Mike MacKenzie made his fortune in software and now has enough money to have a leisurely life without work. He spends his days enjoying art, having lunch out, and meeting friends. Two of his friends are Robert Gissing, a college professor in art, and Allan Cruickshank, a banker who looks after the high net worth clients.

Professor Gissing comes up with a plan to release some artworks that never see the light of day. The National Gallery of Scotland has a warehouse full of paintings that are never seen by the public. The three of them agree that this is criminal, and it would be fun to change the originals for copies on the national “doors open” day when the public get rare access to locations such as this.

The plan gains momentum when Gissing introduces them to a talented young art student who has a knack for copying original paintings. Then they run in to local hard man, Chib Calloway, who it turns out was at school with Mike. They become ‘best buddies’, and they agree that Chib can provide some additional help for the scheme.

This is an interesting concept, and all is going fairly well, until they realise they’ve been double crossed and things turn nasty. DI Ransome has been after Chib Calloway for some time has managed to piece things together. Meantime Chib owes money to someone who is anxious to be paid. Everything is starting to go wrong.

I found this well done, well paced and a really good plot. A very good read.

I drove to Skye on Friday. The drive was quite pleasant until I got close to Skye. Then it was a northerly gale and lashing rain. It didn’t get any better on Saturday. But when I got up on Sunday, the loch was like glass, and everywhere was white. It had been snowing on Saturday night, but must have snowed a lot more during the night. It was beautiful.

I wasn’t concerned about the drive home. I had my winter tyres on and there was no wind. I’d checked the traffic cams and the roads appeared clear. So I was enjoying the drive back home through what must be some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, when just round a tight blind bend, I came across a camper van stopped in the middle of the road – not their side of the road, the middle. Thinking it had maybe lost control coming round the bend on the other side, I slowed right down. But as I drew close I looked to see what the driver was looking so intently at that they weren’t getting out of the way. Swans!!!

I ask you, is it really worth it? Where this lunatic had stopped was right between two tight blind bends. They could have caused a serious accident. But I’m sure they drove on oblivious, thinking what a beautiful sight the swans were in the loch.

Anyway, I got over that one, and started to enjoy the drive again, taking in the beautiful scenery. It was glorious sunshine so everything was sparkling in the snow and the sea lochs were like mirrors, reflecting the stunning views even more.

I realised that one driver, coming towards me was slowing down, a lot. I was on the brow of the hill, by now looking in my mirror to see that he had stopped, in the carriageway, not pulled over to the side, to enjoy the stunning view! I managed to flash the oncoming traffic in an attempt to alert them to the hazard they were approaching. Again, a serious accident waiting to happen.

So I wonder, when people go on holiday, do they think that the rules of the road are superseded by how beautiful the views are? Quite honestly I’m surprised there aren’t more accidents. But can I please ask, if you are driving round the countryside and see something worth stopping for, please pull over or stop at the next layby. That’s what they’re there for. And funnily enough, many of them in the highlands are strategically placed at popular view points.

Rant over.

Chronicle is a sc-fi thriller. It starts with a young lad, Andrew [Dane DeHaan] in his bedroom setting up a camera to film his drunken dad being abusive toward him. His mother is seriously ill, on oxygen and needs expensive medication.

He is driven to school every day by his cousin Matt [Alex Russel], but Matt doesn’t appear to be aware of his home situation. Andrew isn’t very popular at school either, as often happens with kids with a poor home life. He is an easy target for the bullies.

Andrew and Matt go to a party where Andrew spends the time filming everyone, but later leaves when he’s picked on by a group. He’s outside waiting for Matt when the school football star, Steve [Michael B. Jordan], asks him to follow him with his camera as he and Matt have found something interesting.

They have found a hole in the ground and a very strange noise is coming from it. The three of them go in to investigate and find a large glowing crystal. Later they find that they are able to move objects without touching them. Andrew is particularly good at this.

They keep their discovery quiet initially, and have a bit of fun with it, but then start doing things in public which affects other people. Matt and Steve are concerned at this point and decide they need to have rules. Andrew doesn’t like being told what he can and can’t do.

The three of them then discover they can levitate and have some fun up in the clouds until they have a close encounter with an airplane.

Meantime, things aren’t getting any better at home for Andrew. He has a bit of a fight with his dad, and decides he needs to get the money to help his mum. He assaults and steals money from three of the local hoodlums, then goes on to rob a garage. Unfortunately it results in an inferno and he ends up in hospital.

His dad comes to visit him in hospital. Andrew is unconscious but his dad tells him his mum has died and it’s all Andrew’s fault that he wasn’t for her because he was out looking for Andrew. Andrew then lashes out and goes on a rampage, using his powers to cause damage all over the city. Matt goes after him to try and stop him.

I won’t give away the ending. I enjoyed this film. I thought the special effects were well done and the story was one of the more plausible I’ve seen in a sci-fi film. Thumbs up from me, though it appears Mo may have preferred the Muppets!

The film starts off with a young boy, Walter who looks like a muppet, and his brother Gary [Jason Segal] growing up. Gary has a girlfriend, Mary [Amy Adams] who always seems to take second place to Walter. The three of them are heading to Hollywood to see the Muppet Theater. It’s Gary and Mary’s 10 year anniversary, but Walter is a huge Muppet fan so it’s his treat too.

