One thing I HAVE discovered – which every Lego-loving dad will appreciate – is that you can now download instructions for thousands of new and old models at the official Lego website. Brilliant news if you, like me, have the pieces for lots of models but not the crucial instructions. Also, and slightly worryingly for me, I’ve discovered that you can order individual pieces from the “Lego brick shop“. I’m now giving serious consideration to downloading instructions for models that I have almost all the pieces for, sorting them out and ordering the leftovers – then having the fun of building the whole thing with Robert. It’s creativity on a budget! Well, sort of anyway…

Anyway, back to the point of this post. If you’re as big a fan as me, you may well enjoy seeing people doing creative things with Lego – the photo at the top of this post has been doing the rounds on Facebook this week, much to everyone’s delight. Over the past few years I’ve found a number of great people to follow on Flickr who do just these sorts of things – so I wanted to share some of my favourites with you here. Click the picture for a link to the creator’s Flickr page…

Image courtesy of Bruceywan on Flick

Image courtesy of Kalexanderson on Flickr

Image courtesy of Kaitan Tylerguy on Flickr

Image courtesy of LDM on Flickr

Image courtesy of Captain Spaulding on Flickr

It's Zoidberg! Image courtesy of -infomaniac- on Flickr

Image courtesy of bikicsmilan on Flickr

Image courtesy of Lego Josh on Twitter

Image courtesy of Tervlon on Flickr

Image courtesy of Monsterbrick on Twitter

Image courtesy of Chris N Parsons, from the group "Lego Album Covers"

Image courtesy of Brickmodified on Flickr

If you’ve ever blogged yourself (so to speak), or even if you’re just a regular reader, you’ll know that there are a number of ways that the corporate world like to get involved with bloggers. Naturally, as a blogger (particularly the popular ones), marketers know that you have a ready-made audience that they’d love to tap in to. So sooner or later, you’re going to be approached by either a savvy PR person, a social media marketer or possibly even a brand themselves, asking you to do something in partnership with them.

I’ve written previously about a scheme I’m a big fan of, the “Blog Pitching Symbol” – a badge which tells potential partners (or unwanted approachers) whether you do or don’t like to be contacted about things like this. But once you have decided to make your blog “open to offers”, where do you draw the line?

I’m very keen to hear from other bloggers where they draw the line – though I can obviously tell you where my own personal line sits:

• Reviews – I’m more than happy to review products that are appropriate to my blog and audience, though I never guarantee that the review will be positive. Here’s a tip for the marketers on the topic of reviews: If you send me something, I’d really like to keep it. Let’s face it, you can afford it – and getting a free item is the least you expect when you take time to review a product (at least in my opinion!)
• Sponsored posts – I recently got asked to write my first sponsored post, and after much consideration I accepted. The people who asked me were very transparent about the process, insisted I mark it very clearly as being sponsored, and I felt that the topic was relevant both to me and my friends – so I went ahead. But I certainly wouldn’t ever take a sponsorship offer that asked me to keep the sponsorship a secret.
• Advertising – I suspect this is probably the biggest no-brainer for most bloggers, as there are very few websites out there these days which DON’T have ads on – so why should you be missing out? I’ve never been asked to advertise on my blog so far, but I’d definitely consider it…
• Links – As somebody with a wealth of experience in the complexities of SEO, I’m very aware of the value to be had for brands from link-building on relevant site. I’ve not sold any links to date (and doubt I would), though I’m always happy to add links to relevant sites when writing posts – indeed, I encourage my guest posters to include a link to their own sites in their bio. It’s the least I could do, in my opinion!
• Guest posting – As regular readers will know, I’m very keen on accepting guest posts from other parents or bloggers, and have had some great submissions in the past year, for which I’m very grateful. But lately I’ve noticed a trend of marketers contacting me to offer up guest posts, presumably for the SEO benefit. I’m actually not averse to this, PROVIDING the content is unique, relevant and written especially for my blog. I’ve had a couple of people lately offering me “free” content on completely irrelevant subjects – and worse still, acting like they’re doing me a favour. No thank you, crappy marketer – move along.

