STREET DANCE MOVIE REVIEW

Storyline:

There is a huge street dancing competition coming up and this one particular street dance group is determined to be the winners and beat the champions from last year.

With their leading dancer deciding to have a time out, its left to his now on off girlfriend and fellow group member to take the reigns.

With a starting struggle she finds a perfect place to practice but there is a catch. She has to teach ballet dancers how to street dance.

Can these two groups of different people get it together to win the show? And is the leading dancer who left them in the lurch all he seems to be?

My Thoughts:

This is quite similar to the other street dance film Step Up, but this one has some already famous faces in it from Britain's Got Talent. Like dancers and Britain's Got Talent Winners Diversity and George Sampson as well as other dance contestants Flawless, who strangely take a main role in the film instead of Diversity.

I feel the film and storyline is very predictable, although it's worth it just to watch the dance scenes. If the film had a higher age rating I think it could have been made a lot more edgier and got given a better storyline.

OUTDOOR PLAY: Garden Camping

My kids get bored really easily. Most of the time they just want to be out the house instead of inside with mom and dad as they usually say!

So with their love of playing in the garden I came up with the idea of getting them a proper kids camping tent to keep outside. They are a little too young to be camping overnight just yet even if it is in their garden, but I liked them being able to use it as a little den.

I bought some kids pots and pans, a lamp and a few other bits so they could really get into their role play. On the weekend nights sometimes I will light a little fire (under mom's supervision of course!) and we will roast some marshmallows and we tell silly little stories around the fire.

My kids will even dress up in their camping gear just like if they were doing it for real and my eldest has decided we should have more camping tents instead of just the one - like one for each person! "I don't think our garden is quite big enough for four tents" I told him. Plus he would go in his tent and probably decide he wants to go in his brothers ten minutes later anyway.

Seeing as Autumn is with us at the moment on the way back from school we will collect twigs and leaves to make our fire at the weekend. It's just gives them something to look forward to as they can get bored playing with the same toys and watching the same cartoons over and over again can't they?

Well at least when they get older and we can do camping for real I will have all the camping gear and equipment already and they will know what it's all about.

AMERICAN XFACTOR JUDGES REVEALED

There has been talk of an American XFactor singing show for a while now with Simon Cowell being at the head of things.

Simon is the one who brought us the Britain's and America's Got Talent, Pop Idol, American Idol and of course the British XFactor.

Now his fellow Britain's Got Talent judge Piers Morgan has revealed that the two judges who will be starring alongside Simon for the American XFactor will be current XFactor judge Cheryl Cole and Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger who has recently been a guest judge on the show.

I can't see how this won't be much different to American Idol really, except you can have groups in XFactor too.

I wonder if it will take off or if people have just become bored of all these talent shows now.

CREATING A TOY ROOM FOR THE KIDS

We have a conservatory in our home which we hardly use even in the summer time. You see because we have a lounge and a separate dining room we tend to spend all our time in their as a family really.

Then I thought I may as well try and make use of the conservatory instead of it just being a second lounge or dining room. Well I guess that's what they are mostly used for really isn't it? But instead I was thinking about making it into a play room for the kids. I would put some kids furniture in there and fill it out with all their educational toys , action figures, computer etc.

Plus on warmer occasions they would have good access to the garden to play too, instead of theu keep coming in and out into the living areas and leaving their muddy footprints around.

Our house is full of toys in every corner. The kids do play with them in their bedroom also but then there is only so much you can store away before it starts to look like an overcrowded toy shop and have nowhere to sleep!

So at least if they had their own little room everything could be in one place and it wouldn't look a mess as the rest of the house rooms are kept separate.

I can just picture them in there now reading their books, figuring out some puzzles or playing kitchen with the cooker set. A few friends of mine have done the same with their conservatory's too and the kids can just do their own thing in that room instead of getting under your feet!

How about you? Have you got a special area or room for your kids to play in? And would you ever consider using a spare unused room for this purpose?

MATT LEBLANC: "Don't you dare call me Joey!"

When your in a famous sitcom for years as a popular funny character it's bound to stay with you for the rest of your life.

Matt LeBlanc wants people to forget about Joey and just see him as Matt LeBlanc instead. He was reported to have shouted at a fan at London Fashion week after they yellowed his famous line "How you doin?"

