Join the First Look Gnomes for another week of hilarious and unexpected discoveries! We kick things off with a first look at Whitewater Brewery — one of Northern Ireland’s most loved craft breweries — before heading to the beautiful seaside town of Newcastle, County Down for some family-friendly exploring.
Things get weird (in the best way) when we drive the famous “Magic Road” at Spelga Dam, where your car appears to roll uphill. Optical illusion? Witchcraft? Gnome mischief? We investigate.
Back home, we dive into the chaotic fun of Power Hungry Pets, the card game currently taking families by storm, and then switch gears with a look at the hugely popular kids’ show Grace’s Amazing Machines.
If you’re into Northern Ireland travel, quirky road trip spots, craft breweries, family games, or kids’ TV reviews, this episode is packed with first looks worth checking out. Grab a cuppa (or a pint) and join the adventure!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_04 (00:00):
Welcome to First Look Gnomes.
Your go-to podcast for dadsdoing silly things.
Share tips for dads.
And of course, the dad jokes andthe bad jokes.
SPEAKER_03 (00:12):
But most importantly, we're here to share
our first looks.
SPEAKER_04 (00:15):
Don't forget to send in your feedback to our fish
bond of feedback.
SPEAKER_03 (00:18):
And share your thoughts, questions, and own
first looks with us at firstlookgnomes at outlook.com.
Are we?
Looks like it.
I think so.
I've got 10 seconds on theclock.
SPEAKER_04 (00:31):
95%, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03 (00:34):
Anyways.
After last time, Williams.
SPEAKER_04 (00:37):
What do you mean?
SPEAKER_03 (00:39):
With all the we've lost the show.
Where's the show?
SPEAKER_04 (00:41):
Oh yeah.
It's gone!
SPEAKER_03 (00:45):
I can see these things.
I can see these things calledblocks.
There's 26 blocks and I can'tdownload it.
And you said it'd be chat GPTmessages.
Try this!
SPEAKER_04 (00:55):
You delved into the matrix and you need to find it.
Yeah.
We got it.
Well, with help.
SPEAKER_03 (01:00):
Yeah, you got it.
I didn't know what was going on.
Anyway, we start the show.
We start the recording.
SPEAKER_04 (01:05):
Yeah, we'll start the recording.
I'm gonna start around anannouncement.
Oh, it's an importantannouncement.
So as it's the the anniversaryof Will Beyer's disappearance
approaching, it's only right tomention that in the autumn of
1987, the military arrives inHawkins and begins hunting
(01:27):
Eleven.
It's episode 11, season four,and yes, that's about the new
series of Stranger Things.
SPEAKER_03 (01:34):
I'm very excited for it.
Character Eleven.
She's doing all the rounds atthe minute, isn't she?
Millie Bobby Brown to round it.
She's doing the rounds.
I saw she was on Jonathan Ross.
SPEAKER_04 (01:46):
They're all like in the 20s now and had kids.
SPEAKER_03 (01:51):
No, what I what I mean, not doing their rounds
like that.
I mean doing the rounds likedoing No, I didn't mean they
have that.
What are you trying to say aboutthese young folk Walliams?
Um doing the rounds.
Oh doing the rounds.
Slags, a lot of them, slags.
No, they're all on the on thepromotion trail, aren't they?
Kind of promoting the new seasonof Stranger Things.
SPEAKER_04 (02:10):
Last uh yeah, last Adventure of Stranger Things 5
and Linda Hampton's in it, asaren't she, apparently.
SPEAKER_03 (02:17):
Yes, so Sarah Clark.
SPEAKER_04 (02:19):
She of Terminator Fame, yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (02:21):
That's a good casting.
I think she'll be great.
SPEAKER_04 (02:24):
Yeah.
So last season should be outalready for listeners listening
to it, but they're splitting itinto three, aren't they?
So upcoming end of this month,November.
Or last month, depending on whenyou're listening to this.
Uh the first part, and thenChristmas and New Year's.
SPEAKER_03 (02:41):
Yes, Christmas Day and then New Year's Day, isn't
it?
For the final episode.
SPEAKER_04 (02:46):
Yeah, so we look forward to that.
Episode 11.
SPEAKER_03 (02:50):
11 Season 4, my goodness.
Will she survive?
Will she survive?
I think she will, yes.
Or she'll do some greatsacrifice.
And yeah, who knows?
I don't know.
It's 50-50 way.
She may survive, she may not.
Or maybe a third option that wedon't even know about.
Either way, I am excited.
SPEAKER_04 (03:11):
Fish pond our feedback.
Feedback.
Splish blush splish blushsplish.
Splish blush splish.
We've got some new listeners.
New listeners from Uita.
A new listener.
(03:32):
Walnut Creek in California.
SPEAKER_03 (03:35):
Oh, that sounds nice.
I bet it's warm there.
SPEAKER_04 (03:39):
Walnut Creek?
Walnut Creek.
Walnut Creek in Walnut Creek.
You're thinking of Wolf Creek, Ithink.
SPEAKER_03 (03:44):
Maybe.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (03:46):
Walnut Creek sounds lovely though.
Yeah.
Kazugai Achi.
Bless you.
Oh, in Japan?
SPEAKER_03 (03:54):
I presume so again.
Should reset your thing so can'ttell what your your
pronunciation there, one is.
It could be something completelydifferent.
Achi.
SPEAKER_04 (04:02):
And uh new listener in uh Torumolinos, Malaga.
Oh, very nice.
Beautiful part of the world.
Welcome, new listeners.
We also had someone write in,didn't we?
Oh they did.
And they said, and they said,it's clear first lit gnomes,
champions, fresh thinking, andpractical impact.
(04:22):
So I wanted to introduce myselfas a potential guest, as founder
and CEO of Gigabyte, Gigabit IQ.
And it goes on and on and on.
But uh yeah, and uh someonemight in wants to be a guest as
well.
SPEAKER_03 (04:35):
What uh what would we ask them, Wallyams?
If you had the CEO of GigabitIQ, what kind of intellectual
question would you ask them?
I'd tell them a dad joke.
You tell them a dad joke aboutcomputers, about the internet.
Yeah, just do that for 15minutes.
I wonder why one is coming onthis podcast.
I mean, because what did he sayat the start?
SPEAKER_04 (04:57):
We are clearly what is it's clear, fresh look first
look gnomes, champions, freshthinking and practical impact.
See, I mean, do we do we reallyas as you said yeah, I don't
think we were the only ones theyemailed, unfortunately.
But if you are being on the ifyou if you're listening, write
to us again, and perhaps we'llget you on board.
(05:19):
Ah but we'll need you to writein to prove that you've actually
listened to the episode.
SPEAKER_03 (05:26):
There is a uh so I'm gonna have to find this for you.
It's a this is a first.
So Leslie Ann, uh my good wife,introduced me to this YouTube
Shorts guy.
He does he is like day 28 ofturning Tinder messages into
songs, and there's one of them,and it's like it's a guy, and he
does it he himself as a womanwith like a wig on, he's got a
(05:46):
big beard, and then he sings toher and he makes all these
original songs of these weird,creepy conversations that people
have on Tinder.
Right, and there's one of themwhich is like, hey, and then the
reply is like, Hey, how are youdoing?
They're having this conversationsays, I don't think you're real,
say potato, and then the replyis something random, and then he
(06:07):
just starts shouting, saypotato, and the girl's called
Elizabeth, so it's like say saypotato, Elizabeth, clearly
because it's a bot responding tothe the messages.
It's very funny.
I'll have to find him.
Hang on, let me let me find it.
SPEAKER_04 (06:20):
Just so uh CEO and and of uh Gigabit IQ.
SPEAKER_03 (06:25):
Yeah, send us an email saying potato.
Say potato.
I'm gonna have to find him now.
Hang on, let me open.
He's probably he's probablyright there on like one of the
first videos.
Say potato, stay potato andwe'll get you on board.
SPEAKER_04 (06:43):
Actually, anybody, anybody listening out there, if
you write in and say potato, wewill get you on the show.
SPEAKER_03 (06:51):
Yeah, he's found obviously on the internet people
kind of share their creepyTinder messages.
