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This weekend I went and collected my nice shiny new Television set.

I opted for the UE32B7020 from Samsung, which is a 32″ model in the 7-Series range of LED TV’s.

I saw a 6-Series LED in a shop a few weeks ago and was captivated by two things.  First off the Picture quality was astounding, more like a Plasma than an LCD TV, and the Black was very very Black, if you know what I mean.

The second thing that was incredible was the sheer depth of the set.  My older LCD TV wasn’t exactly large at about 5cm deep in total, but the UE32B7020 was literally less than 2cm deep!  It was slimmer than a picture.

And for the eco-friendly, it uses LESS electricity than the equivalent 32″ LCD set!

I updated the Gadgets post with the new set, but for some reason Samsung don’t seem to have the 32″ version of the 7-Series LED posted on their website, so I had to link to the
UE40B7020WW instead.

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’m wondering how many of you remember this advert on TV…?

Sadly it seems the lesser spotted Milkman is just about extinct, in favour of the Supermarket alternative.

A bit of a mixed bag in this post.  Still with a heavy Literary focus I’m afraid, and for those not quite so geeky or interested in Scifi/Fantasy as I am, there’s probably not a great deal here for you to find interesting.

I’m still not reading as much as I once did, instead listening on the Train to to Audiobooks quite a bit, partly because the fantastic iPhone/iPod makes it so easy.  This has also grown in to the Car because of the MP3 CD Player in the current Car, so one CD can quite easily last for 4-5 long trips to Manchester and Back again!

Audible is a great source of material for UK listeners, and you can download the MP3 and burn it to CD yourself.  There’s a reasonable collection of Scifi and Fantasy titles in their library.

There are one or two other sources, I heartily wish that Graphic Audio would hurry up and get their International MP3 Download service sorted out for us International listeners, but hey, Can’t have it all I suppose.

Amazon does also sell one or two MP3-CD’s and Audio Books, so it’s not the end of the world.

Of course there’s always Big Finish too with their ever increasing collection of Doctor Who stories.

In the odd moments when I do pick up a book, I’ve recently enjoyed the Biography of Theo Paphitis called “Enter the Dragon“.  Theo is one of the famous Dragon’s Den entrepreneurs.  I’m also currently enjoying the latest in Jack Campbell’s “The Lost Fleet” series.  The recent one is called Relentless (Lost Fleet).

I’ve also been sad to hear of the recent passing of David Eddings, author of Magician’s Gambit (Belgariad)Enchanter’s End Game (Belgariad)Castle Of Wizardry (Belgariad)The Sapphire Rose (The Elenium)The Diamond Throne (The Elenium)The Ruby Knight (The Elenium) and many more Fantasy works.    Rest in Peace David!

David Eddings

(7 July 1931- 2 June 2009)

Normally I’m quite a fan of David Weber;  I loved his Honor Harrington series, and the new series that started with off Armageddon Reef was a blast, but Hell’s Gate (Multiverse I) spectacularly failed to engage me.

The style of writing is as you’d expect, but even at 50+ pages in, the reader is still being subjected to intense character build up rather than any engaging action.  Only one plot “event” seems to have happened so far, with the rest just being build build build.

Perhaps that’s a symptom of the fact that this is a “new” novel, or the first in an intended series (called “Multiverse”) rather than one being set in an established environment.  There is a sequel called Hell Hath No Fury (Multiverse II).

Now as is becoming my habit, I part wrote this review during the time I was reading the book, so It will be interesting to see how my impressions change as I continue to read.  Sadly so far the book has failed to pull me in, and I’m finding it something of a chore to continue reading.

// EDIT // – So much so in fact that I ended up abandoning the title before I got even 1/4 of the way through.  It just wasn’t getting any better.

I wonder how it’s worked in co-authored novels like this one.  How much input did the two respective authors have, and was it in Storyline and Character development?  Actual writing?  Brainstorming?

All in all, I’d say this one was a useless 0/5

Yes, I’m happy that the amazing series The Tudors has been renewed for a FOURTH season by Showtime!   We’ve not yet been fortunate enough to see Season 3 in the UK.  It seems that Season 3 started in the US on 5th April, so I live in hope of an early Autumn slot for Season 3 on this side of the water.

Seasons 1 & 2 are of course available on DVD and Blu-Ray, and I’d thoroughly recommend the Blu-ray versions if you have the equipment to play it back.  It really brings to life the level of detail in the sets etc.

If only History had been this interesting or exciting when I was at School!!

Season 3 seems to feature a fairly significant cast change, as Henry has done a good job of disposing of most of the Season 1 & 2 characters.

Some interesting casting in Season 3 though, with Max Von Sydow as Cardinal Von Waldburg, and Joss Stone as Anne of Cleves.   I still can’t get MVS out of my head in his amazing role as Ming the Merciless.  I know he’s been in lots of works since, including one of my all time favourites “Dune”, but I still struggle to imagine him in any other role.

Max Von Sydow as Cardinal Von Waldburg