Born before 1986?

[ScottUK]

I just received this from a friend of mine. I thought it was interesting enough to post...

BORN BEFORE 1986?

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have survived, because our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint, which was promptly chewed and licked.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans.

When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags and riding in the passenger seat was a treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same.

We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always outside playing.

We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no one actually died from this. We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded. We did not have Playstations or X-Boxes, no video games all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet chatrooms. We had friends - we went outside and found them. We played elastics and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt! We fell out of trees, got cut, and broke bones but there were no lawsuits. We played knock-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us.

We walked to friends' homes.

We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...they actually sided with the law.

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. And you're one of them.

Congratulations!



BORN AFTER 1986?

For those of you who aren't old enough, thought you might like to read about us. This my friends, is surprisingly frightening......and it might put a smile on your face:

The majority of students in universities today were born in 1986....

The Uptown Girl they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel.

They have never heard of Rick Astley, Bananarama, Nena Cherry or Belinda Carlisle.

For them, there has always been only one Germany and one Vietnam. AIDS has existed since they were born. CD's have existed since they were born.

Michael Jackson has always been white.

To them John Travolta has always been round in shape and they can't imagine how this fat guy could be a god of dance.

They believe that Charlie's Angels and Mission Impossible are films from last year. They can never imagine life before computers. They'll never have pretended to be the A-Team, the Dukes of Hazard or the Famous Five.

They can't believe a black and white television ever existed. And they will never understand how we could leave the house without a mobile phone.

:D

[Lloromannic]

come on, you mean never knowing Billy Joel and Bananarama is a bad thing?

[xvikingx]

Thanks now I feel old. Funny to think these kids never had a TV with rabbit ears and dials. I remember when only rich people had more than one phone line in the house.


We played knock-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us.

I figured you Brits would come up with a better name. It's Ding-Dong-Ditch on this side of the pond.

[Omnis]

Umm... try born after 1996, not 1986. I'm a 1989er and I know what it was like without CD's or mobile phones and pretty much everything on your list there.

[ScottUK]

Considering CDs were invented half a decade before you were even conceived, may I offer my condolences?

[Alison2805]

Hey Scott, that was great!! When I was a kid (born in 1980) I could happily disappear for the whole day and noone thought nothing of it. I still have a TV with rabbit ears and a dial, because it has a better picture than the one I bought last year.

Im very happy about how I grew up - no mobile phones, no CDs, 2 TV stations (my old country town now has 3, woohoo!), NO JUNK FOOD of any description, ahhh... at the time I winged about how boring I thought it was, now I realise just how lucky I was.

I have just bought tickets to see Billy Joel later this year!

[MikeW]

Well considering I was born in the late 50's I remember all that stuff and more....lol. Every decade has it's pluses and minuses.

[verissimus]

This makes me feel... good?

[Maro]

I figured you Brits would come up with a better name. It's Ding-Dong-Ditch on this side of the pond.

It was called "Knock down Ginger" where I was from - a reference to knocking down the cat in your haste to evade pursuit!

[Cool Cat]

We called it "Knock and Bolt" and it was harmless fun for us kids. Until we got caught by some young guys who lived in one house and payed the price. It was still fun though.

I didn't miss TV or video games and I always made the record player jump when listening to music. I spent most of my time on motor bikes in the bush with my air gun. Too many things to do to stay inside and watch the tube.

Now I live in Tokyo which has no bush and has TVs on the side of many buildings. I now have a bath that tells me it's ready and a heated toilet seat during winter. Do we really need all this junk????

[xvikingx]

Do we really need all this junk????

No, but I do enjoy those heated toilet seats in January. What puzzles me is that we have talking baths and heated toilets, but the Japanese have failed to grasp simple luxuries like insulation and double-pane windows.
You have to climb into the mountains (more like moles-hills really) just to experience some nature here. Such is life in the Japanese urban sprawl.

[Anime12478]

Being 21 and all (born in '84), I don't remember much of the 80s and stuff, but reading some of the descriptions really do ring true with my childhood.

I think I still might have it, but I had one of those audio record books. Yes, you heard it, audio record. It wasn't a cassette, wasn't a CD, but it was a record. If I remember correctly, it was a 45 or the smaller variety.

I also do remember telling my parents that I was going outside and I would be gone all day as long as I stayed relatively close to home (within the neighborhood) and came home before dark. As far as what I was doing, it was a lot of random games we make up and some video games. We would even stop playing games to go outside and play.

As I now look back in sadness as to how nice life for me was back then, I also realize that times have most definately changed. Living in fear of child predators and stuff have restricted outside access for kids in most areas. Also, the advent of the internet, online gaming and many more channels (I hear that there are 4 times the amount of channels now in the US than there was in 1998 or something), it's easier to interact with the computer screen than it is to round up a group of friends and play outside. Also, there is the fear of violence and childhood predators. I don't know if it's the fact that they are more apparent in the news or if the cases have increased, but it has instilled some sort of fear among some parents to become overprotective and only allow them to play in the front yard as opposed to the neighborhood.