So, like some of them are justhilarious, and he turns them
into original songs.
So his his uh handle is atLukey, L-E-W-K-Y 9945.
And yeah, he's just very funny.
Comedy songs and videos just foryou.
(07:13):
Yeah, he's he went like fromdoing a few and then he just
took off and he's gettingmillions of views now.
Yeah, it's yeah, Luki, Luki, saypotato, and it gets stuck in
your head.
His songs do get stuck in yourhead, anyway.
SPEAKER_04 (07:25):
That was a bit of a tangent.
That was it, a bit, but yeah,right, and we'll yeah, say
potato, and we'll get you on thepodcast.
Um I have some feedback,Williams.
You do?
Oh god, okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (07:35):
This is and it it's probably it's it's valid
considering I just went on arandom tangent about Lukey.
The feed the feedback was thatseason four hasn't been as good
and we need to up our games.
This was face-to-face feedbackfrom a listener.
I know it was it's crit it wascritical, but I think it was
(07:55):
fair.
I think this year, Williams, wehave been busy.
I have been extremely busy withthe house and all that kind of
stuff, and there's been thingsgoing on, so I I I could I
didn't take the feedback.
SPEAKER_04 (08:06):
So what's it missing?
Well, we dropped 31st and wedropped uh the no-known, so
that's the only difference.
SPEAKER_03 (08:12):
Yeah, and and this was one of the people who didn't
want the no-known there.
Maybe he just doesn't know whathe wants.
SPEAKER_04 (08:16):
Maybe he has no clue what he wants.
Oh, and maybe we we do waffle alot more now.
We do waffle, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (08:23):
The the I said, like I I he said, Oh, this is I was
catching up on your podcast, andI said, Yeah, I said, What do
you think?
And he didn't actually have tosay anything, just the look on
his face said it all.
It was one of those.
I was like, Is it is it not asgood?
He said, uh it's you need youneed to try harder.
And I was like, fair, fairassessment.
So while it the feedback is tryharder.
SPEAKER_04 (08:44):
Is this not trying harder?
No, it's not, is it?
SPEAKER_03 (08:47):
I don't know.
I just went on a random tangentto share a video on a podcast on
a on an audio channel wherewatch this, how can I?
It's listening of us havedipped, by the way.
Oh, have they?
Well, there you go then.
The the stats don't lie, dothey, Wallyams?
SPEAKER_04 (09:03):
The female in the last episode I was reading out
the ingredients to uh to beclean out.
SPEAKER_03 (09:09):
Yeah, maybe that's why we dropped the the um the
first points and but then youreplaced it with points and
first bites.
Well that I suppose that doessegue us in to the points and
first bites section quitenicely.
Should we jump straight into it?
To the what?
The points and first bites!Pints and first bites.
(09:32):
And we should say if anybodydoes have any other feedback,
maybe not as harsh or maybe justas harsh, send it to uh
firstlook gnomes at outlook.comand we will take it on board and
um potentially try harder.
But also potentially forget whathappened and just keep going as
we do.
SPEAKER_04 (09:52):
Season four is the first season with pints and
first bites as well.
SPEAKER_03 (09:56):
Maybe just it's just bedding in, isn't it, Williams?
That's what it is.
It's just bedding in.
SPEAKER_04 (09:59):
Yeah, it is.
So take it up.
Yeah, maybe we need to do pintsand first bites and takeaways.
SPEAKER_03 (10:04):
Maybe.
Maybe maybe maybe yeah.
We'll have a debrief at the endof the season and decide what
we're going to do with things.
So um, so I'm taking the firstlook the first bite today.
So look behind the curtain.
I got a message ten minutesbefore recording this.
I've not got a pint or firstbite.
Can you do it?
So I'm like, alright, fine.
SPEAKER_04 (10:24):
The wifey wife today.
I'm gonna uh I'm gonna embarrassher, but she's gonna throw it in
the bus.
I'll get you I'll get you afirst bite or uh first pint
today.
SPEAKER_03 (10:33):
Forgot.
SPEAKER_04 (10:34):
Unbelievable.
SPEAKER_03 (10:35):
She was too busy looking after your child or at
work.
Unbelievable.
Unbelievable.
You'll just have to go and getyourself a first bite next time,
Wallyams.
SPEAKER_01 (10:43):
Yeah, have to.
SPEAKER_03 (10:44):
Okay, well, I'm gonna I'm gonna show you,
Wallyams, what I'm gonna have asmy first.
Oh Ango, you've got a guess,haven't you?
What is it?
Is it a pint or is it a firstpint?
SPEAKER_04 (10:54):
I think you're gonna tell me it's our first bite.
SPEAKER_03 (10:57):
No.
SPEAKER_01 (10:57):
No first pint!
SPEAKER_03 (11:04):
This is from Whitewater Brewing Company.
You know, heard me talk aboutthem.
That's a different beer.
This is not actually a firstpint.
However, I'm gonna talk aboutthe White Water Brewing Company
again because two weeks ago wedid have a first pint.
We went to the WhitewaterBrewing Company and we bought
(11:25):
one of everything.
Me and the fr said friend whogave us feedback, which is we
need to try harder, went to thebrewery.
Is this the manly man as well?
It is the manly man, yes.
We've talked about on many manyoccasions.
We drove to the brewery, and thelovely gentleman who runs the
brewery and has done so for 30years talked to us about the
beer, and we we purchased two ofeverything, and then over the
(11:48):
course of a weekend, we triedevery single one of them.
So we tried, well, I'm about toopen a Belfast Lager, but while
we're there, we tried theMaggie's Leap, which you know I
love.
We had a U Rebel, we had BelfastLager, which I'm about to have a
yeah, we had Bees Endeavour,Hopple Hammer, Hancock and
Pigeon, Hopple Hammer, Halle andRed, Murado Pale Ale, Murado Red
(12:13):
Ale.
We had a whiskey stout.
I mean, we were pretty muchhammered for three days.
It was fantastic, and they wereall lovely.
Did you say whiskey stout?
A whiskey stout.
And you know what?
When we had this, I was like, weneed to get some of these for
Walliams.
We need to order some of theseand get them.
Nine percent Hinch whiskeybarrel age stout.
(12:34):
And Morg's the Manly Man is nota fan of that of stout at all.
He can do a Guinness, but that'sabout it.
So I ended up drinking both ofthose scans and they knocked me
for six.
I was like, nine per oh, theywere nice, but you could I don't
think I could drink that many ofthem because I'm not into
whiskey, but it was stilllovely.
SPEAKER_04 (12:52):
But I can send you a couple of it's a stout there,
but is so is it a stout in awhiskey cake?
In a whiskey barrel.
SPEAKER_03 (12:59):
Yeah, all right.
So it's all infused with it, andit's quite nice.
So yeah, I enjoyed it.
So all of the so basically thethe first pint is all of the
white water brew and co beer,and it's all delicious.
Um, our favourite, uh, uhconsensus was the Murado, both
the Murada pale and the MuradoRed.
Fantastic.
So you recommend it, is it?
Oh, yeah, I'm gonna take younext time we'll come over.
(13:21):
We talked about it.
I actually told the owner aswell that we talk about his beer
a lot on the podcast.
He didn't give a monkeys, hewasn't, he wasn't fussed.
He was a big thing.
SPEAKER_04 (13:28):
He's not gonna give you free beer.
No, he's not gonna give you freebeers.
SPEAKER_03 (13:31):
No, no, so no nope.
But here we go.
I'm gonna open a can of theBelfast Lager from the White
Water Brewing Coat.
Ready?
And I can tell you, it smellslike beer, it's 4.5%.
And I also oh look, I'm drinkingit, Williams.
I also purchased a new glass.
SPEAKER_04 (13:50):
Of course you did, of course you did because you
got it right.
SPEAKER_03 (13:53):
A white water brewing coat glass since 1996.
Yeah, you could they it it gaveus a story about these glasses
and about how they used to sellthem in Belfast, but then people
using them to hit people overthe head with them and all sorts
of things.
SPEAKER_04 (14:06):
So the owner was this basically just pose for a
photo on a podcast.
