Think I've got another personal favourite! (No spoilers film review)

Luke Tappenden 27/10/11

I went to see ‘Paranormal Activity 3’ at the Colchester Odeon last night. Now, although I’m a regular visitor of the cinema, I’ve never really been to see a horror film at the cinema before (except for the remake of ‘Don’t be Afraid of the Dark’ where everybody kept laughing), even though I do enjoy a good horror film and the thrill that usually comes with it.

Going to see ‘Paranormal Activity 3’ was a brilliant experience. You could tell the audience were mostly horror film fans and the atmosphere was of excitement and anticipation. Nobody was there to throw popcorn or make irritating noises and the film certainly surpassed the previous two’ films in both the excitement factor and freight factor. Whereas the previous two films really keep you under the thrall of anticipation this film lets hell rip right from the off.

At one point, having been sat at the front, it felt like being blindfolded on a roller coaster! – in the tense quiet, not knowing when the drop would pounce. I’m definitely glad I went to see this in the cinema (as I am with most films) because the audience certainly provided a light-hearted touch to the viewing. After a jumpy scene everybody would tend to shake it off with a good laugh before getting back into the film. ‘Paranormal Activity 3’ was truly one of the scariest films, alongside ‘REC’ and the remake of ‘Close Encounters’, I’ve ever seen. Loved it!

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The 5 minute chocolate cake

Sam Sherwin 20/10/11

A little while back on a lazy Sunday afternoon my wife mentioned she fancied some chocolate, she said this in ear shot of the kids so of course they all said "we want some too". Sadly being on a health drive there was absolutely no chocolate anywhere in the house. I happened to be on the web at this time doing some research and the thought occurred to me "there must be a really easy and quick way to make a chocolate cake". I started searching and found the 5 minute chocolate cake. I printed out the recipe, quietly went into the kitchen and made it. The result was fantastic. We're not talking Delia or Nigella here but for 5 minutes of effort the result was simply great. Much to the surprise and delight of my wife and children, they all had some chocolate cake and of course I got brownie points :) I've since found a number of variations on this recipe and have refined it for my own taste. Now I'm no master baker but the steps below are for my own version.

Things you need:
Microwave
Coffee Mug

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons of flour (self raising or plain both seem to work)
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder (drinking chocolate is perfect)
4 tablespoons sugar (if using sweetened cocoa powder reduce to 1 or 2 tablespoons)
1/2 an egg. (or a small egg) too much can make it taste eggy.
3 tablespoons of milk
3 tablespoons of oil
3 tablespoons of chocolate chips (Not in the original recipe, and I guess if I’d have found them in our house we would simply eaten them instead :)

Being a man and not really believing that ingredients have to be mixed in a certain order I simply put everything in a coffee mug at the same time and just give it a good mix.

Stick it in the microwave for about 3.5 minutes.
I tend to check after 3 mins then keep going in 30 seconds bursts. When it looks a bit like a cake on top, take it out.

Nice served with a little cream.