Matt retaliated by saying;

"I'm not Joey. Don't you dare call me Joey. The papers say I'm finished so don't you call me f**king Joey. I want to leave that all behind. I'm moving on ... I'm not Joey. For the last time I'm not f**king Joey. It's Matt LeBlanc. Joey's in the past. I'm trying something new."

O.K calm down there Joey (snigger!) show us that your not by actually doing something new then and not just starring in spin off Friends shows called errr Joey! And low budget films like Lost In Space - alright?

CREATE MORE LIVING SPACE: Sliding Pocket Door

If you have a lack of space in your home or want to use the space around your door perhaps a Pocket Door would be an ideal solution.

These beautiful sliding doors have a special frame that is integrated into a timber or metal stud wall construction. As the door slides it simply glides inside your wall instead.

PARIS HILTON REFUSED ENTRY INTO JAPAN

If anyone thought that Paris Hilton got off lightly with her latest arrest of possessing narcotics, she had a serious knock back when she tried to enter Japan for business commitments

Tokyo officials didn't care who she was. They were more concerned about recent events and how it would affect their country. So she was turned away even though her commitments were a done deal and would involve her losing thousands of pounds and letting down her Japanese fans.

Paris' people said;

"Paris is very disappointed and fought hard to keep her business commitments and see her fans, but she is forced to postpone her commitments in Asia. Paris understands and respects the rules and laws of the immigration authorities in Japan and fully wishes to cooperate with them. Paris looks forward to returning in the future to a country she loves and has been coming to for the past 10 years."

Paris felt that bad she took to her Twitter page and wrote;

"Going home now. So disappointed to miss my fans in Asia. I promise to come back soon. I love you all! Love Paris xoxo."

Maybe this hard lesson will teach her not to get in trouble with the police again you never know!

BODY PROBLEMS & TREATMENT DATABASE

If we get an injury or have regular pains or discomfort in our bodies some people won't go to the doctors as they may think it's nothing or are simply too embarrassed.

The first place we usually turn to is the Internet and start typing in our symptoms or known problem such as herniated disc in neck, but then thousands of results will appear with a lot of them will be irrelevant.

There is a health website called Treatment Report that has a database of about 2405 treatment results.

Whether your suffering from a hernitated disc lower back problem, hair loss, bruised knee caps, arthritis or ones that are considered more serious such as diabetes, asthma or heart problems you can read all about them here and learn what the symptoms and treatments are.

The website allows people to register and share their problems as well as view them too.

There is some useful chart information on what treatments are suggested and how each person has rated the benefits of doing that treatment. These can be anything from 'healed' to 'made worse'

You can read recent patient stories from real people who have been affected by the problem your looking up and learn from their experience.

The osteoarthiritis treatment and others can include surgery, recommended exercises, massage, pain killers, vitamins, suggested weight loss and more.

BE GREENER: Join The Do The Reuse Challenge

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Aladdin. All opinions are 100% mine.

It's amazing how the actions we do every day can have such an effect on the environment. For example how many paper cups, water bottles or food containers would you get through in a week?

Reusable product retailer Aladdin feel strongly about this and have created a campaign called the Do The Reuse Challenge to try and make people realise the small things really do count and make us think do we need to use these disposable products?

Did you know for instance that 50 billion disposable water bottles are consumed each year in the USA? That's like 1,585 per second! Unfortunately I am one of those 50 billion people.

The Do The Reuse challenge is for every day families like me and you to try one of more of the three challenges for 30 days, that include having coffee at home in a mug instead of in your car or at a coffee shop, using a reusable water bottle as opposed to buying one at your local shop and more.

Many families have already joined in and I will be looking to take part myself - especially with the water bottle challenge. You can already track 9 families progress over at the website as well as find out more about the campaign.

You can also check out the Aladdin on Facebook page to see whats new and keep up to date with the latest news.

If you fancy joining in on the campaign but don't currently have any reusable products you can get some low priced ones over at the Aladdin website.

CATCH UP AT THE NEWS ROOM

If you like to relax with a good newspaper hopefully you will enjoy my news blog that I have recently launched.

At The News Room I research and write about interesting news from around the world. At the moment it's still in it's very early stages but there are 5 news posts to start you off and I will be adding more regularly.

