Tag: Awesome

Guest Post: 7 Reasons Why Lego Is Totally Awesome

What was your favourite toy growing up? More importantly, what is your favourite toy now? While most we grow out of most types of figures and games, there’s something about LEGO that rocks as much as an adult as it did when you were a kid. Here are seven reasons why LEGO is completely awesome.

1. The logo. The LEGO logo is awesome. It’s colourful. Bold. It promises fun straight away. It’s got that nostalgic brand appeal that seems to endure right into your adult years, like Heinz, Coca-Cola or McDonald’s. It promises simple fun with friends.

Even now, when I’m walking down a high street and see that red square with the bubble-style font it makes me smile, and brings out the kid in me. But as we’ll see, LEGO isn’t just for kids…

2. It’s for grown-up geeks as well as children. While the core audience for LEGO will always be kids, big kids love the toys just as much. While new-ish lines like Chima and Ninjago are more a children’s thing, surely the Star Wars, Super Heroes and Lord of the Rings lines have been brought in with one eye on the adult market? To see the adult fascination with LEGO, look no further than The Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon showing his passion for building a LEGO Death Star.

LEGO represents the fundamentals of popular video games, too. Recently a lot of geeks have been playing Minecraft to get their sandbox world-building fix. And rightly so, because Minecraft is amazing. But LEGO has that simple pleasure of physically building things. It’s tangible. Sort of like a real-life Minecraft.

3. There’s a whole theme park dedicated to it. You know you’ve made it when you can build an entire theme park dedicated to the thing you do. LEGOLAND in Windsor is a kid’s toy Mecca; you can play with all manner of imaginative building block creations, and there are areas specifically based around Pirates, Vikings, Pharaohs and Knights. Although I’ve been to the LEGO flagship store in Copenhagen, I’ve never been to the theme Park. But I will. One day.

Of course there are lots of things you could do in the UK this summer, but a visit to the Windsor site must rank pretty high. Here’s how to check out trains to LEGOLAND in Windsor.

4. It’s really reactive to pop culture. The modern brilliance of the LEGO brand is that it’s so on top of pop culture. Whenever something relevant is happening – like the Olympics – LEGO is on-hand to recreate scenes using stop-motion. During the Games last year we had swimming races, gymnastics and Usain Bolt’s 100m win all ‘reenacted’ with the famous blocks.

Best of all, LEGO has started putting out mini-films and remakes of classic movies scenes – such as the one above of Casino Royale. I think the appeal of this is seeing ‘adult’ themes and drama acted out with children’s toys. Plus there’s the joy of seeing the simple special effects; the practical magic that makes feel like you could reach out and touch everything in the scene.

5. It’s educational. Think LEGO is all about fun? Guess again. All that time we were fiddling around with colourful bricks, we were actually learning. We were developing our creative talents and problem-solving skills. We were learning to work with others. LEGO is also great because in a world of multi-media distractions, it’s an activity that kids can use to train themselves into unitasking – learning to concentrate on one project, and focus.

LEGO has taken this concept to the max, building its own school in Denmark. Although, sadly, it’s not made of LEGO. The International School of Billund will be based on developing children’s enquiring minds, and will basically be the most incredible experience ever. What’s next? LEGO University? Best. Uni. Ever.

6. There’s always something new coming out. Unlike some toy manufacturers, LEGO isn’t prepared to rest on its laurels and cruise along churning out the same stuff year after year. They’re constantly bringing out new figures, sets and product lines. This can occasionally backfire, though; a recent study suggested that LEGO faces have been getting progressively angrier over the last 20 years!

A good example of an ongoing LEGO line that you can dip in and out of is the Minifigures Collection. Each series has about 16 different figures, and they’re wildly different – you can end up with anything from a DJ, ice skater, futuristic spaceman or mythological warrior.

7. It’s just as good as when you were a kid. Perhaps the best thing about LEGO is that it’s still as good as when you were young. It’s more than just nostalgia. While the Heinz beans and Big Macs of today don’t match up to the memories of your youth, LEGO is just as brilliant as ever.

In fact, considering everything I’ve said, I guess I should be saying that LEGO’s better than ever! It’s great because it’s a different toy to different people. It’s literally what you make of it. And it’s a toy where the only the only limit – apart from bricks – is your imagination.

About the author: Andrew Tipp is a writer, blogger and editor. He works in digital publishing, and often writes about pop culture, web trends and cool technology. Andy has been a life-long LEGO fan, and is also interested in films, graphic novels, bacon, miso soup and zombies.

