Film Review: Power Rangers

If you were born in the 80's then you'll no doubt love the Power Rangers on the big screen. Action is fun while acting is passable. Nothing outstanding or overly disappointing here. Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler Dir: Dean Israelite "Together we are more" Genre: Action

Film Review: Free Fire

Craziness ensues when a gun deal goes wrong and everyone seems to be shooting everyone. Not long before most are crawling around a warehouse with the legs and arms shot. Overdramatic acting and one-liners provide fun entertainment. Sharlto Copley, Brie Larson, Armie Hammer Dir: Ben Wheatley "All guns. No control." Genre: Comedy

Film Review: The Lost City of Z

Film based on the true story of search for the Brazilian City of Z. Okay for 1st half then slows to a snail's pace in the 2nd. Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller Dir: James Gray Genre: Adventure

Film Review: Life

Space horror about a Martian causing havoc on the International Space Station. Nothing overly special here but interesting enough to pass the time. Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds Dir: Daniel Espinosa "Be careful what you search for." Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi

Album Review: James Blunt/The Afterlove

Captain James Blunt has done rather well since his time in the Household Cavalry Regiment, with 4 albums doing rather well in the charts. His 5th, The Afterlove, has just been released but is it any good? Let’s find out.

Love Me Better Bartender [Explicit] Lose My Number Don't Give Me Those Eyes Someone Singing Along California Make Me Better Time Of Our Lives Heartbeat Paradise

The album starts with a couple of tunes which are rather non-descript except to say that Love Me Better reflects on his career in a somewhat silly way. The first song of any real value is Someone Singing Along where I could easily visualise the jogging fraternity pumping their MP3 player up and breaking their stride to skip along. California has some nice layering, while Make Me Better is a whining number with some laughable lyrics. Heartbeat is more classic Blunt, primarily vocals and simple guitar picking with a burst of sound on the chorus. While the closing track, Paradise, feels like it is created to a formula and is only somewhat saved by the drums and bass guitar. The lyrics are once again sickly. As a whole, the album is more over-the-top sentimental nonsense which I started to grow tired of even after his first album, Back to Bedlam. He needs to stop creating music to a recipe and breakaway into something new. There is only so much slushy stuff anyone can take and its time he found other genres.

Film Review: Beauty and the Beast

Emma Watson puts on a crackin' performance even if you continually get flash backs to Hermione (the Beast's castle could also be Hogwarts). She can also sing. Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans Dir: Bill Condon "Be our guest." Genre: Musical

Film Review: Personal Shopper

Awful film even with Kriten Stewart continually stripping. A twenty minute section based around texting a mystery person is simply boring opposed to having any form of tension. Even when the mystery person is revealed, the film continues to drag onwards opposed to wrapping things up. Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger, Sigrid Bouaziz Dir: Olivier Assayas Genre: Drama

Film Review: Get Out

Great horror drama which had the audience jumping, cheering and even clapping. Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford Dir: Jordan Peele "Just because you're invited, doesn't mean you're welcome." Genre: Horror

Event: Publish a Question In a Magazine

Since my first ‘proper’ job as a Science Officer (eat your heart out Spock) I’ve always loved reading about all aspects of science. For this reason I’ve been a loyal subscriber to Focus magazine.

Although the magazine has always got something interesting to read, the Q&A pages have always been a favourite. Given that this section has grown from a couple of pages in the early days to 12 pages in the latest edition there’s a strong indication that other readers also enjoy it.

My aim with this Event is to get one of my own questions published in the magazine. Like the competitions I’m entering, there’s no guarantee that I actually get a question in print but then again you get nothing without trying. Over the coming months I will submit multiple questions in the hope that something rings true with the editor.

Questions are submitted online through http://www.sciencefocus.com/qanda

The following questions have been submitted so far:

Date	Question
20th March	When wearing mirrored glasses, why can I see out but others can't see my eyes?
20th March	In a microwave oven, why do some of my plates stay cool and other get hot?