SPEAKER_03 (14:11):
So I've shared a I've talked about a video that
I've seen and tried to share,and now I'm posing for a photo
on a podcast.
Maybe we'll just need to startmaking these video podcasts.
SPEAKER_04 (14:21):
Do you well yeah, maybe.
Do you think um the manly mandoesn't think it's manly enough
this podcast?
I mean, I don't know.
SPEAKER_03 (14:30):
I'm not sure what I'm not sure.
Maybe maybe it's just that wewaffle and we are not focused
enough sometimes.
And maybe we just need morefocus, Williams.
SPEAKER_04 (14:38):
We'll ask him for I thought the highlight will
waffle.
SPEAKER_03 (14:42):
Well, possibly.
So if you are listening, manyman and you want to give us more
detailed.
I think he should write in.
SPEAKER_04 (14:48):
I think he should write in.
Write in first looking at thetips if he's still listening.
SPEAKER_03 (14:54):
He might give it up by now.
SPEAKER_04 (14:56):
What's the address?
First look names at outlook.com.
Which is our temporary addressuntil the website is like it
might do.
SPEAKER_03 (15:05):
So, yes, that's the first point, and it's delicious.
Well done, White Water Brew andCo.
SPEAKER_04 (15:10):
Whee, and is that uh is that your first look as well?
SPEAKER_03 (15:14):
No, it's it actually leads into the first look.
So uh my first look this week,Wallams, is a first look at a
little family weekend away tripto Newcastle.
Way am I?
Newcastle?
Oh no, I'm not Newcastle uponTyne.
No, not Newcastle upon Tyne,Newcastle County Down.
All right County Down in thegreat city, the great country of
(15:38):
Northern Ireland.
But Newcastle County Down, it'sa lovely little place to located
just at the foot of the MoorneMountains.
We had a lovely little familyvacation away for for a couple
of nights in Newcastle CountyDown.
So the Manly Man, his lovelywife, his kids, and me, my wife,
and obviously Brady Bunch, andwe went and we had some fun in
(15:58):
Newcastle, County Down.
We rented a little Airbnb and wewent and did some nice things
with the kids.
Obviously, you know that we wehad some time to stop at the
brewery and get some beer anddrink it slowly, like
responsible adults.
We did not let the drinkingoverall our ability to parent
the children well, but we had acrack in time.
Newcastle County Down.
It's such a good little place,it's like it's like a
(16:20):
traditional seaside town, butit's just it's clean and it's
right at the foot of themountain.
So you kind of you got thisbeautiful view wherever you are.
You've got beaches, you've gotloads of eateries, loads of
pubs, arcades, ice cream shops.
When you say mountainindependent shops.
So it's the Moorne Mountains,yeah.
So they are mountains.
Now they're not the biggestmountain range in the world, but
(16:42):
this it's the sleeve Donard isthe biggest one, which is I'll
tell you how high it is,William, with a quick search.
It's 2,789 feet, making it thehighest mountain in Northern
Ireland and the seventh highestpeak on the island of Ireland.
It's part of the Moor Mountainsin County and is a popular
hiking destination.
So they are they're lovely.
The Moor Mountains are reallycool.
SPEAKER_04 (17:02):
Equivalent of like Snowdonia in Wales.
SPEAKER_03 (17:05):
Oh, nowhere near as big.
Yeah, no, no, Snowdonia be youknow, stupidly a lot bigger, but
it's still really pretty, it'sjust very pretty because you're
just it's just very scenic andjust very nice, especially
because you're right on theseaside as well, so you're right
on the coast, which is lovely,and you can see from it, you can
see across to the south ofIreland, and it's just really
(17:26):
nice.
So we went there and we got wehit lucky with the weather,
which was obviously a bonusbecause when it's bright, it was
cold because it's you know endof autumn, but it's it was
beautiful and we did somewonderful things.
So I think in season one, Italked about the Cranfield
Alpacas, and obviously we know Idefinitely have, yeah.
I think in the past I've doneCranfield Alpacas.
Season one's a long time ago.
(17:46):
Yeah, it is a long time ago.
But we went back to see our oldfriends at Cranford Alpacas,
still a fantastic experience.
So we got to walk all thealpacas, the kids love that.
That was a nice surprise forthem.
We did the magic road at SpelgaDam, which is was the highlight
of the whole weekend for me.
The magic road, the magic roadat Spelga Dam.
So it's a magic road where it'sa downhill road, but because of
(18:08):
the fairies that live there, youroll uphill.
So it's a downhill road.
No, this is a genuine thing,Williams.
The whiskey stout it's it's atspell it's the foot of Spelga
Dam, and you go there and youturn your car off, you put it in
neutral, and you roll uphill.
(18:31):
You roll backwards uphill.
You get carried by the fairies.
I'm not kidding you.
The manly man can vouch forthis.
You roll uphill.
So the fairies roll your car upthe hill.
It's the most insane thing,Wallyams.
The magic road at Spelker Dam,where the fairies roll your car
up a hill.
(18:51):
That's what I'm on about,Williams.
You'll have to come andexperience it.
I'll do a fact check on thatone.
Yep.
You'll I will share, I willshare with you videos of it so
you can have a look.
But that's what happens.
And then obviously, we did allthe classic things that you do
with kids.
So we took them to the arcades,we got them ice cream, we did
sit like stupid photos on thebeach, and we played lots of
games.
So it was it was wonderful.
(19:12):
We had some good food, went to aplace called the Dundrum Inn in
Dundrum, we do cracking food andthe Evoker, which was really
good.
Uh, Morgu's and me got to go toa little bar called Quinn's, so
we had a proper Guinness,beautiful pub, like proper
traditional pub, massive, loadsof screens, great beer.
So we stayed there for a beer,which was nice.
One of the things I do want totalk about, Wally, is arcades,
(19:34):
like arcades with kids.
So arcades, oh love an arcade,but what the bloody hell are all
these tickets about?
Like you can't go into an arcadenow, to get prizes for them.
Yeah, like it's a good thing.
It takes a thousand tickets toget like a keyring.
Yeah, 1,000 tickets gets you akeyring or a bag of flipping
haribo.
And all the kids are going madfor these tickets, and I'm just
(19:56):
I I just I hate it.
Tickets, it makes it too noisy.
There's all these people crowdedto try and see what they can.
It's like cracker cane for kids.
Get rid of them.
Arcade people, get rid of them.
Like, I know it's probably veryprofitable and it drives kids
putting pound coins into themachines, but oh, Wallyams,
tickets at arcade machines.
What's it all about?
(20:16):
I don't like it.
There's quite a few hacks.
SPEAKER_04 (20:18):
I've seen some hacks, these videos of these
kids, and they you sort of youcan load your tickets that
you've won through a machine toget your prize, but you can sort
of like you can grab the ticketand then kind of just like
20,000 tickets.
(20:38):
Yeah, you can just put it in andout for a bit, and it will like
register extra tickets.
So that's stealing, William.
SPEAKER_03 (20:44):
So you're advocating stealing, is that what you're
you're saying?
SPEAKER_04 (20:47):
Uh no, no, I'm not saying it's right.
SPEAKER_03 (20:48):
I'm just you know what though?
If those tickets weren't there,they won't be able to do it.
So just get rid of bloodytickets.
SPEAKER_04 (20:54):
Yes, yeah.
Ridiculous, ridiculous.
SPEAKER_03 (20:57):
But the two there is still fun to be had with the TP
machines, which is good.
SPEAKER_04 (21:01):
I do like a TP machine.
SPEAKER_03 (21:03):
Yeah.
The arcades are good, and weactually went on like a VR ride
in the arcade.
So you remember like you're backin our day, you'd have like you
know, Pac-Man.
Uh this one machine, it was afive or a go, but it's like a
full-on fare ride.
So it's like a massive cubeabout the same size as this
shed.
They've got four bikes on it,and you get strapped in.
(21:23):
You have to wear something, ornot?
There are five of it, it was afive or a go.
But me, the Manly Man andBrayden got on it, and you put
this VR headset on, and you'resitting on it, and you get
strapped in, and it you you'rein space.
