceptions to the rule, of course, as I like cows and I quite like hippos. There are also plenty of animals beginning with P that I don’t care for such as pythons and pirahnna fish.

I saw this stairs video recently but wasn’t really sure what it was about. Then I discovered The Fun Theory - an initiative from Volkswagen. The idea is to make things fun to change people’s behaviour for the better. They have three examples on the site, but are running a competition for submissions and ideas, with a monetary prize. You can see some of the submitted entries, and vote on them, but I think a jury makes the final decision.

Just a quick note to say that the game I previously recommended to you I Love Traffic is now available on the iPhone/iPod Touch. I commandeered Mr C’s Touch to purchase and play the game and it’s as brilliant as ever. It’s exactly the same concept as the online game, only this time there are 40 levels instead of 20. Considering I am technically still stuck on the last level of the original, I wonder how far I will get on this new adventure.

You’ll remember how excited I was when I received my first Etsy purchase in the post, and welcomed Mr Panda to the home? I showed him to my mother who was impressed. “Why don’t you make him a girlfriend?” she said. “You could get the materials from the craft shop, some felt, some stuffing, a bow to make it a girl. It would be really easy to do.” “What you’re saying is, you want to make him a girlfriend, don’t you mum?”

I have been holding off blogging about the Renault talk in the hopes that they might actually announce something, but it doesn’t look like there will be anything forthcoming for a while. So, the talk is that Franck confirmed he had spoken to Renault about a potential seat with the team next year. Add to that the speculation that the team will want to rebrand and reinforce their French heritage, then it starts to look quite good for our hero.

I’ve seen this before but it was even better the second time round - whether that has to do with watching along with many others I don’t. Pixar movies are always so finely crafted, they are a real treat.

I watched the BBC dramatisation of Enid Blyton’s life yesterday, cleverly titled “Enid.” I thought it was a really good piece, and Helena Bonham Carter was fabulous - I adore the subtle aging process that I have only noticed now, watching back the trailer. I’ve seen and heard some comments from people concerned that the documentary has shattered their illusions of the books they read as a child. I can’t really see this, as all it does is show you that Enid Blyton was human. Perhaps that’s the problem?

Over on Sidepodcast, we featured a guest post recently from Dan Brunell, who wrote about the need for quality reporting on the web. I highly recommend it, but to sum up for the purposes of this post, the internet has made reporting all things F1 cheaper but also cheapened the reporting. As we start to understand how the internet works, we will begin to realise that paying for quality is the way to go.

From Mint.com: View the full image for more stats.

Here are just a few things that struck me about the latest Doctor Who episode, The Water of Mars. If you haven’t seen it yet, and you are able, it’s up on the iPlayer already. It only finished 15 minutes ago! That is the first time in a long time, if you don’t count F1 coverage, that I have watched live TV - even if I was streaming it on the web. I am slightly concerned about boiling the water needed to make pasta for dinner now. I don’t like the unhinged doctor all that much, although he is an interesting character study. It will make saying goodbye to the character much easier, if they make him slightly less likeable. I am fascinated by the idea of a colony on Mars, particularly the way they had the hub with the branches leading off to the various domes. What was that Ood doing there? I miss Donna.

It’s all about Doctor Who today, naturally, as we eagerly await the second Tennant special that leads up to the two-part festive end-of-doctor-ten story. I can’t wait. While the time drags on, though, I discovered that some of the classic episodes are available to watch for free on YouTube. Full episodes provided by BBC Worldwide (channel no longer available). There are also other series on there, such as Dead Ringers, which has full episodes, and many nature programmes and others that only have clips as well.

More than a year ago, I blogged about the cute and squishable Chumby, an internet gadget that seemed to just be a widget display showing you things like the weather, email and suchlike. I never bought one because at first it wasn’t available in the UK, then the option to ship it internationally became available but the gadget was just that little bit too expensive. Now they have come out with the Chumby One, which is the next generation of Chumby. Firstly, the name makes me think of those campaigns to get innocent people out of jail. “Free the Chumby One!” That could just be me, though.