When I have children, I wish I could raise my kids the same way I was, but then I do need to adjust with the times. There are a lot more electronic sources so that increases the amount of things to do than run outside and climb the tallest tree in the neighborhood and stuff. But I do really hope that I can instill that there is more to life than the internet and video games and it's just more beneficial to get out there and play. But I would also hope that he/she would take up kendo as well :). But, I don't have any kids, nor do I know much about what it's like to take care of one so I really can't say too much until I get one myself.

Before I go, one thing I did notice in my neighborhood is how few children there are playing outside. In fact, some kids have only started playing outside in the past two years or so. Now some are riding their bikes and some minor skateboarding but it isn't anything resembling my early days. But when I first moved to this neighborhood, it was pretty much dead all day every day. It's nice to see the change though as I like a little life in the neighborhood and shows me some sort of effort to curtail America's childhood obesity epidemic.

[Nokori 3byo]

It's weird to think of myself as having been alive in '77, when punk broke. Being only 4 years old, I had no idea such a event could be taking place. I was living the suburban life, being driven to the mall, listening to Debbie Boone on the tiny, squawky speakers in my dad's monkey shit-brown Volvo. I sure enjoyed my (allready antiquated) 8-track of "Yellow Submarine", though. And those Abba records I would bust out on slow Sunday afternoons because noone in my family liked Mott the Hoople.
These days, I find any cultural artifact from the early 80s fascinating, and it's become one of my favourite eras for music: The Fire Engines, Vic Goddard and the Subway Sect, The Fall, Elvis Costello, The Scientists, etc. etc. Though, again, these were artists I was never aware of back in the day. Shunning Costello as a ponce with thick glasses, I was content to beg my mom for money to buy the latest Men at Work tape (or, eek!, Spandau Ballet).

And contrary to what the author of the article says, I never went out to play. I spent all my free time inside watching syndicated episodes of Sccoby Doo and Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman in its vastly inferior anglicized form) and playing Burger Time on the Intellivision. That must be why I never got got at sports and why, presently, I'm engaged in the painful project of undoing 32 years of physical neglect.

[tgsfg]

Hey Scott, that was great!! When I was a kid (born in 1980) I could happily disappear for the whole day and noone thought nothing of it. I still have a TV with rabbit ears and a dial, because it has a better picture than the one I bought last year.

Im very happy about how I grew up - no mobile phones, no CDs, 2 TV stations (my old country town now has 3, woohoo!), NO JUNK FOOD of any description, ahhh... at the time I winged about how boring I thought it was, now I realise just how lucky I was.

I have just bought tickets to see Billy Joel later this year!

Yes, you are indeed lucky to have grown up without computers and what not. I'm pretty much addicted to the "couch potato" ways of watching TV and going on the computer. There are several things today that is getting me to do more and more physical activities, but I would have loved to have grown up kicking balls and running around instead of being addicted to computer. *sigh*... I REALLY need to get out and excercise more often.

[Kenzan]

Any of you old timers remember these?

http://magliery.com/Graphics/wups/

[Kenzan]

Or these?

http://www.victoryseeds.com/candystore/confectioners/news/news_marathon_bar.htm

Or these?

http://www.micro-outpost.com/

http://www.feelingretro.com/view_toy.cfm?id=24

Best of all:

http://www.landofthelost.com/pictures.htm

Sleestaks RUEL!!

http://www.sleestaks.com/

[xvikingx]

Any of you old timers remember these?

Oh good God yes. They were stuck on everything. I remember how they used to get all cruddy from people touching them, and the toes used to curl up.

*EDIT Sleestacks use to scare the piss out of me.

[rottunpunk]

hey scott. that was ace, thanks. i had like 10 spokeydokeys on my bike (had to share with my brother and sister)
and our first colour telly was covered in wood vaneery stuff
and i remember getting our first video player-yes we were poor
but we called knock on the door and runaway, bobby knocking
:p

[Andoru]

Some of the best cartoons were made and shown in the 80s....(Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats! HO!!!!!!!!!)

[LarsCW]

Road Runner and Willey E Coyote

not to forget Bugs Bunny with his stuttering friend who's name I've forgotten due to sleep deprivation.

Sylvester and Tweety.

Now we got all the same kinda crap cartoons

[emitbrownne]

The other week I had to go to an electrical retailler (*cough* Comet *cough*) and I asked to buy a tape cassette for one of our aniquated voice recorders.

The sales chappy... a youth of about 18 or 19 years looked blankly at the small plastic cartidge in my hand when I asked for a cassette similar to the one I was holding.

He asked what it was and was it a new way of media recording, Y'know like a new mp3 player.

With shocked disgust I asked to see the manager (thinking he would be able to help me)

A Child not much older than one I was talking to earlier came out and said I had to go to one of the main branches as " we dont do old stuff anymore" and then tried to sell me a 30gb video ipod.