There will be topics on crime, medical, politics, sport, transport services, weird news and more. Hope to see you there :)

KIDS EAT FREE AT PIZZA HUT: Offer Extended To January 2011

Trying to keep a 3 and a 5 year old occupied can be a challenge at the best of times, so when the school holidays came around I did wonder what my plan of action was going to be.

Taking them somewhere different each week would have cost me a lot of money, but I managed to find some free days out for them to do like visiting the pet shop, doing adventure walks and trails, looking around museums and building sand castles on the beach. Most of the time these places were quite far from home so we would have to eat out.

There are plenty of Pizza Hut restaurants around and I heard they were doing a Kids Eat Free offer for the under 12's so this sounded ideal.

The chunky fish strips with potato wedges

The kids can either have a free buffet meal if eating at lunchtime that includes pizza, pasta and salad and if at tea time there is a 2 course meal where they can choose from classics such as chunky fish strips with potato wedges. You can find more details about the offer at http://bit.ly/a1DhgJ that has been extended until 9th January, 2011.

Better still when I looked on the receipt there is another special offer where you can get discounted prices for many days out and attractions across the UK such as theme parks, zoos, sea life centres or get massive savings on that family holiday you wanted to book but it always seemed over budget before. Just check your receipt for the discount code and go to http://www.pizzahut.co.uk/familyadventures to claim your voucher.

Sponsored Post

PRISONER SUING KARDASHIAN'S $75,000 FOR WATCHING THEIR SHOWS

These days you can sue someone for just about anything and with silly cases winning regularly it's no wonder more and more people try their luck.

Like a Pennsylvania prisoner D.J Goodson who claims that watching the Kardashians reality shows on the TV prison has left him with 'extreme emotional stress' and that he was forced to watch the 'outrageous' family all the time.

Some scenes from the show in particular he pointed out was Kim in the celebrity boxing match and Kourtney 'ranting like an insane person'.

He is trying to claim $75,000 in damages. Reality check- (excuse the pun!) this guy is in prison for a start off and trying to claim money? And if he were that serious surely he should be suing the actual prison instead for playing it?

I mean come on. Next time should the Kardashians re-think making a show in case someone with an idea of getting some quick cash decides it's too disturbing for them? Just don't watch it then I say!

DISNEYLAND DISCOUNTS

When searching for family breaks France Disneyland is one place that comes up quite often as there is so much to do for adults and children.

As well as hundreds of rides at the Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park, you can find various themed bars, cinemas and shopping areas.

Disneyland Paris is celebrating it's 15th anniversary this year and with that you can find plenty of deals on hotels, inclusive meals, train travel for cities in Europe and park tickets.

Website Euro Disney Offers is a good one to look at as it features lots of great discounts like children under 12 go free and £175 off the cost of your holiday.

PARIS HILTON DODGES A PRISON SENTANCE

Paris Hilton got lucky this time when she was arrested last month for having narcotics on her. Instead of a prison sentance she got a $2,000 fine and 200 hours of community service.

She has also been told that this is her final warning and if she gets arrested again for a fourth time she will go to prison.

Altogether now ...... yawn! Will this girl ever learn or is she destined to have shorter than the 'non celebrity' prison sentances and pay out fines that she would splash out on a single fashion handbag?

EURO DISNEY SPECIAL OFFERS

Euro Disney is a big place where there is plenty to do for everyone. But if you are arriving without having pre-booked any special offers or using discount vouchers it can become costly. Especially if you are there for a family day out.

You can find some special offers over at website Euro Disney offers. If your looking to save time and money on your food the Half Board Meal plans are a recommended option, where you can choose from a buffet style lunch or dinner from quite a few of the Euro Disney restaurants.

There are also some low cost Euro Disney package deals on rail travel from Europe travelling to and from cities like Brussels, Lille and London.

THE LADY GAGA VMA MEAT OUTFIT

After a quick glance of Lady GaGa's VMA outfit I thought that's not as weird as her usual style and saw that her dress was quite nice. Then I looked at the shoes, the headpiece then enlarged the picture and there it was - typical GaGa! Only she could wear a dress that looked like meat. Ewww!

Well that is a new one I haven't seen before anyway! She discussed the outfit on The Ellen DeGeneres show and said “It is certainly no disrespect to anyone that is vegan or vegetarian, as you know, I am the most judgement-free human being on the earth.”