A few months ago, I posted my hastily edited video of Red Arrows footage, and I thought I did a pretty good job following those speedy little planes around the sky. I love the Red Arrows. It’s bizarre because I do not like to fly, everything about the idea of being in the sky fills me with dread, I have nightmares about plane crashes that I’ve clearly made up, but I do love those planes.

In my recent post about breakfast, I inadvertently mentioned hangover cures, and a couple of comments picked up on that. That got me wondering what other weird and wonderful things people use to clear their hangovers. Let’s be responsible about this though: drinking isn’t smart or clever. Don’t do it. Except if you’ve had a really bad day. Then you can be excused. Ah-hem, so… I mentioned that my hangover cure was simply bubbles. I’m assuming this is to do with the dehydration aspect, but I’ve found that drinking something like orange squash doesn’t help, whereas those bubbly water things do. And of course, Diet Coke and other such glorious beverages also do the trick.

Never mind hoping for a single laugh out loud moment, Mr C and I laughed throughout the entire movie. We quoted it to each other for an entire day, and then we chuckled some more. I’ve forgotten it now, but would quite easily watch it over again.

I rarely have breakfast. What fascinates me about that first meal is that there are select things you are supposed to have, and that’s all. For lunch, you can have anything in the world, although it is meant to be relatively light. Sandwiches with any filling, a hundred different types of salads, soup, pasta, and smaller versions of main meals. For dinner, the possibilties are endless! Breakfast though, it tends to be one of the following:

I was in discussion with my mother a while back and for some reason we were talking about racing cars. Imagine that! Anyway, we were talking about the olden days, when they used to have driving gloves, leather hats and goggles. I pointed out that I do enjoy those phrases for things that aren’t the way we do things anymore. Hmm. There must be a word for that because it is impossible to explain. An example: dial the phone. I haven’t seen a phone with a dial for a long time. Also, pull the chain, when really it’s all about the flush.

Franck has returned to Le Mans this weekend, for a Peugeot Sport Meeting. I’ve never heard of this event before, but it looks like it’s all different types of Peugeot cars and drivers head to the track to entertain the fans. Franck won’t be in the 908, but is still happy to drive, and will be sharing the wheel with Minassian and Sarrazin. If you’re lucky enough to be near Le Mans, here’s a schedule for the weekend:

Here is the fourth episode of Media. Future. Change. It’s taken a while to come to fruition, so it is packed with interesting news snippets. With Formula 1 heading into the off season, you might find a few more of these episodes floating around soon. This is what goes for news these days This week we’re going to talk about a USB stick you might want, Google taking over the world, or music at least, and news that isn’t really news.

One of the shows we do over on Sidepodcast is called the Parade Lap and features Mr C and myself in conversation with the fabulous Alex Andronov for an hour before a Grand Prix begins. It’s the kind of show that feeds off the audience - we ask for predictions and feedback, we play games and music, and it is generally a bit of fun and chaos before the racing action begins.

This book is much more of an encyclopaedia, published in 1996, and containing even the smallest characters right back since the 50s, when the soap began. It’s written by some of the actors, and that means they know their stuff. I don’t know if it’s designed to be read as a book, or if it is more of a reference, but I devoured it from cover to cover. I can’t exactly recommend it, as I know no-one else on the planet would care to read a 13 year old book about characters that don’t exist anymore, but still, I give it a big thumbs up.

As a child, I didn’t like fireworks. I didn’t like the bangs and had no desire to go anywhere near the source of such a noise. For perhaps a year or two, at a certain age, I did enjoy a firework display. The sudden noises weren’t exactly ideal but I even went to a November 5th display where there was a roaring bonfire. Standing in front of the flames was quite hypnotising, if a little hot.

It really is a page turner, and yet at the same time there is so much detail that does nothing other than get you right into the heart of the book. The descriptions of life in prison are incredible, and clearly taken from his real life experience. Apparently this book is a reworking of the classic Count of Monte Cristo, which I am only vaguely aware of. I will have to give that one a go.

