Games We Played As Children (only oldies need reply)

[The Axman]

?

theyre choking themselves like david carradine did.

I thought for a mo you meant space dust, that sweet powder that burst in your mouth and if snorted like cocaine gave a better gram per pound rush than high quality charlie ever could!

But now I think you're talking about something completely beyond my ken, Grasshopper.

[TANGODANCER]

I'd be about ten when, one day, a big box of army rifles (minus the metalwork) appeared outside a shop on Halliwell Road. All the kids ( including me and my brother) dashed home to pester their folks to buy one. Amazingly, my dad took us back and we got one each. As soon as we got home he sawed about a foot off the barrel end of each (they were big items I admit) but we were the only kids around with sub-machine guns.

[The Axman]

No one has mentioned conkers, which we spent a lot of time acquiring and playing with. We used a variety of techniques to make them stronger and harder.

You're right. I'd forgotten about conkers. Baking them in the oven; soaking them in vinegar and drilling smaller string holes so they wouldn't split as easily were the three favourite methods of enhancing your conker, but the only way that actually worked was to leave them for a couple years before stringing them, but virtually nobody had the patience to do that. I don't think anybody ever got better than a twentyer.

[bobo the clown]

To be honest, bish, gays were as prevalent as ethnic types when I was a kid: they hadn't been invented yet.

Exactly. Only differences in cowboys, goodies wore white hats, baddies black ones.

racist!!

Do you think he deserves a Chinese Burn for that ?

[bobo the clown]

Knock-a-Door, Run.

Hours of harmless fun that you'd get an ASBO for now.

[a1]

But now I think you're talking about something completely beyond my ken, Grasshopper.

its really not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fainting_game" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[TANGODANCER]

The mind boggleth.

[Sponge]

Not an oldy, but my friends and I used to partake in several odd games.

Melon rolling: knock on a stranger's front door, and when they open bowl a watermelon down their hallway. Turn and casually walk away.

Trampolining: walk the alleys behind houses on the look out for trampolines (it's surprising how many people have them). Hop the fence, bounce around for 30 seconds or so (or until somebody comes out), then hop back over the fence and run.

Megaphoning: drive around with a megaphone yelling things at passersby (even better if said microphone has a siren function—suddenly the roads are yours). The best was stopping outside nightclubs and embarrassing people in the queue.

Yes, we were very bored.

[bobo the clown]

Not an oldy, but my friends and I used to partake in several odd games.

Melon rolling: knock on a stranger's front door, and when they open bowl a watermelon down their hallway. Turn and casually walk away.

Trampolining: walk the alleys behind houses on the look out for trampolines (it's surprising how many people have them). Hop the fence, bounce around for 30 seconds or so (or until somebody comes out), then hop back over the fence and run.

Megaphoning: drive around with a megaphone yelling things at passersby (even better if said microphone has a siren function—suddenly the roads are yours). The best was stopping outside nightclubs and embarrassing people in the queue.

Yes, we were very bored.

Having, let alone 'giving' Water Melons away ?

Megaphone. Having access to cars ? How rich were you ffs ??

[The Axman]

Marvellous. Not had so much fun since I was a nipper. Thanks for the contributions Bruce, bish, TD, Crazy, Gaz t'Enf., Monty, bobo, a1 and sponge.

Off to bed now to dream of Ivan passing me the ball that sinks Liverpool. One-nil. (early fecking start tomorrow. no footie, all work).

[Montreal Wanderer]

No one has mentioned conkers, which we spent a lot of time acquiring and playing with. We used a variety of techniques to make them stronger and harder.

You're right. I'd forgotten about conkers. Baking them in the oven; soaking them in vinegar and drilling smaller string holes so they wouldn't split as easily were the three favourite methods of enhancing your conker, but the only way that actually worked was to leave them for a couple years before stringing them, but virtually nobody had the patience to do that. I don't think anybody ever got better than a twentyer.

Baking and vinegar were our techniques (or a combo). The way we scored, you added the points of the destroyed conker to yours so we could get quite high numbers (if two fifteeners went head to head one would come out a 31er). I once had one conker that lost the outside shell but retained the inside intact. It had the absorbent quality of rubber and never got broken. Of course it never won much either when it lost the hard exterior. It picked up a few victories when the opponents would swing so hard their conkers would fly off the string. I retired it undefeated.

[Sponge]

Having, let alone 'giving' Water Melons away ?

Megaphone. Having access to cars ? How rich were you ffs ??

Watermelon: about a quid in Tesco. Megaphone: about seven quid in Argos. My first car: a twelve year old Ford Fiesta which I inherited from my grandmother when she turned a bit swervy. So yeah, loaded, clearly.

Still, let me guess: "in my day..blah, blah, blah..."

[bobo the clown]

Having, let alone 'giving' Water Melons away ?

Megaphone. Having access to cars ? How rich were you ffs ??

Watermelon: about a quid in Tesco. Megaphone: about seven quid in Argos. My first car: a twelve year old Ford Fiesta which I inherited from my grandmother when she turned a bit swervy. So yeah, loaded, clearly.

Still, let me guess: "in my day..blah, blah, blah..."

