The old in the new: Paddington and the Secret Seven

Almost a catchphrase with me, the new and old intermingle in this life and this entry looks at some examples .

I tend not to write book reviews on this blog although you'll spot the odd one dotted about but while she didn't write much specifically for boys, one series I did enjoy as a boy first time around by Enid Blyton was the Secret 7 series that had 21 original stories featuring six children in a secret society investigating mysteries and a dog called Scamper.

There has been a trend rather like with prequels in the film industry to extend the scope of original titles through so-called continuation novels written to varying degrees in the style of the original author by people invited by the rights owners of the original authors works.

Pamela Butchart is a well know Scottish author of children's mysteries  and was asked to write two more stories in Enid's Secret 7 series. This came out in February of this year.

This one starts with a Travelling Theatre moving where the Secret 7 live and the children curious because no theatre has been operating here for ages, indeed the premises were boarded up but it transpires they to put on a opening performance as it brought back to life.
The six children are invited to take part in the performance by Mrs Bagnall but as they get involved in learning their lines and rehearsing, strange goings on occur with lights and sound systems playing up, trap downs coming open plus tales of ghosts and it soon becomes apparent someone is trying to sabotage the show.

This provides the mystery the six plus Scamper look into hindered as ever by group leader Peter's nosy sister Susie and her friend poking their noses in, they work out who is doing it, why and bring in adult help as events draw to a conclusion.

Pamela wisely keeps the twenty-first century out of it so we have no smartphones, internet, tracking devices and so on so in some respects it's more like the nineteen-seventies and eighties.

In terms of language it is a little more modern than Enid's own but in the main follows the kind of dialogue she would of used with just the odd term like "try out" which very modern in British English and perhaps too much reference to Scottish Tablet which actual is a caramelized fudge concoction made from condensed milk that much outside her home nation will be puzzled over.

Overall I'd give it a 8 out of 10 for fans of the Secret Seven as she's kept as true to it's roots as she possible can with just a nod toward a more equal role for Pam,Barbara and Janet.

I mentioned Blue Peter, the long running children's BBC Tv series in connection with my birthday and there is a reference in the earlier bit of this blog to the link between a native of deepest darkest Peru and that show,

Around the era I first watched the show, also transmitted in five minute episodes were a series of animated cartoons based on the Michael Bond stories that I and countless boys (and girls too) loved to watch at the time.

Many of us feel that they caught the feel of the books better having more subtle humour for instance  than the more recent live action movies and I recently got a two dvd set that has most of the episodes on it.

This set has all the episodes from the thirty that started January 5th 1976 and the later ones plus the tv specials that run for 21 minutes each including the last one from 1987 although it is lacking information on which ones come where but there is a excellent piece on Wikipedia that lists all, gives a short account including the transmission date that helps.


One new story in an old series I loved and a shiny new dvd of the original paddington bear cartoons are just thing for an eternal ten year old child.

The skirt protests

 

It is important to protest the right to wear a skirt because it is more comfortable in the Summer months than trousers ever can be with the legs that cut off air circulation as these boys are as much as for feminine boys to have the the right to present as themselves at school.

More boys than ever are showing they've the bottle to do this.

Birthday edition

*Something* happened last week that has a tendency to occur once a year I believe which given how I am remains a child's birthday for a boy in a dress like me.

It was my birthday two days ago in the present into past life I live as this adult in law in all other respects a child it is not that surprising that parts of my birthday are just as you might of expected them to of been when I was younger by date of birth.

I still watch children's programs some different than I did back when I could sing along to "Remember you're a womble" and some that actually still run one of which as you know is my favourite all time program, Blue Peter

  

I might of mentioned I have a many of the books I was given from the late sixties up to the early 1990's for Christmas that I then bought myself but as anyone around that time knows, there were a number of years where they were not issued such as in 1986, 1990 and 1993 through 1998.

Typically they had accounts of the main features on the show, overseas trips with pictures and the 'makes' - things made from paper, card recycled bits and bobs not forgetting the sticky back plastic - of the previous 12 months.

That means some of things I remember by way of the 'makes' such as Tracy Island one of the 1990's featuring locally born Anthea Turner were never documented and as I don't have books 1 through 4 and from 28 onwards there are gaps.

This book with its forward from Valerie came out on the back of last years 60th anniversary covers many of the such as the classic Advent Crown and yes Tracy Island too!

It has suitably old-fashioned feel too it.

For some reason I didn't get that at Christmas so it kind of makes up for it.

The year 2008 that in this blog is only covered by some of my recently imported photography centred posts saw the 50th anniversary and the then recently sacked producer Richard Marson wrote a book giving an impression from what being inside the program making team of what making the show, the challenges of the live segments, filming and so on was like.

For someone like me this kind of book is of interest as the only show I can recall watching about making it was the November 4th 1974 Blue Peter show that explained camera work and the studio side.

Coming out during the same year, Biddy Baxter who played a big part in making the show what it was (and is) wrote an introduction to this book and selected the letters sent to the show by viewers.

Letters as the ten year old me recalls were a big thing about the show because it was how we interacted with it and was a main route by which you earned your badges so it reflects very much what we felt about the programs and our interests at the time.

It also has some letters from adults too as sometimes the show caused controversy like how in 1969 Peter Purves showed men caring for baby Daniel by being doing so and some adults actually thought he should of been doing an adventure instead with Valerie Singleton doing that as she was a woman!

