Win in time for Xmas..Megablue game packs worth £300

Win thrilling Megableu games!

We are giving away five cool games from Megableu. It’s hilarious fun for the whole family.

Capture the elusive Rhino with the amazing Spiderman Chase Rhino game. SPIDER-MAN jumps on his base and projects RHINO shadows on the walls and ceiling. Now it's up to you to eliminate the RHINO using your rechargeable gun and defend the city!

Make a guess of which piglet has the goo and place your PIGGIN'BOOGERS in front of the piglet. Dip your finger in the piglet's nose... Have you found the goo?

Do you dare to come close to the basket to snatch the diamond? COBRATTACK, guardian of the sacred diamond, watches you carefully. You may move as long as his eyes are green. But beware, if his eyes are red, he is watching you

Turn down the light and prepare yourself for a scary adventure with Ghost Hunt. Billy Bones sees dead people, his skull projects ghosts on the walls, the ceiling, high and low, ahead and behind... everywhere. Can you catch them!

Or can you face a game of truth or dare in Creepy Hand – where the bony green hand crawls around the table to choose a player to face their doom.

To win...ensure:

 If you came from twitter you follow me @jmyorks) and re tweet

from.facebook ensure you liked and shared the status.

Three winners will win packs of all 5 games. That's Christmas sorted!

Competition closes 5pm Friday 5th December. We will contact all winners that weekend and will need your details that weeked to ensure items are posted in time for Xmas.

Good luck

Rod Stewart Vinyl Box Set Releases

Rod Stewart is a five LP vinyl box set of all of Rod Stewart’s studio albums originally released between 1969 and 1974. Its sees a UK release on 1st December 2014

Each record will be pressed on 180g vinyl and we are promised ‘exact reproductions’ of the original artwork. The vinyl LPs will slot into a outer slipcase, with a tartan design.

The albums in this set are: 

An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down (1969), 

A)
1. Street Fighting Man

2. Man of Constant Sorrow

3. Blind Prayer

4. Handbags and Gladrags

B)

1. An Old Raincoat Won’t Ever Let You Down

2. I Wouldn’t Ever Change a Thing

3. Cindy’s Lament

4. Dirty Old Town

Gasoline Alley (1970), 
A)1. Gasoline Alley

2. It’s All Over Now

3. Only a Hobo

4. My Way of Giving

B) 

1. Country Comfort

2. Cut Across Shorty

3. Lady Day

4. Jo’s Lament

5. I Don’t Want to Discuss It

Every Picture Tells A Story (1971),
A)1. Every Picture Tells a Story

2. Seems Like a Long Time

3. That’s All Right

4. Amazing Grace

5. Tomorrow Is a Long Time

B)

1. Henry

2. Maggie May

3. Mandolin Wind

4. (I Know) I’m Losing You

5. Reason to Believe

Never A Dull Moment (1972),
A)1. True Blue

2. Lost Paraguayos

3. Mama You Been on My Mind

4. Italian Girls

B)

1. Angel

2. Interludings

3. You Wear It Well

4. I’d Rather Go Blind

5. Twisting the Night Away

and Smiler (1974)

A)1. Sweet Little Rock ‘N’ Roller

2. Lochinvar

3. Farewell

4. Sailor

5. Bring It On Home To Me/You Send Me

6. Let Me Be Your Car

B)1. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Man

2. Dixie Toot

3. Hard Road

4. I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face (Instrumental)

5. Girl from the North Country

6. Mine For Me

Butlins PWL Weekend - Hit Factory live!

Butlins announce partnership with Pete Waterman for brand new ‘Hit Factory’ Live Music Weekend

Jason Donovan

There was a time when our radios were filled with acts managed by Pete Waterman. Now, to celebrate 25 years of the PWL record label, Butlins Bognor Regis will be reuniting those very same acts when the pop impresario brings his stable of stars to the first-ever Ultimate 80s: Hit Factory Live weekend.

Rick Astley

Headlining the 6,500-capacity Bognor Regis resort will be 80s heart-throbs Jason Donovan and Rick Astley who will be joined by Sinitta, Sonia, Brother Beyond, Hazell Dean and other PWL stars. Resident DJs will also be providing daytime entertainment leading into the evening.

Sinitta

Mike Godolphin, Head of Entertainments for Butlins Live Music Weekends, says “Pete Waterman and the Hit Factory were the most successful music stable in the 1980's. It feels natural and exciting to have them as part of our amazing Live Music Weekends offer.”

Sonia

Guests can enjoy three nights of live music across four venues, all included in one price. Adding to the electric atmosphere of this brand new weekend are a silent disco and a pool party in the Splash Waterworld complex, as well as the opportunity to explore 10 bars and restaurants around the resort.

Nathan Moore (Brother Beyond)

Prices for Ultimate 80s: Hit Factory Live start at just £129pp for 3 days, including accommodation for the weekend based on four adults* sharing a Silver apartment, access to all of the available resort facilities and all live entertainment.  To book a Butlins Live Music Weekend or for more information call 0845 070 4734 

or visit www.bigweekends.com.

