This Friday is the start of the Memorial Day holiday in the US. Many companies allow employees time off, making this a long weekend to celebrate the start of summer. Cooking outside and camping have been ways in which my family has enjoyed the holiday in the past, though this year we are likely to spend most of the weekend tending to the plant life around the ranch. For me that means hours in the tractor seat as I try to get the grass under control.

One of the other traditions we have had is seeing a movie over the weekend. This is one of the times that potential blockbusters are usually released. The Avengers movie opened a few weeks ago, and my kids were excited to go see it. In fact, we saw it twice in two week and enjoyed it immensely. This weekend, I suspect that Men in Black 3 will receive a few votes from the kids for a family outing.

It's Friday, and many of you will be looking forward to a break from work for a few days, and I wanted to ask what you might recommend to everyone else out there for a break.

Which science fiction films, either in theaters or at home, would you recommend from the past year?

I haven't seen Battleship, but I did enjoy The Hunger Games earlier this year. I saw Lockout with my son, and while it wasn't much of a movie, it was entertaining for us. Prometheus is on the horizon, and looks interesting. For now, I have to recommend The Avengers if you haven't seen it, and perhaps the third Transformers movie, which I watched a few months ago.

Let us know what you like. I will also recommend the remake of Battlestar Gallactica, which I have been watching on Netflix over the last 6 months or so as a run sci fi series that entertains me.

Steve Jones

The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.

• Watch the Windows Media Podcast - 22.8MB WMV
• Watch the iPod Video Podcast - 17.9MB MP4
• Watch the MP3 Audio Podcast - 3.7MB MP3

The podcast feeds are available at sqlservercentral.mevio.com. You can also follow Steve Jones on Twitter:

Today's podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com. They have a great version of Message in a Bottle if you want to check it out.

I really appreciate and value feedback on the podcasts. Let us know what you like, don't like, or even send in ideas for the show. If you'd like to comment, post something here. The boss will be sure to read it.