I've been watching the 1976 BBC miniseries I, Claudius again over the last few days. I acquired the DVD some time ago but never got the chance to watch it, as almost as soon as I got it my sister asked to borrow it, and then took about 6 months to return it. 'Over 10 hours of history', it says on the box, and I guess by that they must mean 10 hours of television history, as of course neither the series nor the novels on which it is based purport to being a careful recounting of historical fact. But it's also part of my (and obviously, my sister's) personal history, too, as it's one of those shows that made an indelible impression on us when we were growing up. We first saw it in the original version in 1977, and a year later it was almost the only familiar thing during our stay in Spain, even if it was dubbed in Spanish.

Anyway, watching it again, it's amazing to see how well it's stood up to the test of time. The sets may have been made of marbled canvas and\or MDF and all the scenes may have been filmed indoors which makes the whole thing a bit claustrofobic; but the costumes and hairdos don't scream 70s at you the way earlier films like Cleopatra or Spartacus bear witness to the fashions of the 50s and 60s in which they were made. Jack Pulman's script stays very close to Robert Graves's novels and the acting is simply outstanding, so no wonder that even 30 years on I'm again falling under its spell.

Other than that, I don't really have any news to impart. I've been feeling a bit uninspired lately, as well as under the weather and unhappy with the way I've allowed myself to become bigger and bigger over the last couple of years and kidding myself that I was fine with that as it's what happens when you get older, isn't it? No, it isn't. That's just an excuse. And I'm right when I moan that it's not because I eat too much, because I don't; and exercise too little (well, maybe) but it's because I eat the wrong things. The realisation hit some time last week: most days, I skip breakfast, have a quick bite in the canteen around lunchtime if I can manage it, and because I'm usually late home, and I'm on my own, I don't cook for myself in the evenings. Instead, I'll have a takeaway or a TV dinner, or a sandwich. So most of what I eat is processed rubbish; no wonder I've gone up a size since October and no wonder I'm feeling tired all the time. Sure, I could go on a diet and lose some weight that way, but unless I change my whole lifestyle if you will, it's not going to do me any good in the long run. I will have to start eating regular meals at regular intervals, and some of those meals will have to be properly cooked, too...but by Jove! it's hard to turn these habits around. For instance, did you know that aduki beans need to soak for a minimum of 8 hours at least, and then take an additional 40 minutes to cook? And I don't even like beans very much!

Oh, and the Depeche Mode-cd's arrived, at last.