A Walk Among The Tombstones

I came across this one on Prime and while the synopsis lead me to think it was a rehashed Taken it actually turned out to be a very good detective story.

Liam Neeson plays a Ex New York police officer who's now an unlicensed private detective. When a member of his AA group approaches him to take on a case he has reservations, The case is looking for the kidnappers and murderers of his brothers wife. It turns out his brother is a major drug trafficker and after some pleading to his heart he takes one the job and a complex story unravels before you.

A good story backed with great acting this is a great film for a Friday/Saturday night and a thriller that will keep you on the edge.

Death Of My Jaguar

So I had my X-type for about a year and in that year I had some good fun, all be it expensive to maintain fun. I knew she was on her way out and the maintenance bills were getting higher and more frequent but I was hoping for atlas another six months before I bought something more sensible, alas it wasn't to be.

She developed a fault with the EGR valve and even after a replacement she still died. So with a £366 Bill and a dead car it was time to go. I limped her round to my local Kia dealership and traded her in for a Kia Rio, I know its a bit of a step down but I wanted something reliable and cheep to maintain. I would have gone to my local Ford deanship but they're poor at best and I've heard too many stories about them. Kia gives a 7 Year warranty and the servicing costs are reasonable compared to other brands.

I'll write a blog about the Kia and buying it tomorrow so look out for it.

SafeHouse

Umm where to start with this one, there are two good actors in this and I wonder why they signed up for this if I'm honest it must have been a contractual thing.

Its a chase movie in essence but its dire to watch as it repeats its self over and over. Rookie CIA agent tracks and sell out former agent through the streets off Cape Town and thats it. the story struggles on and they don't shoot each other. the tension never builds theres a one dimensional plot.

I wasted an hour of my life struggling through this film so please find something more worthwhile with your time, even reading one of my articles will provide more entertainment and you'll still have 55 minutes left over !

London Terror Attack

Firstly apologies for my absence I've been unwell and I'm back and will update my blog more regularly.

Its a sad day for London and my thoughts and prayers are with the victims of todays attack in Westminster its shocking and horrific that a cowerdly attack could happen. I'd Also like to give my support to the Metropolitan Police who sadly have vast experience dealing with incidents like this and praise them for their swift actions in limiting the scale of the attack my thoughts are with the family of the police officer who put his life on the line to protect the innocent.

Fast & Furious 7

I think its appropriate to start and article about this film with a word about Paul Walker. Paul is a big part of this franchise and with out him there'll big a big whole that can never be filled. From the first film to this he bought great action and entertainment to our screens, your peers speak of you with the highest regard and thats all anyone can really ask as a memorial.

 Rest in peace

Now to the film, Its the seventh in the series so you've been living under a rock if you haven't seen at least one of these films. They are action films centred around cars bending the laws of physics rather a lot to make entertainment. But they are fun to watch, theres great driving scenes and some martial arts thrown in for good measure. Out of these whole genre the Fast and Furious films will always give you two hours of great escapism with a beginning, middle and end.

If i wanted to sit here a poke wholes in them I could spend hours but to do so would be to miss the point. They are fun thats all, we know that cars don't fly and if you wanted to drive out of a window you'd hit the next building between the floors and be killed instantly but you can forgive all these little things because its entertaining. Sit back get some popcorn and enjoy, don't think don't look at them too hard just be absorbed.

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Russell Hobbs Sensor Bin

About a month ago the lid on my kitchen bin broke so as a replacement Marta bought a Sensor bin made by Russel Hobbs.

There are good points and bad points to the bin so rather than writing about it I'll list the pros and cons
Pros 
1, The lid does open when you wave a hand or object over the sensor making it easy to put cooking rubbish inside keeping your hand clean.
2, Its easy to empty and replace a bin bag and theres hardly any suction
3. Its a nice stylish design that fits into a modern kitchen being small and discrete also. 

Cons

1. The bin will open when you walk past it and if you have a busy kitchen this will soon be a pain as the lid claps away.

2. Obviously it requires 4 AA batteries to work the motor and sensor, not sure on the life of these as we've only had it a month. 

