Category Archives: Reviews

Review – Disney Worlds of Fantasy on Ice

Reviews

‘Best night ever’ So said my little girl when I asked her what I should write about the evening that she and and two of her friends have just spent at the Disney Worlds Of Fantasy on Ice show in Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena.

Anything else you think I should write? I enquired hopefully…but no luck. ‘What else is there to say? It was just the Best. Night. EVER! Thanks Mum, you’re brilliant!!’

Well, I’m not going to argue with that, ha! But I do feel it would be somewhat churlish to accept free tickets and then post a three word review, however heartfelt. So given my six year old is clearly not going to help, and her two friends have been despatched to their respective homes, here’s the thoughts of a forty-two year old…

Having not been to an ‘Ice Spectacular’ before, or in fact any Disney live shows, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and it’s fair to say I wasn’t prepared for just how magical the set and effects were. Right from the word go, the show was a fantastic visual spectacle, with four different Disney words colourfully woven into one story.

My girl and her friends were bubbling over with excitement as Mickey and Minnie started their journey, and were absolutely thrilled that, after a short interlude with Lightning McQueen and his Cars chums, the sea came rolling in, heralding the introduction of the Little Mermaid and her quest for Prince Eric – a story that ended with a kiss and a big cheer from the audience. Barely had we dipped our hands into our popcorn when we were introduced to Tinkerbell’s world, the part that my daughter was looking forward to the most – she wasn’t disappointed! Tinkerbell’s story was presented beautifully, with plenty of flying action and a spectacular finale as Spring broke out everywhere all around us.

The second half of the show was set on the wonderful world of Toy Story 3, and rocked along with plenty of energy and a couple of favourite songs – The Toys Are Back In Town certainly had me singing along in my seat, as did Kung Fu Fighting, Rescue Me, and Walking on Sunshine…This did not impress my daughter, who had that look in her eyes as if to say ‘MUM! I’m with my FRIENDS!’ Ooops. Never mind, her eyes soon turned back to the show where the Toys were working together to escape from the dastardly Lotso. What amazed me in this bit was the number of poor skaters who had to be the back end of various animals – Bullseye, Slinky Dog, Hamm – I can’t believe there wasn’t at least one icy disaster before the Toys made their final escape to be played with happily ever after.

What a brilliant show! The skaters were amazing, as were the colours and the special effects – sometimes we literally did not know where to look, there was so much going on. It was a lovely night for my girl and her friends, and even their hardened, cynical mother might just have been a little caught up in the Disney magic!

If you’re based in Cardiff and looking for a special treat to finish up the holidays, Disney Worlds of Fantasy on Ice is on at 7pm Thurs 24th and Fri 25th, then three shows on Saturday 26th at 11am, 2.45pm, and 6.30pm, and the two final shows at 12noon and 4pm on Sunday 27th. My absolute top tip would be to take food and drink with with you rather than buy it at the Arena – or you could end up spending the ticket price again. That aside, I’d highly recommend a trip through those Worlds of Fantasy – it’ll warm the cockles of your heart!

**Disclosure – we were kindly invited to see the show by Woody, Buzz and friends in exchange for this review**

 

Disney on Ice presents Worlds of Fantasy
Jessie, Woody and Buzz

‘Just What Kind of Mother Are You’ by Paula Daly – Review

Book Reviews, Reviews,

Just What Kind Of Mother Are You - Paula Daly

‘Just What Kind of Mother Are You’ is Paula Daly’s first novel, though she’s bringing out a second this year and working on her third as we speak.  Published last year and receiving positive reviews both here and stateside, the story promised to be ‘a cracking page turner’ (the Bookseller) and ‘fiendishly addictive as well as perceptive about guilt and social class’ (the Guardian).

The story is told by Lisa, a forty-something mum living in a small Lake District town. I was immediately drawn to Lisa – probably because there are some aspects of her life that I recognise – she’s a Mum of three,  permanently knackered, a bit too skint for comfort, constantly chasing her tail to keep life ticking over for everyone around her. And then, within the first couple of chapters, she makes a mistake – a terrifyingly easy mistake – which leads to the disappearance of her close friend’s daughter.

Lisa’s guilt and anguish is well depicted and is easy to identify with as she continues to relate the story, and as she does so, we come to know some of the other main players in the book, and their shared histories – namely her husband Joe, the missing girl’s parents Kate and Guy, Kate’s sister Alexa, and brother-in-law Adam. Needless to say, all is not what it seems and the desire to get to the bottom of the apparent contradictions, and of course to find out what happened to the missing girl, does indeed make this novel a page turner.

Interspersed with Lisa’s narrative are chapters written in the third person describing the thoughts and actions of the detective who’s been assigned to the case, and infrequent but chilling descriptions of the behaviour of an unidentified male. The three strands of the story are cleverly woven together to keep the novel moving along at a good pace, and it’s certainly true to say that I was picking it up every spare minute to find out how it played out.

As promised by The Guardian’s review, the themes of social class and guilt were both explored, although not in any great depth; while the overriding message that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence is of course true, I felt that perhaps this message was too simplistically portrayed. In addition the line between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ people was drawn very arbitrarily in the final pages.  I did feel that an opportunity was missed here – just because someone is immensely dislikable does not make them any less of a victim; and in this case, I would certainly have liked to know more about Alexa and felt that this would have added something worthwhile to the narrative.