July 12, 2013
7 Reasons Flyers Are Awesome

1. Distraction. Intrigue people and make them miss the bus.

2. Revision. Particularly helpful if you’re studying for a degree in Star Wars at Southampton Solent University.

3. State The Obvious. Give people what you say you will and nothing else.

4. Logic. Don’t make promises you can’t get someone else to help you keep.

5. Gift. If someone you know has let you down, show you can turn the other cheek by getting them some seafood.

6. Cruelty. Got some pent-up frustration you need to get rid of? Take it out on this guy.

7. Community Spirit. Looking wintery outside? Do something fun together.

All images and more can be found on happyplace.com.

September 1, 2011
Guest Post: 7 Reasons Why Garden Sheds Are Actually Pretty Cool

Welcome to another Saturday and another in our long line of world class guest posts. This week it’s Chris Johnson’s turn on the 7 Reasons sofa. A sofa that has been treated like royalty in the last two years. And deservedly so. It’s been to Paris and Sydney and Chicago and Birmingham to name a few. So which luxury destination is it off to this week? Yes, that’s right, Chris’ shed. But it’s not just any shed. It’s a cool garden shed. Obviously. What other type of shed is there? All garden sheds are cool. As Chris will now explain.

I feel pretty bad for sheds. They just sort of sit at the back of the garden with no love or attention given to their woody selves. It is therefore my aim to provide you with 7 pretty believable reasons why sheds actually are pretty cool!

1. You Can Make A Horror Film In Them. Sheds can be pretty creepy in the dark. More often than not, they’re rotting messes with all kinds of creepy crawlies in them. Take a video camera and rope in your mates. Have someone wield an axe while someone cowers in the corner amongst the lawnmower and shovel. You instantly have the perfect setup for the next blockbuster slasher film. It will be better than Saw 7 anyway.

2. You Can Make A Den In Them. Transport yourself back to your childhood. Clear out all that junk and fill it with pillows, blankets and large quantities of Haribo. Chill out with your mates amongst the soft furnishings and tell each other ghost stories as it gets dark. If you’re really daring, you could even introduce a couple of beers into the equation and see what happens!

3. You Actually Have Two Houses. Nobody ever really considers that a shed could be considered a second house. If it was painted up all pretty with a sofa and a bed, you instantly have a second home right in your back garden. It’s unfortunate that they are left in a dirty, uninhabitable state. Many people on the streets would love to live in your shed. Stop taking it for granted and turn it into something to keep your mother-in-law in!

4. You Could Have A Secret Life In Them. Playing on the idea that it’s your second home, you could have an entirely separate life in your shed. Transform into the opposite sex as you step into your second life if that floats your boat, or become an owl in the middle of the night. Your family has no idea where you are because, well, you wouldn’t be in the shed would you? That would be ludicrous! That’s what you want them to think!

5. You Can Pretend It’s A TARDIS. Why should the Doctor be the only person with a TARDIS? Tell your mates that you too are a Time Lord. Paint your shed in brilliant blue, and dazzle your friends by showing them that your shed is actually bigger on the inside. Of course, if it isn’t actually bigger on the inside, just tell them that your TARDIS is feeling slightly unwell. Of course, there is one downside this amazing plan: you could be carted off to the crazy person place. But there’s no harm in trying!

6. They Are Something Top Gear Would Blow Up. Now, I’m not suggesting you should blow your shed up. That would be a bit dangerous, and frankly I don’t want to be liable for whatever would happen to you should you take dynamite to your poor garden shed. But you have to admit, those crazy old guys on Top Gear would love to blow up a shed. For absolutely no reason at all. And Top Gear is a cool programme, right? We’ve all seen the infamous caravan explosion. What would be even better is if Top Gear turned a shed into a car. It would be like a caravan, but made of wood. Interesting,

7. They Are Cool, Because They Are Cool By Nature. Well, yes, this one is pretty obvious, I admit. Sheds are just so damn cool because it’s unlikely you’ve installed central heating in there, right? I bet sheds get pretty cold at night, just imagine how cool they are in the winter. If this reason isn’t enough to convince you that sheds are cool, then I am afraid you have wasted your time in reading this. Ah well.

July 9, 2011
Guest Post: 7 Reasons Japan Is Awesome

We’ve published posts telling us the USA is great, we’ve ignore posts telling us France is great and we already know Great Britain is great, so what’s missing? Ah, yes. Japan. Home of the most annoying game ever invented. I never owned a tamagotchi, but it felt like I had a vested interest in the company given the amount I knew about them at school. Girls you see. They liked to talk about them. And I didn’t have the heart to walk off. Thankfully, Japan have done some good stuff too. As Maria Rainier now explains.

