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Showing posts with label childhood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label childhood. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
Monday, July 25, 2022
Saturday, July 23, 2022
Thursday, July 21, 2022
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Monday, July 18, 2022
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Monday, July 11, 2022
Monday, July 4, 2022
Sunday, July 3, 2022
Raleigh Tomahawk Bicycle
I have fond memories of the Raleigh Tomahawk because it was the first bicycle I ever rode and owned as a child.
I can't remember if it was bought for me as birthday or xmas present but I spent many an evening after school riding about on my Tomahawk, I loved it. My cousin had one too and we would cycle around together pretending to be Jon and Poncherello from CHiPs.
There was a road near to where I lived that was on a slight hill and sometimes I'd scatter dry soil across it at the bottom of the hill. I would then cycle down it as fast as I could and pull my back brake at the bottom sending the bicycle into a deliberate skid which would cause a large cloud of dust to form as the back wheel slid across the dry soil.
I'll never forget the sound of those skids and the resulting dust clouds. As a small child they always seemed mightily impressive.
Saturday, July 2, 2022
Friday, July 1, 2022
Wright's Traditional Soap
Wright's Traditional Soap has been a favourite of mine since early childhood. I've always known it as Coal Tar Soap but I only recently learnt that it doesn't actually contain coal tar anymore.
According to Wikipedia, the original product developed by William Valentine Wright in 1860 was made from liquor carbonis detergens which is the liquid-by-product of the distillation of coal to make coke. The liquid was then made into antiseptic soap which was used to treat skin diseases.
I'm not sure exactly when coal tar stopped being used in the soap but it was replaced with tea tree oil instead which contains antibacterial properties. The soap does however contain 'coal tar fragrance' which gives it a rather distinctive smell compared to other soaps.
Thursday, June 30, 2022
Monday, June 27, 2022
Saturday, June 25, 2022
Friday, June 24, 2022
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science-fiction television programme broadcast by the BBC. It's about the adventures of a Time Lord, an extraterrestrial being who appears human, called the Doctor. He explores the universe in a time-travelling machine called the TARDIS.
Doctor Who and the TARDIS
Joined by various companions the Doctor combats enemies, works to save civilisations and helps those in need. Two of his main adversaries are the Daleks and the Cybermen.
Over the years Doctor Who has been played by various actors but my two favourites out of all them are Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. Jon Pertwee played him from 1970 until 1974 and Tom Baker played him from 1974 until 1981.
The transition from one actor to another is written into the storyline of the the show with the concept of regeneration into a new incarnation. It is a plot device whereby whenever the Time Lord's body is too badly harmed to heal normally he transforms into a new body.
Each actor's portrayal is unique but all represent the different stages in the life of the Doctor. Together they form a single lifetime with a single narrative. Due to the plot being about time-travel it's not unusual for the different incarnations of the Doctor to occasionally meet.
Jon Pertwee
Tom Baker
Doctor Who was one of my favourite television programmes during my childhood and I have fond memories of watching it up until the series ended in 1989. The show has had several revivals since then but for me it was never the same.
THEME TUNE
One of the things I really loved about Doctor Who was the theme tune. It was written by Australian composer Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1963. It was one of the first electronic music signature tunes produced for television.
There have been numerous arrangements of the theme tune used on television but the main melody has remained the same. The theme was originally written and arranged in the key of E minor and most versions of the theme have retained the use of the original key.
I have two favourite versions of the theme tune, the first is the one used between 1980 and 1985 and the second is the one used between 1970 and 1980.
Doctor Who Theme Tune
1980-1985
Doctor Who Theme Tune
1970-1980
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Black Jacks & Fruit Salads
Black Jacks and Fruit Salads are both my favourite sweets of all time. I first tasted them as a child in the mid 80s. I remember I used to buy 10p mixes from the local mobile shop and both these sweets were always included in any mix.
If you didn't already know, a 10p mix was basically a small white paper bag filled with sweets such as toffees, jellies, candy and gum. Usually there would be ten sweets in each bag as each sweet was usually a penny.
Sometimes you'd get half penny sweets in the bag too so that meant you'd get two sweets for the price of a penny.
BLACK JACK SWEETS
Black Jacks are an aniseed flavoured chewy sweet and are black in colour and are squarish in shape. Due to their colouring whenever you eat these your tongue turns black.
FRUIT SALAD SWEETS
Fruit Salads are a raspberry and pineapple flavoured chewy sweet and are half yellow and half pink coloured and are squarish in shape.
Monday, June 20, 2022
Dracula Prince of Darkness
Dracula Prince of Darkness is a 1966 horror film directed by Terence Fisher and produced by Hammer Film Productions. It is the third entry in Hammer's dracula series and the second to feature Christopher Lee as vampire Count Dracula.