3. Its very light and when empty easy to knock over, I added some cat litter to the bottom to act as ballast for ours. 

All round impressions are good and I think it was a good addition to our kitchen. You can turn it off and on with a handy button around the back of the lid. If your thinking about one look at the list above and weigh it up !

Hive Active Heating Bill Comparison

I've had Hive active heating for around a year now and some of you might have come across my post on a previous blog, but now is the time to look at the bills and how they stack up over a year and see if it really made a difference.

I think the bills speak for them selves and even though the price of energy has gone up my bills have come down. Thats come from smart use of

the app and keeping my heating turned off when I'm not at home. Hive sends a reminder to my phone and its just a few clicks to turn it off. When I'm on my way home I can turn the heating on and the hot water if I want a bath after a day at work. Now I have Alexa I can even set the temperature of my flat via voice command. I got my hive on Amazon in a sale so it should pay for its self by December this year, but you can have the option of paying monthly which balances out if you look at the comparison below.

Le Mans (Film) 1970 Steve McQueen

If you've read this blog before you'll know that I'am a Steve McQueen fan, so for this article I'm going to visit the film that he struggled to finish and almost broke him financially and mentally Le Mans.

For all of Steve's acting life he'd be racing cars and bikes at the same time, he took part in the six day trial in East Germany on Triumph bikes and Driven in the 12hours of Sebring in an endurance car. His passion was to combine his two loves and make a movie about motor racing. Having been beaten to the screen by James Garner in Grand Prix a few years before Steve decided on the most iconic race of them all the 24 hours of Le Mans.

Sadly this was a hard task for McQueen his marriage was on shaky ground and his fame was catching up with him and by all accounts he'd developed an addiction for cocaine with could only have made his mental state worse. Having the main director and friend walk out of the shoot declaring "I'm to old and to rich for this shit" John Surtees proved his wisdom as the shoot turned into a working hell of paranoia and last minute rewrites. The braking point happened when solar productions a Mcqueen company had to get a studio to step in and see the production through to the end, Lets look at what they made.

Starting off with a flash back to the previous years race where McQueens character Porsche driver Mike Delaney had been involved in a crash that killed his rival Ferrari driver you're shown the ghosts Delaney carries with him and will have to face in the up coming race. The opening shows the preparations for the race with team bosses watching as their cars are rolled out for the race ahead, drivers going through pre race drills and the crowds flooding to the circuit. French pomp as the national anthem is played over a tannoy system before handing over to your narrator and commentator who's sets the scene further.

Subtly showing the rivalry between the Porsche and Ferrari teams the drivers take to their cars. the camera work is shaky as it moves around the pit area giving you the sense that your there in person. The tension builds until the race starts, with the echo of heart beats until flag drops and the engines roar to life and the fast frenetic action begins.

The cinematography of the racing is brilliant with the high pitch engine notes you can see just where all the production money was spent as cars hurtle past the cameras at 200mph. If you like endurance cars its worth watching just for the action sequences. Watching the early stages of the race and seeing just how close the spectators are to the action the first driver change happens quiet soon and there after some semblance of a story arch emerges as Delaney happens across the widow of last years Ferrari driver. Theres much behind the scenes activity and portrays the drivers in their down time and facing the press.

The weather turns to rain out on the track and cars slip and slide on the slick surface. With the cars kicking up mountains of spray there's yet another driver change and Delaney is back in the Porsche as with each driver change theres a small snippet of behind the scenes and the race moves into night. with the lights of the fairground the camera follows the Ferrari drivers widow Lisa as she takes in the sights and sounds, refusing an invitation for coffee with a driver she is solemn and alone.

Yet another driver change and Delaney is back in the drivers rest area, stopping for a bite to eat he finds Lisa alone and with reverence goes to join her. They make guarded small talk and Lisa asked some probing questions that Delaney struggles to deal with. Before he asks why she has come to the race as it must be hard. Lisa explains she needed to for herself. Morning breaks and its the most dangerous part of the race with tired drivers one slip of concentration will mean a crash and possibly death.