Thank goodness as a society we've moved on from such attitudes!!!

I also had some money that will help pay for some bits for my new digital photography kit I mentioned a few weeks ago.

One tv show I  loved was Blue Peter and this originally published a few years ago is less a potted history of the show by  its producer and film editor from 1975 through 2011 although it does give you a breakdown of presenters, notable program items, years expeditions and appeals talks about the challenges in filming and making the show and working with presenters, guests and yes the numerous pets who were for a long time on the production set.

One thing I also love us music, especially classical music and this acclaimed recording came out but a month ago on Super Audio cd, playable on regular stereo cd on what looks to be a great new symphony cycle by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra of music  by Schubert. My main set is from the 1960's with the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra conducted by the late Karl Bohm.

One thing I am keen to do is expand as far as is possible my range of classical recordings on  super audio cd and Berlioz is one composer I do like.

I got this two disc set of his Romeo and Juliet opera with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony which is highly acclaimed .

There's no one like Andrew, Andrew Davis that is  having seen him conduct and a week ago this brand new recording of Berlioz's L'Enfante du Christ was issued as a double Super audio cd that will join my collection of Berlioz's works on sacd.

Birthdays do have an element of the past in the present for me and so it was fitting a collection of stories that connected a certain Paddington Bear with a tv show I loved was bound to feature.

 The stories were written by Michael Bond for the year annuals of Blue Peter published 1966 through 1972 so tend to be about 14 pages long per story that makes the easy to dip into although a little familiarity with the show and presenting team at the time helps.
Actually I did at one point have a copy as I had other things connected to the tv series  so it's nice to get another hard back copy.

This is an illustration from it and it's in lovely condition, with no felt tip pen scrawling and the like in its original 1973 form.

Reflections on being away

 

As I do mention I go away from time to time for a meet up and have only just arrived back a little lacking in spoons on Tuesday afternoon from South Shropshire.

It may well of been showery when this picture was taken, but that wasn't the internal meteorological forecast because actually it was sunny inside for doing what I feel is the more important thing when you're away like exploring and visiting places and things.

 Not only did I behave myself, I found reserves of fitness as impacted as I am by my disabilities to do the things that until recently I'd of thought twice about like actually walking there and back to the castle in the background, enjoying the Whitcliffe Common Nature reserve along the way surrounded by trees.

It certainly wasn't easy for me with hilly terrain with some mud from the overnight rain difficult to walk through but I actually did it.

I like the things you can do indoors such as quizzes, colouring, arts and crafts and even the odd spot of cookery that connect to littles life in various sometimes not so direct ways but perhaps for me something more like a Brownies camp  in feel and activities is what is more needed?

Remaking the past

There can be little denying that the quality of classical cds not least from analogue tape masters has improved from those early days when I first started buying them and so I have been replacing a few over the years not least when it is the case the recording may not be available on Super Audio cd.

Take this for instance, a classic performance originally issued in 1987 on cd which was reissued briefly in the late 1990's in 2 cd series newly remastered but currently unavailable which I wanted to replace.

That's where that box set that's just came out comes in because it takes in this recording with the Beethoven violin concerto from that 1990's issue and adds some solo Bach and various composer recital disc also issued on a 2 cd set all using those better remastered versions.

The discs are in card inners which for once are wide so little chance of scuffing and comes with booklet.

It is a pity the original front album art was not used on each disc but for the modest price asked this is ideal for not only replacing that 1987 cd but adding more recordings by this highly talents violinist to my collection.

When is it you become "of age"?

 The style of dress was and is a thing but is relative to the standards of the day but the one constant in that was the older, the more 'mature' you were the more sophisticated they tend to be until the point where conventional society sees you as a young adult at which point you would be old enough to work for a wage aka be employed.

Until 1969, in law Adulthood was not said to be fully reached until the age of 21 which corresponds with when you would finish a university degree course and before you both vote and stand for political office.

In 1969 the age of becoming an adult was lowered to 18 years which was reflected in the voting age but it wasn't within recent years that the age to stand for a local authority or as a Member of Parliament was dropped in line with that.

You could leave for work at 14+ until 1972, raised to 15 after then and more recently can only leave before 18 if you have education, training or employment arranged but that would be as a young worker - a older child and paid less.

Thus when we look back at past standards for dress you can easily see why until the late 1960's boys stayed in shorts and girls in pinafore dresses in school because they were seen as very much that and not young adults and they had no need to conform to the same dress and behavioural standards of their parent because society didn't see him as an adult.

Today some boys and girls are pushed into thinking they are older than their years assuming roles that developmentally many are not fully capable of understanding because the brain doesn't stop growing until his early twenties.

In some ways I feel that old standard of adult at twenty one was right although an argument could be made for being able to vote at eighteen as you'd have at least an awareness of the issues and given elections are every four years, the outcome of that would effect you as someone who would become "of age" three years later.

Winter in the Wood

While it was a little cold this week I took a bit of time out to look at what else is around me.

Fortunately here, even in the built up envelope you do have woodland pockets and about a week ago woodland management trimmed some dead wood off to let a bit of light in for new growth.
These trees have been here for over twenty-five years that I can recall.

Even though part of last week was relatively cool, the general temperature trend has been above the seasonal norm so these berries are out all ready.

Surprisingly so are these blossoms in an adjacent hedgerow approaching the built up core that I spotted yesterday while out dodging the ice.
Getting out of the discourse is so much healthier.