The votes have been pouring in, thanks to everyone, and we have our winning header design. The winning design is the rather whimsical Gretna Green signpost. Excellent stuff! That will be the header for the next few weeks, whilst I gather inspiration for the next batch of designs.

The first two-part Doctor Who episode of the New Who era, and we are back to London to find out that Rose has been missing. I was slightly confused by the entire introduction to this story. Whilst it was quite revealing to see the impact of Rose’s departure on her family and the friends she has left behind, isn’t the TARDIS a time machine? Once they realised they’d returned a year later, couldn’t they hop back in and hit reverse for 12 months? Problem solved.

There are no arguments that this is the weakest of the three movies by a long way, but the little inside jokes and repetitions from so much time travelling are really good. There are lots of little things that you need to be aware of and will make you chuckle if you’re paying attention. It’s just a shame the DeLorean was smashed to smithereens at the end.

I recently stumbled across the site Kickstarter. It’s an interesting way to raise money for a creative endeavour you want to do, for instance, make a film. You set a time limit and a goal, and encourage people to donate to the cause. If you reach your goal, excellent, you can go on and make your film. If you don’t reach the target, though, no one pays anything, all donations are cancelled, and you’ll have to go back to the drawing board.

If I was faced with all three movies and was only allowed to pick one, this would be my favourite choice. I like that it has both the future and the past in it, and all the coincidences and repeat sequences from the first are brilliant. I can also say a lot of the lines along with it, which is annoying for anyone watching with me, but great fun for me!

We have reached the end of another batch of headers, and as is the custom, we’re going to have a vote. All you need to do is pick out which is your favourite of the ten headers featured over the last few weeks. I’ll keep the vote up for a few days, and then the winning design will be up there for the rest of October. That gives me a chance to sit back, take stock, scout around for inspiration and get designing.

Today I can cross another item off my Life List, as I only went and completed that pesky 5K race. It feels like I’ve done nothing but talk about running forever, but in actual fact, I only picked up the Couch 2 5K app in June. Since then, I’ve built up my stamina, and my patience, and certainly improved a lot, but I can tell you one thing for certain: I was not built for speed.

I am ridiculously nervous. You might even call it “freaking out.” It’s not so much the running, although it is a little bit the running. The last few attempts haven’t been as good as I might have hoped. They do say that a bad dress rehearsal signals a good opening night, though, so I’m pinning my optimism on that. So, yes, it’s not so much the running, as the running in front of other people. The only mid-exercise interaction I have had with others is when people walking their dogs take a wide berth as they pass me by.

I think this little one likes being petted.

You’ve got to love it when randomly browsing the web, you come across a company who have named themselves after the exact thing you are trying to achieve. Step forward Underground Living Ltd. It looks like they do one thing, but they try and do it well. It’s more of an addendum to a house, rather than a complete underground living area, but the gallery and the animation on the site look lovely and clean and tidy.

Another tiny quote from Mr M: We were the fastest on track again this year. We didn’t steal this. Same car, same team, same results - the only difference was the rain! Last year’s race clearly affected him more than it appeared!

I’ve been getting more and more dissatisfied with Wordpress, and although I still maintain it is an excellent place to set up your first blog and start getting published, it’s limitations were beginning to get to me. In point of fact, all I wanted to do was to change the font on my template. Typekit fonts are a bit ahead of their time, whilst the Custom CSS function was not really accessible on the template I was using.

It looks so good in HD. When you compare it with the terrible trailer, the difference is stunning. If only you could buy movies in HD from iTunes, I would snap up all three of them. I love that I am watching this film for about the fiftieth time, and I am still noticing things. Like the ice cold car, and the pink bits on Doc’s radiation suit. LOVE IT.

Here it is, then, the final header of our second batch. We’ve reached our twentieth design, which honestly blows my mind a little bit. This one came from the background texture, which was a kind of wallpaper, I think. I wasn’t keen on it being wallpaper, so I tried the stripy filter to sort of bring it to life a bit. It could almost be a curtain, with ripples in, except they are a bit too regimented, and a bit too diagonal as well. Once again, I was playing around with the text, as that is somewhere I really need to concentrate my efforts.