So this one it was in space, andyou it you f you're on a
spaceship, and the the seatmoves and flings you around like
there's no to tomorrow.
It was quite good, but I waslike, it's arcades have come a
(21:44):
long way, baby.
But uh still, if it wasn't if itwasn't if they didn't have
tickets, I'd have given thatexperience 10 out of 10.
But the tickets let it down.
All the tickets, too manytickets.
10 something, 10 tickets, toomany tickets.
And also, one thing we did enjoyon this this little breakaway
was playing a game called PowerHungry Pets.
(22:04):
Um, I think I've talked aboutthis before on the podcast, but
it's worth a shout-out becauseobviously we had three kids with
us.
We had a four-year-old, aseven-year-old, and a
ten-year-old.
So trying to think, trying toobviously there's quite it's
quite a different age, like sixyears different.
You've got you got one who'slike, Oh, I want to go do this,
and then you've got younger kidsstill.
So doing stuff that we could alldo together.
Power Hungry Pets, it it was agod, it was really good.
(22:27):
We had a lot of fun, and theadults liked it too.
So that's the game by ExplodingKittens.
It's like it's quite a simplegame, but it's just good for
teaching kids a bit of strategy.
But they make like the thecompany behind it, Exploding
Kittens, they make loads of cardgames.
Like, we've got Happy Salmon,which is fun.
There's a game called ThatEscalate Quickly, which we're
like, yeah, Happy Salmon's afunny one.
You have cards and you standaround a table, and then you you
(22:49):
you put cards down and you haveto do various moves like a
salmon.
It's just silly, but it's justgreat fun with kids.
So, like, obviously, we allwe've we've as Logan gets a bit
bigger and with Lewenna andstuff around, those kind of
games that are just silly,they're so much fun because the
kids love them, the parents lovethem.
There's there's not muchthinking.
SPEAKER_04 (23:08):
First look, um so it doesn't take much, but um I
think my son is perhaps manlythan me already.
Already, yeah, and yeah, and andto be honest, I'd I've been
working out where the where theour many man friend was perhaps
nine months before uh my son wasborn.
But um the buttons he'sdiscovered a new a new favourite
(23:34):
show.
Oh and it's it's got apresenter, the presenter of it
is was a presenter of Fifth Gearand Motors UK, apparently, and
ESBN, and the show's aboutplanes, trains, giant
construction vehicles,demolition machines, like manly
(23:54):
stuff.
Manly stuff! And it's not eventhree yet.
SPEAKER_01 (23:58):
And then and then it's got uh a great theme tune
as well, which I'll try to uhtry to show you a quick one.
SPEAKER_03 (24:20):
Oh, I I know I remember this show well.
I remember written by Justin andDaniel Hawkins.
It's a hell of a show, one of usis Logan loving it.
SPEAKER_04 (24:31):
Yeah, yeah.
Grace's Amazing Machines.
Yes, Grace's Amazing Machines.
So Grace Webb, she bases a showwhere she talks about her
amazing machines.
Um great show.
There's a little remote controlcar called Speedy.
Speedy.
Well you you've seen it before.
You know about it.
SPEAKER_03 (24:49):
Oh, I remember it a long time ago, but I remember
it, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (24:52):
Yeah, well, it's still still on uh the BBC
iPlair, CB's iPlayer.
And yeah, so Speedy comes alongand says we're gonna talk about
demolition machines orsomething.
And then she reviews threedemolition machines and picks
the best one.
Great show.
Simple.
Simple Maybe Darkness, you know.
(25:13):
How many TV shows have thedarkness?
SPEAKER_03 (25:14):
Is the maybe this is where we're going wrong,
Williams.
We need the darkness to do ourtheme music, and we need to keep
this more simple.
Like three things, three firstlooks, and we just pick our
favourite.
SPEAKER_04 (25:26):
Three first looks and have the darkness to our
first look, first look now.
SPEAKER_03 (25:32):
Yeah, you know what?
Maybe instead of here's what wecould do, Wallyams.
Here's what we could do.
We could follow Gracie's AmazingMachines thing.
We'll do it, we'll do two firstlooks, and then the the
listeners can go on the websiteor the Instagram channel or
whatever and vote for theirfavourite, and then the next
episode will say what thefavourite was.
SPEAKER_04 (25:51):
Um on Amazing Machines, the kids they get to
uh say their favourites and theywill talk about machines as
well.
SPEAKER_03 (25:59):
Yeah, so instead of us doing all the pints and first
bites and waffle, we just getstraight to it, keep it simple,
put a vote out there, get a rocksong for the theme tune.
Yeah, we'll be doing it.
Well, this is the week where AIhave just had its first number
one hit on the country billboardtop 100.
SPEAKER_04 (26:18):
So AI's on the show again.
SPEAKER_03 (26:20):
AI's on the show.
So AI have written a song thatis our number one in the country
billboard charts in America, andit's the first time it's
happened.
And it's quite a banger, to befair.
So we don't need a rock band, wecan just have an AI rock band.
In fact, you know what?
Forget I said we should use AIto make a theme chain.
Screw that.
We want an old school battle ofthe band.
SPEAKER_04 (26:37):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (26:38):
No, you and I can't sing.
I mean, you try at the start ofevery episode, to be fair to
you.
SPEAKER_04 (26:43):
Contact our old university friend Wes from 20
years ago.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (26:49):
No, we've got to give it to the youth, Williams.
We need the youth to come out.
So we need we need if you canmake us a theme tune, a rock and
roll theme tune, send it in andwe'll use it.
Because you know we will.
We we will.
So if you're in a band andyou're listening to this in
Japan or wherever, make us atheme tune and maybe we'll use
it.
SPEAKER_04 (27:08):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sounds good.
Season five, maybe it's gonna bebetter already, bigger, better.
SPEAKER_03 (27:14):
We had Steve Dog season three.
Madlia.
Madly, yeah.
Maybe I'll get back onto DaveBenson Phillips, he'll have some
connections, right?
Alright, Dave.
Do you know any rock bands whowant to do a theme tune for a
podcast listened to by sixpeople?
Come on.
SPEAKER_04 (27:29):
So with a rock, a rock or excuse me, with a rock
or heavy metal uh theme tune,followed up by Dave Benson
Phillips of Yes.
Gunge Tech, what it's called.
SPEAKER_03 (27:43):
Get your parents back, get your own back.
Sorry, I beg your pardon.
Yeah, we're just stealing allthe ideas from C BBC basically.
We're ripping off Gracie'samazing machines, ripping off
all of her ideas.
Have you enjoyed it, Wallyams?
SPEAKER_04 (27:58):
I have, I have.
I saw Skip mentioned on TV.
No.
This might blow the speakersagain, but this was this was on
TV on Sky Sports the other day.
SPEAKER_03 (28:12):
Not for the podcast.
SPEAKER_04 (28:32):
I think he said he loves the podcast, especially
Mr.
Williams.
I don't know.
SPEAKER_03 (28:36):
Yes, that's exactly what he said.
He said he listens to personalnorms and uh he loves the
podcast, especially Mr.
Williams.
Um wait for the joke, Williams.
There's bound to be a joke.
SPEAKER_04 (28:48):
Uh no, well, yeah, I suppose there should be a joke,
shouldn't there?
There should be.
I mean that's that's what thelisteners tune in for, really.
I'm not trying to find umMonate.
SPEAKER_03 (28:57):
Walliams did you hear did you hear me?
Heard the feedback must tryharder.
SPEAKER_04 (29:04):
That's what I says called.
I don't know what you're doingabout.
Did you hear that?
No, it's his CS no.
Okay.
Um did you hear did you hearthat chap that um he drank uh
Invisible Ink?
SPEAKER_03 (29:20):
I did not know.
SPEAKER_04 (29:21):
Yeah, he's he's at the hospital waiting to be seen.
SPEAKER_03 (29:26):
It was worth the wait.
I'm glad you found your notes.
Is that why you couldn't findyour notes?
Because it was written on InvisTwin.
I wrote it down in this week.
Hey.
SPEAKER_04 (29:41):
See you next week, listeners.
Next week.
SPEAKER_03 (29:43):
We folks keep listening.