I feel old

[crabbi]

Being of a 1957 vintage (a very fine year apparently)... I can remember when all trolls looked like this: http://www.toyfanatic.com/images/trolls/wishnickred.jpg

I recently acquired some DVDs of my favourite programme in the late 50s... Torchy The Battery Boy.

Watch with Mother... waiting for the afternoon programmes to start and watching that interminable interlude... waiting ... waiting... for Andy Pandy, Bill and Ben or the Woodetops...

I also remember listening to 45s of my favourite pop bands... The Dave Clark Five; Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch; Freddie and the Dreamers; Adam Faith; names to conjure with...

In the 60s... Watching Pan's People dance on Top of the Pops (which one was your favourite...?). Blue Peter, Magpie, How?... The Man from Uncle... who did you want to be ...? Ilya Kuryakin or Napoleon Solo (or ... God forbid... Mr. Waverly...!). Supercar, Stingray, Thunderbirds...

The 70s... the magic of Georgie Best... the emergence of Punk... such great bands as London, Generation X, The Jam, The Clash and of course The Pistols... aaah the triumphal day when Sid Viscious (or was it Jonny Rotten) first said the 'F' word on british TV. Space 1999, UFO... that's how the future was going to be... Girls in Silver mini skirts and Purple Wigs on moonbase... Network 7, The Tube...

Funnily enough I find I can't remember very much after the start of the 1980s... when I started work full time... life's little distractions... surviving... marriage... supporting kids... battling life's vicissitudes...

Thanks Scott... you've made an old man very happy for a few minutes...!!!

[Lounge]

Whilst having a sort out the other week I discovered that all of my favorite old albums and compilations were stored away in my room... all on 'audio cassette'!!! I thought awesome I'll have a listen to some of the crap I used to like, I also found that there was a lot of stuff I'd actually like to listen to again :D I scoured the house top to bottom... in this modern age I couldn't a single tape player!!! :eek: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?!?! I will now have to go out this weekend to try and find either an audio cassette walkman or a crappy old tape player to listen to my classics from a tinny little speaker!!! :(

[Nokori 3byo]

aaah the triumphal day when Sid Viscious (or was it Jonny Rotten) first said the 'F' word on british TV.

Nope, it was Pistols guitarist Steve Jones who uttered the now immortal "You dirty F#&*ing bastard," addressing Bill Grundy (as chronicled in the Dan Treacy-penned TV Personalites single, "Where's Bill Grundy Now?").

[Mokujin77]

Ahh, nostalgia! :D

Being a child of '77, I remember wood veneer tv's being considered stylish, George Micheal was a fashion icon for many straight men (as was cheesy, long-haired model Fabio), the Rubiks Cube was diversifying into such toybox greats as Rubiks Snake and Rubiks Magic and the ZX Spectrum was the king of home computing.

Happy days.

[ScottUK]

Hehe, I was the Computer King of all my friends as I had a Commodore VIC-20 with 3K of RAM onboard that was expandable to 16K with a housebrick-sized module I could plug into the back...

Note: that is Kb and not Mb... :eek:

[Lounge]

I remeber the day my mate got the Sectrum 128k!! what a machine... only to be followed by the +3... what??? no tape player????:eek: so whats alll this 'floppy disk none-sense???

I like my computers to go URRRRRRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNN UN UN UN EEEEEERRRRRR AAAAARRRRRRRRAAAARRRR UUUURRRRRRR...
etc...

[rottunpunk]

i feel so young. unless crabbi is really really old

ooh, shell suits. i got a pink purple and white one for my 7 or 8th birfday

and reebok pumpswith the pump up tongue thingy, never had them-and now i cant get any-pooh
i still have a cassette deck if anyone wants it? antique like that is bound to be worth a bit
:p

[neko]

ah, the commodore vic-20. you lucky SOB. i had a TI 99-4A. (i should have held out). it was pretty and shinny (hehe, just noticed it is not too far off from my titanium mac).

remember how you used to connect to a modem? you took the phone itself and plugged it into one of these babies!

http://www.cs.virginia.edu/brochure/images/mus_128.jpg

[xvikingx]

remember how you used to connect to a modem? you took the phone itself and plugged it into one of these babies!

HA! I remember that from War Games.

[Lounge]

Who remembers playing this (http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/shared/sshots/yiearkf.gif) and always getting stuck for ages on Tonfa?

[Super Kodachi]

:D Man i had a legion of those things in my bedroom when i was a kid! Most of them from scout camps

[MikeW]

Sounds like Crabbi and I are about the same vintage... I remember most of the things in the links posted already... although I wasn't in to most of them (I did like some of the stuff on the marathon candy bar link)... btw I think I might still have one of those 'vintage' trolls in a box of 'keepsakes' (lol) in my attic. My older sister used to sew clothes for them. Ahhh the old days.. it's easy for geezers like me to wax philosophic about stuff like b&w tv ( I mean before there was such a thing as color tv).. old tv shows.. toys.. 15 cent a gallon gas.. 5 cent a scoop ice cream.. 10 cent comic books... etc etc. Being old has a way of creeping up on you cause I don't feel as old as I am.