Competition: Welsh Break

Competition to win: £1000 Welsh Rarebits vouchers Cadw Explorer Pass Welsh food hamper Closes: 30th June 2017

Competition here

Competition: Case of Victoria Wines

Competition to win: Case of Victoria Wines worth over £100 Closes: 22nd March 2017

Competition here

Competition: Win Trip To Queensland

Competition to win trip to Queensland, Australia. Return flights to Brisbane Two tickets to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony Return domestic flights between Brisbane and Cairns Accommodation on the Gold Coast Accommodation in Tropical North Queensland A day trip to the Great Barrier Reef Closes: 17 April 2017

Support Cause: George Osborne MP - Pick a job

A petition to force George Osborne to pick either the job of MP or newspaper editor.

Petition here

Recipe: Italian broccoli & salmon bake

In the absence of anything for dinner, I decided to jump to the BBC Food's home page and select one of their featured recipes. This Salmon and Brocolli bake was the top rated one and hence became the dinner choice.

Since Mum was able to knock the white sauce together, this was a quick and painless recipe. And it tasted great. I was a little concerned about the anchovies and capers but when mixed in they tasted fine and added variety to the palate.

The recipe can be found here.

Support Cause: Prevent Scotland having another referendrum

A petition to prevent Scotland having another referendrum.

Petition here

Film Review: Elle

French sub-titled drama telling the mid-life problems of Elle. An attack on her is a bit of a whodunit which provides the most interest while some other storylines lead do deadends. Includes some dark humour without being a comedy. Isabelle Huppert delivers a great performance. Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, Anne Consigny Dir: Paul Verhoeven Genre: Drama

Film Review: Kong Skull Island

Lots of fun to be had as Kong and other island nastiest obliterate a group of explorers. Some great cinematography help raise the bar. Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson Dir: Jordan Vogt-Roberts "Awaken the King" Genre: Action

Competition: £10 Amazon Voucher for Filling Survey Form

Fill out a summary form £10 Amazon Voucher (everyone a winner ;) )

Volunteer: Krista Detor

Great show with Krista Detor and her husband, just shame we only had 24 people in the audience (especially since they travelled from Indiana). They deserve better although we did get a chance to enjoy a very intimitate show.

Event: Feed Lorikeets Nectar

For Sue’s birthday I decided to go for a somewhat unusual present, a day as a penguin and sea lion keeper at West Midland’s Safari Park. Adam and I explored the safari while she got down to the hard job of scrubbing Penguin poo off the poolside. She did however love her day and highly recommended it.

When we met up later in the day she was 10 minutes late. Somehow she blamed the parrots! And in her excitement told of the fun she had feeding the Lorikeets with nectar and fresh fruit. Before we knew it, we were off to the bird house.

As Sue was on a VIP package, the staff at the safari park had been fantastic, and on arriving at the birdhouse it wasn’t long before we had a handful of complementary beakers of nectar.

I had never heard of feeding nectar before but apparently this is normal food for a Lorikeet. The nectar is a specially formulated liquid made from a mixture of different natural sugars, fruit extracts and vitamins.

With beakers in hand, we walked into the main bird enclosure and the birds went crazy. Within seconds we were covered in birds all eager to ram their beaks into the food we carried.

This was one of the most unusual interactions I’ve ever had with animals. The friendliness of the birds was quite astounding, and it was fantastic to watch so unclose and intimately. Give it a go if you ever have a chance, I’m sure you’ll also love it.

Volunteer: Mersey Beatles

Mersey Beatles put on a very professional show with a massive selection of the Beatle's greatest hits. They have quite a following, with 300 people in the theatre, at least 1/3rd had seen them before.

Volunteer: Lee Nelson

This show had a (heavily) drunk couple annoy everyone with talk/play on phone/laughing overly loud for the 1/2 half of the show. Even after we asked them to stop they continued. In 2nd half the couple have a bust up and she ends up stomps out. Lee did well to try and defuse the situation however it was to no avail. In the end we get the bouncer from Rose 'n Crown to help us kick him out.

