First Look Gnomes
First Look Gnomes is a UK comedy dad-life and pop culture podcast exploring parenting chaos, TV shows, films, food, trends, travel and first-time experiences. Honest reactions, relatable stories, and questionable decisions from two dads trying to survive modern life.
First Look Gnomes
First Look Gnomes: The Archives – DNA Test Surprises, Celtic Ancestry, ChatGPT Creativity & Children’s Books Debate
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From the archives of First Look Gnomes…
What starts with a tongue-in-cheek chat about pink flamingos and rumour culture quickly turns into a deeper look at identity, heritage, and how stories shape what we believe.
In this episode, we unpack surprising DNA test results, explore Celtic ancestry, and discover unexpected links to Southern Ontario settlers that reshape family narratives. It’s an honest, funny discussion about what ancestry percentages really mean — and why they’re clues, not labels.
We also explore:
- Cornwall, national pride, and cultural context
- The debate around classic children’s books and whether context matters more than edits
- A first look at The Blue-Footed Booby by Rob Biddulph
- Using ChatGPT for creativity, writing, and overcoming creative blocks
- Social media platforms imagined as pubs
- And a very serious Easter egg debate (Cadbury fans, assemble)
If you’re interested in DNA ancestry results, family history discoveries, children’s literature discussions, AI tools like ChatGPT, or cultural commentary with humour, this archive episode delivers thoughtful laughs and practical insight.
Perfect for curious minds who enjoy culture, books, identity, and tech — with friendly chaos included.
Ever notice how a pink flamingo can start a rumour? We open with the folklore of swinging symbols and the way small, silly signals become “truth” once enough people repeat them. That playful start sets us up for a surprisingly heartfelt turn: one of us shares fresh DNA test results that map a Celtic-heavy mix with a twist—genetic ties to Southern Ontario settlers—and a newly discovered family connection that reframes old stories. It’s identity with a wink, proof that percentages are clues, not labels.
From there we wander (with purpose) into the places we come from and the histories we inherit. Cornwall’s past stirs a chat about national pride, rugby songs, and why context matters more than erasure when we hand classic children’s books to the next generation. We make the case for notes and guidance instead of edits that sand off the edges. Along the way, a first look at The Blue-Footed Booby by Rob Biddulph reminds us that picture books can be clever, warm, and wildly re-readable.
AI gets its moment too. We talk about using ChatGPT to break creative blocks, sharpen lines, and ship better work faster—without surrendering judgement or voice. It’s honest, hands-on, and grounded: prompts, iterations, and why the human still decides what’s good. Then we lighten the load with a tour of social platforms imagined as pubs, and we crown the winner of a very serious LinkedIn poll on the best Easter eggs—spoiler: Cadbury by a mile.
Come for the laughs, stay for the curiosity. If you enjoy a mix of culture, ancestry, books for kids, and practical takes on AI—served with friendly chaos—you’re in the right place. Tap follow, share this with a friend who needs a smile, and leave us a quick review to help others find the show. What surprised you most this week?
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Welcome To First Look Gnomes
SPEAKER_01Introducing the wondrous world of first look gnomes. Join two delightful pals as they take a curious peek at anything and everything under the sun, from the latest gadgets to popular TV shows, our hosts offer their unique take on things that make our world. But this podcast is more than just an entertaining role. It's a companion listen for those who need a pick-me-up. It will be ridiculous. The gnomes are here to brighten your day with their infectious humour and infectious curiosity. So sit back, relax, and let the gnomes take you on a journey of discovery. You never know what they'll uncover or where they lead you. The five keys with the first gnome you're always in for a good time.
Swinger Garden Myths Unpacked
SPEAKER_01Interesting. Do you want to try to try the name the top five, Craig? The five. So the top five things that show that you're a swinger. Well that's the obvious that I've why I'm mentioning it, but yeah. So number one, what what shows you? I don't know, a um an abundance of cash?
SPEAKER_03There's one I was there's one I was kind of aware of. Not not because we're swinging, it's just to claust to clarify. The one I'm aware of is pampasgrass. If you've got pampas grass outside your house, apparently you're a swing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Really?