Delaney heads back behind the wheel at the crucial stage, theres a slight mechanical fault with the Porsche uprights but the race continues at the same breakneck speed. As the lead Ferrari enters a bend it losses traction and slides the following Ferrari has a spectacular crash and leaves the track. the slow motion of the driver getting out of the car portrays what it feels like for him as every second feels like a minute and the muscle memory of getting out kicks in. Its a well directed scene and as the driver gets clear the stricken Ferrari explodes. Having made his way past the crash Delaney's Porsche is on the pace as the explosion erupts, distracted just for a second he has to swerve to avoid crashing into a slower car and destroys his own in the process. Coming to rest the camera zooms in to those cold blue eyes of McQueen as his character relives the crash.

With the crash siren sounding the camera cuts to Lisa who appears to be leaving the race. Hearing that it involves a Ferrari and Porsche Lisa heads to the medical centre in time to see a mutilated body.  walking away she's mobbed by press and overwhelmed, Delaney takes her arm and guides her away. A reporter draws synergy between this crash and last years where Lisa's husband died, Delaney walks away speechless and goes to the pits to face his team.

The team are full of concern and the team boss asks about the crash, Delaney is honest and takes full liability. Delaney finds Lisa in the pits tired wet and alone he takes her to his motor home. He spells out the dangers of racing and they debate motor sport and why drivers risk their lives. Its a touching scene The race continues with the remaining Porsches. The driver of the No 21 Porsche is off the pace and the team boss sends for Delaney. Delaney is to drive the car defensively and ensure the No 22 Porsche wins as the Ferraris nip at his heals. He does his job and roles in 2nd and as the crowd celebrate the win he walks towards Lisa looking for forgiveness he knows she can't give. She gives half a smile and thats enough for him. the film ends

Theres not much of a story to Le Mans it has to be said but the action on the circuit is really the focus as it should be, while it only offers a small window into a very hectic race it is a taste of the real thing. If you want true racing drama then watch the real thing in mid June with four different classes on the track at once traveling at different speeds it is a true spectacle of motorsport and full of entertainment.

Rampart

Woody Harrelson is the last of the renegade cops in LA, with a family to support and trying to survive in a modern world that considers him a dinosaur and a relic of the old Los Angels police department.

Set at the turn of the millennium David Brown is a second generation LA cop who clings on to the ways of the past beating information out of suspects and cutting corners to get his job done, he's a womaniser, a bully and a thief. Known by the nick name date rape because of a serial rapist he was cleared of murdering in a shooting incident Dave is out of place in the modern police force.

While out on patrol his police car is T-boned by another car he gets out to see if the driver is ok and when the driver starts to run, Dave takes him down and proceeds to beat the man at first with a truncheon and then with his feet. All this is being filmed and is soon circulating on the news. With his contacts he manages to use one of his fathers police colleges to keep him on patrol all be it with just a support role.

With his superiors trying to force him out of the department to save embarrassment and a pack of lawyers using up his dirty cash Dave plans a robbery with the help of a contact. Just before he's about to storm in to a high stakes card game another crew get in first. Dave tracks down the thieves and shoots one letting the other go with some cash. He uses a gun he has on him to make it look like the man fired on him and calls it in, after hiding the cash.

This gives the DA extra ammunition to use against him and with this added strain his already fragile relationship falls apart and he finds himself homeless. Turning to drugs and booze this film takes on more and more dark turns and leaves you wondering what happened.

Though most of the random films I come across on amazon are good this one is overly complex and hard to follow. With its dark theme its an acquired taste and might not be for all. If you're out of movies and ideas watch but otherwise i wouldn't bother.

Brodsky & Utkin Princeton Architectural Press

A couple of years ago I took some time out to visit the Tate Modern on the South Bank and while rooming around I came across the work of Brodsky & Utkin, I Instantly became a fan and truth be told I sneaked a couple of pictures of their artwork with my phone to reflect on latter.

I recently came across this amazing book on their work by Princeton Architectural Press which contains full page plates of their art with the back story and meaning.

