so... I really don't know where to start with this one...

"Wing" is a performer in a league of her own, and this month's sample of her cover of the AC/DC (pronounced "Acca Dacca" for those unfamiliar with the Australian rock legends) classic "Back In Black" is something that I won't easily get out of my head.

She says "I have been learning singing in New Zealand and I do performances in Rest Homes and Hospitals and occasionally promotional concerts as I go along" - 11 CDs later and Wing is not looking like she's about to slow down. And with classics such as "Wing Sings Elvis" and "Dancing Queen by Wing" who can blame her for forging ahead... (more the point - who can stop her?)

Normally when I'm forced to listen to ... umm... alternative interpretations to music, it literally brings a tear to my eye (I bawl whenever I see Australian Idol), but Wing is something else....

Check out this month's samples of her extraordinary talents here... do yourself a favour and, at the very least, listen to the entire sample of "I want to hold your hand"... she enters a new realm of music when she hits the "hand" part of the title line... it's a corker...

I must say, the temptation to make the AC/DC cover my new ringtone is a battle that, for the sake of all people in my office, I hope I manage to resist....

so, this slightly adjusted quote from Jurassic Park is what I whispered to Laurette about halfway through our recent outing to the latest Peter Jackson effort - King Kong. Frankly, by this stage, I was starting to get quite bored with this self-indulgent expedition into Peter Jackson's childhood dream - especially as the title character was yet to make his appearance.

It's not a total loss though, the movie is quite good in parts, it would just be a lot better if you let the editor do his job without letting Jackson's ego and childhood dreams get in the way. Cut some of the action scenes by about 50%, and drop some others which were completely unrealistic - I can suspend belief as good as the next guy, but seriously, this pushed the limits for me.

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Laurette and I braved the crowds of 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 year old students out of school early to go and see the latest in the Harry Potter septology - Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire.

Well... actually, it seems that we managed to pick a good timeslot as the cinema was only about one third full and mostly with "adults" like us - we went to a screening on Friday in between the one after school and the one after dinnertime for kids - a calculated ploy on our part.

So - what's the verdict? Well - I'm a bit of a Harry Potter fan, so I guess that means it automatically gets 3 stars out of 5 just for appearing on the big screen, but overall I'd say it's somewhere between 3.5 and 4 out of 5.

The movie itself develops well, it was a detailed book and has been relatively well reproduced on the big screen - sure, there will be some people who are disappointed that it doesn't include certain elements, but there's just so much celluloid that can be shown before the bladders of 14 year old children reach breaking point. As it was, with the trailers and ads for singing popcorn included, it took just under 3 hours to get from getting seated to fighting past the queues lined up for the next session.

**warning** this may contain spoilers (it depends on whether you've read the book before I guess)

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