A quid ? We used to dream of having even a picture of a quid ... in black & white.

And a Ford Fiesta ????? We used to (oh, well, no .... really, I didn't)

[Sponge]

No one has mentioned conkers, which we spent a lot of time acquiring and playing with. We used a variety of techniques to make them stronger and harder.

You're right. I'd forgotten about conkers. Baking them in the oven; soaking them in vinegar and drilling smaller string holes so they wouldn't split as easily were the three favourite methods of enhancing your conker, but the only way that actually worked was to leave them for a couple years before stringing them, but virtually nobody had the patience to do that. I don't think anybody ever got better than a twentyer.

I once found one down the back of the airing cupboard. It must have been deposited there by one of my sisters about a decade earlier and had basically petrified. I think it broke the hundred barrier (king of the playground that winter!). Then the string snapped and it got done in by "stamps". Devastated.

[TANGODANCER]

Having, let alone 'giving' Water Melons away ?

Megaphone. Having access to cars ? How rich were you ffs ??

Watermelon: about a quid in Tesco. Megaphone: about seven quid in Argos. My first car: a twelve year old Ford Fiesta which I inherited from my grandmother when she turned a bit swervy. So yeah, loaded, clearly.

Still, let me guess: "in my day..blah, blah, blah..."

A quid ? We used to dream of having even a picture of a quid ... in black & white.

And a Ford Fiesta ????? We used to (oh, well, no .... really, I didn't)

Got my first car at thirty. Morris Minor with split windscreen and a gear lever about three feet long. Did have mod coms though: a big bakelite switch on the dash for indicator lights that replaced those wing things that flicked out from the door frame beside the driver. Sold it to my brother later and he finally wrote it off on a wall outside the Gardners Arms near Bennets Lane.

[Lord Kangana]

My first car was a hand-me-down Fiat Panda from my sister, who herself had got it off my mum, who had bought it second hand. The day I passed my test I decided to take it out for a spin for the first time on my own. I returned from said journey white as a sheet, and had the following conversation with my sister...

"Why the f*ck didn't you tell me the brakes didn't work??"

"Er, yeah, I forgot to say you'll probably want them looking at"

[The Axman]

No one has mentioned conkers, which we spent a lot of time acquiring and playing with. We used a variety of techniques to make them stronger and harder.

You're right. I'd forgotten about conkers. Baking them in the oven; soaking them in vinegar and drilling smaller string holes so they wouldn't split as easily were the three favourite methods of enhancing your conker, but the only way that actually worked was to leave them for a couple years before stringing them, but virtually nobody had the patience to do that. I don't think anybody ever got better than a twentyer.

I once found one down the back of the airing cupboard. It must have been deposited there by one of my sisters about a decade earlier and had basically petrified. I think it broke the hundred barrier (king of the playground that winter!). Then the string snapped and it got done in by "stamps". Devastated.

By God! I'd totally forgotten about 'stamps'. I too once had a 'champion' that got done that way: I delivered a blow and my sneaky blighter opponent moved the target conker slightly - my conker caught his conker a glancing blow that delivered it in an orbit NASA would have been proud off to land a splashdown on my knuckles. I off course dropped my conker, and through the tears of pain observed its annihilation by stamps. How cruel life can be.

[The Axman]

Having, let alone 'giving' Water Melons away ?

Megaphone. Having access to cars ? How rich were you ffs ??

Watermelon: about a quid in Tesco. Megaphone: about seven quid in Argos. My first car: a twelve year old Ford Fiesta which I inherited from my grandmother when she turned a bit swervy. So yeah, loaded, clearly.

Still, let me guess: "in my day..blah, blah, blah..."

Yep, in my day...


Actually, I got my first car aged (wait for it....)





eight.


It was my uncle's hand me down wee-threeler (a Reliant Regal Mk1). Me and a couple of mates used to drive it around the farm where it lived, and occasionally sneaked it out onto the roads where we caused havoc with the traffic regulations (I believe we inadvertantly invented joy riding; believe me it was a joy to us).

[Dujon]

I cannot think of anything that has not already been mentioned. A small group of us did though go yabbying in the local creeks, although I cannot recall any of us seeing one never mind catching one. The creeks were feeders to the Lane Cove river. It was a rare occasion, particularly close to the river, that we would not see dead garfish by the dozen floating about or snagged on the banks. Still, they were fun times, scrambling about the bush, always alert for snakes and other nasties, always barefooted, and conquering the numerous rocky outcrops barring our path to the water. Then there was the swing (rope hanging from tree branch) used to launch us over the river and allow us to then let go and drop the three of four metres into the murky depths.

Oh, yes: One silly game no one else has mentioned is the placing of pennies on the railway line. In 'our' case this had to be done when the train was visible (about 150 metres) and the result collected, if possible, and the perpetrator then, with the flattened trophy in hand, board the said conveyance. It's probably unnecessary to point out that this task was always undertaken after school as we pupils were on our way home.

Motor vehicles? Hardly child's play but my first was a 1927 Chevrolet tourer.

[TANGODANCER]

Nobody's mentioned leap-frog or "finger-thumb or icky ?