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I’ve posted previously about how dissapointed I’ve been with some of the recent film releases, particularly those I’ve picked up on Blu-Ray.

It would appear that the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010 are trying their hardest to make that up to me!

I happened to catch the trailer for James Cameron’s Avatar a few days ago, and it looks simply amazing.  That plus the description of the overall storyline sounds like it’s exactly the sort of film I enjoy.  If you like Scifi even half as much as I do, have a look at this and let me know what you think!

This prompted me to have a bit of a trawl, and aside from the news that Battlestar Galactica is getting yet another remake, this time under the guidance of Bryan Singer; which made me grin… but then I discovered that one of my favourite films ever is getting it’s own remake due for launch in 2010.

I can’t find any images or logos from the new Dune to post for your edification, but I found this while looking… and it made me laugh out loud!  So  many different things to giggle at there for a Dune affectionado like me!

On the smaller screen, work continues apace on the new adaptation of an 80′s Scifi Classic.  Those of a certain age will remember another US Imported TV show which featured Robert Englund who later went on to take the titular role of Freddy Krueger in a famous series of Horror films…   Who can forget the famous rodent eating scenes, and the Dynasty worthy shoulderpads in “V” -- even if the effects do look dated by today’s standards, the series is being “reimagined” (don’t we hear that phrase a lot in the film & tv context these days) for a 2010 screening.

Doesn’t the chap 2nd from Right look a lot like Michael J Fox…?

I’ve gone and done it… I’ve got a rotten stinking cold!

I thought late last week that my nose was a bit sniffly, and it’s taken a few days but sure enough today it’s hit me full force… The Summer Cold!

I’m hoping it’s not Swine Flu, and of course  that it’ll be over quickly, but knowing my luck, and the fact that it’s Bank Holiday weekend coming up, I’m not particularly hopeful!

In other news, I hit quite a milestone in the weightloss programme last week at my weigh in.  Total weight loss of 49lbs since January!  Hurrah!

There is a Tesco store near to where I work in Colchester that I frequently visit.   I’ve been going there for well over 10 years now, and I’ve seen the store change as it becomes a “Tesco Extra” amd on the face of it thrive.

Now, Tesco (or the current store management at least) appear to be doing something really daft, which is made a few orders of magnitude worse by the fact that a Waitrose store is opening shortly nearby.

I’ve recently been converted to Waitrose, and now more than ever I’m looking forward to it opening.

What have Tesco done that’s annoyed me so I hear you wondering?  It’s simple enough.   They’ve closed checkouts to deliberately force customers to use the self-scan checkouts.   I don’t mind having the self service ones as an option, but personally I hate the things.  That feeling of awkwardness and embarassment when they go wrong, the looks of impatience from the people queuing behind you as if they are thinking ‘doesn’t he know how to work the checkout, it’s not THAT difficult’. All of which combine to me (even though I’m a self professed gadget geek without a technology phobia) means that I hate the wretched things.

So instead of being able to shop “normally” in Tesco, I’m forced to either wait in even lengthier queues for the manned checkouts.

Some of the staff are even getting to recognise me now… I can almost hear them say “oh look, it’s that chap that won’t use the self scan checkouts”.  They know I hate them (for I can be fairly vocal!).  I know I’m not alone, other people I’ve talked to in the Checkout queues feel a similar way.

So, roll on Waitrose opening… I know where I’ll be shopping in future!

I’ve been doing some research today, as I wanted to (re) confirm the reading order for the Dune Prequels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson, and I’ve made the happy discovery that they aren’t finished with the Dune novels just yet!

It looks like in early September, a further novel called The Winds of Dune will be released.

Picking up where Dune Messiah left off, the official website says ..

“Paul has walked off into the sand, blind, and is presumed dead. Jessica and Gurney are on Caladan; Alia is trying to hold the Imperial government together with Duncan; Mohiam dead at the hands of Stilgar; Irulan imprisoned. Paul’s former friend, Bronso of Ix, now seems to be leading opposition to the House of Atreides. Herbert and Anderson’s newest book in this landmark series will concentrate on these characters as well the growing battle between Jessica, and her daughter, Alia.”

It certainly sounds good!  I hope BH and KJA can continue to develop stories.   I just pray that KJA’s influence doesn’t cause the book to have hundreds of chapters, each of which may be less than 5 pages!

This seems to be a bit of a challenge!

I’m after a some CD Blanks.   Not too difficult I hear you say, even Tescos sell them these days.  No, but I want some specific ones.   They used to be fairly common a few years ago, when you used to have to be careful which CD media you bought.

In fact I’d guess that the vast majority of you probably aren’t even aware that you can get CD’s of differing lengths/sizes, are you?  If you’re interested, see the section in Wikipedia on Capacities.  There, see?  My blogging can even be educational too!

Anyway, I want some 90 Minute Cd Blanks.   Only I don’t want a box of ten in Jewel Cases, which seems to be one of the few ways I can buy them.  I want a “Cakebox” style pack of 50 or even 100.