Hazel Dean

*Live Music Weekends are available for guests aged 18 or over.

Dynamo announces Leeds First Direct Arena Show

Dynamo brings his live tour to the first direct arena in December 2015

Dynamo fans will have the opportunity to see his magic skills up close and personal in what promises to be a spectacular and unique live stage production as Dynamo finishes his smash hit tour back in his home county of Yorkshire as he plays the first direct arena in Leeds in December 2015. 

Dynamo, whose real name is Steven Frayne, hit our screens just three years ago with his 
first series of Magician Impossible, in that short time he has quickly established himself as one of the world’s most known and most loved magicians, with his series airing in over 180 countries worldwide reaching over 250 million cumulative viewers across the world. He was recently awarded the highest accolade by the magic circle with his promotion to Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star, a position only held by 300 magicians worldwide.

Dynamo said of his new venture, “After four series of Magician Impossible I was ready for a new challenge and for a long time I have wanted to take my show to the stage. I am hoping that like I did for magic on TV, I can reinvent the live magic show and produce something fans have never seen before. This is something I have been working towards for the last 20 years and I can’t wait to amaze audiences what I have in store for them”. 
Tony Watson, Director of Sales and Marketing for the first direct arena commented, "the 
arena has always aimed to attract the biggest names in entertainment to Leeds and in the world of magic, it doesn't come bigger than Dynamo. I'm sure his home county will take this opportunity to marvel at one of the worlds greatest illusionists." 

Dynamo will be visiting the first direct arena from December 16 to 20 2015 and tickets 
are priced from £32.50 and can be purchased from www.firstdirectarena.com, by 
phone on 0844 248 1585, or book your tickets from the first direct arena box office, 
now located at the venue, from 9am on Friday 31st October 2014. 

Review: Bjork - Biophilla - hypnotic

Bjork's fans will adore this film, which captures the last night of her Biophilia world tour with remarkable artistry and an attention to detail. Those who don't know her work might find it somewhat hard-going. Bjork's music is thematically deep and aurally complex, but the songs are often atonal. None are very easy to hum along with. Still, the creative filmmaking offers some ideas for future concert documentaries.

In September 2013 at Alexandra Palace in North London, Bjork gave the final live performance of her Biophilia song cycle about the elements and nature. So it's only natural that the film is introduced with narration from David Attenborough. On-stage, Bjork interacts with musicians Manu Delago and Matt Robertson, as well as a large choir of women from Iceland walking barefoot around her as they sing in eerie harmony. Filmmakers Nick Fenton and Peter Strickland then take the imagery from her video screens and layer it onto the movie. So for much of the film it looks like Bjork is performing on a stage floating in outer space, alongside a gigantic squid or erupting volcano. Then eventually the crowd resolves around her, participating in this celebration of the natural world.

With that Attenborough opening and Bjork's cheeky expressions, there's a nicely witty undercurrent to the whole film. And the cameras capture the performance from askance angles that reveal unexpected things about the amazing instruments Bjork has created with her musicians. Not only do they sound beautiful, but they are just as fascinating to explore with our eyes as the outrageous plasticky onion-white dress she's wearing. Accompanying this is an unusually sharp audio mix that lets us hear every sound. Although this only makes us wish we could understand the lyrics of the songs, which are often strange and moody and hardly seem like songs at all.


This is performance art, not a pop concert. So fans of Bjork's hits with the Sugarcubes may be disappointed. On the other hand, her fierce genius comes through in her dedication to this project. And even if we're never quite sure what she's singing, the images and certain audible words that help us understand the nature of the concept (song titles include Moon, Thunderbolt, Virus, Solstice and Crystalline). There's also no denying the raw power of Bjork's magnificent voice and the emotional feelings it conveys. This is such a skilfully assembled event and film that it has a hypnotic quality even for non-fans. But for Bjork's faithful followers, it's pretty close to heaven. 

BBC: The Syndicate Gets Third Series - this time in Scarborough

Anthony Andrews, Lenny Henry and Elizabeth Berrington head the cast for third series of Kay Mellor's The Syndicate.

Filming has begun in Yorkshire on the third series of the critically acclaimed, hugely popular BBC One drama The Syndicate, from the pen of BAFTA Award-winning writer Kay Mellor OBE, creator of Band Of Gold, Fat Friends, A Passionate Woman and In The Club.
It's 2015 and the once impressive Hazelwood Manor, which overlooks all of Scarborough and is the family home of the Hazelwoods, has now fallen into disrepair. Lord Hazelwood (Anthony Andrews, The King's Speech, Birdsong, Brideshead Revisited) is fading fast, but Lady Hazelwood (Alice Krige, Thor: The Dark World, Spooks), his second wife, seems more concerned with maintaining the lifestyle she's become accustomed to whilst his stepson Spencer (Sam Phillips, In The Flesh, Pete Versus Life) seems intent on spending his inheritance as quickly as possible. What is left of the estate is rapidly disappearing on fast cars, fancy yachts and living the high life despite rising debts... all behind the back of the ailing Lord Hazelwood.

