Wales

Currently I am researching my family tree, tracing my Welsh heritage. The software I am using to compile the information is MacFamilyTree, and I have a large task ahead of me doing this from a distance!

It is great to see this classic series return to the screen.

Maybe our various channels will have a rush of intelligence and start screening some of the classic series?

Watch for the Christmas episode!

BBC 3 in the UK have also started a new series "Torchwood"

Not that I have ever had a wonderful ranking,
but it is fun!

Telecom Virtual Rugby

Don't know that I am supposed to include these grafx on my page (© issues) but I couldn't resist! "Calvin & Hobbes" by Bill Watterson has to be one of my two favourite cartoon strips of all time!
There's loads of stuff on the web - do a Google search.

Note that the complete Calvin & Hobbes collection has now been published.
I'm saving my pennies!

...and the other is Charles Schulz's "Peanuts".

Both are so clever!

A wonderful game!
A fantastic way to fill time...

Out of interest, if you are looking for a good read based on the game of chess, try
"The Queen's Gambit" by Walter Tevis.

"How to play" sites:

Learn to play chess

Learn to play chess

My dad got me interested in Jazz. While I don't listen to a lot of modern jazz, I do like blues and much of the 50s form...

My other favourite is good old rock'n'roll. The 50's and 60s... Elvis, the Beatles...

* sigh *

I'm a bit picky with my movie watching, but love a good sci-fi thriller... The "Alien" series (Sigourney Weaver), "2001 - A Space Odyssey" (Stanley Kubrick) and "The Matrix" series are some favourites.

Old fashioned Westerns are another passion...
Here's my dad's list of The Big Three

"Shane"
"High Noon"
"My Darling Clementine"

Along with...
"Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid"
"The Magnificent Seven"

Of course, no good movie list would be complete without mention of Pater Jackson's "The Lord of the Ring" trilogy...

Others include "Little Shop of Horrors", "Frequency", "Serenity" (along with the awesome TV series "Firefly") and "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest"...

Website

For those who are not aware, Peter, Paul & Mary are a folk group out of the 60s. They have been recording off and on (apart from a 7 year gap in the early 70s) and have recently released a compilation album that should be on every music lover's shelves "Carry It On".

There are excellent DVDs also, one giving a superb history of the group...

This is, alongside my Apple Mac enthusiasm, one of my favourite ways of using any leisure time I have.

I like to keep up with young adult fiction and use
"Young Reflections" in Invercargill for many of my purchases.
"Tapui Books" (Dunedin) & "Tall Poppies" (Invercargill) are two other excellent sources.

If you are looking to buy second-hand or something that may be out of print (or rare) try Scribes bookshop in Dunedin.

"See Ya Simon" David Hill *
"Juggling Mandarins" VM Jones *
The Jack Reacher novels Lee Child
"The Hobbit" JRR Tolkien *
"The Lord of the Rings" JRR Tolkien
The "Tomorrow" series John Marsden *
"Calvin & Hobbes" Bill Watterson

Three recommended reads (trilogies):

The Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini
1. Eragon
2. Eldest
3. To Be Announced

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
1. The Amulet of Samarkand
2. The Golem's Eye
3. Ptolemy's Gate

The Watcher Quest by Margaret Buffie *
1. The Watcher
2. The Seeker
3. The Finder

Great Authors
Anne Fine
Gaelyn Gordon
Sheryl Jordan
Fleur Beale
Margaret Buffie