I'd like to take a moment to plagiarise a sample from the opening preface.

Villa Nautilus
Brodsky & Utkin

*"What do you do as an architect living in a country that sets limits on and penalties for architectural design? along with your friends - artists whose works were shown in Moscow park and consequently bulldozed by the government - you find new ways to keep innovative architecture alive. During the Cold War, the brave and inventive architects of the Soviet Union did not cease to advance their cause. They continued to explore their ideas in several ways, including one very simple but dangerous method: they drew what they couldn't build., and thus invented paper architecture. The medium was easy to share and talk about, if one could get ink and paper - a struggle unto itself, particularly when toilet paper was in short supply."

If you take time to search on the net for Brodsky & Utkin you'll find their fascinating work widely available, but in order to get the best of it you truly have to see it on paper. Only then does the work convey the right feeling and scope that the artists were trying to achieve. The plates in this book are stunning and draw you in to the dark but creative world these architects lived in and its not hard to imagine them cramped over a drawing board taking the time to let their ideas flow and take life on paper.

If you appreciate art and the abstract you'll love this book, even if you just take time to look at these fascinating works online you'll be amazed and enthralled like I was that afternoon in the Tate Modern where they hang with a room to themselves.

* Ronald Fieldman representative of Brodsky & Utkin New York

Inferno

If you've watched the previous The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons then you'll be familiar with Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon in the works of Dan Brown and this is the latest instalment in that series.

For those of you who haven't watched the other two movies I'll give you a brief insight. Robert Langdon is a professor of typography and is well known for his construction of ambigrams. As an expert in these fields he's routinely placed in situations where he has to solve complex puzzles in order to prove his innocence of a crime, save the world from some impending doom or rescue a friend. 


The stories themselves all involve religious symbology or that of freemasons and the illuminati. Sometimes very complex in nature but as a viewer you're always guided through the meanings gently and with good explanation. While they are mysteries in the who done it vain and thrillers as each clue leads to the other they are more about the journey and watching Robert Langdon solving the clues and less reliant of you trying to figure out the clues alongside the main characters. 

If you want a good journey with great acting and action then the films in this series are highly recommended. Introduce your self slowly by watching the first film The Da Vinci Code first as the pace builds slowly and eases you into the world of Robert Langdon better than some of the sequels. 

Worth a watch more Friday night thriller than Sunday afternoon chill but with Tom Hanks and along side some great supporting actors you'll be hard pushed to find much to complain about. 

Vaporesso Target Pro

A few weeks ago I delved into the world of vaping in order to quit smoking, there is method in that madness in that I'd cut the nicotine content until its negligible. I started out with the Vaporesso Target Mini and wanted to try the big brother.

The Target pro has a nice ergonomic shape and fits in to my hand nicely and it feels natural. The on and off is controlled by the vaping trigger that falls nicely into place when you first pick up the device. The Target Pro eases you into vaping and can be as complicated or as simple as you chose. With temperature control for most types of coils its easy to set up for your perfect vape. If your traveling you can turn of the flow so you don't end up with a pocket full of juice, just remember that if your new to a tank that can have the flow turned off as you'll end up with a lung full of smoke.

The tank that comes with the starter kit is good but there are some down sides to it, It has a small capacity at only 2ml and if you want to change the coil you'll have to open the tank from the bottom and it can be a messy business but you'll get used to it. The truth is that its only a starter tank and if you want to get something better then the mod itself has the functions to make the most of it.

The screen has a nice bright read out the only major grip is changing the wattage or temp settings as they don't go up in steps but more like a digital radio tuner it starts slow then gets faster, that can be a bit of a pain especially as the Target Mini has nice progressive steps.

The whole package does vape really well and you can produce clouds of vapour with it, so much so I regularly fill my front room much to Marta's consternation. The vapour production is always nice and full, I haven't had one dry hit from it so the package lives up to its advertising.

You will need a battery 18650 high drain to complete your set up, the inbuilt charging circuit is faster than my actual wall charger but if I'm honest my wall charger isn't the best. The micro USB socket is at the base of the mod and it can be stood up while charging which is a plus over the Target Mini.