SPEAKER_03That's like an actual change.
SPEAKER_01So that's like one of those unofficial signs, like oh swinging.
SPEAKER_03So if you yeah. White landscaping rocks. Okay. A five-pointed star, apparently. Oh what? A five-pointed star? Five-pointed star, but I thought that was a religious thing, but apparently a five-pointed star. Okay. And pink flamingos. If you've got pink flamingos in your garden, which you know swinger.
SPEAKER_01You can't move in Battlefast for the pink flamingos just swanning around in people's gardens.
SPEAKER_03If you've seen your pink flamingos, especially pink flamingos in pampas grass, yeah. They are a swinging hot spot.
SPEAKER_01You don't want white, you don't want white stones either. The amount of rain, Wadiams.
SPEAKER_03You've got pink flamingos on white landscaping blocks covered by pampas grass, but also surrounded by garden gnomes. No way. Swingers. My nan was a swinger. I know. It's unbelievable. I tend to think back to the episode where you just explained your nan.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, my name loved garden gnomes. They're all half dressed as well. Nanny Abyss. God rest your soul, you swinger.
SPEAKER_03Who do you think you are, Craig?
DNA Test Results And Celtic Roots
SPEAKER_01Who do I think I am?
SPEAKER_03Is one name of a TV show.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I thought you're asking me one of these philosophical questions. Who do you think you are, Craig?
SPEAKER_03Well, DNA Journey is another one. Oh, okay. DNA journey. So you might mention I I I mentioned ages ago, but for Christmas, I got a DNA test. Oh, a D A N DNA test. Yeah, DNA, yeah, for D a D a D-A-N DNA test. Very good. For Christmas. What a Christmas present. Yes. So I did the uh got the got the tube, did a spat in it. No.
SPEAKER_01Sounds a bit like a fly coming down for a P test.
SPEAKER_03Very good. Stuck it in a raw mail post box. Oh yes. In a box, you know, just randomly.
SPEAKER_01Yes, they send you like a little package to send it back in, don't they? That's enough.
SPEAKER_03And yeah, forgot about it for a couple months or so. I've got my DNA results back, Craig.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so this is gonna be interesting. I got my DNA results. So this is this is where you have to try and work out are you 76% Swedish, 22% English, 19% and after that, add up French and all that kind of stuff. So did you have a preconception of what you thought you were? Uh you're like, I'm a quarter Welsh, I'm a quarter Scottish, half American? Not really. Not really. So was it all a surprise? Uh not really, no. Okay. 100% Cornish. If you come back now and tell us you were actually from Denver, that would be very interesting.
SPEAKER_03So I got my DNA results. And so in in order bottom, bottom up. So I'm I'm two percent Irish. Oh, welcome to the family. Yes, I'm two percent Irish. Fifteen percent Scottish. Okay.
SPEAKER_01I'm not you are yeah, you got you are very Celtic. I'm not surprised really. I'm very Celtic. 40% Cornish. 4-0. 4-0. Okay.
SPEAKER_0340% Cornish, but the Cornish is arguably Northwestern Europe, so maybe some French in there and English in Belgium that because that DNA long story, but a lot of history. You're at least half Celte so far. So 40% some Cornish since it's Scottish, 2% Irish, 43%, no surprise, my last name. Welsh. Well it yes. So yes, I am Welsh. Very good. Very good. Yeah, so 43% Welsh. So I found out we're literally as a six nations kicked off. Started singing Bread of Heaven. Wales lost every single game, so uh yeah, but uh yeah, 2% Irish. Let's not forget the 2% Irish and 50%. You are 2% champions. Very good. The other interesting bit so it also tells you what DNA communities that you share, so what you know what communities you share DNA with. So obviously I share a lot of DNA with the Cornish communities, obviously I share a lot of DNA with the the Welsh communities, obviously. But the interesting bit was I share a lot of genes with Southern Ontario settlers. Oh great, we're shocked he dropped his bottle.
SPEAKER_01I literally did just drop my bottle of beer as you said that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I I share a lot of my genetics with the Southern Ontario settlers.
