Alternative Christmas present guide (2018) **AD**

Hey readers,

This guide is to help people who don't want something traditional but a little bit different to get excited about this Christmas.

DNA testing Kit.

I will kick off with this interesting idea called Find my past DNA sampling kit. If someone that you know is interested in learning about your past history and relatives then this is the present for them.

It is basically you will receive a kit that includes activation code to set up an online account and this will be where you find out about your results. In the kit that will be sent directly via post in a box and inside, there is a testing kit. 

You can't drink for one hour after that time you swipe your mouth with the swab around anti-clockwise for about 45 seconds giving that enough time to collect some check cells. This then gets closed up ceiled in a bag and then you place it into the prepaid envelope to get your details tested.

Once the test sample is received you will be given details on your online account about information about past relatives, where they are from, what parts of the country they are from. Great if you want to find more about your family tree.

 Really simple to do and clear instructions on each step. The kits themselves are dispatched between 5-7 working days.

What the sampling kit looks like when received in the post.

Inside the kit instructions, sealed envelope, swab, and pre-paid envelope.

Taking a swab of my inside cell checks to send off to get tested.

This is what the sealed envelope looks like.

Mystery box.

Next on the list is the very popular trend that has occurred on Youtube and that is a mystery box.

 You get to send a box of random items through on Firebox you can select the kind of items you want such as gadget, unusual, foodie etc. 

It is great fun because there is that thrill of not knowing what to expect and opening up is a big surprise. It can either go two ways - really amazing stuff or absolutely pants. But hey the surprise and not knowing is what it is about.

Frefall Abseil at The ArcelorMittal Orbit.

 

This idea is for the person in your life who is an adrenaline junkie and gets their kicks out of risking their own life. I present you freefall abseil at the ArcelorMittal Orbit in London. You can buy this experience from Red Letter Days. 

You can't say this is not unique. What it comprises of abseiling down the tallest sculpture in the United Kingdom. It is located in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and showcases a stunning 115 metres in height. You can see iconic places such as the London Olympics. 

It is also a freefall abseil. Ascend to a platform on 80 metres up and take in the sky-high views of London. whilst being attached to the specially-designed safety system by expert Wire and Sky staff.

 Then take a deep breath, lean back and abseil down without touching anything until the ground is reached. Relish the scary yet exhilarating feeling of being mid-air and marvel at views of the Gherkin, St. Paul's, the O2 Arena and more on the way down. The duration of the experience lasts for two hours of pure excitement.

Cheers for reading X

This is an advertisement feature. I was given a Living DNA kit for free in exchange for a review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Review of the Biscuit Baron *AD*

Hey readers,

ADVERTORIAL.

There are so many different subscriptions to chose from if want to see something exciting in the post every month. However, have you heard of The Biscuit Baron, well if not let me tell you it is something little bit different.

The biscuit Baron is a subscription box that provides biscuits from different countries every month. The company knows that biscuits are a love for British people and they want to explore further with how different countries like their biscuits.

What does the subscription box contain?

* 5-8 full-size packets of biscuits (with one savoury option included).

* A score chart to rate each biscuit on a scale from 1-10, a great activity to do with family or friends.

* A fact sheet with information from the country and a little bit of history.

Pricing.

There are several opinions you can just from a one-off plan with no renewal to 1,3,6 or 12-month subscription plan. Subscription boxes start from £15 per box, coming down to £13.33 for long-term plans and that includes the delivery in that price as well.

My verdict.

At first, I thought it was a bit expensive but then I thought of other subscription boxes and what you get in them (some of the miniature items) this was good value. I received five items and them full size as well so I thought it was a great way to try out new foods from different countries with a twist.

I like the fact that you get some new information from the country and I really had great fun scoring the biscuits on the chart with the family.

I liked the different varieties so you got a mix including savoury. My children got to try something new and learn something about the country of Italia.

They would make a fun Christmas present and something different for someone to try.

This is what the box looks like with all the items included in the Italian box.

Ringo Cookies.

A cookie that is a two-toned biscuit with a creamy filling that is packed full of energy but not too heavy. Brilliant texture for dunking and would make a great afternoon snack after school.

 

Testing out the duckability and get 100% Perfetto!

Tenerezze.

I think these biscuits were popular, the taste was beautiful with the lemon flavour and the texture was soft and crumbly, beautiful!

Biscuit galore!

