TV

How I Met Your Mother
2x17 Arrivederci, Fiero [2nd watch]

Richard Osman's House of Games
4x66 Episode 66 [2nd watch]
Couldn't remember which episode we needed to jump to next, so just watched the first one we came across that we didn't remember. Still didn't remember it by the end. Turns out we watched it four years ago. Oh well!

Films

The Set up (1963)
[#61 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2026]
That's not a typo — "up" doesn't have a capital U on the title card. Stickler for accuracy, me.

Topper (1937)
[#60 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2026]

Collection Count

Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.

This week was almost a quiet one, but then a large stack of seven titles (including two three-film box sets, so it looked more like 11) turned up this morning. Most of those were thanks to Radiance's current sale, where I mopped up a load of "maybe" releases at bargain prices. Hurrah!

Number of titles in collection: 3,742 [up 8]
Of which DVDs: 960 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,782 [up 9]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 564 [up 4]

Number of discs in collection: 8,983 [up 15]
Number of films: 4,834 [up 12]
Number of additional cuts: 517 [up 4]
Number of TV episodes: 10,145 [up 1]
Number of short films: 1,337 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Technology

Steam Machine

Thirteen months since getting my Steam Deck, ten months since it was announced, and three months since they let you join a list to buy one, I've finally got my hands on a Steam Machine.

And, like when I got my Deck, I don't really have time to play with it right now, but I did unbox it and set it up, so that was... fun, in its own way. The games I most want to use it for are ones that are a bit too much for my Deck to run, which tends to mean they're big downloads, so the chances of me playing anything tonight anyway were always slim — even now, it's still downloading the two I most wanted to get on there. It's fundamentally a more powerful Steam Deck, anyhow, so the experience was all very familiar.

And I haven't got it completely set up yet (I need to install Decky, and Heroic, and RetroDECK, and move over some games I'd added by other means that I was intending to play docked, and prettify my library like I have on Deck), so there's still hours of fun to be had getting it 'working'. Maybe I'll even play games on it at some point!

Tabletop Games

Daggerheart
All 3 games continuing (although one of them is, technically, still paused).

Films

Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2 (2012)
[#58 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2026]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2026 #6

I’ve been planning to watch the two parts of this over a weekend for… most of the year? Certainly since sometime after I fell behind on my WDYMYHS goal (which, to be fair, was in February). Glad I've finally achieved it.

Fiction

Alchemised by SenLinYu
Chapters 63–65
End of Part Two.
I was worried about tackling this over-1000-page doorstop, but at this rate I'll have finished it in about 3½ weeks (touch wood). It's partly a testament to it being compelling; it's more a sign of how radically my reading habits have changed in the last couple of years.

Collection Count

Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.

After spending over £90 on Kill Bill last week, this week my £70 edition of Hamilton turned up. Bit crazy, that. Hope it's not a sign of the way the entire market's going. Also this week: a DVD-to-4K leap. Always fun.

Number of titles in collection: 3,734 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 961 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,773 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 560 [up 2]

Number of discs in collection: 8,968 [up 4]
Number of films: 4,832 [up 1]
Number of additional cuts: 513 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 10,144 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,337 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Tabletop Games

Daggerheart
All 3 games continuing (well, one of them is technically on pause, but it's not cancelled).

Video Games

Doom
Time flies: it's almost a year since I last played Doom! But I fancied some uncomplicated action (I'd like to get back to Rogue Trooper, but its controls are a pain) so it seemed a good pick. Having played all of the first episode last time, this time I kept going til I got through all of the second, The Shores of Hell. Once again, it took me way longer than it probably should (the best part of two hours), but those levels are torturous mazes! I finally realised you really do need to use the map to find your way around.

Collection Count

Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.

I finally caved and spent a small fortune on an imported 4K of Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair this week. They'll probably finally announce an even-better and/or much-cheaper UK release now. Also this week, a handful of other mop-up titles (can't believe I didn't order the Fight Club 4K when it came out), all just in time for the monthly running time update.

Number of titles in collection: 3,733 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 962 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,771 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 558 [up 4]

Number of discs in collection: 8,964 [up 9]
Number of films: 4,831 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 512 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,144 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,337 [up 7]

Total running time of collection (approx.):
624 days, 1 hour, and 14 minutes.
(Up 21 hours and 7 minutes from last month.)

See you next week, faithful reader.

Non-Fiction

Oscar Wars by Michael Schulman
Chapters 6–7

I was enjoying this in July last year, not really sure why my reading of it petered out. Not sure if I'll stick with it now or just read a chapter now and then.

Collection Count

Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.

I was expecting a few more arrivals this week, to be honest, but in the end it was just one new box set. More next week, for sure.

Number of titles in collection: 3,730 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 962 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,768 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 554 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 8,955 [up 3]
Number of films: 4,828 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 512 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 10,144 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,330 [no change]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Films

The Double (1971)
[#50 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2026]

Halfway! There's an outside chance I can still pull this off...

Video Games

Titanium Court
I've accumulated over 1,000 PC games since I started a spending spree provoked by my Steam Deck acquisition a year ago, and about a dozen of them I'm 'officially' already playing, but then I'll do something like buy this (currently half price) and immediately boot it up. Who knows why I am the way I am? Anyway, it's really weird, which I was expecting, and pretty fun, so far. It's a bit Strategy-y, which might turn me off in time (especially if it gets too complicated/difficult — Strategy has never been my genre), but I'm enjoying its quirkiness (especially its story) so far.

Fiction

Alchemised by SenLinYu
Prologue
Chapters 1–2

Knowing this started life as a Harry Potter fanfic, I can't help but try to map characters and locations back onto Potter. Some are blatant, others less so. Either way, I need to try to stop doing that — if I wanted the Potter version, I could just read the original!

Fiction

His Last Bow: Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
5 The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
6 The Adventure of the Dying Detective

That's the end of His Last Bow for me, but no "the end" note because I've already read the final story. Not that I don't want to read it again, but I'm still focused on reading all the stories I have never read (nine to go!)

Lady Frances Carfax goes to show why you can't always trust others' opinions: rated a strong but not exceptional 4 stars by the Pocket Essentials guide, and ranked right near the bottom-end by the fan poll, I thought this was actually rather brilliant — an unusual, fun, and surprising escapade.

The Dying Detective, meanwhile, is rated full marks by Pocket Essentials but sits almost bang in the middle of the fan poll. It's also different and kind of clever, but the 'reveal' feels obvious.

Collection Count

Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.

I spent lots of money on Blu-rays this week... but almost all on preorders. Only one new addition actually arrived: Radiance's delayed box set of Jean Luc Godard's Histoire(s) du cinéma, along with other related works.

Number of titles in collection: 3,729 [up 1]
Of which DVDs: 962 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,767 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 554 [no change]

Number of discs in collection: 8,952 [up 3]
Number of films: 4,825 [up 4]
Number of additional cuts: 511 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,144 [up 8]
Number of short films: 1,330 [up 5]

See you next week, faithful reader.

Fiction

His Last Bow: Some Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
3 The Adventure of the Devil's Foot

This is one of the most-acclaimed Holmes adventures (9th on Conan Doyle's personal top 12; 13th in definitive fan poll; 5 stars in the Pocket Essentials guide), which is interesting because I pretty much guessed exactly what had happened. But it's a bit different to the norm and atmospherically told, so it still has that going for it.

Films

Robot Monster 3D (1953)
[#45 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2026]

Preceded by the short Stardust in Your Eyes (as it was in theatres), which I already watched earlier this year as part of 3-D Rarities. Didn't see that rewatch coming!