SPEAKER_01Well, you you do love the Canadians as well. One of your best chums is Canadian, who probably our best listener as well, I would say, is Canadian, our number one listener. So um
Ancestry Communities And Family Revelations
SPEAKER_01you're gonna get in trouble. I am gonna get in trouble. The uh Velasa Warsaw it's really interesting to find out that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_03And also, so we had a DNA match. Okay, I found out I've got a uh another great half uncle. So my mum found out that she's got a half uncle that she wasn't aware of.
SPEAKER_01No way, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Our main contestant on the podcast with Parenting Hell, I think it's Josh Whitaker. Oh yes, that's him.
SPEAKER_01Yes, he he's kind of like something ridiculous, like 98th in line for the throne or something mental, isn't he? So yeah, it is interesting.
SPEAKER_03I did that when I first went to Canada, I you know, oh you're from Britain, you're in English. And I I I made up something. Oh, I'm 20th in line to the throne, and the amount of people actually believe me. So I didn't say, you know, I'm second in line, I was like, oh 20th.
SPEAKER_01Oh wow. See, Williams would have done anything to try and get a woman into the sack in them days. Oh, oh, I'm 20th. I'm I'm basically a royal me. I'm basically bow down and call me king. King of the northern farmers. Oh, oh half Welsh, half farmer. Oh bow. Bow to me know.
SPEAKER_03And and and the and the and the two percent is Guinness.
SPEAKER_01Yes, just to confirm, listeners, the two percent of Irish Waddams is is drinking Guinness tonight. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I um so much Guinness in my bloodstream that it came out in the DNA test.
SPEAKER_01You have, yeah. I've known you a long time, and you are you have drank a lot of Guinness. Yeah, it's good stuff though, to be fair.
SPEAKER_03Well no, but no, to be fair, I didn't start drinking Guinness until I was 20.
SPEAKER_01Oh, the ripe old age of 20. Didn't start drinking Guinness till I was like, oh, 20. Oh yeah, I didn't forget that I'm sure you have in the past. You got our own flag, screw the English.
SPEAKER_03I'll keep telling you that we used to be our own country.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay, I biggy passed.
SPEAKER_03Yes, so sorry, I thought you were no, no, no. We used to be our own country until the year twelve fifty, I think. Uh fact checkers, please write in. Yeah, about twelve fifty. So it was basically England, Cornwall, Wales, Scotland. And then good around twelve fifty we stopped.
SPEAKER_02Cornwall functioned as an independent Brythonic Celtic kingdom, often called Dumnonia or West Wales, from third fifth century until the early 9th century, with independence largely lost following defeat by Wessex in 838 AD. Enjoy some Cornish knockers.
SPEAKER_01We did assume it was more because people are perverts, but uh it's it's always interesting to learn about you you can you can bring a Cornish fact and I'll bring a Northern Irish fact, even though I'm not from Northern Irish, it's now my home. So about a Wolverhampton fact. I could do Wolverhampton fact, yes. But again, it's it's more exotic. Do we need from Northern Ireland? I don't think anybody really Wolverhampton used to have some cow. I don't think there's much really I'm probably doing a uh uh my my great little city uh disservice there, but were the Peaky Blinders Wolverhampton or was that Birmingham? So that they're they're Birmingham, but the Black Country was featured in Peaky Blinders, the Black Country down the Kut. That's a great joke.
SPEAKER_03Anyone listening who hasn't our American listeners are like is it is there a translated button?
