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Raise your hand if you've ever been featured in a movie? No? Well unfortunately it's not many of us who get handpicked to appear in some of the world's most famous and influential movies ever made unless of course you're Brad Pitt or Dame Judi Dench. The same however, cannot be said for hotels for many a hotel across the globe has been made infinitely more famous due to it's appearance in a motion picture (or several).

The Bellagio Resort - Las Vegas, USA

The Bellagio is arguably the top luxury hotel to appear on film within the past decade and has been featured in a number of blockbusters such as Dodgeball, Knocked up and perhaps most notably the celebrity packed Ocean's Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen. The Bellagio itself is a AAA 5 Diamond award winning hotel with nearly 4,000 guest rooms, the hotel is also famed for it's spectacular fountains, botanical garden and gallery of fine art.

La Mamounia - Marrakesh, Morocco

The Hotel La Mamounia in Marrakesh, arguably one of the most beautiful and luxurious hotels in the world and a favourite of the Late Winston Churchill and a hot spot among many modern day celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Orlando Bloom and Gwyneth Paltrow. The hotel featured in Alfred Hitchcock's big budget, intensely visual remake of his spy thriller, The Man Who Knew Too Much in 1956. The numerous refits over the hotel's splendid history have not robbed it of its charm and it still retains gorgeous period detailing and fittings and is undeniably glamorous. The most recent renovation by French Designer Jacques Garcia started in 2006, taking 3 years and touching all guest facilities while keeping the essence, flavour and architecture of the historical Mamounia. The hotel's seven acres of exotic gardens also featured, more recently in Oliver Stone's thrilling epic Alexander in 2004. Visit their site for more on Marrakech hotels.

The Park Hyatt - Tokyo, Japan

It could be argued that one of the biggest stars of Sophia Coppola's 2003 smash hit Lost in Translation was in fact The Park Hyatt hotel considering this is where the majority of the film was filmed. The Park Hyatt is a 5* luxury Hotel located within the centre of Tokyo, the hotel boasts impressive amenities and activities to guests including a spectacular spa and gymnasium and numourous shops and restaurants.

The Royal Lancaster Hotel - London, UK

London Hotels have been increasingly popular for the setting of motion pictures over recent decades. Perhaps one of the most famous scenes to have been filmed in a London Hotel was Michael Caine's "hiya Charlie" moment in The Italian Job in 1969 which took place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in Bayswater, London. The Royal Lancaster is a 4* luxury hotel within what could be described as the perfect location, overlooking Hyde Park and just minutes away from attractions such as Oxford Street and The Royal Albert Hall.

These hotels were found on Octopus Travel which provides hotels all over the world.

Search for North East's Top Lollipop Person Nears Close

Kwik Fit Insurance are calling on all schools in the North East region to remember to nominate their Lollipop person for the 2009 Lollipop Person of the Year Awards, which close on Friday 30th October.

The North East winner from 2008 was Eric Allen from St Oswald's Primary School in Durham and time is running out for schools to get this year's entries in.

The 2009 competition is even bigger and better. Twelve regional winners from across the UK will receive GBP500 worth of holiday vouchers and each of the 12 schools will be awarded with GBP100 worth of book tokens. All winning regional entrants go forward with a chance to win the UK title, with GBP3,000 available to the winning school for new equipment and a holiday of a lifetime for the crossing patroller.

Brendan Devine, Group Managing Director of Kwik Fit Financial Services said: "We have had some fantastic entries already this year for the competition and time is running out for schools to get involved. There are unsung heroes all over the UK helping our children to and from school safely and I want to put out the message today that it's not too late for schools across the North East region to nominate!"

Lorraine Kelly, who has been an ambassador for the campaign for the past 2 years, said: "The Lollipop Person of the Year Awards is a real heart-warming way of recognising the wonderful job our lollipop people do every day to make Britain's roads safer for our children."

"This year the competition is bigger than ever before, with schools from Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland all having the opportunity to show how their lollipop person makes a real difference to their journey to school. We want kids, teachers and parents alike to show their support for their local lollipop person and get voting!"

