Raven

Most of the books I read are fiction, but I do try to work in a couple of non-fiction books each year. I'm currently reading Future Perfect: How Star Trek Conquered Planet Earth, by Jeff Greenwald, it's an interesting read - provided you like Star Trek!

Give them a go, they are easy reads. If you get to the end of The Prisoner of Azkaban and you aren't hooked I'll be surprised! (if you're not though, then it's probably not worth going any further than that!).

I saw that, very interesting. I was quite surprised there weren't more dissenting voices to the theory - 'cause if there is one thing academics love to do it is argue - but with the exception of one of the pundits they all seemed pretty sold on the idea.

It has been announced that The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown's sequel to The Da Vinci Code, will be published on September 15th. Does the queue start here for the bookshop or the bonfire?!

Full Trailer - looking pretty good, me thinks!

Do you have a link?

I watched this on Sunday, bit of a shock ending . . .

Part one is tonight at 9pm, part two tomorrow and part three on Sunday (all at 9pm). They are also showing all three parts in one hit on Monday evening (again at 9pm) and they will be followed by a making off.

Ditto, but with DVDs and VHS!

"What kind of conflict, I wondered, was an Evelyn Waugh?" - Clive James, Unreliable Memoirs.

This week is a bit different, the two chiefs are actually being nice to each other and helping each other out. I'm not hugely taken with either of the two menus so far, although Tom Kitchin's kedgeree looked very nice yesterday!

I like the idea of this, but I wonder if the idea can really carry a full novel. I must say I'm tempted to give it a go though.

NGC 7049 - Dull name, stunning picture!

I enjoyed Reaper as well, Ray Wise is very good! Does anyone know when E4 are going to be showing the second series?

RTD was on BBC breakfast this morning and he confirmed that the next special will air in November, ahead of a two-part finale over Christmas. He also confirmed that the companion for the Christmas two-parter will be:

I'm sorry, but I've been watching - and subsequently reading and writing - about Star Trek for the best part of thirty years and there is a kind of cult status that has built up around Roddenberry's memory that I feel is only partially justified. The truth is he wasn't always a pleasant person; he was a womaniser who often bullied people and took credit for others work. Past the first half of the first series of the original Star Trek, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the first series of The Next Generation his input into the day-to-day running of Trek was quite often limited. Also, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise - well over half of the Star Trek stories that exist - were made after he died. He may have been the originator of the series concept, but he was only one of many that shaped Star Trek as a series, and I personally feel that others such as Gene L. Coon, D.C. Fontana, Harlen Ellison, David Gerrold and well known authors such as Therdore Sturgeon and Richard Matherson deserve as much credit as a combined group for Trek's legacy as he does in his own right.

The second episode was a lot better than the first - what is Helen Cutter up to?!

Planet of the Dead, this Saturday, BBC One (and HD if you have it) at 6.45pm! Looks like I'll be taping Primeval!

There is no denying that in Star Trek Roddenberry helped to create a unique vision of the future, but at the same time I wouldn't call the man a genius. He had a good idea and was in the right place, with the right people around him, at the right time, to make the most of it, but his subsequent projects almost all ended in failure and his personal life was anything but perfect. I do believe that Trek owes a huge amount to him, but at the same time he wasn't the only one involved in creating the positive vision of the future the show is renown for - a lot of the shows iconic stories were penned by some of the best science fiction writers of the day - and his desire for absolute control over the franchise often created problems in his later years (he was removed from control of the film franchise after problems during the production of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and he also lost control of The Next Generation after the shows first series because of problems behind the cameras).

Roads named after Discworld books. Brilliant! Who wouldn't want to live in Treacle Mine Road?!

Thanks for that! I know the basic story of both, and have heard/seen several adaptations of both on radio and/or film, but I would like to read the original texts one day.

He-Man! (Isn't he a bit old for an action film now?!).

Yes, they are supposed to be cooking a menu that is both indicative of their own area, and that will also remind the soldiers the meal is for of "A Taste of Home." To be fair, I think Clifford actual put together the better menu, but it just didn't follow the above brief - very little about it said "A Taste of Home", well, to me anyway. Purnell's cooking was a bit hit and miss, but he did two exceptional dishes and stuck to the brief, which is why he won.

Everytime I've taken part in a sweepstake for The National, I've ended up drawing horses that should have been named "Easy Faller" or "Soon to be Glue".

I've never read any horror, as it's not generally my cup of tea, but I do mean to read Dracula and Frankenstein one day . . .