Not even I could justify the wallet lightening load that was the "Box O' Snakes" set that came out a couple of years ago. Much as I would have enjoyed the self pleasure it would have given me, the thought of Mrs H catching sight of the bank statement so soon after finding my extremely large Whitesnake, um, collection would have been just too much. I couldn't face the "but why do you need 4 vinyl copies of "Lovehunter" when you've got it on CD" speech. Apparently, there is no right answer to that question.

However, here we have a cut down CD version of the set, without any of the important things, such as the Reading Rock sets and the DVD. And yes, Mrs H, I know I have those highly illegal BBC Transcription records locked away in the Swis bank vault, but that does not mean I don't want them out on CD. Instead it's a bare bones 9 disc set covering the period 1978 - 1982. So it's everything from the "Snakebite" EP through to "Saints &' Sinners". There's no bonus tracks, which I quite like, as I grew up with these records and like them just the way they are. And it includes the Japanese only "Live At Hammersmith" set as well as the more familiar "Live...In The Heart Of The City".

Musically, I don't think it got any better than these. It was the music of my puberty and defined my ears for everything that was to come. "Trouble", "Lovehunter", "Ready An' Willing", "Come And Get It", "Saints & Sinners" - I salute you. Once you manage to get inside the stupid assed box with its stupid assed flaps, which guarantee they won't be coming out very often, you'll find the mini LP replica cardboard sleeves, and some of the finest British rock ever recorded. It's still over priced and it really is a completists only set, but I'm exactly the kind of saddo this is aimed at, but I don't care, and shall hold my Whitesnake high for all to see.

Of course you could always pony up for the Box 'O' Snakes: The Sunburst Years 1978-1982, and keep your divorce lawyers number close at hand.

This looks really good. A tablet that's a momitor with a 22" screen. I'll have some of that. Thing is, it falls between a lot of different stools. As a tablet, it's actually too big, and an awful lot of apps just don't work. Try as I might, BBC IPlayer and 4OD don't work, and they won't let you use the browser versions as they know it's a tablet not a PC. The very basic things work fine, so there is no problem with Gmail and the like, but you don't need a 22" screen for that. So the selling point of a large screen doesn't really play. It might do if you're looking to move to cloud computing as with a keyboard and mouse plugged in, it worked well as an alternate to a laptop, but the lack of memory and processing power could cause limitations to some. Overall, I'm not really sure who would use it, apart from as a netbook alternate. Shame.

Well my faither was fae Breich, and his faither was a shale miner, as was his faither, as they trudged from Lanarkshire from mine to mine in search of work, abandoning homes as they went. Try looking for Haywood now, and see what you find. So as someone who spent his childhood visiting mining relatives all the way from Polbeth to Carnwath, this was pretty much a no brainer for me. It's not the easiest of reads as the approach is very much in the vernacular, but as you work your way through it, you slowly begin to build a picture of what life was like for people in this hardest of industries. There's little out there about what was once a hugely important Scottish industry, so this comes highly recommended.

Damn right I've got the blues. And I've got a few more of them after reading this sequel to "Blues Highway Blues". The story is "owing a debt to the mysterious bluesman, Mr. Atibon, reluctant hero Daniel Erickson finds himself back on the run with his lady love, Vicki Bean, and hitman friend, Moog Turner. Now the three are racing to track down the killer of a rock and roll superstar." Thing is, neither the story nor the characters are that engaging.

I thought I would like a novel that tries to mix crime, blues, humour and travel, as I'm a fan of three of those, but it wasn't to be, as a flat story and two dimensional characters failed to engage me in any way. On the surface it should be a top notch pulp novel, but it just doesn't work.

And so it comes to pass that the Eurovision Song Contest is upon us once more. Sad to say, as a Eurovision fanatic, but the last few years have been less than stellar, both in terms of songs and presentations. So is Malmo 2013 the one to make things right? Well, the short answer is no.

I've immersed myself in all 39 tracks over the last week, and it seems that the theme this year is dull as ditchwater ballads sung by anonymous journeymen and women. I can only hope that the sem-finals sort out some of the wheat from the chaff, or we could be in for another tranquillised evening.

