Following six months and three days without going to the pictures, I decided to put things right. Went to see, Shrek 2 last night at the fabulous O2 Centre on Finchley Road. On my daily journey to work, I see the leisure centre, from my train. As you know, my favourite brand of cinema is Warner Village, recently re-branded as Vue. I had not seen the first movie in full, just patches of the ending on Sky. This was not a major problem, because the movie standards up very well on it’s own. Overall, it was an entertaining way to spend a few hours on a Saturday evening and there are very clever touches and jokes which are aimed specifically at the adults in the audience. I have now seen quite a few computer animated features, but my favourite still remains, Toy Story 2. It has the most amazing and ingenious opening and I love the hero, he is something else.

Talking of films, there are plenty of films I want to go and see this summer. Saw the trailers for Spiderman 2 and also Thunderbirds. Another is the classic Around The World in 80 Days. To those of you you remember the animated cartoon from the late 80s, which featured all the characters as animals. Fogg was a lion, if I recall correctly. This should be a real treat, particularly as it stars Jackie Chan.

While I was at middle school, every Friday afternoon I would head over to my friend Andrew’s house. He was one of my best friends at school and we knew each other for a good ten years. When got to his house, we would rush through our Maths and English homework. Then at 6pm it was time for tea. Then we would go into his living room, switch on the television and settle down. It was time for Thunderbirds. This was by far my favourite of all of Gerry Anderson’s creations, although Captain Scarlet did have some great things going for it. For a series created in the 60s and with a case of puppets, it stood up very well, some thirty years later on some impressionable eleven year old boys. Yes, we had computers then and some basic games consoles (16 bit anybody?) but the drama of the show, just captured our imagination in a way no other form of entertainment could. It was at this moment in time that all of Anderson’s classic shows were making a comeback, for a new generation of children to enjoy. The culmination of this was when Anthea Turner created a replica of Tracey Island. The toy, become the most popular of 1992, and sold out, so many children (and parents) decided to build their own, with the help of Blue Peter.

I have a confession to make. I have not been able to pick up a copy of the Metro at all last week. I see many people reading it in the mornings, but never get the chance to pick up a copy for myself. Even some of my colleagues read it in the office, but still I have not been able to read it.