Pupils are encouraged to send in stories, poems, drawings and videos to the panel of judges either by post or via the competition website at http://www.bestlollipop.co.uk.

Kwik Fit Financial Services was launched in 1995 and has grown to become one of the UK's leading motor insurance distributors, Operating as an insurance broker, our core product is car insurance, which is underwritten by a panel of leading insurance companies that provide home insurance and car insurance.

An award winning company, who are regularly listed in the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies to Work For, we are extremely passionate about our commitment to charity work, road safety and community initiatives. Kwik Fit have been running the Lollipop Person of the Year competition since 2003.

Online Whisky Shop Master of Malt are the First Internet Retailer in the UK to Offer for Sale the New Release of the Hugely Anticipated 2009 Release of Sazerac Rye Whiskey

Sazerac Rye (fall 2008 edition) was rated by world-renowned critic Jim Murray as the "2010 world whisky of the year" in his recently released 2010 Whisky Bible, and promptly sold out in leading whisky retailers as a result.

The new shipment of the 2009 edition has just arrived in the UK, and Master of Malt are the first to offer it for sale.

Tasting notes for the whiskey have been compiled by the tasting team at Master of Malt and read as follows:

Sazerac Rye 18 Years Old (fall 2009 edition) is available now from Master of Malt priced at GBP89.95, and for a limited time only Master of Malt are giving away a free 5cl miniature of Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon with every bottle sold.

Established in 1985, Master of Malt has a proud heritage of over 25 years in whisky retail. They are one of the UK's leading online whisky merchants, and one of the most highly rated independent bottlers, all of whose single cask whiskies scored over 90 points in the Jim Murray Whisky Bible 2009.

Sazerac Rye (18 Years Old (fall 2009 edition) is available now from Master of Malt and for a limited time only will come with a free 5cl miniature of Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon.

Many a business is struggling to make ends meet these days, and that can put a lot of pressure on the business owner. Having to pay the bills and trying to hang onto employees can start to stress any small business owner who is also accounting for that business to put food on their own table as well. There are small business loans that are available for the business owner in their time of need, although it is not advisable to take a loan if your business is too far gone, but for the business that is still hanging on, it can provide a business owner with just enough to make it through the next few months, which is supposed to be the end of this joyous recession.

Applying for a small business loan can actually be a very simple process especially if your business has been opened for several years and had some success prior to the current economic climate. As a small business owner you can use these additional funds to breathe some life back into your business and can even use it to help further promote your business. It is not wise to simply take a loan and then use it to pay all the bills without trying to take some action to salvage your business. This may mean cutting back hours for your current staff until things pick up and perhaps cutting back on your businesses hours all together to further cut back on expenses. Just be careful not to cut back so much that it winds up in you losing additional money and costing you more.

Cutting back carefully while promoting wisely is the best way to ensure that you don't run out of the loan money before your business picks back up and you begin repaying it. If you are unsure as to whether or not you should take out a small business loan for your business than it is best to consult with your accountant or a financial advisor. It is always wise to determine if this temporary fix will help bring your business back to life or will sink it when the loan goes into repayment.

Another Christmas, another year. Looking at a site for gift ideas for others has inspired me to think about my own Christmas wish list. As always, there is no better time of year for reflecting one’s own wants and desires. So here is my Christmas wish list which is a mixture of my practical needs and a personal desire for something a little more.

1. It has been an exhausting year and I would love to visit a luxury spa so that I can unwind and recover myself

2. My TV is on its last legs and I would like Santa to get me a new TV with surround sound and widescreen

3. Boring and traditional I know, but now is the time of year you get some men’s suits for my threadbare wardrobe.

4. Some cool new home appliances are always good for a gadget lovers like me. I’m not fussy – any cool new kitchen gadget will do.

5. And on a purely practical front, I would be grateful for a new washer dryers that does not have a thing for eating socks and leaves your cloths feeling warm and fuzzy.

I will however settle for the usual scarf, sock and men’s toiletries if there is not room in the sleigh...

BASILDON, England, Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent survey by Go Travel Insurance has revealed that consumers value the quality and level of cover provided by their insurance policy over and above the actual price.