National Identity, Cornwall History, And Banter
SPEAKER_01I know it's funny, isn't it? Because everyone just chat GPT4, which just rolls off the tongue as well. Like you want to call it GTP rather than GPT. So GTP4 is the latest version. It is, yes, it is. It's all it's all moved along quite quickly. So chat GPT4, just like the artificial intelligent pictures, it's artificial intelligence words. So you give it commands and it writes stuff for you. So there's a lot of there's a lot of excitement about it, but there's also a lot of fear, just because again, it's kind of but it is it is a little bit terminator style, yeah. Between the words and the pictures now and the the rapid development of artificial intelligence, I won't pretend to be an authority on it who has superior intelligence and can talk about it, and you know, is it true that like Elon Musk, the head of some university somewhere, Jeff Bezos, and someone else have signed a letter saying we all agree to stop developing AI stuff for at least six months whilst we who knows if that's just sensationalized head headlines? I watched a TED talk by a guy who just looked very intelligent from seven years ago who was talking about the implications of super intelligent computers that can effectively outthink human beings, and about the building fail-safes in where they understand human values, and it was one of these ones where you get a lot of these talks, and you're like, they're too intelligent for their own good. I don't really I'll nod and be like, Yeah, yeah, he's yeah, I don't really have a clue what he was saying, it's above my pay grade of intelligence. I could I've I've only just mastered the English. Well, no, I can't even say I've mastered the English, I've only just mastered what have I mastered colouring in, you know, that's my level of intelligence, and even that, yeah. Well have you though? I don't know, I'm a little bit rogue, um you know, I am not an intelligent man. So you watch these people talk who are intelligent and can just communicate with such clarity at like really uh really high level, and you think, yeah, you're both in you're both wonderful and terrifying. So he was talking about having to kind of he said, like, if you ask a computer, you know, what's the best way to sustain the planet, and eventually they get to the point where human beings are what's caused, if you look statistically, human beings have caused all the destruction on the planet, so that so the best way to do this is to kill all the humans. How do you then kind of add value so they don't answer it as black and white as that? And it was quite interesting, but but now on a much on a much more down here level, yeah. So chat chat GPT4 is is a tool that helps you to create words, so in its very basic form, you give it a command, so you you set you ask it to do something, you tell it to do something, and it does it. So there's a lot of controversy around you can say to it, for example, write me an essay on Henry VIII, or write me a love poem, and it and it does it, and it does it so fast. So I've been testing it out. So recently, I've been working for a hotel, and we are working, doing a lot of their marketing materials. And part
AI, ChatGPT, And Creative Workflows
SPEAKER_01of my job is to create adverts and campaigns and come up with come up with ideas about how to promote something. So I was testing it out, and it was it was the first time I'd tested it, and I was like, okay, so I'd I'd spent a day writing, uh coming up with ideas and you know, understanding who we're trying to talk to, how we should talk to them, what we should say, and trying to articulate it in a way that you can, you know, use an advert. I went into chat G GPT4, put a couple of commands in, and I was like, holy crap, it's just um it's like it came up with some no, it didn't it didn't do the job for me, but it helped me get over that like oh what how should I say this? It really did help me get over a hub. Like, usually I would just turn to a thesaurus or a dictionary and you know try and work through it, but this just streamlined my work. So it's it's interesting because you're like, is this gonna remove the need for me, or is this just gonna become a tool that helps me do my job better?
SPEAKER_03Okay. I had a first look at a uh a blue booby. Oh, is this Wookiee Erotica again? Refer back to uh previous previous episodes with regards to that comment. Okay. So let's try to do it. A blue footed booby, so that should have been a lot clearer, you should have said a blue footed booby. Yeah, no, uh yeah, me and uh Master Logan this morning. Uh nine weeks no ten weeks is Sunday, actually. Um yeah, The Blue Footed Booby by Rob Bidolf. Rob Bidolf. Yeah. The Blue Footed Booby by Rob Biddolf. Had a first look at that book today, and it's a really good book. Really well illustrated. Lots of uh plot twists. Uh oh. And yeah, just just yeah, just a quick first look at that, really. And yeah, well recommended. So is this a kid's book? It's a kid's book, yes. Yes, just to clarify. No, it's a it's a picture book, it's got limited words, very well illustrated. Uh basically blue-footed boobies. Well, sorry, red-footed boobies like making cakes. And a cake goes missing. I won't I won't say any more because of the uh the plot twists and uh spoilers, but a very good book and well recommended. That was my first look today at a the blue-footed booby.
SPEAKER_01See, Williams, you've got them all to come. So for our listeners who have got kids, there is the you know, there's the classics. You're gonna get the book.