This is my all time favourite horror film and I remember the first time I watched it back in the late 80s. I was staying at my Nan's house at the time in her spare room and the film was broadcast late one evening on BBC. I'd gone to bed and was snug and cosy in my sleeping bag and in total darkness when I watched it on the small portable colour television set.
I recall the suspense of not knowing what was going to happen to the Kents as they settled down for a night at the castle, especially knowing that they'd been advised not to travel there. There was an eerie feeling in the castle too as Klove moved about in the dead of night making preparations to bring his master back to life. You knew something bad was going to happen but you just didn't know when and how!
A thoroughly enjoyable film from start to finish and packed with suspense throughout. It was my first introduction to Christopher Lee as Dracula and one I'll never forget.
FILM PLOT
The film starts by showing the final scenes from the first Dracula film, where Doctor Van Helsing destroys Count Dracula by sunlight and only only the memory of Dracula's evil remains.
The main story then begins with Father Sandor preventing some local authorities from disposing a woman's corpse believing her to be a vampire. He chastises the presiding priest for perpetuating the fear of vampires and reminds him that Dracula was destroyed ten years ago. Sandor is then seen visiting an inn where he warns four English tourists, the Kents (Diana, Charles, Helen and Alan) not to visit Karlsbad. Ignoring his advice, they choose to visit Karlsbad but are left abandoned two kilometres away from their destination when their fear stricken coach driver refuses to go any further.
With the castle in view, the Kents soon end being taken there when a driverless carriage arrives soon after they have been abandoned. Upon arrival at the castle they find a dining table set for four people and their bags unpacked in the bedrooms. They are soon met by a servant by the name Klove who explains that his master, the late Count Dracula, has left instructions that the castle should always be ready to welcome strangers. After the Kents have eaten, they settle in their rooms for the evening.
Later that night Alan leaves his room to investigate a noise and follows Klove to the castle's crypt. Klove kills him and uses his blood by mixing it with Dracula's ashes to revive the Count. Later Klove entices Helen to the crypt where she then becomes Dracula's first victim. The following morning, Charles and Diana look for Alan and Helen but are unable to find them and notice Klove's absence too. Charles and Diana leave the castle and soon arrive at a Woodsman's hut. Charles tells Diana to wait in the hut whilst he returns to the castle to search for Alan and Helen. Whilst Charles is gone Klove arrives at the hut and tricks Diana into returning to the castle.
Back at the castle, Charles finds Alan's dismembered body in a trunk in the crypt and as darkness falls Dracula rises. Diana encounters Helen, who, now a vampire, attacks her. Dracula then appears and warns Helen away from Diana. Charles struggles with Dracula until Diana realises that the crucifix around her neck is an affective weapon against vampires. Charles improvises a larger cross and manages to drive Dracula away and him and Diana escape from the castle in a carriage. As the carriage speeds further and further away from the castle the horses pulling it lose control and it crashes knocking Diana unconscious. Charles has to carry her for several hours through the woods before they are eventually rescued by Father Sandor, who takes them to his abbey.
Whilst they are there, Klove arrives in a wagon carrying two coffins containing Dracula and Helen but he's denied admission to the abbey by the monks. Ludwig, a patient at the abbey, is in awe of Dracula and he invites the Count inside the grounds. Helen pursuades Diana to open the window and let her in, claiming that she's escaped from Dracula. Diana gives in and lets her in but Helen bites her arm. Dracula drags Helen off wanting Diana for himself but Charles bursts into the room in time driving the vampires away.
Sandor quickly sterilizes bite on Diana's arm with the heat from an oil lamp, then buts silver crucifixes in the two coffins to prevent the vampires returning. Sandor captures Helen and drives a stake through her heart killing her. Ludwig lures Diana into Dracula's presence where the Count then hypnotizes her into removing the crucifx from around her neck. Dracula coerces her to drink his blood from his bare chest but Charles returns just in time to prevent it, forcing Dracula to then flee carrying the unconscious Diana.
Charles and Sandor arm themselves and give chase on horseback. A shortcut allows them to get ahead of Dracula's wagon and they stop it. Charles shoots Klove who has apparently removed Sandor's crucifixes from the coffins, but the horses gallop off back to the castle. At the castle, Diana is rescued and Dracula's coffin is thrown onto the frozen moat. Charles ventures onto the ice in an attempt to stake Dracula but the Count springs out his coffin and attacks him. Sandor shoots at the ice and it breaks. Diana quickly rescues Charles and Dracula is left sinking into the freezing water and drowns.
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