Here's a thought for you.  I think that I was Jim Royle before he was.  Here's why, first entry... 'Back to school - not so bad eh?  Not so bad - my a**e!'

I did my French speech, which I didn't know very well, and considering that exam was only next week that's a bit silly by me really.  In the evening, I watched Now, Something Else, starring Jeremy Hardy and Sarah Crowe (the first bride in Four Weddings) and written by Rory Bremner and Ian Brown.  I also watched the Joan Rivers show, Can We Talk? One of the programmes was 'brill' the other wasn't.  You decide, I can't remember.

At last I had finished (surely phinished) my Physics homework.  I noted also that I had better start my Chemistry homework 'or else' - remember, back to school on Monday, that's only a weekend away.  It was 'nearly a nice day up till dinner'.

I then went on to complain about somebody, let's call him Teddy.  Apparently he was here all day, and 'Gordon Bennet he's a...'   Mmm, spurious to say the least.  But anyway, at least Auf Widersehen Pet was on again and this week it was 'grate'.

Oh no.  Another 'boring' day.  Again, I played Football Manager on the C64.  I also went to the library, and amongst all those books I was still bored.

At least Man Utd could offer us some entertainment as they lost 2-1 at home to Chelsea this evening.

And over on Channel 4 we had some seminal 1980's TV, Prospects.  Following the adventures of Jimmy 'Pincey' Pince, played by the late great Gary Olsen and Billy, played by Brian Bovell, Prospects was a cult hit for Channel 4 - one of the programmes that only Channel 4 could make.

The sun sets on the Thames, another day comes to an end...

Oh dear, we had thought that Spring had sprung, but according to today's entry, it was an 'utter b*****d of a day'.  It was wet and windy, and surprise surprise, there was nothing at all to do.  I was frustrated by the fire, which I could not get to light, well not until I had put three firelighters on it.  Why, there wasn't even much on the telly.  Boo and indeed, hoo.

No homework or revision reported, I should have been doing some Physics.

Ha ha!  Sarcasm, the lowest form of wit.  I report a 'beautiful day - except for the wind, rain, sleet, snow and cold!'  Liverpool v Southampton from yesterday was on television, as was Spitting Image.  Erm... that is all.

Now I don't want to come across all maudlin here, but there's no getting away from it.  We had a cancer sufferer in our immediate family.  A cousin of my Dad's, who lived across the road from us, to be precise.  I remember that he'd been suffering for a long time with what he thought was a bad back.  He'd been everywhere to get his back sorted, but eventually the correct diagnosis had been revealed, and by now it was too late.  My mum took him to Wolverhampton for treatment.  A desperate attempt at chemotherapy or some palliative therapy, I don't remember very well, but he didn't live for very long afterwards - I think that it was in June that he died, aged 40 something.

I've just taken a look ahead in my diary, but I can't find any other mention of our poor cousin.  I do remember his death though (I was watching the World Cup when his girlfriend came across the road in floods, naturally) and his funeral.

Us kids, being what we were though, were hard at it playing Fox and Hounds up the old railway line and of course a game of football was fitted in too.  And in the evening, we watched Auf Wiedersehen Pet, which was 'bl**dy marvellous' again.

The Box of Delights is a children's novel written by the English Author, John Masefield and was published in 1935.  The BBC's 1984 television adaptation formed the central part of their Children's TV schedule in the run up to Christmas in that year.  Starring former Dr Who Patrick Troughton as Cole Hawlins, and Sir Robert Stephens as the villainous Abner Brown.  Devin Stanfield played young hero, Kay Harker.

In a nutshell, Kay Harker is travelling home on the train at Christmas time.  In so doing he gets mixed up in the machinations of Abner Brown and his cronies in their quest to own a magic box which enables its owner to shrink, fly and to travel into the past.  Of course the current owner of the box, Cole Hawlins - an ancient Punch and Judy man, is keen to avoid Brown obtaining the box.  He therefore entrusts the box to Kay.  After many trials and tribulations - an unbelieving policeman; a car that can fly and best of all, Nick Berry as a rat - good triumphs over evil as Kay eventually prevails against Brown.  If it wasn't a Children's story, I'd call it a rollicking good adventure.

I love The Box of Delights.  Of all the Children's TV series from the 1980's, it sums up Christmas the best for me.  The snow and the Christmas music / imagery is extremely evocative.  If the special effects look a little clunky from our twenty-first century perspective, well too bad, to a greater or lesser extent its part of the charm.

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The Box of Delights [1984] List Price: £14.99 Sale Price: £18.60 Average Rating:

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Easter Monday.  Traditionally the time when the English football season sees many of its major issues sorted.  This wasn't to be in the case of the First Division this year though as yet again Liverpool and Everton were level on points, with Liverpool holding a crucial one goal lead (+37 vs +36).  Liverpool had beaten City 2-0 at Anfield, with both goals coming from Steve McMahon.  Shrewsbury Town managed a 2-2 draw with Stoke at The Victoria Ground.

And yes, we did watch Condorman.  Talk about complete nonsense, this was it.  Of course it looked shaky, this was the whole point wasn't it?  The biggest thing for me was seeing little Frank Spencer buckling his swash across the screen, doing that crazy American accent... whaddaya mean Frank Spencer's not his real name?  Michael what?  Oh well.  Never mind, I enjoyed it.

We also watched An Officer and A Gentleman - just one thing, 'Hey! Mayo-nnaise'.  But better than anything else on the telly today, we watched the last episode of Dear John.  Sublime, understated British Comedy at its very best.  Writer John Sullivan proved beyond all doubt that he could do subtle as well as the more obvious humour of Only Fools and Horses.  Priceless.

Today I was mostly ignoring... Physics revision.

Jump to 1 April 1986.

Easter Sunday and British Summer Time begins.  I got up late this morning, 20 to 10 insted of 20 to 9.  Who moved them bl***y clocks forward?  Stupd idea that.  It must have been a strange day as I make no comment regarding my paper round, no mention of the word 'boring' (there's a turn up), but I did make a note, 'telly - crap - best thing Spitting Image 9.45 ITV'.  Spitting Image was well into its third series by now and was usually bang on the money in terms of its parody of the great and the good.  I remember one teacher at school asking us how we thought Ronald Reagan had become President of the USA if he behaved like his puppet did.  Looking back, I realise that the guy was playing devil's advocate, as good old Ronnie really was as bonkers as Fluck and Law and Chris Barrie would have had us believe.

Ooh, ooh, and of course, Condorman is on tomorrow...

Good Friday.  My Dad and me mended my bike.  Don't know what the labour would have come to, but the parts set me back £10.  Oh, and when I say 'my Dad and me mended' it's more like 'my Dad mended and I stood there holding the thing steady'.  My technical ability would stretch no further than that, oh and possibly brewing up if necessary.

Otherwise, it started to rain very violently, I did no revision whatsoever (should have been French today) and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet was 'just magic'.