Customers were asked which factors were most important to them when choosing travel insurance, level of cover came in first, followed by price and then 'personal recommendation' by family or friend.

The quality of cover is particularly important for ski and snowboard enthusiasts and as the winter sport season is getting under way, it is time to invest in travel insurance. Ski breaks are one of the most expensive types of holiday a family can go on. So many people try to cut costs and forgo arranging travel insurance. In fact, 25 per cent of the British public still persist in travelling without insurance. However, this can prove a false economy.

If you break a leg on the slopes treatment can cost around 4000 pounds in Europe and up to 10,000 pounds in the US. With a travel insurance policy based on price alone you could end up paying high excesses and therefore having to foot some of the bill for the associated costs; air lifting, ambulances and extended hospital stays all add up and if you're not properly covered you could end up out of pocket. Some consumers have had to learn the hard way, that selecting insurance on price alone can prove more costly in the long run.

Winter sports insurance from Go Travel Insurance includes cover for skiing and snowboarding; medical expenses up to 10 million pounds; cancellation and curtailment up to 3,000 pounds, 24-hour medical emergency support - which can be particularly helpful if you aren't in an English speaking country and, as an added bonus for families, children are covered free of charge on single trip policies.

So before you get blown away by the price of a travel insurance policy, read the small print and check exactly what is included so you won't be left stranded up a mountain with a broken leg.

About Go Travel Insurance

Go Travel Insurance has been selling holiday insurance online since 2000, providing instant quotes with quick, easy and secure online buying.

Whether it's a single trip policy, or annual travel insurance, Go Travel Insurance offers a truly end to end service, with claims, call centre and medical screening, all handled in-house in the UK, giving a customer-focused and professional service every time. For more information visit http://www.gotravelinsurance.co.uk.

Go Travel Insurance is a division of Drakefield Insurance Services Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

The internet is an amazing thing. It is hard to believe as something who has had it for most of my life, that my parents grew up with out it and were just fine (or so they say). I do everything online now from school to work to fun.

As a college student, I use the internet to check emails from my teacher and communicate with other students from my classes when I have a question or maybe need notes. Also, all of our grades are up online and the notes for that semester and all of our assignments. Without the internet you literally could not pass most of my classes. And for a lot of them, they require online journal articles, which you need internet to search. I also work online and write articles and submit them, so doing that, and communicating with the people I work with is done through the internet basically everyday.

Being away from home can be hard too. I don't get to see my family for most of the year and friends are all away at different schools and we are now graduating. We keep in touch through email, instant messaging and even facebook. Without these, there is a very high chance that I would not be as close with them as I am now. My dad said that when he was in school he didn't really stay in touch with people from high school or home as much so when he was home, his relationships weren't as strong. I guess they didn't have cell phones either than though (weird).

Also, free online games and just surfing the web are amazing because when you aren't doing all of that school work and research and work for your job, you are able to play games on the internet (that are free!) and you can surf your favorite websites and even watch TV shows that you missed.

I can not imagine what my life would be like without the internet. I don't even really want to try. I am though very thankful that I was born at a time where I can do my banking online and stay in touch with my friends and even look up directions. The internet has made my life so much easier and without it, I can imagine it would be much more stressful.

Are you looking for a great way to save on your health insurance? Maybe you are a recent graduate (like I will be shortly) and you are getting off of your parent's insurance plan and are in need of coverage for yourself. Or maybe you are not happy with your current plan and need to find something new. Either way, the best place to look for health insurance is NetQuote.com

As soon as you get on to the page you find a great website. It shows you an icon for each of the insurance providers that it represents and you can check out and see each one of them.

Then you can enter your zip code and what kind of insurance you are looking for, in this case health insurance, and then it will take you through so you can fill out your information. This will eventually get you to a quote and compare the prices for each of the providers that they search.

If you are new to this or you don't have a ton of time to just call or go to each of the insurance providers than this is a great way to sit down and get all of the quotes on one page to compare to one another. You are able to see right there what they have to offer you and what each one costs and also how they compare and differ to each of the plans.

