We would also like to offer our sincere thanks to everyone who has worked with us to make That's Christmas the fantastic success that it is!
Have a good Christmas and remember what it is we are celebrating, the birth of Jesus.
Saturday 24 December 2016
A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!
Friday 23 December 2016
Got some last minute Christmas shopping you need to do? We have you covered!
Your plan to have a Christmas present delivered to a loved one or a good friend is thwarted by circumstances that were outside of your control.
A delivery company goes broke, an order went astray or you forgot to make the order.
But rather than let people down, you can use The That's Christmas gift shop to order them a present that they will get before Christmas is over!
As well as a wide range of books, DVDs, food and drink items TVs and audio gear and a whole host of other gift ideas including perfumes, jewellery, watches, etc., we also sell Amazon Gift Vouchers!
You can email these gift vouchers to your gift recipient so they could even use your gift to buy themselves the exact gift that they want within minutes of them receiving their gift from you!
All you need do is follow this link to the Gift Card department of our online retail store and click on "email gift vouchers, >>> https://goo.gl/GM7F3v.
Tuesday 20 December 2016
Keep your home safe over Christmas and the New Year
Homes are already filling up with presents while families make plans to visit friends and relatives over the festive period.
But the increased number of expensive items in our home and the longer hours they are left empty. A perfect opportunity for thieves.
But there is now a growing number of devices that can help in protecting your house and everything inside it.
Security-boosting devices include smart lighting systems that mimic your typical household lighting usage pattern while you're away, automated smoke-releasing generators, cameras with facial and number plate recognition, and sensors that learn your behaviour and notify you when something out of the ordinary happens. All of these can be linked to your mobile phone via integrated smart home controllers.
Simon Mathieson of Finite Solutions North West points out: “Nothing concerns us more than the fear of someone breaking into our own home, yet very few homeowners know about an intruder until they are already inside.
"A simply burglar alarm system is no longer a good enough warning for homeowners or deterrent for burglars as research commissioned by GoCompare last year concluded that over three quarters of brits ignore burglar alarm sirens on neighbours’ homes.
“A bespoke smart home solution can provide the benefits of intelligent entertainment and lighting but it can also provide peace of mind. It allows you to see, hear and check on your home at all times and warns you of the presence of an intruder as soon as they step foot in your garden.
“A good integrated home security system can be automated to arm/disarm itself through sensors inside and outside the house. Smart home systems also provide a view of the CCTV cameras and door entry systems, allowing you to remotely open the door and let people in.
“An exterior perimeter heat or mass based detection system surrounding a property will warn whenever an intruder steps foot in your grounds by displaying CCTV footage on your TV screens and giving you early warning of a problem before the intruder ever reaches the property.
The smart integration of security systems also extends beyond in-house control. Thanks to the latest bespoke security solutions, our clients are able to monitor their home security remotely. Dedicated iPhone and iPad apps offer access to the home automation alarm system remotely and this provides an extra level of security and peace of mind by instantly displaying CCTV images on your phone and activating lighting inside and outside the property to give the impression you are at home and even giving you the ability to “shout out” to intruders via exterior speakers to inform them police have been called.”
Finite Solutions has a show house in Leeds dedicated to showcase integrated smart home technology and security as described above.
To learn more visit www.finitesolutions.co.uk.
Monday 19 December 2016
Forget Brexit! Get out there and spend!
Whilst we would be the last people to tell you to spend more money than you really can afford, we are also mindful of the Brexit nonsense that has crept in to everyday conversation ever since the vote to leave actually did vote to leave!
No pay rise due to Brexit, no Christmas Party due to Brexit, etc., etc., etc.
Sales figures are up this year, so post-Brexit Britain looks to be doing OK, so let's get down to a bit of retail therapy!
Saturday 17 December 2016
The Funniest Stuff
It's a fun book filled with more of the great and hilarious poems of Colin West and there are wonderful and very witty cartoons on each and every page, all these illustrations are from the highly imaginative and creative pen of Colin West, himself.
You and your children and grandchildren will reads about and see a whole gallimaufry of wonderful characters such as the Lollopibg Lollop, Miss Fibbery-Gibert, frollicking Fritz, the Wizzard who met up with a lizard, (with somewhat shocking results!) learn what the girl in curlers did, how problems with spelling might occur, what might make Michael feel sick and what a fussy pussy likes to dine on.