[bullet08]

billy joel's 'glass house' was the first gift i got from a girl when i came to US in 1980. replaced the LP with cd last year.

pete

[crabbi]

i feel so young. unless crabbi is really really old
:p
Rottunpunk... the sad truth is that crabbi is really, really old... and feeling older by the minute...!

[crabbi]

Hehe, I was the Computer King of all my friends as I had a Commodore VIC-20 with 3K of RAM onboard that was expandable to 16K with a housebrick-sized module I could plug into the back...

Note: that is Kb and not Mb... :eek:
When I went to college... we had a computer... it worked on punchcards... now that's what I call a classy machine...

[crabbi]

Sounds like Crabbi and I are about the same vintage... I remember most of the things in the links posted already... although I wasn't in to most of them (I did like some of the stuff on the marathon candy bar link)... btw I think I might still have one of those 'vintage' trolls in a box of 'keepsakes' (lol) in my attic. My older sister used to sew clothes for them. Ahhh the old days.. it's easy for geezers like me to wax philosophic about stuff like b&w tv ( I mean before there was such a thing as color tv).. old tv shows.. toys.. 15 cent a gallon gas.. 5 cent a scoop ice cream.. 10 cent comic books... etc etc. Being old has a way of creeping up on you cause I don't feel as old as I am. Hi MikeW... you're not old... if your profiles up to date I have two years on you... (I am 49 next Thursday...).

Hang onto that troll my friend... some young fool will pay a fortune for it on eBay... {bwahahahahahaha! Oldies win again...!!!}

PS... what is a 'whippersnapper' anyway?

[DarQik]

Any of you old timers remember these?Yep, most of the items you list are familiar. The other day my son ran downstairs with a cassette with about 8" of tape peeled out. He was off to throw it away because it was broken. I thought it was silly that he didn't know how to wind it back onto the spool. It was such a common thing. Then I realized, I probably didn't have a working player in the house, nor would they be easy to find anymore. I guess my ancient LP's are museum pieces.

I had a VIC-20 too, but I complained and pointed out the failures of it, and was granted an upgrade to a C-64 w/tape drive. We spent a year or two a C-64 hackers (we made small internal mods), before upgrading. I moved to the Franklin 1200 w/Z-80 card (Apple 2 competitor), while my friends moved to C-128 and Amigas. We studied 6502 ML programming using the Byte magazine book series.

The biggest threat to the kids playing outside are stupid adults. People who run stop signs, ignore traffic laws and speed through subdivisions. We let our kids walk to school (in a group), and ride bikes around the neighborhood. We've also discussed and observed the dangers--we saw a guy get run down on the sidewalk (and roll over the car hood and land on the pavement) as a driver was in too much of a hurry after getting gas to bother to look before racing out. Our kids have been nearly run down by someone flying out of their driveway. That and given the attitude these people throw. It really makes you not want to go outside.

Ah well... Once upon a time.. I remember the original Atari system, playing the Intellivision, and then the Atari 2600 when it came out. I still have my original yellow Sony sports walkman (http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:i6ODQd38ZUqzVM:http://i21.ebayimg.com/01/i/06/a5/7a/56_2.JPG) casette w/AM/FM in a box somewhere (I wonder if it works). Those were the days, riding bikes half a mile to get to the pool, the giant steel play structures with ladders and slides more than 20 feet high, and firing off model rockets in Dearborn without being suspected as terrorists. (Well, there was the time one guy got a paintball gun for his birthday, the batty neighbor called the cops, and they surrounded the house during the b-day party. Then they demanded on the loudspeaker that they throw the guns out and come out of the house, but we were 16-17 yrs old, tall, TMNT comic collecting, pale faced geeks--clearly much to be feared.) Going to arcades to play games before the zoning laws made them illegal. Cars big enough to actually put your bike in the trunk. And who could forget the high schoolers throwing firecrackers out the car windows at you at intersections or when passing you on your bike. yeah.. good times...

[Lounge]

[/COLOR][/SIZE][/I]PS... what is a 'whippersnapper' anyway?

whipper snapper (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=whipper+snapper)

Read meaning 1. until you reach the first full stop. after that is childish tat made up by some imature moron. It's what old people used to call young people, see this quote from www.word-detective.com:

"Whippersnapper" is a somewhat archaic term, rarely heard today outside of movies, and then usually from the mouth of a character portrayed as chronologically-challenged and hopelessly old-fashioned to boot. A "whippersnapper" is an impertinent young person, usually a young man, whose lack of proper respect for the older generation is matched only by his laziness and lack of motivation to better himself.

One might imagine that the term derives from the understandable temptation among more productive citizens to "snap a whip" at such sullen layabouts, but the whips in question actually belonged to the whippersnappers themselves. Such ne'er-do-wells were originally known as "whip snappers" in the 17th century, after their habit of standing around on street corners all day, idly snapping whips to pass the time. The term was been based on the already-existing phrase, "snipper-snapper," also meaning a worthless young man, but in any case, "whip snapper" became "whippersnapper" fairly rapidly.

