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Oh damn ... I have always LOVED this.... ALWAYS!! There are a few more nice one we can add to the list ... LOL!! Oh the shit I used to get up to as a kid ... damn ... if Joshie got up to even a 5th of the stuff I did -- I;d never survive it!! Thanks for the giggle. I sorely needed it!

You know, we used to play in the middle of the street. The only rule we had was if the siren for the VFD sounded then Get the Hell out of the Road! Now kids have to go to parks to play (those where for the little kids that weren't in school yet).

Love this piece!!

It just makes me feel old....

Bwahahahaha!! So true!!! Those were great!

I loved this. I remember life before Pong even and I still have many of the tapes I recorded off the radio, and some I recorded of T.V. show, too. I think, if I looked hard enough, I could still find a couple of partial episodes of BotP on tapes I recorded other things on later, when I ran out of blank ones. Remember merry-go-rounds and metal slides that were more than three or four feet tall, and jungle-gyms on gravel or blacktop playgrounds. And don't forget riding in the back of a pick-up truck and shouting to be heard over the rush of the wind. I kind of miss those days, sometimes.

Originally posted by Garnet Remember merry-go-rounds and metal slides that were more than three or four feet tall, and jungle-gyms on gravel or blacktop playgrounds. And don't forget riding in the back of a pick-up truck and shouting to be heard over the rush of the wind. I kind of miss those days, sometimes.

Riding in the back of a pick up was the best part of summer! And gee, looks around, we all survived it! I wonder if we are putting too much effort into protecting ourselves from ourselves and not enough on the real dangers.

This is hysterical! I read it my son and I got a lot of rolled eyes and hanging open mouth.

This is great. Thank you for posting. As a teacher we talk about these differences all the time in the staffroom, adding in many other ones as well.

Originally posted by amethyst

Originally posted by Garnet Remember merry-go-rounds and metal slides that were more than three or four feet tall, and jungle-gyms on gravel or blacktop playgrounds. And don't forget riding in the back of a pick-up truck and shouting to be heard over the rush of the wind. I kind of miss those days, sometimes.

Riding in the back of a pick up was the best part of summer! And gee, looks around, we all survived it! I wonder if we are putting too much effort into protecting ourselves from ourselves and not enough on the real dangers.

Gawd.... in the back of a ute!!! I remember driving from Darwin through to Perth in the back of a pickup when I was 14... During Cyclone Season!! Totally awesome trip!! The Thunderstorms were the best bit... Of course now a thunderstorm is, like, my greatest fear... LOL

Several months ago, for some reason, the guys I work with got to talking about their childhoods. There was much mention of washtubs. The kind you filled with water from a pump or well. They're all around my age. And they had used washtubs to wash their clothes and themselves not that long ago. Did I mention that I now live in a town of around 20,000 people, in middle Georgia? I felt so urban. I've always had bathtubs inside bathrooms, and wells were something I saw in movies and on TV. Amazing what technology accomplishes.

Originally posted by amethyst And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

I love this!

You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! NO REMOTES!!!

This is where I would add "And we only had two channels!"

Ah, you young whippersnappers had it good in the eighties! We didn't have VCRs in the seventies- we had to use tape recorders to tape the audio of BotP episodes, when we were lucky enough to get home from school in time to record them! Heh! -Disturbed /get off my lawn!

Actually, when I knew I wouldn't get home in time, I'd set the tape recorder up and tell my mom when to run in and hit play and record then when to go back and turn it off. Sometimes she'd forget and I get weird stuff on the ends of the tapes. Still have a couple of tapes around with just pieces of old BotP episodes on them. Does that make me feel old, or what? Those tapes are over 30 years old.

OMG, I did the same thing... holding my 'portable' tape recorder (the side of a giant textbook) up to the TV speaker to record audio! And then getting mad if my brother came into the room and made noise!