Film Review: 20th Century Women

Somewhat broken movie looking at feminism in the 80s, or something like that. Kinda wanders around and misses some point its obviously trying to make. Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig Dir: Mike Mills Genre: Drama, Comedy

Film Review: Toni Erdmann

Crazy German comedy with many laugh-out-loud moments however some scenes are overly long and lose their way. Sandra Hüller, Peter Simonischek, Michael Wittenborn Dir: Maren Ade Genre: Comedy

Film Review: Denial

Focused retelling of holocaust denialler, David Irving, libel case in a UK court. Interesting to see the reasoning behind some less obvious court strategies. Rachel Weisz, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Spall Dir: Mick Jackson "The whole world knows the Holocaust happened. Now she needs to prove it." Genre: Drama

Volunteer: Stafford Music School

School production with kids who only a couple of months earlier couldn't play anything, and now they are on a stage being watched by 300 people with a piano or guitar in their hands. They gave it a good go though.

Album Review: Ed Sheeran/Divide

What a fantastic few years Ed Sheeran has had. Since his debut album in 2011 he has been a very busy man including touring and recording with Taylor Swift, winning a bunch of awards including Best British Male Solo Artist and selling bucket loads of records including being the first artist to debut 2 singles in the US top 10, but has he taken the time to deliver a decent 3rd album, ÷ ("divide")? Let’s see. No matter what any reviewer will say, this is going to be a massive album. The first 2 singles from it, Castle On the Hill and Shape Of You, battled for 6 weeks at position 1 and 2 in the UK singles charts. The amount of pent up enthusiasm for this album will no doubt shoot it stratospheric and I expect it will grab top slot for the next few weeks at least.

Eraser Castle On The Hill Dive Shape Of You Perfect Galway Girl Happier New Man Hearts Don't Break Around Here What Do I Know? How Would You Feel (Paean) Supermarket Flowers Barcelona Bibia Be Ye Ye Nancy Mulligan Save Myself

The album is very much in line with his previous two albums, + (“plus”) and x (“multiple”), and Ed obvious has a particular approach to song writing. His ballads are quite standard and, as expected, the lyrics are imaginative. Opening with some rapped verses in Eraser is very nice and set off the album nicely. The album has been mixed up a bit with a couple of Irish jigs, Galway Girl and Nancy Mulligan (with what sounds like a fiddle and bodhrán providing key sounds), which will appeal well to the Irish ear. These are nice enough track however feel a little out of place amongst the other ballets. Although I agree with leading with the single Castle On the Hill, the follow up single should have been New Man. I personally think this is stronger than Shape Of You. Once again, this is a very personal album telling soppy stories of Ed’s youth and life experiences. If you’ve like his previous sentimental sounds I’m sure your love this this, and in any case you should take some time to have a listen through.

UPDATE 20th March: This album grabbed a mind-blowing 9 out of the top 10 positions on the UK single charts. I guess my statement about pent up enthusiasm wasn't fake news ;)

Event: Cinema Day

Over the years you hear about people who have proudly seen a particular film multiple times. It may have been Star Wars 8 times, Grease 12 times or even Toy Story 4 times. I always thought it would be a boring just to watch the same movie over-and-over again, never mind the long term sitting in cinema’s notorious firm seats.

Several weeks earlier I managed to squeeze 3 movies in a single day, and from that I got the idea to try and watch the maximum number of cinema movies in a single day. Armed with show times for all Odeons in the Midlands, I worked out a plan which would see me arrive for the first film of the day and not leave until the last movie had finished.

I was slightly surprised that I could only fit in 5 movies, but given that most modern movies are over 2 hours long, I guess this shouldn’t be too surprising. The films were:

• Monster Truck
• Viceroy's House
• Logan
• Fences
• Hidden Figures

When I collected my tickets at the beginning of the day, the salesman got quite excited that I was having a ‘cinema day’ that he gave me free upgrades to the better seating. Nice. Even better, he also gave Sue and Heather the same treatment when they joined me for the last 3 films.

The movies selected proved quite diverse and we generally entertaining and kept me interested. No sleeping was required. ‘Fences’ was a little disappointing but the rest delivered on my expectations. I grabbed mostly junk food throughout the day but then again, this is par for the course when you go to the cinema.

And yes my legs did get a bit jumpy by the twelfth hour, but I can report that my butt cheeks held out. Thank goodness for the seat upgrade.