A New Hope

For the last one, flip the lever near the entrance to release a steam jet. Put Threepio on it and he'll be jetted up to where he can access the last switch. You can now hop on the Falcon and get out of here.

Today in "Birthday II" - we burned up some calories on my six year old's Everlast Tower Power Inflatable Punching Bag (an impulse purchase not likely to survive many pumellings on the scale of this morning's assault) and covered a few miles, in some of the heaviest rain that's ever run down the back of my neck, on his new bike.

When we got back home we were drenched to the bone so we peeled off out sodden clothes and put dressing gowns on as we dried out and started trying to come to terms with "Lego Star Wars II" on the XBOX 360 that I got for him (or perhaps more accurately for us).

My inner geek noted that he quality of the graphics that the 360 pumps out to an HD ready LCD TV is really something to behold, but it also made me smile to imagine the Daily Mail editorials that might have been extemporised in the heads of any nosey parker passers by who may have peeped through my window to see us gaming in our nightwear in the middle of the afternoon.

I've never really played computer games much before, but I can see the attraction after the two of us messed around with them for a few hours this afternoon. We finished four levels with my boy on the controller and me the eminence grise, before I had to take him back to his Mum.

Rather worryingly, I finished level 5 "Death Star Escape" - which we were about 60% of the way through - on my own when I got back so that we wouldn't have to start it again.

I've been playing with the Media Extender tonight. The XBOX 360 is hardwired into my router, but my Media Center PC - through an accident of history is only connected via Wi Fi. Much to my surprise this is still perfectly serviceable for video. I've found that I can't stream "backed up" DVD's to the Extender though, which rather puts the kybosh on My Movies. I am sure that such deliberate hamstringing of software will rebound in years to come on the MSM in all its manifestations.