It is a book that is to be gleefully and joyously shared with children and you can be certain that these poems will be remembered and recited by you and them for many, many years to come.
It is published in hardback by Matador at £9.99 and is available for purchase from our own book and gift shop which you will find here >>> https://goo.gl/AzQ0XD but please do remember that if you want it before Christmas you should request exress delivery.
That's Books and Entertainment: Under the Knife
That's Books and Entertainment: Under the Knife: Under the Knife is a fascinating new book by autohr Gulzar Mufti. A retired urologist with decades of experience in the UK and abroad, G...
Crabbies
Just picture the scene, the gloaming is settling in, the birds are making their last forages before they retire to their nests in your garden's hedges for the night, the standard lamp in the corner of your living room is casting a soft glow, the lights are twinkling on the Christmas tree, the fire is crackling with some coal and a couple of nice logs, the Bose stereo is playing some nice Christmas carols and you are eating some freshly baked minced pies whilst you are contentedly sipping a glass of Crabbies alcoholic ginger beer.
Life, you realise, couldn't be any better.
Well, perhaps it could! How so?
Crabbies want you to try something a little different this year. The very clever people in their drink's kitchen have been working very hard on creating some new flavours that are equally as good as their original product, but which taste different.
There is now Crabbies Scottish Raspberry Flavour and Crabbies Light, too!
You can buy these new flavours, as well as the wonderful original flavour, from most off licences, supermarkets and some convenience stores, too.
And you'll find them in all Wetherspoon pubs and other discerning pubs and bars.
To find out your nearest stockist (retailers or licenced premises) please visit
http://www.crabbiesgingerbeer.co.uk/find-crabbies/.
And do have yourself a Crabbies' Chirstmas! I know we will!
Get Stoopido!
It's simple, yet it is utterly crazy and will have everyone laughing their heads off when you and your family and friends play round after round of this fantastic game, the game they are all raving about, the game that is called Stoopido!
You roll the dice, and then race to slap the matching face feature or give the squeaker a good squeeze!
The player who is the fastest then has the opportunity to pick a funny facial part for a rival player and the last player with a full face wins the game!
Each game set comes complete with four sets of special glasses, 25 double-sided mask features, four slap pads, one loser's selfie card, one squeaker and one dice.
Although the description here is deceptively simple, the game is absolutely hilarious to play.
It's made by Drumond Park of www.drumondpark.com and should cost about £14.00. It's available from all good toy stores but if you want to buy it online you can do so here at our very own gift and book shop, but do remember to use the express delivery option as it is getting very close to Christmas. >>> https://goo.gl/AzQ0XD
That's Books and Entertainment: Portals of Discovery
That's Books and Entertainment: Portals of Discovery: Portals of Discovery is a fascinating new book by George Norrie, the second Baron Norrie of Wellington, New Zealand. Lord George Norrie ...
That's Books and Entertainment: Broccoli and Bloody-Mindedness
That's Books and Entertainment: Broccoli and Bloody-Mindedness: This is the story of Antonia Lister-Kaye as she takes a highly illuminating look back over her roller-coaster of a life. She was born pr...
That's Books and Entertainment: The Conisbrough Chronicles
That's Books and Entertainment: The Conisbrough Chronicles: This book, written by McMullen Country, tells the history of the Conisbrough family down through the last 1,000 years. Seen through the ...
May it Please You, Madam
It is sub-titled a little book of legal whimsy and it contains an enthralling and highly entertaining collection of legal anecdotes gathered together throughout the long legal career (over 40 years!) of retired District Judge Neil Hickman.
The book commences with a collection of approaches used to greet a judge, some which would have worked some which would have worked to bemuse or outrage the judge they were addressed to!
There are strange things people did or said in and around our courts, what they they tried to get away with and, in some cases, what they actually were able to get away with.
There are cases of dishonesty and, perhaps refreshingly, cases of honesty which come wuth sudden and perhaps consequences that were only to be expected.
Such as: " Are the contents of your statement true?" The unexpected response certainly strongly coloured the outcome of the court case: "No. It's what the man from the solicitors said I should say. But it isn't true."
According to Neil Hickman the trial lasted for all of 15 seconds as a result of this admission!