I know, I know, we will tryharder, we'll take the feedback
on board.
SPEAKER_04 (29:47):
We will try harder Christmas episode, the last one
of 2025.
Oh, excellent.
Looking forward to that.
See you soon.
SPEAKER_03 (29:55):
Bye everybody.
Say potato.
SPEAKER_04 (30:08):
Say potato.
Don't forget to like and followthe podcast.
Please leave a five-star reviewto help grow the show.
Welcome to First Look Gnomes.
Your go-to podcast for dadsdoing silly things.
Share tips for dads.
And of course, the dad jokes andthe bad jokes.
SPEAKER_03 (00:12):
But most importantly, we're here to share
our first looks.
SPEAKER_04 (00:15):
Don't forget to send in your feedback to our fish
bond of feedback.
SPEAKER_03 (00:18):
And share your thoughts, questions, and own
first looks with us at firstlookgnomes at outlook.com.
Are we?
Looks like it.
I think so.
I've got 10 seconds on theclock.
SPEAKER_04 (00:31):
95%, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03 (00:34):
Anyways.
After last time, Williams.
SPEAKER_04 (00:37):
What do you mean?
SPEAKER_03 (00:39):
With all the we've lost the show.
Where's the show?
SPEAKER_04 (00:41):
Oh yeah.
It's gone!
SPEAKER_03 (00:45):
I can see these things.
I can see these things calledblocks.
There's 26 blocks and I can'tdownload it.
And you said it'd be chat GPTmessages.
Try this!
SPEAKER_04 (00:55):
You delved into the matrix and you need to find it.
Yeah.
We got it.
Well, with help.
SPEAKER_03 (01:00):
Yeah, you got it.
I didn't know what was going on.
Anyway, we start the show.
We start the recording.
SPEAKER_04 (01:05):
Yeah, we'll start the recording.
I'm gonna start around anannouncement.
Oh, it's an importantannouncement.
So as it's the the anniversaryof Will Beyer's disappearance
approaching, it's only right tomention that in the autumn of
1987, the military arrives inHawkins and begins hunting
(01:27):
Eleven.
It's episode 11, season four,and yes, that's about the new
series of Stranger Things.
SPEAKER_03 (01:34):
I'm very excited for it.
Character Eleven.
She's doing all the rounds atthe minute, isn't she?
Millie Bobby Brown to round it.
She's doing the rounds.
I saw she was on Jonathan Ross.
SPEAKER_04 (01:46):
They're all like in the 20s now and had kids.
SPEAKER_03 (01:51):
No, what I what I mean, not doing their rounds
like that.
I mean doing the rounds likedoing No, I didn't mean they
have that.
What are you trying to say aboutthese young folk Walliams?
Um doing the rounds.
Oh doing the rounds.
Slags, a lot of them, slags.
No, they're all on the on thepromotion trail, aren't they?
Kind of promoting the new seasonof Stranger Things.
SPEAKER_04 (02:10):
Last uh yeah, last Adventure of Stranger Things 5
and Linda Hampton's in it, asaren't she, apparently.
SPEAKER_03 (02:17):
Yes, so Sarah Clark.
SPEAKER_04 (02:19):
She of Terminator Fame, yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (02:21):
That's a good casting.
I think she'll be great.
SPEAKER_04 (02:24):
Yeah.
So last season should be outalready for listeners listening
to it, but they're splitting itinto three, aren't they?
So upcoming end of this month,November.
Or last month, depending on whenyou're listening to this.
Uh the first part, and thenChristmas and New Year's.
SPEAKER_03 (02:41):
Yes, Christmas Day and then New Year's Day, isn't
it?
For the final episode.
SPEAKER_04 (02:46):
Yeah, so we look forward to that.
Episode 11.
SPEAKER_03 (02:50):
11 Season 4, my goodness.
Will she survive?
Will she survive?
I think she will, yes.
Or she'll do some greatsacrifice.
And yeah, who knows?
I don't know.
It's 50-50 way.
She may survive, she may not.
Or maybe a third option that wedon't even know about.
Either way, I am excited.
SPEAKER_04 (03:11):
Fish pond our feedback.
Feedback.
Splish blush splish blushsplish.
Splish blush splish.
We've got some new listeners.
New listeners from Uita.
A new listener.
(03:32):
Walnut Creek in California.
SPEAKER_03 (03:35):
Oh, that sounds nice.
I bet it's warm there.
SPEAKER_04 (03:39):
Walnut Creek?
Walnut Creek.
Walnut Creek in Walnut Creek.
You're thinking of Wolf Creek, Ithink.
SPEAKER_03 (03:44):
Maybe.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (03:46):
Walnut Creek sounds lovely though.
Yeah.
Kazugai Achi.
Bless you.
Oh, in Japan?
SPEAKER_03 (03:54):
I presume so again.
Should reset your thing so can'ttell what your your
pronunciation there, one is.
It could be something completelydifferent.
Achi.
SPEAKER_04 (04:02):
And uh new listener in uh Torumolinos, Malaga.
Oh, very nice.
Beautiful part of the world.
Welcome, new listeners.
We also had someone write in,didn't we?
Oh they did.
And they said, and they said,it's clear first lit gnomes,
champions, fresh thinking, andpractical impact.
(04:22):
So I wanted to introduce myselfas a potential guest, as founder
and CEO of Gigabyte, Gigabit IQ.
And it goes on and on and on.
But uh yeah, and uh someonemight in wants to be a guest as
well.
SPEAKER_03 (04:35):
What uh what would we ask them, Wallyams?
If you had the CEO of GigabitIQ, what kind of intellectual
question would you ask them?
I'd tell them a dad joke.
You tell them a dad joke aboutcomputers, about the internet.
Yeah, just do that for 15minutes.
I wonder why one is coming onthis podcast.
I mean, because what did he sayat the start?
SPEAKER_04 (04:57):
We are clearly what is it's clear, fresh look first
look gnomes, champions, freshthinking and practical impact.
See, I mean, do we do we reallyas as you said yeah, I don't
think we were the only ones theyemailed, unfortunately.
But if you are being on the ifyou if you're listening, write
to us again, and perhaps we'llget you on board.
(05:19):
Ah but we'll need you to writein to prove that you've actually
listened to the episode.
SPEAKER_03 (05:26):
There is a uh so I'm gonna have to find this for you.
It's a this is a first.
So Leslie Ann, uh my good wife,introduced me to this YouTube
Shorts guy.
He does he is like day 28 ofturning Tinder messages into
songs, and there's one of them,and it's like it's a guy, and he
does it he himself as a womanwith like a wig on, he's got a
(05:46):
big beard, and then he sings toher and he makes all these
original songs of these weird,creepy conversations that people
have on Tinder.
Right, and there's one of themwhich is like, hey, and then the
reply is like, Hey, how are youdoing?
They're having this conversationsays, I don't think you're real,
say potato, and then the replyis something random, and then he
(06:07):
just starts shouting, saypotato, and the girl's called
Elizabeth, so it's like say saypotato, Elizabeth, clearly
because it's a bot responding tothe the messages.
It's very funny.
I'll have to find him.
Hang on, let me let me find it.
SPEAKER_04 (06:20):
Just so uh CEO and and of uh Gigabit IQ.
SPEAKER_03 (06:25):
Yeah, send us an email saying potato.
Say potato.
I'm gonna have to find him now.
Hang on, let me open.
He's probably he's probablyright there on like one of the
first videos.
Say potato, stay potato andwe'll get you on board.
SPEAKER_04 (06:43):
Actually, anybody, anybody listening out there, if
you write in and say potato, wewill get you on the show.
SPEAKER_03 (06:51):
Yeah, he's found obviously on the internet people
kind of share their creepyTinder messages.
So, like some of them are justhilarious, and he turns them
into original songs.
So his his uh handle is atLukey, L-E-W-K-Y 9945.
And yeah, he's just very funny.
Comedy songs and videos just foryou.
(07:13):
Yeah, he's he went like fromdoing a few and then he just
took off and he's gettingmillions of views now.
Yeah, it's yeah, Luki, Luki, saypotato, and it gets stuck in
your head.