So where is the good stuff? Well, the absolute highlight comes from Montenegro. I can only assume they've got some high quality, leftover nineties illegal highs over there, if their spaced out astronaut dance steps are anything to go by. Tune! If you're looking for something vaguely contemporary (and by that I mean 2011) then go for The Netherlands who give us Anouk performing `Birds'. Sweet.

Elsewhere, the Irish have got themselves sorted out with Ryan Dolan, and Greece have sewn up the Glaswegian vote with Koza Mostra & Agathon Iakovidis performing the very enjoyable `Alcohol is Free'. If you absolutely have to vote for a ballad, then make it the Ukrainian one fro Zlata Ognevich. Somehow Denmark have ended up the odds on favourites with the bookies, but `Only Teardrops' by Emmelie de Forest only induces somnambulistic tendencies round my way. As for Her Majestys Great British entry, all I will say is that it makes Engelbert sound good.

I'll still be watching but probably with the volume turned off.

New to me, but this book originally came out back in 1994, but with the upsurge in Scandinavian crime fiction, this second of many Maria Kallio mysteries to be translated into English from Finnish is up for grabs. And it's OK.

Set in the city of Espoo, it sees Maria Kallio leaving the Helsinki Police Department behind, and moving to the neighbouring city of Espoo for a fresh start. Unfortunately that was not to be when she discovers the strangled body of a new acquaintance. Thing is not very much happens. And when it happens it happens very slowly. Which is OK, but you need something to keep you going. There are too many characters and too many sidebars, and some stronger editing would have helped.

However, it interested me just enough to file away her name for future reference, albeit not top of the list.

An upgrade for me, from an earlier model, which nice as it was, had a really annoying water tank, that was awkward to fill and more awkward (awkwarder?) to empty. So praise be for the detachable water tank on this model. Even if it a bit fiddly and doesn't always click into place first time. But apart from that, it's a dawdle to use, and steam cleaning those awkward corners is a breeze. So, it's a winner. A point deducted, though, for not including the wee bit of plastic that allows you to use the steam mop on carpets. After all, it's a ninety quid piece of kit, and to only include the 50p piece of plastic on the even more expensive model is a liberty. Luckily, the one off my old model fits, so I'm glad I held on to that.

Well it's that time of year when the socks come off and the hard skin appears, so what better time to try out the Scholl Express Pedi. For your money you get the Scholl Express Pedi, a roller and 2 AA batteries. Bung the batteries in, and away you go. Easy as that. It works. So why only three stars? Well, first of all, it's a bugger to clean. And if you're the kind of person who wants to get rid of hard skin, you're unlikely to want the dead remnants clogging up your machine. Then they don't tell you how long the roller lasts, and at a tenner a pop, they're not cheap. And that's the other thing. It's awfy expensive, when a foot file out of Poundys costs you, um, a pound. Don't get me wrong, it works a treat, and it's easy to use, but I'd be hard pushed to justify the expense.

I do like a good historical potboiler, and this is certainly a good one. Elizabeth Fremantle's debut novel, Queen's Gambit, is an account of Katherine Parr, the Tudor queen who married four men and outlived three of them, including Henry VIII. Not something that many of his queens could claim.

It starts off with an account of her pre Henru life, including her second husband Lord Latymer, and his subsequent death, which she had a hand in, her affair with Thomas Seymour, and her relationship with Mary and Elizabeth Tudor. It's always interesting to read of women who had a head on their shoulders (and who held on to them), and this shows how Katherine was torn between her love for Thomas Seymour and the glittering prize that was Queen.

We get details of her life with Henry, and her secret marriage to Seymour after Henry VIII's death. And then, of course, their is the emotional crash when her dream life is shattered. She doesn't always come across as likeable, but Ms Fremantle spins the tale so well, that you always want to know who does what to who next.

This is a cut down version of the more in depth NCH package, Express accounts, but it certainly does exactly what it says on the tin.

It's a simple and straightforward way to manage and generate orders, quotes and invoices. It's easy to set up and once you get your data in there, it's a dawdle to keep track of what's been paid and what's not.

The one thing that is missing is a section for BACS details, but you can add them in the comments field. A bit daft nowadays, but hardly the end of the world. It's a user friendly interface and a straightforward piece of kit for sole traders and small businesses.