The weekend is nearly over, but I have so much to report. Let me start with the Saturday night movie. History was one of my favourite subjects at school and I relish learning about the past and the events from all around the world. Yet, I will confess I am quite ignorant when it comes to the conflict in the Middle East. I know very little and perhaps because of this have little opinion on the complex issues of a struggle of people to have their own state. While Munich focuses on the revenge for the assassination of the Israeli athletes, it does offer an insight into the struggle for a Jewish state for the people. Spielberg directs perfectly what some would consider a very difficult story, consider the blood and destruction that litters the plot. Sure the violence is graphic, but without trying to sound morbid, the movie is shot so well, you consider the emotional journey of the characters rather than all the killing (which at times is completely mindless). The Wrath Of God, as the operation was known, is intriguing, in the sense that someone funded the operation from somewhere to make sure the eleven names operatives were ‘taken care of’. Eric Bana puts in a stern and noteworthy performance as the team leader. You watch his decline from a son of a national hero to a soulless man, unable to sleep, unable to feel, isolated from his homeland. Without wanting to give too much away, the pace of the movie is just right and many scenes are shown in flashback. At the end, when the mission is complete, you feel it is not the end but the start of further bloodshed and reprisals. The final frame is breathtaking and ingenious, linking us back to present day realities. If you want to go watch a film that will engage your for a couple of hours, rather than sitting brain dead through a forgettable film, go see this. Before heading over to the cinema, my friend and I hoped to grab a quick bite to eat at Frankie & Benny’s, which is right beside the multiplex. However the queue was coming out the door and we soon discovered there was a forty five minute wait for a table. This was shame, because I’ve never been to the New York Italian style restaurant, even though there is one on my doorstep. We headed back towards the town centre, cautious of the time and that we had about an hour to spare. We went to the Longwall, on the Garsington Road, opposite the old Rover (now BMW Group) factory. We were seated the moment we were walked through the door, even though it seemed extremely busy with a birthday party taking place. We were told by the hostess that Beth would be looking after us this evening. Little did we know that what type of customer service we were in for. Sure enough she arrived a few minutes later, a tall brunette with a great bubbly character. We tried for to work out if this was genuine enthusiasm for her role as waitress and in the end decided she was just one of those people you bump into once in a while. The icing on the cake, was when the bill came, I tried hard to control myself from laughing in amazement. If I had told you this without any supporting evidence you would not have believed me.

Please note that the above image only has a passing resemblance to our waitress, yesterday evening. She was extremely friendly and polite and asked where we off to (hence our reason for ordering our food so quickly). The flicks to see Munich, which she had not got around to seeing yet. As we left, she gave us an over eager waving, hoping we had a good time watching the movie. I saw this over on Sharelle’s blog and could not resist. For this and her ability to pick up some amazing links on the web, she is now officially blog rolled with the biggest name for a blog ever. A word of warning though, once you go over to the The LED Sign site, you might end up there for hours, watching the web cam images refresh live. Consider it a very slow version of an IM client, but instead of just with one person or a group of your friends, anyone with an internet connection around the world can join in the conversation.

While I am (unofficially) the biggest fan of Hollyoaks (well strictly speaking the current series) I know only of perhaps two other people that are as hooked on it as me. Last week, being half-term, saw the Mersyside production company put on four late night editions, entitled “Back from the Dead” which saw the return and final demise of Andy. It was typical action packed fodder and if you missed the actual thirty minute episodes, you could not have missed the trailers, shown excessively on both Channel 4 and E4. The final scenes were harrowing, even compared to teen soap opera standards. I was great to watch in the sense I had seen the past two late night edition from last year, which built up to the events which unravelled to Thursday night. I never really liked Andy in the beginning, he seemed like a nice guy, but too much of a free spirit and there was always something underneath, you could tell. The plot was evenly mixed, to balance between the gritty, life and death kidnap of Nicole to the carefree girly holiday with Mandy, Louise and Claire. My final two thoughts pose some questions. Is Unconditional by The Bravery the best piece of music that is let down by lyrics? I was listening to it as I hit the M40 on my way back from Oxford. The introduction is extremely compelling, almost new wave in style. Last night, I can recall that in my dream, I opened the door (there was a house party taking place) to find Christina Milian on the doorstep. To put it all into perspective, this morning, I woke up and watched music television as I do most weekends and aptly switched over to Flaunt to see Dip It Low. It must be a sign. Her third album is released next month. Enough said.