Franck, along with Sarrazin and Lamy, won the 2010 Petit Le Mans yesterday. I didn’t watch it but all I’ve seen suggests it was a great race, interesting throughout, and it wasn’t until the final couple of hours that Peugeot seemed to have it in the bag. They took up two steps of the podium with Allan McNish for Audi in third. A snippet from the Autosport report: …the Audi R15 of Allan McNish/Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen had a very real chance of winning, while the second 908 of Anthony Davidson/Marc Gene/Alex Wurz was waiting in the wings on the lead lap.But when Capello was briefly blinded when his balaclava slipped over his eyes, causing him to concede the lead to Montagny and then to pit out of sequence and thus drop off the lead lap, the cars fell perfectly into Peugeot’s hands.

Time for a change. This site is moving from Wordpress to Squarespace, and that means you’ll need to update your feed subscriptions and suchlike. Please visit: http://www.mrschristine.com for the new site. I’ll be waiting. (This will remain for a while, until I point Smarter Than at the new place.) A change is as good as a rest!

I got to have a peek at the brand new Kindle today, and although I was expecting to want to steal it from my brother - who is the proud owner of the device - it actually turned out that I wasn’t that keen on it. I love the device from a distance, I love people that have a Kindle, and I encourage people to get one if they want one, but here are five reasons I wasn’t keen.

Finally, Kenton and Kathi have split up! Who else is completely and utterly relieved? It started at that golf club dinner thing, when Kenton was doing his best, as per usual, and Kathi was being annoying, as per usual. She told him she didn’t need any help, then complained when he didn’t help her. Granted, he did punch her boss, and when he moved out, he immediately got drunk and arrested, but still, her claims that he was childish and unreliable still seemed unfair.

Instant Search has been out and about for a while now, and I can’t see that it’s made my life any better, but I don’t particularly hate it either. I’ve been catching up with some TWiT podcasts, and Leo has talked extensively about why they would choose to implement something like this and what purpose it serves. It’s an interesting subject, because search is so very fundamental to the way I use the web. My brain is incapable of storing information and now with Google, I don’t have to.

I completed a couple more runs and they were at my usual level of about 45 minutes. I went about my normal routine, but on one outing, the My Tracks app got stuck halfway round. I know I completed the distance but it told me otherwise. Far from being annoyed, it was an excellent way to break the cycle and I suddenly started thinking about what I was doing. After stressing out so much last time, it occurred to me (plus Steven said so) that I was being far too hard on myself. This was only ever meant to be a crazy hobby. I didn’t even start running to get fit, it was just something to get me out of the house, to be a bit of a challenge, and because, surprisingly, it was fun.

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon the new Tumblr account for Sesasme Street. I’m not exactly a huge Sesame Street fan, although of course I watched it as a kid. I was more interested in the fact that it was an official account, using YouTube and in-house videos to show snippets from the show. I looked around a bit more and found they also have a regularly updated podcast with the same kind of content. They’re on Facebook, they have many apps, they’re on Twitter. I love a company that is happy to put their stuff out there. There are so many routes to Sesame Street now, that the intro song makes no sense!

Back to a bit of simplicity, I found these brushes that seemed to me like twigs and sticks rather than brush strokes, so I went with a sort of tree theme. I was also testing out filters on the text to try and make things stand out a bit more. Made with: Pixelmator Brushes: Brush Pen marks Filters: Motion Blur Font: STFangsong

Not a lot, but at least it is something: I want to win at least one race with the 908 this year! But I’m going to have to hurry, because there are only two races left! I would especially like to win Petit Le Mans because the atmosphere is so special. It’s unique, and I like that!

He has seemingly disappeared completely. Still no word on his official site, he’s not in the news for any rumours, and he’s definitely not participating in Superleague - Girondins de Bordeaux went and found another driver instead. Silly people. I miss him. He will be back though! He is on the entry list for Petit Le Mans, which takes place next week - the race itself on the 2nd October.