SPEAKER_03I the first look at the classic actually the other week. The graffolo. Everyone keeps going on by the graffalo, that's a good one as well. That's a plot twist. Wait, you brought that for Brain. Yeah, I didn't read it.
SPEAKER_01No, he didn't read it before he said it. But Brett Brain did get the Gruffalo because of it. And it's even now, so Brain's coming eight years old this year, and he still loves the Gruffalo, still, he knows it word for word. So you've got you've got all those lovely ones to come. So Brain's transition now, so he loves reading, so he's he's into his role dial books now. Yeah, good, good. So you get to eat.
SPEAKER_03Well, that's a controversial thing recently, wasn't it? The uh that's a lot of bloody bollocks.
SPEAKER_01Don't get me started on that. They were fine as they were. But I also understand I appreciate people need to feel included, but it's not like they were terrible. Like I don't think there was any malice in them. No, but again, that's the subjective opinion, and I you know, if people maybe I didn't read the story enough. You can't erase history, you know. As long as you give context, these yeah, it's like no, you know, this man at the time, so a prime example. We were watching extras, the Ricky Jac the other day, and it's probably 15 years old,
First Look: The Blue-Footed Booby
SPEAKER_0120 years old, and like the things on that you're like probably you can say that now, and you're like, but you can't just delete it because at the time, not that it was okay to say that, but it was it was just at that time people did say it. Doesn't necessarily mean it was right, but does it mean we should pretend it never happened? So it's like Rald Barr wrote those books in the in the kind of mid to was it sixties, was it? I think sixties, seven, yeah. I think I think I think the first ones were like 50s, and then these popular ones like Charlie and Talk of Actually were sixties and then 70s, 80s. But you know, it was a different time. It doesn't mean it was the right time, it doesn't mean it was better time, it was just the time. And as long as you give your kids context and say, look, this is he said this, but you it's much better to have them in there with an asterisk saying we wouldn't say this today and explain why so the parents can read them and can then explain to their kids you shouldn't necessarily call people a flump womp or whatever it was rather than just deleting it and changing it. Because that's the kind of words you use, isn't it? And I'm not I'm not I know that's not what they were trying to get at, but you know, you know, it's explain to help parents explain to their kids why it was written like that at the time and why it shouldn't be said like that now, and you know, give people some credit that they're intelligent enough to work around those things rather than just nope, nope, never happened. Like that's worse. No. So I'll put uh uh you know, I'm on there because you've called you. So I imagine you're right.
SPEAKER_03What's social media? So me and you we're we're off down social social media street on on a little well, not a pub screw, we'll go to one pub. We're looking around to go, oh that LinkedIn one looks a bit uh yeah.
SPEAKER_01Where would we go? I I honestly don't think I'd want to go to any of them. No, the YouTube pub that's quite no, YouTube's full of bollocks as well. No, they won't go there, would be. No, I don't want to go to the YouTube
Children’s Books, Roald Dahl, And Context
SPEAKER_01pub.
SPEAKER_03Instagram would be an interesting one because there'd be no drinking going on an Instagram pub, there'd just be lots of this there'd be lots of of just people in bikinis.
SPEAKER_01So I recently joined Instagram. I've I've always avoided Instagram because I just think it's a hellish place. I've joined it and I currently follow I only followed two people. I followed two companies on there, one the WWE, and the other one is a is a local company who I wanted to follow. And then every time I go on there, all I'm seeing is women in bikinis, and I'm like and I'm I was literally like I'm I'm not quite sure what's happening here. I was like, I don't I I have no idea what this is.
SPEAKER_03That's surprising that the WWE accounts were the most real account on there.
SPEAKER_01Well, uh to be fair, most of it is it's the WWE, the women of WWE are usually in their bikinis, so there's obviously some correlation there or something. I don't know, but I'm sure a listener will write in and say it's because once you looked at something and now because of something probably, but no, I won't want to go to Instagram. I don't know. I don't know anything about TikTok and Snapchat. No, I don't really want to, if I'm honest.
SPEAKER_03Well, the only thing I know about Snapchat, because Snapchat was the original here's a picture of something and it disappears. It was all filters as well. Oh, yeah, it was, wasn't it? It was like they were the first to do the the filters, weren't they?