Who doesn’t love The Vicar of Dibley? The version I read didn’t have the bright cheerful dust jacket on, it was just a red hardback book. It looks intimidating, but once you open the cover, there is simply joy inside. There are selected scripts, although after doing some research, I discovered that there are only some of the first series episodes missing, and of course anything since the book was released. The text was interspersed with biography style pictures, plus a few new additions in the form of notes, drawings and scribbles. It’s brilliant, and the sort of book I can pick up in a few years and enjoy it all over again.

FKM will be on TF1 tomorrow in France to talk about the first ever Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi. The race will be interesting as it is also the first twilight GP, and looks like it might be an interesting one. He’ll be on at 13:55 French time. I don’t have access to the channel, but yay for Mr M anyways!

Alex has written an interesting post about the types of things people pick up on when they see you using an iPhone. Once, when I was watching Friends, I heard two people talking next to me about how, having seen that, they were going to get iPhones. And on two separate occasions, people have asked me how difficult it is to get shows on there. And the answer is - it’s simple.

A while ago, I tweeted about my desire to have some Nestle Pretzel Flips, but it appears they are no longer sold in the UK. Along with Lucky Charms, the best things are always stolen from me. My good friend pointed out a site called American Soda that delivers US groceries to our shores, but shipping isn’t exactly cheap. Instead, I had an idea. Why not make them myself? I visited my mother today and we had a go at making them. Here’s how it went.

My favourite conversation of recent times: “Let me introduce you to… um… sorry…” “Christine.” “Apologies. Christine, this is Paul.” “It’s Andy.” “Ah.”

When I was younger, I wanted to be a firefighter. Then I wanted to be a singer. Then I wanted to be a teacher. Now, I am not any of those things. I may not be sure about the career I have landed myself with, but I do not wish to be a firefighter or a singer or a teacher. A recent news item I read suggests that children as young as seven could start being given careers advice in the hopes that it might raise their dreams of the future.

I featured Mr Panda in the last Baby Panda Thursday, and his creator Sarah left a nice comment there as well. That led me directly to her Etsy page where Mr Panda was for sale. Thus my introduction to Etsy was sealed. I have seen and read lots of posts about packages from Etsy, and how they are pretty beautiful right down to the smallest detail. I’m not even slightly crafty when it comes to tactile things, so it was all quite exciting.

As podcasters, we made the exexcutive decision to invest in two gym balls to use as seats. Okay, we did it because Leo does it, but it is good practice. They tend to squeak less than chairs do, it’s good for your posture and generally speaking, an hour or two balanced on a gym ball is better than the same on an office chair. In some recent organisation, I had to let the air out and store the little white stopper plugs until such times as we re-inflated them. When that time came, I managed to plug one of them but upon reaching into my bag for the second stopper, it wasn’t there.

Our stationery suppliers often send free gifts as a thank you for our custom, and presumably an incentive to stay. Most of the time this is boxes of chocolates, or fancy biscuits. As it turns out, our stationery orderer (that’s not a word, is it?), went off the idea of eating them all, and has been hoarding them up for a special tombola day. That was yesterday. Initially, I had myself a box of chocolates, but after some rather furious swapping - seriously it was like bartering at a marketplace - I have wound up with a cuddly Christmas polar bear. I instantly took the Christmas tag off, so in fact, it’s just a polar bear with a pretty scarf.

Thanks to Kara who pointed me towards the San Diego video page via Twitter. There are all the videos we had on the last Baby Panda Thursday, plus some more ridiculously cute ones. However, we must move on from the videos, as I am crazy jealous of the people who get to play with baby pandas for a living. Instead, let’s look at some more crafts and stuff. I like this badge/button thing, and there are a couple of others available on Steppie’s Etsy page. The nerd one is also a good one! However, I’m not sure what you are supposed to do with badge/buttons? My bag is not a material made for piercing, and my coat is similarly uncooperative.

It’s very quiet in Franckland at the moment - by the way, wouldn’t that be the best theme park ever? The only bit of news doing the rounds is a rumour about a potential 2010 F1 drive with Renault. From what I can see the source is this interview [link no longer available], which was about the Singapore scandal, and doesn’t mention driving for the team at all. My French is not that great though, so perhaps I am wrong.