So those are my current opinions, and I consider them reasonably fair – but in talking to friends and readers about the things I HAVE accepted to date, I’m well aware that different people have their moral compass set at different angles – so I’m very keen to hear what other bloggers think… Let me know in the comments, or tweet me!

Before you start worrying for my sanity, I should clarify – I’m not a train spotter, and haven’t been putting any (okay, much) thought in to the logistics of a train with a face. No, I’m talking about the main differences between the two shows – which might explain why I find one much more preferable than the other.

Until very recently, Robert has been an almost exclusively-BBC child – or to be more accurate, a Cbeebies viewer. We’ve steered clear of commercial or non-British programming, as we’ve grown to know and trust the content put out by the BBC. Before Christmas however, Robert began taking a big interest in Thomas the Tank Engine – so he now watches the TV version on Channel 5 most mornings.

If you’ve not seen Thomas since the days of Ringo Starr, you won’t be too far behind. The main differences between old and new Thomas are the animation (it’s now photo-real CGI) and the narration format (the trains and characters now speak, though the narration is still a big part). The stories themselves are still the same, and remain startlingly faithful to the original books by Reverend W Awdry (and his son).

If you don’t know Thomas OR Chuggington, there’s probably not much point in you reading on – but for the uninitiated, Chuggington is a popular CG-show on Cbeebies, also about talking trains, though set in a much more modern setting.

Robert’s recent fandom of Thomas has reminded me of something I’d forgotten since the days of my own Thomas-watching. Namely: I don’t much like them. I used to think it was just the creepy animation, but the new CG-animated style has crossed that off my list – I still don’t like it. But in comparing the two shows, I finally realised what my dislike stems from, and it’s a fairly fundamental difference between Thomas and a lot of the kid shows that I DO like:

In a nutshell, it’s that old chestnut – good vs evil. To be more specific, the Thomas the Tank Engine stories feature some quite nasty characters, whereas Chuggington gets it’s drama from less “evil” themes, such as peril or mistakes made by characters. I don’t think Chuggington features a single “bad” character. Neither, in fact, does Robert’s other favourite show, The Octonauts. In fact, thinking more widely, very few of the shows aimed at pre-schoolers DO feature nasty characters – and the ones that do (Numberjacks, Tommy Zoom etc) have never been too popular in our house.

I suspect my preference for shows that avoid the “Good vs Evil” element may see me being accused of “coddling” or wrapping my children up in cotton wool. But I’d heartily disagree – I’m more than happy for my 3 year old son to only have minimal exposure to “baddies” at this stage in his development – there’s plenty of time for that when he’s older.

Plus, I’m sure some of you will agree, I often find the cut-and-dry approach to baddies quite patronising – after all, I don’t actually believe that anybody is fundamentally Good or Bad, but characters like the Diesels in the Thomas stories are often painted as having very little redeeming qualities.

The approach taken in Thomas is probably due in no small part to it’s creator’s Christian leanings – something which modern programming is most likely keen to steer clear of, for equality reasons. I should point out that I have no problem with this moral message – or even some of the more overtly-religious messages that come through – in the same way as I enjoy The Hobbit or the Narnia stories, both of which have very clear religious messages. No, my issue with Thomas is mainly because of the baddies.

I should clarify that Robert is still watching Thomas – I’m not going to stop him based on my own preferences, as that would seem rather cruel. But I will be very interested to see how the stories affect him in the coming years – most likely the answer will be “not at all”. But if he starts calling me “The fat controller”, I’m drawing the line…!

Amusingly, reading a review of one of the Thomas “feature length” shows – “Thomas and Friends: Day of the Diesels” lead me to THIS amazing user review, which I have to share. It’s worth reading the whole thing – if for no other reason that to see if you can figure out whether it’s serious or a joke – but I thought I’d share my favourite paragraph for you here… enjoy!

The final disappointment is when Sir Topham Hat arrives at the Steam Works to put a stop to the shenanigans. He scolds Diesel 10 who cowers at Hat’s stern voice. I was under the impression that Diesel 10 was his own man and didn’t follow anyone’s rules. Apparently he is just another slave on the plantation.