Pan Di Stelle.

These biscuits are a cute design. Pan Di Stelle translates to Starry Bread. They go really well with a glass of milk because they taste of cocoa and hazelnut and a chocolate pastry.

Milllefoglie.

Millefoglie is a multilayered pastry with a sweet topping, funny enough it works really well dunking in a glass of milk and when dunked keeps the firmness without breaking apart.

Taralli Pizza Style.

These are the savoury item. They are small ring-shaped products with twisted ends typical for the southern regions.

 They had a lovely herby flavour though for me personally a bit too salty for my tastes. That being said my boys absolutely loved them.

Amaretti.

These biscuits are beautiful in flavour with the almond and have a lovely firm texture to them. They go perfectly with a perfect with a coffee.

Finally here is what the rating card for the biscuits below.

Cheers for reading X

I have gifted a subscription box in exchange for a review. However, all opinions expressed are entirely my own

ROXI Electric Jukebox Review **AD**

Hey readers,

I was lucky enough to be asked to review a ROXI Electric Jukebox. If you haven't heard of this product then think of a music streaming entertainment service enhanced with karaoke, a choice of live worldwide radio stations, a game of name that tunes with many genres to choose from and more.

What's in the box/ how it looks.

The packaging is a smart, well-designed affair with an outer card sleeve protecting 
an inner box that contains the well-protected kit.

Sliding a new box from a thick outer sleeve always makes me tingle with anticipation as there is normally something of good quality waiting to be revealed and the ROXI Electric Jukebox hub with its accompanying remote/microphone certainly looks the part as you pop the lid of the inner box open.

The ROXI Electric Jukebox hub and remote/mic are nestled into their own snug compartments in a strong card tray. Under that is another tray that holds three cables:

* Power Adapter - 240v, 3 pin transformer plug to 5v 5.5mm power jack.

* HDMI cable - 1m long, male both ends for video/audio connection to your TV.

* USB cable - short USB cable to charge the remote/microphone.

ROXI Electric Jukebox comes with a full year premium subscription membership to get you started (then £52 a year which I believe is about half the amount that some others charge).

 A nicely laid out paper guide is included to help get you into the fun as quickly and easily as possible.

The ROXI hub is 27mm high and about 130mm square but rounded more like a lozenge with a matt plastic concave top incorporating a shiny 'eJ' logo and a smart flush-fitted, soft-lit power button. The front face includes 'E L E C T R I C   J U K E B O X' in shiny block letters. 

The base of the Roxi hub is convexed down to a soft silicone ring that means wherever you place it, the ROXI hub shouldn't leave any marks. 

A really neat feature is a 'keyhole' inset into the base to allow you to hang the ROXI hub off a screw on the wall behind your TV. All the sockets are located in the back of the Hub and include:

 Power; HDMI; Ethernet; USB; Audio.

All in all the ROXI hub is very smart and whether you choose Charcoal, Blue or Coral, it will look good anywhere but is well enough designed to hide behind the TV should you wish.

The Remote/Microphone is wireless and created in the same smart style as the ROXI hub with the matt finish and an 'eJ' logo near the base. It is made from a soft feel plastic, is about 175mm long, 30mm square with rounded edges and feels really pleasant to hold and use. 

The top section of the remote/mic is cloth as it is a microphone but is still as smart and good quality as the rest it Down the front of the remote/mic is: 'OK' button, fast forward, pause and 'voice search' button.

SETTING UP.

Setting up ROXI takes less than two minutes using the supplied power lead to a 240v socket and then the supplied HDMI lead between the jukebox and your tv - easy as pie.

Internet connection is easy enough, you can either:

* Plugin an ethernet cable (not supplied) direct from your router into the jukebox and you have an instant internet connection.

* Switch the jukebox on with just power and TV connected- the jukebox immediately asks for your WIFI password so type it in and off you go.

If like us you use a 'Wireless Station Access List' for extra WIFI security then you will no doubt be looking for the MAC address of the jukebox - I gave up looking and it doesn't show in the list of available addresses on my router. 

 I turned the access list off, connected the jukebox using the WIFI password then refreshed the router page, hey presto, there was the MAC address for me to copy and paste into the Wireless Station Access List; switch the security feature back on the router and then sign the jukebox out and back into the WIFI network again. I can't help but think it would be much easier if the jukebox's MAC address was supplied printed on the machine.