Even trusty Amazon seems to list only one source of the standard CD Blanks like these:

1×25 Verbatim CD-R 90 / 800MB 40x Speed, Cakebox Extra Protect
.. and they have limited supplies, so I guess I’d better get clicky and order some before they sell out!

Trouble is, even these aren’t really what I want.   You see I want some LightScribe compatible ones of that size, so I can print on the surface of the CD with my Lightscribe writer.

But alas, it seems my quest is too difficult!  Unless any of my avid readers can help…?

I think it’s fair to say that just about every Blu-ray disc I’ve bought since Christmas has been a distinct dissapointment.

Not because of the picture quality, which has fo the most part been excellent, but the actual content of the films themselves.

Some of my recent purchases are linked above, and without exception I’ve found them more than a little lacklustre.   I’m not sure if I’ve just been unlucky, or the quality of the productions has been suffering, maybe even relating to the Writers Strike in the US?

Here’s hoping that things pick up soon!

It’s been a while since I wrote a book review;  So what have I been reading I hear you ask?  (Well ok not really, but I can dream, can’t I?)

I eventually abandoned Hell’s Gate (Multiverse) but instead have read two other titles.

The Real Deal: My Story from Brick Lane to the Dragons’ Den by James Caan, and The Dreaming Void (Void Trilogy) by Peter F Hamilton.

The James Caan book was quite interesting, if a departure from my normal reading faire.  I do tend to like biographies like this from time to time.   Perhaps not as interesting as Richard Branson’s, but it gave a very interesting insight in to how focussed and single minded Caan is, and that is evidently the root of his success.  A certain amount of self adulation for his Philanthropic activities creeps in towards the end, but it’s still an interesting insight in to what makes the man tick.

The Dreaming Void is set in the same universe as Pandora’s Star (Commonwealth Saga) and Judas Unchained (Commonwealth Saga).  I think I’d have benefited from re-reading the other titles first, as The Dreaming Void seems to rely on the reader being cognizant of the events in those titles.  Some of it is fairly easy to remember, but others less so, maybe that’s just me however!

Right!  If this is visible from http://www.cathles.com it means that the Domain Transfer has completed successfully!  HURRAH!

I used to use easily.co.uk for my hosting services, but maintaining several websites each with their own hosting account, having to pay the {expletive deleted} incessant data transfer topup fees started to exceed £500 per year all told, although some websites drew more traffic than others, it was clearly time for me to take drastic action.

Instead I’ve signed up for a Platinum hosting package with EUKHOST, which allows me to create as many websites as I like within my account, all hosted within a 10Gb space allocation and a 100Gb per month data transfer allowance.  Methinks that unless Easily sort themselves out they’ll loose most of their more savvy customers soon!

So I can now basically create as many websites as I like for little or no cost;  in most cases if I want a new domain for the purpose it’s £6 for two years, and I can bind that to the existing account with no problem.   Now if only I could come up with some content that people really liked and wanted to read…..

Oh and for all the Russian people trying to sell me their grannies, or link to their less than legitimate websites by commenting here, I have only one thing to say…. AKISMET!

Anyone who’s visited before may notice that things look a little different around here!

I’ve found another theme that I rather like, and have applied it so that I can start afresh this year with an all new look!

Hope you likes it My Precioussssss!

Oh, and you might notice the extra sections (now at the bottom) listing My Books, and My DVD’s, I’ve been busy during the Christmas Break cataloguing them all, using LibraryThing for the books and another programme for the DVD’s!

What else is new?

Well, you can find me on Twitter here… do pop up and say hello!  I’m set to “private” at the moment, so to view my tweets you’ll have to follow me!  I’ll be trying to tweet fairly regularly now that I have an iPhone!  Please NAG ME if I don’t!

New Year, New Sections

I’m hoping to try and do some more Book Reviews this year.  If all goes according to plan I’ll summarise the reviews in another section at the bottom of the screen.

First Post coming soon as I’ve nearly finished the first book of the year! 

I stole this from a Gordon Ramsey recipe on a Website, but with the sheer volume of Windfalls at this time of year, it’s a fun and tasty recipe to try out!

Makes 12

350g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground mixed spice
240g golden caster sugar
3 dessert apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
3 large eggs, beaten
120ml vegetable oil
100ml milk
150g soft toffees, chopped into small pieces

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4 and line a 12-hole muffin tray with paper cases. Sift the flour, baking powder and mixed spice into a large bowl and stir in the sugar. Make a well in the dry ingredients.

2 Add the chopped apples, eggs, oil and milk in the middle of the well, and fold the mixture together with a large metal spoon, using as few strokes as possible. Don’t worry if the mixture is lumpy, the trick behind the lightest muffins is not to overwork the batter.

3 Half-fill the paper cases with the mixture, then sprinkle over the chopped toffee pieces. Cover the toffee with the remaining batter, then bake for 25-30 minutes or until the muffins are well risen and golden.