You know, I do not remember this episode at all. I must have seen it, and yet nothing stands out in my brain. Although, that isn’t at all surprising. It’s not a particularly good episode, when it comes down to it. The first historical character new Doctor Who introduces, Charles Dickens no less, and it’s a bit of a let down.

It certainly wasn’t the film I was expecting, because whilst a romance, there was so much underlying tension and story that it wasn’t just about them. I couldn’t quite understand the motives behind the woman… I’ve forgotten her name already. There’s also the fact that the film made me feel cold throughout. I wouldn’t watch it again, but it was an okay way to spend two hours.

There was far too much swearing, and it was all a bit gross for me, but even so, I would watch it all over again for two reasons. 1) The Hot Tub Time Machine moment. I could watch that all day. 2) The moment when I realised it was George McFly. I can’t believe I didn’t know until the end, and when I realised, it totally blew my mind. Not a great film, but moments of brilliance and certainly worth watching, if you can cope with it.

After a conversation on Sidepodcast, I remembered that I still own the one and only autograph I ever got. My friend and I were taken to see Michael Rosen, and I think he must have been doing a talk, or reading some poetry aloud or something. I know that I liked whatever it was he was doing, and afterwards, my friend hurried forward to get an autograph. I was sort of close behind her, although far too embarrassed to ask for it myself.

I have just discovered this rather handy tool from the Good Run Guide - the RoutePlanner - where you can map out a track and find the correct distance. This is really useful when Google Maps only wants to give you directions and distances for the road routes or more obvious pedestrian areas. I figured it was not just for runners but would actually come in handy for measuring any distance that you need, and if you create an account, you can save your work and revisit it whenever you want.

I stumbled across some brushes that show off city skylines, and I was intrigued. Admittedly, most of the hard work for this one was done for me, but I still think it’s a lot of fun. My only question is, which city is it?? Made with: Pixelmator Brushes: Famous City Skylines Font: TW Cen MT Filters: Sunbeam and cloud generator

A romantic comedy that was both awful and brilliant at the same time. The Irish guy was really, really awesome and likeable despite his grumpiness. The situations they found themselves in were completely unreasonable, and made no sense. She had loads of time to get there and made life harder for herself. But otherwise they wouldn’t have fallen in love, so who can argue?

This was a lot more psychological than I’d thought it was going to be - a lot more about the control and relationship between Judy and Cate, rather than the relationship with the boy. Which is a good thing, because that is a lot more interesting than a silly scandal. Also, it was based on a book which is now added to my Kindle wish list.

It was an interesting film, but it seemed to be a direct rip-off of Good Will Hunting. Some kids, from the wrong side of town, one of them really smart, meets a smart girl but upsets her, one of the friends gets involved with some dodgy dealings. It was all very familiar, and only some good chemistry between the friends meant it was worth watching.

I’m not going to lie, there was a lot of this that went over my head. Far too much pontificating about things and quoting literature that I don’t know. That’s kind of what you get with plays, of course. That aside, the film was great and I liked it’s subtle, understated nature. Sometimes it’s nice to have watch something calm and intellectual (even if you don’t get all of it).

After a rather long week, Mr C and I decided to retire from our desks early last night and take to our respective books for reading. It was fun. Mr C is currently enjoying Joe Saward’s latest book - The Man Who Caught Crippen. At the moment, it is only available in paperback, and it’s the first physical book we’ve ordered from Amazon in a long time (and it may well be the last). Meanwhile, I am suffering through the final book of the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, via my Kindle app.

This definitely was a crazy idea. But still, sponsor me, won’t you? Lots of very kind and lovely people have sponsored me already, and I am very grateful. Although that does mean the pressure is on. The numbers are moving in the right direction, but it is still quite rubbish. T minus 30 days Total distance - 5.02km Total moving time - 45:49 Average moving speed - 6.57km/h Really terrible run. Didn’t feel energised and legs hurt almost straight away. Also appear to have injured something in my right ankle. Still, it’s my third official 5k distance.

