When it comes to films, I'm a big kid

There is no better way to escape your busy life than getting lost in a good movie.
Tom Hanks in CastawayTom Hanks in Castaway
Tom Hanks in Castaway

It might be in the comfort of your home with a fridge full of refreshments and a cup of tea by your side, or at the cinema with a huge tub of tasty popcorn and a bucket of cola that is bigger than your head.

I find it interesting that even though we know that what we are watching is not real and the people on screen are just doing a job, a film can get us hooked on its storyline.

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I’ve often poked fun at my girlfriend Serena when she watches television shows like EastEnders and Home and Away and gets emotionally involved with the characters and their pretend lives.

But I’ve realised that I do exactly the same when I’m watching the latest blockbuster or even a favourite film I’ve watched several times over.

For example, I recently watched the Tom Hanks’s film Castaway and even though I’ve probably seen it more than 10 times since its release back in 2000, I still feel his loneliness and hopelessness when he is stranded on that uninhabited island. Then you feel joy when he is finally discovered by a passing cargo ship.

It’s a film that I’ll probably watch several more times in the future.

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But that’s when I’m not watching one of the many DVDs I’ve collected over the years.

In my early twenties I used to succumb to the three-DVDs-for-a-tenner offer when HMV was in Commercial Road, Portsmouth.

But now there is even more choice with so many streaming services.

So now when I am looking at the shelf that is just about ready to collapse under the weight of the DVDs or when I’m scrolling through Sky looking for a movie to catch my eye, I just simply can’t decide what to watch. I suppose it is a first world problem, being spoilt for choice.

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But since having children almost seven years ago I’ve been reintroduced to a set of movies that never disappoint and are guaranteed to put a smile on my face. I’m talking about anything made by Disney.

As a family we often enter the world of happy-ever-after where mice talk, carpets fly and genies make wishes come true.

I really enjoy watching these films with my daughters and seeing them enthralled just as I was as a child.

But I do admit, on a few occasions when I’ve got comfy on the sofa to watch a Disney movie like The Lion King, Aladdin or The Jungle Book and Caitlin and Alyssa have left the room I may have carried on watching the movie all by myself.

One thing is for certain, you are never too old for Disney.

Lost sock? Look for a pen top

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It’s been a mystery for years. How do so many socks disappear?

It shouldn’t happen. You put a pair in the washing machine and when it’s time for them to come back out again after being washed, one of them is missing.

It’s like the washing machine got hungry half-way through its spin cycle and used the sock as a half-time snack.

It’s a mystery that will probably never be solved.

I have a similar problem, but it’s not odd socks that have been going missing but pen lids.

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My two daughters, Caitlin and Alyssa, love to get out colouring books and get creative.

But when it comes to pack-up time there always seems to be at least one pen with a missing lid.

Even after searching under the table and behind the sofa it can’t be found anywhere.

Good news though.

While searching high and low for a pen lid I stumbled across a missing sock. Result.

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