The Descent to Shangri-La

The Long View (very much better)

Following another long and good night's sleep my energy levels are finally returning, although I still feel very flat and seem to have whittled away a lot of time today without achieving very much. I'm been trying to crack down with some work stuff, mainly so that I'm not overwhelmed on return to the office tomorrow, but again it's been slow going.

I watched "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" with the boys last night. I'd heard good things about this film last year and we weren't disappointed. We all became incredibly engaged with it emotionally. I completely lost myself in the film and the CGI was so good that you never questioned the main ape character as being anything other than real. Andy Serkis (who played Gollum in Lord of the Rings) is quite brilliant. The technology and the application of it is simply amazing. Again, it was done so well that you just don't think about it during the film; it's only in retrospect that you become awed by what you've just seen. Certainly one to be recommended. And one of those films which I think has appeal across every level.

I could easily have been tempted out on the bike this afternoon ... but for having to face your scolding should I have done so! Instead, I again went for a short walk on the moor and found myself following the stream-bed of Backstone Beck where there is a lovely and very little used path. I usually run up high on the left hand side of the beck (to the right in this picture) for this path is definitely more suited to walking. You have to keep jumping from one side to another and scramble up beside a number of waterfalls. It's always felt like a bit of a secluded haven. The sun won't touch this spot during the winter months, but in the summer it becomes a veritable sun trap. Perhaps I shouldn't be letting on, but it's a great place to catch a bit of a tan and take a quiet read of a book!

Thanks for all the wonderful comments from yesterday's blip. You guys are just the greatest!