For Giggles and Joe and anyone else who is having a bad day. Credit: { just jennifer } / Flickr

The last few attempts at running have been a little difficult, and I must admit to have been getting a bit dispirited by this whole 5k thing. That race that seemed so very far away is now looming closer and closer, and I am still being overtaken by people taking their dogs for a walk. Last night, I had a dream about the race and it was a bit of a revelation. I thought these kind of dreams only happened to religious types, but there you have it.

I was browsing around the interwebs, as you do, and came across the company Cavallini & Co, who make some good-looking stationery, with a vintage twist. I found two particular favourites: These rather good Sticky Notes come in a fancy tin and cover every eventuality. From a simple to-do list, to a reminder, and even a day by day note. They look quite small, but I love the variety. Sadly, they are out of stock, or I would have been quite tempted.

Once again, I wasn’t expecting much and was completely surprised by what I saw. Yes, it was the standard rom-com, and yes they did start out hating each other and ended up loving each other but I was very impressed by the ratio of comedy to romance. I couldn’t stop laughing for ten minutes at a time. Loved it.

It’s not the best, I’ll admit, but it certainly wasn’t as bad as I remembered. Wallace and Gromit can make anything amusing, and I do love the cute little rabbits. I just wish Wallace wouldn’t fall in love so easily, he could quite happily fix people’s problems without being in love with the woman with carrot hair.

I wasn’t sure to start with, how interesting a film could be about two mis-matched robbers failing to rob a bank. But it was really very good. The partnership between Bruce and Billy-Bob developed really well, and whilst I wasn’t that keen on the relationship with the woman, she did bring Bonnie Tyler into the film, so I am happy with that.

All I can say is this is my favourite header that I’ve ever done, I think. Made with: Pixelmator Font: Rockwell Filters: Just a bit of motion blur on the text

The minute this episode started, we got to see more fearless attitude from Rose. As the Doctor was busy trying to impress her, and take her futher and further forward into time, she was happy to say: “Fine by me, let’s go further,” without actually seeing any of the things they were passing. She trusted that he was doing what he said, and she was happy to wait for the better deal.

LEG! Credit: San Diego Shooter/Flickr So fluffy.

Last month, I blogged about a new show starting on Revision3 - Dan 3.0. It seemed like a great idea, Dan was already an established video blogger with a good fanbase, and he was intending to turn his life over to the viewers. You’d get to suggest and vote on things for Dan to do with his life - and the project was set to last a whole year. It seems to have fizzled out already.

So, this is how the BBC brought back Doctor Who - to a skeptical viewing public. At the time, it was ever-so-slightly ruined by a certain Graham Norton, but now, watching it back having purchased the series on iTunes, it’s as it should be. It’s fun watching things with the benefit of hindsight, but I tried to go into this with an open mind.

I have a question. I’ve been thinking I should really graduate from running about in tatty t-shirts, as it worked wonders on my feet when I treated them to some proper equipment. So… when did sports wear become quite so complicated? I haven’t been in an actual shop yet (that’s a whole other bridge to try and cross), but browsing about online, I found this very pretty vest. I don’t intend to wear a vest, I’m all about the long sleeves, but this looks like standard running wear to me.

Excellent film. It starts off very in-your-face and loud and a little off-putting, but if you stick with it, and get to know the characters (there are quite a lot of them), it certainly rewards you. Drew Barrymore does make a lot of difference, as well, providing some light relief when it could be all about bruises and pain. Their attitude towards being second best really is inspiring. We’re number 2, we’re number 2!

It’s a bit long, for a start, but the story is just about good enough to hold it for that long. The songs are good, as expected, but I really wasn’t a fan of all the coloured filters and things. I don’t need a purple sky to be convinced that Bali Hai is a special place to visit, and I certainly don’t need a yellow screen to believe these two are in love. Why yellow?