Well collected and beautifully written and nicely illustrated with some well drawn legal cartoons by the late Jeff Bowser, this book is an ideal stocking filler which everyone will want to keep returning to to to read just a few more legal anecdotes
It is published by The Book Guild at £6.99 and it is available for purchase here >>> https://goo.gl/AzQ0XD.
That's Books and Entertainment: Salvage
That's Books and Entertainment: Salvage: In Dublin author's Bernadette Quinn's new novel, Salvage, she explores a situation of marital crisis and destruction. Based on ...
Dig In!
It's billed as "The great game of frantic finding fun!" and that is exactly what it is!
It's an utterly new type of game where participants have to keep their eyes open and be ready to use their hopefully nimble fingers in a friendly battle against not only your opposing players, but also the clock in order to identify the six playing pieces that are on your card as you dig in for victory!
But in order to find what you need to win, you only have 15 seconds on your own to seek out and locate their figures, but then the mayhem begins, because then everyone piles on at the same time to try to join in the insane fun and track down the last remaining missing pieces in order to come out as the Dig In! winner!
The game is for ages 8 years of age and older and is for 2 to 4 players.
It is even more fun than you might think from the above description which, to be honest, does not even begin to do it justice!
It is made by Drumond Park and is available for purchase here >>> https://goo.gl/AzQ0XD at £17.95.
You can learn more about this game and other games in the range by visiting www.drumondpark.com.
Watch how the game is played here:-
That's Books and Entertainment: Emotions of a Book
That's Books and Entertainment: Emotions of a Book: In his book "Emotions of a Book" author Guido Parisi explores the links between the author and his novel. In a way that many m...
Tuesday 13 December 2016
Eisberg wine. All of the taste, none of the hangover
A long time ago alcohol free wine was either white or red.
But the wine experts at Eisberg have worked very hard over the years to make certain that people who love the taste of fine wines can enjoy all of the taste yet eschew the impact of alcohol on their body and mind.
There are many reasons why people do not want to consume alcohol. Religious sensibilities, the desire to be able to drink without risking getting inebriated for work reasons and to make sure they do not run the risk of driving whilst drunk, or perhaps they do not have the ability to properly process alcohol or they finds that alcohol triggers their migraines. Or perhaps they just do not like drinkinging alcohol.
Now there is a wide range of entirely different alcohol free wines that you can serve such guests or even enjoy drinking yourself throughout the Christmas festivities and the New Year period.
There is the Sauvignon Blanc wine, which is new to their range.
It was a typically fruity and interesting Sauvignon Blanc wine, but it was all of the taste with none of the alcohol!
What about the Chardonnay?
There was that typical Chardonnay nose, then the delicious hint of those lovely French crispy apples, with tones of honey and golden sunlight bursting through? (I wonder how a grape can taste like apples and honey? Yes, I know there's a technical explanation, but that was by way of a rhetorical question, to which the answer might spoil the magic!)
The Rosé?
Oh! The Eisberg Rosé! There was more than a hint of hedgerow berries, plus a tantalising mixture of soft fruits and maybe a hint of apples? No? Something else fruity, then that added to the enjoyable Rosé. Oh! The bottle's empty!
Cabernet Sauvignon
The real revelation has to be the Eisberg Cabernet Sauvignon!
A ruby red wine, with rich, fruity scents and the taste? Wow! The taste! My wife took one sip, then another and declared it the best Cabernet Sauvignon that she had ever tried, even those with the alcohol left in!
It has the full, rich flavour of the typical Cabernet Sauvignon wine, yet we knew we could serve it to our guests and know that they would not have to be concerned about them getting home in safety.
Though that plan does require us to go back out to the shops to buy some more Eisberg wines!
And there's another advantage, too, for those who are looking at their calorific intake, a 125ml glass of ordinary Cabernet Sauvignon will typically contain 85 calories, yet a 125ml glass of Cabernet Sauvignon contains on 26 calories!
And there are similar calorie reductions in the other wines in the range, too!
To learn more about these wines and where to purchase them please visit
http://www.eisberg.co.uk where you will also find some utterly delicious cocktail recipes that are all, of course, alcohol free! That is if you can prize it out of your guest's hands in order to make the cocktails. Better double up on the amount of bottles you buy!
Sunday 11 December 2016
That's Books and Entertainment: Rasmus
That's Books and Entertainment: Rasmus: Rasmus is a dark and entertainingly cynical take off of the television industry, written by P J Vanston. Rasmus. Exactly who, or what, i...
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