I won’t give away the big happy ending but while the movie looks great and Diesel 10 shows potential, it is ultimately a disappointment in my eyes. When are we going to see a truly evil Diesel 10 who maims Sir Topham Hat and destroys a few of the goody goody steamies? I thought this movie was going to be it, but it is not. Let me just add that while I was let down by the movie my kid loves and has already watched it 20 times. Great for kids but not for adults hoping for evil and terror on the island of Sodor.

I was recently contacted by British Gas asking if I’d like help spread the message about smart meters via my blog – slightly different to the usual feedback I get from my blog, I must admit. But one that certainly intrigued me. As a big fan of British Gas (provided you ask me before my bill arrives, ha ha) and an even bigger fan of energy saving, I was more than happy to help out.

As a father, I’m naturally concerned about doing my bit when it comes to ensuring the planet my children “inherit” is – as the signs on the toilets always say – the same way as it was when I arrived. I’m also, let’s face it, a bit of a penny-pincher, so anything which helps me save money AND reduce energy consumption seemed like a win-win to me. So, what are they doing?

As part of a government commitment to installing a “Smart meter” in every home by 2019, British Gas are trying to help bring that forward by installing smart meters in homes, businesses and the like – right from 2012. Apparently I may even be considered for an “early roll-out” myself – news that made me more excited than it probably should, ha ha.

As part of the roll-out / education piece, they’re also looking for people to help them spread the message about smart meters, explaining what they are and how they apply to them. So here’s my take:

Rather than explain what they are, this video will do a much better job than I ever could – so how about watching that first? I’ll rejoin you on the other side…

Hopefully you’re now fully clued-up. So, why would you want to install a Smart Meter before the planned deadline? Well, if you’re a nerd like myself it opens up a whole world of information on your energy usage. They’ve even got a smartphone app which you can link up to your meter, giving you constant access to your data!

The online interface allows you to check things like your current consumption across the day (and night), a comparison to your neighbourhood’s average, your carbon footprint – you can even set “targets” for every usage and have an alert when you’re getting near to the target/limit! Great if you’re trying to save a bit of cash, particularly during the summer months I reckon.

The biggest benefit I can see, though, is that they spell an end to estimated bills – something which I don’t mind saying has bugged me for years. No more pesky person coming round (or ringing up) to read your meter, no more confusion over why your bill contains data which might not match your meter – easier all round, as far as I can see.

If you’re lucky enough to have a wind turbine or solar panels, the Smart Meter will even integrate with these to show how much you’re producing, and all that data which is important to people who are “growing their own” electricity – as I one day plan to.

If you want to learn more about Smart Meters, I suggest you head over to the British Gas Facebook page, or just their website of course.

So without further ado, here are 40 questions – some easy, some a little more difficult, some only for the die-hard Octo-fans amongst us…

Q1 What is the three-word mantra of the Octonauts?

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Q2 How does Peso help to relieve Captain Barnacles when he gets stung by the Jellyfish?

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Q3 How many legs does the Gup D have?

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Q4 Which creatures guard the spyglass sought by Kwazii on the shipwreck?

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Q5 What type of Anemones are at war in the “Enemy Anemones” episode?

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Q6 Which Octonaut originally bought the team together?

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Q7 What ailment is the Albino Humpback Whale suffering from when the Octonauts meet him?

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Q8 How does the Snapping Shrimp manage to create the deafening sound which stuns the Octonauts?

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Q9 When the Octopod loses power, how does Captain Barnacles sound the Octo-Alert?

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Q10 What “zone” of the ocean does the Angler Fish live in?

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Q11 Which of the Octonauts gets trapped inside the giant Comb Jelly?

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Q12 What is the name of Peso Penguin’s little brother?

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Q13 What type of fish become trapped in the Octopod’s waterworks when they become scared of Kwazii and the Gup-B?

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Q14 What colour seaweed do the Marine Iguanas prefer?

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Q15 How is the rarely-seen Gup F powered?

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Q16 What are the names of the three Blobfish Brothers?

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Q17 When the Gups go rogue on auto-pilot, which fish helps to rescue them – with the help of the Gup F?