All in all, its a great mod for the intermediate if you want more power than a starter kit at a reasonable price this is for you and it'll keep pace with most of the sub ohm tanks you put on it. Get one and try it. I use mine all the time and its brilliant.

Virgin Atlantic 787, British Airways 777

Its Kind Of A Funny Story

As my last review was a dark film that was filled with violence and murder I thought that changing things up would be a good thing for you all. So I found a film about a suicidal teenager !

In all seriousness this film isa feel good story and one that I enjoyed from the start. Craig Is in his mid teens and overwhelmed with life, the pressure of completing a application for summer camp so he can go on to a good collage along side the pressure of keeping pace with his peers, one of whom is just the best at everything gets too much for Craig and he checks himself into psychiatric hospital when he gets suicidal thoughts.

Initially Craig believes he's made a mistake when he's placed on a ward with some really disturbed adults. But soon he finds his place and learns some valuable life lessons during his week in inside. Forming friendships and learning about himself and others along the way. Craig discovers love and almost blows it, he forms friendships that show him the importance of life, he also learns hidden talents that lead him to believe in himself.

A fascinating journey with good acting that will draw you in from the start and compel you to the finish of a great feel good story. If you have teenagers or you can identify with your teenage self then you'll revel in this film.
 

End Of Watch

End Of Watch
Movie Poster

If I'm honest I am a Jake Gyllenhaal fan and he always brings a lot to the films he's in. I would write more about his movies but his name is a pain in the arse to type. But this evening I maid an exception and dug out End Of Watch to review.

Filmed in a documentary style which is a bold approach as it involves a lot of dialogue to camera which is a cardinal sin in almost every other movie but in this it works well.

Jake's character Brian is making a film on his patrol as a police officer in the roughest parts of LA. Brian and his partner Mike go for the roughest cases the violent cases, high speed pursuits anything but writing tickets and stoping drunk drivers. Along the way there are some harrowing scenes as they fall across the lowest dregs of society.

Watching the interaction between the two you get drawn into their world, seeing their family events and lives you're drawn into their world. You begin to feel like the third member of their patrol as the film progresses.

While they don't always play by the rules they're always on the right side and put their lives on the line for the right reasons. When they come across a house fire they go inside to rescue the children with no regard to their safety. On a routine stop they find a large amount of money and some impressive weapons, the rest of the department aren't interested in following it up but Brian wants a promotion and decides to track down a lead. He blows a big federal investigation and from there on the lives of the two officers change.

Even though Mike has a baby and Brian goes on to get married and life seems to be good theres a dark undertone present and the score leads you to believe that something dark is about to happen. But the director keeps you on the hook and you have to keep watching to see what unfolds. Having uncovered yet another cartel operation they have a price put on their heads, this is the point where the film takes on a dark edge and the pair are in a war but they just don't know it yet the action takes on another level. If you want to know the end then you'll just have to watch. Its a superb film with great acting sit back and enjoy, make sure the kids aren't around because there are some nasty scenes that will have an effect !

The Waking Dead Season One

Okay, Okay I admit it I'm behind the times in that I've only just discovered this series but it was a pleasant surprise.

I've just finished watching the first episode and I'm hooked already some great acting with lots of action. The first episode sets the series up well. A local sheriff gets shot in the line of duty and when he wakes up the world has changed, its been over run with zombies.

His first contact is with a father and son who have been stuck in his town for a while because the wife/mother has become infected and the father is unable to leave his wife or to put her out of her misery. The sheriff gives them supplies from the station and moves on to try and find his own family, who he believes to be in a refuge some where near Atlanta.

Its looking to be a great show and I'm looking forward to seeing it progress !

Combat Ships The History Channel "The Vessels That Saved D-Day"

I've been watching Combat Ships on the history channel for a while the first two episode were interesting and examined various different ships in Combat they were missions that have been examined in other documentaries but episode three bought some lesser known information to the fore.

Last nights episode which covered the vessels that saved D-day shone light on little known missions that while small made huge differences to Overlord and the invasion of Europe.