On the other hand, the character and life of DC Joanne Aspinall is given some prominence throughout the story, and while this did not detract from the experience of reading the novel, I was not really clear why. It did not seem to me that there was quite enough linkage between Joanne and the main characters to justify the time spent on her – in fact I find myself wondering if perhaps the author has plans for us to meet her again in a future story, like Jodi Picoult’s Jordan McAfee. I hope so – I think there’s an interesting character there waiting to come out.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, though it’s probably not a novel I will return to a second time – I am not sure how much more there is to discover after reading it once through. However I have added Paula Daly’s second book, ‘Keep Your Friends Close’, to my Kindle wish list, and based on my experience of ‘Just What Kind of Mother Are You’, I fully expect to enjoy it.

On the whole, I would recommend ‘Just What Kind of Mother Are You’ to anyone who wants an engaging, fast and gripping read. If you’re a parent there are parts that will resonate all too well, but that isn’t a pre-requisite for enjoyment – there’s enough to keep you entertained even without the ‘it could happen to me’ fear factor. If you do give the book a try based on this review, I’d love to know your thoughts – as always, please do comment below or via the twittersphere!

**Disclosure – I received a free copy of this book from Mumsnet and Transworld Books, in exchange for writing a review. I have not been otherwise recompensed for this post, nor have I been asked to say anything specific in the review.**

Mopp.Com – Review

Cardiff Stuff, Reviews, ,

**Disclosure – I was offered a free clean by Mopp.com for the purposes of this review; I was not asked to say anything specific in return, and this review as always reflects my honest opinion of the service received**

Cleaning. There’s something that’s fallen by the wayside over last few years if I’m honest. Time was that I’d make sure the house was clean and tidy on Thursday night, we’d do whatever it was we did all weekend before we had kids, but come Sunday night the place would still be vaguely presentable, if strewn with newspapers (NEWSPAPERS? REMEMBER THOSE?) Then we’d go back to work on a Monday – things would go a bit downhill from there – and the cycle would start again on Thursday night.

It’s much less organised now! The cleaning bit itself takes much more time, but the tidying up bit so I can find the house to clean – well that seems to take forever. Even though the Husband more than plays his part (it’s been a journey, but we got there!) it feels impossible to keep on top of everything to the standard I’d like. And tidying and cleaning the house before a weekend? Not bloody likely, that’s just a pointless exercise. Basically now, as long as the bathroom and the kitchen are clean, I try not to worry about the rest  – we keep on top of it somehow and if we don’t, well we don’t, and I try not to bitch stress about it too much.

I’ve also started getting into the habit of booking us a one off visit once or twice a year from a cleaning company – usually right before we have friends to stay, ha! This means I can spend a bigger chunk of time on tidying and sorting (umm, perhaps a bit of pre-cleaning too) leading up to the visit and also means that all the bits I skip over (glass shower door? polished taps?) get done properly, my house looks all sparkly, I feel all chirpy and life is generally marvellous . Well, until the place looks like a car boot sale again anyway!

It can sometimes be difficult to find a company that are willing to do a one off clean for a manageable price, and who are bookable reasonably quickly (last minute? moi?) Also often one-off cleans will be for a set amount of say 6 hours, whereas I only really need and can afford two or three hours. I’ve also found it difficult to get hold of cleaning companies in the past – sorting a booking can take a couple of days of missed calls and emails (on both sides) when really I just want to press a button. And then there’s the finding the chequebook, or making sure I have cash…and suddenly my ‘treat’ to myself is turning into a hassle.

So I was really interested to be invited to trial Mopp.com, a new cleaning service launching in Cardiff and throughout the UK. Mopp promises to connect customers with local trusted and reliable cleaners online, and also to provide an easy, flexible booking service, whether for one off or regular cleaning sessions. A quick look at their booking page (put in your postcode to access it) will show you how easy it is to organise what you need, with a choice of regular and one-off cleans, slots between 2 and 7 hours long, and even the option to have cleaning materials provided by Mopp for the ultimate in no-hassle cleaning. Payment is nice and simple too – one-off cleans are debited from your card immediately, while regular cleans are taken from your card 24 hours later – either way, no faffing with cash or cheques – perfect!

So with the booking sorted, I did what I always do in these situation and had a massive tidy up, and I might have done a titchy bit of pre-cleaning too, I mean that’s normal when someone you don’t know comes to your house, right? RIGHT? But I didn’t need to worry – when Mihaela turned up (early) she did not take one look and run screaming for biohaz Breaking Bad type industrial protection wear, nor did she seem particularly fazed by my four year old following her around demanding to ‘help’ – instead she got stuck in straight away. I told her not to worry about the kids’ rooms as I had not had a chance to tidy them properly, but amazingly she managed to spruce them up in any case, as well as give the rest of the house a really good once-over – including the dreaded glass shower screen, which now looks shinier than it ever has done!

I was really pleased with my visit from Mihaela, and with the whole Mopp experience, and would definitely book through them again for a one-off clean – and if I ever, ever reach my pre-kids earning power (sigh) I’ll be booking a weekly slot quicker than quick. Until then, I’m just going to satisfy myself with another look at my lovely sparkly house before chaos takes over once again!

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