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Q18 Who inadvertantly steals Professor Inkling’s journal?

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Q19 On which eye does Kwazii wear his eyepath

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Q20 What do the Octonauts break in to the Walrus colony to retrieve?

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Q21 Which of the Octonauts tend the Octopod’s garden pod?

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Q22 What is the name of the annual penguin triathalon that Peso competes in against Hugo?

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Q23 What fish is the Gup-A designed to resemble?

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Q24 What is the name of Professor Inkling’s nephew, as featured in the Christmas episode?

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Q25 Which of the Octonauts is a trained engineer?

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Q26 Whose catchphrase is “Buncha Munch Crunchy Carrots?”

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Q27 Which creatures help to rescue the stranded Orca when it becomes beached?

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Q28 What adjustment is added to the Gup B to catch up with the Flying Fish?

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Q29 Which of the Octonauts appears to be the only one who can understand the Vegimal’s language?

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Q30 Which creatures help to rescue Shellington when his cave-diving guide-line snaps?

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Q31 Which friend of the Octonauts helps Captain Barnacles to rescue the Octopod when it falls in to a ravine

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Q32 What is the only creature Kwazii is known to be scared of?

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Q33 Which two creatures are used to illustrate the concept of Symbiosis?

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Q34 What is the name of Kwazii’s pirate grandfather?

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Q35 What type of fish do Kwazii and Peso encounter walking on land?

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Q36 In the original American-released books, what was Dashi Dog previously called?

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Q37 What musical instrument does Captain Barnacles play?

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Q38 What does the Kraken-esque “monster” described on Kwazii’s “Monster Map” turn out to be?

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Q39 How many Gups are there?

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Q40 What musical instrument do the Octonauts use to entice a pack of Beluga Whales out from under the ice flow?

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I had returned home from a summer vacation camp. Together with fifty teenagers I had been locked into a house to discuss drugs, sex, love, friendship and so forth with a group of professionals. We had not been allowed to leave the premises but we could do pretty much what we wanted inside, and most importantly, we could speak about what concerned us at the time.

I had brought home with me guides and information leaflets on various subjects and a particular one was about sex. My father noticed it, grabbed it and disappeared from the room, only to return later with a smile on his face saying, ‘Son, I had a quick look at this guide. I think it explains everything you need to know about … hmmm… sex… I think you should read it and if there something you can’t understand come and speak to me.’

He returned the guide to me and we never discussed this subject again. Not because the guide was so well written and required no further clarifications. My father was just totally unaware about what I was going through.

So that you know, before my father offered his assistance to explain the meaning of the s word, I had already seen a dozen of hard core movies. Also, my friends and I had already identified a location not far from our suburb, where we could see, everyone hidden in the bushes, prostitutes in live action. It was not to understand the dynamics of sex that I needed help with. My problem at the time was to learn the dynamics of how to lure a girl into my bed. Like many boys my age I was extremely horny.

These days I am the father of two boys and a girl. The time will come when my children will go through similar questions as I did at their age, but will they seek their old man for advise?

Personally I think the most important message to put across, is to make them understand the complexities of sex, the meaning of protection and the benefits of waiting for the right time.

At the back of my mind I dread the possibility that one of my children one day will come home, or someone will call me, saying that their girlfriends are with child or my daughter at lunch time tells me, ‘dad… I think I am pregnant’.

If I am right, my boys’ sexual appetite will rise at age fifteen. I don’t think I will need to lecture them about how people make love, since they will know that already. If there is something worth emphasising is that waiting for the right time is a wise decision, sex is complex and if I may say, they will get plenty of it when they get older.

The trick is how to make sure they will wait for the right time without being forced to watch them like a hawk.

But what sort of trick will work in this particular situation? I watched my mother do everything she could to prevent my two brothers from smoking and these days they are both smokers. Not heavy smokers but they aren’t the kind of smokers that makes my mother proud.

I personally think the safest way to educate is by being the advocate of what we preach. We shouldn’t expect our children to read if we don’t set the example and read ourselves. We shouldn’t expect them to eat vegetables if we don’t do the same. We shouldn’t expect them to be diligent with their homework if they don’t see their parents bragging about their work and how much they love working.