GET THAT SECOND CHANCE: Criminal Record Expungement

When you have a criminal past whether it was something minor or more serious it always seems to follow you around wherever you go. Especially when it comes to getting a job.

Over 80% of employers will do criminal checks and would no doubt refuse you straight away, even if it was a crime done several years ago.

To resolve this you can try and get a criminal record expungement where your files are cleared of the criminal activities. This would be subject to a criminal law attorney representing you in court and fighting your case.

Website recordgone.com have experienced and licenced attorneys who specialise in these cases. By using California's Expungement Law they will try and get most if not all of your record cleared so you can start living your life and have the same chances as everybody else.

They can assist people in quite a few states across the USA for a number of crimes for anything from vandalism to theft.

The website also has a lot of features like a free eligibility test so you know straight away if you have a chance of rectifying your situation or not and a free live attorney chat system that you probably wouldn't find elsewhere.

GEORGE MICHAEL BREAKS DOWN IN PRISON

Looks like George Michael isn't taking so kindly to prison life as he might have hoped. Reports have recently came in saying that he has been crying in front of the inmates on several different occasions and saying things like "I can't believe this has happened to me."

He has been put in a Vulnerable Prisoners Unit for his own safety apparently that is full of the lowest of the low such as paedophiles.

Some of the prisoners teased him as he walked him singing and mocking his songs jeering "You've gotta have faith"and "Freedom" and when he was in the showers they sang the tune of his song Careless Whisper saying "Guilty George has got no freedom."

There was me thinking these high profile celebrities would get it easy with a private cell and no contact with the prisoners. Unless they are making an example out of him of course.

GENUINE DIAMOND & GEMSTONE JEWELRY

There is that old saying that 'diamonds are a girls best friend' and that definitely rings true with me. I love diamond and gemstone jewelry.

Not just for myself either but as gifts for my friends for birthdays. You can never go wrong with this type of jewelry because you can wear it with any kind of outfit.

Some people might think diamond jewelry can be quite expensive, but the prices are pretty affordable if you look in the right places.

Like website Galaxy Gold for instance. You can find gold and sterling silver rings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings that have genuine diamonds and gemstones on them. And ones that are all at reasonable prices.

Being born in September I have always been a fan of the gem Sapphire as it is my birthstone. You can find some lovely birthstone collections on the site that feature a different gem stone colour representing the month of your birthday.

If you don't see what you like and have something else in mind Galaxy Gold can even custom make the jewelry to how you want it to be.

As well as selling the jewelry the site has a very informative learning section where you can read all about how the precious stones are made, what to look out for when buying them such as carat, color, clarity and cut, see what meaning each stone carries and more.

MOTHER & DAUGHTER DOUBLE: Reese & Ava Witherspoon

How much does Reese Witherspoon's daughter Ava look just like her? The same style hair, facial expressions and everything.

I wonder if she will aspire to be a big movie star like her mom or turn into one of these rebel children who are famous for nothing apart from having famous parents?

PRE-ORDER TOY STORY 3 FOR £9.97

I absolutely adore Toy Story. So much so that me and my kids have watched the third one at the cinema twice already!

If it's not Woody the cowboy tugging at my heart strings with his loyalty to his friends and owner Andy, it's new characters like Ken the doll making me laugh in my seat with his comedy performance. It definitely has to be the best Toy Story yet with a tale of adventure where you can't help but feel for the toys in their situation.

Thankfully for me (and my purse!) I wont have to wait for the Toy Story 3 DVD to be released on 22nd November, 2010. That's just over a month before Christmas, and you know how people like to shop early for presents. So pre-ordering would be your best option to guarantee you a copy.

Currently you can pre-order a special Double Play DVD and Blu Ray copy edition from Tesco Entertainment for £9.97.

If you haven't saw this at the cinema already it would make a great family film to add to your collection. And one where your kids will want to watch it over again and probably the same for yourself too no doubt - You'll see!

GEORGE MICHAEL SENTANCED

After pleading guilty George Michael has been sentenced to 8 weeks in prison - gasp! Isn't that equal to about 2 weeks in celebville?

This came from George crashing his Range Rover after smoking the 'good stuff'.

There have already been jokes going around about how much he will feel at home in there. You can probably guess what I mean by that!