His songs do get stuck in yourhead, anyway.
SPEAKER_04 (07:25):
That was a bit of a tangent.
That was it, a bit, but yeah,right, and we'll yeah, say
potato, and we'll get you on thepodcast.
Um I have some feedback,Williams.
You do?
Oh god, okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (07:35):
This is and it it's probably it's it's valid
considering I just went on arandom tangent about Lukey.
The feed the feedback was thatseason four hasn't been as good
and we need to up our games.
This was face-to-face feedbackfrom a listener.
I know it was it's crit it wascritical, but I think it was
(07:55):
fair.
I think this year, Williams, wehave been busy.
I have been extremely busy withthe house and all that kind of
stuff, and there's been thingsgoing on, so I I I could I
didn't take the feedback.
SPEAKER_04 (08:06):
So what's it missing?
Well, we dropped 31st and wedropped uh the no-known, so
that's the only difference.
SPEAKER_03 (08:12):
Yeah, and and this was one of the people who didn't
want the no-known there.
Maybe he just doesn't know whathe wants.
SPEAKER_04 (08:16):
Maybe he has no clue what he wants.
Oh, and maybe we we do waffle alot more now.
We do waffle, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (08:23):
The the I said, like I I he said, Oh, this is I was
catching up on your podcast, andI said, Yeah, I said, What do
you think?
And he didn't actually have tosay anything, just the look on
his face said it all.
It was one of those.
I was like, Is it is it not asgood?
He said, uh it's you need youneed to try harder.
And I was like, fair, fairassessment.
So while it the feedback is tryharder.
SPEAKER_04 (08:44):
Is this not trying harder?
No, it's not, is it?
SPEAKER_03 (08:47):
I don't know.
I just went on a random tangentto share a video on a podcast on
a on an audio channel wherewatch this, how can I?
It's listening of us havedipped, by the way.
Oh, have they?
Well, there you go then.
The the stats don't lie, dothey, Wallyams?
SPEAKER_04 (09:03):
The female in the last episode I was reading out
the ingredients to uh to beclean out.
SPEAKER_03 (09:09):
Yeah, maybe that's why we dropped the the um the
first points and but then youreplaced it with points and
first bites.
Well that I suppose that doessegue us in to the points and
first bites section quitenicely.
Should we jump straight into it?
To the what?
The points and first bites!Pints and first bites.
(09:32):
And we should say if anybodydoes have any other feedback,
maybe not as harsh or maybe justas harsh, send it to uh
firstlook gnomes at outlook.comand we will take it on board and
um potentially try harder.
But also potentially forget whathappened and just keep going as
we do.
SPEAKER_04 (09:52):
Season four is the first season with pints and
first bites as well.
SPEAKER_03 (09:56):
Maybe just it's just bedding in, isn't it, Williams?
That's what it is.
It's just bedding in.
SPEAKER_04 (09:59):
Yeah, it is.
So take it up.
Yeah, maybe we need to do pintsand first bites and takeaways.
SPEAKER_03 (10:04):
Maybe.
Maybe maybe maybe yeah.
We'll have a debrief at the endof the season and decide what
we're going to do with things.
So um, so I'm taking the firstlook the first bite today.
So look behind the curtain.
I got a message ten minutesbefore recording this.
I've not got a pint or firstbite.
Can you do it?
So I'm like, alright, fine.
SPEAKER_04 (10:24):
The wifey wife today.
I'm gonna uh I'm gonna embarrassher, but she's gonna throw it in
the bus.
I'll get you I'll get you afirst bite or uh first pint
today.
SPEAKER_03 (10:33):
Forgot.
SPEAKER_04 (10:34):
Unbelievable.
SPEAKER_03 (10:35):
She was too busy looking after your child or at
work.
Unbelievable.
Unbelievable.
You'll just have to go and getyourself a first bite next time,
Wallyams.
SPEAKER_01 (10:43):
Yeah, have to.
SPEAKER_03 (10:44):
Okay, well, I'm gonna I'm gonna show you,
Wallyams, what I'm gonna have asmy first.
Oh Ango, you've got a guess,haven't you?
What is it?
Is it a pint or is it a firstpint?
SPEAKER_04 (10:54):
I think you're gonna tell me it's our first bite.
SPEAKER_03 (10:57):
No.
SPEAKER_01 (10:57):
No first pint!
SPEAKER_03 (11:04):
This is from Whitewater Brewing Company.
You know, heard me talk aboutthem.
That's a different beer.
This is not actually a firstpint.
However, I'm gonna talk aboutthe White Water Brewing Company
again because two weeks ago wedid have a first pint.
We went to the WhitewaterBrewing Company and we bought
(11:25):
one of everything.
Me and the fr said friend whogave us feedback, which is we
need to try harder, went to thebrewery.
Is this the manly man as well?
It is the manly man, yes.
We've talked about on many manyoccasions.
We drove to the brewery, and thelovely gentleman who runs the
brewery and has done so for 30years talked to us about the
beer, and we we purchased two ofeverything, and then over the
(11:48):
course of a weekend, we triedevery single one of them.
So we tried, well, I'm about toopen a Belfast Lager, but while
we're there, we tried theMaggie's Leap, which you know I
love.
We had a U Rebel, we had BelfastLager, which I'm about to have a
yeah, we had Bees Endeavour,Hopple Hammer, Hancock and
Pigeon, Hopple Hammer, Halle andRed, Murado Pale Ale, Murado Red
(12:13):
Ale.
We had a whiskey stout.
I mean, we were pretty muchhammered for three days.
It was fantastic, and they wereall lovely.
Did you say whiskey stout?
A whiskey stout.
And you know what?
When we had this, I was like, weneed to get some of these for
Walliams.
We need to order some of theseand get them.
Nine percent Hinch whiskeybarrel age stout.
(12:34):
And Morg's the Manly Man is nota fan of that of stout at all.
He can do a Guinness, but that'sabout it.
So I ended up drinking both ofthose scans and they knocked me
for six.
I was like, nine per oh, theywere nice, but you could I don't
think I could drink that many ofthem because I'm not into
whiskey, but it was stilllovely.
SPEAKER_04 (12:52):
But I can send you a couple of it's a stout there,
but is so is it a stout in awhiskey cake?
In a whiskey barrel.
SPEAKER_03 (12:59):
Yeah, all right.
So it's all infused with it, andit's quite nice.
So yeah, I enjoyed it.
So all of the so basically thethe first pint is all of the
white water brew and co beer,and it's all delicious.
Um, our favourite, uh, uhconsensus was the Murado, both
the Murada pale and the MuradoRed.
Fantastic.
So you recommend it, is it?
Oh, yeah, I'm gonna take younext time we'll come over.
(13:21):
We talked about it.
I actually told the owner aswell that we talk about his beer
a lot on the podcast.
He didn't give a monkeys, hewasn't, he wasn't fussed.
He was a big thing.
SPEAKER_04 (13:28):
He's not gonna give you free beer.
No, he's not gonna give you freebeers.
SPEAKER_03 (13:31):
No, no, so no nope.
But here we go.
I'm gonna open a can of theBelfast Lager from the White
Water Brewing Coat.
Ready?
And I can tell you, it smellslike beer, it's 4.5%.
And I also oh look, I'm drinkingit, Williams.
I also purchased a new glass.
SPEAKER_04 (13:50):
Of course you did, of course you did because you
got it right.
SPEAKER_03 (13:53):
A white water brewing coat glass since 1996.
Yeah, you could they it it gaveus a story about these glasses
and about how they used to sellthem in Belfast, but then people
using them to hit people overthe head with them and all sorts
of things.
SPEAKER_04 (14:06):
So the owner was this basically just pose for a
photo on a podcast.
SPEAKER_03 (14:11):
So I've shared a I've talked about a video that
I've seen and tried to share,and now I'm posing for a photo
on a podcast.
Maybe we'll just need to startmaking these video podcasts.
SPEAKER_04 (14:21):
Do you well yeah, maybe.
Do you think um the manly mandoesn't think it's manly enough
this podcast?
I mean, I don't know.
SPEAKER_03 (14:30):
I'm not sure what I'm not sure.