The small x-craft that waited of the Normandy coast in order to set up signal lights so the invasion armada could navigate to Sword and Juno beeches. Giving the view a taste of what it was like inside and the harsh conditions the crew endured during the wait for the go ahead.

The HDML boat that guided the fleet through the German mine field in the channel, with the high risk involved the crew in tiny wooden boats fighting a storm and using a secret navy navigation aid for the first time the crews mission had a pivotal importance.

Where posable the documentary tries to show ships that are still in existence and give their mission profile. To that end there are two veterans of D-day preserved HMS Belfast and USS Texas with accounts from witnesses who viewed the action carried out by these cruisers and their big guns it portrays the action and examines the results highlighting the importance of that fire mission.

Anyone who has an interest in history is familiar with the duplex drive tanks and they're use in the D-day landings the las"ship" to be profiled in this episode are those tanks showing their operation and use in detail

Top Gear 5/03/2017

The new, new Top Gear has arrived on our screens and with the absence of Chris Evans Matt Le Blanc has taken the lead. I'll be honest and say that I do like Chris on the radio but when it came to Top Gear it just wasn't right, like the kid who tried too hard to make friends at school and alienated everyone that kind of not right.

With Le Blancs Top Gear there is a face lift to the set with better lighting and some classic super cars in the background it looks nice and the new appearance adds to the refresh of the series in general. while the format is the same there have been some tweaks along the way with the Star in a reasonably priced car going back to the old track with a new car no less than a Toyota 86 which is quiet quick truth be told. The Stig has been dropped for the coaching of the guest with a presenter trying to guide them with a comic outcome. The reviews are nice and as always deliver entertainment and information at the same time with that classic Top Gear feel. The challenge in the first episode is fun and there seems to be more of a report between the presenters rather than last years effort where poor Eddie Jordan got bullied a lot seemingly.

The Challenge its self taking high milage cars from one side of Kazakhstan to the other to watch a space launch with mini challenges along the way. The presenting team have the same base qualities as the original three. Matt is the Leader taking Jeramy's role, Chris Harris on the left of the above picture is the James May with obsessive tendencies and Rory Reid the informed clown of the bunch and there for the Richard Hammond.  The mini challenges are more a kin to the Clarkson days and in time a rivalry will develop between them, Its a difficult thing to drop into a first episode.

Impressions, well a lot is going to be made of the two off spring from the Clarkson era of Top Gear those being the Grand Tour and the current version of Top Gear. Where The Grand Tour has a similar format it plays more for laughs and silly jokes with a back drop of cars, its easy when theres an established team who've worked alongside each other for a long time to take this avenue at the start of a new show and use it as the base for development. This Top Gear has made the car central and by sticking to its roots promise for a good on going series they've dropped most of the silliness and kept just a taste of the childish pranks well it wouldn't be Top Gear otherwise. I'm looking forward to seeing how the show develops as i feel it has a promising future and perhaps longer legs than its sibling.

Totally Wicked

As I've written an article about an e-liquid that let me down I though it was time to make amends and write a follow up about my current favourite e-liquid.

Not far from where I live theres a Totally Wicked vape shop and I visited it last week. I actually went in there for just some strawberry .6mg nicotine juice but as I'd bought a Vaporesso Target Pro I also wanted a different flavour. The assistant in the shop pointed me in the direction of their Diavlo premium range and a liquid called Sly George and I'm glad he did, It give a nice cloud and taste's like the old school refresher sweets lemon and fizzy. Once teamed with the great Target Pro which I'll review at a latter date it vapes really well with no issues and no hint of the burning that I had with the former liquid. If you want nice clouds and they have a flavour you'll enjoy in their range then give them a visit !

SS-GB

SS-GB

A lot of people are comparing this series to the HighCastle on Amazon and that is unfair. While they both have similar backstory's where Nazi Germany has occupied allied country's thats where they separate. The HighCastle is about film footage of an alternate timeline leaking into a Nazi occupied US and SS-GB is centred on a Scotland yard detective working under the supervision of the SS and maintaining a balance of appearing to do the work of the germans but remaining true to his British roots.