Though "whippersnapper" originally referred to a young man with no visible ambition, the term has changed somewhat over the years, and today is more likely to be applied to a youngster with an excess of both ambition and impertinence. :D

[KarateMD]

...............

[Neil Gendzwill]

I still use the old tech. Just last week I was cooking while listening to The Pretenders' first album, from 1980 I think, on my turntable purchased in 1984. Still sounds great.

My stereo has just two speakers (thus, "stereo") and is not attached to any video or computer equipment whatsoever. I do have one of them newfangled CD players however.

[Ignatz]

I was listening to Richie Havens last night and had flashbacks. Friend my son's age asked "Who is he?"

Sorry Neil but I have transferred all of my LP's and cassettes to mp3 and have them on my computer which runs through one of those apple airport thingies to my stereo. Thing will run for about three weeks without repeating a song.

Never had any 8 tracks though.

Still have my Mac classic and it still works.

[Mokujin77]

Who remembers playing this (http://www.sincuser.f9.co.uk/shared/sshots/yiearkf.gif) and always getting stuck for ages on Tonfa?

Oh man, I used to love Yie Ar Kung Fu! I beat all the opponents once and was gutted to find there was no special ending (it just started the game back at the first opponent again).

I used to have the ZX Spectrum 128k+2. Now that was class!

[Kenzan]

along that note:
Who could forget this?:

http://www.planetflibble.com/blitz/

http://www.bruceleecentral.com/

[rottunpunk]

Rottunpunk... the sad truth is that crabbi is really, really old... and feeling older by the minute...!
ah 49 isnt too bad. i know people even older...like my grandma :D

i still have vynil (well not from the era-bought secondhand)
but my record player broke and i cant find one as good anywhere-theyve all got two turntables nowadays, and cost tons.
my favorite album is on record and its the first record i bought
i may be young but im still kinda technophobic
:p

[PhilMcLaughlin]

When I went to college... we had a computer... it worked on punchcards... now that's what I call a classy machine...

arggh whjen i were a lad we used an ICL 1901a with 1 kb of core (yes ferrite core) memory via punch tape or a ttl terminal at 13 cps :-)

most of my other foibles i blame on chosing windy miller (camberwick green) as a role model from an early age (that probably wont translate for those in the usa but hell who cares :-)

perhaps a new web site - old farts reniuited ???

cheers

[Paikea]

ah 49 isnt too bad. i know people even older...like my grandma :D
Oh...that's...cold.

PDP-11/70 anyone? How about CDC Cyber 172 or DataGeneral Eclipse M/V 8000?

Does anyone remember the Animals tour? I was there, but I missed it...

[crabbi]

Nope, it was Pistols guitarist Steve Jones who uttered the now immortal "You dirty F#&*ing bastard," addressing Bill Grundy (as chronicled in the Dan Treacy-penned TV Personalites single, "Where's Bill Grundy Now?").

Thanks... I stand corrected... memory isn't what it used to be...file:///D:/DOCUME%7E1/FZY0H6%7E1.EME/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.jpg

[crabbi]

arggh whjen i were a lad we used an ICL 1901a with 1 kb of core (yes ferrite core) memory via punch tape or a ttl terminal at 13 cps :-)

most of my other foibles i blame on chosing windy miller (camberwick green) as a role model from an early age (that probably wont translate for those in the usa but hell who cares :-)

perhaps a new web site - old farts reniuited ???

cheers

Yer takin' me way back there Mister P...! I remember my Computing lecturer waxing lyrical about the 'ruby red glow' from the valves in his computer... Who said there's no romance on technology...!!

Windy Miller was also a great fave of mine... when everything is quiet... not a sound to be heard... and I clear my mind... all I can hear is the sound of his windmill going round and round....!

[crabbi]

Oh...that's...cold.

PDP-11/70 anyone? How about CDC Cyber 172 or DataGeneral Eclipse M/V 8000?

Does anyone remember the Animals tour? I was there, but I missed it...

Aaahh... the PDP11..... aaahh... the Animals....

[crabbi]

ah 49 isnt too bad. i know people even older...like my grandma :D
:p

Aahh... the cruelty of youth.... btw is your grandma single...?

[PhilMcLaughlin]

Yer takin' me way back there Mister P...! I remember my Computing lecturer waxing lyrical about the 'ruby red glow' from the valves in his computer... Who said there's no romance on technology...!!

Windy Miller was also a great fave of mine... when everything is quiet... not a sound to be heard... and I clear my mind... all I can hear is the sound of his windmill going round and round....!

http://trumpton3.homestead.com/

enjoy :-))

[crabbi]

http://trumpton3.homestead.com/

enjoy :-))
That was a nice bit of nostalgia...!

I was trying to get hold of the Camberwick Green Trilogy on DVD a while back... they cost an absolute fortune...! Up to £87 according to the site you linked to...!

