WATCHING, LISTENING TO, READING...

The Editor

WATCHING: The slushy, but undeniably moving TV movie Tuesdays With Morrie (based on Mitch Albom's book), based on a true story of how he spent time with an inspirational former tutor of his, who was dying of Lou Gehrig's Disease and wanted to teach him one final lesson - about life. As cheesy as that sounds, and despite the fact that it's 'presented' by Oprah, it really is a cut above any other TV movie and certainly gives the audience plenty to ponder about how they live their own lives and what's really important to them. The emotional stakes are raised even higher with the knowledge that Jack Lemmon, who gives a typically great performance as Morrie, was starring in his last film, dying two years later.

LISTENING TO: Most recently, Jean-Michel Jarre's great new album Tea and Teo (i can't be bothered putting in the accents, sorry), Amy Winehouse's cover of Valerie for Mark Ronson's Version album, plus the UK reissues of Tina Dico's first two albums. Oh, and Blondie's wonderful self-titled debut.

READING: Drama City by George P. Pelecanos. While he'll probably never top his D.C. Quartet of novels for their amazing characterisation and cultural backdrops, Pelecanos is still one of the finest American crime novellists, and has a style of writing that is so easy to read and even easier to get hooked into. I've only read about five pages so far, but the story's taking shape very nicely, even if it does seems to bear a striking resemblance to Elmore Leonard's Out Of Sight...


The Writer

WATCHING: The final, brilliant episode of Life on Mars. A superbly written piece of drama which managed to address all the pressing questions without stifling the characters (Lost writers, take note). A first act red herring worked a treat, while the ending was surprisingly (and pleasingly) ambiguous - as well as being fairly bittersweet. Ultimately, it's been the best thing on TV this year, along with the return of Doctor Who and the latest Louis Theroux documentary.

LISTENING TO: The radio. Haven't listened to any new music aside from the dross Radio 1 pumps out for a few weeks now, so I‘ve really got nothing to report. The only purchase I’d consider making at the moment is Underworld and John Murphy's score for Danny Boyle's Sunshine - or it would be if it had a release date. Come on, sort it out!

READING: I'm continuing to plough through A Man on The Moon (what? It's a big book and I'm a slow reader!) Still good stuff, brilliantly written and researched by Andrew Chaikin. Science is fun, kids. Check it out.