Right now our economy is struggling meaning we don't have money to throw around. Health insurance seems to be something that people are skimping on or skipping all together to save some money. The problem though is that if you get sick and you aren't covered you are going to wind up paying MUCH MUCH more than what you would be for insurance and this isn't the time to be gambling. This way, you are able to find what is affordable so you can save your money and work through all of your other financial obligations. But at the same time you are able to still watch out for yourself, your health and to protect your family. If you get sick and you aren't covered you don't just hurt yourself, everyone around you who depends on you suffers as well. You need to take care of you before you can take care of others.

The History of Co-Operatives

The Co-operative Union (now Co-operatives UK) was formed in 1869, its educational activities formalised in 1882 with the appointment of an education committee. In 1906 the Union decided to build a headquarters on Hanover Street, Manchester. The co-operative leader, secularist and social reformer, George Jacob Holyoake, who had done much to spread knowledge of the co-operative movement throughout the world thorough his writings had recently died. The headquarters became a memorial to him, being named Holyoake House (the Archive is based here today).

An important aspect of Holyoake House was to provide a library for education about co-operation. Holyoake had already deposited the Robert Owen papers with the Co-operative Union and his papers pertaining to co-operation were deposited by his daughter, Emilie Holyoake Marsh (other parts of his papers were deposited by her at Bishopsgate Institute).

In 1919 the Co-operative College was formed and was based within Holyoake House. The College was and is the formal educational wing of the co-operative movement and a researcher into issues affecting co-operation, such as fair trade. The College's library was an integral part of the organisation, being used by students and tutors alike.

Growth led to the College purchasing its own premises at Stanford Hall, Leicestershire where they stayed until 2001 when they relocated back to Holyoake House.

The two central libraries of the co-operative movement were therefore split geographically. In the subsequent years both libraries developed archives through acquisitions and donations. The Co-operative College collections specialised in education and business for example, the original records of societies in the Midlands were deposited by Midlands Co-operative Society. The Co-operative Union specialised in the letter collections and those of the Co-operative Press. At the same time both libraries developed their holdings of printed collections for example, collecting journals and materials about Robert Owen, George Jacob Holyoake and the Co-operative Party and Guilds.

In 2000 the decision was taken to merge the archival collections, along with related and important printed collections, together to form a centralised National Co-operative Archive. The Archive did not and does not seek to hold every single record relating to co-operation but it did and does seek to hold records of national organisations, a sample of co-operative society records and records of personalities and thinkers important to the development of co-operation.

Following the merger further business records and personal papers have been deposited with the Archive.

The Archive is currently in an exciting stage of its development, archival standard storage space has been fitting, collaborations are taking place and most importantly it is getting easier for researchers to find out about us and what we have.

Image: A tea break at 350 feet! The builders of the Co-operative Insurance Society, Manchester 1961

Many people wonder about psychic abilities and want to know more about whether or not they truly exist. This can be seen throughout television shows and movies where they explore people and their psychic abilities. Many times they will show people who are getting a psychic reading or those that are getting psychic help to find a criminal or a missing person. It is amazing to watch as they explore this phenomenon. I was watching one television show in which a man claimed to be psychic and he really seemed like it, but then it turned out that he was really just really good at reading people's body language. A psychologist was explaining how their are varying degrees of body language and as a person responds in such a way it tells the psychic weather he is right or wrong in what he is saying and that is how he adapts what he is saying. It was very interesting to watch this and see how the person was using the body language to determine whether what he was saying was right on the money or completely off base.

Does this mean that if you go for a free psychic reading that they are merely reading your body language to determine if what they are telling you is hitting home? Well, honestly I don't believe so. There are many real psychics out there who seem to have tapped into some super energy or other information stored in the universe. For a real psychic they don't need your body language or the tone of your voice to figure out if what they are telling is correct or not. As a matter of fact, many psychics will keep their eyes closed during a reading.

As with anything else there will always be skeptics, those who are doubtful of the existance of something greater than themselves. In fact however, there are many things that are not tangible and immeasurable, and that does not mean that they don't exist, as a matter of fact there are many things that fall into this category and just because psychic abilities can't be measured or seen by the naked eye, doesn't mean that they don't exist.