Maybe maybe it's just that wewaffle and we are not focused
enough sometimes.
And maybe we just need morefocus, Williams.
SPEAKER_04 (14:38):
We'll ask him for I thought the highlight will
waffle.
SPEAKER_03 (14:42):
Well, possibly.
So if you are listening, manyman and you want to give us more
detailed.
I think he should write in.
SPEAKER_04 (14:48):
I think he should write in.
Write in first looking at thetips if he's still listening.
SPEAKER_03 (14:54):
He might give it up by now.
SPEAKER_04 (14:56):
What's the address?
First look names at outlook.com.
Which is our temporary addressuntil the website is like it
might do.
SPEAKER_03 (15:05):
So, yes, that's the first point, and it's delicious.
Well done, White Water Brew andCo.
SPEAKER_04 (15:10):
Whee, and is that uh is that your first look as well?
SPEAKER_03 (15:14):
No, it's it actually leads into the first look.
So uh my first look this week,Wallams, is a first look at a
little family weekend away tripto Newcastle.
Way am I?
Newcastle?
Oh no, I'm not Newcastle uponTyne.
No, not Newcastle upon Tyne,Newcastle County Down.
All right County Down in thegreat city, the great country of
(15:38):
Northern Ireland.
But Newcastle County Down, it'sa lovely little place to located
just at the foot of the MoorneMountains.
We had a lovely little familyvacation away for for a couple
of nights in Newcastle CountyDown.
So the Manly Man, his lovelywife, his kids, and me, my wife,
and obviously Brady Bunch, andwe went and we had some fun in
(15:58):
Newcastle, County Down.
We rented a little Airbnb and wewent and did some nice things
with the kids.
Obviously, you know that we wehad some time to stop at the
brewery and get some beer anddrink it slowly, like
responsible adults.
We did not let the drinkingoverall our ability to parent
the children well, but we had acrack in time.
Newcastle County Down.
It's such a good little place,it's like it's like a
(16:20):
traditional seaside town, butit's just it's clean and it's
right at the foot of themountain.
So you kind of you got thisbeautiful view wherever you are.
You've got beaches, you've gotloads of eateries, loads of
pubs, arcades, ice cream shops.
When you say mountainindependent shops.
So it's the Moorne Mountains,yeah.
So they are mountains.
Now they're not the biggestmountain range in the world, but
(16:42):
this it's the sleeve Donard isthe biggest one, which is I'll
tell you how high it is,William, with a quick search.
It's 2,789 feet, making it thehighest mountain in Northern
Ireland and the seventh highestpeak on the island of Ireland.
It's part of the Moor Mountainsin County and is a popular
hiking destination.
So they are they're lovely.
The Moor Mountains are reallycool.
SPEAKER_04 (17:02):
Equivalent of like Snowdonia in Wales.
SPEAKER_03 (17:05):
Oh, nowhere near as big.
Yeah, no, no, Snowdonia be youknow, stupidly a lot bigger, but
it's still really pretty, it'sjust very pretty because you're
just it's just very scenic andjust very nice, especially
because you're right on theseaside as well, so you're right
on the coast, which is lovely,and you can see from it, you can
see across to the south ofIreland, and it's just really
(17:26):
nice.
So we went there and we got wehit lucky with the weather,
which was obviously a bonusbecause when it's bright, it was
cold because it's you know endof autumn, but it's it was
beautiful and we did somewonderful things.
So I think in season one, Italked about the Cranfield
Alpacas, and obviously we know Idefinitely have, yeah.
I think in the past I've doneCranfield Alpacas.
Season one's a long time ago.
(17:46):
Yeah, it is a long time ago.
But we went back to see our oldfriends at Cranford Alpacas,
still a fantastic experience.
So we got to walk all thealpacas, the kids love that.
That was a nice surprise forthem.
We did the magic road at SpelgaDam, which is was the highlight
of the whole weekend for me.
The magic road, the magic roadat Spelga Dam.
So it's a magic road where it'sa downhill road, but because of
(18:08):
the fairies that live there, youroll uphill.
So it's a downhill road.
No, this is a genuine thing,Williams.
The whiskey stout it's it's atspell it's the foot of Spelga
Dam, and you go there and youturn your car off, you put it in
neutral, and you roll uphill.
(18:31):
You roll backwards uphill.
You get carried by the fairies.
I'm not kidding you.
The manly man can vouch forthis.
You roll uphill.
So the fairies roll your car upthe hill.
It's the most insane thing,Wallyams.
The magic road at Spelker Dam,where the fairies roll your car
up a hill.
(18:51):
That's what I'm on about,Williams.
You'll have to come andexperience it.
I'll do a fact check on thatone.
Yep.
You'll I will share, I willshare with you videos of it so
you can have a look.
But that's what happens.
And then obviously, we did allthe classic things that you do
with kids.
So we took them to the arcades,we got them ice cream, we did
sit like stupid photos on thebeach, and we played lots of
games.
So it was it was wonderful.
(19:12):
We had some good food, went to aplace called the Dundrum Inn in
Dundrum, we do cracking food andthe Evoker, which was really
good.
Uh, Morgu's and me got to go toa little bar called Quinn's, so
we had a proper Guinness,beautiful pub, like proper
traditional pub, massive, loadsof screens, great beer.
So we stayed there for a beer,which was nice.
One of the things I do want totalk about, Wally, is arcades,
(19:34):
like arcades with kids.
So arcades, oh love an arcade,but what the bloody hell are all
these tickets about?
Like you can't go into an arcadenow, to get prizes for them.
Yeah, like it's a good thing.
It takes a thousand tickets toget like a keyring.
Yeah, 1,000 tickets gets you akeyring or a bag of flipping
haribo.
And all the kids are going madfor these tickets, and I'm just
(19:56):
I I just I hate it.
Tickets, it makes it too noisy.
There's all these people crowdedto try and see what they can.
It's like cracker cane for kids.
Get rid of them.
Arcade people, get rid of them.
Like, I know it's probably veryprofitable and it drives kids
putting pound coins into themachines, but oh, Wallyams,
tickets at arcade machines.
What's it all about?
(20:16):
I don't like it.
There's quite a few hacks.
SPEAKER_04 (20:18):
I've seen some hacks, these videos of these
kids, and they you sort of youcan load your tickets that
you've won through a machine toget your prize, but you can sort
of like you can grab the ticketand then kind of just like
20,000 tickets.
(20:38):
Yeah, you can just put it in andout for a bit, and it will like
register extra tickets.
So that's stealing, William.
SPEAKER_03 (20:44):
So you're advocating stealing, is that what you're
you're saying?
SPEAKER_04 (20:47):
Uh no, no, I'm not saying it's right.
SPEAKER_03 (20:48):
I'm just you know what though?
If those tickets weren't there,they won't be able to do it.
So just get rid of bloodytickets.
SPEAKER_04 (20:54):
Yes, yeah.
Ridiculous, ridiculous.
SPEAKER_03 (20:57):
But the two there is still fun to be had with the TP
machines, which is good.
SPEAKER_04 (21:01):
I do like a TP machine.
SPEAKER_03 (21:03):
Yeah.
The arcades are good, and weactually went on like a VR ride
in the arcade.
So you remember like you're backin our day, you'd have like you
know, Pac-Man.
Uh this one machine, it was afive or a go, but it's like a
full-on fare ride.
So it's like a massive cubeabout the same size as this
shed.
They've got four bikes on it,and you get strapped in.
(21:23):
You have to wear something, ornot?
There are five of it, it was afive or a go.
But me, the Manly Man andBrayden got on it, and you put
this VR headset on, and you'resitting on it, and you get
strapped in, and it you you'rein space.
So this one it was in space, andyou it you f you're on a
spaceship, and the the seatmoves and flings you around like
there's no to tomorrow.
It was quite good, but I waslike, it's arcades have come a
(21:44):
long way, baby.
But uh still, if it wasn't if itwasn't if they didn't have
tickets, I'd have given thatexperience 10 out of 10.
But the tickets let it down.
All the tickets, too manytickets.
10 something, 10 tickets, toomany tickets.