Maria Rainier

Everyone knows Japan is crazy. The reasons why Japanese people are crazy is exactly why they’re awesome. Crazy awesome. I mean, who else has come up with female androids, steakhouses with Mexican cooks, Karate Kid, and Jackie Chan, right?

1. Cute. They are the only people on earth who can regularly make poop look cute. Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo does not qualify, Mr. Parker, Mr. Stone. He leaves unsanitary racing stripes wherever he goes and makes a terribly ugly cell phone accessory. Rhinestones look so much more kawaii on unko.

2. Humour. Their game shows are not only extravagant wastes of money that could probably fund a super smart cancer research team if only their scientists weren’t too busy riding elephant-sized bouncy balls and falling into mud pits, but more importantly, none of the humor is lost in translation. No matter who’s talking, there’s still a guy getting hit in the face with a giant foam log, and that’s funny.

3. Resolute. No one takes a punch like Japan, the only country that’s taken not one but two atomic bombs to the face and said, “Oh, so sorry. Would you like to send over a scientific team to study the damage and not help out the 250,000 women, babies, and old geezers who inexplicably survived your atrocity, and then try to justify it 60+ years later by saying we would have killed more of you had you not done it, even if your planned invasion wasn’t going to happen for two months?” Nah, it’s all good, ya’ll.

4. Sushi. They have convinced the West that eating raw fish eggs and octopus suckers is not only healthy and tasty, but sophisticated, especially if you know how to use a pair of chopsticks. They’re laughing their asses off right now, eating their steak and potatoes with a knife and fork.

5. They Will Rule The World One Day. While Naruto and animated school girl porn are distracting Westerners and turning them into malnourished, nerdy, basement-dwelling virgins, the Japanese are busy with their next invention: an invisible army of flying life-sized Gundam with nuclear capabilities. The Pokemon franchise was a total Japan takeover of the western world foiled by Trey Parker and Matt Stone in their groundbreaking investigative journalistic endeavor, “Chinpokomon.”

6. Vendor. They are the gods of vending machines: hot soup, hot coffee, and panties once worn by hot school girls for your pervy businessman pleasure.

7. Ninjas. And samurai. Mr. Miyagi. Ichi the Killer. Those guys.

Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education and performs research surrounding online degrees. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

February 12, 2011
7 Reasons Being Back At Work Is Great

The maverick tendencies amongst the 7 Reasons team have meant that we are returning to work two days later than the majority. Well, why not? We work weekends too. It dawned on us though that instead of being a bad thing, going back to work is actually awesome. Really, really awesome.

1. Internet. A glorious invention full of all kinds of the weird and wonderful. Mainly on YouTube. And it’s these weird and wonderful things that you just don’t have time to read, watch, play and look at during the holiday. When you are at work though, time is aplenty. And as the saying goes, ‘when at work, everyone is interested in a video of a dancing dustman’.

2. Daydreaming. When you are on holiday, you are always doing something. Even if you are doing nothing you are still doing something. As such it’s not a conducive environment in which to daydream. Work though? Well that is an entirely different situation. When you are doing nothing at work you really are doing nothing. And this is when you start drifting off. What will happen in Eastenders tonight? Could I jump from the top of that building on to the top of that one? I wonder what they are playing on Aada FM at the moment?

3. Ideas. When you are daydreaming you may invent something. Or you might realise something. Or you might decide you need to visit somewhere. Or contact someone. You never have these thoughts when you are on holiday. You never have great ideas when you are on holiday. That would be too convenient. No, you’ll only invent a squirrel powered washing machine when you are stuck at work, unable to do anything about it. Which, when you think about it, is something of a relief. Not just to the squirrel population, but also your partner who quite likes the kitchen in it’s current state.

4. Mindset. Have you noticed we are in our most optimistic and happy moods when at work? Think about it. When you are at work you spend your days looking forward to your next holiday. Yet, when you are on holiday, you spend the days dreading going back to work. Which just proves holidays are twisted individuals.

5. Pressure. Being on holiday is hard. The pressure to actually enjoy your time off is so great that many people crack and spend all their time in bed watching ITV. Deciding what to do with your day takes hours and by the time you have decided it’s too late in the day. So you agree to spend the day relaxing in bed and get up early the next day to do whatever it is you are now too late to do. But when you wake up the next day it is raining. So the whole process starts again. Compiling that report in two hours seems a doddle compared to this.

