Thirty One years of Numskulls

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The Beano remains something of a childhood focus that has run throughout myself being the only comic continiously in production still we are marking an anniversary  this week.

Starting on 16th October 1993, a new comic strip was added to the Beano as it went A4 sized from it's old smaller exercise book sized semi colour self as the connection between iconic series like Dennis moved into multimedia.

The series was called Numskulls after the little people that live in your head and the adventures they had through the individual children they live in and has proved to be quite enduring even in an era of new series and added characters as in the Bash Street Kids.

Catching up in '87

Well it  is Friday and we're slowly recovering here after playing catch up for most of this week catching up with things that had to be put rather on hold last week as I wasn't really up to doing much at all to be honest.

Most of the things around the Now Yearbook series are on the other blog for a very good reason but as explained there because of the series of cds I bought back then really I had little reason for getting most of the late 80's ones.

The late eighties were interseting for me as I went from post to post with gaps when systems supposed to help just tied me in knots as I watched Network 7, Blue Peter, followed the 1987 General Election, Tomorrow's World and Brookside.

Tastes rather like me hadn't really changed from the early 80's and even beyond.

Musically while the scene was evolving with more attention being played to club related styles and associated artists much of what I had loved for a long time was still on the charts as difficult as it was to begin to start a cd collection while still buying new records and oddly enough tapes that year although the big back catalogue news was the Beatles albums coming out on cd.

The compilations series Now and Hits were out on cd in 1987 but their first two releases, Now 9 and Hits 6 only came out on single cds although the record and tape versions were doubles and in a way while much of the main Now Yearbook wasn't needed I felt this extra bit did offer some of the missing material.

By 1988 both series were committed to double cd issues and it wasn't until 1991 that I said "Goodbye" to them just buying albums by artists I loved.

Day off

 

While normally I'd be thinking back to ones school days, watching the procession past the house along the very route you walked all those years ago, today's a bit different.

Sat here I'm thinking more of the days I didn't get there which might of been things like the many hospital appointments having my disabilities brought for examinations and the like, miagraines of which I had a good many and the usual childhood viruses.

Colds were not uncommon and sometimes it would be the phone call from school, as I got older checking someone would be at home and making my own way or typically it would develop overnight and so Mum would ring in your absence.

This morning I just like I was being kept home sneezing away, on the cough mixture and limsips.

Moving on

 

As you may of guessed or perhaps might of directly experienced it's a very wet day rather like the weekend gone minus the storms so I'm stuck here, eating a banana.

One thing over the time as we get towards Christmas and with it the anniversary of period Mum became very unwell is in the literal sense, picking up all the pieces because unlike the heavy magazine and tv push on minimalism, having little more than the clothes you usually wear, just the furniture and fittings you need Mum was the more the opposite.

She had wardrobes full and beyond say her books which were quite considerable set out on shelves, she was heavily into cutting articles out of magazines and newspapers, even saving whole pull sections and part works on themes that interested her.

Some had been moved out of her room by Dad but left very much as is so yesterday I worked through some and removed a chunk that were not really connected with her while keeping such as features on aircraft she'd help build, her interest in football such that of her last programs for matches she attended and moved books that were just left strewn downstairs into the vacated spots to both tidy things up and in a obvious way move things on rather than leaving the placing looking more like a well preserved shrine

Personally I feel that's really rather more what she'd of wanted, life going on and the life of house reflecting that as much as you hold on to some effects as much as the memories.

Computer use, engagement and manners

Certain parts of the internet are going into overdrive regarding a certain beatles box set release that I'm undecided if we'll review here or elsewhere, that's not really what we'll be dealing with as such this topsy turvey weatherwise week.

Yes there is more to life than them but really it was way internet behaviour shows itself of which discussion about that and another topic that's really more the topic.

One being the topic of different times - some things are seen as normal the past that may not be the lack of connectedness in the world such as popular culture took longer to travel around the time so film titles, record releases and the like varied for good local reasons in much the same way our schools and how they dealt with us has changed with some things thank goodness  are gone and others  now present causing modern concerns.

Younger members posting lacked - and failed to look into - why that all happened even though there's a whole industry writing books plus a good few websites that cover those points.

They just had a view everything is as it is now in a way that, for instance when I was in school studying say history or discussing topics we were always made aware of differences in what was seen as accepted at the time and the issues people were grappling with.

Like the Reformation was as much about religion as diplomacy and politics with plotting and counter plotting that individuals might find themselves in the middle of.

The other was what I'd call the drive by post where a person posts a question and is heard of no more with no thanks or further questions to gain clarification leading to a resolution of he question.

It's left in mid air with those who replied feeling used or toyed with where we were expected to engage having asked the question and thank them for their contributions.

That was really the way these posts left me thinking and very much why I'm typing this here.

Then and Now

 

Now there were and area many ways boys presented that whole unfastened not tucked in shirt look is one I could never seen been accepted from the 1980's and before simple because shirts were seen as formal attire and those had to be fastened even if some casual sorts would leave the collar unfastened and not entertain ties.

While in the 1980's I accepted trainers and indeed did wear them the idea of wearing them short ankle socks with tailored short trousers again wasn't something we did, you'd wear them with games shorts or tracksuit bottoms.

As to the shorts length, well they're so long and one really does wonder just why as the 1990's moved into the 2000's they became almost knee length rather like in Football one minute were were still in fairly short shorts and then - Wham! - they came so long.

I remember bursting out loud laughing when I first saw them and yet by the end of that season, near enough every Premiership time had adopted them.

While it is fashionable to sneer at Enid Blyton and many more classic authors in favour of those who slavishly follow every P.C. cause and push issue after issue in what is supposed to be a jolly fun read which is why we always used to encourage reading, suprisingly these authors we read are still popular with children.

A gripping yarn is really all that matters.

Out!

The week before school returned tended to be an option for holidays as short of of getting a B&B in Blackpool around Autumn Half Term where with the lights being up and running there season was longer than pretty much anybodys that was as good as it got if we couldn't of get something fixed a good couple of months in advance.

Across the decades though spending a good day or so in Llandudno in September is very much a ritual that has its start point in those day and so by the time you see this, then I should be off walking along the prom, down the pier jetting out into the sea and visiting shops.

There won't however be any record shopping unless there is a collectors fair on as the town lost its independent store and then in recent years the HMV branch due to rent issues between landlord and group which is a pity as I used to enjoy that a lot.

Stuffed toys, coconut ice, ice cream and fish and chips are likely to be on the agenda.