FROM THE SFX OFFICE

Cat Watch: week two, Apple love and lots of Misfits in this week’s peek behind the blast door

It’s been another one of those weeks in SFX Towers, we’ve all been so busy it barely feels like five minutes since the last time we spoke. A lot can happen in five minutes though, like a trip to London to see the first episode of the new series of Misfits , or another soon-to-be-classic Couch Potato. We’ve also been anxiously anticipating issue 215, which should be in the hands of subscribers any day now, but goes on sale up and down the land next Wednesday, 19 October. Fan of foul-mouthed teens? Or Greek muscle men? Or nice long list features? Then you’re in for one heck of a treat.

Unless you’re Apple-oblivious, you couldn’t help but notice that their new operating system iOS5 launched worldwide last night. “What’s that got to do with SFX ?” You might ask. Well, two things. Firstly Siri is the next step in the evolution of Skynet and the extinction of the human race (mark our words) and a little thing called Newsstand, a place where you can subscribe to SFX, Comic Heroes and the SFX Specials (at a tasty discount) and have them live on your iPad/iPhone. It’s absolutely brilliant and has convinced Jordan he needs to buy an iPad post-haste, not surprising given he was up till the wee hours last night fiddling with notifications, text shortcuts and setting up his iCloud. Damn Apple and their amaze-o products! You can find all the links on this handy page here .

Rich has also been busy exploring the delights of iOS 5 (or should that be resisting seeing as we’ve still got a couple of hours left in the working day?), is halfway through a Misfits rewatch (Mrs Rich hadn't seen it until now), and satisfying Russell's insatiable hunger for pages packed with news copy. Speaking of Russell, following on from last week's drama, he’s still having to keep that darned cat from trying to get into his house and just about succeeding.

[Clunky segue alert!] Not everyone on the SFX team has issues with our feline friends. In fact Nick loves cats so much he made a special effort to attend Couch Potato round Ian’s place earlier this week specifically so he could meet Ian’s kitties. They did not disappoint. So much so that he’s been showing off pictures round the office to anyone who will look, which isn’t many of us to be honest.

Ian’s been working from home the past few days. Thanks to Twitter today we know he’s working on the SFX letters pages, Post Apocalypse, and isn’t having the easiest of times by the sounds of things. Why not lend him a hand and send some thoughts to sfx@futurenet.com ?

Back to Russell, he's trying to catch up with all the Marvel films he hasn't seen (though he's not bothered about Elektra and Man-Thing ), and this includes watching 1944's Captain America Republic serial episode by episode online! "It's hilarious," he says. "The Captain - who's not actually Steve Rogers, is quite a podgy old bloke. The actor who played him sadly died of a heart attack the year the serial was made."

Jordan’s just about recovered from a very late Friday night-very early Saturday-very long weekend away in Oxford (his conclusion: beautiful, but not as nice as Cambridge) triple whammy which has left him with a pesky sore throat – a nightmare for a journo with any interview plans over the next week. Strepsils are never so appealing as the minute you pick up the phone for a 20 minute interview. His highlight has undoubtedly been that aforementioned excursion to London to watch the first episode of Misfits, where he was chuffed to meet writer Howard Overman for the first time despite having interviewed him close to half a dozen times for his various shows. If you were wondering, Jordan also finished Fallout 3 (took him 30 plus hours, and he barely touched the plethora of side missions), which has put his mind at ease that he won’t have to abandon it half way through for Batman ; and has decided everyone needs to start watching The Fades immediately (as in, get up from your desk at work, go home and start watching. It’ll be worth getting the sack for) after last night’s breathtakingly good fourth episode. He’s not ashamed to admit he welled up a little at the end, though that could also have been down to the burnt sausages filling his flat with eye-watering smoke. Conversely he is ashamed to admit he’s a terrible cook.

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Random Quote Of The Week: “ Sometimes that’s all you need, hulk smash cow.”

Whose Glasses? (last week’s answer, they were Dave’s specs!)

Jordan Farley

I'm the News Editor at Total Film magazine, running the opening pages of every issue where you can read exclusive interviews and see first-look images from the biggest films. I was previously the Community Editor at sci-fi, fantasy and horror movie bible SFX. You'll find my name on news, reviews, and interviews covering every type of movie, from the latest French arthouse release to the biggest Hollywood blockbuster. My work has also featured in Official PlayStation Magazine and Edge. Outside of my day job, I'm a FromSoft fanatic (proudest achievement: beating Malenia solo) and a TV connoisseur (translation: I'll watch anything).