6. Exaggeration. Your holiday is always so much better when you are back at work than it was when you were actually in the middle of it. When talking to colleagues, that week in a camper-van in a lay-by outside Swansea becomes a walking holiday in the Welsh valleys. Four rainy days in Paris becomes a week in the Parisian sun sampling great wine, food and berets. Two weeks with food poisoning in Egypt becomes a life-changing trip in amongst the pyramids and the camels. Which makes you wonder why people go on holiday in the first place? You may as well stay at work and read the Thomas Cook website.

7. Guilt. If you spend your holiday watching repeats of Friends you feel terribly guilty. Do it at work though and you feel incredibly proud. That’s why work rules.

January 6, 2011
Guest Post: 7 Reasons Muse Are Awesome

Regular readers of 7 Reasons will know that we have a hardcore group of regular guest writers. Marc and I could call them our groupies. But we don’t. We just call them Liz, Simon and Rob. And today it is the turn of Rob again. If you already read his blog, There Is Music In The Breakdown, or follow him on twitter, you will know that he has quite a penchant for Muse. Today we finally get to find out why. Robert. A. Foot, this is your moment.

1. The outfits. Completely non-existent in the frontman, Matt Bellamy. From sporting such catastrophic outfits as ill-fitting suits to his alien waterproof, you know that his outfits during gigs will be extravagant. Then you look to the drummer, Dom Howard, and you see him sporting his favourite superhero costume in a Halloween gig, and you know that these people are either insanely brilliant, or just plain insane.

2. Chris Wolstenholme. The most awesome man to have touched a bass guitar ever. Combine him with a Rickenbacker and a harmonica, and you have several buckets of spare amazing. His epic headbanging antics, his backing vocals and his sheer size, you would be hard pushed to find someone who you’d like to meet more. Except Jennifer Aniston in some cases. Oh, and he does use a bit of slap bass and smokes a pipe.

3. The Instruments. I’d say guitars, but that isn’t all. From the extensive range of custom Manson guitars, Bellamy can choose from a guitar made of an old bomber plane, one with built in lasers and the quintessential red glitter guitar. But, then we have the choice of double neck guitar, keytar and sparkly. My personal favourite: the purple guitar. Yes. Purple.

4. Matthew F****n’ Bellamy. Abnormally short vocal chords, Bellamy can sing insanely high notes, as shown in such tracks as Showbiz and Micro Cuts. He can also play the guitar quite well, even if he is spinning around at several hundred revolutions per minute, or if it’s behind his head. His hair also changes colour/style dramatically every few years.

5. Dominic Howard. A left hander, always a good start in my book, Dom Howard always stands out from the crowd. Whether he’s in fancy dress or wearing a pair of his brightly coloured jeans, he’ll catch your eye one way or another. Finishing each gig with the infamous sign off of “Cheers”, that is the official Dom Howard word. A typical conversation would go, in my mind at least, something like this:

Me: Hi Dom, how’re you doing?

DH: I’m alright, cheers, and yourself?

Me: Everything’s good, Dom. How’s the tour going?

DH: It’s going really well, cheers. We had a great night last week at <insert venue here>, and after it, I just thought, “Cheers guys”, because they were cheering awesome.

Me: So what’s up next for you guys?

DH: Cheers for asking, I’m going to be working on my cheers solo album called “Cheers”. It’s a one track, 68 minute drum solo album, with the one track being called “Cheers” cheers. There have been a few cheers….. etc.

6. Morgan Nicholls. The man behind the several hundred synthy bits in every song, Morgan keeps the band ticking over at all times. Whether it’s his cabasa (not a shaker) playing or playing three notes on the keyboard during Map Of The Problematique, the band simply could not function without him. Unless his wife was due to have a baby during Muse’s stint supporting U2 during their US 360 tour, in which case they can find one of Trent Reznor’s pals to deputise. Apart from those times, he cannot be replaced.

7. The Fans. We’re the best fans in the world. Some people are flying in from America, Australia, Scandinavia, Canada and even York to see them play in their UK stadium tour. Possessing the rare quality of bashing the band endlessly, then reacting with anger when someone else has a little rant, they have on average 300GB* of gig bootlegs on their computer hard drives at any one time, downloading approximately 4TB* of material over their lifetimes. Whatever you say to them, don’t call Muse a rip off of Radiohead to their faces. Just don’t.

*Source: completelymadeupstatistics.com

September 18, 2010