July 2011
Jamie and the Magic Torch
Created by the same animation team of Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall that brought the world 'Chorlton and the Wheelies', 'Dangermouse' and 'Count Duckula', 'Jamie and the Magic Torch' is a childrens cartoon based around a young boy, Jamie, his English sheepdog Wordsworth and his magic torch (funny that).
It debuted on ITV from 1976 to 1979, although I remember watching it in the 1980s, so it must have been rerun. The series was written and narrated by Brian Trueman, who later wrote 'Dangermouse' and 'Count Duckula'.
[ more... ]I Remember: 1980
1980, unemployment is on the rise, reaching a postwar high of over 2,000,000 and the country slides into recession.
26 people are taken hostage after a group of six armed men stormed the Iranian embassy in South Kensington. After six days and the death of a hostage the SAS end the siege by storming the building, killing another hostage and all but one of the gunmen.
Philips and Sony launch the Compact Disc, although it is several years later before Audio CDs hit the stores and several years after that before the phrase "B side" is confined to history.
Lego Star Wars Table Football
This is another good example of somebody with too much time on their hands, but that's not a bad thing. Hats off for combining some of our favourite things, namely Lego, Football and Star Wars.
[ more... ]Morph - Poseable Vinyl Figure
Morph is a classic TV character, created by Aardman Animations in the 1970s. Today, he remains as mischievous and loveable as ever and now you can have your very own version! Morph made a habit of sneaking out of his art box and getting up to all sorts of mischief, and now Morph can be immortalised with your very own vinyl Morph figure.
[ more... ]Nintendo Mini Classics - Your thumbs’ greatest nemesis is back!
Before Nintendo Wii’d all over the competition with its consoles, it was busy pioneering handheld gaming with the legendary Game & Watch series. Containing (very) pared down versions of arcade classics, these LCD rectangles were to the Eighties what the DS is to the Noughties, and no self-respecting gamer would dream of hitting the playground without one sandwiched between his conkers.
[ more... ]Wacky Races: Crash & Dash
Join Dick Dastardly and the gang in all the racing fun and madness, Wacky Races style! Wacky Races: Crash & Dash is an action racing game like no other with fun-filled environments crazy cars and all your favorite, hilarious characters from the original TV series.
[ more... ]Digital Retro: The Evolution and Design of the Personal Computer
It's easy these days to take the Internet, ludicrous processing power, massive hard disk capacities, cloud computing and mobile connectivity for granted. Back in 'the day' things were very different. Gordon Laing's well researched and elegantly designed homage to lots of different, lovely but defunct hardware from the era of "Home" as opposed to "Personal" Computers.
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