In the last fortnight I have been-

Watching

Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. Very silly, and slightly self indulgent, film. Play spot the cameo (Bruce Willis, the Olsen twins, Carrie Fisher as a nun(? not so sure about this one) and Pink. I’m sure there were more, but generally the film didn’t stand still long enough to play ‘Oh look it’s…..’) It could have done with better bridging between the set pieces, but I enjoyed it. Another unpretentious summer movie just like the first one.

The Shield. Vic Mackey, baddest of the bad cops is back. Season one is available on dvd, too.

Spooks Another welcome return. Drop in on GranadaPlus and you’ll find repeats of series like Callan and The Professionals, about the people who protect we innocent citizens from dark forces using whatever means necessary. Spooks updates the premise for the Internet generation. Easily one of the best British dramas in years. Series one is available on dvd.

Reading

The Dambusters by Paul Brickhill 617 Squadron wasn’t just about the bouncing bomb and their first raid. They went on to pioneer precision bombing- practically heresy at the time- and deliver the then largest conventional bombs. This book was one of the prime sources for the classic film, but follows the squadron through to the end of the war.

To Hold Infinity by John Meaney A science fiction thriller. Sunadomari Yoshiko travels to a colony world to search for her missing son. She brings her Bushido training and formidable scientific reputation to a planet run by a brain enhanced elite who are being hunted by a high tech serial killer.

Los Alamos by John Kanon Just before the completion of the Manhattan Project and detonation of the first atomic bomb, one of the security staff at the Los Alamos research centre is found murdered. Propaganda expert Michael Connoly comes to the base to run damage limitation and, if possible, find the murderer, but neither he nor the great minds he mingles with every day expect what he finds out. Manhattan is one of the Big Moments of last century, and its depiction in this novel feels convincing. A militarized campus, out in the middle of the desert, populated with some of the greatest contemporary brains would be an interesting and strange place.

Hearing

Still listening to my MP3 collection, which seems to be growing faster than I can listen to it.