SPEAKER_01So it was it's big central, yeah.
SPEAKER_03So Snapchat pub quit point and disappear, I think. Very good, very good.
SPEAKER_01But then you go in there and there'll be all these women with blue eyes and halos and birds around their heads. Do you remember those pictures? Like, oh, I'm at I'm actually an ugly chimney or laugh, but on Snapchat I've got this filter and I look glamorous. Oh, look at me now. I've got beautiful skin and I've got massive blue eyes, and my eyelashes are as long as anything. I'm gonna use this as my Facebook profile picture. Oh you're like, but that's not you, that's not how you should go to the MySpace pub. Old school, yeah. Yes, that's where we'll go. We'll go to the MySpace. Oh god, we're getting old, madams. We'll go to the MySpace pub.
SPEAKER_03Let's go to the Napster pub and have free drinks.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03The Limewire pub. Three drinks for everyone. Who's paying for it?
SPEAKER_01Well, that that's that level, so yes, go back to the old school day of MySpace. And you probably it's probably still around. You probably didn't just intimidate by it.
SPEAKER_03I don't know. Not a clue. Anyway.
SPEAKER_01Okay. So yes, so I've got a I've got away from my first look here. So I went to LinkedIn and I did a poll because I was sick of all the you know either either someone telling a story of like I've overcome such adversity in my life.
SPEAKER_03Does Single know about this lady from Poland?
SPEAKER_01No, not a let uh I did a yes, I I I created a poll. A poll which asked a very serious question on a very serious platform, and it was a simple question of who makes the best Easter eggs? Cadbries, Nestle, Mars, or Marks and Spencer. So under Cadbury's, you've got you know your 12, your dairy milk, your classic
Social Media As Pubs: A Tour
SPEAKER_01ones. Dairy milk, uh dairy milk or cadbries always seem to be the most popular, but then Nestle, you've got ones like your Smarties and your Kit Kat, and then Mars, you've got your MMs, I think it is, and your actual Mars and Galaxy. And then Marxies do really nice chocolates. So I was like, just put something on because I thought, you know what, people can't resist to click on a poll. So I did this poll, and people can't resist to click on it. So it's interesting. And what do you what would you imagine, Williams? What would you imagine is the most popular brand of Easter egg?
SPEAKER_03The most popular brand of Easter egg. What would you pick first of all? Well, I don't know, I've changed everybody. I've not really had a staple go-to Easter egg brand. Well, I've seen quite a lot of the Maltesa ones, actually. So I don't know if that's the most popular. I've seen a lot of Maltesa ones.
SPEAKER_01Which I believe is Mars.
SPEAKER_03So I'll go for Mars.
SPEAKER_01You go for Mars. See, I'm I'm a big fan of the Nestle ones. The the actual egg in the Nestle ones, I think it's just cracking. According to the poll, I'm not intelligent enough to make a poll like that. But would you believe the most popular one? Well, would you believe, of course, you believe it, is Cabries by an absolute flipping mile. Yeah, it got something like 92% of the votes on this poll.
SPEAKER_03How many Cabries ones?
SPEAKER_01Or do I know? Oh, it's all you see, isn't it? I think so. I'm sure most people don't really think about it that deeply. It's just chocolate and they just eat it. But I just wanted to put something silly on there. So the poll was the the general concern. No, my first look was at the most popular Easter egg. Because you know, it's a subject that we could all debate and talk about. So, you know, the poll has answered the question. We just mumble off. But we have listened for mumbles now, don't we?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we do, and just yeah, just to uh just to finish off, I will repeat the review that we had. I'm not quite sure what I'm listening to, but it makes me laugh. Listen, it's very random, but very funny. Thank you for the reviews. We'll catch you soon down the road. Thank you for the reviews. Until then.
SPEAKER_01Bye everybody.
SPEAKER_03Bye everybody. Bye. Bye.
SPEAKER_01Williams and Hodgkiss will be back for series five.
SPEAKER_02Write to us at firstlit gnomes at outlook.com.
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