WATCHING . . .old movies. At almost three hours long, David Lean's A Passage To Indiawas the perfect antidote to a miserable post-Crimbo afternoon, while the wonderfully odd Hoffman, starring Peter Sellers , served as a reminder of what a beauty the still lovely Sinead Cusack was in 1970.
If, like me, you are allergic to late fees and bemoan the limited selection in your local DVD rental emporium, sign up immediately with an alternative movie provider such as screenclick.com. Just pick your favourite movies from their vast selection spanning decades and for a monthly fee (anything from €7.99 to €31.99) you'll be sent a selection of movies from your personal list. Return them whenever you like using the prepaid envelope for endless, vintage or contemporary cine-magic. www.screenclick.com
ARRANGING . . .long -overdue meetings with friends through the technological wizardry of doodle.com. This handy (and free!) internet widget helps you create a poll to find out what dates and times suit your busy friends, family or book-club members for that impending get-together. You can also create polls to help the group decide where to meet. It takes the headache out of scheduling for biggish groups, especially if you're the one who has been landed with the organising. Sadly getting The One Who Is Always Late to turn up on time is beyond even Doodle's capabilities. www.doodle.com