And also, one thing we did enjoyon this this little breakaway
was playing a game called PowerHungry Pets.
(22:04):
Um, I think I've talked aboutthis before on the podcast, but
it's worth a shout-out becauseobviously we had three kids with
us.
We had a four-year-old, aseven-year-old, and a
ten-year-old.
So trying to think, trying toobviously there's quite it's
quite a different age, like sixyears different.
You've got you got one who'slike, Oh, I want to go do this,
and then you've got younger kidsstill.
So doing stuff that we could alldo together.
Power Hungry Pets, it it was agod, it was really good.
(22:27):
We had a lot of fun, and theadults liked it too.
So that's the game by ExplodingKittens.
It's like it's quite a simplegame, but it's just good for
teaching kids a bit of strategy.
But they make like the thecompany behind it, Exploding
Kittens, they make loads of cardgames.
Like, we've got Happy Salmon,which is fun.
There's a game called ThatEscalate Quickly, which we're
like, yeah, Happy Salmon's afunny one.
You have cards and you standaround a table, and then you you
(22:49):
you put cards down and you haveto do various moves like a
salmon.
It's just silly, but it's justgreat fun with kids.
So, like, obviously, we allwe've we've as Logan gets a bit
bigger and with Lewenna andstuff around, those kind of
games that are just silly,they're so much fun because the
kids love them, the parents lovethem.
There's there's not muchthinking.
SPEAKER_04 (23:08):
First look, um so it doesn't take much, but um I
think my son is perhaps manlythan me already.
Already, yeah, and yeah, and andto be honest, I'd I've been
working out where the where theour many man friend was perhaps
nine months before uh my son wasborn.
But um the buttons he'sdiscovered a new a new favourite
(23:34):
show.
Oh and it's it's got apresenter, the presenter of it
is was a presenter of Fifth Gearand Motors UK, apparently, and
ESBN, and the show's aboutplanes, trains, giant
construction vehicles,demolition machines, like manly
(23:54):
stuff.
Manly stuff! And it's not eventhree yet.
SPEAKER_01 (23:58):
And then and then it's got uh a great theme tune
as well, which I'll try to uhtry to show you a quick one.
SPEAKER_03 (24:20):
Oh, I I know I remember this show well.
I remember written by Justin andDaniel Hawkins.
It's a hell of a show, one of usis Logan loving it.
SPEAKER_04 (24:31):
Yeah, yeah.
Grace's Amazing Machines.
Yes, Grace's Amazing Machines.
So Grace Webb, she bases a showwhere she talks about her
amazing machines.
Um great show.
There's a little remote controlcar called Speedy.
Speedy.
Well you you've seen it before.
You know about it.
SPEAKER_03 (24:49):
Oh, I remember it a long time ago, but I remember
it, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (24:52):
Yeah, well, it's still still on uh the BBC
iPlair, CB's iPlayer.
And yeah, so Speedy comes alongand says we're gonna talk about
demolition machines orsomething.
And then she reviews threedemolition machines and picks
the best one.
Great show.
Simple.
Simple Maybe Darkness, you know.
(25:13):
How many TV shows have thedarkness?
SPEAKER_03 (25:14):
Is the maybe this is where we're going wrong,
Williams.
We need the darkness to do ourtheme music, and we need to keep
this more simple.
Like three things, three firstlooks, and we just pick our
favourite.
SPEAKER_04 (25:26):
Three first looks and have the darkness to our
first look, first look now.
SPEAKER_03 (25:32):
Yeah, you know what?
Maybe instead of here's what wecould do, Wallyams.
Here's what we could do.
We could follow Gracie's AmazingMachines thing.
We'll do it, we'll do two firstlooks, and then the the
listeners can go on the websiteor the Instagram channel or
whatever and vote for theirfavourite, and then the next
episode will say what thefavourite was.
SPEAKER_04 (25:51):
Um on Amazing Machines, the kids they get to
uh say their favourites and theywill talk about machines as
well.
SPEAKER_03 (25:59):
Yeah, so instead of us doing all the pints and first
bites and waffle, we just getstraight to it, keep it simple,
put a vote out there, get a rocksong for the theme tune.
Yeah, we'll be doing it.
Well, this is the week where AIhave just had its first number
one hit on the country billboardtop 100.
SPEAKER_04 (26:18):
So AI's on the show again.
SPEAKER_03 (26:20):
AI's on the show.
So AI have written a song thatis our number one in the country
billboard charts in America, andit's the first time it's
happened.
And it's quite a banger, to befair.
So we don't need a rock band, wecan just have an AI rock band.
In fact, you know what?
Forget I said we should use AIto make a theme chain.
Screw that.
We want an old school battle ofthe band.
SPEAKER_04 (26:37):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (26:38):
No, you and I can't sing.
I mean, you try at the start ofevery episode, to be fair to
you.
SPEAKER_04 (26:43):
Contact our old university friend Wes from 20
years ago.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (26:49):
No, we've got to give it to the youth, Williams.
We need the youth to come out.
So we need we need if you canmake us a theme tune, a rock and
roll theme tune, send it in andwe'll use it.
Because you know we will.
We we will.
So if you're in a band andyou're listening to this in
Japan or wherever, make us atheme tune and maybe we'll use
it.
SPEAKER_04 (27:08):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Sounds good.
Season five, maybe it's gonna bebetter already, bigger, better.
SPEAKER_03 (27:14):
We had Steve Dog season three.
Madlia.
Madly, yeah.
Maybe I'll get back onto DaveBenson Phillips, he'll have some
connections, right?
Alright, Dave.
Do you know any rock bands whowant to do a theme tune for a
podcast listened to by sixpeople?
Come on.
SPEAKER_04 (27:29):
So with a rock, a rock or excuse me, with a rock
or heavy metal uh theme tune,followed up by Dave Benson
Phillips of Yes.
Gunge Tech, what it's called.
SPEAKER_03 (27:43):
Get your parents back, get your own back.
Sorry, I beg your pardon.
Yeah, we're just stealing allthe ideas from C BBC basically.
We're ripping off Gracie'samazing machines, ripping off
all of her ideas.
Have you enjoyed it, Wallyams?
SPEAKER_04 (27:58):
I have, I have.
I saw Skip mentioned on TV.
No.
This might blow the speakersagain, but this was this was on
TV on Sky Sports the other day.
SPEAKER_03 (28:12):
Not for the podcast.
SPEAKER_04 (28:32):
I think he said he loves the podcast, especially
Mr.
Williams.
I don't know.
SPEAKER_03 (28:36):
Yes, that's exactly what he said.
He said he listens to personalnorms and uh he loves the
podcast, especially Mr.
Williams.
Um wait for the joke, Williams.
There's bound to be a joke.
SPEAKER_04 (28:48):
Uh no, well, yeah, I suppose there should be a joke,
shouldn't there?
There should be.
I mean that's that's what thelisteners tune in for, really.
I'm not trying to find umMonate.
SPEAKER_03 (28:57):
Walliams did you hear did you hear me?
Heard the feedback must tryharder.
SPEAKER_04 (29:04):
That's what I says called.
I don't know what you're doingabout.
Did you hear that?
No, it's his CS no.
Okay.
Um did you hear did you hearthat chap that um he drank uh
Invisible Ink?
SPEAKER_03 (29:20):
I did not know.
SPEAKER_04 (29:21):
Yeah, he's he's at the hospital waiting to be seen.
SPEAKER_03 (29:26):
It was worth the wait.
I'm glad you found your notes.
Is that why you couldn't findyour notes?
Because it was written on InvisTwin.
I wrote it down in this week.
Hey.
SPEAKER_04 (29:41):
See you next week, listeners.
Next week.
SPEAKER_03 (29:43):
We folks keep listening.
I know, I know, we will tryharder, we'll take the feedback
on board.
SPEAKER_04 (29:47):
We will try harder Christmas episode, the last one
of 2025.
Oh, excellent.
Looking forward to that.
See you soon.
SPEAKER_03 (29:55):
Bye everybody.
Say potato.
SPEAKER_04 (30:08):
Say potato.
Don't forget to like and followthe podcast.
Please leave a five-star reviewto help grow the show.
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