I suppose it's the royalty payments to Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Grub that bump the price up...!

[Andoru]

At the rate this thread is going perhaps we should rename it to "Born Before 1960?". :D

[Ignatz]

Hell, I only made 1950 by 4 days. Since my memory is totally shot, every day is an adventure.:confused:

[rottunpunk]

Aahh... the cruelty of youth.... btw is your grandma single...?
hehe sorry couldnt miss that one.
not shes not single, though im sure my stepgrandad wont mind if you steal her away. put it this way, i wouldnt want to cross her. :scared:

1950s eh? brought us rock n roll, which turned into rockabilly, which turned into psychobilly-great era :D
:p

[crabbi]

1950s eh? brought us rock n roll, which turned into rockabilly, which turned into psychobilly-great era :D
:p
There were a couple of great bands in the 70s that you would probably like... unfortunately their songs are quite difficult to come by...

One is 'Yip Yip Coyote' and the other is 'Helen and the Horns'. Both were British bands but both had a sort of tongue in cheek wild west theme...

[rottunpunk]

funky. never heard of em.
ill get my brother onto limewire and see if he can download any
cheers crabbi
:p

[bobdonny]

any gamerz here?

Anyone remember GOLDENAXE

[Andoru]

Ghosts 'N Goblins ;)

[xvikingx]

Ghosts 'N Goblins ;)

I love that game. Terrible at it but I love it.
You ever play Joust?

[Kenzan]

I love that game. Terrible at it but I love it.
You ever play Joust?

Of course!
The black knights were evil sobs.
My fav games growing up:

Gorf
Dig Dug
Millepede
Mario Bros (Not super, the OG!)
Donkey Kong jr. and Donkey Kong 3.
Tron and Disks of Tron.
Dragon's Lair and Space Ace
Mach 5
Gladiator (esp. the hack on the Amazon chick level where you could peel her clothes off!) hehehe.
Tempest
Food Fight
Black Widow
Battlezone
Mr. Do
Timepilot
1941/42
Choplifter
Scramble
Vangaurd
Venture
Wow..the list goes on.....!

[DarQik]

You ever play Joust?But of course. And I still remember the day I beat Operation Wolf on 1 quarter. (Never mind how many quarters were spent on it in the year previous.)

[Kenzan]

But of course. And I still remember the day I beat Operation Wolf on 1 quarter. (Never mind how many quarters were spent on it in the year previous.)


From one nerd to another:
You know you're a nerd when you can beat operation wolf (or any other game for that matter, on one quarter)
:D

'Course, back then, and in certain circles, this could translate into bragging rights and possible babe-age attraction.

"That's right babe, see those initials? Yup...(sniff) that's me...I'm LED. And I'm so good, that I made the second high score my second name, ZEP.
I'm so wicked studly mega-bitchin!!!! wanna go to the roller rink later?"
:D :D

[Neil Gendzwill]

Those are all well after my childhood. My favourite video games growing up were... well there was pinball. By late high school I had a friend with an Atari you could play Pong on. My dad had an Apple II that had a D&D style game in 2D, forget the name. In college we played Adventure on the mainframe. Space Invaders came out in 1st year or so, but as I recall the coolest game was a couple of years later when Defender was released. Galaga was an improvement on Space Invaders that I really liked. I don't think Tempest came out until I graduated, but I really liked that one.

And yeah, I learned to program in Fortran with punch cards.

[Webalistic]

I was into MA back then already! Yie Ar Kung Fu on the Commodore 64! yeah baby!:smoker::D

[Ignatz]

And yeah, I learned to program in Fortran with punch cards.
We painted it on the walls of our cave.

[crabbi]

Space Invaders came out in 1st year or so, but as I recall the coolest game was a couple of years later when Defender was released. Galaga was an improvement on Space Invaders that I really liked. I don't think Tempest came out until I graduated, but I really liked that one.

And yeah, I learned to program in Fortran with punch cards.
When I started college they had a 'breakout' game in the Student Bar... then as time passed they got the Space Invaders and latterly a game called Galaxian... this may be the game that you refer to as Galaga... it was like Invaders but groups of UFOs would break off from the UFO fleet and come screeching down at an angle... spent hours on that sucker...!

[Paikea]

And yeah, I learned to program in Fortran with punch cards.Look around - we run the world now.

Bwahahaha!

[Paikea]

Aaahh... the PDP11..... aaahh... the Animals....No, silly old man. Pink Floyd...the floating pig, cops busting heads in Anaheim - those were the days.

[Neil Gendzwill]

When I started college they had a 'breakout' game in the Student Bar... then as time passed they got the Space Invaders and latterly a game called Galaxian... this may be the game that you refer to as Galaga... it was like Invaders but groups of UFOs would break off from the UFO fleet and come screeching down at an angle... spent hours on that sucker...!
I remember Galaxian, I think Galaga was a further refinement.

Space Invaders was hugely popular. In fact, that Pretenders album I was listening to on vinyl has an instrumental track called "Space Invaders" that ends with the game sound effects.

