Memory Lane

[sidcow]

2 minutes ago, Seat68 said:

I was in complete disagreement with you up till the end. I order diet cola, but it is always Bacardi and diet coke. 

The exception will be hipster places where it will be Rum and Fentimans obviously. But only if both they and the barman have a check shirt and daft beard. 

[maqroll]

Looking back at being a fan of English football in the USA in the 90s. It wasn't easy. Waking up as early as 6am to drive to one of the few bars in Boston that had a satellite feed. Checking week old league tables by going to one of the few international news stands to buy a red top tabloid. The thrill of getting the latest Goal magazine in the mail. The commeraderie amongst enthusiasts in the soccer bars.

An abridged form of these rituals still exists, but not entirely. The romance of the pre internet era is gone forever. It's great to not even have to get out of bed to watch a live Villa match and discuss it in real time. But I do miss those days. I think because you had to work harder at pursuing your interest, the payoff was more gratifying. I've since tossed my Goal magazines. They just weighed me down over the years moving apartments. But they are still with me, stacked neatly in a corner of my memory.

Edited November 14, 2021 by maqroll

[mjmooney]

I haven't lived in Birmingham for nearly fifty years. Apart from trips to VP and occasional work meetings at the University, I've barely been near the places I knew as a kid (south Brum) since I left. Sometimes on sleepless nights I try and mentally reconstruct - for example - my route to and from school in as much detail as possible (with, of course, no idea how much places have changed). I have considered taking a trip down specifically to drive those roads one more time. And then it struck me that I don't need to - the answer lies in Google Street View. So yesterday, I spent a good two or three hours happily travelling every highway and byway from my childhood. The council estate I grew up on has sadly been demolished, but that aside, I was pleasantly surprised by how little had changed. It was actually quite goosebump-inducing at times. 

[Xela]

1 hour ago, maqroll said:

The romance of the pre internet era is gone forever. It's great to not even have to get out of bed to watch a live Villa match and discuss it in real time. But I do miss those days. I think because you had to work harder at pursuing your interest, the payoff was more gratifying.

I think you are spot on there mate. As good as the internet/digital era has been in some instances, it has sapped a bit of the joy out of a lot of stuff as well. Like you say, you enjoy something more when you have to put more effort in to it and when its not as popular, and that makes the community around it seem more special as well. 

I know it sounds a bit hipster-ish but it was like that with travel. You could have a great weekend somewhere and it be a 'hidden gem' of a place, not spoiled by excess tourism. Very difficult now as there are very few places like that in the digital age and the age of cheap flights. Places like Prague and Tallinn turned into 'stag-do' central. 

[Xela]

1 hour ago, mjmooney said:

I haven't lived in Birmingham for nearly fifty years. Apart from trips to VP and occasional work meetings at the University, I've barely been near the places I knew as a kid (south Brum) since I left. Sometimes on sleepless nights I try and mentally reconstruct - for example - my route to and from school in as much detail as possible (with, of course, no idea how much places have changed). I have considered taking a trip down specifically to drive those roads one more time. And then it struck me that I don't need to - the answer lies in Google Street View. So yesterday, I spent a good two or three hours happily travelling every highway and byway from my childhood. The council estate I grew up on has sadly been demolished, but that aside, I was pleasantly surprised by how little had changed. It was actually quite goosebump-inducing at times. 

I do love Street View. 

I'm staying in a Berkshire village next week that I discovered on Street View when I was randomly looking at cottages on Rightmove! 

[TheAuthority]

8 hours ago, mjmooney said:

I haven't lived in Birmingham for nearly fifty years. Apart from trips to VP and occasional work meetings at the University, I've barely been near the places I knew as a kid (south Brum) since I left. Sometimes on sleepless nights I try and mentally reconstruct - for example - my route to and from school in as much detail as possible (with, of course, no idea how much places have changed). I have considered taking a trip down specifically to drive those roads one more time. And then it struck me that I don't need to - the answer lies in Google Street View. So yesterday, I spent a good two or three hours happily travelling every highway and byway from my childhood. The council estate I grew up on has sadly been demolished, but that aside, I was pleasantly surprised by how little had changed. It was actually quite goosebump-inducing at times. 

I took some screen shots of street view a few years of my family home that I grew up in. I realized that they were from when my dad was still alive and his car was parked on the drive. That meant he was inside either watching TV or in the back garden pottering about. 

Now they've updated the pics which are from after my mom sold the house 

Of course I have our pics of him, but it's weird to think that the internet will slowly erase him too.

(I still can't delete his mobile number or email from my phone. It just feels weird.)

[bickster]

3 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

I took some screen shots of street view a few years of my family home that I grew up in. I realized that they were from when my dad was still alive and his car was parked on the drive. That meant he was inside either watching TV or in the back garden pottering about. 

Now they've updated the pics which are from after my mom sold the house 

Of course I have our pics of him, but it's weird to think that the internet will slowly erase him too.

(I still can't delete his mobile number or email from my phone. It just feels weird.)

They don’t delete street view pictures, you can go back in time, they just display the most recent

[sidcow]

3 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

I took some screen shots of street view a few years of my family home that I grew up in. I realized that they were from when my dad was still alive and his car was parked on the drive. That meant he was inside either watching TV or in the back garden pottering about. 

