Kerryn and I went to see Wall E at the movies yesterday. Like Toy Story, it's funny and charming, and it's aimed at children. I must have a lot of kid-like tendencies myself, because I really enjoyed it. It has poignant messages about the Earth - after working for 700 years, the robot Wall E still hasn't been able to clean up the mess that humans made before they left to live in space. He's become a little bit bored by the time an environmental robot called Eve shows up to check the planet for signs of plant life. He follows her back to the humans' spaceship, to find a world where all the work is done by robots and the humans are taking it pretty easy. With a bit of imagination, it's easy to see how this could really happen... check it out!
Chris Dowding wrote a draft Famous Five book, at 10 years old. He was unadventurous, and received poor marks for writing during school in the 1980s. Despite this, he published a book in 2007 (a Few Drops short of a Pint). He has experienced a demanding career as a Structural Engineer and divorce from his faithful but forceful wife of 13 years. Since then, he has trekked the Andes and the Himalayas. His love of a good story seems to compel him to keep moving his feet, and his words, forwards...