NAVIGATION THROUGH MENUS / REMOTE CONTROL.

The on-screen menus of the ROXI Electric Jukebox are easy to navigate around and the icons used are easy to understand so you don't get confused like I would normally.

 Whenever a text is needed, an onscreen keyboard pops up just like on a smartphone. To move your on-screen cursor all you have to do is point the remote at the screen and wave it about, pressing 'OK' when your cursor is in the right place. 

It feels a bit strange at first but then you realise it is just like moving a computer mouse about but in the air. To make life quicker and much easier you can use the 'mic' button on your remote and voice recognition does the rest for you with no problems recognising different accents.

I can not seem to get voice search to work in the 'Party: Karaoke' mode though which is a big shame - I shall email the ROXI team and update this when I find out more.

FEATURES.

There are tens of millions of tracks at your fingertips for you to listen to and these can be searched individually or you can jump into different genres to inspire your choice.

 There are global radio stations and even a section specifically for children's stories (a perfect way for them to wind down before bed).

A good feature that we like is that once you start a song or playlist, you can still navigate through most of the menus with the music still playing in the background and the information of the current song a the bottom of the screen.

In addition to this, you can select the current song at the bottom of the screen and look at the tracklist or album/single detailed information which then provides a link to find more music from the same artist. As you are doing this there is always the option of a simple click to add a track, album or radio station to your favourite.

The home screen gives you a small settings 'cog' icon for WIFI connection, Family Protection, Visualiser on/off, auto TV wake when ROXI is switched on, and general product information. The main options on the home screen are:

Party:

* Sing With The Stars - karaoke to millions of songs with an individual song, artist or album search, classic karaoke suggestions, modern, top artists or browse by genre.

* Name That Tune - One of the worlds top music quizzes with a choice of 16 genres to guess as many songs in 30 seconds or less with the ability to record high scores for the family. The really fun game against the timer and a bit of friendly competition for the family and friends.

* Party Playlists - 10 genres of party mixes to keep you bouncing.

Discover:

* My Playlists - make your own.

* Tastemakers - playlists by celebrity curators such as Sheryl Crow, Robbie Williams, Alexander Armstrong (Danger Mouse! my children shout when they hear Alexander's voice on the radio). In total, 6 celebrities with 33 playlists between them.

* Moods - many playlists categorised under 13 genres such as Romance, Workout, Zumba, Road Trippin' - plenty of choice to just press play and let the music work its magic.

* Genres - loads of playlists under classic genres such as Rock, Pop, Electronic.

* Featured - unusual Genres that are great to explore: Children's Stories, The Brits, Jacaranda, etc.

My Music: a place to find all your saved:

*Playlists.

*Albums.

*Songs.

*Radio Stations.

Search: find the individual song title, album or artist:

* Voice Search

* Test Search

* Recent Searches

Extras:

* Radio - find you're stored My Favourite radio station or search through Popular Radio, Radio by Genre or individual station search.

* Sound Machine - Relax, Meditate or Sleep - set the timer for auto-off and chill out to relaxing sounds.

* Photo Frame - turn your tv into a living photo album by linking to your Facebook photo albums.

OVERVIEW / ENJOYMENT.

My kids love the karaoke with ROXI Electric Jukebox and find it ace, my eldest is learning to read so the karaoke helps encourage him to learn new words in a fun way. You do not have to fear about young children hearing foul language as there is a 'Family Protect' feature that you can enable prevent the little ones hearing the things you may not want them to.

I find it easy to use and finding music is quick and fun. We can take it in turns with the microphone or share it.

 Independent research found that 66% of parents wish they could spend more family time together**. 

That is why this device is good as it offers an opportunity to share some time together as a family and create happy memories. 

The amount of ready to run playlists are great as it introduces us to new music. I enjoy beating my hubby's high score in 'Name That Tune'.

When it comes time to relax for bed the Sound Machine section under Extras is fantastic and also includes White Noise and the sound of Heart Beats which are great for soothing babies and getting them and the parents off to sleep. 

The company's ethos of, "Music at home should be for sharing not headphone-wearing" is true - we love sharing our old tunes, our parent's old tunes and also exploring new tunes with our children.

ROXI is great but I have a few criticisms:

In the karaoke the 'next lines to sing' are very dark and so hard to see, it would be great if they could be a little brighter or use a light blue and yellow mix so we can be better prepared for when the new line comes up. 