The HighCastle builds slowly and places great importance on the film footage and the potential damage it could do to the Nazi's in the US, with shady agents working to smuggle the footage around the country and use it to change their time line.

Detective Archer
SS-GB

SS-GB immediately puts you in the centre of detective Archers world and the difficult choices he's faced with every day of his working life. It show the stresses and strains he carries in his work and draws the viewer in to a web of intrigue. you'll want to learn about the softly spoken detective and what he has planed and how he'll use his influence. Its a lot more character based which appeals more to me than the HighCastle did when I watched it only a few weeks ago. The part of Archer is well played and has a lot of depth and facets which are slowly unraveled by yet more deep characters its a meaty thriller which you'll enjoy getting your teeth into !

Devil May Care, Sebastian Faulks As Ian Fleming

 Anyone who's taken the time to read any of the original James Bond novels will know that Fleming has a style all of his own, The Author of Devil May Care Sebastian Faulks has taken the time to study and copy that style to the extent that any reader would hardly know there was any change from Fleming.

Devil May Care itself is a great edition to collection and while its set just after The Man With The Golden Gun in 1967 there are some modern twists that will bring a smile to any reader. M taking up Yoga and sending Bond to the company shrink for evaluation are amongst them. The story is well written and flows nicely with two plots converging at the beginning to incorporate a villain worthy of Bond and all his skills.

If your new to The bond series then this will be a good introduction and break you in gently to the style of Fleming and from here you can go on to explore the rest of the books. Chronological order isn't essential as they all start and end in a similar way. A nice light holiday read or casual bedside edition that doesn't require to much thought.

Extant

I came across this one on Amazon and I found the start of the series was good but after the first few episodes it lost me as a viewer.

While the acting is good the story became too predictable and the show telegraphed a lot of the plot in the build up to major plot devices which spoils the it for me. I would have liked to have been taken in different directions to have some twists and turns early on to get me hooked rather than the predictable plod along that was on offer.

I tuned out at around episode 7 but Marta likes it so it looks like I'm going to have to watch the remaining episodes. Hopefully it proves me wrong and picks up but I just can't see it. Disappointing is the by line here !

London Has Fallen

Marta and I rented this from Amazon prime as it was a bargain at 99p and I have some mixed feelings about it to be honest.

I know its only a film and I shouldn't get hung up about the story and the plot devices but come on. Its just pure fiction from the start, to think that the met police wouldn't work alongside the protection teams of world leaders and just let them crawl through London traffic on the way to a state funeral is madness. The whole event would have been well organised and run properly. Then to see a terrorist organisation has infiltrated the police is comical at best and insulting at worse. If that wasn't bad enough to think that the U.K's anti terrorist unit in the SAS is sitting in  Hereford while a massive international event is happening in London is beyond belief.

But if you take it as the action film its meant to be and you can handle the catalogue of ridiculously untrue situations that unfold as the film plays out then there is a good action film in there but for heavens sake don't think there are gangs of armed men with motorbikes in London as the reality is that you need ID to buy a kitchen knife in Britain and armed police are specialist units not given to every Tom Dick and Harry with a badge.

I want to rant a bit more about the falsehoods in this film if you'd let me MI6 is actually called SIS and if you were in the US secret service you would know this. If you were leasing with a British security agency it would be MI5 Who do exist and Special Branch who are very good at their jobs and work tirelessly to keep everyone in the UK safe from as many threats as they can, Its a difficult job and sometimes mistakes can happen but they stop a lot of plots before they develop as any search on the web will show. Remember they have been fighting these threats for over a hundred years !

I felt I had to set the record straight as a lot of people would watch this and believe its posable when its just pure fiction.