This film is everything that the Da Vinci Code should have been. It has a great story, lots of puzzles and intrigue, and as mentioned above, is very Tomb Raider. Nicholas Cage is also very endearing, and the girl isn’t annoying, so big thumbs up from me.

It’s always a bit of a struggle to find decent pictures for your blog. You either have to go with something you’ve taken yourself, or start battling with copyright free imagery. The answer could lie in a genius new site called PicApp. Mr C has written about this over on Sidepodcast and says: PicApp reimburse content providers via advertisements that appear when you rollover the images or during specified time intervals of inactivity. It has to be said, we’ve yet to see this in action, so it’s hard to judge how obtrusive the advertising might be. Assuming though that you can live with what appears to be a fair exchange, PicApp seems like a fine idea.

I’ve gone into a bit of a nostalgic mode for my little corner of the web, as I suddenly have the urge to dig up all the posts I wrote for previous blogs I’ve owned. Particularly, of course, the personal blog that disappeared to be replaced by this one. (Although don’t forget that nothing is ever truly gone on the web!) Anyway, I think perhaps because I am also looking at new themes for this blog, I suddenly remembered that I used to create my own header images. Gah. What was I thinking? I am clueless when it comes to images. Words are my preferred medium. It is not a coincidence that I chose my current theme which doesn’t require a header image.

The idea with these shows is to keep them under ten minutes, so as to be a nice concise wrap up of all things media. Episode three is already a failure, but there is a bumper lot of news to get through, and we only just missed the target. Everybody is watching sport on the internet Today we’re talking about football on the internet, images with disclaimers, and broadband as a legal right.

I just wanted to post a quick note to recommend this site I found that collects together all the Google Doodles. It’s called Doodle Source and here’s what they say about it: Doodle Source is a website focused in gathering all Google Doodles (Google logos for holidays) that are happening right now. We will also sort all doodles and make an archive for every and each country that could be a Doodle target.

I don’t want to just rip a post directly from ZooBorns but it would be remiss of me not to use this week’s Baby Panda Thursday to publicise these crazy-cute panda videos. The San Diego Zoo released all five of the baby panda exam videos, and all I can say is: I might die from the cuteness.

Why don’t printers ever just work? If I had my way, I would never have to print anything, but that is a different problem. Faced with having to print something, why does a printer, whose sole job it is to print, splutter to a halt? It’s not even a silent, resolute, protest of “No, I’m not doing that.” The annoying red light blinks at you until you have to roll up your sleeves and get involved. Then the printer gets all sarcastic, saying: “Haha, there’s no paper stuck in that door, silly. Oops, look, now you’ve torn it. Still not having your print out, nah, nah, nah.” At this point, your hands will usually be smudged with black ink, that you then brush across your face.

There was no BPT last week, so today we’ll have a bumper crop of panda goodness. A little snuggly cutie. Credit: SSkelton1/Flickr Going a little bit more abstract, I wanted to point out these panda slippers. I’m not really sure about wearing a panda on your feet, but they are kinda cute. Finally, this bit of origami work is awesomeness! We featured some panda creations before, but this one is new. Origami has always baffled me, but I love it.

Amazon have finally got around to offering up the Kindle to parts of the world outside the US, although at the moment it seems to still be a US Kindle. The UK site redirects to Amazon.com for purchasing, and you buy the device and subsequent books in dollars. It also ships with a US charger, which would need a converter. It seems as though this is a rush decision to capitalise on the markets eager to get their hands on a Kindle (ie. me). However, I’m not convinced. Buying in USD doesn’t really appeal, and I’m not sure how or if they’ll change that in the future.

I’m not really interested in surfing at all, but I did like this. Perhaps it was Keanu. Either way, it’s fun to watch a good cop drama with an unusual premise. There was a little bit too much swearing but it wasn’t really obnoxious, so I’m down with that. Plus, Keanu was in it.

If I gave you £100 (or equivalent currency) right now to spend on non-essential things, what would you buy? Would you get a lot of little things or one expensive thing? My friend was telling me that she and her husband save a little money every week and put it away for the January sales. Then, they split the cash, head in opposite directions and meet up later. He has always splashed out on one item, such as a really nice jacket, whilst my friend has about fifty bags on her, from various different shops.