Wow! You all were privileged. We actually got a microwave before we got a tape recorder, not too long before VCRs and Walkmans came out Although, we did have about 10 or 12 channels on cable system, but too far for any off air stations even with antennea.

I think I got my first tape recorder in 1974. They were a status symble at my school--but what do you expect with a bunch of blind kids. We taped T.V. shows, songs off the radio, you name it. I think we got cable in 1979, but only on the T.V. in the living room. I had to wait a year or two to get it on mine. The microwave came in 1980, if I remember, and it was at my mom's insistance I think. Things were starting to come out that were miicrowavable, plus there was this sales pitch about less cooking time, and mom wanted to save time in the kitchen. Now, if it can't be nuked, my daughter and I rarely eat it. Oh how the times do change. Thinking about the tape recordings, and how mad we'd get when someone walked in on one, makes me realize that half the fun now when I find an old tape and listen to is hearing all the background stuff that got on there.

I audiotaped some shows, too. Not BotP, though. Made it interesting, to imagine what was happening to account for all those noises and sounds.

I only ever audiotaped songs from the radio. Not sure why I didn't do TV shows.

Originally posted by Mad Katharine Ah, you young whippersnappers had it good in the eighties! We didn't have VCRs in the seventies- we had to use tape recorders to tape the audio of BotP episodes, when we were lucky enough to get home from school in time to record them! Heh! -Disturbed /get off my lawn!

I had 78 of the 85 episodes on cassette! When the player finally died and I couldn't get another, I cried.

What about riding in a car without seat belts? We used to pile 8-10 people into a car and go. I used to STAND on the front seat (obviously I was really little) between my parents.

I have dim memories of my older brother, in the late 70s, forbidding anyone to make a sound as he recorded music (BTO, April Wine and the Police, if I recall...) off the record player in the living room using some sort of clunky, reel-to-reel tape player so that he could play it in his bedroom or elsewhere. I think it was about 1980 or '81 -at Christmas- that my family got a tape deck that played cassettes. That was the Christmas that my brother got Jeff Wayne's musical War of the Worlds, promptly recorded it onto cassettes and then forbid anyone from ever playing the records (lest they suffer scratches or deteriorate in sound quality).

Thanks for sharing the piece, Amethyst! I love it ... it's so true! I still have the cassettes on which I have recorded the opening and ending musical themes of most of the cartoons I loved way back during my childhood ... LOL I think I don't have an appropriate cassette player that functions well left at home in order to play them! We're all CDs nowadays! The most fascinating thing that I find is that technology has made giant paces over a span of very few years (considering thirty years as a short period of time in comparision to what has been achieved out of technology). I remember trying to upgrade things and devices at a fast rate from when they were introduced, and we're still doing so! But the memories I cherish the most are those we spent in our quality family time. Materialism is robbing much of our quality time and, unfortunately, we don't always realise the fact.

I know what you mean, Marie. When I was growing up we often spent evenings playing board games (Trivial Pursuit was a favorite - however as my father read encyclopedias for fun, we all had to really study in order to have any chance of beating him!) and watching television was a real family thing. 6pm would see us sitting down to watch The Goodies (love them!! What a surprise for me when I got pay TV as an adult to find them rated for 15+!!!) followed by Dr Who and the 7pm news. Sundays would find us scuttling around to watch Star Trek at midday then lunch and the afternoon watching a couple of movies (whilst I did the ironing...). The funny thing was even though we had dinner with the television in front of us, we all still sat down to dinner together. It saddens me to see families that send little or no time together - or that have to "schedule" family time! I know of one woman who can go for 3 or 4 days without seeing her teenage children and txt's them more than she speaks with them. Unfortuntely none of that family feel that they are in any way unusual! I actually found the other day a cassette of mine that is cartoon theme songs. Things like BotP are there, as well as Ulysses, Children of the Sun, Secret Squirrel, Danger Mouse, etc. I'd love to convert it to CD, but have no way of doing so. Fortunately, I do still have a working cassette player!