Now they've updated the pics which are from after my mom sold the house 

Of course I have our pics of him, but it's weird to think that the internet will slowly erase him too.

(I still can't delete his mobile number or email from my phone. It just feels weird.)

If you look at them on a desktop computer you can click on the time icon at the bottom of the screen and slide the time bar to review the street view through time

Edited November 15, 2021 by sidcow

[AVFC_Hitz]

11 hours ago, mjmooney said:

I haven't lived in Birmingham for nearly fifty years. Apart from trips to VP and occasional work meetings at the University, I've barely been near the places I knew as a kid (south Brum) since I left. Sometimes on sleepless nights I try and mentally reconstruct - for example - my route to and from school in as much detail as possible (with, of course, no idea how much places have changed). I have considered taking a trip down specifically to drive those roads one more time. And then it struck me that I don't need to - the answer lies in Google Street View. So yesterday, I spent a good two or three hours happily travelling every highway and byway from my childhood. The council estate I grew up on has sadly been demolished, but that aside, I was pleasantly surprised by how little had changed. It was actually quite goosebump-inducing at times. 

I did exactly the same a few weeks ago. I was born in Chesterfield but moved to Birmingham aged 5 or so. I returned every weekend until my dad sold the house, which for some reason took years (or maybe a false memory). I retraced my steps from the house to the town centre, up Saltergate to watch the football and going to my old primary school. I was amazed at how much I remembered. 

[mjmooney]

On 11/11/2021 at 22:32, mjmooney said:

Aga (solid fuel cookers) 

Biro (ballpoint pens) 

Plasticene (modelling clay) 

Airfix kits (any plastic model kits) 

Filofax (loose-leaf diaries) 

I thought of some more:

Thermos flask 

Stanley knife 

 

Edited February 25, 2022 by mjmooney

[mjmooney]

Shrapnel 

[Phil Silvers]

[maqroll]

When I was in high school I worked at a coffee shop. It was a chain of shops around Boston called Coffee Connection. They had their own roasting facility and would deliver a couple of times a week. We would help unload the truck. You had to bear hug these big burlap bags and I remember feeling the heat from the beans. The owner would travel the world to source the beans, and we had the best. Guatemalan Antigua, Sumatran, Jamaican Blue Mountain (before Hurricane Hugo), Kenyan, Colombian Supremo, Brazilian, Hawaiian Kona (my favorite). The aroma from the beans was unbelievable. We didn't know how good we had it. They let us take home free coffee and a lot of it. Boston was the last major US market that Starbuck's hadn't been able to enter. Coffee Connection was their primary obstacle. They eventually bought the owner out and all the stores turned into Starbuck's who even then had terrible coffee. The owner signed a non-competition agreement and couldnt sell coffee in Massachusetts for 25 years. But he's back roasting again. I tried some and it's really good!

[sidcow]

On 03/03/2022 at 09:18, Phil Silvers said:

When I was at college in Hall Green in the late 80's there was a snuff factory next door. Didn't close till the mid 90's. 

Wow, you can actually still buy it. Hedges L260, but no longer made in Hall Green. 

[Ingram85]

I miss Firkins. Greggs is crap. Also, in south brum at least no one seems to do proper crusty white cobs anymore either, like with a slight bit of char on the top. It’s all soft rolls in supermarkets. 

I also miss Wispa Mint, Champagne Crunchie and Fuse bars. 

Hopefully one day Walls brings back Gino Ginelli Tutti Fruitti ice cream and colour changing spoons. Oh and Fiendish Feet yoghurts! 

[Designer1]

1 minute ago, Ingram85 said:

Also, in south brum at least no one seems to do proper crusty white cobs anymore either, like with a slight bit of char on the top. It’s all soft rolls in supermarkets. 

I pop to the bakers in Cradley Heath High Street most weeks for this exact reason. 

Absolute heavenly with a nice bit of ham or some streaky bacon 

[blandy]

1 hour ago, Designer1 said:

I pop to the bakers in Cradley Heath High Street most weeks for this exact reason. 

Absolute heavenly with a nice bit of ham or some streaky bacon 

Strong cheddar and raw onion, too. Heaven with a pint of good ale.

[mjmooney]

40 minutes ago, blandy said:

Strong cheddar and raw onion, too. Heaven with a pint of good ale.

Hell yes. Haven't had one of those for years. 

[TheAuthority]

51 minutes ago, blandy said:

Strong cheddar and raw onion, too. Heaven with a pint of good ale.

My wife completely fell in love with me after I introduced her to a cob, butter, wedge of cheese and a slice of raw onion. Washed down with a Bathams at the Unicorn.

F**k it, I'm booking a flight.

[useless]

I remember walking home in the middle of nowhere one winter evening, it was pitch black dark as the road has no street lamps, I hear an engine in the distant and it gradually gets louder and louder and it's making me nervous, then the road lights up and someone goes past on a motorbike doing stunts, they drive off into the distance and the road and pavement go pitch black again. I kept thinking the bike was going to come back but it never did.

Edited April 7, 2022 by useless