Another early one that was popular was "Asteroids", but I found it kind of boring.

[Ignatz]

No, silly old man. Pink Floyd...the floating pig, cops busting heads in Anaheim - those were the days.
Next year will be the 40th anniversary of Woodstock.

[Paikea]

Next year will be the 40th anniversary of Woodstock.Are you going back (again)? I was a tad too young a lad for that one. My parents never owned a VW van.

[Ignatz]

Are you going back (again)? I was a tad too young a lad for that one. My parents never owned a VW van.
I had a fist full of complementary tickets and VIP tickets for the second one, thanks to reminding the promoter that he never paid a client of mine from the first one.
It was raining again so we just hung out in a hotel bar.
You really can't go home again.

[crabbi]

I remember Galaxian, I think Galaga was a further refinement.

Space Invaders was hugely popular. In fact, that Pretenders album I was listening to on vinyl has an instrumental track called "Space Invaders" that ends with the game sound effects.

Another early one that was popular was "Asteroids", but I found it kind of boring.
...hmmm I used to quite like Asteroids although I could never quite get the hang of the 'hyperspace' button...

[crabbi]

No, silly old man. Pink Floyd...the floating pig, cops busting heads in Anaheim - those were the days. Oops... wrong animal...!

I often go into London by train and go past the Battersea Power Station that features on the cover of 'Animals'... Didn't the band 'The Animals' ever make it across the great divide?

I used to teach English to foreign folk and irrespective of their level of English or theri age, they would always point at Battersea Power Station and say "Pink Floyd..."...

[Paikea]

Oops... wrong animal...!

I often go into London by train and go past the Battersea Power Station that features on the cover of 'Animals'... Didn't the band 'The Animals' ever make it across the great divide?

I used to teach English to foreign folk and irrespective of their level of English or theri age, they would always point at Battersea Power Station and say "Pink Floyd..."...I would point and say "What have you done with the pig?"

Yes, The Animals made it over here, "House of the Rising Sun" is still heard on the radio from time to time. As a bit of trivia, I used to work with Paul Atkinson (guitarist formerly of the Zombies). Wikipedia just told me he had died in 2004...so sad. Really decent guy for a recording industry type.

[Ignatz]

Ah yes, Eric Burdon and the animals. "Please don't let me be misunderstood" then Eric Burdon and War.
And now, Eric Burdon and the Animals again. Still playing well into their 60's.

[Andoru]

Of course!
The black knights were evil sobs.
My fav games growing up:

Gorf
Dig Dug
Millepede
Mario Bros (Not super, the OG!)
Donkey Kong jr. and Donkey Kong 3.
Tron and Disks of Tron.
Dragon's Lair and Space Ace
Mach 5
Gladiator (esp. the hack on the Amazon chick level where you could peel her clothes off!) hehehe.
Tempest
Food Fight
Black Widow
Battlezone
Mr. Do
Timepilot
1941/42
Choplifter
Scramble
Vangaurd
Venture
Wow..the list goes on.....!

Haha yup I've played Joust! And 1941/2 - the games which consumed alot of my pocket money!

[xvikingx]

But of course. And I still remember the day I beat Operation Wolf on 1 quarter. (Never mind how many quarters were spent on it in the year previous.)

That is an achievement! I was lucky if I only had to use quarter on the level with the boats.
That and the OG Double Dragon arcade game were the best.

[xvikingx]

Of course!
The black knights were evil sobs.
My fav games growing up:

Gorf
Dig Dug
Millepede.....

Ah sweet Millepede. I loved that game. I remeber I used to always pinch my skin on that damn roller-ball.

You left out Arkanoid and Paperboy though!

[Kenzan]

That and the OG Double Dragon arcade game were the best.

Can you say:
"Beat the whole game on one quarter using the flawed game design of the nefarious and unbitquitous elbow smash?"
LOL
:D

[xvikingx]

Can you say:
"Beat the whole game on one quarter using the flawed game design of the nefarious and unbitquitous elbow smash?"
LOL
:D

You elbowed who in the what now?

[Kenzan]

You elbowed who in the what now?

The original Double dragon had a major design flaw.
You could go through the whole game just using one move, the elbow smash.

Also good games:
Shinobi
Rolling Thunder
Rush 'n Attack
Rygar
Karate Champ
Kung Fu

[xvikingx]

The original Double dragon had a major design flaw.
You could go through the whole game just using one move, the elbow smash.
I didn't know that. I could have saved huge chunk of my leaf ranking money.

Rolling Thunder was a good game.

What about Robotron? Anyone play that?

[Kenzan]

I didn't know that. I could have saved huge chunk of my leaf ranking money.

Rolling Thunder was a good game.

What about Robotron? Anyone play that?

Got a few hundred bucks to blow?


http://tinyurl.com/eexrc

http://tinyurl.com/f6zbh

Joy!:ko:

[xvikingx]

Got a few hundred bucks to blow?


http://tinyurl.com/eexrc

http://tinyurl.com/f6zbh

Joy!:ko:

If I lived in the U.S. I would buy that right now.