Originally posted by Madilayn I actually found the other day a cassette of mine that is cartoon theme songs. Things like BotP are there, as well as Ulysses, Children of the Sun, Secret Squirrel, Danger Mouse, etc. I'd love to convert it to CD, but have no way of doing so. Fortunately, I do still have a working cassette player!

That would be lovely! I'd love to do that myself with mine if only I could! You know ... most of the theme songs I recorded could be found on Italian CDs even nowadays, basically because Italians use their own instead of using the original themes ... and they are very proud of them ... so proud that even on big, modern shows, the most famous singers that used to sing such themes are always special guests who tend to sing these songs to the audience in memory of the past, childhood days! But, this notwithstanding, I'd rather keep the ones I recorded even if they're not so clear, with a teasing brother of mine in the background and my beloved mum's voice calling out that dinner had been ready! I pity that family you mentioned, Maddy! Today's life drag us to move forward with it, but it's up to us to manage time and to keep important the family aspect! For example, my very young kids will not want to eat if daddy or mummy are not around! I've always been firm on the fact that we should eat together as a family, united around the table, with or without tv. We always wait for my DH to return from work and no matter how the schedule changes, we always adapt ourselves around it in order not to omit these special moments and other ones that create our family history. I want my kids to remember the good times when they grow old like I remember mine!

I've seen companies advertise that they can convert and put old family movies from reel-to-reel films or from VCR cassettes onto DVDs -for a fee, of course. Possibly such places could do something similar with tape cassettes (I'm guesssing it would require an analog-to-digital converter, and more tech savvy than I possess!) My best memories of "family time" as a kid were all the camping trips and hiking and cross country skiing treks. You really bond, I guess, when you're all together in the middle of the woods!

Originally posted by lborgia88 You really bond, I guess, when you're all together in the middle of the woods!

... without tv, computers, etc ... just nature! Some weeks ago we had subsequent electricity power cuts throughout our island due to some problems at the Power Station. The first thing that we thought was how much we depend on electricity and technology and how lost we feel when we remain without them. The second thing was that we had to do what we usually didn't in order to counteract such a situation and appreciated how our ancestors lived during past times ... apart from the many things we had to adjust with, we found that we had more time to read stories to our children and cuddle up in one bed and joke. We also found some lost romance eating and living in the light of candles! And my husband reaffirmed his theory that that's why, in the past, families tended to be more numerous! You know ... I think I won't regret it a lot if another power cut were to happen in the near future!

I understand what you are saying, Marie. I live in earthquake country, and we all know that 'the big one'is coming at any time. So we all have to be prepared to live for a week or so without food or water, if necessary. And if that happens, what would we do with ourselves? Our family spends so much time each day on our computers that not having them around would be a big lifestyle change. However we all love to read (although I admit that my son has to be encouraged sometimes ) and play board/card ganes. I suspect if we lived for a wek without power, we'd be doing a lot of that, not to mention marathon D&D campaigns! Of course, what would we do at night?

OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH No internet??? No Gatchamaniacs??? Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...............!

Originally posted by Transmute Jun Of course, what would we do at night?

Counting sheep?!!!!!

Originally posted by gatchamarie

Originally posted by Transmute Jun Of course, what would we do at night?

Counting sheep?!!!!!

If we could see them!

LOL! This is actually a wonderful segue to something that happened to me. A few weeks back I had to google "Telephone" so my son can see a picture of what they looked like before we had cell phones. Wow, talk about feeling old. LOL

Yes, one has to look around to find a variety of landline phones anymore. So many people have cell phones now, and the only place some people now see landline phones is at work. [BTW, on a serious note, if any of you have elderly or disabled relatives living alone, invest in a set of cordless phones so that they can have one in every room of the house or apartment. My current security guard posting is in an apartment building that houses people who live on Medicare and Social Security. Many times, I've called up to apartments and been unable to reach people because they moved too slowly to reach a phone. You can imagine the reactions of relatives who have come to visit (and who can't go past the lobby without permission from the tenants).]