What happened to the little bouncing ball that helps us with the timing?

The microphone can be very echoey  but that might be us getting used to how to hold it correctly.

The volume really needs more control, we have to have the TV turned up loud because the music is so quiet and even with the microphone turned to low our voices through the TV are still deafening. 

I think having 3 volume sliders would improve the sound: one for the music in general; one for the mic and one to control the volume of the music while the mic is being sung into.

As the jukebox is only running on 5 volts and draws no more than 2 amps maximum (according to rating on the transformer plug) I don't understand why it doesn't use a USB power socket.

 As most modern tv's come with USB outlets for such things it would keep things tidier and would give us the opportunity to swap the lead to whatever length we need (the supplied power lead is only 1 metre long)

Overall, ROXI Electric Jukebox is a fantastic piece of kit, simple to set up, lots of choices and a slick design making it appealing to the modern person. 

It is a fantastic tool to add to family or group entertainment and will be great for Christmases or birthdays.

I have also done a video of going through the menus etc so you can get a better idea as exactly how the electric jukebox works

https://youtu.be/odLF6GVQcOw

Cheers for reading X

**Research carried out July 2017 by censuswide for electric jukebox sample 2000 UK families with children under 14 years old. 

I was given an electric jukebox in exchange for a review. However, all opinions expressed are my own entirely. 

I, Daniel Blake. (review)

Hey readers,

The other day I watched I, Daniel Blake and thought I would give a review of it, as I personally absolutely loved it and probably be the best movie I will see this year.

First thing is first, make sure you have plenty of tissue as it is very moving.If you want to find out about social issues then this is the film for you. 

OK, it looks at the absurdity around benefit sanctions. If you don't comply to what is asked of you from the benefits office then basically they can reduce your benefit rate. Some of the requirements are ridiculous. 

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) if you are claiming JobSeekers benefit you have to prove that you have actively been looking for work for 35 hours a week. 

Furthermore, you have hard evidence to prove you have done that, in the movie the lady says suggestions such as getting a receipt? Or get a photo of you actually handing in the CV! 

Sometimes ‘the system’ is absurd especially as a high percentage of claimants are poor and needy which makes them vulnerable to being exploited. This is evident when watching this film why I would say this.

If you don't have enough points you don't get qualified for employment support allowance (which is basically the old Income Support) and therefore have to go on Jobseekers Allowance in order to survive. This is exactly what happened to the main character in the film, called Daniel Blake.

He had a heart condition and the doctors explicitly said he cannot work due to his poor health. However, due to the judgements of the so called 'professionals' he did not meet the criteria. It is absurd the treatment met and when Daniel had the strength to fight because you need it to appeal he died without seeing the results.

We can only assume that it was likely down the stress and poor health conditions because he was sanctioned for silly rules. Consequently causing him to sell all his items in his home because he had no other income for heating or food. The stress on top are all definitely had an impact on Daniel’s health.

One good thing about the film is the relationship struck up between Daniel and a women called Katie, they met each other at the jobcentre. She was sanctioned and Daniel was horrified when overhearing the argument between Katie and the employee at the jobcentre.

 The reason Katie got sanctioned was she was late for her sign-on (few minutes) because she came from London a few days and was lost, therefore getting a reduced amount of benefit. This is really hard for Katie as she has two children to feed, get school uniform etc. 

She moved away from London to do better for herself because otherwise, she would still be living in a shelter. The fact of the matter is if you want to live in London you have to have money. Therefore, most poor people will move out for the area simply because they cannot afford such high rates of living.

One issue that comes up in the film is the way that DWP treat people on benefits like animals and are seen as statistics rather than individuals. 

Daniel wrote a piece he wanted to share in the appeal but sadly didn't get the change so Katie read it at his funnel. I feel this pretty much sums up the social injustice around DWP and a brilliant ending to sadly more truthful story over fiction.

 ‘I am not a client, a customer, nor a service user. I am not a shirker, a scrounger, a beggar nor a thief.

I am not a national insurance number, nor a blip on a screen. I paid my dues, never a penny short, and was proud to do so.

I don’t tug the forelock but look my neighbour in the eye. I don’t accept or seek charity.

My name is Daniel Blake, I am a man, not a dog. As such I demand my rights. I demand you treat me with respect.

I, Daniel Blake, am a citizen, nothing more, nothing less. Thank you.’

Cheers for reading X