So how was it for you?
Christmas Day was just how I liked it: quiet. I got the presents I wanted and everything is right with the world. Some spiffing stuff came my way: some wireless headphones from The Missus (will stop me strangulating myself in Studio Lock when recording), a set of super-sharp knives from my mother and the vegetable steamer device. I was a bit dubious when my mother said she was going to get me a vegetable steamer, but the veggies were really tasty when cooked in it…and I also managed to steam the Xmas pudding at the same time. Superb!
My turkey turned out well this year and I went back to my old method of putting strips of butter under the skin on the breast to keep the meat moist. It was a very tasty and tender bird and I even returned for a couple of extra slices…oooooh my swollen tummy. The smell of the cooking and the turkey was almost too much for Alex the Wonderdog and I could see him giving me the evil eye as I dished up dinner, wishing me to drop the lot on the floor so he could snaffle it all up. Not this time around, my furry friend. He’ll get some turkey tomorrow in his bowl.
Greatly enjoyed “The Fantastic Four” DVD which arrived in my stocking courtesy of the Missus and then took Alex for a walk, returning in time for Doctor Who. I was a bit worried about David Tennant taking over from Christopher Eccleston, but he did a really good job. I thought it was exactly what TV needed on Xmas day, a good old fashioned silly romp. I loved it and I squealed like a little boy thoughout and the teaser trailer to the new series just left me giddy little a big girl. Good fun.
Been playing some games on my Xbox 360 too, but these new-fangled computer games aren’t what they used to be…too many bells and whistles. I’ve also noticed that with some of the first-person shooting games that I’ve started to develop serious motion sickness. Maybe this is my body’s way of saying: “Grow up!” But I do enjoy having a play now and again and ever since the Sega Master system, I have sampled every games console that’s been on the market, usually selling them on once I get bored with them (don’t want to end up living in a gaming museum). A lot of people turn their noses up at computer games, but if you are of a certain age and grew up with the first home computers – mine was a ZX Spectrum – it’s a bug that’s hard to kill.
Talking of home computers, here’s the story of another crap Christmas present. It must have been Christmas 1983 and I was just absolutely aching for a home computer for a present. Unfortunately, such devices were too much of an expense for my mother (and this was before errant fathers were pursued by the CSA) and so while on a Xmas shopping trip to Ilford, it was revealed that I was to get a computer from Tandy.
Now at this time, I remember that the Atari was still quite a big thing and Dean Seabrook, a snotty older boy who lived up the road and whose mother was shacked up with my Uncle Tommy, had one of these games systems. As a favour to Mrs Seabrook, my mother was to buy a copy of the latest Atari game on her behalf. So imagine having to stand in the shop while money was exchanged on a computer game for someone else’s Xmas present. And this guy was one of the ring-leaders who used to make my life miserable on Albert Road, taking considerable joy in intimidating me…This was a slap in the chops and I was in a bad mood. (A similar thing happened a few Christmases before that when we stored his Christmas present – a Grifter bike – at our house and it was in our living room tormenting me. I couldn’t have one because of the expense and because I couldn’t ride a bike, but I had convinced myself that if I had a Grifter I could ride it. I hated Dean Seabrook because of the bullying and because he always seemed to get better presents.)
So when we went to Tandy to purchase my Xmas present, my mood changed. This was it. This was going to be my entry into home computers. But imagine my horror when I actually saw what was going to be bought for me. It was some kind of home electronics kit where you use little bits of wire and bulbs to create a rudimentary “computer” and use paper templates to answer mathematical problems. My face fell. My heart sank. My mother asked if this was acceptable and I replied in the negative. My mother threatened me with the ol’ “Well you won’t get anything for Xmas” and I said “Fine” hoping that I wouldn’t see the contraption on Xmas morn.
Well fuck me sideways when the self-same build-it-yourself kit arrived at the end of my bed. Of course, you have to pretend to be grateful and nod your head and show enthusiasm, because I knew the sacrifice that my mother had made in buying me the item…despite me warning her of its unsuitability. I spent a couple of hours constructing the “computer” and making sure all the connections worked before quietly putting it all back in the box and storing it on the high shelf where old toys went to die to gather dust for about 7 years when it eventually got thrown away without any ceremony or remorse.
Anyway, I did a little research and ain’t Google a wonderful thing? It turns out that my shit Xmas present was called the Science Fair Computer Kit and was originally created in 1977. Gee – so my computer was already seven years old when I got it.
Here’s the link for the details: http://www.digibarn.com/collections/games/science-fair-digital-computer/
