Big Brother is Watching You...

It's true! And in a shocking turn of events, this time Big Brother turns out to be none other than the pint sized pop diva Lady Ga Ga.

For she has taken on and effectively gagged Hoxton based Mind Candy, creators of the globally successful Moshi Monsters from 'promoting, advertising, selling, distributing or otherwise making available to the public any musical work or video which purports to be performed by a character by the name of Lady Goo Goo, or which otherwise uses the name Lady Goo Goo or any variant thereon.'

If your children aren't into Moshi Monsters, you probably won't have a clue what I'm talking about but as the parent of three hardcore 'Moshettes' this story is nothing short of a scandal.

Gaga's lawyers claimed that children might not be able to tell GooGoo from Gaga. Yes seriously.

On the left we have Moshling Lady GooGoo, a dummy toting, nappy wearing inhabitant of the Moshi Monsters world. On the right we have Lady GaGa, a pop star who makes headlines by wearing dresses made from meat and recently announced that her alter ego is a panda.

Yep.... easy to see how my daughters might get them mixed up.

The success of Moshi Monsters should be applauded not dragged through the mud in this way. Their site is educational, safe and fun. It brings my children together as they work through puzzles and missions to gain access to new and exciting Moshlings. Together as a team, no other game they play does that.

At the risk of confusing you parents too I feel that I should point out that the video clip below is of the Moshling Lady GooGoo singing the offending Moshi Dance that sparked the controversy and has nothing at all to do with the American singer Lady GaGa. OK?

My girls meeting the REAL McNaulty (and his mummy).

Watch out Moshi Monsters - if Lady GaGa's alter ego is a Panda, perhaps Shishi's next on her list!

Top of my girls Christmas list is the new Moshi Monsters Moshling Zoo game for Nintendo DS. out on 11/11/11, you can pre order your copy from amazon now!

We shall not be deterred. Moshi Monsters rocks!

Charity help request

Are you interested in helping UNISEF to road test a couple of fundraising ideas ahead of the campaign release dates?

The ideas are based around parents involving their kids in the lives of children in other cultures in a fun way, whilst also raising money - hopefully it's good for everyone; the charity raises money and the parents get to expose their children to the lives of other children in Africa. If you are a parent with children aged between 3 and 12, I would love to hear from you.

We're looking for people to test these in October half time and on Halloween (Oct 31st).  Please leave a comment with your details or email me for more information. mummytips [at] gmail [dot] com

The Help - My Movie of the Month

This time last week I was snuggled up with a group of girlie buddies for a private screening of the eagerly anticipated film adaptation of the best selling book The Help. 

The last time I set foot in a cinema with a group of girls was to see Back to the Future. It was so long ago that everyone still thought that Michael J Fox was hot. He wasn't and we were really only there to check out boys but that's another story.

I'm a reader by nature and I'm never satisfied by a big screen portrayal of a book that I've read but as I hadn't started reading The Help I was a blank canvas and ready for the journey.

Set in Mississippi in the 1960's, The Help is essentially a tale of female friendship and the ability to come together to create change. Only things were pretty messed up in 1960's Mississippi. White children raised by black maids only to turn into their parents and continue and expand on their racist ways.

Skeeter (Emma Stone), saw things differently and on returning home from college, determined to be a writer, set about interviewing the black maids so that their stories could be told.

After a bit of cajoling the maids have a lot to say and despite the dark undertones of the main civil rights story, The Help manages to be a feel good movie.

If you liked Fried Green Tomatoes and Driving Miss Daisy you'll love this movie. If you like tales of hope, of good over evil you'll love this movie.

What I took away from it is that friendships really can conquer all and a reminder that revenge is always a dish best served cold.

The Help opens in the UK on October 26th. Go see it.

Disclosure : 

Back to the Future was released in 1985. If you have 13 year old children DO NOT consider it OK to let them go to the movies with a group of their friends. Don't ask why - take my word...

Name Change Alert!

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I'm giving my blog a major makeover and today saw me move that little bit closer with a new Twitter name...

@mummytips has gone and I'll be tweeting at @geekisnewchic.

The Cybher 2012 Schedule is Live

Things are really hotting up Cybher wise and I'm really excited about the amazing speakers that are already lined up for the first event next May.

Lots of people have been asking about the schedule and its now live for you to take a look at over on the Cybher site. 

More sessions will be added over the next few weeks as speakers are confirmed so please do check back. 

Early bird tickets are on sale at £80 until 30/11/11 and we have a deal in place with a hotel just around the corner who are offering single rooms to Cybher delegates for just £80 per night. These rooms are limited and are selling out fast. Full information is on the Cybher blog.

You can join the conversation on Twitter @CybherUK 

Lead - don't follow.