How about a payphone. Those things are practically extinct. Next will be the blue boxes on the highways.

How many of us remember shows like Monkey - with Tripitaca The kenny Everet Video show Danger Mouse- my favourage and a very old nickname Kimber the White lion Being a Farm Kid my nearest neibours were miles down the road, we made our own fun (in hindsight not always safe) sometimes we were flooded in and couldn't go to school yah!!!!) We build go carts from scrap left around the farm, we walked miles to the bus stop, which took an hour to get into town and we talked to each other. If our parents couldn't pick us up it was safe to go with a neighbour, and everyone knew everybody and we would help each other. I would not like to be a child now, with all their fancy gadgets , its not always a safe world for them to grown up in. But seriously what a great new thread - the things we remember , the shows, cartoons, and for those with children at various ages the comparisons would be interesting

Would you believe the only show I recognized, but have never seen, is Kimba the White Lion. Of course my children think they are abused and neglected because they don't have cell phones (well my daughter does, the boys don't care) and the only iPods they have are the shuffles.

Kenny Everet was British, Amethyst, so it doesn't surprise me (plus it was probably more than the censorship groups in the US could handle...) that you didn't know that one... Monkey... I still remember the theme!! Probably due to several drunken attempts to sing it at karaoke. Hmmm... a tad violent, so again, with the censorship in the US at the time... Shame you missed out though. It was real action and dubbed - a hilarious combination and a damn good show...

Gotta love our US censors don't we. Warner Bros and Popeye cartoons are okay but everything else has to be edited to pieces or contain educational value. Yes Warner Bros has some of the most violent cartoons I've seen, not graphic, but roadrunner and coyote were violent.

Originally posted by littlewolf How many of us remember shows like Monkey - with Tripitaca The kenny Everet Video show Danger Mouse- my favourage and a very old nickname Kimber the White lion

I use to record entire episodes of Monkey, Kenny Everet, The Goodies and many more from that particular ABC time slot on a reel to reel recorder and listen to them back each night. I can still recite great slathers of dialogue. Anyone else remember Dave Allen too?

Like the rest of the Aussies, I remember those shows. 6pm ABC. Great viewing slot, followed by Dr Who at 6.30.

'Dave Allen at Large.' On PBS in the States. Wonderful parodies of darn near everything. (Loved the domesticated werewolf sketches!)

Tomorrow people (Oh I wanted to have their powers) Marine Boy Aunty Jack -Aussie Rip ya bloody arms off (mommy why does that lady have a beard) Paul Hogan Show Jackie Mack in the mornings (way before Hey hey it's saturday) Simon Townsends wonder world Speed Racer The original transformer cartoon When things were rotten (very old skit on Robin Hood) Top Cat cluch Cargo The Jettsons Movies Electric dreams, Voyager, Indian in my Cupboard, PRINCESS BRIDE- with the dread pirate roberts and the rodents of unusually sizes? and no australia are not all inhabited by criminals Dudley Doright The two Ronneys Steptoe and son Monty Python - the kippa dance They don't make TV like they use to - My sisters are screaming out more shows and movies - helpful little buggers mum adds Green acres Was Dave Allan the one with the missing fingers and a glass with Vodca on the table next to him?

I recall Dave Allen had part of his left index finger missing. As for what was in the glass on the table, I can't say. When Things Were Rotten was a sitcom created by Mel Brooks. Yes, about Robin Hood. A pre-Eight is Enough Dick van Patten played Friar Tuck. Clutch Cargo is ancient. Dates to about the 1960s or so. It was one of a number of cartoons with that weird mouth effect. Creepy. And Paul Hogan was also on PBS. Before widespread cable, that was where the good stuff from other countries would show up. (After cable, A&E did pretty good, before someone in charge decided they should pander to the 18-39 male demographic.)