Book read: Commander: The Life and Exploits of Britain's Greatest Frigate Captain by Stephen Taylor

I have always enjoyed reading about this period of naval history, around late 1700 to mid 1800s.

Of course Horatio Nelson is the main character of those times, but this book gives a biography of a similar figure Edward Pellew - whose endeavours are just as impressive.

It charts his rise from humble beginnings to command of ships and has very good descriptions of battles that he was involved in.  The capabilities of the ships and navigational abilities are limited - so what was achieved back then is truly staggering, these were true sailors - spending years at sea or on station.

The author makes the case that Pellew is an overlooked historical figure, I had never heard of him - this books provides some really interesting background on him and the times he lived in.

Book read: My Outdoor Life by Ray Mears

I've always enjoyed Ray Mears documentaries on television.  He sees very down to earth and authentic.   His programmes are part survival, part history, and part living within nature.

So I wanted to read more about him, and this book is very interesting.  It goes through his early life where he wanted to join the Royal Marines before finding his eyesight was not good enough.

From that setback he became involved with selection for Operation Raleigh, and became a proficient photo journalist.  In the background setting up of his own company for promoting bushcraft.

He got his break on TV with short shows, and then through the ITV Survival series.  He writes a lot of interesting pieces on the logistics and crew that get sent out with him to remote locations.

Film: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire directed by Francis Lawrence

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1951264/?ref_=fn_al_tt_5

Film: Interstellar directed by Christopher Nolan

This film is getting rave reviews, "film of the year" type of praise.  I loved the idea of the authentic physics and space scenes.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816692/

Those scenes really make the film - they are 2001-esque and it is good to see this type of cinema being attempted now effects have moved on so much.

That is the high point, the rest is a cluttered plot that tries to do too much and leaves nothing to the viewers imagination.  It is certainly not Prometheus bad but it is still a bit of a let down.

My main problems were:

• The first hour dwelling completely on the decline of earth and the impending death of the population.
• A convoluted finding of NASA by the pilot turned farmer.  Even NASA in their diminished state could probably have given this guy a call or found him if he was that suitable!
• The completely contrived love interest, that really did not need to be there.
• Matt Damon turning up just to play a treacherous dweeb - he really did not need to be in the film.
• Overly long effects heavy explanation of the "ghost" toward the end of the film.

Things I liked:

• The space scenes and settings, really well done.
• The on board computers, clearly a take on 2001 HAL but more interesting.
• No compromise on the hard facts of space travel, and time dilation.