Meanwhile 'downstairs' they have had to seriously reduce their staff; now there are only five left: housekeeper Sarah (Cara Theobold, Downton Abbey, Scrotal Recall, Call The Midwife), cleaner Dawn (Elizabeth Berrington, Stella, Trying Again, Crimson Petal And The White), cook Julie (Melanie Hill, Cilla, Brassed Off, Auf Wiedersehen Pet), groomsman/odd-job man Sean (Richard Rankin, The Crimson Field, Silent Witness, Black Watch) and gardener Godfrey (Lenny Henry, The Magicians, Harry & Paul, Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban).

Godfrey formed the lottery syndicate with his colleagues years ago as he was convinced he could work out how to win it mathematically. He is a high functioning person with Asperger's syndrome and as the series opens he is certain he's finally cracked the system. He gives cleaner Dawn a list of this week's 'winning lottery numbers' according to his statistics. A series of mishaps ensues and all seems lost - but then it hits them: seemingly against all the odds, they have won £14 million! Everyone is ecstatic. Dawn, pregnant with an unplanned third child, can't wait to tell her husband Andy (Kieran O'Brien, The Look Of Love, The Last Enemy), son Noah (newcomer Bradley Johnson) and beautiful daughter Amy (Daisy Head, Fallen, When The Heart Calls, Endeavour) who is reluctantly helping her out at Hazelwood Manor but has ambitions to become the next Cara Delevingne. And then, on the night of the win, Amy suddenly goes missing...

As we relish the joy of our syndicate's journey from downstairs to upstairs, the search for Amy becomes increasingly urgent. The police investigation uncovers clues and raises myriad suspicions. Secrets and backstories are revealed as we try to find out who has taken the young girl... and just how well do our syndicate really know each other?

We caught up with Kay Mellor who told us in a wind swept Scarborough: “The Syndicate 3 is a completely new series, with a fresh new world and brand-new characters, the staff of a crumbling stately home: the Cook, House Manager, Gardener, Cleaner and Game Keeper. It's about new money – ordinary people who win a life-changing amount of money on the lottery. I was excited by the idea of setting the syndicate winners amongst the old money of a crumbling stately home, where Lord and Lady Hazelwood's inherited money is fast running out. It's a delicious premise which enables me to look at class and social politics within the framework of a drama – 'downstairs' becoming instantly wealthier than 'upstairs'. I'm able to explore how the lack of money and greed have a devastating effect and how a sudden change in fortune can bring about its own problems.”

Also on location today was Lenny Henry, he told us: “I'm delighted to be filming series 3 of The Syndicate – I've been a big fan of Kay Mellor's since Band Of Gold and Playing The Field, so to actually be on set with her as writer/director is just lovely.”

Jamie T - Carry On The Grudge Review

'Carry On The Grudge' is the long awaited third studio album from Jamie T and marks a more downbeat sound for the 28-year-old, who seems to have written the album from where he was at that point of his life. Giving you tracks such as single 'Don't You Find' with its very downbeat, melodic sound which can only be described as beautiful; you can imagine Jamie T in a smoke filled room, a glass of whiskey just spilling out his soul, a side of this young man that we have not yet seen until now. Now that we have, it does send shivers down your spine, especially when the backing singers kick in. The track is truly what the doctor ordered on his return as the first single to promote the album.

Do not worry, though, if you are a hardened fan that loved the 'earlier stuff' - there are still glimpses of this here and there. The second single 'Zombie' is ironically upbeat; singing about zombies shouldn't work as a rule, but, as with all Jamie T songs, it does, and the music video to go with it is wicked. Two big thumbs up for both singles, the return of Mr T (Jamie T) is looking like it will be a successful one.

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplistic ones. 'Turn On The Lights' is plain and simple, with Jamie T's spiralling, clever lyrics accompanied by a repetitive beat and a nice guitar hook to finish the job. Keeping on the theme of simplicity, 'The Prophet' feels like Jamie has picked up a guitar and has had a bit of a rant in a jamming session; a bad thing this is not, 'Columbia' from Oasis' 'Definitely Maybe' was created the same way and that is an awesome tune.

There are pick-me-ups on the album that spring into action with the likes of fun song 'Trouble', although the lyrics are telling you "to hold on to what you got, you can lose it", the music remains happy, slightly crazy, in an Arcade Fire style. 'Rabbit Hole' is another example of the quick witty lyrics spouted out by the man himself and this is the track that will have you singing like an idiot in the car while you are bounding down the motorway.
Old or new from Jamie T, it is all good and with 'Carry On The Grudge' Jamie T has managed to find the perfect balance which, with the choice of 150 songs plus, in itself was a tricky task. On a positive, this could mean more music on the way rather than another five year absence.

If you are a fan of this guy, you will not be disappointed. Some songs may need a couple of listens for full absorption, but you will be happy nonetheless, and if you like his stuff on record, get off your backside and go and see him live.