The Magic

Some things that have ticked all the right boxes for me of late

• Joan As Police Woman- The Deep Field: At last, a new album from her. Completely addicted to 'The Magic', what a song!

• Rediscovering Wallis Bird and 'Spoons'. Check her out: http://www.wallisbird.com/

• 'Cold Heart' by Schuyler Fisk and 'Who We Are' by Ryan Calhoun. Can't get enough of these songs at the moment.

• Big Fat Gypsy Weddings on C4: completely gripped. Mad stuff to watch but can't tear my eyes away

• My new hottie: best bedfellow there is on cold nights

• Sleeping again! After two years of being an insomniac, being able to get 5/6 hours sleep per night again is an unexplainable feeling. Fingers crossed it stays this way.

• Dickie Beau at The Cambria: mind- blowing performance. Check him out and see him perform. He really is something. http://www.dickiebeau.com/Dickie_Beau/Welcome.html

• Peter Mullan season on Film4

• PostSecret book by Frank Warren- genius. Great coffee table book and present. http://j.mp/gHSRLF

• Planning South East Asia travels: I cannot wait to be here

• Fran Healy at Dingwalls

• Meeting Azure Ray at Borderline: one of my favourite bands, one of my favourite venues. Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink are two of my biggest musical influences so meeting them was a little overwhelming! Top gig.

• Tastelondon card and half price dining: love it.

• Some decent TV shows at last! (The Big C, Bedlam, Boardwalk Empire, The Promise) And a new Sky channel. More welcome distractions.

• Inappropriate crushes: got to have 'em to get you through the day!

• Getting back in touch with old friends. This is always nice.

• Moving out (good riddance to bad rubbish)
• Moving in (can't wait for the most wonderful lady to move into Selby towers!)

• Cabaret shows, comedy nights, cinema trips, pub lunches, cocktails and catching up with friends. Nothing beats it.

Things I'm looking forward to:

Tom McRae at St James' Piccadilly

Film Awards season!

Paddy Considine's directorial feature debut Tyrannosaur

Seeing True Grit, Black Swan, Biutiful

Nights out, evenings in, and seeing how it all pans out

Knock-out films

A couple of films I've seen recently that I highly rate (glad to see them featuring in upcoming awards!) (more detailed reviews to follow!)

Blue Valentine (Cianfrance, 2010): takes you on a roller coaster of emotions. Such an incredibly beautiful, poignant film though. Can't fault it. Superb

LW Lies review: http://t.co/qM579I2

Derek Cianfrance on Blue Valentine http://t.co/72Aq6dr

The King's Speech (Hooper, 2010): Firth may have to stammer his way through the film, playing a King with a speech impediment, but certainly doesn't falter in his portrayal of George VI. Exceptional performances from him and Geoffrey Rush (as Lionel Logue). Put together the acting, script, and direction and you get a film nothing short of outstanding.

127 Hours (Boyle, 2010): Only Boyle's directorial skill and Franco's mesmerising acting (and rather watchable face) could make a story like this work so well on screen. Cinematic triumph.

The Fighter (O. Russell, 2010): Knock-out performances from Bale & Wahlberg. Disturbingly realistic portrayal of family dysfunction and its effects. Emotional core, stylistic flourishes and nail-bitingly realistic boxing scenes. Winning formula?

Somewhere (Coppola, 2010):slow-paced but charming.Beautifully intimate,realistic character portraits and top performances.Sweet film.

Animal Kingdom (Michod, 2010)- Australian film loosely based on the Petingill family. Phenomenal acting and smart narrative and direction by Michod but very disturbing.

Can't quite do the maths

I thought I knew the answer but maybe I was mistaken. Was hoping to leave the sums behind. There have been enough complicated equations.

Cards on the table. But taking them off soon. Don't really want to play again.

I thought you knew the answer but maybe I was mistaken. A good hand of cards is a good hand of cards- it's what you do with it which counts. Game is nearly over though.

Add up, subtract, win or lose- can't quite do the maths. But will get an answer in the end, even if it isn't quite the one I hoped it'd be.