This week's compendium

Here’s this week’s compendium. This week…

1. a lower Grand Prix attendance confirmed the event’s moribund [1a]. But the evidence doesn’t faze its apologists [1b].

2. SecondBite [2a] collected 1½ tonnes of leftover Atlantic salmon from the Grand Prix and distributed it to the needy/hungry [2b]. It must be the GP’s only benefit.

3. the CEO of Tasmanian electricity supplier Aurora Energy, defended prices rises [3]. His bonus size’s probably linked to the electricity price.

4. the American Academy of Pediatrics published a Policy Statement on Child Passenger Safety [4a]. Every parent of a child younger than 13 should read at least its summary [4b].

5. Qantas staff objected to John Travolta starring in a new pre-flight instructional video [5]. I don’t blame them. That’s not a job for a celebrity.

6. Grammar Girl wrote a piece on writing ‘e-mail’ versus ‘email’ [6]. She concludes it’s a style choice, but the trend’s to the latter.

7. following last Monday’s post [7a], I read this terrific article about various potato growing methods [7b]. Hmmmm. Food for thought.

8. I found out that only the most beautiful girls get to have an airline named after them [8]. Go IndiGo!

Finally, I wish you, dear Farmdoc’s Blog readers, a wonderful week.

Review Tuesday: 'From Paris with Love'

Today’s ‘Review Tuesday’. I’ve previously written that all films are one of two types: those you disappear into, and those you grow from [1]. As yesterday’s Farmdoc’s Blog post tells, last week I had a tough week. For DVD night last Saturday, I most definitely needed a film to disappear into. And the Bigpondmovies gods presciently obliged – by sending me the 2010 thriller From Paris With Love [2, 3]. It’s a buddy film [4] starring John Travolta (with shaven head and black goatee and moustache) and the Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers (who, perhaps uncoincidentally, is a dead ringer for the young Johnny Depp). Travolta plays the uncouth hardened crimebuster Charlie Wax, and Meyers his young and naïve partner James Reece. Wax’s mission is to dismantle a terrorist cell. Reece tags along and does what Wax tells him to. The film’s entirely set in Paris, with the locations ranging from the Eiffel Tower café to seedy immigrant apartment blocks. I found it absorbing. It moves at a breathless pace, I like the emerging buddy relationship between Wax and Reece, and the action stunts are worth seeing. Apparently the 56-year-old Travolta did all Wax’s stunts himself. Really impressive. Despite all this, I can’t give From Paris with Love more than three stars out of five. But for me it was a perfect pick-me-up at the end of a difficult and distressing week.

P.S. Happy southern hemisphere spring equinox.