The film is a musical and it is so, so cheesy, it’s hilarious. At least I thought it was – I realise not everyone likes the Muppets or musicals, but I really enjoyed it. The storyline is that the Muppets are going to lose their theatre unless they can raise $10 million.

Tex Richman [Chris Cooper] has said he wants to develop the theatre for tourism, but he really wants to demolish it and drill for oil. Walter overhears his evil plan, and he Gary and Mary go in search of Kermit to get him do what he can to save the theatre.

Pure, dead, brilliant in my opinion.

It’s not very deep there – max depth 12m, but there is usually plenty of life to be found in the nooks and crannies. And visibilty was an amazing 5m + Most unusual after the weather we’ve had. There was still a bit of a swell/surge which made entry and exit fun. But once we got down we were pretty much unaffected by it. The visibility down below could almost make you believe it was beautiful up top and maybe even somewhere warmer.

Fantastic!

She’s struggling to finish the last book in a series and her publisher is on her case. Meantime, she receives an invite to her ex-boyfriend’s baby naming party. She decides to go back home and win him back, despite the fact that he’s happily married with a new baby.

She books in to a hotel, with her dog hidden in a bag (very funny scene), and calls Buddy [Patrick Wilson] to let him know she’s in town, allegedly for a real estate deal. They arrange to meet for a drink the next day. Meantime she meets an old classmate, Matt Freehauf [Patton Oswalt] who she barely remembers. He was severely beaten at school for allegedly being gay, and has been left disabled.

Matt tells Mavis she is deluded for thinking that Buddy will leave his wife and child for her, but she won’t listen. When she meets Buddy for a drink the next night at a different bar, it transpires that Matt works there. He attempts to wind her up but she is not deterred from her scheme.

We also find out that her parents are alive and well and still living in the same town. But they found out from others that their daughter was back. They seem perfectly normal, so no clue there as to why Mavis turned out to be such a head case.

Charlize Theron is very good in this role. She really does come across as a bit of a nutcase, verging on being a bunny boiler! There is some very good humour, but you know Mavis really needs help. Matt goes some way towards helping her as they bond, but in the end she realises her life is back in the city.

I enjoyed this one. Thumbs up.

I’ve never walked in that area before, though I was aware of the Tyrebagger sculpture trail. Interestingly I’m currently reading one of Stuart MacBride’s books where a body is found in Tyrebagger woods and describes some of the sculptures. Didn’t find the ones in the book though.

Having had a lovely week of clear, sharp, frosty and sunny weather, I thought we might be lucky and get a clear day to see the views from the top. No such luck! Low cloud and drizzle which turned in to sleet and snow. There was a very chilly wind too when we got to the top.

Though I was doubting it was a good idea as I was driving toward Tyrebagger in a blizzard, I really enjoyed the walk. Not much scenery to be seen but some very interesting trees! And I managed to stay reasonably dry.

Thanks all for the refreshing walk.

The older daughter, Alex, is in a clinic trying to deal with a drinking problem. He flies to the other island to get Alex and bring her home after getting the bad news that his wife is not going to recover and that she’ll be coming off life support. Matt is encouraged to tell friends and family to give them an opportunity to say goodbye.

Meantime he is trying to deal with the sale of some land in Kauai, inherited by his family, of which he is the trustee. It’s a substantial amount of land, and there is some debate about whether it should be given over to a property developer or kept as it is. The family stands to gain a fortune if it sold for development, so there is some pressure on him.

However, he discovers that prior to his wife’s accident she had been having an affair. He tracks down the chap in question who turns out to be a property salesman and he stands to gain a lot from the sale of land in Kauai. It also turns out he has a wife and two children and never intended to leave them for Matt’s wife.

The film can be a bit introspective and slow, but there is also some humour. The scenery is fantastic, but’s get the message across that just because it looks idyllic doesn’t mean that life is any different for the people there than anywhere else. They have problems too.

Interesting film, well played out. Thumbs up.

Children are using various secret passages in and out of the ghetto to trade in the black market and bring in much needed goods.

Erik Cohen, a retired psychologist, is living in a small apartment with his niece and great nephew, Adam. They are struggling to find enough food to survive, and coal to heat the apartment is scarce.

One day Adam goes missing. On questioning his friends, Erik discovers that Adam has been making trips to the other side, and it is likely he had gone to get coal for his family when he went missing. It isn’t long before his body is returned. It was found on the barbed wire fence, naked and with one of his legs cut off. Erik’s niece is devastated, and already ill, she goes downhill quickly.

Erik is investigating the death of his great nephew, determined to get justice. He discovers that other children have gone missing and at least two have been returned like Adam with parts of their bodies chopped off.

Erik and his friend Izzy eventually find out what has been going on and take measures. But then they have to escape the ghetto. I won’t give the story away, we all know it doesn’t end well. But Erik returns as a ghost to tell his story so that the Polish people never forget.

This is a powerful story giving a small insight to the terrible atrocities that took place during the second world war. It is heartbreaking and unbelievable that people can be so heartless and violent.

Not an enjoyable read, but a good read and very well written.