As such it is clear to me that the best way to explain the benefits of love to our children is to remain in love as a couple. We should not forget that children are often pleased to see their mum and dad happy with each other. There is a sense of harmony within the family that they can sense.

It works the same way as the Chinese saying ‘one picture is worth a thousand words’. I believe that having a loving and caring relationship will originate good memories capable of influencing our children in their future decisions.

I am not saying that we should refrain from talking to them about sex and the meaning of love. But if they can perceive their parents as living a loving relationship most likely they will naturally assimilate everything we tell them.

And when they grow older and are able to make their own decisions the loving images they carry with them is something we can rely on.

Filipe Cardeira is an architect based in Sydney and a proud father of three children. Feel free to contact him via twitter or facebook. You can also check his blog at http://filipecardeira.com/blog.

Initial reports suggested administration was being sought, though recent brief updates have suggested store closures is the worst it could go – uplifting news for lingerie fans, who are keen to clutch any good news to their bosom in these confusing times.

Once news broke, La Senza’s PR team tried to Nip the story in the bud, hoping to avoid the crisis being padded-out by critics – and as everyone knows, they’ve had their knockers in the past.

A La Senza rep apologised for the news leaking, explaining it had been “a bit of a boob” and that the person responsible for the leak “felt like a right tit.” They went on to state: “We were hoping it might all flatten out – it felt like a storm in a d-cup to us at first.

The closure of some stores comes at a time when many brands are suffering on the highstreet. Financial conditions for 2012 are unlikely to be perky, with the cleaver set to come down on other chains – though how much cleavage will happen is yet unknown. 

Around Europe there are similar stories – though people are keen to put a positive spin on the situation.  One German commenter explained that conditions in Germany were “fine, Wonderbra!”, with another suggesting “Soon this crisis will all be a distant mammary”.

However the situation ends for La Senza, staff are surely hoping that this is rock-bottom for the chain, with more plentiful and generous profits ahead of them. 

Good luck to you, La Senza – Bra-vo for the optimism!

Our third attempt - Worst. Santa. EVER

As is probably traditional in a lot of family households, the lead-up to the festive season included a couple of attempts at taking Robert to “meet” Father Chrismtas at one of his local hide-outs.

Our first attempt was what we assumed would be a sure-fire bet for a good Santa – John Lewis in Reading. We’d seen it advertised in a number of places, and I don’t mind admitting my first thought was “John Lewis is a classy-enough store – they’re bound to have a good Santa’s Grotto”. How wrong was I – when we got there it turned out this Santa is what’s apparently known in the trade as a “Roaming Santa” – in other words, no grotto, just a Santa wandering the store saying hello to the little’uns. We couldn’t even find the bugger – so we moved on.

Where to try next? The next biggest-department store in Reading, House of Fraser. No Santa there. So we headed to Debenhams, where signs around the Oracle centre had assured us we’d find a Santa. But once again, we were disappointed – this one wasn’t roaming thankfully, but he wasn’t exactly being treated in the manner in which you’d hope. He was perched on a chair next to the escalators, from where he could (at best) beckon-over any passing children and ask them what they wanted for Christmas. He was also a very measly-looking Santa – very thin, NHS specs and an average outfit. Robert actually ran away from him at first!

Christmas "around the world"

If I said that this Santa was poor, it’d be an over-statement. To be fair to our friends that recommended it, there were actually TWO Santas at the end of the queue – which explained how they managed to see so many people reasonably quickly, which had confused me a lot in the queue! So it may well be that they saw another Santa, or perhaps they work in shifts. Either way, our Santa was utterly pants – Really obvious fake beard, no affinity with children, a grumpy attitude and an Australian accent. He sat there like a lemon while Robert tried to make the best of it – he didn’t even seem to know what to ask Robert, offering up a “So, I guess there’s some things you want for Christmas, eh? Er, Robert?”.

We stayed for a few minutes, during which Sara and I shifted uncomfortably and even Robert seemed to want to leave very quickly – which we soon did, armed with a plastic fishing game and a slightly puzzled toddler. Even the reindeer seemed disappointed, wandering round in their pen like they’d been there for decades. All-in-all, a very disappointing experience.