[crabbi]

It would appear that, like everything else, nostalgia ain't what it used to be...!

[xvikingx]

It would appear that, like everything else, nostalgia ain't what it used to be...!

Sorry about that old timer. How about you tell us about the first time you saw a horseless carriage?:D

I am in for it now.

[crabbi]

Sorry about that old timer. How about you tell us about the first time you saw a horseless carriage?:D

I am in for it now.
Funnily enough xvikingx... I can remember, as a child, riding on the driver seat of many horse-drawn carts... in those days (late 50s and early 60s) the milk and coal were delivered by horse and cart and there used to be a 'Rag and Bone' man who came to collect old clothes etc...

We also always used to buy onions from the French Onion-Sellers who used to come over the channel and ride bikes piled high with onions, selling door to door... (check out the photo on this site http://blog.whatfettle.com/archives/cat_vive_la_difference.html )

Memories...

[xvikingx]

Funnily enough xvikingx... I can remember, as a child, riding on the driver seat of many horse-drawn carts... in those days (late 50s and early 60s) the milk and coal were delivered by horse and cart and there used to be a 'Rag and Bone' man who came to collect old clothes etc......

Interesting. Did this have anything to do with damage from the war?

[crabbi]

Interesting. Did this have anything to do with damage from the war? I will assume that was a serious comment... no ... they just felt that it was still more efficient in those days to use a horse and cart for those jobs that went from house to house stop, start etc... all day long. People had been used to fuel rationing during the war and thought of car use as something of a luxury...

Perhaps they should be re-introduced in these days of environmental awareness.

Food rationing (that had been in place throughout the Second World War in the UK) was only phased out in 1953... three years before I was born...

PS.... ooooh look... Post 999 !!!

[xvikingx]

I will assume that was a serious comment...

Thanks. It was.

[CAKC_George]

Horseless cariage? our (country) primary school had the horse paddock beside the playground for the "going to school" transport for the kids.

our music collection was mainly 78's ...

We used to play "tracking" in the holidays where we'd roam for probably 4 or 5 miles for one game, and play about 4-5 of those games a day. The milkbox was 2 miles away. It was 5 miles to school and we didn't get driven there.

but then everyone says we're a bit behind the times down here at the bottom of the world!

I can remember one holidays where we were stopped in the middle of nowhere by the police and the van got searched by the police - unheard of. When we asked what was going on we were told there ahd been a murder in the North Island. It was the first murder for many many years. Back then murders were like 5 or 10 years apart - now we are all modernised & civilised so it's almost every day now.

ahhh, the good old days (and here's where everyone bursts into a chorus of "712 of us in a paper bag in the middle of the road. Every day we had to get up half an hour before we went to bed, lick road clean wit toungue...." etc).

[Kenzan]

Came across (don't ask how..link surfing)

http://www.awn.com/heaven_and_hell/DG/DG1.htm

This was a show sponsored by the Lutheran Chruch that ran on Sunday mornings, and if you were a kid growing up in the 70's, you knew that there was crap-else on at 5:30 Sunday mornings, and although it's got some feel good-whitebread-all-is-great-in-the-caucasian-kingdom-of-God-leave-it-to-beaver-utopian-familyland sort of vibe, so did most of television at that time... so it was either THIS, or watching Mr. Preacher man on every channel telling you all the wonders of firey torment that awaited you in the afterlife if you did not send a love gift to his ministry right away. (Good stuff for 6 year old to be watching by himself BTW..No..No..I'm not screwed up at all...)

My fav was when Davy was trapped in a cave and thought he was going to die, and he prayed to Jebus , and he was *saved*, just in time by his Dad. I always got confused with this show and "Gumby". But of 'course as we know, Gumby is only made of clay and doesn't have a soul, and therefore is nothing but the work of Satan....:D
LOL

Maude Flanders' speaking about her son Todd's TV habits: "Well, he used to watch Davey & Goliath, but he thought the idea of a talking dog was blasphemous..."

[crabbi]

Horseless cariage? our (country) primary school had the horse paddock beside the playground for the "going to school" transport for the kids.

our music collection was mainly 78's ...

We used to play "tracking" in the holidays where we'd roam for probably 4 or 5 miles for one game, and play about 4-5 of those games a day. The milkbox was 2 miles away. It was 5 miles to school and we didn't get driven there.

but then everyone says we're a bit behind the times down here at the bottom of the world!

I can remember one holidays where we were stopped in the middle of nowhere by the police and the van got searched by the police - unheard of. When we asked what was going on we were told there ahd been a murder in the North Island. It was the first murder for many many years. Back then murders were like 5 or 10 years apart - now we are all modernised & civilised so it's almost every day now.

ahhh, the good old days (and here's where everyone bursts into a chorus of "712 of us in a paper bag in the middle of the road. Every day we had to get up half an hour before we went to bed, lick road clean wit toungue...." etc).
Nice reminiscences there George... made me feel young for a minute...!