The 22nd movie in the James Bond cannon, Quantum of Solace (the title of which doesn't sound nearly so bad now we're all used to it) has broken box office records on its UK opening day.
The movie took £4.9m on Friday, beating the previous record for a Friday opening, £4.025m, held by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. That's going some.
The success of the new Daniel Craig epic can be judged when compared with his earlier outing, Casino Royale, which took £2.9m on the first day of release just two years ago.
Casino Royale and Daniel Craig went on to win acclaim among both fans and critics and the film became the most popular of 2006, taking more than £50m that the British box office alone.
As James Christopher, writing in The Times said, "Really, nobody does it better than the new 007."
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Ex studio band for Stax-Volt Records in the 1960s, Booker T and the MGs have been inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee.
The band played on many hits including, Sitting on the dock of the bay, Hold on (I'm comin'), Try a little tenderness and Soul man before establishing a reputation in their own right with the instrumental, Green onions, in 1962.
Named after their young keyboard player and an MG car belonging to record producer Chips Moman, the band backed Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd, The Staple Singers, Wilson Pickett and many others.
While Booker T was away studying music at Indiana University, Isaac Hayes would sit in, although never an official member of the group.
In 1967 they had another hit with Hip hug-her, followed by Doin' our thing and Soul limbo, famously used for BBC Test Match Special.
In 1969 they had their second biggest hit with Time is tight.
Called the most influential stylists in modern American music, Booker T and the MGs were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, in 2004 Rolling Stone magazine ranked the group 93rd in their list of 100 greatest artists of all time, and in 2007 they were presented with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
My personal favourite? - their version of Winter wonderland.
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Alas and alack, it has been announced that David Tennant is to stand down as Doctor Who.
This is a bitter blow for fans of one of the most popular Time Lords ever, even if his recent outings with the Royal Shakespeare Company did perhaps suggest the tardis may have lost something of its sparkle.
Tennant took control of the BBC police box and sonic screwdriver in 2005.
The 10th actor to play the Doctor, Tennant replaced Christopher Ecclestone, who reinvented the role after a broadcast gap of almost 20 years.
This week that role won Tennant the outstanding drama performance prize at the National Television Awards for the third time.He'll appear in a Christmas special, The Next Doctor, before filming four more specials in January.
"They'll be the last four stories that I do," he said.
The question now has to be who will replace Tennant at the helm of the tardis, and whether, with executive producer Russell T Davies also leaving the show, another change of Doctor may be a regeneration too far.
This is the Doctor and time alone will tell.
Being built for comfort not speed the Olympics aren't generally my choice of viewing. However the performances in Beijing over the past few days have been so inspiring that they have captured even my imagination.
First came the water hero that is Michael Phelps and that astonishing physique. Eight gold medals in these games and almost every conceivable record broken including that of Mark Spitz.
Phelps has now won more medals than many of the smaller countries competing and pretty soon his earnings too are likely to outstrip those of small nations.
But consistent and outstanding though Phelps' achievements are, they have surely been beaten in the popular imagination by Usain Bolt ('Lighting Bolt' for those not yet in the know) in his destruction, his complete and joyful demolition of the world record in the blue riband athletics event, the men's 100m sprint.
Contrasting with the palpable anxiety of his co-finalist countrymen, the lanky Jamaican clearly loves the competition, the environment and the pressure - a performer who responds so well to the big occasion that he does only enough to beat the opposition and then slows down.
Before he crosses the line.
In an Olympic final.
And coincidentally still breaks the world record.
What is this man capable of when he really tries? When he matures, has greater race experience and the wind is in his favour? What will he be capable of then? And just as excitingly, who will raise their game to equal his in coming years?
Ironically many US TV channels didn't show the race, blue riband or not. Perhaps written off the schedules because the American finalists looked unlikely to win, it's the BBC's race recording that has circled the world and BBC commentator and former Olympic champion Michael Johnson's stunned reaction to Bolt's win that has summarised the incredulous response to the achievement.
With a further demonstration of his remarkable abilities to come it's certain the whole world will be watching the 200m sprint final later in the week. And that Lighting Bolt, with his easy arrogance and undoubted charisma, soon out-earns even Michael Phelps.
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The great Isaac Hayes died this week of a stroke aged only 65.
An orphan from rural Tennessee, he was raised by his grandparents, taught himself piano, organ and saxophone and in 1964 moved to Memphis to become a session musician for the Stax label.
He took over from Booker T Jones to play keyboards on his first paid session recordings, for Otis Redding.
With songwriter David Porter he composed a range of classic hits for Sam and Dave, Carla Thomas, Johnnie Taylor and others, including Soul Man, Hold on I'm Coming, B-A-B-Y and When Something's Wrong with my Baby.
His 1969 album, Hot Buttered Soul, took soul music in a new direction, the musical impact matched by the visual impact of the album showing Hayes' signature bald head, bare chest and quantities of gold jewellery.
Two years later and not considered for the lead acting role, his Theme from Shaft won a Grammy and two Oscars, became an icon for the 70s and made Isaac Hayes a household name and the first African American to have a certified Platinum record.
After the Grammy-winning Black Moses album of 1972, he became a published author, appeared in some three dozen films, toured extensively and for several years provided the voice of Chef in the subversive animated series, South Park.
He was a great talent and musical change-maker who will be remembered fondly for his outrageous appearance and his educational legacy in rural Ghana where he was a crowned King.
His family has issued the following statement;
"We are overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and love from Isaac’s dear friends, colleagues and fans from every corner of the world, and we thank each and every one of them for their kind thoughts and prayers. While he was an iconic figure to many, to us he was husband, father and friend. We will ever miss his love, wisdom, humor and the familiar comfort of his voice."
The Surfaris: Wipeout
Count Basie: Basie's jungle bells
Etta James: Bye bye blackbird
Kirsty MacColl & The Pogues: Miss Otis regrets
Bobby Darin: Mac the knife
Gordon Lightfoot: If you could read my mind
Louis Armstrong: Cool Yule
Jeff Buckley: Hallelujah
Mel Torme: Christmas is here
Kate Bush: The man with the child in his eyes
Lou Rawls: Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Featured album: Stax - Sweet Soul Music
Booker T & the MGs: Green onions
Isaac Hayes: Theme from Shaft
Sam & Dave: Hold on, I'm coming
Bar-Kays: Last night
Featured artist: Marilyn Monroe
With Jane Russell: A little girl from Little Rock
With Jane Russell: Bye bye baby
Diamonds are a girl's best friend
Happy birthday, Mr President
Featured songwriter outtakes from musical films: Irving Berlin
From Annie get your Gun, Howard Keel: Colonel Buffalo Bill
From Alexander's Ragtime Band, Ethel Merman: Marching along with time
From Annie get your Gun, Judy Garland: They say it's wonderful
From Idiot's Delight, Clark Gable: Puttin' on the Ritz (included!)
The success of the new Daniel Craig epic can be judged when compared with his earlier outing, Casino Royale, which took £2.9m on the first day of release just two years ago.
Named after their young keyboard player and an MG car belonging to record producer Chips Moman, the band backed Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd, The Staple Singers, Wilson Pickett and many others.
Tennant took control of the BBC police box and sonic screwdriver in 2005. 
