Even though the time and inspiration to watch films (particularly new ones) is still eluding me somewhat, I’m starting to feel just a shimmer of excitement about what’s upcoming. These quarterly sneak peeks at the fresh releases are helping no end, and this quarter feels quite blockbuster heavy. Let’s see what we’ve got in store. April On a Wing and a Prayer. This doesn’t look all that great but is an interesting concept and it’s been a while since I saw Dennis Quaid in anything.

If you’ve been following along my musical album odyssey over the past few months, you’ll have noticed that a lot of inspiration for the choices recently has come from the time shifted repeats of Top of the Pops that are available via the BBC. Currently they’re airing episodes from 1994, and I’m loving (almost) every minute of it. It’s one of the biggest problems with streaming music, the vast amount of choice that is out there and how best to curate it.

I love a bit of reggae so this was a nice album to listen to, and a change from the pop & country that I tend to lean towards. In a change to most albums, this one peaks in the middle, with It Keeps Raining’ and Dedicated being the two tracsk best known and standing out from the rest, but all of it is good… except the slightly odd instrumental reprise at the end. The full track again with no words… why?

I really liked this album. You’re never quite sure what to expect with Miley, and this one was the more chill Miley that we know from tracks like Malibu. It’s an homage to learning to love yourself when you’re not quite being lucky in love, but it’s uplifting, not depressing. It’s definitely a certain vibe, you wouldn’t want to listen to this to pep you up ahead of a night out, but if you’re in the right mood, it’s top dollar.

I saw this on Kottke a while back and really wanted to share - Wonders of Street View - a super simple site designed by Neal that just shows you random pictures from Google Maps. It’s one of those things that can suck you in and take up far more of your time than you want, so do be careful before clicking the link… but once you do, it’s a lot of fun.

This was a change from the normal adventures that this gang get up on, this time they are very much based at home at Kirrin Cottage and the trouble comes to them. A good half of the book is based around their new visitor Berta and getting her settled in, appearance changed, and witness protection set up. The second half of the book is chasing after the kidnap that eventually happens and you do think the kids should probably leave it to the police but they do manage to scrape together an effective rescue - hooray!

Although this has all the tropes you associate with the Famous Five at this point, it does stand out as a good read. The gang do end up on a mysterious moor, they do face off some travellers who are committing crimes, they do meet another kid who initially winds them up the wrong way but ends up being a friend, and together they all manage to bring the perpetrators to justice. Not fresh but fun anyway.

I love this post from The Guardian last week that looks at a handful of artists behind the biggest theme tunes of the last couple of decades - how their songs were chosen, the impact it had on their careers and the legacy they have been left with. The most obvious one is the first, with The Rembrandts talking about how being the most recognisable song behind sitcom Friends actually ended up breaking the band up for a bit.

Loved this. I listened to the audiobook so it had an intro from Tim Peake and then was read by Robin Ince. This is structured around questions that Peake has answered throughout his career as an astronaut and covers the entirety of training to get to the position of astronaut, and then every inch of a trip into space, living on the international space station, and returning back to earth. There were all kinds of details I wouldn’t have thought of asking and have never heard talked about elsewhere, and it was absolutely fascinating. Just a shame that Peake didn’t read the whole thing himself as I think that would have been better.

Procrastination can be a bit of a problem when you’re trying to get something done, and focusing on one task at a time can be a challenge in this world full of endless distractions. There are lots of apps out there that can help with focusing, lots of timers and distraction-less environments and that kind of thing. My chosen one is the Bear Focus Timer, because Tom the bear is just adorable.

Somehow, even though each of the prequel books for the Inspector Frost series don’t fill me with joy, I can’t stop reading them. I love the Frost character, but in this book he doesn’t come across very well - all that scrapping around on people’s sofas and being generally unhealthy and unkempt, it just doesn’t strike very well. He has his moments of brilliance but the other characters are given more chance to shine. A good read, but not one of the best.

Like many others, I’ve been intrigued by the high concept building The Line in Saudi Arabia, and have been keeping an eye on its progress. I really thought it would just be a concept piece and never come to anything, but lo and behold, the building teams have actually broken ground and started work on the 170km long building. This video from Two Bit da Vinci sums up the project so far and adds some really interesting thoughts and questions about the next steps.

I’ve been talking quite a lot recently about programming on Disney+ and that’s because of all the streaming services around at the moment, they have some of the most high profile shows alongside some hidden gems. That’s because they are such a behemoth, the vast array of franchises Disney has under its banner is something to behold. As it is at the forefront of my mind right now, for whatever reason, it’s worth a second entry in the ongoing series Christine Reviews the Streaming Services.

Yay for The Pretenders! This is their second album, as you can tell from the title, but they’ve found a good sound, a great groove and it’s instantly recognisable as Pretenders - even if that first track is a bit weird. But as a whole, it’s a brilliant listen, with Chrissie Hynde’s incredible voice and unique energy.

I really liked this album, Dierks doing what he does best with some solid country tracks. Some stand out more than others, the singles and the guest appearance from Ashley McBryde, but it was majority all good. The final track was a bit of a disappointment because it’s just too much noodling, too long, and, for me, an off-key end to what would otherwise be a great album.

I’ve been reading the Financial Times for about ten days now. I mean, I say reading it which sounds very grandiose but it’s more like scanning the homepage for interesting topics. There have been a couple each day, although naturally the weekend is quieter than during the week. I’ve been surprised at the variety, though, with lots of culture stuff that’s interesting, TV reviews, and even recipes! Plus all the expected economic talk as well, of course.

A while back, I tried a bit of running and became really interested in people who had written books about running. I don’t run anymore and now going through my long, long to-be-read list, I’ve got a few of these sporty books to catch up on. This one is a dash through the world of the 100 Marathon Club, people who have run a hundred marathons. Author Helen Summer talks to a variety of different people who are part of the club, from all walks of life. I wasn’t sure this was going to be of interest to me anymore as a non-runner, but actually it was fascinating to read just how different the people are who join this club, their reasons, their lives, how it affects their loved ones.

As part of the efforts to reduce waste and combined with a need to try and reduce grocery costs due to the wider economy challenges, I’ve been quite focused on the kitchen recently. It means considering how best to cook things in which devices, whether to bulk up and batch cook, and how much time is too much time to spend meal planning. I’ve been doing my best to use every inch of the food that comes into the kitchen that I can, but I will admit that one of the problems I’ve had is addressed by this BBC Food post: How to use up half empty jars

I’ve seen these LJ Ross books so often that eventually I had to give in and buy one, they’re bestsellers and highly rated so I was interested in what was capturing so many people’s hearts and minds. I quite liked it, the setting is so atmospheric and interesting - the Holy Island of Lindisfarne - although the murders that take place are a little unbelievable. I liked the characters and the relationships that started to develop, even though I was suspicious of everyone all the way through. I’m not sure it completely grabbed me but I did enjoy reading while I did so.

I’m not sure where I first saw this to be able to assign proper credit, but I’m mildly obsessed with the BBC Motion Graphics Archive compiled by Ravensbourne university. The archive is a collection of graphics that aired on the BBC, including some of the iconic channel idents that you know and love, as well as opening credits from some of the biggest programmes across the years (Doctor Who, Top of the Pops and Blue Peter, for example).