Football: A Brief History By Alfie Allen

There was a time a few years ago when I spent many an hour at the Emirates football stadium watching The Arsenal and I have lots of good memories of that period. Sadly my circumstances changed and I haven't been to a match for just over a year now. So It was with a bit of interest that I sat down to watch this documentary and I'm pleased I did, Alfie Allen has a nice relaxed presenting style and it makes you feel like you're listening to the history of football from a mate down the pub. So far I've only seen the first episode and that covered the progression of football from amateur to the dawn of the professional game and all the infrastructure that came with it but even for a casual football fan it was an entertaining watch and very informative along with it !

Everyman Cinema

Yesterday Marta and I went to watch Hidden Figures at the everyman cinema in Gerard's Cross and Its highly recommended I can tell you.

I booked online and picked our seats on their web page, I will warn you all now that the page shows the cinema the opposite way round to most cinema web sites and the front row (row A) is at the top of the web page. I made the mistake of ordering the front row but as it wasn't fully booked I was able to change it at the cinema for the back row.

You can order food before the start of the show and its bought to you at the start of the film and you have a nice comfy sofa to lounge in. There are also some blankets to snuggle under but as fifty shades of grey is still running I didn't want to risk them myself.

If your looking for a nice romantic cinema to watch a movie then this is for you they're nice and small and you have plenty of space to spread out. With food and drink bough to you it can be like your own little screening of the latest movie. The price is a little dearer than a mainstream cinema at £14 where a Odeon would be £10-15 depending on the movie type but its well worth the difference if only for the space.

Songs Of Innocence U2

U2 have had a good relationship with apple when the iPod click wheel came out there was a U2 version with a black body and red click wheel. So when this album came out the marketing agency who represent U2 came up with an idea. Give the new album away to iTunes users and sit back and watch the back catalogue sell like hotcakes. Well it raised a lot of complaints from people who didn't want the album and also devalued the album in my opinion if I'm honest it wasn't one of their best any way but that debacle de valued it even more.

I was willing to give it another shot and while surfing on amazon it popped up in the vinyl section from a third party seller so i stepped up and ordered my self a pressing. The white vinyl is really nice and the cover work is very artistic the album itself its trying to be edgy but its just missing something. can you picture a 50 year old Bonno singing about collage days and trying to convey the feeling of youth and innocence, it just doesn't fly with me. The whole album reminds me of Zooropa and that was a failure by U2 standards.

Its a bit electro and moving too far away from there rock songs and stadium fillers and sounds more like a remix album that a hard core U2 fan would buy just to say they own it to their fellow collectors. U2 reinvent themselves every so often and to that end I can't wait for the next incarnation. Give me more of No Line On The Horizon or How to Dismantle An Atomic bomb they were dynamic and nice to listen too this is just meh !

Hidden Figures

I do like movies about Nasa's early years in the space race The Right Stuff and the mini series From The Earth To The Moon are great and manage to incorporate the feeling and the mood of the time and the can do attitude of the early Nasa.

Hidden Figures shows you the story of some forgotten and vital figures in the space race and they were forgotten because of the colour of their skin and this film sets out to make amends.

All of the early calculations for mercury missions were carried out by "computers" not in the modern sense of a PC terminal but actual women who would check and and go over the figures using accounting machines when needed. The three women in this story were computers and they were pioneers and visionaries at the same time. One of them is a brilliant mathematician who works her way up from the computer room and into the main office for ballistic trajectory calculations. while dealing with the segregation of the south she soon rises to become the leading mathematician in the office who has to give the credit for her work to white scientist. The next computer heads to the engineering department and pioneers a trail to become an engineer when the system is against her, her speech in the court room is one of the best pieces of cinema in my opinion. The third and last woman while being past over for promotion continually takes the time to learn the programming language Fortran in her own time and teaches it to the other "coloured computers" and before long she's replaced the IBM team that built the computer using her depth of learning.

This is a great film with some good moments highlighting the struggle to end race segregation and how these women worked through the adversities to do their part for their country in the space race. There are some funny moments that highlight these trials in a light hearted way but still bring home the point to us the watching audience.

If you like the space program and want to see it from a different perspective then you should go and see this, if you're after a story of how equality was fought for then this is a bit tame and only gives you a feeling of the time and not the full story but its well worth a watch and its enjoyable for everyone.