All of which lead me to the conclusion that finding a good Santa to take your children to is a VERY tricky business. Somebody needs to invent some sort of comparison site for Father Christmas / Grottos. Or maybe a version of “Check a Trade” whereby you can submit your own reviews for other families to read before they decide.

If nobody has come up with the solution by next summer, I reckon I’m going to have to start building it myself…

As we come hurtling towards the end of 2012, full of Christmas cheer and festive spirit, I wanted to take a moment to thank all the people that regularly read my blog – and those of you who have contributed guest blog posts to it in the past 12 months.

As well as marking the end of the year, this time also marks the end of my first year as a “Daddy Blogger”, so I’m very pleased to have made it this far. If you follow me online, you’ll know I’ve been blogging for a lot longer than a year – both on the Tamar blog and various other projects. But my decision to ‘rebrand’ myself as a more niche type of blogger on my own blog has been a good one (in my opinion) and I’m pleased with what I’ve achieved in 2011.

As well as over 100 blog posts, I’ve had 18 lovely guest posts from both friends and strangers alike. I’ve had at least one of my posts published in a book but more importantly I’ve made a host of new friends in the wider “daddy blogger” community. It’s been a good year.

Looking ahead to 2012, I’m planning for a lot more of the same. If you’d like to write a guest post for the blog, I always welcome contributions – drop me an email or tweet me. I’m also hoping it’s going to be the year when I finally get around to having my own book published – as well as of course being a year full of lots more fatherhood fun and games.

Anyway, I’ll save you the soppy “Thank you” messages to friends and family – if you’ve read this blog or supported me this year, you’ll doubtless already know that I love you all.

All that remains is for me to wish you all a…

Happy Christmas!

…and a wonderful New Year – here’s to a great 2012!

(You might laugh, but I don’t THINK my blog will have gotten on to any school-based blacklists yet, and I know how much kids are encouraged to use computers at school these days – spoiling a young child’s Christmas is the last thing I want to do, after all!)

Right, now that I’ve got that out of the way… Let me ask you a question:

How old were you when you first suspected that Father Christmas wasn’t quite as real as you’d been lead to believe?

Slightly embarrassingly, I think I was a lot older than I probably should have been – around 8 or 9, if memory serves. I suspect most people clock-on a lot earlier, but hey – it hasn’t done me any harm (has it?)

The reason I’m so curious should be fairly obvious – the Elliss household is currently deep in the midst of Christmas preparations, and this weekend included not 1 but 2 separate encounters with the big man himself. Robert, who is 3, still very firmly believes in Father Christmas.

I say “still” – this is actually the first Christmas we’ve had where Robert is even old enough to understand what’s going on to any extent. But that doesn’t stop people asking me “Does Robert still believe in Father Christmas?” (to which I usually reply “Er, yes. He’s 3″).

So whilst I’m not too worried about the magic of Christmas being spoiled this year, the fact that he’s now at pre-school – where the influence of his peers is bound to start having an effect – I’m getting slightly nervous about when the truth WILL be revealed to him. And then we’ve got the next issue – namely, his little brother. When Robert does finally click, will he reveal all to Freddie?

I’m amazed I didn’t realise a lot sooner – as well as my school-friends who probably tried to convince me of “the truth about Santa” at school, I’m also the third child in our family – my brother is 6 years older, my sister 3. So I suspect they deserve a big “thank you” from my childhood self, for not spoiling the magic of Christmas for me. Hopefully we’re bringing Robert up well enough that he’ll do his brother the same courtesy.

Of course, I might well be pushing my luck in the mean time – I’m not even going to tell you how many times I’ve trotted out the old “Unless you do as you’re told, I’m going to write a letter to Father Christmas telling him you don’t want any presents” trick… Hopefully he won’t call my bluff – surely the stakes are too high? Otherwise, I might have to follow my own rule (most regularly used with bedtime story cancellation) and actually cancel Christmas one year. And I don’t think THAT would go down too well…!

So, how old were YOU when you heard the big revelation?